77 George Street, East Fremantle
(2019 – now in Bicton)
Ph: (08) 9319 1440
The three elements
Each dish on the menu at Limones contains three major elements – balancing each other like the three legs on a tripod, to create an elegant whole. The cuisine is European with a strong Italian influence, along with nods to the Spanish and the French, and everything is made in house.
Owner and chef Shannon Leonard told us: “We like to source the best ingredients we can get, and keep it simple. Italian cooking uses three elements in each dish, to make simple but really nice food.” Using seasonal produce, they minimise the number of dishes on the menu so that everything is very fresh. In fact, there wasn’t a single dish on the menu that didn’t look enticing. As manager Simon Jones says, “It’s all about the food.”
We started with Shark Bay Wild Scallops, sweet and tender grilled scallops served on a bed of cauliflower puree and topped with crispy strips of pancetta and a garnish of micro-herbs. This was matched very nicely by a glass of 2016 Paul Conti Tuart Block Chenin Blanc (Carabooda, WA) as suggested by Simon. Simon seems to really know his wines and I was glad to take his recommendation as every wine he suggested was good. The tasting notes in the wine menu are very informative and are Simon’s own notes, and all the wines we tried are available by the glass.
Next we had Grilled Atlantic Salmon with cuttlefish ink risotto and Pernod. The salmon was delicately tender and really tasty, with a touch of crispness on the top surface. It sat on a circle of gleaming black risotto, which went really well with the salmon, as did the 2015 Delas Saint Esprit Cotes-du-Rhone (France), a soft well-rounded red. But it was even better with the notes of pear, rosewater and spice in the 2016 The Lane Vineyards Block 2 Pinot Gris (Adelaide Hills, SA) – which was the best match of food and wine on the day.
The savoury Shark Bay Blue Swimmer Crab, served with fine noodles of capellini pasta and more than a hint of chilli in the tomato sugo, was delicious with both the Cotes-du-Rhone and the Pinot Gris – though possibly best with the red. This was another very enjoyable dish. The noodles were done to a perfect consistency, and the flavour of the finely shredded crab was enhanced by just the right amount of chilli.
Time for dessert, and Shannon didn’t let us down, presenting us with a beautiful plate of Valrhona Chocolate Ganache with 
raspberry sorbet and Italian soft meringue. Chocolate and raspberry are my two favourite flavours and this was a superb dessert. The pure, intensely chocolate flavour of the ganache was perfectly offset by the tangy raspberry sorbet and the sweet soft meringue. Simon offered us a glass of 2010 Grande Maison Cuvee Des Anges Monbazillac (France), sweet, but not too sweet, to go with the dessert.
A latte for me and a long macchiato for my dining companion finished off the meal nicely.
Limones has been operating in George Street for a few years now and Simon says the chefs and the kitchen are its greatest strengths. Certainly I could not fault the food at all, and look forward to dining there again. Simon and Shannon both seem to be humble, down to earth, genuine people with a passion for good food and wine and absolutely no compromise on quality.
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