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Heading west in December. I already have a list of wineries in mind, but what about some good restaurants in Perth and in Margs?

I have heard about Frasers in Kings Park, Must winebar... and not much else. Surely there are more good eats out west?

Wineries I plan on visiting:
Were Estate
Moss Wood
Woodlands
Evans & Tate
Cullen
Vasse Felix
Juniper
Ashbrook
Howard Park/Madfish
Cape Mentelle
Xanadu
Voyager
Leuwin Estate

DerekJ wrote:Heading west in December. I already have a list of wineries in mind, but what about some good restaurants in Perth and in Margs?

I have heard about Frasers in Kings Park, Must winebar... and not much else. Surely there are more good eats out west?

Wineries I plan on visiting:
Were Estate
Moss Wood
Woodlands
Evans & Tate
Cullen
Vasse Felix
Juniper
Ashbrook
Howard Park/Madfish
Cape Mentelle
Xanadu
Voyager
Leuwin Estate

Must is a must. Jackson's is the premier food restaurant. There are quite a few others but others have been here longer so perhaps they can comment.

I would add Pierro and Gralyn (even at the expense of another, perhaps xanadu or evans & tate) if I had to pick.

cheers

Carl

Restaurants Perth
Loose Box
Jacksons
Indiana Tea House

Wineries good selection but also
Graylns
Pierro

No way griff.

Beat me by a minute or two with the same posts.

Well there you go

Partagas wrote:No way griff.

Beat me by a minute or two with the same posts.

Well there you go

Does that say the competition in Perth is poor or that they stand out in the crowd

cheers

Carl

Restaurants
I agree that Must is a must
Galileo in Shenton Park
Loose Box (up in the hills) best restaurant in Perth in my opinion.
Tsunami in Mosman Park (French-Japanese fusion)
Vans in Cottesloe for soemthing a little more casual
Zafferanos at the old Swan Brewery on the river.
The Subiaco Hotel does good food with a great atmosphere.
Balthazar is fantastic if not a little pricey.

Wineries
Leeuwin, Cullen, Woodlands, Gralyn, Pierro are the must do placesin MR. Picardy is well worth a visit if you get to Pemberton.
Denmark - Howard Park, Harewood, Forest Hill, Somerset Hill.
Mt Barker - Plantagenet, Marribrook.

griff wrote

Does that say the competition in Perth is poor or that they stand out in the crowd

Good question. Definitely a bit of both IMO. There are heaps of "good" eateries all over Perth but the special standouts year after year ?

Restaurants in MR....Wino's was great last time I went there...Ze Arc of Iris is a fun little joint also up near the corner of Walcliffe Road. Seagraden at Prevelly for brekkie and coffee.

Hi Derek,

I'm heading there a couple of weeks before you actually.

Have to agree with the above so far. Gralyn is definitely worth a visit, as you won't be able to taste or find their wines readily in sydney, and they often have "reject" bottles of their sensational wines on special as the labels are scratched. From memory though, the cellar door reeked of fresh paint last time I was there, and wifey and I had to take a couple of Riedels outside to sip in the sun... Not half bad.

As to dining in Perth, again agree, Must is sensational, and we are thinking of going twice this visit. Once for the restaurant style meal, and another time for the tapas / grazing type experience.

In MR, we discovered a fantastic restaurant which had recently opened, Bax on Dunn in Dunsborough. Still have very fond memories of their venison meatball spaghetti!!! Drank out of those Riedel stemmless glasses if that is your thing...

Ahhhh, can't wait.....

Cheers,

Monghead

For restaurants you could also think about Duende (spanish tapas etc interesting wine list) in Leederville and Divido (bit of everything, ditto wine) in Mt Hawthorn. Chapter One (French/Aus/English, very enthusiastic sommelier) in Subi is worth a look too. You could also try Eminem in Nedlands (I think) for a very good turkish up-market set menu. I think none of the above are as pricey as some of the others mentioned. Oh, and Villa D'Este in West Perth.

Others know their wine better than me, so I'll leave that to them to suggest, except to second the suggestion of Somerset Hill in Denmark.
Cheers,

Dave.

For MR restaurants I would suggest Vasse Felix, or Cullen for equally good food in a slightly more relaxed setting. Wino's in town is good, we were there on a busy night so service was a bit scratchy, but this time of year should be great.

All the big name wineries are worth a visit. Give E&T a miss unless you specifically want/need to go there. Woodlands depends entirely on what is available, otherwise not much to see.

Brown Hill have some great value reds if you can spare the time.

Cheers,

LL

Good one Dave, forgot about Villa D'Este. Great for lunch, with the fountain going, sitting al fresco out front, and has that great Italian mafia feel.

Unfortunately, I believe Eminem has closed...

Cheers,

Monghead

monghead wrote:Good one Dave, forgot about Villa D'Este. Great for lunch, with the fountain going, sitting al fresco out front, and has that great Italian mafia feel.

Unfortunately, I believe Eminem has closed...

Cheers,

Monghead

When was that? It was open a couple of month ago. If so, the move to Nedlands didn't pay off

cheers

Carl

Regarding Eminem, the owner went back to Turkey from memory. Would not be the same without him so it closed. Heard many many great things but did not get the chance to go.

