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Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Living well in the urban village

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Dinner at La Casa

September 22, 2010 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

This is Tony.  We love him.  He was the maître d’ at our favourite Italian restaurant until a couple of years ago.  Over the time that we’ve known him, he’s watched our boys grow up from little kids to young adults, and marveled with us at their voracious appetites for pizza and pasta.

Completely by chance, I discovered a few days ago that he and his sister Carm have just opened their own place in the nearby suburb of Russell Lea.  We couldn’t resist heading out last night for a meal at their new La Casa Ristorante.

The restaurant has a wonderful, welcoming ambience – gently lit, adorned with photos of Italy, with comfortable seating and earthy, rough-hewn tables.  It’s a very elegant yet easy room to settle into.

My main meal, which I had no chance of eating on my own, was a full rack of sticky pork ribs, oven roasted for eight hours and served with a side of chunky fries.   Big Boy and I agreed that these were, without doubt, the best ribs we’d ever eaten; they were unbelievably tender – literally falling off the bone – and perfectly accentuated by the sweet, sticky sauce. There were plenty of grill options available – half or full racks of pork or beef ribs, and a variety of different cuts and weights of steak.

Small Man demolished a bowl of fries and an entire pizza – this one had a thin, crispy base, and was topped with all of his favourite ingredients – olives, anchovies, tomato, cheese and oregano.  I told him Tony had created that pizza just for him…

Pete’s main was a simple pasta of eggplant and olives, topped with fresh ricotta.  The flavours were fresh and sweet…

Big Boy had the handmade pappardelle with pancetta and mushrooms in a white wine and cream sauce, before eating half of my ribs…

The boys and I chose gelato and sorbet for dessert, while Pete opted for the ricotta cannoli (of course!)…

We had a wonderful night – the boys in particular enjoyed themselves enormously, and were really happy to see Tony again. We’ll definitely be back there again soon!

. . . . .

La Casa Ristorante
271 Lyons Road
Russell Lea  NSW
Open Tuesday – Sunday, from 5pm
Tel 9712 3882

www.lacasaristorante.com.au

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Posted in Food & Friends | Tagged La Casa restaurant, La Casa Ristorante, restaurants in Sydney's inner west | 40 Comments

40 Responses

  1. on September 22, 2010 at 10:09 am Sasha @ Global Table Adventure

    Cannoli are my absolute favorite dessert! The food looks incredible…


  2. on September 22, 2010 at 10:14 am spiceandmore

    Gosh that pizza and those ribs look good. Those photos are making me hungry and it is only 10am! I did work for most of the night though so perhaps my body thinks it is dinner time…?! Those toppings would be my son’s choice for a pizza too. He is always on a quest for the perfect margarita pizza but can be persuaded to allow olives and anchovies so we can share some of it.


  3. on September 22, 2010 at 11:17 am Amanda

    The meal looks fantastic – sadly it’s too much of a drive from the Adelaide Hills to there.
    My son would crawl over broken glass to get to those cannoli!


  4. on September 22, 2010 at 11:18 am Tes

    Oh god those ribs!!!! Everything looks so yummy! What a food paradise!


  5. on September 22, 2010 at 2:19 pm Vita

    Cool – that’s just up the road. Lovely a homely Italian place!


  6. on September 22, 2010 at 2:38 pm gina

    following yr marvellous & delicious narration, pls feel free to visit the following link http://www.lacasaristorante.com.au/
    greets from overseas, europe!


  7. on September 22, 2010 at 2:50 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Sasha, they were really good cannoli too! They’re a bit of a speciality in Sydney’s inner west…

    SG, we should organise a night to go together with our families – there’s lots there, even for the glucose and lactose intolerant.. :)

    Amanda, thank you – I wish I could send some to your son!

    Tes, ooooh, the ribs. I’m still thinking about them today…

    Vita, that’s great if it’s close to you! Wish it was closer to us! :) Btw, did you see the photos of beets I took for you – they’re in the comments of the previous post…

    Gina, thank you, I forgot to include the link. I’ll edit it into the post now!


