Dining options to suit all tastes in Geraldton

The long macs are better in Geraldton than in Melbourne. You don’t have to explain what you mean and three-quarters topped up is no problem. I’ve got two breakfasts, one lunch, two dinners and cocktails on my list, taking in one of Geraldton’s favourite spots, Skeetas Restaurant Bar & Cafe, then newcomers Laian Restaurant and RT’s Restaurant and Cafe that have extended the variety of cuisines on offer in town. Skeetas, overlooking Batavia Coast Marina, needs little introduction — it’s been serving up food and wine for more than 30 years, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and busy on a cold Tuesday night. I have the “signature recipe” — a seafood crepe ($37) filled with fish, squid, crab and prawns in a creamy sauce — and ask the waitperson to recommend a glass of semillon sauvignon blanc, which is available in 150ml and 250ml pours. Breakfast is at Flowvitality in Geralton’s west end one morning and at AJ’s Beach Cafe on the Beresford Foreshore, the next. Both are popular with locals (and their dogs), casual and the menus cater to all tastes — but if you have a craving for traditional German bratwurst, cheese kranski or currywurst and chips, AJ’s is your place. I’m told the benny burrito (poached eggs, ham and spinach in a wrap with hollandaise sauce) is popular here, but prefer something lighter, so choose the acai bowl ($19). It’s fruity and delicious, beautifully presented and not too sweet (which can be a trap with acai bowls). Perfect. At Flowvitality, tucked away in a suburban street, I have souffle pancakes ($23) that take longer than expected to come out, but they’re well worth the wait; fluffier and bigger than any I have ever eaten, served with passionfruit curd, fruit, maple crumble and a dollop of coconut ice-cream. There are also superfood smoothies, raw desserts, cold-pressed juices, grass-fed steak sandwich, fish tacos, plus good selection of vegan and gluten-free options. On my second evening, I head to The Old Man & The Sea — a rooftop bar named after Ernest Hemingway’s legendary novel — at the upmarket, family-owned Gerald Apartment Hotel where I join co-owner Grant Pitman, his daughter, Milli Henderson Pitman, and general manager Gemma Clark, for a, why not, Hemingway daiquiri. The story goes Hemingway got diabetes, but loved daiquiris, so a bar in Cuba came up with a bespoke recipe, originally called the Hemingway special, and made with white run, Maraschino liqueur, grapefruit juice and lime juice — just like the one here. It’s cold, so we huddle around the fire-pit, which has recently been installed, then wander downstairs to Bob’s Boutique Bar, named after Grant’s beloved golden retriever, which died. You can’t miss Bob’s poster-sized photo over the bar. Laian Restaurant Nadeem Turkia has been sharing Middle Eastern cuisine with Geraldton locals since 2022 at his restaurant Laian, named after his little sister who’s eight years old. “It means the ‘blessing of new life’,” he says, bringing out an array of dishes, some on his current menu, showcasing his take on the food he grew up with in Jordan. Shark Bay prawns in wispy kataifi pastry, garlicky Abrolhos Islands scallops on the half-shell, crunchy salt and pepper squid with house-made aioli and salad ($33), steak sandwich with crispy mushroom duxelle and salad ($34). “There are three more dishes coming out,” he says, as I struggle to finish, wondering how I can possibly eat a crumb more … Spiced handmade linguini and MidWest marina mix ($34), creamy freekah with Geraldton pink snapper and slaw ($45), nine-hour slow-cooked lamb on a bed of vegetables, then two desserts — house-made baklava and an Arabic-style pancake topped with pistachio, coconut, strawberries and rose petals ($15). It’s a feast for a table of regulars — and I get to sit in and enjoy the food. Flavours are exotic, with fresh ingredients and spices — all roasted and ground onsite — playing a starring role. It’s the first thing I smell when I come in. “This is my food you don’t get anywhere else,” Nadeem says. “I like to play with what I have and everything is 100 per cent handmade and 100 per cent local.” Think of it as fusion Middle Eastern-Geraldton — and there’s more to come, with a wood-fired oven in the works to bake sourdough. Laian, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is located in the grounds of St Francis Xavier Cathedral, next to the Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre. It’s a world-class setting, magical at night. Sit outside and you could be in Seville, Spain. Nadeem came to Australia as a refugee from Jordan with his family in 2016 to start a new life in Darwin. His father is Syrian; his mother Jordanian. He has a university degree in hospitality and has been working in kitchens all his life, starting