An intimate, wine-focused Freo bar and diner that just keeps going from strength to strength.
A strong sense of nostalgia runs through the heritage-listed cottage that’s now home to Nieuw Ruin. It’s there in the framed maps and bentwood chairs; the paper doilies and floral-patterned vintage crockery. And while head chef Blaze Young’s Euro-tinged small plates show a similar fondness for retro ideas, their magic lies in her ability to make them feel not just current, but almost forward-thinking.
Perfectly charcoal-grilled rainbow trout over confit leeks smothered in herby, oniony white-wine cream sauce might play it straighter, but it’s proof that sure-handed technique and good sense never fall out of fashion.
Take the pickled mussels, for instance, which find a whole new dimension of freshness thanks to blossom-fragrant fig-leaf vinegar. Or a twist on the traditional Dutch fried meatballs known as bitterballen, reimagined with braised pork rather than beef and capped with a swirl of deeply spiced prune mustard. Perfectly charcoal-grilled rainbow trout over confit leeks smothered in herby, oniony white-wine cream sauce might play it straighter, but it’s proof that sure-handed technique and good sense never fall out of fashion.
Drinks more than hold up their end of the deal as well, from sharply executed cocktails spotlighting native ingredients to 300-ish mindfully farmed “weird wines” that run, quite literally, from albariño to zibibbo. Much like everything else here, it’s a list with a whole lot to say – and you’d be unwise not to listen.
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