Primo, pasta, pizza… we can’t get enough of Perth’s best Italian restaurants.
Buon appetito!
Testun
Perth’s latest culinary enfant terrible, we can’t get enough of Testun’s irreverent attitude and big flavours. Combining Italian nostalgia with a new-wave Australasian approach, the neighbourhood osteria is quickly making its (neon green) mark. Bold, brash and bloody delicious.
12/760 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley
Vin Populi
There are certain openings that fly under the radar, and others that become the talk of not just the Perth Is OK! office, but the whole darn town. From the same team as the also excellent No Mafia (see below!) and Balthazar, Vin Populi has been one of 2023’s early standouts – and the pumping dining room is a testament to the good word travelling like wildfire. Nestled into Freo’s historic West End, pop by for afternoon antipasti, a late night negroni or luscious bowl of pasta.
11 High Street, Fremantle
La Madonna Nera
Offering a delightfully intimate dining experience, La Madonna Nera is pairing some truly delectable libations with a snack game that’s hard to beat. Stop by for some seriously good snack game during aperitivo hour, one of their regional deep-dives as part of the Granturismo series, or simply head to the seductively dark interior for nuovo-Italian date night deliciousness.
1/155 Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn
Monsterella
It would be easy to over-complicate things, but put quite simply: Monsterella gets a lot of things just right. Those bases? Naturally risen for 48 hours, light as air, crispy, chewy, perfetto. That sauce? San Marzano tomatoes, ovviamente. A selection of pasta that will tempt even the most fanatic pizza fiend? Buon appetito!
Keen for a more intimate vibe? Head next door to Monsterella’s bougier sister wine bar Mummucc‘, favourite night-off haunt of dozens of Perth chefs. For a bar named “mother”, Mummucc’ is really rather… Sexy. We don’t mean to get Freudian, but one glance at those Skull Island prawns with bottarga butter and chilli vinegar, or the octopus arrostocini with a fiery nduja oil… Well, we’re drooling. Add in the ample wine list? We’re in love.
46 Grantham Street, Wembley
Acqua e Sale
With a distinctly Sardinian influence, Acqua e Sale’s menu is both exciting and comforting: the familiar sight of salt and pepper calamari, paired with spicy squid ink aioli. House-made gnocchetti with saffron, sausage, and D.O.P pecorino, or culurgiones stuffed with potato, pecorino and mint… we haven’t even got started with the pizzas, or the desserts, with include traditional seadas – house made Sardinian fried pastry, topped with sheep’s ricotta, orange zest, honey and walnuts. Who needs a trip to Italy when you’ve got Acqua e Sale?
391 Fitzgerald Street, North Perth
Capri
Now run by the fourth generation of Pizzales, Capri is standing strong against the changing whims of fashions. Harking back to the hustle and bustle of ’50s Freo, with an unpretentious, low-key menu, interior and service punctuated by old-school touches like complimentary soup and bread.
21 South Terrace, Fremantle
Santini
All hotel dining is not created equal, and the proof is in the proverbial pudding when it comes to Santini. The menu manages to balance its accessibility with a focus and attention to detail that ensures any less-favourable hotel dining cliches are satisfyingly avoided, while its stylish fit-out transitions effortlessly from business-friendly long lunch to dimly-lit dinner service.
QT, 133 Murray Street, Perth
Threecoins & Sons
While Threecoins is technically the elder sibling of Testun, its recent-ish relaunch has given us a reinvigorated enthusiasm for the more traditional, ten-year-old trattoria – although more traditional can only be defined in relation to its irreverent sibling down the road. Comforting Italian classics are melded with that signature bold flavour and high voltage approach… Think pinsa topped with mortadella, pineapple salsa and pickled peppers, a linguine served with prawn bisque and lemon-spiked mascarpone or lamb chops with a pistachio and mint agrodolce.
12/776 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley
Ischia
This list would hardly be complete without at least one wall-to-wall mural, right? Luckily, Ischia’s Beaufort Street dining room features its island namesake, complete with azure water and volcanic cliffs. Their menu traverses both land and sea, with plenty of crowd-pleasers: grilled octopus served atop a tomato salad, homemade lasagne with slow-cooked ragu, scaloppine and cotoletta, and of course, wood fired pizzas. A stalwart of the Highgate dining scene for years, it’s been tried, tested and most importantly, beloved by all.
500 Beaufort Street, Highgate
155 Claisebrook Road, Perth
Lulu La Delizia
Simple but luxurious. Comforting but refined. Lulu La Delizia strikes the perfect balance between the high-brow, cheffy approach that sets a restaurant apart, and the comfort factor that keeps everyone coming back. Their restrained, single page menu is accentuated with hard-to-pass up specials that showcase local and seasonal produce.
Forrest Walk, 5/97 Rokeby Road, Subiaco
Cecchi’s
Inglewood (OK, now technically Bedford) neighbourhood spot Cecchi’s has fast become a favourite amongst locals for their share-friendly Italian plates and charming vibes. While the small plates are worth a trip by themselves, the pasta can sure hold its own – from bucatini with Shark Bay cuttlefish to zaffron paccheri with porcini and duck sausage.
1000 Beaufort Street, Bedford
No Mafia
It could be said that No Mafia’s specialty is “Stuff That Goes Really Well With a Glass of Wine”. Which, for the record, is a category we’re well and truly on board for. While we’re a fan of perching on the front balcony for some Spritz-fuelled people watching during those hot Fringe nights every summer, there’s little more comforting than diving into a bowl of their signature braised duck pappardelle.
