La Scala on Jersey

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

We went there dinner on a Friday night, the place was reasonably busy but it wasn’t a full house either.

The service was great, our water was topped up constantly and we have noticed that the waitress was constantly checking our water glasses and bother to ask how we enjoy our food. Such a simple gesture but missing in a lot of restaurants especially when they genuinely care. They seem to love the food that Darren Simpson had on offer and is ready to give you details of the dishes with a passion.

We ordered: Entrée: Fritto of Hawkesbury squid, flathead, zucchini flowers, herb mayonnaise.

Mains: Brodetto Marchigiano (classic fish stew from Marche, kipfler potatoes, chilli saffron, marjoram) and Osso Bucco (this was one of the special menu item of the night).

Entrée was extremely ordinary, it is just basically deep fried items in batter. However, I enjoyed the Osso Bucco dish nonetheless, it was small with only one piece of Osso Bucco. We have also opt for the Fish Stew as it was a highly recommended dish, it was flavorsome and well worth trying but it was more of a seafood stew rather than fish as there was only 1 piece of fish in the stew along with prawns and calamari and other seafood pieces.

Overall, nice restaurant, lovely ambience, professional service, nice food and good value as we have taken the opportunity of their 2nd birthday offer.

May 09, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  6     

Food was very nice as was service until we tried to use the vouchers which were sent to us by the restaurant. After a lengthy discussion the vouchers were accepted by management. (We were 2 couples with a voucher each, mgnt said 'we can only use one voucher per order'. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise good experience.

Dec 31, 2011 

5.5 Average

Food  4      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  4     

Okay, so here’s the original review I wrote of La Scala...

"As soon as I saw head chef at La Scala, Darren Simpson, doing a KFC ad I knew I had to check out his restaurant. Sadly it's not a patch on the Colonel. The food was bland, uncreative and poorly presented. I'd commend Darren to stick with the eleven secret herbs and spices and leave real dining to others..."

Way harsh.

Upon mature and sober reflection I believe I am guilty of what my old Aussie Rules coach would call “playing the man, not the ball”. So sorry Darren. My comments are uncalled for. You were really good on the Foxtel show “The Best of Australia” not as good as Anna Gare or Ben O'Donoghue but still pretty good. I should have also mentioned that the service and décor of La Scala were outstanding. My apologies; and I promise to try your chicken burger!

Sep 02, 2011 

5.3 Average

Food  2      Ambience  5      Service  9      Value  5     

The food was average (very oily and not a lot of taste), most of the menu items feel like they belong in the early 1990's. Nothing particularly innovative food-wise, but the service was terrific and made our night special. It's a bit expensive, so I'd only go again if we couldn't get in anywhere else.

Sep 01, 2011 

5 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  4     

Very disappointed with our 'private dining' experience. Alternate drop for 22 guests should be simple for an establishment like this, right? All they had to make was 11 x lamb & chicken, and have them ready to serve "around" the same time, and they weren't even close.

Half way through service, they just stopped serving lamb with no explanation, and started handing out sad, pale chicken which rubbery skin. Entree (antipasto) and dessert were very nice, although a basic cream or vanilla bean ice-cream would have been a far nicer accompaniment than the sour creme fraiche with the chocolate cake.

Jul 31, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

What a gem of a restaurant. The Osso was spectacular for the bone marrow lovers, blew my darling and I away. Highly recommended restaurant with excellent service, ambience and food quality. We attended on a Monday night, with only a few tables occupied, so I can't comment on some other reviews here during busy nights, but for us it was an excellent experience. The staff were attentive without being overly so very pleasant and knowledgeable.

May 24, 2011 

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  8      Service  3      Value  3     

We went in December 2010 as part of our traditional monthly dinner experience, where either one of us gets to choose a new Restaurant. The goal of our monthly dinner excursion is to find a culinary experience which is truly different, or interesting, new or just simply good.

La Scala on Jersey? We have no plans to rush back!

The first round of aperitif was the high point of the meal, with things going downhill from there. If you are keen to visit an overrated Restaurant, with poor service and average food, then visit La Scala on Jersey. Our booking was for a Friday night at 7:00 pm and you would think, that a well run Restaurant is prepared and staffed for that time of the week. That applies to both the front and the back of the establishment.

Our visit bordered the funny moments of “Faulty Towers” It was a comedy of errors and disasters. The appetizers and the mains were disappointing. There was too much of everything on the unidentifiable items on our plates... The brodetto lacked a brodetto. My fish was overcooked. Oh and don’t forget to mention the “Italian classic “bruschetta “It didn’t even look like one! The bread was an insult to any bakery and the toppings were scraped out of some rotten tin.

The atmosphere is Paddington “chic”, but service was more like a Central Station Diner. The staff needs training. 2.5 hrs later and $ 210.00 lighter in the hip pocket, we decided to go somewhere else for a nice dessert.
Avoid the place if you can.

Feb 23, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

We were a table of 10 for dinner. Always a challenge for restaurants. This place did it beautifully, great staff, very smart room, comfortable chairs. Great night.

I had the bone marrow to start. Try it, best dish I have had in months. 4 big roasted marrow bones, toast to spread it on and a vinegary salad to cut through the rich fattiness of the marrow.

Followed with the fish stew. Also a very good dish but not lifted to the heights of the bone marrow dish. Everyone else's meals looked great. Highly recommend this place.

Feb 19, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Came here with a friend for dinner on a saturday night and we agreed that we had to come back here again! While the tomato salad that we had (special) was nothing fancy and we felt a bit ripped off paying $22 for a few tomato pieces and cheese, all was forgotten when the lamb came out. The meat was tender and flavoursome, we were told that Darren Simpson does the lamb and chicken very well so after this we knew we had to come back to try the chicken dish. We ended the night with the chocolate nemesis and the ricotta cheesecake which were both divine.

Overall a great night out. We will be back!

Feb 13, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  6     

Had a lovely dinner last night with friends and enjoyed the rare grilled Angus beef, organic beets, horseradish, crème fraiche, chives & lemon ($39). My friends both enjoyed the Italian roasted lamb, oregano, peperonata and salsa verde($36). I'm not a big meat eater and thought I'd get my fix at La Scala, it was divine! You have two options of it being cooked, rare or well-done, I opted for the latter and it was still extremely tender.

For sides we had the Tuscan fries ($8) and a salad of bitter leaves, rocket, pounded walnuts, ricotta and chives ($9.50). The fries were nice although not that chili and the salad was interesting but not overly special. The waiter was a lot of fun and was excellent at recommending wines and explaining the menu. La Scala has a chic layout, as the crowd grew it become more challenging to hear 'low talkers' over the din. It was a hot day yesterday and a trip up the stairs to the pink powder room (loved it) was uncomfortable as there was no air conditioning in that area. All in all, a great night.

Feb 04, 2011