Italian & Sons - Vino e Cucina

This post is long overdue! It was meant to be up sometime in December after we went to the Italian & Sons (7 Lonsdale Street, Braddon (02) 6162 4888) for a Christmas Dinner (for work). We decided to go there after finding out that Italian & Sons was awarded one hat by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011.

There are two services in one day, one at six o'clock and the other one at eight - we booked the six o' clock one because we couldn't wait until eight to have dinner. Italian & Sons has a fairly small entrance and its name plaque is not in an obvious place, so make sure you look out for the number 7 sign!

We started off by ordering some drinks, a Lemon Lime Bitters for myself, and some Wood-baked Focaccia with rosemary and sea salt to share. The focaccia was nice and soft, very fragrant too. Good way to start the meal.

We had a bit of chat before our entrees started coming. I ordered the Kingfish 'crudo' with pink peppercorns and baby herbs; the thinly sliced kingfish was fresh and nicely drizzled with a light lemon-y dressing. I quite enjoyed this entree, i have to say. Other entrees ordered included the 'Fiore di zucca' ripiene filled with ricotta, thyme & zucchini (stuffed zucchini flower), Pea, mint & buffalo mozzarella 'suppli' risotto balls and Chilli & garlic Yamba prawns & eggplant caponata.

I wasn't particularly impressed with these entrees. The zucchini flower was poorly presented (solely with a lemon wedge) and so was the risotto balls. The risotto balls tasted a bit bland and crumbed very easily. The Yamba prawns dish was probably the best presented out of the three, but it was rather salty.

Not long after we finished the desserts, we were asked to pay the bill and leave. That didn't leave a good impression of the restaurant and some of the girls thought it was rather rude. I understand that they are trying to accomodate for both services, but they could have been a little nicer about it. Overall, the food was average and not sure if it lives up to the one hat it was given. I don't know if the reviewers are more lenient towards 'regional' restaurants because in Sydney, a one-hatted restaurant certainly does a better job than this - especially on the presentation side.