Monthly Archives: September 2009

Cicconi’s, Wembley

Posted on by
3

ExteriorWebsite: http://www.cicconis.com.au

Entertainment Book 09/10: 25% off (up to $35 in value)

Photo on left courtesy of Cicconi’s website

It’s not too difficult to miss this little establishment along Cambridge Street as you drive along what is now my new street to explore for food! I never did realise the many little cafes that sit along this stretch of road. It never occurred to me that there could be little Cappucino Streets within the suburbs of WA. Now I will be looking at exploring more suburbs and where their own little Cappucino Strip of cafes/restaurants might lie!

I gave a treat to my family this evening as we dined out. As you enter in, you feel this blast of class in your face, with a beautiful interior design to the restaurant. The wait staff are quite friendly, and we were seated quite promptly. I think with the reservation I made, we were given a nice ‘window’ table where we could see the cars passing.

 MenuSalt and PepperInterior 1Interior 2Light

Being the typical asian family, no one ordered booze, other than me. :) I had a nice white wine (Tim Adams Pinot Gris), which was accompanied by the following orders for our evening:

  • Garlic Bread (4 pieces)
  • Fish of the Day (Atlantic Salmon, grilled with mash and vegetables)
  • Veal (New Zealand, milk fed, veal backstrap wrapped in prosciutto & pan-fried with whole king prawns in chilli herb butter, served on creamy potato mash)
  • Salt & Pepper Squid

Garlic Bread

The garlic bread was a good serving for its price of $5.50. However, there was this lack of garlic taste to the garlic bread, which was quite disappointing. As tasty as it was, it was really the butter that was talking more than anything.

I initially thought it was just buttered on one side, which would have led to more complaints from me, but it was buttered on both, which I will give props for :)

Overall it was a good start to the meal, albeit too garlic-less in what is really supposed to be garlic bread.

The mains came out rather swiftly after the garlic bread, which were really happy about considering how hungry we were!

Fish of the DayVeal

The Fish of the Day was ordered by two people, and they turned out identical (I see it as a good thing because it proves consistency on the chef’s part) in presentation. But well, the proof is always in the taste of the pudding to me, so I had a quick taste off Dad’s portion, and I found the fish fresh and cooked to the right amount (not too dry, which is always a big fear for me with fish). I didn’t want to deprive the father from the other bits of the dish so I left my little nosey-fork at that. Not all that tasty, but I give the chef props for cooking it well :)

The veal on the other hand, which is what I had, was a tad tastier than the fish, largely due to the prosciutto wrapped around the generous piece of meat. The prawns were a tad too overcooked in my humble opinion, so they turned out mushy and were really not what I would have liked. The mash was good, albeit a tad too much in terms of the serving amount. the gravy was once again lacking the taste that it was described, altho’ it would have been too rich if it was any tastier, so it’s a toss-up between having taste and having too little, too much. Quite an average dish.

Salt & Pepper Squid

The Salt & Pepper Squid were so huge that Mom had a nice big shock when it came out of the kitchen and onto our table. Having ordered the “mains” size, we were definitely expecting something bigger than entree, but not that huge! I have to admit it was really massive, even for a person with a great appetite like myself.

The squid was served with a nice amount of shoe-string chips, and a nice aioli like sauce on the side.

I had a taste of the squid, and whilst it maintains its nice tenderness, the batter had very little taste, so much so that Dad had to resort to using the salt and pepper that was on the table. Quite a disappointing in that respect.

The shoe-string chips were a winner amongst us as we helped Mom finish off the big plate of food. It was lightly salted, which is good, and with the nice aioli to accompany it (altho’ it was really for the squid)… it was one of the highlights of the night!

There was a nice serve of salad below that big serving of squid you see in the picture as well, most of which consisted of my favourite rocket! :) It was served with some orange/mandarin slices, which gave a nice tangy flavour to the dish.

Overall, this place reeks of a beautiful ambience (would definitely come here for a date), but the food is rather average, and whilst I would come back and try some other dishes, it will take me a lot more effort than other great places that we have been to over the past couple of months. Prices are a tad steep for the taste of the food produced too.

The service should be applauded tho’ because the waitress who served us was patient to the bone (we deliberated on our order whilst she stood there and smiled), and she was attentive to all our needs. :) *thumbs up*

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Rating by: S.T. (a.k.a Miss Egg)

Cicconi’s on Cambridge
Telephone: (08) 9383 7888
Address: 353 Cambridge Street, Wembley, Western Australia 6014

Cicconi's on Cambridge on Urbanspoon

Opus at the Richardson, West Perth

Posted on by
3

View through the glass door

Website: www.therichardson.com.au

Opus at the Richardson is a restaurant in The Richardson, Perth’s luxury boutique hotel in West Perth.  It is a modern, yet old-fashioned restaurant, very elegant and has a refined atmosphere about it.  I’d been here for dinner before a couple of years back in 2007 when they first opened and thought that it was a very nice restaurant, more so due to its ambience (some thoughts on this at the end of this review).  This time round, we came here to try their breakfast menu.

