The Henley Brook Restaurant – By Dave | May 17, 2016 | Lifestyle, MADCAT Photography, News, Our Travels, Photo Tours | 2 comments
While visiting Mash Brewery for lunch a few weeks ago we came across a new pub in the Swan Valley next door to Duckstein (must go there again soon) called “The Henley Brook” (aka “The Hen”).
The Henley Brook Restaurant
This is our Photo Tour of “The Henley Brook” where we hope to give you a visual guide to our visit with short notes describing our personal experience in this exciting new location.
The Swan Valley Retreat, Henley Brook
The “Chicken”, as it is affectionately known, is situated on a large property on West Swan Street with lots of open grassy areas for families to enjoy, plenty of parking and a “Beautiful Chicken” theme throughout. location.
We always love a good story with some history and Hen certainly delivers both. Hen’s history is related to the original settlers who owned the property, the Edwards family.
The original home of the Edwards family is still at the rear of the property and is a listed property. It was built back in 1849 by Richard Edwards and his sons, one of the first families to settle in the Swan River Colony.
You can’t beat a great story behind a location, for us it adds an emotional attachment and shows that the owners care about more than money 🙂 Check out the Henley Brook website to read their story.
The Henley Brook
The pub itself is lovely inside and out with a log fire in the center adding to the friendly traditional “local pub” atmosphere that Poms fondly remember back in the “good old days” before for us to go out to paradise?
There’s plenty of seating without feeling like you’re stuck in a hen house (pun intended?) and there’s a traditional bar along one wall.
There is also a comfortable sitting area to relax if you have been working around like a headless chicken all day with great views of the wonderful fields provided by the large windows around the house.
The outdoor seating is also spacious and rustic and close to setting up a great area for the chickens (and the kids) to play in.
The Henley Brook (the Hen)
Moving on to the more important aspect of any pub, the choice of beer, or more importantly, the choice of Craft Beer!
Although not a brewery itself, The Hen includes in the beer selection the largest variety of locally produced beers that I have seen in any pub around Perth.
As you can see from the chalkboard behind the bar they have embraced local Craft Beer in a big way and feature beers from many popular local breweries including Little Creatures, Mash, Colonial, Feral, Nail & Last Drop.
Not only do Hens source local Craft Beer but they also stock a variety of Bottled Craft Beer from around the world.
West Swan Road, Henley Brook Wa 6055
It will take some time but we will have to work our way through all those Craft Beers. At the end we may even have learned something about the taste of beer beyond the novice level we are now, I’m sure I can tell Pils from a Pale Ale already!
To start our Craft Beer Tour in Hen we both tried something new to us. Maggie went with the Drop Drop Pills which she really enjoyed. Strangely enough we had never heard of Seal Drop Brewery before (even though it is the oldest brewery in WA!!) so it was a pleasant surprise to discover a new local brewery to visit.
I drank Nail Stout much to Maggie’s chagrin when she tasted it and then tried to drink it! It’s beautifully smooth and sweet (insert expert beer tasting comments here) and definitely one of the best Stouts I’ve ever tasted!
Of course, dinner can’t just consist of beer and there are many delicious dishes on the menu.
The Henley Brook, Swan Valley
As we always do we went with a selection of small plates to share to avoid overeating and have some variety.
First I had the Chilli Salt Squid with a salad of lychee, pickled radish & lime aioli. The combination of flavors is lovely and the addition of lychee makes it a great dish.
Maggie went with Texas Hickory BBQ Lamb Ribs as her choice, and it’s the gooey, messy and sweet dish that BBQ Ribs should always be.
For our third course we went with Lemon Prawn Arancini Balls with red pepper and basil coulis and garlic confit. This meal was a disaster! Well, when I say disaster it was very tasty and we loved it but not enough of that amazing garlic confit! Someone tell the chef to make three cloves of garlic next time!
Chesters Restaurant, Henley Brook, Perth
One thing you might notice as you look around Hen is all the chickens! They are everywhere and I’m sure this one with our table number on the back is definitely looking at our bones…
I know normal chickens don’t eat meat but those ribs are so tasty and who knows what the iron chickens will eat, when you get a little bite!!!
The great thing about being a photographer is that you are always looking to find interesting subjects for photos. The practice of taking pictures of almost everything in sight can probably be a little annoying to non-photographers including you 😮
I call this “Hen’s Eye”, who knows, maybe someone will write a song about it 🙂
Swan Valley Accommodation Perth
We were all about to leave when this man asked us as we walked past his desk “Are you an expert?”.
Be absolutely sure what you mean when engaging in conversation with her (Maggie talks the way I take pictures <
>) The result was that we left for another 30 minutes while we had a great chat with John the Local from Ellenbrook.
John the Local seems to appreciate his beer a lot so we had a lot in common from the start.
The Henley Brook In Henley Brook
He also let us know that John knows the staff well and introduced us to the very enthusiastic accountant, Josh. Of course I had to take a picture of Josh with Nicole, one of the waitresses. I have to say that Josh is definitely the more excited of the two to be in front of the camera, but they both look great in the shot 🙂
It’s clear when looking and talking to Yr Hen staff that they are happy and passionate about their jobs which adds a lot to the atmosphere of the venue and definitely makes it a place we will always come back to 🙂
On the way out we had a quick visit to the toilets and we were delighted with the sense of humor and consistency with the whole Hen theme that went into naming the Hens (Ladies), Cocks (Gents) & Nesting (Parenting) room 🙂
I took all the images in this article on my iPhone 6s and processed them in Lightroom CC and ON1 Photo 10.5
The Henley Brook Swan Valley
Watch for upcoming guides on how I use Lightroom CC, ON1 Photo 10.5 and Adobe Photoshop CC to process my images. Henley Brook (affectionately known as “Yr Hen”) is located on West Swan Road in the Swan Valley. This family-friendly pub is the perfect place for a relaxing family meal – there’s delicious food, a good atmosphere and plenty of space for the children to roam around and be free.
The Old has a choice of indoor and outdoor dining, as well as comfortable chairs, stools and tables on the veranda or picnic tables on the grass in warm weather. If you want to sit inside, I recommend you book in advance as these tables fill up quickly.
We had a delicious lunch on a cold winter’s day. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy a glass of red next to a roaring fire!
There are shades of country charm in the Old, with exposed brick, wooden beams and lots of antique garden touches. The fun bar has local beers on tap, as well as wines and ciders. They even make good coffee.
Price Reduced “swanbrook Winery”– Swan Valley Gem
On the menu are traditional salads, burgers, parmesan, sharing food and much more. In the back, there is a wood-burning pizza oven. And the little chef is keen to go beyond the children’s menu to take advantage of the special program on Wednesday “Half Price Pizzas.” The “hunter” meat pizza ($23) is topped with beef fillet, pepperoni, pork belly, caramelized onions, roasted capsicum and barbecue sauce. I don’t mind getting an adult pizza, since it’s half the price of cooking out about the same size as the kids’ meal, and you’re sharing a few slices with us!
I love slow cooked pork belly. Served with a crispy crackling, the meat belly was delicious and flavorful. Underneath is a creamy mash, fresh green beans and gravy.
Mum enjoyed the barramundi fillet, with cauliflower rice, dukkah sumac, artichoke, roast zucchini and baba ghanoush.
Outside, under the shade of large gum trees, there is plenty of room for children to roam around and explore.
The Brook Bar & Bistro
There is a play kitchen, trees to climb, wigwams for making a forest cubby, big tires, ropes to swing from and more.
There are balls and goals for a football game – we even see it
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