Il Molo

It’s Italian for “the jetty”. And that’s exactly what Katie and Jason Coats’s restaurant Il Molo is – an Italian take on the now defunct The Jetty Oxford.

The couple is also behind The Jetty South Bank, Eleven Rooftop Bar and One Fifty Ascot.

The venue has a handsome black-and-white colour scheme, with marble bench tops, oak tables, dark-brown booth seating and stone-brick walls. It’s a welcoming, unfussy space, and speaks to the couple’s typical strategy of creating venues with broad appeal.

The Italian lunch and dinner menu begins with classic antipasto dishes before moving onto pizzas, pastas and larger dishes. The signature Il Molo pizza makes good use of the pizza oven, combining pork sausage, mushroom, tomato, mozzarella and truffle paste. The lamb shanks with cavolo nero, parmesan polenta and green-olive tapenade is a perfect option for the cooler months. There’s a concise dessert menu to finish, as well as a “Bambini” menu for the littlies.

As expected, the drinks menu now includes mostly Italian wines and beers (on tap and by the bottle), with just a few Australian drops by the glass.

From Tuesday to Friday, Italian pastries and an express breakfast menu is offered to complement coffee from Tasmanian roaster, Gioconda. On the weekends, a larger, more elaborate breakfast menu is available.