Westend Pumphouse, Hobart
Posted by Bars, Featured, Hobart, Tasmania, Travel, Wine Bar | Categories:There were many things that I discovered about Tasmania on our first trip; their weather is unpredictable, their folk are super friendly, their landscape is breathtaking and their food is more than just good, it is brilliant. We were hard pressed to find somewhere that wasn’t fabulous and what I loved most of all was their locally farmed oysters. I became a crazed fool insisting on eating oysters at every opportunity and I struggled to go for more than a a day without fulfilling my addiction.
We were house-siting in the North Hobart area which is a just a stone’s throw away from the CBD. This conveniently allowed me to hit up some of the best places in town without much effort. One cold midweek evening I knocked off for the day from my locum job at the Hobart Cat Clinic and joined the Boy for a brisk walk into town to the Westend Pumphouse. The Pumphouse is a relatively new venue that recently debuted in The Financial Review’s Top Restaurants of Australia.
The restaurant is housed in an impressive open plan industrial space with massive high ceilings, exposed wooden roof beams and a crackling hot open fire in the centre. Our waiter helped us negotiate the wine list to settle on a luscious bottle of local red while he talked us through their menu. Most of their menu focuses on using locally sourced produce which of course won my heart in a second. We started with some natural local oysters,. Plump, creamy and slightly sweet I still have wistful dreams about these beauties.
The octopus was also locally caught and was served charred with Pink eye potatoes, tangy bitter lemon puree and dried olives. This was such a refreshing dish and it matched well with the succulent oysters.
Pumphouse offer a number of small and large share plates including some mouth-watering slow cooked meat options. I saw posted up on the chalkboard near the bar that you can pre-order whole roasted pig served with all the trimmings for $45 per person for groups of nine or more.
Neither of us are really great pork eaters and we happily we settled for the dry aged sirloin; a massive 1.4 kilograms of beef cooked on the bone for maximum flavour and then chopped up into bite sized pieces for more elegant eating. Each cube of tender beef was lavishly drizzled in a toothsome, rich white anchovy sauce. In an attempt to balance out this high protein feast, we also received a small serve of local Pink eye potatoes tossed in cultured butter. It was the perfect nourishment for the unexpected cold windy weather.
Despite feeling like we had nearly eaten half a cow, it was not exactly a surprise we still managed to find room for dessert. The gluten free option was an adapted version of their molasses parfait and was served with smoked apple and blueberries.
Along with oysters, local blueberries became another Hobart daily addiction for me meaning the added novelty of smoked blueberries made this dessert quite interesting. Because my stomach doesn’t tolerate high fructose apple I spent a fair few minutes trying to unsuccessfully separate the apple from the blueberries before giving in and letting the Boy eat the rest of the fruit while I tucked into the silky parfait. 😉
Westend Pumphouse is a funky, modern eatery with a casual vibe serving simple local produce. I could have easily seen myself relaxing many a Sunday session there if I was a Hobart resident. They offer a changing menu and have a dynamic team that obviously love what they do, and do it well.
Westend Pumphouse 105 Murray Street, Hobart TAS | (03) 6234 7339 | www.pumphouse.com.au
A weekend in Esperance Western Australia
Posted by Beach, Goldfields, Modern Australian, Pub, Regional WA, Travel | Categories:Geographical separation has never had any impact on the bond I have with my best friend, Kate. Through the course of our fifteen years of Bestie-hood we have only lived in the same city for about half this time. We are not that good at regularly calling each other on the phone, in fact we are both shockers, yet within seconds of hearing each other’s voice we immediately lapse into our crazy way of talking that no one else on this Earth can ever seem to replicate. It’s actually like our own language. We have a way of bringing out the best in each other and I know that if anyone can turn my frown upside-down it will most definitely be Kate.
Twelve months ago Kate returned to her home-town of Esperance to complete her yoga teacher training with the aim to open her own yoga studio specialising in kid’s yoga. I envisaged this to be a slow process and was so surprised and excited to hear that less than a year after she moved away her studio was ready to be opened. I am so proud of her determination to make this long-term dream a reality and upon hearing the brilliant news I promptly booked some last minute flights to zip down and spend the weekend with her.
We booked accommodation at the Esperance Island View apartments which is located on the Esplanade and is only a short walk to the shops and restaurants. Our two bedroom apartment had two storeys with a large kitchen and living area, and most importantly excellent heating. This is something I have learnt to appreciate after our recent stay in Pemberton for Truffle Kerfuffle at an unnamed chalet location that had no heating other than a pot belly stove!
For our first night together we walked down to the Pier Hotel, a massive pub with separate bistro and bar areas, a cocktail lounge and the only night club in town. We sat down in the toasty bistro area by the open fire and made ourselves quite cosy.
The bistro menu has gluten free items clearly marked on the menu and most of the salad bar was also gluten free. Our waitress was kind enough to double check everything for me which was a thoughtful gesture. We each started off with a serve of drunken oysters. Served three ways, the oysters were surprisingly fresh and salty.
