Welcome to Conti Restaurant

Boring, Boring and more boring!! The food was particularly tasteless and the recipe book used was obviously from the 70's. Some of the combination of tastes were very questionable and of the 6 of us dining only one (dear old 70 year old grateful to be taken out) enjoyed their meal!

The sullen greeting by the chap we believe to be the owner set the evening off to a poor start. We were the first guests at the restaurant and could not fathom why it was so difficult to get attention. The wait-people were pleasant though busy and we had to wave them down to get service.

No real ambience to speak of - there did appear to be a problem with the lighting as it kept dimming throughout the night. The restaurant did get very busy and we were seated behind a large birthday group who were hard to talk over.

Conti's disappointed. We went there several years ago and remembered it a lot more fondly from then however we will not be returning.

We went to Conti's Restaurant on Saturday night for a friend's 40th birthday. There were 16 of us in our group.

I started with an entree of Garlic Prawns - I always find them hard to resist! When they arrived, I wasn't disappointed with the taste - the only comment I would make is that the prawns were split down the middle but left attached at one end which made them like a long spiral which really needed to be cut in half before eating. My husband went with the Grilled Field Mushroom - this was filled with prawns and seafood puree and topped with a big slice of smoked salmon with melted brie on top. We both tried each other's entree so I can confirm that the Mushroom dish was delightful. Pricing was on the high end for entrees - the prawns were $19.50 and the mushroom was $18.50. In general, most of the entrees were between $15 and $19.50, with Soup of the Day at $9.

When the waitress was taking our food orders, at no time did she say what the soup of the day was or what the fish of the day was - it didn't affect me as I wasn't thinking of ordering those items but normally, it's one of the first things wait staff tell you.

All of the meals were very well presented and enjoyed by all.

For main course, I went with Conti's Fillet Steak "Madagascar" - beef fillet topped with a creamy pepper, onion and bacon sauce. At $31, it was worth every cent - cooked to perfection and melt in your mouth tender. Hubby chose the Conti Carpet Bag - beef fillet wrapped in bacon and stuffed with fresh rock oysters and topped with prawns and a beef jus, mushrooms and onions. The Carpet Bag was the most expensive item on the menu, at $38.50. Those who chose it were all happy! All meals are accompanied by scalloped potatoes, lightly seasoned and very nice - one dish between each 4 people but very generous - more than enough to go around. Vegetables or salad were available at a cost of $2.50 per person. Having been to several restaurants where to order vegetables, you are looking at up to $10 for a single type of vegetable, it was refreshing to have a realistic cost! The vegies were plentiful as well - 4 large trays filled with carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Not fancy but when all is said and done, they're vegies!

I was interested to see that there were only a couple of non-Conti wines on the wine list however the wines we had - a cab sauv and a chardonnay were all well received. I had the red which was an excellent companion to the fillet steak. The guests who had chardonnay were very complimentary about it.

We didn't have dessert or coffee - after mains, we headed back to our host's home for birthday cake, liqueurs and coffee.

All in all, we were quite impressed. The food was great, the service was okay and the ambiance was fine - when entering, one did get the impression of old-fashioned fine dining with crisp white linen tablecloths and napkins. We were obviously in a large group and there was a lot of conversation so nobody took much notice of the surroundings. We did make some comments about the lighting - every now and then, the lights would dull and then brighten - suggestions were made that perhaps that it happened when the microwave was being used or when the staff pedalling the bike attached to the generator slowed down!

We would definitely return to Conti's Restaurant - while it certainly isn't somewhere we would go for an everyday dinner out, it is perfect for special occasions.

Third visit to this restaurant, food great and wine even better. Furniture a bit to be desired, staff friendly. I had roast duck and it was gorgeous, fantastic cheese plate at the end. Try small glass of Conti’s port.

I will return for sure.

A great menu combined with thoughtfully matched wines. The Conti wine list is generous enough to suit all tastes and I like the idea of having such a good 'by the glass' list matched to the food. The menu itself has something to please everyone! The portions were generous but still so beautifully presented - and ok, call me old fashioned but I really appreciate not having to pay extra for bread or my salad/vegies!

Service was pleasantly helpful but not obtrusive. I can't wait to go again and try out more of the menu and their lovely wines.