The George, Perth CBD
I made a booking at The George for an early dinner with Jac at the beginning of the week. But after a relentless day at the office, I wasn’t in a great mood and was in desperate need of comfort. Jac knows very well the quickest way to cheer me up is not to ask too many questions, feed me and find me something to photograph. We were both in luck.
Disclosure: TFP and Jac dined at The George using a $100 Best Restaurants gift card with compliments of Best Restaurants.
At The George, it was a typically quiet Monday night in Perth hospitality. We scored one of the booths in the back corner, an intimate space with high-backed leather seats we eagerly sank into (food bloggers note: the booths are probably the brightest tables in the house for dinner).
We ordered several dishes to share from the ‘small bites’ section of the menu. They arrived almost all at the same time, a pop-up feast on our table.
With everything to choose in front of me, I aimed my fork at maximum comfort, the cheese: the Greek classic grilled saganaki, with asparagus and lemon (AU$13). A squeeze of lemon really enhanced the salty slabs of nicely browned halloumi. Hot tip: eat this quickly – the cheese loses its spring and squeak as it cools down.
Grilled saganaki, asparagus and lemon (AU$13, gluten-free)The spirals of pink pepper squid (AU$14) were covered in a flavoursome batter but were a little rubbery.
Pink pepper squid, green onion and chilli (AU$14 gluten-free)The house-smoked apple and whisky cured salmon (AU$16) was a pretty dish that simply gleamed with freshness, with shiny ribbons of salmon draped over on green tendrils and crisp radicchio leaves, tumbled with pearls of roe.
House-smoked apple and whisky cured salmon (AU$16, gluten-free)The saganaki was one of my favourite dishes; the other was the corn and manchego croquettes (AU$13). These crunchy cubes with squishy centres were served with popcorn and an oniony charred corn salsa. I was delighted – it was a fantastic little showcase of corn.
Corn and manchego croquettes, charred corn salsa, popcorn (AU$13)The wasabi wagyu tataki (AU$16) had the waxy texture and dusky tinge of air-dried meat. For us, the combo of beef, celeriac and wakame was probably better in theory than in reality. The surprise star of the show was the dangerously irresistible and fiery candied chilli.
Wasabi wagyu tataki, celeraic remoulade, wakame (AU$16, gluten-free)Our waiter sang the praises of the pineapple carpaccio dessert but the lure of croissant bread and butter pudding with Captain Morgan’s ice cream (AU$14) proved too compelling. The bread and butter pudding was soft, gooey and doughnut-like, with a scoop of the rum and raisin ice cream served on top, slowly melting to custardy effect. There was just enough salted caramel on the plate so as not to overwhelm. After all the savoury small bites, this gorgeous sweet pudding was a wonderful way to end the meal.
Croissant bread and butter pudding, salted caramel, Captain Morgan’s ice cream (AU$14)The pudding was superb but you know what would make it amazing? Caramelised bacon bits. Or to be even more stealthy, bacon crumbs. Seriously! An optional extra, so as not to turn off the non-bacon-obsessed. A girl can dream…
We enjoyed our experience at The George. Service was friendly without being overly familiar, and our meal, while not spectacular, really hit the spot and put a smile on this grump’s face. The pudding was pure pleasure.
A Monday night in Perth
The George
216 St Georges Terrace
Perth WA 6000
Telephone: 08 6161 6662
Opening hours
Monday to Friday 7am – late
Saturday 5pm to late
High tea:
Saturday 1pm to 4pm
Sunday 1pm to 5pm
The George has a strict dress code: no sneakers, thongs, sport shoes, jerseys or backpacks allowed.
You can make a reservation online from The George’s website (they use the Dimmi online booking system) – I like this a lot as any time’s a convenient time to make a booking.
Best Restaurants Gift Card
We dined at The George using a $100 Best Restaurants Gift Card with compliments of Best Restaurants.
Best Restaurants Gift Cards are are available at Australia Post, Big W, Coles, Kmart, Target, Woolworths and Drake (Qld and SA) and can be used at over 500 restaurants across Australia.
Competition
Best Restaurants is giving away two gift cards worth $300 each. For a chance to win, take a photo of a dish you’ve enjoyed at a restaurant listed at the Best Restaurants website and upload to the competition site – the two photos with the most votes will win. Competition runs 1 November to 6 December 2013 – enter and see competition details.