Liberte

Lounging at Liberté
Liberté in the London Hotel – a wine bar, coffee shop, tea rooms, restaurant – with the area at the rear of the place a wonderland of baroque style furniture – plush velvet, ornately carved wood, leather, marble, dazzling chandeliers, large hanging mirrors . The menu, designed and produced by the talented Amy Hamilton is a celebration of French-Vietnamese fusion – perfectly suited to the room which could almost be a salon from French Colonial days in Saigon. We ate from a tantalizing choice on the menu - roast pumpkin dumplings, beautifully gelatinous skins encasing moist, sweetly earthy pumpkin, scattered with nutty sesame seeds, arrived with honey soy dipping sauce, adding a sweet sour salty note. Brussel sprouts, fried to a dark, crisped consistency, cooked with chilli, lime and honey were crunchy, zesty, the contrast of the flavours and texture spot on. Crab and garlic noodles, slippery, al dente, oily, loaded with succulent picked crab meat, oodles of garlic, scattered green onions were stunningly good. Salt and pepper whitebait were equally as satisfying – crispy fish, and a sourly creamy tamarind dipping sauce. The wine list is a carefully curated selection of Great Southern wines, a couple from Margaret River and, reasonably, a few from France; Tripe.Iscariot’s Margaret River Grenache Rosé; La Violetta’s delectable Ye Ye Grise Gewurztraminer and Riesling blend from the Great Southern; Apricus Hill Denmark Pinot Noir; and Mark Warren’s Margaret River Marq Malbec all impressed. Liberté is one of the best dining houses in the State, and should not be missed on any trip to Albany. Atmospheric, outstanding wine selection, friendly and welcoming staff, brilliant food – what is not to love? And if it’s just a glass of wine, or a coffee, tea and cake you want, then sitting in the salon of Liberté is hard to beat….