Worst Italian Restaurant Ever

Firstly, let's bring a bit of context into this blog review about a restaurant which had once been one of the 'oldest' and most respectable Italian restaurants in the West Perth neighbourhood, Villa D'Este. I do recall dinning here more than a decade ago and loving the food and service. Sadly, this time around ... nothing lived up to expectations - except maybe the Chianti Classico. But then, since I had very little to eat, this would be all relative.

Additional context, I am a self-claimed foodie and I am particular about my food. I eat out quite a lot and have tried restaurants from street side stalls to high end Michelin starred restaurants here and overseas.

Short summary:
Food: 1 out of 5 stars
Service: 0 out of 5 stars
Ambience: 3 out of 5 stars (this is if you exclude food and service, I'm only counting the decor & lighting).

Full neko paws DOWN on this restaurant. Don't go there!

***
Let me set the scene. This is to for a family dinner to celebrate my mother's birthday. The booking was via Dimmi using their 'point redemption' for the booking and a voucher of $50 which is applied without having to present a voucher. Clearly stated on the booking that it's her birthday. I received a booking confirmation call at 9:43am WST to confirm. I was in a meeting and called them back to confirm details for 3 at 7pm.

Arrive 10 minutes before booking and was led to the table by, we shall call him Waiter A. Waiter A asked if we would like sparkling water, I translated for my parents and we agreed on sparkling. This was brought to the table and poured. Waiter B brought 'appetiser, compliments of the chef'. Ritz biscuit sized pizza with 1 slice of parma/pepperoni like meat and cheese with what could have been tomato puree or a small bit of sun-dried (benefit of the doubt) x 3. Another waiter came by to tell us the specials, he had a strong 'Italian' accent and in most cases I find accents quite reassuringly authentic in the relevant restaurant environment. He gave us the specials, my mom was delighted with the option of being able to have twice cooked duck and my dad opted for the Carpretto (baby goat) - a dish which we have had before at Siderno and he had loved it. He went away to give us a few more minutes to decided.

After a while of waiting, while we saw waiters come and go. I next got hold of Waiter A to order, but he said I would have to wait for the maitre d' to order as he only dealt with drinks. I asked for his recommendation for a rounded Italian wine, he suggested the Chianti Classico 2009. We agreed to order this and our mains. We waited for a while - wine was served before MD came over to our table to take our order.

Here's what we ordered:
Peppoli Chianti Classico - upon recommendation by Waiter A $66.00

Entrees
1/2 dozen Oysters (Baked with mushroom and Italian sausage) $28.00
Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms with balsamic reduction (3 on plate) $31.80
A soup of the day - Cream of Asparagus $16.00

Mains
Twice Cooked duck with Port Wine sauce $48.90
Carpretto with polenta 'slice/cake' $48.80
Beef cheeks with polenta 'slice/cake' $44.80
and
Side
Crusty Italian Bread $4.50, we asked for 1 serve *($1.50 per serve, it was not stated on menu it was "per person")
Spinach salad with tomatoes, olives and olive oil and balsamic dressing and parmesan $11.80

The bread came and was surprising to us a basket of several (8+) pieces of large chunky Italian bread. Since dad loves this type of bread we were fine with it, not realizing they had given us 3 serves. The oysters arrived 'au natural', I pointed out the mistake and the waiter gave me a look. He later came back to say it would take a few minutes to cook. I was fine with this. The mushrooms were fine, the stuffing was actually 'stuffing' there's sausage flavour, but I could not actually bite into any. The soup was very green and watery with dried parsley sprinkled on. We all tasted it and agreed it was not edible and was extremely salty. You could not taste the natural freshness of asparagus which I love. The Waiter B took away the soup and asked if we wished for the other soup of the day as replacement, I agreed - it was a Italian Vegetable soup (not minestrone) just a soup less green and with pieces vegetables.

We waited for quite a while - so much so that Waiter A came and with Waiter C cleared our entree plates and cutlery. I had to stop them and state we have not been served our other entrees - they cleared the plates any way and was going to bring new ones.

I had a small sip of the 2nd soup and found it still salty, and was informed by my parents it was still too salty but they were not willing to embarass themselves or the restaurant to sent it back. From this point on, no one came by to check how we were doing or to even re-fill our water or wine glasses.

Plates cleared we eagerly awaited mains thinking this would rescue the meal. The mains came quite quickly and was plonked down "across" the table by Waiter B to my mother. Reaching across me diagonally across. All this time serving was done by each wait staff from the side, he just didn't bother to walk over to my mother. I had two bites of the beef cheek and realized I couldn't taste the meat and only the salt. The texture was fine but the whole thing tasted like salt cured. The sauce was just as strong. I tried dad's carpretto and it was the same - the nice goat flavour was gone. The fine texture of the meat was there ... but if you finished the dish you would end up drinking litres of water after to re-hydrate. Mom's duck was saved by the sweetness of the port. You could taste the heavy salt, but the sugary port sauce covered it and helped balance it. We put aside the two main dishes. Mom and dad shared the duck with bread and the salad.

