SUD Italian Restaurant
10 Carbarita Road
Concord, Sydney
There’s a homey charm to this restaurant that instantly makes you feel at home. Then there’s also the delicious food and wine at Sud which draws from Southern Italy with the menu serving fresh quality produce. It’s a great mix that sets the scene for a lovely lunch or dinner.
We started with some nice warm house-baked faccacia that was so soft and light that we devoured it all and a tasty bowl of olives. This was such a nice introduction to our meal and got our tastebuds well and truly primed for the meal ahead.
No surprises Sir chose his ‘go to’ drink - Negroni. We were in an Italian restaurant after all so he reasoned that it was even more appropriate. This was made from Campari, Martini Rosso and Gin. He certainly enjoyed this.
Mlady is quite partial to Amaretto so she went with The Scillian. This was very nice and was made from Di Saronno Amaretto, orange juice and ice. It was a very refreshing tipple.
There is a beautiful wood fire pizza oven at Sud so we tried as an entree Panozzo Rosso to experience the wonderfully crisp outer yet soft inner crust that the wood fire cooked. This very tasty dish was pizza dough faccacia bread, tomato, basil and Parmesan cheese. When it arrived it looked like a tomatoey pizza and it tasted so good. These simple yet so tasty flavours went perfectly with that wonderful crust.
Our next entree was a seafood dish. We had Gamberi All ‘ Aglio - prawn cutlets and tiger King prawns in garlic and tomato sauce, capers, olives and cherry tomatoes. These prawns certainly were big, plump and cooked perfectly. It was a wonderful combination with the saltiness of the olives, capers and the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes. There was a lot going on with this dish, with different tastes and textures and they all complemented each other very well.
As a main we decided to try another seafood dish. This was the Pesce Del Giorno Alla Scilliana. The perfectly cooked tender and moist catch of the day, Barramundi on this occasion, came in a tomato fish sauce with black olives, capers, basil, cherry tomato, lemon zest and baby chat potato. It was yet again another perfectly paired dish. The baked fish was mouth watering tender and juicy. The baby chat potatoes were lightly crisped with a nice soft centre making it a substantial dish too.
Of course an Italian restaurant and meal means wine too! They draw from Australia and overseas with a good contingent of Italian wines - which was our focus and choice.
From the “Specials” menu we chose a meat dish to balance out our meal. The glorious oh so tender beef cheeks ‘Genovese’ Ragu, the perfect al dente Zita pasta from Gragnano (Naples) and shaved Parmesan cheese. The beef cheeks were so tender they virtually melted in your mouth. We loved the long tubular pasta too. We both really enjoyed this scrumptious dish.
Mlady wanted to try a salad as she loves her greenery. She chose the Sicilian influenced Insalata Di Stagione which was fennel, rocket, orange, black olives and oregano tossed with salt flakes and olive oil. This was a well balanced selection of ingredients. The unique sour flavour of the rocket teamed with the sweetness of the orange combined with the oh so good saltiness of the olives and then the fennel made for a really good salad.
We did fit in dessert - but we’re getting quite full already as the dishes were very hearty.
We both like Nutella, especially Mlady, so we went with Cuzzoli (popular dessert) - Italian doughnuts served with Nutella, cinnamon and icing sugar. Mlady could not wait to try this as soon as it arrived. The Italian doughnuts had such a nice soft centre with a lightly crisp outside. Nutella was deliciously drizzled all over with a delicate sprinkle of cinnamon there too This was a great desert and very filling so good to share
Next we tried the amazing chocolate arancini. It was ricotta, Nutella, cherry and gelato. The crisped outer shell encased a tasty ricotta and Nutella centre that was balanced well in flavour with the sour cherry. The gelato went so well too. Having a bit of everything on your fork or spoon tasted really good with the different flavours and textures. This dessert isn’t on the menu but it’s one to watch out for as it’s a beauty.
There’s something about a great suburban Italian restaurant that makes it seem homey but you’re still going out. It’s the best of both worlds and the great feel of this place and wonderful aromas from the kitchen make it even better.
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of SUD Italian restaurant. Special thank you to Chef Stefano for taking time from his busy schedule to chat with us and explain the innovative dishes. We loved his vision and his food. Thank you also to Carlo and Sheri for looking after us. Also, big thanks to Spooning Australia for arranging this tasty visit too!