No Mafia: Vibrant Southern Italian fare in Northbridge
It is no secret that I love my local The Precinct in Vic Park. We are regulars almost every week and they seem to successfully predict what we want to drink and almost read our minds on what we want to eat too. I love their passion and enthusiasm; every wine and every dish has its own story. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that this awesome team had plans to open a second venue. Managing to secure the old Jus Burgers site in Northbridge I waited patiently for the restaurant to open, hoping them all the success that they deserve. Their new bar is called No Mafia.
Focusing on southern Italian cuisine with handpicked Italian and local wines, the food bypasses serving stodgy pastas and bread in favour of fresh and nearly entirely gluten free share plates. Executive Chef Sam McKinven has created a menu that left me wanting to return in a hurry.
One thing I love about The Precinct is that I never have to think about what to drink, I can trust that their selection with match my food choices beautifully; I was soon to find that No Mafia is no different.
I started with a white peach blini, using local seasonal fruit from Gingin and topped with Prosecco for that Italian twist. It was hard to stop at one but the Boy insisted on sharing some wine for our meal.
As I tried to resist the urge to gulp my refreshing beverage down, our first plate of a serve of some Prosciutto di Parma arrived. The Proscuitto di Parma is imported by Princi Butchers direct from Italy and had a soft, creamy texture and a hint of sweet saltiness. The Boy paired it with some Bread in Common loaf but unfortunately there was not a gluten free bread alternative.
Our next dish was the swordfish crudo; think of this as an Italian version of sashimi. The swordfish is fished out locally off the western coast near Rottnest Island ensuring extreme freshness and a delicate texture. The sword fish was served with Colatura, an Italian fish sauce. This revered sauce is made by layering anchovies with salt in wooden barrels. This causes the fish to release liquid which becomes mixed with salt and collected underneath. The end result is paler coloured and lighter flavoured than standard Asian fish sauce.
The beef carpaccio is priced on a per person basis. Using 100 day grain fed beef each strip loin was hand trimmed and beaten to achieve a perfectly thin portion. The luscious marbling made this a delight to photograph and imparted a gorgeously rich flavour. To add a dash of umami each slice of beef was rolled around sautéed pickled enoki mushrooms.
I needed to fit in a vegetarian dish to dilute out all this protein and was recommended the eggplant parmigiana. As with all of No Mafia’s dishes, there was no heaviness or glugginess and it was surprisingly light and fresh.
Our last savoury dish was the seared yellow fin tuna once again made with locally caught WA fish. Some bottarga, an Italian imported sundried mullet roe added a touch more depth and “fishy goodness”. A crunchy bright side of greens using broccoli and beach banana balanced this nicely.
Ordering both cheese and dessert used to be something we would occasionally do as a treat but in recent times has become more of a regular occurrence. It is one of our many overindulgent habits of 2014 that is going to have to stop in 2015 before we become morbidly obese. Given January was yet to tick over, we ordered a serve of baked ricotta to share. Subtle and slightly sweet it made the perfect pre-dessert choice.
We had worked our way through a lot of food and had to call upon the miracle of our second stomach for dessert. ;-).
Zabaglione is a simple but satisfying Italian dessert made with egg yolks, sugar and sweet wine. It was served with fresh strawberries and shavings of chocolate. Being naturally gluten free this is a dish I could have many more of!
There is always a great level of satisfaction when you see those that deserve success achieve their goals. I am not alone in my loyalties to the No Mafia team as they have recently got a round of positive mentions in the Gourmet Traveler and the West Australian. They accept walk-ins and bookings can be made online on their website.
Disclaimer: Chompchomp was not an invited guest and paid for her meal at No Mafia in full.
No Mafia
11/189 William Street Northbridge WA 6003 | Facebook | www.nomafia.com.au
16 thoughts on “No Mafia: Vibrant Southern Italian fare in Northbridge”
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Oh my goodness! Everything looks so delicious and well balanced. I’m still to try both here and the Precinct! Looks like I need to get my butt in gear asap 🙂
I am surprised you haven’t yet! Cant wait to read your review! xx
Dear Martine,
Bottarga just makes everything so much tastier doesn’t it?
It certainly does!
Sounds like you’re hanging to get there again. Would there be enough vegetarian (no fish) gf choices for your Bestie? And, most importantly, is there gf beer like at The Precinct?
There were a number of vego options for you darling, and I forgot to check about the GF beer but we can always just guzzle more of those Bellinis! Cannot wait for you to come back to Perth xxx
Any meal that started with a white peach blini would have to be good! Everything else looks fabulous too.
Couldn’t agree more Rachel!
The seared yellow fin tuna looks wondrous! Love the idea of adding botarga to it.
Absolutely, it added such a wondrous depth to the dish.
All looks well prepared for and plated. Regarding second stomach, can we lend ours, LOL? xx Thanks for the good review, Martine!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
He he he, it is a handy extra organ to have as a food blogger!
What a brilliant name for this restaurant. I love ypur choice of a bellini to start and the swordfish, tuna, beef carpaccio all look very amazing and most are gluten free. How amazing. I am glad you enjoyed your meal .
Thank Merryn, these guys make a great team and I am sure this place will become very very popular!
Stunning photos! I went to No Mafia for the same reason, I’m a loyal patron at The Precinct (I’m surprised we haven’t seen each other there yet?) and I was eager to support their (sort-of) sister restaurant’s early beginnings. You and the boy chose a beautiful selection of dishes. My girlfriend and I also tried the carpaccio and crudo. Sooo good. Beautiful review as always Martine xxx
The Percinct seems to be a great place to enjoy Italian cuisine. It’s good to know that restaurants in Perth have now started focusing on gluten free food. In fact, the very meal looks delicious. Thanks for sharing this post.