at 10 years old peeling onions and garlic, then working his way up to valet parking and waitstaff, lucky to finally get a break in the most famous restaurant in Jordan. Australia has brought a whole new life, thanks to the kindness of strangers who are now friends, one helping Nadeem to set up a food truck called Flavours of Damascus in Darwin, which was a big hit, then suggesting a visit to Geraldton via Perth to check out the food scene. “The idea was we spend three nights and four days in Geraldton,” Nadeem says, adding he was shown the premises he’s in now that had previously been two restaurants — both a failure. “As soon as I walked in, I thought this is all I need, an area where people can see me cooking, with doors opening to the outside for events.” All it took was for him to cook a buffet dinner for a group of locals one evening during that visit — and they loved his food so much that some of them pitched in with a generous interest-free loan to get Laian off the ground. “I cancelled my flight back (to Darwin) and since then I have not had a day off,” he says. “Mum was shocked; she hasn’t seen me in a long time … but this is my way of life. I enjoy it.” He now has two chefs working with him — one Australian, the other Filipino. Nadeem is formally Syrian, like his father, according to custom in many Middle Eastern societies where citizenship is passed down through the paternal line, but explains: “I always say my heart is Arabic, but the beat is Australian,” adding he doesn’t like to pigeonhole people. Celebrity chef Adam Liaw is a friend, with Nadeem showcasing some of his recipes on several episodes of Liaw’s The Cook Up on SBS. He’s now working on his own YouTube channel that will guide people through a whole week of food with ingredients and menu prep to take the angst out of dinner every night. “We’re just filming some stuff now, but the name is still to be decided,” he says. “It will be all-over-the-world cuisine, so things like a lamb roast you can have on Sunday, then turn it into wraps another day and cook with a tomato sauce for a rice dish the next. Easy.” RT’s Restaurant and Cafe Bush tucker and native foods are on the menu at RT Cafe and Restaurant, which opened its doors in bustling Marine Terrace on the edge of Geraldton’s town centre, in January 2022. It’s a family venture, with mother Wendy Yarnold and daughter Allianne Calliea at the helm, the name deriving from Allianne’s love of art and tea, in a curated two-storey space with a display of Aboriginal art upstairs and dining room downstairs that’s open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and special events. Wendy, who founded Aboriginal employment and training organisation Real Futures with husband Brad, is of Biripi ancestry and was born on Dunghutti country on the New South Wales mid-north coast. Her father was a bushman, drover, timber cutter and farmer, so she spent a lot of time foraging, shooting and fishing for food, living on country and off country. RT is a new phase of her life. Both Wendy and Allianne wanted to create a restaurant that would be welcoming and conducive for everyone, while providing work opportunities and hospitality skills to people who needed them most. “We employ Aboriginal staff where we can, so there are several Aboriginal chefs and Aboriginal front-of-house staff on a part-time and casual basis,” she says. “Our menu comes from a First Nations perspective, but there is little of everything here to suit all tastes.” Maybe kangaroo burger ($26), saltbush & pepper berry squid ($26), Geraldton wax salmon ceviche ($24), crocodile tail caesar salad ($26) or pulled camel tacos ($26). I end up having the RT tasting plate ($36), which features several menu highlights, including little emu pies in the flakiest puff pastry, crocodile spring rolls, pulled camel sliders with aniseed barbecue sauce and sandalwood dukkah. I can’t resist a side of green ants, which pop with a lemony burst in my mouth, followed by a wattle seed pancake with quandong jam and a dollop of cream for dessert. “Our thrice-cooked roo tail is the most popular,” Wendy says. “It’s braised, marinated, rolled in flour and deep-fried; people love it so much they suck the marrow out of the bones.” Expect ingredients like wattle seed, lemon myrtle, quandong, pepper berry, saltbush, Davidson’s plum and desert lime, a wide selection of bush teas, including gumby gumby, rosella and gulbarn, along with lilly pilly fruit and quandong smoothies. Wendy says all are sourced from licensed foragers or commercial suppliers and meat comes from butchers and certified producers. The menu changes with the seasons and there’s a five-course degustation night several times a year with well-known visiting Aboriginal chef Daniel Lyndon, the next one scheduled sometime before Christmas.