Finally got hold of Waiter B and I told him to take the mains away as they were too salty for us to eat and stated I didn't want them any more when he looked at me with an annoyed expression. (This may have been his expression for not understanding why). He stated that they served the same here all the time and no-one has found a problem with it.

After a long wait and my parents finishing their shared dish. Waiter A eventually came with two container boxes labled with our main meals. I was very angry and stated that we had returned the dishes to the kitchen as they were inedible and was too salty. He said I should be upset with him as he only did drinks and clear tables. I asked to speak to the manager or the maitre d'.

15-20 minutes later, no one had come by our table again. I asked for the bill. Waited another 15 minutes and was provided a FULL bill for everything that was presented to us, inclusive of the mains. I went to the front counter to speak with the manager as he had deemed it not necessary to come see his customers. No apologies and no questions about how was your meal before he launched into a rant about how I had upset his chef and insulted him and none of his food was salty. He claimed to have tasted all the dishes I returned and said they were fine and all other customers were fine with their food, so my taste must be bad and that I could not take salt at all. He also walked away from me whenever I was stating my case about the food being not palatable at all and defending my taste buds.

I was extremely polite in pointing out that my table considered the food too salty and if he did not think there was a problem why did he replace our soup? And if he had taste tested the returned food, why did he allow them to be packed into take away containers and returned to our table? He claimed this was a misunderstanding and that Waiter B did not understand I meant to 'return' the food. If that was the case, why did Waiter B tell me that no-one else had thought the food too salty to eat?

When I asked about the Dimmi discount, he said I had to present a voucher - which is not the case. When I stated that it was with the booking and he damn well knew it. Finally I was at my wits end, I asked he again if he was going to put the discount through or not. When he did, he asked the Waiter C to double check all the details and proceeded to take my credit card for payment without showing me the bill.

I've tried Galileo, Siderno and a number of the best rated Italian restaurants in the business. None of their dishes have ever been salty enough for me to send back to the kitchen.

If I pay $50 for mains, I want my waiter to at least "smile" at me. I don't care if it's false, it's your damn job to smile at customers.

Living it up, but loosing an icon...

I heard along the grapevine (small as that may be within little old Perth) that the Loose Box is closing. It's always been a place I wanted to visit but never had that special somone or been able to co-ordinate a group of friends willing to make the 45 minutes drive up to have a degustation meal (without the matching wine set - if you were the skipper). From previous experiences with degustation we can definitely say that it lasts between 3 to 5 hours, depending on the company and wine consumption!

Alain Fabregues is deservedly retiring after over 34 years of delighting diners with his multi-award winning culinary skills since 1979. A lot of people I've spoken to know of and a great number of friends have decided to do the trip throughout the past few weeks.

The weekend is a close friend's birthday and I really wanted to spend a nice but quiet evening out with him to celebrate. It was definitely lucky to have called up and be told that there is a table available on a Thursday evening and if we'd like we can have it at 7:30 pm. Essentially meaning we wouldn't finish until 11 pm at the earliest. This was perfect, as we both worked in the CBD and getting out there would take potentially longer than the Google Map drive time.

We arrived nicely just 10 minutes before 7:30 pm and was greated and led to our table by a new waiter. I say new, he was young and possibly quite new at the restaurant role due to the hesitant way he greeted us.

He presented the menus to us, and left us to bring water. Explained the specialties of the evening and we were pleasantly surprised with the flexibility in the degustation menu. Normally you'd receive a list of items with very little choices. But I felt like we were encouraged to swap and change how we wanted. You can choose from the standard degustation or a vegetarian degustation. In addition, thatevening we had 2 entree courses where there were a special optional dish. As well as having 2 additional choices for mains.

We ordered the following:

• 2 mini-bottles of Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial N.V. Epernay, France.
• the Degustation menu (with variations) - keep reading for descriptions and photographs.
• Darjeeling and Earl Grey Teas with our petits fours

First Course:

Coconut and Prawn Broth (His)

Coconut broth served with freshly shelled Prawns, kaffir lime leaf and Balmain and Rozelle spice. 

It was, sadly lack luster for a first course. It felt like a lighter spiced green Thai curry soup - missing the glass noodles and the bite! The prawns were sitting at the bottom of the lovely bowl. This may have been intentionally done to provide a surprising discovery, but sadly created a disappointing first taste and then made you feel as if it was only improved to the level of ordinary.

Cappuccino de "mange tout" (Mine - from the vegetarian menu)

Snow Pea cappuccino soup, garnished with lightly braised lettuce and a whisper of peppermint.

I have sadly developed a prawn allergy and also am not a great fan of cooked coconut milk. This soup offering was intriguing but I had no expectation of it ... I like snow peas but could not envision it being a creme soup with lettusce and mint.

Matching Wine: Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Grand Réserve N.V.

