The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally.
This is a quick DoorDash review of pizza ordered from Bistro on the Greens before a night shift.
I enjoyed the Diavola ($21), which had a good spicy flavour to it. It was not as special as Da Mario‘s diavola, however, which is still the best I’ve ever had.
I found the The Henning Calzone ($20) to be a bit difficult to eat. It was not pre-cut and I tried to eat it like a sandwich but had much difficulty. In this regard I would rate my previous calzone from Beretta in Ramsgate higher.
The San Remo Linguine (not pictured – $25) I could have lived without. I enjoyed the prawns but not the pasta, which I thought was not sauced enough. I put it into the fridge after a couple of mouthfulls. My partner took this to work and enjoyed it, apart from the prawns which she doesn’t normally like. She threw the prawns away and I didn’t get to eat the rest.
Everyday when you’re walking down the street, Every pizza that you eat, Has an original point of view.
The first thing of note about Arthur’s Pizza is the rectangular boxes that they use to store and transport circular pizzas. These boxes are constructed in a way where they open as a bit of an envelope, with the exterior flap opening superiorly and an inferior flap opening inferiory, both held together by carboard tabs.
I took advantage of Arthur’s Pizza’s $12 medium pizza takeaway deal, which is available daily until 7PM.
Arthur’s (Pepperoni, Roma Tomato, Capsicum, Mushroom)
Arthur’s eponymous pizza, named after a rascally aardvark, features Pepperoni, Roma Tomato, Capsicum, Mushroom atop a tomato-sauced thin crispy base. It’s a very fresh pizza, loaded with large tomato slices, that delivers a juiciness with each bite. This fresh tomato-y juiciness is supplemented well by the slight spiciness of the pepperoni, creating a very well composed pizza overall. I liked this so much that I had the entire pizza in one day, bar one slice which I saved for my partner. Unfortunately my orange cat got to the slice before she could, and dragged it onto the floor. My partner will never know the joy that I know.
The Randwick pizza features Olives, Anchovies, Capers, Semi-Dried Tomato, Basil – a flavour apparently developed to appease Eastern Suburbs Prince of Wales types. I found it, from my traditional Western Sydney frame of reference, not to my taste. I keep trying to force myself to eat anchovies with the thought that maybe if I eat enough I will find an anchovy I like. While I didn’t hate the anchovies on this pizza, I did not like how it was just covered in olives. The combination of salty fish and salty olives did not do well at creating a balanced pizza. Unlike Arthur’s namesake pizza, each bite of the Randwick was more and more of the same. While I’m normally an olive fan I ended up just picking off the olives and eating the pizza without them.
VERDICT
Arthur’s Pizza, at the bargain basement price of $12 for a medium, provides a good feed with a thin, crispy crust. Get what you like, don’t get what you don’t like in the hope that you will like it.
Casoni is one of the nicest meals I’ve had in some time. The menu was described to us as “Modern Italian”, with a selection of Italian staples fused with some Japanese inspiration.
We started with the Wattle Seed Flatbread ($6). Originally our choice of topping was going to be the salmon roe, however as they were out of stock we had to improvise. After the reassurance of our host that the serving of bread would be “quite generous” and suited to having two sides/toppings, I chose the ortiz anchovies ($6) and green garlic burrata ($10). While the bread was warm, soft, fragrant and delicious, it turns out that “quite generous” was a straight out lie. I would not characterise the bread as being suited to having two toppings. One was more than enough, so much so that we weighed up whether or not we should order a second serving of flatbread to mop up voluminous sides.
The ortiz anchovies ($6) were salty. I think they always are. I’m yet to develop a taste for them. My partner straight up refused to try it (she’s a bit of a fish-o-phobe).
The garlic green burrata ($10) was quite delicious. The inside of the burrata was very wet. It was a great dish to spread on the bread.
Black garlic bread
The Black Garlic Bread ($8) is a must try. It is more of a dessert than a garlic bread, with a sweet glaze and sauce. The topping of miso butter was divine. It is a house specialty for a reason and I would recommend no one leave this restaurant without trying it (cats and other people who can’t have garlic aside).
Tuna Carpaccio
The yellowfin tuna carpaccio with wasabi cream and burnt mandarin dressing ($18) was quite good but straddled the line towards being too tasty. I thought that the wasabi cream and burnt mandarin dressing overpowered the fish to the extent where I couldn’t really taste the star ingredient. While the flavours were good I wonder if a bit of tweaking is in order to highlight the tuna a bit better. Wasabi-phobes need not worry, the wasabi itself isn’t too strong.
Sausage and pecorino pappardelle
The sausage and pecorino pappardelle ($?26) was delicious. The serving size was large enough to share between two. The pappardelle was fresh and soft and tasty – not too al dente for me. The serving of sausage was extremely and unexpectedly generous, there was enough for each bite, and the pecorino added a great sharp flavour to the dish. While I’ve read from other reviews that pasta isn’t Casoni’s strong point, my experience with this pasta would lead me to disagree. It was just fantastic.
Comfortable seats
INTERIM OPINION (DECEMBER 2020)
As I’m sure you can tell by now we really enjoyed our meal at Casoni. We can’t wait to go back.
5 stars.
SUBSEQUENT VISIT (APRIL 2022)
It turns out we could wait to go back, in fact we waited around a year and a half, taking advantage of Casoni’s late opening hours after a night at the museum.
