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Must Wine Bar Bistro Lunch for Two

Posted by  | Categories: Bistro, European, Featured, French, Perth, Restaurants, Wine Bar

There are a small handful of restaurants dotted around Perth that I have particularly soft spot for. The mention of their name will always bring a smile to my face and propositions to return will always be met with a resounding yes. Must Wine bar is one of these venues. I have enjoyed countless meals in this classic French bistro with friends and family alike and I feel that I can always depend upon them to deliver polished service and quality dishes. Of course this meant that upon receiving an invitation to return to sample their new Bistro lunch special I was quick to schedule this lunch date in.

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Fresh bagette (included in Bistro lunch deal, no GF bread available)

Whilst our bistro lunch was kindly on the house, the Boy and I wanted more than just two courses for no other reason than we are greedy. I am not sure what has overcome us both this winter but we have both been eating like there is no tomorrow. We started off with some freshly shucked oysters and Must’s famous chicken liver parfait.

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Fresh shucked oysters: natural and Rockefeller (additional charge $21 for 1/2 dozen)

I am a total purist when it comes to my oysters and will always be satisfied if they are served to me natural however the Boy wanted to try something different so we also ordered some Rockefeller oysters grilled with spinach, Pernod cream and Gruyère. Whilst the flavours of the rich cream and Gruyère were luscious, I remained a loyal fan to the naked oysters. Each one of my oysters still had a pool of fresh sea water revealing to me just how freshly shucked they were. Exquisite. A couple of slurps and it was all over.

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Chicken liver parfait, Riesling jelly, toasted brioche and gluten free rice crackers (additional charge $24)

I have had the pleasure of devouring Must’s chicken liver parfait on many occasions. It has the same smearable smoothness of my mother’s homemade version. Eating it conjures up comforting memories of my childhood at Christmas time when Mum would made enough parfait to feed an army yet there were only three of us. Mind you, it never went to waste.

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About one minute before my water disaster

The Boy was provided with soft slices of toasted brioche however as there was no gluten free equivalent I was happy enough to make do with the rice crackers provided. After sectioning off a non-contaminated gluten free portion for myself I proceeded to get quite excited by my feelings of nostalgia. It wasn’t long before my flying hands has sent the Boy’s water glass tumbling across the table onto his brioche and separate portion of parfait. Ooops! No more brioche for him now!

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Sirloin steak, Frites, salad, béarnaise sauce (GF, included in Bistro lunch deal)

After a weekend at the Truffle Kerfuffle festival my stomach was craving something simple. I ordered the Sirloin steak with frites and béarnaise sauce; a classic French dish that is one of my French-born father’s favourites. My steak was cooked rare exactly as I had requested and was ever so juicy and flavoursome. The béarnaise sauce was rich and buttery with a lovely sweet aniseed aroma from the fresh tarragon.

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Chargrilled Huon Tasmanian salmon, lemon risotto, caper salad (GF, included in Bistro lunch deal)

The Boy opted for the char-grilled Huon Tasmanian salmon served on a bed of creamy lemon risotto with a fennel and caper salad. His choice was also gluten free allowing me to be able to sneak a couple of mouthfuls as he reached over and simultaneously stole some of my frites. His fish was tender soft with a crispy skinned surface.

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Warm chocolate moelleux, white chocolate ice cream (included in Bistro lunch deal)

For dessert the Boy chose the warm chocolate moelleux with white chocolate ice cream. This wasn’t a gluten free option so I didn’t get to sample its oozing deliciousness. Unlike me, the Boy isn’t a big fan of cakes or puddings and as I crooned over the molten chocolate centre erupting out from the centre he didn’t even bat an eyelid.

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Despite being relatively un-fazed by the beauty of chocolate lava, he barely uttered a word as he scooped up spoonful after spoonful until his plate was empty. It was obviously not THAT bad! 😉

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Citrus and vanilla brulée, raspberry sorbet, sesame snap (included in Bistro lunch deal)

After taking all my food photos I proceeded to fall into a similarly silent food trance as I golloped up my own sweet treat. Trust a French bistro like Must to excel at making a stellar brulée.

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I loved the layering of textures commencing with a crisp sesame snap on top of smooth raspberry sorbet leading to a translucently thin coating of caramel and finally ending in the smoothest of custard base.

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After allowing ourselves to be blissfully ignorant to the world while we feasted in the warmth of the restaurant, it was hard to imagine that we had to return back to the real world of boring Saturday chores and errands. Knowing I still needed the energy to get through a big list before the day was over I ordered my usual coffee; a short macchiato. And of course I didn’t need to say to our waiter “not topped up”, these guys know what a REAL short mac is!

