La Casa Ristorante: Sicilian, Russell Lea (31 Mar 2012)

271 Lyons Road, Russell Lea NSW 2046

http://www.lacasaristorante.com.au

Sicilian hospitality with a smile

Thanks to Angie for organising a catch up dinner at La Casa Ristorante with Richard and Bel. Upon arrival I was greeted by Carmel Ruggeri who I'd previously met at a Media 140 event. She'd prewarned me on twitter 'I save my cement mix for the special people who comment on my aioli' after I commented on the 'interesting' aioli presentation I saw on the Jenius review. Thankfully we didn't order the calamari this time as I wasn't up for a swim. The Our Mamma’s original style meatballs ($15) was recommended as a house speciality and indeed they had good flavour and were moist as hoped. Mamma sure knows how to make a good meatball. It was served with wood fired bread which was fresh and soft although I was somehow expecting it to be a bit more crusty. We also shared a simple Bufala pizza ($20) of tomato, buffalo mozzarella & basil. The dough was particularly light and tasty being a 5 day dough making it also very digestible. The cheese wasn't as stringy as I was expecting and a few more basil leaves would have been appreciated to allow each slice to get one. Chilli oil was provided on the side for extra flavour kick. Next time I'd love to try their Garlic pizza ($9) which I spotted smelling so good from the kitchen.

For mains my Linguine with prawns, crab, diced tomatoes, garlic, oil & chilli ($23) unfortunately first arrived without the crab which Richard and I questioned about half way through our dishes. Carmel checked and confirmed the important ingredient was accidently missing and kindly prepared another one for us after she knuckle busted the chef for forgetting it — seriously, these guys are food bloggers we're serving, you can't stuff this sh*t up — I believe she possibly uttered to the chef, possibly not. Having the crab made the dish so much better along with the decent sized prawns. I like how the sauce wasn't too oily and I would have been happy with even more garlic and chilli in the dish for some extra depth of flavour. The Carnaroli rice with seaweed & grilled freshwater scampi ($25) had a decent sized scampi with the bonus of a prawn and mussel and the seaweed crunch and flavour worked well in the risotto. Both the Atlantic Salmon ($29) and Wagyu Beef Cheeks ($36) looked good and I believe were well-liked.

For dessert Carmel kindly gave us some Cannoli Siciliani ($11, compliments of the kitchen) to try which were home made filled with ricotta. They were pretty big in size and I was hoping for some candied fruit in the mix like I've had at Bacco Pasticceria but apparently the locals aren't so keen on that version which is a shame. The Tiramisu ($13) was served in a glass and I enjoyed the flavours and noticeable alcohol. I personally tend to prefer tiramisu when it's cut from a larger cake and presented on a plate for some reason — I'm weird, I know. The Affogato con liquore ($14) was served with hazelnut gelato from Pure Gelato and amaretto. Great to see a decent amount of gelato used and coffee was pretty smooth. It's a restaurant I look forward to returning to try other dishes on the menu. As a bonus treat Angie made Salted Caramel and Jaffa macarons for everyone plus Richard shared his homemade sourdough bread achievement — Le Très Bon.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Buzzing atmosphere, Family friendly service, Lots of seating including outdoors and upstairs, Prices seem reasonable for the quality and taste, Decent sized portions, Cosy decor, Plenty of street parking

CONS: Didn't order the garlic pizza, Bufala pizza could do with more basil leaves so each slice gets one, I wanted the candied fruit in the cannoli, No BYO

WORTH TRYING: Meatballs, Linguine with prawns & crab

NEXT TIME: Garlic pizza, Garlic prawns, Ribs, Crispy fried calamari if I dare

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Aperol Sunrise: Aperol, Cointreau, Prosecco, Orange ($12) — no shortage of alcohol in this one to kick start the night

2009 Capital Wines ‘The Foreign Minister’ Sangiovese, ACT ($39)

Our Mamma’s original style meatballs served with wood fired bread ($15)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Bufala: Tomato, buffalo mozzarella & basil ($20)

Chilli oil for an extra kick

Garlic pizza ($9) — we didn't order but I'm definitely trying next time

Linguine with prawns, crab, diced tomatoes, garlic, oil & chilli ($23)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Carnaroli rice with seaweed & grilled freshwater scampi ($25)

Atlantic Salmon on a bed of parsnip puree & venere black rice ($29)

Wagyu Beef Cheeks slow cooked in red wine jus with spinach & potato puree ($36)

