Ain't Nonna's

"The ambience was lovely. The service was friendly but knowledge of the food could be better. The serving sizes are quite small. The bolognese was just okay, but I feel like I've made better at home. Salad was nice. Definitely recommend the focaccia. Cocktails quite average. Overall, it wasn't bad. I would say 3.5/5 if I could. I feel like this place was not as good as hyped up to be based on reviews. I wouldn't rush back but"

"Fantastic place and one of the best Italians I have eaten at. The menu is well structured. We had a bunch of share dishes to start and took the staff recommendation on the meats and cheese, which were amazing. The pasta mains hd a deep and rich flavour. Staff knowledge of the menu including wine list is spot on and overall customer service is fantastic. Definitely recommend when in wollongong"

"A super funky cafe that bakes in house. Coffee was smooth and robust while the ham and cheese croissant had me looking for crumbs in the bottom of the bag. Staff were friendly and knew their product as i had no intention of eating but tempted me with a gordan ramsay inspired explanation. Keep up the great work guys."

"Fantastic Italian experience, it’s a very well put together menu, we had the set menu for two. Variety and flavour was great. Highly recommend if you are in town visiting. The only downfall was the first interaction was a little awkward, felt like we were being pushed away, but the service staff were exceptional and very friendly and welcoming."

"Ain’t Nonnas is a collaboration between the husband and wife chef team Cassandra and Matthew Bugeja and the popular wine bar The Throsby. Nonna is the Italian word for Grandmother and the husband and wife team have curated a pop up Italian inspired menu and wine selection that is taking over for a limited time. Ain’t Nonna’s is looking to set up permanently in their own location with plans for further collaborations with other Wollongong venues in the interim. My dining partner and I made a Friday night booking for 8pm and arrived to a decent crowd which was probably at half capacity. I won’t talk to much about the venue but it is clear that the theme of home style Italian was reflected in the old school serving dishes which were somewhat avant guard and quirky. The general ambiance of The Throsby is quite pleasant and we opted for a table in the rear courtyard. The staff were super friendly and we were greeted by one of the Ain’t Nonna’s creators Cassie. She explained the menu and drinks selections. I have to make a very quick comment on the service. Whilst super friendly it sometimes lacked in attention to detail. A few examples of which were getting still water when we ordered sparkling, having the wrong drinks order delivered to the table and having the mignonette on the oysters when we asked for it to be on the side. Small things that didn’t ruin the evening but ideally should not have happened. We started with two cocktails which were well prepared and delicious and throughout the evening enjoyed a number of wines and local beers. The staff were very knowledgeable about the drinks on offer and I can give top marks in this department. We started our food adventure with a dozen of the Hastings River Oysters. The Hastings river delivers a medium sized and sweet mollusc that are fresh and delicious! It’s the dip in the ocean you expect from a good oyster and the chilli mignonette complimented the oyster without taking over. The mixed seafood plate followed and consisted of muscles, kingfish and anchovies with crunchy crudités as a nice pallet cleanser. The muscles were delicious, served with a simple garnish. The kingfish was fresh and again dressed with a beautiful garnish. The anchovies were quite salty and may not have been to everyone’s taste. These actually went quite nicely with some of the sourdough bread. The fried Zucchini flowers were stuffed with a rich ricotta cheese filling and fried in a light almost tempura style batter. Delicious! The scallops were slightly over cooked and as a result a little chewy but the travesty of this dish was that the delicate flavours of the scallops were overpowered by the saltiness of the prosciutto. A dish that was overall slightly mismatched. The main event was the pasta dishes and we ordered one of each the two that were on the menu. The maccheroni arrabiatta arrived first and this dish delivered! The home made pasta noodles were cooked al dente and covered in a rich yet refined red sauce. The bread crumb garnish completing a very enjoyable dish. The bucatini carbonara was a little disappointing. The home made noodles were great, agin being cooked perfectly and full of chewy goodness but the carbonara sauce was very over seasoned and too salty. A dish with potential but this time not quite hitting the mark. We finished off the meal with a shared tiramisu that was just like nonna would make. The ladyfinger biscuit base soaked in coffee and topped with thick sweet mascarpone cheese cream. Whilst not getting top marks Ain’t Nonna’s has great potential and is worth checking out at one of their pop up locations and hopefully when they find a permanent home."