174 Liverpool St
Darlinghurst, Sydney
La Pesa has been offering good Italian food for quite a while now. Their menu is a combination of both traditional and modern Italian cuisine and they also have an Italian tapas menu too.
It's well located close to the CBD so it is easily accessible for working lunches as well as dinners. Sir dropped by with a few colleagues for a lunch recently.
The trio started with a shared L'Affettato Tipico della Pesa - a lovely selection of Italian and regional cured meats served with cornichons, semi dried tomato and the most delicious handmade gnocco fritto - which is basically puffed pieces of fried bread-like dough that were crisp, golden and lightly salted. We also had calamari sale, pepe - nicely crisp fried calamari rings and pieces served with spring onion pieces and a side bowl of red chili aioli. We thoroughly enjoyed both plates.
Mains were just as good.The risotto gamberi e limone was lemon aromatised aged carnaroli zaccaria rice with fresh king prawns.
This was a full flavoured risotto with plenty of prawn mixed inside it and even garnished with a few heads staring back at us! It was a winner and a big serving too.
The strozzapreti al funghi porcini, asparagi e tartufo was an intriguing dish.
The final main was ravioli ai gamberi con asparagi e zafferano - home made king prawn ravioli in a creamy asparagus and saffron sauce. It was another full flavoured dish that looked as good as it tasted.
A good meal almost always needs dessert to finish it off - and this was no exception. The tiramisu was thinner and thicker than usual with less biscuit in it - but still very tasty.
Then there was the deliciously gooey and rich chocolate fondant that oozed warm chocolate sauce when it was cut open.
Finally there was the gelato topped with shaved almonds. All three choices were good, but the fondant was the winner.
La Pesa Trattoria is a cosy place. The service is friendly and efficient and the food is very tasty. It's a place well located for business lunches and easily accessed for after-work dinners too.