BAR REGGIO - DARLINGHURST, SYDNEY

Bar Reggio135 Crown St
Darlinghurst, Sydney

This is a nice place, quaint almost. It seems fairly low key when you get there but it has charm - especially the outdoor area at the back on a sunny day. The good food and rustic atmosphere transports you to Italy.

We started with the garlic pizza as an entree to share. The hot bubbling cheese was delicious and the subtle garlic flavour was nice too - as these types of pizza's are often overpowering. It had garlic, chilli, oregano and mozzarella on it. It was a decent size and at only $12.00 was very good value.

The fettucine came with chicken, garlic and a cream sauce. I cant remember exactly what it was called as it was from the daily specials board. As with everything here it was a decent sized serving for a small price. From memory it was around the $14.00 range.

Any pasta and salmon dish is hard to resist so the fettucine salmone was always going to get the nod. It was certainly al dente pasta with a nice sauce of smoked salmon, Napoli sauce and cream. It was a very decent sized serving (as they all were) and the flavours went well together. There was plenty of salmon in it too which was good as the dish was only $16.00

One of our group, D, wanted the cannelloni which was described as came filled with ricotta and spinach, and covered in Napoli, mushroom and cream sauce. Sadly it was sold out but they did offer to serve the ricotta and spinach filled ravioli with the same Napoli, mushroom and cream sauce. Again another huge serving arrived of hot steaming Italian food. It was as good as the rest of the dishes here - which was good.

Its hard to eat Italian and not get a pizza meal - so T did the honours here ordering a tasty margherita pizza that was of course vegetarian. The sizing was again very decent and the hot bubbling mozzarella and napoli sauce looked and smelled great. Judging by how it disappeared it must have tasted great too. At only $11.00 for a small pizza (the large version is only $14.00) it is cheap.

  

The veal scallopini came with a napoli sauce and a good sized serving of vegetables. Its one of their bigger meals and its easy to see why - its a big serving for a big appetite. For a mere $20.00 though its still excellent value.










I have to confess to being a bit of a fan of these pre-prepared Baci desserts. You know what to expect so there are no surprises and its a decent sized serving that tastes pretty good. Its only chocolate and vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate with some hazelnuts but its tasty. Most places charge around $10 for this, however at Bar Reggio its only $5.50. Bargain.

The passionfruit gelato is another similar dessert - passionfruit sorbet covered in chocolate. Its simple but effective and tasty. At only $5.50 again its an absolute bargain.

The baked ricotta cheesecake is described in the menu as a thick layer of ricotta cheese on a sweet pastry base with chocolate curls. Its very tasty an a decent sized serving. It comes with cream or ice cream (or both) and is only $6.00 - where are you going to get a dessert for that price in Sydney?

The homemade tiramisu was described as layers of marscapone cheese and lady fingers soaked in coffee. It was very nice and a huge serving for, again, only $6.00! You can have cream, ice cream or both with it as well.

Bar Reggio has an extensive menu with extremely decent prices. The food is good too and the service is friendly and efficient. Its BYO as well so its a cheap dining experience in the heart of the city.