Author Archive for Natasha Lam

17
Feb
12

Lamont’s Wine Store, Cottesloe

By natashalam Leave a Comment
Categories: Modern Australian
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It was my BFF’s birthday a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to take her out somewhere nice for lunch.  My first choice was the latest Mexican food trend, La Cholita, but unfortunately they were closed for Sunday lunch.  Next, Venn Bar, closed too!  Next next, Lamont’s Bishop House, no luck! Finally, we decided on Lamont’s Wine Store in Cottesloe.  Open, check!  I didn’t think it would be that hard to find a nice restaurant for a Sunday lunch but turned out the foodie aura was not on my side!  Eeks!

Website: http://www.lamonts.com.au/venues/lamonts-cottesloe/

Lamont’s Wine Store is located on Station Street, an unassuming spot in Cottesloe.  It was pretty quiet since all the surrounding shops were closed so we found parking quickly.

The Lamont’s in Cottesloe, aptly named the Wine Store has an enoteca theme, a hub for visitors to sample different wines with a view to buying them or enjoying with the nibbles on the menu.  The “First Sunday Tapas Series” launched on the day we went as well, however as the BFF did not want to have the degus, we ordered straight from the menu.  Tapas menu, yay love them!  I could tell the host was disappointed though!  Maybe next time!

On entry, one would be amazed at the varieties of wines on display, stacked on racks, refrigerated, you name it!  Tables were placed on one side of the store with an open kitchen on the other side.  I spied a small private room at the back too – I would assume that’s where the specialist tasting is held when classes are on.

 

We ordered some Lemon Lime Bitters and a glass of Lamont’s Vintage Sparkling 2009 (dry, pink) from Margaret River, WA ($12) for drinkies.

 

Being the wine noob I am,  I totally chose the wrong drink.  (I don’t know how I used to be able to upsell wines at the Hyatt restaurant I worked in – either the customers felt sorry for me or I was good at talking nonsense!)  It was dry (durh, it said so on the menu!) and quite strong.  Wasn’t really to my taste.  What I really wanted was a rose type of wine…let me show you one of my favourite from the Hunters…

We were at the Harrigan’s Irish Pub in Hunter Valley last year and fell in love with this wine!  It was sweet, refreshing and very easy to drink.  There were 7 of us and I think we each down nearly a bottle each!  Yummo!  How I wish I can have a glass now!  

Anyways before I digress further, let’s get back to the food at Lamont’s.  We had the following:

  • Venison chorizo, grilled lemon ($9.50)
  • Field mushroom, hazelnut gremolata ($14.50)
  • Blue swimmer crab, crushed pea, lemon colonna ($17.50)
  • Pancetta wrapped scallops, kaffir lime butter ($17.50)
  • Gnocchi, butternut pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, burnt sage butter ($28.50)

 

My favourites for the day were the Pancetta wrapped scallops and the Gnocchi with butternut pumpkin.  The scallop tasted so succulent and tender and I loved the flavour that the pancetta brought to the dish.  Yum!  My next favourite is the Gnocchi with butternut pumpkin.  Normally not a fan of gnocchi, as very often the ones I’d tried tasted like plain flour dough, this dish was the total opposite.  The whole gnocchi pieces were tasty!  I like!  Alot!  The burnt sage with butter also added a different dimension to the dish.  Very nice!

The Field Mushroom was also good as with any mushroom, however I found the cheese overpowering the dish in this instance.  The Venison chorizo was good too but also too overpowering to eat by itself.  We had to order some bread to go with them.

My least favourite was the Blue swimmer crab, and funnily enough that was my choice to order.  It was very bland and I could not taste the freshness of the crab.  This was quite surprising as I thought this was one of the more popular dishes from the restaurant.  Maybe I just have a different taste?

For dessert, we had:

  • Ginger pudding, mango, creme anglaise ($9.50)
  • Buttermilk pannacotta, passionfruit ($9.50)

 

And not to forget my ever faithful Long Macchiato…

The desserts were awesome!  I love the combination of the mango and creme anglaise with the Ginger Pudding, they brought alot of moisture to the ginger pudding which would have otherwise been dry.  The Buttermilk pannacotta themed with the sourness of the passionfruit was to die for.  I regretted not ordering it!  I managed to refrain myself from ‘trying’ too much of this dish, otherwise I might have finish the whole thing.

The service was friendly but needing improvement in some areas.  For example, the waitstaff did not notice that our cutlery was missing after the food were brought out, he did not know where our bottle of water went and did not take any initiative in offering us bread with our tapas, especially with the chorizo.  (I was at the Aviary just a few weeks back and the waitress was good enough to suggest the bread with our chorizo order – a reminder that’s still fresh in my brain!).  Overall though it was still a very pleasant meal.  I would come again to this casual yet elegant restaurant.

