It was my first time dining at “Criniti’s" in Woolloomooloo. The restaurant is right by the waters and has a fantastic view if you choose to sit outside. Like other restaurants in the area, it’s one of those places you would dine for a special occasion or perhaps a drink or two to admire the view, just outside the city.
If you prefer to take the outdoor table, the view is something to admire in itself. Just under this paragraph is the view of what we could see looking into the complex where the restaurant is. This could only leave you to imagine what it would look like, if you're the one sitting outside, with a glass of wine, some bread, olive oil, cheese and cured meats. This is what Italian food with a Sydney twist is about!
The restaurant serves traditional Italian home-cooked food. The plates and presentation of the food is very rustic and makes you feel as if you’re dining at the home of an Italian family. I mean, I wouldn’t know what an Italian family is like, but that was the feeling I got from the meal.
Since we were a big group, we ordered a few dishes to share. We started off the evening with some freshly baked breads, which came with two delicious dippings. Not quite sure what they were now that I try to think of the, but they were great. There was also a mini pizza next to it, with what was like a diced tomato and basil salsa like spread.
As we advanced into our meal, we had some delicious fresh pastas of all sorts. The one I took a picture of was with a cream sauce base. It was very simply, but the best pastas are always the simple ones that are cooked al dente. The cream sauce had a few leaves of basil and the dish was finished off with some light, fluffy grated cheese on top. The best part was it was pretty much all you can eat. Since we booked a table for over 10 people, and it was the birthday of my friend, they told us to just let them know if we had wanted more pasta. We, as anyone would, did ask for a few more top ups.
We then moved on to the pizza, which was the main event. It was the main attraction for us because Criniti’s is well-known for their massive, huge, gigantic pizzas. Here, they don’t measure the size of their pizzas by the diameter like other places. They actually use foot and feet to describe how big they are. Looking at the photo, you could clearly see why. The pizza on the wooden stretched for about two seats. Other than the size, it was delicious. The good thing about the pizza was that we could have three different toppings on the the pizza, which made it fun and easy for sharing between a lot of people.
Criniti’s in Woolloomooloo is a great Italian place for a special occasion. I must admit than the high price does reflect in the quality of the food and the ingredients used. You may wish to also try the one in Darling Harbor, which in my opinion has more of a killer view of the city. Make sure you do book if you would like a table of your preference, as they do take bookings and are quite busy especially on Fridays, and the weekend. If you do go to the one in Darling Harbor and get a table close to the harbor itself, you’ll get to witness fireworks that happen almost every Saturday around 9:00pm - you better check the website for the mall the restaurant is in to see if there’s fireworks on the day you’d like to go.
I would definitely give this place a try if you’re into simple Italian food, or mammoth-sized pizzas.
For more information on their menu and location, and how to make a reservation, copy and paste the link here:
http://www.crinitis.com.au/
For information of the mall in Darling Harbor and to check times and dates for the fireworks, head over to this link here:
http://www.harbourside.com.au/
