Cheap and rarely nasty |
Modern dining culture, whilst not eschewing fine dining, has seen the previous underclass of suburban chefs and kitchens rising to welcome a new breed of adventurous diners.
Bars attached to burger joints, distillery's and breweries with food trucks, or indeed kitchens, onsite are dragging canny foodies out of the city hot spots into the 'burbs.
Some long established, some that weren't there last week, these new haunts are, in most cases, instant classics. Lyric Lane fits that bill.
Maylands, Bayswater, North Freo and the Rockingham foreshore to name a few, are heaving on the weekends. At bars like Mrs Brown, King Somm and Henry on Eighth you will find edgy menu's, edgier staff and rock solid beverage lists.
One of my frequently voiced whinges is the lack of variety in Perth, and Australian, wine lists. No-one, well almost, wants to pay $17 for a crappy Margs red when you can get a superb Spanish one for $12. Rant over.
It's now a thing to find foreign wines around town but you have to look hard sometimes.
The vibrancy of some of these bars and pubs is enhanced by a family friendly ethos. Its now no longer rare to walk into an upmarket bar and see kids happily munching chips and colouring in.
Food has also changed enormously. Sure you can burger yourself to death at dozens of places but you can also find dishes from around the world. We were at a pub south of Freo recently and I had brilliant lamb ribs while the Blonde wolfed down a quinoa salad.
Yep. In.a.pub.
Deal with it.
And the casual tag does not relate at all to the menu. These are sharp chefs serving banging, stunning to look at food.
And yet these are no overnight success. Its careful planning, curating dedicated diners and smashing social media with lickable food images.
Its a great time to be hungry on the weekends.
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