Baia Restaurant - Darling Harbour

Baia is situated on the famously busy strip of Cockle Bay Wharf amongst numerous other restaurants and bars. It was chosen by my friend who came to visit from Malaysia as it was close to Lindt Cafe and easy for everyone to meet up.

As it was a friday night Baia was extremely packed to the brim. It draws in the after work crowd and convenient for that quick bite before heading to drinks. There were not many tourists, to my surprise. It has a great vibe and allows you to admire the wharf and observe passer bys.

We had a group of 10 and had to wait for everyone's arrival. The waiter was extremely attentive and promptly offered water to each of the late comers that staggered in one by one. The menu offered an range of pizza, pasta and main options with an extensive wine and drinks list.



I ordered the guava squeeze mocktail which came in a large glass decorated with sliced strawberries and lime peel. It was deliciously sweet and clean with hints of lime.


Guava Squeeze $12


Apple Martini $19

We ordered garlic and cheese pizza bread and the classic bruschetta for the table to share and also an antipasto for me and my mate.

The garlic pizza was as it should be - exploding garlic flavours on a thin pizza base with stringy cheesy bits.


Garlic and cheese pizza $13


Classic bruscetta $13

The antipasto arrived on a stone slab with a myriad of little mounds including pork belly, duck proscuitto, chicken liver pate and Qld seared scallops. There were heaps of thin crisp lavoche for us to share albeit overly salty. The salt didn't go down well with the other equally salty elements from the duck proscuitto and pork belly. However the scallop was fresh and nicely seared.


Antipasto Baia $29

Our mains were all beautifully presented on big white dishes. What was unfortunate was the service. Maybe because it was a busy friday night, all nine of our mains arrived at the same time except for mine. None of the waiters realised the blunder until 5-10mins afterwards when she came back, apologised and rushed in to get my dish. It may have been a mistake from the kitchen but to have all our mains sitting out cold for that time whilst we waited for mine to arrive is a terrible mistake.


Artic crab risotto $26


Traditional Lasagne $26


Squid Ink Linguine $27


Gnocchi with pesto $23

My ravioloni was made with a prawn and scallop filling served with shellfish cream. The cream was magnificent as it wasn't too sickening nor did it drown the ravioloni. There were however only four ravioloni in total. Four? I was so hungry i could have eaten three of those plates. I was quite disappointed at the small portion size especially when the ravioloni was so scrumptious but could not satisfy my hunger.


Ravioloni $28

On the contrary, the table next to us had big pizza servings which they delved into like there was no tomorrow. If i was to come again, i would definitely love to try their pizzas and test out their desserts.


Baia Restaurant
Shop 114
Cockle Bay Wharf
Sydney
Tel - 02 9283 3434
www.baiatheitalian.com.au