Subiaco Hotel

A group of us went to Subiaco Hotel for dinner on a weeknight, half for a birthday and half for a catch up. Subiaco Hotel pub and brasserie is one of the landmarks of Subiaco and is located on the corner of Hay street and Rokeby Road. It is a modern and splendid architecture with contemporary decor inside. Polished jarrah flooring, designed pieces of furniture and floral sculptures creates warmth and sophistication. 

It's a pity that it's past it's hey-day considering it has a lot of potential. 

Our drinks were ordered promptly and I opted for the red wine -  an Argentina Malbec, only to be told that they have sold out of the bottle of wine (there is a liquor store next door.. how is it possible?) and instead was offered the chianti, which was actually very nice. Nicely made up for the lack of the Malbec. It was velvety, smooth and rich in flavours I can't remember. 

Anyway, Cam wanted to start of the night with a 3 dips, marinated olives and char-grilled turkish bread, but were informed that they have ran out of this.. (how is that possible?) so we decided to get the warm ciabatta, olive oil and balsamic. 

Warm ciabatta, olive oil in balsamic vinegar

 

The warm ciabatta was toasty on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside and seemed fresh. The balsamic and olive oil on the other hand seemed a little old, slightly off olive oil, which was a bit of a pity.

But I suppose good bread still wins out. 

 

As for the mains, they weren't bad, just a little over-priced. I ordered the catch of the day which was a barramundi papperdella pasta in creamy sauce with pasley shaved on top. The fish was beautifully cooked, moist and not too dry with a soft, melt in the moment pasta. Having said that though the serving size was small and it got rather oily at the end thanks to the creamy sauce.

 

Barramundi Papperdella pasta in creamy sauce

K, decided she didn't feel like a heavy meal, seeing as she's been stuffing herself on wonderful foods during her holidays settled for a salad. Which I have to say was a moutain of leafy healthy goodness with poached chicken protein.

balsamic poached chicken salad with peppers, spinach, reggiano

Few of the boys wanted the twice-cooked pork belly rojak style with caramelised pineapple, scallops and puffed rice, only to be denied it because for the third time (on a week night) the kitchen sold out. This caused some rather quick scrolling through menu to find their second choice. 

Bf settled for specials - slow cooked beef cheek with handcut fries with bearnaise sauce. I had a couple of bits of his dish and the beek cheek was very tender and the marinate was sticky, sweet goodness, however, the serving was small and for the price you pay, it wasn't to-die-for.

 Slow cooked beef cheek with handcut fries

 Aged porterhouse with bearnaise sauce and fries

KT and C ordered the aged porterhouse with bearnaise sauce and fries. Cooked slightly on the side of well-done than on medium the porterhouse was satisfying on all accounts of being a "man's dish". Bf had major case of food envy.

D had the pasta - the bucatini with smoked pork knuckle, leek, tomato stock and regganio. He polished of his plate. And seemed rather content with his meal. He said it was tomato-ey and the pasta was well-made.

Bucatini with smoked pork knuckle and leek 

The dessert menu at Subiaco Hotel were pretty amazing. However, I must admit that we were all a little scared to choose, fear that our choice will not be available anymore for a Thursday night. Luckily, that was not the case, the desserts were not sold out! HURRAH!

  I settled for the sticky date pudding, which was beautiful to start of with, carmel, sticky goodness with this warm moist pudding with the dab of vanilla ice-cream cutting through the sweetness of the carmel perfectly. After a while though the sweetness got way too much and the carmel got sickening. This one is definitely for the sweet tooths!

 Sticky Date Pudding

K and KT opted for the pannacotta with strawberry sorbet and liquorice sauce. The liquorice sweetened sauce was drizzled over the sorbet and pannacotta. I must admit this dessert was very freshing and a stark contrast to the sticky date pudding I ordered. It was tangy, zesty with sweetness through it. Balanced dessert and one which I wouldn't mind getting again.

Pannacotta with berry sorbet in liquorice sauce

 

 C got the apple crumble, which had huge hints of cinnamon through it but boy did it make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. An indulgence of yesteryears at grandmothers.

CH on the other hand got the decadent chocolate cake with a dab of cream and custard-like sauce. It was like a cross between a brownie and a mudcake and the lovely dark chocolate didn't make it too sweet at all. Definitely one for chocolate addicts.

Then the last dessert had by D, I really can't remember what it was. But it's very berry themed. Obviously not too memorable at all.

Overall the food at Subiaco Hotel is pretty good. Although, I did find all the dishes too be too salty. It's like the chef's hand couldn't keep off the salt, or was on a salt-restricted diet so decided to salt everything! It's a pity like that, because you couldn't taste any other flavours other the salt over the course of attempting to finish your main. The desserts on the other hand were delicious and was a definite highlight of the meal. 

The service? They were very busy and very much understaffed, but the waitress that looked after our table was rather accommodating and profusely apologetic, especially when many of our first choices were not available. The fact that 3 of our choices were not available from the wine the entree (DIPS AND TURKISH BREAD COME ON!!) to the main not available on a Thursday seems like a lack of insight on whoever did the shopping list that week. Disappointing with regards to that.

Will I go back? Probably, it seems like a casual enough catch up venue, although a little loud (mainly thanks to the bar attached).