60% Pinot, 35% Chardonnay, 5% Gamay and Aligote

A lively effervescent sparkling rose wine with a fresh, citrus palate.

Second Course:

Tian de Fruits de Mer (His)

Salmon Gravlax, prawn and smoked trout tian folded in a dill mayonaise, served with a lemon fennel salad and saffron aspic.

This was brilliant, the fennel was not over powering and the saffron aspic added a piquant taste to theGravlax. Delightfully presented and I could have had more and more of this.

Pork Trotter (Mine)

Matching Wine: Domaine du Rimauresq  Provence  2010

Tibouron Cinsault Granache Shiraz

Close your eyes and imagine the warm Provencale sun on your skin and transport yourself to the south of France with this superb dry Rose.  Made from indigenous red grapes grown on this Cru Classe vineyard in the shadow of the Massif du Maure mountain range of Provence.  Typicall dry and savoury Rose, but with a refreshingly fruity mid-palate.

This was delightfully presented, soft and melty but in a tube that had a gelatinous texture and a little hint of mushrooms and cheese. Seems like no time and the mouthful was finished.
Third Course: 

Le Saumon & Jacques Aux Aromates "Jean Delaveyne" 

Fresh Atlantic salmon and local scallops poached in champagne served with a light butter sauce infused with fresh herbs.

We both went for this one, the vegetarian option was just not as enticing as this on the menu.

 Matching Wine: J.J. Vincent Bourgogne Blanc  2009  Burgundy

100% southern Burgundy Chardonnay with fresh mineral characteristics, stone fruit and a touch of oak. 

Fourth Course:

Escargots à La Bordelaise en Pâte de Brick sur Ratatouille Provençale

Snail fritter served golden on a warm ratatouille stack with a tomato and chilli sauce.

This dish felt a little underwhelming. The ratatouille was lovely and balanced in taste. However, the escargot was missing something quintessential and was overwhelmed by the wealth of other flavours.

Matching Wine: Plan de Pegau Rouge  2007  Southern Rhone

50% Granache, 50% Mourvedre and a splash of Cabernet

The Plan de Pegau comes from one of the great Chateauneuf houses, Comaine de Pegau.  Their southern Rhone vineyards are planted to Grenache and Mourvedre, both staples of the region.

The wine felt a little bit over powering on this match as well.

Main Course:  

Duck Confit (His)

Special option of the evening, was either a Duck Confit - which is a twice cooked duck leg or the option of beef cheeks with baby roast vegetables.

I always feel that (over)cooking duck is a crime. However, Alain is a Mastermind! This was extremely well done. The duck leg presented well, it didn't look stewed (as some I have seen posing as Duck Confit). Melt in your mouth texture and retaining the full flavour of duck. Delightful with the Plan de Pegau Rouge  2007  Southern Rhone.

Daube de Boeuf Aux Chataignes (Mine)

Scotch fillet slow cooked in red wine with carrot, onion, herbs and mushrooms. Served with a lid of puff pastry and garnished with chestnuts and red wine shallots.  

I sadly chose the scotch fillet as I have a complete devotion to chestnuts and rarely get to eat it in meat meals. Doubly sad, because, yes I rarely get it and unfortunately this dish fell far short of expectations. The scotch fillet was so dry and tough to chew that I was hard pressed upon recollection to believe it was slow cooked in red wine with all the actual vegetables. The puff pastry presentation was fanastique, however the chestnuts was sadly missing (well I did find 1 sliver...). I should have ordered the off the menu - beef cheek pie with root vegetables. *sigh* It sounds not as impressive but beef cheeks will rarely let you down.

The addition of red wine shallots make it very much an tanin filled dish and I felt it did not match the wine as well as it could've.

 Matching Wine: Château Val de Roc  2008 Bordeaux Supérier

70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc

Made by Michel Rolland from the great Château Ausone.  This wine is opaque dark crimson in colour.  The nose has toasted cedar and subtle blackcurrant.  Medium weight with flavours of cherry and spice and fine grained tannins.

Plate Cleanser: Fruit Sorbet Melon & Midori Sorbet 
This was seasonal choice of fruit. I was hoping for something a bit zesty but the clean taste of this sorbet cut through well and removed the tanin taste of the main/wine.

Dessert: 

Le Cygne Majestueux en Voyage sur son Lac de Framboises (Mine)

How can you go past this? The majestic swan, made from home made vanilla bean ice cream and fine tuille biscuit.  Served on a "love heart lake" of raspberry sauce. Very lovely looking dessert, the double cream forming part of the body gave it a light texture mixed with the fresh vanilla bean ice cream and raspbrry sauce. I can imagine this as a 'romantic dinner/event' point to be talked about for a while

Matching Wine:  Grand Maison Monbazillac Curvee des Anges  2007  Dordogne

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc  Muscadelle

This fresh, light botrytis dessert wine comes from the hills of Monbazillac in Bergerac, east of Bordeaux.  This wine has just the right amount of sweetness and zingy acid to balance with the dessert.

