The Trustee Bar & Bistro

The bistro at Trustee is in the basement of the old WA Trustee building in St Georges Terrace, part of the outstanding renovation of historic buildings in the Brookfield Place development; and the food meets the expectations set by the style and polish of the place. The dining room is set up with leather booth seating, as well as tables and chairs in various configurations, and outside the al fresco Garden Bar offers another option.
The wine list at Trustee is quite outstanding — and extensive — with a sound by the glass selection. While we considered our food options, we began this occasion with a glass of Margaret River’s Dormilona rosé for Lady FWO, while I opted for a Riesling from Chard Farm in NZ’s Otago region.
The 2015 rosado, made from tempranillo, has a bouquet of lifted raspberry aromas, and with strawberry and pomegranate flavours on the crisp, dry, somewhat spicy palate.
The Kiwi Riesling has quite intense aromas of lemon and lime, with a touch of ginger spice; the taste is rich and generous, flavours of lemon, with some tropical pineapple on the mid palate, while fine acid pulls it through to a long finish.
With our meal Lady FWO stuck to the rosé, while I swapped to a delightful Italian Arneis from Piedmont, 2013 Fontanafredda. Brightly coloured this has a very fragrant nose of pears, honey and apples, while the velvety palate is crisp and refreshing, green apple flavours predominating.
The menu really is an expression of the best of bistro dining listing some classic dishes; in the end, with an eye on dessert which has impressed us previously, we decided to share an entrée — in this case fried squid with cucumber salad, before moving to our mains — ravioli with butternut pumpkin and ricotta, and a half marron with lemon risotto.
The squid, encased in a light and fluffy batter, was beautifully moist and tender — able to be cut through with a fork — and sat on a salad of cucumber marinated with a honey soy mix, crisp greens, and shavings of slightly zesty chilli. It was a splendid combo, fresh and lively.
For the first of the mains, a large oval serving plate was circled with cubes of sugary roasted butternut and zucchini and in the centre plump half-​moons of ravioli filled with ricotta mixture, sitting on a puddle of sweet smoky red capsicum coulis. Sprinkled over the dish chives added fresh garlicky notes, and shaved parmesan nutty salty tones. Beautifully presented complementary flavours abounded.
The half of a grilled marron served on a bed of lemon risotto brought myriad flavours to the fore — the sweetness of the crustacean and the lifted tart lemony tang of the rice, swirled through with strips of lightly cooked fennel adding crunch and aniseed tones — excellent. The only thing missing was a finger bowl which really should be a matter of course when dealing with crays, marron, crabs and mussels I think. Still that did not detract from my enjoyment of the dish.
Recalling the amazing dessert we had on a previous visit we decided we needed to try one again– this time panna cotta — a wonderfully wobbly and creamy mound with a dash of cinnamon and dollop of sharp sauce on top and a scoop of mandarin flavoured ice, was surrounded by a circle of nutty almond crumbs, dotted with cubes of orange, ruby grapefruit, kiwi fruit, cantaloupe and a few blue berries with a drizzling of lime infused sauce. Stunning presentation, outstanding flavours and textures.
With the desserts we enjoyed a glass each of sweet wine — Primitivo «Quiles» Moscatel from Spain and Romate «Cardenal Cisneros» Pedro Ximenez, also hailing from Spain.
The moscatel was intensely perfumed, oranges and raisins with a touch of smokiness, while the rich, full bodied grapey palate was supported by excellent acidity giving it a pleasant crisp finish.
The PX was stunning — the bouquet exhibited ripe figs, raisins, toffee, chocolate and Christmas pudding. Thick and viscous it clung to the side of the glass, sweet, oily and syrupy, it was simply outstanding. Trustee is turning out some of the best bistro dishes around town; the atmosphere and set up is great; the waiters welcoming, friendly and professional; the food excellent; the drinks list second to none; it is highly recommended.

