Ventuno Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

BEWARE DON’T MAKE OUR MISTAKE! I booked mum’s 60th birthday dinner at Ventuno for 11 people for a Sunday night, I was told because we had 11 people and not 10 that we would be charged an additional 8% on top of the Sunday surcharge, if we didn’t want to have a set menu (which we didn’t) I asked them to speak to the manager as we were not happy about paying to surcharges for bringing an extra person. They kindly waived the extra surcharge for us which we appreciated. I had booked an outside table, which I had mentioned multiple times in the phone calls I had whilst booking, as it was an incredibly hot and humid night we were all quite looking forward to sitting outside. When we arrived I questioned the gentleman at the desk with the blonde hair and man bun why we were being seated inside as that is not what I had booked he told me that outside tables were not a guarantee they are only note down as preferred, therefore are not guaranteed. I told him that In the multiple phone calls I had had nobody had told me this, and that may have changed our decision as to where to book. He and his coworker a wavy, dark haired women who I can only assume was the manager attempted to apologise very insincerely and still proceeded to see us inside. For the rest of the night we kept getting filthy looks from the woman and her coworker that was making our table, very uncomfortable. It was so hot and humid guests from our table had asked the wait staff if they could turn up the fan near our table, the staff member told us that the fan was broken, and it couldn’t go up any higher, so we then asked about another fan that was facing outside fanning nobody at that stage to be turned inside to fan the guests sitting inside who was sweating, he told us he couldn’t. Meanwhile, another table of six people behind us were complaining about the heat also, and the fan, and they got moved outside, obviously our table wasn’t valued enough to be moved. We were so hot we were literally sitting in sweat! It was disgusting, many of our guests had to get up and go outside to cool off. The staff couldn’t care less, we heard other tables also complaining about the heat and nothing being done. The food arrived quickly, parts of it were nice, but it was nothing to write home about. The cocktails were nice but in general Ventuno didn’t amaze me like I was hoping. I thought a restaurant of this standard would’ve been incredible much to my disappointment! Sadly because we were so turned off by the experience and the service we didn’t buy nearly as many drinks as we normally would have as a group nor did we order any extra food as we would normally because we felt we didn't want to give them the extra business. When it came time to pay the bill, my brother went up and was served by the wavy dark haired women who counted out our $1600 of cash for the bill and then had the audacity to ask him if he wanted his change! Now we always tip and we tip well, but in this case we as a group had already decided that they did not deserve a tip at all. I have worked in hospitality and customer service for over 20 years, and I have never asked a customer whether they wanted their change or not. That is for the customer to decide whether they want to give that change as a tip, not to be asked by the staff! How absolutely disgustingly rude! Even more of a reason we shouldn’t have gone! We should have listened to my dad who wanted to walk out at the very beginning and go around the corner to Elements Seafood Bar and Grill House which we had previously been only a few months ago and had the most amazing experience. I can safely say all 11 of the patrons at our table that night have vowed never to come back to this disgustingly managed restaurant, we have big mouths and have already told several people of our terrible experience. The owner really should look into how their...

We celebrated our wedding lunch here and it was fabulous. It was genuinely the best customer service I have received in many years. Shannon, the events manager, is a lovely person and fantastic to work with. I would highly recommend Shannon and Ventuno for both private and corporate functions. Some background info: our previous lunch venue had cancelled on us two weeks before the wedding day. We spoke with Sails on Lavender Bay who were unable to host us but the lady recommended Ventuno.

I spoke with Shannon, the events manager, who was able to accommodate our wedding lunch in the private dining room with a set up for 19 guests. We opted for the Sit Down Style lunch with the banquet menu. In the lead-up to the event everything was really well thought out and planned, really great communication from Shannon who made sure we were always informed, she also responded to emails in a timely, professional and polite way. Honestly, for a small wedding like ours this was the perfect space. Moreover, there are many options included in the booking at no extra cost that other venues typically don't cater for or charge extra (eg. cake table, microphones, PA system etc). On the day of, we were looked after by Serena and the manager Fabio who were both lovely and professional.

Food: On the day we were blown away by the quantity and quality of food. All our guests said that this was the best wedding food that they had ever had. My family is Italian and we were all impressed by the authenticity of the ingredients and recipes. For our event the dishes were brought out sharing/ family style, served in the middle amongst diners. However, the portions were abundant and there were many of the same dishes brought out down the table so each guest had ample opportunity to take seconds or thirds and try different things. The food was served in courses, leaving plenty of time to socialise. The pasta was freshly made and the sauces were really delicious, everyone had a favourite.

There was so much food that we were able to organise with Serena and Fabio to have the leftovers put in containers for the guests to take home with them.

The flowers provided by Ventuno's florist were really fresh and perfect for the event and added a nice touch to the tables!

I highly recommend Ventuno for any events and would host future...

Had a fabulous time with my missus at Ventuno on Easter Sunday. We were heading towards Barangaroo to have lunch, but something about Ventuno caught our attention. Nestled in the heart of Walsh Bay art precinct, facing the harbour. This restaurant has a contemporary, warm and inviting vibes to it. We were greeted by the friendly manager and ushered to our table with no fuss. The food was amazing. Starting the afternoon with half a dozen of Merimbula Sydney Rock oysters, they were creamy and fresh. The calamari came next and I was pleasantly surprised by how it was done. The calamari was coated with a light golden batter, slightly crisp, and it works perfectly with the firm and slightly sweet calamari. I was told that calamari was fried in olive oil which they change daily. Hence able to keep the batter light and clean tasting. Our friendly wait staff, Raffaele recommended that we should try their Italia pizza with burrata (add on). The light and creamy burrata goes so well with the tomato base, prosciutto and rocket. We enjoyed the food so much that we finished our Minuty rosé very quickly and ordered another Italian rosé, Fasoli Gino. Lastly, to end off, we ordered the Tiramisu which was delicious. We ended up spending more than 4 hours with Ventuno and the whole ambience and experience was wonderful. Special mention to Raffaele who was friendly, yet professional and was attentive to us and thank you so much for the Italia pizza with burrata...