Uccello

The food is excellent try the spaghetti with seafood and anti pasti to start. It is very noisy and think to bring a pullover as it is open.

Uccello has such an interesting atmosphere. Based directly in the CBD, the airy restaurant opens up to the rooftop pool bar. It’s a great place to eat on a summer evening. We started out with a mixed antipasti plate, which in itself was quite filling. I had the spinach and burrata pasta — it was amazing! Highly recommend. Full of flavour and a good portion size — I was definitely full by the time I finished (which somehow didn’t stop me for ordering a raspberry pannacotta for desert)!
Service was quick and attentive. I tried a few of the other dishes that others ordered and couldn’t find anything I didn’t enjoy.
After dinner we wandered out to the pool bar and enjoyed a couple bottles of Veuve (on special).
All in all, a really great night.
Expensive, but fun to go as an occasion as part of a group.

Ultimately this restaurant is a bit vacuous. It’s achieved a pleasant appearance and calm, chic atmosphere which is immediately let down by a price to quality mismatch that’s more pronounced than you would expect. Nothing wow’s you, everything is too bland, or over-​Cooked or under seasoned. The desserts were a particular let down with a 20 dollar chocolate bar. Yes — a chocolate bar. And when asked the answer that came back was … «It’s Italian chocolate» to which I say — who gives a flying f$&k. Italy’s not known for its f$&king chocolate. So maybe a cake or flan or anything else would have been a better idea. I would advise avoiding this place unless you are a little conceited or want to see the Ivy pool.

My wife and I dined last night and got the $ 100 fixed price menu. However with overpriced wine total bill was $ 357.
I had the scampi which certainly fit the bill for a one hat restauraunt. However the pasta for main had absolutely nothing to put it above a cheap neighbourhood itaian restauraunt.
The desert was the kicker. My wife had a piece of chocolate tarte — thats it. No icecream, no garnish. Was the kind of thing you get at your baker for $ 4.50.
Atmosphere good. Service unattentive.
Next time in Sydney will book in at a restauraunt not owned ny a hotel. How on earth did they get their chef’s hat?

Old school Italian. This is one of the oldest Merivale restaurants (which tend to turn over every few years). We came here for the Easter Weekend on a whim after a couple of other places were booked out. It is a lovely venue, which faces out to the Pool Bar. Now, on a Saturday they had a set price of $ 100 for 3 dishes and $ 150 for four, so we went the $ 100 and I ordered hare ragu with tagliatelle as a starter and lamb shoulder as main. It was incredibly tasty and I highly recommend either dish. Wait service was excellent and attentive and the wine list is, frankly, awesome. Pinot noir’s from Mornington Peninsula make me so happy. The only downside was that pascha (some nightclub thing) was held in the Pool Bar as well — which Uccello faces, which meant it was very noisy and people were smoking, Otherwise this would be a great five star. By the way, having pascha there also means random dancers which was amusing. You can solve this by simply seating further back in the restaurant rather than close to the pool Bar. Lesson learnt!

Sun is shining, water glistening, the wine is flowing and your waiter just asked you «what would like for your starter mam» hmmmm at this point I’m sure your taken back by the fantastic ambiance and view of the pool, so you have not yet decided on your starter.
Talking about starters you can’t go past the Sydney Rock Oysters and Char grilled king prawns
As for the mains gnocchi and pecorino Romano with black pepper — is nice but very rich so maybe have it to share
Tagliolini, crab, white wine, garlic and black pepper — yum
Char grilled rib eye and sides
Wood-​fired carrots
Rosemary potatoes
Greens, garlic and chilli
If your booked in for a lunch, make sure you have the afternoon free as you will not want to leave.
If you’re booked in for a group lunch and you have the afternoon free book a cabana around the pool and head there after you eat .
All and all it’s a great experience and well worth the price.