PS:  A great shout out (singing Happy happy birthday) and welcome back to my BFF to Perth!  Can’t wait to go on more food adventures with you! :)

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Lamont’s Wine Store
Telephone: 08 9385 0666
Address: 12 Station Street, Cottesloe

Trading Hours

Open daily from noon till late

Lamont's Wine Store Cottesloe on Urbanspoon

28
Jan
12

Hwa Ro Korean Restaurant, Northbridge

By natashalam Leave a Comment
Categories: Korean
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Hwa Ro is a fairly new korean restaurant located on Aberdeen Street in Northbridge.  I was introduced to this restaurant by my hairdresser (Neo from K Three G) who is Korean.  He signed on the menu saying “show this and you’ll get 10% off”.  Cool!  With my sister (same hairdresser!), not only did he give the 10% discount but also marked on the menu which dishes are good.  With this recommendation in tow, we decided to try it out for dinner.

Hwa Ro is quite a big restaurant with alfresco dining at the front and spacious indoor seating.  It has a modern outlook with a casual atmosphere.  The first thing I noticed as soon as I walked in was the array of adjustable exhaust chutes hanging above each table.  Very nice!  No more smelly clothing after all the BBQing and cooking.  (The first time I saw these exhaust chutes was in a korean bbq house in Seoul.  I thought it was a brilliant idea.  Very glad to see this in Perth too!).  The second thing I noticed was the numerous koreans dining at this place.  Looking good by the minute!

 

One thing I must mention is their great calling system – a touch of button at the side and your table number is displayed on the wall near the drinks area indicating service is required.  No more yelling or frantic hand waving when one needs to get the attention of the waitstaff.  I like.  They were very prompt to react as well once the button is pressed.

 

I’d always wanted to try out korean alcohol (mainly influenced by watching korean series as they seem to enjoy it so much!) so I picked a nice looking one from the menu but unfortunately they ran out.  The girl recommended a Chum-Churum ($14) instead, which is a type of soju.  I tried asking her what it tasted like etc but did not get a good reply.  Tried another way of asking but still didn’t get anything.  I ordered it anyways, no harm trying plus the name sounded nice.  WRONG DECISION!  Chum-Churum is made of just alcali water and contains 19.5% alcohol, drank unmixed in a shot glass.  Such a wrong drink for a softy like me, I’m more the Toblerone / Mojito / Espresso Martini type of drinker.  Forced myself to down 2 shots and couldn’t take it anymore.  And the bottle is huge.  Eeks.  And Korean series are liars! Hahaha :p

For food, we ordered the following:

  • Ori Jumulluk ($25) – stir fry duck marinated in spicy and sweet sauce with seasonal vegetables
  • Kimchi Jjeem ($30) – boiled sliced pork in pork bone soup with a special sauce seasoned kimchi

Before the food came, the usual side dishes arrived with the rice.  Very nice, and great that they are refillable too.

 

The dishes came not too long after and they were quite big, reasonable though for the price.  The Ori Jumulluk was quite spicy, tasted good but I thought the duck meat itself was very fatty.  I had to keep on separating the fat from the duck before eating which became tedious at the end.  Maybe that is how it’s meant to be consumed, fat and all, but it didn’t feel too healthy for me.

The Kimichi Jjeem looked awesome.  It was placed on the gas burner as it arrived so we started eating not thinking too much of it as I thought the flames were there just to keep it warm.  However we were stopped by the manager who told us that we needed to wait for the dish to cook further before eating.  What?! It would have been nice for the waitstaff to inform us when she first put down the dish.  Now we were left wondering how long we needed to wait before we can start eating.  That aside, the dish itself is very tasty, tender sliced pieces of pork soaked in seasoned soup blended with the sourish kimchi taste.  Appetizing!  My sister liked it so much that she went back another day for it!

Overall it was a nice meal and I would be back again to try their Kkochi set, assortment of meat on skewers which you can bbq on the table.  The service was ok although I think the waitstaff needs to be more proactive in explaining the dishes especially to people not familiar with korean food.  That would definitely be a big help!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Hwa Ro Korean Restaurant
Telephone: 08 9228 8823
Address: 118 Aberdeen Street, Northbridge

Hwa Ro Korean Restuarant on Urbanspoon

14
Jan
12

Myoung Ga, Perth

By natashalam Leave a Comment
Categories: Korean
Tags:

As good, quick and reasonably priced places for lunch is not common in the East Perth area where I work, I’m always on the look out for cafes/restaurants to visit.  I walked into our office kitchen one day and spied my colleague eating a nice looking chicken bulgogi (marinated and bbqed) lunch set.  I pounced on him and enquired about his lunch – it was korean, tasted good and was only $10 came the reply.  That was enough to set me off on a lunch quest to try the place out.

