The Equinox, Busselton

During the Easter break, Jac and I and my sister Juji and her boyfriend Jay drove down to Busselton, in the South West of Western Australia. We’d booked a couple of holiday apartments for three nights, within walking distance of the beach.

Upon arrival in Busselton, we raided the tourist centre for maps and information about local attractions/eateries, then drove through the town centre (grabbing restaurant takeaway menus wherever available) and headed towards Geographe Bay and the Busselton Jetty. It was lunch time and we were ready for some grub. We decided to try The Equinox, one of the cafes overlooking the beach.

Juji ordered a steak sandwich with fries (AU$25). The grilled sirloin steak was served in a toasted panini roll with fresh tomato and mixed greens, onion jam, garlic mayonnaise and cheddar cheese.

Juji enjoyed the sandwich overall, especially the sweet caramelised onions, but found the bread roll to be on the stale side.

Jac is a big fan of offal and was very excited to see chicken livers (AU$22.50) on the menu. In fact, once she’d seen livers on the menu displayed outside the cafe before we’d even stepped foot inside, she’d pretty much decided we’d have to eat lunch at The Equinox! We didn’t mind. The seared chicken livers with chorizo and onion in a garlic, cream, tomato and sherry sauce were served with a large slab of Italian bread. Jac loved this dish. The livers had been cleaned correctly and cooked perfectly, the dish was saucy and full of flavour, and the bread was soft and fresh and great for soaking up all that lovely sauce.

Jay and I were in a fish and chips kind of mood and decided to share one of the specials of the day, the seafood platter (AU$40), which included battered fish, salt and pepper squid and crispy fried battered king prawns with tartare and honey soy dipping sauces, chips and salad on the side.

We both crunched on the crispy fried prawn legs with great enjoyment.

The prawns were not tas bursty as we’d have liked, though their crunchy legs were fantastic to eat. The battered fish was good, crisp on the outside and flaky on the inside. Although the squid was tender, the salt and pepper batter was horribly soggy. The chips, buried under the deep-fried seafood, suffered a little from the “steam trap effect” (regular readers will know how much I hate chips to be served this way – remember this steam trap?).

The cafe wasn’t very busy, but looking out the window we could see Equinox’s takeaway next door doing a roaring trade. If you prefer something cheaper and more casual that you can buy at eat at a bench outside or on the beach, the takeaway sells burgers, fish and chips, sandwiches and wraps, drinks and ice creams. But for awesome ice cream by the beach made from fresh South West local produce, a visit to Simmo’s Ice Creamery nearby is essential (there’s a post featuring Simmo’s coming up).

The Equinox Cafe
On the foreshore Jetty end of Queen Street
Busselton WA 6280
Telephone: (08) 9752 4641
Web: www.theequinox.com.au
Open 7 days from 8.30am
Takeaway open 7 days from 10am to 5pm. Times may vary, weather permitting

Click for larger map

Sky, sea, fishing and sunset

After lunch, we checked in at our holiday apartments, which were next to one another, then went for a walk to find the nearest beach. Jay checked out the fishing spots.

We had a bit of a rest and relax back at our apartments, then returned to the beach closer to sundown. Jay and I carried fishing gear (I also had my camera bag, of course), Jac and Juji brought books, and towels to sit on.

While Jac and Juji sat on the beach and settled into reading, Jay and I made our way onto the rocky groyne to join the other people fishing. I had a couple of nibbles but didn’t come close to catching anything. No one was catching much; at most, a couple of very small skippies (what we call silver trevally in Western Australia; I’m pretty sure in the other states “skippy” may refer to other fish species). Although I was having fun, I was acutely aware of being surrounded by stunning scenery – and the urge to take photographs soon became overwhelming. I abandoned the fishing rod for my camera. Jay didn’t mind.

As it grew darker, most of the people packed up their fishing gear and left. Jay switched on his headlamp and kept on fishing. Jac, Juji and I sat and talked, enjoying the fresh air and the blissful feeling of being on the first night of our holiday. We wondered how long Jay would stay out there, and whether he was getting hungry, because we all were!

Eventually he had to admit defeat too and joined us back on the beach. It was definitely time for dinner. We returned again to our apartments to consult the swag of takeaway menus we’d picked up earlier…

Beautiful place, isn’t it?

Busselton trip, April 2011

See the full list of posts from our Busselton trip in correct reading order.

Facebook comments

comments

 Like