Good Wine

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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

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Frederic – Cremorne – Saturday 10 February 2024 – Dinner

It’s down the street. Back in the day I was here at least once a week for coffee and a croissant. The pandemic had its impact, but the strength of the team behind Frederic ensured the quality would be retained.

There is no good reason why I haven’t dedicated the time to review Frederic. Having eaten here multiple times, with Catherine, several others, and even by myself, I have always been impressed. Tonight we are here for a Saturday evening, and can have a lengthy experience.

We start out the front with a champagne. On weeknights there is a great special from 4-6pm. The street overlooks a car park along the railway tracks near Richmond station, and the back of the Precinct pub, but it is still cute, and tonight is a beautiful evening. When there’s big events there can be a great atmosphere on the pavement here.

Once seated we start strategising on the menu. As usual Catherine needs to pay extra attention to the gluten-free options. More and more it is becoming a positive reason for choosing one restaurant over another, but with good restaurants normally catering well to coeliacs and gluten-intolerant people, it is rarely a reason to not try a venue.

We skip the snacks, but choose an entree, main, and dessert. After some confusion about the vitello tonnato, which I really enjoyed, Catherine chose the burrata, which popped with freshness and brightness. Although not a textural clash, the delicious Chapoutier Marsanne 2019 is probably a better choice with the burrata, heirloom tomatoes, and peach. I was glad I tried it though. Catherine’s Petit Chablis by La Manufacture in Burgundy, was just as Petit Chablis should be, and its freshness matched her burrata nicely.

French bistro screams mains to me, and I’m happy enough to start here much of the time. The porterhouse cut by Vic Southern Ranges is grass fed, and beautifully medium rare, with shoestring fries, mustard, and chimichurri. While I’d probably prefer some béarnaise, there’s nothing else I would change about this dish, and it isn’t far above a decent quality pub steak price wise. The Maison Cassange et Vitailles Grenache Shiraz Cinsaut from Languedoc is a terrific red that matches the steak well.

Catherine’s baked rockling fillet is delightfully presented, scattered mussels generously adorn the splash of green around the yellow vadouvan curry sauce. I get the pleasure of a couple of tries and it is right up to my steak, and not without merit to suggest sharing the two on another occasion.

The menu caters to Catherine’s intolerance perfectly, and I must admit, I had not stopped to think that a soufflé’s base ingredients do not include any gluten. Today’s passionfruit version is perfectly executed, with the classic fluffiness that makes you feel like you could eat two!

Frederic is a comfortable place to relax over several courses. The quality of the food, and its plating, is the primary reason I keep coming back. It is hard to say it is suburban, but it is part of our suburb, and while the normal menus prices are not every day reasonable, there are plenty of specials during the week to capture regulars. Over the years it has certainly captured us plenty of times.

Frederic
https://frederic.com.au
9-11 Cremorne Street, Cremorne
M-F lunch + dinner; Saturday dinner
hello@frederic.com.au
(03) 9089 7224