It’s the final countdown! Five weeks to go until I hit my KPI of 52 Bolognese’s in 52 weeks. Actually, it will be 86 bolognese varieties I will have eaten within the year, as I also sampled 27 home cooked varieties, two of the tinned kind, three of the frozen-isle variety and two overseas ones. That is a lot of Bolognese, even for me!

This week I visited a long established Italian pizza and pasta house, Pinocchio’s. Pinocchio’s has been satisfying pizza and pasta cravings since 1971 and have two locations; Hampton and Toorak. I visited the Hampton one.

Their Bolognese looked interesting when it arrived – there were breadcrumbs sprinkled on top which I was very excited about, as it’s something a bit different. I was a bit worried with the sauce looking thin, and though the photo doesn’t show, it looked like there was a bit of cream in their too. I’m surprised it’s taken me 47 weeks to find a creamy bolognese – it was bound to come up.

Despite my above reservations, this Bolognese tasted great – the flavour was well balanced and the cream was subtle. The cream added thickness to the liquid looking sauce. I just loved how the breadcrumbs added a crunchy texture. The pasta was excellent and had wonderful chew to it – it tasted so fresh, which it was, as Pinocchio’s make their pasta onsite daily. A real treat!

Unfortunately I found the meat too fine as there were no sizeable clumps to bite into. I also found it under-seasoned. Other than that, it was really enjoyable with beautiful depth and complexity throughout. I polished this one off with ease.

Pinocchio’s has been open for over 40 years for a reason.

Price: $21.90
Score: 16+

Note: dishes which score 16+ are contenders for the title of Melbourne’s best Spaghetti Bolognese. All scores above 16/20 will be disclosed at the end of the year long taste testing in September 2012.