Raffinato Restaurant - Balmain

Our experience at this restaurant was extremely disappointing. We bought a TravelZoo voucher for brunch, which required a reservation by phone. After two weeks of trying to contact them, we gave up and sent an email instead. When we arrived for our reservation, we were not even asked if we had booked and were seated at a table (despite the restaurant being empty). The waitress informed us that many items on the brunch menu were unavailable and that the advertised drink could be substituted with another alcoholic beverage. When we expressed our concerns, the waitress said the manager had already left for the day and could not assist us. When we finally spoke to the manager on the phone, he was dismissive and rude, claiming that the voucher was not worth much anyway. The menu also mentioned the possibility of a refund, indicating that this issue had come up before. To make matters worse, the toilets were dirty and lacked hand wash or paper towels. In the end, we left and found a nearby cafe with better service, atmosphere, and food at a lower cost.

We had a wonderful dining experience at Asti, which we stumbled upon by chance during our last night in Australia in mid-March 2012. Despite the difficulty in securing a reservation two weeks in advance (possibly due to a discount voucher promotion), we were pleasantly surprised to be seated immediately when we arrived half an hour early. The restaurant was quite busy but had some empty tables throughout our meal. It seemed that they were still adjusting to being newly opened, as indicated by the pleasant decor and fantastic food offerings. I enjoyed the green asparagus velouté, pork belly, and poached pear in red wine. While we had an overall enjoyable experience, there were a few criticisms. Some menu items and wine selections were unavailable, which was only communicated after placing our orders. Additionally, the waitress occasionally spoke in French, which though charming, seemed out of place in an Australian setting. An incident with an open door to the downstairs toilet highlighted the need for better attention to detail by the staff at this high-end establishment. Despite these shortcomings, I believe with improved service and slightly lower prices, Asti has the potential to become a great success. Unfortunately, the distance would make a return visit challenging.

We had a voucher for an 'all-you-can-eat breakfast menu including muesli, yogurt, fruit, choice of hot breakfast dish, a bottle of prosecco, and coffee'. The restaurant was beautifully decorated and had a trendy atmosphere. Upon arrival, we were informed that they had run out of prosecco and were offered a bottle of pinot grigio instead, which was lovely. We were also served a plate of delicious pastries. However, the breakfast buffet was disappointing, with no juice available and unappetizing fruit options. The chocolate fondue tasted like powdered chocolate, the bananas were brown, and the eggs benedict was mediocre. The creme caramel had turned into a toffee, making it difficult to eat. Additionally, the service was rushed and our waitress had limited English skills. Overall, it was a case of the restaurant promising more than they could deliver. Very disappointing experience.

We recently used a voucher to check out this new (I think) restaurant. It appeared my diners on the Wednesday night we were there were doing the same and the place was quite full.My test whenever I use a voucher goes something like this: would I ever return to this place and pay full price and, would I ever re-buy a voucher and try again. No and no. Here's why ...The decor is quite ugly. Not sure what the restaurant was before but it's a garish mix of marble surfaces, smoked glass and chandelier. The service was well-meaning but patchy. The wine included in the deal - a glass of proscecco - was late in arriving and I had to ask for it. Generally I found the service quite unpolished. The food: the deal was two glasses of sparkling wine, an entree each, a main each and a shared dessert platter. We ordered an additional glass of wine each. I had the buffalo mozzarella ravioli which was fine. Well cooked but I found the yellow capsicum sauce a little overpowering. For mains, I had the black angus and my partner, the pork. The steak was nothing special. It had a fairly firm texture and was not particularly tasty. The pork was better. A good sized chop, deboned on the plate. Tasty and juicy. Both mains were plated in the same way with a silly stripe of some kind of paste across the plate (so five years ago I thought) and a dollop of pumpkin purée which added nothing. Ig seemed all the mains coming out of the kitchen reveived the same treatment. The sides of potatoes and mixed veggies was fine. The dessert platter of ice creams and sorbets was the highlight. Three delicious scoops: raspberry, lemon and pistachio. Perfect.Nice to try but it's a miss for me. For $160 for two (full price), there are scores of Italian trattorias doing better things than this place. I might drop in for gelato one night though!