Peppers Kings Square Hotel
621 Wellington St, Perth
Ph: (08) 9483 9600
www.peppers.com.au/kings-square
The STAGE is all set
It’s always interesting to try out a new menu and the Stage Bar + Kitchen was no exception. Located on the ground floor lobby of Peppers Kings Square Hotel, a modern, high quality 120 room hotel on Wellington Street, it’s just a short walk from the city’s shopping precinct, Perth Arena and Northbridge. Menu Magazine has reviewed it previously, but this was my first visit in person, and I was impressed by the quality of both the food and the service.
From the breakfast menu, we started with Roasted Butternut Bruschetta with feta and dukkha. It’s served on sourdough bread made with charcoal; black all the way through without tasting burnt; soft inside and crunchy toasted on the outside; topped with sweet chunks of butternut pumpkin, creamy soft, salty Persian-style feta, wafer-thin slices of pickled mushroom; and a couple of perfectly poached eggs on the side sprinkled with dukkha. Definitely not your average bruschetta and a dish that could be enjoyed at any time of day.
The Crab, avocado and gazpacho sauce is a light and tasty crab mousse served with avocado guacamole and thin slices of toasted sourdough. This starter is ideal as an entrée or a light lunch along with one of the beers from Eagle Bay Brewing.
Scott’s favourite dish was the Duck Breast with charred spring onion and smoked tomatoes, with a braised leg finely shredded and rolled into balls and coated with savoury sesame seeds, burnt orange and Grand Marnier sauce. The tender chunks of duck breast were delicious, while the sauce and the smoked tomatoes were an interesting touch – lots of different flavours and textures in this dish enjoyed with a couple of different red wines. The 2014 Fraser Gallop Estate Parterre Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River, WA) was a lovely full-bodied red, but we felt the lighter 2018 Seville Estate SEWN Pinot Noir (Yarra Valley, VIC) better matched the duck.
definitely my favourite dish. The lamb was beautifully tender, and the housemade gnocchi was like a cross between potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, and went so well with the lamb.Executive chef Craig Spence has been here since before the place opened in November 2016. He has tried a few variations in style before finally settling on a flexible menu where WA produce is the hero. He says the clientele varies from day to day, with Monday to Friday attracting corporate types while the weekends are more casual. As well as hotel guests, tourists and passers-by, there are city workers on their lunch breaks, and being close to the Perth Arena and other entertainment venues, they get a lot of people coming in to eat before or after a show.
General manager Denny Keane told us they plan to launch an express-style lunch menu for local workers with limited time for lunch. He said that the a la carte breakfast is also very popular.
Our overall impression was one of fine dining with great presentation and service at a reasonable price – and the coffee was excellent too.
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