The Henley Brook – Swan Valley Restaurants

Last month we visited The Henley Brook on West Swan Road for the first time. We’d heard a lot about this new pub and restaurant in our neck of the woods yet every time we attempted to go there, it was fully booked. Despite the annoyance of this, we thought it must be a good sign. So Fizzy and Crackle (yes the cats) decided it would be nice for me to take Mr. Spittoon out for Father’s Day. I am sure you all know by now I am a crazy cat lady, so this should really come as no surprise.

The kittens thought it would be best to take Mr. Spittoon on the eve of Father’s Day as they know we both like to drink and would make the most of it on a Saturday night. As we live in The Hen’s (as the locals like to call it) hood, we thought it would be only right to take an Uber so we could enjoy some pre-dinner G&T’s at home before leaving the house.

We were actually surprised on the night we visited – the restaurant was only half full! This seems typical as it was the one time we made a booking! Does this happen to anyone else?

It was still cold weather when we went last month so it was heavenly to be seated right in front of the roaring fire – I also really liked the wood stump stools positioned in front of the fire. Very cool!

The Hen’s Wine List

And the most important list of them all! It’s always the thing I pick up first at a venue – are you surprised? Being a restaurant out in the Swan Valley, I was naturally expecting a lot of local tipples – it would be rude not too right? So I was happy to see the likes of Sittella, Lamonts, Upper Reach, Mandoon, John Kosovich, Ambrook Estate, Pandemonium Estate and Pinelli Estate on the menu.

On this particular night I got stuck into a glass or 3 of the Pinelli Reserve Shiraz for $11 a glass. The menu consists of a decent selection of wines by the glass and by the bottle. Glass prices range from $7.50-$11.50 and bottles from $28.50 up to $64.

Alongside the local tipples there’s some Margaret River pours and ones from further abroad such as a Prosecco from Italy, a Rose from France and a Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, amongst others. I am hoping they mix the list up a bit every now and then to keep it interesting and I wouldn’t complain about even more local vinos on the list!

While we are deconstructing wine lists, make sure to check out my post about what makes a great restaurant wine list.

The Hen’s Food

I think I’m like a lot of people these days and love to order a lot of little plates and share. In my opinion, it’s the best way to eat as you get a little taster of everything.

And to be honest I did think the small plates on The Hen’s menu looked tastier than the big plates. Actually it was super hard for Mr. Spittoon and I to come to an agreement about what to order as we wanted everything on the small plates menu and the pizza menu too.

In the end we went for:

• Fundido – A pot of bubbling melted cheese, beer & spicy chorizo with blue corn chips for $14
• Mini Dogs – Bratwurst sausage, yellow mustard, Sauerkraut slaw & fried onion rings for $16
• Bumnuts – Beer battered jalapeno’s filled with cream cheese for $14
• Sweet Potato fries with aioli for $12

All the dishes were so divine and we were absolutely rammed full by the end of it! Picking a favourite would be hard as they were all awesome and well, I may just have to try each of them again before I come up with a decision on what’s best 😉

I’m definitely looking forward to going back again and trying the pizza’s as the ones we saw going out looked pretty darn good!

Would we go back to The Hen?

Overall we had a lovely evening and would go back again. Probably for lunch or an afternoon session on the weekend as I think the atmosphere and ambience would be more up our alley.

It’s a good spot if you’re going with a group of people and are all paying separate as you just go up to the counter or bar to place your orders and pay. And I have to mention the customer service was pretty top notch too – very friendly!

I also really liked the little teacup plants on the tables, a lovely touch!

See you soon The Hen!

PS: For more information check out The Henley Brook’s new website.