The Italian Cottage — Restaurant in New South Wales

We dined at the Italian cottage after craving Italian cuisine on Sunday night over the long weekend in June. On entry the restaurant was packed and busy ! Sonny the manager had politely informed us once we seated that it was a very busy night and that orders were taking longer than expected but the food would be worth the wait. We ordered:

1. Raviolli di zucca - Butternut pumpkin, sage and amaretti raviolli.
2. Rigatoni al spezzatino di agnello - Lamb shoulder slow cooked with white wine and a hint of tomato with saffron.
3. Fettine di maiale alla pizzaiola - Pork tenderloins pan cooked with Tomato, garlic, oregano, panne di cassa and hint of chilli
4. Capricciosa pizza - Tomato, fior di latte, ham, olive, mushroom, artichokes
5. Dessert - Vanilla and chocolate cannoli's

The food was amazingly tasty and definitely worth the wait !!

1. The sweetness of the pumpkin excited my tastebuds and matched the fresh made raviolli very well.
2. The Lamb shoulder was soft, tender and tasty while the handmade pasta complemented the dish well.
3. The pork tenderloins were cooked perfectly in thin slices and the tomato based sauce with the chilli was a great touch with the right amount of flavour and spice. The bread was a great idea to soak with the sauce as well !
4. The pizza crust had the perfect crunch and crispiness throughout and no sogginess ! The ingredients gave a great balance and was one of the highlights of our meal.
5. Cannoli's were fresh from the crispy pastry when we broke them in half to share and the chocolate and vanilla creamed fillings were delish.

The staff were polite, attentive and came around at the end to ensure everything was well despite being a very busy night. Food = 5/5 Service = 5/5 Dining experience = 4.5/5

I highly recommend dining here as the tasty food, friendly staff and overall authentic Italian dining experience was a great way to end our weekend trip up to the Hunter Valley. I will be coming back if I'm in the area again. Bellisimo Lemon cello! Quick tip: Book for a weeknight to avoid...

Seeing all these positive reviews really increases the frustration when reflecting on our evening with The Italian Cottage.

Restaurant contacted us in the morning to advise that the Pizza chef was out and that no pizza would be served. This is the reason the review is 2 stars and not 1, as it was the best customer service we received throughout our engagement with the restaurant (didn’t have an issue with the no pizza - was super happy they called ahead of time to advise!).

The restaurant called again close to 2hrs before the reservation to ask us if we could shift our time by 15mins to accomodate another reservation (again, not an issue, appreciated the communication).

On arrival, we were greeted and served by a very lovely waitress. From there unfortunately, it went downhill.

We waited about 25mins for our entrees which were hit and miss. The special we had was great, but the arancini was a bit basic and the sauce was very floury.

We then waited another 50mins for the mains. We had to follow up on them, and were told that the kitchen was understaffed (pizza chef was off) so they were a bit behind (again, not an issue - would just prefer some better communication- and maybe it’s not the best to shift existing bookings to add additional bookings when you are understaffed in the kitchen).

When the mains were brought out, the waiter had his thumb in our gnocchi, and the meatballs in one of our pasta dishes were cold (a complaint we heard on multiple tables around us). We were trying to get the wait staff’s attention with no success, then decided against sending our food back in fear of another extended wait.

No one checked in during the meal, and we needed to flag down a member of staff to get our bill (we waited 10mins before having to request it again from another member of staff).

Largely a swing and a miss with this restaurant, again, such a shame acknowledging the other reviews...

My friends and I recently visited this restaurant during our stay at Hunter Valley. We made a booking over the phone with staff who sounded very lovely and were happy to accommodate for a group of 6.

Upon entry, we were transported into a beautiful Italian cottage setting with softly lit, low ambient lighting that gave the restaurant an intimate and cozy feel. The interior was beautifully decorated with red checkered tablecloths and candles on the tables and various pieces of art on the walls.

We started our dinner with an entree of bruschetta and calamari fritti. The bruschetta was bursting with flavour with fresh, juicy tomatoes and a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar. We also ordered the gamberi pizza to share, which was cooked perfectly. We ordered a few main dishes, however, the standouts were definitely the four cheese gnocci and the seafood linguine. The four cheese gnocchi was exactly as described, a rich, creamy and cheesy gnocchi that was so fluffy and melted in the mouth. It is definitely a guilty pleasure if you are a cheese lover. The seafood linguine was cooked to perfection in a rich Neapolitan sauce and topped with a generous amount of fresh seafood. I would highly recommend it if you enjoy seafood. For dessert, our group ordered the tiramisu and cannoli, which we took home to enjoy. The vanilla cannoli had a perfect crunch when biting into the shell and the tiramisu was rich and creamy.

What made our experience all the more memorable, was the kind and caring staff who were very attentive in catering to all our needs. Our servers constantly checked up on our table to make sure we were well looked after and we could see the amount of pride they take in their work. We could not thank the staff enough.

Overall, our group rated this restaurant an 8 out of 10. I would highly recommend if you are visiting Hunter Valley and are in or...