Category: Italian

Pizza and Pasta, Mario and Luigi, AC and Inter Milan

Lucio Pizzeria

Review:

The first time we went to Lucio Pizzeria was because we asked a simple question to an Italian: Beside your home-cooking, which Pizzeria was closest to the ‘real deal’? The answer was quick and certain: Lucio Pizzeria. It is located on a nice side street in the buzzing suburb of Darlinghurst.

Entree

The best value for your money would be the antipasto misto (mixed appetisers), for $26 you got a whole range of stuff, including prosciutto, arancini, grilled eggplant, and olives. For big eaters like me, I strongly suggest this!

If the antipasto misto sounds a bit too much for you, maybe you can try its Fig and prosciutto, Zucchini or Calamari Fritti ($19). However, the portions were rather small.

Main Course

The unique thing about Lucio Pizzeria is that they only serve pizze (or its variation) for the main course. We have managed to order several of them (Siciliana, Fume, Tartufata, Bufalina) and agreed that the base was the best part of the pizza. It was crunchy and chewy at the same time!

The only other main course is calzone, which looked kinda like a folded pizza. I felt that the calzone had more fillings/toppings than the pizza.

Dessert

If you still can’t get enough of the pizza, feel free to order their Nutella Pizza for dessert. It was created using the same pizza dough as the main course, with nutella topping. If you like Nutella, then this is the dessert for you.

Alternatively, I suggest you to try their Affogato. They gave quite a generous serving of ice cream (two scoops) and a strong shot of espresso. The ice cream was pretty smooth and the extra touch of frangelico is always welcomed!

The final verdict for Lucio Pizzeria

Lucio Pizzeria is currently our favourite pizzeria in Sydney. There was a different feel to the pizza base than any other pizza joints! Granted that you might not be getting a big range of toppings, but that’s what pizze are in Italy!

Did you know?

Lucio Pizzeria does not accept bookings, so I suggest you to come to the restaurant early.

Also, being an Authentic Italian Pizza, they don’t do fancy toppings. So you wouldn’t be seeing something like cheesy burst crust with lobster toppings!

Rating:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $25 per pizza

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

248 Palmer St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 9332 3766

http://www.luciopizzeria.com.au/

Apr 30, 2014
Maranellos

Rating:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 / 10

Price: $12 – $16 lunch

Place: 7 / 10

Review for lunch menu:

There are a few Italian restaurants, pizzeria to be exact, in Maroubra Junction. Maranellos was the clear winner from the restaurant location’s perspective since this pizza restaurant is located right at the piazza of Pacific Square shopping centre.

On this occasion, we went to Maranellos for a quick lunch. The lunch menu is divided into three categories, easily named Menu A, B, and C (each with around six dishes to choose form), that has a flat value of $12, $14, and $16 respectively.

It is only obvious that we have to try the pizza on a pizzeria. Our choice fell to Pescatore pizza ($14) with toppings of mixed seafood, fresh garlic and parsley. The pizza was quite good and had the right crunch to it.

We were quite intrigue with the name and description of the next dish, Vitello Funghi ($14) – pan seared veal with button mushrooms and parsley in a white wine sauce. I felt that the dish was pretty sour with quite a strong lemon taste and the potatoes were super hot. I actually liked how the veal was cooked as it still has that tender and juicy taste to it.

Lastly, we also ordered Spaghetti Bolognese from the kid’s menu ($10). Personally, I am not a big fan of Spaghetti bolognese, especially the classic tomato and minced beef one. However, I think that the bolognese sauce tasted just like a regular bolognese sauce.

The final verdict for Maranellos

Maranellos offered a great value for a lunch menu. However, there is really nothing sparkly about the dishes.

Did you know?

We have also tried eating in Maranellos for dinner. However, you pretty much get the same thing for around twice the price.

Details:

51/737 Anzac Parade Maroubra

02 8347 0733

http://maranellos.com.au/

Apr 1, 2014
Cafe Mix

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 / 10

Price: $75 buffet dinner

Place: 7.5 / 10

Review:

Prior to this review, I’ve been to Cafe Mix at Shangri-La Hotel a couple of times before for both its buffet and a la carte dinner. However, we decided to write on their buffet dinner. Available only on weekends, they have a buffet dinner called Spectacular Seafood Buffet at Cafe Mix Shangri-La, a big and catchy name for sure. So, how was it?

The buffet was divided into four sections with the first one strategically located just after the entrance. It was a crepe station with a fondue fountain filled with loads of goodies: strawberries, churros, marshmallow, and lollies. It would definitely grab instant attention for kids and adults alike.

