The Red Fez - don't go taking your hat off yet...

A group of us tested this place in Mt Lawley for brunch.

Atmosphere was a little cramped, it's a tight fit. The service was enthusiastic and the wait staff were nice but a few of them are quite inexperienced.

Food style is meant to be mediterranean with Spanish/Moroccan influences?

The spiced feta/mushroom dish was not as spicy as anticipated but was very tomatoey. Same can be said about the solid meat balls. The Spanish omelette with chorizo - I was expecting ... More peppers? Thinner chorizo?

Serving sizes were quite good.

Coffee was average for Mt Lawley. Neither here nor there, but we didn't try the single blend. Juice offering was Charlie's which I love.

Overall presentation was lovely. The scrambled egg was great. The pancakes were sufficiently fluffy and smooth with marscapone & berry coulis/jam.

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5.

Neko paw rating: 2 out of 5 - would not return for a meal.

       

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1550188/restaurant/Perth/Mount-Lawley/Fez-Mt-Lawley"><img alt="Fez on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1550188/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

Been really slack ...

This is an apology but also a promise to upload all the reviews and eating I've done in the past few months... shortly - shall take a few weeks to finish but definitely will.

Oh another side track: I'm doing a fundraiser thing and the cause is a really good one.

I'm baking up a storm for Australian Red Cross, a cause that is close to my heart and I would welcome any contribution, great or small, that you could make!

Please visit my Fundraising Page: http://bigcakebake.gofundraise.com.au/page/nekoTMbakeoff

All donations to this site are electronically wired to Australian Red Cross and an automatic receipt is emailed to you immediately.

Help me bake the world a better place by making a donation - every little bit helps to reach my modest target of $200.

My promise to sponsors: Donations above $50, will receive a cake order or cupcake order at a date of your choice! Contact me to arrange!

Thank you for your support!

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