The Fine Dining Progressive Dinner as part of the Eat Drink Perth food festival happening in WA’s capital city during the month of March, is a great way to experience three of the city’s finest restaurants.

Led by Perth’s popular walking tour specialists Two Feet and Heart Beat, the progressive dinner itinerary featured entree at the Print Hall, main meal at Lamonts Bishop House, and dessert at the Terrace Hotel.

Firstly, before a decadent dinner, Two Feet and a Heart Beat owner Ryan took our small group of seven on a short secret art walking tour.  It’s secret because we saw some art in a secret city alley way that hardly anyone knows exists. I’m not sure I should give Two Feet and a Heart Beat’s secret away by telling you where it is? You might have to message me on Facebook and ask very nicely if you really want to know.  We found it  interesting and eye opening.

Onto the Print Hall. This was Zorba’s first time to Brookfield Place and he liked it. Thank God. Trying to get him to agree to a night out in the city is a challenge.  I think it’s going to be a bit easier from here on. He loved it.

We were spoilt with two entrees; two types of freshly shucked oysters – South Australian (bigger and delicate flavour) and Albany (smaller more intense flavour). It was interesting to compare the two types.  My allegiance to WA was put to one side for a moment as my taste buds preferred the South Australian oysters for their delicate flavour.  Others preferred the creaminess of the Albany oysters.  The two vinaigrettes were beautiful, but I still prefer just a squeeze of lemon when the oysters are as good as these.

Two types of Oysters, Print Hall

Print Hall has an oyster special on Tuesdays, two dozen oysters for $50.  That’s just over $2 per oyster. A bargain. Zorba (who loves a bargain) and another tour goer Barry decided to get another two dozen to share. Totally indulgent – I love it!

I thoroughly enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir from the USA. I know, I know, I should have chosen bubbly or white wine, but the red just sounded (and tasted!) so good. I broke the sacred wine with food rule. Oh well, rules are made to be broken.

Tasting platter, Print Hall

The second part of our entree at the Print Hall was a tasting platter featuring a gorgeous pistachio and pork terrine, serrano jamon, air dried shaved beef, salami, a chorizo like sausage, pickled vegetables, and yummy rye grissini bread sticks as well as fresh bread. The house made butter was a little cold and hard to spread at first, but boy was it creamy and delicious after a few minutes.

The terrine was an absolute standout. Firm texture with the added crunch of the pistachio made it something really special.  Beautifully flavoured. Everything on the platter was gorgeous, but fairly standard fare in our house, besides the terrine.  It was so good.

Next stop, Lamonts at Bishop House.  Bishop’s House is tucked away behind Rigby’s bar between Mill Street and Spring Street in the city.  Many moons ago, a fresh spring once ran under neath where the house is built, hence the name of Spring Street. The heritage listed house was built in 1859. It is so lovely and who ever did the interior design really did a outstanding job – it’s beautifully furnished.  It has a warm and welcoming ambience – the vibe the building exuded made me feel instantly comfortable, like I had been there before.  We sat on the balcony overlooking the gardens that provided a natural shield to the traffic on Mounts Bay Road.

Barramundi at Lamonts

The food at Lamonts, at any Lamonts restaurant, is unbelievably good. Tonight was no exception. Barramundi with a fried zucchini flower and roast pepper and tomato salsa. The zucchini flower, that wasn’t stuffed, was delicate and crispy – as good as any I’ve had in Italy. The barramundi was gorgeous, flakey and soft. The roasted pepper and tomato salsa was amazing. Everything worked beautifully. And we got two pieces of bread and house made butter also. The Germans in our group were very excited about the quality of the bread, saying it was just like bread they got back home.

The Lamonts Shiraz was delicious. Yes, I know, again I had red wine with seafood.  Seriously, with red wine this good, I’d have it with cereal. Perfect Shiraz.

Off for another short walk. Tour guide Ryan pointed out some more interesting pieces of art on the corner of the St Georges Terrace and Milligan Street, before leading us into the Terrace Hotel.

Delicious fortified dessert wine

Italian waiter Antonio explained the complex process of how the fortified wine was made; the wine is distilled in one wine barrel for a set time before being moved to a series of older barrels, until it reached the oldest mother barrel, which was made in 1927, which was also the name of the wine.  He said it could be called a sherry. Call it what ever you like – but can I have another glass? It was yummy, like a light port.

The dessert wine accompanied a cheese platter.  By far the blue cheese and the quince jam was my second favourite. My favourite was the dessert wine, whilst not technically a food group, I’d happily skip dessert just for the wine.

We sat in a private dining room surround by a gazillion dollars worth of wine and champagne.  I had cellar envy for sure.

If I was to make any criticism, it would come from my sweet tooth. Cheese I love, but not as much as chocolate. It would have been a fitting end to a delicious and delightful night to have a chocolate dessert or petit fours.

It was 10.15pm and our night came to an end.  We were grateful that we had a good group that chatted and gelled well together. This was helped along by tour guide Ryan, a Canadian, who has a really lovely way with people. It’s no surprise that his tourism business is doing so well.

It was a terrific way to experience three of Perth’s newest fine dining establishments in one night, at the cost of having just one night out at one of these venues.

Don’t delay, the progressive dinner is only on again next Monday and Tuesday. It costs $140 per person.  A glass of wine or beer is included with each course.  The wine was most generous at Lamonts as the friendly waiter continued to top up our glasses. Thanks Lamonts.

We hope Tour operators Two Feet and a Heart Beat are able to continue the Fine Dining Progressive Dinner as part of their tour offerings as planned. A great idea and it was fun to be tourist in my own city. Try it, like me, you might discover some new secrets.

We paid for our own tickets to this event.

FACT FILE

Eat Drink Perth runs for the month of March in the City of Perth.

Two Feet and a Heart Beat offer interesting walking  and small bar tours in Perth and Sydney.