Now that I no longer work in the city centre itself, I savour each chance to visit the city during the day. And in December, there’s an even better reason to visit, but more on that later. Today Darcie from Zing has asked Christie from Fig and Cherry and I to lunch at Pendolino, a very Melbourne-esque Italian Restaurant located on the 2nd floor of the Strand Arcade. Knowing that I can’t eat a large lunch, I’ve skipped breakfast so that I am suitably hungry when I arrive.
In the front there is the cafe and wine bar section and further in is the darkly lit, and I do mean darkly lit, restaurant section with the strategically and occasionally placed spotlight making up for the firmly shut blinds. All I can think of is how hard it will be to take photos in, but I’m sure everyone else is thinking how romantic it is for a dinner (however lunch with your colleagues might not be so romantic!). There are also fabulous lights and the space is warmly and chicly decorated.
We choose a range of dishes – there are entrees as well as pastas and risottos (that come in an entree and main size), meat mains and desserts as well as a fantastic sounding cheese platter with 4 different types of cheese. It’s hard to choose and made even harder when the waiter comes by and lets us know of the specials so I leave myself to Christie’s recommendations as this is her fourth visit here. Some dishes are accompanied by a particular type of olive oil, like a wine accompanies a dish. Olives and olive oil, we’re to find out, are the theme here.
Bread and olives
Speaking of the little buggers, there’s a small plate of the tiniest olives – the Piccoline olives from Victoria which are an exercise in quality over quantity. They are small but they’re absolutely delicious, probably one of the nicest olives I’ve had. The bread and olive oil are good too although we all get different types of bread (I get Olive and a white sourdough).
Olive Oil tasting room
Olives and oils for tasting
Which brings us to the Olive Oil tasting room, filled with huge dark amber glass containers of olive oil in all sorts of flavours which can all be sampled. We try some and the most interesting one for me is the Blood Orange which is deliciously true to flavour. It is also a private dining room and a fabulous place for a slightly more well lit meal and a chance to sit down and try the oils and vinegars.
Duck liver with cherries and polenta $19
Our entrees arrive, mine is the Duck livers with cherries and polenta. Have I mentioned how much I love polenta? Probably, and when it’s accompanied by the duck liver (stronger than the duck liver I had at Drouant in Paris) and cherries, it’s even better.
King prawns and calamari $26
Christie’s choice is the King prawns and calamari which she declares very tender and good.
Proscuitto plate $19
Darcie’s choice is the Proscuitto plate, artfully presented with olives, breadsticks and artichoke hearts that resemble sails in the wind. Her olives are good but I still favour the Piccoline olives.
Pappardelle con ragu di vitella $19
After a break (food isn’t hurried here), our mains arrive and mine is the pappardelle con ragu di vitella (home made Papardelle pasta with veal ragu). The pasta is silky smooth with only a few pieces sticking together. It’s a huge serve, especially for an entree but it’s very good, particularly with some reggiano and a grind of salt and pepper.
Empty marrow ball on the left, filled marrow ball to the right
As for the little crumbed ball on the top? That’s the marrow, delicate and deep fried. However my first ball was completely empty which prompted me to ask the waiter for a second one as Christie assured me that it was indeed supposed to have marrow inside. And if I have one gripe, it’s this: I want a dozen of these balls on a plate pronto! It’s deliciously crisp on the outside and unctuously soft on the inside. I cut it up into tiny pieces so that I can eat it with the pasta. My mind drifts off and I dream of being a royal princess and being able to sum up indulgent delicacies like this on a whim *sigh*. And yes, I did ask and a plate of these is not able to be ordered for a mere mortal, no matter how mournful a facial expression you may possess.
Lamb Mezzaluna Agnolotti $34
I try some of Christie’s main, the special of the day: Lamb ragu filled agnolotti with broad beans. It’s delicately good with a distinct tang of lemon zest in the sauce.
Three cheese ravioli with burnt butter sauce $21
Darcie’s three cheese ravioli with burnt butter sauce looks fantastic and she seems to enjoy this.
With the size of my main, I can’t fit in a dessert, no matter how hard I try (and I did try hard). There’s a selection of Italian desserts such as semifreddo, affogato, crostata and a formaggi misti cheese plate with pecorino, testundi barolo, artavaggio and bontazola dolce latte. I silently say to the cheese plate “I will be back for you my friend”.
On our way out we have another peek at the Olive Oil room, full of glossy dark amber bottles and tempting olives.
The lights-yes I have a light fetish!
And that brings me to my other reason for coming to the city in December, the adorable David Jones Christmas Windows! My favourite, of course, was the food related one.
