Grandfathers’s Moustache

One of the finest places I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating at. This was introduced to my dad and I by my auntie 16 years ago. Since then I had only eaten there a handful of times, but each meal was always a lasting memory.
Now, as an adult, I decided to show my partner — who is a huge fan of Italian food. What is great is that because it is so close to small local beaches, you can go and relax for a couple of hours on the sand and then grab lunch.
It was a weekday and it had just opened for lunch. The atmosphere is far more romantic during dinner with their soft lighting. We were the only ones there so service was fast.
Before I forget, they don’t accept cards (eftpos nor credit) but there are ATMs within walking distance. Street parking can be a challenge, but seek and you will find.
Our meals came out quickly, from memory even on busy nights the wait was never long. My partner got the spaghetti bolognese and I the Napoletana pizza.
The bolognese had all the flavour, but the mince felt a little over minced — not that she minded very much. The Napoletana pizza comes with anchovies and olives, so obviously it is very salty. Lucky, I love salty — but have a glass of water on hand. The base was thin and perfectly soft, plenty of cheese and just enough toppings. Be warned — the olives are not pitted.
The pizza comes on a metal plate, so oil will collect on the bottom (that’s what you would see if your pizza box wasn’t made of cardboard). My pizza didn’t have much oil on the plate anyway. My partner couldn’t finish her pasta, but they packed it in a container for us.
I hope the next visit is much sooner.

We were disappointed here. We wanted to like a local place that has been family owned for a long time but the pizza was tasteless, the Greek salad was fair but not memorable and the steak sandwich was borderline inedible.

Great service, but the pizzas, pizza bread, salad, and soup were pretty mediocre. The pizzas needed salt and were on the greasy side.
Hopefully they turn it around.

Gem of Rose Bay — great little café/​diner in Rose Bay serving pizza, pasta, parmies as well as burgers.
I’ve had the fettuccine carbonara in the past and it was fantastic — had the steak diane today and it was great. the owner seem to know EVERYONE who walks past. My dining partners today had the lasagna (light and fluffy) and tomato spaghetti marinara which looks chock full of marinara goodness
tip: the «small» size pastas are huge, I found this out the hard way by ordering a large and proceeding to feel like a super huge fat bastard