The black garlic sourdough ($12) has now replaced the previous black garlic bread. The differences? This sourdough bread is now a bit more dense, as one could quite reasonably expect. Where the previous black garlic bread was quite sweet with its creamy topping, this dish was much more of a savoury affair, with the miso butter imparting quite a salty taste.
The wagyu tartare ($19) with sundried tomato and coriander seed matched with sunchoke crispy was a pretty solid, inoffensive and even tasty tartare. Its flavouring was a bit of a departure from your usual tartare, its sourness a bit sweeter owing to the use of tomato rather than your classic capers. I found the meat a bit overrepresented in comparison to the creme fraiche and crisp however, and we quickly ran out of yummy crisp to put the tartare on.
The signature croquette ($25) was a great addition to the menu. It featured an unbelievably creamy potato inner, coated in a delicious katsu-style crumb and fried to a somewhat unbelievable level of crispy perfection. The marscapone topping and abundance of salty umami salmon roe made for the perfect foil for the mild potato within. This dish reminded me of the roe course at Quay, but for a far more accessible price (plus, you don’t have to eat all the other disappointments there either).
The spanner crab tagliatelle ($31) with nduja, fermented mustard greens and burnt kombu was a solid pasta, though not revolutionary. The serving of crab was generous for the price, and the overall quality of the sauce and pasta met the high expectations set by our previous experience at Casoni.
OPINION Sometimes when you revisit a beloved restaurant you are disappointed by the ideals formed during your first visit. This was not the case with Casoni. They remain reliably excellent.
This is not a criticism of Amuze at all, but as I was driving to Amuze in one of Sydney CBD’s many 40 km/hr zones a man in a white Porsche Cayenne aggressively tailgated me, beeped his horn at me, then ultimately did an illegal U-turn through double lines. As I was looking for parking near Amuze I once again saw this man, still in his car, parked adjacent to one of the only free spots directly outside the restaurant. As I didn’t want to be assaulted by this bad man I had to keep driving and eventually park around the corner.
Amuze salmon steak
I had the salmon steak ($19.50) consisting of a piece of pan-fried salmon atop salad with spiralised zuchini, sun dried tomatoes and carrot and a side of potato. The salmon itself was delicious, with crispy skin and a partially cooked inside. I’m surprised how much I enjoyed the spiralised zucchini salad – it was really tasty with its zesty flavours. The potatoes had a nice fried exterior however I felt the interior was too starchy.
While I ate outside, the interior of the restaurant looked really nice. There’s plenty more on the menu that I’d like to try – the cafe pride itself on a number of Korean inspired dishes, and has a few Korean chefs.
Will come back soon I hope.
UPDATE 15/11/2020
So I did come back, five days after my initial meal – this time with my partner and one of our emergency medicine friends.
Amuze cream cheese pancakes
The cream cheese pancakes ($17.50) were good. The pancakes themselves were soft with a complex slightly sourdough-like flavour, and not too sweet (yum). There was a huge serving of cream cheese topping (yum), compote (yum), and fresh strawberries and blueberries (standard).
Amuze spaghetti white truffle ragu
The spaghetti white truffle ragu ($19.50) was delicious! The sauce was creamy and flavourful. The sausage mince added additional bursts of flavour atop the sauce. The spaghetti was cooked a bit too al dente for me, but still yummy.
Coffee ($3.80 for a latte), was unfaultable – very good.
Closing comments – while Amuze bills itself as Korean-Italian fusion, my impression is that their menu consists of either Korean or Italian dishes. The three dishes that we’ve tried (and the chicken parma that my ED colleague tried – not pictured or reviewed) were all firmly in the Italian camp of things, with no real Korean touches. I wonder if the other half of the menu – which consists of kimchi ramen and bibimbap among other things – have more Western elements in them. Not a complaint – just an observation.
After being thoroughly disappointed by Lucio Pizzeria earlier in the week I took a gamble went for a second round, this time at Da Mario in Rosebery. My partner wanted to stay in, so I made a phone order and drove to pick up my two pizzas.
A fair warning first – as the pizza is takeaway and framed by a cardboard box the photos are not very good. But the pizza was delicious.
The Mortadella (mozzarella, fontina, mortadella and crushed pistachio – $26) was delicious. The fontina cheese flavour was dominant in some bites, and the mortadella in others. Overall a perfectly tasty pizza with a few great flavours.
This Diavola pizza (tomato, mozzarella, hot ‘nduja paste and extra basil – $25) may be the best pizza I have eaten ever. Each of its basic ingredients, the tomato, mozarella, basil and ‘nduja paste had their own strong, delicious flavours. The freshness from the tomato and the basil were paramount, while the mozarella was mellow, and the spicy ‘nduja paste provided an unexpected kick. Delicious.
UPDATE 13/11/2020
salsicce con friarielli
The salsicce con friarielli pizza ($25) was only ok. It was not so flavourful. The “spicy sausage mince” was not spicy at all. The broccoli rabe was a bit too wilted for us. I can’t recommend.
Calzone salame
The calzone samale ($22) was the tastier of the two we got on the second round. It was almost like a pizza and calzone combined, as the exterior was sauced with some cherry tomatoes. The interior was filled with a yummy and tasty ricotta and salami.
Even though I got take-away I can also comment on the service. The boys behind the bar at Da Mario were happy to provide an additional pizza box for me to store my RICOS TACOS in from around the corner.
Da Mario in Rosebery has to be the best pizza I’ve ever had in Sydney. Give it a try soon.
5 Marios.
Da Mario Shop 1/36 Morley Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018 +61 2 9669 2242
