Giving the Flu the Flick on Boxing Day at Rockpool Perth
Posted by | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants
All of my direct family members reside over on the eastern coast of Australia; my Mum and Stepdad live in Adelaide and my Dad and Stepmum are in Melbourne. This means we only spend Christmas with them every couple of years as for both of us to get time off from work every year is impossible. Our flight over is always totally horrid with the plane invariably being filled with screaming babies, flustered hostesses and stressed out passengers. In stark contrast upon our arrival, we are always met with a cheerful, bustling household of family festivities and despite the path to get there being bumpy it is always totally worth it. Rockpool Perth
After all our travel in the last twelve months, for this Christmas we chose to stay in our home town of Perth. By some unfortunate luck I awoke on Christmas Day morning with the flu; with sandpaper golf balls in my throat and every muscle in my body cramping like I had just run a marathon. By the time Boxing Day came round I was exhausted and ready for a day on the couch with the cats and a good movie. However my husband thought differently and proceeded to try to entice me off the couch and out of my pyjamas using a carrot and stick approach. The carrot was a spontaneous lunch at Rockpool. And how am I supposed to say no to to THAT!? Rockpool Perth
With good intentions in further attempts to help me shake off my illness the Boy proposed that we walk from our house to the Crown Casino. It was only the day before that I was struggling to break a fever and barely able to stay awake yet I foolishly agreed to this idea. It’s only about a thirty minute walk but by the time we arrived at the Casino my skin was pale and clammy and my head was spinning. We took a seat in the Crown Metropole foyer to allow me to catch my breath whilst we gazed on at the mesmerizing giant sized, sparkling Christmas tree and reindeer. Christmas lights have a way of always making me feel better. Once I had recuperated and gained some colour back in my cheeks, we walked over to Rockpool’s entrance, swung back their familiar enormous wooden doors and walked down their candle lit corridor.
We have dined at Rockpool a number of times yet I have only blogged about our meal at Melbourne’s Rockpool. Our Perth experiences have been either pre-Chompchomp days or in large groups where I felt it would be rude to interrupt the pleasure of everyone’s evening with a photo shoot. Whilst some of my close friends get right into my blogging activities it isn’t something I would want to force upon people I don’t know well.
For the first time I was very surprised and delighted to be offered gluten free bread. The lack of this on previous visits has always surprised me given the calibre of Rockpool and I am so chuffed that they can now provide this. We ordered a bunch of entrees to be all brought out together to share. The kitchen had no problems whatsoever ensuring everything was gluten free so that I could enjoy it all. The Boy insisted on drinking a red wine so we also shared a bottle of the Trapeze Pinot Noir 2011 from the Yarra Valley. This wine was light with just enough sweetness to accompany the seafood yet still had a bit of body to match with our steak tartare.
Alaskan King Crab ($35)
The Alaskan King Crab was served roughly shredded into a summery salad with avocado, cherry tomatoes and jalapenos and a tangy coriander and lime dressing. The crab was so succulent and sweet it nearly felt like we were eating dessert. And by the way, there is nothing wrong with starting a meal with dessert.
Steak tartare with chips ($25)
There are two key dishes that I highly recommend ordering if you are dining at Rockpool. The first dish is their oven roasted pumpkin and sweet potato with burnt butter and garlic yoghurt. You can read about this dish on my Melbourne Rockpool post. The second dish of considerable note is Neil Perry’s signature steak tartare. Now if you are in any way irked by the concept of eating raw beef, this is the best place to come to try it for the first time. They use the freshest and finest mince beef, ground it to a velvety soft texture and then simply mix it with capers, onions and herbs. Previously I have asked for the onion to be omitted due to my fructose malabsorption but this time round I wanted the full flavour even if I knew I would suffer a bit afterwards. And once again this dish did not disappoint.
Fat chips (accompanies the steak tartar)
Steak tartare is served traditionally with fries however Rockpool serve it with their incredible fat chips. After being sorely disappointed recently with the fat chips served at The Trustee, these potato babies were not only a dollar cheaper if you ordered them as a side on their own, there were all the right layers of texture for a good chip; from a crisp thin outer to a creamy centre.
House chopped salad, dressed table side ($24)
To add a bit of healthy greens and fibre into our otherwise very protein heavy meal we ordered the house chopped salad which our waiter dressed for us table side.
House chopped salad ($24)
Finely chopped leafy greens, red cabbage, chorizo and tomatoes were tossed in with chickpeas, fresh mint and radish. The salad was crunchy fresh and cleansed the palate after eating the more heavy tartare and chips allowing me to thoroughly enjoy our last choice.
West Australian marron ($35)
Our final selection was the West Australian marron. Asian flavours predominated in this flavourful dish with slices of moist mango, fresh young coconut, pickled ginger and hair strands of chilli and lime. There was a decent amount of marron meat to share leaving us very satisfied with surprisingly no more room left for dessert. I blame that on my damn flu bug although the fact we had spent the whole previous day eating may have also played a factor. 😉
On previous visits to Rockpool Perth we have sometimes found their service to be a bit hit and miss. On this occasion we were pleased to receive very polished and friendly service. Our glasses never remained empty nor did our bread plates. It is fabulous to see that not only have they improved this inconsistency front of house but they have also embraced us gluten free folk by now offering gluten free bread. We are getting more and more spoilt for choice for fine dining in Perth but Rockpool will remain one of our key establishments for a quality night out.
