Author Archive for Sandra Megan

18
Feb
12

****Crust Mt Lawley Food Bloggers Pizza Party****

By S.M. 2 Comments
Categories: Events
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Website: http://www.crust.com.au

Facebook [Mt Lawley]: 

https://www.facebook.com/CrustGourmetPizzaBarMountLawley?ref=ts

The PFEs were honoured to have been invited to a pizza party hosted by the lovely Foodie Cravings, and her husband. This was a blogger pizza party, and Miss L and I couldn’t wait to catch up with those we met before at the Nespresso event, and some fresh faces!

Everyone was there by about 12.15pm, and we didn’t have to wait long before we started to see trickles of food coming out! Served first was prosciutto wrapped over rocket, one of my personal favourite combinations! Lovely.

Then came a steady flow of pizzas, ranging from nice meaty Mediterranean Lamb, to the Vegetarian Supreme, not forgetting some upper crust pizzas, which included Peking Duck and Five Spice Pork Belly.

But in any case, to make it a little easier, here is the list of pizzas all of us bloggers had a nice helping of:

  • Prosciutto Wraps
  • Herb and Garlic
  • Olive and Feta
  • Peri-Peri
  • Vegetarian Supreme
  • Mediterranean Lamb
  • Gourmet Smoked Ham & Pineapple
  • Szechuan Chilli Prawn
  • Pesto Chicken Club
  • Wagyu Prawn [Upper Crust]
  • Peking Duck [Upper Crust]
  • Five Spice Pork Belly [Upper Crust]
  • Rocky Road Calzone
  • Hokey Pokey Calzone
  • Chocolate Mousse, Mango Gelato, Cookies & Cream

 

It was such a wonderful spread! There was basically at least one off from each section in their menu, and the lovely couple went all out and gave us a taste of most of their desserts! And who wouldn’t want to have sweeter teeth. (:

 

 

My personal favourites were the Mediterranean Lamb (this is from a person who doesn’t usually eat Lamb!), Peri-Peri and Five Spice Pork Belly. Coming in close behind is the Peking Duck.

 

 

 

 

There was a lot of buzz about the Szechuan Chilli Prawn as well as the Hokey Pokey Calzone. I wish I left more space for dessert because the only thing I managed to stuff myself by that time was the Mango Gelato, which was actually a lovely end to the pizza eating session.

 

We got to meet some food bloggers whom we haven’t been able to put a face to the name, and some whom we have learnt about at this event. It’s always good to know who’s in the same ‘industry’!

This was such a wonderful event, and to be able to chill out, talk about blogging experiences with fellow bloggers, and to catch up with those whom we can now call friends… that was a perfect Saturday afternoon!

Thank you again, to the lovely owners of Crust Mount Lawley for this wonderfully organised event! The team and pizzas were awesome!

Narration by: S.T. a.k.a Miss Egg

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar Mount Lawley on Urbanspoon

05
Feb
12

Raah, Highgate

By S.M. Leave a Comment
Categories: Middle Eastern
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Website: http://www.raah.com.au/

Having enjoyed the lovely food presented during the Beaufort Street Roving Dinner, we made a pact to make sure we head back there to try some of the other dishes Raah had to offer, and to re-live those great moments we had during the dinner.

It was quite a feat for SK to plan this because the group numbers was increasing, but ultimately, it ended becoming a nice intimate dinner for 6 of us this evening. And lucky for PK because he had the company of 5 ladies! But poor him because all 5 ladies have hearty appetites! There wouldn’t actually be more food for him to consume. Tee hee.

I was the first to arrive and found it a bit difficult to snap some photos because of the dim lighting, so I decided to just look at the menu and ponder on what we could possibly order.

The rest started to arrive before long, and we deliberated on the menu for a rather long time! The waitress was so patient with us. A huge kudo!

So after deliberating for a while, we ended up ordering the following:

  • Silky hummus with minted lamb and toasted almonds, Turkish Bread ($10)
  • Twice cooked crispy skinned quail in tamarind syrup marinade ($25)
  • Yoghurt marinated goat, spicy aubergine relish, moghrabieh Salad ($28)
  • Fresh herb and preserved lemon marinated sirloin steak, sliced to share with Ras al Hanout potatoes and nutty butter ($36)
  • Iranian Princess rice pilaf ($10 per serve)
  • Orange infused carrot and currant spatchcock with citrus salad ($28)
  • Rosed Iced Tea ($60 Jug)
  • Petite Fours (3 serves)
  • Strawberry Sorbet
  • Chocolate pudding (?) with fairy floss

Where do we even begin?!

