For my sister’s 25th birthday we decided to take her to Lucio’s for a night of Italian food!  One word to sum up the experience… italianicious!  We were welcomed by a very enthusiastic and attentive staff and speedy food service  – all big +++!!

The place itself is a cosy little building of a warm tuscany yellow filled with art pieces that make for excellent conversation.

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The buzz of a newly opened restaurant, always creates a sense of excitement and adventure through our foodie bodies. Especially when a restaurant creates something bold and totally unique. Bonta Vita has introduced to us Sydneysiders a wonderful marriage between Italian and Malaysian cuisines! This fusion came about because of a marriage between an Italian and a Malaysian (read more here).

Kthxbye and Tomatosalsa had brought this charming place to our attention and we are very grateful that they did.

From the sublime decor to the enticing menu I must say this place is a winner. The only setback is the pricing of the dishes but that is understandable for a place that is pretty much in the heart of the city.

A great balance of orange and black colours and the transcendent balls of light create a extraordinary dining experience. Matched with friendly and helpful staff and an open Rizza (explained shortly) Kitchen for some entertainment, this place has really some fresh pizzazz to it.

Open Rizza Kitchen

I love these lights and how they reflect off the glass
Now onto their menu which has a wonderful concept and game in it!

Their menu has a very chic design with tabs on the side as a easy search function but there is a flaw to this, which is that they hid some tabs underneath other tabs. It doesn’t make much sense and hopefully they will amend this minor detail.

Rizza is a genius fusion!
This is pure brilliance, the roti wrapped up the ingredients ever so perfectly to create a inspiring burst of Italian and Malaysian fusion.

Rice Dice
Basically it is a game which is best to play when dining here in larger groups. You get a white die and a red die and each of the numbers correspond to a dish, so if you cannot decide what to eat then this is very helpful. The white die corresponds to a rice dish and the red die corresponds to a “side” dish. The side dish is actually a main dish but is a ’side’ to the rice dish. The portions here are pretty generous so this can be shared between 2 people, this way each person gets to roll a die.

There is also a Reward in this game, which is if someone rolls a double then the whole table gets free gelato! If a 2nd double is rolled on the same table then everybody gets a $5 voucher for the next visit.

But if you enter this game then you must oblige to the fate the dice have given you otherwise you are to buy a drink or dessert for one of your fellow diners to re-throw a die.

This is a fun game and definitely worth trying out in a big group XD

The white die in action

Kthxbye and Tomatasalsa got matching 3s so that meant free gelato for the table ^^!
So much awesommmeee! Thx guyysss!

Here Comes the Food

Mexican Sausage ($24.95) – Mexican sausages served with seven heaven mix, beetroot, ricotta, boiled eggs, mixed lettuce leaves, char grilled capsicum, grilled onion and topped with wasabi mayo dressing
The waft of the aroma from these sausages had induced uncontrollable salivation from everybody at the table. Amazing spicy sausages with a refreshing salad both complimenting one another perfectly. The wasabi was very subtle but added a wonderful creaminess to it and the chunks of beetroot were completed the salad. May not have been Italian or Malaysian but this dish was definitely worth trying.

Pilau Rice ($13.95) – Indian spiced pilau style rice with onion rings, basmati rice, turmeric, cloves, peppercorns, cardamon pods, cinnamon stick, chicken stock and cooked peas
An exquisite combination of ingredients, to create a harmony between the flavours. None of the flavours were overpowering so overall a well-balanced rice dish, with the onions being the highlights in my opinion.

Bistecca ($31.90) – 300gm of grain fed scotch fillet grilled to your liking, served in a bed of roti, spinach, grilled onionsin red wine sauce and topped with hollandaise sauce
This dish sounded, looked and smelt absolutely delicious! I actually wanted to order this at first after reading it on the menu but one of my fellow diners also had their eyes on this one so I opted for something else. Santa describes it as a tantalizing contrast between the texture of the roti and the steak, with a creamy sauce that integrates into the dish perfectly. The steak was also true to its’ description in that it was cooked to his liking of a medium rare. A must try for me next time.

Verdure ($16.90) – Mixed fresh vegetables oven baked and cooked with pure Italian Napolitano sauce and Malaysian herbs in an innovated Italian way
A perfect dish for the vegetarians with the fusion between the 2 different cuisines.

Mexican Rice ($13.95) – Mexican style rice with onions, bacon rashers, chicken stock, tomato juice, kidney beans, cayenne pepper, Tabasco and corn corbs
Another winning rice dish and I bet you are thinking ‘those corn cobs are burnt!’ but let me assure you that they are not. They were sweet and juicy with a nice addition of chargrilled flavour on them.

Rizza 5 ($13.90) – BV sauce, marinated mince beef, mozzarella, roast garlic, cherry tomato, mushroom
Rizzas come in a generous rectangle, packed full of flavour and definitely a must try to all that comes here. BV sauce is a mild Malaysian curry which gives the rizza an amazing extra dimension of flavour.

Rizza 6 ($15.90) – BV sauce, Italian salami, cabanossi, pepperoni, mozzarella, marinated grated zucchini, mushroom
Packed and overflowing jsut the way I like it! This one was slightly spicy and full of meaty goodness!

