It Just Has To Be Delicious

Archive for February, 2021

Cooee, Swan Brewery, West Perth

Based at the iconic Swan Brewery in Perth, and right on the river, there couldn’t be a better location for dinner. Previously this restaurant was Zafferanos, a stuffy and lacklustre Italian based joint that seemed stuck in the 70s with its cheese and cream heavy menu, so I am pleased to say that Cooee’s fresh, friendly approach to Modern Australian food is a breath of fresh air to this establishment. With head chef Alan Wise in place, the menu is appetising and delicious, and the vibe is definitely more upbeat, smart-casual and welcoming.

We booked fairly late in the proceedings and were offered a place on the long table with stools, or a small table at the back with high chairs with backs in them. Comfort is everything to me when eating, and I like my chair to have a back in it, so we chose the higher chairs. It was fine, but the waitress then offered us another table with a better view as long as we vacated it in time for the next occupants – we agreed to the deal and ended up on a nice table overlooking the river.

We were intrigued by some of the the wines on the menu and asked to try the vermentino, but when sampled, we weren’t keen, so decided to go for a Great Southern La Violetta sparkling rose, which was very drinkable. The waitress was very patient while we perused our choices.

The menu is designed for sharing or not, with smaller plates and larger plates. I love it when I can’t decide because the choices all seem so nice, and Cooee didn’t disappoint. I could have gone for vegan or vegetarian choices (both were available), but decided to go with a fish based meal. Choices for small plates included oysters, mussels, sashimi, pork belly, mushrooms, cauliflower etc. and larger plates included chicken, leeks, zucchini, steak, fish and wagyu.

I started with Fremantle octopus with vietnamese mint, lime and chilli. Beautifully cut slivers of octopus in a piquant dressing. This was lovely and fresh, clean and nourishing – the raw chilli was a little hot for me, but my partner happily stole my chilli to add to his own dish.

My partner chose the vegan mushroom tartare with radish and potato crisps (and my added chilli of course!). Again a delicious starter, and how can you go wrong with crisps on a plate – he was in heaven.

We both chose the fish for main which was Rankin cod with lemon, lentils, chives and capers. Sides were broccolini with crispy shallots and a hearty bowl of chips, skin on and perfectly fried. Everything was good – the fish was fresh and delicious, with a great balance of piquancy from the capers, lemon and chives.

We looked at the dessert menu and decided to pass as everything, tempting as it was, contained dairy. It would have been nice to see a non-dairy dessert option, but we were fairly full anyway.

Staff were friendly and inviting, and I enjoyed my experience here – will definitely be back for another visit.

Last visit date – February 2021

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Ten Acre Block, Pan Pacific, CBD

Ten Acre Block is located in the Pan Pacific where Uma Bar used to be. The tables are nicely spaced out and romantic, and the menu is a vegan degustation. The bar menu includes vegan and vegetable based cocktails as well as non alcoholic spirits. Wait staff are enthusiastic and pleasant to deal with, our waitress explained the menu and advised that we could slow it down or speed it up as we wished.

I started proceedings with a lovely Lemon Drop cocktail and waited for the procession of dishes to arrive.

The first dish to arrive was sweet potato tartines with macadamia labneh and heirloom radish. These were lovely, with nicely matched flavours, and very good start to the meal.

The second dish was the star of the show – chargrilled apricots, heirloom tomatoes and asparagus in Romesco sauce – absolutely delicious. The only problem was that there was a lot of sauce left and we could really have done with a hunk of bread to soak it all up. I mentioned this to the waitress who said “Yes, we’re looking into it” and whisked the plates away. Why not just bring a bread basket??

After the success of dish two the next course was a little disappointing – roast parsnips with kumquats and tera-miso and ginger. The central filling was a little stodgy, but the crispy outside was nice.

Next came a palate cleanser – camomile kombucha. It was a bit of an odd taste and not something that I would order.

The ‘main’ of the degustation came next – eggplant, demi-glace, leek confit and legume sprouts. The eggplant was just underdone, and the leek sauce a little bland. The whole dish really needed some seasoning.

I was really looking forward to the pear and chocolate tart dessert – it’s one of my favourite combinations, but again this was a disappointment – the tart was dense and hard to eat, the pears were undercooked, and the core was an unpleasant thing to manoeuvre, I wish they had removed it before serving.

Petit fours were nice, the grapefruit tart was light and lovely and would have made a much better main dessert. The chocolate cup was just peanut butter in a cup and I would have preferred a lighter whipped filling – maybe with peanut butter and cashew cream.

We gave feedback on leaving and found out that they were still ‘trying dishes out’ and tweaking the menu. Surely the menu should be piloted before giving it to the general public. This is an expensive way to be somebody’s food experiment!

Will I return? Probably not until they refine the menu – it’s nice to have a vegan degustation, but it also has to deliver with every dish, not just a few of them.

Last visit date – January 2021

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