a Tavolaccia

a Tavolaccia

355 Glebe Point Rd

Glebe, 2037

Open Mon to Sat 6 to 10;30
BYO and licenced

Saturday 29 May 2010

This restaurant which opened in 1979, deserves to be more popular than it is. On the night we went which was a wet and windy one there were two couples, one left as we arrived and the other shortly after. Maybe they didn't want to be in the blog. So we had the restaurant to ourselves. Memory may deceive but it seemed to me that the decor had not changed since it opened. Faux rough hewn pine and soulfull large black and white photos of Italy.

I had never noticed that it was "a Tavolaccia" (Roman dialect) rather than "la Tavolaccia" (standard Italian), a flavour of Roma Citta aperta in Glebe. The menu is not especially roman but it does have that pleasant local eating place feel which is reminiscent of Rome. A place to go to if you don't feel like cooking. Maybe Montalbano's local if he lived in Glebe.

The other aspects of the meal which deserve favourable comment were the portion sizes, as Goldilocks would say, just right and the under complication of the dishes.

The entrees

This is the first restaurant we have had entrees so things are looking up. We shared a bowl of mussels with

white wine

and fried crumbed squid. They were both very good. The mussels tasting of themselves a change from tasting of garlic or tomato, and the squid unexpectedly light and tender.

The mains

Janet had barbequed prawns which she described as simple and tasty.

Dave said

I had a veal dish in some type of sauce which had artichokes in it. With beans on the side. I can't remember the name but it would be unfair to say that it was forgettable.

Stephen had calf's liver in a tomato based sauce. He said it was nice in a particular style. The liver was cooked through and a bit cardboardy but it was a good vehicle for the tasty sauce.

I had penne with eggplant. What I liked about my dish was firstly that as we had discussed having sweets the waitress/owner suggested I have the entree size which as I said was just right and secondly that the taste of the pasta (penne) was an important element of the dish.

The deserts

Limited but good. Not orgasmic or delushious but just good. Dave Janet and I had the homemade gelato which were hazelnut and coffee and Stephen had the tiramisu. Sounds pretty boring but the gelato tasted of its flavours and was not puffed and swirling. It was soberly served in those steel gelato dishes popular in the seventies and still in Rome, just two medium sized slabs of dense tasting gelato, good even on a cold night. The tiramisu, also looked homemade and un-ostentatiously assembled. It tasted a bit of caramel which is not usual.

Look I can't say if the deserts were home made and I am usually sceptical of these claims but in this case I would be prepared to believe the claim. Let us know what you think?

The cost

$35 per couple or to be more inclusive $17.50 per person (I had to use my phone to do that calculation!!!) and we brought our own wine. We should have checked the wine list, sorry.

The Verdict
I have been there before and I will go again. Maybe Montalbano will be there.