First Look: An Irish Chef With a Schmick CV Cooks Taiwanese-Influenced Food at a Perth Bowlo

Bowls clubs, in case you haven’t noticed, are having a moment. Once shorthand for mid-strength lagers and retirees in whites, the suburban institutions are now moonlighting as unlikely dining destinations, drawing in crowds with guest chef takeovers and inventive menus.

At Doubleview Bowling Club, known among locals as The View, the kitchen has become a hub for chef-led residencies.

It started with Special Delivery , the cult hit from chef couple Jacob D’Vauz and Anisha Halik, which rewrote the rules of bowls club dining with its Asian-inspired plates. Now the club welcomes Jujube Dining, a much-loved pop-up from chef Glenn McCue.

Step into the bowlo on Wednesday or Friday nights and you’ll find the Irish-born chef on the pans, cooking a Taiwanese-influenced menu just metres from the greens.

McCue’s CV hops from high-end kitchens in Dublin to Old Young’s in the Swan Valley, but Jujube, which launched in late 2024, is his most personal venture to date. It’s the pet name he and his wife, Li Ping, gave their daughter after being told she was the size of a jujube (a Chinese date) at a scan. The project is designed to be flexible to slip into any space, be it a neighbourhood wine bar, a suburban cafe or, in this case, a bowls club.

“I made the conscious decision with Jujube – whatever venue I go into, it would be malleable,” McCue tells Broadsheet. “Keeping the same core ethos, but respecting the venue at the same time.”

At The View, that means keeping the classics (McCue reckons that “people would riot” should the double quarter pounder be removed from the menu) but creatively working Taiwanese ingredients into the dishes to “appease me but also keep customers happy”.

Take the bread: focaccia made especially for McCue by the Strollio’s team is elevated with sesame and spring onion as a nod to spring onion pancakes, and served with a whipped white bean and fermented tofu dip. Or the black pepper beef, accompanied by Irish champ mash and red cabbage braised with Sichuan peppercorns and Chinese black vinegar.

Of course, introducing Taiwanese flavours to bowls club regulars is not without its challenges. “The very first night was shockingly quiet,” McCue admits. “I had a full team in the kitchen and the fridges were full but next to no customers. I was like, ‘oh my god, what have I done?!’”

It didn’t take long for locals and those from further afield to clock on to the talent in the kitchen. The very next service, the club was packed. And while the classic crowd-pleasers keep the bowlers happy (during a particularly busy service, McCue turned out 400 portions of hot chips), it’s the ever-changing Taiwanese-influenced plates that have been loved most by locals.

McCue explains that Taiwan is shaped by layers of history with Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese influences merging into something entirely distinctive. It’s that balance of cultures, at once familiar and unique, that he brings to The View, where Taiwanese touches sneak seamlessly into pub grub classics, and where locals are lining up to try them.

Doubleview Bowling Club
17 Shearn Crescent, Doubleview
(08) 9446 4322

Hours:
Wed & Fri 5.30pm–8pm

@theviewbc
@jujubedining