Cafe Latte, Pt Chevalier

By MICHELE CRAWSHAW for viva

When you hear that a couple you know dine at the same restaurant three times a week, sometimes four, you think one of two things: either they live in a tiny flat and use their oven as storage space or the restaurant is so good that the thought of eating at home again is just too awful.

Either way, you decide you have to go to this place and check it out. So on a Friday night we drove to Cafe Latte, a tiny little neighbourhood cafe in Pt Chevalier that's easy to miss. It's right in the middle between two other popular eateries, the charming Pasta and Opera and the flashy Point Five Nine. We've tried both of these restaurants many times before but somehow never found our way to Cafe Latte. We now know what we've been missing.

Thankfully the locals are far more on to it than us. They've been loving this spot since it opened and are the reason it can be hard to get a table on a weekend night unless you book. On the night we went the tables turned over two or three times with people dropping in for a quick bite or staying for a three-course meal.

It's an easy place to linger - cosy and candlelit with bottles of wine lining the walls.

Talking of the wine, Cafe Latte has pioneered a clever idea: every bottle - red, white or sparkling - is the same price, $25. It's a good way to try something you might otherwise have passed over and it's a good deal: where else can you get a decent chianti or Italian white for that price?

It's good enough reason alone to make a visit here. But, fortunately, the food stands up just as well.

A tip: don't bypass the bread. Yes, we know it's not cool if you're low-carbing but it's worth a fall off the wagon for slivers of garlic and olive oil or a rich olive tapenade smothered on warm crusty bread.

For our entree dishes, we chose scallops panfried in roasted garlic, onions, capsicums, capers, white wine and cream for him and chargrilled squid with parsley, garlic and lemon for me. We ended up sharing them both and couldn't decide which was best. This is a place that knows how to cook seafood and use flavours that complement rather than overcomplicate a dish.

It was fortunate that the restaurant was packed and the staff were struggling to keep up - it meant the main dishes didn't arrive for a little while, giving us time to recover from the bread and the hearty entree servings.

We must mention here that this isn't the place to come if you want attentive and assured service: it's just too busy and the waiters are running from table to table looking a little harried. A warm smile, polite conversation and an offer to take your coat are not what you're going to get when you walk through the door. That said, when we asked for something it arrived within a few minutes.

For mains, we opted for the chicken fillet, panfried with mushrooms, wine marsala, cream and rosemary and one of the nine pasta dishes: spinach and homemade ricotta cheese ravioli with blue cheese and cream sauce. Yes, it was as rich as it sounded on the menu - so much so it was a struggle to finish it.

The chicken was lighter, a gorgeous smooth sauce, lightly sweetened by the marsala and finished off perfectly with sprigs of fresh rosemary.

If you're a tiramisu lover then I'd recommend you indulge here. During our dinner the table next to us turned over three times. All six diners ordered the tiramisu and all kept muttering between mouthfuls how wonderful it was.

We'll take their word for it. We opted for the homemade gelato (after resisting the temptation of the profiteroles filled with whipped cream and topped with dark chocolate - decadence you don't see enough on menus).

Cafe Latte is a great night out - lovely atmosphere, terrific food and a nice change to the $40-plus mains on Viaduct menus.

Which is why that couple we know come here so darned often, I guess.

On the menu: Meatballs with garlic, onion and mozzarella baked in tomato and white wine on fettuccine $12.50

Fettuccine with smoked salmon in a white wine and blue cheese cream sauce $16.50

King prawns, calamari, mussels and scallops in a white wine tomato sauce $25

Chicken fillet panfried with garlic, capers, king prawns, red wine, cream and three pepper sauce $22

Vegetarian: Two pasta options, but we suggest you ask the chef

Wine: Good range of white, red and sparkling, many of them Italian, and all $25. Or BYO. You can't ask for better than that.

Parking: Right outside on Pt Chevalier Rd, or down one of the neighbouring side streets

Bottom line: Cafe Latte makes this three great restaurants in a row for Pt Chevalier Rd. A cosy little neighbourhood eatery, between Pasta and Opera and Point Five Nine, it deserves its reputation among locals as a great night out. An extensive menu with terrific seafood and pasta dishes.

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