Candelori's: Italian, Smithfield (10 Sept 2011)

685 The Horsley Drive, Smithfield NSW 2164
Phone: (02) 9729 1155
http://www.candeloris.com.au

Italian haven in Smithfield

On recommendation from my brother the family heads out to the industrial suburb of Smithfield to check out an Italian restaurant of massive proportions compared to its misleading shopfront. A 40th birthday of around 50 people is already in progress as we enter via the rear entrance close to the outside parking area for our 6.30 pm booking. The large dining area is divided near the middle by an impressive sized bar displaying bottles of spirits and wine. The kitchen doors are in constant flux of service bringing out tempting looking dishes so luckily we’re not sitting too close to it. Most of the customers seem to be Italian so that’s a good sign. To start my NV Astoria ‘Baby Lounge’ Prosecco Cuvée DOC ($13.5) is pricey but decent and my brothers Peroni Gran Riserva ($12) will set you back more than your average local beer. For entrée the Garlic bread ($5) is nicely toasted and full of garlic and butter flavour as hoped. The Bruschetta bread ($8) is flavoursome and not overly topped so it’s fairly easy to eat without becoming too messy. House bread is complimentary showing a bit of Italian family hospitality. The Pan-fried olives ($9) is a nice tasty starter although I prefer the large sized ones over the smaller ones.

The Calamari fritti ($23) is surprisingly very tender although I was hoping for a bit less coating like I had Lucio Pizzeria. Zucchini flowers filled with ricotta cheese & spinach ($23) are pricey although worth it for their crispiness and tasty filling. The Baked figs & prosciutto pan-finished with gorgonzola and mascarpone cream ($23) are seasonally available. They tasted better than they looked although at $7.50 each I thought they were quite expensive. Now for lovers of seafood you might want to check out the Linguine con aragosta, gamberi e cozze ($36) which comes with a half lobster, tiger prawns and mussels. Pretty reasonable I thought although I preferred the pasta flavour in the Spaghettini with scampi & scallops ($28) which actually had a decent kick of chilli which wasn’t mentioned on the menu. The scampi looked impressive although actually don’t provide much meat in the end.

My dad was pretty happy with his Quaglie saltimbocca ($29) of roasted quails wrapped with prosciutto which I think contained a whole quail family. The Lobster, prawn, crab ravioli ($27) comes with plenty of sauce although bordering on perhaps too much. The ravioli was huge and filled with lobster, crab & prawn meat but I tasted more prawn meat than anything else. For dessert the Nougat toblerone ($17) was a crowd pleaser although I was expecting a bit more crunch from the crushed nougat. The house made almond biscotti was very good. Some decent flavour was to be had in the Tiramisu ($16) albeit at the price and my Hot chocolate ($4) was nicely flavoured. I’m not sure who ‘Ray Hadley's Morning Roast’ is but he seems to have a permanent advertising spot on the cup saucers — I wonder if he’s Italian? All-in-all a pleasant experience except for a bit of absent service towards the end due to being busy. The sizzling hot pots looked good so perhaps next time.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Lots of seating although book ahead especially on Saturdays as it’s very popular, Quite nice décor, Big focus on seafood, Service seemed down-to-earth and friendly although got a little absent towards the end, Parking available around the back, Function space available

CONS: Some of the 2 seater tables towards the back near the wall are right next to service pathway so not ideal, I had trouble sitting my feet under the table comfortably due to table support in the way

MUST TRY: Sizzling hot pots and pizza next time

WORTH TRYING: Garlic bread, Bruschetta, The Linguine con aragosta, gamberi e cozze comes with half a lobster for only $36 which seems like pretty good value

DAMAGE: $314.50 for five people

—

NV Astoria ‘Baby Lounge’ Prosecco Cuvée DOC, Veneto, Italy ($13.5), Lemon, Lime & Bitters ($5)

Peroni Gran Riserva, Lazio, Italy ($12)

Garlic bread - woodfired garlic ciabata bread ($5)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Bruschetta bread - woodfired ciabata bread topped with diced tomato, basil, garlic, balsamic vinegar and virgin olive oil ($8)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Complimentary house bread

Pan-fried olives with lemon zest, rosemary, dry chilli and extra virgin olive oil ($9)

Calamari fritti - tender calamari lightly floured and pan fried ($23)

Zucchini flowers filled with ricotta cheese & spinach; lightly pan fried ($23)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Baked figs & prosciutto pan-finished with gorgonzola and mascarpone cream (seasonal availability). We source our figs from NT, QLD, NSW and California ($23)

Linguine con aragosta, gamberi e cozze - long thin pasta, pan tossed with a half lobster, tiger prawns, mussels, virgin olive oil, diced tomatoes, garlic, chilli & white wine ($36)

Complimentary side vegetables with main

Quaglie saltimbocca - roasted quails wrapped with prosciutto; pan-finished with virgin olive oil, sage, garlic, white wine & served on a bed of lentils ($29)

Lobster, prawn, crab ravioli - large ravioli filled with lobster, crab & prawn meat; pan finished with diced tomatoes, basil & extra virgin olive oil ($27)


Spaghettini with scampi & scallops - spaghettini, pan tossed with white wine, garlic, virgin olive oil, parsley, shallots & cherry tomatoes ($28) - actually had a decent hit of chilli

Impressive looking scampi but more shell than meat

No crab meat left behind

Nougat toblerone - crumbled biscuit base filled with soft cream cheese, toblerone chocolate & crushed nougat; served with white chocolate gelato, warm dark chocolate & house made almond biscotti ($17)

Tiramisu - layered savoiardi biscotti dipped in espresso, zucchero and vecchia romagna brandy; finished with mascarpone and shaved dark chocolate ($16)

Hot chocolate ($4)

English Breakfast tea ($5)

Ray Hadley's Morning Roast tea cup — WTF?!

