Italian Stallion Bar and Griglia

I was skeptical at first, but once I stepped inside, I realized this place is a hidden gem! The food was amazing and the service was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the dishes, although the menu should be updated more regularly. It was a bit pricey, but it was worth it for a fantastic night filled with delicious cocktails and dishes.

Great restaurant! The food is fantastic, the signature duck salad is the best salad I've ever had. Our waiter was great, very knowledgeable of the menu and was good fun. Will definitely be going back.

This is a hidden gem in the neighbourhood of 'The Shire '. They have an amazing mixologist who does beautiful, delicious, creative cocktails, such as this 'Lovebite ' Cocktail that totally bit me made me smitten with a concoction of gin, cranberry, ginger more....<br <br The bread plate is popular, piled high with fresh, warm out of the oven garlic rosemary foccacia, Sicilian olives, tomato salsa, baked ricotta taramasalata.<br <br The wagyu beef tartare was so flavoursome with a good balance of acidity to cut through the richness, accompanied by beautifully fried sunny side up quail eggs, delicious, golden crunchy onion rings crispy Sardinia flat bread.<br <br The quail sliders were a special again not what I expected but better! Halved, juicy fried quails served on homemade buns, black garlic aioli slaw.<br <br Fresh handmade spinach linguine with a generous amount of crab flavour packed was such a pretty summery pasta dish. A little overseasoned for my liking.<br <br Classic roast pork with that obligatory crunchy crispy skin crackling was traditional modern at the same time with caramelised figs, greens mash.<br <br An inviting, fun place that has generous and delicious food and beautiful tasty drinks!

We drive all the way from Newcastle to Gymea to have dinner at The Italian Stallion. That's 320 kms for the return journey. The food has to be something special for you to do that. James Watson is a standout chef. His Duck Salad is succulent, as is the Lamb, the Beef, the Scallops, the Crab Linguini, and the amazing white onion butter served with the bread course. You get the drift. Everything on the menu is lip smacking delicious. Praise also to Fabio who has to be the world's most charming and helpful waiter. Did I mention the cocktails? I need to stop now ... The long journey down is one of anticipation. The journey home sees us smiling contentedly.

We had a we had a table for six which included a couple who were not sure on what ithe food would be like. The night was great. Everyone had a great meal and the staff were attentive. It was only our second visit but their house special linguini dish with crab and chilli was, dare I say, to die for. So was the desert  cannaloni  with chocolate and cherries. Worth a try.