The Standard restaurant review: Pull up a wobbly table in this charming Northbridge bar, kitchen and garden

The Italian renaissance is in full swing here in Perth. If it’s not nuovo Italiano trattorias joining the suburban red-tableclothed family stalwarts, then its local drinkers sipping their own body weight in Aperol or limoncello spritzes. There’s not chequered flag in sight for this New Roman empire. Even successful hotels, such as Queens Tavern in Highgate have swapped the pub grub blueprint for the culinary Tricolore. Last year to coincide with its 10th birthday, The Standard on Roe Street in Northbridge rediscovered its roots as a gambling den for the local Italian community by dumping its mod-Asian menu and diving headfirst into the Mediterranean. As Kiwi-born publican turned restaurateur John Parker quipped, the bar, kitchen and garden went from Szechuan to saganaki. Parker also owns Karrinyup’s Dandelion, which recently turned Italiano as pop-up Ciao Dandy, while the corner saloon at The Royal Hotel rebooted (again) as Willi’s Pizza Bar. Does this bloke have shares in tinned tomatoes and Campari? The punt has paid off, with head chef Nicholas Woolard’s new look menu bringing la dolce vita to this little oasis in the former red-light district of P-town. (Seriously, the refurbished area out back only needs a Hills Hoist and a vegie patch to resemble a North Perth nonna’s garden. No weeing on the lemon tree.) I’m all for this city-wide full immersion in all things Italian. They not only invented pizza and pasta, they also do terrific things with seafood. I’ll never forgive them for knocking the Socceroos out of the 2006 World Cup, but I can drown my sorrows with Campari or three. The Standard’s current menu also takes plenty of influence from Greece with the aforementioned saganaki, a ripper octopus dish and a Hellenic custard, filo and honey dessert that will knock your sykchos off. There’s even an ouzo cocktail called a Malakas. The Collins clan wandered into the Northbridge pub for a bite on a recent Thursday, taking over one of the glass-topped white wrought iron tables so authentic, it wobbled like a Milanese tram. Bread and insanely good parmesan butter soon arrived along with a quince vermouth for Myra and an Adelaide Hills white for me. There are 13 wines by the glass, hailing from near and far. There’s a couple of xinomavro wines from the north of Greece that are not only delicious but very good score in Scrabble. One is apparently a skin-contact rose, which I can only assume means its production involves Greco-Roman wrestling. The saganaki ($16) had an incredibly firm, bouncy consistency and abundant nutty sweetness with the burnt honey. Greece 1, Italy nil. The small bowl of sous vide and chopped occy served with green olives and capers ($19) had briny saltiness and perfect texture — soft without disintegrating. The pickled mussels with fennel and green chilli ($17) were more vinegary than a Karen demanding to see the manager and had shells sharp enough for her to win the argument. These big, chewy molluscs were a bit much for the kids, but just right for me. Woolard’s sous vide lamb rump with anchovies and a tomato XO sauce ($26) were just unctuous enough but not over the top. Gorgeous. We paired the lamb with a salad of ripe, juicy tomatoes with burnt lemon and a superb hit of salt from lardons ($17). The kids had the campanelle ($27) with a lovely tomato sugo and everyone’s favourite stretchy cheese, stracciatella. The pasta tubes had excellent texture while the sauce was lively. Myra and I attacked the baked eggplant parmigiana ($28), mozzarella and grated parmesan cascading over a small mountain of the world’s favourite emoji. There was also a piquant chilli sauce having its way the rich, gooey old-world vegetable. A very, very, very tasty vegetarian dish … even if botanists class eggplant as a berry. The chocolate cremeaux with roast fruit and crostoli ($14) delivered simple, gooey goodness to finish our feed. So went our Roman stay-cay. Wobbly table. Unpronounceable wines. Friendly service. Terrific tucker. In a bar, that felt like a backyard. The only thing that might have made the whole experience more authentic would have been a few weathered Italian gents playing Scopa for lira under the lemon tree. The Standard 28 Roe Street, Northbridge OPEN Wednesday-Thursday, 4pm-1opm. Friday, 4pm-midnight. Saturday, noon-midnight. Sunday, noon-10pm. CONTACT 9228 1331, thestandardperth.com.au BOOKINGS Yes. THE VERDICT Long-running bar, kitchen and backyard embraces Northbridge’s past with a Mediterranean menu big on flavour and designed to share. Concise yet diverse drinks list and one the best little beer gardens in town. Ideal for festival season hangs. 16/20