Katie and I had the rare opportunity to actually head out on a date – without the little one. Mum had graciously offered to babysit on Saturday day night and so we were in a position to get out of the house. Unfortunately we are also flat broke, and I had to fight off the urge to take the baby free evening and sleep… What a glamorous life this parenting thing is turning out to be… Anyway, Katie was having none of that – in an almost manic state of desperation to get out of the house, she hunted down a nice place to head off to that would also conform to our budget of $50 for the evening. She chose Dudley’s Pizza bar.
We set off early on the drive up into the Dandenong’s – it’s such a lovely part of the world. Olinda can be a bit of a tourist trap, but we don’t mind since the drive is so picturesque. Considering the huge amount of tourists parked out the front of Cuckoo just down the road, I was worried we might have needed to book, but thankfully Dudley’s wasn’t totally full – although it was quite busy. Looking at the menu, prices weren’t cheap – around $22+ for a pizza, and $24+ for the pasta. I looked at Katie and thought we might have to head elsewhere – but then we spied the table next to us sharing out the pizza, it was huge – enough for two. This meant we could order one to share and then something else on the side. So we opted for a huge Pizza Salsiccia, with delicious Italian sausage and mushrooms, and then a lovely salad with buffalo mozzarella, baby spinach, pine nuts, roasted capsicum, basil, and a balsamic dressing. With a $50 budget – the choice was drinks or dessert. Katie won that argument and we ordered the hazelnut mudcake. Being a date night – no phones were allowed – however, Katie did let me take a photo of the dessert at the end.
We managed to pull it all off for $50.50 (I also got a coke – blew the budget!), and we walked out feeling pretty satisfied. I was reasonably impressed with the quality and would definitely come back when not so broke so I could really enjoy their offerings.
