Last week I visited an Italian restaurant in the Oud Zuid neighborhood called Sardegna. I went there with a good friend of mine - Gala. I have maybe mentioned her before, but she is undeniably my buddy for food loving in Amsterdam. After spending some months in vibrant New York doing her internship at the MET, she came back to Amsterdam to finish her thesis. Her new place is in the center of Oud Zuid, which makes up for a great excuse for us to explore what culinary treats it has to offer.
Our pick for a Friday evening dinner - Restaurant Sardegna.
We came in around Dutch dinner time - 6pm ish - with no reservation, but after waiting for only about 10 minutes (I am guessing we were lucky with that one), we were seated at a little table for two.
First of all, I must say, I quite liked the decor of the place. I am rather positive that the true reason for that was that the first thing that I noticed on one of the restaurant walls when we entered was a big posted of Marlon Brando with a cat on his lap, taken out of the Godfather movie. And I love that movie. And I totally love Brando's depiction of Vito Corleone in that movie. Just spectacular in my eyes.
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| Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone |
Second of all, I personally think that the feeling when you enter the restaurant is way warmer than depicted on the pictures on the website of the restaurant. Which is a good thing. When it comes to Italian food, you want to feel warm, homey and happy. There is this certain buzz I have in mind when I think of good Italian food.
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| The bar - While waiting to be seated you can have a drink at the bar |
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| It was full house that evening |
As to the food, I really enjoyed what I ordered. We started of with an appetizer of oven baked aubergine with tomato and mozzarella filling. Gala and I decided to share it, but we established that this appetizer was not made for sharing, as the portion is quite small. Nonetheless, it was a tasty bite to begin the dinner.
For main we ordered two different things. Gala ordered the Filetto al Ferri, which was a grilled lean cut of grilled beef fillet. I ordered the Agnello con miele e tartuffo, which was a delicate lamb meat marinated in honey and truffles. Though the taste of the beef was a bit on the blander side, the lamb was delicious. It was obviously a good quality meat and it was very well done. The dish is quite sweet, due to the honey marinade, but the combination of honey and truffles is something I have not had yet. I found it to be a very interesting combination that worked with the lamb very well. As a side we were served oven baked potatoes with rosemary and broccoli.
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| Oven potatoes and broccoli side |
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| Delicious lamb with a honey-truffle marinade |
For dessert we also picked two different dishes. Gala chose a panna cotta with coffee sauce, while I opted for the other Italian classic - the tiramisu. Both of them were very delicious. As for the portion, the panna cotta is definitely a one-person dish, but the tiramisu can be also shared with two people. The tiramisu was very light with a distinct coffee taste finish.
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| Tiramisu |
As for the wine, I picked the house wine, since I was the only one drinking wine. The house wine was ok, a good all rounder. However, if you are not the only one drinking, I would definitely suggest to consider one of the bottled red wines they offer, as the move spicy ones would compliment the lamb more.
Finally, the service was very good. The staff was very friendly and involved. They were not afraid to give suggestions if asked, and made sure to come by the table often enough. They came by just the right amount of times. They were neither too pushy, nor scarce. They hit the perfect middle, so the service definitely deserves a positive mention.
Great food and great company makes for a great evening.
