Such a pleasant surprise! Cute little restaurant which is absolutely packed on a friday night with city workers. Service was a little slow but the food was delicious - we ordered the calamari to share as a starter and then I had the octopus with kale, pinenuts, olives and mint for main. Honestly some of the best octopus i've ever eaten.

The Lemon Tree is conveniently located right under Australia Square, smack in the city centre. As a matter of fact it is walking distance from Wynyard station and I had the opportunity to check it out over two visits. I like the look of the little restaurant, it had an alfresco feel to it and certainly reminded me of the southern part of Italy. Which is exactly what was intended. The cuisine is intended to reflect the southern part of Italy and the decor of white chairs, tables and an open air atmosphere certainly does add to the vibe. On my first visit it was lunch time and we arrived just after noon and managed to grab a table at the bar side, i.e. high chairs with a high table. The menu is quite limited and kept deliberately simple. There is the Bar section with dishes such as Rock Oysters, and Sicilian Olives. Primi Plati which is pasta dishes, Contorni (side dishes) such as salads and fries. And obviously there is Dolci for desserts. For lunch we had: Spaghetti E Vongole - this was my dish and I liked the light touch of olive oil, parsley, and fresh chilli to the al dente pasta. The Vongole was nicely cooked but the meat from the clams was a little small for my liking. Lasagne Di Carne - this was a tasty dish, it reminded me of a home cooked lasagne. It was not overly robust but definitely tasty. For dessert we couldn't resist the Lemon Tart. It was sublimely rich in the lemon flavour, tangy yet sweet and super smooth. Delicious! Sorry about the quality of the photo, it got cloudy and I wasn't lucky with my timing of the photo. My second visit was at dinner time and the bar on the other side of the restaurant was full to the brim with drinkers and after hours workers socialising. As a result it was rather noisy and difficult to hear each other. We decided to have a few small plates to share to save room for dessert. Salame - this was quite thickly cut and served with a side of rocket leaves. I would have liked it to be more thinly sliced but that is a personal