Siderno Caffe & Ristorantè

Hmmmm, it’s funny how the extremes in experiences (Good and Bad) often prompts us to write a review to share our thoughts.
Unfortunately today my experience was definitely towards the bad side.
Before, I start, I do share a disclaimer that I was looking for healthy lunch choices and do expect that an Italian styled restaurant would have the usual fare that can be a little heavy on the oils and carb’s. That said, there are a few options that were good on paper but didn’t live up to my expectations. This is my second visit in about a month and on the last occasion Siderno wasn’t very busy with perhaps 10 patron in at the time.
On my first visit, I ordered a chicken and walnut salad. Though the meal was OK; it was a bit confused in the ingredients with sweet and savoury elements that did not seem to belong together to give you a balance of taste and texture. As a $ 26 salad, it certainly didn’t make me go «wow — I have got to have that again». I liked the location (handy to where I work) and thought that I would give the restaurant a second go.
On my second visit, my other half ordered the grilled calamari and I ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad and if any of you have read some of my previous reviews; I do not consider a Caesar Salad with out all of the core ingredients — especially anchovies or egg, to be a Caesar Salad. The menu said the Caesar came with anchovies but I was wise to query it anyway as I was told that, no it didn’t as they were in the dressing. The waiter kindly offered to have anchovies added to the salad (i didn’t even think to ask about the egg) but when it arrived, I had to ask again for the anchovies as it came out without anchovies or egg (I still didn’t think to ask for the egg (-:). I rated the flavour and presentation of the Salad at a 5 out of 10 and the service to get the anchovies added, a 3 out of 10. The missus didn’t fair as well as I did unfortunately, as her grilled calamari came out rubbery, very oily and overpowered by garlic. I tried a piece and all you could taste was the garlic and oil. There was so much oil on the «GRILLED Calamari, that it was pooling in the calamari pieces and underneath on the plate as well. Needless to say, Ms C only ended up eating the salad that came with the grilled calamari as in her eyes the calamari was not very nice. This was advised to the wait staff when collecting the plates but apart from saying that the kitchen staff would be advised, not much else was said.
Whilst settling the bill after the meal I was again asked «how were the meals?»; so I passed on Ms C’s comments, plus how she didn’t eat the meal as she found it very unpleasant and received a shrug of the shoulders and an «Oh I’m sorry — That’s $ 62.50 please». At no time was a substitute or discount offered for the poor food.
For a meal consisting of mains and 2 diet cokes for over $ 60, I would have expected a much better quality of food.
The Good: service was good and quick, there wasn’t very long to wait for the meals to come out.
The Bad: The mid week lunch prices are fairly expensive for the quality and presentation of the meals. The chicken Caesar Salad set me back over $ 26. Poor customer dispute resolution.
Will I go back???
No — I don’t think I will give them another chance as it’s a big world of good restaurants waiting for me to discover.

I came here recently for a work Christmas dinner and for a group of 15 this place was great. I was pleasantly surprised by the large, modern dining area and it seems as if this place is popular for group catch ups and large birthday dinners.
The menu (which is huge) is what you can expect from your typical Italian joint with pizzas, pastas, seafood, veal etc. I am personally not a huge fan of a lot of Italian food, but I ordered the grilled calamari which wasn’t bad. I ordered the entrée size as I expected it would be quite large and no surprise it was huge! It was a $ 22 entrée but I can’t imagine how enormous the main must be. I had the cannoli for dessert which again was just ok. Even though the meals were huge I still found them to be fairly pricy with the mains being around $ 25-​$ 40. We also ordered some antipasto plates for the table with 2 of them being too big for the 15 of us to finish.
The service here is fantastic though. Incredibly friendly and welcoming and all of our meals arrived together which is always a bonus with a large group.

