No Mafia Northbridge

No Mafia. Possibly the narrowest little restaurant in Northbridge, but despite its slight size it is definitely packing a punch in the food stakes.

Taking inspiration from the recipes and ethos of Southern Italy, No Mafia takes a modern approach to traditional Italian Cuisine with a focus on using the best and freshest local products. The food is simple and born from the ingredients with a sophisticated by the glass wine list, featuring the best of Southern Italy and Western Australia.

No Mafia promises to offer a relaxed, yet sophisticated addition to the Northbridge dining scene.

No Mafia / No Fuss

I went to my first ever Fringe Festival show on Sunday. I’m not a particularly arty person, I see my blog as my creative outlet, but last year I saw Stratosfunk at The Laneway Lounge’s first birthday party. I just loved them, so booked in to see their ‘Tell Mama, The Etta James Story’ show at Fringe. Beforehand GG and I met up with Mrs M for a bite at No Mafia. Mr M was meant to be there too but was at the Scorchers game, fair enough really because those lads were having a solid season and it was the semi-final.

We were seated in one of the booths at the back, which was fairly spacious for our group of three. Given we had limited time we swiftly perused the menu, with the ladies ordering a glass of prosecco (glera) nv, borgo Molino, treviso, veneto, ($8) while GG kept things local with a glass of the cabernet sauvignon 05, glenmore, margaret river($13). On the food front there were many tasty options on the menu and in quick fire succession we ordered some of the bread in common sourdough ($4 pp), chilli pancetta ($10 per 75grams), beef carpaccio, anchovies, pickled mushroom, parmesan ($4.50 pp), baby tomatoes, mozzarella, provincial granola, aged balsamic ($18), triple cooked potatoes, chili, rosemary, garlic ($12) and an eggplant parmigiana, basil pesto, parmesan cream ($20). It sounded ambitious and I knew Mrs M had had a late lunch, but I knew GG and I were both pretty hungry so I was confident we would get through it all.

The bread and meat came first. Several slices of fresh sourdough in a metal dish next to a checkered piece of butchers paper stacked with the thin slices of meat. Good bread and beautiful cold meat. What a joy. If only I was going to Italy soon and could enjoy this fine fare in the motherland….. Oh wait that’s right I am! I swear that eating Italian food in Perth is just wonderful preparation for all the food I hope to eat in Europe when April/May rolls around. I digress though, mainly because I am just so excited about this holiday.

Back at No Mafia, the next to arrive was the Beef Carpaccio, which you order per person. Three elegant rolls of beef were stuffed with a punchy blend of pickled enoki mushrooms and white anchovies, topped with crumbled parmesan crisps and drizzled with the classic combination of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They were simply divine. The beef melted in your mouth and the mushrooms had plenty of flavour and despite some slight anchovy trepidation, they actually just provided a nice saltiness to the dish instead of a fishy fishiness.

Our three dishes from the larger options part of the menu soon followed, which was pleasing. We were on the clock and I appreciated that service was snappy. I think it’s fair to say I am slightly obsessed with roast potatoes at the moment. These bad boys had been triple cooked so they had an audible crunch and were so well seasoned with plenty of garlic, rosemary and salty, salty goodness. The accompanying dish of aioli further upped the garlic stakes and made for a tasty and creamy dipping sauce.

The tomato salad was artfully presented with some provincial granola scattered over the top. I wasn’t entirely sure what provincial granola was, but nonetheless it added an interesting crunch and herby infusion to the dish. The mozzarella was very creamy and well paired with the sweet ruby red, baby tomatoes and the fresh basil leaves. It was an interesting take on the classic Caprese and tomatoes have such a wonderful sweetness in Summer, so it all just worked a treat.

Our final dish was the eggplant parmigiana. It was quite the cute little stack and topped with, what I believe was some slightly melted bocconcini. I tried (and failed) to carefully slice the parmigiana into thirds, so as to keep all the thinly sliced elegant layers in place. I know the pics don’t do justice to what a pretty dish this was. Flavour wise I really, really enjoyed it and I think if I had eaten this myself I wouldn’t have needed anything else. It was a generous size. I am always pleased when I try tasty vegetarian dishes, so I can recommend them to vegetarians in my life. Actually when I think about all the dishes I tried on this debut visit to No Mafia, it was actually pretty vego friendly, for the most part.

So it had been short and sweet, all of 45 minutes, but it was a solid introduction and I definitely expect to head back again and indulge in a more leisurely visit to No Mafia.