The wine match was much sweeter and the counter point with the raspberry sauce was zingy but not an unwelcome one after the richness of the meal.

Cheesecake with berry coulis ? (His)

I forgot to take down the Frenchy name of this off the menu dessert option. Funnily, my dining partner doesn't eat fruit! Interestingly enough he still chose this for the Cheese cakey-ness, however this was not what he was expecting. When you think Cheese cake these days, you think of the dense heavy cheese taste and texture we've come to know. This cheese cake was "moussey". Almost a fluffy version. Great texture counter point to expectations but sadly for him it didn't hit the spot.

He also recieved a little 'birthday' ice-cream with the fine tuille biscuit and chocolate happy birthday written on it! I did get to eat 'Happy' so guess that's fair.

Petit Fours & Tea

I always love this part. Feel as if you're being given a special little treat at the end of the meal. However, I've begun to slowly realize through Main that my stomach capacity has shrunk with age. And my sugar capacity was filled by eating 'Odile'.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

They were wonderfully attentive and courteous. As I said one seemed to be new/in-training and we all through the puppy-phase and someone has to be nice enough to accept and train us :) but this coumade me feel that this wasn't the whole overall French cuisine experience I was after. The freshness of the produce and the delicacy of the dish/sauces was lovely and the overall ambience was geared toward la romantique.

Neko paws: 2.5 out of 5. The 0.5 was given out of respect, however, even if it wasn't for Alain's retirement... I would sadly say the overall experience didn't leave enough of a positive impression to entice me back.

The fine dining echelons have lovely places like Jackson's, Chez Pierre, Bistro Bouchon and the new Crown Casino chain offerings of Nobu, Bistro Guillaume and Rockpool.

Oh reminds me next post will be on Bistro Guillaume and I shall plan in time to go visit P'tite Ardoise.

Is Donburi - to be or not to be?

I'm beginning to love starting every entry with some sort of literary reference that either ties in to the name or the feel I get of a place. I'm also playing catch up with my food reviews / blogging.

Is Donburi is getting a lot of great reviews from the local food blogging community. Urbanspoon rating is almost perfect! Considering the location is so close to Aisuru, which I've tried twice before casting a final review. I thought I had to try it for lunch and see for myself what the fuss is about.

I had to post the food photos first but the full review will be coming shortly!

Rating: 4.5 / 5 it's small (which is great for ambience and at the same time means you can't really have big groups)
the corridor seating is not ideal during dinner but lunch time rush is fine!

Neko paws: considering I've been here twice in one day it's 5 paws!!! Out of 4 that I have.


Rating: Ambience


Neko Paws: 4 out of 5, definitely worth a return trip

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1706247/restaurant/Perth/Is-Donburi-William-Street-Northbridge"><img alt="Is Donburi William Street on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1706247/minilink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:130px;height:36px" /></a>

Korean Chapter 1. Verse 3. Sinabro (Francis Street)

Some of you might remember this restaurant premise used to be El Toro - a Balkan steak house with one of the most intriguingly cheesy escargots I've had in Perth. Sadly, it closed down - it seemed like an odd location and didn't seem to do too well over the years. Rarely saw anyone there...

Happily after it closed down, Sinabro grew to replace it as an icon! The actual charcoal a la carte Korean BBQ in the backyard is very authentic - comes with your Korean speaking waiters and minimal English! Which is always fun!

The buffet, reasonalby priced, has a lot of variety from pre-cooked hot foods (japchae etc) to raw ingredients. The table grill pan allows you to do a steamboat / stew style (there's a little bowl/pot in the middle of the grill) as well as hotplate BBQ grill style. They also have uncooked manduk, so you can boil yourself at your table.

The meat comes marinated or au naturel. The ox tongue is sometimes a hit and miss depending how thickly they're sliced, I prefer the thinner the better. Instant two second grill action - juice and tender. Not huge on pre-marinaded meats but this

Great place to have a group thing. Date-wise, guys not a wise idea unlessy you want to come out smelling like BBQ meats or unless the girls like that sort of eaux de boeuf!

Food wise, if I go for all-you-can-eat, I always do a spciy stew soup, using the kimchee, sauces and other raw ingredients to create a seafood based soup and then cook tofu and vegies in.

Personally I like turning the mussels over faced down using it's shell to steam/grill in its own juices!



Photos comming soon.

Weight gain was inevitable...

I tell myself this because I've gotten lazy... I still eat out quite a bit. Yet I haven't posted up anything for a long time - Facebook is detrimental to my food blog. I post it on FB and then I forget about updating Blogger, let alone keep up with my Urbanspoon account. My silly little iPhone is filled with photos of food, even the once I've cooked/tried out. (e.g. Cumulus Inc. does Brussel Sprouts soooo delicious... so I tried it for myself - my variation is obviously not up to that sort of standard but friends have given positive reviews). Speaking of which I have Brussel sprouts at home, that might be tonight's re-hash dish and I'll post it.

