Fraser’s Restaurant, King’s Park

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" Chompchomp "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" Fraser's "King's Park" Perth engagement "fine dining"

My sister has never been known for her punctuality.  That’s not to say I’m an expert in such matters myself however she does tend to take it to the next level.  I guess I wasn’t considering this fact when I decided it was a great idea to book an elegant dinner at Fraser’s for the boy and myself, my sister, Dad and our stepmum for the very next day after our Engagement party.  We had spent the bulk of the day nursing sore heads and rumbling tummies and feeling the foggy effects of overindulgence and sleep deprivation.  So when I saw it was only thirty minutes before our departure time and that she still had not started to get ready for our special dinner I prepared myself again for a late arrival.  Surprisingly she managed to get beautified in a whirlwind of hair straighteners and outfit changes for us to arrive an acceptable 20 minutes late.  A record for us as a team I’m sure and it makes me wonder why it normally takes her three and a half hours to get ready?!?

My stepmum has never been to Perth before so I wanted to show her the fabulous view of the city at night from King’s Park.  Fraser’s offers spectacular views from the restaurant and it seemed like a logical choice.  If you exclude a couple of veterinary functions sponsored by drug companies I haven’t actually eaten here in the restaurant before.  Such events generally involve far too much wine and networking for the food to even make a mention.

When we arrived at the Duxton for a few pre-dinner drinks, I was relieved to see the little blue bag containing our shiny gift from Tiffany’s had made the journey from The George where it was initially given to us both as our engagement gift, then returned back to their hotel room for the night only to be handed over to us a second time but in a much more sober fashion.  As I pulled it out of its box I couldn’t help but admire its shininess.  It is a classic Tiffany’s style silver frame which we shall be placing one of the many gorgeous shots of us as a newly engaged couple from the memorable night.

For the duration of our evening, we were all blown away with the high quality of service.  Our waiter for the evening named Justin went above and beyond his call of duty to ensure that our every whim was accommodated for.  This flexibility and can-do attitude carried right through to the kitchen where the chef Chris Taylor and his team were more than happy to alter dishes and suggest alternative options for us rather than just omitting sauces or key ingredients and serving us half of the intended dish. (See my next review on Clarence’s for a comparison!)

House made Gluten free bread $14 a serve!!

Justin informed us that the chef makes his own gluten-free bread on the premises and recommended we try a couple of serves.  It was accompanied by some Baba ghanoush topped with a sprinkling of Dukkah and some fresh butter.   It was grainy bread with good texture – poorly made gluten-free bread can turn out very crumbly like cake or worse still very heavy and stodgy like a rock.  This bread had just the right balance of flours to create normal bread-like consistency and was matched well with the Baba ghanoush.  The only downside which we discovered at the end of the meal was it cost $14 per serve!  We got two serves!!

For entrée my sister and I ordered the Grilled WA rock lobster which was served the only way lobster should be; simply with lemon butter.  Lobster is one of my favourite seafood creatures to eat, and its unique sweet flavour is often spoilt by complex creamy sauces and heavy cheese.  This time round it was fresh and cooked just to perfection, the meat easily tearing delicately away out of its shell and into my mouth!

Sashimi of Tasmanian salmon, Bluefin tuna, hiramasa kingfish, soy pickled ginger wasabi

The boy is a huge sashimi and sushi fan.  He has been known to journey over to Kailis Bros Fish Market in Leederville, bypass all the little packets of pre-prepared sashimi cuts of fish and buy a big chunk of tuna and an even bigger chunk of salmon and proudly carve it up at home for us to eat.  The sashimi he ordered was brightly coloured and soft and the size of his serve was reasonable given the location and the price.  I did think the Fraser’s card on the top of the dish was a little touristy and tacky however.

Crispy fried Soft shelled crab with cumin salt and ginger dipping sauce

My Dad wanted the “Soft crab shell” as he called it (we were all still a little exhausted from the night of fun last night) which was only available as part of the tasting plate of the day.   Once again the kitchen was very accommodating and was happy to offer this separately as an entrée sized meal.  Such an easy task for a kitchen to do yet this is often something that is refused to customers as chefs allow themselves to become nothing more than a line cook preparing meals without alterations.  Having eaten his way around the world hundreds of times over the past years, my French-born father is a natural food critic.  He was impressed with the amount of meat on the crab and seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

Chilled asparagus soup with manna crab and asparagus salad

My stepmum ordered the crab soup which was vibrantly coloured, thick and creamy.   Despite all of us commenting our appetites were a little depressed from the evening prior we all managed to gobble up our entrees without complaint ready for our mains.

Roast duck breast and confit sausage with brandy butter jus (normally served with pistachio beetroot jus)

For mains I ordered the duck which is originally served with a beetroot jus.  As with most jus, there was onion contained in the stock so it was not suitable for me or my sister.  To our delight this was no problem to our chef who created delicious gluten-free, onion-free brandy butter jus to pour over the duck instead.  Both my sister and the boy also ordered the duck and commented to me that a few of their pieces were a little overcooked and dry.  I must have been the lucky one at the table as every piece of my duck was juicy and scrumptious and I could not complain.

Rocket pear and parmesan salad with chardonnay vinegar dressing, Salt roast potatoes, Local new season white and green asparagus, rocket parmesan and pinenuts

Our side dishes were fairly standard and unexciting except for the salt roasted potatoes which looked a little bit like the eggs from the movie Aliens but they tasted absolutely divine.  As we watched the smoke from a bushfire roll in over the city like a blanket we all started to infect each other with our yawns.  We realised just how exhausted we all were and skipped ordering dessert to head home for some well-earned rest.

In my sleepy content state I foolishly left the little blue bag behind at the restaurant and didn’t realise this until the boy shouted as we drove off in the cab: “The Tiffany’s present!!!”  My heart literally jumped into my throat and I was completely awake in a second!  Before the boy had even managed to jump out of the cab; lo and behold we see Justin our waiter running toward us clutching our treasure in his hand.  This gesture just clinched the deal that I’m happy to say this is the best customer service we have received in Perth for a long time!  My opinions of Fraser’s have been completely turned around from previously feeling it may be a bit of an overpriced tourist trap to now understanding that you simply get what you pay for.  I look forward to our return; we just might have to save up for a while!

Score Food 8.7/10 Service 9.5/10 Venue 8.6/10

Fraser’s Restaurant
Fraser Avenue, King’s Park, Perth 6005 | (08) 9481 7100 | frasersrestaurant.com.au
 
 

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4 thoughts on “Fraser’s Restaurant, King’s Park”

    1. Absolutely!!! Although I rememeber our last fine dining experience together when we both went to Restaurant Amuse with W and the boy and seriously broke all banks!! Totally worth it though. The cheese was to die for!

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