  8. on September 22, 2010 at 3:28 pm twistedvines

    The “Siciliana” pizza is one of my favourites also with added Salamino an Italian hot sausage, for that extra wroom!Cannoli look wonderful.!I’ve never tackled making them that’s my Mums signature dish…my Nonna (grandmother) was Siciliana and passed the recipe down…Yvette x


  9. on September 22, 2010 at 3:56 pm Anna Johnston

    Celia…, I love Italian food…. I love Asian foods too, a lot, but there’s nothing that says great food than Italian and I love the ambiance a good Italian restaurant has too. This one sounds awesome. Great find.


  10. on September 22, 2010 at 5:09 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Yvette, wow! I’ve never known anyone to make cannoli at home! And I didn’t realise you were of Italian heritage too!

    Anna, you’d probably understand better than most people, but even before the food arrived, this restaurant just had the most lovely feel. It wasn’t just me, either, our sons were laughing and joking the whole time – clearly feeling very comfortable there!


  11. on September 22, 2010 at 5:46 pm Eman

    The people who run La Casa are the salt of the earth. I have been following them around for the last four months making a documentary. Here are some of the highlights; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WISW7VwYcaw

    And here is the mad wonderful party; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UyR5R2daEY


  12. on September 22, 2010 at 5:58 pm Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

    Those ribs-wow how huge is that rack? :o Carm and her family have done such an amazing job. I can’t wait to eat there. Loved this review Celia, loved it! :D


  13. on September 22, 2010 at 6:01 pm foodwink

    Thanks for sharing Celia. I’m completely sold. Those ribs look amazing. I have been looking for an Italian restaurant that is cozy, unpretentious and serves great food. Without charging a bomb, that is.


    • on September 22, 2010 at 6:46 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

      Wink, the thing I liked particularly was the grill – so often suburban Italian restaurants tend to focus on pasta and pizza only. It was nice to have other options as well.

      As for pricing, we found it quite reasonable – the pastas and pizzas were (from memory) about $14 – 18, and that huge rack of ribs plus fries was $34. They’re more than happy for people to share too – I overhead one of the waitresses offering that option to the large table next to us.

      Tony told us that what he wanted was a place where people could come, relax and eat until they were fit to burst. I think he’s succeeded.. :)


  14. on September 22, 2010 at 6:51 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Eman, thanks for stopping by. Great videos! Tony and Carm really are salt of the earth, I hope they achieve the enormous success they deserve at La Casa!

    Lorraine, thank you! I don’t normally take a lot of photos when we eat out, but the boys were so smiley the whole night that I couldn’t resist pulling the camera out! The food was truly superb – that rack of ribs was about 35cm/14″ long! When it arrived at the table, I looked at Big Boy and said, “I’m not sharing”. I had to though – no way I could get through it all! :)


  15. on September 22, 2010 at 7:04 pm Dredgemeister's missus

    WHy oh why oh why did I read that just before I have SALAD for dinner. sigh ….


    • on September 22, 2010 at 7:32 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

      It’s not too late to put it in the fridge and head out to dinner.. :)


  16. on September 22, 2010 at 7:23 pm InTolerantChef

    No way would I be sharing those ribs! If you don’t want to be stabbed with a fork, hands off!


  17. on September 22, 2010 at 7:30 pm Honey @ honeyandsoy

    Ohmygosh those ribs! And it sounds like you had lots of food, but I guess that’s normal when you have many boys at dinner :) The other thing that’s making me drool are those cannoli!


  18. on September 22, 2010 at 7:34 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Chef R, like I said, that’s what I thought, but I just couldn’t eat it all!!

    Honey, I didn’t mention the garlic pizza we had as starters either. Teenage boys = hungry wolves. :)


  19. on September 22, 2010 at 7:55 pm J Cosmo Newbery

    Damn! Not on the Burwood line! The drive home after dinner would kill me.


  20. on September 22, 2010 at 8:15 pm Choclette

    It’s so nice to go somewhere where you’re known and welcomed – glad you had a good time. Cannot believe the size of your pork dish – it looks as though it could feed the whole family. Food all looks lovely and some nice vegetarian options too.


  21. on September 22, 2010 at 8:37 pm cityhippyfarmgirl

    Yum oh yum! A bit of a trek for us, but I think that would be worth it. The pizza and cannoli look like they have my name written on it…yep down there on the bottom- teeny writing :-)


  22. on September 22, 2010 at 8:49 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Cosmo, that’s a shame! I can’t even think of which station it’s near, actually…

    Choc, sorry to wave that huge slab of meat in your face! There were lovely vegetarian options – Pete’s pasta was really nice, as were several of the pizzas.

