Casa Ristorante Italiano42-48 The Promenade
King St Wharf
SydneyThe views here are amazing! The new Casa Ristorante Italiano sits right on King St Wharf looking out across the water towards the Maritime Museum and Darling Harbour. These are million dollar views - and it seems the folks just down the wharf at Barangaroo agree.
Casa is a large place, seating up to 250 guests. However it is cleverly set out in different sections so they can cater for the many without seeming crowded. It's understandably going to be popular for groups and functions - its location helps but the tasty food actually makes this happen. They've kept parts of the previous menu but added to it cleverly.
The red white and green glasses above the bar mirrored the Italian flag.
We started with one of our favourites when eating Italian - arancini. This version of the traditional fried risotto balls were stuffed with pumpkin and smoked mozzarella and came resting on dollops of chilli mayonnaise. They looked great and tasted just as good.
I had a rum based creation from the bar to start with which was delicious and Mlady had a glass of Jim Barry Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Olive E Capperi is a great starter to nibble on - and we kept grazing on them throughout dinner.
The dish was nicely presented in a cute cast iron pan filled with young olives and capers marinated with chilli, garlic and sage.
A few slices of bread were more than a garnish but we predominantly stuck to the lovely olives.
Our next (third) starter was another great version of an old favourite - fiori di zucca.These crisp battered zucchini flowers were stuffed with goats milk fetta, black olives, semi-dried tomatoes and served with chilli jam.
The crisp batter on the outside and the gooey filling inside went so well together. The added tang of the black olives, semi-dried tomatoes and chilli jam capped it all off so well.
I'm a sucker for a good pork belly dish and this was a lovely combination and cooked so well. . The crispy pork belly came with truffle mash, seared scallops and cabbage and was finished with an apple mousse and cider reduction.
The meat was extremely tender and the crackling was deliciously crisp with the side of scallops and the sauces combining perfectly.
The wood fired pizza oven has pride of place at Casa and they deliver great pizzas from it. We tried a Genovese pizza - made with citrus infused prawns, creamy pesto, fior di latte mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, pancetta and walnuts.
Wow. It looked amazing and tasted soooo good. It was a complex pizza but it all went together very well.
Mlady was in a pasta kind of mood so she chose the Aragosta & Granchio Ravioli (Lobster and Crab Ravioli).
This was described as the chefs homemade ravioli filled with lobster and crab and finished with a shellfish butter sauce.
She loved every mouthful of it - she even used the bread from the olives to soak up the sauce! Oink.
Dessert time had finally arrived - an essential part of every meal!
I wanted something quite sweet so I chose the warm chocolate tart. It was served with strawberries, pistachio, salted caramel and ice cream.
It was a warm chocolate tart that was runny and rich with everything combining nicely. It certainly hit the spot.
Mlady continued her love of tiramisu with the Classic Tiramisu.It was silky soft and oh so smooth.
The chocolate soil was crunchy and melted in her mouth and it was a unique addition to a classic dessert. It clearly tasted pretty good as well because she was very reluctant to share any of it - but I eventually did get a mouthful.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Casa Ristorante Italiano and The Platinum Group. Special thanks to Daniela, Hannah and Kai for looking after us so capably and nicely on our visit. A big thanks also to Sacha for arranging our visit.
