Bacco Shenton Park — Restaurant in Western Australia

Rating would be 2.5/5 stars, but Google only allows whole numbers.

An unfortunate circumstances of us expecting a great dinner experience based on the 5-star google reviews. Fortunately we approached the menu consecutively and only ordered a few items.

Space: We had a reasonably friendly welcome and were shown to our table. The table we were seated at was in a corner, it felt cramped, and was cramped - there was no room on the table for our wine bottle once the food arrived. Can't say we enjoyed the intermittent clatter of cutlery in close proximity to us either.

Food: The wine ($85/95?) we ordered was the highlight of the fare we paid for this evening. Followed closely by the lamb rump ($46) which was well-seasoned and cooked to a medium, accompaniments were flavourful.

Sourdough ($5pp) was okay, $10 for two slices of bread cut in two with whipped butter, is OTT pricey in my opinion.

Black Angus skirt dish ($24) were two skewers, slightly under-seasoned for our taste, but was reasonably tender, the gremolata tasted like wheatgrass to us- ala JavaJuice shots from the early 2000s LOL

Stracciatella ($21) had accompaniments that I would describe as frugal, so other than an initial few bites, it was salt and pepper cheese with bits of crisp bread.

Service: The highlight of the service we experienced was the greeting and us being seated. As we did not order when we were initially prompted, we had to wave down a waitperson once we'd given up waiting for someone to check in on us. We also did not get the walkthrough of the menu/dishes we ordered like the party seated next to us that ordered shortly after us with a different waitperson, or any offer of topping up of water, and we also self-served our wine throughout our dining experience following the initial pour.

It was disappointing that it seemed either missed or forgotten that we had ordered all our items together and to share - just that bit awkward to have a waitperson come around to ask part way into the meal if we'd ordered mains. It was also disappointing that once we'd declined to order dessert (there's two items, three if you include cheese), we were told to go to the counter when we're ready to pay - I had to laugh, it's like we were at a diner. And there was no counter per se, we ended up waiting awkwardly at the bar until someone noticed and came to take our payment.

Summary: Yeah, nah, not a spot for a meal for us - we've been fortunate to have experienced many other spots in WA for great Italian food and wine, and overall better service. Catch up drinks, or after dinner drinks if I was in...

Curb your expectations!

A wonderful entrance met by friendly staff and a welcome drink on arrival for their Valentine’s Day set menu. We were sat and then served our first entree which was phenomenal. Unfortunately we waited 40 minutes for our next course and each course after that was at least about a 20minute wait. This threw off the wines and the rest of our evening unfortunately. Some staff were apologetic however it was only after a lot of waiting time that they actually came over and explained wines to us. It took an hour and a half for 2 entrees both of which were raw which didn’t make sense to us as to why that would take so long. When our main course finally arrived the Wagyu steak was not the melt in the mouth moment we hoped but rather chewy and dessert could have been left out entirely. Nobody really seemed to notice that we left steak on our plates or didn’t eat any of the dessert or left wine and no discussion was had due to the fact they were running over time. Our session was meant to be an hour and half starting at 6 ending at 7:30. We left at 8:20. I feel sorry for those waiting for dinner after us on Valentine’s Day. In saying that the atmosphere was lovely with the live music, we even made friends to the people next to us who were also waiting a long amount of time.

Final comment would be that it is a new restaurant still finding their groove so just prepare your expectations as they are finding their groove and if staff happen to read this it’s purely constructive. It is completely okay to be running over time or to be overwhelmed but something as simple as checking in with the customer and not letting them have to flag you down after 40 minutes and to actually ask about how their meal is would be valued.

I’m sure we will come back in a few months when you have hopefully nailed timing...

We decided to do a set menu for $90. It came with some entrees, pasta and a main dish. First up for entrees we were served the sourdough, olives and vitello tonnato (veal). The veal was delicious but the bread was sub par, it wasn’t fresh and was tough and chewy. Next we had the polipo (octopus) which was the stand out, absolutely divine. The char added a nice flavour and the salsa complimented it perfectly. Next up was the arancini, which was also tasty. For the pasta we were served the Tagliatelle al Ragú di Salsiccia (pork sausage ragu). This was pleasantly appetising. The pasta was al dente, the sausage added a nice tasty twist and the sauce itself was delicious, the overall dish was flavourful. For the main dish we were served the Pork Cotoletta. This was nice and crispy, however it was lacking a bit of flavour. Maybe some more seasoning in the crumb would have elevated it just that tiny bit more. Overall, all the dishes served were done well, palatable and presented nicely. There were two of us so it was $180 all up, however if we had ordered these dishes separately it would have come just short of $160. I wouldn’t recommend the set menu for this reason. The service is friendly...