252 William Street, Northbridge
Pappagallo
Nestled in between Leederville and Mount Hawthorn, Pappagallo has become one of our favourite go-tos over the years. Whether its their crispy-based pizzas or luscious pastas, we keep coming back. If you’re feeling extravagant, add on a burrata to your pizza… but whatever you do, leave room for a cannoli.
250 Oxford Street, Leederville
Alba
Stories’ resident Italian, Alba’s crowd-pleasing pasta, piccoli piatti and principale is a little slice of sunshine in the city. Alongside their ample menu of pastas, sip on their selection of spritzes and dive into seafood dishes like kingfish crudo with blood orange, char-grilled squid skewers with squid ink aioli, or grilled whole tiger prawns with garlic butter.
Yagan Square, 376/420 Wellington Street, Perth
Isoletta
This ritzy Dalkeith eatery has more than a dash of Real Housewives of Amalfi glamour – but once you’ve settled into the luxe fit-out, you’ll find a menu of comforting classics suited to a neighbourhood spot… Albeit a rather well-heeled neighbourhood! Dive into Isoletta’s decadently melty eggplant parm, fiery chilli vongole or a delicate bowl of angel hair pasta with Shark Bay crab – or go all-out on an indulgent grilled seafood platter. Not to mention those pizzas, emerging with aplomb from the turquoise wood-fired oven and topped with Sardinian salame, fior di latte and macadamia or ricotta and preserved lemon with prickly ash, pinenuts and watercress.
99 Waratah Avenue, Dalkeith
Post
With a flair for showing off WA’s best produce, Post’s menu delicately balances between Old-World-Italian and Perth-right-now – while reflecting the restrained refinement of the State Buildings, of course. Stop by for mouth-watering after-work antipasti (buffalo mozzarella with grilled figs, or a rosy plate of beef carpaccio?), or delve into their pasta offerings – think rigatoni with guanciale, chilli and tomato, or casarecce with zucchini, lemon and basil.
State Builings, 1 Cathedral Avenue, Perth
Bar Vino
Since opening back in 2019, Willing Coffee’s Mount Lawley outpost has become a favourite for locals to swing by for a coffee and a croissant. But as of this year, the evening hours sees the bustling café transform into a somewhat more sultry proposition – one with an expansive, Italian-leaning wine list and similarly Italian-leaning menu, whether you’re nibbling on cacio e pepe flatbread and salumi, or diving into a sumptuous bowl of pasta.
181 Central Avenue, Mount Lawley
Posto Matto
Posto Matto may not be reinventing the wheel, but they sure make their wheel look tasty. Classic pasta (and pizza!) with a twist is their MO, so you can look forward to dishes like garganelli with octopus sugo, or maltagliati with confit duck, mushroom, kale and duck egg. Hopefully you’ve left enough room after the stuzzichini of lamb ribs, mussels and prosciutto, though…
211 Main Street, Osborne Park
Shadow Wine Bar
As seductive and intriguing as an Italian film star, Shadow Wine Bar’s dimly-lit dining room is the perfect setting for your next date night. Share a plate of veal carpaccio, oysters with lemon myrtle or arancini with smoked leek aioli before diving into a plate of veal cotoletta with cabbage, leek and brown butter, or resisting the urge to Lady and the Tramp a bowl of prawn spaghettini. Is it us, or is it getting a bit warm in here?
214 William Street, Northbridge
Si Paradiso
Highgate’s party paradise has well and truly matured into one of Perth’s must-visit destinations – and its menu manages to put up some pretty stiff competition with the pumping dance floor. Don’t worry, you can still get your mitts on those Neapolitan-style pizzas, but you’ll also find it hard to resist the next-level share plates. Showing more than a nod to our enviable coast, you can expect to find plenty of seafood, alongside an enticing dash of Asian and Middle Eastern influence – with dishes like charcoal lamb skewers with chermoula, toum and lemon, charcoal fish skewers with aqua pazza, cherry tomato and olives, crespelle topped with blue swimmer crab, brown butter and horseradish cream or scallop crudo with chilli and kumquat.
446 Beaufort Street, Highgate
Spritz Spizzicheria
Is there any greater shrine to Perth’s favourite cocktail than the glowing, orange monument that is Spritz Spizzicheria? Their menu takes you from a long afternoon of cocktails and nibbles to more substantial pasta, pizza and mains – or take advantage of their aperativo time: two hours of drinking and snacking specials (Italy’s best recent export?). We’re starting to think Mount Hawthorn is punching above its weight in culinary options.
148 Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn
Cherubino City Cellar
Hidden away behind Subi thoroughfare Rokeby Road, Cherubino City Cellar is proof that sometimes the harder it is the find, the greater the reward. The extensive (of course) wine list features Italian and Australian drops, including Cherubino’s own, alongside a tempting menu of snackable selections (prosciutto, mortadella, crudo, olives and the like), plus sumptuous pasta and risotto. (And, of course, a mean tiramisu to top it all off.)
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169-171 Rokeby Road, Subiaco
Lalla Rookh
An impressive blend of Italian dining infused with the spirit of fresh WA produce, Lalla Rookh‘s menu is a lesson in relaxed decadence. And when it comes to wines, Sommelier Jeremy Prus stocks an award-winning offering of only the finest Italian and Australian offerings.
77 St Georges Terrace, Perth
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Perth’s best aperitivo hours
Perth’s best date night restaurants
Cover image: Si Paradiso