Herald rating: * * *
Address:153 Manukau Rd
Phone: (09) 630 2856
Website: dasettesoldi.co.nz
Open: 5pm, 7 days
Cuisine: Italianate
Mum was 95 last week. Oh, very well, thanks ... We had a shindig down in Wellington. Well, as much of a shin as you can dig when many of the guests are of a similar vintage to the Best in Show. They were all there, the sister and the
cousins and the aunts, which sounds rather like an Appalachian banjo-plucking ensemble or the chorus line for a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Come to think of it ...
Our delegation landed back in civilisation well into Sunday night. Which is not the best time to look for a meal in the darker reaches of Epsom, supposing that such places exist.
Jude fancied an Italian, but Jude always fancies an Italian. I put my foot down, never a good idea in a 50km/h zone.
"This place is supposed to be good," I told her as we parked outside Da Sette Soldi on Manukau Rd.
She peered inside the plate glass. "It must be," she said. "It's packed."
Blow me down, it was. Fifty or so seats, every one taken except the little ones right down the back, into which we gratefully squeezed, though I'm not sure if the chap behind me was gratified with my intrusion into his personal space.
And, by all accounts, it's like this just about every night. Well, the accounts from the chap behind - actually beside me, now; and the lady owner, and one of the locals, who writes, "We've been coming here for about 15 years. A nice family restaurant with great food. Everyone we take here loves it. The menu never changes but who cares when you like what's on offer?"
What more can we tell you? The name means Seven Coins: a tarot reference may be on the cards. The food is Italianate. Even though the operators speak with eurocentric accents, the dishes recall the American style of Italian family cooking: chicken parmigiana, thick tomato sauces, pineapple on a pizza.
Meat mains arrive with boiled potatoes, broccoli, carrot and cauliflower, a charming (if not wholly Latin) tradition to be heartily applauded at a family restaurant. It means that when a meal is priced at $31.50, that's what it costs.
There are blackboard specials, though there is a certain similarity about the chef's inspirations. One time it was pork belly cooked with black cherries, bacon, garlic and tomato sauce; another time eye-fillet (Jude suggests I put "alleged" in front of that) cooked with black cherries, bacon, garlic and tomato sauce. The venison comes with ... oh, you guessed.
Yes, hearty is the word; you'd likely only get through a three-course meal if you were a South African front-row prop, also to be heartily applauded at a family restaurant (the portion size, not the Boks' front-row).
Wine is mostly Kiwi; you'd find most of it on your supermarket shelf, where you'd pay less. You can BYO, though the corkage charge of $7 a bottle could be described as hefty, too. Service is brisk, efficient - has to be, with all these mouths to feed in a rush-hour or so from 6.30 every night.
"I'd go back," Jude said, and I made a note. Mum's got another party coming up, in just a bit less than five years.
From the menu: Chorizo, smoked chicken, spinach ravioli, gorgonzola and cream sauce $19; Scotch fillet in cream sauce, black pepper, garlic, flamed in brandy $29.80; Tiramisu $11.50.
Vegetarian: Pizza, pasta options.
Wine list: Bog-standard.