Rizza 3 ($13.90) – BV sauce, chicken chorizo sausage, mozzarella, mushroom, capsicum, chilli, onion
These Rizzas were absolutely genius and we could not get enough of them! They all have their unique combination of flavours so the best is to try them all!

Rizza 9 ($16.90) – BV sauce, ricotta, bocconchini, parmesans, pesto, mozzarella, mint, carrot, sun dried tomato, mixed olives, pineapple
This was obviously my choice as there are 4 types of cheese! FOUR ^^! MMMmmmmm. Glorious little chunks of sweet pineapple were also a great treat in some of the bites.

Complimentary gelato! From top going clockwise: banana, raspberry, Baci, hazelnut, vanilla, caramelized fig, chocolate, green tea and strawberry in the middle
Whhheeeee yumyumyum

Sooo good!

The gelatos were all delicious and not only because they were free. The favourites among the table were probably the caramelized fig, banana and the Baci. The green tea was also very good but it is not as strong as the others so it is better to eat that one first. The raspberry was very sour but had a good refreshing factor to it. The vanilla also had a nice twist that we could not put a grasp on but it was very nice mmmm.

My banana-raspberry-Baci-hazelnut-vanilla-caramelized fig-chocolate-green tea-strawberry flavoured spoon/shovel of gelato mmmm ^^!

The amazing Rizza chefs! Recognise the one on the left ?

He is the ex-Mamak roti man!

1st win! Our table got the first ever double in the Rice Dice game since this place has opened ^^! Thanks again to Kthxbye and Tomatosalsa!

This restaurant is also next to the beautiful Lumiere

Pretty water feature that changes colour!
Also for those who are not bursting from all the food they can venture down to Prize Paradise for some Asian arcade fun! Try to win some prizes or have a go at the basketball game ^^!

Bonta Vita is a rising star in my opinion. There may not have been many customers when we were there but let the word spread! Try it out ^^! I shall definitely be back to try the rest of the pretty extensive menu ^^!

Bonta Vita
Shop 10-02 Regent Place (Entry also on Bathurst St as well next to Lumiere)
501 George St
Sydney 2000
Ph: (02) 9267 2212
Opening Hours:
Monday – Wednesday 8am – 10pm
Thursday – Friday 8am – 12am
Saturday 10am – 12am
Sunday 10am – 10pm
Owner/Chef: Marcello Ferrero

FFichiban

Since I just missed bumping into Miss Honey, of The Delectable Delight, at Rosso Pomodoro I thought I should bump this up the list. Rosso Pomodoro is a nice cozy, quiet place in a residential complex area in Balmain. It means ‘Red Tomato’ in Italian so they have a cute little tomato replacing the last ‘o’. From all the way at the T-intersection at the end of the road we could detect the red theme as the restaurant had a warm red glow to it and as soon as you enter it envelops you and takes you to a whole new atmosphere.

Red tomatos and a chilli painted on the floor

The specials board and other Italian artefacts which are very interesting to take a look at when you enter

Red, red and more red!
The staff here were polite and friendly, and the waiter who read out the specials to us had a Italian accent which was as rich as the red interior. I can see why Miss Honey was so taken with the staff hee hee. The atmosphere was warm and there were some interesting paintings hung up around well.

The female body is a thing of beauty
Tomatosalsa and Kthxbye got into a discussion about which one were the best hee hee.

Fridge full of chhhheeessse and cured meats mmmm just wanna grab one and go munch!
After rechecking some of the toppings on the specials since the first waiter’s accent was a slightly hard to understand at times as it was just a bit too seductively thick, we ordered. The service was prompt and we did not wait long before the food arrived.

Here Comes the Food

RossoPomodoro insalate ($15.50) – Italian Mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, baby spinach, olives and sundried tomatos
I think this was pretty steep for a salad but the flavours all mix wonderfully to create a fresh starter to this meal. The chunks of mozzarella were flavoursome and the rich tomatoes added a sweetness to the salad.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota
Once again I come across this beautiful cured meat but this time, the experience was quite the contrary of last time. All the rich tastes from the Jamon Iberico have been either cooked out or overpowered by the rest of the flavours in the pizza, which is mainly just Italian mozzarella. This ended up pretty tasteless and mediocre.

Valtellina Tartufata
The other specials pizza was the winner and highlight of the meal though. The slices of meat were actually thin slices of beef which was a bit surprising but there was a deep, rich truffle flavour from the truffle oil drizzled over the pizza.

Della Casa ($22) – Italian mozzarella, sausages, hot salame, baby spinach and shaved parmesan
The sausages were cut up into nice little chunks of tasty meat and the salame did pack quite a punch behind it. The baby spinach provided a nice crisp with each bite and being a cheese enthusiast, I loved the how the 2 types of cheese provided contrasting flavours.

Since we had dinner after dessert at Adriano Zumbo we didn’t try any of the desserts here but they have some very tempting selections like a homemade tiramisu and a few others.

Just outside was this awesome lights display hee hee

Rosso Pomodoro Pizzeria
Shop 90-91, 24 Buchanan St
Balmain (White Bay)
Ph: (02) 9555 5924

FFichiban