Caesars - Leichhardt

Caesars

On a somewhat dreary wet Sunday night, I found myself in the Italian Forum needing to make the ultimate decision on where to eat. Having eating at Caesar's previously (probably a little over 4 years ago) and having found it pretty good, I was still a little nervous when I made the decision to step into the restaurant (cos there was no one in there!!!).

One of the waiters was nice and friendly - and most importantly, offered us a free bottle of wine. The other waiter was... umm... very noob and didn't really know what she was doing half the time. Nonetheless, the important thing is, our orders were taken and food arrived.

A garlic pizza was ordered to share as an appetizer. This was very flavoursome. The vertex of my slice was crunchy and biscuit-like. If I closed my eyes, I would have thought that I was eating Cheddar Shapes. The "crust" or the arc bit tasted like a normal gourmet pizza. Interesting and quite yummy.

I have no idea why this photo is so yellow.

Garlic Pizza

I ordered the fettuccine with chicken and mushrooms in a cream-based sauce. I was surprised by the size of my pasta and the amount of mushrooms in it~ Quite nice and very herby flavoursomeness. The chicken was also very tender. The only criticism of this dish lay in the sauce. It was not cheesey or creamy enough. Instead, it had a very oily taste to it.

Fettuccine with chicken and mushrooms

My partner had the pasta of the day which was penne with chunky beef. My partner very much enjoyed this. The beef was the chuncky braised typed - which my partner likes, and the pasta was al-dente and my partner gave the dish a rating of 9/10. Again, the downfall was in the amount of oil which was used.

Pasta of the day - penne with chunky beef

My mum shared what looks like a clam risotto and the pappardelle al funghi with a family friend. No complaints from their side of the table so I assumed that all was in order.

Clam risotto (?)

Pappardelle al funghi

Other dishes ordered on the night include the lasagne and the steak (cooked medium and with mushroom sauce). My dad commented on the awesomeness hand-cut chips crunchiness. Again, plates were cleared and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals.

Lasagne

Steak with mushroom sauce

Now onto dessert, which was a slightly different story. The vanilla cannoli deceived our fellow diners. Whilst we assumed that the outside would be crispy and the inside would be smooth, it seemed to turn out bland and somewhat tasteless.

Vanilla Cannoli

As for the gelato that we ordered - they ran out of the restaurant to the gelato shop upstairs to get it for us!!! Oh well... I guess by ordering it in the restaurant, we get it in a glass with two added wafers. When the noob waitress put it down, I asked her which one had what flavour in it (they were different) and the waitress had no clue. If we just wanted any flavour, you'd think that we wouldn't have to pick the flavours from a list~ Nevertheless, gelatos were yummy. And cold.

Gelato

Despite having very little patrons in the restaurant, I think that the food was overall, quite decent. Large portions, came out hot, and everyone cleaned their plates. The service by the good waiter was quite good, and the service from the noob waitress... well... it was probably her first day :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8.5/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 32/40

Caesars
The Italian Forum
Shop 30
23 Norton Street
Leichhardt, NSW, 2040
tel: (02) 9569 0444