Reviews for Piccola Italia

by Jen
16th May 2012

After strolling the streets last Tuesday night, Piccola Italia seems like a charming authentic Italian restaurant.
I ordered the lamb shanks and my partner ordered the chicken & mushroom fettuccine. The waitress working that night was nice enough but wore tatty clothes, and the woman behind the counter who I assume was the manager was unwelcoming and also not dressed well.
There was only one other diner in the restaurant who already had her meal, my partners fettuccine arrived and I was left waiting 10 minutes for my lamb shanks to arrive. The fettuccine had virtually no sauce, only a couple of chunks of overcooked dry chicken, and a sprinkle of fatty bacon bits. My lamb shank was well overcooked, it was dry and had an odd taste. The potato it was served with was worse than the packet stuff you get from the supermarket, and I thought the “veges” it was served with were a little odd considering they were chickpeas & cannellini beans.
All in all it was ok service, poor quality food, certainly not authentic and overpriced for what we received.
I left feeling sorely disappointed and wont be going back there again.

by Rochelle
2nd May 2012

This place is rather odd. From the outside it appears to be a gorgeous, quaint authentic Italian eatery. On the inside there really doesn’t appear to be anything Italian about the place. Food was very average. My pork belly was extremely fatty & obviously a very cheap cut of meat. Hubby said his fish was nice but neither of us had ever come across fish wrapped in bacon before-slightly odd! The absence of a wine list is very unusual. Watermarks on the wine glass a bit off-putting. The front of house lady who appeared to be the only waitress was pleasant enough but didn’t dress very professionally. I though it looked a bit tacky when another customer ordered an icecream sundae & the waitress started making it herself at the bar in the middle of the restaurant! Overall not a great experience & wouldn’t return.

by Patsy
8th February 2012

This is my favourite place to have lunch. It is cheap, the serving size is huge and i love the waitress.

by CottonBunny
26th January 2012

The worst Italian restaurant ever! There was no drink menu available, apparently because ‘it changes very often’ The only pinot nior available was a Montana. Food portion was enormous, but the quality was really bad and presentation was poor. I ordered a soup for entree and a main. It was definitely too much. I would have only ordered the main, if the waitress mentioned anything about the portion. When I asked how big the portion is like, she just told me it was enough for one person.

They garnish everything with spring onion, which was really weird for an Italian restaurant. Every dish was served with half a plate of mash potato which tasted like something that I could easier get from a super market.

The whole experience was very disappointing and I would never go back again!

by Vanessa M.
8th January 2012

Have wanted to try Piccola for a while, so when we walked in to a full restaurant, I thought that was a good sign!! From the start it wasn’t good, although my friend had rung in the morning and left a message to reserve a table, then rang back in the afternoon and spoke to someone as no-one had rung back to confirm, the booking still wasn’t there! The waitress was great and I could see experienced, she took our orders and the drinks and garlic bread arrived quickly which was great. I found it strange that they didn’t have a wine menu, the waitress told me it was because the chef kept changing the wines?? We then waited for our mains for 50 minutes. Even then they didn’t arrive all together. The two fettucines with chicken, bacon and mushroom arrived, but the chicken was sooooo overcooked it was inedible and contanied a lot of bacon that was just fat. The redeeming feature of the salmon and scallops was the vegies which were great. There were 2 scallops on the plate and the salmon was absolutely full of bones and we had to pick our way through it…..unbelievable!! The food was cheap, but there is a reason for that, because it is terrible. We will never eat there again!

by Joseph
7th January 2012

Worst dining experience I have ever had. Food was good everything else was terrible.