Myoung Ga is located on the quieter area of Hay Street, near where Croissant Express, Canton Lounge Bar and Shot Espresso Bar are.  I vaguely recollect visiting this restaurant a few years back but it was a different one then with what I remembered was a mixture of Korean and Japanese food.  Same place but different owner now.

The restaurant can be easily missed as it is so small that it is hardly noticeable, almost like a hole in the wall.  The inside contained 4 – 5 small tables and the outside another 4 small tables.  We sat on the outside.

The menu is quite simple – only two pages, and has the usual BBQ meats and a few traditional korean dishes.

 

We had the following for lunch:

  • BBQ Beef – $13
  • BBQ Ohsam (consisted of pork and squid) – $15
  • Ja-jang-myun (noodles in a sweet black bean sauce with marinated pork and vegetables with pickles) – $12
  • Bi-bim-bap (steamed rice and vegetables, slices of beef, topped with fried egg & chilli sauce) – $10

 

The BBQ dishes came in a sizzling pig plate which were very cute :p, and were accompanied with rice, miso soup, kimchi and two side dishes.  They were quite generous servings and filling to say the least.  I especially liked their side dishes of lotus roots and bean sprouts.  I ate most of them as my colleagues didn’t like the side dishes.  The meat were tender and tasty.

 

The Ja-jang-myun was my colleague’s favourite and he frequents this place so often for this dish that even the owner recognises him.  For myself, I’m not too sure about eating noodles in a black bean sauce (not one of my favourite sauce) but I may give it a try next time.  It must be good though if he comes here that often to eat this.  The regular size for this dish is $10 (the pic is of the large).

 

The Bi-bim-bap was my order and it was so-so in terms of taste, it seems to be missing the ‘punch’ as what I have tasted in places like Seoul BBQ Cafe or Took Begi.  Not that it’s a bad dish but it was not the best.  You can order it in a stone pot as well for an extra $3, not sure whether that would make a difference to the taste.  Maybe I will try that next time.

The service was extremely good, the owner was very polite and extremely friendly, and catered to our needs in terms of water, efficient order and prompt food service.  I like!  I will definitely be back again.  A great place for a casual lunch, and not to forget their take-away lunch packs as well!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Myoung Ga
Telephone: N/A
Address: 536 Hay Street, Perth

Myoung Ga on Urbanspoon

09
Jan
12

Cooking Class: Cultural Tastes, Mt Hawthorn

By natashalam 2 Comments
Categories: Cafe and Events
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Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cultural-Tastes/181831525227877

In continuation of my birthday celebration, my friends organised a group of us to attend a cooking class held at the newly opened Cultural Tastes cafe in Mt Hawthorn.  They had told me that they wanted to take me out for pastries at some patisserie, but the surprise came when I was blindfolded as soon as I got into the car.  The next statement that came was “I have known you for a long time, do you trust me?”.  It was quite bizarre.  I was led to some backyard, blindfold taken off and popping sounds came from everywhere.   “You are here for a cooking class, not pastries!!” was the next statement.  Yay, I was excited!  Thanks guys for really surprising me!! I had no idea whatsoever! :p

The cooking class was of traditional spanish tapas, right up my alley (I fell in love with spanish tapas after dining at Pata Negra a couple of times).  Our cooking teacher is Manuel Martinez from Spanish Catering (www.paellasandtapas.com.au).  A friendly and entertaining chap (he loves his Spanish music and dance!), he welcomed us and started explaining what we will be cooking that afternoon.  We will be preparing 6 dishes!  Wow!  All recipes are written by Manuel personally and a copy given to us to take home!

 

Dish 1 – Almogrote (soft paste made mainly from cheese and tomatoes, used as a dip)

A great thing I found about this class is the tips given by Manuel, for example, he told us about the specific paprika powder to buy that will help with the authenticity of the dish!

 

Dish 2 – Spanish Chorizo cooked in natural cider

Manuel showing us how to slice the chorizos :)

 

Another tip of which cider to use to bring out the flavour in this dish.

Our hard work paid off.  Final product. I love chorizo!

Dish 3 – Melon and Jamon Serrano (a type of dry cured Spanish ham)

Jamon is quite an expensive ingredient, approx $50-$60/kg.  I have never eaten jamon partnered with a fruit before so this is something different.

Final product.

Dish 4 – Tortilla de patatas (Spanish potato omelette)

 

Manuel taught us how to flip the tortilla de patatas from the frying pan onto a plate and back.  Very handy!

Final product.

Dish 5 – Ham rolls filled with sweet egg

This is probably the hardest dish to make!  I have never seen a dish quite like this.  To make the sweet egg, the egg yolk (separated from the white) was squirted onto the boiling sugar syrup, put into ice water and dried with baking paper.  The sweet egg is then wrapped in ham slices.