    Brydie, as I mentioned above, I noticed they had some little monkeys’ meals available as well… :)


  23. on September 22, 2010 at 10:49 pm heidiannie

    I’m almost planning on coming to Australia when my niece get stationed in Canberra- next summer- and these kinds of posts are doing a job in convincing me to make the journey.
    I’m keeping a list of places to go – just in case I come! LOL!
    Thanks for getting the taste buds working – even from this distance- I’m salivating!


  24. on September 22, 2010 at 11:47 pm Emma @CakeMistress

    I’ve been following Carm’s story on twitter. So beautiful to see the family dream come true. The restaurant and food looks amazing!
    That ricotta cannoli made me drool a little to be honest. Yuuum…


  25. on September 23, 2010 at 7:24 am Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Heidi, how nice for your niece – Canberra is a lovely place!

    Emma, the cannoli were fantastic! :)


  26. on September 23, 2010 at 10:35 am Mark Scarbrough

    Why, oh why, do I not live near you? Or perhaps it’s better if we don’t, since we’d eat and drink ourselves into oblivion.


    • on September 23, 2010 at 11:00 am Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

      Ha! Could you imagine? You’d have to turn in your writing gig for weight watchers.. :)


  27. on September 23, 2010 at 7:58 pm Anna

    Ohh – I’m heading there in Feb!


    • on September 23, 2010 at 9:31 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

      Cool! Look forward to seeing you then!


  28. on September 23, 2010 at 10:32 pm Debra Kolkka

    This looks like the delicious food I am seeing in Italy now.


  29. on September 23, 2010 at 11:28 pm Daniel@Cocina Savant

    It is truly exciting to be able to support a restaurant that you have great interest in. It looks like Tony has done a splendid job with the menu and you all enjoyed it greatly.


  30. on September 24, 2010 at 5:37 am Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

    Debra, I think Tony and Carm would be very happy to read your comment! :)

    Daniel, thanks for stopping by – you’re right! We would have gone once because it was Tony’s restaurant, but we will certainly keep going back because it was such a fabulous dining experience!


  31. on September 26, 2010 at 3:43 pm BD

    Celia – I know a lot of people who love Tony, I’ve only heard good things about him. It’s great to develop a close relationship with a restaurant, I had the same thing when I was a kid with my family and various restaurants.

    Eman – Ah so you’re finally reading food blogs! Never thought I’d see the day HAHA. I guess that you’ll have to spend more time on them now with your family’s restaurant La Casa being finally realised.


  32. on October 11, 2010 at 8:46 pm monica

    celia, La Casa is my local!!! eaten there a few times..had the most divine marbled scotch fillet last weekend…melted in the mouth! and the pizza’s are too much! the genuine thing., glad to see you noting the restaurant. Mx


  33. on October 12, 2010 at 10:51 am ToniTones

    Ok, I’m sold, I need to get there quick smart! Those ribs, creamy papardelle, ricotta connoli mmm mmm :)


  34. on October 25, 2010 at 10:33 pm La Casa Risorante, Russell Lea « The World According to Toni

    […] other photos and reviews were out there and I came across Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial’s blog post about eating at La Casa and I was hooked even […]


  35. on November 22, 2010 at 11:39 am mltucker

    Hello! From your bagel recipe to your review of pictures of pasta at La Casa, I am loving the journey!

    My niece from the USA is coming to Adelaide next year for Uni and we are SO going to try your bagel recipe with her. I came to Australia in 1981 and still crave a bagel now and then. There’s nowhere to get them in Adelaide. Also just returned from 10 weeks in Italy visiting family and travelling around, and your La Casa dishes look so very authentic.

    Keep up the good work!

    http://www.tenweeksinitaly.wordpress.com
    http://www.mltucker.wordpress.com

    Mary Louise Tucker (Lou)


    • on November 22, 2010 at 7:16 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

      Lou, thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the bagels – my friends from the NY think they’re ok, even though I don’t have a benchmark to judge them on! :)



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