Entertainment Voucher 09/10: 25% off (up to a value of $30)
Located on the ever busy Albany Highway is Catalano’s Cafe, a buzzing joint which according to the Entertainment Book has recently won STM’s Best BYO Italian Restaurant. This cafe seems to be a crowd pleaser, always full during lunch time on the weekend. I’d been here a couple of times before and always had a good impression of the cafe so we decided to grab a quick brunch here before heading to Swan Valley for a hen’s weekend getaway.
Catalano’s is open 7 days for breakfast, lunch and dinner so there is never a lack of activity in this place. It is openly spaced with tiny wooden tables and chairs haphazardly arra
nged both inside and outside the cafe and has a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere about it. We arrived quite early that day which made getting a table easy for us although we had to wait a bit before anyone came to seat us down. -1 for service! The service didn’t get any better after that. The waitperson came to get our order after forever (ok, forever might be a slight exaggeration but when you are hungry, every second that passes counts!) and she acted as if she couldn’t be bothered with it all – she must be having a bad day! =(
For lunch that day, we had:
- Chai Latte and Coffee
- Catalano’s Burger ($9.50) – 100% beef pattie, Swiss cheese, egg, bacon, sliced fresh tomato, crispy lettuce, fried onion and bbq sauce
- Alla Vodka ($19) – chicken tenders sauteed with baby spinach in a vodka, tomato and cream sauce garnished with pine nut
- Chicken Mango Salad ($22) – gourmet lettuce, cucumber, capsicum, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts in a mango yoghurt dressing
The drinks arrived and came the second complaint from my friend – they had actually left the tea bags in her Chai Latte and sprinkled chocolate all over it – it was a gooey mess by the time she took the bags out. Not very impressive indeed. =(
The food came and made up for some of the dissatisfaction. I had the Alla Vodka, a spaghetti dish which tasted quite good with the big chunky chicken pieces although it was a tad dry. The Chicken Mango Salad was massive and looked attractive – they were very generous with the chicken pieces and veggies. The best dish was I thought the Catalano’s Burger which came with chips and a side of salad for only $9.50! What a bargain! The burger was substantial too and had fried egg in it which is quite rare in a burger. Yum! A must try!
Overall, we were quite satisfied with the food but the service was not too great which I hope is only a once off! I would like to go back there again in the future…
Note: rating will be on the lower side due to the poor service.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Rating by: N.L.
Catalano’s Cafe
Telephone: 08 9362 1121
Address: 266 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Agree service was a tad slow though we ate there on a sat night and it was very busy. Our waitperson was quite pleasant considering how busy she was. Very noisy but the food was delish. Entree of the scallops with a spicy mayo was ok but maybe could’ve been just panfried or grilled instead of crumbed and deep fried. Our mains were the highlight – salmon salad exquisite and gnocci alla fungi a taste sensation. Nice garlic bread too :)