Bianca might be the best reason to stop in Ellerslie

Bianca is tucked down Robert Street in Ellerslie, close enough to the motorway that you could drive past it twice a day for years and never realise there was a tiny pasta restaurant inside quietly showing off. There is no dramatic entrance, no rooftop and no sense that the neighbourhood has been redesigned around the restaurant’s arrival. You turn up, walk into a small room, and almost immediately understand why it is full.

I went with five others for a birthday, and getting a booking was surprisingly easy. The room was intimate without making us feel like we had accidentally joined the table next door, and busy without becoming frantic. It had the kind of energy that makes a small restaurant feel generous rather than cramped, which is harder to pull off than simply pushing the tables further apart.

The staff helped. They had aura, which is not technically a hospitality qualification, but might be the more useful one. They were warm, knew the menu properly and gave us the kind of attention that made it feel like we had priority, even though the restaurant was packed. Nothing felt rehearsed or overly polished. They knew their shit, enjoyed talking about it and somehow managed to be present without appearing every three minutes to ask whether everything was tasting delicious.

With six people and a birthday as justification, we ordered most of the things that looked good: market fish crudo, focaccia, potatoes, maltagliati, cappelletti and beef short rib, followed by panna cotta and tiramisu. There were Bizzarros and a Strawberry Yuzu involved too, because nobody has ever improved a birthday dinner by becoming sensible halfway through it.

The crudo was fresh and clean, and did a useful job of making us feel refined before the pasta and sauce arrived. The focaccia was the only dish that did not quite read the room. It was fine, but “fine” feels a little lonely when everything around it is having such a strong night.

Both pastas were good, but the maltagliati was the obvious winner. It was richer, more generous and the dish I kept returning to while pretending I was only taking a very small final portion. The cappelletti did nothing wrong, but sometimes another pasta walks into the room and gets all the attention. Life is unfair like that.

Then there were the potatoes. The hazelnuts made them ridiculously good, adding this toasted crunch that turned a side dish into the thing everyone kept talking about. They had no business being one of the best plates on the table, but potatoes have always understood the value of exceeding low expectations.

The beef short rib arrived covered in a sauce rich enough to own property in Remuera. It tasted great, but after a few bites the richness started building on itself, and I was glad it was being shared between six rather than placed in front of me as a personal challenge. It worked as part of the table, especially with the crudo and pasta nearby to provide some relief, but it was probably the one dish that could have eased off slightly.

Dessert was panna cotta and tiramisu, both very good and both arriving at the stage of dinner where everyone claims they are full before continuing to eat. By then, the maltagliati and potatoes had already won, although the tiramisu made a decent late attempt at changing the result.

What surprised me most was not that Bianca was good, because I had been warned. It was how much personality it packed into such a small room, in such an unassuming spot. The restaurant never seemed desperate to impress us, but the food was confident, the staff were genuinely excellent and the whole night felt easy.

I would leave the focaccia, share the short rib and order the maltagliati and potatoes again immediately. Bianca gets an 8.5 out of 10, and yes, I will be going back.