George Street Bistro

For the last night of the 4-week wine course that GG and I were doing they arranged a dinner where a three course meal was matched with tastes of two different wines and then discussed. We were only a small group just 11 but it was nice and cosy at our table at George St Bistro. I hadn’t been to George St Bistro before but my best friend had been to a wine dinner for McHenry Hohnen winery there last year and really enjoyed it, so much so that when her husband’s 30th birthday rolled around in June this year he chose George St Bistro for his family get together. And he loves his food so I was pretty impressed with his glowing review of the place and most pleased to finally be heading along.

The weather was well wintery the night we were set to head to East Fremantle. It was a horrendous crawl down Stirling Hwy to get there but eventually we arrived and from the front it was quite quaint looking. There was also a little deli on the side, but sadly it wasn’t open when we arrived. I’m not sure I’ve ever driven down George Street but there was a few places that looked like they were worth a visit. So we arrived and were given a glass of bubbles which was more than a little pleasant, especially with a slice of the freshly baked bread they had waiting for us.

Soon enough our entree arrived, which was a delicious looking dish of truffled califlower croquettes on persimmon chutney with garden salad. The croquettes were creamy little deep fried wonders and went perfectly with the sweetness of the persimmon chutney. Then with a little freshness of the garden salad it was just a wonderful combination. Really, really enjoyed this dish and the wine group had to discuss whether the mystery semillion sauvignon blanc or the chardonnay went better. I thought the chardonnay was better suited with its buttery creaminess.

Next up we switched across to the reds – with a cabernet sauvignon and also a shiraz that we had to decide which was better suited with our mains. Mains was Lamb Shoulder Roast with sun-dried tomatoes stuffing on ratatouille and fried polenta. Again it was fabulous. The lamb literally melted in your mouth and it was perfectly matched with the vegetable medley. Also the polenta was delicious and a wonderful means of enjoying the gravy that came with the dish. Tasty, tasty, tasty and a nice Mediterranian flavour to it. We then were lucky enough to have Chef Soren come out and detail the three courses to us. His use of red wine in the lamb dish did create a pleasant synergy with the mains. It is always pleasant to hear from the Chef, the main man behind the scene who created the culinary wonder that was presented.

Finally for dessert we were presented with an inspired combination of Steamed Chocolate Pudding with Mandarin Sorbet. Such a delightful contrast of the rich chocolate pudding with the freshness of the mandarin sorbet. It was interesting because we had two dessert wines with this course and one worked well with each. The first was a Cane Cue Semillion Sauvignon Blanc from Xanadu. It matched a treat with the mandarin sorbet, then a Brown Brothers Tawney Port really brought out the richness of the pudding. Dessert is so often my favourite course and in this instance it was a solid performer. It also looked pretty as a picture which is just an added bonus.

George Street Bistro was definitely worth braving the weather and venture to Freo-town. The food was delicious, the service was wonderful, the wines (obviously) were perfectly matched and I am keen to try and recreate califlower croquettes at home! Thanks Soren and the team for a fabulous meal!