There’s a hidden gem hiding in suburban Ellenbrook. Chef/Owner Lorenzo, formerly the Head Chef of Jamie’s Italian both here in Perth and restaurants in the UK. I got asked along to a bloggers lunch and I jumped at the chance, as I’d heard many great things about Woodfire Restaurant. West Australian Food Editor and critic Rob Broadfield also gave Woodfire a glowing review recently. I was expecting big things!
When I arrive I find the spacious restaurant is lively. The open kitchen, complete with wood fire, is bustling. There’s lots of long tables enjoying lunch. It seems like a popular place for family celebrations.
To begin our feast, we got to try a whole array of what Woodfire offers on it’s small bites menu. Served on a long board, sitting on tins of tomatoes, was “Fritto misto”. This is a selection of panfritto, crispy gnocchi, crumbed eggplant, arancini and polenta chips and is perfect for sharing. I particularly love the crumbed eggplant, but truth be told it’s all delicious.
I also dig into the “Panfritto” which are soft golden fried pizza dough bites served with spicy arrabbiata sauce and parmesan.
The “Cozze al forno” is Woodfire’s version of chilli mussels. They are baked in the wood oven and served with homemade focaccia, perfect for mopping up those yummy juices.
Next up was a selection of Lorrenzo’s pastas, which are made fresh every day at Woodfire. We tried the linguine al salmone ($23.90). A generous spiral pile of linguine pasta, tossed with Tasmanian smoked salmon, spring onions, capers, white wine and a dollop of mascarpone. Great dish. Usually I won’t order linguine or spaghetti when I eat out (as it’s not always easy to eat!), but I’d absolutely order this tasty dish again.
The handmade ravioli primavera ($23.90) is filled with spinach, ricotta and pecorino. Served with sauteed peas, asparagus and mint in a zesty lemony butter sauce. It’s a lovely light and summery pasta dish.
It was a tough call, but if I had to choose, I’d pick the “Casarecce al Maiale” ($22.90), as my favourite. The homemade casarecce pasta is served with wonderfully tender slow braised free range pork, mascarpone, lemony gremolata and herby breadcrumbs. It is so full of flavour, next time I’d like a whole bowl to myself!
Meanwhile, Little Chef is enjoying “Kai’s Ninja Turtle Pizza” from the Bambino Bites menu. All kids meals are $9.90 and there lots of healthy options. He absolutely wolfed down the pizza, which looked delicious. The freshly made base is topped with cheese and pepperoni. All proceeds from the sale of these pizzas will be donated to Kai’s Wishing Well. Kai is a little Ellenbrook boy who sadly has been having some serious health issues and the big hearted Head Chef Lorenzo has been running a few fundraisers to help Kai and his family.
I was also really impressed with the main meal selection, these meaty dishes are cooked over hot jarrah coals in their hand built fire pit, adding smoky flavours into the mix. The “coscia d’agnello”, ($33.90) grilled free range leg of lamb, is cooked perfectly medium rare. The tender lamb is served with asparagus, spring onions and an Italian mint sauce.
I’d have to bring Chef with me next time, he would love the “bavetta alla griglia” a 400g Black Angus hanger steak, $35.90. The beef is grilled on the fire pit and served with baby onions agrodolce, rosemary chips and sticky marsala jus.
The “filetto di barramundi” ($29.90) was beautifully presented. The sustainably sourced Humpty Doo Barramundi is baked in the wood oven along with potatoes, cherry tomatoes, black olives, white wine and thyme.
“Pescatrice al Prosciutto” is prosciutto wrapped sustainably caught Monkfish which is served with lentils and a mushroom ragu’, onion puree and hand chopped salsa verde.
It’s really lucky that we have a whole other stomach for dessert (hehe) as I really needed it at Woodfire. We were treated to a taster of some of their favourites. The “torta al cioccolato”, a chocolate and salted caramel tart that’s served with a dollop of creme fraiche and fresh WA strawberries was a winner.
The tutti frutti tiramisu is to die for. Luscious layers of mascarpone cream and tiramisu is mixed with summer berries, chambord liquor and caramelised almond.
The “torta di mele”, other wise known as Nonna Mari’s warm apple cake. Is topped with vanilla ice-cream and butterscotch popcorn. Another lovely dessert.
And to finish… we just couldn’t leave without trying Chef Lorenzo’s famous bomboloni (filled doughnuts). There are lots of flavours to choose from, Little Chefs favourite had to be the cookies and cream bomboloni. I really loved the salted caramel.
The residents of Ellenbrook are incredibly lucky to have this restaurant in their ‘hood. Not only is the food top notch and beautifully presented, but the waitstaff are also very friendly and always happy to help. We felt very welcome. I’d happily make the 25min drive myself to dine here again. We got to try so much of the menu and after all that delicious food I genuinely can’t pick a favourite – it is all so darn delicious. Do yourself a favour and check Woodfire out, you won’t be disappointed!
Huge thanks to Chef Lorenzo and his team for a totally tasty lunch. Thank you to Martin (Morsels) for organising 🙂