Matso's Broome Brewery

Bishop of Broome / Master of Curry

Landing in Broome instinctively stirs feelings of anticipation, with its blue waters and red dusty earth (or 'pindan' as the locals know it). I'd heard so many good things about the place and now I had finally arrived.

My colleague and I stayed at Moonlight Bay Suites, just across the road from Matso's Brewery. It didn't take us long to find out that Matso's is not just a brewery; they also pride themselves on their restaurant where you can sit back and relax in tropical surroundings with uninterrupted views of Roebuck Bay .

You get a great feeling when you enter Matso's. The place is decked out with wood and iron. One thing I noticed was the huge pictures on the wall. There is one for each beer. One of the staff noticed me looking and pointed out a couple of things. Firstly, the pictures are all chalk drawings by a local artist (James Down) and secondly, the 'Smokey Bishop' piece is named after the Bishop of Broom who posed for the drawing and blessed the beer. I'm really sorry that I can't show you an image (copyright) but trust me it's worth a view.

The menu changes regularly at Matso's. Broome's Asian cultural influence and abundance of fresh seafood and produce allow the chefs to be adventurous and creative. I loved that the menu isn't too big but still offers a huge range of flavours. We cheated and actually came in a few times before this review. One of my favourite dishes was the "Fish of The Moment" - in our case, a freshly caught Blue Bone Groper Fillet, grilled and seasoned with lime zest and coriander on a salad of pineapple, coconut, paw paw & cherry tomatoes topped with citrus vinaigrette. As you can imagine, I eat out a lot and this dish is a stand out.

Out and about in Broome, the locals and the tourists told us that Matso's fish and chips were the best in town, so we tried that too - the "Matso's Beer Battered Barra" - and they were right. The staff agree that the beer best suited to seafood is the "Monsoonal Blonde". To me it's a spicy brew with great kick and aftertaste and yes, I had to agree - perfect for my groper.

Anyway, our review tonight is all about curry. Matso's has "Broome's Best Indian Curry" from 6pm Thursday to Tuesday, available from the Curry Hut. If you check out Matso's promotional material you'll see this little Indian guy. His name is B. Thulaseedharan Pillai but they call him "Mr. Pallai" or "Mr. P" for short. He left the shores of India for Australia , looking to bring an authentic Indian curry experience to the North West and since landing at Matsos's in October 2004, he has flourished as Matso's Indian Curry Executive Chef.

Mr. P trained in India and has been a chef for thirty years. As well as Indian, he has a French, Italian and Chinese cooking background and also studied at the Culinary Institute of America specialising in sauces. In 1996, he even cooked for the Queen of England!

When Mr. P first arrived in Broome, he thought it was too hot but he soon adjusted. "Broome is a great place and the people are all very nice". Mr. P believes cooking is an art. It's easy for anyone to see that for him, it is a hobby, passion and a livelihood.

I couldn't help noticing how many mangoes and frangipanis there are in Broome. With so many, we checked to see what Matso's use them for. Mr. P makes mango pickle chutney and they also sell dried mango. You can also expect other dishes on the menu to include mango from time to time. Breakfast is simple yet hardy offering a variety of bacon, sausage and egg dishes and the infamous "Pearler's Breakfast". Lunch and Dinner is from the same menu except the Indian cuisine, which is only available for dinner. Mr. P tries to change the curries daily but every Tuesday is always Tandoori day...

Some of the more favoured dishes are Lamb Rogenjosh, butter chicken and fish curry. The ever changing mixed curry plate we had came out with 10 different types of food, from rice to curry. Dianne was a big fan of the Chicken Jalfreizi but personally; I like to just keep mixing things. This made me wonder: usually, you get no advice on how to eat things and often there's a particular way you're supposed to, so I asked Mr. P how Indians eat curry. He told me that traditionally they break a piece of Nann and dip it in the curry one at a time getting your fingers dirty.

You may be wondering why I'm writing so much about curry. The answer is simple. Beer and curry is a great match and we are at a brewery. We were told that the best beer to have with a curry is a dark beer, so we had our meal with one of Matso's own "Smokey Bishop". Another must is Matso's Alcoholic Ginger Beer - superb and I have no doubt, all of their (award-winning) lagers, bitters and ales will valiantly fulfil their duty: to quench your thirst and chase that top-end heat away.

If you want to have a bit of fun mixing beer with food, try a curry with a small glass of each beer and keep in mind that you can personalise your dish. If you want wine, Matso's also has a great wine list but to me Matso's is all about the beer. They even have a beer called "Hit The Toad". As part of the fight against WA's Cane Toad invasion, Matso's is donating 10 cents from every Hit The Toad beer purchased. If you cant make it all the way to Broome, you can enjoy a Matso's beer from Hotel Kununurra in Kununurra, Kimberley Hotel in Halls Creek, Clancy's Fish Pub in Fremantle and Applecross, Belmont Tavern in Belmont and also the Greenwood Hotel in Warwick.

So here is to the Bishop of Broome and the Master of Curry. Well-done Matso's...

By Scott Arnold-Eyers