Star Anise is a relaxed fine dining restaurant with chef David Coomer consistently creating exceptional cuisine. Some of it influenced by south-east Asia and all of it outstanding.

The degustation menu is fantastic giving you a little more than a taste of his favourite items on the menu. Ma hor a well known favourite with a slice of pineapple, caramalised duck, seared scallop with a mint, chilli and coriander dressing. Licorice ice cream is another established favourite but if it's not on the menu it's worth a trip back.

The wine list is dominated by Australian wines but there are generally a few international gems as well.

225 Onslow Rd
Shenton Park 6008
Tel: (08) 9381 9811
Fax: (08) 9381 9822
www.staraniserestaurant.com

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What do you want when you go on holiday? Great scenery, things to do, excellent restaurants... oh hang on, let's throw in some world class adventure sports and free wine, and not just some cheap plonk but some of the high-end stuff, too.

Despite its rather sedate sounding name, Margaret River, three hours drive south of Perth, has all of these.

It's the home of world-class surfing competitions with frighteningly large waves which break against the rugged coastline with awesome power and regularity.

It's the home of Moss Wood, Leeuwin Estates and a hundred other world-class wineries, many of which have cellar door tastings and attached restaurants.

The local produce is so fresh and tasty that most of the restaurants deliver something a little special. Vasse Felix is particularly good for a smart dinner, but most of them are interesting.

Margaret River Cheese Co. (yummy cheddar), Chocolate Factory, Simmo's Ice Cream and Bootleg Brewery are all good stops between wine-tastings.

And that's just inland. The coastline of this area is one of the most beautiful on this side of the continent - or any side of any continent to be frank.

And the coastline offers up plenty of places to stay: north to south you've got Dunsborough, Yallingup, Gracetown and Prevelly/Gnarabup, where you'll often get stunning sea views from your deck, as you sip your day's purchases.

Some of the comments on Perth are pretty critical - but they also miss one of the great advantages: when you've got an area this beautiful, you don't want it to get too over-crowded. Margs gets pretty busy around Christmas, but the rest of the year you can normal find a corner of it - a beach-break, a vineyard, a restaurant - to keep to yourself.

Margaret River is three hours south of Perth. We like staying at Bavu Beach House www.bayubeachhouse.com

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Not as well known as the Margaret River region for it's wines, but the Swan Valley is far more accessible - just 30 mins from Central Perth.

There's numerous wineries, most of which do tastings and some of the bigger ones (e. Lamonts, Sandalfords) have great restaurants looking out over the vines.

There's also breweries, chocolate factories and numerous other places of interest on the easy to follow loop around the valley.

30 mins N East of Perth
www.swanvalley.com.au

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