AustralianGourmetTraveller-June2018

Best bar

TWR BAR IN CROWN TOWERS PERTH, WA

Best bed

MAYFAIR HOTEL, ADELAIDE, SA

Almost all our favourite beds this year were made by

AH Beard, the custom sleepmaker that has been producing

mattresses since 1899. With just one factory responsible

for so many of our best nights in, it’s not easy to pick the

Goldilocks option. What tipped our vote in favour of the

Mayfair Hotel’s King Koil sleeper was not the fact that

the hotel’s owner tried 30 beds before choosing this one,

or that she had the South Australian supplier make this

particular version – oicially named the Mayfair Luxury

Mattress – exclusively for the hotel. No, what convinced

us was discovering one of our reviewers loved the bed

so much, she ordered one for herself.mayfairhotel.com.au

Finalists: Spicers Potts Point, Sydney, NSW; Ovolo

Inchcolm, Brisbane, Qld

Best breakfast

HALCYON HOUSE, CABARITA BEACH, NSW

What could be more Australian than breakfast by the

beach? At Halcyon House, the tastefully transformed

surfer motel on Cabarita Beach in northern New South

Wales, mornings are something to look forward to. At

airy in-house restaurant Paper Daisy, days begin with

a soundtrack of waves crashing beyond the pandanus

grove and gifted chef Ben Devlin’s à la carte breakfast

spread. There’s something for everyone, from coconut

and chia pudding with honey and berries to toad in

the hole with fried sourdough, egg and lonza. Add

daily smoothies and well-made cofee for a morning

to remember.halcyonhouse.com.au

Finalists: Como The Treasury, Perth, WA; Grand

Hyatt Melbourne, Vic

The rather ho-hum name

belies the glamorous

nature of this bar. TWR,

short for The Waiting

Room, dazzles with its

jewel-coloured furnishings,

Moroccan-accented

chandeliers and fluted

marble in pinks and white.

Acres of glass and an

elegant terrace aford

views over river and city

skyline as bar staf prepare

modern interpretations of

classic cocktails alongside

their own extravagant

inventions. The list comes

with a glossary introducing

drinkers to the merits

of salmon fat-washed

Talisker 10 (as seen in

their sriracha-spiked Holy

Mary) and activated

charcoal “to flush toxins

and chemicals from the

body”. Cocktail hour as

detox session? Count us

in.crownperth.com.au

Finalists: Elements

of Byron, Byron Bay,

NSW; Islington Hotel,

Hobart, Tas

The awards

154 GOURMET TRAVELLER

PHOTOGRAPHY KARA ROSENLUND (HALCYON HOUSE)