Italian Bar Franchi Brothers, Paddington

Italian Bar Franchi Brothers is located in Paddington. I head here on a sunny Sunday afternoon with Matt. From the outside, it looks like a tiny restaurant but I am pleasantly surprised at the little courtyard area at the back.

I'm going to enjoy this lunch after a big day of house hunting yesterday. Matt and I continue to talk real estate and our strategy moving forward. I feel like we are on the verge of buying a house. The friendly staff give us the option of sitting inside or outside in the courtyard. After a few minutes inside, I decide to sit in the nice courtyard for some fresh air. The kitchen is near the court yard and I can hear the chefs singing. It's nice to know they are in good spirits.

To kick us off, I enjoy a small little platter. I nibble on a green and black olives with bread and sliced meat. I sip on a glass of wine and take a deep breath. It's also not a weekend without a cheeky drink. Matt goes for the Issac Beer while I go for a sneaky red wine. 

Matt and I share the Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni ($22) which looks like a rectangular lasagne at first glance. The tomato based sauce is nice and rich and it soaks up the cheese from the top. Once you cut into the cannelloni, you can see the layers of spinach and ricotta. The pasta sheets are light and very delightful to eat. I'd recommend ordering this dish.

There's the Tartufo and Salsiccia ($27) which has mushrooms, sardinian sausage, truffle oil, rocket and parmisan. There's the flavour combination of that sardinian sausage and mushroom soak up that truffle oil. It's a very simple combination but it just works. The pizza base is quite thin and light so you can eat quite a few pieces without feeling bloated. So delicious. This is my fave.

Matt always order this pizza so I wasn't surprised when he ordered the Prosciutto Rucola ($26) which has a tomato base, fiore di latte mozzarella with parma ham and fresh rocket and parmigiano. The tomato base and mozzarella pizza is cooked and then fresh proscuitto and rocket is topped  with the parmigiano cheese. The proscuitto does look mightly fine and I notice Matt gobbling up the proscuitto quite quickly.

There's always room for dessert right? There's a selection of cakes which Matt goes to look at. He comes back and orders the Pistachio Semi Freddo. It looks like a fancy cake with crumble base, cream and semi freddo textures and a crunchy top. It's well presented and has a smooth texture. I'm glad it's not icey like other semi freddo dishes that I've had before.  I go for the hazelnut gelato which has actual pieces of hazelnut folded into the plain vanilla ice cream. Yum. 
I have a limoncello shot which is epic digestif but it finishes the meal on a high. I walk out happy.

Summary: If I was a local of Paddington, i'd definitely swing by Italian Bar. I love the little court yard outside and the friendly staff singing in the kitchen. My fave was the Tartufo and Salsiccia pizza.

Price: Most mains are $22-28 although you could easily share a pizza

Location: 438 Oxford St, Paddington

Opening Hours: 
Monday Closed
Tuesday to Friday 12pm to 3:30pm and 5:30pm to 10pm
Saturday 12 to 11:30pm
Sunday 12pm to 9pm

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.