I am not the biggest fan of hummus, so I didn’t really try this dish. I do note that the description for this dish and the actual presentation of this dish ticked all boxes. The hummus appeared nice and smooth (and silky), which I would assume is a plus. And the Turkish bread was nicely toasted.

 

The crispy skinned quail appeared a bit too charred for my liking. The taste of tamarind was certainly there, but that was all I could taste. Am not too sure if there were any other seasoning (one would not really expect since this was not stated in the menu). Not too impressed with this dish because they may have overdone the skin in charring it, but there was a decent taste to it.

The stand out for the night was once again the yoghurt marinated goat. For some reason, this dish is just such a lovely surprise, even though it is the second time I am eating it. I was and still am in love with the aubergine relish. Absolutely delish! The goat itself, goes so well with the rice pilaf. This is for me Raah’s rockstar dish. [Apologies for not having photos for this dish! I was indulging in the food to take another photo for this post! but please see here]

The marinated sirloin steak looked nice, tender and moist, which it was, but there was a bit of a lack in flavour to my palate. Perhaps because I am one who loves her food to be nice and big on tastes, but other than the nicely cooked steak, I didn’t find anything too special with this dish.

 

The spatchcock was the other dish that was quite the standout for me, below the goat. I loved the citrus salad, so much so that I remember clearing every inch of green that was left on the plate. And I am proud of that too! It had this nice tangy flavour to it which really gave a nice cleansing feeling to the palate too. Lovely. The meat itself was great, albeit a bit difficult to eat (in a civilised manner anyway) because you had to really bit and chew into the bones to get sufficient meat out. Overall, a pretty good dish.

The Iranian Princess rice pilaf was lovely as what we experienced at the Roving Dinner. I personally wish there would be more in a serve, but I suppose there are a lot of ingredients that go into each serve of rice pilaf. I would definitely be ordering this as my accompaniment for my next visit.

 

The rosed ice tea was something we thought would be nice to try because it was special and we probably won’t be able to get that anywhere else. It had a nice taste of rose (duh), and it was quite the refreshing drink for the evening. Quite potent when we first drank it, and then realised we were too quick to pour because we really should have let the ice melt a bit to dilute the cocktail. Tis OK. We shall do that next time!

 

The petite fours that 3 people had was actually quite lovely. I understand from those who had this that the Turkish delight was certainly the highlight of the fours. I couldn’t see why not? (:

The sorbet was apparently quite disappointing in that it just tasted like ice with strawberry flavour. Hmm.

The chocolate pudding (?) with fairyfloss was also a bit of a disappointment in that we were expecting more out of the taste, but it was quite the average chocolate dessert.

Overall, this experience was lovely because of the lovely setting of the restaurant, brilliant service of the wait staff (I can vouch how patient they were because we had many many deliberations!). The food was generally good, and I actually think there are more rockstars from this establishment – just need to try the other dishes in the menu! But for now, the repeating dishes that will appear on my next visit’s order would be the marinated goat, the rice pilaf (maybe 2 serves at that!), the spatchcock, and also the chicken kebabs which DP, SK and myself tried at the Beaufort Street Festival!

Give us a “Raah” for Raah!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Raah
Telephone: (08) 9227 9745
Address: 484 Beaufort Street, Highgate

Raah on Urbanspoon

04
Feb
12

P’tite Ardoise Bistro, Highgate

By S.M. 1 Comment
Categories: French
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Website: http://www.ptiteardoisebistro.com.au

Very excited about this new establishment after taking over The Beaufort Street Steakhouse, we decided that we have to try this place, especially when there seems to be more and more French eateries popping up around Perth.

My first attempt at making the booking was quite disappointing to say the least. I had left a message for them, and when I hadn’t heard from them after a day later, I decided to give them a call to check if they had received my message. Alas, they hadn’t! So I requested to see if I could make the booking for the Friday anyway, with which I was told it was not possible since it was already fully booked. Disappointed since I knew for sure I had left the message. The person on the other line apologised quite profusely though.

