persone

bitterly disappointed. will not go again – there are many other fantastic italian themed restaurants with much better service to match the great food and better prices.

food 8.5 out of 10 - the only reason for 2 stars

service 1 out of 10 – annoyingly over serviced or have to call people over to order another drink – far too inconsistent – particularly for what is supposed to be a high end restaurant.

made the booking a month in advance to ensure table near the window. called 1 week in advance to confirm booking and request to be placed outside, was advised this would depend on the weather. when we arrived we were placed at a table inside right near the window overlooking a completely empty table outside – minor disappointment. i must note there were a lot of staff walking around too, both maître d’s, wait staff and floor staff.

we ordered 2 of the same drink to have them arrive and it was wrong. had to send the drinks back to be re-made – strike 1.

whilst considering our entrées we enquired about the ingredients of some of the mains to a allow for broad selection. the mains we enquired about we were advised were tomato based, so that altered our entrée choices.

entrées – amazing!! – bravo!!!

had to call over a staff member to order another 1 drink and was then provided with 2, so had to get up and advise a staff member because of the wrong order and sent one back – drinks order incorrect again - strike 2.

ordered our mains and then proceeded to wait almost 40minutesbefore calling over one of the wait staff to ask where our mains were. they never came back to say it would be “5 minutes” but we did receive them 5minuteslater.

the dish we were told was “tomato” based was actually cream based, luckily not dairy intolerant and was only asking for flavour reasons, although not what was expected still amazing and flavourful, however meat was minimal. the other dish was the pesto gnocchi, the gnocchi were like pillows and light and fluffy as gnocchi truly should be – so very perfect, however the pesto sauce was very boring and flavourless.

during eating our main meals our dedicated wait staff member came by and asked how was the food. we only had it for about 2minutesand advised all good. then just a fewminuteslater the maître d' came over and asked how was the food, again fine (thinking please leave us alone to eat). then what seemed like not that manyminuteslater whilst one of us was still eating our food another staff member that we had not seen all night, came over asked about the food, we said fine, and then attempted to take one of the empty side dish plates away, to which we said “please leave them until we are both finished” she said “i’m just going to take this away” and we said “no please leave the plate and leave us until we are finished”.

we couldn’t wait to get out of the restaurant so did not order dessert.

what's good: the pasta (duh)! the pasta is made fresh, in house, and it shows. we enjoyed the spaghetti al granchio and the pappardelle al ragu (pardon the all-caps), finding both to have perfect pasta and well flavoured sauces (although the meat was scarce and likely an after thought). we started with the fried squid, which was good (just slightly chewy) but vastly overshadowed by the accompanying fennel salad, which was lovely. the portions were on the small side, so i would recommend a starter and a main for the average appetite. 

what's ok: the atmosphere. my uber dropped me off a block away fearing he wouldn't find a loading zone... i did a full lap around the building before i found a door that was open... the building is very much still under construction... and it was shouting-across-the-table loud by the time we left. it reminded me of a budget conscious version of vegas.

what's bad: the service. the waiter didn't know any of the dishes, the mains arrived before the starter had been cleared, the food runner asked us to move our plates, he placed the mains, then left without taking the dirty starter plates. we ordered the wine, 10minuteslater were told it was sold out, and the manager simply dropped off the wine list without recommending a similar bottle. i had an old fashioned, which arrived well watered down (i assume it sat too long at the bar, as much of the ice melted before it hit the table) and without much of a boozy kick. they meant well, but executed poorly. 

overall rating? the food is an 4/5, while the service was a 1/5, so i will give them a generous 3/5 (they are new, and obviously have some glitches to work through). at $200 for two, i expect a lot more than decent pasta.