A friend and I caught up for dinner one night at Wilbur’s Cafe Bar in Hackett. Located at the Hackett shops, you get an immediate pub-vibe when walking through the door with TV screens playing the latest game in the front room. The back room is a tad dark, mainly because of the dark grey painted walls, but lit sufficiently enough to enjoy your dining experience and being able to see your food. We were led to a table and tap water was immediately provided. The waiter informed us of the specials menu written up on the blackboard and to order at the bar when we were ready.
The regular menu offers appetizers like arancini balls (yum!) and apple cider oysters, a whole page of pizzas, typical pub food like chicken schnitty and steak sandwich, and some pastas. Kids meals are also available. The specials menu looked enticing so I chose the char-grilled eye fillet with homemade potato gems, grilled zucchini, caramelised red onion relish and a garlic prawn skewer ($32.90).
I was happy with the presentation. The potato gems were crunchy on the outside and warm and fluffy inside (oh yes!). The prawns were cooked perfectly and had plenty of garlicky flavour.
I asked for a medium-rare eye fillet which is unusual for me as I rarely order steak. However, after the best steak ever at the Veuve Clicquot truffle dinner, I totally changed my preference on how I like a steak cooked. This eye fillet was perfection – a fantastic cut of meat, cooked the way I wanted it. It was deliciously tender and juicy. I would gladly go back for more!
My friend ordered the pale ale barramundi with chips and salad ($21.90) off the regular menu. The strips of barramundi were smaller pieces than anticipated and it seemed overpriced for just that little portion of food.
From Wilbur’s Facebook page, it looks like the specials menu changes frequently (daily?) and there are a lot of yummy sounding items. The confit duck with poached pear and scallops was my second choice dish – sounds interesting and I’ve never had duck with pear before.
Wilbur’s looks a little dark and dingy. Honestly I didn’t have high expectations going in but was happily surprised. There are paintings hung up along the walls for sale too.
I hear the pizzas are pretty good here so must go back to check them out. Wilbur’s is a relaxed cafe and serves awesome steaks! There’s live music on Sunday afternoons with $5 pints between 4-6pm.
Foodgasm 7.5/10
