AceHighWine

FOR most who frequent the legendary Cottesloe Beach Hotel (which will hereon in be referred to by its proper title which is the Cott), the closest they’ll get to the hotel’s in-house restaurant is the stairs to join the beautiful people up top or the ATM once they’ve run out of beer money. Shame, because the Cottesloe Café makes a handy pit stop worth keeping in mind when looking for a restaurant that sits comfortably between casual and special occasion.

Bright, breezy and the embodiment of everything the famous western suburbs sea-side town is renowned for, even when busy the café is a world apart from the chaos and argy-bargy the front bar across the hallway and the beer garden around the back are renowned for on a Sunday arvo.

Compact and succinct, the menu covers familiar Mod Oz dining ground. The availability of counter meal staples such as chicken parmigiana and steak sandwiches could trigger mundane alerts for some (fear not, dining companions insist the parmy and sanger are both tops) however main choices and sides such as Moroccan lamb rack, Thai beef salad and ravioli tossed through a vodka rosé sauce should appease more adventurous diners.

While cheaper options exist on Marine Parade, the café’s fish and chips (in this case, it’s grilled or deep-friend barramundi served with chips and salad served with a traditional tartare sauce) is tops and delicious to the last mouthful. Sadly, while the paella once upon a time blew our minds, our recent brush with the Cott’s interpretation of the famous Spanish seafood rice dish didn’t live up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessor.

A word for calorie-counters and the diet-conscious: serving sizes are more than ample and leave little room for the selection of desserts and sugary treats on offer. Speaking of sweet, it’s encouraging to be able to report that café staff are friendly, helpful and seem genuinely eager to help – a refreshing change to the hotel’s bouncers who do little to lift the reputation of security staff. The selection of beer and wine on offer does its job, but thankfully patrons also have the option of getting something on tap from the front bar and enjoying it with their meal.

As alluded to earlier, the restaurant’s prices put it just outside the “I’m too lazy to cook tonight” fallback (or at least for us non-western suburbanites), but as a starting point for a Cottesloe-based celebration, the Cottesloe Café is shore to have something to appease everyone. www.cottesloebeachhotel.com.au

Cottesloe Beach Hotel, 104 Marine Parade, Cottesloe. Call 9383 3344.

The scorching temperatures had eased up a few degrees. The Force looked set to win another game in South Africa. It was the Friday before a long weekend and a day that only materialises on calendars once every four years… the stage was indeed set for a very special evening at Lamonts East Perth for the second Dinner on the Dock - the opening event for the City of Perth’s Food and Wine month.

The evening was an utterly flawless victory for Lamonts’ feasting philosophy and showcased the produce-driven cooking and top notch wine of the Swan Valley born and bred (with time in both Margaret River and East Perth) epicurean powerhouse. As always, Lamonts’ signature “dish” marron played a starring role on the menu and many diners were quick to snag second - and for a fortunate few, even third - helpings of the delectable lime and spice flecked crustaceans. Other gourmet highlights included flavour-packed Wagyu sausages, veal carpaccio and magnificent Turkish Delight meringues to punctuate the evening with style.

While the night (and indeed the month) was all about food and wine, the cosmopolitan surrounds of East Perth did a good job of keeping up with chef Nathan Le and his culinary team, gently reinforcing how easily and wonderfully dining and living can go hand in hand. The bar has been set sky-high for the rest of the venues involved in the month - it’ll be delicious seeing how they compare with Lamonts effort.

2008 City Food and Wine Month

For our first visit to the open-since-October Henrys of Subiaco (the Henrys actually refers to the Henry family rather than a single Henry, so bonus points for correctly not using an apostrophe in the title), we were fortunate enough to snag table number eight during Chinese New Year festivities. For those that know a little about we superstitious Asians, that’s a good omen. Now the question was, would this lucky omen help us uncover a new gastronomic gem in Subi?

Located across the road from the Subi train station and on the high-vis corner of Rokeby and Roberts roads, Henrys of Subiaco aims to bring a touch of that “London vibe” (warm beer and good whine perhaps?) to Perth and aesthetically, it certainly delivers. Sleek, minimal and representative of all that is cool and funky, the restaurant impresses as soon as you step in the door with the retro blue and chocolate-toned wallpaper being particularly memorable.

But as much of a focal point as the décor was, it was our insatiable appetite for tapas that placed us in Subi on a Saturday night. My glance through the menu was cursory at best: my choice for dinner was locked in as soon as I spied the 10-plate tapas selection. Following some advice from our friendly – and yes, English-accented – waiter, we added three of the more interesting and recently added pay-per-tapas items (chili octopus, the mandatory chorizo and the intriguing coconut tempura crocodile) and a salad to our order before leaning back in our chairs to enjoy the atmosphere, drink our bubbles and pass judgment on all the flouro-yellow wearing fashion victims that wandered by.

