By Franz Scheurer
Right on the water at the Spit Bridge is a restaurant called ORSO. It is open daily for lunch and dinner and has a great location and a fabulous view. If you are sitting at one of the window tables you feel like you’re almost sitting in the water and you can watch schools of fish trying to escape the agile little ducks chasing them and the odd seagull or two, lazily floating amongst the moored boats. The restaurant accommodates about 160 people and although it is large, due to clever partitioning and placement of tables you don’t feel like you’re eating in a hall. The menu looks interesting and the wine list is more than adequate. A starter sold as bruschetta turned out to be white garden-variety garlic bread with a dollop of tomato paste and an anchovy. An entrée of seared sea scallops on a sea-urchin custard tart turns out to taste much better than expected, although it is a real shame that the pastry is soggy and spongy, obviously pre-made and heated in a microwave. The antipasto platter is visually stimulating and the cucumber shot is exquisite. The salmon tartare is a let-down as they have used the sinewy off-cuts and apart from being tough as an old shoe it tasted a bit like it, too. The semi-dried tomato with goats cheese is good, so is the prosciutto and the octopus. The house-baked damper light, fluffy and very moreish. My rabbit main course is excellent, juicy and well seasoned; although I have no idea where such enormous rabbits roam… wherever it is, beware! The scampi tails were a disaster. Obviously frozen, mushy, overcooked, tasteless and a disgrace. The scampi glaze overpowering everything and the noodles sad and soggy. When we complained we were assured that they were fresh… So often the low point of a meal dessert was the highlight of the night. A zabaglione for two, made at the table was simply wonderful. Light, fluffy, tasty, satisfying and the theatre a very welcome addition. Service was reasonably good and it wouldn’t take much to transform the food from the very ordinary to something very acceptable. I suggest trimming back the menu to manageable proportions with the advantage of less food going to waste and fresher produce for the guests. Considering that we ate a couple of days earlier at MG Garage and paid less for the same amount of courses and a comparable drink bill “value for money” is simply not there.
Sometimes a view just isn’t enough…
Score: 5/10
For more information or bookings:
ORSO Bayside Restaurant
79 Parriwi Road
The Spit
Mosman NSW 2088
Tel.: 9968 3555