Viva Restaurant in Applecross
by Dennis Lillee
Having enjoyed our dining experience at owner Joe’s previous restaurant, Parlapiano Ristorante, we were looking forward to his new venture at Viva in Applecross. While Parlapiano’s in South Perth was a fairly formal affair, Viva is a real family restaurant. This is a total departure from before and one we enjoyed. Viva’s atmosphere and food is that of family and friends. Good old fashioned, large servings of Mum’s home cooked fare plus other great Italian treats accompanied by a constant hum of people enjoying themselves. Whilst Viva is fully licensed, with an extensive wine list, you can also BYO wine at a modest $5 per bottle corkage.
While we waited for our food we shared some delicious Italian bread with garlic and herbs and in no time entrée was served. Our friend chose Nonna’s Famous Meatballs cooked in a tomato and basil sauce, served with grilled polenta. This dish can only be described as “gutsy” and would suffice for a main dish. It was enjoyed with gusto. At $14 it is excellent value.
We shared an entrée of crispy shallow fried calamari served on a bed of rocket and parmesan salad with lemon wedges and tartare sauce. Again, a huge serving (at $14.50) and we were pleased we’d decided to share. The calamari was perfectly cooked, crispy and deliciously tender inside but not greasy - the peppery flavour of the rocket salad juxtaposed the slightly salty flavour of the calamari.
From where we were seated we could see the glow of flames in the woodfired pizza oven. It added to the cosy atmosphere whilst it was howling wind and rain outside. The friendly staff made for a convivial atmosphere.
Our mains were again huge servings. No magnifying glass is needed here to find the goodies as is the case in some ‘nouvelle cuisine’ establishments! Our friend enjoyed the special of grilled Butterflied Prawns, although he was a little surprised for the need to shell them himself. The finger bowl should have alerted us to this! At around $26 it was again good value for a decent serving of fresh seafood. By all reports they were scrumptious (albeit a little messy).
Our other friend chose the Pesce Di Giorno (fish of the day) which on that night was Pink Snapper with a herb topping served on potato mash. It was very tasty, but a bit on the dry side – such a fine line for chefs to perfect - and was also a little overpowered by its herb topping.
I had one of my favourite foods – oven braised rabbit served with home made potato gnocchi; a perfect choice for a cold winter’s night. It had a nice gamey taste complimented by the perfectly cooked gnocchi. My wife was looking forward to wood-fired, oven roasted baby goat served with pumpkin mash and beans. Some of the goat had a touch of burnt flavour through it whilst other pieces were delicious and melted in the mouth. Unfortunately the “masher” in the kitchen that night also was a bit below par as the pumpkin mash and our friend’s potato mash revealed quite a few lumps in them. It’s amazing that something so simple can sometimes spoil a whole meal.
Desert looked scrumptious but we were all full from the generous servings – next time we will indulge. Even though there were some small hiccups, overall we thoroughly enjoyed the night and look forward to returning to Viva on a Monday night when suckling pig is offered along with live entertainment (every alternate Monday night so check the dates). Then we will be able to see what we missed for dessert!
