Verve Restaurant Bar Cider House, Edward St, Brisbane CBD

July 16, 2016

Verve has always been there, tucked away behind that bright red rustic door. So you might miss it if you don't look carefully for it but when you do open the door, you are taken into an underground restaurant with dim lights so when you do try and take pictures, you might just need extra help with your phone's flashlight. Dishing up different types and interesting combinations of pastas and pizzas, everyone's tastebuds will be fixed upon their menu. If you would just like a drink or two and nibble on some snacks or even just have a dessert, then do come down and try it here.. You might just be surprised.

'Chicken Pizza' ($18.9) came first on our table and was served on a round white plate. Portion wise was sufficient meaning that you are able to either eat this as a whole yourself or have it to share. I would usually prefer to share pizzas rather than eating one whole pizza for myself. The Chicken pizza consisted of chicken, marinated fetta, caramelised onion, roasted capsicum, thyme and parmesan as well as a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar on top to create an illuminating look to the pizza.

Just by gazing at the pizza, you can see how packed and full of toppings it had on top which is always great when you order a pizza to see that the whole pizza has been covered. What annoys me is that when you order a pizza and you see bits of salami slices here and there but nowhere to be found in the middle or even having chicken cuts on one side of the pizza and not much on the other. The toppings has been spread out well and equally. As for the pizza base, I do not think it is the greatest but it is chewy and has that simple crisp on the outside. As for the toppings, it all balanced out well with the parmesan glueing everything together.

'Scallop Linguini' ($22.9) is a simple pasta compared to the other pasta options they offer on their menu. The linguini is served with scallops, bacon, mint, green peas and olive oil. At first, I wasn't too sure how green peas would mix in well with the other element as I do know scallops do work with bacon as well as mint and olive oil. A wedge of lemon is also given on the side of the plate which is nice when you do give it a squeeze or two and give it a good mix throughout.

The scallops were cut in half and not full size which made sense if you were dishing up a Scallop pasta dish, giving a whole lot of scallops would cost more than it usually would. However, I did feel as if the scallops seemed to have been those frozen types which was kind of a let down, but overall, the amount of mint and olive oil to give the linguini flavour was there and was just right. It wasn't too much until the taste was too overpowering but I did feel it was rather an oily dish overall. The green peas added a slight pop of colour but it was just okay if I had to say how it complimented the dish. The bacon brought the saltyness within the dish which balanced out the fishyness from the scallops as well as the plain linguini.