Perth Voice Interactive

RESTAURANTS with amazing views tend to have mediocre food.

They often rely on the vista to lure people in and get away with over-priced meals and poor service.

So when my wife “Special K” said she had booked Hamptons City Beach for her dad’s birthday lunch, my heart sank a little.

Let’s start with the positive – after days of biblical rain the grey clouds parted and the sun gingerly came out to play as we drove up Stirling Highway. 

The blue skies were a good omen as we easily found a space in the Hampton’s large beachside car park. The restaurant is classy but casual with a gorgeous standalone bar, polite and friendly staff, corporate-style decor and very comfortable cushioned seats.

It has the air of a hotel lobby, but isn’t bland or anodyne with some ocean paintings by a local Perth artist adding a vibrant splash of colour to the walls.

The restaurant design maximises those gorgeous ocean views – there’s a huge bank of almost floor-to-ceiling windows along the length of the restaurant, ensuring every table has a great view.

It’s an amazing vista with tankers, boats and weatherfronts transforming it into a kaleidoscope of colours and hues.

The main menu had a range of starters (tea smoked duck breast, sweet corn & manchego croquette, wagyu bresaola) mains (chargrilled beef fillet, berbere spiced kangaroo fillet, lamb rack and tasmanian salmon) as well as some pizzas and a decent kids menu including pasta, pizza and fish and chips.

It was a solid enough menu, but some specials or a couple of exotic dishes would have really got my tastebuds standing to attention.

Out of all our meals, my wife’s and father-in law’s bone-in chicken breast ($37.50) was the standout: two large pieces of tender chook with a gorgeous white wine dijon mustard cream and tomato concasse.

Adding to the bevy of flavours was the sage and parma ham, bocconcini and a dainty mound of mushroom risotto.

“It’s one of those creamy indulgent dishes that keeps you coming back for more,” my wife said.

The father-in law nodded in agreement and then shovelled in another forkful of chicken.

Across the circular table, my mother-in law was tucking into her twice cooked pork belly ($41).

Hamptons didn’t skimp on portions with a giant slab of Porky Pig on the plate.

“Badly-cooked pork belly can be fatty and a real slog, but this is delicious,” said the mother-in law.

“I really like the apple puree, pickled red cabbage and baby carrots.”

The dish came with a nice jus and some fondant potatoes on the side. The least-impressive main was my seafood pappardelle pasta ($36.50).

There wasn’t enough prawns, squid, mussels and fish, and while the Napolitana sauce was tasty it didn’t have the depth of flavour and rich burst of tomato I was expecting.

The large ribbons of pappardelle were nice but didn’t have that super light quality I associate with freshly made pasta.

An enjoyable if slightly underwhelming dish.

The serves were big, so we couldn’t fit in a dessert but there was a small range including bombe alaska, madagascan vanilla bean panna cotta, toasted meringue, as well as gelato, sorbet, dessert wine and a cheese board.

Our lunch at Hamptons was very enjoyable and it’s a great choice for a special occassion (go for breakfast or lunch so you can enjoy those ocean views).

While not hitting the culinary heights of some other top-end places, it’s a nice overall experience.

Hamptons City Beach
179 Challenger Parade, City Beach
hamptonscitybeach.com.au

by STEPHEN POLLOCK