InContro, South Perth

"Linley Valley Pork belly" "vanilla pear" "pomegranate" "pork" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"

I have very fond memories of my last time at Matilda Bay Restaurant with two of my favourite people in my life; the Boy and my dearest Mum.  It was Christmas Day lunch some years ago and it remains one of our most relaxing and stress-free Christmas’s to date.  So when the Boy invited me to join him there on a business dinner recently I didn’t have to hesitate in my response!

Being so food obsessed is proving to be my Achilles heel by hindering my success in achieving the svelte bride body that I want. I have a bad habit of over eating and seem to enjoy the feeling of being insanely full.  My solution is simply to focus on eating less for the last six months in the lead up to the big day.  This night out was to be the last night of uninhibited eating before the frustrations of restriction begun so I wanted to go out with a bang.

You can only imagine my disappointment when a few hours before we were to all meet for dinner, the Boy was informed by email that the invitation didn’t extend to partners.  Knowing how much I was looking forward to the evening and presuming the refusal was due to a strict budget, the Boy explained that we were not expecting a free meal and I was more than happy to pay my own way.  Unfortunately this wasn’t good enough for the agency and after receiving a fairly patronising reply the Boy’s blood started to boil.

"Perth city skyline" "Perth city" "Perth river views" "swan river" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Even on a stormy night….Perth skyline is so beautiful

Not wanting to disappoint his food obsessed wife-to-be, he softened the blow of the bad news to me by offering to still take me out somewhere nice.  We toyed with the idea of getting a table right next to the one I got booted off at Matilda Bay purely for entertainment value. However after briefly thinking about this further we figured that probably wouldn’t gone down so well!  After a few unsuccessful calls to some favourite venues, he managed to secure us a reservation at InContro in South Perth.  We even managed to get a table with city and river views. (My apologies in advance for the photos…even Gordon didn’t cope in such low level lighting!)

"Campari" "bar" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Tempting but once I started on the Billecart nothing else would do!

InContro offers a style of dining they call “piccolo dining” which is a bit like a Mediterranean version of tapas. They create small dishes for the entire table to share and it is brought to the table in a tiered rack reminding me of years gone by where I shared High Tea with my Dad and stepmum at Brown’s Hotel in London. After discussing my allergies with our waitress, she offered for the chef to select appropriate dishes to make up a two courses of a piccolo experience. Not being in the mood for anything specific, the Boy and I both smiled at each other and chose to go ahead with her recommendation.  I love surprises!

"Moroccan spiced cauliflower" "lamb cutlet" "Dorper lamb" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Moroccan spiced cauliflower and Dorper lamb

Each course contained three carefully selected and quite interesting dishes using lots of fresh seasonal local produce.  The succulent frenched Dorper lamb cutlets were topped with Moroccan spiced cauliflower.  The sweet tasting cumin paired harmoniously with the tender lamb leaving me wishing we had more.

"Scallop" "seafood" "pea puree" "prosciutto" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Scallop with pea puree and prosciutto

Our seared scallops were plump with a crisp browned surface and a nearly creamy centre of amazingness. On a bed of pea puree and topped with crispy shreds of prosciutto these little morsels were nearly as moreish as the cutlets.  I was pretty excited about what else was to come.

"Lobster salad" "seafood" "avocado" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Lobster salad

Our third entrée was simply described as a lobster salad. A fairly decent serve of decadent lobster sat innocently hidden underneath a handful of shredded greens.  Further hiding below the lobster was bite sized chunks of thoroughly dressed avocado, tomato and fresh herbs.  Although this dish wasn’t much to look at, each mouthful was bursting with flavour.

"Sticky Black Angus short rib" "beef" "beef rib" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Sticky Black Angus short rib – sorry about the blur!

The sticky Black Angus short rib was the “to die for” dish of the evening.  Unfortunately my photos didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked them to due to the beef sitting at the top of the three levelled tier.  Not being a very tall person I really struggled to steady my camera.  Of course my lack of hand stability that had nothing to do with the three glasses of Billecart I had drunk previously.  Not at all.

"Sticky Black Angus short rib" "beef" "beef rib" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Gone!

The meat didn’t just fall off the bone it slivered off and dissolved in the mouth like cotton candy.  The marinade was thick, sticky and subtly sweet and neither of us could help ourselves as we scraped the remaining sauce off the board with our forks, trying to savour its flavour for as long as possible.

"Linley Valley Pork belly" "vanilla pear" "pomegranate" "pork" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Linley Valley Pork belly, vanilla pear, pomegranate

In my excitement of this final night of excess I had not bothered to go through the nitty gritty of my fructose malabsorption with our waitress.  I had purely just requested no gluten or no onion.  Thus I did have to sift through our pork dish to avoid the little cubes of pear.  The pork belly had just the right balance of fat, meat and crackling and didn’t leave any unpleasant porkiness taste in my mouth. The crackling gave a satisfyingly loud crunch as I bit into it.

"Shaved fennel" "salad" "vegetarian" "pear" "candied walnut" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Shaved fennel, pear, candied walnut

The salad to accompany our mains dishes contained shaved fennel, pear and candied walnut.  Again I had to dodge the pear (my own fault) which was easy enough to do. The salad was light and refreshing on the palate after the two heavier meat dishes.

"Trio of ice creams" "dessert" "ice cream" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Trio of ice creams

For dessert the Boy ordered his ice cream as per usual; as you may already know it is fairly uncommon for him to ever order anything else for dessert.  I settled for the only gluten free dessert option which was the polenta cake with butterscotch ice cream.  It was moist and didn’t crumble apart but the butterscotch ice cream was a little sickly sweet for my liking.

"Polenta cake" "butterscotch ice cream" "Desserts" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "tapas" "piccolo" "InContro" "South Perth" "South Perth Restaurants" "Esplanade" "Mediterranean" "Italian" "French" "InContro, South Perth"
Polenta cake with butterscotch ice cream

InContro is a great local option if we feel like a night out with a bit more class than casual.  We have dined here on several occasions over the years and have never been disappointed with either the food or service and they take good diligence in catering to those with allergies. Of course we will be back.

InContro
79 South Perth Esplanade, South Perth 6151 | (08) 9474 5566 | www.incontro.com.au
 
Price:                     $$$$ (Piccolo $9-16/dish, Entrees $22-28, Mains $35-48)
Food:                    4.5/5 (sticky beef ribs were out of this world)
Service:                4/5 (attentive, efficient despite a full house)
Ambience:          5/5 (views of Perth city skyline, how can it get better?)
Drinks:                  4/5 (great wine list but I confess I stuck to my Billecart all night!)
Total:                     17.5/20

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