Welcome to Catalano's Cafe

I took my Mum here for lunch the other day and was really impressed. My spinach salad with chicken was absolutely huge - it could easily have fed two hungry people. The spinach was crisp and fresh with crispy pancetta, lots of grilled chicken, tomatoes and cashews livening it up a bit. The only slight let down was the parmesan - pretty poor quality and chunky grated pieces rather than shaved (I picked most of it out). Mum enjoyed her (also huge) calamari salad- I thought the calamari was a bit greasy, although tasty. I ended up taking half of my salad away and had it for lunch the next day - for $22.00 I thought it was relatively expensive but at least it went far! (And most places seem to be charging that now for smaller servings).

Brisk, but fine. Plenty of water was provided and they were happy to put my salad in a takeaway container. Ordering coffees was a bit difficult but we got there in the end.

Loud, busy, cafe style. Great for lunch or dinner with friends, but not somewhere I would go if I wanted a quiet chat. Tables are a bit small and crammed in.

Fantastic!!! Its simple food done really well. I've been here at least 10 times in the last few years and it has never let me or my friends/family down.
The Pastas are huge and tasty, meat always cooked to order and the seafood dishes are a bargain. You won't need an entree but these are good too! I've never tried the deserts and they do a decent coffee.
BYO also keeps the cost down and there is a Bottle shop across the road.
I would be nice if they could add wood fired pizzas to the menu.

Generally good but basic, I think the Kitchen Staff have things so down pat that their job is quite easy.

It gets loud when busy and space is a bit of an issue.

The best Italian style restaurant in the Vic Park Strip. Add some wood fired pizzas to the equation and this place would be unbeatable for a casual dinner/lunch.

Catalano's is a fav with us, my other half always has his steak done to perfection and i pick and choose each time we go my favourties would have to be the chicken parmigiana, spinach & ricotta cannelloni & the stuffed chicken in white sauce (cant remember what it's called).

A tip is to book ahead always even if it is just the 2 of you or head in early for a table of 2.

The service is always great, sometimes though getting a hold of your byo wines or drinks from their fridge is a pain but bearable.

Catalano's Cafe is one of my favourite places to eat. It is value for money and the portions are huge.

I have noticed with many of the views people have said it is very noisy.

I agree with them but also point out the fact it is a cafe. No it will not be perfectly quiet, but i don’t know where there is many places that are. (except if you are a 5 star restaurant, where you can a romantic meal or a conversation without speaking loudly.)

I have been for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As for the food, all my meals have been cooked perfectly. As i said it definitely is value for money, and the portion sizes are huge. I am usually struggling to eat my main after an entree.

A snack menu is offered at lunchtime, and the burgers are very tasty. Its usually to hard to choose.

Also I have to point out that there has been a change to their menu. For breakfast they now offer Eggs Benedict. A Lemon Pepper Calamari Salad with a yummy Lime and Coriander dressing and Risotto of the Day. I recommend trying these!!

As for service, it needs a little work, but overall I still think this is a great place if you want a cheap Italian meal.

The food is what keeps us going time after time again. But the service is getting marginally worse, often with stressed, frustrated wait staff. If you are looking for somewhere to satisfy the HUGE hunger you have, this is the place for it, just don’t expect good service or to be able to speak to each other without yelling. It’s just about worth putting up with just for the meals which are FANTASTIC! Try it.

Not just not another Italian place along Albany Hwy in Vic Park, this place serves up about the best food we have eaten in this neck of the woods and the least expensive for portion sizes.

We both had veal dishes, generous serves of melt in the mouth meat and not drowned in sauce served with chips and salad or vegetables ( included in price). The chips were hot, dusted on the outside with spices, crisp on the outside and soft inside absolutely delicious. I had salad which OK nothing outstanding, while my wife had vegetables which were very good, not overcooked.
For the quantity and quality of the food we were served the prices are quite inexpensive compared to a lot of other restaurants. The coffee was very good too.

Service was good, friendly and prompt.

The dining area is noisy and crowded although being open to the street makes it seem more spacious. My problem was with the size of the tables. We sat at a table for four and did not have a lot of spare room on the table, with four diners it would a real juggling act.

We will go again but eat very sparingly before we do, you need hearty appetites to do justice to the food.

We arrived & were shown quickly to our table. We had to open our own wine - but at least you can BYO wine. The menu was large & reasonably priced. We ordered (part of 2) the dips - 6 large plump pieces of turkish bread with 3 dips arrived - for $9.50 excellent value. We then had a bit of a wait (a bit too long but they were very busy) before our rump steak arrive - it took up nearly half the plate & came with chips & salad or vege - for $26.50 you could not get better value. The steak was tender, cooked to perfection and huge. Love the fact you don't have to pay extra for salad/vege. No room left for dessert - ordered coffee 3 times - in the end the coffee was complimentary! Great place - will definitely return.

