Alberto: Italian, Sydney (14 Dec 2018)

17-19 Alberta St, Sydney NSW 2000
http://albertoslounge.com/
https://www.instagram.com/albertoslounge/

New neighbourhood Italian

First impressions of the restaurant life is nice and cosy supported with good service. Generally love a good martini and the Gibson Martini ($22) using Beefeater London Dry Gin is nicely made with 2 tasty pops of pickled onion although I'd love for 3 considering the price. Drink coasters are noticeably cool with some lovely art. Bucatini all'Amatriciana ($26) is a very tasty dish and what it lacks in size it certainly makes up in flavour. There's a pleasant chilli hum and crispy jewels of fried guanciale pork jowl that are very welcomed. This house made pasta dish is purposely sized as an entree so you can enjoy ordering more so best not to count on this dish alone filling you up. Chocolate Cannoli ($8) has a nice thin crisp texture as hoped matched with good flavour. Apparently they're very proud of their house made gelato as well and I was very tempted by the panna cotta as well.

Matteo Downtown: Italian, CBD Sydney (5 Nov 2018)

20 Bond St, Sydney NSW 2000
http://matteosydney.com/
https://www.instagram.com/matteosydney/

A slice of Italy downtown

My first impressions of Matteo Downtown are good. Nice decor and space with high ceiling and lofty light filled casual bar area matched with friendly professional service. Freshly shucked Sydney Rock Oysters ($24 for 6) are thankfully shucked to order as hoped with nice brine and flavour. A wedge of lemon and a small spoon are the only things I can think of that could make it better. Hard to resist the Diavola pizza with san marzano tomato, fior di latte, spicy salami, basil, evoo ($23). There's a good amount of chilli kick in the salami that continues to intensify with each bite so I didn't really need the chilli oil I'd requested. It had a soft base with a wet centre that calls upon a bit of knife and fork action to eat. Menu describes pizzas as naturally risen for 48 hours with lievito madre. I couldn't quite finish all the crust as it was still quite filling. I spy $15 cocktails come with complimentary snacks at their aperitivo hour (Mon-Fri 4-6pm) which sounds like a good deal to check out next.