 

Final product.

 

Dish 6 – Croquetas (small fried food roll)

The croquetas we made were filled with oven cooked chicken.  There are a few steps to go through before completion, such as refrigeration of the mixture overnight, rolling the mixtures into balls, frying etc which made this the most tedious and time consuming dish.  As there was a time limit to the class, Manuel showed us how to prepare the mixture and rolled his pre-made croquetas mixture.

Final product. (Note: I made this dish for a dinner party after the class and it was a success!  Everybody loved it.  Yay for a good recipe!)

We took approximately 3 hours to finish ‘cooking’ all the dishes, with help from Manuel of course.  All dishes were served in the small shaded garden at the back.  Nice to sample our ‘hard work’ in a lovely environment!

Manuel also prepared some meatballs and champagne sorbet to accompany our meal.  Thanks!

 

While waiting for our dishes to be set up, we had a chat with the owners of the cafe, Lisa and Dave Hill, and browsed the store as we had a $20 gift voucher to use.  The cafe not only serves food + drinks and provides an avenue for the cooking class, it also retails cooking books, culinary related items, travel and lifestyle books and giftwares!  Amazing place.  I bought the Adam Liaw’s Two Asian Kitchens cookbook.  Sadly to say though I have not attempted any of the recipes yet.  I also spied at the cake cabinet and bought myself a banana, coffee, chocolate and walnut cake ($7.50).  It was such a delicious cake, freshly baked, moist and lots of ingredients.  Love it!

Some pictures of the store…

    

The friendly and enthusiastic owners…

Overall it was a very fun, informative and entertaining cooking class!  Wine and beer are BYO, however drinks were provided when we asked.  Lisa made a concoction of fruit juice for us.  It was yummy!

It’s worth enrolling in this class.  This particular tapas class costs $90 per guest.  They have a Spanish seafood paella Create and Dine class coming up.  Why not give it a try? (Refer to their facebook page for contacts and information).

Cultural Tastes
Telephone: 08 9242 1688
Address: 167 Scarborough Beach Road, Mt Hawthorn

Narration by: Miss L

31
Dec
11

Red Cabbage Food + Wine, South Perth

By natashalam 1 Comment
Categories: Modern Australian and Use your Entertainment Book!
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Website: www.redcabbagefoodandwine.com.au 

Entertainment Card 11/12: 25% off (up to a value of $40)

It was my birthday and my family decided to take me out to dine at the Red Cabbage in South Perth.  Yay! Red Cabbage was one of the few restaurants that was given a 2 stars in the West Australian Good Food Guide 2012.  It has also won numerous awards in the restaurant and catering industry. Naturally I was excited!

The inside of the restaurant was posh with dark decor, almost mysterious looking.  This effect was more evident later on the night without the sun shining in.  We were ushered into the outer area where it seemed less formal and seated down promptly.

I didn’t quite like where we were seated as there was a damp smell to the area (most probably from the plastic rain cover right next to me!) but chose to ignore it, instead focusing on what we should  order.

From my seat, I was staring straight into Dom Perignon, and the champagne was calling out to me! :P  However I didn’t get to order any as no one wanted it on the table and since I’d already had some at an earlier function, I abstained from alcoholic drinks (moderation is always the best policy!).  My sister ordered a Basil Mojito ($15).  It’s quite different from the usual.  My favourite is still the mojito from Minq Bar in Burswood. 

On to the food, we had the following for entree:

  • Scallops + smoked trout, braised fennel, saffron mayonnaise ($19)
  • A dozen mixed oyster ($36)
Before the entree came, we were given a complimentary creamy broth to start with.  I can’t remember what it was, but it was gone in two sips.  Not a bad starter.
Then the real food came…

 

One look at the dishes and you know they have put in a lot of effort into the presentation.  They looked amazing! and also tasted amazing! Succulent large lightly grilled scallops and melt in the mouth smoked trout.  It was too small to share!  Greedy me wanted it all to myself!  Luckily the oysters filled in the gap.

There were six flavours to choose from - Natural with grilled lime; Red nam jim dressing; Spanish chorizo; Tempura oysters + chips, pea puree, coriander + Japanese mayo; Yorkshire Kilpatrick Henderson’s relish; Steamed oysters with ginger, shallot, mirin + soy.  We picked three flavours (highlighted in green).  Oh my, they were good!  Very fresh and I especially like the tempura oysters, so intricate with the puree and chips.  Did not have the oily taste either.  Yummo!

 

A palate cleanser came after the entree.  Refreshing.

