Pronto is an excellent little restaurant nestled (well not exactly, but it feels nestled) away on Bay View Tce in Claremont.
It is also T’Anne’s (my colleague, fellow food lover, and soon to be contributor to this site) favourite restaurant at the moment.
Having worked in Claremont for around 6 months earlier this year, it was a regular spot to go for long lunches. Not that i need any excuse to take a long lunch, but having nice food to eat, wine to drink, and a pleasant atmosphere tends to lessen the guilt of not being at work.
Pronto’s is classic Italian food. They do great wood fired pizza’s and freshly made pasta. My personal favourites are the Pizza Pronto (below), the Pizza Calabrese, and the Rigatoni Bosciola (below)… All really tasty, and if you’re not too hungry the pizza’s will feed two people. Of course i’m always hungry…so when i go i eat a whole pizza by myself and then steal food off other people who look like they need it less…
The wine list is decent. It’s mostly Western Australian wines, and a few Italian reds. I personally think they should have a much larger selection of Italian wines, and offer more wines by the glass. The Australian wine selection is nice, but possibly not as appealing or eclectic as i’d like, perhaps catering to an older crowd. Then again perhaps i just go there too often and get bored easily.
The best thing about Pronto’s would have to be the atmosphere and the service. Despite the reputation Claremont has for being the hangout of the pretentious ‘old money’ types, Pronto is always bubbling with laughter and people having a good time, enjoying great food. This is because the staff make you feel like you’re old friends. Maybe it’s an Italian thing, but everytime you go there you get smiles, kisses, and the odd pat on the back to say thanks for coming.
The only downside about the place would be that you can’t book…and so if you get there at the wrong time you could be standing outside for a while (our record was about an hour) before you get a table. It’s a testament to how much people like the place that they’re prepared to wait so long. Also they use Segafredo coffee (which is bad), so i’d definitely give the coffee a miss, but then you can’t have everthing it seems. If you want great coffee in Claremont, head down to Lemon Espresso on St Quentins Ave. The excellent barista Nolan makes a mean short macchiato.
I just realised i’m starting to sound like an advertorial, which is what i didn’t want to do… But i don’t have enough bad things to say about the place… I’m sure they make bad food sometimes… but not since i’ve been there… I’m still working out how to finish these reviews nicely… And i’ve got to stop using so many ellipsis…
Pronto
16 Bay View Tce
Claremont 6010, WA
Phone: (08) 9284 6090
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