Vitaly Italian & Woodfire Pizza Restaurant (Matraville) — Restaurant in Sydney

Restaurant Name: Vitaly Location: Matraville, NSW Cuisine Type: Italian + Pizza Ambiance: The restaurant has a touch of rustic décor with dark furniture and is quite spacious. It features two glass walls that allow plenty of sunlight, creating a relaxed atmosphere. It feels homey and inviting, perfect for a casual dinner or family meal. However, since it’s located within a small shopping center, patrons must walk out of the restaurant to use the common lavatories in the complex. Service: The wait staff was formally friendly and helpful. They kindly allowed us to BYO for a $5 corkage fee, which is standard. Our food arrived within a reasonable time. The garlic bread was excellent—three big slices of bread, perfectly prepared! Presentation: The veal was beautifully presented on a white plate with a side of steamed vegetables (see photo). The visuals were appealing. Taste: The taste was good, and the portion size was reasonable. Texture: This was where my surprise came. The veal was so chewy that I had to ask the staff for a replacement dish. They quickly took a new order, and I decided on lamb fettuccini ‘ragu.’ The fettuccine was well-cooked, and the taste was good. As for the lamb, we could see the fibres clearly, and I didn’t complain. Temperature: The food was served warm enough, but if you prefer your food to arrive “smoking” hot, you may need to ask. Value for Money: The fettuccine ($29.00) and veal ($35.00) were reasonably priced, considering the portion size and quality (let’s hope the veal was just a one-time misfortune). Overall, the prices are in line with the average for this kind of meal. Overall Experience: I left Vitaly feeling satisfied—not so much because of the full experience, but because the situation was handled professionally. The combination of good service, flavorful food, and welcoming ambiance makes this a solid choice for a meal out. Coffee: It’s well known that Australia has some inconsistencies in coffee quality, especially in cafes and restaurants. Unfortunately, Vitaly is no exception. The coffee could use improvement, but I don’t blame them entirely. Hopefully, they can work on it. Recommendation: I recommend Vitaly to those seeking a casual yet flavorful dining experience, particularly for Italian food. Bring your family and friends. Next time, I’m sure the veal will be as it should be—nice and tender. Thank you for reading! M....

We have been frequenting this place as a family of 5 for some time now. Food has always been very tasty, good size portions and you can tell chefs put their soul into it. Staff, while we’ve been seeing new faces every time we visit, have always been very attentive - you can tell there is a very positive culture within this business. We have always been happy with food and service, and have always been leaving a very generous cash tip.

Tonight’s experience has unfortunately been different. We made an over the phone booking for 5:30pm. We ordered entrees and aperitif drinks, followed by kids’ meals, mains and accompanying drinks. We finished our mains around 6:40 and were enjoying our time with kids while waiting for staff to collect the plates and take our dessert orders - restaurant has been buzzing full of life by this time and, understandably, staff were running very busy.

At 7pm waitress came up to our table and informed us that people that booked the table after us have arrived and we need to vacate. When we asked why hasn’t anyone told us that there is a time limit and that we wanted desserts, we were told that they can put kids ice creams in takeaway containers. We reluctantly agreed and it took about 2 minutes for waitress to show up at our table with a takeaway bag ready to hand over once we get up…..

I have never before been asked to leave a restaurant, especially one that i have consistently been ‘greasing up’ with generous cash tips.

Very...

We booked for a 7:15 Saturday night sitting and arrived to a busy and bustling restaurant which is great! Unfortunately the wait staff did everything in their power to avoid eye contact with us and we were left standing at the entrance until 7:30 when we managed to grab a waitress who then told us to wait for another staff member. Five minutes later we were squashed into a corner in front of where they store the dinnerware - basically had someone crouching next to us our whole dinner! Food was ok - nothing spectacular but tasty enough once it was ordered (again struggled to get the attention of wait staff) and arrived (did not take too long). Paying the bill proved almost impossible and we were once again left standing at the front of the restaurant considering if we should just walk out.

I am fully aware and sympathetic that the industry is facing significant shortages, and I also think it’s great that the restaurant is doing so well within a few weeks of opening. Hopefully the team can iron out these customer service issues - I honestly wouldn’t have minded waiting considering the industry issues if we had just been acknowledged at any time during the night.

Won’t be coming back in a hurry...