If you're after Italian on the water, Casa Nova Italian Restaurant & Bar sits right in the middle of the Honeysuckle dining precinct, out on Honeysuckle Drive near the Newcastle Maritime Centre. It's the Newcastle arm of the 'Five Homes, One Casa Nova' group, which runs four other sites across New South Wales at Toronto, Green Hills in East Maitland, Shellharbour and Circular Quay in Sydney, so it's not a one-off independent.
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The menu leans on the classics: handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza are the centrepieces, with seafood, steaks, ribs, burgers and a range of vegan and vegetarian options filling out the rest. A couple of the better-known dishes worth knowing about before you sit down are the Pappardelle Ragù, thick ribbons of homemade pappardelle with 12-hour braised beef, Neapolitan sauce and parmesan, and the Spaghetti Alla Carbonara, made with homemade spaghetti, pancetta, pecorino romano, grana padano, egg yolk and cracked pepper. For starters, the tomato bruschetta with Spanish onion, basil and a sweet balsamic glaze is a reliable opening, and on the sweet end, there's traditional tiramisu and a rich Nutella pizza. The wine list gives New South Wales vineyards the lead, with tap beers from around the world alongside.
It's set up to be flexible. There are two, three and four-course set menus, plus a dedicated kids' set menu, and groups of 15 or more eat from set menus. For bigger bookings, they do function drinks packages for spaces up to 200 guests — Standard, Premium, Deluxe and Soft Beverage — and bespoke catering for weddings, birthdays, corporate events and private functions. On a day-to-day basis, you'll find home delivery, takeaway, outdoor seating and reservations, with gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options and wheelchair and mobility access.
Price-wise, it lands in the A$20 to A$60 per person range, and it sits well-regarded among the city's dining options, holding a Google rating of 4.4 stars from over 1,200 reviews and ranking 8th out of 248 restaurants in Newcastle. The praise tends to settle on the food, the service, a knowledgeable staff, fair prices, the decor and a tranquil atmosphere, with the arancini balls, Margherita pizza, beef lasagna, Pappardelle Ragù and Spaghetti Alla Carbonara coming up most often in positive reviews. A few diners have been less keen on the wagyu pizza, penne vodka, risotto fungi and vegan pepperoni pizza, so it's worth picking your dishes a bit carefully.
Opening hours are generous and cover the whole week: Monday to Thursday 11:30 am to 8:30 pm, Friday 11:30 am to 9:30 pm, Saturday 8:30 am to 9:30 pm and Sunday 8:30 am to 8:30 pm, which means it works as well for a weekend lunch as it does for a midweek dinner. You can find it at Unit 20/1 Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle, NSW 2300, on 4989 9795, with casanovaitalian.com.au and @casanova.italian on Instagram for the latest.
