Cipri Italian: Paddington

This modern Italian restaurant and bar occupies the space once the home of long time Paddo favourite 'Il Trattoraro'.Cipri (run by the owners of 'Swordfish', an acclaimed restaurant within, of all places, the Souths Juniors football club) is more upscale and, correspondingly, more expensive.But it's hard to say it's massively better, either. The food is good to very good, without being outstanding (lightly fried calamari is done better at places like, eg., Fratelli Paradiso; the 1kg t-bone steak for 2 is again a staple that's done just as well plenty of other places).It's also not outrageously expensive.But in the end, something's missing. The vibe isn't great, or is at least not strong. The waiters are a little too excited to be themselves, rather than to serve you, and, accordingly, got a few things wrong the whole night (we were served someone else's wine at one point, then hilariously assured it really was our wine even though the waiter was holding the incorrect bottle in his hand; we ordered sides we didn't get and did get sides we didn't order; the same thing happened with some dessert orders.)None of it made the experience bad. But it's also not a place I'd rush back to or recommend anyone else visited. It's fine/trending towards good. But for the hype and the prices, it should be better.