Profiled by de Groots MediaThis is a thoroughly pleasant restaurant. It’s a family establishment in both senses: it is utterly suitable for bringing your whole family to, and there is a strong family-run feeling about the place. Perhaps it’s due to the photos of his wife and children that owner Aldo has stashed about the place. Or perhaps it’s the two contrasting feature walls that display the proprietor’s personality: one a soothing and impressively well executed mural of a Mediterranean seascape, the other a garish soccer shrine dedicated to both the Australian and Italian football teams (this wall includes the flat screen TV that seems to be mandatory in the Italian Forum restaurants).
The food is cheap and cheerful – for under $20 there are endless options of wood fired pizza, pasta, entrees and mains. The lunch specials are indeed that, offering soup, salad, pizza or pasta for under $10, and some game dishes such as rabbit and spatchcock. House specialties include whole barramundi (deboned and stuffed with wild mushrooms, seafood, garlic and herbs before baking) and lamb shanks baked in honey mustard sauce. This value-for-money formula has seen Al Martino’s through to its 25th anniversary this year, the highlight of which must have been the day singer Al Martino walked in the door in 1983.
Sarah Theeboom, June 2007
