888 Canning Hwy, Applecross
Ph: (08) 9316 4744
Italian at its best
Spaghi has been one of the most popular places to eat in South Perth for the last 20 years. Since moving in December 2010 to their new larger premises on Canning Highway in Applecross, Spaghi can now accommodate even more diners. Of course the furniture and fittings have been upgraded, but the food is still exactly what you would expect from Spaghi – authentic Italian, hand-made with love.
The new-look Spaghi has been modernized with a crisp fresh look and an open kitchen so you can see how it is all done and the kitchen staff hard at work.
Owner Enzo La Pegna is one of the new breed of restauranteurs, although he comes from a family with a long history in the hospitality industry. Let’s face it – you can’t stay in business for over two decades unless you’re doing something right, and Papa Gino, Mama Tonia, Enzo and their staff certainly do a great job.
It really should come as no surprise that Spaghi is considered such a popular dining destination. While the fare on the menu, as you would expect from an Italian restaurant, consists of the usual pizza, pasta and so forth – the quality is much better than average – they use fresh, local ingredients making everything from scratch on the premises.
From the ‘Pane bianca’ – delicious home-baked white bread cut into long strips and cooked with herbs, spices, olive oil and rock salt and served with a tomato based dipping sauce with more than a hint of chilli – through to the simply scrumptious desserts, everything is made right there in the kitchen. This is genuine Italian home-cooking – “like Mama used to make” – rustic, honest, wholesome and satisfying.
The second entree we tried was ‘Cacciatore ai ferri’ – spicy grilled chorizo slices served with saffron rice, rocket and olives. The saffron rice was rather an unusual touch but turned out to be the perfect foil for the spicy sausage.
Then the mains arrived. First we had the ‘Mare monti’ – a very tasty spaghetti marinara with generous quantities of fish, squid, prawns, mussels and clams, in a tomato and cream sauce with mushrooms. We were then treated to the ‘Taglierini neri con granchio’ – home-made squid-ink (black) pasta served with olive oil, garlic, chilli, spices, fresh tomato and chunks of fresh Western Australian crab meat (no boring tinned crabmeat here!). Mmm-mmm…
As Spaghi is currently BYO, we had brought with us a bottle of red wine and one of white. The white – Whicher Ridge Viogner 2009, from WA’s Frankland River district – was quite sweet and fruity, and went well with both pasta dishes, especially with the spicy black squid-ink pasta.
The Whicher Ridge Shiraz 2008 surprised and proved to be a lovely smooth red which was perfect with the scrumptious ‘Mare monti’. I kept going back for another mouthful of the delicious home-made pasta and yet another sip of red.
Mama Tonia makes the famous Italian cheesecake we all know as ‘Tiramisu’ herself, using strong black espresso coffee, luscious mascarpone, eggs, sugar, grappa and cocoa powder. It is a rich and creamy dessert, yet at the same time, light, fluffy and not too sweet. We found we still had room to finish our meal with a serving of ‘Torta caprese’ – a delectable gluten-free flourless chocolate cake, which was just superb served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, and enjoyed with a very nice cup of coffee.
We visited Spaghi during the week for a late lunch so it wasn’t overly busy at that time, but it is a different story most nights, particularly on a Friday or Saturday. Most restaurants require you to book a table in advance, rather than just turn up on the night. This is all very well if you have planned ahead, but not so good if you have just made a last minute decision to go out for a meal. Luckily this is how Spaghi operates.
Spaghi does not take any bookings at all. The restaurant operates on the principle of ‘walk-in’ only, and tables are available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis (it would probably pay to be early on the busy weekend nights!). But it is quite a large venue with plenty of tables, so you should have no problem at all finding a table during the week. Enzo assures us that they will find you a table.
However, if it is a busy night and you don’t want to wait for one to become available, or if you don’t like busy restaurants, or you just prefer to eat in the comfort of your own home, take-away containers of the same quality food can be ordered by phone or at the counter, and are a very popular alternative.
So if you find yourself in Applecross in need of a quality meal, pop in to Spaghi and experience first hand authentic Italian cuisine at its best.