LOCATION
In the heart of the west end of the Perth CBD, only minutes from His Majesty's Theatre, the Perth Convention Centre and the shopping malls of Hay and Murray streets.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
When a restaurant is opened in a boutique hotel, expectations are usually high and the pressure is on for divine delivery of food and service. At 185 Bar and Restaurant, located on Perth’s corporate St Georges Terrace yet just a few steps from arty King Street, they certainly know how to deliver. Simply decorated without ignoring style and sophistication, the interior is small yet roomy and even manages to offer covered alfresco dining on the terrace.
Here, you can watch the corporate world spin on its heels whilst you sit back and relax with one of Perth’s best tasting plates. Available in small or large, it features the likes of duck parfait with onion jam asparagus, fetta and spinach, honey dressing pork belly with candied pineapple and half shell scallop with chardonnay sauce. If you tend to judge a venue on its tasting plate as I do, you’re off to a shining start with this selection. If the tasting plate’s a little too light for your appetite, the baharat spiced lamb salad with silky smooth Persian fetta and beetroot offers a sublime combination of texture and flavour. This simple yet satisfying menu does everything it can to impress corporate and art-inspired diners with the 185 pie, poached beef and sumac roast duck all receiving rave reviews from diners. Chef Katrina Steadall certainly knows her produce and judging by the freshness of her creations, shows there is no place in her kitchen for second best. Whether it’s a pre-show meal or a post work snack, 185 certainly does its best to impress.
Karen Bilsby, February 2008
DETAILS
The bar features one of the few outdoor seating areas in the entire length of St George’s Terrace, and the semi-enclosed terrace area is available for private functions. It is a popular spot for local companies looking for an informal venue for staff activities like birthdays, farewells and other office outings. The 185 restaurant is open all day, every day, except for lunches on the weekends. The restaurant doubles as the in-house kitchen for the Chifley hotel, so this means the kitchen is always bustling and ready to serve.
FOOD
Head chef Katrina Steadall takes pride in presenting menus featuring the freshest seasonal produce, sourced locally if possible. Katrina's background in fine dining means the 185 menus are an interesting mixture of old favourites along with new trends such as corn fed duck, yellow snowpeas and Iranian white mulberries.. Katrina is a woman truly interested in food, she's always talking to her suppliers and her colleagues in the business to find out what's new and what's working for other restaurants. She's also always keen to support local producers, for example using a locally brewed lager from Fremantle's Gage Roads brewery for the 185 battered whiting. The 185 restaurant is particularly well known for its desserts, and two signature dishes are never likely to leave the menu, these being the Amaretto Ice Cream Sandwich (with warm fudge sauce) and the Chifley 185 Affogato (espresso and frangelico in a frosted martini glass). There's no turning down dessert at the 185!
