Nicli’s Next Door now offers lunch from Tuesday to Friday, 12pm-2pm. The $15 prix fixe lunch includes a salad and one of three house made pastas. It sounds like these pastas change sporadically, depending on what’s in season – but for the most part you can rest assure you’ll be able to get these for lunch.

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Liane and I started off with a great salad that mixed wild greens, beets and deep fried onions together. What I loved about the salad is that there was always a different texture to each bite – sometimes it would be crispy with the onion or soft and sweet with the beets.

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I ordered the Pappardelle with pork ragu and kale. Pappardelle is one of my current favourite types of pastas and the way it’s prepared here with the pork ragu and kale worked wonderfully. Because of it’s flat and wide nature, the pulled pork and kale blended perfectly into every bite.

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Liane ordered the Torchietti al pesto with smoked ricotta, which be both loved for it’s savoury notes and slightly lemony after taste. If we were to pick between the two pastas, it would be a difficult decision – but I’m glad that I brought a friend to switch up our meals halfway!

We ended our lunch with their desserts: the chocolate ganache tart with almond florentine and lemon curd and the vanilla bean gelato and gianduja-dipped fennel pecan biscotti.

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I am a huge fan of chocolate and the chocolate ganache tart really hit the spot! It was decadent and paired wonderfully with the almond florentine but balanced out with the tartness from the lemon curd.

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The vanilla bean gelato (made in house) is served in such a clever way: in a cappuccino cup, topped with a bit of coffee flavoured “foam”. On the side, the gianduja-dipped fennel pecan biscotti. Definitely a nice, lighter end to a meal.

For $15, you get a good portion of pasta and a great salad to start you off. If you have not had the chance to check out Nicli’s Next Door, lunch would be the perfect time to do so! I cannot wait to check out their pizzeria very soon!

For more information, check out Nicli’s Next Door’s website.

Please note that I was invited by Nicli’s Next Door for lunch and my meal was paid for, but all opinions are my own.