Noi — Restaurant in Sydney

Came in for my birthday dinner with my girlfriend on a Friday night about a month ago and experienced the worst service I've had in years. We booked online for 8:15 and arrived about ten minutes early. We stood out the front waiting politely as the waiter walked back and forth in front of us serving tables for at least ten minutes before even acknowledging our presence. In that time we watched two other groups arrive who were both spoken to and seated before us, including one couple who arrived with no booking. By the time we were finally seated at 8:31 we had been waiting for 25 minutes. Upon being seated next to them, the older couple who had arrived with no booking yet been seated before us apologised to us and said they hadn't realised that we were waiting for a table before them, and that they wouldn't have taken it if they did, and how long the staff must have kept us waiting which was nice. We never received any such apology or acknowledgement from staff, now or at any point throughout the rest of the evening. We then tried to get the waiter's attention to order and were once again served after the two parties that arrived before us. After taking the older couples order I managed to get the waiters attention and tell him that we would also like to order now, to which he said 'another waiter will take your order'. By this point we were both honestly perplexed as to why we were being treated differently to these other customers, we were genuinely made to feel like we were second-rate. Eventually our orders were taken, and the food began to arrive after some time. We ordered the three courses for $59 deal as did the other tables around us. By the time the table next to us was on their third course, we were still waiting for the empty plates from our first course to be cleared. The food was okay, boring and without innovation, but not terrible, though the serves were quite small. However, the bread we ordered on the side never arrived, and, with the exception of the first drinks we ordered with the food, we were never served or offered another drink, nor ever had our water refilled. All of this could probably be chalked up to terrible but not ill-intentioned service, however, when our mains finally arrived (by which point the table next to us had finished and left) we were served only one side between the two of us, despite watching every other table who ordered from the same fixed price menu as us being served one side per person. This appeared to confirm that they were actively treating us differently to the other customers. At the end of the night when I went to settle the bill I was handed an incorrect bill no less than five times before they finally got it correct, with numerous additions that we had not ordered being charged to our table, as well as the dish we did order but were never served. Once again, staff did not even bother to apologise for this or even acknowledge their mistake, I just stood their repeatedly pointing out their mistakes until they finally managed to fix it. Overall it was the worst service experience I've had in years, with literally no acknowledgement of the numerous mistakes made by staff, and no explanation as to why we were served fewer dishes and treated so much worse than every other customer who ordered the same thing as we did. The total bill was $160 which honestly didn't feel even close to worthwhile for the food we were served, even without taking into account the bad service, I was still hungry afterwards. For obvious reasons I won't...

Noi is nice and close to us, so we were looking fwd to trying this new IW italian. However, we were also a little nervous given the feedback we had read that the food, while good, was a bit undersized for the $. More on that later.

Initial jitters aside, the first impression you get is the schmick decor and layout. They've done a nice job converting this art framing shop into a space that feels both classy and relaxed, with bar seating, comfy chairs and sufficient room between tables that's close but not too cheek-by-jowl. Also positive: the noise level. Yes, buzzy as you'd expect for a Friday, but I think the room must be a little noise-absorbing; having a conversation doesn't become a shouting match.

Our meal starts well with some tasty complimentary warm snacks - strangely served in a dumpling-style bamboo steamer - and breads with anchovy flavoured whipped butter. This immediately puts a smile on my wife's face as she's an anchovy tragic. What puts a smile on my face (besides the Negroni I'm drinking) are the wine-by-the-glass choices which provide some nice "premium" Italian options. The 2016 isole e olena chianti classico was a winner.

Food-wise, we go with the pea risotto and pig's head terrine to start. Both are excellent, with the coconut flavoured emulsion combining beautifully with the porky terrine. Definitely recommend this.

I continue the swine theme with the pork tenderloin for main, a nice match with the Chianti, while my wife has the sirloin in a licorice (!) sauce. Now, aniseed is one of the few flavours that I'm not keen on (she loves it) so I was surprised to find that I actually really liked this dish. The licorice was very understated and gave the sauce a sweet, viscous accent that really worked with the meat. Our only slight complaint was that the beef was a little underdone and therefore not uniformly tender. Still, another dish I'd strongly recommend. We finished by sharing the honey dessert. Again, a quality dish with lovely texture combinations highlighted by the crunchy burnt honeycomb.

You'll notice I haven't said anything about portion sizes. That's because we found this to be no issue at all with our choices. In fact, I'd say the serving sizes were spot on. However ... we did change our mind on one of the dishes (red emperor) when we spied our neighbour picking at what seemed a very small amount of fish ... so, I guess your mileage may vary here.

Value-wise, the meal ended up $90 per head including tip and drinks, so pretty reasonable. Recommended? Yes, for anyone looking for Italian beyond your typical pizza/pasta/tiramisu fare you should check it out. I'd say we'll...

Update 2025- awesome restaurant Yes back again and loving it. Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Love your local guide- M

Update 2024 June 24 update Winter menu was 50% off 3 course entree, pasta and main when we went last night. Food awesome, risotto divine. BYO $15 a bottle. Restaurant redecorated and sooo pretty and chic!! Highly recommend this restaurant. ❤️

March - main menu back now as we move into Autumn still awesome food highly recommend the fish/ divine.

Summer Menu Great initiative and loved this menu.

Restaurant goes up a notch✔️ I’m a hard marker and this is really good food! Lunch or dinner both excellent An excellent local restaurant good set menu with choices, risotto very tasty. This restaurant understand the importance of the pace at which food comes to the table, it's not rushed out all at once. During the evening I recommend it for a date as there are lots of tables for 2 and not too brightly lit. We also took friends there for a lovely Saturday long lunch. Staff good and very relaxed time here. You will get some nice surprises from the chef but doing want to spoil that surprise. Good bathrooms and free parking available in adjoining streets or opposite the restaurant. 24 Feb 2022- just been back here and updated the star rating. It’s gone to next level. New menu and the little extra surprises ( can’t tell you) are great. We had the window seat fir four at front of restaurant as it is nice and private. Service excellent and food really gone up to 5 stars. September 2023 - Wednesday menu Returned to sample the Wednesday Menu a series of monthly themes. Really worth and nice glass wine free from Rockfords. Very busy so booking essential and expect a bit of a wait to get your order in. As you know I think this restaurant delivers exceptional food. Why else would we be returning!!!🥂 Love your local guide- M❤️ Please like or follow...