Bill $314.50 for five people

Interesting bottled fruit although is a star fruit Italian?

I had trouble sitting my feet under the table comfortably :-(

Sugar and toothpicks — the only time I usually see toothpicks is at a Chinese restaurant

Dining area — very large

Lots of free car parking at rear

Opening hours

View Larger Map

The Little Snail: French, Pyrmont (29 July 2011)

50 Murray Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009


Phone: (02) 9212 7512

http://www.thelittlesnail.com.au

Menu isn't quite all French

Thanks to Nina Howse from Our Deal for providing two vouchers ($69 each) for the ‘A Three Course Gourmet Dining Experience for Two. Value $139’. I’m not sure how $139 was worked out since a 3 course dinner menu is $56 and an Aperitif is $9 each which comes to $130. Lunch is even cheaper at $35 for 3 courses. The offer is valid between 22 June – 22 Sept 2011 in case you have bought one. My expectations weren’t particularly high with bruschetta, salt & pepper squid, kangaroo fillet, risotto and sticky date pudding on the menu — I’m pretty sure you won’t find those in France. To start the pre-determined Aperitif provided by the restaurant was so light on alcohol I thought I was drinking straight orange juice. The Garlic bread ($4.50) was quite nice but comes at an extra cost. The restaurant promotes its signature dish as escargot so I had to try. I remember trying these for the first time when The Little Snail was in Bondi. The Escargot de Bourgogne was oven baked in herbs and garlic butter which comes with two tiny slices of bread. The snails weren’t too chewy and quite flavoursome but I’m no expert on what a good one should be although more bread would have been appreciated to soak up the sauce.



The Ravioli of Blue Swimmer Crab, Prawns and Salmon with a lemongrass and chervil veloute looked nothing like a ravioli but more like a snowball croquette. Sauce was quite nice although the dish was a bit on the luke warm side. The Paté Maison was quite generous and more Plain baguette ($2.50) was ordered to help finish it. It was fairly smooth but a bit on the firm side. I think keeping the ingredients more simple and having cornichons instead of the champignons would have been more to my liking. A decent amount of seafood was found in the Bouillabaisse de Marseille although the sauce was more like an Italian Neapolitan pasta sauce and didn’t have the same depth of flavour like I had at Flinders Inn or the prawn bisque soup at Chase Oyster Bar.



Corn-Fed Chicken Roulade was also served a bit luke warm and unfortunately had a meat loaf processed consistency — we wondered if it was made in house or bought in. Wasn’t particularly appetizing I’m afraid and the vegetables soon became the best part of the dish. The Citrus Marinated Tasmanian Salmon had an overly salty skin and the Magret de Canard with a cassis and raspberry sauce became a strange combination of flavours for our French dining guests to stomach. My Seafood Plate takes the cake for perhaps the most non-French dish of the night complete with sweet chilli sauce. The soft shell crab was actually cooked quite nicely and the crumbed calamari pretty tender. Having no patriotic crème brûlée on the dessert menu the Classic Crème Caramel had to do which was quite good. A non-French Warm Sticky Date Pudding was also good and the Handmade Profiteroles with crème patisserie was served singular rather than living up to its plural description. The Kahlua Infused Chocolate Mousse (spelt Cjocolate Mouse on website) was equally satisfying and didn't contain any mouse that I was aware of.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Quite nice décor and ambience, Friendly staff although don’t expect the majority to be French including the kitchen I’m suspecting, Desserts were better than the entrees and mains, Lots of seating and roomy spacing, Probably good for large groups

CONS: It's more of a Modern Australian café menu than a pure French restaurant menu, Some of the dishes were unfortunately served a bit luke warm, Aperitif was extremely light on the alcohol, No crème brûlée — how very non-French

WORTH TRYING: Desserts, Garlic bread and I guess the escargot if you’ve never had them before

—

Aperitif with deal - very light on alcohol, Lemon, lime and bitters ($4)

Winter Creek Riesling Traminer 2009 ($40)

Aperitif and Cocktail menus

Garlic bread ($4.50)

Escargot de Bourgogne - Dozen snails marinated in herb-infused court-bouillon, oven baked in garlic butter

Ravioli of Blue Swimmer Crab, Prawns and Salmon with a lemongrass and chervil veloute — doesn't look like a ravioli to me

Paté Maison - Armagnac flavoured duck liver pate with marinated champignons, date chutney and port vinaigrette

Bouillabaisse de Marseille - Traditional French seafood soup with mussels, fish fillets and prawns, served with garlic baguette — was more like Neapolitan sauce but decent bits of seafood

Plain baguette ($2.50)

Corn-Fed Chicken Roulade with french beans, vichy carrots and madeira sauce

Citrus Marinated Tasmanian Salmon on crabmeat risotto and sauce vierge

Magret de Canard - Duck breast fillet with wok tossed spinach and a cassis and raspberry sauce

Seafood Plate of grilled salmon, garlic prawns, salt and pepper squid, chilli mussels, beer battered soft shell crab and mesclun salad

Classic Crème Caramel

Warm Sticky Date Pudding with butterscotch and vanilla ice cream

Handmade Profiteroles with crème patisserie and mint chocolate sauce

Kahlua Infused Chocolate Mousse

Bill $51 extra for four people, 2 x $69 deals used = $189

Menu cover and table water

Parisian decor

Large fish tank

Downstairs seating and bar area

Upstairs seating

Interesting shaped mirror in the toilet — not particularly French though

View Larger Map