Zafferano Restaurant

I had never been to Zafferano Restaurant before, it being out of my price range, but a small group of friends and I won some vouchers to dine there, so we got together for lunch. We rang and booked a table in advance and made sure to mention that we were all vegans and asked if they were able to accommodate us. The answer was 'Yes', so when we arrived, we were presented with a menu that they had specially put together for us, which included entree and main options.

For the entree, I and a few of my party, opted for the sweetpea risotto, which featured fresh garden peas, bound in a saffron risotto and garnished with extra virgin olive oil. Oddly enough, this dish had a 'fishy' flavour to it - so much so, that we had to check with the chef that it was, indeed vegan. We were assured it was, and it was suggested that its 'fishy' flavour came from the stock, which took a week to prepare. whatever gave it that flavour, it wasn't a favourite with us.

Thankfully, my main was a delicious pasta dish, which included chilli, rocket and fresh herbs, in fresh lemon and extra virgin olive oil.

Others had the mushroom risotto which featured slow roasted field mushrooms, and I was told it was very tasty.

Also meeting approval was the pumpkin salad, which was made up of roasted pumpkin, cherry tomatoes and rocket, in an almond and poppy seed dressing. 

As there were no desserts listed in our menu, the chef came out and spoke to us, offering a few suitable options. These were basically sorbets with either strawberries, peaches or bananas, preapred in various ways. We all tried a bit of all three of these and it was hard to pick a favourite!

All in all, we enjoyed our lunch. The staff were friendly and helpful and the chef was accommodating and happy to come to our table and discuss our options.

The view we had from our outdoor table, was lovely, as the restaurant is situated right on the Swan River.

The downside to the restaurant is that it is very expensive (on average, the entrees cost $12 to $27, the mains up to $40, the desserts around $15) and the portions on the small side.   

But if you can afford it, and want a 'finer'dining experience, then by all means give this restaurant a go - just make sure you give them sufficient notice that you will be requiring a full vegan menu.

Zafferano Restaurant is situated at 173 Mounts Bay Road (Old Swan Brewery) in Crawley. 

They are open Monday to Sunday Noon to late. Breakfast available on the weekends 8am .