Nine Fine Food is mighty fine!

"kara-age chicken" "poached chicken" "lamb fillet" "vegetable cake" "balsamic soy dressing" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"

At my business we run an externship with the veterinary students every year which gives us the opportunity to put them through their paces.  It provides a great way for them to gain further experience and confidence before they head out into the big wide world of employment.  It is often during these externships that certain individuals shine and a couple of years back one of these externships led to our decision to offer the student a job.

Since officially joining our team, she has continued to impress us all with her standard of knowledge and dedication to her career.  There have been many nights she has stayed back late with no complaints, come in on her days off and pitched in to help others without being asked.  She is a valued team member who appears to be fast tracking herself to success. As a token of our appreciation I took her out for dinner with a couple of my business partners.

"Salmon" "Tuna" "White Fish" "Prawn" "Squid" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Fresh Sashimi (à la carte $27)

Thankfully she is also a foodie so I gave her a list of a couple of restaurants to let her choose the venue. She chose one of her favourites; Nine Fine Food. This was my second time returning to Nine Fine Food after visiting them earlier in the year with my dearest blogging friends. Most of my photos from this first visit didn’t turn out very well due to my excessive consumption of espresso martinis at an event prior. My shaking, caffeinated hands produced a number of quite interesting artefacts however very few of the resulting photos were what I would call “blog worthy”. I was keen for a second chance to get it right.

"Salmon" "Tuna" "White Fish" "Prawn" "Squid" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Fresh Sashimi (part of $53 set menu)

In addition to their standard menu, Nine Fine Food offers two set menus: “Tokutoku” a three course meal for $53 per person or “Osusume” which is four courses for $63. We all chose the Tokutoku. I remembered from my last visit that Nine Fine Food provide gluten free soy and was chuffed that I didn’t need to bring along my own. It is these small things that make me happy. I had the fresh sashimi for my entrée and noticed that my serve was considerably smaller than when I had previously ordered it off the à la carte menu. This made sense as the à la carte version is $10 more expensive than the remainder of the entrée options. Each carefully sliced piece of fish was delicate enough to give that melt-in-the-mouth amazingness that will always elicit a moan of pleasure from me as it hits my tongue. Fresh sashimi is surely one of my favourite things.

"confit duck" "five-spice" "scallops" "sweet potato mash" "tempura onion" "pumpkin puree" "reduction" "red wine" "mirin wine" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Confit Duck Leg ($34)

During my previous visit I ordered the confit duck leg and this dish is quite a treat so I was excited to see that Chris ordered it. It was a hard decision for me to not order it again as I know how good it is but I was determined to try something new. The duck is marinated in five-spice and served with lightly grilled scallops, sweet potato mash, a tempura onion ring and pumpkin purée. A ruby-red reduction made from red wine and mirin wine splashed contrasting colour against the mash across her plate. Jealous!

"tobiko caviar" "Yuzu mascarpone" "Salmon" "Scallop" "edamame" "pomegranate" "grapes" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Salmon and Scallop ($34)

Gluten free mains choices are limited as many of the meats are pre-marinated in sauces containing gluten. The chef seemed more than obliging to adapt things for me however so I ordered the salmon and scallops. The Atlantic salmon was cooked in two ways; one piece was roasted and one was lightly fried. It was served with some grilled scallops topped with tobiko caviar on a bed of citrusy Yuzu mascarpone. The normal gluten version also contains a panko fried mixed seafood cake which was omitted for me. Vibrant edamame, pomegranate seeds and fresh grapes decorated the plate adding interesting little bombs of flavour and colour.

"twice cooked" "milk braised" "pork belly" "pork fillet" "tempura bacon" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Pork and Pork ($18)

The “pork and pork” dish is not for the faint hearted and I would only recommend it for genuine pork lovers. The three different presentations of pork made this the perfect dish for my meat loving, veggie hating South African business partner. A sizable cube of twice cooked, milk braised pork belly accompanied slices of tender grilled pork fillet and some tempura bacon. Yes, you heard right, I said tempura bacon. Now I don’t really get into my pork but THAT was enough to make me swoon. The day I find somewhere that can make me gluten free tempura….it’s game on. Fry me some bacon!

"kara-age chicken" "poached chicken" "lamb fillet" "vegetable cake" "balsamic soy dressing" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Chicken and Lamb ($34)

Our star team member of the night ordered the “chicken and lamb”. This was a dish containing multiple interesting elements including some marinated crunchy kara-age chicken, poached chicken breast, grilled lamb fillets and portions of vegetable cake. A sweet syrupy balsamic soy dressing was drizzled over the tender pieces of lamb to finish things off.

"Matcha Brûlée" "creme brulee" "dessert" "dessert" "matcha dessert" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Matcha Brûlée

I cannot go past any matcha flavoured desserts, they really are the bomb. Even just your run of the mill, matcha ice-cream will get me excited despite not being the biggest ice-cream fan. During my first visit to Nine Fine Food I was introduced to matcha brûlée and despite the food blogger within me chanting that I already HAD a good photo of this dessert meaning I should order something different to give you dear readers more food porn to drool over…..I ordered it again.

And it was so good!

And I’m not sorry.

"black sesame ice cream" "black sesame gelato" "Kuro Goma Gelato" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Kuro Goma Gelato (black sesame)

The others all ordered the Kuro Goma gelato which is made from black sesame. Chris also opted for the additional chocolate banana roll which cost an extra $5. Her plate looked something like a dessert garden with fresh fruit scattered about for decoration.

"black sesame ice cream" "black sesame gelato" "Kuro Goma Gelato" "choco banana roll" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"
Kuro Goma Gelato with additional choco banana roll

Nine Fine Food is exceedingly good value for both the quality of the food and service. Even better still, they are a BYO restaurant leaving you with the only drama being what wine to choose to match with your food. Unfortunately many of their beautiful dishes are not naturally gluten free and they require some degree of adaptation resulting in components being removed and not replaced. Hopefully as the chef has now made the move to offering gluten free soy to diners, he will soon move to offering more gluten free dishes that do not require changing to accommodate for people like us.

Nine Fine Food
227-229 Bulwer Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9227 9999 | www.ninefinefood.com.au
 
Price:                     $$ (Entrees $16-18, Mains $34, 3 course set $53)
Food:                    7/10 (would have scored higher if more GF options)
Service:                3.5/5 (discrete and unobtrusive, the let to food take the stage
Ambience:          3.5/5 (moody, dim-lit and quite romantic)
Drinks:                  BYO
Total:                     14/20 

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6 thoughts on “Nine Fine Food is mighty fine!”

  1. I really wish I had that Confit Duck in front of me right now. Your photography is wonderful. Everything looks delicious as always 🙂

    AmeriAus Blog

  2. Hehehe, I guess a mighty fine worker like her deserves a mighty fine treat. For the prices they charge, I have found close to 0 places that dish up food of similar quality!

    <3! Mr Muneki and his side kick never fails to amaze me!

  3. I LOVE this place. Have been a few times now as it always seems to be on the list when I return home. Its so nice of you to reward hard work. Doesn’t always happen at a lot of places.

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