Via Alta
197 High St
North Willoughby, Sydney
Sometimes the restaurants in suburbia can be a wonderful discovery and surprise. For us, this was the case with Via Alta. It’s a quiet and unassuming Italian restaurant sitting on a corner in North Willoughby that sets very high standards for both food and service.
We started with the calamari fritti to share. This was some of the lightest and most delicate calamari we have ever had. The wafer thin coating over tender just-cooked calamari was a delight. A squeeze of lemon added some lovely acidity and the parsley mayonnaise contrasted nicely.
Of course drinks were ordered too. We both decided to go with the Italian approach and had Aperol Spritz. They arrived quickly and the first round disappeared fairly quickly too!
Whilst we often head for the pasta dishes when eating Italian, we were enticed away from this by the appealing Secondi section of the menu. Mlady had the Manzo which was the most tender juicy beef cheek served on a vibrant bed of bright pink beetroot polenta and wilted black cabbage. It looked amazing and tasted just as good. The beef literally fell apart when cut.
Gamberi was Sir’s choice. This was another simple and delicious meal with four large split grilled King prawns with tomato broth, cherry tomatoes and garlic bruschetta. It was hearty and tasty. The prawns were beautifully cooked and everything combined so well.
Once she spied affogato on the daily specials board it was always going to be Mlady’s dessert choice. She loves to finish an Italian meal with it. This was vanilla gelato, hot espresso and Frangellico liqueur. After the all Important pour it was eagerly consumed.
House made tiramisu is a great test of an Italian restaurant. Sir went straight for this and loved it. It was a good sized serving too!
This cosy Italian restaurant also has a $20 pasta night every Sunday. We spotted a few of their pasta dishes going by and they looked very good. So did the lamb shank. It’s also worth looking at the daily specials on the blackboard. They had whole fish on our visit and it was a tempting rainbow trout.
We left Via Alta very impressed. The food was excellent as was the service. It’s a pleasant place that was a great suburban discovery.