Little Sicily – Leichhardt

Bianca: After a big day traipsing around our old neighbourhood in Kellyville, watching the whack-jobs in ‘Gone Girl’ and eating burgers at the Tuckshop. We then continued our slothful migration towards the inner west but brought Madre along for the fun.

Alex and I were uncharacteristically unsure as to where we wanted to eat and what cuisine. We literally flitted from Chinese in Concord, to Korean in Rhodes, before finally settling on the suburb: Leichhardt, most likely Italian. We walked into one restaurant before walking right back out (lack of options and too expensive). ‘Little Sicily’ has always been on our radar because our Nonna and Aunt live within 5 minutes of the restaurant so we constantly pass it, we would always make a point to say to each other whenever we drove by “We should really go there…it’s been there forever”.

So the memory kicked into gear and we made our way to Little Sicily at 8pm on a Friday evening, we were kind of expecting a lull in service, maybe a half full restaurant, we were met with a bustling almost chaotic scene. Initially as they searched for a table to sit us, we discussed a plan B in-case tonight wasn’t our night, as luck would have it, there was one table left, which we snapped up.

We weren’t overly hungry so decided to share a few things, throw in the fact it was SUPER loud in there, we kind of just wanted to eat and leave. To accompany our mains we ordered a ‘Rocket Salad’ $9.50. Oddly it came out before anything else, so we ended up eating most of it before any of the main meals came out. In saying that, it was delicious, amply seasoned with a generous smattering of parmesan cheese. Not to mention the salad itself was a substantial serving, easily shared as a side for three people.

We then shared the ‘Calzone Special’ – Mozzarella, fresh ricotta, spinach and double smoked ham. $25. Alex and I have a bit of a weakness for calzone’s they’re always so much better than regular pizzas and this one had two weird tomato splotches that looked like giggly boobs, which we found hilarious. Splotches aside, this calzone was good, it’s all in the dough and this was a good one. Having a bite without any of the filling it was incredibly flavourful. Almost bursting as we cut through the centre, the ricotta and spinach oozed onto the plate as we happily mopped it up with some of the end pieces of the calzone.

As an entrée/starter we shared the ‘Polpette di Ricotta’ – crumbed spinach and ricotta balls, fried and served with a warm gorgonzola sauce. $19.80. With three to a serve these seemed deceptively small, whilst they looked quite meagre and tiny for the price, they were extremely rich. I’ve never been one for strong cheese’s but the thick gorgonzola sauce was heavenly, so much so my last bite of my polpette was eaten with the serving spoon and a big ol spoonful of the sauce, I’m sure it wasn’t pretty for those around me.

And lastly we shared the ‘Saltimbocca’ – Veal pocket folded with San Danielle Prosciutto, D.O.P Provolone and sage, cooked in a sage, butter and white wine sauce. $29.80. The dish that ‘jumps in your mouth’ lived up to its name, the veal was tender but ultimately it was the filling that stole the show with both the prosciutto & provolone shining through. Alex has this weird obsession with sage/butter sauces and he really enjoyed this one. If there was one drawback it would be that it was served completely on its own, some plain vegies or even a potato mash would have been great to mop up the residual sauce.

We’re quite pleased that we have finally ticked this place off our list, it really is one of few decent Italian restaurants in the Leichhardt area, service was a little brusque but they were literally bursting at the seams with patrons…not that that is an excuse really. It’s probably not ideal for a quiet night either, after 10 minutes in there we were itching to get out and let the old nanna ears have a rest.

Bianca

Photos by Alex