The CBD hotel location may be a little lacking, but this Italian dining hall still manages to speak in a distinct Roman dialect.
In a year that saw Melbourne restaurateur Guy Grossi further cement his relationship with Westin hotels in Brisbane, his outpost on the Westin front here in WA seems well entrenched as part of the CBD dining firmament. Its natural advantages remain, much as they did when Garum opened in 2018: Hibernian Hall is a majestic space with soaring, timber-panelled ceilings alloyed to smart interior design.
Excellent fishy starters include an octopus salad and a cured kingfish number with baby cucumber and mandarin that’s delicate and considered.
You want to like it. And if it weren’t for the so-obvious hotel restaurant DNA that pervades the place, we’d like it a whole lot more. But the food? It’s solid, uses good ingredients and embraces the odd Roman classic, such as a carbonara made with fettuccine or cacio e pepe with tonnarelli, a very Roman spaghetti-like pasta, and fine duck and porcini tortellini with pear and sage jus, that would well nominate for one of the city’s better pasta dishes.
Excellent fishy starters include an octopus salad and a cured kingfish number with baby cucumber and mandarin that’s delicate and considered. Mains, such as a beef steak tagliata with peperonata, are simple, honest, and probably in need of extras, like patate. It all works well: if only there was a hint more emotion.
