May 29, 2012 | 0 Comments

Il Circolo

Il Circolo

22 Angove St, North Perth

Telephone: (08) 93287667

How many times have I traipsed up and down Angove St in North Perth and walked right by Il Circolo? A nook of Little Italy, in…Little Italy. My…isn’t Angove St fast becoming a hub of all things coffee and refined cafe eats.

Discreetly I popped in for a sugar hit with my morning coffee (10am and she’s already into the ricotta cheesecake folks…) Incognito, not being prepared to share the moment with anyone. But as soon as I walked in, I knew I’d be back. Not only for more cake, but more importantly…for the fooooood. The menu was in Italian. A cafe ristorante after my own cuore.

And that means ‘heart’.

Wooden floorboards, contrasting timbers, feature timber doorways that give the impression that there is more than the trattoria style decor that envelopes you. It’s quirky yet stylish. Blackboarded menus, fold down wooden theatre style chairs in booth seating gives it that classic retro feel of a piazza cafe in the classy 1950′s. The shelfware decor is dusty, and is highlighted by the streaming natural light beaming through the cafe windows. And it’s all meant to be there, because it just adds to the feel of it all.

It was just a stop in today, and I only had the Lemon ricotta cheesecake with strawberry coulis, trimmed with a statement sour cream ganache. You’ll come to know that I acquiesce to cheesecake without a sigh of resistance, so I was so pleased to feel the fresh textures of ricotta curd pare away with the gentle pressure of my fork. The denseness of the curd gave way as it melted in my mouth. Light and decadent and in no way heavy or dull. The sweet and slightly tart coulis gave a luxurious bite at the trail end of it all and I was sad to smudge the last crumbs onto my fork because it meant my date with the cheesecake had come to an end.

The kind waiter was charming enough to allow me show you what else was on offer today. 6 offerings, 4 of which are regular Il Circolo staples, and they don the pastry cabinet rather proudly. Perfect units of A-Grade cakes and tarts, I can show you what they are here….

Which one would you have tried? I’d love to know!

Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake Lydia Guerrini Masterchef Australia 2012 Absolutely Georgeous

Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake $7.50

Loooooook at that moist baked curd....Heaven.

Or would you be more likely to go for this one….Tortino Toscana (little Tart from Tuscany) $5

Tortino Toscana (Little Tart from Tuscany) Lydia Guerrini Masterchef Australia 2012 Absolutely Georgeous

Tortino Toscana (Little Tart from Tuscany) $5

…or are you a moist, rich but not too sickly sweet Rosemary Lemon Cake for $5.50?

Rosemary Lemon Cake Lydia Guerrini Masterchef Ausstralia 2012 Absolutely Georgeous

Or….or…or the Sicilian Apple Layer Cake? $7

The menu is straightforward, which is what I like. A fair array of offerings; and Cavatelli…well, she flutters her eyelashes and coyly admits “that’s one of my favourites”. Cavatelli are long, wide and flat pieces of pasta, that when twisted and rolled as they are, form stupendous sauce-catchers. Even as a summer pasta salad with a strongly flavoured olive oil dressing, you just can’t beat it. Peruse the menu, and like me, I bet you’ll be back for the offerings of food.

Breakfast, Italian Style

Qualcosa cosa per te? Mangia! Mangia!

…You know, I must say…I did enjoy my coffee. ‘J-Enne’ is a variety of coffee I have never tasted before. Quite robust, which is why it pushed all the right buttons for me. Nothing quite like a coffee that cuts through the morning fog. You know….I sat there…enjoying my coffee with the sun beaming through, and I pictured this place bustling at night and wondered how cool it would be to have a stand up cocktail party here. In fact, “what a shame this couldn’t have been a wine bar. A wine bar would go so well on this part of the city”. Lo and behold…I find out there’s one in the cards. Fingers crossed ofr Il Circolo, cause they’ll do well if one hot one lands in their very bella hands…!