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User Reviews on Portofino
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 73 comments
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| Overall |
  
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Recommended |
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Food 6 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 8 |
Value 5 |
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The restaurant is cosy, staff are friendly but the food is only just above ordinary. The whitebait fritters seemed to have every ingredient listed on the menu - lemon thyme, prawn meat etc - everything, that is, except the whitebait. And was that seafood extender? Risotto okay. My partner did better with the antipasto and linguine marinara, both were fresh and tasty.
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lillipilli -
See my reviews 15 , 28 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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My flatmate had raved about this place weeks before her birthday dinner and I have to say, I was super satisfied when we'd actually been there! it's such a cosy place and the owner is chatting to you and making you feel well at home.
We had a glass of wine and got stuck into the mains - wood fired pizza with artichokes & feta, spaghetti with mussels, stuffed calamari, perfectly made, delicious, affordable and made very quickly. I had warm blueberry pie with ice cream and creme fraiche - it was the perfect way to end a beautiful meal. A definite go!
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poppy_korn -
See my reviews 39, 25 August 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
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Tried Portofino out for the first time on Saturday night - I have to say I was utterly satisfied! We were a group of 6 but ended up being 4, so they moved us to a smaller table which was fine.
We ordered drinks which came as quickly as they were ordered. We then ordered our starters and also our mains. Our pizza crusts arrived very quickly which we devoured - just delicious and just enough. Our table was cleared and reset for our mains which arrived just about 5 minutes later. A little quick but this was good because we were starving!
I had the Linguini Al Polo - this was simply divine! The creamy sauce, the shitaki mushrooms and the smoked chicken combined with the freshly made linguini was just to die for! The portions were very generous, as much as it pained me to leave some behind, I was just absolutely stuffed!
Definitely worth a visit - I will be going back for sure! Don't forget to book though - it's a pretty busy little place so you might miss out if you don't book! Was a little noisy but we didn't mind.
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Cultured07 -
See my reviews 6, 28 July 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 8 |
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This place is great, very very good authentic Italian food. Went with a group and everything we had was perfect. All the food was excellent. It can get a little noisy and squashy, but it's what you expect of a busy little restaurant. Staff are very attentive and friendly. Highly recommended for a great meal. Make sure you have a booking though!
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keymi -
See my reviews 16, 15 July 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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My wife and I have been enjoying the delights of Portofino for many years and have always enjoyed the ambience and the fantastic food. They have never served us or our friends a bad meal and we will continue to dine there.
As an Italian, I am somewhat disappointed in the below par that's called Italian food often served in other restaurants in Leichhardt. Portofino is just about as close as you can get to what mamma used to make.
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rainefab -
See my reviews 1, 12 July 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 7 |
Value 7 |
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It's a bit the other end of Norton St, but parking's still not great. It's a bit small and a bit noisy. But it's got a great red wall. And the most fantastic roast duck ravioli I've tasted. The corkage is relatively reasonable, the service is quite quick and the prices are fairly good. Well especially when the ravioli's that good.
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daniel daniel -
See my reviews 31, 12 July 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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Having dined here some 15 years ago with great memories, I was looking forward to going back there again with my wife on a special occasion. Thankfully we made a last minute booking as the restaurant was fully packed when we arrived. Upon our arrival we were pleasantly greeted and seated to our table downstairs right next to the counter. Within 2 minutes we were attended by a friendly waiter who explained the specials clearly and took our orders. Big thumbs up for such a quick and efficient service.
However, due to a busy and bustling Saturday night, we weren't expecting our starters to come anytime soon. But to our amazement, the pizza crust and drinks came within minutes. We were truly stunned at how quick they came. The crust was a delight and both of us inhaled the generous portions before we could say a single word. Another waiter came and took all the plates, cutlery and serviettes. I was a little baffled as why they did this but soon came back and presented a fresh round of silverware and napkins. We were impressed at this as not many establishments would provide this level of service.
Once the table was reset, our entrees promptly arrived to our surprise again. I had the antipasto while my wife had the beef carpaccio. When you put these dishes side by side, it was like comparing David and Goliath. My entree was incredibly huge while the carpaccio was the exact opposite. But this did not detract from our dining experience as we happily shared the meals.
