Italian Street Kitchen West End — Restaurant in Brisbane City

My wife and I dined on a warm night in November. To start, two drinks: A glass of Peroni and a glass of non-alcoholic Amalfi Spritz. Then three food dishes: fried calamari, a beetroot salad and a rump steak with chips. All up, the drinks and food cost us an eye-popping 96 pesos. Think of that: two drinks, an entrée, a salad, a steak, chips and a small tip : 100 pesos. While the taste and quality of the food was excellent, with nothing to complain about, helpings were pathetically small and inadequate and nowhere near enough for two adults, especially not at that price. The calamari for 19 pesos was really just a few mouthfuls. My steak and chips was also a tiny portion. We both left feeling unsatisfied and still hungry.

Now I understand that Australia is in the grip of a Weimar Republic-like hyperinflationary crisis, thanks to govt profligacy, excessive money printing, Mad Vlad Putin and a weak and ineffectual Reserve Bank. But even still, I.S.K.'s charges are just over the top for what is after all, a standard suburban Italian restaurant. You can get better value for money at many other venues in Bris.

However, if price isn’t your concern, then you can have a pleasant night here. The décor is cool and modern with tons of greenery, colourful wall hangings and other decorations, and low mood lighting. And it’s clearly a favourite with the locals, because despite it being a weeknight, the place was pretty full and buzzing with pre-Christmas energy and atmosphere. The downside though is that it is noisy, with no carpets or sound absorbers. I imagine weekends would be even worse. And while this is a great venue for summer dining, with stone floors, and huge sliding doors flung wide open in true Italian alfresco style, I’m not sure how this would go down in winter.

Staff are casually dressed, but I have to hand it to them because despite the crowds, there’s no compromise on service. They were all super polite, efficient and highly professional in their attitude. Our booked table was ready and waiting for us in a nice spot in the centre of the room. Orders are promptly taken and drinks and food came out quickly and in the correct order.

There are no toilets in the restaurant itself, so you need to walk to the next door West Village shopping centre, where you will find clean and well provisioned toilets. And it’s not a long walk, just a few metres really.

It’s also worth mentioning that the West Village precinct where I.S.K. is situated is a hive of activity, with a busy Woolies supermarket and plenty of other shops and eateries, giving the whole place a fun, lively and exciting vibe.

Initially we struggled to find parking, eventually settling for a spot at the nearby Soda Factory Markets car park, where you can get two hours free. Only afterwards did I read that West Village has its own car park, also with two hours free.

Overall, I’m glad that we tried this place. We’ve passed it many times when we’ve been in the area, and it never failed to excite my curiosity. I wondered what it was about it that made it so popular. However, having tried it once, my conclusion is that, as nice as it is, it doesn't represent good enough value for money to merit a...

We were excited to try this restaurant which is only one of 3 in Brisbane that accept yums. We had a voucher for $50 off using our yums which was noted when we made the booking. We were given the worst table in the restaurant when it's raining; where we were getting rained on when the wind blows. It was a cold, wet night, and this happened often. Of course, we were cold. The food quality was pretty good and I know this restaurant is capable of really bringing it. Unfortunately, our portion size of pasta was considerably smaller than what others had and presented on a flat plate rather than a pasta dish that all other patrons received. Secondly, our prosciutto pizza had one ten cent piece of fior di latte on it only! Also, the prosciutto was placed on top after the pizza was cooked. We did see others with much more cheese on their pizza. Thirdly, the service,; from the minute we arrived we were referred to as "the 50". Our entree came pretty quickly but the wait for mains was long. I'm assuming this was because we had $50 off. It certainly felt that when delivering the food one server said to double check with the other "the 50"? Of which he confirmed it. Then it took so long for the waiter to come back after we had clearly finished; so we could get the bill, that I had to get up and ask where is the child's ice-cream (on the menu it states child's meals include a scoop of vanilla gelato. This half scoop tasted like a cheap supermarket ice cream and was half melted in the bottom of a water glass.) and can we have the bill? (Yes we asked twice!) Then the bill came without the $50 taken off and I had to point it out. Quite disappointed with this treatment. As one of only 3 restaurants offering yums in Brisbane, through the Fork rewards scheme, we expect better. You get your perks from the Fork for allowing this but the service and food quantity/quality should not be affected due to this. Generally we love this sort of food and have missed this type of restaurant since leaving Sydney, This could have been such a great dining experience but it just...

The Good: The Italian Sausage pizza was not bad. The pizza base was an improvement from last time and the italian sausage on it had lots of good flavors and the incorporation of the chili was a nice addition The Love for Lychee mocktail was great tasting. It was very refreshing and not too sweet Lamb Ragu Casarecce was very well done. The lamb itself was top notch, sauce had a decent consistency and texture The gnocchi in the Gnocchi Napoli had a nice texture and the napoli sauce was excellent with good consistency Beetroot Salad was refreshing

The Bad: . The Italian Sausage pizza was still somewhat dull and lacking in flavor . As good as the italian sausage itself was, next time include more of it on the pizza . The portions for the Lamb Ragu Casarecce and the Gnocchi Napoli were rather small. For the price that one pays for both, the portion sizes should be bigger . Portion size for the Beetroot Salad wasn't any better and for the price one pays, overall still not worth it

The UGLY: Service was just downright awful, easily the biggest let down. Had to wait for an hour just so the food and drinks could arrive. However, the restaurant was busy but that doesn't entirely excuse that the waiting time was beyond unacceptable The Seafood Fregola pasta wasn't worth it. Way too fishy, effectively overpowering all other flavors involved The waiting staff could have done a better job, not very friendly and attentive Overall value for money was simply not worth it. Could have gone to a different italian restaurant and have something similar for much better value and quality

Summary: There were some things to like in terms of the drinks and the quality of the pizzas. But the biggest disappointment was the absolutely appalling customer service and how the waiting time took one hour. Would highly recommend to not go to...