Anton's Pasta Bar

After our spontaneous trip to the Sunshine Coast, we had a spontaneous dinner at Anton's Pasta Bar. It's a family-run Italian restaurant with good pasta served in GENEROUS portions. You hardly see somebody leaving the place without a doggy bag.

You can park at the rear of the restaurant and enter through back door, which feels kinda cool, like knowing a secret passage.

We were a bit early for dinner and were seated straight away. At peak times, you can usually be sure to wait in a line-up for a while before you can sit down and eat.

I was very hungry, so I had my bread roll with whipped butter, even though I knew that the linguine with meatballs that I ordered were going to be plentiful. I wasn't overly thirsty, but hey, Long Island Ice Tea was on special offer!

Here's my linguine when it was served. You can't really tell from the photo, but this was a heap of pasta the size of a pillow, with meatballs as big as my fist. And not only was this a lot of food, it was also one of the best meatball pastas I have had. And I do gauge the quality of Italian restaurants on their polpette! Marco ordered stuffed pasta in a meat sauce, which was very good as well.

I did my best to conquer pasta mountain, but this is where I called defeat. I couldn't even finish half of my dish. 

When the plates are cleared, the waiting staff do not even asked if you want to take the rest of your meal with you. It's just a given that they come back with the leftovers in a container for you to have later.

I really do not know how the Tiramisu happened. It wasn't my idea, and it's saying something if I'm willing to forego dessert. Marco, however, wanted to try it and actually managed to finish the whole big piece. I had a taste and it was gorgeous. It's definitely home-made and was spongy, creamy, chocolatey goodness.

I really needed the coffee, though, to start of the digestive process. Our bill came to around $50.00, including our drinks, one dessert and a coffee. Now, at $16.50, you might think that the mains are a bit pricey, but bear in mind that you will probably get 3 meals out of one dish and have enough food for next day's lunch and a light dinner!

If you do manage to eat all your pasta then and there in the restaurant, you do get a commemorative pen. I would have very much loved one, but I do not think that without appropriate training and tummy-stretching exercises, I could ever achieve a clean plate. I would, however, recommend Anton's to anybody who likes solid, tasty Italian cooking.

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).