For mains, we ordered the following:

  • Salmon + kingfish, soy jelly, wasabi, coconut ($37)
  • Pheasant + osso bucco, beetroot puree, chocolate, fruit ($38)
  • Ranger Valley skirt steak, potato, mushrooms, English condiments ($38)
  • Smoked venison, goats cheese, cauliflower, capers ($38)
  
The Salmon + Kingfish was by far the most attractive looking of the four mains we ordered.  Not to say the others were ordinary looking, they were not!  Each of the dishes looked amazing (as the entree!)!  They were food art on plates, with bright symphony of colours and pretty shapes.  I love it.
In terms of taste, the Range Valley Steak was voted the best!  Tender, flavoursome and juicy beef, topped with my all time favourite mushies!  I didn’t get to try a big portion of any of the dishes as they were too small to share between us but one bite of the steak was enough to make me ask for more :).  The Smoked Venison didn’t fare too bad either.
The ordinary dish for the night was the Pheasant + Osso Bucco, and as usual, it was order by me! (I normally fail with the mains).  Not a big fan of a ‘sweet’ main, I was tempted to order this as it was their signature dish.  It was calling out to be ordered. The dish didn’t quite suit my tastebud, not that it was bad, it was just ordinary.  I would have preferred the tasty Ranger Valley steak.
We also ordered the Steamed Vegetables and the Special of the Day, Brussel Sprouts with Feta.  They were good complements to the main dishes and ok priced, ~$8 – $9
 
As the dishes were not big, we still had room for Coffee and Desserts!  I did not regret ordering them!
  • Long Mac and Latte ($3.90)
  • Apple + Rhubarb Crumble ($15)
  • Miniature of Red Cabbage’s fine desserts ($27) – a bit of everything in their dessert menu!
 
 
Once again, the desserts came looking like a piece of painting.  Have you ever seen a Apple + Rhubard crumble presented as such?  Big chunks of apple and rhubard laid on top of scattered nutty crumble.  It was beautiful!  Tasted beautiful too!  Love how the dessert tasted as good as it looked!
The Miniature fine desserts consisted of five different pudding desserts with the Chocolate + raspberries; Parsnip, thyme + honey; Tonka bean parfait + caramel popcorn and once again the Apple + Rhubard crumble.  I wasn’t too sure what the fifth dessert was, but there were all lovely!  More than lovely!
 
I was totally satisfied after the desserts!  They were so so pretty!!  Maybe I should change career and be a patissier (Hope my bosses do not read this blog :p)
Service was polished but not friendly.  I was trying to make conversation with them re the restaurant but they always came back with a one liner closed answer.  Maybe they were busy?  I would have preferred much more friendlier service.  A smile always do wonders!
Would recommend this place for the experience.  The entree and desserts were the highlights for me.  Very much impressed with the food presentation!!
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Red Cabbage Food + Wine
Telephone: 08 9367 5744
Address: 49/15 Labouchere Road, South Perth

Trading Hours

Tuesday: 6pm – 10pm

Wednesday – Friday: Lunch 12pm – 3pm; Dinner 6pm – 10pm

Saturday: 6pm – 10pm

Red Cabbage Food + Wine on Urbanspoon

24
Dec
11

Mrs. S, Maylands

By natashalam 2 Comments
Categories: Breakfast and Cafe
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Mrs. S is located on the corner of Whatley Crescent and Eight Avenue in Maylands, near the train station and other eateries such as Milkd, Sherbet Bake Shop, etc.  I was quite excited to try out the food after hearing lots of great reviews about it!  So off we went one Saturday morning for breakkie (and also to celebrate a close friend’s belated birthday).  As we drove past trying to find parking, I spotted a queue already, with 2 – 3 groups standing around waiting for seats!  It was full house!

We had to wait approx 15mins or so before getting a table.  Initially there was a confusion with the  queue list, not knowing which group came first which was a bit of a hassle but luckily Mrs. S came and sort it out herself.  I like!

The cafe is very cozy and has a homely feel to it.  We were ushered in and seated down in the big wooden table right in the middle of the cafe, shared with the other patrons.  The way we were seated was not the best as we had to talk across the wide table and were sitting next to strangers.  Would have preferred a smaller, normal table.

Order is taken at the counter, with the drinks menu written on a board pinned to the wall.  The food menu meanwhile is clipped onto Golden books!  Mine turned out to be a storybook of Garfield, my favourite childhood character. Yay, it was so cool!  Before I start telling you about Garfield, let’s go back to the menu…it was a small menu but had different varieties of food in there. Not too shabby!  Besides the hot menu, there were also other goodies at the counter, croissants, cakes, tarts, macarons, muffins…yum yum!

   

We had the following for breakfast:

  • Chai Latte ($3.50)
  • Long Macchiato ($4)
  • French Pink Lemonade ($5)

  

As usual I ordered the Long Macchiato and it was a great cup of coffee.  One of the better cup I have had!  The coffee is made from Crema beans from the Gold Coast.  Very nice!

