alexb

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Excellent service. Welcoming and attentive. Good suggestions and high level of knowledge from the sommelier was appreciated. Met our expectations for this top restaurant. The fit out is a beautiful understated space.

We had the a la carte menu. Generally the various seafood dishes had very subtle complex flavour which matched well with the crisp wine recommended. The lamb main was perfect, beautifully presented as were all dishes.

The venison main was overpowering and unbalanced. It did taste like the forest, but more along the lines of cold mud with the chocolate blood sausage combination. Would have been much better with some sweetness for our tastes.

The food in general lacked powerful flavours which is my preference, but my partner really loved the subtle complexity, so its a matter of personal choice. Go for the freshness of the seafood and beautiful presentation.

We will definitely be back to try the winebar.

May 02, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  8     

Have been for functions and also a large birthday meal. The food is very good italian fare and they have a good choice of italian wine. Some top import beers on tap at the bar also.

Unfortunately, the service was detracting from our night. Bar staff with no idea on how to put through transactions. I can imagine how long it would take a drink when the place is full. Table staff remove drinks with a quarter remaining. The manager is nice though and did make the night special for our friend's birthday.

Apr 25, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  10     

Another great Braza place, although lacking a little authenticity as the fit out is not rustic at all. Have been to all their franchises and this one is on par for the great food, but the service is a little slow at times for drinks here.

Great quality meats and various sides. Winelist is better here than in Leichardt and Newport. Huge choice of beers. A great place for a large group, just don't eat anything all day until you come here! Great value as it is all you can eat. The splayed beef Argentine style in the window sure adds to the bbq ambience!

Mar 26, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  9     

Have been a few times for the seafood buffet mid week. It is great value for $45, all the prawns and oysters you can muster. Also other dishes, salads and desserts are very good. Quality is reasonable for the price. You will get basic bistro oysters, no AA rated ones here. Don't bother with the wine buffet, unless you have no taste! The winelist by the glass is much better and has a few very good drops, including a top Napa Cab Sav. Good service.

Mar 23, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  7     

Our night was great. We had delicious food, excellent wine, friendly and efficient service. Perhaps, its because we came early to get a table. If you arrive at a reasonable time it would be a long wait for a table as they don't take bookings.

Tasty piquant marinated eggplant, great pork buns, quail egg with mini muffin was interesting, the special pork main with cream corn was excellent! All washed down with a top rioja tempranillo which was ready to drink being a 2001. Good to see cellared wines on the list. The banana split dessert is not what you would expect. No peeled banana atop icecream here. Its deconstructed delicious with a good mix of bitterness and sweetness, soft and crunchy textures. Excellent sweet sherry to match.

There are few tables for two with most seating communal which is Ok. Only downside was our table for two was near the wall where the air conditioning was drafty and freezing.

Mar 11, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Excellent service. Welcoming and attentive. Good suggestions and high level of knowledge from the sommelier was appreciated. Met our expectations for this top restaurant. The fit out is a beautiful understated space.

We had the a la carte menu. Generally the various seafood dishes had very subtle complex flavour which matched well with the crisp wine recommended. The lamb main was perfect, beautifully presented as were all dishes.

The venison main was overpowering and unbalanced. It did taste like the forest, but more along the lines of cold mud with the chocolate blood sausage combination. Would have been much better with some sweetness for our tastes.

The food in general lacked powerful flavours which is my preference, but my partner really loved the subtle complexity, so its a matter of personal choice. Go for the freshness of the seafood and beautiful presentation.

We will definitely be back to try the winebar.

May 02, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  8     

Have been for functions and also a large birthday meal. The food is very good italian fare and they have a good choice of italian wine. Some top import beers on tap at the bar also.

Unfortunately, the service was detracting from our night. Bar staff with no idea on how to put through transactions. I can imagine how long it would take a drink when the place is full. Table staff remove drinks with a quarter remaining. The manager is nice though and did make the night special for our friend's birthday.

Apr 25, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  10     

Another great Braza place, although lacking a little authenticity as the fit out is not rustic at all. Have been to all their franchises and this one is on par for the great food, but the service is a little slow at times for drinks here.