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Short macchiato, Vittoria coffee ($4)

Must Wine bar are offering an $80 bistro lunch for two special which includes two courses with a glass of wine for two people. The menu is changed daily and customers have the choice of ordering an entrée and main, or a main and dessert. This special will run 7 days a week until November this year. Booking are recommended.

Chompchomp was an invited guest of Must Wine bar and received the $80 bistro lunch for two as a gift. She was in no way obliged to write a favourable review in exchange for this free feed. Being the over-indulgent person she is, a two course lunch wasn’t sufficient enough for her large appetite and she was happy to pay for her additional dishes at the above indicated prices.
 
Must Wine bar
519 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9328 8255 | www.must.com.au

 Must Winebar on Urbanspoon

A long awaited reunion at Must Wine Bar, Highgate

Posted by  | Categories: Bistro, Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, French, Perth, Restaurants, Wine Bar

“The most beautiful discovery that true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” Elizabeth Foley

As a child I attended a school in Adelaide that started from pre-primary right through to Year 12. As a result there were a handful of us students who graduated from high school after spending 13 full years of schooling together. To add to that amazingness, a reasonable proportion of us who lived locally also went to the same kindergarten meaning we have known each other since we were only 4 years old!

I had planned to take a year off from study after matriculation therefore I felt no urgency to say goodbye to my lifelong friends at our valedictory dinner.  To my shock my university deferral request was declined at the thirteenth hour and I had just a mere weeks’ notice to pack up my life and move to the other side of Australia where I knew nobody.

Cut to more recent times and thanks to social media I have reconnected with a lot of these friends of yesteryear and have delighted in catching up on nearly twenty lost years of contact. As most of us have dispersed ourselves around Australia and the wider world much of our contact with each other has been purely internet based.  Consequently I’m sure you can imagine my total excitement when one of my childhood besties from this group informed me she was coming to Perth for the weekend on conference. She planned to stay with another close school friend of ours who has recently moved over here to Perth.  Despite this other friend’s relocation, I have unfortunately only managed to catch up with her once since she settled here. I was so happy to be able to see them both; it looked like we were in for a great night out!

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Five Bar

Of course I was nominated to select the venue so I suggested starting with a couple of rounds of drinks at Five Bar after which we would head across the road to Must Wine Bar, one of my favourite restaurants in Perth by far.

A lot can change in 18 years, and although we were extremely close for most of our childhood I wondered if we would easily reconnect or would there be some pauses of uncomfortable silence?  I was almost a little nervous with anticipation that afternoon but immediately upon seeing her, my heart melt and there were no barriers or awkwardness.  We embraced in a loving hug and I felt my eyes go a little hot with joy!

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Must Wine Bar (Photo courtesy of Must)

Over an hour zoomed by in the space of what felt like minutes as we all chattered away about old times; both good and bad.  We finished our drinks and headed over to Must.  I wasn’t the only one with food allergies this time round and I had chosen Must not only because they have amazing food, but because their ability to cater for people like me has never posed a problem.

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Prosciutto di Parma, Beetroot, Parmesan, Radicchio and Aged Balsamic

All three of us girls ordered the prosciutto di Parma and beetroot salad for entrée. Soft, thin folds of sweet but salty prosciutto flopped gently on the plate with crisp radicchio. The flavours matched seamlessly with the dulcet beetroot and more briny parmesan.

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Chicken liver and Manjimup Black Truffle Parfait, Toasted Brioche

The Boy’s eyes lit up when he saw the chicken liver parfait was truffled.  I am so chuffed we both share this addiction. He received a reasonable sized serve for one but probably could have done with a touch more thick fluffy brioche to lovingly smear his parfait on.

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Confit Duck leg, parsnip puree, sautéed Brussel sprouts, black pig bacon, Madeira jus

For mains one of my friends and I both ordered the confit duck leg which was served with a parsnip purée, sautéed Brussel sprouts, black pig bacon and a Madeira jus.  The duck was meltingly tender yet robust with the flavours further enriched by the black pig bacon.  Black pig bacon comes from the Berkshire breed of pig which has a different proportion of intramuscular fat giving the meat a more flavoursome and moist texture compared to standard bacon. The Madeira jus gave a subtly sweet end on the palate.

