Totti’s — Restaurant in Sydney

Terrible experience while waiting and unfriendly staff at reception.

I have visited Totti’s one time before and the dinning experience was great so I decided to come for a late lunch after my 8 hours flight from Hong Kong. However, the experience was very unpleasant and I feel being neglected by the receptionist of the restaurant.

From the picture, you can still spot out that there were still a few seats available when I visited the restaurant at 4pm and I saw two ladies were guided to the seats without waiting for 30 seconds. When I approached to the receptionist and said one person for the dinning, she seemed annoyed and replied that no seat available in a cold tone (of course, no smiling face at all). Well, I could see she just packed her belongings and guess she might have just finished meal and back to work so I didn’t bother by her unfriendly attitude😁

What surprised me was that she replied the restaurant was full (well, seats were empty though) and I need to wait for at least 35 minutes for a table. I can understand a few tables might be reserved for dinner purposes but it was like 4:30pm only and there was no one lining up when I came. So I said I would like to queue up for the next table and surprisingly she didn’t allow me to.

She asked me my phone number to register in the system and i politely explained that I was not a local resident here so hence I would not have any AU number for the registration. She looked at me the way like I was like an idiot standing in front of her and said “that’s the only way to do it” Well, Ms, something called email can help you. But I already lost my patience to explain to her. She also suggested me to take away the appetizer and I explained I prefer to have a hot pasta after my exhausting flight.

I am not sure if my Asian face bothers her or she just had a difficult day earlier. But the entire queue experience was extremely frustrating and unfriendly to non-residents. She could have done her job better by simply explaining why I need to wait for another table but not those empty ones and apologize for the queue.

I have also find an interesting recent comment under by a Korean tourist about his unpleasant dining experience with the same reception lady on Google too. He was being arraigned to sit in a very narrow and hot area while other tables were available. And from his observation, only Asian tourists were arranged to those seats.

Well, I hope it might help before...

With Sculptures by the Sea happening and being a Saturday, public transportation was packed, especially the buses from Bondi Junction Station. Got off at .., then a brief walk to Totti's, up some stairs which is also semi connected to a pub. I had lunch here with a couple of friends who made a booking for 12pm and boy, it was packed. A small line was already forming. It was relatively spacious with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Thankful for the great weather that day, we got a table outside and it was under bamboo coverage with a fan.

One of my friends received recommendations to eat here and had seen many posts about the 'wood-fired bread'. So, of course we had to get it, accompanied with burrata and half serve of tomatoes. It arrives like a pillow and shortly after, it loses its puff by slowly deflating. The cherry tomatoes were ripe and sweet but it didn't have that raw tomato taste like they've been salted to get rid of excess water in them. My friends offered me a Lacteze for the burrata, I declined and enjoyed it to its full glory without issues. It was worth the hype in the end because the surrounding tables also ordered the wood-fired bread with other anti pasto items.

We also ordered: two pastas - the lobster & crab and mushroom with prisciutto. Both weren't overly sauce-y, enough to coat the pasta (legit Italian) and they both packed a punch of flavour. The half smoked chicken which was absolutely crispy and still tender/juicy, we used some of the gravy and squeezed on a bit of the caramelized lemon. For the representation of vegetables, the asparagus, broad beans and pine nuts was the side dish. We had one asparagus each, leaving one left to be shared. I think two serves would have been better for next time.

To be able to try a variety of dishes on the menu - more friends the merrier unless you are crazy hungry, didn't have breakfast or have a big appetite in general. But having a third person (me!) made all the difference.

I was surprised the waitsperson gave diners new plates and cutlery after the antipasto and before the mains were served. The waitspersons were very attentive and cleared empty plates...

So basically, I visited Aus just to try this restaurant. I saw it on social media a long time ago and had it on my list ever since I started planning my Sydney trip. It was the first place I wanted to visit when I got there. As you can tell, I was really looking forward to it!

First impression: super fancy beach vibes, which I loved. I ordered the wood-fired bread, tomato, and burrata for the starter – the most popular trio, I’d say. The wood-fired bread was perfectly baked, 10/10. Normally, I don’t go for plain bread because it’s usually boring, mid, or dry… but not this time! It was soft inside, and when you spread the burrata (with olive oil) and added the tomato, it was the perfect trio.

For the main, I got the Josper-roasted prawns with chilli & lemon, and the Fettuccine in tomato sugo with stracciatella. The prawns were super fresh with that grilled lemon flavor – omg. I’m usually not into chilli, but I could totally handle it this time. As for the Fettuccine, I expected it to just be a simple tomato pasta, but it was actually amazing, especially paired with the stracciatella and some basil. The pasta was al dente, which is how I like it – firm to bite, not overcooked. It was such a wholesome dish.

Lastly, we ended up getting dessert unexpectedly, because me and my sister were raving about every dish being 10/10 so far. I figured their dessert wouldn’t be mid either, like those basic, old-fridge-flavored ones (sorry, but I usually skip dessert because a lot of places just use store-bought ice cream or something). Anyway, omg. The tiramisu had crushed almonds on the bottom and it was like heaven. I can’t even describe the texture – just perfect.

Totti’s really made the best memory of my Sydney trip, and I’ll definitely visit again soon. Checked: not overrated at all! Every ingredient was fresh and flavorful. Totally worth...