I've had 2 more short holidays since going away to Melbourne in the last two months - Dunsborough & Margaret River so there's food reviews coming for those areas too. Gods, that's quite a backlog. Not to mention Matsumo Japanese Omakaze!

Ok enough tantalising prospects of food, more "healthy eating". I have gained at least 4 kg - no I did not weight myself, I can tell when my favourite skirts get a bit tighter around the waist line. *sigh* So instead of "eating", I'm going to focus on "making". See my Thermomix blog for cooking stuff - which I will keep posting.

Oh and my friend introduced me to iPad app games... I have such an addictive personality - was soooo late for work this morning. Ok I overslept too but that was because I was working on a baking project (which will be posted here after the weekend). It's a surprise... *GRINS*

Korean Chapter 1. Verse 2. Took Bae Kee 2 (Barrack Street, Perth)

I have had half the menu here, there's not much I haven't tried. Which makes it hard to summarize in one review. I'm pretty much a regular.

TBK2 is a branch off the Pier Street's Took Begi Korean Restaurant. The soupy stuff all moved over to Barrack Street once TBK2 was up and running (this would have been a couple of years back now).

I'm a loyal fan. Honestly speaking it's value for money!
What you get:
@ Lunch: 4 starters/nibble trays of kimchee, pickled bean sprouts & variety of other two side dishes (love the marinated lotus roots and the cripsy seaweed and the soy beans...) oh it's endless varieties!
@ Dinner: this becomes 6 side dishes!

I recommend trying the set meals during lunch - as they're usualy discounted to $11 or $12
Pork Ribs - mild spice
Kimchee tofu & slice pork soup

Shared dinner - hotpot/steamboat Korean style: the Kimchee & Sliced pork is hearty and very fufilling!

Ambience: I like the rowdy, slight smokey-ness so I'm giving it 5! It's not as smokey as Tong86, Seoul Korean BBQ or Sinabro can get so that's a plus on a work day! It's a casual dinner place, don't expect the Ritz!
Service: 3-4 out of 5 (this depends on when, sometimes they're so busy they forget your drink order. Other days the leading waitress remembers your usual order and gets it right without you saying much at all!).
Food: 5 stars! I don't give full marks often.or at all. The kimchee is a bit more tart and not as spicy as some may like it. It's up to personal preference.

Photos later

Sometimes life gets in the way of living.

Sometimes, life throws us curve balls to test if we still have the tenacity and elasticity of mind to bounce instead of *k-splat* on the pavement. Two interest curve balls these past two weeks to 1. excuse my lack of posts and garner sympathy, 2. to just share what's been on my mind:

Curve ball 1:
There's been a restructure at my day job. My position / role is fine, but... it's a different environment now to work in. This is the second one I've been through in approx. 6-8 months. Well honestly, was in an environment previously that had the "restructure" thing hanging over my head for over 10-12 months, it's nearly 1.5 years of pending "redundancy" feeling. I'm a bit over it and just over-exhausted to even pep myself up.

Curve ball 2:
Recently, I woke up one morning and couldn't turn my neck and move my left arm. This is not to do with any sports injury - I'm not a sportswoman by any stretch of that word. It freaked me out - still in quite a bit of pain and can't lift anything with my left hand. Tingly sessions sporadicly go through my arm. Overall an uncomfortable experience. Yes I've seen a doctor, there was a pinched nerve, some vetebrae adjustments and inflammation of the muscle/tendon groups around the area.

I'll bounce but... it just means I will be spending more time else where for the time being. With that being said, it's likely I'll use cooking as a way to de-stress. 

I've eaten out quite a bit, and am spending more time doing that recently to spend more time out and about doing things (the Perth International Comedy Festival was a great way to be distracted).

I'll maybe add a little somethings to the blog (backdated - forgive me if you read the blog and then suddenly see a post from "May" which you thought was never there - don't worry you're not mad, I just can't keep time). Don't give up on me, I'll still keep posting. So keep an eye out and I'll surprise you later!

Fibber McGee's Irish Feast

Had a quick bite to eat here a couple of weeks ago and forgot to post straight away.

Loved it. The portions are huge - not that I can eat that much but the value for money just really tickles my Asian thrifty/kiasu side. *GRINS*

I'm not going to go on about it because I think you should go try it. Especially if you like a good steak.
I've had on occasions when I've dined there:
The special burbon glazed braised/stewed beef.
The lambshank.
The aged steak but the medallion not the biggest size.

I'll update post with photos later.

Ambience: 3.5 Stars
Reason: Rowdy pub style, walking through is somewhat intimidating if you're just walking in during Happy Hour. But the restaurant dining area is a good place to sit and chat and down a pint of two with friends.

Food: 4.5 stars
Reason: Value. Large servings and hearty food at that. Warms the cockles ;)

Price: Normal Perth restaurant pricing $28-45 for mains.


www.fibbermcgees.com.au/menu

This ain't a garden of roses...

Actually, I don't think there was a garden to be exact. We sat inside anyway.

