Casoni - Darlinghurst

The standout dishes were the black garlic bread and wagyu carpaccio toast flavour combinations were executed perfectly and Asian influences were apparent would come back just for these starters.<br/ <br/ The pasta dishes I got, scarlet prawn and Moreton bay bug, were average. Pasta a bit on the thicker and chewier side and sauces were more like pastes. Though flavours were there, it didn’t complement the delicate produce ie scarlet prawns and Moreton bay bugs. Would’ve preferred if sauce was smoother and a big lighter.

Spiced mocktail $10), black garlic bread miso butter $6), rice cake, chilli with scamorza $7), crab spaghetti $31), bone marrow with potato cake $14), rice pudding tiramisu $12) and yuzu panna cotta with kumquat $12). Favourite dishes of the night and must haves) were the bone marrow and tiramisu. The black garlic bread, rice cake and spaghetti were all amazing in their own right. However, if I could reorder our main dish, instead of the spaghetti I would have gotten the duck ragu papardelle or the pumpkin ravioli. Only dish that I didn’t enjoy was the yuzu panna cotta. All the dishes were inventive and a lot of attention and care went into finessing these dishes.

Picked this place instead of another last minute (because of a mixup with bookings) and was seriously not disappointed.<br/ <br/ This little, modern Italian spot is the perfect date night venue. Casual dining with an added touch of intimacy, the food is meant for sharing and drinks menu boasts an impressive cocktail selection.<br/ <br/ We had the Menu Fisso, a 5 course degustation menu filled with a mixture of traditional Italian, as well as some modern, Asian fusion meals (that’s how I would describe it).<br/ <br/ The drinks are also very good, we had a couple of cocktails off their menu, as well as the cocktail of the month (Watermelon).<br/ <br/ Would highly recommend, a couple of drinks and the set menu didn’t break the bank too hard (under $150).

Quiet, corner side intimate Italian restaurant, with a neon sign. It’s perfect for date night. <br/ <br/ We ate the following dishes off the $55 chefs menu degustation: <br/ Cacio e Pepe Donuts a signature dish on the menu. The donuts are lightly fried, with subtle pepper flavouring and sweetness from the mountain of shaved Parmesan cheese on top. <br/ Burrata Tomato Togarashi. Cutting into a ball of burrata and seeing the oozing creamy cheese explode onto the plate is sheer joy. <br/ <br/ Kingfish Shiso Blood Plum Cucumber. The kingfish prepared carpaccio style was thinly sliced and balanced well with the fresh ingredients. <br/ <br/ Pumpkin Ravioli Pistachios Burnt Butter. I was looking forward to this dish but it was a bit of a let down. The shaved pumpkin on top was too overwhelming, it might have just been our dish on the night but it was too much compared to the ratio of the other ingredients. I felt the pistachio in this dish didn’t make sense, they were cooked slightly caramelised. <br/ <br/ Casoni’s signature pappardelle and maltese Sausage Ragu. This is everything that I could wish for in a pasta dish. The homemade pasta is thick and wide, cooked al dente so that there is some ‘bite’ to it, with a simple meat and tomato sauce. <br/ <br/ They saved the best savoury dish for last as part of the ‘menu fisso’ all the Casoni favourites degustation menu. I would go back to Casoni just to order a plate of this .<br/ <br/ For dessert, we had two different dishes: <br/ Brown butter mousse, blood plums and lemon myrtle. This is one of the desserts served as part of the degustation menu here. The mousse is extremely light in texture and taste which contrasts well against the sweet blood plums and tart and fragrant lemon myrtle flavours. If you want to finish your meal off with something sweet but not too heavy, this is just the dessert.

Nice taste, nice service. It use a lot of popular and fresh food raw material in the pasta. Very creative! Definitely it deserve come to next time!