So I decided to give it another go this other day, and this time, I ensured we were confirmed with a booking. Yay!

Since this was a BYO wine restaurant, we thought it’d be good to bring a bottle. And we did exactly that.

Arriving in this little place, you immediately have this sense of cosy-ness that you don’t usually find in other restaurants. Plus! We were then seated at our table, which was just directly in front of the bar, and somewhat just outside the kitchen. Would have preferred a better seat (especially considering that we did make a booking quite a fair bit in advance) but this will do.

Whilst waiting for DP to arrive, SK and I were being asked if we would like some bread, to which we politely declined because we wanted to just wait for DP before we started digging in.

 

Upon her arrival, we were then asked again if we wanted bread, to which DP replied “yes”. Must have been a hungry girl! So we were presented a basket of bread to which we had a few choices… Olive, White, MultiGrain (?). This came together with some olive oil, butter and olive tapenade. Beautiful accompaniment, and there is always something about French butter! I am a bread lover, so I had two rolls, and found myself thinking, “oh dear, are you sure you can fit in more food?”

One thing about this place that I do appreciate is how they have two sides of the menu, a Classiques (which is available everyday) and Menu du Jour (which is a menu that changes daily). Puts a little bit ofvariety!

In any case, we made our decisions:

  • Escargot a ma facon (Snails cooked my way)
  • Terrine du Chef
  • Fillet Mignon
  • Pork Medallion
  • Ox tail Croustade with Red Square Cheese, Rocket Salad, apple cider sauce
  • Special dessert (French Donuts served with fairy floss)
  • Serve of steamed vegetables

 

The Escargot came out looking and smelling delish! I loved the fact that it wasn’t the typical way of cooking snails you would see in other places (i.e. cooked with butter and garlic). One serve of this dish has three little cups, which was perfect for us that evening since there was 3 of us. Score!

The taste of this dish was pretty good, I was quite a happy camper by the time I emptied (and almost licked it clean) the little tea cup.

The terrine du chef was something DP requested to order, and whilst I am not a terrine sort of gal, I believe DP said this was not too bad. Certainly wasn’t wow-ing over this, but it was alright.

 

The fillet mignon that I had was cooked medium rare, and I found it alright. It was cooked rather nicely and perhaps I never warmed up too much to béarnaise (and why did I order this? I don’t know!)… so it was an average experience.

 

The pork medallion that SK had came out looking quite appetising but I was told it was also on the average side of things. Nothing too wow, unfortunately.

DP’s order of the ox tail was apparently average too. Hmm. There seems to be a trend with our orders this evening. Common theme of average.

Then came the dessert to which we had and shared since we were so full from the entrée and mains.

The donut with fairy floss came out looking fantabulous! Absolutely pretty. Did not really want to disturb it because it looked so pretty. But eat we must! So we dived right in. It was nice and sweet, but again, it wasn’t something we went, “wow!” over. Nice dessert, lovely way to end the meal, but it didn’t have that “wow” factor.

Service was excellent this evening with the friendly, attentive and obliging staff.

One thing that we were caught out with was the price of the bread (didn’t really take notice in the first place, and initially thought it was complimentary)… at $3.50 a head, unless you’re really hungry, love bread (like me), and would be able to finish off the other dishes as well, this may not be worth ordering at the start – and note that the question would be “would you like some bread?”… with which, sometimes (as with our case), could be misunderstood as complimentary bread.

 

The other thing was the price of the corkage with which we were quite blown away because it was $10 per bottle, which to us was a bit steep for corkage. So just as a note of caution there, fellow people!

I would come back again to this establishment to try out some of their other dishes, but perhaps not too soon.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

P’tite Ardois Bistro
Telephone: (08) 9228 2008
Address: 283 Beaufort Street, Highgate

P'tite Ardoise Bistro on Urbanspoon

22
Jan
12

The Iron Pot, South Fremantle

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Categories: Australian and Pubs/Grills
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Website: http://www.edz.com.au/Edz_Sportz_Bar

Probably unknown to non-residents of South Fremantle, The Iron Pot was something that I came across on the kind souls of Urbanspoon, and after seeing such rave reviews on the food there, told SK about it, and decided we should pay them a visit on Friday evening.