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“Must” Pork Sausages, Confit fennel, Sweet potato Puree, herb salad, jus

The Boy and my other friend ordered the Must pork sausages.  Two thick juicy sausages sat perched atop of a creamy sweet potato purée. Some confit fennel and herb salad completed this simple yet extremely tasty dish.

The night seemed to go by so quickly and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at the time and it was creeping close to midnight! “Time flies when you’re having fun” as my Mum loves to say! We all agreed we were satisfyingly full and skipped dessert in favour of just tea and coffee. I was proud of Perth’s gastronomic capabilities to suitably impress my dear friends; I have a foodie reputation to uphold after all! I can always rely on Must to deliver from all angles: the food, the wine, the service, the ambience and most importantly an ability to accommodate allergies. An absolute must on everyone’s bucket list!

Must Wine Bar
519 Beaufort Street, Highgate 6003 | (08) 9328 8255 | www.must.com.au
 
Price:                     $$$$ (Entrée $24-30, Mains $39-46)                        
Food:                    5/5 (After enjoying numerous meals here I cannot remember a bad one.)
Service:                4.5/5 (Attentive without intrusion)
Ambience:           4.5/5 (Sublime, classy and very French)
Drinks:                 4.5/5 (Extensive quality wine list, knowledgeable staff. Well, they are a wine bar.)
Total:                     18.5/20

 Must Winebar on Urbanspoon

Clarence's Bar, Mount Lawley

Posted by  | Categories: European, Featured, Perth, Restaurants, Tapas Bar, Wine Bar

I simply love the concept of wine bars.  Imagine a relaxing atmosphere without all the hype and pretention of a formal dining establishment, then add in a well thought out wine list plus some quality food and there you have it….the perfect relaxing quiet night out.  Establishments such as Must Wine Bar have mastered this idea to perfection – providing awesome food and service in the best locations and venues.  I know I can go to Must on any night of the week and be guaranteed a reliably fabulous night without disappointment.  I really wanted to add Clarence’s Bar to my list of wine bar favourites in Perth, especially in light of the recent poor experience we had at Five Bar.  In fact I really wanted to love it so much that at the start of our evening there I found myself almost starting to make excuses for all their shortcomings before the Chompchomp voice inside me screamed back “NO! Don’t do it!”

The night was a glut of mistakes and delays to the point that it became quite a comical conversation topic for the evening.  As per usual I had notified the kitchen well in advance of my no gluten and no onion requirements.  My sister also suffers from fructose malabsorption and I wanted to ensure that she could enjoy her time eating out in Perth as much as she does in her foodie hometown of Melbourne.

The night began with us being seated in one of their booths.  The design of these booths was quite curious and I’m not sure what unusually proportioned people they had in mind to sit in them.  They are meant to sit four people in them however realistically only four miniature people could successfully squeeze in and still be able to raise their arms up to eat their meals.  I felt so sorry for the boy as he really struggled to actually fit into the booth at all – he is a strong, broad shouldered man and stands at 6 feet 3 inches tall – certainly not a small person by anyone’s definition.  The poor love shuffled and wriggled in his failed attempts at getting comfortable.  Fortunately my sister, Mum and I have all have quite small frames so we managed to crowd in tightly around him.  But the bizarreness of the booths did not stop there.  The table is set as an oddly high level and the seats are very low – giving one the impression the table is like a bib.  It actually came up to the top of our chest.  Coupled with being jammed in like sardines it did not make for easy eating.

Our waitress was very well prepared to go through their menu with us and she knew all the dishes on the menu thoroughly.  She proceeded to read it out dish by dish, informing us that nearly every dish contained either gluten or onion.  There were a small handful of dishes that she explained the onion (or gluten) could be omitted by leaving out particular key ingredients such as the accompanying sauce or base.  I get frustrated when this happens – I feel like I’m punished because of my allergies with a more bland or tasteless version of a potentially great dish just because the chef won’t offer substitutions. It’s easy enough to leave an ingredient out – but a talented and creative chef can offer alternatives to ensure the dish flavours remain.  This is why I always notify the venue in advance to give the chef time to think and plan.

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Barbecued chermoula spiced squid tentacles, coriander, and lime.

For entree I ordered one of the few dishes that could be served unaltered which was the barbecued squid.  Unfortunately it had been barbecued a tad too long and although I don’t mind a little chargrilled flavour, squid does not do well once it ventures into the well-done and chewy side.  I felt the dish had so much potential if cooked correctly as the chermoula spices were uplifting however there is no coming back from tough tentacles.

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Seared scallops, cauliflower brulee pork crackle.

