The Garden is an outdoor bar/restaurant situated next to The Leederville Hotel on Newcastle Street. I should emphasize NEXT, not IN the Leederville Hotel. For those not familiar, The Leederville Hotel bar is like The Garden’s older ugly sister, same parents but just a shabby, dirty and skanky place to hang.

The crowd at The Garden is far more relaxed, unpretentious and grown up, you won’t find young teens chugging beer and sculling Jaegerbombs here. How? Perhaps by choosing not to serve spirits, and just focus on wine, beers and the exception, Pimms.

The wine list is not huge, and features mostly West Australian wines costing around A$30-50. Beers stocked include Boags, Leffe, and Jon’s highly recommended James Squire.

We chose to sit al-fresco, perched upon high chairs and long wooden tables.

Here’s a sampling of their menu:
lamb kofta with cool yoghurt ($9.50)
Bunbury white bait with preserved lemon aioli ($10)
pork rillettes ($4.50)
Balls of beef and parmeasan with tomato relish ($9.50)
Chorizo and Kipfler potato with rosemary dressing ($12)
Charcuterie plate, crispy pork belly, chorizo, spiced chicken, and lamb kofte – serves 4 ($44)
Crispy baby squid, palm sugar & citrus dressing – serves 2 ($22)

It’s a nice place for knocking back a few beers, and is definitely on my repeat list.

The Garden
Tel: +61 (08) 9202 8282
Open: Lunch and dinner, seven days
Website: http://www.leedervillehotel.com/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=101&na