It was quite early when I got there so there were not that many peoFront Cover of menuple around.  I was greeted with a polite smile by the waitress, a welcoming smell of fresh bread and the sun pouring into the restaurant through the glass door as I was seated down.  It reminded me of being on holidays at a tropical resort hotel!  Very nice!  My friend had sent me their menu beforehand so I’d already decided on what I wanted to eat but still looked through their menu for anything different.  They had done up the menu quite nicely too, the front cover looked like a painting!  This place exudes elegance for sure.  Back to the menu, just note that the a-la-carte selection is quite limited as they serve a mini Continental buffet breakfast but still quite substantial for those who like hot breakfast. 

Some pictures of the restaurant itself below.  Check out their website for better photos.

Inside the restaurant Table setting

We had the following that morning:

  • Eggs Benedict on English Muffin with Back Bacon and Hollandaise ($19) with extra Mushrooms ($3)
  • American Breakfast - Eggs, Bacon, Pork and Honey Sausage, Onion Fried Chat Potatoes, Toast, Fresh Fruit, Juice and Tea ($35)

Long Mac Eggs Benedict Tea American Breakfast

Our food came and the first thing I noticed was the matching dining set (plates, cups and milk container), very nice!  I had the Eggs Benedict and thought it was so so in terms of taste.  It was very simple and the hollandaise sauce was not as nice as other places I had tried.  The American Breakfast looked a bit average too and a bit dry.  Although the food was slightly disappointing, the service was top notch so it sort of made up for it.

Overall, I thought it was pleasant breakfast.  Although it was more on the pricey side, one would expect that in a hotel restaurant as the service and ambience are part of the package!

On a side note, Opus at Richardson has a Private Dining Room which fits about 14 people and is separated from the main restaurant with a sliding panel.  My friend booked this place for a surprise party a couple of years back and that’s when I came last and tried their Degustation Menu.  All I remembered about it was how small the dishes were (fair enough, it’s a degustation menu) and how we were still hungry after all the mains were served.  However, the desserts came and saved the night – 3 different serves of chocolate (cake, mousse and liquid!).  It was pricey but nonetheless, it was still a fun party and good experience.  I managed to dig up some old photos – check out the size of one of the course in the photo!

Inside the Private Dining Room Table setting Eating..

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Opus at The Richardson
Telephone: 08 9217 8880
Address: 32 Richardson Street, West Perth

Opus at the Richardson on Urbanspoon

Han’s Cafe, Cannington

Posted on by
2

Han's cafe outside

Website: www.hanscafe.com.au

Han’s Cafe is a successful Asian restaurant franchise that started in 1995 and seemed to have multiplied quite numerously over the years (I think there are about 14 Han’s Cafes nowadays).  I’d been to about half a dozen or so throughout the years which included the ones in Northbridge, Perth, Belmont, Claremont, Mandurah and Willetton.  For this review, we ate at the restaurant in Cannington (inside the Carousel shopping centre) whilst waiting to watch Transformer later on the night.  (Ironically though, we didn’t end up watching the movie that night as the tickets sold out by the time we finished dinner! Boo!!)

The decor at all Han’s Cafes is quite similar, bamboo floorboards, wooden tables and chairs, tInside the restaurantall bamboo sticks and brass statues adorning the centre, giving it an almost asian countryside atmosphere.  They are quite popular as there always seem to be a crowd.  For us, we chose this place as the food normally comes out fast which is a plus when you are in a hurry.  I noticed at this restaurant that they have installed touchscreen monitors for the tables alongside the wall and NO! it’s not for internet but for self-service order.  How hi-tech!    

The menu consists of a diverse range of cuisine and boasts about 125 different dishes.  You can order either individual dishes (rice or noodle) or various entrees, meat or vegetable dishes to share which is typically an asian style of eating.

Menu

We ordered the following:

  • Entree – Han’s Spring Rolls ($4.95) and Han’s Satay Stick ($5.95)
  • Individual dinner dishes – Han’s Red Beef Curry Rice ($10.95), Han’s Roast Duck Egg Noodle Soup ($9.95) and Han’s Broken Rice ($10.95)

Spring Rolls & Satay Sticks Red Curry Beef Rice Roast Duck Egg Noodle Soup Broken Rice

The entrees came and tasted so so only although they did satisfy our hunger while we waited for the mains.  There were four per serving of Spring Rolls served with Han’s special sauce – as written (the sauce tasted like ordinary thai sweet chilli sauce to me though).  With the Satay Sticks, you get a choice of beef or chicken served with Han’s satay sauce.  Okay, by this time, I had realised that they tag the word ‘Han’ in front of every single dishes and the word does not really signify a specialty dish, so the expectation went down from there.

I had the Red Curry Beef Rice which is cooked Malaysian style and served with a bowl of steamed rice.  The curry tasted nice to me and I like how they put a variety of vegetables in there!  It helped with my count of 5 serves of veggies a day! haha

Two of my friends had the Roast Duck Egg Noodle - one thought it was delicious while the other thought it was only so so!  That goes to show how one dish can be nice for one and not for the other, all depending on the palate!  One of my friend commented that the vegetables in the noodle soup tasted sweet which made him want to eat more of them which is rare for him. o_O I have never heard that before – kinda weird.