Eminem closed in September due to personal issues as I understand things - a shame as this was one of the best in Perth. Good restaurants include Jacksons as already mentioned, Star Anise in Shenton Park, Friends at the Hyatt has an extraordinary wine list, Duende in Leederville, Just Espresso in South Perth. For me, Frasers and Must have average food.

In MR, I would go with Winos too, and for visits, Leeuwin and Voyager always leave me cold and I wouldn't bother with E&T or Xanadu - much prefer Brown Hill and Rockfield. Pierro I thought was good too, especially the Chardonnay (and I am definitely a paid up member of the Anything But Aussie Chardonnay club ). Green Valley has good riesling if you are that way inclined, a rarity in MR. And Happs up north are definitely worth a visit, although if you are going to work your way through all their selection, take a spare liver . Even just their premium selection is about 10 wines!!

Cheers

Dave

Oh, nearly forgot Gala in Applecross for restaurants.

D

Can anyone recommend a good wine tour for the swan valley?

I'm heading over on my own this week and driving is unfortunately not an option.

thanks

Clairault is my standout favourite for resturants at MR. Pity about the wine

Well, we're back. Simply outstanding wines! Poor restaurants (although to be fair, many were closed over the holidays, including Must)

Outstanding wineries:
Pierro
Leeuwin
Gralyn
Cape Mentelle
Howard Park
Cullen
Sandalford
Watershed
though most were very, very good. Only a handful of disappointing wineries.

Most memorable wines:
07 Cullen Mangan SSB
05 Cape Mentelle Walcliffe SBS
06 Pierro Chardonnay
04 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay
05 Gralyn Reserve Shiraz
05 Cape Mentelle Shiraz
03 Voyager VOC Shiraz
05 Howard Park Scotsdale Shiraz
04 Sandalford Premium MR Cabernet Sauvignon
04 Gralyn Cabernet Sauvignon
02 Leeuwin Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon
05 Howard Park Scotsdale Cabernet Sauvignon
04 Howard Park Cabernet Sauvignon
04 Pierro Cabernet Merlot Reserve
06 Woodlands Margaret Reserve Cabernet Merlot
Many of these are, for me, at silly prices. $85 for Leeuwin Art Series chardonnay (though its probably the best in the country, or the $70 Pierro)??? There are some wines in that list (my upper limit is $50 a bottle) that are affordable, and on the buying radar (Sandalfords premium range at around $35, Howard Park Scotsdale range, Woodlands 'Margaret', Cape Mentelle Shiraz, and maybe stretch for the Leeuwin Art Series Cab and Voyager VOC Shiraz). The SSB's and chardonnays on the above list are, in my mind, too expensive, so if I really have the urge, I would be buying the lower range whites of these wineries.

Missed tasting some premiums, Cullen Diana Madeline, Cape Mentelle CS. Would have loved to compare those to the other premium cabs.

Dining experiences were pretty ordinary. Many Perth restaurants were closed on Xmas and Boxing Day, and those we dined in were disappointing. The best dining experiences were had at wineries, namely Capel Vale, Clairault (but what is going on with their wines?) and Watershed. Best food was easily Watershed.

Sorry, no tasting notes. I dont think I can provide useful ones, I am still a newb. 2007 was a learning experience for me, I set out at the beginning of the year to learn about quality wine. I visited Hunter Valley, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Canberra District, Mudgee, Margaret River (and Rutherglen, Beechworth/King Valley late 2006, and went to the Coonawarra roadshow). I now know the diff between the average quaffer that the public at large consume, and the quality Australian wines. I know I have an appetite for Cabernet and aged Semillon and Rieslings. Thank you people for listening to this rambling, and thank you all for the hints and tips on what wineries and restaurants to visit in each region. Your knowledge shared is much appreciated, and you have created another wine geek!

Wine of the year? 1972 Lakes Folly Cabernets.

Thanks for letting us know how it was Derek.

It pains me, but I have to agree on both points - WA restaurants are generally not as good as they should be, because, I'm sure you've spotted, there is a huge shortage of staff as almost everyone is working in the resources boom. We were shocked at the huge gulf between what we have become used to and the service in Melbourne a few months ago.

Also, the average (and there are very few poor wines in Margs) wines are pricey, esp SBS. Recently tasted several at $25-$30, which were no better than the excellent offering from our neighbour at < $15. However the top wines are still great value, even if expensive. I don't think there's anything over $100, and to my mind that includes the best Chardonnay, Cabernet and Cabernet Blend in Australia.

I think almost all the top restaurants in Perth shut down over the New Year period. I don't think the (top) restaurant scene here is too bad - just perhaps not enough of them compared to other places. That's Perth for you! There are a lot of pretenders though who charge similar prices to the top restaurants for dross frankly.

Regarding the prices of Margaret River wines, I agree in general that they are overpriced, some significantly so. Especially the so called flagships. There is much better value among some of the smaller, lesser known producers in MR and of course in Pemberton and Great Southern, where QPR is just astoundingly good.

Cheers

Dave