The Shorehouse, Perth: restaurant review
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, certain Australian restaurants must be in a state of constant blush.
Your Caffe e Cucinas; Chin Chins; Icebergs and, arguably, your Porteños and Sixpennys, too, stylistic templates for different dining models. All spawned clones like rabbits. And then there’s the late, lamented Stokehouse, that scruffy St Kilda luxe beach pavilion that went up in smoke last year when a spark got into the ceiling and … whoosh. The Stokey had that egalitarian, beachy, white-linen-and-bare-floorboards thing down pat; always smart, yet relaxed. Hope they salvaged some DNA.
Many restaurateurs have tried to transplant the Stokehouse model over the years. Perth’s Shorehouse is the latest and most convincing take; they even lured the former Stokehouse head chef across the Nullarbor to this cracking venue on Swanbourne Beach.
First thing you’ll notice, beyond a giant copper bath full of ice and wine, is the substantial space. Size equals potential for chaos (especially when the place is heaving, as it is when we visit). Fortunately, the place is run by an experienced operator, and it shows, not only in systems and a prevailing calm in the eye of a storm of diners, either. Little details everywhere suggest an accumulated wisdom in the restaurant caper.
And then there’s Oliver Gould’s food, with its relaxed Mediterranean feel, that sits so very comfortably with the beach shack brief. I much admired his unpretentious dishes in Melbourne: he’s not, to use an expression one wit from within the ranks of fine cookery recently coined, a “twanker”. (It’s a reference to chefs and tweezers.)
From the “Raw” section, big Exmouth prawns are sliced and served with elderflower-pickled cucumber and snow pea tendrils: the muscular prawns fill and cling to the mouth like a deep creamy kiss, super fresh. The same luxurious touch comes from dollops of seriously delicious foie gras mousse that take raw yellowfin tuna with a toasted hazelnut dressing (pictured) to another level of sophistication. Our sommelier calls it a “virtuous dish”.
Ingredient du jour, buttermilk — one of the positive legacies of dude food — tenderises crisp-shelled chicken nuggets, one of five from the “Smallhouse” list of starters. They are spiced with paprika, garlic and the like, gaining an Italian accent from pancetta matchsticks, grated and pureed broccoli, shredded dried ricotta and a yoghurt dressing. Excellent.
Mains fall into two brackets: those cooked in a Spanish Josper wood burning oven, and the rest. From the former, roasted scotch fillet forms the protein hub of a hot meat “salad” sauced with molten taleggio, anchovy rich meat juices and kipfler potatoes. The meat is of high quality and cooked in a manner that displays the chef’s experience with this excellent but difficult-to-master oven.
Also from the Josper comes hot-smoked ocean trout, served with soft pellets of farro, perfectly ripe avocado, buttermilk dressing, pickled and fresh cucumber. It’s an exercise in textural and flavour balance that more or less screams summer: crunchy, soft, smoky, sweet and creamily acidic.
More things to like about Shorehouse? The sexy wine list and prices that reflect the post-boom times. But it’s not all good news. We tried only one dessert and it sank like an undercooked souffle — a heavy white chocolate sponge with tang-less mango, banana and buttermilk ice cream. Texturally one-dimensional, it’s probably better to eat this one with your eyes.
The score might seem a little conservative; dessert lets things down and I suspect service is more a matter of who you draw in Waiter Lotto than strong across the board. But I’d be back for dinner or lunch at Shorehouse in a flash. It reminds me of somewhere I miss.
Address: 278 Marine Parade, Swanbourne, WA
Phone: (08) 9286 4050 Web: shorehouse.com.au
Hours: Lunch, dinner daily
Typical prices: Starters $22; mains $35; desserts $14
Summary: A shore thing
Like this? Try … Stokehouse Q, Brisbane; Wasabi, Noosa
Stars (out of five): 3.5
Source: The Australian, John Lethlean, 12th December 2015