Really pricey overall but the mains are huge plates so you definitely won’t go hungry!
The décor is interesting, it’s a bit industrial as the walls are completely made of concrete, the lamps above the booth tables are industrial style barn lamps and old style paintings hang on the walls. I do like the open terrace out back though with a bunch of tables and nice vines overhanging some of the high tops.
We ordered the beef carpaccio to start which was one of the specials that day. In my opinion it was the best thing we ate all night — it was perfectly light with the thin slices of tender raw beef, topped with dollops of horseradish crème fraiche, roasted golden and red beetroots, thinly shaved watermelon radish, and crispy kipfler potato chips. Delicious!
For the mains we ordered the slow braised lamb shoulder and beef cheek. The lamb was tender and buttery, served atop some barley and pancetta lardons and a smear of cauliflower purée. It was good but I thought the beef cheek was a little bit better as it was even more tender and rich than the lamb, and I liked the creamy polenta smothered in jus and topped with a little rocket salad.
They have a wonderful and varied wine list — we ordered an Italian wine variety we’ve never heard of before called aglianico which the waitress described to us as similar to a Montepulciano and said it was one of her favourites. It was great!
Very, very meat heavy and rich, and as I’m not a huge meat eater it was a bit too much for me, but if that’s your thing, you’ll love this place!

Busy as they were At Xmas the service was still good and prompt and staff were slightly watchful of their standard pours which I am guessing was them providing some due diligence — food was good and wholesome– although I wish I chose the snapper and risotto instead of the steak! Perhaps a reason to return.

We went to The Trustee with a few friends for dessert on a Thursday night. We arrived at about 8.30 and we were greeted by a waitress who was very matter of fact and task focused. We told her there was 5 of us and she walked away. We weren’t sure if she was getting us a table or something else… She came back and walked us to our table after a few minutes.
We sat and were given menus. Then asked promptly what we wanted. We asked for more time and then when she came back we ordered. The dessert wine a friend wanted wasn’t available and he was told that when he tried ordering it. He was offered ‘the other one’ which he got but said it wasn’t enjoyable.
The food was wonderful as it was the first time we went. The food service was good but I’m not sure about the waitress we had. All other staff seemed friendly though.

Had lunch at the trustee on Tuesday (work) & dinner (friends bday) on Wednesday. Vege option is limited to a pumpkin ravioli which was really good. Lunch and dinner menus were the same which was disappointing. Workmates had the lunch special steak & chips and were disappointed with the cut of meat. Location (more so downstairs) is good but quite expensive for the overall quality.

Flicking through the entertainment book last December I came across this place so I made a booking and off we went! We shared the chateaubriand — I swear it could of fed 3 – 4 people but we managed the demolish all of the beef, Paris mash & salad!
We were pretty full after that feast but I had my heart set on the snickers bar dessert! Even though I was in a food coma — I said to my partner we are getting it regardless ;) and what an amazingly delicious dessert it was indeed! The flavours were amazing and the popcorn added the final touch!
Would I eat this all again? Of course I would I love food waaay too much! =D

Had a girly dinner here on a Saturday night. The restaurant side has a more formal feel to it but the music from the bar is pretty loud. A little difficult to get attention from the staff as they seem to be running in and out of the area constantly. Dinner was delicious and there was one vegetarian option available for my friend. Drinks were a little slow to arrive but that may be because there’s just not enough staff. Mixed feelings on this one!

Had my birthday dinner here a couple of weeks ago. The service here is outstanding. I rang to make a reservation and told it’s a bday dinner and straight away the lady I was speaking too recommended us booking slightly later in the night (8pm) and instead of sitting us upstairs which could be a tad noisy being close to the bar, she got us a long table at the corner of the restaurant.
Food was amazing as always. Had the pork belly and shared the duck dish. So so good. Great options on the menu for drinks/​main dishes and even dessert!
Our meal was completed with a surprise candle and bday writings on my dessert plate along with a few of the staff singing good old birthday tune. We did not even mention to the staff it was my birthday! Now that’s attention detail and service!
Would definitely recommend this joint and would dine here again and again you can trust the trustee!