We made our way there, and at one stage thought we might have missed the place because we found ourselves venturing into unknown territories. But being the trusty navigator SK is, she directed us to our spot accurately. Yay!

We did not expect that it would be an extension of an already existing bar, but the moment we walked in, we were transported to another place. It felt somewhat casual, cosy, but not too pub-like. Very interesting.

We deliberated on their menu, and it wasn’t too long before we decided on the following:

  • Iron Pot Wings (“Col” hot hot hot style!)
  • Crispy Pork Belly – with Rocket Walnut Salad, Apple puree and Maple glaze
  • “Tender Ridge” Beef Eye Fillet – Served with French Fries, salad and topped with Café de Paris butter and jus
  • Jude’s Hot Hazelnut & Chocolate Pudding – Served with Vanilla Ice Cream (allow 15 minutes for preparation)

 

The Iron Pot Wings is a definitely MUST TRY at the iron pot! I actually think they named the place after these wings because we thoroughly enjoyed the savoury, yet spicy, yet tangy taste as we bit through the succulent chicken wings. Absolutely delightful. The spice was just enough for me to resist scratching my head (a little quirk of mine whenever I eat food that might be too spicy! I call it my spice-o-meter). Mmmm. Would love some now!

 

The crispy pork belly being devoured by none other than the queen of pork bellies SK was served elegantly, and looked absolutely appetising to the eye. True to its description in the menu (don’t you just hate it when the food that are served are sometimes nothing like what they are described to be in the menu!), I asked SK how it was, and actually had a taste. I must say this is one dish that actually looked better than it tasted, unfortunately. The crispy skin wasn’t too crispy, the taste alright. One of those decent dishes, but nothing “wow”.

 

I enjoyed my cow that evening. Generous serving of butter and jus, and with a nice little bowl French Fries to end the main, why not? I ordered the usual medium rare and it came out quite nicely medium rare, though almost arriving to a state of medium. Nevertheless, a lovely dish and for a price of $32, totally worthwhile! Yum. I would order that again.

 

We ended the evening with the in-house specialty (or so I assume) hot hazelnut and chocolate pudding. Came out smelling absolutely wonderful, but it wasn’t too much to our palate’s awesomeness rating. It was nice to end off the evening with that dish, but I have tasted better puddings.

Service here was friendly and casual – just the way I like it on a Friday evening out to chillax. I was impressed with how the wait staff were so close-knitted – the makings of a great team to my mind!

This was a great experience, and I definitely see myself coming back here again. Already told Momsey that I would bring her here for their awesome wings. So watch out Iron Pot, Miss Egg will be back for more of those wings!

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

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

The Iron Pot on Urbanspoon

17
Jan
12

Prego, Floreat

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Categories: Italian
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Website: http://www.pregorestaurant.com.au/

Entertainment Card 2011/12: Complimentary MAIN for any MAIN purchased (up to $50 value)

SK and I had wanted to head to a new Italian place where we haven’t been to, so in a bid to find the place to visit before my trip to Singapore, we finally decided on Prego, which has received pretty good reviews on news.com.au as well as urbanspoon.

So off we went after a couple of drinks to Prego, and we found ourselves turning into this little car park at the back of the restaurant, and found a neat little spot. We were able to enter the restaurant from the back too, which made it very convenient. Lovely set up I say.

As we entered, there was this amazing classy-ness to this place. I felt underdressed to say the least (as I usually do anyway). But we were politely shown to the table and we had a nice little cosy spot.

The waiter, clearly Italian gave us our menus and then gave us some time to deliberate. During this time, I visited the restroom, and told SK to just order a wine for me, and she did a great job in ordering a Pinot Gris (or Pinot Grigio, eek. Memory fail again!), which turned out to be lovely.

Anyway, onwards with our orders:

  • Carpaccio tradizionale e moderno (raw tender beef carpaccio served two ways – truffle mushroom aioli / lemon, olive oil, pesto and parmesan)
  • Capesante al funghi (WA scallops lightly sealed on a bed of oyster mushrooms, served with mustard vinaigrette, chilli salsa and a sprinkle of tomato coulit)
  • Polleto e gamberi (duo of spatchcock and tiger prawns served with crispy gnocchi, baked Portobello mushroom in a lemon sauce and chilli salsa)
  • Special Pork for the day
  • Tiramisu to share

We were given a complimentary starter before we started our “feast”. Alas, I don’t remember what it actually tasted like though. Boo hoo hoo!

