The Mantle is a pop up space in the heart of Fremantle, home to a few vendors. There’s the famous Short Order Burgers, Magna Pizza, Stampede Gelato, Alter Ego and Don Tapa. On a weekday after attending The Black Truffle’s Christmas Party, we head towards The Mantle for dinner at Don Tapa.

We started off with the Don’s Ceviche ($18), which consists of a white market fish, tiger milk and chilli. The Don’s Ceviche is Don’s twist on the classic ceviche dish. It’s a dish bursting of fresh flavours with plenty of acidity. What was interesting in this dish was how the salted and fluffy popcorn surprisingly complements well with the other elements of the dish.

We also had the Colours of the Beetroot ($19) which consists of heirloom beetroot, pisco, honey, smoked mozzarella foam and brazil nut. It’s tangy in flavour, flavoursome and fresh with a tint of sweetness.

Next up was the belly con cerveza ($28), a dish comprising of Young Henry’s Hop Ale braised pork belly, black barley and spiced green chilli, palm heart and fennel cream. The pork belly was crispy on the skin with a good amount of fat. Tender and yet juicy. The black barley, palm heart and fennel cream gives a hint of moorish flavours to the dish, making the dish texturally well-balanced.

Did you know that the Don Tapa makes good desserts too? We had our eye on the passionfruit mousse which we saw on Instagram but unfortunately, the passionfruit mousse was not on the menu during our recent visit. In the end, we had the pistachio panna cotta ($14) with strawberries and fairy floss which still looked as beautiful on presentation. It was such a lovely dessert which did taste as good as it looks. From the light flavours of the pistachio panna cotta to the sweetness of the strawberries and fairy floss, it’s a dessert with well-balanced flavours.

The Mantle is definitely one place for foodies, bursting with good food along with a great atmosphere. We recommend you checking out Don Tapa at The Mantle. Did I mention that the Don Tapa are rolling out a new menu in New Years with new flavours too? We already can’t wait to see what flavours and dishes Don Tapa comes up with! Bring on 2016!