Cicio Cacio Osteria — Restaurant in North Island

Our monthly meet up dining group went to cicio cacio in Newtown last night. I know this is one of the raved about Italian restaurants by many, and we had very high expectations. The ambience was very cute and the little path leading up to the restaurant was also very quaint, the whole restaurant was very cozy and we were led up to the table upstairs. It was good to see that on a Saturday night at this type of economy, it was almost full. We were tended to by 2 different waitstaff, and they asked us the same questions, which is not a huge deal to me but maybe not the best used of their time? Also I noticed that they couldn't pronounce the names of the dishes, probably would benefit from training the staff 😅 It did take them a long time before they took our order, however the mains did arrive promptly after. I was reading about the arancini which is one of my favorite Italian dishes, so I tried that instead of the mains on offer as I was not very hungry and wanted to fit in dessert as well. All of my other table mates got a main, we had a few people who ordered the pork belly which they were very happy with, however the size was on the smaller side, mind you, one of us came to the restaurant a couple of months ago and he did notice that the price has been marked down, but it seems the portion size also came down with it, which means most of us would have needed to order something else to make up for the smaller portion, not too sure how this worked? I probably would have preferred a bigger portion with a higher price like they had originally, as you can see on the menu all the main were $29, which is under the 30 mark, but perhaps the original $35 with the bigger portion would have been the way to go? Some of us ordered the fish of the day which was moki, and they did find that the fish was a bit too firm. My arancini tasted okay, the cheese looked very beautiful oozing out and had a nice flavour, however the sauce at the bottom seem to be Thai sweet chilli sauce, and I noticed that other tables had their arancini sitting on a different coloured sauce, so I am guessing everyone got different sauce? I probably would have prefer something else though, I feel the sauce kind of made it less likeable. My friend's ravioli as you can see only had 4 pieces, which was not quite enough for him, he did also order the side which was the asparagus with broad beans, and he claimed they were better than the main. Almost all of us ordered a dessert, I had the cannoli which I felt probably would have been better if the filling was made of mascarpone, I know that the traditional filling is usually ricotta, but the ricotta was a bit grainy and floury, maybe that was just my preference? Overall we decided that this dinner was okay, perhaps we had higher expectations, I don't know, I know some people in this group would probably tell me off that the restaurants are doing so tough these days we really should not post anything negative, but to me I feel they definitely have room for improvement and if they can improve from this then all the better to them, and I still wish the best for them as they have so...

Such a magical little place with the most delicious Italian we’ve had in New Zealand to date. To start, we had the freshly made bread 🥖 that they provide, then out came our antipasti, a broad bean dish on top of more freshly made bread, and wow, this dish had us licking the plate and it was just the beginning. My partner and I thought, we’re not going to order steak or chicken when there’s freshly made pasta on the menu! So, for the Primi Piatti, I ordered the Lentil Tagliatelle and she ordered the Ravioli, they were both cooked to perfection, the lentils had this amazing flavour along with the texture and bite of the fresh tagliatelle, the ravioli had such a gorgeous earthy flavour from the sauce and pistachios that were sprinkled on top. For our Contorni we had the carrots and panzanella, both were 10/10, however the carrots were the star of the show, chargrilled to perfection, they were sweet, smokey, earthy, and spicy all in one, they also have me salivating just thinking about it again! And it’s carrots for crying out loud! We saw the other table next to us order mussels whilst we were devouring our mains, and the smell of the mussels just filled the restaurant and I could not for the life of me leave that place without ordering them. My partner doesn’t do seafood, especially mussels… Let’s just say this place converted her. First bite of the tiramisu gave me an instant flashback to Rome in 2018, where I ate a cup roaming the streets of Rome and wanted 10 more. Overall experience 12/10, FOH did a lovely job explaining the menu - I think their menu changes depending on the season and what’s available so it is different from their website online, the white house wine was flavourful and paired well with the mussels. I dare you to check it out yourself. You won’t be disappointed. Grazie to the team at Cicio Cacio 🥂 I won’t want to eat Italian when I go back up to Auckland because I’ll find myself comparing it to...

This was such a nest of bliss! Our experience was such an exhibition of humility. From the thoughtfulness and smooth service from the staff to the inviting interior and to the sublime, uncomplicated menu.

My wife and I have eaten all over Wellington, and this takes the cake. The entire meal was original, took risks that were courageous, but pulled it all off effortlessly, each dish built upon the strong foundation that the previous had set. We had an entree, two mains, a side dish and desserts. Each dish had its own bespoke reservoir of flavour and texture that was unlike anything we had tasted elsewhere. Feasting here has made me question every other "Italian" restaurant I have ever dined at. This is what I understand love to taste like.

The Head Chef, MJ so kindly delivered our final plates to us, like our own guardian angel! I strongly doubt I will experience any meal like the one I ate tonight for a long time.

In terms of atmosphere and service, I give it 5 stars. Our server Eva (sorry if I'm spelling that wrong!) was such a treasure. Accommodating, professional and such a joy! We were always thrilled when we saw her approach our table. Class act.

The restaurant itself is unique, even in a city of uniqueness. The architecture had my eyes captivated. It was cozy, warm and a perfect setting to our meal. As we arrived the owner Giulio picked out out table and told us "best seat in the house", that's when I knew we were in for a treat.

I say this with no exaggeration at all, that was the BEST meal I have eaten in my entire life. I will be back again and...