A metaphorical warm hug of traditional hospitality on the shores of Thompson Bay, Rottnest Island.
The simplicity of island life is elevated here. Chef Andrea Sanesi works in perfect simpatico with Giovanni Longo at front of house; Longo making the restaurant feel like his own, the staff clearly subscribed to his service manifesto.
In just a few years, Isola has established cult dishes, such as the calamari fritti, lightly dusted with semolina flour and Calabrian chilli salt. The taglierini pasta is a talking point around water coolers on the mainland; a generous serve of blue swimmer crab and an execution that lets the Great Southern Olive Oil sing. Wood-grilled whole Skull Island Prawns with crayfish butter another point of chatter. The antipasti meet the pasta and grill selection with grace – there is no rushing or manic table-turning here which is always a neat surprise from a hit tourism destination.
They’ve built an experience where eating your way through each section of the menu is almost expected – in your own time. There were surely many a day when Rottnest Island tragics would never have imagined looking out to the ocean while drinking a limoncello spritz, sinking their teeth into a juicy bistecca and eating tiramisu. A little bit of Sicily in Western Australia.
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