Fillaudeau’s Cafe Restaurant – Swan Valley, Perth

Our own mini-degustation…

I have been very selfish, I have been putting off writing this post for sometime because I have perhaps stumbled across the Swan Valley’s best-kept secret. Fillaudeau’s Café Restaurant is located at the Pinelli Estate Vineyard in the Swan Valley. Manu, the French Chef behind the amazing food and his wife Jasmin opened the restaurant in April 2012 – and can I just say WOW!

I had briefly stopped into Fillaudeau’s for a platter one day (read my post here), and after perusing the menu over and over again I just knew I had to go back for more. Mr. Spittoon decided to surprise me one night and guess what, he booked us in at Fillaudeau’s and snce we were walking (at the time we lived about 1.5kms away) he suggested we do our own mini-degustation. He sure knows how to make my heart flutter!

If you’re after a romantic dinner, Fillaudeau’s is definitely the spot. The candlelit restaurant overlooking the vines at dusk is simply mesmerising. What I loved, was our table for two by the window was set up so we were looking out to the vines, it honestly made us feel like we were in our own bubble…uhhh romance. I’m swooning just writing this post!

The food is a fusion of French, Mediterranean and Modern Australian. To be honest, Mr. Spittoon and I are not that up with all those fancy food terms so at first glance of the menu.. we were just like .. what the..? We even had to google EVOO, as we didn’t realize that meant extra virgin olive oil!

However don’t fret as everything on the menu is rather normal, we even asked the waitress a few things who was more than happy to help us out. And more importantly, she didn’t make us feel stupid for not knowing what the fancy food words meant!

Soooo… lets get to the tasty part.. here is what our mini-degustation consisted of:

To start..

House made wholemeal bread, French baguette, house made dukkah, Cooladera farm EVOO (Frankland River), and balsamic reduction AU$13

Wines:

Pinelli 2010 ‘Breanna’ Rose (read my tasting note here). AU$8 per glass.

Pinelli Chenin Blanc (read my tasting note here). AU$8 per glass.

Mains..

“Manu’s Floating Pie”, beef bourguignon rolled in filo pastry, served on a pea and minut puree with beef dripping potatoes and vegetable ribbons. I can’t remember the exact price AU$30-40.

Waygu Steak with garlic and parsely sautéed potatoes, garden salad and blue cheese sauce. AU$30-40.

Wines:

Pinelli 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon from their Margaret River vines (read my tasting note here). AU$10 per glass.

Pinelli 2009 Shiraz (read my tasting note here). AU$8 per glass.

For dessert..

Dessert Platter; tangy lemon and meringue tart, blackcurrant and port poached pear, crepe suzette and white chocolate panacota. AU$28

Wine:

Pinelli 2011 Late Harvest Dessert wine (read my tasting note here). AU$15 for a half bottle.

Boy did we indulgence and oh boy were we in food coma dazes by the end. The food, the wine, the location were all magnificent. The favourite dish, a consesnsus between Mr. Spittoon and I was definitely the Floating Pie, followed closely by the dessert platter. The least favourite was the wagyu steak – it was nice, but it just didn’t have that memorable nature about it like the other dishes.

Mr. Spittoon won MANY brownie points for pulling this ‘out of the blue’ date off. He now knows the key to my wino/foodie heart, that’s for sure!

For more info please check out Fillaudeau’s website here and keep up to date with all their news on their facebook page.

Bon appetit!