Girlfriends and I always end up craving Indian food at some point. We usually head to Mela (when we all lived "north").

I'm always on the hunt for a bargain and when I saw an offer on one of those online deal websites it was a perfect for our "catch up over curry" sessions. Bargain deal voucher ($30ish per voucher) was an all-you-can-eat buffet meal for two with drinks *(beer or lassi).

We were quite early for dinner. The buffet sit down in split into two sessions per night. Don't worry it's not like they kick you out really - it's just after an 1.5 hr session of all-you-can-eat Indian, really depend on how much you can eat. Sad to say I think for an Asian group, we did mediocre. That's not to say the meal was mediocre.

The buffet stuff gets set up around 6ish, but when booking they said to come by at 5:30pm. The dishes weren't ready (in bain-maries) until really 6pm. We had starters = papadums and they gave us plenty of time to ponder over drinks. We chose mango lassi.
Of course we had tried of EVERYTHING. Ok, not everything, we passed on the vegetable salad. Dishes included, the usual:

• Tandoori Chicken Pieces
• Samosa
• Shish kebab
• Vegetable / Onion Bhaji
• Beef Vindaloo
• Lamb Rogan Josh
• Butter Chicken
• Chicken Tikka Masala? I wasn't sure
• Dahl
• Aloo Gobi (Potatoes & cauliflower, love it)
• Palak Paneer (spinach & cheese, for those who haven't tried Indian or doesn't know what this is... it's devine. Don't think of it as Popeye-spinach, it's completely different.)
• Rices/Naans etc.

There were sides and desserts too. So it was quite a meal.

Ambience: 3.5 Stars
Reason: Great for a small group, it's more of a family restaurant. Saw a few families show up a bit later. It's not extremely romantic, slightly sparse but they've tried to deck the place a bit to be more than casual dining but it doesn't have Mela's feel of Indian diner. I've been to some small restaurants in Mumbai where they actually have the same sort of Bollywood decor but tiles and casual tables, so I guess to me it feels slightly more "authentic" and I prefer the casual feel.

Food: 4 Stars
Reason: I would've rated higher, but I spent the rest of the day drinking water non-stop. Might have been my over-confidence with the vindaloo or ... the negative side might be because there's some sort of MSG in the food. I will have to retry this place and let you know.

Additional info: Website & menu. You can order a la carte and take away. I ate there on the 17th of March. I've back dated this blog post.

Duck Duck Goose? or Roast Pork? - Good Fortune be with you!

This use to be my favourite boneless duck place - yes they de-bone the duck for you so you don't have to worry about it. Kind of disappointing if you like duck bone soup when using left over bones you've de-boned yourself.

However, I found it delicious for duck rice! Don't have to do the messy hands with picking out a bone from your duck meat / rice. Fast services, only once you get a table. The lunch time wait for a table could be 15 mins or more (sometimes a lot more). You get your usual side of blanched vegetables, a little bit of pickled vegetables (carrots, cabbage) and the important thing: DUC K! Juicy succulent roast duck.

Ok the roast pork here is good too. But the day was about DUCK. All about duck.

Ratings:
Food: 5 stars
Ambience: busy small Asian restaurant, noisy and filled with bustle and chatter. 4 out of 5 stars, because this (all the peopel) means the food is good!
Price: little higher than normal duck, since "boneless-ness" doesn't come naturally to our flying friends. But well worth it, if you have been coddled into being unable to pick out your own bones (in fish or fowls). $10-$30 (if you do proper Chinese restaurant dishes). 4 out of 5 stars.

Here's the website and you can check out the menu.


Promise I'll add pictures later. I have photos, my food photo addiction is renowned. Yes, that just means I'm Asian.

The Dating Scene: Veggie take out

Ok after reading this PerthNow story on Veggie Mama, I really wanted to do a quick review.

I've been here a few times with the Vegan boyfriend and it's always been relatively delightful. What can I say, I'm just not made to be a herbivore.

I've tried their vegetarian filo pastry - loads of cream cheese, could be deadly to those who have heart problems. I think I was just surprised by the amount of cream cheese. The variety of salads are lovely and they actually offer freshly squeezed juices and know not to put the rinds in when they "squeeze".

My favourite salad so far is the slightly pickled purple cabbage. It just reminds me of something and I can't put my finger on it yet. It's not so sour as to lose all the crispy texture but the inate sweetness of the cabbage comes through without the tart bite you'd get when you put this raw into any salad.

I also have tried the gluten free tart - with spinach and sundried tomato, which was lovely. It wasn't exorbantly rich like the filo and was very filling. I love egg.

I've been told the bean stew thingy is fantastic, so next time that would be on the list ... along with the stuffed spud I think.

No, I'm not converting... :p

Daily Planet - Lois, Superman ain't here...

Despite the fact it's opening have been eagerly anticipated by local Lawlites and regular Planet Book groupies... (am self-confessed one amongst many), I didn't actually go to try the food for at least a week. I was at the staff function just before opening and saw the interior, tried some of the finger foods, drinks & looked in on the nice new kitchen. Before you even ask, no I don't work there, I was just a guest.