The second one was its centrepiece: seafood buffet bar. There were a lot of chilled seafood dishes, like Balmain bugs, crabs, oysters and prawns. There was also whole poached salmon. Squid, octopus, scallops, and white baits were made into different kinds of salad. There was also a selection of salads for vegetarians. There were two Japanese dishes (sushi plates and miso soup) fitted awkwardly next to the seafood buffet. I didn’t like the sushi and didn’t even try the soup.

The third section comprises of a mixture of hot dishes, mostly of Asian influence, like roasted pork belly, BBQ pork, and noodles. There were also some European dishes, including Arancini mushrooms, carbonara pasta and mussels in white wine. At the other end of the table, there were several Indian dishes, like Mango Chicken and basmati rice with pappadums (love the pappadums!). However, I skipped most of them (including some vegetable dishes I didn’t bother to check) to reserve my tummy space for its dessert.

Lastly, we have the dessert section. As I am a big fan of macarons, my eyes were fixated on them. They still couldn’t beat Baroque’s in terms of taste, but were more than okay for ‘free’ ones! I am also a big fan of crème brûlée, but I could only taste my wife’s crème brûlée as they weren’t available when I tried to get it! Other notable desserts include: apple crumble, some chocolate desserts, meringue and jelly.There was also a selection of cheese if you fancy them.

The final verdict for Cafe Mix at Shangri-La

There was definitely abundance of choices when you dined at Cafe Mix. However, these dishes were simply too ordinary for the listed price. I did hog on the Balmain bugs as they were pretty uncommon and quite similar to lobster.

Details:

Level 1, Shangri-La Hotel

176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000

02 9250 6000

http://www.shangri-la.com/sydney/shangrila/dining/restaurants/cafe-mix/

Jan 20, 2014
Dome Coffees

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <$15 main course

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

We started off our Indonesian food journey with a stop on Dome coffees. I know this is not strictly Indonesian food – as a matter of fact it’s actually a franchise from Australia. However, Dome coffees in Galaxy Mall presented a unique experience of café with truly edible choices of food (i.e. it’s not just sandwiches and cakes!).

Espreski is Dome’s signature drink. Indonesian-version of espreski is quite different. It is still a blend of espresso, ice cream and crushed ice, but it has different flavours. The most interesting one is Avocado Espreski. The combination of Indonesian avocado and Espreski was truly out of this world. It’s a shame that their Latte(s) are not the normal style (with the coffee on top).

Zuppa soup is probably the most ordered dish in this restaurant. Its massive size (for a soup) and round pastry top should be enough to entice onlookers. You can choose to enjoy the soup and pastry separately or mix the pastry together. I suggest you do the latter one. The combination created reduction for the soup and enhanced the pastry’s taste. Zuppa soup is one of the few soups that I would order in a restaurant (without being given to me freely as a package).

For light snacks, our choice would be the Deep Fried Mushroom since it was crispy and soft with a side of mayonnaise. I don’t really recommend the Cheese Sticks. They were pretty average and didn’t go together with the sauce.

Our first main dish was Peking Duck Pizza, although I’m pretty sure the term ‘Peking’ is used loosely here. It was a pretty unusual topping for pizza, but (upon searching in the all-knowing Google) there were quite a few restaurants serving this dish. Although it looked quite pale, the base was actually quite thin and was supported by additional crispy topping. They also put hoi sin sauce for the topping to enhance and complement the duck flavour (a no-brainer really given the strong taste of duck).

Cordon Bleu has always been one of my favourite dishes, I’d order when there is one. This one was an okay one. It was slightly small, but it has a nice mushroom sauce and crispy coating. The better main dish of the night was John Dory Fish. The fish was surprisingly fresh, considering this is a ‘plaza restaurant’. Then there was the sauce, lemon and capers. It further refreshed the overall taste of the dish.

The final verdict for Dome Coffees

There’s an overall standard to its quality at Dome Coffees. Being a coffee shop, their drinks were fabulous and everything on their Espreski line was nice. Most people ordered Zuppa Soup to accompany their drinks and I think that made the perfect combo.

Did you know?

Dome Coffees Galaxy is (supposed to be) part of an Australian café chain. However, when I looked at the website, ALL of the Indonesian cafes are not listed there. Furthermore,none of the menu listed on the website resembles the menu on these Indonesian ‘branches’, not even its signature drink – Espreski. The only activity I can get from Dome Indonesia is through its twitter @DOME_cafe

This Dome Coffees café also offered free WiFi for its patrons. This service seemed to be the standards for café business in Indonesia these days.

