The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry | A Sydney Food Blog

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

October 11th, 2011  |  Published in Uncategorized  |  5 Comments

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

Balla is a restaurant that could drive your eyeline crazy.

With concrete “bridges” evoking Milan’s canals, pixellated floral columns, a ceiling that splinters into endless shapes and colours, tiled lettering and giant typography, pendant lamps that look like spinning tops in mid-twirl and futuristic racks of wine – every detail feels like a conspiracy to divert your vision away from your table.

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

All this optical distraction makes sense, as this osteria is named after the statement-making Italian artist, Giacomo Balla, who was interested in the fast-paced, the machine-like and the industrial promise of the future. His ideas are there in the DNA of the restaurant’s design (by Luigi Roselli Architects), from the ceiling that pays tribute to one of Balla’s paintings to the “anti-neutral” uniforms of the wait staff.

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

Hi-tech look (and iPad wine lists) aside, your attention span deserves to be directed at your plate. Balla, after all, is the latest Sydney venture for the renowned Stefano Manfredi, and his team includes head chef Gabriele Taddeucci (Uccello, The Beresford). Unlike the interiors, the food has a simplicity that’s exquisite – a pared-back harmony rather than jolting cacophony. Sweet leek, tomato and eggplant colludes nicely with the milder ricotta in the Cannelloni Alle Melanzane, as does the small cast of ingredients in Will’s choice of Pappardelle with Kid Goat Ragu, Chilli and Pecorino. In a simple side dish – asparagus spears are charred to a rich, near-‘husk’, each bite like a smoky shadow.

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

Dessert is my favourite round at Balla. A nostalgia-struck Will orders the Pistachio and Caramel Cassata, as a fallback to days when his mother would make a version of this frozen sweet. Like many overenthusiastic diners, my near-full state isn’t a roadblock to ordering an extra course, but I didn’t want to pick anything regrettably rich and heavy duty either. So I choose the Espresso and Hazelnut Torta, which is a lovely and light creation by pastry chef Shady Wasef; each spoonful a silken scoop of nutty and sweetly bitter rewards. The alternating layers of cappucino cream add a hint of coffee-spiked lushness.

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

Balla has one of those long menus which baits you into returning, because there’s no way you could order all that intrigues you in one go. What still has to win me over, though, is the hurdle of getting to The Star (formerly Star City) – it’s not the easiest location in the city (as I’ve discovered from the times I’ve foolishly walked from the nearest train station). We decided to drive in to Balla: this simply resulted in many loops of shame as we circled the venue without getting any closer to scoring a parking spot (each unsuccessful lap a guilt-enforcing reminder that maybe we shouldn’t have taken the car).

Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

There’ll be more chances for me to time-trial better ways to get here, though, given that The Star will soon be open to Adriano Zumbo’s newest outlet and David Chang’s first restaurant outside the US. And while there’s an understandable reluctance by some people to visit what is essentially a casino complex – on the culinary front, at least, Balla, makes a strong case on the “For” side.

Balla, The Star, Ground level, Retail Arcade, 80 Pyrmont Street (entrance off Pirrama Road), Pyrmont NSW 1800 700 700, www.star.com.au/dine/signature-dining/balla.html

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5 Comments

  1. Need to get my butt over there if only for that torta!

  2. Stopped into Balla last night just for a drink, didn’t try the food but the staff were friendly! It’s such a shame they were closed by 1030-11pm though. Even in a Casino complex all the food venues closed so early! I wonder if you’ll consider doing a piece on late night dining venues in Sydney? Where are they? (Besides Golden Century!)

  3. Sophie says:

    I’ve been meaning to visit the star complex. Definitely going to keep an eye out for Balla when I do!

  4. Beautiful photos.

    In Melbourne is doesn’t feel at all odd going to The Crown for some of the city’s smartest restaurants. I think The Star are going for the same approach, they’ve certainly started well.

  5. Celeste says:

    I ventured into The Star a few nights ago to try Luke Nguyen’s Fat Noodle and was pleasantly surprised at the Casino’s new outfit. Momofuku Seiobo is next on the list, but Balla will definitely come after!

    As for your parking problem, to get to the Casino, I usually park in the Wilson Carpark on the corner of Sussex and Market Streets in the city. It’s super convenient – all you have to do is cross the Pyrmont Bridge to get to The Star, and it’s reasonably priced too – $10 flat rate after 5pm (a pittance when you think about Sydney’s exorbitant parking prices!).

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Hi, I'm Lee Tran Lam. When not blogging with my mouth full, I'm usually writing, presenting Local Fidelity on FBi radio, making zines, producing podcasts or continually breaking promises about how I really am gonna get through my book pile one day.

All the good pictures on this blog are by photography ace (and patient boyfriend), Will Reichelt, (all the dodgy ones can be credited to me)!

The lovely banner is by friend and ultra-talented illustrator Grace Lee.

This site redesign was made possible by the next-level generosity and expertise of Daniel Boud, whose code-tinkering ways are only outranked by his seriously inspired way with a camera.

You can read more about my co-conspirators here.

This is a blog I do for pure fun and zero influence – there's no sponsorship, sneaky advertorial or advertising. I pay for all the food mentioned, 'cos it seems the ethical thing to do.


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This is a blog about eating and drinking in Sydney, Australia (with the odd cross-border or off-topic detour). BYO appetite.

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