  • Avocado, olive tapenade, roasted tomato + goat curd on rye ($15)
  • House-smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, onion jam + creme fraiche on ciabatta ($20)
  • Granny June’s cornbread, bacon, poached eggs + maple syrup ($16)

  

The dishes came out looking great (check out the pictures!).  I ordered the house smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on ciabatta, and wow, they were big slabs of salmon piled on top of the scrambled eggs.  The salmon tasted fresh, slightly smoked which was good for me as it wasn’t too overpowering.  Loving this combination with the moist scrambled egg.  Great dish!

I managed to taste the cornbread with bacon and poached eggs and it was awesome!  One of the better cornbread I have tasted as well, full of corn and slightly crumbly.  No wonder other food bloggers raved about it.  There were two of them in the dish too, very filling and a must try!  Did not try the avocado, olive tapenade on rye but my friend liked it.  Just the look of the avocado fanned over the rye makes you want to ravish the dish.

Another thing to mention is the great service, friendly and polite, they made sure we were ok with the food and drinks each time.  This compensated for the lack in seating arrangement.  Will be back for more of these high quality dishes!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Mrs. S
Telephone: 08 9271 6690
Address: 178 Whatley Crescent, Maylands

Trading Hour

Tuesday – Friday: 7am – 4pm

Saturday – Sunday: 8am – 4pm

Mrs. S on Urbanspoon

10
Dec
11

The Byrneleigh, Nedlands

By natashalam Leave a Comment
Categories: Modern Australian and Use your Entertainment Book!
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Website: thebyrneleigh.com.au

Entertainment Card 11/12: Complimentary main course when another is purchased  (up to a value of $40)

The Bryneleigh is located on Hampden Road in Nedlands, a bar and restaurant in one.  I’d heard of this restaurant from a fellow food blogger and also great reviews of their high tea from the Spreets deal, so decided to celebrate my mummy’s birthday here.

It was quite empty when we arrive due to an early booking for dinner one Sunday evening.  There were only a couple of tables still occupied, remnants from the high tea session earlier.  Strangely quiet, with only the muffled sounds in the background of tables and chairs being shuffled, we sat down and observed the surroundings – and I liked what I saw.  A rack of pot plants surrounded our table, and themed with the wooden decor, made me feel like I’m dining underneath a canopy of trees (well, almost!).

 

We quickly went through the menu as we were famished and had the following:

For entree:

  • The Byrneleigh Experience (a selection of grazing) – $35
  • Lemon, white pepper baby squid with smoked pepper aioli – $12

 

The Byrneleigh Experience is a selection of different entrees on the menu including the rosemary & garlic charred turkish bread, local marinated olive &  feta, butternut pumpkin & persian feta arancini, lemon & white pepper squid, baby chorizo and lamb kofta.  I liked this dish as I’m always one who like to try a bit of everything so this was perfect for me.  My two favourites were the arancini and chorizo – gotta love the sausage!

We had initially ordered the empanadas to complement the Byrneleigh Experience but they ran out of them so we substituted it with the Lemon, white pepper baby squid.  The squid wasn’t too exciting as I love them crunchy and this wasn’t.  It was actually slightly soggy even…eeks!

For mains we had the following:

  • Herb chicken, chicory & walnut salad, crisp pancetta, light lemon mayo & garlic croutes – $25
  • Crispy salmon, nicoise poached egg, green beans & slow roasted tomato & olive – $35
  • Wagyu beef sliders, house made pickles, cheddar, tomato & date chutney – $24
  • Confit duck, speck bacon, endive, crispy potato & bordelaise jus – $34

  

I ordered the Crispy Salmon with egg, green beans – it came out looking good, but the salmon turned out quite dry, which was  quite disappointing.  The beans mix was good though.  For the small taste I had of the other dishes, I didn’t think too much of the Herb Chicken Salad (can’t taste the herb in the chicken?) or the Wagyu Beef Sliders (too dry as well!).  The Confit Duck fared better, I think it was the better dish of the night.  Much juicier meat and satisfactory to the tastebuds.  I should have ordered that instead!

For dessert/drinks:

  • Apple & pear crumble with vanilla semifreddo, baby pear – $13
  • Coconut panna cotta, pineapple chilli compote & kaffir lime syrup - $13
  • Affogato
  • Cranberry juice

  

The desserts were the best part of the night – as usual!  Maybe from now on, I should just skip the rest of the meal and head straight to dessert! :p Loved both the Apple & Pear Crumble and Coconut Panna Cotta.  The Apple & Pear Crumble  tasted fresh and being slightly warmed went very well with the ice cream.  The Coconut Panna Cotta was quite refreshing too and was accompanied by the most unusual pineapple chilli compote (quite nice to try something different!).  I like!  The affogato was great too – coffee + ice cream is always a plus.  Actually I ordered a vienna initially but they didn’t have it, the affogato was a good substitute.

