(08) 9328 7442
Website
Hours:
Mon - Sun: 07:00-17:00
L'amore per la vita dolce" -Love for the sweet life- is the motto of this family operated Italian patisserie, gelateria and café located at the bottom end of Angove St's café strip.
THE GOOD
+ Their selection of sweets and cakes is impressive with a mix of Australian traditional favourites, authentic Italian sweets, and European seasonal desserts. Their cabinet is a heaven for dessert-o-holics, and it is difficult to choose just one thing. Their macaroons are amongst the most popular item. They have wonderfully pre-packaged macaroons and cupcakes for Mother's Day, and other seasonal festivities, the last one I bought, a gorgeous china tea cup and saucer with a cupcake.
+ Portions are decently sized.
+ Food and coffee are better than in some of the cafés around.
+ They have very good quality cutlery and strong decent paper napkins. Little details make a difference.
+ Most of the staff are attentive, polite, friendly, and eager to serve.
+ Service is relatively fast.
+ No hype here. This is a family friendly place, with patrons from all ages (although mostly +30y.o.).
+ They have plenty of newspapers for customers.
+ Their cooling system for their alfresco area is super-cool (literally!) with a aspersion system that sprinkles cold air above the seating area. That is soooooo appropriate for Perth scorching summer!
+ They cater for functions, design your wedding or birthday cake, and sell ice-cream tarts.
+ I love their sweets and cake slices. They seem to have a new one each week, and they use seasonal produce. All of the ones I have tried were amazing.
- Their sweets are really tiny in size and a bit pricey. Some of them are really nice, but others are just average and not worth the price.
- Their lamb chunks can be very dry and hard, and difficult to cut with a normal knife.
- Although they have air-con inside, the place can be humid and hot in +30-degrees days.
- I have found isolated examples of staff rudeness and unfriendliness. It is a pity, because one person can ruin the reputation of the whole place. I have also found a sort of lack of organisation in the service at times.
- Service can be disorganised at times.
- The place is always crowded, and it can be tricky finding a place to seat during weekends.
= Provide sharp knives when serving steak or dishes with thick pieces of meat. It makes a whole difference!
= This is just a personal wish. I do not like elongated plates for my food, They limit the movement of my hand and moving the food around. On the other hand, how to put it? a round plate improves presentation and comes prettier in the photo...
= I think service need to be a more systematic. In the sense that one person takes care of one thing, so you don't have three people asking your if you have been served or three people not paying attention to you. One person at the cash, one person serving coffee, a person serving sweets, a waiter serving food on the tables, that sort of structuring of the service.
TIP
- Go for the lunch specials, macaroons, and coffee and you won't be disappointed.
- Seat outside in hot days. It sounds like a joke, but it will be cooler than inside!
- If you have a birthday or seasonal event and want a sweet gift for somebody walk in and check their special packed items for Mother's Day, Valentines, and other seasonal festivities.