Cannoli Siciliani: Home made tube shaped shells filled with ricotta ($11, compliments of the kitchen)

Tiramisu: Layers of savoiardi buscuits soaked in coffee, layered in mascarpone ($13)

Affogato con liquore: Affogato with hazelnut gelato, liquor & espresso coffee ($14)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Limoncello hospitality drink

Tony & Carmel Ruggeri

Chef Paulo

Pizza chefs working the wood-fired oven

Angie's macarons — Salted Caramel and Jaffa

Richard Elliot's homemade sourdough sample

Seating

Bar area

La Casa car

Interesting rustic wash basin although I reckon a shelf for the toilet rolls might be a worthy addition perhaps

Table supports not too bad for foot room but could still be better position for my preference

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Firefly: Jump On It Deluxe Banquet Deal, Walsh Bay (4 April 2011)

On the promenade, Pier 7, 17 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay NSW 2000
http://www.fireflybar.com.au

A banquet without dessert

Restaurant group buying daily deals seem to be all the rage these days from websites like Jump On It, Spreets, Cudo and Ouffer to name just a few, if you can sift through the abundance of skin beauty deals. I’ve recently discovered All The Deals which consolidates many of the offers to just one email subscription a day which might help simplify your inbox. The Firefly deal for 2 was worth $137 including a bottle of wine for just $59 and ended up having an impressive 2601 customers jumping on it which I’m sure kept the kitchen busy over the offer time. I thought it was a good chance to try a number of the restaurants more popular dishes.

Due to popularity of the venue there were two sitting times which thankfully seemed to give ample time to enjoy the banquet without feeling too rushed since service was quite efficient. The 2009 Invivo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NSW ($49) was one I’d probably pick anyway from the menu list which was nicely quaffable. The Deluxe Banquet Menu ($44) included 8 preselected savoury dishes but unfortunately no sign of a dessert dish. Due to the lack of availability of the Spanish Anchovy Bruschetta it was substituted for a Goats cheese tarts with fig, honey and hazelnuts although I think I would have preferred the former. The Salad of shaved beetroot, goats curd, pine nuts & caramelised garlic crouton had some nice flavours but wasn’t a particularly easy dish to share, especially when trying to work out what to do with the lettuce. Perhaps presenting it as a bruschetta canape would have been more to my liking. Sharing the Yoghurt flatbreads, mushroom & barley ragout was equally a little haphazard but flavours were nice.

The Calamari fritti with fresh lemon and herbs was cooked with a nice crisp and perhaps could have benefitted from some aioli on the side. I liked the interesting combination of the Haloumi with watermelon, mint & almond which I'd probably have again. Bite sized Lamb and pork meatballs came in a flavoursome sauce that I wished I could have soaked up with some bread. A simply presented Pino's organic sweet pork chorizo came with a Romesco sauce that I was expecting to be a bit more robust in flavour and the chorizo to be grilled with more of a smokey char. Baked prawns with smoked tomato & chilli relish were served in their shells so a few messy fingers were to be had. Nice sauce but I generally prefer prawns to be peeled unless their crispy school prawns like from District Dining. Since no dessert was included I was tempted by the nicely presented Raspberry & choc mille fieulle ($15). Good combination of flavours although not the easiest dish to eat with any elegance due to the resistance of perfectly crisp pastry.

Other visits to Firefly:
• 6 April 2011 - Jump On It Deluxe Banquet menu
• 31 July 2010 - Panna Cotta

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Intimate and romantic, Nice ambience and music setting, Water views, Friendly service

CONS: Limited seating, Wine could be considered expensive, No free street parking, A little bit off the beaten track to get to, Toilets are located about 50 metres away

MUST TRY: Raspberry & choc mille fieulle

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Salad of shaved beetroot, goats curd, pine nuts & caramelised garlic crouton

Yoghurt flatbreads, mushroom & barley ragout

Calamari fritti with fresh lemon and herbs

Haloumi with watermelon, mint & almond

Goats cheese tarts with fig, honey and hazelnuts

Lamb and pork meatballs

Pino's organic sweet pork chorizo with Romesco sauce

Baked prawns with smoked tomato & chilli relish

Raspberry & choc mille fieulle ($15)

WORTH TRYING :-)

2009 Invivo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NSW ($49)

Deluxe Banquet Menu ($44/person)

Next to the water

Water view and boats

Seating above and below

Table support is in the way of a comfortable feet position for me

Toilet key holder

The toilet is located about 50 metres away

Outside

On the waters edge


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