“Oobie doobie, c’mon Subi!” — a cry familiar to Lions fans still turning up to WAFL games, but also one probably heard in the offices of the hospitality operators that have laced up their boots, pulled on a guernsey and run out to try to snap a few goals for the oft-maligned suburb.

Of course, Subiaco was its own worst enemy. Locker-room talk is that some big-name players were too busy kicking own goals to worry about the bigger picture as the ‘burb soon became the hospitality equivalent of Carlton — that is, very few wins of note since the mid-90s.

Recently, those fortunes have turned around, with fresh blood in established venues (including the Subi Hotel), star players drafted in from other suburbs (most noticeably Clint Nolan from Northbridge), a draught pick in microbrewery Golden West, and various talented rookies.

A 400-seat pub, bistro or “high-end” tavern (take your pick) smack bang on the corner of Rokeby and Roberts, a drop-punt from the nearest train station and next door to a dashing small forward in mod-Asian restaurant and bar Shui.

Subiaco Continental is sleek, simple, slightly sophisticated and satisfying. The big corner diner in the One Subiaco development feels like the final piece in a jigsaw puzzle that took so long it must have slipped down the back of the couch or unwittingly stuck to somebody’s bum.

There’s no doubt residents and office workers have been salivating for Subiaco Continental to open. When my wife Myra and I sneaked in on a recent sunny Monday for lunch, the place was surprisingly busy with boomers, business buddies and cool kids leaning over laptops.

Effervescent venue manager Katie Chan claimed it was their quietest service since opening in early July.

Dark Horse Hospitality Group’s head coach Miles Hull has the Midas touch. He’s not a star player, preferring to do things calmly. He knows what works, and doesn’t go for big flashy statements.

The menu full of bar snacks, bistro stalwarts and more substantial tucker is the business: a line-up bursting with classics given a subtle makeover so as to please Subiaco’s older set while wowing younger folks.

There’s also a cheeseburger for $19 (sans chips) that has “quick mid-week lunch” written all over it.

After perusing the star-studded menu, Myra and I were in no hurry. We started with a couple of oysters each — one with shallot mignonette ($5 each), the other with XO salumi “Kilpatrick” ($6 each).

While we usually like ‘em natural with a squeeze of citrus and a splash of Tabasco, the vinegary mignonette highlighted the crisp saltiness of the Coffin Bay oysters, while Segalina’s take on the Kilpatrick saw the oyster lost in the admittedly super-delicious spicy meat lid.

The oysters are on the “raw bar” section of the menu, alongside a chilled seafood plate for two costing $58. I might save this one for summer.

A more complementary combination of flavours came off the bench with a couple of gildas worthy of multi-year contracts at a pintxos bar in Donostia. These are two olives snugly wrapped in an Olasagasti anchovy next to a guindilla chilli and sun-dried tomato speared on a toothpick for a centimetre-perfect $6.

Two more star players from the bar snacks section are the smoked ham hock croquette with tarragon mayo and a cornichon ($7 each) and the pickled mussel toast with saffron mayo ($8 each).

The slow-cooked croquette was — quelle surprise — very smoky, very hammy and very, very good. As the tarragon mayonnaise kicked this one home, so too the creamy saffron mayo made sure the delightful pickled mussel juggled acid and sweetness, plus the bonus crunch of the miniature slice of toast.

While I washed the first-half dishes down with a hazy pale ale made at Dark Horse’s recently opened Dunsborough brewpub Southcamp, Myra had a brilliant fizzy pet nat off a list boasting 21 wines by the glass, including two perfectly acceptable house wines for $10 each.

The booze list is broken up beyond just bubbles, white, rosé and red, with helpful descriptors such as “I Am Fruit”, “skin contact”, “bright and fresh”, and “big boy”.

Back to the tucker. The steak tartare ($23) was a football-shaped scoop of raw beef roughly chopped through with capers, shallots and cornichons, plus duck yolk to bind, and a generous, or dangerous, portion of shaved horseradish on top.

We were correctly advised to work that through. Perhaps next time, the horseradish can already co-mingle with the meat and friends, but the duck yolk left sitting atop the creation, which comes with house-made crisps.

Next a large, very hot cast iron skillet of Western Rock Lobster mac and cheese ($39) threatened to snap our table like a dodgy hamstring.

There were decent portions of lobster — chunks occasionally disguised as another hand-made shell of pasta lurking in the creamy cheese sauce topped with breadcrumbs and chopped chives.

This comfort food dish was hard to fault, beyond the size. Like any mac and cheese, regardless of quality, you only get a few minutes between the dish being hotter than lava and cold enough to start congealing.

The confit duck leg ($35) was a bargain main plate. Perfectly cooked Daffy with crispy skin, red-hued meat and a delicious cassoulet-ready mix of cannellini beans, speck bacon and bitter herb salad.

Needless to say, there was no room for dessert, nor that cheeseburger.

Where folks once saw Friday lunches turn into Friday arvos, Friday nights and Saturday mornings at a combination of the Subiaco Hotel, Llama Bar and Oriel (the Boozemuda Triangle), Subiaco Continental may be the new one-stop shop for a lost weekend.

All the joint needs is a decent nickname.

Subi Conti? Too awkward.

The Conti? Been done.

Sub Con? Sounds like a submarine conference, or something even dodgier.

Sconti? Not too shabby.

Subi Con? Best of a bad bunch, but spell it #SubiCon on TikTok.

Subiaco Continental

10 Rokeby Road, Subiaco

OPEN

Monday-Saturday, 11.30am-late. Closed Sunday.

CONTACT

6155 9290, subicontinental.au

BOOKINGS

Yes

THE VERDICT

Already a big hit with residents and business-folk, SubiCon pushes the once sedentary suburb’s comeback over the barricades. Banging bar snacks, fun and well-designed wine list, solid range of beers on tap and enough bistro classics to keep both boomers and gen-whatever-it-is-now happy. Looks like everybody’s kicked a goal.