With the introduction of the small bar legislation, locals are really spoilt for choice when it comes to going out for drinks. Located in the James Place alleyway is Il Mondo which translated from Italian means “The World”. This represents the time the owner spent overseas travelling the world as shown by the world map behind the counter.

The decor is elegant and well presented. The low hanging light fittings, the exposed brick walls and the stone benchtop bar give this place a warm cosy feel. There are a variety of seating options available from bar stools, small stools and normal tables. While we chose to sit inside, we did feel a bit cramped, The adjoining tables and chairs were just too close to each other.

This place has a decent wine list with Italian red, white and rose wines, however, we really came here for the food.

For lunch, I had the Spaghetti Aglio Olio. The dish was ready after a 15 minute wait and the presentation was average. I guess it’s hard to make a simple pasta dish look appealing, but when it arrived at my table, it didn’t look appetising. While the dish looked small, it was deceptively large in size. The pasta was well cooked and it was saturated in olive oil (which is the way it should be). The two pieces of garlic in my dish were soft and golden brown, however, it didn’t have much of an impact on the dish. Neither did the red pepper flakes. I could taste subtle hints of the peperoncino cheese, however, the dish as a whole could have done with more salt.

My friend had the Polenta with Cheese and Eggplant. She said it was quite good.

The staff were friendly and the service was good. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing for the mains is verging towards restaurant prices. My pasta dish set me back $14.90 which is probably more than what I’d like to pay at lunch time. It was a good serving size but I just didn’t like the dish.

Verdict: I’d probably just come here for their Italian wine selection.

WHERE: 20 James Pl, Adelaide