We recently went to Cicerone ~ Cucina Romana, an Italian restaurant in Darlinghurst that went viral on TikTok, and surprisingly it almost hit the expectations set out by the creator. We dined here on a Sunday night, booking about one week in advance.
entrée
Starting off with the favourite dish of the night, the pane di casa for $8 each. This was heaven. The creamy butter coated our mouths with all its glorious fattiness, cut through by the sweet drizzle of honey and the aromatic sprinkles of truffle. There was enough truffle to be detected throughout the entire bite.
The bread white was soft and the crust had a nice crunch to it. Overall an amazing entrée 😍.
The bread white was soft and the crust had a nice crunch to it. Overall an amazing entrée 😍.
The burratta for $20 was perfect. This was a smooth, light cheese with pockets of crunchy pangrattato (bread crumbs). The fresh grape tomatoes, red onion, and earthy basil made this an overall refreshing mouthful.
I forgot the cost but the fried prawns was also a great entrée. The prawns were juicy, with a thin, crispy batter. There was a moderate amount of seasoning (garlic powder, salt, pepper) on the batter. I wasn’t paying attention to the dip but it was savoury with a mix of sweet tartness at the end.
Mains
This was my first time having honey on pizza and my gosh, the diavola pizza with honey & pecorino cheese was a huge 10 out of 10 for $26. This wood fired crust had a beautiful rich tomato base, some spicy salami, shredded cheese (with a long cheese pull!) and the right hint of honey to wrap everything up in a sweet and savoury blissful bite.
For our pasta, we were intrigued by the vodka rigatoni, a $26 dish. This was a pink sauce pasta with basil, chilli infused vodka & stracciatella. The tomato based was rich and creamy with sweet, non-acidic notes. The spoonful of creme cheese lightened the bite. The pasta was perfectly al dente.
This was a special of the night but for the life of me I can’t remember the name or price. It was good 😅.
Desserts
This was a good cirruc crème brulée for $14. It had a moderately thick hardened sugared shell with the creamiest, sweet custard hidden underneath. The pistachio added a fresh piney and slightly minty taste to the bite.
The tiramisu for $14 was delicious! It was creamy and light, with a tasty infusion of salted caramel, chocolate and sweetened almond liqueur. It was a good balance of salt and sweets.
Service
The service was friendly but a little rushed. I felt we were struggling to get their attention when required, but when we were eating or in mid conversation, they were constantly clearing plates before we had finished with them.
Review
This small busy restaurant met the expectations set out by the internet but it didn’t exceeded anything. It was simply good Italian food cooked right. We will probably never return because it’s located in an inconvenient place (for us locals who have to consider parking 😅) and the price is a little excessive for the serving size. Overall, Tiktok did not disappoint.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
