Amiconi Italian Restaurant: Casual and family friendly

After my not-so-optimal experience at Libertine French Dining Room, I decided to give the local joints another try – this time at Amiconi’s, the Italian place across the street from Libertine.

Myself, SC, EK and WJL dropped by for a quick dinner after work on Friday night; we didn’t have a booking, but luckily they could fit us in for an early meal.

The place had a warm, friendly feel to it. The staff were courteous and amicable, and our waitress was very helpful in her suggestions of how much we should order. Service was prompt, and our food came out not too long after we placed our orders – although this may be because we needed to finish by 7.30; my friend Ben reported that last time he attended a work function here, service was slow and they didn’t finish their food until 11pm. But on this occasion it was satisfactory.  

We began with bruschetta for the table. The parmesan cheese was awesome.

EK and I decided to share 3 vegetarian entrees rather than order a main each.

 Bocconcini salad (specials)

Garlic Mushrooms

Melenzana Alla Parmigiana 

I liked all of them, particularly the eggplant parmigiana – the sauce was delicious. REALLY delicious. We even used extra bread to dip in it, after we’d finished the eggplant. So good. The crumbed bocconcini was also a stand out.

My only gripe was that it came with anchovies – even though we had already asked our waitress when ordering it whether it was vegetarian – which she assured us it was. EK was very good about it though – she was happy to eat the pieces that hadn’t been in contact with the fish.

Linguini Marinara

SC’s linguini marinara main – which he couldn’t finish, because he’d already filled up on the awesome bruschetta (I think he ate about 8 slices). It was the most food I’d ever seen him leave behind on a plate.

Orecchiette Alla Verdura

WJL’s orecchiette, also vegetarian. She was smart enough to order the entree sized dish.

I thought this was a lovely little local restaurant. Warm atmosphere, quite a few regular customers (from what I gathered, overhearing their exchange with the waitstaff), family friendly, tasty food. Good location as well, if you want to avoid the traffic and parking difficulties of dining in the CBD. I would go back for sure.

Food – 7 / 10

Service – 6 / 10

Value for money – 6.5 / 10

OVERALL CONSENSUS: 3 bags (out of 5)