A group of us dined at Pendolino Restaurant last month for my birthday. It hadn’t been our first choice but because our plans for the first restaurant fell through, my friend made a last minute booking here. Thankfully they could squeeze us in, the 6 of us.

And boy am I glad that they could. Everything about the experience was amazing.

The ambience was wonderful, dimly lit but packed out. We had assumed that because it was busy we would be waiting around for service but this was not the case, which was extremely refreshing. The waitress was on hand right away, gave us adequate time to decide and even offered me a sommelier to help me with my choice of wine. The sommelier was very pleasant and I made it easy for him anyway since I knew what kind of wine I wanted. Our dishes arrived at the same time momentarily, all which tasted fresh and brilliant.

The meal began with bread for the table. There were different slices of bread and different olive oils to accompany them, which had little tags with a description. We had fun trying all of them as you would 🙂 They have a large olive oil selection to purchase as well so it made sense for them to provide some samples complimentary.

I ordered the AGNELLO AL FORNO CON SALSA AL DRAGONCELLO for my main, translated means Slow Cooked Gippsland Lamb, Grilled White Polenta, Tuscan Black Cabbage, Baby Carrots, Dragoncello Salsa and Lamb Sauce, cooked with the 2011 Ashbolt Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, TAS. The lamb was so tender that it practically melted in my mouth. The polenta complimented the lamb as it provided a nice solid texture to this soft dish. The addition of the sauteed vegetables gave the dish a good dose of freshness without being a contrast to the heartiness which was the main flavour.

I apologize for not having any photos of the dishes, I did take some but can’t seem to locate them. It must have a been a very good night!

I would recommend Pendolino  if you are after great service, a romantic setting, a generous wine list and best of all terrific food! Good for both couples and groups.

The Restaurant Pendolino

The Strand Arcade
Level 2, Shop 100, 412-414 George St
Sydney NSW 2000