Pendolino
Shop 100-102 Level 2 The Strand Arcade
412-414 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 (02) 9231 6117
Open: Lunch Monday-Friday noon-3pm; dinner Tuesday-Saturday 6-10pm.
Other David Jones windows
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
20 Comments | Add your own
tee that’s an awesome light, I want one!
I didn’t know they serve dinner menu during lunch time? I went there during lunch and they only had the cafe menu. The pastas look amazing!
My goodness ! I keep thinking about going to this restaurant…Last Sat really wanna go for lunch but found out they don’t serve lunch on Saturday…So I postpone to go other days…(wanna go dinner too but I think need much more money lol)
I wanna try the pasta with bone marrow something…but in your Pappardelle con ragu di vitella also have it….got more things to make decision…very happy when see ur post ^ ^
Mmmm, so tasty! You are so right – we’ll be back for that cheese plate… it’s crying out to be eaten
See you again soon!
How nice is the olive oil!! Nice and strong!
I was about to blog about this place too because I went here for birthday dinner #10294801432
Apprently, their pumpkin lasagne is a “signature” dish. Should try it next time! It was a very light lasagne I must say.
I cannot rave enough about the 3 cheese ravioli with burnt butter.
It. Is. Divine.
marrow balls! globules of heart stopping deliciousness mmm
ommmggg this place looks soooo goooddd and the foood mmmmmm marrow balls!!! Thhxx added to list
good lord that ravioli looked so scrumptious!
and wow!!!!
nevermind your lighting fetish – did you see that ceiling with it’s silvery-mirror-like finish?!!!
the David Jones Xmas display looks fabulous, but is it just me? but i feel slightly resentful that the decorations are up already!
Between this and the pumpkin cheesecake below, I’m dreaming of all sorts of tasty things…
Hi Chris-Haha I know, I so wanted to take one with me!
Hi V-Hmmm all I know is that there’s the cafe in the front and the restaurant inside and they have separate menus
Hi Bean Sprout-They’d be so busy on a Saturday lunch! Anything with that marrow ball is good, I so wish I could have had more though, you should have seen the tiny pieces I cut it into so I could have marrow in every bite
Hi Christie-It was just begging to be ordered really
See you again soon!
Hi Teresa-It is very nice indeed
as interesting as the lasagne sounds, I think I’d be tempted just to have that marrow dish again just fir another ball of marrow!
Hi IllegallyBlonde-My dining companion had that but I didn’t try it!
Hi chocolatesuze-Unfortunately just the one per dish *sob sob*
Hi FFichiban-Great! Just bring a camera that can take pics in really, really low light
Hi the projectivist_I’ll admit I didn’t look up so I didn’t notice it until you pointed it out but it does look rather nice…
I know, I thought December 1st would be the right time but it’s a bit early!
Hi Blonde Duck-All I can say is that I had a really good eating week last week
i just saw a rerun of the top chef episode where they split into teams to create their own restaurants. one team had a major boo-boo–they forgot to put out a plate for the olive pits. this post reminded me of that.
What a gorgeous setting for a meal – I love romantic old world charm.
I think the food theme Christmas window would have my vote too
I LOVED that marrow ball! I really want to try some! Maybe I will Google them to see if I can find a recipe??
I also thought the olive bread looked amazing too.. dense and moist?
Speaking of polenta I made some last night.. a side dish and also a Weight Watchers recipe. It was soft polenta served with some mushrooms done in a pan with a small amount of olive oil, garlic and halved cherry tomatoes.. sprinkled with thyme and finished with balsalmic vinegar. It was nice on top of the polenta.
Oh wow. The David Jones’ window looks much better than previous years. I looove the food theme. Pendolino’s pasta looks great too.
Hi grace-Oh dear, although I have to say at first I asked what was in the middle section! I didn’t even think of the pips
Hi Cakelaw-It was really lovely and a great setting for a romantic night out
Hi Maria-Great minds think alike!
I’m not sure how it was made but if you find a recipe, please let me know! I’d love to make some.
Mmm that sounds lovely! You’re making me hungry!
Hi Y-I liked the windows last year (I don’t really remember the other years) but I’ve always found elves cute and I liked how the puddings were carried into the oven on a string.
I love this place. I see no recent comments so just to assure this website readers – it is just as good as when it first opened
I could eat my fav burt butter and sage ravioli every day 
Wauw love this one even more. Is it usually busy there? should you make reservations far in advance?
2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] wanted to rabbit to be soft, much like the veal ragù I had at Pendolino’s so I cooked it until it was incredibly tender. I asked M to help me with the deboning – being [...]
[...] Lemonade dessert at Petrus. One that came from a meal I had while back was the papardelle from Pendolino’s in the Strand Arcade. I’ve said that I’m not a big pasta eater, but now that Winter is [...]
Post a Comment