Good Italian food, friendly service, we will definitely be back again.

We arrived on a Sunday night without booking, and the restaurant was packed! We were greeted by a smiling waitress despite the busy night, and were quickly shown to a table. However, we did have to flag down someone to take our order after 15 minutes of waiting.

The garlic bread was delicious, 4 large pieces in a serve ($4). I had the pasta marinara, one of the better one's I've had around Perth. There was plenty of quality seafood, and the tomato based sauce was perfect($21). The other mains dish was veal scallopine with "pizziola sauce", which was a very generous serving of tender pan fried pieces of veal, with a tomato based sauce with olives, capsicum and mushrooms. It came with a choice of vegetables or chips & salad ($22).

We felt that we got value for money in what we ordered, and despite being a fairly noisy place due to the lack of soft furnishings, there was a good atmosphere. There seemed to be too few staff for the number of patrons, but the staff were always friendly and polite and managed remarkably well.

We will be recommending this place to friends looking for somewhere to go for a casual Italian meal. A good place for a group or family dinner, but not for a quiet, romantic dinner for two!

My husband’s mother and sisters took me here last night as my birthday treat. I was looking forward to checking it out, as I had heard good things.

It is larger inside than you would imagine, looking in from the footpath, but every available inch is crammed with tables and chairs. We had to navigate carefully to our reserved table to avoid hitting anyone. I’ve given quite low points for ambiance because we thought it had simply very little. We were a group of 5 and had trouble hearing each other speak, and we could hear the rather loud laughter coming from the other side of the café better than we could hear ourselves think. Sitting in cramped conditions wasn’t exactly comfortable, especially for my pregnant sister-in-law.

However, the food was delicious and the serving sizes fantastic for the price we were paying. The most expensive item on the menu was a seafood platter, at $35. The chicken and veal dishes are around the $25 mark, and they also come with options included such as potato/chips and salad/vegetables (which we all agreed is great), whilst the pasta meals were all around $15-$17. Two of our group had issues with their meals, the seafood platter didn’t come out with the chips ordered, and a chicken dish came out with a salad and not the requested vegetables. This was quickly rectified, though.

I had the fettuccini (you can select which pasta you want your dish cooked with, $2 extra for ravioli and gnocchi) with mushrooms, olive oil, garlic, bocconcini and chilli, I was coming down with a cold and requested that the meal contain lots and lots of chilli to clear me up. It was surprisingly good. My mother-in-law had the veal, and was impressed that there were 3 very large pieces of veal on her plate, not just a couple of slivers. Our garlic bread entrée was also very enjoyable.

Service was quite good, although we had to wait awhile for our mains. In the time we were there, we had about 3 different sets of people come through on the table next to us, they were very busy for a Thursday night.

Corkage was $1 per person, which is exceptionally good, although we did get charged for the pregnant SIL despite her not drinking anything. We couldn’t be bothered challenging a $1 charge so just let it go. I glanced through the wine list and there are some quite good local wines at under $27 a bottle.

Our bill came to just over $100 for 5 of us, and we had the entertaniment voucher, which included teas and coffees and is really good value.

All in all, the food was great but I think we would have enjoyed the whole experience more if it there were just a tad less tables. Having the waitresses have to push past you to get anywhere is not pleasant. This is definitely not somewhere you take your partner for a romantic meal, but is alright for a cheap bite to eat. I also wouldn’t take a very large group there as it would be too hard to hear each other.

Having read the different reviews about this Italian restaurant we decided to head on down to Vic Park and experience some fine dining. We were not disappointed. It was a cold night and yet the wait staff were happy to juggle between tables with the minimum of fuss. The place was packed but instead of a feeling of being over crowded it gave it that special italian ambience. The portions are huge be warned. We had an entree each. One between 4 would have been plenty!! Our mains were a delight. I opted for a chicken with artichokes, sun dried toms in creamy sauce with gnocci. The pasta meals on the menu are given as the main ingredients and then you choose your own style of pasta. The only complaint on the table was one of full tummys. Not a bad complaint to have. As we didn't touch our greek salad it came home with us to be thoroughly enjoyed the next evening. Unfortunately I forgot to use my entertainment voucher!! What a shame we'll have to go back again very soon HaHa

I have always enjoyed Catalano’s for a decent sized, reasonably priced meal. We met a friend there for dinner recently and were not disappointed. We had booked a table (which was lucky as it was a Tuesday night and they were fully booked) but asked to move when we arrived as our table was right in the doorway. This was not a problem and the service continued to be attentive all night. It’s not perfect and we did have a few occasions where we were asked for orders by one waitress after another had just taken them, they didn’t seem to have allocated tables to wait on.

