A Herald and Perth Voice promotional feature If you’d like your restaurant featured, email matt.eeles@fremantleherald.com
Port Coogee has never been short on sunshine or sea breeze, but now it has something else entirely: a new beacon for flavour-seekers, food-lovers and the curious wanderers drifting along the waterfront in search of something a little unexpected. Om Nom Nom Pizza & Pasta Bar, launched in April this year, has burst onto the scene with the kind of confidence usually reserved for long-established favourites. And yet, somehow, it already feels like it belongs.
Perhaps it’s the pedigree. Om Nom Nom isn’t just another opening. It’s the lovechild of two local icons: Ruocco’s Pizzeria e Ristorante, the timeless Italian heart of South Fremantle, and The Coogee Boathouse, the laid-back coastal gathering place overlooking the marina. One brings soul, tradition, and decades of culinary heritage; the other brings breezy modernity, sunshine, and salt air. Together, they’ve created something wonderfully unpredictable: a restaurant that honours classic Italian craft while gleefully ignoring every rule that doesn’t serve flavour.
THE POWER STATION HEARTBEAT
Walk through the doors and you’re immediately met by a bold, floor-to-ceiling mural of the South Fremantle Power Station. A towering, rebellious landmark now immortalised on Om Nom Nom’s walls by renowned local artist DESTROY. The artwork hums with attitude. It sets the tone for everything that follows: a riot of colour, creativity and controlled chaos. This is not a venue that hides its personality. It declares it.
The dining room is alive with movement and light. Families settle in with ease. Friends gather with drinks, laughter and plates spread across the table. Couples lean into the atmosphere. There is no pretence; there is no fuss. Om Nom Nom is the kind of place where you instantly feel comfortable being exactly who you are. Hungry, relaxed and ready to be fed.
A KITCHEN WITH SOMETHING TO SAY
Roman-style pizzas are the heroes of the menu. Light, airy, crisp-edged canvases for the chefs to paint on. The lineup reads like a creative manifesto: prawn and zucchini with fermented chilli; carbonara with guanciale and tempered egg; mortadella with honey and pistachio; a cheeky cheeseburger pizza that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. It’s pizza, but unshackled.
Pasta is no less daring. Nduja rigatoni that bites back. Linguine vongole lifted with bottarga and fresh herbs. Prawn linguine swimming in a bisque so rich it feels like a coastal daydream. Beef cheek panzotti folded by hand, smothered in burnt butter and lemon myrtle mascarpone. These are dishes with heritage, yes — but also with a pulse.
Even the small plates flirt with obsession. Housemade breadsticks dipped into nduja butter. Chips gone rogue, scattered with guanciale, pecorino snow, tempered egg yolk and freshly cracked pepper. Gnocco fritto topped with mortadella or grilled eggplant, stracciatella, pistachios, pesto and beet powder. Flavours familiar, yet utterly fresh.
A NEW LUNCH RITUAL
Lunch at Om Nom Nom introduces a new Port Coogee icon: the pizza smashwich. A folded Roman-style pizza sandwich — crisp outside, soft inside, loaded with fillings, but somehow lighter than it looks. It’s the kind of thing that could only be born in a kitchen unafraid to play. And it’s quietly becoming a lunchtime essential.
ALWAYS WELCOMING
For all its creativity, Om Nom Nom holds tight to the principles shared by Ruocco’s and The Coogee Boathouse: keep it welcoming, keep it relaxed, keep it priced for real people. Comfort comes first. Hospitality is heartfelt. Families are central to the experience, not a footnote.
Weekly specials anchor this philosophy. $20 pizzas every Tuesday. $20 pastas every Wednesday. A daily happy hour with $5 house pours and $10 pints. And on 12 December 2025, $3 oyster Fridays begin. The sort of deal that invites locals to celebrate the end of the week without second-guessing the bill.
Dine in. Take it away. Order online. Call ahead. Get it delivered on UberEats. Or wander over to The Coogee Boathouse and eat your Om Nom Nom pizza by the marina. Choice belongs to the customer and Om Nom Nom refuses to complicate that.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE FLAVOUR
In the kitchen, creativity runs hot. The chefs treat ingredients like tools for expression, not limitations. In the dining room, the front-of-house team greets guests with warmth and genuine enthusiasm. There’s an easy, infectious energy here, a sense that everyone working at Om Nom Nom believes in what they’re serving.
THE NEW COASTAL CLASSIC
Call it a hidden gem. Call it a rising star. Call it exactly what Port Coogee has been waiting for.Om Nom Nom Pizza & Pasta Bar isn’t just another restaurant. It’s a bold, flavour-driven new voice on the coast. Italian at heart, Aussie in spirit and proudly marching to the beat of its own drum. It’s the rebel the neighbourhood didn’t know it needed. And it’s here to stay.
Om Nom Nom Pizza & Pasta Bar
7, 72 Pantheon Ave, North Coogee
omnomnompizza.com.au