Our restaurants not that bad ... just not that good

Are we that bad? Did Gourmet Traveller get it right? No to the first question and yes to the second. WA restaurants are not bad, they're just not that good - or not good enough to compete at a national level, anyway.

No one in their right mind would suggest there is anything in Perth to match Gourmet's three-star winners like Vue de Monde, Attica, Cutler & Co, Marque, Quay and Est.

RELATED: WA misses out in gourmet awards

The trouble with living in a bubble, as we do here in WA, is that we often think we're better than we are, which is when hubris creeps in. We are expensive, we get less (food, service, professionalism and knowledge) than Sydney and Melbourne for the same money.

Even so, it has been a huge year for WA restaurants. Never before have we seen so many big money start-ups and such high levels of cooking and service.