Firstly, the carpaccio with rocket and shaved parmesan drizzled with balsamic vinegar was splendid. The beef simply melted in your mouth while the balsamic was beautifully sweet and not overpowering. This dish worked wonderfully with the parmesan and crunchy rocket and a light squeeze of lemon. About the only gripe I had was there wasn't enough of it. :)
On opposite end of the spectrum, the antipasto was just enormous. Too large for an entree to be honest and to the point that it was not so much enjoyable as the beef. You get a generous serving of everything; frittata, olives, proscuitto, roasted capsicum and tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, salami and more. All drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. The dish was certainly good in value at $18.
Once we finally got through the mountain of antipasto, another waiter cleared our table and again presented a new round of cutlery and serviettes. And again to our astonishment, our mains arrived not long after the table was reset. This level of speedy service is something that I have never experienced, ever. And for the fact it was a full house on the night is even more surprising, to the point that I felt it was a little too quick for my liking. It sounds bizarre for me to say this, but just felt like they are rushing through the service to maximise turnover. But fortunately, this was not the case as we stayed there for what seemed like hours and they didn’t mind. I just concluded the speedy service is their norm!
Ok, onto the mains. I had the linguini al pollo while my missus had the ravioli special. First impression, the dishes were adequately portioned. Not too big, not too small. It was perfect. Secondly, the quality of pasta from an establishment like this should be made fresh and not from dried packets. Thankfully it was the former, so I found it rather amusing when someone below commented the linguini was "floury/doughy". Well let me tell you that's the nature of real fresh pasta. It will cook faster (hence easy to overcook) and absorbs more liquid than the dry form. Ok I’m getting a bit side tracked here.
My pasta was almost perfectly cooked. Perhaps just a tad over-cooked but did not deter from the overall experience. The cream mascarpone sauce was just sublime. The shitake mushrooms I thought was a little strange to be used in a pasta dish, but it worked out well and not too overpowering as shitake tends to be robust and strong flavoured. The smoked chicken was wonderfully tasty and not dry.
The ravioli special was equally as enjoyable but we wished the pieces were larger. I would’ve preferred 3-4 large portions of ravioli rather than 15-20 small pieces. The tomato based sauce was incredible. Fully sweet flavoured sauce while not being overly rich. The capers were a welcoming addition and balanced nicely. I had a hard time deciding on which pasta reigned supreme. In the end, we agreed my linguini was the king.
Another comment I have to make was the standard of service. Throughout the evening, we were constantly attended to and asked how our meals were. The manager/owner, Steve also spent time with his patrons including ourselves. It was a nice chit chat and made us felt like we were regulars there. This made the overall dining experience something special and memorable, and for those reasons, I have to say Bravo Portofino!
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Eugene -
See my reviews 7, 06 July 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 7 |
Value 8 |
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Went there Saturday night upon my boyfriend's recommendation. Had the antipasto plate & stuffed mushrooms for entree, and they were both fantastic!
Mains consisted of prawn linguini & whole chargrilled prawns, both dishes were excellent..
The restaurant is small and cosy which at times can be a bit squashy, but great all the same. Service was great, as was the price. Will definitely be back!
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Dunch -
See my reviews 4, 16 June 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 7 |
Value 7 |
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Ok guys it's plain and simple, Good food cooked to perfection. Young happy staff that could do with some fine tuning but are very friendly which makes them forgivable. Place has upstairs and down stairs I have eaten at both its a small place can get noisy but we ordered the stuffed zucchini flowers and were quite enjoyable for entree, my wife and I shared then we ordered the chargrilled rib eye medium well served on a bed of garlic mash and scampi for the 1st time in my life the meat was cooked to perfection.
My friend had the stuffed ravioli with lamb I think, he was also very impressed with the mouth watering flavours. Dessert I had the passionfruit pana cotta my wife had the sorbet and my friend had the tiramisu looked mouth watering.
Overall I never go to leichhardt to eat cos parking is a pain but I will make the exception for portofinos. Eat here you will be pleasantly surprised.
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chris the greek -
See my reviews 9, 20 April 2008
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| Overall |
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Below Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 1 |
Service 1 |
Value 5 |
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I've given the food and value a 5, but in reality I have no idea what they're like. We made a booking for 6 on Saturday night at 7.30 pm. When we arrived we were informed quite brusquely that our table had been given away to a group who had booked then cancelled and then shown up anyway.
We were then advised that a table had been booked by someone else for 8 pm but we could wait outside to see whether this group showed up! One staff member admitted they had made a mistake but blamed another staff member. NO APOLOGY AT ALL. We've never received such appalling service anywhere else and certainly won't consider running the risk again.
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alli369 -
See my reviews 1, 13 April 2008
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