by Buster the bruncher
Salt and pepper squid may not be everyone’s brunch fare but the delicate preparation and delivery served-up by the Guildford Hotel is enough to swing the fussiest diners.
Buster has endured many chewy, over-cooked excuses for salt and pepper squid, so doesn’t take this lightly.
Opening at 11am, the historic hotel doesn’t fuss with a breakfast or brunch menu but carries all-day choices.
We pair the tender squid ($18) with “bread and dips” which comes fresh and tasty and ideal for sharing ($16).
Too early for us for wine or beer, brunch time is ideal for quieter and uncrowded hotel meals. The watering hole, we noticed, offers a long list of West Aussie, Victorian, French and Spanish wines.
Perhaps a celebratory Dom Perignon Vintage 2013 from Epernay in France at a mere $545 a bottle? Or a Leeuwin Estate Riesling at $68.50. (Why bother with petty change 50c?).
On a nearby table a couple were tucking into main courses, red wine at the ready. They gave us the thumbs-up.
We weren’t temped into drinks, not even coffee, until watering-up in preparation for one of Guildford’s walking tours which are clearly sign-posted around the place and along the rail line.
Within motorists’ striking distance of Perth, Guildford is ideal just for brunch and to show visiting guests Guildford’s architectural and cultural splendours. Avoiding busy weekends is recommended to evade heavy traffic flowing through the Swan Valley.
Away from peak times, the hotel has space to spare with abundant outdoor and indoor tables and generous space in-between.
As with every respectable Aussie pub, the menu offers true-blue parmi and this 300g chicken version with Napoli sauce, smoked pull-pork, cheese, chips and salad comes up trumps ($32). And there’s enough on the plate to feed an army of shearers.
Of interest might be the brisket, speck and peppercorn pie with creamy mash and mushy peas ($29).
Or share the ‘G’s Board’ with cheeses soft and hard, pickles, quince paste, smoked eggplant and olive tapenade, oven-dried tomatoes, crackers and bread.
Three fresh salads ($23) are rolling out from the kitchen: beetroot salad, Caesar salad and Moroccan spiced salad with roasted autumn vegetables, spinach, feta and dukkah.
There’s a dedicated menu section, smoked stuff. There are sticky pork ribs (at an eye-watering $42) with Asian BBQ sauce, a half-chicken with spice rub ($33) and a 200g Albany pork butt ($34). All dishes come with Boston beans and mash.
The pub has its own in-house smoker. Meats are smoked low and slow at 75˚C to let the flavour develop “resulting in a tender and juicy meat which are topped with homemade rubs and bastes, giving that classic Guildford flavour.”
Adventure-seekers could tackle the crumbed mushroom burger which comes with tomato chutney, XO sauce and spinach ($26).
For the younger-set comes a section dubbed ‘little tackers’ with tomato pasta ($14.50), mini cheeseburgers and chips ($14.50) and battered fish’n’chips ($14.50).
Sweet stuff offers a trio of dishes: Oreo cheesecake ($12), lemon meringue pie ($12) and “gilly wagon wheel” with chocolate biscuit, berry jam, marshmallow and roasted white chocolate ($14).
The renovated landmark is worth inspection. Historic niches, beams and walls have been conserved with a capital “C”.
There’s room aplenty for kids to wander the premises and return to the table, perhaps, for a vanilla bean ice cream with sprinkles ($6).
5 Spoons
Guildford Hotel, 159 James St.
Phone: 9460 9966
Open: Sunday to Thursday, 11am – 10pm.
Friday to Saturday: 11am – 12am
