Little Sicily Ristorante — Restaurant in Sydney

After an 8 year hiatus, we decided to give this local another go and we are glad we did, there aren’t that many good Italian restaurants within walking distance in Leichhardt, contrary to the suburb’s perceived profile. We were lucky to have nabbed the last available table for three having only booked for the evening at lunch time - it wasn’t in the best position but we didn’t plan things well so it’s not the restaurant's fault. The restaurant was already filling up when we arrived, and it has a nice warm atmosphere due to good lighting and the industrious pizza oven. We ordered the fungi trifolati which are truffled oyster mushrooms in a hearty slightly chili broth, they were delicious, and we also shared the special entree of breaded eggplant with baby tomatoes also delicious. Bread was offered and in generous quantities. Being used to the interminable wait we experience at places like Dolcissimo in Haberfield, we were impressed by how quickly and efficiently the service ran. For mains we ordered the lemon sole which was beautifully ‘just’ cooked, and delivered exquisite flakes of tender fish, and the special roasted pork, absolutely succulent and super tasty. My only not so positive comment relates to the veggies or contorni - peas and carrots cooked in pancetta - and not because they weren’t delicious because they were, but because I think these guys can be more imaginative and maybe offer leafy options drizzled with olive oil, artichokes, broccolini etc - peas and carrots remind me of Australian dining in the ‘80’s and I think we’ve evolved somewhat. We finished up with the Johnny pizza, and you’d think after everything else we’d had, including copious amounts of bread to sop up the fungi broth, we wouldn’t have been able to tackle the pizza, but it was fabulous! The dough slightly puffy and charred in all the right places with a chewy texture exactly as it should be, and generous shavings of prosciutto adorning the melted cheese and mushrooms. I must point out that we also received great service from Peter and Giovanni (the owner) who recognised that we were new to their establishment, the latter came over and introduced himself and thanked us for our patronage - you rarely see that level of engagement these days, but this guy is a real host. We will definitely be back and will introduce friends, and if you’re a Leichhardt local you better get in quick before that whole section of Marion Street goes up for redevelopment. I probably wouldn’t go back on a Friday as I have an aversion to wandering accordionists, but if that’s your thing then enjoy! Highly...

When we arrived, our reserved table had been given to someone else (despite us phoning before hand to check as we were running 10 min late), but after a short wait we were seated. It took a while for someone to come and take our order and although very friendly - our waitess in particular was lovely, the staff seemed quite disorganised. The food arrived promptly and it was absolutely delicious (I ordered the pasta with balmain bugs & scallops) however I couldn't eat it all so asked to take the half I'd left home with me. Seemed to be no problem... However, our waitress did take a while to bring it back to me, then It took another 15-20 mins just to get the bill which was frustrating, but none the less we walked home pretty happy. Until... The next day when I went to enjoy my leftovers for lunch and noticed all of the seafood I'd left, was mysteriously missing. Maybe the seafood was used for something else, or maybe you gave me someone elses left overs (also worrying), whatever the reason, $30 is alot for pasta (I'm guessing because of the seafood) so this is all kinds of wrong. Needless to say I chucked the left overs away - after reading the last review someone left on Facebook, I was concerned for whether it was actually my meal.. To make things worse, after posting the issue on their facebook, I was messaged privately by the owner accusing me of going 'too far' with my review. I noticed the response to this review has also been changed from the previous one which accused me of embarrassing the restaurant. You cant blame the customer for not coming in to speak to you about it (I dont have time to do that) and suggesting they were in the wrong because you "would have replaced it". I suggest you focus your energy on why this occurred in the first place and rectifying the problem, not once when contacting me have you asked for any further info about it. As i mentioned earlier, the food really was delicious, staff friendly and if not for the way this has been handled I would've been back....

Now, it would have received a 5 star rating apart from a couple of things which i'll mention before talking about the wonderful food. There were 10 of us, many of whom had 3 courses and drinks. And, even though there were a range of different credit card fees, Little Sicily thought to charge us the highest on our bill before asking if we were paying cash or card. One couple paid by card so we were charged more than 5% for using a debit card - it lost them their tip. Other minor gripes were the range of sizes of starters. One eggplant dish was a plateful and another two small slices. Another starter had to be shared around......Lastly, waiting a long time for coffees when we were almost the last table (and the cricket was on.....lol). Oh, atmosphere.....the best restaurants dim lights as the evening proceeds.....it was a little bright all evening.

Now the food. Gorgeous, fresh and well prepared. We couldn't fault any of the dishes - pasta cooked perfectly, excellent pizza base, fresh seafood not overcooked - all plates cleaned. Vegetables tasted home cooked and the bread was proper stuff......old school.

It really is a great, authentic restaurant and you won't be disappointed having a meal there, but maybe take cash and think 2 rather than 3 courses (the sticky date pudding was out of this world).

I heartily recommend it for a special night of real...