Naked Fig Cafe
278 Marine Pde, Swanbourne WA
As you might guess from its name, this is a stylish establishment of the kind that doesn’t specialize in vegetarian and vegan food, but on the evening we were there it certainly came up with the goods. We kicked off with beautifully served small dishes of olives and potatoes, before moving on to some serious eating. The moussaka is a richly flavoured melange of cinnamon infused tomatoes, aubergine and tofu, luscious in texture, while the bean burger is based on a serious pattie and comes with salad, corn ships, green tomato chutney and, for those who want it, Swiss cheese; it’s a nice example of a dish that it would never have occurred to vegetarian cooks to create, but nicely mimics what they do on the other side. My companions tucked into two desserts, lemon meringue pie and lime and lemon brulee, each served with both (!) cream and ice cream.
The Naked Fig has a superb location, overlooking the Indian Ocean. As we settled into our seats the sun was sinking beneath the waves; as we rose to leave the moon was setting. How wonderful to enjoy food of this quality in such a place with good friends!