Antico Caffe @ East Perth

On the first day of our visit to Perth, brother-in-law brought us to Antico Caffe in East Perth. It is a restaurant that serves Italian food.

This area used to be a slum last time. Over the years, the place have evolved into a new area for people to hang out. There are quite a number of town house apartments near this restaurant.

Italian fine dining in Perth has improved in the recent years. Antico Caffe is one of them. According to brother-in-law, this restaurant is very famous, one of the top three among all the Italian restaurant in Perth. They implement the "BYO" concept, which means you're welcomed to bring your own wine when dining in.

Weekend is the peak period for the restaurant, but during the weekdays, only few tables are occupied. We went there on Friday night, so it was packed. Luckily sister-in-law booked a table in advance. Otherwise, we got to queue up for a table.

Brother-in-law and sister-in-law ordered quite a number of food to share among 4 adults and a toddler.

Castellana pizza costs A$19.90. Ingredients include whole peeled tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, bacon, chicken, spicy Italian sausage, ham and onion.

This pizza was absolutely delicious. It's baked under wood fire. And they have one guy solely in charge for the pizza.

Calamari Fritti costs A$24.90. The tender squid rings were lightly fried until golden brown and served with their special tartar sauce and chips. The calamari rings were humongous. One ring is already enough for me.

Filetto Al Porto, the finest baby beef scotch fillet, grilled to perfection and served with a sensational balsamic and port glaze dressing. It costs A$28.90.

I don't take beef, but this is an exception to me. I took a couple of bites, and I found that it didn't have the "Moo" smell at all. :P

Involtini Di Maccheroni. This is their specialty. Their homemade macaroni are tossed in napoletana sauce, enveloped in slices of eggplant and topped with baked ricotta. This is an outstanding macaroni dish. You'll get 3 rolls of them in a serving. It tasted fabulous. I didn't know macaroni can be so tasty until I tried this.

Misto Mare Alla Griglia, a combination of freshest seafood char grilled and served with chips. The seafood platter consists of fish fillet, scallops, prawns, mussels, and jumbo squids. The seafood platter just normal. In fact, I found it's too salty to my liking.

The meal cost for about A$140 (about RM360++). Thanks to brother-in-law for the treat.

Address: Shop 3/81 Royal Street, Cnr Plain Street, East Perth, WA 6001.
Tel: 08 9221 8222
Fax: 08 9221 8233
Website: www.anticocaffe.com.au
E-mail: antico@anticocaffe.com.au