Perth Food Review

O h the disappointment – In Contro promised so much but failed to deliver…

We arrived on time – the older woman that met me at the door was less than welcoming, she seemed harrassed and pointed to a table as she dashed off to assist another table. In retrospect we should have left then but we seated ourselves and perused the menus.

We were asked if we would like sparking or still bottled water… we obviously shocked the waitress by asking for regular tap water – her face was a picture, she looked as if she’d stepped in something dreadful.

The tap water did appear eventually and half a glass each was poured – it was an effort to get a refill even though we asked several times throughout the meal. The older woman did appear flourishing a bottle of sparking and when I mentioned we wanted regular water she scowled and disappeared.

We found the menu limited… it was further restricted when we were told (after we had made a choice) that 3 of the main courses we off and there was no substition. (well they’d been busy)

The young woman that looked after us would have benefited from being better informed about the menu. She had to go and ask the chef if the meal I wanted had cheese in it. I asked if I could have grilled fish and was told that the fish on the menu had already been battered… this is fine dining??? I don’t think so!

Our main courses arrived, and although frugal were nicely presented and edible… there was nothing at all special about the food.

The next point of dissatisfaction came with the desserts – my companion ordered the Passionfruit Brulee – it arrived nicely caramelised but once the crisp caramel was cracked, a sloppy slurry of custard lay underneath. It looked like pre-packaged custard with passionfruit puree stirred through it. It looked most unappetising.

She politely mentioned to the older woman that the dessert wasn’t set, and was immediately told that she was “obviously mistaken because that’s how it was supposed to be” “it’s a French dessert you know” and “this is how we make it here”. There was no offer to exchange the dish or even an acknolwedgement that they may have fallen short of the mark.

The woman was so unbelievably rude it was dreadful. Rather than making a scene I kept quiet but decided I’d call them the next day and make a point of sending them one of my favourite recipes for Crème Brulee that includes the “tip” Bake custards approximately for 35-40 minutes until the custard is set.

We asked for the bill and my female companion proffered her credit card. This was whisked away by the older woman and a few moments later the receipt was returned to the table for signature and given to her husband… obviously that particular staff member at In Contro has no idea about protocol.

The final insult was the 10% surcharge because it was Sunday…

In Contro – well for me the only thing it has going for it is the location, it’s overpriced with indifferent food and substandard service… we won’t be going back

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