Sul Verde Italian fare tasty but not pricey

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9: The Club House at Tucker’s Point restaurant has opened its doors up to the general public and rebranded as a family friendly Italian eatery.

Having recently enjoyed a meal at Sul Verde I would say take advantage of it while you can — the prices are reasonable, the quality remains and formalities are minimum.

The antipasti self-serve buffet offered a rustic mix of focaccia breads, cold cut meats, house made pickles, marinated vegetables, a couple of raw fish options and salads.

The tuna carpaccio was the stand out dish for me from this course — it was fresh with a subtle olive, caper and onion dressing. Too often the delicate taste of raw tuna is overpowered by too many salty capers or drenched in olive oil but this was a perfect combo.

Second to that were the cold cuts — they were so thinly sliced they were almost transparent and each had their own distinct flavour.

The gorgonzola, truffle and walnut dip is not for the faint hearted but a treat for lovers of strong cheese, like myself. All you need is a small tablespoon full on your plate and it enhances the course.

My dinner guest loves his bread and he was so impressed by the focaccias he tried every one and went back for more. There were three types — onion, herb and olive, and tomato and there were also garlic focaccia sticks but they weren’t as good as the others.

The deep fried cauliflower flourets added nothing to the course and were a little tasteless but the pickled vegetables gave a punch to the plate.

At $18 the course is not particularly cheap if you want it as a small appetizer but you could fill yourself up on this delicious selection.

Onto the entrees, Sul Verde offers a pasta menu and a menu of meat and fish options served with Sul Verde potatoes and vegetable caponata. While the pasta itself is not home made, it is of a good quality — Miles Market stocks it. The Garo Falo pasta is made with durum wheat and Chef Guido Brambilla told us it is so good you can enjoy the taste of it on its own. It has a dense texture, a full flavour and cooks perfectly ‘el dente’.

The great thing about the entrée menu is that you can to split meals so you get to taste more options in one sitting. Prices range from $19 for the Pomodoro pasta, to $36 for the strip loin and truffle oil.

We decided to stick with pasta and ordered two half sized dishes each.

The Vongole (spaghetti, clams, parsley, white wine, garlic, chilli and bread crumbs — priced at $25 for a full serving) was outstanding, the clear winner out of the four. The sauce was packed with a fresh, citrusy flavour countered by a light creaminess and the clams were fantastic. 

I often default to Carbonara when ordering pasta dishes — I can’t resist that creamy, silky texture of the lightly cooked egg in the sauce. I was sceptical about the lack of cream in Sul Verde’s version but Chef Guido reassured me I’d like it. He was right, it was creamy enough with the free-range eggs and pecorino romano cheese combination and a lot healthier as a result. The delicious salty bites of crunchy meat studding the sauce were guanciale from the Niman Ranch — pork taken from the jaw of the pig. I can say with confidence that it’s even better than bacon for this dish.

The Pasta e Fagioli (cannellini beans, mezze maniche (medium sized, ridged tubes), rosemary and parmigiano — $21) was a fairly good sauce, a subtle flavour with a hint of spice.

Finally, I ordered the Pomodoro (shiaffoni, grape tomatoe sauce, basil, garlic, provolone — $19) because I wanted to make sure they could do the simple sauces right. There was nothing wrong with the sauce but it wasn’t jump out delicious. The schiaffoni (large tubes) were actually a little too much for me — when they cook the tubes fall flat leaving two layers of thick pasta to chomp through but the rest of the pastas were great.

Aside from the food, the atmosphere is very relaxed here. Children are running around but not screaming, there’s a warm open fire and a calm ambience.

The staff were extremely welcoming and chatty which is always a big bonus in my opinion and the chef willing to talk through the options.