I rarely order coffee when I go out for dinner. I’ve become a little pretentious with my coffee. I was a bit of a snob before, but since my Five Senses days, I’m worse. So you can understand why there’s great excitement around the roastery when a top notch restaurant joins the Five Senses family.
Steves Fine Wine & Food in Nedlands is one such restaurant, and on a cold and rainy Wednesday night, I enjoyed a night out on the Five Senses expense account. (Thanks boss!) Poor time management on my part saw us skipping a drink at the bar before dinner and there was no time for a peek in the highly acclaimed Wine Store. There’s plenty of talk about their famous cellar and Enomatic system, with many calling it Perth’s best.
The wine list is awesome, with some rare varieties, plenty of imported wines and an impressive number of wines by the glass. Despite the wintery weather, I couldn’t resist the lure of seafood, while my friend opted for more carnivorous choices. The Coffin Bay natural oysters were definitely the evening’s highlight for me, with a tart red wine and shallot vinaigrette. The crispy pork belly with chickpeas looked great (and the crunch sounded fantastic!) but fortunately I picked well and avoided any menu envy. Staying with the seafood theme, I went for the crispy skinned barramundi, while the boy chose the Black Angus fillet of beef. Both were fantastic — slick presentation, with simple flavour combinations that work. A bottle of Mandala Cab Sav to warm us up topped it all off.
With no room for dessert — the servings are generous — we moved on to coffee. Hooray! It’s fantastic to see a quality restaurant taking care with their coffee. Steves has a Synesso in pride of place on the counter and their blend of Indonesian, Brazilian and PNG beans has big body, and a nutty finish. I’m never sure what I’m going to get when I order a macchiato, as opinion varies so greatly from barista to barista and even State to State. Lucky for me, it arrived exactly how I like it — short, with a dash of milk.
Not only does Steves have friendly, attentive service (a rarity in Perth), an outstanding wine list, and a fresh seasonal menu but for once, you can actually finish with a coffee. It’s nice to replace my blurry memories of karaoke and cheap Wednesdays at Steves — seems we’ve both grown up!
Steves Fine Wine & Food
30 The Avenue
Nedlands WA 6009
Opening Hours
Monday — Friday 7.00am — late
Saturday — Sunday 8.00am — late
Author Brigette Paterson, Five Senses Coffee
