Il Padrino

Northbridges best pizza bar none.
All sorts of other good café food as well, fully licenced and friendly service. Sensational for largish groups and family get togethers.
Try any of the woodfired pizzas. You will not be disappointed

We celebrated my sister’s birthday here last week and, having had our cousin over from Italy, kind of wanted to impress her with Italian cooking outside of the home. Unfortunately Il Padrino didn’t quite leave a mark, although that could be due to a carb overload on most of our behalves.
The table of 10 started out with bruschetta and a couple of pizzas to share, Margherita and Marinara. The tomato on the bruschetta was nice but I wish it wasn’t covered in melted cheese. I always thought the dish should be served cold with the fresh, simple ingredients of tomato, onion, basil and a little oil, but not here. Cheese dominates a lot of the dishes at Il Padrino.
For mains we individually ordered risottos, pastas and the odd seafood special like Chilli Mussels and Calamari. The serves are huge and yet I wished they pulled back on the sizing of the dishes; and concentrate instead on some innovation.
I did hear that owner and chef, Nunzio, once cooked pizza for the Pope. Indeed two pizzas on the menu pay homage to papal figures: the Papa John Paul II (mushrooms, artichokes, olives, spinach) and the Papa Benedictine 16^th (cacciatorino — which is a tiny salami, eggplant and potato — god, more carbs!).
I will give this restaurant kudos, though, for its special deals, which ought to please the backpackers residing beside it no end. At lunchtime on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and for dinner on Tuesdays, patrons can order any pizza or pasta they like for a stet price of $ 15. But something tells me to go something lighter like the lamb next time I’m here.