Sustainable and seafood forward, Bunkers isn’t about bells and whistles, just good food.
The sister restaurant to one of Australia’s standard-bearers for sustainable dining, Millbrook, it’s fair to say that Bunkers Beach House doesn’t get the press that its Jarrahdale sibling does. But perhaps that should change. Its location, practically on the beach, has always been part of the sell, as has the availability of wine from the Fogarty Wine Group stable of wineries, the restaurant’s owner.
Masterfully understated, thoroughly enjoyable.
But Bunkers doesn’t feel like your typical winery restaurant (there’s no cellar door, for one). The five-course set menu kicks off with a plate of seasonal snacks – house-baked bread with salty, funky butter, preserved carrots and kalamata olives that chef Vince Conjaerts harvests and brines annually from nearby Wise Wine – before moving to a more substantial starter: raw samson plated with a delicate dressing of citrus and olive oil.
A trio of plates making up the main course demonstrates the restaurant’s shared Millbrook DNA: the market fish – today pink snapper – comes with a “it’s caught just over there” from Conjaerts; the chard, served with mushrooms, is grown in a few raised beds almost in the dunes; while a salad of wild rocket, macadamia, and grilled zucchini brings balance to the others. Masterfully understated, thoroughly enjoyable.
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