Jillian McHugh
It takes two minutes and twenty four seconds to walk from the steps in front of Cottesloe Beach to the steps in front of the Cottesloe Beach Hotel, or at least it did when I timed myself. Perhaps the traffic on Marine Parade will slow you down. Perhaps your stride is longer than mine and you’ll cover the distance faster. Or perhaps you’re desperate to sink your teeth into Tigerfish, the hotel’s shiny new bar and restaurant, and are willing to break land speed records to arrive as soon as possible so you don’t miss any of the action.
Like most Perth coastal dining rooms, Tigerfish is a place to see and be seen, where guests dress to impress: people watching, ahoy! There is, though, more to admire here than just The Real Housewives of Cottesloe. The window seats in the bar are perfect for admiring Rottnest Island on the horizon, plus terrific on-theme cocktails courtesy of bar manager Brendan Scott Grey.
Move from the blond wood and Hamptons styling of the bar to the dining room – a sprawling, Beachhouse Barbie-esque labyrinth featuring terrazzo floors, splashes of dusky pink and the theatre of a glass-enclosed kitchen.
Like all the hotel’s hospitality offerings, Tigerfish taps into Cottesloe’s coastal qi, yet gregarious venue manager Mark Rutter and his upbeat crew cheerily ask that guests leave the swimwear and pluggers at home. (Or at least in your bag, once you change into something a little more substantial.)
Pass the dress code test and your reward is modern Asian cooking of a higher order. Just as the CV of Korean-born head chef Steven Ryu covers much ground (Sokyo in Sydney, Hardy’s Verandah in Adelaide, Cable Beach Club in Broome) the food at Tigerfish explores the breadth and deliciousness of Asia, sometimes in the same dish. Fried threads of leek and puffed rice grains – a nod to Japanese arare crackers – crunch up grilled eggplant enriched with curry butter. Smoky fried rice is available in a “loaded” variant that invites scallops, crunchy pinheads of mentaiko and diced tamagoyaki (rolled Japanese omelette) to the chirashi sushi-themed party. (Also from the department of party-starting: fish finger baos, slender panko-crumbed prawn toast spring rolls and the rest of the snacks that make up the bar menu.)
While the kitchen isn’t scared to experiment and cross borders, some aspects of the Tigerfish experience are about nailing the fundamentals. The rendang has both coconutty richness and bite from many a rhizome. Ryu’s sauce game is formidable. (The thrust of the nahm jim!) The spice-friendly wines and sakes on the drinks list have been chosen with care. I’m not sure how long it’d take to drink your way from one end of the list to the other but there is, as they say in the classics, only one way to find out.
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