On first look at the menu, what you’ll notice is that the John Curtin’s got you covered whether it’s traditional pub fare you’re after or something a little more risqué.
The Large Food menu includes classics like Chicken or Eggplant Parma with chips and salad or The Curtin weekly pie with mash – both $18. Or if you feel like being a little more adventurous there’s the Beetroot and goats cheese risotto with caramelised walnuts ($18) or the Hopkins River porterhouse 300gms with sautéed spinach and slow roast tomatoes and red wine Jus ($25). Alternatively, the Small Food menu boasts dishes such as the Szechuan pepper squid with lime dressing or the Pork belly roll with coleslaw; both of which will set you back $8.
However, after much careful consideration, in the end it is the Cooper’s Pale Ale battered flathead fillets with potato cakes and house made tartare sauce ($18) and the Bangers and mash with onion gravy ($18) that win out. Two undisputed classics of the pub food variety, no doubt.
The flathead came out all crispy and golden and served generously and along with the homemade tartare and a wedge of lemon was delightful indeed. But what set the dish apart from your run of the mill fish ‘n’ chips was the potato cakes. Forget the old tasteless variety from your local fish and chip shop – these babies actually tasted like real potato – soft and crumbly in the middle and crunchy on the outside as they too were battered. My only gripe: not enough tartare. But this is perhaps more an indication of just how good it was than anything else.
Now it’s fair to say that the ol’ bangers and mash, in the wrong hands, can be a tasteless disaster. But in the hands of new chef Tim, it was sublime. Pork sausages, full of flavour and cooked to perfection on a bed of soft and fluffy mash, topped with a caramelised onion gravy. The onions were the hero of this dish, their tangy sweetness complimenting perfectly the flavour of the sausages.
Of course no meal is complete without a fine glass of something to wash it down and we were lucky enough to accompany our meals with a cold glass of Grizzly Beer – a dark American pale ale and a perfect companion to our pub fare. In summary: good pub food plus good beer equals good times at the John Curtin.
