Island Market Trigg – beachside bliss!

Island Market Trigg is a stunningly refurbed venue along the WA Coast. It is everything right about beachside dining. In its previous lives it was Trigg Island Cafe, then more recently Kailis Trigg. Now, still owned by the Kailis crew, they decided to change the feel of the place and on the food front they enlisted the services of superstar chef David Coomer of Star Anise, Pata Negra and Fuyu fame. He’s helped shaped their new menu with the very able assistance of Chef Sunny de Ocampo, previously from Apple Daily (a consistent favourite of mine). By their powers combined they’d developed a creative menu with a distinct Spanish flair to the flavours.

I so love what they’ve done with the fit out. The subtle pink and grey tones throughout, like a subtle nod to the flocks of local galahs, looks perfect against the stark white walls and high ceiling. Plus, well, that view. There is nothing finer than the West Australian coast line….. so says the incredibly biased life long Perth gal 😉

I’d been for a night time visit in their soft opening week, which I’d enjoyed, but it was a whole lot easier to take a few happy snaps of the experience when there is glorious day light streaming in through the many vast windows and I’ll be honest, I am partial to taking a few photos of a meal.

I went along for visit number two for a weekend lunch with GG and my sister, who works away (#fifolife), so it is always nice to catch up with her somewhere fabulous. Our table overlooked the coast, which was very special. Feeling a little fancy we all kicked off proceedings with a cocktail. And don’t they all look the part!

• Amaretto Sour
• Gin Tonica – Bazaar – Applewood Gin, Fevertree Tonice, Ginger, Orange Peel
• Roast Tomato Black Pepper Bloody Mary – Roast tomato medley and cracked peppercorn infused gin

It was careful cheers’ing as we raised our Bloody Mary’s, Amarettos Sours and my Gin and Tonic. All artistically presented and with expertly balanced flavours. Kudos to the bar staff. If we weren’t already in the weekend swing of things, then the first sip of these drinks well and truly got us there.

Then it was time for food – what should be have? It’s a share style menu. So we narrowed down a list of dishes we were keen to tackle:

• Island Pita ($6.00) with Feta labneh ($5.00)
• Grilled Rangers Valley skirt steak, beetroot, walnut, horseradish ($36.00)
• Fried market fish, Manjimup chips ($31.50)
• Shredded cos, cucumber, radish & walnut salad, yoghurt dressing ($13.50)
• Bookara goat’s curd, broad beans, zucchini, basil, crisp pita ($22.50)
• Cinnamon doughnuts, pedro ximinéz ice cream ($16.00)

I’d fallen in love with their pita on our first time around and you get two pieces in a serve, which is adorably delivered in a little pizza box with Island Market Trigg boldy emblazoned on the top. The plates of dip are ample too. We learnt that on our debut visit where we ambitiously ordered two – the hummus, along with the feta, labneh and you could have just had that because they are just delicious and so incredibly moreish. You didn’t want any of either going to waste.

But we focused on our favourite for our second visit, which was the feta, labneh dip. Indulgently creamy, right amount of salt and a welcome sprinkle of spice. And because they are so generous with the dips you can work with a really high dip to bread ratio, which I think is pretty darn important.

Dishes appear as they are ready and up first for us was the fish and chips. It is helpful that you have the option of either a small or large serve for this seaside favourite. Being a group of three and clearly ravenous, we went with the large and this meant we each were able to enjoy a decent amount of the fresh and lightly battered fish. Served with a welcome wedge of lemon to spritz away (which we happily did) along with a dish of creamy aioli, either for your fish or as a tasty dipping sauce for the many, many perfectly crispy chips….clearly Manjimup grows a very good spud! Genuinely Southern Forests representin! #GenuinelyExtraodinary indeed! It was a classic dish, done well and the quality of the fish really shone through.

The skirt steak followed and looked sensational with the bold pop pop of kicky rouge from the baby beets. The slight char from the perfectly cooked steak, the sweetness from the beetroot and the welcome punchy blend of horseradish cream was a winning combination. Mark my words…. what you have there folks is a very tasty mouthful! And an incredibly well cooked piece of beef! It was a huge hit around the table.

Whilst yes we’d gone for a few protein inspired options we had not neglected our veg and the two salads that followed were a refreshing arrival. I’d been drawn to the Bookara Goats Curd dish after having tried their amazing products at farmers markets around town. Plus their social media has plenty of cute baby goat photos, which is always going to win fans. This dish took their goats curd as the base and strategically arranged various greens on top. Then with a considered drizzle of  basil oil and sprinkle of pita crisps the magic salad was made.

Sometimes a lettuce salad can be a little bit plain Jane, but not the case at all with this Island Market Trigg creation. The freshly shredded cos lettuce has been cleverly combined with matchsticks of cucumber and radish, along with walnuts for some crunch, and had been well dressed with a spiced yoghurt dressing that brought it all together. A dish as tasting as it was refreshing.

Now thankfully between the three of us we decided there was just enough room left to tackle dessert and we couldn’t go past the donuts, a welcome nod to chef David Coomers past exploits at Pats Negra. It was so exciting to see them on the Island Market Trigg menu! They captured some whimsy with this dish with the hot donut balls being served in their own individual bag, along with a separate dish of the completely divine Pedro Ximenez ice-cream. The opportunity to savour a couple each, along with some spoonfuls of that perfect ice-cream rounded out an entirely delightful lunchtime visit to this new seaside favourite.

The service had been friendly, unobtrusive and happy to provide menu advice on request. The interior is spot on for the location, so light and bright and makes you want to wile away hours overlooking that beachside view. And there’s some seriously interesting dishes coming out of that kitchen. They’ve taken the best seasonal ingredients and used their expertise to make them shine.

One to pop on your summertime dining list!