I love the food at Siderno, but the service, especially on a Friday or Saturday night is awful. I would recommend going on a week night so you don’t become frustrated with the wait staff and turns your meal out into a bad experience. Last time we went was a Friday night for my birthday, the booking was for 7:00pm, our entre of pizza Bianca olives and feta was served at 8:30pm and mains came out after 9:00pm. The kitchen couldn’t seem to keep up with the pizza orders and frustratingly were serving take away orders… We had a toddler with us so lucky he is a good kid!!!

Siderno must be Italian for ‘great service’. We went here last night using the entertainment card. Started with pizza branch, garlic and Chilli pizza. I had the spaghetti something something zucca which was amazing, spaghetti with pumpkin, spinach, pine nuts, Chilli, lemon and olive oil. So good. Cannoli and coffee for dessert and I was stuffed.
The service was great, any staff member that walks by your table will look to see if you need anything. We never had to wonder where our food or drinks were, everything was well timed.
Inside is quite loud, but conversation around the table is easily heard.
Fully licensed or Byo with 7.50 for corkage.

I have been here quite a few times, and I love it every time ! It’s an amazing atmosphere ,
I’m glad there getting recognised for there amazing food its all wonderful and the desserts are too die for, but I don’t want to wait for an hour to try there delicious food !
Love this restaurant, Defiantly need to try this at least once in you life !

They are really good here and quite accommodating we always have our business meetings here
They’re yummy fresh Italian cooking fast service good for parking and great coffee as a soy drinker most people burn it but these guys are really good

We went to Siderno’s to celebrate two birthdays and my shop opening. I was looking forward to Crepes Suzette but as Picasso’s was closed for renovations we decided to try Siderno’s.
Great place to take a fussy family.
Bill was slightly more than we normally pay but we did have 2 breads for entrée, a main each, dessert, wine and some cocktails.
My partner said it was the best pizza he had eaten in 30 years, son downed two excellent Toblerone cocktails and my mother and I both enjoyed great traditional Italian fare including carbalicious garlic mash.
Great range of Southern Italian food, friendly staff and fast service for 6/6:30 weekend dinner. Pizza is the must-​try.

The service here was great. I loved the fact that we weren’t ‘isolated’ in service, even though our table was somewhat isolated from the main set of tables that were inside the restaurant itself. Our requests were promptly attended to as well.
Overall, Siderno calls for a good family restaurant, with generous portions (I would definitely be sharing one portion the next time I head there) to go by. The taste of the dishes leaves a little less than desired, but I would give them another chance sometime.

Not a bad meal here. We had a table of 13, the wait times for our mains were fairly reasonable. I had the gnocchi gamberi, a big serving but it was in a very basic tomato sauce but packed a punch with chili. Was hoping more from it, the prawns were nice tho.
I’ve had pizzas before form here and theyre great, i’d say its their specialty. The other mains were decent in size also. Positive remarks around the table. Service was great. Would be happy to eat here again.

The bright yellow restaurant is giant and hard to miss even though it is in an area full of other Italian competitors. The cooler yellow inside walls make a smart casual dining place with white pillars and comfy cane chairs. The lovely pine bar and counter displays a range of bottles and more importantly a delicious strawberry cheese cake (among other cakes).
I needed a coffee to soothe a headache and the cheese cake was to beautiful to resist. It was a quiet place at 2pm with only a few late lunchers left, Their cappuccino did the trick I was relaxed and able to enjoy the delicious cheesecake before me which is currently making my mouth water as I type this.
The staff here were really friendly and relaxed due to the quiet atmosphere where laughing and eating bread in the kitchen and to me gave the place a nice feel.

$ 11 for soup of the day seems a bit steep considering pizzas cost about $ 18. The pizzas are quite good aswell but if you’re in the mood for soup of a chilly evening you can’t help but feel you are getting ripped off.
Regardless, I have had some good and some bad experiences with Siderno’s and although quirky mistakes can often add character to a place, consistency with quality of food is usually a better height to aim for.
There are definite points of value here though, they don’t charge corkage for wine or cakeage and the pizzas are superb.