Gemelle Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Sydney

Was skeptical at first when I saw hatted restaurant asking prices for non-hatted food this far out west, however was pleasantly surprised when we set foot inside.

The atmosphere was pleasant and lighting a comfortable level, though it's google maps description of 'white tablecloths' is complete bs because you're dining on 'white paper'.

Orders were taken promptly, servers were amicable and food was served for our group together (it may seem like a given but some restaurants don't even bother).

The appetiser salami platter for two was the highlight of the night, served on a kitchen paddleboard, (instantly evoking scenes of kids in an Italian village setting being smacked silly with it by their nonnas) with it generous portions of salami, a mountain of prosciutto, beef, a spicy sausage, cheese, pickled vegetables and breadsticks enough to call itself a main.

The mains were generous in serving but less impressive in taste; not offensive, just nothing special.

My 24 hour cooked lamb shoulder on barley and kale was drier than the charred remains of a lamb at a backyard barbie, which probably meant that it should've been cooked 23 hours less, (and that it was made earlier, then frozen and reheated) which prompted a request for jus, which had a weird bitter finish, which then made the entire dish bitter and under-seasoned, which is preferable to dry and under-seasoned.

The pizza was ok. Crust was the perfect thickness and crunch with toppings of prosciutto, prawns and mushrooms which worked well together, except it could have used a light prawn oil drizzle or something to give it a bit more flavour.

The pannacotta was a delightful surprise in that it came with some tasty crunchy elements and was well-decorated, the cream itself was too firm, but the flavours were there.

Rule of thumb for me is when more than two people of a party of seven asks for salt after they've tasted, the food is bland. The food was bland.

But the front-of-house service was really good.

Two of us had a shared entree platter, two mains, dessert and drinks which totalled $130. Not too bad but then again, $40 more and I could be dining at a hatted restaurant where the budget didn't go into the waiters and giving customers mountains of prosciutto (not complaining).

Would go back, though will order the pasta next...

I went to Gemelles with my partner for Valentines day 2020 and I've never experienced such appalling service.

When we were seated, we requested to have our unstable table propped up and fixed and our server did not come back.

30 minutes after being seated we still had no water. Our waitress avoided our gaze but served every one around us. We had to physically catch the waitress to finally order water and drinks, but apparently she forgot because she came back 10 minutes later and asked if we were ready to order drinks. When the drinks came out, they forgot my partners one and we had to wait again.

We had to ask for water twice before one bottle came out (and we were charged for both until I requested a refund at the end of the night)

It was 9:12 when our food order was finally taken (and we were seated at 8:30!). We waited so long for food that by the time it came out, we didn't even want to eat anymore. I used to love Gemelles and raved about their food to everyone, but the meals we received that night barely passed as okay.

After our mains, we sat for 20 minutes trying to catch the attention of the service staff as we wanted our desert. Instead, we overhead our waitress tell the others that her section was done and that she was leaving. Thats when we decided to give up and just go home.

At the end of all of this, despite my complaints about the disappointing service, we were automatically charged a service fee/tip.

The manager we spoke to apologised and said that the restaurant and kitchen were swamped. It would have been nice to have had this communicated with us during the dinner, rather than as an excuse at the end.

It's clear that the restaurant was not equipped to deal with the sheer number of people that they booked in that night. I absolutely would not recommend Gemelles for a special...

One of the nicest Italian restaurants my husband and have been to.. Tasty food and well presented. Staff were friendly but they need to be trained a little more for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day.. This year’s valentines menu had a variety of choices that included a vegetarian option as well 👍🏻 We went on Valentine’s Day, we did not receive our welcome platter on time, they forgot about us, even though the restaurant had around 5 waiters upstairs and it was not that busy at around 8:00pm, my husband asked for it and it came after our entrees being served.. As a main I ordered grilled fish fillet which tasted very nice, however I wish if the chef included some broccoli or asparagus as a side because I did not feel that my dish was complete.. My husband ordered a lamb shoulder and it tasted amazing, he really enjoyed it👍🏻 For dessert, it was a shared platter which we did not have options to choose from.. It did not taste really good, it felt like it has been purchased from a dessert shop.. Overall I personally enjoy and I feel more relaxed visiting this restaurant on normal days more so than on occasions or set...