Bad Apples Bar

Many moons ago, my office was based in Mt Pleasant. It is a beautiful suburb right near the river but I wouldn’t say that the lunch options around my old office were necessarily abundant. So when I heard Bad Apples Bar was opening in Applecross I made a point to visit. It was a nice spot but the office shifted and I don’t often find myself back in that part of the world. A recent email let me know that Bad Apples was under new management and had a Winter menu on offer. My memories of previous visits were fond, so I organised a Saturday lunchtime to call in with my favourite eating companion, GG. We arrived a touch before 12 and had a choice of seating options and opted for the couch style seating which had plenty of comfortable pillows.

As we looked through the menu we learnt that the Winter dish additions were focused more on the substantial options and chicken, fish and pasta choices were on offer.

We decided to try something from each section of the menu and ordered:

• Duck tacos (3) – Pineapple salsa & chipotle $20
• Wagyu Beef sliders (2) – BBQ Chipotle, Mozzarella $16
• Crispy Skin Barramundi – Cannellini Beans, Baby Carrots, Herb Pesto, Chat Potatoes $28
• Mushroom Pizza – Spinach, Haloumi & Horseradish (vg*) $22

On the drinks front, while the option of going wild on the Enomatic Wine Dispenser was entirely tempting, we decided to keep things simple for a Saturday lunch and had a glass each of the Tempranillo.

The Enomatic Wine Dispenser is a great addition to Bad Apples and means you can try some more top end wines and see if you like them, with a taste tester, before splashing out on a glass of your favourite.

Enomatic® systems dispense wine directly from the bottle using revolutionary inert gas preservation (nitrogen or argon).

The flavours and characteristics of the wine remain intact for more than three weeks, as if the bottle had just been opened. With portion control technology, Enomatic® allows wine establishments to create extended wine by the glass or tasting menus which are enticing to customers and allow business to maximize servings while eliminating waste.

The fit out at Bad Apples is light and bright, with warming wooden inclusions throughout, with some funky light fixtures. Had me thinking I wanted to get some large rose gold lamp shades somewhere at home, they looked fab against the pressed tin ceiling. It’s a welcoming space.

Soon enough it was food time. The pizza looked very appetising, loaded up with ample fresh ingredients and I was particularly pleased to spy an abundance of haloumi. The more squeaky cheese the merrier I’m always going to say! We had been quite torn between whether to order the mushroom or chorizo pizza, but as soon as I took a bite I had no regrets. It was a very tasty flavour combination. I particularly enjoyed the artistic drizzle of horseradish cream, which added a mild spicy heat to each slice. A delightful addition. Potentially the base could have been a touch crispier, but that thought proved fleeting, as slice after slice soon disappeared, new flavours proving delicious together.

Onto the duck tacos next. I’m not sure what I had been expecting with this dish, but they presented slightly differently to what I had anticipated, in a pleasant way! There was plenty of flavoursome, tender shredded duck, along with some pineapple salsa, a generous dollop of kicky chipotle sauce and a little greenery. They were enjoyable and filling, but I wished the pineapple had been just a touch sweeter to provide more of a contrast to the heat from the chipotle and the general richness from all of that duck.

The sliders presented beautifully. An elegant stack with slightly charred brioche bun lids. The patties were juicy and entirely flavourful, teamed up with cheese, a blend of sauces and crunch from fresh greens. They were everything you want a slider to be. A mini burger with all the awesome bigger burger flavour condensed into the smaller size. Lock them in. And…… maybe don’t share them. Trust me, you’ll want both of them.

The substantial dishes are the newer menu additions and they all sounded enticing, so it was a tough choice. After much consideration we decided on the barramundi and will you just look at it! All those roast lil’ spuds, a generous healthy herbed crust and perfectly cooked fish. It was a quality seafood main for $28. A very reasonable price by Perth restaurant standards and it tasted really lovely. I’m not always the hugest fish fan, but I really enjoyed it, very fresh and I enjoyed those spuds and all that herb. The cannellini beans added an interesting texture too. So well worth opting for something on the more substantial side and spending a little longer at Bad Apples.

After putting very respectable dents in those four dishes, there was sadly no room to be thinking about dessert on this visit, but means a return is likely because the warm chocolate mess sounded delicious. So when next in Applecross this friendly local is one to keep in mind for a small or big bite of lunch, along with a refreshing beverage.

Thanks to the Bad Apples Team for looking after us.