15 hours Ago By Max Veenhuyzen
During his time at Wills Domain and Frui Momento, Seth James established himself as one of the state’s most exciting kitchen talents. Just one hitch: Perth eaters had to drive three hours to Margaret River to coo at the painterly plates that the Brisbane-born, Melbourne-raised chef would turn out, time after time. Thankfully, come the end of October, eaters will only need to travel as far south as Bicton to sample that James razzle-dazzle.
The end of the month is when Fins Bicton – the retail arm of trusted seafood wholesaler Fins – hits go on its small bar component: a 50-seat addition to its shiny fish shop in Bicton Central. As people expect from bars these days, the drinks list will be compact yet considered – a dozen wines in the fridge; tap beers; some baller bottles for those feeling frisky – but the bar’s goal is to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Management want to see locals regularly instead of once-a-year when they’re celebrating a special occasion.
“We’re not trying to be a fancy small bar,” says Phil Clark, one of the partners behind Fins. “We want to be a neighbourhood bar that people can come to but still have top-shelf drinks and top-shelf seafood.” Unsurprisingly, the kitchen’s primary stock-in-trade is fish and chips with guests able to enjoy their fish battered (Australian hoki aka blue grenadier) or crumbed (snapper).
But the real fun starts when you consider that guests can choose any bit of fish in the shop and – for a $12 cooking fee – get it prepared how they like. In classic pub counter meal tradition, the fish comes with either salad or chips – a 12mm skin-on chip from America – on the side. The house Pluto pup (maybe you know this battered sausage-on-a-stick it as a Dagwood dog?) will star a chicken and prawn sausage made by fellow Bicton Central residents, Torre Butchers.
If fish and chips prepared with fine-dining technique wasn’t tempting enough, your sauce options go a little further than Heinz or malt vinegar. Pickled chilli, a big-hitting XO, black bean and other Asian-inspired condiments drawn from James’s Margaret River era are available to bolster meals. A1 sandwiches will be another draw.
Golden, cornmeal-dusted prawns anchor the po’boy; the cutesy cray-sant features a flaky croissant filled with lobster salad; while the tuna burger’s destiny as a cult sandwich feels pretty much pre-ordained. Seafood themed events are also on the cards – hello Sunday morning oyster and Chamogen breakfasts – as are nights where James will cook a dine-in only menu of small plates highlighting whatever seafood has caught his eye that week. As you’d expect from a suburban fish and chipper in suburbia, takeaway is available but Fins Bicton will do its best to keep you there (even if it’s just twisting your rubber arm to enjoy a schooner of Swanny D while you wait for your order to be prepared).
A couple of parking spaces have been converted into an outdoor sitting area that can hold around a dozen revellers while concrete benches facing Petra Street have also been erected. During the week, you’ll find locals seated here, enjoying sashimi for lunch as well as the early spring sun. The razzle-dazzle has already started early for some.
Fins Bicton (258 Canning Highway, Bicton) is due to open at the end of October and will open daily. Food truck is Perth’s first eatery serving beloved street food dish East meets South West: This kitchen’s singular, thrilling style of Japanese cooking could only exist in Margaret River Intimate 25-seat restaurant from the Astral Weeks crew opens in Perth’s Chinatown.