Rockpool Crown Perth
Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood WA 6100 | (08) 6252 1900 | www.rockpool.com/rockpool-bar-and-grill-perth Price: $$$$ (Entrees $20-37, Mains $25-120) Food: 4.5/5 (focusing on WA produce with no qualms about food intolerances) Service: 4.5/5 (bubbly, friendly and attentive) Ambience: 3.5/5 (the dining floor now overlooks the newly built car park) Drinks: 5/5 (who can fault their comprehensive wine list? You just need some time to read through it!) Total: 17.5/20
Make it all legal at the Crown Promenade and The Merrywell, Crown Perth
Posted by | Categories: Accommodation, Featured, Hotels, Luxury, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Wedding
In March this year, I married the love of my life in the most magical fairy-tale wedding of my dreams. Because we chose to get married in Thailand, our wedding was not legally recognised back in Australia unless we made a pre-wedding pilgrimage to Bangkok to arrange the necessary papers. Prior to getting hitched, the Boy and I had already spent more than ten years together and we had always celebrated our anniversary in April often with much greater enthusiasm than for either of our birthdays. It seemed logical to us, that upon our return from Thailand we would arrange a very private official ceremony back in Perth specifically on our anniversary date. This enabled us to invite special friends that weren’t for able to join us in Thailand. It also means we now get to celebrate TWO anniversaries! 😉
In total contrast to the extreme detailed organisation of our Thailand wedding, this second wedding was a much more casual affair. Ann Lord, a lovely celebrant I met at a Wedding Upmarket day helped with the proceedings. We found a patch of grass in Burswood Park and without all the fanfare, anxiety, nerves or build up we repeated our vows once more.
To celebrate the legalisation of our marriage, we booked a Loft room at the Crown Promenade to enjoy one more night of luxury before we started making a serious attempt at paying off all our wedding debt! I had called in the morning to request an earlier check in and was told by the reception desk that this was not a problem. Unfortunately upon our arrival this was to prove not true; we were informed our room wasn’t ready for another hour and to make ourselves comfortable with our suitcases in tow in the lobby area.
This would have frustrated me greatly if I hadn’t managed to find to find myself a beautiful collection of macarons to snack on. Seeing as I no longer had to fit into wedding dresses, I slipped back into my excessive ways and ordered a whole box to share with the Boy. By the time the reception staff gestured to us that our room was ready, all the macarons were gone.
The loft room has an expansive balcony that gives glorious panoramic views of the city’s skyline. It was not as breathtaking as the views from our Andara villa in Thailand, but it was by no means shabby.
The loft itself is of considerable size with a living room, dining room and well stocked kitchen complete with a full mini-bar. There was an iPod docking station for music and flat screen TVs screens in the living room, bedroom AND the bathroom. Not that we watched any television that is!
The bathroom is ginormous with separate his and her vanities, wall to floor mirrors and a lovely deep spa bath. The flat screen television is positioned directly facing the spa…how relaxing would it be to sink yourself into bubbles while watching a movie. And drinking bubbles of course!
The bedroom is similarly spacious with a full King sized bed and reading area overlooking the city scape. The curtains successfully make the room pitch black no matter what time of day meaning a late checkout can be well utilised to gain those extra ZZZs if you need. We certainly did.
After the very short ceremony, we all headed over to the main casual pub of the Crown complex; The Merrywell. The Merrywell’s style of cuisine has been coined “dude food” by a number of professional food critics and whilst I don’t really like this terminology it does describe it well.
Quesa Fun-dido ($19) (Mexican Cheese fondue, Chorizo, Pico de Gallo, Pretzel)
Pink Snapper tacos ($22) (Chipotle crema, Jalapeno, Tomato)
Artery clogging Mexican cheese fondues, fish tacos, burgers and hot dogs regularly feature on their changing menu. At the time we went, the waitstaff were not overly familiar with what dishes were gluten free and what wasn’t, but I have since noticed they now offer gluten free buns with their burgers so I presume they have improved their understanding.
Fiery Mojito Lamb Chops ($34)
Lollipop Buffalo Wings ($21)
One of my favourite snacks of the night was the lollipop Buffalo wings served with a rich blue cheese fondue and celery sticks. I am pretty sure I slurped at least half a dozen of these wings off the bone each one mouthful at a time. All my bridal grace was thrown out the window!
The drinking session progressed fairly late into the night and by following morning the Boy and I were nursing a fairly rocking hangover. But we didn’t mind one bit because it was official.
From this point we are now legally “Mr and Mrs”.
Just the very thought of this fact was enough to cast away most of our pain and we eased our stomachs back into the real world with some ultra-healthy room service. My egg white omelette was so fluffy is nearly looked like an Aerobar and it came with some roasted shiitake mushrooms, avocado, feta and fresh micro herbs. Washed down with a black coffee I was re-energised and ready to officially be a Mrs!
A big shout out of thanks to my dear friend Tara for taking most of the above photos. On the day I decided to give Chompchomp a night off and Tara was more than happy to take over the job role of photographer. She got some awesome shots and I am very appreciative. xxx Crown Metropole Perth, Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood WA 6979 | (08) 9362 8888 We stayed in a Loft room and took advantage of their advance purchase rates which gives a significant discount off the standard rates. The full price for this room is around $1250 per night. The Merrywell, Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood WA 6979| (08) 9362 7551
