The Steak and Rib combo was an impressive and substantial dish and the meat was so tender. The steak was medium rare and the ribs had a great sauce. This bacon and egg roll turned out to be a very nice. The bacon was plentiful and came with a fried free-range egg and sauce all on a toasted bun. The peanut butter brittle had chocolate custard, peanut brittle, Nutella, salted peanuts and whipped cream. It was bold and indulgently rich too

FOOD TYPE
Italian

FOOD QUALITY
Seven of us dined on a warm spring eve in Oct. We started with two shared serves of bruschetta ($11 per serve). Each serve comprised four small pieces, but they were tangy and delicious, with lashings of ripe tomato cubes and topped with a thin slice of cheese . For mains we choose three salads - the rocket, the spinach and the French ($11-14 ea) and a selection of pizza and pasta dishes. Nothing is overly expensive here: the mains ranging in price from $19 to $22. Portions are generous for that price. Food quality was excellent and everything was fresh and tasty. Clearly, only the highest quality ingredients are used here. My spag bol was beautifully prepared; the meat flavoursome and tender, the pasta cooked al dente just the way I like it, and the whole dish had a strong hint of tomato to give it that extra zest. The vegetarian pizza had a host of appetising ingredients and the salads were wholesome and nutritious. Everyone enjoyed their meals. There wasn’t a morsel left on anyone’s plate at the end of that lot. As it was my daughter’s birthday, we brought our own cake, for which they charged us $2 a head “cakage” but I guess that’s fair enough as they had to store it in their fridge until we were ready to eat it.

ATMOSPHERE
Even though it was a Sunday night in suburban Northbridge, where everyone is in bed by 9pm, there was still a reasonable turnout. At its peak, at around 8pm, it was about 60% full, which made the atmosphere quite lively and energetic. This place has been around for 23 years (according to their website, it was founded in 1994) and it shows!.While the interior is quite cozy and homely, it’s well overdue for a refurb, to modernise it and bring it up to date. The wooden chairs are unstable, the tiled floor looks aged and tired, and the archways and dark ceiling hark back to another era.

SERVICE 
This is where these guys really excel. The bevy of young (most probably under 20), wait staff are friendly, helpful and efficient. They’re a cheerful and happy bunch and they made us feel welcome the minute we arrived. Our booked table was ready and waiting for us. We were placed in the little alcove that looks onto the car park, which we had all to ourselves. It wasn’t the greatest place to sit with that view, but still, it gave us privacy, and meant that we didn’t have to deal with any noise from the main dining area. Our orders were promptly taken and drinks, entrees, salads and mains all came out quickly and in exactly the correct order. Finally, the birthday cake was brought out, which kitchen staff had cleverly decorated with smarties and sparklers. Just a great way to end the evening. We tipped them handsomely for their efforts, but they deserved it!

COMFORT
Chairs were a bit rickety, low and unstable, although a couple of tables placed together for us, gave ample room to fit all the dishes and drinks as well. Being a balmy spring night, temp was just the right degree of mild, although the ever-attentive staff did offer to put the heaters on if we needed them, but we didn’t.

MENU
The menus are laid out on the tables in the form of placemats decked on in the familiar Italian colours of green, red and white. It’s all fairly clearly set out and easy to read. There’s a separate drinks menu, in a leather binder.

TOILETS
Toilets are serviceable, with adequate provisions, but like the rest of the place, they look tired and old and well overdue for an upgrade. The men’s urinal, as you can see in the pic, is of a kind you might expect to see in a miners hostel or a labour camp.

ACOUSTICS
As mentioned, we had our own little nook, separated from the rest of the place by a sliding glass door, so we heard no noise, and were easily able to converse. But the tiled floors and wooden furniture could potentially make this a loud venue if it ever got full, although given it’s location in genteel lower north shore, Northbridge, I somehow doubt that noise would generally be a problem here.

COST
We came armed with our 25% Ent Bk discount voucher (up to a max $30) and with that lopped off the bill, we ended up paying $224 (plus tip). For that we got two serves of bruschetta, three salads, seven mains, a bottle of shiraz (that was on special for a modest $20 a bottle), a beer, a glass of wine and cakeage at $2 a head. Given the high quality of the food, the excellent service and the fact that we had our own little section of the place to ourselves, we felt that that was fair value in these inflationary times.

BOOKING
As there were seven of us, we took the precaution of booking ahead, but there were plenty of empty tables, so I don’t think that bookings are generally necessary here except perhaps on a Fri or Sat night. This place does seem popular with family groups with small children but thankfully, they tend to dine early anyway.

PARKING/ACCESS
You’ll find Borruso’s in the Northbridge Village, on Strathallen Rd, near the corner of Sailor’s Bay Road. Northbridge Village is really just a cluster of little shops, offices and restaurants arranged around a quadrangle. There’s usually ample parking in the little car park at the front. If that’s full, try Baringa Rd nearby or even Sailor’s Bay Rd.

SUMMARY 
We had a pleasant evening here and everything went off smoothly. The food was first class, service even better and whilst the place is pretty old and tacky looking, still the ambience was homely and relaxed and we all had a good time. Parking is a breeze.

MEMO
These guys don’t always respond to email requests for a booking, so if you want to make sure that your table is reserved, it’s probably best to phone and ask for the manager.