Review: Chapas Kitchen and Bar

Chapas Restaurant, tucked away in Mount Lawley is listed as a ‘casual dining’ restaurant. While that may be the case the thought put into the interior design has clearly been anything but casual. From the moment you find the front door you know you’re in for something different.

Originally we were booked in the upstairs section however our booking was instantly changed to accommodate the stair-challenged member of our party. This slight of hand was performed in the time it took us to have a quick cocktail at the bar.

I should own up that one of our party lives nearby and with a tree full of cumquats she’d dropped some into the restaurant earlier in the week. Said cumquats were soon returned to her in the shape of a gin based cocktail, delicious, apparently.

Drinks downed we found ourselves as the prime table near the bar … handy.

We opted for a range of share plates which came out at a steady, appropriate pace and always with a smile. The dishes were …

Mushroom dumplings that slide down way too quickly, a great way to start.

Wasabi King Prawns, a special treat for one of our band who was off a strict diet.

Scallops, which clearly I was excited about as the photo is a bit blurry. Actually I was having to take super quick photos before each dish disappeared. Again they were gone too soon. From memory they were scallops with ginger.

Tofu, my choice, which meet with the usual sneers until they tried it. It was equal first with the fish (below) for me.

Chilli Fish. Not quite sure why we ordered this one as while we like a bit of chilli maybe not this much. Perhaps it was the cocktails. We scrapped the red and green chillies off to the side and were rewarded with a succulent moist piece of fish underneath.

Meat something. Not being a meat eater I can’t tell you much about these, except that they too disappeared quickly.

A trip to the restrooms gave me time to check out some more of the art work.

And when the bill came it was accompanied by this which was a nice touch.

chapas-fortune-cookie

As we eventually made our way onto the street I pondered:

To survive in the highly competitive restaurant environment of Mount Lawley a restaurant has to be good. If Chapas maintains this standard I’m sure they will be here for a long time, at least I hope so;
The owners have some fantastic ideas that I can’t wait to come to fruition;
A definite watch this space.

For more information about the menu click here