We ordered the antipasto plate to start with and it was lovely. Choc full of the usual suspects - feta, cold meat, semi dried tomatoes, artichokes, etc and we just managed to eat the lot. We were also given some complimentary fresh bread.

My friend ordered the Italian sausage pasta which she was very happy with. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the size of my husband’s steak with mushroom sauce and my chicken parmigiana. Both meals were fresh, tasty and served with lovely fat chips and a decent salad. I always enjoy the side salad here; the lettuce, tomato, red onion and cucumber is always fresh and dressed in lovely balsamic vinegar. I also like the fact that the restaurant is BYO and licensed. We were too full for coffee or dessert and left full and happy. My friend still talks about the huge serve of prawns she saw one fellow diner receive, I might have what she had next time.

My appreciation of Italian cuisine has increased dramatically since I became a member of EatingWA. We Perth people are truly spoilt for choices when it comes to food and the number of Italian restaurants we have is mind boggling to our somewhat smallish population.

I have got to say that Catalano's has become one of our favourties. No doubt no pizza is served but we are more pasta/meat type people so that is not an important criteria. Catalano's is by far the best value Italian place to dine. Not only is the food fresh and tasty, the servings are huge and the service pretty zippy. We decided to have the veal again and after our recent disappointment at a renowned restaurant which costs 50% more and without greens, the pleasant surprise was compounded many times over ! Fancy this, for only $20, the veal came with gourmet greens drizzled with balsamic (or fresh vegetables) and chips!!! The chicken pramigiana ($19) was an even bigger serve with the same 2 sides. Our party also ordered the fettuccini salmon ($18), fettuccini brocolleti ($15.50) and spaghetti marinara ($19). Everyone was indeed full to the brim and very satisfied with their meals.

It is a definite must for our future overseas visitors who are craving Italian.

Great food - reasonably priced.

Place is always busy and very noisy and consequently the service is sometimes not so great - but easy to see why once you've eaten there. We've been many times and always look forward to the next time.

I went there on a Sunday lunch with my friends for the first time.

I thought the food was absolutely beautiful. It was tasty & yummy. When we ordered our food, it didn't take long to come to our table and we were happy about that.

The price for the quality & portion on the plate is worth it. The service of the staff was pretty good and looked after us good.

I think where it is in Victoria Park, cafe style - ambience is excellent! And its open all afternoon, where you don't have to rush for the next meal time. It’s great.

Well done!

Had lunch at Catalano's today. I pre-ordered the chilli mussels days before arriving there with work colleagues today. Alas, 15 minutes before lunch, they called my work to let us know that they had no chilli mussels today! I had been thinking about chilli mussels all week, so needless to say I was very disappointed. I begrudgingly replaced my order with the Cajun spiced scallops with chilli-mayo ($16).

When we arrived we had at least a 15 minute wait for our meals which was a little irritating considering we were all on lunch breaks and had pre-ordered our meals. The meals finally arrived, after we consumed copious amounts of BYO wine, but not all at once, some lunches came out 10 minutes after others!

My meal was served with a bit of salad on the side. I found the scallops coated in a thick, oily, spicy batter. They looked deep fried, which was not what I was expecting. The flavours in the batter were strong and over-powering and I couldn't even taste the scallops or anything vaguely resembling seafood. I felt fat and greasy afterwards. I won't be ordering that dish again!

Others at our table were generally pleased with their meals ranging from schnitzel sandwiches, chilli prawn pasta, massive chicken Caesar salad, grilled calamari and salad, chips, carbonara and cannelloni. Only one person was served the brocoletti pasta with the wrong type of pasta.

I guess I just ordered the wrong dish today and that happens from time to time. I have generally been really happy with my meals here in the past, so one mishap will definitely not dissuade me from returning again another day!

Went as a couple and very luckily booked a table as the place was packed!

Sat down on a table a few inches away from everyone else (How many people can you fit in there!!) and watched people get seated after we arrived on uncleared tables (because it was so busy) We watched the waitresses rush round clear these tables & re-lay them, give out menus, take orders Deliver their drinks and we were still there without even being asked what we wanted to drink!

When we did order we asked for the Starter (Garlic bread) to be served at the same time as the main (as we didn't want to have to wait for ages again).

Our mains turned up and after about 5 mins after that so did our drinks. Then as we were finishing our mains a waitress asked us if we still wanted the garlic bread!

However the food was really nice and huge portions!. The pasta was perfect and the sauce was devine! its a shame about the hassle before hand.

