The Bridge House review: Latest incarnation of North Fremantle stalwart delivers relaxed fine dining

Do you believe in reincarnation? What about karma? The vibes must be very good at 1 Harvest Road, North Fremantle, a Federation bungalow haunted by the friendly ghosts of restaurants past. Once an art gallery and tea rooms, the workers’ cottage hosted some of the best breakfasts in Perth as Harvest. That eatery was launched in 2004 by (now) Northbridge beer baron and (then) head chef Clint Nolan and partner Miles Hull, who recently opened The Lodge Wadjemup. Harvest begat Habitue, another fantastic diner owned by Theresa O’Toole and Garry Bennett. The couple also ran Barque in East Fremantle. Late last year, Habitue morphed into The Bridge House, yet another winner under the stewardship of owner and grape enthusiast George Grundy. In another example that might prompt True Detective’s Rust Cohle to say that “time is a flat circle”, Grundy’s first gig back in his native England was at a country pub called The Bridge House. Time is a flat circle, a bit like a plate. Which brings us to the latest addition to the tight-knit North Freo hospitality scene. Grundy describes the cuisine at The Bridge House as modern Australian, leaning towards European flavours and traditions. Ingredients are the stars of the show, and those flat circles are beautifully plated without getting too flashy. Head chef Sean Calliste cut his teeth in London, enduring decent stints with both Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White. Grundy loves his wine, and is married to Janelle Swinney, of Frankland River’s excellent Swinney Wines. No surprises, then, that The Bridge House is not just home to a century of history but also an excellent collection of bottles. The by-the-glass list is short and leans to the pricier end, but everything we tried was worth the money. And this modular restaurant, featuring a 10-seat private dining room and discrete spaces for small tables, is the sort of place that makes you want to pop a few corks — or screw off a stelvin or two. Grundy has given 1 Harvest Road a fresh lick of warm golden paint, new curtains, linen tablecloths, and cute little table lamps. This was always a lovely spot, but it has become lovelier in its latest reincarnation. While the evening service was at capacity, The Bridge House was quiet for Friday lunch when my wife Myra and I wandered in off the train. She started with a glass of Margaret River sparkling and I had a blood orange margarita, a refreshingly citrusy signature cocktail, while we perused the concise menu. Service was sharp. We perambulated around a few options, worried that we might over-order while still wanting to complete a decent survey. Our waiter arranged a half-serve of the focaccia, airy chunks of expertly charred bread that came with whipped feta, dukkah and honey ($12 for four pieces). They say don’t fill up on bread, but jeez this was good, even if the feta was on the runny side. Another waiter also gave me some erroneous information about an Italian wine but, once she found out she was wrong, returned with the correct details. This would not have made a difference to me, but that she cared enough to do so is proof of her diligence. The Bridge House’s specialty is the 24-hour Amelia Park lamb shoulder, which is a huge share dish at $95. On a hot February day, the last thing I felt like was unctuous meat, and there were only two of us, so we’ll save that for a winter’s evening with friends. We did, however, order the Margaret River beef tartare with egg yolk ($28), which came with a Keith Haring-esque doodle of smoked capsicum sauce and lavosh. The tightly chopped beef with capers was surprisingly light and fresh. Not sure about the capsicum sauce — you shouldn’t mess with classics. Our other entree was the pine-smoked King Island scallops and smoked duck, skewered on a sprig of rosemary and served with an apple dashi ($34). The five scallops were on the small side and lacked firmness but were still delicious, especially with their good friend duck. There were also random crisps, which my wife accurately described as “much of a muchness”. There was too much of a muchness with the Carnarvon prawns on saffron rice with almonds ($36), a dish we ummed and ahhed about, and ultimately regretted. We should have got the aged Futari wagyu steak ($65), which a family friend coincidentally dining at the same time described as the best steak he’d ever had. There was nothing wrong with the six succulent prawns — it was just that they were perched atop a monolith of gluggy, creamy and bland risotto. We barely made a dent in Mt Saffron. Turn that frown upside down, because the pan-fried snapper fillet with eggplant caviar and avocado oil ($45) was one of the best fish dishes I’ve eaten. The big meaty fillet had a beautifully crispy skin, while the quasi-ratatouille of smoky eggplant, olives and tomatoes offered a salty richness to the creation. Superb. We also grabbed the potato terrine ($15), two thinly sliced, then pressed, slabs of creamy spuds with a crunchy lid, and the Bridge House leaf salad, in this case, of pressed watermelon, sun-dried tomatoes, radicchio, and baby cos ($15). We finished with the layered dark chocolate cake, the richness of which contrasted with the accompanying tangy and tart raspberry sorbet and fresh berries ($20). This is one of three desserts on the summer menu. The choccy cake was also paired with a small glass of Pedro Ximenez and a plunger coffee. There’s no espresso machine. Given the venue has “one foot in Freo”, as Grundy puts it, The Bridge House leans towards casual fine dining, and does it very well. Lovely lunch, lovely room, lovely service. There’s no chance of 1 Harvest Road being reincarnated as a dung beetle. The Bridge House 1 Harvest Road, North Fremantle OPEN Wednesday-Thursday, 5pm-9pm. Friday-Saturday, noon-3pm, 5pm-9pm. Sunday, noon-8pm. CONTACT 6234 0990, bridgehousefreo.com.au BOOKINGS Yes THE VERDICT Lovely room, sharp service and mostly topnotch tucker. Wonderful wine list. The Bridge House is home to relaxed fine dining that keeps the good times rolling in North Freo. 15.5/20