Details:

Galaxy Mall II, 2^nd Floor, No 249 & 296, Surabaya 14240

http://www.domecoffees.com.au/

Dec 17, 2011
Charing Cross Pizza

Rating:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6/10

Price: $31.5 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

When I first got invited to Charing Cross Pizza, my initial reaction was ‘Isn’t that a small pizza joint (that doesn’t even have a place to sit)?’ I drive past the place every day and that’s what I am seeing. Apparently, I was wrong. There was a bigger room right next to it with a complete set of table service. It’s a decent-sized Italian restaurant.

We ordered Herb and Garlic Bread and Calamari Rings for entrée. Since there were only 2 slices per portion, we decided to get 2 for the 4 of us. However, it ended up being 2 massive slices of bread. It was really yummy and crunchy so I didn’t really mind. The calamari was even better. They gave us 2 condiments, Aioli and Tartar, for the rings. The Aioli was very salty but tartar was excellent. It was the perfect sauce for the Calamari Rings.

Our next dish was King Prawns Avocado Pizza. The toppings were actually yummy but the base was too thick (later on, the waiter told me that we could order a thin pizza even if it’s not on the menu). Then, there was Steak Dianne. I like the simple presentation of the steak and the beef looked mouth-watery. When I tasted the sauce, it was really nice. The steak itself wasn’t as nice when I tasted.It was dry and hard – imagine if I ordered more than medium rare. It also came with a bowl of salad.

Lastly, it was the pasta. We ordered Fettuccini Boscaiola and Gnocchi Melanezze. The best trait of these pastas was the price, $12.50! They also came in a big pasta plate, so nothing can go wrong. Boscaiola was very creamy with lots of toppings. For the Gnocchi Melanezze, I thought it was okay, although we could do with a little bit more cooking time for the Gnocchi to soften them up. It was also a bit salty.

The final verdict for Charing Cross Pizza:

We were really surprised to learn that the pasta was mostly $12.50 a dish – and the dish was massive! We also thought that the calamari rings had a very nice tartar sauce, although the aioli was pretty salty. The pizza was too thick (although the waiter told us we could’ve ordered the thin one and it wasn’t on the menu) to my taste. We love the steak’s Dianne sauce, but unfortunately not the steak.

Did you know?

Charing Cross is located on the suburb of Waverley. It’s one of the smaller, and mostly residential, suburbs in Sydney.

Details:

268 Bronte Road, Waverley, NSW 2024

02 9389 7126

http://www.charingcrosspizzeria.com.au/

Sep 2, 2011
Bondi Pizza Bar and Grill

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $24 per pizza

Place: 8/10

Review:

At first, we didn’t have much confidence for this place since some restaurants have resided here and none succeed. However, there was a beacon of hope when I saw that the restaurants were actually almost full of patrons. As an added bonus, we happened to know the waitress, thus she took care of us beautifully. The restaurant itself was quite family-friendly and spacious.

Without further ado, our first dish of the day was Trio of Dips (Hommus, Eggplants Salsa, and Beetroot). Everyone loved the bread. It was in nice cuts, slightly crunchy. I personally liked the beetroot between the three dips. Shortly after, our second dish arrived, Stuffed Grilled Mushrooms. It was stuffed with Goat cheese and coated with parmesan and balsamic glaze. The issue with this dish was, there was only ONE mushroom. Other than that, the combination of flavours was really nice on this one.

Our salad for the day was Rocket, Pear & Parmesan Salad. Although I’m not a big salad fans, rocket is one of the few vegetables I consider nice. The combination of the three was refreshingly nice. Chilli Prawn Linguini was the only ‘average’ dish of the night. There was hardly anything to remember on the dish.

For the pizzas, we ordered Grilled Atlantic Salmon and Chargrilled Eye Fillet Steak. I assure you, this is not your average Domino’s Pizza. The pizza base was nice and there was an abundance of toppings. I like the steak one better because of the nicely grilled red meat.

Since we enjoyed a decent dinner, we decided to sit around a little longer for the desserts. For the first one, we aimed high and ordered Warm Belgian Waffles, knowing that across the restaurant was chocolate place famous for its waffles. It looked pretty appetising, but the waffle just fell short of my liking. The chocolate was quite good tho. The second one was Our Famous Chocolate Brownie Oven-baked Swirls (or Mini Swirls). It came in three flavours, but we chose banana swirls. It came with vanilla ice cream and melted chocolate. These bite-sized swirls were the best dish of the night.

The final verdict: Except for the pasta, everything else seemed to be alright. The restaurant was reasonably priced – considering it’s in one of the nicest malls in Sydney. I also recommend you to try the mini swirls.

Did you know?

Up till now, I’ve written four out of the five restaurants located on this floor at Westfield Bondi Junction.

Location:

Shop 6009 Level 6, Westfield Centre, Bondi Junction, NSW 2022

Website:

www.bondipizza.com.au

Jul 19, 2011