The carpaccio that I had was such a generous serving, and because of the olive oil, it made for this dish to be rather heavy on the tummy. That said, the taste was pretty out of this world (in a good way). I would probably order this again but share it with whoever I am dining with.

The capesante that SK had was less tasty than the carpaccio, and wouldn’t be something I would order if I were to dine at this venue again. It had all the lovely presentation that you would expect based on the description in the menu, and there is a generous serving of scallops, but with the price of $20.90 for that entrée, it is to be expected I believe.

 

 

The pollento e gamberi appeared as a lovely dish, but the overall taste of the dish was a little less than how it appeared to be. I have to say the spatchcock that I had at Bouchon Bistro was tastier. The crispy gnocchi did not leave me with too much of a memory, so I think it is safe to say it was average.

The special pork of the day was such a generous serving that it gave me a real surprise (OK, it was somewhat a shock but it wasn’t the strength of the shock if you know what I mean *wink*). The taste was apparently alright – not overwhelmingly good, but it wasn’t bad either. Average may be the word for it.

 

 

By this time, we were already full but wanted to have something sweet to end the dinner – so we shared a tiramisu.

It was, as with the other dishes we had for the evening, beautiful with presentation. And it had a lovely taste too! I quite enjoyed this dessert. (:

The service was one of the best I have seen in Perth, with the Italian waiter who served us ever so attentive and friendly. He spoke to us about how he came to Perth, and is now really into indoor soccer and is part of the indoor soccer association. And much to our delight, we also had a complimentary serve of limoncello liquor – YUMMO! I had a sip but because I was driving, we only had the one glass.

I do find the food here rather steep with prices, particularly with the entrée, but I would not mind coming back here after such a wonderful experience with the service, the overall classy ambiance (despite my not so classy style), and pretty decent food (particularly the carpaccio and tiramisu!).

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

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

Prego Restaurant on Urbanspoon

16
Jan
12

Five Bar, Mt Lawley

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Categories: Modern Australian and Tapas
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Website: https://www.facebook.com/FiveBarPerth

Having heard interesting reviews about this place, SK and I decided to check this place out on arvo, and with a nice warm day in the books, I couldn’t find any reason not to enjoy a pint of beer with what we’d hope to be some awesome food.

We came here to actually check the place out more than anything, to have a drink and some snacks because we were intending to end the evening at the beloved Andaluz bar in Perth. We found ourselves a neat parking lot just directly opposite the bar and found ourselves waltzing in to find a range of seating areas to suit different styles – vintage, bar, casual window, high tables and a lovely back area that we fell in love with comprising of crates and roof window that opens up when the day is lovely to let all that light stream in. No second guesses as to where we sat! Oh, not forgetting a pool table! I have yet to exercise my long-lost skills on that table, but I know I will one day.

Anyway, we had a look at the menu, and my first impression was, “wow, what a long list of beer!”… they weren’t all tap, but they did have a very intriguing list of beers – how I wish I have the capacity to actually all those beers! We scanned through the food choices too, and finally ordered:

  • Serve of Chips (served with a special aioli)
  • Marinated Octopus
  • Sassy Red
  • Blanche de Namur
  • Pilsner Urquell

On other occasions (yes we have been back… and back… and back. It almost feels like a second home – to me at least), we have ordered:

  • James Squire Apple Cider on Tap
  • Field Mushrooms with Danish Feta and Balsamic Vinegar
  • Reuben Sandwich
  • Open Pork Sandwich
  • Champagne Jelly with Strawberries & Cream
  • Brownie with Ice Cream
  • Tiramisu
 

The chips are always a favourite whenever I feel like some good fat potato strips fried in oil – because that’s exactly what they are. If you prefer the Macca’s type of chips (i.e. slim, skinny, not too much potato), then this may not be your cuppa. I personally would order this only on a case by case basis, though the taste of the chips and the aioli do have a great combination.

 

The marinated octopus was lovely. Enjoyed it thoroughly, and I would have had more if not for my abstinence from eating too much seafood. Not too sure if this is still available on their menu though – it does change with the seasons! More variety. Yay!

