The brief: to take my dad somewhere nice for lunch. It had to have good food and wine, and an excellent reputation. If it was in the Entertainment Book, even better. I chose
Bistro Felix in Subiaco, as it has been rated as one of Perth's best by the Good Food Guide, and was one of those special occasion restaurants I had always wanted to visit. The fact that it had a 'petit lunch menu' offering two courses for $40 and three courses for $45 including a glass of wine, made the prospect even more attractive.
Berry Paris-Brest
So I suppose it was inevitable then, that Dad and I avoided the reasonably priced lunch menu and instead strayed onto the full menu where mains hover around the $40 mark. It was also predictable that in my state of second trimester forgetfulness that I would forget the Entertainment Card until I was at home later on, recovering on the couch. Oh well. It was still a beautiful lunch.
The room is large and bright, with a number of dark wooden booths, curved, and set with double white linen tablecloths. The walls are adorned with bright vintage art. The wine glasses are enormous and the chefs in their kitchen work with a feverish intensity. It oozes class.
A waiter offered us a half slice of bread each and left a dish with a generous portion of salted butter on the table. Dad thoughtfully saved him a second trip by asking for another piece then and there. I wish I had. He never returned with the bread basket, although it was a long wait for mains to arrive.
Blue swimmer crab linguine
Dad ordered an entrée, a blue swimmer crab linguine ($26). It looked beautiful, decorated with micro-herbs so fresh they almost had dirt clinging to them (they didn't - it was impeccable). For the price, there was a disappointing lack of crab meat.
Salmon, risotto and seafood veloute. Delicious.
For mains I ordered the escalope of salmon, creamed herb risotto, seafood veloute, radish and scallion salad ($39). It was one of the most delicious things I have eaten in a long time – the fish was generous and pink, the risotto dotted with tiny cubes of raw cucumber, it was both sweet and creamy. I will admit I laughed at their interpretation of radish and scallion salad (it's the little green bit on top of the salmon) but the taste was to die for.
As a sidenote, I have just looked up escalope on Wikipedia and it says it is a cooking method where a piece of meat is taken off the bone and thinned out using a mallet or rolling pin. I cannot see how it possibly relates to the lovely chunky piece of salmon I had in front of me, but then again, I'm not a chef.
Wagyu steak
Dad ordered the Wagyu rump ($41) which came with a side of skin-on, hand-cut frites and choice of three sauces (café de Paris butter, béarnaise or red wine jus). It came medium rare in the centre as ordered, but was definitely medium around the edge. Not as marbled as you might expect, it was still tender and tasty.
Surrounded by businessmen in jackets and ties on a sunny weekday, we thought we would follow suit and make it a long lunch, so we ordered desserts. On the petit lunch menu you have a choice of one dessert (not much of a choice really) but on the full lunch/dinner menu there are many options to choose from, all $16.
Dad went with the berry paris-brest, with plenty of fresh cream and ice-cream. Like a sweet, creamy bagel but made of choux pastry, it looked too perfect to destroy, but he did anyway.
Creme brulee with shortbread
I chose the lemon and cinnamon crème brulee with shortbread. I love crème brulee and this was no disappointment. I couldn't really detect the lemon but the cinnamon was spot on. The top cracked very satisfactorily, the crumbly shortbreads offered a textural change to the creaminess of the brulee. Other dessert options – today at least, Bistro Felix regularly change their menus to reflect seasonal offerings – included a chocolate caramel tart with poached fruit. Alternatively they offer a range of cheese platters to finish your meal ($11-$12 each cheese).
Interestingly, they also offer the menu d'economie, or the 'price fix' menu, whereby you can choose two courses (from soup, entrée, mains and desserts) for $55 or three courses for $65. This is from the full menu so it is regardless of whether you choose the $34 market fish with salad or the $41 wagyu rump with chips. However it is only for dinner, and only Mondays to Thursdays. But given that lunch for two (one entrée, two mains, two desserts, three wines) cost almost $200, the menu d'economie certainly sounds like a wise investment.
