The Studio Bistro

The Studio Bistro at Bunkers Beach is the chef-driven beachfront dining room of the Carter family — opened in 2014 on Bunkers Beach in the Dunsborough wine subregion, with the Indian Ocean directly visible from the dining-room glass wall — and is the village's most photographed beachfront-and-vineyard hybrid setting. The restaurant occupies a converted 1990s beach-pavilion building with a 270-degree view of Geographe Bay.

The cuisine is contemporary Australian beachfront. Signatures include a hand-cut WA-coast yellowfin tuna tartare with finger lime; a slow-cooked Margaret River Wagyu shoulder; a wood-fired WA-coast snapper with samphire; a hand-rolled tagliolino with WA black truffle; the famous 'Margaret River chocolate' for the dessert course.

The wine list runs to 280 references with deep Margaret River smallholder coverage. Glass pours start at A$12.

The dining room and beachfront terrace together hold ninety-six covers; the kitchen times the dessert course with the Indian Ocean sunset.

The Studio Bistro is the easy-first-date room in Margaret River — quieter than Cape Lodge, less formal than Voyager Estate, and the beachfront-and-vineyard setting is genuinely distinctive. Book the corner two-top closest to the western beachfront window.