K.malu Kitchen and Bar 122-124 Keira Street, Wollongong, New South Wales 2500

"You’ll find the K.malu in the site previously occupied by Caveau, continuing the tradition of upmarket dining in the space. The restaurant’s name is a mashup of the owners names: Keana Lufe and Maria Luciani. The menu(s) are equally a coming together of cuisines and different dining sensibilities. Visiting on a Wednesday, for example, sees us presented with the option of a Swiss fondue, a long deli menu offering fish, charcuterie and cheese, a well-priced set menu ($65/head), and regular a la carte. Oysters ($4.50/each) hail from Merimbula, and shucked to order here. With the set menu opening with excellent house-made porchetta ($15) with bread, butter and smoked salt ($4/each) it seems an obvious way to hedge your bets. Charcuterie is also the focus of the next dish—fig and kangaroo ($21)—with house-cured draped over fresh cut figs with creamy mascarpone and a drizzle of honey. It’s eats better than the panko-crumbed rounds of zucchini ($20) with whipped sun-dried tomato, olive and a dusting of Parmigiana Reggiano that felt like something I could whip up at home. The next wave of dishes takes a long time. I finish my guava sour ($20)—a pleasant enough sour drink that I’m not sure is aided by the chunks of edible blooms—and my dining companion necks his wine. We’re driving back to Sydney so ordering more feels unwise. The vividly green spinach risotto ($34) with roasted macadamia and aged Comte cheese arrives first. The flavours are good, but the dish is lukewarm. It’s an odd combination with pan-seared kingfish, leeks and underdone Jerusalem artichokes in sauce Américaine ($36) and a hibachi-grilled hunk of cabbage ($13) in seeded mustard cream. My overall impression is positive, especially with the risotto misstep corrected by them taking our oysters off the bill."

"Molto molto bene!! Really enjoyed the fine food, drinks and service. Every thing we ordered was a hit from entrees to dessert. In particular the ravioli was divine and the thrice cooked potatoes were moorish. Really enjoyed the experience and finished the night off with a nice amaro. Fantastico!!"

"We enjoyed a lovely Mother's day lunch - food and cocktails were delicious. Thank you to Maria for your hospitality, we appreciated it."

"Delightful pre Mothers' Day dinner at K.malu. Went based on reviews and was very impressed. The food was sensational and beautifully presented. Ordered olives before 3 entrees and 2 mains ( 3 people). Enough food even though portions were quite small. Standouts were the fig, marscapone and kangaroo prosciutto as well as the vegetarian beef Wellington. The wines and beers complimented the menu."

"The staff were friendly and food was delicious. Nice restaurant with good ambience. We think the pasta is one of the best we had from Wollongong. I loved the lemon tart."