A wonderful introduction to red wine thanks to Clarences

I had been looking forward to trying the food at Clarences as I had heard so many good things and had only ever been there for drinks. So I was pretty excited when our suppliers (thanks WASP!) said they would take us there for lunch and drinks…

Before detailing what amazing food we had, I think it’s worth noting that Clarences has officially changed my wine palate. I normally only drink white wine or rose but thanks to Clarences and my good friend and wine connoisseur, yoga boy (author of Eight Paths, One Journey), I tried the Basse Felix Estate Wine Red Pinot 2009 ($140 a bottle). The red pinot was soft and light, a great introduction to the many red wines to be drunk from here on!

Anyway onto food, to start we shared the following:

Empanadas with spice tomato and cucumber yoghurt $7

These were nice but I still prefer my fellow Perth food blogger’s Abstract Gourmet’s empanadas (pics on my Mondo Markets post), which are a bit tastier.

Ricotta fritters with a crushed tomato salad $12


The fritters were a bit plain for my liking, it could have done with a bit more flavouring.

Barbequed local prawns $16

I was too busy enjoying my red wine that I didn’t get to this in time, but I heard it was nice

I had the seared scallops with cauliflower brulee and pork crackle entree $22.

The scallops were amazing, they were cooked perfectly. The cauliflower brulee was like a plain custard with crunchy bits – I didn’t like this but my colleagues who had the same entrée did.

For my main I had the pan fried fish of the day (snapper), fennel, celeriac, chorizo, orange $35.

This was my foodie highlight, the flavours perfectly balanced each other and the cabbage’s texture was super soft and very tasty. And having chorizo with fish was really different as I’ve never had this combo before but it worked really well!

Everyone loved their meals too, this is what they had:

Sous vide & chargrilled lamb leg for two, herbed yoghurt, harissa for two $65

I loved the concept of having a main which can be shared…adds to the dining experience and the boys loved this.

Panfried saffron & chive gnocchi with tomato & feta entree size $21

I had a little taste the gnocchi was cooked perfectly and the flavours were delicious. It is very rich though so only order this main on an empty stomach!

Pumpkin risotto with pine nuts & mascarpone $23 (gluten free)

I don’t eat risotto so I can’t comment on this main but my colleague who had this enjoyed it.

Confit chicken leg with lentils & chorizo $28

I remember seeing chorizo on the day but can’t seem to see it in my pic, must be hidden under the salad / lentils.

As always I couldn’t resist dessert…I had the apple and rhubarb crumble served with vanilla ice-cream $14.

I found this hard to eat as the rhubarb was a bit sour. Think my expectations of rhubarb changed after my yummy West End Deli mascarpone crepes with rhubarb experience… the rhubarb was deliciously sweet

I had major food envy for the sticky date pudding $14 my colleague had:

I had a wonderful time lunching and drinking at Clarences. The service was great, food was delicious, there were a great range of drinks on offer, décor was ultra funky and the ‘number’ art kept my yoga friend amused for hours and best of all great company!

Clarences is a great bar to go for a night out or for lunch/dinner - being a week day lunch, we had almost the whole venue to ourselves so hearing each other wasn’t an issue but I’d imagine it’d be pretty loud on the weekend.