My personal favourites of this place are really the field mushrooms and the open pork sandwich, both of which are becoming regular orders whenever I visit this establishment. The field mushrooms is a must order if you love mushrooms because the combination of those ingredients is just AWESOME. Lovely. Such a great dish. MmMm. I want some now! The open pork sandwich grows on you bit by bit by bit. The initial bite, you would think, “Hmm, it’s alright”… then you take another bite, and go, “hmm. Nice”… and before you know it you keep taking bites until there is none left and you still want some more! Dangerous effect I say.

 

The reuben sandwich is great if you like your meat and your cheese because it is just packed full of it (as it should be). According to our friends at Wikipedia, The Reuben sandwich is a hot sandwich of layered meat, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese, with a dressing. These are grilled between slices of pumpernickel or rye. And Five did exactly that. Got a bit much for me since I have reduced my meat consumption over the past 2 years, but it is a delight to eat. Would order it again if I was feeling like a carnivore.

I’ve tried all three main desserts that Five Bar has to offer, and my personal favourite is the Brownie with Ice Cream. It wasn’t overly sweet and the brownie wasn’t too dry as well. Lovely.

 

The rest of the desserts are absolutely stunning in presentation, but not really to my palate unfortunately. The Champagne Jelly sounded so enticing that I ordered it because I was just curious, and I thoroughly enjoyed the strawberries and cream, but am not too used to the flavour that the champagne jelly brought. The tiramisu had a nice coffee taste on the base, but a tad too much cream for my liking – so if you like your cream with tiramisu, then this would be for you!

My favourite drink by far at Five Bar would be having their James Squire Apple Cider. Yummo! And here’s the best part – it goes so well with their food!

With so many different areas to choose from to sit depending on how you feel on the day, you would actually want to go back just to try their different seating areas! I do anyway. The service has always been spot on, and now that I’ve gotten to know some of the staff members, it is always a delight coming back. Based on my initial experience, there was this level of friendliness in the staff that I was really impressed with.

Overall, such a great bar to go back to, even if it is just for 1 hour, to chill, relax and have a pint of their gorgeous James Squire Apple Cider! And look out for their new 2012 food and drink menu too!

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

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

Five Bar
Telephone: 0467 534 267
Address:  560 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley

Five Bar on Urbanspoon

15
Jan
12

Kinky Lizard, East Perth

By S.M. 2 Comments
Categories: Breakfast
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Website: http://www.kinkylizard.com.au

Continuing the breakfast posts, this time it was time to meet and catch up with SC and MS. Keen on trying a new place in East Perth, we chose Kinky Lizard over Toast (even though I do love that joint!).

Hidden in a little corner along Royal Street, where a growing number of great cafés are starting to pop up, Kinky Lizard is not too easily missed because of its cute little sign on the outside of the café.

Arriving there first, I quickly got a table for us outside – who wants to be kept inside on a day when the sun is out! After talking a bit of nonsense, and reading through the menu, we decided on the following:

  • Chorizo Funghi (Grilled chorizo sausage on a Ciabatta Wedge with Field Mushroom & Poached Eggs)
  • Eggs Benedict
  • Build Your Breakfast (Poached egg, field mushroom, asparagus)
  • Usual coffees

The most special of the lot we ordered was probably the Chorizo Funghi – something not seen too often around the cafés around Perth. I was rather impressed with the serving of the Chorizos being rather generous. The combination of both mushrooms and chorizo is definitely a winner for me, though I think it would have gotten a bit heavy on the tummy towards the end.

 

The breakfast that I built was light, and I have to admit that when I said “Poached egg”, I thought there would be 2 in a serve. Having to pay $4 for one egg is a bit too much for my pocket. I know better next time for sure. The other items tasted alright – nothing too ‘wow’ about.

The eggs benedict looked alright – typical of what you would expect of any eggs benedict dish though the hollandaise sauce did look a little more diluted than expected. As to its taste, I didn’t actually taste this, so I will have to give ‘reviewing’ this a go.

The coffees were decent. Nothing to complain, nothing to grant too many kudos on either. Service here was pretty good but the service is really only restricted to the wait staff taking orders at the counter, and serving the main meals. They were friendly though – which is always a plus when dining at any café/restaurant. As they say, “A smile goes a long way”.