Halfway through our second glasses of Veuve, our 10 plate selection is brought to us on a platter and placed in the middle after a minor spot of tabletop reshuffling. While the platter was assembled in the spirit of tapas (that is, morsels to provide a taste rather than a meal), the final product ended up looking too much like an up-market party platter filled with food that would occasionally touch on Spanish cuisine. Sure, there were some outstanding dishes (particularly the sweet and sour capsicum and the gorgeous garlic chicken parcels that partnered amazingly with an onion cappuccino), but there were also lowlights, namely the slightly sweet cured salmon cubes and the seafood “dim sims”.

While the openers were a little hit-and-miss, the middle order of the tapas specials lifted the run rate. I loved the chili octopus’ texture, flavour and hint of heat, the smoky chorizo flambé was among the tastiest I’ve tried in Perth and the battered crocodile an intriguing but welcome addition to the menu. In contrast, the classic salad was a combination of roma tomato, roquette and Parmesan held together by Balsamic and Olive Oil: simple and well-executed. I only hope these “specials” become a permanent menu fixture (up ‘til the end of February, tapas was only available in the five or 10-plate selection) and continue to change and evolve. Browsing through the dessert selection was a token effort at best and as quickly as we came, we disappeared into the warm embrace of the February eve after paying our bill.

The verdict? I wanted tapas, got something a little different but still enjoyed it, though if friends were asking after a purely tapa-esque dining experience, I’m not sure I could recommend Henrys. Having said that, the restaurant is a great funky little space in a sensational location and the waitstaff provide snappy, friendly and attentive service. If an opportunity to eat in Subi presented itself, returning and tackling the regular a la carte fare could be a real possibility… with a few of the (fingers crossed) tapas specials thrown in for addiction’s sake. www.henrysofsubiaco.com

Henrys of Subiaco, corner Rokeby Road and Roberts Road, Subiaco. Call 9380 9664.

As someone who gets distracted easily, nothing gets me more excited (from a culinary point of view) than tapas-style eating. The constant promenade of tastes and flavours is dining a la Maxie defined and ensures a constant state of stimulus for taste buds. So when I caught wind of the existence of Just Bar - an as-yet-untested tapas joint - plans were made to eat their sooner rather than later - especially when the restaurant in question was just a two minute drive away.

Although Just’s write-up in last week’s STM magazine by the lovely Gail Williams was the catalyst for our visit, I had a chance to check the restaurant out on Wednesday morning en route to Margaret River - considering how strapped restaurateurs are for good staff, the fact that Just is open from 7am ’til late six days a week is impressive indeed. The decor is typically modern and representative of the aesthetic trend bonding so many in Perth. But while Just might look like any other up-market cafe or wine bar (not that there’s many in town), it’s all the little things that set it apart from the rest: excellent coffee, a thought-provoking wine list offering plenty of options, bacon and egg sandwiches to dwarf any Double Whopper that Hungry Jack’s could muster. I was impressed and dinner on Friday couldn’t come soon enough.

Ideal for indecisive diners, ordering dinner at Just is a cinch - you either go the short ($40 per person, 11 courses, not including dessert) or the long ($60 per person, 16 courses with dessert) and leave your gastronomic destiny in the hands of the kitchen who prepare dishes taking into consideration diners’ allergies (just tell the excellent waitstaff if you’re allergic to anything). Making like a quarterback at 4th and 26, we both went long and readied ourselves for an excellent adventure broken down into chapters of bread, charcuterie, mains and dessert.

Retelling our meal from start to finish would not only be difficult, but perhaps bordering on tedious, especially with the nature of dining at Just. But touching on some of the highlights: the grilled scallop on twice-cooked pork belly (pictured above) with pedro ximinez was delicious but painfully too small, as was the serving of smoked duck that signaled the start of the charcuterie. There was a tasty little kick to both the roasted chorizo and shooters of gazpacho that started our meal and sadly, we just didn’t have enough bread to mop up every last drop of that magnificent aged Balsamic vinegar brought to our table. Dessert was great as well with Just’s take on the oh-so-Aussie Giant Sandwich being particularly memorable.

With such a good list on offer, be prepared to spend up on wine. The majority of our bill consisted of a bottle of Duc de Foix Brut Reserva cava (amazingly creamy and bready), an ‘04 Escarpment pinot noir from Martinborough (excellent balance of Old World texture with sensible New World fruit ripeness) and two glasses of amazingly complex and hedonistic Sauternes, Chateau Filhot. An eclectic and international selection of beers is also available including the superb Knappstein Lager.

Finally, it would be criminal of me not to mention the quality of service. The size of the restaurant ensures plenty of attention from waitstaff who work tirelessly to ensure all diners enjoyed themselves. Glasses are constantly being topped, empty and dirty plates replaced with new ones and the status of diners’ meals relayed to the kitchen ensuring no-body went hungry. Our meal was a glorious way to spend three hours on a Friday night and Just what we needed. www.justbar.com.au

Just Bar, 20 Preston Street, Como. Call 9474 1977.

Sitting pretty on prime portside real estate, The Mussel Bar is unquestionably one of Fremantle’s best eateries.

And while its million dollar views (and for out-of-towners, in a real estate market that’s gone gangbusters, I’m writing literally here) might be a little too dear for most, the restaurant’s prices are a little more down to earth and within grasp for Joe and Joanne Average, placing The Mussel Bar in the category of affordable fine dining.

