The Village Bar

One of my favourite things about reviewing pubs around Perth, besides the bleeding obvious, has been the discovery of hidden gems, the diamonds in the rough. The sort of pub you pass judgement on before stepping through the front door but leave with a feeling of grand satisfaction and amazement that the pub you thought was going to be a disaster just smashed your expectations. This was certainly the case with The Village, although I'm not too sure the "diamond in the rough" analogy applies- it is in Subiaco after all. My expectations weren't at Everest-like  heights (not even close to base camp) as I'd hardly heard of the place and the fact that it is tucked away in the corner of a little strip-mall at the "not so happening" end of Subi.

 

The place was fairly empty for a Sunday arvo, which wasn't helping my expectations, but the later we stayed the fuller it became. Most likely from the Sunday Session crowd chasing their last bit of freedom before the work week recommenced. I got us a table near the bar while Matt got our first round, a couple of pints of 4 Pines Kolsch - a very decent drop with plenty of Hoppy goodness. As far as beers go, there is a fairly decent selection of both tap and bottled beers, including a few of my favourite craft beers, Macs Gold and Sierra Nevada Pale in the bottle. There is also a good mixture of food, both pub classics (steak sanga, parmie etc) as well a handful of other 'fancier' options. Matt went classic opting for the steak sanga and I went fancy, going for the pork belly with grilled apples and homemade slaw.

 

On the downside the steak in the steak sanga was overcooked but it still tasted fairly decent. The pork however was really good. It had a nice crunchy crackling on top and the sweetness of the grilled apples went extremely well with the saltiness of the pork. I was really impressed as going for the 'fancier' option at a pub can be quite risky, but it paid off in spades. All up the prices weren't too bad, our meals came to just over $50.

 

I can't see The Village being many people's local just for the sheer fact that there aren't that many residential properties within an easy walking distance. There are quite a few office blocks surrounding the joint and I'm almost certain there'd be a solid stream of nearby workers flowing in for a mid week bevvie (especially to welcome in the weekend on a Friday afternoon). If you fancy some good quality pub food and want to try a new beer or two I'd recommend heading on down to The Village in Subiaco.