I don’t know if I would be back to this place – it was lovely while it lasted, but I think I’d go try some other places first before returning.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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

Kinky Lizard Espresso Bar on Urbanspoon

14
Jan
12

JACS, Applecross

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Categories: Breakfast
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Website: http://jacsapplecross.com.au

Since departing (I rather call it retiring) from the STMC Saturday Choir, the pioneer group of ladies made another commitment – to catch up every 6 weeks or so for a brekkie or lunch session! And this was one of them. We deliberated on some cafés in Applecross as that was the suburb of choice for this meet up. Found one that was in the entertainment book only to be left disappointed by the lack of proper breakfast choices when we arrived (they specialised more in coffees).

So we walked around and found some empty tables at Jacs that was just directly opposite. We figured we might as well give this place a shot.

We found ourselves a table outside, and started deliberating the menu.

Hungry and eager to have some munching started, we ordered the following:

  • JACS Big Brekky (Eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, mushrooms, toast)
  • Salsa Poached Eggs (poached eggs, bacon, tomato & avocado salsa)
  • Eggs Atlantic + Avocado (poached eggs, Tasmanian smoked salmon, hollandaise, sourdough toast)
  • Latte
  • Flat White
  • Cappuccino
  • Pot of Tea
   

 

The big brekky was everything you would expect in a typical big brekky but being a real lover of hash browns, this was a real treat for me! The serving was nice and big, and being the hungry monkey I was, I managed to finish this up nicely and was rather satisfied. The one thing that I would say is I would have appreciated a bigger serving of the mushrooms… greedy much? :P

The salsa poached eggs that SC ordered turned out looking rather appetising, and apparently it was not too bad. I think this would be what I’d order the next time I head there – just for variety and because of the much loved rocket!

The eggs atlantic was ordered without the hollandaise sauce, and looked pretty good with the serving, especially with the avocado – great choice as an additional side AC! This is probably the typical dish you would order, and since we didn’t get to taste the hollandaise sauce, I would not be able to say too much more about this dish. (:

The coffees were average, nothing ‘wow’ about them.

I loved sitting out there and enjoying the fresh air, and because of its location, it almost feels as though you are in a little village away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Lovely. Service was neutral, but the ladies who did serve us were friendly and patient as we deliberated our orders.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

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

JACS
Telephone: (08) 9364 8687
Address: 45 Ardross Street, Applecross

JACS Applecross on Urbanspoon

13
Jan
12

The Boulevard, Hillary’s

By S.M. Leave a Comment
Categories: Modern Australian
Tags:

Website: http://www.boulevardrestaurant.com.au

Entertainment Book: Complimentary MAIN for any MAIN ordered (up to $40)

We had a good friend popping by to visit from Singapore, and we decided to pay the lovely Hillary’s Boat Harbour a visit one evening, along with the plan to have dinner there. So we searched the good ol’ Entertainment Book and found a spot that I haven’t heard before, and neither had SK and AC, so we decided to head there!

I have always loved Hillary’s for the water views, and the lovely fresh air that you would get. So I was pretty psyched to be there.

Having already perused the menu at home, I was swayed in my decision for the evening because of their specials (and guess what, Miss Egg conveniently forgot to snap a picture of this order!)… but anyway, I digress. Here are our orders:

  • Banana Milkshake
  • Twice Cooked Pork Belly with Sweet Potato Mash & Apple Relish
  • Nut Crusted Barramundi with Lebanese rice pilaf and Dark Mustard Sauce
  • Special for the day – Steak with red wine/mushroom jus
  • Crab Spaghetti w/ Fresh Garlic, Chilli, Tea Soaked Raisins & Lemon EVOO

The banana milkshake looked really appetising actually, and SC quite enjoyed it. I wouldn’t think they had much real banana in there, but I’m sure the banana taste was strong enough.

I will just get away from my embarrassment by talking about the steak I had first. It was a huge chunk of cow. May be one of the bigger chunks of cow that I have seen served around the cafés and restaurants of WA. But size doesn’t mean good. And it was certainly so in this case. I still remember not being impressed with the way the meat turned out for an order of medium rare. It felt like a medium-medium well, and so I found it more and more onerous towards the end of the meal having to chew and chew, chew and chew some more. There was a lack of jus too with the meat, which to me, is a real boo boo since I love my sauces and gravy (I hear Duncle calling me an Australian already!). Not the best piece of meat I have eaten, really.

