BAHA Perth restaurant review: Caribbean-influenced bar and diner needs to embrace the spicy island life

Who let the dogs out, the Baha Men asked the world in 2000. Who, who, who, who, who? The Bahamian Junkanoo band earned a Grammy Award for their once inescapable hit, which rattled through our heads as Myra and I wandered up one flight of stairs at The Adnate Art Series Hotel in the city to BAHA Perth. The poolside bar and kitchen takes inspiration from Bahamian cuisine and Caribbean chow in general, while touting itself more vaguely as offering “coastal food designed to be shared”. I was thinking spice, rum, spiced rum and spicy food. If spice be a dog, as the Men o’ Baha once implied, then let that puppy off the leash. Like the boisterous Junkanoo street parades of the Bahamas and Jamaica, I wanted all the bells and whistles. What I got was a restrained iteration of Caribbean flavours, melded with ubiquitous South American dishes, such as tacos. At least we got our rum cocktails — me an excellent El Dictadore ($23), a rich concoction combining 12-year-old rum, Disaronno liqueur, rosso vermouth, bitters and sugar syrup, while Myra had the Daisy de Santiago ($22), which uses white rum, yellow chartreuse, lemon juice, butters and sugar syrup. BAHA has more dark rums than you can shake a stick of sugar cane at, ranging from tasty tipples for $12 per nip right up to pricy Guatemalan and Colombian bottles aged for 20-plus years. Yippie yi yo, as the Baha Men might say. There’s also close to 30 wines by the glass, mostly from WA with some canny South Aussie and Victorian drops. If it wasn’t winter, we would’ve had our cocktails by the pool, maybe even in the water once the rum made its presence known. The Adnate’s hotel bar and diner serves brekky, lunch and dinner in its lovely, airy and bright room. This isn’t a cookie-cutter hotel restaurant by any means. Eclectic artworks, hanging (fake) plants and tiles everywhere makes this a very attractive proposition. A few small tables were occupied by solo diners, presumably hotel guests, while a couple perched at the bar enjoyed cocktails. BAHA was far from jammed up. The menu is relatively concise, offering a short, snacky selection for lunch before expanding to a roster of small, medium and large plates on evenings. We started with two soft tacos ($13.50 each), one pork shoulder, the other Cuban-style fish. The pork taco starred sloppy pulled pork, with mojo dressing, slightly piquant coleslaw and queso fresco, or soft, fresh, white cheese. Not bad, mostly forgettable. The fish taco was a fresher bite, featuring coconut and lemon, plus coriander rice and diced tomato. Quite good, also kinda bland. We also had the lobster arancini special ($12 for three). Served hot, these delicious balls had chunks of lobster and loads of flavour. Myra said she’d definitely chase a waiter around a party for these superior canapes. Pumpkin soup was the other special on the night we visited BAHA. If you catch me ordering pumpkin soup on a night out, please call a doctor. Homemade is the only way. With our mains we tried the Guyana and Trinidad-style paprichaat ($19), a cold version of nachos crosshatched with yoghurt and splattered with a sweet, smoky barbecue sauce. The corn chips also had tamarind, various herbs, diced potatoes and tomato on them, I think. Like every plate of nachos ever, what arrived looking like a Piet Mondrian soon resembled a Jackson Pollock. While we barely made a dent in the so-called medium serve, we decided paprichaat would make a good poolside snack for a group downing a few cold cocktails. On this night, we could leave it. The jerk and pepper squid ($18) was your basic salt and pepper squid strips found on pub menus from Perth to Paraburdoo. This came with toasted coconut, lime and a hint of spice in a nod to the Bahamas. The BAHA signature Caribbean-style mac and chicken ($34) was a meal in itself. A very good meal, in fact. A Maryland leg and thigh of charcoal chook came with a very good coleslaw plus even better mac’n’cheese. Like everything, it could’ve used more spice and perhaps the pasta could’ve been in a ramekin rather than mingling in the ‘slaw’s juices. This was probably the highlight, if we’re not counting the El Dictadore. We had a couple of neat dark rums with the Malibu caramel and chocolate tart ($16), one of three desserts. Despite the mango gel, creme fraiche and little crispy balls on top, the tart was pretty dull — in particular, the biscuit pasty was bland, not crumbly. Service was sharp, friendly and well-informed. BAHA doesn’t need to lift its game in that regard. Expecting a hotel restaurant to dial up the heat might be a bit much. Venues such as this have a built-in need to look after a wide array of palates. But if you’re going to open a Caribbean-style eatery than please, please, do me and the Baha Men a favour and let those spicy dogs out. BAHA Perth The Adnate Art Series Hotel, 900 Hay Street, Perth OPEN Monday-Saturday, 11.30am-9pm. Sunday, 11.30am-8pm. Also breakfast. CONTACT 6371 1001, bahaperth.com BOOKINGS Yes THE VERDICT City poolside bar and kitchen fails to deliver spice and flavours as vibrant as the Caribbean, but still offers better-than-average hotel dining. Cocktails, wines and service are all tickety-boo. Let the dogs out and spice up your life. 14/20