The Cabin Small Bar

The Cabin is a restaurant along the Scarborough Beach Road strip that I have long wanted to go to. I finally got there last Thursday – woohoo! It’s a really lovely place to visit in wintery weather months. Yes I know that last Thursday was still officially Autumn but Winter was just around the corner. It’s such a lovely snug venue. It really is like walking into a cabin. It’s so warm, with plenty of wood features, beautiful timber tables and even a few taxidermy additions to the walls. I think the big buffalo was the most impressive. Oh it’s plenty cabiny!

I liked the look of the menu when I spied it online. It’s fairly extensive and there were plenty of dishes I was keen to try. We ordered a glass of Harewood Estate Riesling 2013 for me and shiraz for GG and carefully considered what we would order.

Head Chef Melissa Palinkas is a passionate, creative and driven chef that has been working  in kitchens in  both Perth and overseas since 1991.  Her interest in cooking was initially sparked by her mum, a foodie and amazing home cook. From there she chose to pursue cooking as a career and developed a real passion for her profession.  Her food can be best described as global cuisine with a few modern twists. Here she serves up a diverse menu & small plates allow you to share & taste what Melissa does best.

We decided sharing was the best way to go, so we ordered three dishes from the Smaller Bites & Grazing section. First to arrive were the Chicken wings, smoked bbq sauce, crispy skin ($12) – I do so enjoy wings. These were served piping hot and slathered in delicious smoked bbq sauce. Wings, like ribs, are delicious messy fun and full of plump chicken goodness. Very enjoyable and I really liked the addition of the indulgent square of crispy skin, carefully balanced on top.

Second to appear was the Camel & smoked bacon empanada, romesco ($13.50). I can’t say I have ever tried camel before, but I thought it paired well with bacon and the smoked tomato in these pastry morsels. They were flavourful little parcels and while I probably couldn’t say that I’d be able to identify camel if I ate it again in another dish, it worked well in the empanadas and I loved the romesco!

The Kentucky fried pig, steamed bun, rhubarb & apple chutney, kohlrabi remoulade ($15.00) arrived next. I probably should have been able to guess the presentation of this dish given the name, but somehow I didn’t quite clue on to what it would be like. But I can confirm that pork done Kentucky fried style is very much KFC’d in its spicy batter. We didn’t mind this dish, but it didn’t quite win us over as much as the others. I did like the refreshing julienned ribbons of apple and rhubarb though.

We had been indecisive about how many items from the Small Dishes section we’d need but feeling fairly comfortable after our starters we went with three that sounded particularly enticing. Quail breast kievs, parmesan gremolata, dill mayonnaise ($22.00) sounded too good to pass up. They were essentially very jazzy grown up style chicken nuggets. I just loved them. Their wonderfully crispy coating and an incredibly punchy kick of kieved garlic goodness. I also liked the generous sprinkling of grated parmesan, because I am very much pro cheese.

The final two dishes arrived together, both the Beetroot leaves, whipped feta, shaved persimmon, beetroot, pistachio, pedro xeminez vinaigrette ($16.00) and the Pork belly, black cabbage, ‘Bunker’ mushrooms, beluga lentils, tare butter ($26.50). The salad was such a pretty affair. I loved the two shades of beetroot that made an appearance in their wafter thin rounds, and along with that fabulous whipped fetta was an inspired pairing. I think the crunch of the pistachio worked a treat in the salad too, a great textural contrast with the old crunch and creamy match up.

I was also glad for the salad because the final dish was actually quite rich. Chunky pork belly pieces along with interesting mixed mushrooms and lentils was quite filling. The pork had been well cooked with the fat carefully rendered to a pleasing melt in the mouth softness and I quite liked having it along with lentils. It was something different and I really enjoy puy lentils, they help to bulk out a dish a little.

There were some very appealing dessert and cheese options on the menu, including Snickers in a Glass, but I had enjoyed ample to this point and politely declined. I had liked our first visit to The Cabin. I’d probably say the wings were my favourite of what we’d ordered, followed very closely by the fancy quail ‘nuggets’.  I can see it being a place we’ll head back to soon, given it’s nice and close to home, plus they have a short rib special on Tuesday nights that sounds like it would be right up my alley 🙂