Antico Caffe sits a few blocks down from my place and after flicking through the entertainment book we came across the cafe. I decided to give the place a try after, it was close by, we can walk there and it's italian so can't be too bad.
I've also learnt not to except much from cafe like italian places in Perth, they are just there to provide a large servings of pasta, pizza and meat, with average to below average food. So without having too high an exceptation for Antico Caffe all I can say is, the waiters were friendly, the service was prompt, the meal took their time coming, the place was awkwardly lit, there wasn't any real ambience, in face I would say it was cold rather than cosy (blame the huge space and gaps between tables).
The food? It was alright. There was too many choices on the menu. The foodie in me screamed that this CANNOT be good, it was something like Siennas (another cheap italian eat with massive servings and no quality what-so-ever, you should try Catanalo it's better!). After all, if you provide a large section of choice you either have to be really good at all of it or you are just dipping in too many broths and not being a specialist of any sorts. Gordon Ramsay would have had a fun day criticising the menu.
We had an entree which was a crostini with bacon/ham, cheese and olives i was expecting something along the lines of a nice slice of ham on crostini bread topped with shredded cheese and slices of olives. When it came out I was taken completely by surprise - the dish looked like toasted cheesies I used to have in my good old primary school days. I was a little shocked that restaurants served things like this and at a rather expensive cost for what I used to pay as a child! Having said that at least it was nice and cheesy and definitely took me back to the days I had cheesies as a kid!
The mains as excepted were large. They were NOT spectacular, far from it. In fact it was a little odd to see shredded cabbage and carrots on top of our mains (and our entrees) as almost replacement for herbs you would usually see like, well parsley or basil???? It was all too strange and was most definitely out of place!
Bf's gnoochi
Veal and mushroom raviolli
Like I said at the start, I had no expectation. I just wanted to eat somewhere with a hearty filling meal which Antico supplied. It wasn't great, but it was edible and at least the food was not bland. It's a quick stomach filler and having it on the entertainment book is probably a good thing considering the prices were high compared to other places that are on the same calibre/ranking/restaurant. I wouldn't go out of my way to visit the place, but if you are in the area and are desperate for a cheaper eat (compared to others in the area) and are of a bigger serving than usual then do check it out.