From the first moment we went in it felt like we were not welcome, the waitress was completely unfriendly and inhospitable. I will never eat here again.

by Tinytine
17th September 2011

Went there a few days ago on a recommendation.. Hugely dissapointed. first off, the waitress didn’t seem like she wanted to be there, she was not only completely unfriendly she was also bad at addressing our needs.. The quality of the food was certainly not worth its money. The sauce was lacking and mainly covered with oil. So you could probably guess that we wouldn’t be going back there again. The worst dining experienced I’ve ever had.

by Teri A.
12th August 2011

Highly disappointing, the pasta had no sauce was extremely oily and the bacon was crap. The waitress was not friendly at all. Overall stink service and stink food. Would not recommend this place to anyone.

by Lisa L.
15th July 2011

I went there at the end of last year for a lunch with my girlfriends… LOVED IT! The food was scrumptious and creamy, definitely worth the money. Not pricey and it met both standards of quality and quantity. The chicken fettucine was amazing! But the lasagne might be a bit too greasy for some, even though we ordered the lean option. But the best part was definitely the tiramisu! At $8, it is much cheaper than some other restaurants nearby. Smelt wonderful, tasted wonderful… Would never hesitate to go back again

by danielle p.
7th June 2011

A few friends and I thought we would give this Italian restaurant a go as the other one on Alma street was closed. Very disappointing food the garlic bread was burnt and the spaghetti bolognese had no flavour I though it was a microwave meal. The food was ready way to quickly to be fresh. Also the wine was not nice at all. I do not recommend this place maybe our own fault for going cheap!!

by kate
20th April 2011

Saw a bad review on here but thought we would give it a go anyway only to find that ‘sam’ wasnt joking about the processed ham.
Went with two friends and we all got the chicken and bacon cabonara, we were all pretty dissapointed, partly because of the fake bacon but also because of the amount of oil at the bottom of the bowls! Was not very nice!
Then when we went to pay the bill we had a coupon from a entertainment book to get 1 meal free and the waiter (who had a attitude) made a big deal about us using it!
Wouldnt go back again…

by Anna
13th December 2010

My boyfriend & I get takeouts from here regularly. The Pizza’s are beautiful & fresh & the vegetarian cannelloni is also a favourite. Service is always friendly & we sometimes get a free drink while waiting for our order (the wait is never very long). Can’t fault this place.

by Sam
20th March 2010

We were pretty disappointed after reading the prior reviews. My girlfriend and I shared a pizza and a pasta, the pizza was disgusting and looked and tasted like a frozen supermarket pizza, the pasta which was described as having bacon in it, had only processed ham.
They had only one italian wine available, which was a very very average merlot for $8 a glass.
On the positive side they did give us a complimentary garlic bread but it was not enough to make up for the poor food and wine.
We will not be eating here again.

by roberta p.
16th March 2010

We have eaten here more than once. The hospitality that we have recieved is second to none. The meals were delicious and beyond our expectations and very affordable. We recommend this restaurant to all our friends!!

by Angela
13th July 2009

I have become a regular here for my pizza and pasta dishes. I found the meals very authentic and the smells of the cooking filling the restaurant. The lady there really welcomes you and gave our children free desserts which is welcome on our budget. My husband and I love the hospitality and the warmness we are shown. The food is well worth the affordable price. Will try the Eye Fillet next time back which will be soon.

by Toria
29th June 2009

We ordered takeaways from here for the first time on Saturday night. Spaghetti Carbonara and a side salad. We knew we;d made a good choice just sitting in the restaurant waiting for our food – the smell was garlicky and good. Plus the meals going to others looked nice. We were treated with a free coke while we waited. I don’t know if that’s the norm but we certainly appreciated it. We were offered cutlery (which is always appreciated as so many people forget). We ate the meal at home about 20 minutes later and it was divine. We shared the spaghetti and salad between two and it was plenty. Possibly the best garden salad I’ve ever had – a good mix of tasty lettuce and tomatoes with other veges all finely cut and a great dressing. We will go back here for sure.

by Renate Staudinger
16th June 2009

I was there with my husband tonight and the food there is outstanding, perfect presentation, tasty and cooked with love.

we are definitely back!

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