Lastly, the Broken Rice got rave review.  Broken Rice is a traditional Vietnamese dish and is basically cooked rice from fractured rice grains.  It’s Vietnamese name is ‘Com Tam’.  It is served with grilled pork, cucumber, pickled vegetables, fried egg and ‘Bi’, thinly shredded pork mix, poured over with a special sweet sauce, and a small bowl of soup broth to wash everything down.  It is actually a great dish as it contains everything!

Service was fast although the waiters/waitresses seemed very rushed when they were taking our order and didn’t seem too happy.  Maybe there were too many people there that night.  I think Han’s Cafe somehow gives me a ‘fast food joint’ vibe but they do have some nice dishes.  It is especially great for those in a rush.  :)

Rating:  3.25 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Han’s Cafe
Telephone: 089358 0848
Address: Carousel Shopping Centre, 1382 Albany Highway, Cannington

Han's Cafe Carousel on Urbanspoon

Ocean Reef Chinese Restaurant, Heathridge

Posted on by
Reply

Inside the restaurantOutside the restaurantOcean Reef Chinese Restaurant is located in the Heathridge Shopping Centre and is a small but cosy restaurant in the northern suburb.  I hardly ever go north for food but my friends suggested this place for our ‘cell group’ reunion as they know the owner.  For those who are wondering what a ’cell group’ is, it’s part what we do at church, where people are allocated into different groups and meet up weekly for fellowship and bible study in homes, basically to share lives together.  It is vital for the growth of any Christian! 

Back to the restaurant, it is very near Mitchell Freeway so is quite convenient and easy to find for those who are not used to the roads up north (like me!).  As with any suburban chinese restaurant, the place is decorated with chinese lanterns and filled with big round tables adorned with red napkins!  Very typical I thought.  Even their placemats are very chinesey!      

Chinese setting

I was very late to dinner on this occasion as I got the time wrong and so did not take part in ordering the dishes.  However, some dishes turned out to be what I would normally order anyways, so I guess we must all have the same taste?  haha …They were as follow:

  • Sizzling Japanese Tofu with Chicken
  • Chilli Beef
  • Sizzling Garlic King Prawn
  • Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs
  • Singapore style Fish
  • “Fat San” Chicken – Crispy chicken with chilli and vinegar
  • Garlic Kai Lan

Sizzing Japanese Tofu Chilli Beef Sizzling Garlic Prawn Salt & Pepper Spare Ribs Singapore style Fish Crispy chicken with vinegar and chilliGarlic Kai Lan

The food turned out quite yummy (more so as I was very hungry!).  I especially liked the Singapore-Style Fish as it reminded me of the Singapore Chilli Crab dish, very saucy and went well with the steamed rice.  It made you want to eat more and more.  The other dishes were as expected, they tasted about the same as other suburban chinese restaurants I had tried.  The servings were reasonable too and we were all very full by the end of the meal.  No complaint whatsoever.

The restaurant was very full that night which is always a good sign!  Service was prompt and friendly.  If I live nearer, I would probably go back for more – a good place to try some chinese tucker if you live around the area.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Ocean Reef Chinese Restaurant
Telephone: 08 9401 2126
Address: Shop 2, Heathridge Shopping Centre, 89 – 99 Caridean Street, Heathridge

Witch’s Cauldron, Subiaco

Posted on by
1

One of the many portraits of witchesWebsite: http://www.witchs.com.au

Witch’s Cauldron has been around for a good number of years, and is situated along the famous Rokeby Road in Subiaco in the midst of the ever-growing number of specialty shops and restaurants around that area.

Something quite special about this place (which I clearly forgot to take photos of!) is the way the place is set up. Utilising every bit of space well, they have nice booths on the ground floor, with nice tables upstairs, capable of hosting bigger groups of people. When we went this time (to celebrate S.C’s birthday), we found many other groups celebrating birthdays too – in the order of 10+ or more people in a single group.

You will be greeted with all kinds of portraits of witches around the establishment (very much like the one pictured right here on the left). And they’re all rather cute.

They even have a stained glass of a witch!!! I shall provide you that proof a little later.

So we got ourselves settled in, and started looking at some booze, arriving at the following decisions:

  • Cocktails Galore!Toblerone ($14)
  • Cool Breeze ($14)
  • Summer Dream ($13)
  • Cosmopolitan ($13)
  • Bottle of Corte Giara Pinot Grigio (Italy) ($29)

In the picture in a clockwise direction:

Summer Dream (12 o’clock), Cosmopolitan (3 o’clock), Cool Breeze (6 o’clock), and Toblerone (9 o’clock)

The four of us were rather happy with our choices, tho’ I really would have ordered the summer dream if I knew it was gonna taste THAT good! So there you go, cocktail lovers:

Recommended Cocktail: Summer Dream

MmMM… as we waited for our drinks to arrive, we decided to settle on some appetizers/entrees to calm our grumbling tummies down a little:

  • Garlic Prawns (Entree Size) ($23.60)
  • Chef’s Tasting Plate ($23.50)

Garlic Prawns - Entree SizeChef's Tasting Plate

Stained Glass in Witch's!The garlic prawns were quite a disappointment :( I had remembered them to be alot tastier, with the full garlic taste exploding into your mouth as you start biting into those fresh crunchy prawns. But alas. It’s not to be. The taste was bland, and it was a total turn-off for me. And for that price… major boo-boo there!

