LA LOLA

Version two of this charming neighbourhood Italian puts comfort first.

If you jumped into a time machine and zapped yourself back to 2012, you might wander down to Hampden Road, in Nedlands, where the original La Lola would have no doubt been doing a roaring trade, banging out plates of slippery house-made pasta and crisp-edged woodfired pizza with reckless abandon. It was a real-deal neighbourhood gem; a cosy Italian trattoria with a modish, sexy dining room – equal parts sophistication and authenticity. Then, it closed for two years, leaving behind its Claremont sister restaurant, Nolita, and a throng of disappointed locals – until mid-2018, when it reopened its doors, under new management and with a new chef.

“It was a veritable feast…”

The space has changed somewhat too – the terracotta leather banquettes have been retained, but the dining room feels more airy, more casual. A strip of blackboard running across the breadth of one wall extolls the specials in unadorned chalk freehand. The back-of-house private dining room is still there, with its floor-to-ceiling print of Gina Lollobrigida, and a curious little space for a couple of tables which semi-intrudes into the kitchen; I like it. There is still, of course, the covered alfresco area on Hampden Road, warmed by heaters on chilly nights. The vibe is now somewhat less stylish trattoria and more casual urban taverna, as if La Lola slipped off its chic evening gown and got into something that it found on sale at Country Road.

The food, too, retains the general vibe of the previous incarnation of La Lola, but has lost a bit of its refinement. In an era of frequent restaurant closures and diminished foot traffic, however, a calculated de-formalisation may not be such a bad thing. Proprietor Michael de Marte, also behind Atomic Espresso, stated that his goal for La Lola was to keep things affordable so that the restaurant might be somewhere locals could come more than once a week. The place certainly has that sense of ease and comfort.

The menu reads much like many other Italian jobs; antipasti, pastas, secondi, dolce - but plates are a little bit pimped-up. There's an antipasto of chargrilled octopus, for example, but it comes with sautéed spinach, chickpeas and sugo. There's the ubiquitous bruschetta, but it's done as a trio; tomato and basil, roast capsicum and mint, and olive tapenade with mozzarella. Nice.

To start, we opted to share the antipasto della tavola ($33), a platter of sorts, with prosciutto, mortadella, bresaola, various cheeses, pickled calamari and octopus, mixed olives, capsicum and artichoke, along with some thick slices of crusty white bread. It was a veritable feast – the board could have fed 3-4 as a starter, and whilst no element was life-changing, it was well put-together and totally tasty.

“…brought to the table with a fingerbowl and a seafood cracker (hint: not a biscuit).”

The usual pasta suspects are present; gnocchi, linguine, ravioli and rigatoni. A plate of hand-cut pappardelle with duck ragu, porcini mushrooms and pecorino ($28), was luscious – the pasta chewy and the sauce rich with chunks of pull-apart duck meat. Linguine with crab, cognac and microherbs ($28) came with a special surprise; the entire crab perched atop the pasta, brought to the table with a fingerbowl and a seafood cracker (hint: not a biscuit). The meat from inside the shell had already been removed and stirred through the pasta, but it was up to me to crack open the crab's legs to get at more of the sweet white flesh inside. Despite the extra effort it was a fun touch, and the sight of the whole crustacean in the bowl is sure to have people reaching for their phones to quickly update their Instagrams. The pasta itself was pleasant; strands of linguine doused in a thick tomato sauce flecked with a generous amount of crab meat, giving each forkful a soft oceanic flavour.

The secondi section of the menu hosts dishes like grilled market fish with lemon butter, white wine and caperberries, char-grilled spatchcock, porchetta and lamb shoulder. The dessert selection is short but typical; tiramisu, panna cotta, semifreddo, and sure to keep punters happy. The restaurant is BYO Monday-Wednesday, but has a wine list should you come at another time.

La Lola 2.0 is a different beast to its predecessor; but it’s a beast perhaps more attuned to the nature of dining in 2019. It's a bit less pretentious and maybe a bit less sophisticated, in food, service and décor; but for a neighbourhood restaurant hoping to draw a repeat crowd, that's totally appropriate. It feels more accessible, somewhere you'd go with a group for a decent dinner, or with your partner when you don't feel like cooking but don't want to break the bank. As long as its doors stay open now, we're on board.