I’ve visited the venue on several occasions and can say that it’s great spot for an after work chill down or a catch up with friends.
Really nice cocktails though quite pricey. It’s always very busy and that’s a great sign for any venue, but it’s not an option if you’re trying to watch your pocket.

Located a short walk from the Esplanade train station and in the heart of the CBD on St Georges Terrace.
This place is split into two levels with a bar on the ground floor and the bistro/​outdoor garden located on the lower level.
Greeted upon arrival, promptly seated and provided with water (usual options) and an extensive wine and drinks list (impressive selection).
Typical of a great restaurant is the initial tasting of the wine before agreeing to a full glass, of which the Trustee does. More places should follow this practice.
The menu had sufficient choices and all suitably tasty!
Personally I settled for the charcuterie plate, as the entrée, which was served with bread, and was delicious.
Our mains were the pumpkin ravioli and slow braised lamb. Portion sizes were spot on and left room for dessert
Dessert was the 5 course degustation and also the tiramisu. Amazing and great presentation.
The staff were very helpful and trained well. They knew their stuff.
Definitely a place I’d be going to again. It’s a bit on the pricey side but worth it!

My mr and I decided to try The Trustee out for my birthday dinner, impressed with what I read on other reviews … I wont lie, I was pee my pants excited :) We shared the crispy pork belly for entrée. I had the braised lamb for mains and mr had the beef cheeks before squeezing in the snickers bar ice cream and ruby lime panna cotta … total food coma heaven.
The raving reviews were spot on, we polished off every last crumb to the point of bursting.
The pork skin beautifully crispy. The lamb and beef we were able to pull apart with forks and it melted in your mouth. The snickers bar was decadent, chocolatey goodness and good lord that peanut butter ice cream, id seriously consider selling my mother for a tub of that. The ruby lime panna cotta was light, tangy and gloriously refreshing.
The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars was because service was ok, not terrible by any means but there was room for improvement. Staff were pleasant and friendly but it took awhile for someone to come back and take our food order when the place didn’t seem overly busy (most were already eating when we arrived)
The other meh was the noise and spacing of tables, ours was a romantic-​ish evening and it just felt a bit noisy with tables too close together.
We will probably save here for a special occasion outing but at $ 24 pp, there’s already a girls night being planned to try the dessert degustation :)

Been here on a several occasions. And I loved every, single time! Was here for a sundowner, Valentine’s Day (degustation), an impromptu dinner date & a dessert degustation. The Trustee is definitely a restaurant I recommend to everyone.
Love the word Degustation. Whenever I hear this word, I think of The Trustee. I was so impressed with their 2014 Valentine’s Day menu, I wanna Hv degustation everyday! What took me so long to review you might ask? I wanted to try their main menu then only decide if they are worthy of a great review. The latest awesome food I’ve tasted was the Marron Fettuccine, that was DELICIOUS. If you haven’t had the chance to try the dessert degustation during Eat, drink, Perth… this is your chance, The trustee decided to keep it on their menu.
The missing star is because of the noise level (esp on Friday evenings). If only the eating area is quieter (for romantic diners), that will be perfect setting.
The conclusion is food is excellent, service is excellent (esp the French staff) & importantly, the bathrooms are clean.

Went here for my 21^st birthday meal with my partner and all i can say is WOW. My partner and i both said it was by far the best meal we had ever had at a restaurant.
We started off by sharing the entrée anti pasti plate which was amazing in both presentation and flavour. Then for main i had the duck leg and my partner had the lamb, both were sensational!
We agreed they were impossible to improve on.
I wish we had room for dessert but i will be returning here indefinitely so im not worried.
Our waitress was great, had good knowledge of the menu and was very friendly.
Cocktails were also delicious, my partner and i recommened the dark and stormy #5, yum!
Slightly pricey but definitely worth it for a special occasion.
Thanks for a lovely evening :)