The chef’s tasting plate took us to the other side of the pastures (yes, the greener ones)… and we were so amused by the variety of food they presented, that we forgot all about the garlic prawns that was on the other side of the table. tee hee. There was a good range of food, which I will not divulge too much, except for you to be prepared to be quite filled up after having this (especially if you’re talking about sharing it between 2 people). The best part for me was really the persian cheese that was served in a little dish next to the olives. sublime! I am not a cheese lover but that was just awesome. The deep fried camembert could have been a bit better… I have had better ones in S’pore (winks at Carz). The chorizo was another plus in this dish! I loved it. Very interesting plate, delightful to explore, and some were just lovely to taste. :) And definitely worth the moolah compared to the prawns.

And then we had to decide on our mains. There isn’t too much of a variety altho’ I do think it’s a good thing considering the fact that you can then get good quality food out of the kitchen (or so I think).

After much deliberation… here were our choices for the evening:

  • Macademia Chicken ($31.80)
  • Lamb Fillet ($36)
  • 250g Eye Fillet Steak ($38.90) – one with bearnaise sauce, one with pepper sauce

Macademia Chicken

The macademia chicken was served with such style… a nice tomato chutney forming the base together with some potato and corn croquettes, then some salad/vegetables forming the rest of the base.

There was definitely a nice generous serving of chicken with about four fillets being piled onto the plate, nice and slightly brown.

I had a taste of the chicken, and whilst not a fan of breast meat, this chicken (assuming it was breast meat), was really soft, tender AND moist. :) thumbs up! There wasn’t much of the macademia taste, tho’ I would definitely find myself ordering this dish the next time I go there simply because of its simplicity and presentation.

I didn’t try the tomato chutney but it definitely looked like a nice serving, and as the photo suggests, nice chunky tomato pieces were present too!

Lamb Fillet

The lamb fillet was really well presented as well, with a nice bunch of potatoes forming the base, with its vegetables, and the lamb smothered on top, smeared with some of that sauce, name by which I have now forgotten. :)

I am not a lover of lamb, so I did not try this dish (altho’ I really should since I am doing the review! doh!)… however, I do go by the next best sense… my eyes…

There was not a drop of sauce left after the meal was done… the lamb fillet was wiped out and there was absolutely nothing left on that plate which you could really call ‘left overs’. It must have tasted some good, especially when A.C. cleaned out every  bit of the sauce too!

It might not look alot, but when you do start to eat the lamb, it does fill you up, as I noticed poor A.C slowing down rather significantly towards the end of the meal. :)

Eye Fillet with Bearnaise SauceEye Fillet with Pepper Sauce

The eye fillet was served with some mash, and half of a grilled tomato, topped with what I thought was parmesan cheese. 

I had a taste of the bearnaise sauce, and it tasted like a familiar Chinese New Year snack that we’d usually make at home (called Kuih Bangkit)… as odd as it may sound, it does taste that way! That said, I do think it’s quite good, tho’ it didn’t taste like other bearnaise sauces that I’ve tried. Not born a bearnaise pro, I wouldn’t be able to tell right from wrong here. :(

The pepper sauce was a tad too thin for my liking, but the steak was grilled to almost-perfection! I had mine medium-rare and it came out just as expected. One of the better steaks around, that’s for sure! :)

The mash was nice, but a tad bland (that’s why I love my chips), and the tomato’s seasoning of parmesan cheese didn’t add that much flavour too. That said, it was a nice filling main, and I was pleased.

What’s a dinner without dessert?

  • Jamaican Ice Cream (think sundae but with some Tia Maria!) ($15)
  • Icky Sticky Pudding (I need to try till I find the perfect one) ($15)
  • Chocolan Flan ($14.50)

Icky Sticky PuddingChocolate Flan

Jamaican Ice Cream

The Jamaican Ice Cream was quite a disappointment too. :( I found the ice cream to be a tad too liquified by the time it was presented to us, and there really wasn’t much taste of the Tia Maria (unless V.A zapped it all up in that single spoonful in which she said “WOW! I got hit!”). It was a normal sundae much less than anything, only tipped with a little bit of those lovely tia maria… Not something I would order again…

The icky sticky pudding was nicely presented, with the butterscotch sauce separate . Well they did have it all over the pudding but provided some extra for those with an extra sweet tooth *winkz*. The pudding itself was quite a delight to have because of how moist it was. Overall quite a good dessert, only if you have a knack for having really really sweet desserts because this one tipped the iceberg over on the sweetness ocean.

The chocolate flan was such a delight to have that we could have just ordered that dessert three times, and achieve more satisfaction than the variety we ordered.

Don’t be fooled by its small slices, the sheer richness of the tart was just to-die-for! One of the best I have tasted around, and with the little block that it’s sitting on (not too sure what it really is =X) that tasted like nougat and look like a block of butter, DeLiCioUS! It most certainly made the birthday girl, and the rest of the diners (incl. me) H.A.P.P.Y! KUDOS+++!!!!

