Mediterranean flavours, pubby accessibility and terrific drinks are the calling flavours of this likeable island-time destination.
Contemporary$$
Decisions, decisions. A visit to Sunsets requires many, starting with which part of the all-day bar and restaurant at The Lodge Wadjemup to make camp in.
Do you hedge your bets in the al fresco area inside the front gate: a summery enclave where umbrellas and timber canopies provide shade? Or do you seek refuge indoors in dedicated dining spaces or in the bar populated with high tables?
If you’re lucky, one of the dozen low-slung white tables on the terrace overlooking Rotto’s famous salt lakes will be free, and all your plans for the afternoon will suddenly have vanished.
Some areas are more for drinking than eating. Some are better for groups while others are date-night central. And some are prone to brazen daylight robbery perpetrated by fearless seagulls that won’t hesitate to pilfer crunchy, golden potato off of the plates of unsuspecting eaters.
But regardless of where you sit, everyone has access to the same all-day menu: a hit-list of predominantly Mediterranean flavours that should be recognisable to anyone that’s ever daydreamed about joining a European summer Contiki Tour.
So naturally, there’s seafood. A fat tentacle of octopus licked with a bitey nduja oil, say, or snazzy salt cod croquettes crowned with rings of jalapeno: one of the menu’s many fried seafood crowd-pleasers. (See also the crisp, beer-battered fish flanked by chips peppered with a bold, cumin-forward spice blend inspired by Moroccan ras el hanout.)
You can order a bowl of the chips on their own but – pro-tip alert! – the fish goujons on the kids’ menu has the perfect quantity of side-dish-for-two chippies, plus you also get some bonus fried fish. (Those kids’ menu chips, however, aren’t spiced.)
Other dishes, though, owe more to contemporary Aussie pub dining than Greek island fantasies. The juicy, palm-sized cheeseburger is a textbook example of its genre: plasticky cheese, white onion, Martin’s potato bun and all. Sunsets’ rotisserie chicken is as juicy as it is comforting.
Sunsets’ chef Mat Powell might have grown up near the Victorian alps, but he understands what people on island-time want to eat, plus how to deliver that in a venue that operates at scale. The steaks are cooked better and sharper than you’d expect at a 270-seater with an all-day kitchen – even if the chimichurri was a little on the oily side – while the microscopically ridged linguine in the rich (too rich?) crab and tomato pasta is made inhouse.
As you’d expect, QR ordering is on-hand for both the restaurant and guests’ convenience, but I’d suggest going to the bar to buy drinks. One, it’ll likely be faster than ordering on your phone. And two, almost all of the staff here are a pleasure to chat to and seem like they’re enjoying themselves despite being at work.
While Sunsets’ all-day menu starts from 10.30am, brekky is also part of the hotel’s offering. Its Pelican kiosk slings cakes, pastries and sandwiches from early – I’m not sold on the mayo in the bacon butty, however – although house guests and gluttons will struggle to resist the siren song of Sunsets’ sprawling breakfast buffet and its help-yourself soft serve station.
While it’s no surprise that this is a kitchen trading in familiar flavours, what is unexpected is how slick the whole operation feels, especially considering its size. With a year of fine-tuning and revision under its belt, Sunsets looks well placed for a busy summer, not least because the hotel has added 109 more rooms to the island.
Although I’m thrilled that Sunsets and Rottnest Island are both relatively accessible to many West Australians, it’s crucial to acknowledge that sorry business is, sadly, also part of Rottnest’s story with the island being used as a prison and burial ground for displaced First Nations people from around WA. (Rottnest is Australia’s largest known deaths-in-custody site.)
Premier Roger Cook’s November apology for the atrocities committed on Rottnest was a major milestone in reconciliation. Similarly encouraging is seeing Rottnest’s traditional Nyoongar name form part of The Lodge’s identity, as is learning that Nyoongar elders are involved with the island’s planning processes. Wadjemup Museum and its eye-opening stories and truths, meanwhile, are a short walk from the hotel.
Yes, talking about this history is uncomfortable – not least for those that might have unknowingly camped on these burial sites – but truth-telling and sitting with discomfort is integral to the reconciliation process. When enough West Australians make the decision to do so, the sun will finally set on that dark past and we can, collectively, look towards it rising again and bringing with it a brighter tomorrow.
The low-down
Atmosphere: a likeable blueprint for island-time dining and wining that would be equally welcome on dry land.
Go-to dishes: rotisserie chicken, salt cod croquettes.
Drinks: just as the space is big, so is the drinks package that includes terrific beer, spirits and wines (especially if you’re thumbing through the master wine list).
Cost: about $150 for two people.
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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Max Veenhuyzen is a journalist and photographer who has been writing about food, drink and travel for national and international publications for more than 20 years. He reviews restaurants for the Good Food Guide.
