If you’ve been following my Taste Great Southern eats over the last month, you would have seen the feast burger boy and I had at Three Anchors in Albany.
Owner Kate Marwick opened Three Anchors in 2012 with the vision of bringing amazing local produce, service and a spectacular view of Middleton Beach to the tables of her diners.
Three Anchors is decked out with a mix-match of furniture. There’s wooden tables, sofas, old private treasure trunks as coffee tables, stools, chairs, long share tables and the outdoor area looked like a great place for a Sunday session…
burger boy and I were excited to have the opportunity to experience the amazing local produce and Middleton Beach view as a preview to the quality that Three Anchors will be plating up at their Taste Great Southern Crab Boil on Saturday 22 March.
Three Anchors head chef Amy Hamilton will be teaming up with Perth’s Must Wine Bar’s Russell Blaikie to put on a Southern American style Louisiana crab boil feast. When Amy told us that there would be a shared table feast with crabs, marron rolls, lobster rolls and ribs (see Three Anchors facebook page for more details), burger boy and I did seriously consider making the trip back down to Albany. But with Singapore booked for this coming week, we couldn’t leave our business twice in the month.
We had a mega feast at Three Anchors when we visited in January! For entree burger boy and I shared these pork and ricotta meatballs with tomato, basil and parmesan ($15.50). I really enjoyed these meatballs as it matches the lightness of burger boy’s mum’s home made Italian meatballs. Until Three Anchors I hadn’t tasted anything remotely close to burger boy’s Italian mamma’s meatballs…
We thought the meatballs were more than enough for entree but we were tempted to try Amy’s pea-lafels which were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. These pea-lafels reminded me of the my first taste of falafels in New York. The pea-lafels were served with char grilled flatbread, hummus, hot sauce, pickled turnip and herbs.
burger boy had this mega beef burger ($19.50) which was served with a side of shoestring fries…he couldn’t fit much else after this.
burger boy failed at being my second stomach at Three Anchors
As we devoured our mains, Amy tells us about her cooking journey…
What was the first meal you ever cooked?
I had a Winnie-the-Pooh cookbook and although technically not a meal, it was probably Winnie-the-Pooh hot chocolate.
What inspired you to cook?
Even though I always loved cooking, I didn’t know I could cook for a job. It wasn’t until I was a dishie at Must Wine Bar in uni that I looked at the kitchen and went this lifestyle is awesome. I couldn’t believe people made a job out of this so I started an apprentice with Russell Blaike.
What did you do after you left Must Wine Bar?
I went travelling, came back to Albany in 2006 and never left. Mainly because of the produce and still stand by it, the Great Southern has the most amazing produce and wine. It’s really rewarding being a chef in this region.
What’s your favourite produce to cook with?
Oysters but I don’t do anything to them – that’s how amazing the produce is here.
I was also fascinated to hear, before becoming Three Anchors head chef, Amy had been Lady Gaga’s personal chef for 5 days when she stayed at Albany’s luxury retreat, Maitraya.
After chatting to Amy and devouring our mains, we had little room left for dessert! The entrees and mains managed to fill my second dessert stomach! Our deconstructed snickers bar was packed away for us to have for breakfast and what a sweet breakfast it was
Three Anchors casual environment I feel gives the impression that the food will be just your usual bar food but the quality we experienced went above and beyond that.
After our Three Anchors feast, burger boy and I literally rolled out the door and went for a stroll along Middleton Beach before walking back to our accommodation.
Taste Great Southern had organised discounted rates for our overnight stay in Pelicans Albany’s King George self contained apartment…
In the master bedroom (featured below) there was an ensuite with a spa and there were a couple of bedrooms upstairs…
Pelicans Albany’s King George apartment is usually $500 per night which I think would be quite cost effective shared amongst a few families holidaying together. There’s a shared living area, BBQ facilities, a nice balcony, laundry facilities, a kitchen with everything you need to cook up a meal and best of all it’s just a few minutes walk to the beach and restaurants.
When junior burger (or burgeress) is out and about I’d definitely consider staying at Pelicans Albany again.
Taste Great Southern posts on foodie cravings:
- Taste Great Southern WA preview – on what a beautiful state we live in!
- The Old Marron Farm – first Taste Great Southern stop
- Taste Great Southern 2014 food and wine festival launch
Disclosure: foodie cravings dined at Three Anchors as a guest and was provided Pelican’s Albany accommodation at a discounted rate as part of Taste Great Southern’s campaign. Please see disclosure policy for more details.
