You can eat very good food in the city’s suburban enclaves these days, and modern Birkenhead trattoria Osteria Uno is a case in point. Right next door to their all-day spot, Duo, the restaurant is the second eatery by duo Sarah and Jordan MacDonald — and presumably another step in their quest to take over the block with slick-yet-comfortable neighbourhood joints. With exposed concrete floors and worn tiled walls, it feels less like a traditional trattoria and more like a modernised interpretation you’d find in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

Start with a couple of bitsy plates from the top of the menu, like the hunks of plush, house-made focaccia accompanied by a smear of balsamic butter; or that perennial favourite, done here with a twist — burrata, served in a puddle of spicy ’nduja caramel; or the fish crudo, pearled with buffalo curd and Sicilian olives. Pasta is treated with studiousness here, none more so than the tortellini, which, on our visit, involved bouncy prawn meat encased by impressive hand-moulded pasta, presented in a crustacean jus that imparted a potent, straight-from-the-sea umami. We’re fans of the way that Osteria Uno fully embraces indulgence, offering a menu that is heavy with creamy, dreamy decadence. You might like to order a salad to cut through all that — just know that said salad comes drenched in a lush dressing with generous shavings of parmesan. 

The drink offerings include Italian-inspired cocktails and an Italian–New Zealand wine list that’s both extensive and thoughtfully described, making it easy to find the perfect pairing. It’s genuinely hard to save room for dessert here, but worth considering — the sweet offerings change regularly, but they’ve never let us down.