Who needs fancy? You won't find it at No Name Italian Restaurant, a local eating house in the back streets of Darlinghurst that's been feeding the cash-strapped and hungry for decades. The back alley entrance is rather ominous - just a steep set of stairs at the end of a brightly lit corridor. The dining room is just as bare - more like a cafeteria with laminex tables and a service counter where you place your orders with the kitchen.
The Chapel Street entrance to No Name Italian Restaurant
The standard menu is short and sweet: it's minestrone soup ($6), spaghetti bolognaise or napoletana ($10) or schnitzel, available in veal and chicken. Scratched onto the blackboard are the daily specials. Tonight it's basa fillet fish ($14), liver and onions ($10), pork chops ($13), steak and onion ($14) and veal stew ($10).
Free iceberg lettuce and fresh Italian bread
There's a cheerful smile that accompanies the delivery of our free bread and salad: thick slices of fresh Italian bread that we slather with butter, and a bowl of crisp iceberg lettuce drizzled with salad dressing.
We're grateful for the refreshment of salad when our spaghetti bolognaise ($10) arrives - a huge plate of pasta swathed in a tomato sauce with beef mince and dusted heavily with parmesan. A slice of butter perches on top -- probably a little unnecessary given the greasiness of the beef mince -- but let's not kid around. The main focus is quantity, which would explain the congregation of brickies stooped hungrily over their plates in the corner.
Veal schnitzel $14
The veal schnitzel is a slightly terrifying shade of dark brown, but it delivers plenty of crunch. A generous squeeze of the supplied lemon wedge helps cut through the initial oiliness of the breadcrumb coating. The schnitzel and spaghetti combo ($18) is a popular one in the dining room. You can add cheese for only $2.
Drinks are taken care of too, with self-serve water and red cordial available at the counter. All the red cordial you can drink! Cheap dinner sorted. Just pack your appetite.
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No Name Italian Restaurant
2 Chapel Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9360 4711
Opening hours:
7 Days 12pm–2.15pm and 6pm–9.30pm
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I did a double take at the colour of the schnitzel. Looks like they need to change their oil. Aten't the sizes incredible? Red cordial for you?
ReplyDeleteNot sure what to make of this place.....
ReplyDeleteThe spagbog reminds me of the 80's hahahaha!
Yeah not sure about that veal. Was it overdone inside?
ReplyDeleteLove venturing into these hidden places. Nothing like experiencing a mystery dinner as your expectations aren't set too high LOL
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've had red cordial since I was little. It sounds like a nice place to go for a casual dinner on a weekday
ReplyDeleteI will never eat here regardless of price.
ReplyDelete$14 gets me the best bowl pho in Sydney and possibly the world. I can't justify the same price for a dodgy piece of veal or bolognaise drowned with parmesan from a psychedelic green Kraft container.
whoa $10 for a massive bowl of spagbol! you dont see these prices anymore
ReplyDeletethat veal looks a little over cooked - what is tough? i would love a glass of red cordial right now :)
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that No Names is still around. I think it has been about 25 years since I last ventured there for a cheap pre night out dinner. Will have to go back for a trip down memory lane. Red cordial, wow it always use to be orange, I suppose over time some things will change.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great name for a restaurant. It looks like a great place to go for casual, reliable food at a reasonable price.
ReplyDeleteHaha, what a find!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a cool place. Love the name everyone will certainly remember it.
ReplyDeleteI started eating here in 1973... as a Sydney Uni student. Must have eaten there several times a week.. Have moved on in the world, 5 star hotels, live in the UK.. As and when my feet touch the ground in Sydney - this is where I will go on my first night home... miss it HEAPS!!...Greg Wood
ReplyDeleteWow! I used to go here as a child and it still looks exactly the same! Free cordial, salad and that crusty schnitzel and spag combo! I was certain it used to be on Stanley St, and when I couldn't find it assumed that it had closed. I can't wait to go again!
ReplyDeleteI love this place! I come here regularly with my dad and bro or with a friend from uni. The pasta is massive but we like to order a steak as well to share.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame it's so hard to find now they closed the Stanley st entrance.
I highly recommend you give it a try! You'll either love it or hate it. Like twilight.
K
I have been coming here literally since before I was born, i.e. in utero. My step-dad started coming here when working as a labourer back in his youth, along with his Italian friends. Apparently, it is still exactly the same! The picture of spaghetti napoletana brings back so many fond memories of childhood! That's why it looks so retro - it's the same as it was in the 1970s!
ReplyDeleteNever judge a book by its cover ..no names is the best there spagetti is to die for i recommend that you go with yr family and friends and enjoy there delicous food i garantee you will be back as we have been for 33yrs and it still tastes exactly the same .
ReplyDelete