Witchs Menu

Witch’s Cauldron was definitely a lovely place for a visit after all these years (the last time I went was probably in 2006). The infamous garlic prawns were the biggest disappointment of the night for me, but the rest made it up for sure.

The wait staff were friendly, with the waitress who seemed to be in charge of our table for the evening extremely patient with us throughout the evening, even with out odd eccentrics, and our weird (and childish) behavior. There was a nice cheeky waiter who left us momento of his arm while we were taking a photo. :)

The atmosphere reminds me of a fine dining establishment, with a slight casual twist – which is probably why we were a tad awkward in that place – we couldn’t speak as loud as we normally would, we couldn’t play a fool as much as we usually would.

A little pricey on its dishes, but ultimately a lovely place to dine. :)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Rating by: S.T. (a.k.a Miss Egg)

Witch’s Cauldron
Telephone: (08) 9381 2508
Address: 89 Rokeby Rd, Subiaco, Western Australia

Witch's Cauldron on Urbanspoon

Greens & Co, Leederville

Posted on by
1

From the outside looking in

Nestled in the hustle and bustle of the retro yet modern Leederville is this funky Ikea-funded-because-of-its-many-ball-lights cafe that has taken the Leederville-lites by storm (or somewhat by storm).

Not really boasting of the most attractive signboard, the interior design of this place is enough to attract and charm one and their mates into its nice and open space, filled with lotsa couches, sit-down-round-tables, pool tables, little 80s video arcade games (think the olden airplane shooting sorta games you used to find in arcades and you thought it was the best invention ever), and other cute little things.

If there’s one thing that’s unique about this place (other than its awesome decor), it’s the fact that there are heaps of retro-board-games and the like available to play with.

Now start thinking snakes & ladders (haven’t seen it from the two times I went but I’m quite sure they have it), connect-four. They even have mini foos ball sets! Woo hoo!

Miss Egg hasn’t fully grown up as you can probably tell.

Anyhoo, onto the food!

There’s no formal menu at this joint, so you’ll just have to look around at the chalkboards, and little post cards filled with lotsa information (that people tend to miss) along the queue line (where the coffee machine is situated). I’ve heard many people order their fantastic milkshakes and from what I see, they look like they’re worth the moolah. :)

Greens & Co serves simple lunches like wraps and focaccia sandwiches. Other hot food they might serve? Sadly, I don’t know either – it’s one of those places where I’ve only been for a cuppa and cake.

If it’s anything, I have not seen such a wide array of cakes in a single cafe for quite a while now, and it was quite overwhelming during my first visit. Oh, and to add to my already maximised amazement at the place, here’s what I found on top of the cake-display fridge:

Little Miss & Mr Men!

Little Miss and Mr Men! :) This adds to their unique way of designing the place, and I have to give them Kudos for taking the effort in arranging these little cute things on top of their wide array of cakes!

Like I have been saying, there is a nice selection of cakes to choose from for those with a little sweet tooth that needs to be satisfied at some point during the day.

They offer gluten free cakes from memory as well. :)

The usual lemon meringue pie (except that the meringue is in nice generous proportions!), apple pie, and some cheesecakes are also available for those with a slightly different palate.

Went there twice and here’s what we had:

  • Chocolate Marshmallow Cake
  • Baked Passionfruit Cheesecake
  • Tiramisu
  • Chocolate Cake (there’s some other word that I can’t remember now)

Chocolate MarshmallowBaked Passionfruit Cheesecake

TiramisuChocolate ___ Cake

Of the four cakes that I had a taste of, the one that I’d definitely recommend would be the Chocolate Marshmallow Cake. It’s sweet to the tooth, but yet not overly sweet. The presence of the marshmallow definitely brings it to another level, and is something a little different frmo our usual chocolate cake!!

Coming in second place would be the tiramisu. For a cake, this tiramisu has the right amounts of coffee and cream, but it does get a bit much towards the end of the cake where the cream starts to overload on the gut. Overall average, but good cake.

Selection of Cakes

Then comes the baked passionfruit cheesecake. I think I loved it because of the tangy flavour of the passionfruit which lifted the heavy cheesey feeling you’d get from eating cheesecakes in general. The base was fantastic and one to remember :) We were all trying to savour the base, so much so that we didn’t want to eat too quickly when we got to the final bits of the base!

The chocolate ___ cake was quite a let down, simply because it was a tad dry. The icing was awesome tho’! I wouldn’t be ordering this again…

Drinks in Greens&Co are generally ordered and picked up at the counter. Most people come for coffees, and milkshakes, but I found my love for tea here. They have a good selection of special teas like lemongrass, peppermint, green, chamomile, etc. Of the selection, we tried the following beverages:

  • Lemongrass Tea
  • Peppermint Tea
  • Mocha

TeaStrange enough, we ordered similar beverages both times we went there – so there’s not much variety.

We all loved the lemongrass and peppermint tea because it was a really good compliment to the cakes we had. The mocha wasn’t too bad, being served withs some marshmallows, but it did mask the full taste of the cakes due to its own sweetness.

The clear glass cups were also an interesting way of serving the tea, compared to the conventional tea pot and tea cup.