The pork belly that SC had was really quite average too – it looked pretty with presentation, but that was it. From memory, this dish had a bit too much sweetness on the palate because of the apples. But I am a salty person, so feel free to raise your objections if you have tried this before and think otherwise. (:

The nut crusted barramundi with rice was the tastiest dish of the night by my palate. It was a lovely break away from the usual grilled (which I love by the way, don’t get me wrong here), or pan fried fish we usually get. With sesame seeds included, there was no reason why it wouldn’t be tasty! Yummo. In saying that, it was tasty, but it was not a ‘wow’ dish. The rice was a nice accompaniment.

Finally, the pasta. All I can say is “oh dear…”. This dish was the biggest disappointment for the evening, and if it had not been the gang who continually said, “yes, it is rather tasteless considering the description they gave in the menu…” I wouldn’t have bothered trying because it did look pretty decent. This was one pasta that had no character, unfortunately. They had those crab pieces in there but they did not accentuate the dish… Like I said, “oh dear…”.

We decided not to stay for desserts because of a rather disappointing experience with the mains.

Overall, this place has a good ambiance, average service, food that was average, and quite a bit to be desired for. I don’t think I will be back too soon, for sure.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

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

Boulevard Restaurant on Urbanspoon

12
Jan
12

The Dizzy Witch Cafe, Northbridge

By S.M. 3 Comments
Categories: Breakfast
Tags:

Website: http://www.thedizzywitchcafe.com.au

So SK and I missed out on catching up one Friday evening, and we figured perhaps we could do a relatively quick brekkie on Saturday morning before she had to go meet up with another friend. Onwards we went with urbanspoon and I stumbled across this place with pretty decent ratings called The Dizzy Witch. Sounds enticing enough! Did a bit more research into the menu, location and before I knew it, the time and place was set.

It is along Brisbane St in Northbridge, which already makes it more convenient than the usual suspects of Northbridge roads like “William St”, or “Roe St”, where parking can be a real hassle. We had absolutely no issues trying to find parking this rather sunny Saturday morning, and we made our way in and found ourselves a little spot in the corner to sit and peruse the menu (again for me).

In line with the witchy name of the café, the names of the dishes followed suit with “warlock”, “wizard” all making it into the menu. One of the first things I did notice too, about the menu, was the good variety of dishes they had available for order, which was great.

Anyway, onward we go, we ended up ordering the following between the two of us:

  • Eggs Benedict Griselda
  • Mushrooms on Toast Esmeralda
  • Skinny Cappuccino
  • Caramel Milkshake

Didn’t take too long before our drinks and food orders came through.

 

I had the eggs benedict, and it was lovely that they use free range eggs for all their dishes. Score! And I loved loved loved the fact that they had wilted spinach with the ham for eggs benedict – something you don’t usually get with benedicts (not in my mind at least).  The taste of this dish is quite typical. They did mention a spicy hollandaise sauce but it wasn’t all that spicy, really. The wholemeal bread did soak up all that hollandaise and egg yolk goodness (oh, those eggs were poached beautifully!). Good ham too.

The mushrooms on toast was the highlight for the morning. It came out looking so creamy, generous in serving, and just looked so good to eat! Smelt even better, so SK was pretty damn keen to get started on that dish. And lo and behold, it did taste as good as it looked! I had a bit of it too and it was marvellous. The fact that it was creamy, and fat, and together with the bread to give that additional character, lovely. I am almost definitely going to order that the next time I head there.

 

The caramel milkshake received pretty good reviews from SK, but my skinny cap was a bit disappointing. I am not sure if it is because of that heavy breakfast I had with the benedict, but it certainly tasted odd that morning. I am willing to give it another go, but the coffee that morning just did not taste right. Hmm.

With a casual, relaxing setting to this place, with a variety of seating arrangements (i.e. there is the sofa type chairs, the normal café chairs, etc.)… and such a lovely first experience, there is no reason why I wouldn’t go back there again sometime. Service was what you would expect in any café. I would give it a neutral.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

The Dizzy Witch Cafe
Telephone: (08) 9228 1501
Address: 199 Brisbane Street, Northbridge

The Dizzy Witch Café on Urbanspoon

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