Four of us dined on a busy Saturday night in February. We started off with a couple of refreshing Peronis and a glass of Prosecco. For starters, we shared the chicken, spinach and mozzarella arancini balls ($13), salt and pepper squid ($10) and a rocket salad ($17). That was all fresh and tasty and a great way to start the meals. For my main course, I choose the spaghetti bolognese with ragu and pecorino cheese ($25). The others all choose fish dishes, including the salmon with a leafy green salad ($33), seafood linguine ($26) and a “cacciucco alla livornese” ($29) which is a seafood medley with toasted bread. My pasta was cooked “al dente” just the way I like it, with a flavoursome meat sauce and sprinkled with tasty cheese. My wife’s salmon was succulent and tasty, well complemented by a serve of nutritious salad. The other dishes also went down well and everyone enjoyed their meals. Portion sizes were generous. For dessert, we shared a gelato ($7) and a cheese cake ($12), they were sweet and creamy; the perfect way to end the evening.
This is a family owned and run restaurant and it shows. The owners have clearly put in a lot of effort into creating a pleasant dining experience. They care about their guests, and the result is a warm and homely place, where you’ll be made to feel welcome the moment you walk in the door. In fact even before you arrive you’ll start to feel the love. If, like us, you’ve made a booking, Jennifer, the owner will give you a courtesy call a few hours prior, to confirm your booking. That was a nice touch, and also saved me the trouble of confirming the booking myself.
And they’re obviously doing something right, because the place is popular with the locals. We had an early 6.30pm booking and we were the first diners, but within an hour or so it was a full house. Despite that, acoustics are good and we were easily able to converse.
The interior has been tastefully decked out in a soothing cream colour scheme, with simple but comfortable wooden furniture, flower pots on the ceiling and some colourful wall posters, to give it a bright and cheery vibe.
Service was polite and attentive, although if I had one suggestion to these folk, it would be to roster an extra staff member on busy nights. Our drinks and starters came out quickly enough, but then followed a rather long and tedious wait of about 30 minutes for the mains. I accept that everything is freshly cooked and that sometimes takes time, and it was, as I mentioned, fairly busy, but still, for me at least, quick service is always a pleasure.
With a generous 50% discount off the food, from TheFork, we paid a reasonable $111 for three drinks, two starters, a salad, four mains and two desserts. That was excellent value for money.
There’s a single unisex toilet at the back. It was clean and well stocked, although the 1980s hand dryer could do with an upgrade.
Via della Spiga is conveniently located next door to the North Sydney train station on Blue Street. Parking in the near vicinity can be a little tricky, although we managed to find something near the Coles on Walker Street where there are no weekend restrictions.
Overall, I liked this little restaurant. It’s a cheerful and friendly place, with a relaxed and casual atmosphere. The food is fresh and tasty, and served in decent portions and the prices are reasonable. Service was tad slow on a busy Sat night, but despite that, this place is worth a return visit.
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