I had the parpadelle pasta and found it a little dry, it came with slow cooked beef which i found stringy and not enough seasoning. Plus it was $ 35 for what looks like an entrée serving which they call a main. Quite pricey, service was great, a very good location.

A girlfriend and I decided to have a mid-​week catch up here on Merivale’s $ 33 dinner special.
Very swish and swanky… is this really Wynyard, or Miami Beach? I felt like I was by the pool at the Delano or something. I went up in the elevator with a bunch of executive types and the crowd upstairs was more of the same. Pretty girls dressed to impress and executives. Chilled out house music playing, sexy poolside scene (very «sceney»), skyscrapers towering all around you.
I had one of their $ 19 cocktails. I knooooowww… but I’m a total sucker for fancy cocktails. I had the Cucumber Smash. It was really great. Very subtle and delicate. Not too sweet. I think I had a sprig of mint in it.
For dinner I had the linguine with crab and chilli. It was pretty amazing, maybe slightly too lemony, but really, really good. Perfect al dente pasta. My friend had the fish. There was also a veal option. The bread was SPECTACULAR. Very yummy.
The service was good. My friend made the booking though and what I thought was audacious was that they told her over the phone that with the $ 33 special, we were only entitled to stay for an hour and a half. LOL. Wow… really? And then what? You kick us out? I don’t know the exact verbiage, but I can’t believe they actually said anything like that!
Either way, my mum would love this place so I’m coming back with her and my friend and I will probably do it again as well before the deal is up. Hehe. It’s a great atmosphere!

I’ll admit, I’ve spent more than my fair share of nights at Ivy Pool Bar. But until now, the opportunity to dine at Uccello, Ivy’s poolside Italian restaurant, had not arisen, and I was blissfully unaware of the glamorous space, perched above the poolside crowd.
Uccello, means ‘bird’ in Italian (along with another meaning, which I’d prefer not to mention. Feel free to google it, and you’ll see what I mean). There are subtle bird references throughout the restaurant. You will notice sparrows on the menu, and you should also take note of the interesting bird-​cage chandeliers.
Uccello has been awarded one hat in the 2012 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. As you would expect being located in the Ivy Complex, the restaurant is simply stunning. It seems fitting to describe it as an Italian Trattoria, with poolside charm. I love the canary yellow striped awnings hanging over the poolside terrace.
Uccello is now on to its second chef — Eugenio Riva, chef at that much loved Paddington restaurant Lucio’s for 13 years, before most recently running his own Darlinghurst restaurant Riva, with his wife. The food, described as ‘regional italian fare’, is Northern Italian, and seems to land somewhere in between modern and traditional.
The wait staff are attentive, and friendly, if not slightly on the casual side for a restaurant this calibre, but seem to know just when to appear, and equally disappear.
To start, Mr S and I order a few dishes to share. We can’t go past the homemade gnocchi with Morton Bay Bugs and the pan seared scallops. Mr S skillfully silver serves the dishes.
Ricotta gnocchi, Moreton Bay bugs, pencil leeks, peas, zucchini flowers and saffron sauce.
Pan seared scallops, salad of kipfler potato, pancetta & truffle dressing.
I choose the veal for my main course, which prove to be uniform medallions, crumbed and pan fried, and set on a bed of mushroom salad. One thing I notice is, there is a lot of meat! In fact, I am barely able to finish half of it.
Crumbed veal medallions, whitlof, green bean and mushroom salad, eschallot dressing.
Mr S chooses the Mulloway for his main course.
Pan fried Mulloway, grilled scallop, asparagus salad & caper salmoriglio.
Alas, at the end of our meal, we find no room left for dessert, but can certainly fit in the petit fours which arrive at our table.
All in all, while the food was good, I cannot say it was spectacular, and I start to wonder whether the show-​pony restaurant somewhat outshines the food. This restaurant is also on the pricey side, and you have to question whether the food lives up to that of the prices being charged. But despite this, I did enjoy my dining experience at Uccello.