We're going back again for another try to see if it was a one off. Its lucky we had our Entertainment voucher to help pay for the last experience as we may not of been inclined to try again.

GOOD POINTS: Food was great. Massive portions. The staff work really hard. They are in the Entertainment book.

BAD POINTS: Being squashed in really close to other patrons, It's just too busy-which is why I think the problems occurred.

With the many reviews raving about Catalano’s, we decided it is a must and happily went without making a booking as after all weren’t we the only ones not watching the Eagles v Bulldogs match. Wrong, every single table seemed to have the “reserved” sign but as usual being early diners, if we could get out by 7.30pm, we could get a table. No problem, we rarely take more than an hour anyway with bub and 2 young kids in tow.

Ordered the garlic bread and sides were too crusty, so, not a good start. Thank goodness the mains made up for it particularly the veal scaloppini ($20) which we chose the creamy mushroom & white wine sauce out of 3 possible choices. Served with chips and a huge portion of gourmet greens drizzled with balsamic, the dish looked as appealing as it tasted. The veal was so tender and the sauce flavoursome with lots of mushrooms and grounded parsley(?).

The conchiglie fettuccine ($19) came with 4 extra large king(?) prawns & 4 scallops all cooked in a creamy sauce with snow peas and red capsicum. The prawns/scallop were so fresh and the dish simply delicious. The pasta was cooked al dente alright but we tend to like it softer and not so chewy but still we enjoyed the dish tremendously.

Wouldn’t mind coming back here again especially for lunch to try their lunch specials but would not get takeaway. Asked for the takeaway menu, and was given their normal menu, so I assume that the prices are the same which then is considered pricey for takeaway.

This is one of my favourite lunch-time haunts! It serves basic Italian/Aussie style meals but I always get the steak sandwich which comes out HUUUUUUUGE with the best chips in Perth and a bit of salad on the side for about $9!!!

I can never fault the food here; it's always fresh and great value for money.

A real surprise, the wait staff weren't lying when they said the serving sizes were large - I've never seen a chicken parmigiana this huge, at least 30cm long, and delicious, served with chips and your choice of salad or vegies.

We also ordered three of the pastas, of which they have a wide variety of unique combinations. I had a seafood pasta (I can't remember the name) which consisted of a creamy sauce with prawns and scallops, delicious. I ate the leftovers for lunch today - I've also got my friends leftovers which was a vodka chicken dish - looking forward to eating this for dinner.

The best value italian meal I've had for a long time - next time we are hungry and want great Italian we are definitely coming back here.

Went there on a Tuesday night and the place was packed! Good sign so far. The waitress was a little slow to take our order, but it seemed that there were only 2 waitresses covering the whole restaurant. We ordered the antipasto which was superb. The waitress asked if we would like bread in which we replied that we would, but it never came. That was ok because we didn't really need it. The size of the non-pasta meals were huge and looked fantastic! I chose a pasta dish with salmon and it was superb. All in all, a very pleasant evening

This is a relative newcomer to the Vic Park cafe strip (as compared to the East Vic Park cafe strip) and is a good one. After two visits, I would certainly recommend a couple of the entrees (including the antipasto plate) and we found that you need to reserve some room for main course.

No pizzas, but the typical range of pastas and Italian mains - but well-done (no, not in steak terms:) and tasty enough to have warranted the second visit. Service is friendly and I think this place does it a little better than most in Vic Park - or perhaps it's just youthful enthusiasm?

This cafe has two dining areas inside plus some street dining. Not huge but more than adequate. Busy Friday lunch but not packed. After having had to wait a good 15 mins for a waitress to notice me (and then by asking "if I was alright"!), I eventually got a menu. (I was about to walk out and go across the road.) The waitress was then quite attentive. The menu (incl a separate lunch specials menu) is full of pastas, foccacias, steaks, seafood and the other usual cafe choices. While Italian in its choices, it is not what you think of when thinking Italian dining.

Opted for the antipasto plate with garlic bread to have while I waited. Big mistake #1. The g/bread came out promptly, closely followed by the antipasto plate with bread and butter. The glass of wine I had was just okay. Mistake #2 was asking for water. A 750mL bottle came out without a lid costing about $6! I ask you, how many single diners will get through that much water in a lunchtime. Even after the Entertainment Card discount, I still ended up paying about $30 which I believe to be a bit pricey.

The platter itself was quite nice with 3 types of cold meat, 2 cheeses, olives, marinated artichokes hearts, capsicum, eggplant and sundried tomato.

Not sure if I will venture back or not. Some of the items sounded tasty and now I know the pitfalls of ordering, it may be worth the risk. Only time will tell...