One pot shared between two people, we managed to fill about 3-4 full cups, which was lovely because we found ourselves just gulping that refreshing beverage down our throats. :)

The mocha itself (discounting the sweetness from the cakes) was not too bad but they could afford more coffee in there (or perhaps I was taste-blinded by the cakes themselves).

Mocha

This place is an overall great place to  just chill and hang out with mates on any occassion, and with its games, it’s difficult to leave! If it’s anything, their selection of cakes never seem to change. :( So despite that wide variety, it’s really the same cakes everytime you visit)…

There’s not much of service going around here besides the counter service where you order and get your food/drinks. They are a friendly bunch but if it gets crowded they do become a little stressed up and it shows.

I have yet to try my hand at the pool table, but one day I shall get myself there and have a little hit of my own. Not to mention those little video arcade games!

Kudos to their great interior design work and cafe concept!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

Rating by: S.T. (a.k.a Miss Egg)

Greens & Co
Telephone: (08) 9444 4093
Address: 123 Oxford St, Leederville, WA, 6007

Greens & Co on Urbanspoon

Pink Rice, Fremantle

Posted on by
Reply

The sign

Website: www.pinkrice.com.au

Pink Rice is located inside the Millenium Cinema Complex in Fremantle and is  the only other restaurant besides JAWS (as far as I know) that has a Sushi Train!  Their advertisement on 982.5 Sonshine FM boasts that it has the longest sushi train in WA and looking at the website, it says that it has 50 varieties to choose from and a teppanyaki grill on the weekend!  How awesome is that!  

My friend tried the food here a few years back and thought it was good so we went to try it this time round – the second time for them but the first time for me to celebrate a belated birthday.

We went there early on a Saturday so the place was still quite quiet.  The restaurant has a cosy feeling to it and indeed has a very long sushi train!!..although my friend noted it was a bit wasteful area wise as there’s a big space in the middle of the sushi train that’s not utilised.  (For those who do not know what a sushi train is, it’s a conveyor belt that goes around the restaurant carrying all the mini dishes so that patrons sitting around the belt can pick and choose what they want to eat.  Refer to the pics for visual representation).

 Sushi train Another view of sushi train

Below are a few of the selections we had from the sushi train (for the name of the dish, hover over each picture):

Chopped Unagi (eel) Lobste salad sushi Crispy chicken ura maki Crab seafood salad Jellyfish Unagi (grilled eel) Salmon sushi Tobiko (flying fish roe) Inari (sweetened tofu bag with sesame seed) Hoso Maki (assorted small rolls) Smoked salmon ura maki

We also ordered the following from the kitchen:

  • Fried Udon
  • Deep Fried Soft-shell crab
  • Agedashi Tofu

Fried Udon Soft-shell crab Agedashi Tofu

Overall - the food was quite good and indeed, they have alot of varieties at very reasonable price!  We only managed to try a selected few and got quite full.  The Fried Udon turned out quite spicy which was unexpected but otherwise everything was more or less what I expected.  However I think I would prefer JAWS more, maybe because I’m biased (I grew up eating only JAWS whenever we have sushi cravings).

The service was very prompt and friendly which is a plus.  I would go back and try this place again if I’m in the area (their teppanyaki!) as there are still heaps of dishes I didn’t get to order.  Good choice for lunch.

 

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Pink Rice
Telephone: 08 9433 5800
Address: Inside Millenium Cinema Complex, Shop 8, 25 Collie Street, Fremantle

Pinkrice on Urbanspoon

Citro Bar & Restaurant, Perth

Posted on by
1

***City of Perth EAT DRINK PERTH March 2011 Special Offer!***

Enjoy the chef’s daily special with a glass of house wine or tea or coffee for $20.  Available Mon – Fri only.

**********************************************************************************************

Restaurant Front

Inside the restaurant

Website: http://www.seasonsofperth.com.au/index.site.restaurants.198.html

Entertainment Card 09/10: 25% off (up to a value of $40)

It was one of my colleague’s last week of work and so we went out for lunch to bid him farewell.  Citro Bar and Restaurant was suggested as a place to go as another colleague had tried their Special Lunch menu before - a Main with a glass of wine for a reasonable price and thought it was a good deal, so why not.

Citro Bar and Restaurant is located within the Seasons of Perth Hotel on Pier Street and is very close to the city.  I’d been here for their buffet lunch before when we had our High Voltage Underground Cable training in one of their conference rooms and also once during the Melbourne Cup so it’s quite a familiar place.  The restaurant is openly spaced and has a continental feel to it. 

Their Special Lunch Menu consisted of their Lunch Specials and an Express Lunch, only available Monday – Wednesday, as advertised.  Having looked at the menu itself though,  we came to the realisation that it didn’t offer much! (check out what is available in the pic) 

Express Lunch sign   Menu

The only dish that looked promising was the ‘Fish of the Day’, and for some strange reason, my colleague was curious and asked whether the barramundi they served was fresh or frozen.  The waitperson came back and told us that it was frozen, to my amazement!  First of all, I was thinking, who’d ask such a question? (I’d never thought of this issue of fresh vs frozen before) and secondly, they serve frozen fish in restaurants?!?!  OK, that definitely put me off – frozen fish is what I cook at home, not what I want to eat in a restaurant. 

