ITALIAN STREET KITCHEN - NEUTRAL BAY, SYDNEY

Italian Street Kitchen
21 Grosvenor St
Neutral Bay, Sydney

Italian Street kitchen recently opened its doors in the pristine suburb of Neutral Bay.

It's a new restaurant only in name, for these are the same people that are behind the very successful Bacomatto Osteria in Surry Hills.

The counts rarely venture over the bridge for a meal, but any name that is connected with this group of Italian stars makes it not only worthwhile, but mandatory.

Italian Street Kitchen is located on popular Grosvenor street and there is some street parking nearby and to our surprise, we didn't have any difficulty getting a parking spot.

Tonight we were attending a media dinner, an exciting opportunity to taste an authentic artisan menu at the launch of a new restaurant.


As we took our seats, we glanced over the menu for the evening and noticed a mind blowing array of  antipasto dishes, starters, mains and desserts on offer. The counts rarely shy away from a mega feast but even for two seasoned Italian food lovers, this was unimaginable.


Well, True to the artisan Italian street food experience, all food here at Italian Street Kitchen Is designed to share, so much to our relief, we realised weren't about to embark on a 12 course meal.

On that note, it was time to get things started,  so to kick off the experience, we poured a glass of Aperol spritz each. Count N especially loves Aperol spritz and this one was served in a beautiful jug (again designed to share).

First up our antipasto arrived our first one being a salami board fit for a King. With lashes of Prosciutto, Salami, Catalingo and Mortadella spread over thick slices of rosemary focaccia, it was delicious and had the whole table talking.

The cured meats were obviously freshly sliced and the bread was evidently  baked right on premises as it was still warm and soft.

The Arancini was crisp and filled with chunks of pumpkin (a surprising and delicious filling). The smoked provolone added a deeper cheese taste to it and the panko crumb exterior was crisp and good enough to eat by itself! Our next antipasto dish was fried cheese. Two of our favourite words. These delicious bites of Fior Di Latte, Parmesan and champagne ham were fried up in a ball and were melting in our mouth with each bite! Delicious. We also tried the Calamari which was flour dusted and served with a tasty lemon aioli.

After all of that (especially the salami board) we needed a short break before our starters arrived.

Our primi pizza was a mouthwatering buffalo mozzarella pizza with a hint of Parmesan through it. The Parmesan added quite a bite and the fresh basil complemented the cheese really well. It's a nice touch to a classic pizza. However the surprise starter was the rigatoni Amatricana. This was a hearty pasta dish with pork cheek and pecorino cheese cooked in a beautiful Napoli sauce. The pork was super tender and the the Napoli sauce was bursting with freshness. It had small cherry tomatoes as well for an extra tomato hit.

Our final starter was some gnocchi. We love gnocchi ( well count N does ) but this one was semolina based and a lot fuller in texture.

It was oven baked in a bechamel and Napoli sauce, which was great. The creaminess of the bechamel sauce blended so well with the freshness of the Napoli sauce. You could almost describe it as a lasagne.

Next some mains. The wood-fired oven pork belly was roasted beautifully with an amazing layer of crackling and served with both a radicchio salad and rocket salad. The salads were really fresh. The rocket had quite a bit of Parmesan in it which is always a crowd pleaser. The radicchio salad had feta in it (here's the cheese again) but also fennel and Kalamata olives all in a lemon oil dressing. Count N loved the salad and refused to share it.

An Italian experience is not complete without dessert though and the two desserts on our menu were authentic and sure to impress any sweet tooth big or small. Tiramisu is one of our favourite desserts. For some, it's the layered espresso dipped savoiardi biscuits, for others it's the Marsala but for us it's the Mascarpone (no surprises there, right?). It was bursting with freshness and the mascarpone was creamed adding that custard like texture (and taste) to it. We loved it so much we asked for an extra serving.

Our second dessert although just as impressive, wasn't something the counts (and others at the table) had tried before.

Drawing on traditional recipes handed down from generations, this cremafritta  is a custard lovers heaven as the custard is fried, dusted with icing sugar and eaten like how one would enjoy fried ice cream or a fried banana. It was served with a chocolate fondue. It's definitely different and one dish you should try, even just once.

 So after all this food, moving around in our chair was proving to be difficult so we knew it was time to call it a night. As we were leaving, we got the opportunity to chat with owner Mona who talked to us about her passion for creating authentic Italian Artisan Street food, just like the food you would expect to find in places like Sicily.

Well, we certainly felt that passion through the food and atmosphere . Italian Street Kitchen is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.


The Counts, who review for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of Italian Street Kitchen. Special thanks to Abbey Thomas of AMPR for this invitation.