Osteria del Toro review

I was very fortunate to have another meal out at the expense of another person, thanks Rob! The name of this place made me very intrigued and was wondering if there was going to be some sort of Spanish bull theme going on.

The setting was mind blowing; I must of looked ridiculous as I spent 10 minutes looking round the place like a newborn who is still figuring out its vision. It was a Mediterranean style restaurant. There were sculptures attached to the pillars and an unbelievable mirror frame that had the angel babies things sculpted into it, it looked like it cost around about half of what I pay the uni each year in tuition fees. Even going to the toilet provided plenty of visual stimuli; you got to piss in urinals that were alcoves! I felt like I was on the set of gladiator going to toilet in the king’s private bathroom. The waiter’s and waitresses were dressed well with waistcoats and ties. They even went the extra mile and hired a dude who looked like a greasy Italian. This was offset however by the ginga that was waitering. Their service was very prompt and polite and made no hesitation to top up your drink, always a good sign of service.

I finally stopped admiring the setting and got to work on the menu. I think there was just the right amount of meal options. Not too much that it feels like reading a book and not enough that you feel short changed. The problem was I had no idea what each dish was, I could make out the meat but Zeus knows what it came with. There were gourmet pizzas, pasta dishes and a good variety of your classic meat dishes. I finally made a decision after asking what everyone else is getting and ordered the veal. While deciding there was Turkish bread being handed round. It was good bread but they weren’t generous with the garlic, it tasted like they got a little bit of garlic on a toothpick and spread it on.

While I waiting I enjoyed several bottles of estrella beer that seemed to fill up the glasses provided perfectly. It was a smooth drop and certainly beat the goon and budget sparkling lemon I usually drink. I also engaged in small talk with my delightful company sometimes achieving a medium to full length conversation.

My meal arrived and I was very excited. It was slow roasted veal with crushed potato and spinach. Everything was cooked beautifully. The serving size was the right amount to let you know this place is more about quality than quantity but still leaves you satisfied. There were just the right amount of ingredients but I felt there could have been more flavour injected into the meal. Maybe a more out there marinade? Something extra was needed to achieve that fancy restaurant kind of taste.

I was over the moon when I found out we were allowed deserts. I ordered the Baklava, which is baked filo with pistachio nut crumble and vanilla bean ice cream. On first glimpse I was wondering what the heck did I order. On first taste however every single bit of regret was overpowered by the euphoria I had from the taste of this dish. The savouriness of the filo combined with the intense sweetness of the pistachio nut crumble stimulated the shit out of my taste centre. The vanilla ice cream worked well with the filo giving the dish a good balance. This desert was very impressive and one of the best I’ve tried. Better than my flatmate’s donut thingies which looked like a bunch of turds on a plate. It was nice but didn’t have the same divinity of my desert.
Overall I would recommend this restaurant. You may need to get an overdraft or course related costs to pay for the bill, as it seems like these guys are trying to pay off all their exquisite pieces of art. It is an appropriate restaurant if you have a date and you want it to end successfully.

Rating

Setting- 5/5
Taste-5/6
Presentation-4/5
Service-4.5/5
Total-18.5/21

Cheers
Larry

Newtown McDonalds

Not really a review here, i'm just ratted out cause my drink in my cheeseburger combo was actually 50% ice, how cold do you think we want our drinks? Also an added note to everyone, ask to get your buns steamed its worth it.
Larry

Zico-Italian restuarant and bar

ZICO is an Italian restaurant and bar and on first glance I suppose that is obvious because it says it on the sign. Zico is also an Italian football player so it seems appropriate to eat at this place while that soccer event thing is on. Inside they do try to portray Italian culture through their clever use of what I think is Italian art and photos of Italian stuff. They also have that cliché Italian music playing pleasantly in the background. All these attempts to capture the Italian experience are ruined by the waitresses who clearly aren’t Italian. They don’t even try to use accents! I think they should a job requirement as not only are they supplementing the setting, the waitresses will become twice as hot with an accent.

The menu has plenty of choice, kinda felt like reading a short story. They did use a lot of Italian for the names of their meals which made it bloody difficult to know what I was ordering. I always have the philosophy though that if you can’t read or pronounce the item on the menu then it must be good. I ordered the lamb cutlets and beef Mignon, two meats will be better than one right? We also ordered your typical breads for the table because going out for tea and not having garlic bread is like missing out on the pre ball drinks before going to the actual ball sober. The bread was good, the normal bread had a similar texture to stale bread but the garlic bread was had a better texture. They came with a parsley dip and an olive oil and vinaigrette dip. Another sign of a decent restaurant, both were incredibly tasty.

We ordered a Merlot, I was an amateur and did not note what year or what vineyard it was from a silly mistake on my behalf. Not as silly as how the waitress looked trying to open a cork bottle with an opener from the $2 shop. The wine was smooth and rich with the taste of grapes and not too heavy. It would compliment the meal I ordered unlike my mother who ordered fish, clearly my critic skills were not from her genome.

The main arrived which consisted of the two meats, a superbly cylindrical shaped bit of mash, a couple of tomatoes and a random lemon. What was with the lemon? I didn’t know if I should eat it with the meal or use the juice from it on my cutlets and Mignon. I wasn’t advised so left it out in distaste. The meat was cooked well, rare could do with a sauce or marinade but I suppose they wanted to focus on the quality of the meat. While my meat was cooked to my liking my sister’s steak resembled a freshly cut piece of muscle despite ordering it to be cooked medium.

There was also a side of fries with a rich tomato sauce that actually tasted like tomatoes, this place dominates the dips.

I was satisfied with the meal knowing too well I was going to get a bunch of free food at a 21^st later on. We didn’t order desert despite being asked twice, once by our waitress and another by a rookie waiter whose face resembled a sunburnt beachball. This was my first real taste at Italian food. Italian always made me think of pizza or spaghetti or jersey shore. I now know it also incorporates flavoursome dips, a kind of tomatoey taste and undercooked meat.

Zico Rating

As I said the rating will be different for this review as it is a bit different to the free sandwiches and savouries we get occasionally. I have a rating for setting (5 stars), taste (6 stars), presentation (5 stars) and service.(5 stars) , adding up to 21 stars

Setting- 4/5

Taste-4/6

Presentation-3/5

Service- 3.5/5

Total- 14.5/ 21 stars

Cheers

Larry