Canberra's La Cantina is warm, homely and cosy

It's an unseasonably cool evening the night we go to La Cantina at the Narrabundah shops, and as we walk inside, the restaurant is everything we're looking for. It's cave-like with exposed brick and low lighting, which makes for a cosy and inviting space, and you can smell the hint of a pizza oven.

We're greeted promptly and seated at a table right next to the glass frontage, providing ample opportunity for people watching. While there are white linen tablecloths, there's nothing stuffy here, and the restaurant has the casual feel of a family-run neighbourhood restaurant.

We're offered drinks and we're steering clear of alcohol tonight, but the wine list is a document in itself with a thorough selection of international and Australian wines. I'm surprised to find only one local – a pinot gris from Long Rail Gully. Italian wines are well represented though, and there's also an additional page dedicated to their cellared collection, for a more special occasion. It also includes a decent selection of beer and cider, and five cocktails.

The menu is split into bread and starters, pasta, pizza, mains and dessert. There's also a degustation for $90 and a banquet shared menu for $55, which looks like a great option for groups. It's also impressive to see the variety of gluten-free dishes available, something that's not always the case at an Italian restaurant.  

We start with the arancini funghi ($15), and the medium-sized balls of rice are nicely creamy on the inside and crisp on the outside – their flavour is particularly lifted with a generous squeeze of lemon and the aioli on the side, which tastes homemade.

We also order the antipasto ($24), and the platter is very generous in size – exactly how we like our antipasto platters – taking up most of the table. It's piled high with prosciutto, marinated olives, oil, warmed focaccia and a particularly delicious marinated buffalo mozzarella.

We happily dig in, and the only part that lets it down is the focaccia. The bread is beautifully flavoured with rosemary and sea salt, but isn't as fresh as we'd hoped, and is a touch too crispy which makes it difficult to dip in the oil. But we're more than filled from the rest of platter, leaving more room for what's to come.

For our second course, we decide to go with one pasta and one main. The gnocchi ragu di vitello ($28) is gnocchi in a veal ragu, and for a ragu, it's not too rich, with a lemon and thyme flavour.

The galetto alla diavola ($35) comes as a whole spatchcock, flattened and deboned, with crispy potato pieces. The dish is not much to look at, but it's sitting in a red jus that works well – a lemon and herb flavour which leaves just a hint of spice on the tongue.

On the dessert menu I'm intrigued by the cornetto di cioccolato ($15), and I'm equally impressed when it arrives at the table. A cone of dark chocolate stands up on the plate, surrounded by strawberries and a dusting of icing sugar. Inside the cone, which opens with a delightful crack, is an indulgently creamy chocolate semifreddo. I offer my partner a taste, and find it hard to stop him having more than one. The menu says the dish comes with marinated strawberries, but the ones that arrive are fresh and beautifully sweet, which is a welcome deviation.

We also opt for the Italian staple of tirimasu ($15). Like its main ingredient, the dessert is served in a coffee cup, and is layered with a honey and whisky mascarpone. It's not too rich, and is a nice way to end the meal.

La Cantina is everything a neighbourhood Italian should be – warm, homely, and cosy. Service is casual and friendly, and being a quiet weeknight, we're well and truly looked after. It's comforting food in a space that feels like you've been welcomed in by the family.