For information on culinary classes, online universities is a helpful resource.

Overall, it was still a great meal for me.  Although my main was below par, the entree and dessert compensated for it.  Service was great, the staff was friendly and attentive.  The menu can be considered simple, nothing too fancy.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

The Byrneleigh
Telephone: 08 6161 2722
Address: 156 Hampden Road, Nedlands

Trading Hours

7 days a week 11am – late

The Byrneleigh Hotel on Urbanspoon

29
Oct
11

Rockpool Bar & Grill, Burswood

By natashalam 1 Comment
Categories: Fine Dining
Tags:

Website: http://www.rockpool.com/rockpool-bar-and-grill-perth/

Rockpool Bar & Grill is a renowned restaurant in the Perth foodie scenery located in the Burswood Entertainment Complex.  I’d been meaning to try the restaurant out for ages but it had always been awfully hard to get the right timing and booking!  I finally managed to go one Sunday lunchtime.

Due to the hype surrounding the restaurant when it first opened, I was quite excited to see what the fuzz is all about.    Just from the entrance to the restaurant, you can tell that they have spent quite an effort jazzing up the place.  The impressive double wooden doors opened up to a candlelit walkway leading into the restaurant.  It  was quite magical.  The inside of the restaurant has a beautiful setting, with an open kitchen and a massive dining area.  What I like the most is the warm colours and lighting.  Very nice!

  

The waitstaff was quite attentive with our table which I thought was great, offering drinks as soon as we sat down, and explained the menu quite well, giving various opinions on the dishes.  He was also friendly which added a nice touch!  I didn’t felt like drinking that day so stuck with sparkling water while my sister ordered a lime drink.

 

To start of with, we were given complimentary crusty bread and butter. yum yum!

For entree, we had the following:

  • Sauteed white rocks veal sweetbreads and marron with almonds, oranges and rosemary ($35)
  • Crudo of pink snapper, ocean trout and yellow fin tuna with sorrel and lime flavoured extra virgin olive oil ($29)
 

This is my first time trying veal sweetbreads, which are actually the thymus glands of a calf.  They tasted quite good, similar in texture to liver but not as strong in taste.  Worth a try.  The crudo fish dish was great too, very fresh.  I like and wanted more!

For mains, we had:

  • Seafood from the Charcoal Oven – Coral trout served with herb salad and aioli ($55)
  • David Blackmore’s Wagyu corned silverside with horseradish, roasted onions and savoy cabbage ($49)
  • David Blackmore’s Dry aged full blood wagyu topside 240g 32 days ($52) with bearnaise sauce

   

I ordered the Wagyu topside and it was the worst mistake of the day!  It was so chewy and tough that I spat 1/3 of it out!  I was actually warned by my sister whilst ordering that I should choose something else as she had tried this a few months earlier and said it was too chewy and was very hard to eat.  In my head I was thinking it can’t be that bad.  Even though it was a secondary cut,  it costs $52, it should at least be edible.  I was totally wrong! and totally flabbergasted that the restaurant could serve something like this!  What a disappointment!!

The Coral Trout and Wagyu Corned Silverside fared better and were actually quite good.  I was glad there were good dishes otherwise it would have been a total disaster of a lunch!

We also had the Wood Fired Grilled Broccolini ($18) and Sauteed Mixed Mushroom ($25) as sides.  The portion was very small and the broccolini was too salty.  Definitely overpriced.

 

Moving on, we ordered a dessert each to make up for the below par mains.  We had:

  • Hazelnut macaron and banana ice cream sandwich ($14)
  • Creme caramel ($21)
  • Black forest trifle ($25)
  • Warm rhubarb, strawberry and almond pudding with vanilla sauce ($25)
  • Long Mac and Vienna Coffee (I was surprised they couldn’t make us a vienna coffee but gave us a shot of coffee and separate cream.  Strange!)
   
I had the Hazelnut Macaron and Banana Ice Cream Sandwich and that was the best dish of the day.  I was quite impressed with it, the banana ice cream was not too sweet which complimented the macaron shell.  Very good!  I didn’t try too much of the other desserts but they were warmly welcomed.
We were also given complimentary Caramel Popcorn which was a bonus.  It was very addictive too!
Overall it was quite a disappointing lunch for me due to the Wagyu topside,  however my experience was saved by the yummy hazelnut macaron.  I did tell the wait staff about the steak and he said he would reflect our experience back to the chef.  At least the service was great.
Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

Rockpool Bar & Grill
Telephone: 08 6262 1900
Address: Burswood Entertainment Complex, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood

Trading Hours

Lunch:  Sunday to Friday

Dinner: 7 days

Rockpool Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon
25
Oct
11

Competition: ‘The King’s Banquet’ by the King of Fruit

By natashalam Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized

The PFEs have been invited to enter a recipe contest run by the King of Fruit!