Great quality meats and various sides. Winelist is better here than in Leichardt and Newport. Huge choice of beers. A great place for a large group, just don't eat anything all day until you come here! Great value as it is all you can eat. The splayed beef Argentine style in the window sure adds to the bbq ambience!

Mar 26, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  9     

Have been a few times for the seafood buffet mid week. It is great value for $45, all the prawns and oysters you can muster. Also other dishes, salads and desserts are very good. Quality is reasonable for the price. You will get basic bistro oysters, no AA rated ones here. Don't bother with the wine buffet, unless you have no taste! The winelist by the glass is much better and has a few very good drops, including a top Napa Cab Sav. Good service.

Mar 23, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  7     

Our night was great. We had delicious food, excellent wine, friendly and efficient service. Perhaps, its because we came early to get a table. If you arrive at a reasonable time it would be a long wait for a table as they don't take bookings.

Tasty piquant marinated eggplant, great pork buns, quail egg with mini muffin was interesting, the special pork main with cream corn was excellent! All washed down with a top rioja tempranillo which was ready to drink being a 2001. Good to see cellared wines on the list. The banana split dessert is not what you would expect. No peeled banana atop icecream here. Its deconstructed delicious with a good mix of bitterness and sweetness, soft and crunchy textures. Excellent sweet sherry to match.

There are few tables for two with most seating communal which is Ok. Only downside was our table for two was near the wall where the air conditioning was drafty and freezing.

Mar 11, 2012

5.8 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  7     

Very good traditional italian food here and good value. Good wine list also. Pizza's were great! Let down by the inattentive service.

Somewhat uncomfortable seating, with waiters constantly smashing into our backs as they served the large group next to us. Also very poor start when seated without menus or water. We had to wait and wait. Unacceptable. Its the waiting game that was all wrong. Again, waiting and waiting for our bill. During the meal, the service was friendly enough.

Mar 04, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  10      Drinks  7      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  8     

Have been here for drinks and also a function. The brasserie set menu chefs table was excellent. Great variety and plenty of food for our large group. Everyone had a great time.

Started with oysters, ravioli with goats cheese, then salmon on risotto, great slow cooked lamb hot plate, slow cooked beef with gnocchi, a nice duck dish also, plenty of sides and salads. There were even three different desserts! The service did well with the food all night, checking on how we were going and even offered to bring more mains if we didn't have enough.

The outdoor deck is a nice space although doesn't have much of a view. The main bar fit out is a step up from your local bar or club, but not even close to the Ivy or even the old Argyle. We had our function in the room next to the outdoor area which needs consideration to the lighting at night. It was dark but there was some strange spotlight from the adjacent property. We had to ask for extra lighting just to see our food.

Feb 19, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  10     

Make sure you book in advance as this place is packed Sat nights. Its no wonder because of the great food and excellent value.

Great home-style Italian food! Everything we had was tasty and if you can finish more than 3 courses, then good luck to you! The zucchini flowers with 4 cheese filling were delicious. Figs with gorgonzola sauce yumo! A variety of the veal dishes were perfect. Great steaks and gnocchi. Pannacotta was good, but the gelato and strawberry desserts were much better. Coffee was Ok.

Mains come with side veggies which you don't have to pay extra for, a first in Sydney! Byo wine is good too, making this place exceptional value.

Only negative was it took forever to get our bill. Otherwise, service was welcoming, friendly and attentive throughout. The place has a unique ambience with chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling. Can't believe we hadn't been here before. Have driven past a million times as its just off the city west link. We'll be back!

Feb 07, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

Nice selection of cakes here. Portuguese tart is spot on. Decent coffee. Popular with the locals on a Sat morning.

Jan 30, 2012

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  9     

Coming here you feel like you could be in Spain or Portugal. Don't let the Brasilian guitarist fool you though. There is live music most nights which is great and adds atmosphere that is lacking in most Spanish places around town.

The seafood paella has very good home made flavour, although lacking saffron. The seafood is generous for two people. Many prawns, half a small crab, mussels, calamari all come with chicken and chorizo. Takes 45mins to prepare, so ready yourself with a few tapas. Better to come with a group to share a few plates.

Friendly service and reasonably priced for the rocks tourist area. The wine list is pretty ordinary though and could be improved with better Aussie, Spanish and Portugese selections.

Jan 23, 2012