You can actually read there, although the chairs really aren't that inviting. So let's start with the decor. Bright red insdes, not just as a feature wall. One side wall of posters a la Planet, Grill'd and Green & Co. style. I like this - it gives you something to read on the wall while you wait for service or food if your table conversation dies. Ok I get why you would want feature wall colouring, and why choose red? Market research have already determined there are a few colours which trigger hunger responses and we associate these colours generally with food and eating - e.g. Red and Yellow. But that much red in a cafe doesn't "warm" me up, it freaks me out. Especially early morning before coffee and afternoon during hot Perth summer, it really really makes the room feel even hotter.

What I don't like, other than the bright red... hangin skulls of things. And creepy little statuettes, some might find this 'artistic' / kitsch or just fun. But sadly this doesn't do it for me. Wall hanging carpets / tapestries / wooden window frames are kind cute - are we going for a Mexican / some native villa feel?

Menu critique, now... let's not be nasty. Yes the first few weeks (?) were restricted to breakfast only. The lunch menu looking spectacular did not really 'happen'. Haven't been back there to eat lunch yet so I can't comment on teh current food menu. I had breakfast there with mom - we try to have a cafe catchup every week or every other week. The menu had nifty names in addition to variations of the age old breakie menu.

I had the field mushroom, creamy feta, poached egg & asparagus & swiss cheese on toast (V) & freshly squeezed blood orange (not sure if this was from a box as I didn't see them squeeze or pour it out). But it was tasty and better than the carbonated stuff!

Mom ordered eggs hollaindaise with tomato & avocado (V). And lattes. The drinks came very delayed - the coffee came for over 15 mins and then I got my juice. We waited for the meals to arrive for another 15 or so. The poached egg for me was just a bit over done but mom's was perfectly gooey. The hollandaise sauce was solid!

I also recommend their take away ice-coffee which is delicious with just cream. Oh and it's real cream not the instant can stuff you find often at cafes these days. There is meant to be vegan and gluten free options in the menu, so far that's only snacks, rolls or cake counter.

Serving sizes are generous, not just with our meals but I saw a few other tables and they all looked pretty big sizes.

Pricing is average - normal really for breakie.

Let me clarify or provide a disclaimer: the review here is based on only 1 breakfast meal & just coffees & juices - while reading at the venue. There has been times when the cafe looked too busy to sit in so I bought a take away and left or just went to another cafe along the strip. Luckily there's always room at Five down the road.

I've read some of the reviews on Urbanspoon, and most of the stuff they've mentioned as problems are real problems. Glitches, long waits, confused orders, delayed order delivery... It boils down to two things: front of house management & kitchen service co-ordination! Not sure if other visitors have noticed, but they did the "self-seating" thing and then "must-wait-to-be-seated", numbers on tables and then numbers when you order. This is very confusing for staff as one day it's table service & order at counter, how do you keep track of your payments & orders especially when there's multiple staff? Kitchen-wise, no one in the cafe/restaurant business will tell you the truth if something is wrong in the kitchen, unless it means they have to shut-down or are not able to serve at all. So all you get is - "unfortunately, this is not available" & "there's a glitch". Sometimes if the wait staff is savvy, they'd say "unfortunately, we've run out of this dish as it's been very popular". But that doesn't really work if you know how a cafe/restaurant kitchen should be managed - then supplies should be forecasted / enough.

I'm going to re-try this in a month or two, there's some staff change overs rumoured to happen which will mean a difference in menu and service levels. There's also some changes with Planet clothing and Planet Video side which might affect the cafe so - I'm going there in March for a re-trial (maybe lunch/dinner this time round). Don't forget to check back for an update!

Re-reivew of Oliver's on James

I have to say I have been to this restaurant in 2010, group of four and found the food to be ordinary and service adequate. I recently went back for a work Christmas lunch (3 course) and somehow ended up here for dinner a few days after.

Christmas Lunch:
Prawn cocktail, surf and turf, barramundi, the gnocchi.
Oh I hate to go on and on but the gnocchi is best. Yes it is vegetarian but the flavours infused in it - you could feel it melt in your mouth but still have the gnocchi chewy texture. I had this for dinner later on when we came back for dinner too!

My friends tried the lamb fry, that was an experience - if you like it already, it tastes quite traditional - so I've been told. The arabiata pizza is really huge. I think the portion sizes were all enough to feed two people.

All in all I've tried bites of most of the mains by this point. We also tried a few of the side salad, and cooked vegetables.

Dessert was the only disappointment, the shortbread was more like shortbrick. But the fudge brownie was to die for. Again serving size was huge. Definite value for money.

Serving staff are mostly backpackers/travellers so you get an interesting smattering of accents and familiarity - a couple of the staff were really chatty and relaxed. Services was prompt, the removal of dishes were a bit slow but by then the restaurant was filling up and they were quite busy. Oliver's revival is great to see! I like seeing a restaurant reclaim it's decent position.

