Fremantle

by

Coogee Common – Coogee, WA – Friday 19 April 2024 – Lunch

Very rarely do I go out to a restaurant without knowing the first thing about it. In this case, Catherine had long ago aimed to dine here, and I went in blind but confident. If there is anyone who can be trusted to find a great meal, it is my wife.

We arrive on the non-beach side of Cockburn Road, greeted by a beautiful heritage building, along with my Mum, Sher, Sue, and Heinz, who are all well dressed for a fancy meal. I had little idea, but catching up with my family in Perth is always exciting, and they do tend to dress well!

What I now know is Coogee Common has a garden surrounding the restaurant that provides much of what is utilised by the kitchen. There is certainly a bountiful array of fresh produce, and it is beautifully appointed in the creations of the chefs. 

Seated at a large circular table with a terrific vantage point on the corner windows inside, we are beginning at 11.30am and for a moment have much of the restaurant to ourselves (but not for long). There’s plenty of room for the dishes we are about to share, and there’s plenty of time to catch up before we even think to order.

The wine list has the diversity you’d expect at a fine dining establishment, along with some delicous cocktails, and mocktails. Catherine really enjoyed her Spring Fling, and my first glass of wine, a Slate Farm Fiano from Clare Valley, shows vibrancy. My other taste is of the Montague Chardonnay from closer by in Margaret River. For me this is a lesser known producer, highlighting the intelligent building of the wine list with sensible points of difference.

It was tough to narrow down the food options, but with Catherine and Heinz’s help I eventually ordered for the table. I’d start with the highlights, but it was difficult to call out one or two dishes, as the quality across the board was outstanding. Perhaps the surprises are best to mention? The most exceptional dish in my mind was the beetroot salad. Not only superbly roasted (and pickled) by the kitchen, but fresh from the garden, the red beets in particular were some of the best you could hope for.

Almost on a par was the spice roasted carrots, which for me is often a vegetable hard to top. Earlier, gluten-free crispbread and a “garden dip”, along with prawn skewers, and pastrami, for the table, was all superb. The surprise was how delicious the jalapenos and other pickled vegetables tasted on the pastrami plate.

For the larger dishes we had a couple of fillets of snapper go around the table, and besides being perfectly cooked, the skin also remained crisp. I enjoyed the accompaniments, especially the addition of pine nuts and fennel, but Catherine did mention the skoralia (potato and garlic puree) was too strong for her. Lastly, the medium-rare steak was again showing the quality of the kitchen. Not a single mouthful was left, and we had enjoyed a lot of food. There may have been a battle to finish the seaweed and leek left on the plate, which is unique.

Throughout, service had been good, although I didn’t have a seat with a view to the floorstaff, so sometimes was searching for a wine. In comparison with other restaurants during our 12 days in Perth, and Rottnest, this was definitely far above the baseline on service.

For dessert we ended up getting a few, and none of us were disappointed, including Sydney with his chocolate ice cream. In fact, we were very pleased, with Mum even trying the vegan chocolate mousse and prickly pear sorbet and loving it, which is unusual because she rarely has dessert. As I earlier mentioned, fennel is one of my favourite ingredients, so the fennel ice cream grabbed me. Served with a white chocolate draped combination of ricotta and quince, this was a fine end to a terrific meal. Catherine’s pumpkin creme brûlée also tasted as good as it looked.

Garden to table dining is not new, but being so close to the city is novel. It’s exciting to see the risk that Coogee Common has taken, re-establishing a heritage property and planting an entire garden in 2018. Now it is paying dividends with the quality of the outcome. We’d love to be back here on our next visit to Perth.

Coogee Common
https://coogeecommon.com.au
371 Cockburn Road, Coogee
Monday to Saturday 11.30am to late
Phone: 0451 830 371
Email: info@coogeecommon.com.au

by

Nunzio’s – Fremantle – Sunday 3 January 2016 – Dinner

Tagliatelle, porcini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes

Tagliatelle, porcini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes

Italian dining in Fremantle. How Fremantle is not nicknamed Little Italy I’m not sure, but the “Cappuccino Strip” on South Terrace is testament to how closely this area is related to Italian dining and culture.

At times it has been more cheap and cheerful, than anything else, but across Australia diners tastes and preferences have been changing over the years, and this extends here. Think places like Little Creatures that took up the challenge and won by incorporating their ideas in a manner consistent with the breezy Freo culture. Bread In Common is another good example of the growth and I’m told The Mantle complex is another good addition.

Skewed grilled prawns and squid

Skewered grilled prawns and squid

One thing I have always been skeptical of is the Italian restaurants in Freo and whether they are resting on their laurels. When you naturally compare to my new home (of seven years) in Melbourne, you have no choice but to be skeptical because the pastas are homemade, and cheaper, and better quality pizzas are available in most suburbs. However, an excellent meal at Nunzio’s in the old Essex shows that things are changing.

Take the tagliatelle and spaghettoni that Catherine and I tried respectively. Both homemade, both served perfectly al dente (mine a bit firmer due to the thicker nature of my pasta), and both served with simple, but delicious accompanying sauces. On the spaghettoni I had a lamb ragu, cooked for a good amount of time and quite deep in flavour. Catherine had porcini mushrooms that were glorious, along with sundried tomatoes, which is a bit old school, but worked.

Spaghettoni, lamb ragu

Spaghettoni, lamb ragu

Before this we had shared a starter of skewered prawn and squid, which featured fresh lightly cooked and crumbed seafood. They were good, but the side salad on the plate was a little awkward (and yes, quite old fashioned).

Honey cake

Honey cake

Dessert is ordered from a selection on the trolley. While there is a theme to the traditional, quite old fashioned dining experience, there are aspects from that time that are charming and enticing. The dessert trolley epitomises the charming side. Knowing we are eating Catherine’s Mum’s tiramisu in a couple nights, we had liberty to order outside of the favourites and went with the honey cake, and the apricot jam tart. The honey cake is simply outstanding, and the tart was excellent though overshadowed by the cake.

Apricot jam tart

Apricot jam tart

Another aspect in this heritage restaurant, converted from a house that has stood for over a century, was the friendly and well organised floor staff. It would be easy for such a beautiful white walled, linen clad restaurant to fall into a certain stuffiness, but the staff were down to earth, eager, and importantly, well versed in the menu.

At one stage one of the waitstaff mentioned to a table that they were the third table from Yorkshire he had served that week. The tourist element must be one of the reasons for the wine list being tailored to no one in particular, yet very well priced, and with just enough by the glass to get by.

Reflecting on a great meal, walking away from Nunzio’s on a balmy Perth evening, there isn’t a great deal I would change about our experience. A place where you can dine slightly off the busy strip, and continue to go back to without hesitation.

Nunzio's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato