Catalano & Co, Baldivis

Catalano & Co Review

Living north of the river, I don’t get the opportunity to try too many restaurants in the south of Perth mainly because my husband refuses to drive ‘so far’ to try out food. However, he was happy to give Catalano & Co in Baldivis a go on our way to the south-west last week.

Catalano & Co is run along the lines of an old-fashioned, Italian, casual dining business. Inspired by their father and grandparent’s successful hospitality ventures, Jason and Brooke, together with their partners have succeeded in bringing a family-friendly, laid back, dining experience to Baldivis. The décor is semi-industrialised with a brick wall and bar housing a good selection of wines and pipework visible on the ceiling. Good spacing between tables, a rapidly diminishing quality in many restaurants, meant that we didn’t share our conversation with other diners and we settled nicely into the comfortable chairs. Outside tables are also available.

Catalano & Co may be based on old-fashioned values but their food is modern and packed with flavour.

The restaurant was busy at lunchtime when we arrived but the service was prompt and friendly. As we were just starting a short holiday I decided to indulge in one of Catalano’s cocktails – a coconut margarita ($14) – coconut tequila, Cointreau, Malibu, coconut syrup and lime. Instead of the normal salt around the rim of the cocktail glass, my margarita came with a coconut-decorated top.

Our big problem was deciding what to eat. The extensive menu had a lot of goodies from Focaccia and Panini sandwiches to chicken, veal, pork, lamb and beef – all with different sauce options and heaps of seafood and pasta dishes.

My husband decided on the Chilli Mussels ($23) while I had the Pork Scaloppini Boscaiola ($30). Food portions are generous and neither of us could finish our platefuls. The creamy mushroom sauce that accompanied my tender pork scaloppini had an excellent flavour. Having suffered a lack of chilli in chilli mussel dishes in other restaurants, my husband had no such complaints at Catalano & Co. There was also lots of bread to mop up the juices and lots of very good mussels.

If Catalano & Co are a shining example of the food available south of the river, we might just have to venture over the Narrows more often!

Catalano & Co serve breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as offering a snack menu.

Catalano & Co

Address: 61 Makybe Drive, Baldivis

Phone: 08 9558 9001

Reservations: Yes

Opening hours: Seven days: 6:30am-11pm

Gluten-free options: Yes

Vegetarian options: Yes

BYO: Wine only

Restrooms: Clean and accessible

Parking: Lots of parking on the street and nearby

Website: www.catalanoandco.com.au

About Hazel Broomhead

My name is Hazel and I am a Perth senior!

Originally from Edinburgh in Scotland, my husband and I moved to New Zealand with our children in 1974. As my husband is in the oil business, we moved to several other countries including the Sultanate of Oman, the Netherlands, Singapore, the Philippines, the USA, Russia and Kazakhstan during the next 36 years before retiring to Perth.

We have six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who live in different parts of the globe – New Zealand, Scotland and Colombia - which makes a great excuse for us to travel and visit.

My career background is in radio and print journalism in Scotland and New Zealand as well as public relations in various other countries.

We love to eat out, walk, travel and enjoy the wonderful lifestyle here in Western Australia.