Chiosco by Ormeggio @ The Spit

Being whisked over to Mosman for a team Christmas lunch is always welcomed and most definitely appreciated. It is a glorious sunny December day (amid some bad weather days) to dine alfresco on the jetty overlooking the marina and Middle Harbour at Chiosco by Ormeggio, the more casual dining restaurant sister to Ormeggio (just on the other side of the jetty). The concept is Italian Trattoria and it's modern, fresh and judging by other diners good portion sizes!

 

 

Enjoying a glass of bubbles and admiring the view we peruse our menu for today and we are all excited about what is about to be served.

 

 

There are 15 people dining with us today so we have the Chefs Sharing Feast.
 

We start with some Pane. Fresh from the Ormeggio bakery the organic sourdough has a wonderful thick crust and fluffy dough. The bread is served simply with extra virgin olive oil.

 

 

The Burrata is served broken into creamy mozza chunks scattered on the plate with crispy kale, capers and crispy organic sourdough crumbs.  Each dish serves 3-4 people on the table.

Boxes (and I do mean boxes) of Fritto misto arrive next. School prawns and baby calamari coated in a semolina batter and deep fried to a crunchy mass of deliciousness. Served with a tangy lemon mayo. This was definitely my favourite of the day.

 

The Baccala fritters are moreish. The creamy potato centres were fluffy and the salted cod hinted of salt. topped with a creamy herb mayo this were good little bites.

A bowl of mussels arrive that are sauteed in a garlic, chilli and tomato sauce served with garlic bread. The mussels are plump and delicious.  The bread was soggy as it had soaked up a lot of the sauce.

 

Next up, Gnocchi with a pork cheeks, peas and a pea puree arrived.   The gnocchi were pillowy soft and the pork cheek was rich and had a depth of flavour that was surprising. Fresh peas are delicious!  this was topped with crispy strips of bacon.

 

A platter of the Gamerboni, Pollo alla Diavola and Corn arrived.

 

The plate consisted of grilled split king prawns with a lovely chilli and lemon dressing, free range chicken with chilli, rosemary and grilled lemon and cobs of corn dusted with paprika and pecorino.

The chicken was spicy and crispy and very tender and juicy.

 The grilled king prawns were fabulous and easy to eat as they were already split. The char on them gave them a great flavour.

I think the corn speaks for itself. Corn with spice and cheese is always a winner in my books.

 

We finished the meal off with a box of Bombolone and Cannolo. Some may have had coffee, I continued with bubbles.

The bombolone are donut balls filled with nutella and dusted in sugar. These are addictive! 

The Cannolo is filled with sweet ricotta. The shell is on the softer side but the sweet filling is light.

Chiosco has a great wine selection but it is also BYO (which we did as it was easier for us). As you can see I took a bottle with me on the boat.

We finished the afternoon off on the boat cruising around Middle Harbour and around through the heads before being dropped off at Darling Harbour. Bubbles on board and good banter amongst colleagues topped off a perfect afternoon!