burger boy and I had the pleasure of experiencing the newly refurbished Cottesloe Beach Hotel and dining at The Beach Club (the former beer garden) with Garry Gosatti, Executive Director of The Cottesloe Beach Hotel, Russell Blaikie of must wine bar, The Cottesloe Beach Hotel’s Consultant and fellow Perth bloggers (The Breakfast Confidential, The Food Pornographer, Libertine Eats and Karen Cheng) last month.
Russell Blaikie tells us that the owners of The Cottesloe Beach Hotel wanted to create a casual environment serving good food that catered for everyone. The Beach Club menu reflects just that, nice simple food made from locally sourced produce. Russell Blaikie tells us “sometimes you might see the boat that catches the scallop on your plate”.
As we enjoyed the fine champagne on offer and starters, burger boy and The Breakfast Confidential recapped on how they remember the Cott back in the day before the multi-million dollar redevelopment 
It sounded like there were plenty of wild drunken nights. Always living north of the river and close to the city – this was my very first visit to The Cottesloe Beach Hotel and I was impressed. It was classy but not pretentious, it’s the kind of place you could dress up or go casual in your beach wear for a bite to eat after a swim.
feta whip, dukka, olives and bread from Jean Pierre Sancho $14
Woodfired grilled flat bread, rosemary salt, extra virgin olive oil $7
The fried squid with Turkish pepper & tzatziki $16 was my favourite. I love squid but find it’s always a hit or miss – sometimes too deeply fried or chewy. The Beach Club squid was lightly crumbed and the tzatziki dip was delish.
Having our own pizza bar, burger boy and I don’t often have pizza out. First bite into this Pancetta, gorgonzola, spinach pizza $24 reminded me how much I love woodfired pizzas. I now eat blue cheese 
This Prawns, chilli, bocconcini and basil woodfired pizza $25 was tasty too. Prawns were fresh and the pizza crust nice & crisp
I don’t normally eat lamb but the warm spices, tomato sauce and yoghurt mask the usual “lamb” flavour beautifully, the meatballs were flavoursome and tender. Russell Blaikie said these meatballs had “flavours of the sun”
The charcoal grills and rotisseries custom built by Perth’s Zesti Ovens were impressive…
No surprises the marinated chicken and lamb $27 as cooked over charcoal from the woodfired rotisserie above were beautifully tender and full of flavour. The giant tabouli salad & tzatziki complemented the savory flavours of the meat.
I’m always curious to know what chefs eat at home – do they get sick of what they cook at their restaurants and cook something completely different or do their restaurant menus change with their food inspiration so their home cooking is similar to their restaurant menu? In Russell Blaikie’s case, his home cooking is similar to that of his menus, he believes simple is good and often cooks roasted lamb with seasoning served with couscous similar to The Beach Club’s marinated meats.
Whilst talking about The Beach Club menu, Russell Blaike tells us that his Balinese duck curry, bean sprout salad, steamed rice $32 was inspired by a Balinese guy who took Russell Blaikie to the markets and cooked with him. We didn’t get to try the duck curry but burger boy loves his duck so we’ll def be back to The Beach Club to have a taste soon.
After tasting The Beach Club menu we went for a tour of the newly refurbished Cottesloe Beach Hotel. I loved the chilled atmosphere…
burger boy’s eyes lit up at the sight of this 100% Angus Beef Burger…
As we were leaving, we were told The Cottesloe Hotel make their own soft serve ($8):
- Cookies & cream layered with Oreos & Greek Yoghurt
- Peanut Butter Fudge – roasted peanuts, chocolate sauce & peanut butter fudge
- Cherry delight – cherries, marshmallow & white choc sauce
I LOVE soft serve – there’s many childhood stories about me chasing the Mr Whippy van bare foot through grass with prickles – I was tempted to turn back and completely indulge but we didn’t – all the reason to go for a swim at The Cott and come back for food & ice-cream soon
Big thank you to The Cottesloe Beach Hotel for having burger boy and I – we love the new look & menu.
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