Loved it! Came here for a nice lunch out of the office. Décor is gorgeous and raw. The staff are great. A simple yet elegant menu. An extensive wine list. Maybe a touch more expensive than places of similar nature but so totally worth every penny. My friend and I shared the Pork Belly Parcel as an entrée– so delish. He had a lunch special, steak sandwich and said it is possibly one of the best he has ever had. He loved how it was proper steak instead of minute steak. I had a delicious Duck Papardelle. Desserts were perfect. I had a blood orange tart with soft meringue and served with Granny Smith apple sorbet. All the flavours complimented each other. My friend had the homemade snickers bar with salted caramel icecream. The desserts were a great way to finish off a perfect lunch. Would love to come back here to try more of the menu.

A bustling, dark and classic restaurant that reminds me of a cross between a French bistro and a fancy New York steakhouse. Tables are packed in quite closely, yet we still felt it was suitably intimate in our little corner.
We went for three courses with a lovely bottle of French red. First course was the antipasti platter and the pork parcel. Both were delicious, though I think the platter (which included the best terrine I’ve ever had) won out. It could have served two.
We had known since we booked that we would be going for the Chateaubriand for our main. The steak was huge (three could easily share) and cooked beautifully (we ordered rare). It was a great steak no doubt, but not in my top three. There was a little stringiness in some pieces, and I found it under-​seasoned. The accompaniments were beautiful, including the lovely sauces, creamy mash and deliciously indulgent bone marrow. Yum.
For dessert we went for the Snickers and the whiskey flight with truffles. The Snickers was very nice and beautifully presented. The whiskey flight was fun, but it would have been nice to have our server take a bit of time to talk us through it a bit more.
Overall, very nice food, friendly service, and an atmosphere that would suit anything from an after work group to a special occasion date.

When I heard that there was a restaurant in Perth that had a dessert called the Snickers Bar I pretty much knew then and there that I had to pay it a visit stat. I love the warehouse loft feel of the space, and the way they work natural materials in like a beautiful wooden board holding the menu against it. The food selection is suitable for a bistro but with an elegant European twist. Think duck rillette, lasagne, chateaubriand and other very delicious sounding items.
My lamb osso bucco with pearl barley risotto ($ 39.00) might possibly be one of my favourite lamb dishes ever. And I eat a lot of lamb (and a lot of risotto!). The meat was impossibly tender, with just the right ratio of meat to fat. Soft and juicy, my fork barely has to work as I prod it away from the bone. I like the crispy edges and of course the decadent bone marrow that is sitting enticingly waiting for me to slurp it up. It’s like eating butter — extra, extra flavour.

The Trustee is a place you can trust.
By my own admission it has taken too long for me and Susan to try eating here. We decided on dinner out at the last minute and this place came to mind. Why had we not eaten here by now? We thought we would find out if all the hype and good feedback was justified.
We walked in from the street level and being a Monday night, it sounded pretty quiet except for some laughter coming from the downstairs bistro area. We followed the sounds to find our destination. I have to say the décor is functional but minimalistic. The waitstaff tended to us straight away even though the bistro area was nearly at capacity (after work crowd) and had us seated within a minute.
Not sure of how hungry we were we opted to share the duck rillette with green peppercorns, pickles and bread as our entrée. There was great presentation and showmanship as once the hood was whipped of the plate by our waiter a waft of smoke came bellowing our stealing the surrounding tables attention for a few vital seconds. Dinner and a show. Can’t see me complaining about that.
For our mains we opted for the duck confit with puy lentils and tomato cassoulet and the lamb osso bucco with pearl barley risotto. The risotto was perfectly cooked and the texture was spot on. The osso bucco was falling off the bone and very tender with a lot of flavour. Susans duck was very tender and still moist. The lentils were cooked properly too and the tomato cassoulet really rounded off the dish.
We chose a half bottle of shiraz to wash down our dinner with but due to an innocent accident in the kitchen we ended up with pretty much double that amount and some bread with french butter too. Basically a mix up in Susan’s order but the waiter was very professional, apologised on numerous occasions, told us how long until the replacement and sorted us out with wine to compensate.
With hindsight I would not have ordered dessert as we both ended up walking out like figurative balloons about to pop but it was worth it for the taste nevertheless. The blood orange tart with italian meringue, granny smith apple sorbet was a very well executed dessert with a contrast of flavours and textures that combined perfectly to make the dish memorable for all the right reasons.
The food is what I would term priced above average but then again so is the serving size. Now that we know what we have been missing we will be back in future.

