David^B

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

Had a Friday lunch there. They claim “traditional italian” but of course there is no true traditional italian as traditional varies hugely from region to region. Having said that, I have dined at many italian restaurants and though the food here was very different from other’s, it was very enjoyable and reasonably priced.

We were there for a couple of hours and the steady stream of customers seemed to indicate that many others agree (we did not feel pressured to leave, even though the tables were continuously full). A smallish place so it’s probably safer to book. The atmosphere was given that authentic italian feel by the loud interchanges back and forth, in italian by the staff, not at all an unpleasant occurance. All in all, an enjoyable lunch.

May 07, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Drinks  8      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  6     

OK, we ordered lunch from the $10 menu so I guess you can’t expect too much for $10. I had hoped for a small serve of something nice. Watching the meals being delivered to others, some appeared to be quite large, though I am not sure how they tasted. When mine turned up, I wasn’t surprised that is was small. I was disappointed that it wasn’t nice, though my dining companion enjoyed her vegetarian burger. So, I guess it’s a bit of a hit and miss. The wine by the glass is quite cheap. The place is a bit rough as far as ambiance goes (plastic sheet as sails on the deck...) though the owner tells us that he has plans to do the place up bit by bit. Maybe in 12 months it will require a review.

May 03, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  7     

We had breakfast there. Pretty standard breakfast menu, but what we had was nice. They all seem to go for Huge meals. Shame more don’t offer a choice of medium or large meals rather than us leaving a third of an enjoyable meal. There was only one waitress, not sure if there are normally more on a Saturday morning but, although there aren’t many tables, she seemed to not be able to coordinate her serving and coffee making all that well.

But all in all, I will probably eat there again. You couldn’t complain about being rushed, that’s for sure. Ambience is not really all that relevant in a place like this so I opted for average because you have to give it a score.

Apr 30, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Nice feel to the place and friendly service. Prices for the food were not over the top and reasonable sized serves, though the wine as is usual if you don’t BYO was a little expensive. The chorizo in the pappardelle was very tasty, unlike at some places where one feels that they just use any old sausage and call it chorizo. If we hadn’t had to ask for an ice bucket to keep the white wine we purchased cold, it would have been even better. Just a little thing that need not happen.

Apr 10, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  7     

Don’t let the take away menu fool you. It makes the place sound like a typical take away pizza place but the “sit down” menu offers a much larger choice of very nice meals and the ones we had were as good as they sounded. As good as we had hoped. A little on the pricey side but not overly expensive. The service was good. The wait staff knew their stuff when it came to the food on offer.

Mar 23, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

Had a Friday lunch there. They claim “traditional italian” but of course there is no true traditional italian as traditional varies hugely from region to region. Having said that, I have dined at many italian restaurants and though the food here was very different from other’s, it was very enjoyable and reasonably priced.

We were there for a couple of hours and the steady stream of customers seemed to indicate that many others agree (we did not feel pressured to leave, even though the tables were continuously full). A smallish place so it’s probably safer to book. The atmosphere was given that authentic italian feel by the loud interchanges back and forth, in italian by the staff, not at all an unpleasant occurance. All in all, an enjoyable lunch.

May 07, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Drinks  8      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  6     

OK, we ordered lunch from the $10 menu so I guess you can’t expect too much for $10. I had hoped for a small serve of something nice. Watching the meals being delivered to others, some appeared to be quite large, though I am not sure how they tasted. When mine turned up, I wasn’t surprised that is was small. I was disappointed that it wasn’t nice, though my dining companion enjoyed her vegetarian burger. So, I guess it’s a bit of a hit and miss. The wine by the glass is quite cheap. The place is a bit rough as far as ambiance goes (plastic sheet as sails on the deck...) though the owner tells us that he has plans to do the place up bit by bit. Maybe in 12 months it will require a review.

