Cafe Pellegrini Pizzeria

Hi everyone,
I hope you've all had a weekend as lovely as mine!

On Sunday, the girls and I spent the afternoon out in celebration of the baby of the group Eileen's 17th birthday! Eileen treated us all to a quick lunch of pizzas at Pellegrini Cafe before seeing Star Trek Into Darkness.

Located on O'Connell Street, right across the street from the Picadilly cinemas

 The man (left) behind the counter saw me with my big camera and offered to pose for a photo with the man making the pizzas! How sweet is that? I told them I'd have a blog post up with their photo in it, so hello if you're reading this :)

The 6 of us were tossing up between ordering two 12" pizzas and three 9" pizzas when Eileen very smartly suggested we order three 9" pizzas to allow room for popcorn later. This also meant we'd be able to sample another pizza and that there would be enough for each of us to try one slice from each pizza. Perfect!

9" Gourmet Mediterranean

Marinated lamb, fresh tomato, onion, herbs, capsicum, cheese and tzatziki

 $19

I prefer my pizzas simple with minimal toppings but I still liked this. The tzatziki had a nice flavour, not too overpowered by garlic, but texture was a bit too thick for my liking. I guess that's required so that it doesn't go everywhere on the pizza. Also, the lamb wasn't tough which I was afraid of encountering. Not something I'd order again, but I would recommend it for people who want to try something new. 

9" Italiana

Fresh tomato, prosciutto, bocconcini cheese, baby spinach 

$15

My favourite! Very simple and absolutely delicious. It brought together two things which I love eating: baby spinach and bocconcini! I loved the fresh tomato on a really thin and crispy base. The prosciutto was not too salty and went very nicely with everything else on the pizza. Definitely one I would recommend trying if you're like me and love simplicity on a pizza!

9" BBQ Chicken

Tomato cheese, pineapple and chicken with bbq sauce

$15

Nothing too special here. It had the thin crispy base which gets it into my good books, but it wasn't really memorable. I honestly can't even remember what it tastes like right now, apart from the fact that I liked how the BBQ sauce wasn't too rich and thick.

I think this is a place worth visiting for their pizzas. I've heard that they also do takeaway, which would be a good option for those who live in the area! The service is great - all the staff are so lovely and friendly, and the food didn't take long at all to come out after we ordered. The staff even made a point of asking about the birthday girl, which was very nice of them. 

After lunch, we went straight across the street to what we were all looking forward to: Benedict Cumberbatch and his incredibly attractive voice and face on the big screen STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS!

We all took a photo in this cute cut out promoting the sequel to Monsters Inc! I remember seeing it when I was a little girl 12 years ago (I know, I don't believe it either)

So, I'm a Star Trek newbie. I made sure I did a little bit of reading the night before, taking care not to spoil anything for myself! I've never properly watched anything Star Trek related (unless you count Sheldon's Star Trek references on the Big Bang Theory). This movie has converted me and I plan on having a bit of a marathon to educate myself after my mid year exams! 

It was incredible. The film was visually stunning - the special effects were awesome and made it all seem so real! I especially loved the first scene because the colours were so bright and vivid. One of my favourite elements was the soundtrack. Having played certain musical instruments for the past 12 years, I've always had a keen ear and appreciation for music everywhere, particularly in films. (On a side note, one of my favourite film soundtracks is the Pirates of the Caribbean) The soundtrack for this film was so amazing. It was a major contributor to successfully building intensity in a lot of the scenes. 

Also, I think the choice of actors and actresses was spot on. Benedict Cumberbatch was BRILLIANT! My love for him started when my friends got me interested in Sherlock, a BBC show (which is amazing by the way - go watch it if you haven't!). I must admit, the main reason we have all been dying to see this is because he has a main role in it! I'm sure every time he appeared on the screen, we all swooned a little. He looks mighty fine in black. I also loved Zachary Quinto as Spock. I can't pass a judgement basing on character as I've never watched Leonard Nimoy in the role, but I still think Zachary Quinto did a great job! I've been a fan of him ever since Heroes and I thought he suited the antagonist role very well. It was great to see him in a different sort of role. Of course, it is impossible to love Chris Pine - I think he brought great energy to the role and made it his own. I also loved Simon Pegg, bringing his comedic side to the role of Scotty which added a little something extra to the film. I'm sure the rest of the cinema-goers would agree with me as we were all giggling at the little things he did! Another actor I liked was Anton Yelchin - he was just so cute in his role. 

I highly recommend seeing this film, even if you're not a Star Trek fan! 

Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN, EILEEN!