Republic of Fremantle expands its borders, but cocktails are still the star

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Republic of Fremantle has gone large.

What began as a distillery with a cocktail bar and a small list of clever snacks has been transformed into a proper restaurant with communal tables on the distillery floor, a large new kitchen and a bar for those who like to eat and drink from a stool.

There’s no art on the heritage listed brown brick walls, but then who needs it? The copper stills with their viewing ports stretching to the high ceiling and their tangle of piping and valves are industrial art on a mighty scale.

The original bar remains at the front.

The menu has been upgraded significantly with larger, meal size plates, a few sides and single bite canapés.

Republic’s best canapé – on the menu from day dot – is reassuringly on the new menu.

House-made crumpets with crème fraiche, salmon pearls and tomato are still the finest thing to come from the kitchen. Refreshing, light, briny and creamy. The stunning little crumpets have the tang of sour dough and a good stretchy chew.

Duck sandwich was a tiny potato bread sanga with a slice of duck meat and a spread of duck liver parfait on the inside. Very tidy dish.

Also from the snacks list, fried heirloom pumpkin was a small ball of pastry, deep-fried and crowned with a shaving of pickled pumpkin on a bed of cashew puree. Neither of us got it. Unappetising flavour and stodgy. We took a bite and passed.

Our server, Clara, was a jet. She had only been at Republic for a couple of weeks and her menu and drinks knowledge was on point. She was one of those rare young waiters who take charge of their customers’ experience and engages with a direct gaze and a quick wit.

Clara steered us in the direction of a new cocktail on the list, the Bamboo, a blend of RoF vodka and a curious infusion: vermouth flavoured with golden sherry. A couple of drops of extra virgin olive oil were added when in the glass. It sounded weird, so we had to have it.

It looked like a martini, crystal clear with a golden hue and served in a dainty, frosted Nick and Nora glass. It came with a side of house-made pickles. We were dubious. Was it some millennial’s idea of creativity, man? Well, no.

It was one of the finest cocktails we’ve drunk with flavour and balance defying its simplicity. No joke. We’re still raving about it. It had a kick like Conor McGregor. And those drops of olive oil on top? They delivered the subtlest notes of fresh herbs, citrus and pepper.

The cocktail guy at Republic is Max Giudice. We raved about his mixing when we first went several years ago. He’s a young guy with a palate and inventiveness which says age and experience.

Beef intercostals with brandy cream peppercorn sauce were heroically beefy, as rib meat tends to be. The sauce was similarly unflinching in its pepperiness. Nice to have a pepper sauce for beef that delivered black pepper heat.

The meat was tough. One expects intercostal meat to be chewy, that’s the point, but these were beyond the pale. Ever eaten a wet market pangolin? Me neither, but I suspect the chew would be the same. The flavour though. Just awesome. If you don’t mind taking a decade to form a bolus, this is for you.

We were startled to see a 750-gram bone in steak on the menu for $70. How was that even possible? Something that size and of good provenance would typically be well north of $100. Our answer came quickly. It was not a good piece of meat. We ordered rare. It arrived medium-well. It had almost zero flavour and a dry, mealy texture. Bugger. I love these guys and I love their restaurant. We wish it had been better.

A Wagin “duck crown” wasn’t a crown of duck. It was the entire duck. Can’t complain about that. The crown, by the way, is both breasts on the bone and roasted as a whole. It was OK. The skin could have been roasted with more colour and crispness – oven too slow – and more seasoning was needed, but it was nicely moist and richly flavoured.

A pecan tart was a burnt, flat thing, not unlike a vulcanised inner tube.

Even my dining buddy, a restaurant owner who’s always trying to talk me down when I review bad food (“mate, you can’t say that … it’s too negative.“), was gobsmacked.

All in all, a mixed bag at Republic of Fremantle. Their snacks and canapes are the stars. Their more ambitious “restaurant” dishes need work.

There’s lots of positives. A great staff, marvellous service, some of the best cocktails in town and a unique and attractive venue.