Friendly, welcoming service, excellent food, generous servings and well presented in a true Italian fashion. The pork with sage and apples was mouth watering and the Ox tail ragu was flavoursome. We enjoyed sharing the panna cotta.
Had the mussels and salami board as entrees - the salami board was massive! Definitely worth the price! Followed with porchetta and barramundi as mains and both were quite flavourful. The pork was quite tough though. Finished off with the mini dessert platter and it was definitely worth getting - loved the pannacotta!
Such a cute italian restaurant in Surry Hills serving delicious pastas and mains. I had the penne with fried eggplant, tomato based sauce and ricotta salata, and it was great! The outdoor terrace area at the back made it a great venue to catch up with friends on a Friday night. Would recommend!
A Guide For Your Appetite
+4
As Italian as it can get
We had Arancini Balls for entree and wow absolutely light and delicious. I've had this entree in the past (at other restaurants) and they've often been heavy and deeply fried. These were very light and pleasant to eat.
For main we had Risotto Marinara and Spaghetti Meat Balls.
Spaghetti was delicious and full of flavour. The most balls were juicy and well cooked
The risotto is the usual meal I have at an Italian restaurant and so I am very picky. Often in a marinara they don't have enough seafood.... this restaurant has plenty which was great. The arborio rice was well cooked and did not contain and crunch rice. The flavour I think it did need some more salt or maybe cooked more in some of the seafood juice. It just very slightly lacked flavour.
The ambiance of this restaurant is terrific and great relaxing vibe. It is great for a romantic dinner or a family dinner. It is a very laid back restaurant.
The waiter we had was very professional, friendly and knew the menu well.
She was able to recommend wine as we asked and explained the dish to us when we had a question.
I would go back again, definitely and next time I will take our friends. It was a great experience and look forward to trying other Italian meals.
Fantastic local.... super friendly staff and the lasagne is amazing. They also do salmon dishes really really well here. The biscotti accompanying the bill are delicious !!!
Good portion and tasty food. The lasagna was really big. Pasta was good too! The lamb one was tender and cooked to perfection. Dessert share plate is a must try!
My partner and I really enjoy coming here for dinner. It's a nice small place with very friendly and attentive staff. The menu is quite small, but hey it's a small restaurant and I guess it helps the chefs pump the food out at a good pace. Also I like that I don't have to hold a large menu and read so many options. As for the food, I've never had a problem from entrees to dessert. It has always come out perfect every time! The only bad thing I can think of is finding parking! We parked somewhere in Redfern and got an Uber to make our booking on a weekend.
The main pasta meals were really big and quite tasty, we had the gnocchi with prawns and the spaghetti and meatballs which were both great. The entrees were interesting and varied, especially the blood sausage. The only problem I had was that the prices were a bit expensive considering this seems more like a casual Italian place. I would recommend, but I'd only go back if there was a dish I absolutely loved.
Great quality food for the price, nice courtyard area in the back and BYO (always a big plus). The seafood in my marina was very fresh and staff were attentive
Great service, delicious entree and incredible pasta and dessert. Only thing is we had porchetta and it was a little dry. Recommend sticking to the pastas. I had the gnocchi with prawns - was delicious! The Nutella semifreddo was the perfect end to a wonderful evening. Highly recommend! :)
Are you hungry?
The portions are for true carb champions.
Gnocchi outer layer is slightly crispy, well juxtaposed with the soft inside.
The Ragu was mildly flavoured, perfect for the size. Pappardelle was appropriately wide, providing relenting resistance to the biggest of molars.
The dessert plate was not so mini.
Several fruitfly friends.
Cool inside, well lit (natural light) at 18:30.
#Essenza
#restaurant
#italian
#pasta
#tiramisu
#pannacota
#pappardelle
#ragu
#gnocchi
Very welcoming neighbourhood gem, hope the running of the light rail will bring even more customers. BEST LASAGNA I've ever had with pork and veal. Loved the gnocchi too.
Very recommend Italian fries, something different. All food is good quality, the Lasagna was very traditional Italian taste, fresh made, the beef inside are not beef mince, use slow cooked beef, very soft and juicy, excellent ! worth to come again.
If it was possible to give 6 stars I would. Sublime food, fantastic service and great wine list. Can see us coming back here every time we are in Sydney. Thank you Essenza. Just perfect. Been a long time since I've left a restaurant feeling just the right kind of full and utterly satisfied. And beyond reasonable to boot. Would have been happy to pay double the price for such great quality food and service.
Absolutely loved it. Everything we ordered was delicious and the service was great. Probably my only complaint would be that the place is small and busy, so it's very noisy during peak. But not much you can do about that and it's definitely not a deal breaker.
Good italian food and friendly staff. Lasagne and arrancini balls were the standout dishes. Dessert sampler is good to share between 3-4.
Hidden Gem. Delicious Italian food, beautiful courtyard, friendly service.
The lasagna was amazing, really elevated a classic dish. Seafood pasta also very fresh and delicious. The patio outside is nice and cozy, very good atmosphere for dinner. A bit noisy with the tram construction but was not a problem for us
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