And we're back...

We apologise for the unscheduled outage, and can only explain that there have been limited dining experiences to discuss in recent weeks. We hope that full services will be resumed shortly...

Mr K and I had a day off in the middle of the week together recently (not a common occurrence), and decided to go for lunch. As far as I am concerned, if it’s a sunny day – Il Lido in Cottesloe is THE place to go. I love it - the place is warehouse-style funky, with long wooden tables, great ambience and decent music. More importantly, the food is brilliant, and the wine list long and involved.

We’ve been here a few times before and enjoyed items from the tapas menu – they are always fresh, imaginative and more-ish. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a long, lingering lunch, so we just had some bread ($2 pp) to start. They have excellent sourdough, and they pour the EVOO and balsamic at the table. We had a white wine by the glass, I couldn’t tell you what it was, it was French, unpronounceable (despite my stunning high school French), and it was ok, but nothing special (Disclaimer: Both Mr K and I had been down with some sort of plague, our taste buds were probably not as discerning as they could be).

For main, Mr K had the potato gnocchi with tomato, very fresh tasting, if a tiny bit plain. I had the chestnut and pumpkin ravioli with sage and butter sauce. It was divine – the only slight kvetch was that the fried sage leaves were a bit twiggy. I cannot remember how much the pastas were exactly, and they have a website that has been “Under Construction” for as long as I have been going there (about 2 years?), but I think they are around the $22 mark. They also have that amazing characteristic I normally attribute to Indian food – the size of the serving looks small, but is in fact more than enough to sate your appetite (and if for some reason it doesn’t there is always dessert or cheese to lend a helping hand).

The service is great – the interior is quite large, and it could take you a while to get served, but it never does. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and the whole place has a fabulous laid back feel without compromising on the important stuff. I have never been there when it is full, so I don’t know how well the communal dining setting works if you happen to get packed in like sardines, and this might be a concern. I have had many a dining experience that has been adversely affected by people who clearly have nothing left in their lives to discuss – not just in Perth either, one such experience in Melbourne at Mini is a standout…the couple listening to us not only shamelessly eavesdropped, but commented audibly on the results thereof… I would sincerely hope that at Il Lido you would avoid this dining abomination, everything else works so well.

Go and check it out – I really don’t think disappointment will be on the cards.