For those sick of being stung by waterside restaurants that expect diners to make allowances for average cuisine on the strength of “location, location, location”, I suggest you book a table at The Mussel Bar post haste. Reflecting the lighter dining habits of summer, the new menu features a distinct Asian slant (pun intended, as a half-Chinese Australian, I can say these things) on the seafood-heavy menu: the stalwart salt and pepper squid partnered with Asian coleslaw and sticky lime dressing is joined by miso and pickled ginger oysters, salmon fillet with yam noodles and peanut sesame sauce and the oriental staple of roasted pork belly.

Alternatively, tried and tested dishes including char grilled beef fillets, the obligatory fish of the day and fish and chips as well as a a seafood platter of Neptunic proportions are also on call for when appetites yearn for something distinctly Freo. And of course, one can’t forget the mussels either with current flavours including traditional chilli, moules marinieres and Thai green curry.

The short but sweet dessert list looked appealing, but after giving the menu and accompanying wine - while not the city’s largest, The Mussel Bar’s wine list is thoughtful and interesting with the majority of by-the-glass wines being home-grown - a red hot go, decided that it would have to wait for another day - and hopefully that day isn’t too far away… www.musselbar.com.au

The Mussel Bar, 42 Mews Road, Fishing Boat Harbour, Fremantle. Call 9433 1800.

Since the disappointing discovery one Sunday that our favourite sushi train, Cinema City Jaws, had come to the end of its season, we’ve been on the lookout for a new sushi train to kidnap plates of unagi and edamame off.

A hike in the mercury and the seductive warmth of a sunny Spring Saturday lured Marie and I down to Fremantle to give Pink Rice near the cinemas a go, a bottle of Yarra Burn sparkling rose in tow. Decor-wise, typically clean and minimal design with enough Japanese paraphernalia to create a sense of “Japan” while you dine. On weekends, a teppenyaki menu is also on offer, but it had been a while since we’ve gotten stuck into sushi so post haste, we both pulled up a seat by the tracks and began the looting.

Price-wise, the dishes (coloured in various pastel shades) contained the usual range of Japanese sushi staples (with a couple of interesting dishes including deep fried skewered squid and a spicy octopus salad topping) and were also priced a little cheaper than their counterparts at Jaws, but on the whole, I felt the dishes fell short of the benchmarks set by Jaws: particularly in the case of the unagi where the generous cuts of eel in the city dwarfed what was doing the rounds in Freo. Pink Rice may boast the state’s longest sushi train, but by meal’s end I was longing for the flavours of Jaws Cinema City, though some of that could be attributed to nostalgia.

While Pink Rice did a good job of sating our desire for sushi, we probably won’t make the trek to Fremantle specifically to dine there, but will certainly keep Pink Rice in mind as an option when we find ourselves afloat in the port city. The search for Jaws II continues… www.pinkrice.com.au

Sparrow Indonesian Restaurant is a place of happiness - happiness at a price everyone can afford. “How affordable?” For the price of corkage and one entree at most other places, two people can leave this Northbridge icon with stomachs feeling more than content.

For as long as I can remember, Sparrow has been a destination the Veenhuyzen family has dined at. The food is classical Indonesian fare (bordering on comfort food) that evokes memories of a childhood spent in Medan, Sumatra and although “cheap” in comparison to the prices being asked by its neighboring eateries, certainly doesn’t short-change anyone in terms of flavour. Although understandably as a result of rising costs in fuel, the prices have gone up over the last 12 months, much to the disappointment of owners Wei Chin and Noni Lee who posted big notices apologising to diners for the unavoidable hikes.

If you’re not familiar with Indonesian food, here’s a quick crash course and suggestion for a very affordable - and filling - degustation: Start with the croquettes (meat and sauce filled pancakes) or chicken satay (the peanut sauce at Sparrow is delicious and I wish it was sold by the half-barrel) as an entree before getting a plate of nasi kuning (yellow rice) for each diner. For mains, tasty, crunchy ayam goreng (fried chicken) is a must, as is rendang, Indonesia’s famous melt-in-the-mouth and fall-apart-on-your-fork gravy beef curry while gado-gado don lontong (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce and rice cakes) will help appease both the conscience and your GP.

Part of the restaurant’s charm must be attributed to the aforementioned Wei Chin. Happy, welcoming and full of energy like a young and very tanned Jackie Chan, he is clearly a man who loves his job of feeding Perth and in turn, Perth loves him in the form of a steady stream of diners day and night. In the decade plus I’ve been visiting Sparrow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not smiling.

Being a devout church man, Wei Chin shuts up shop on Sundays and public holidays so bookings (highly recommended as the place fills up quickly) are highly recommended, especially during the popular dinner period. Last visit I walked in and got a table at 6.30pm, but it helps when you’re dining solo and sneak in before the evening rush - many nights we’ve been turned back by an apologetic Wei Chin. While Indonesian beverages are served including bottles of refreshing Teh botol, BYO is welcome and taken advantage of by beaming diners night after night.

Sparrow Indonesian Restaurant, 434A William Street, Northbridge. Call 9328 5660.