Amid the wave of Italian restaurants rising throughout Sydney right now, the team behind Potts Point’s Bistro Rex has unveiled a Roman-ish restaurant and bar on the old Monopole site.

Enoteca Ponti looks like a ’50s inspired wine bar with its deep, red leather banquettes, open kitchen and bar, and walls stocked with bottles of Italy’s best.

If the full house and 1 1/2 hour limits on each table sitting are anything to go by – we don’t have time for dessert – this is exactly what Potts Point wanted. Snacks start with a quirky take on lasagne in what turns out to be an Italian rival to the hugely popular cheeseburger spring roll – invented by chef Dan Hong for nearby Ms. G’s.

What could have been an obvious rehash for the same Potts Point crowd is actually delicious and surprisingly original – everyone knows the best piece of lasagne is the corner slice with its requisite crunch, and the crispy oily exterior here gives the same delight in morsel form.

Related review: This Potts Point eatery puts a refined twist on Turkish cuisine 

They’ve got their fingers on the trends pulse here and have taken inspiration from the other-things-turned-into-noodles Zeitgeist as well – think Peter Gilmore’s squid noodles.

Here it’s tuna noodles with wasabi emulsion, which turns out to be raw sashimi-grade tuna cut into long-ish strips.

There’s nothing noodle-like about them really, though the tuna is top notch. Less interesting is the too-acidic cold puddle of broth the tuna sits in. The bright green wasabi emulsion is fine, but it feels like we’ve left Italy for the East and we’re not sure why we had to go. We’re back in Rome for the rigatoni all’ Amatriciana, and the pasta is appropriately al dente, the crispy pieces of guanciale are nuggets of delicious, though a little sparse. There’s a lot of fruity, onion-studded tomato sauce, and no discernible chilli, rendering the dish more pomodoro than Amatriciana, but it’s fine. The quite generous pecorino on top saves it.

Chef Aldo Farroni, last seen in the kitchen at glam rooftop venue Shell House, heads the kitchen at this new Italian beauty with all its great-night-out vibes. He knows what he’s doing and the skills are there; the menu will improve with time.

Tweaking is an essential part of any new restaurant menu, and here it could do with a little less on-trend thinking, a little more getting the basics right. Farroni is backed by a team of stellar waiters who bring charm and generosity to the table.

It feels good to be out, here. The room is beautiful, sparkling even. Glossy racing green tiles lead from the kitchen into the bathrooms out back, and rounded pale green, marble kit-kat tiles sit in rows under the long bar.

There’s a well-heeled crowd spanning 20-somethings and older couples meeting friends in Potts Point’s hot new restaurant. And like any Italian fine wine gracing the walls of this gorgeous enoteca, things will improve even more with a little time.

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