Nevertheless, my colleagues all ordered from the menu except for me.  I had a look at their normal menu and they have a range of food available, such as soups, entree, pasta, seafood, meat and food from the grill.  So for lunch that day, we had the following:

  • Fish of the Day - spicy crusted barramundi fillet on creamy mash and pepperonata – $24.50
  • Potota Gnocchi with a creamy blue cheese sauce (came with a complimentary glass of house wine) – $14.50
  • Tagliatelle Pasta with mussels in a tomato sauce (came with a complimentary glass of house wine) – $17.50
  • Garlic King Prawns with coconut rice and saute spinach (entree size) – $17.50

Fish of the Day Potato Gnocchi Tagliatelle pasta with mussels Garlic King prawns with rice

The dishes came out looking average and very simple.  I was particularly not very impressed with the Potato Gnocchi - it was plain and too creamy and got quite overpowering at the end, my colleague didn’t end up finishing the dish.  The gnocchi reminded me of the korean pupa dish, only whiter – not a very good image.

The ‘Fish of the Day’ turned out ok, as with the Tagliatelle Pasta.  My colleague’s comment was that they gave a good serving of mussels with the dish.  I had the Garlic King Prawns and was quite satisfied with it – big sized prawns and lots of spinach – the dish came out presented nicely too.

Overall, it was not a very satisfying lunch.  I would probably not return to this restaurant again – definitely not for its Express Lunch.  The service was also average – didn’t get much service for a hotel standard. 

Rating:  2.25 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Citro Bar and Restaurant
Telephone: 08 9421 3029
Address: Seasons of Perth, 37 Pier Street, Perth

Ess Bar, Subiaco

Posted on by
3

Bar AreaWebsite: http://www.essbar.com.au

Entertainment Book 09/10: 25% off total bill (up to $25 value)

Ess Bar has taken over the old Clancy’s Fish Pub in the Subiaco Village along Hay Street. For those familiar with the fast food joint strip along Hay Street, Subiaco Village is the little complex that’s just right next to Hungry Jack’s and KFC. It’s amazing how many food joints there are that I never knew about!

Hidden in a little corner, you wouldn’t know it existed other than the little board that sits outside the village, shouting out their various special deals. It’s really the only way to know that it exists – well other than word-of-mouth.

From the outside, you wouldn’t think too much of it because they didn’t do much to it but when you walk in, you’ll be greeted with an abundance of space that’s really quite surprising. The decor is excellent – elegant, classy but laid back at the same time, giving it an awesome casual overall feel to the place.

MenusOne should take note of the the Reception area that’s hidden over the corner of the bar, and next to the kitchen. The two times I have been there, I was only served when I approached them at the Reception - a tad strange but I guess that’s how they know if people just want a drink, or to actually sit down and have a meal.

The seating area is not that huge, but it does accomodate for at least 50-60 people, with a function room just adjacent to the main dining area. Coupled with a TV near the booths, it’s difficult to get your butt off the once you’re seated, especially if you’re footy fan on a Saturday/Sunday when a game is on!

Anyhoo, onto the food & drinks. This place serves a good range of alcholic drinks for those boozies like me. From tap beer, to bottled beer, from wine, to cocktails, they seem to have thought of everything! Well, they should really – since they’re a bar. :)

I will be doing two visits into a review, so here were the orders over the two visits for drinks:

  • Krombacher fully imported
  • Pure Blonde
  • Fat Yak Pale Ale
  • Beez Neez
  • Ess Bar Flirtini

KrombacherPure BlondeFat YakEss Bar Flirtini

The size of the pints were good, and so were the midi’s. The Flirtini was apparently good, and I had a sip of it – very special! ;) And with that little cherry down below the glass – why not? :)

Onto the food… the next time I do go back there, I will be trying the tapas that they offer. Quite a range, and after looking at others having a go, I think it’d be worth the shot! Altho’ I do think tapas are generally a tad overpriced here in Perth.

Here were our orders over the two visits:

  • Moroccan Sweet & Sour Bread with Pomegranate Molasses (wow? we thought so too!)
  • Steak Sandwich
  • Fish & Chips
  • Just a Burger

Moroccan Sweet & Sour Bread The sweet and sour bread came out looking really appetising, and with a recommendation for it in the menu (quoted “a must try!”)… we were excited to try this dish.

Taking it at first munch, it was a strange but somewhat delightful feeling in the mouth, giving it that lovely zest (from the pomegranate). I must say it doesn’t taste as good when it’s cold, so when it’s served, attack with full vigour! It was certainly a different sort of bread-dish, and one that people should try if they’re adventurous with their food explorations.

Not a fan of onions? Remember to tell them not to sprinkle them because the taste (and smell) does seep through as you tuck into the dish.

Recommended!

Steak SandwichI had tried the steak sandwich on my first visit with S.K to Ess Bar, and we were quite literally blown away by the standard of the cow in between those bread slices!! They had such tenderness that is quite rare in steak sandwiches these days, and with such lovely sauces they have smeared together with the salad and cow, it was a sheer delight eating it!

The chips that came along were probably as close as it can get to the best chips in town! They are now tied in with Armada (a review tha really is overdue and will come soon!) and Globe Coffee House with having the best chips in Perth (from what we’ve tasted thus far of course).

