Isola Bar e Cibo — Restaurant in Rottnest Island

EDIT: I believe that based on the restaurant manager's reply to my honest review (I quote their reply: "Regarding your conclusion and since you took such care to damage our business...") you can tell the kind of attitude that I was writing about in my below review. Certainly it is not in my interest to "damage" their business, as it suggests in their answer. I simply and honestly stated the experience we had when entering this place and I believe their answer is the best proof to the unfriendliness we felt. We were never told that it is forbidden by law to only serve drinks without food, but rest assured that if you would have taken the minimal time to tell us, we would have ordered some bites to go with the drinks. A dessert or an appetizer to share would not have been a problem.

We stayed at Rottnest over night and had dinner with friends at Frankies. On our way back to the hotel we walked by the Isola restaurant and really liked the atmosphere. There were lots of tables available looking right onto the ocean, so we decided to go inside and have a bottle of wine to conclude the evening. Sadly we were turned away at the door with the words that the restaurant is for dining only and that they were fully booked. First of all: The time we walked in was about 1 hour before closure and at least half the restaurant was empty. So it is hard to believe that 50+ people would still have come and dine with just an hour to go before closure. Secondly, as we would have bought at least a solid bottle of wine, they would have probably earned at least 80 to 100 AUD on us, which makes it even to a dinner. From what we saw and were told, we got the feeling that there was simply no interest to serve us. No recommendation from us here and on our travel blog. Friendliness is something we came to like and enjoy in Australia. This is the first place it was lacking. We won’t return to...

Cannot go to Rottnest without at least one visit to the sublime Isola Bar e Cibo. This time a late lunch booking formulated into a leisurely afternoon's par excellent dining experience headed up by Marco, our high end Maitre D', supported by the largely European, skilled kitchen and dining staff.

We were lucky enough to receive a surprise range of dishes being brought our table, while we savored the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant on the backdrop of Thomson's Bay, on a glorious shimmering spring day.

Our meals rolled out progressively, starting with a delicate & sweet, Bresaola - cured wagyu beef with pickled porcino,accompanied by Kalamata and green olives, a fine palate primer.

Follow through was Gluten Free lightly dusted tender Calamari rings and slightly crisp calamari heads, which were to the excellent standard of Isola, and for us, a favourite hard to be matched elsewhere.

The third dish was Exmouth wild gamberoni, cooked in crayfish butter, olive oil & lemon juice, with seared capers adding a salty and exotic texture and overall flavour, which were easily eaten, being partially shelled by the kitchen staff.

Our final dish was a freshly prepared special pasta set "Gnocchi Sorrentino", which portrayed the red, white & green of the Italian flag, built from the central white bursting burrata, rich fresh cherry tomato sauce, cooked and fresh basil, dressed in pecorino cheese. This gnocchi was firm and rich on the mouth and was a most delicious closure to our meal.

We were too full to eat dessert, and we weren't drinking, however, recognised the extensive Italian, French & Australian wine menu, and the lovely Barolo's on display in the wine fridge caught my eye.

Overall the atmosphere and dining was enjoyable and memorable, structured upon the high quality fresh ingredients and excellence of the experienced and friendly staff operating the venue....

The venue does not prioritise bookings. Booked 4 months in advance for a celebratory dinner and got the worst table (honestly shouldn't be a table in the venue as once it gets dark there is no light for the table and the view for half the party is just stacks of chairs). The venue kept the best tables free for walk-ins/possible bigger groups. Requested multiple times to be moved but to even though the table in front of us was free for the entirety of our booking.

The venue is just the old Thomson's with a different menu. Don't expect a special dining experience - it's mainly just a bar with a view (if you get a table with a view) that also does food. Food is very average. DO NOT GET THE GNOCCHI. It was extremely under seasoned and just tasted of pasta water. Also (small pet peeve), but for a table of four we were given three pieces of bread a tiny bit of olive oil that ran out after one slice. Best practice - always give a table a piece per person (adjust your slices to accommodate or price per person).

Service was also average and at the door staff for confused on the proof of vaccination requirements. Highly recommend printing the proof of vaccination requirements from the WA government website so staff can refer to it to avoid confusion. When we went to pay, staff couldn't even work out what table we were sitting at (makes me think the table was a last minute add in for the weekend) even though the venue was relatively quiet. They were flustered and made mistakes but we're likely understaffed.

I gave it 2 stars as I understand they're likely in the same issues as most island businesses with an inability to get staff and the wine was nice but definitely wouldn't recommend the venue for anything other than drinks. It definitely put a sour note...