Piccolino — Restaurant in Queensland

We recently ate here as it presents very well and the menu sounds appealing. There aren't many items on the menu and I take this as a good thing generally as no-one does lots of things well. The service staff were very friendly which was a good start, but from there the experience dipped an plateaud. After ordering our drinks, we waited an eternity to give our food order, which wasn't great with kid #2 being hangry. The meal started with a serve of arrancini which we were told consisted of 5. That's an odd number, but I was somewhat hopeful of being presented with 5 golden orbs of mushroom and rice goodness. The disappointment was telling when 4 quail egg sized pale balls turned up for us. The flavour was okay, but not anywhere near the level I expected for the price, and the size was hugely disappointing. The gap between the entree and mains was much longer than we would have preferred, especially as it didn't appear that much more than plates of focaccia were leaving the kitchen in that time. Having said that, the focaccia did look and smell good, but non of it was for us. For mains, I had Spaghetti bolognese which was alright, but for the price that we paid, it should have been excellent and twice the size. Mrs B had spaghettini frutte de mara, which again was alright, but we paid for excellent. Kid #2 had the margherita pizza which was good and about what you'd expect from a pizza\pasta restaurant like this. The price was very much on par with what I would normally expect to pay. Kid #1 had the meatballs and said they were okay, but they were again a small portion, even allowing for the fact that it was an entree. In all, it was a so-so experience and we won't bother going back as there are lot's of other dining options that look much better. If I am paying a premium price, I expect premium price quaility...

My partner & I dined here recently, unfortunately we were disappointed. We chose here as they were featured on 'First Table' which means we were able to dine here at half price. I'm glad we didn't pay full price as I would have given half start and complained. First of all our drink order was incorrect. We let this slide as we were thirsty and we drink gin regardless of what brand. For our starters we tried the Garlic Ciabatta (small serving) Calamari (which looked more like deep fried fish and chip shop rings rather than the 'lightly fried tempura' as listed on the menu) and the Polpette (meatballs which were ok but wasn't warmed through at all). For the mains we had the Ravioli which was probably the most pleasing dish we had all night (though still only just okay) and the 'Agnello'. At $46 full price what the menu described verse what we received was worlds apart. The lamb shank was cooked beautifully, unfortunately less than warm. When the menu says 'SLOW-COOKED LAMB SHANK, ROAST POTATOES, RED WINE JUS, DUTCH CARROTS' what comes to mind is a few potatoes and a few carrots. We didn't receive anything apart from the jus. Due to all of the above we won't be back or won't recommend sadly.

I've listed the price we would have spent if we had paid full price *

As a reply to the response: Sorry I did mention the lamb was lovely so yes we did get the lamb, what we didn't get was roast potatoes or carrots... Maybe they were hidden/melted down in the jus so maybe my interpretation of the description on the menu is incorrect. I do apologise for not saying anything on the night... I was not wanting to complain as another table had sent food back for not being heated through and as we were paying only 50% for the food we didn't want to make a fuss. This review is still my honest opinion...

My family and I had a reservation for an outside table at Piccolo eagerly anticipating a pleasant dining experience. Upon arrival, we were informed that the outside tables were wet and were initially seated inside. However, seeing that the outside tables were being dried, we requested to move outside, as originally reserved.

Unfortunately, the manager’s response to our request was far from accommodating. He expressed that accommodating us outside, as per our reservation, was an inconvenience due to promises he had made to walk-in guests for the outdoor seating. After insisting on our reserved seating preference, the manager reluctantly agreed but not without making a point to express his displeasure directly to me, stating that he did not appreciate the pressure to honor our reservation. This exchange was distressing enough to bring me to tears and led my family to decide to leave the restaurant altogether.

The manager’s handling of the situation demonstrated a lack of respect and consideration for guests with reservations. It was disheartening to be treated as less of a priority than walk-in customers, and the manager’s confrontational demeanor only exacerbated our discomfort. It’s unfortunate that what was supposed to be a delightful dining experience turned into a regrettable incident, leading us to leave before dining.

I hope this feedback encourages Piccolino to reevaluate their approach to customer service and reservation policies. Guests’ experiences should be a top priority, and how situations like ours are handled can significantly impact the overall perception of...