The food tasted really quite good. But teh value for money is the reason I'm giving it 5.

The restaurant is also on the Entertainment Book.

Vote: 5 out of 5 stars
Photos forthcoming.

Indian Chapter 1, Verse 1: Mela (Northbridge)

I used to live really close to Mela and would often go there as a convenient Indian eatery, despite having others closer. This is because Mela is value for money and has a few things that other places don't.

Their Thursday special of eggplant curry and wholemeal roti is one of my favourites. I'm not a vegetarian by any stretch of the term but I love eggplant and eggplant curry done well is a fantastic experience. Latasha's in Leederville used to do a great one!
The thalis are just the right portion size and prices are low average Indian foodwise. Their vindaloo can be very very hot so for those who like their Indian meals spiced up, this is the place.

My other favourite dish - saag paneer or saag gosht! The creamy spinach curry just offsets any fo the meat dishes really well. They also do a homestyle vegetable or chicken tomato curry.

It's not fancy but service is prompt and friendly.

Limitation for those who care - they serve Pepsi, not Coke.

Vote: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Photos forthcoming.

Sakura season not in?

I tried this when it first opened with a group of friends: 2 couples and me. Five is an odd number but the izakaya style Japanese eatery doesn't really mind.

The place was quite busy, a number of Asian and Western clientele, which was a good sign. I overheard a smattering of Japanese across the small restaurant, also a good sign.

Sit down, service was prompt. Spacing was minimal though. Nice and cute cutlery and placemats. And then the food... we ordered quite a few dishes and drinks. Each dish was served slowly on its on, spaced out nicely. Allowing us to finish at least one drink between our order sets. We did three order sets (a few dishes each set) and that just about exhausted their menu. Drink list was quite decent a few chu-hai flavours which I haven't had here in Perth.

Service was standard, prompt, polite and pleasant.

The dishes were quite ordinary and nothing really caught my absolute attention. Tried a new clam / cockle dish - very distinct and somewhat bitter flavour with the texture of raw shellfish. That was the most attention grabbing dish.

Price wise for an izakaya in Perth, there is a better priced and just as authentic place. This just happens to be more central in Northbridge. We paid nearly $90 each (with 2-3 drinks per person).

Passable but not a place I would go back to voluntarily unless there's more variety.

Vote: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Fusion Chapter 1. Verse 1. The Bonsai Restaurant

I know there's a lot of favourable reviews out there for this place. However I have to say I didn't enjoy the experience. I tried this restaurant a while back, a group of six of us went pretty early. One of the first tables there.

The interior decor is very urbane and gutted factory setting contrasted with what was suppose to be "fine dining" fusion food. The portion is similar to tapas selection, with mainly Japanese influences. It's a very novel concept in Perth as there's really nothing to fill what I perceived as a between cafe eatery and a fine dining fusion niche. I'm honestly not a fusion food fan. A lot of these re-inventions of flavour tend to just change the plating and decrease portion size in favour of earning an extra buck. This place? The seating wasn't very comfortable, the minimalist look is just that a 'look' the feel is not as comfortable or luxurious if you're looking for upscale dining.

We ordered a number of dishes, whose prices in actual Japanese restaurants would have been a bit less. Serving sizes generally does well for 4 - 6 people if you're only having bite sizes. Not very memorable meal menu over all, we had some sushi pieces with 'inventive' fillings and artistic saucing (mayo/spicy), a scallop dish (6 pcs of scallops), some gyoza dumpling combo and some other cooked noodles or something. However each dish is priced between $14-$22, so it makes it for an expensive night out especially without drinks. Spent about 2 hours at $35 each without drinks and not even 1/2 full by the end. Hate to say it but 3 of us seriously considered Maccer's after it. And that is a very bad sign.

Staff was nice, but slightly monosyllabic. Maybe they're going for a haute style. Service level was not as attentive considering it wasn't very packed out and it's marketing position as a 'fine dining' or higher dining. The food came out a bit slow, especially considering most of it was 'cold' dishes. This might mean that everything we ordered was freshly made, but that somehow just doesn't seem like the case considering how cold the sushi rice was.

Oh I nearly forgot, there's also a cafe counter fridge with Asian-Western style desserts, cakes & coffee. I mean A-W because, the presentation looked like Francois cakes, tastes a bit like the old Cakes Unlimited / Mozart / Utopia, faux-creme cakes. Combo price is average cafe price but I must say the coffee prepared was on the bad side.

Still majority rules in the votes and many people have tried and liked it. Personally I prefer honest hearty food and portion sized as opposed to cold glitz and pretense at classy fusion. I have been recommended to go try this again, I'm just not sure if I can stomach it. If you liked it, then that's cool. Don't diss my review, personal experience was bad. If you had a fantastic experience and would like to tout it - let me know and I might go back and review again.

Vote: 1 out of 5 Stars

It wasn't photo worthy.