Overall:
Have just returned from a special luncheon at Lamont's and thought I should write this whilst it is fresh in my mind.
Lamont's is sensationally situated on the boardwalk at East Perth and on this "picture postcard" afternoon we were seated at a beautifully set table for two on the outdoors area.
The table was attractively presented with crisp white linen, quality stemware and well polished cutlery (it is a pet hate of mine to be given "spotty" cutlery when it takes only a little effort to get it right!)
My only criticism of the service for the whole day was that the maitre de should have spread the napkins for us! You can see I am from the old school!!
The menu while not large should be able to satisfy most people and I found it offered a most interesting array of different dishes to those that I normally encounter.
I chose the special of the day entree of Prawn, Asparagus, Spinach and crisp fried poached egg. Absolutely delicious. The Prawns (tail on) were placed on top of very lightly blanched Asparagus (that still retained its fresh crunch) both of which were on a bed if wilted English spinach, the dish being topped with an egg that had been lightly poached then quickly deep fried so that the outer became crisp with the yolk still soft to provide its own dressing to the dish.
For my main I went for the Braised duck leg with sheppard's pie of duck, and pink peppercorn jus. Again the dish was attractivly plated and whilst not huge was large enough in quantity to satisfy a gourmand but may have been a little small for a "glutton" Unfortunately I find too many people confuse quantity for quality.
Being a small person my wife chose two entrees and found them more than sufficient. To start she chose Air dried Wagyu with Delphic fetta. truffled grissini and herb salad.The beef melted in the mouth as one would expect from Wagyu however the fetta was perhaps too definite a flavour for the delicate Wagyu. Her second choice was Goats cheese and herb tart with sorrel, creme fraiche and frisee. This dish was beautifully balanced and the flavours were harmonious and fresh.
We shared a Desert selection that comprised of a caramel choux puff a small creme caramel and a slice of an almond tart with a rasberry coulis. Each in its own right was delicious and together complimented one another.
We were not feeling like drinking much so selected to have a glass each of the excellent Lamont's SSB. It was an admirable partner to all our Entree and Main dishes.
The topic of wine leads me to the prices at Lamont's. This is not a cheap place to dine, the Entrees ranged from $17.50 to $19.50, Mains from $36.00 to $42.00 and desserts $11.00 (for icecream) to $18.00. While the prices are on the high side it was the wine list that struck me. I can’t remember a bottle for less than $40.00. I have no problem with a restaurant having a markup of about 100% on their "Landed Unit Cost" but think that when it approaches 300% I am being ripped off. I think that Lamont's would do well to revisit their wine prices and I am sure that they would find that increased turnover would more than offset the reduced margin if they were to lower prices.
We finished with an excellent Short Macchiato.
Lamont's is the perfect place for special occasion dining and despite my comments on the wine price I would happily return to enjoy the ambience and fine food on offer.