Thursday Lang
In its glorious past, Fratelli Fresh was an exciting creative eating space with Italian influences in Waterloo. I was away for 10 years and returned to find that it had settled down and become a generally competent restaurant chain with safe crowd-pleasing choices.
I was a little worried when a number of reviews mentioned rude staff. But the team turned out to be warm and friendly, checking in on us throughout dinner with plenty of eye contact and smiles. The general energy was relaxed yet efficient, despite it being full house. And yes, there were many steps.
We had the set menu and the best thing in it was the antipasti - delicately-battered zucchini flowers, steamy and fragrant arancini, bruschetta with well-seasoned prettily diced tomatoes, fresh cured meats and olives, fresh basil leaves and a delicious semi-dried tomato that paired nicely with a small hunk of milky mozzarella.
The pasta was ok (note to self: do not order things with mushroom and ricotta filling because they are invariably blended (and blanded) together, and end up tasting neither of mushroom nor ricotta and the worst of both). We were surprised when the mushroom ravioli on the menu arrived at the table as tortellini without explanation, and we had to dig around for prawns in the prawn and pesto tagliatelle because they were rather few and far between. Both pasta were over-salted. We ended up drinking glasses of water during the meal and after we got home.
Dessert made me yearn for the original banoffee pie from the Waterloo days, now reduced to a ghost of its former wondrous self. It looks similar but the old subtle balance of flavours are gone. I could have stayed home, opened a tin of supermarket caramel sauce and dunk bananas into it with some whipped cream.
Ibrahim Shahatit
Great Italian place in the CBD. They accommodated us on a busy Saturday evening without a booking. The food was delicious and fresh, specifically the beef carpaccio and the antipasto. I was surprised to see lobster in various special dishes on the menu, so I tried the Lobster Spaghetti, wow what a dish, full of authentic Italian flavours, and the lobster was so tender and yummy. The drinks were good as well, the Aperol Spritz was done the proper way. We had a small issue with a dish due to an old menu that was given to us, the manager came in and handled the matter professionally, and double checked that we were fine when I asked for the bill later.
Will go there again to try the rest of the Lobster items.
B Y
Great service, atmosphere and food. Pizza's are freshly made by the wood fired oven. Tiramisu and banoffee are always a favourite. Pastas were served fresh. For big eaters it is recommended to have a main and pizza to share
Angus Lui
Friendly staff members and nice atmosphere. Had the set menu and the food was tasty and good value for money (particularly with Dimmi). It was packed even on a Tuesday night. Would come back to give the normal menu a go.
Unfortunately they didn’t have any moscato left and we noticed they served another table dessert before us even though we finished mains well before them.
Matthew Shanahan (Matt)
Great underground venue.
Service and food were great. Happily sped up our food when we told them that we were short of time.
A bit noisy for a one-on-one conversation, but that also means a bit of atmosphere.
Definitely returning.
Coco Vasquez
Fratelli fresh was disappointing. It's very overpriced for what you get, the pasta was so dry because they put so much parmesan cheese and bread crumbs on it. Very small portions. The ravioli was only 6 pieces. The mains are tiny. There is absolutely no reception which is frustrating.
Dylan Redding
Smells stale, service all but a few gems have no idea, pretty sure the air con bit the dust. Food still decent but a far cry from 9 months ago. Was previously a 4 star, now lacking.
Shailla Quadra
Simply lovely! Chilled vibe, nice music, cozy lights, great service, and best of all: yummy! Let's not forget, one of the best happy hours around Sydney CBD!
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