Farinha – 222 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee. [No website]

Walking through Coogee one Thursday night, we saw a lively looking space labelled “Italian / Brazlian”. This definitely caught our eye – not only because anything Brazlian is quite rare in Sydney, but also because of the very unusual combination. We sat down and asked for the menu and were told by our waitress that it’s rodizio style – it’s a fixed menu for $35.

You’d be lucky if $35 got you 3 courses these days, so that’s what we expected. Instead, the food kept coming and coming – salads, wood-fired pizza and pasta – and many varieties of each! So much so that we actually couldn’t eat anymore after a few courses. I did find however that the food was more Italian with a Brazilian influence, rather than being Italian-Brazilian.

Farinha is a cool concept – the food was excellent (I particularly liked the sausage wood-fired pizza), the restaurant has a great vibe and sometimes it’s just nice to sit back and be surprised by what’s coming 🙂 My only complaint about the food is that it’s a bit carb-heavy – besides the salad, it’s all pizza and pasta!

…

the verdict: 7.5/10 – a fun concept done well with great (mostly Italian) food and an energetic ambience

don’t forget to order: just sit back & relax – the food will just come free flowing

to try next time: would love to come back for the brekky