Crunchy and covered with a nice batter, KUDOS!!!+++ for Ess Bar’s chips!

One thing to note tho’. S.K. and I are not fans of onions (raw onions especially), and when they mentioned onion rings in the menu, we instinctively thought it was those large raw onion rings you would occassionally find in steak sandwiches. But NoOoo. We were fooled by our own carelessness! These onion rings were the nice fried ones you would get at HJs (see picture). So don’t make the same mistake if you’re like us – fans of HJ-type onion rings and not fan of raw.

Fish & Chips

The fish and chips were served with the same awesome chips as the steak sandwich, and a good amount of tartare sauce, that will leave you with some extras after you’re done I believe (unless you’re the sort of person who smothers the sauce you have with abundance :)). The fish itself that day was a tad fishy but for some reason tasted quite nice. The only thing I was put it down on is the dry-ness of the fish. Might have been a bit over-fried, causing the meat inside to dry up a tad.

There was a nice serving of salad too, making this dish a really nice size for a hungry diner.

I didn’t get to really analyse the tartare sauce but this dish is probably a notch down from the steak sandwich in my humble opinion :)

And then there came the burger…

Just a BurgerThe burger was served with a little chinese-teacup worth of aioli, which I will get to later.

The buns used for the burger were nice and crisp, but it was stacked a bit too much inside that it was a bit tough to have a bite of the full burger. Even for a big-mouth like me :)

That said, it’s lovely to see all the greens inside the burger, with the patty inside nice and thick.

The beef patty had a peculiar taste which left me feeling “hmm, let’s have another bite to see what’s really in this” a few times. It wasn’t till the 4-5th bite that I realised there was a good amount of herb being mixed into the patty giving it its really strong aroma. I’m not too big a fan of herbs, so this was not a plus for me.

The aioli on the other hand was just bursting with flavour, and was a good accompaniment to the burger (and chips for that matter). It was an average meal and I wouldn’t be ordering this again.

And you thought I was done. What about DESSERTS!

Dessert Menu

The one dessert that we decided to try is what I’d like to call the main attraction to Ess Bar.

I won’t let you guess what it is because you would realise it’s quite obvious which item really stands out the most as being a unique, strange and yet really entising option.

I, for one, am looking forward to the sister and her family popping by from the USA to come try this awesome dessert!

For $18, it is well worth the money and will put a smile onto any child’s face (including the adults who think they’re still entitled to their ‘childhood fun’ once in a while).

Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory
toasted almond biscuit, chocolate kahlua mousse, brownie ice cream, chocolate mud cake and truck load of treats

Need I say more?

The one thing you will probably need is some proof of the pudding visually.

Willy Wonka 1Willy Wonka's Truck (somewhat untouched)

Truck DefeatedWilly Wonka from the Top

Willy Wonka Up-Close

I think the pictures speak for themselves, but I will explain the little bits.

The house – is the almond biscuit
The truck – well, the literal translation of “truck of treats”
The ice cream – the best I have tasted in a while now!
The mousse and mudcake – ever wondered why they even built a house out of the almond biscuit? :))

And there are two little choc fingers popping out as the chimney. Absolute brilliance I’d say!

Don’t be fulled by the look of it – I know it doesn’t look like much when you see it in the pictures, but the plate was M.A.S.S.I.V.E.

The highlight for us girls that day was definitely the almond biscuit and the brownie ice cream – both so yummy that we wish there would be more!

The truck itself was really hard chocolate, and should only  be eaten by the not-so-faint hearted. Try getting a strong person to break it. I tried forking it down in the middle but I guess I didn’t have the inner strength that D.P seem to have possessed.

The other treats? Just the usual lollies you’d find in a candy store, except that the strawberries and cream jelly was different AND yumm!

I give this beautiful dessert a 4.5 out of 5 (mostly for the creativity and the generosity of the ingredients) on its own!

Cappucino with Choc-Coated MeringueThe three of us ordered some coffee as well (not knowing the sheer size of this dessert), two cappucinos (pictured) and a mocha…

The Caps were served with some sugar and a choc-coated meringue, which unfortunately didn’t melt when you place it in the mouth (boo).

The mocha turned out to be hot choc, much to the slight dismay of D.P. It was served with a couple of marshmallows and we should have known.

Overall, this place serves rather good food, and is a lovely place to just chill out over the weekend on a saturday/sunday afternoon with family or close friends.

The one thing that would be nice to see an improvement in for this establishment would be the service. We found ourselves trying to get the attention of the wait staff for a good 20 minutes just to order our desserts. It was not a lazy attempt from us, but it seemed as tho’ they weren’t too interested in our business, and I for one was getting impatient.

They could really give more attention.

If not for the service, this place would have been one of the better places I have been to for lunch, but it was really quite disappointing to be waiting 20 minutes just to order some desserts, and much less to say, get our order of mocha stuffed up!

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Rating by: S.T. (a.k.a Miss Egg)

Ess Bar
Telephone: (08) 9381 5099
Address: 531 Hay Street, Subiaco WA 6008 (In the heart of the Subiaco Village)

Ess Bar on Urbanspoon