Casa Nova Italian Restaurant & Bar, Honeysuckle — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

Sadly have to say not that happy. The number of people there made me think the other reviews may not have been accurate but I didn't look until we had already started with the drink orders so we took a chance.

We got the bruschetta to start. Sadly one side of one piece of the toast was very over cooked to the point of burnt but only on one side (refer to image). The dressing was only put on a very small portion of the tomatoes and and onions as seen in my picture. Taste was nice but not enough dressing and this left it wanting.

I ordered the Beef Tenderloin. I was fascinated by what was listed with it so thought it was worth a try. The person taking our order was friendly enough but when I order steak I expect them to ask me how I want it cooked. I didn't correct them as I can eat from Rare all the way to well done so I thought I'd just leave it for interest. The steak was medium rare but unevenly cooked as one side was cooked longer. That was fine the cut was lovely. The potato mash with parsnip was quite interesting and the sauce fairly unique but the texture of the fried leek was very different but it had no flavour so could only be mixed with the mash. Overall it was different and that's what I ordered but not knowing what my steak was going to be definitely isn't something that a waiter should repeat.

My better half got the pasta Carbonara. She asked the waiter what they would recommend for pasta. Aka asking them what is their favourite pasta there. This is a pretty common thing for her as she likes to try things that are different and what they love. The waiter said "all the pasta is fresh"... Yeah OK that's fine but that's not what she asked. So she ask for what sauce he would recommend. His answer "red sauce and white sauce whichever you prefer"... What I'd have expected was "I love the red sauce because it is done with a such and such wine and it goes very well with either this pasta or this pasta." and then I'd ask for a wine that would go with it as well... Yeah she looked lost and just ordered her safe dish and no wine. The staff needs to know the menu preferably by taste or at least know what is popular and why. The pasta sauce was quite watered down and not flavoured that well.

The atmosphere was quite loud both in the kitchen and in the dining area but it was busy with 3 large family groups there on long tables so raised voices are required to be heard and the kitchen being right beside us means that all noises got raised.

We did eat our meals so obviously I paid and the $100 isn't something I'll be spending again. This was a birthday dinner so spending money was not the issue. When I arrived and checked the reviews last night it was at 4.0 stars and has already hit 3.9 as I type so I'm not sure what is slipping but it definitely needs to be addressed. When we first started the look of the pizzas made me think I should take a meat lovers home for my boys but by the end the $31 price tag and the disappointment we already had made me...

We arrived between 5:30pm and 6:00 on Anzac Day. We were seated fairly quickly. The staff were friendly, attentive, and eager to please. Our waitress was exceptional, though. She was engaging, polite, and had a rare kind of warmth. She also didn't lean across me, didn't interrupt our conversation, waited while I poured my wife a drink before she collected a plate, and didn't collect everything from the table as we went such that the last person is still eating after all the other plates are collected (I loathe places that do that). The food was disappointing. My wife had a risotto with added chicken for $39. She asked me to have the second mouthful. This was a bad sign. To be honest, the risotto I make at home with sun-dried tomato and basil leaves just kills this one. It was bland and a bit too wet. I had the hand made spinach and ricotta ravioli. It was watery, bland, many of the parcels had fallen apart and it didn't resemble any kind of hand-made pasta I had ever had in the past. Our waitress noticed my second mouthful of my wife's risotto and my thinking pause. She came over and was genuinely concerned that we weren't happy; that was nice. The manager came over next and offered a number of other options which we declined, but insisted on giving us a free dessert. I said to my wife that a tiramisu would be nice, and about 10mins later a tiramisu arrived! The manager read my mind. Sadly, the tiramisu was not a goal-kicker either. It lacked that rich coffee flavour you hanker for at the end of a meal probably resulting from not soaking the cake for very long before partially draining it. My wife and I just smiled at each other. Three from three is not good. When you go to an Italian restaurant you expect that the pizza, pasta, risotto and tiramisu to be smashing, but this wasn't. Perhaps you should dump the ribs, burgers, steaks and seafood and just do fewer things really well. The water sounds and views were nice. The restaurant was a bit louder than places we would normally go to but we were still able to converse. For a restaurant with a 4.5 star rating on Google I would have expected the food to be a lot better and the dining room to be a lot fuller on Anzac Day. The 4 or 5 places that were open around it were very full. Based on this experience I would only return here for drinks or...

Thursday vegan set 3 course $45 per person 🥰

Casa Nova honeysuckle have a vegan 3 course menu option on Thursdays and it is wonderful.

With notice this menu is available for bookings over 10 people.

The restaurant was busy with a great ambiance at 7 30 with the harbour side patio almost full at this time.

Entrée/ antipasti: I chose the zucchini and pea soup with caramelized leek. It was thick and creamy, delicious with a small piece of bread served in the soup. I would have preferred some more on the side, and my piece was quite soggy. Yummy still.

Seccondi: I chose the vegan meatballs in a rich slow cooked Italian tomato sauce. These were a slight let down in that they fell apart completely and this made the 3 meat balls seem like they weren't there. They seemed to be made of a curry polenta, split peas of some description? The flavors however were delicious and as a Bolognese it was a fabulous meal. Infact the deconstruction of the meat balls actually worked in this way.

Dolci: Tiramisu. Was served elegantly in a small Manhattan glass. It was exactly what you would expect from a tiramisu. Delicious and non dairy so it was easy in the tummy.

For $45 this is an incredible value for money vegan experience in Newcastle.

I highly recommend the vegan Thursday special at casa nova Italian restaurant honeysuckle Newcastle.

In fact this would be a great option for vegans regardless of the day.

A lady, "Sapana" who seemed to be a floor manager checked on my experience and gave me the courtesy of ensuring my experience was a good as it could be.

I appreciated that she asked of ways that they...