My mum ordered the seared scallops served on a creative cauliflower brulee with shavings of pork crackle.  The feeling of lost potential came through even more strongly with this dish as it was served meagrely lukewarm and on a cold plate. It left us with that sinking feeling of knowing we missed out of something amazing due to oversight and poor timing.

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Curried crab and sweet corn soup basil oil and spicy popcorn.

Following along the cold dish vibe, the boy’s soup was similarly served at a tepid temperature and I was unable to get any positive comment out of him about this dish.  Unlike pasta, no matter how great a soup is, if it’s meant to be hot, it is rarely enjoyable cold.  His bowl for the soup was also cold leaving us thinking someone must have forgotten to turn the heat lamps and plate warmers on.

Our dishes came out at haphazard times, so by the time I had finished my cold tough squid; my sister had only just received her order of the gnocchi.  On inspection they looked like the familiar soft and fluffy pillows you would expect, however on tasting the dish my sister questioned to us whether the peas contained in the dish tasted frozen.  Upon tasting a few of them I had to agree; there was no burst of flavour as I squeezed the pea between my teeth and they left a distinctive floury after-taste in my mouth.  Thank goodness the company was great because the food was heading down a one way street to nowhere!  To add to the errors of the evening, as we were sipping on our second glass of Chardonnay, I started wondering to myself why it tasted sweet.  Had all this mishmash of tasting and scrutinising everyone’s meals confused my palate?  Surely not!  Then my sister piped up:  “This doesn’t taste like the Chardonnay we ordered!  I think they have given us the wrong wine!”  We called our waitress over, informed her of our cold meals and asked about our strange tasting wine.  Off she quickly went to go and check with the bar staff from which she returned promptly with fresh glasses of Chardonnay in hand.

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House cured venison radish beetroot and chocolate.

It was at this point in time, we desperately started wishing that sight of me taking photos of our dishes coupled with our polite complaints would ensure that the remainder of night would proceed with minimal more mistakes.  Our hopes were in vain as the next agglomeration of errors proceeded to pan out.  Our next round of meals were brought out at staggered times and once again on stone cold plates.  At the beginning of the night when she went through the menu in detail with us, she stipulated we couldn’t eat one of the side dishes of chickpeas because it had onion in it, so obviously we didn’t ordered this.  Instead we chose the green beans and some parmesan fries for our side dishes plus we each ordered a second entrée for our main dish.

Despite having a whole discussion with her about the chickpeas unsuitability for us, lo and behold some chickpeas get placed on our table.  We had to send these back only to have them replaced with a dish of undercooked, tough woody beans that were barely edible.  After some considerable wait, some of our meals followed along with the serve of fries.  All the fries were cold, yes cold fries.  Now honestly, cold fries amount to nothing but grossness.   There is no excuse for that surely.

Lucky for me for my second course I had ordered the house cured venison, a dish that was meant to be served cold!  It was the only dish that deserved any praise for the night.  The sweet beetroot sauce nearly got licked off my plate and softened the saltiness of the cured venison.

"Clarence's Bar" Highgate "wine bar" "pumpkin risotto" mascarpone "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption"

Pumpkin risotto, pinenuts, chives and mascarpone.

The boy ordered the risotto which was of course served on a cold plate.  It was at this point we called the waitress over once again and questioned her whether they had heat lamps in the kitchen.  She commented to us that they do.  We then delved further to explain to her that unfortunately all of our meals were served to us lukewarm.  She interjected this feedback by remarking to us that my dish was meant to be served cold, and then proceeded to gloss over the fact that the remainder of the table’s dishes were not.  She appeared to only listen to what she wanted to hear.  After my comment that the flavours of our dishes had so much potential if only they were served at the correct temperature, she latched onto this feedback as positive and as she cleared the table she nodded her head saying: “Oh well, that’s good, as long as the flavours were delicious!” Huh? It was hard to know if she was being serious with such a ridiculous response!

Over all it was a meal that could have been amazing.  The thought that was put behind the creation of the menu was inspiring but the execution was a complete failure.  Was the chef just having a bad day?  I’m not sure I want to find out and next time I’ll just head over the road to Must where I know I will walk away content.

Price:  $$$ (Entrée $19-23, Mains $23-38)
Food:  4/10
Service:  4/10
Venue:  2.5/5 (for the insane booths)
Total = 10.5/25
 
Clarence’s Bar
566 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, WA 6050 | (08) 9228 9474 | clarences.com.au
 

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