May 03, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  7     

We had breakfast there. Pretty standard breakfast menu, but what we had was nice. They all seem to go for Huge meals. Shame more don’t offer a choice of medium or large meals rather than us leaving a third of an enjoyable meal. There was only one waitress, not sure if there are normally more on a Saturday morning but, although there aren’t many tables, she seemed to not be able to coordinate her serving and coffee making all that well.

But all in all, I will probably eat there again. You couldn’t complain about being rushed, that’s for sure. Ambience is not really all that relevant in a place like this so I opted for average because you have to give it a score.

Apr 30, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Nice feel to the place and friendly service. Prices for the food were not over the top and reasonable sized serves, though the wine as is usual if you don’t BYO was a little expensive. The chorizo in the pappardelle was very tasty, unlike at some places where one feels that they just use any old sausage and call it chorizo. If we hadn’t had to ask for an ice bucket to keep the white wine we purchased cold, it would have been even better. Just a little thing that need not happen.

Apr 10, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  7     

Don’t let the take away menu fool you. It makes the place sound like a typical take away pizza place but the “sit down” menu offers a much larger choice of very nice meals and the ones we had were as good as they sounded. As good as we had hoped. A little on the pricey side but not overly expensive. The service was good. The wait staff knew their stuff when it came to the food on offer.

Mar 23, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

They have two types of what they call “tapas”. A “single serve” list and a “two or more” list of items. So, the “two or more” mean that two or more people can share a dish. This doesn’t seem to fit my understanding of tapas, being lots of small dishes.

The food is great, no question, but if only two of you eat there, you can really only have three of these “two or more” dishes. The serves were quite large, good sized entrée size. If there were 4 or 5 of us eating, it would not have been a problem as we could have ordered more of the dishes to share around.

For two though, I would much prefer that the serves were smaller as there were a number of dishes I would have liked to try. If there had been 4 or 5 of us eating Other than that, the food was great, as mentioned, the service was great and the place is nice. Thumbs up on the whole.

Mar 23, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

The head waitress was great. Cheery, energetic and found time to have a bit of a chat with everyone. It was outside the main holiday period and there were a couple of trainee waiters, one was “very” trainee but did his best, though being dressed in jeans didn’t quite fit the image I think this place is trying to portray of an up market eatery. This all added up to making it difficult to score “service” but as it was the trainees doing most of the serving, I scored it lower.

The meals sounded nice and the ones we had were. The entrées were particularly tasty. However, I have a little trouble accepting that at the prices they charge, that you have to order “side dishes” in addition to your main, because when you order fish as your main, all you get is fish, no matter how tasty or well cooked it may be. If the prices for the main were lower, fair enough.

The wine list was quite extensive and not over the top for a licensed restaurant.

Mar 13, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

Only done lunch there. It seats a lot of people, so when it’s packed, the service isn’t instant but, hey, if you are out for a relaxing Sunday lunch with good company then it’s nice to not be rushed so that can be a bonus as long as you aren’t in a hurry or very hungry. Can’t complain about the size of the serves or the cost. Very reasonable lunch time prices and the food is tasty so it’s a winner for that Sunday lunch on a nice afternoon. Definitely get my vote for another lunch out and about.

Mar 05, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Let’s describe the setting as “rustic” and I still can’t comment on the authenticity of the food because I haven’t been to mexico but it seems more authentic than other mexican eateries I have visited. And more importantly, the food is very nice. You have to BYO plonk which is fine with me and if you get there and didn’t know, there is a supermarket about 30 seconds walk away. Prices are quite reasonable for the size of the serves and the wait staff are friendly. Big tick from me.

Feb 28, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  8     

Not sure how “real” the thai food is here, it seems pretty much the same as most thai places but the food is nice. Can’t knock the quality or quantity. There are only four tables, I think their main focus is take away, so, to be safe, you would probably need to book if you really wanted a sit down meal there. Given the number of tables, it is quiet and the service is good because they aren’t overrun with people.

Prices are reasonable, though a little more than some thai places. All in all, happy to eat there again.

Feb 24, 2012