The competition is called ‘The King’s Banquet’ and is a recipe contest open to people in Australia who like to blog about food.  A condition of this competition is that the recipe must contain fresh pineapples as an ingredient.

A bit of background about the King of Fruit:

They are a group of Queensland pineapple farmers who grow Australia’s favorite pineapple; the “King of Fruit” for retailers all over the country. They supply fruit to Coles, Woolworths, Aldi & IGA and a bunch of other independent grocery stores throughout Australia.  For more information, visit their website: http://www.kingoffruit.com.au

The PFEs will put in a recipe for Pineapple Tarts!!

Pineapple tart is one of Miss L’s favourite cookie and she uses the recipe to make lots and lots of pineapple tarts during Chinese New Year to share with family and friends.  

For those interested in the recipe, please check out the website.  Please also vote for us and the recipe at the same website, shown below:

CLICK CLICK -> http://www.kingoffruit.com.au/pineapple-tarts.html

Thanks all!  Your vote is very much appreciated! :)

Narration by: Miss L

22
Oct
11

West End Deli, West Perth

By natashalam Leave a Comment
Categories: Breakfast and Cafe
Tags:

Website: www.westenddeli.net.au

West End Deli is located on Carr Street, the sleepy end of West Perth in terms of food and restaurant activity.  Surrounded mainly by houses, West End Deli seems to be the only cafe along this end of town.  A great location, as finding a parking spot is so much easier!  In fact, finding a parking spot is probably easier than getting a table in this cafe especially for a weekend breakfast/brunch.  Therefore get in there early to secure a table.  I’d been here twice in recent months and both times there was a 15 – 20 mins wait for table! (They only accept bookings from 12pm daily).

Stepping into the cafe, one is greeted with a warm and lively atmosphere.  With an open kitchen facing the door, one can also observe the chefs in action!  Great!

The cafe has a rustic appearance and outstanding decor, the most exceptional being the chairs hanging from the ceiling!  My first thought was, is that safe?!?  My “engineering brain” proceeded to analyse the situation, how many chains are holding up the chairs, how are they being tied etc.  I know…a bad habit, and it didn’t help as I was surrounded by ex-colleagues who are in the same profession as well!

  

 Anyways back to the topic of food, the menu contains a good selection of dishes with many special dishes on offer, not just the typical ones you find for breakfast.  I like!

We had the following for brunch:

  • Latte and Cappucino – coffee was nice! Deep flavours!
 
  • Eggs – Poached and Scrambled ($12 ea) – I ordered the Scrambled Eggs, highly recommended by my friend who frequented this place often and it was simply the best!  It came with pieces of freshly baked baguettes which was soft on the inside with a crunchy crust.  That, slabbed with butter and eggs was divine!  I ordered the exact same thing on my second visit as it was so good!  A ‘must order’!
 
  • Crepes, rhubarb, mascarpone & pistachios ($16) – only had a small bite but it tasted good!
  • Wholemeal pancakes, calvados cream, streaky bacon, maple syrup ($16) – thought it was slightly weird teaming bacon with pancakes and maple syrup but my friend liked this dish!
 
  • Corned beef hash, potato & fried egg ($24) – didn’t manage to try this but nice presentation.
  • Housed smoked salmon, brioche, creamed spinach, slow cooked egg & tobikko dressing ($24) – a few people on the table ordered this dish and their first reactions were, “You have to try this! It is so nice!”  I had a bite and was blown away.  It was truly a gourmet breakfast, I loved the flavours in the smoked salmon.  Combined this with the creamy spinach and running eggs on brioche was perfect.  I’m not a big smoked salmon fan but this did not have the overbearing taste that I dislike in smoked salmon.  Another ‘must order’!
  • Pork sausage ($23) – didn’t try this either, looked ordinary to me.
  

Service was ordinary but I didn’t mind too much as long as I get my food and drinks when they are ready.  It’s quite a casual cafe so I didn’t expect too much from them.  Overall, I was a very satisfied customer.  Although some of the dishes may be a bit pricey, as long as you pick the right dish, it was worth it.  My favourite Scrambled Eggs with Baguette was both awesome in price and taste!

To top it off, guess who I saw halfway through the meal?  Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris!!  That was at my first visit during the Good Food and Wine Festival!  *wahoo*  They were sitting behind us!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Rating by: N.L.

West End Deli
Telephone: 08 9328 3605
Address: 95 Carr Street, West Perth

Trading Hours

Sunday to Wednesday: 7am to 3pm

Thursday to Saturday: 7am – late (dinner from 630pm)
West End Deli on Urbanspoon

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