One of our last meals in Perth was at the very nice and slightly expensive Trustee Bar and Bistro. Located behind the main drag, this little spot offered a sparse but nice looking lunch menu.
Taking full advantage of meals that could be expensed, we ordered the liver pâté to start and I got a fish dish.
The pâté was only okay however. Not sure if they did any prep to the livers to mitigate the offal taste or maybe overcooked them before blending, but the pâté was a bit gamey and not as nice as it sould have been. Nice presentation though;
Next was a fish I can’t recall other than the skin was some of the nicest and crispiest I’ve had in ages. Like dry autumn leaves crunching under foot, that was some damn fine skin that went perfect with the moist and flakey fish underneath.
Overall a nice spot to take clients out to lunch. Not a place I would spend my own money at, but I’d be happy to go back if you’re paying or if I can expense it.

I have to say I like the Trustee a lot, I have used this as a safe /​trusted go to place to recommend to a number of work colleagues and I have never had bad feedback.
I have always found the waitstaff to be very easy to deal with and will go usually go that extra mile to accommodate which is fantastic service from the busy guys and girls.
The have a fairly good wine list and serve up top quality meals; be warned the meals can be big so you are going to need to be hungry to eat three courses here!

I’m really loving these ‘mixed seating’ venues popping up in Perth. The Trustee, with the added advantage of space in a gloriously restored building of a bygone era, has just that. From St George’s Terrace, you enter in to the bar area, dominated by a floor to substantially high ceiling glass enclosure of wines and spirits. On one side of this is the lounge area, complete with a variety of wingback chairs, Chesterfield couches and low tables. On the other side is your more classic bar area, with stools and tall tables etc. I had to do a double take on the carpet — at first glance was it cow patterned? No, it’s threadbare. Oh, wait a minute, it’s ‘shabby chic’; designed to look threadbare while being less than a year old. Interesting. Downstairs and out the back (access via Brookfield Place) is the garden bar and then on the inside, is the bistro, again with mixed seating of booths and tables. I think there might be a private dining room as well, but I didn’t get to that. My only negative comment would be how damn noisy it was in the Bistro. Monday night and the place was full to capacity.
The downstairs décor of ‘shabby chic’ continues, with an understated expensive expanse of exposed copper piping and copper fixtures in the bathrooms. I liked the large mirror on the back of the ladies toilet cubicle, so I could reapply my lippy without having to put my handbag on a wet bench near the hand-​basin. But be careful not to linger when it’s busy: there are only two cubicles. And I imagine this place gets packed at times.
Food wise, I’d say I tasted a very good selection. Executive Chef Shelly Forbes is spinning out some of your faves in the form of charcuterie plates, beef carpaccio and stacks of fat polenta chips with whipped sour cream based dipping sauce. We had the Chateaubriand and although the friendly trendy wait staff ask you how you would like it done, why would you say anything other than the traditional medium rare? The accompaniments, Bearnaise sauce, mushies with smoky ham and the Waldorf salad were wonderful.
We said a polite «no thanks» to dessert, but somehow a chocolately creation nicknamed the Snickers Bar turned up. A dollop of a white whipped creation smattered with ‘chocolate dirt’ on one side, a chocolate covered log atop a crunchy nutty base in the middle, and a superb whipped chocolate mousse-​like dollop on the other side completed it. Divine.
They are soon to change the menu to reflect a change in season and I am sure it will be no less exciting as their current one.