Seven Wives, St Ives Shopping Village, St Ives

Seven Wives, St Ives Shopping Village, St Ives
Friday 27 January, 2006

Seven Wives has now been open for 12 months and is still trying to find its feet. Those who are familiar with its sister restaurant in Lindfield, Food & Plonk, would be dissapointed.

I had visited halfway through last year and found the service to be very average. The food was OK but it certainly didn't leave me with a feeling of wanting to rush back. The decor is minimal with stark white hard chairs.

Tonight, nothing much has changed. The service is still neglectful, you have to ask for menus, for the BYO wine to be uncorked, for cracked pepper and sugar - the list goes on. When we arrived, we were the only guests. I always find this a little strange but then consider we will receive stand out service - sadly no.

Only 4 more tables arrived during the course of the evening whilst Mamma's wood fired pizza and Gelatissimo next door were packed to the rafters.

I ordered salt & pepper calarmari with aioli (too chewy) for entree and the scotch fillet (delicious) for main. There are some great items on the menu but it's not a warm or inviting place. The maitre'd seemed distracted and the other waitress looked like she was entering Year 10 at High School. For a local restaurant this should not matter if you are being taken care of. When you are not - it is easy to highlight as a concern.

We didn't bother staying on for dessert. The standout items of the night were the BYO wines - Taylors St Andrews Chardonnay and Cabinet Savignon.

Seven Wines - Shop 16, 166 Mona Vale Road, St Ives Shopping Village, St Ives - (02)9983 1777

http://www.foodandplonk.com.au/sevenwives.html