My favourite oyster of the three was the tequila shot which was served with a generous splash of tomato juice. The Jack Daniels Kilpatrick oyster was everyone’s least favourite. I found the bacon to be dry and flavourless with a barely discernible taste of bourbon. Not such a bad thing as I don’t particularly like bourbon.
My choice for main course was the Thai style barramundi, a grilled barra fillet cooked in curry sauce with basil, chilli and coconut cream. It is normally served with a pistachio and capsicum couscous but the gluten free option offers chips or mash as a replacement. Whilst it was quite an unsightly dish, the fish was cooked beautifully and the curry sauce was not overpowering. It would have been better paired with some steamed rice instead of mash.
With a day and a half to explore, we saw only a brief snippet of Esperance and its surrounds yet what I did see left me blown away by this remote town’s rugged beauty. Imagine long stretches of beaches with the whitest sand in Australia where the water is so vividly blue it almost doesn’t look real. It was breathtaking. One of the most special moments we shared was seeing a mother whale and her calf in the bay at Hellfire beach. Every time a tail fin would gracefully plunge out of the water both of us couldn’t hold back emitting loud sighs of amazement. I regretted not bringing my zoom lens with me!
Being in the middle of winter, Esperance’s weather can be unpredictable and can turn from clear blue skies to thundering storms quicker than I expected. After walking the Rotary Lookout circuit walk on Wireless Hill, we stopped to catch our breath in a little gazebo and watched a storm coming in over the coast for just long enough to avoid getting wet. Once the rain hit, we journeyed back into town for an afternoon snack at Taylors Beach café before popping into see her parents.
Taylors Beach café is situated overlooking the Bay of Isles and has been a local icon for many years. They have live music on Sunday afternoons and are open seven days. We only wanted a light snack to go with our drinks as we were heading out for dinner later that evening.
We started off with some French bubbles which is something of a tradition for the two of us. We have been known to spend ridiculous amounts of money that we don’t really have on bottles of exquisite French champagne so I figured we needed to keep on with our tradition to some degree; even if Grandin isn’t strictly Champagne it is French! 😉
Taylors have a small bites menu however unfortunately I was sternly informed that there was only one dish that could be served gluten free; the grilled scallops. There were six scallops served in the shell lightly grilled and seasoned with garlic and olive oil.
I made the error of eating some of the garnish in the middle of the dish which left a mouldy flavour in my mouth, ruining any further enjoyment of the scallops. The Boy and Kate took heed and avoided eating any greens meaning their scallop experience was much more enjoyable.
Fuelled with the warmth of a round of drinks, we visited her parents for a brief lesson on clipping cat’s claws. Betty Lois and Doris are ex-farm cats who are affectionately known collectively as The Girls. They were on their best behaviour which made for short work of my vet consult allowing us to celebrate with another round of drinks before heading out on the town to the Loose Goose for dinner.
The Loose Goose is one of the fine dining options in town and offers set dinner prices of $45.50 for one course, $57.50 for two courses and $67.50 for three courses. This price includes complimentary herb or garlic bread and a side salad or vegetables with the main meals. They did not have any gluten free bread on offer.
In our usual celebratory mode, we all chose to enjoy three courses. It is not often that we get to dine out together and the logical approach was to make the most of it. The Boy’s starter was a thick slab of Camembert cheese wrapped in puff pastry and baked until golden brown. A rather inelegant blob of mild chilli plum sauce accompanied the cheese adding a touch of fruity sweetness. This wasn’t a type of dish I ever expected him to order, in fact I cannot recall the last time I saw him order ANYTHING in puff pastry. However if his moans of delight were anything to go by, I can see he will likely order this again given the chance!
Kate ordered the sweet potato salad served warm with marinated mushrooms, French cream cheese, cherry tomatoes and julienned snow peas. It was a vegetarian’s feast and I couldn’t help myself from reaching across and nabbing a slice of soft creamy sweet potato.
I ordered the half dozen fresh natural oysters which I was hoping were obtained locally from WA but unfortunately I was told they were imported from South Australia. Regardless of the greater distance they travelled to reach my plate each oyster gave me a mouthful of fresh seawater without any unpleasant fishy after-taste.
The Boy was on a roll with this pastry fetish as his main course was also wrapped in puff pastry. His dish was titled “real barramundi” and consisted of a thick fillet of barramundi cooked with prawns and garlic butter and then wrapped in pastry.
His fish came with a potato gallete and more lashings of creamy garlic sauce. No vampires came near us that night!
Kate wasn’t too impressed with the main dish choices as she is not really much of a meat eater so she requested for the chilli squid entrée to be served as a main size. Our waitress was more than happy to oblige. Her chilli squid was served in a Greek style cooked with tomato, capsicum and a hint of chilli. It was topped with some crumbled feta and black olives. She paired it with brilliant emerald green choc-mint cocktail made with Crème de Cacao, Crème de Menthe and Midori. We downed a few of those together that night!
I ordered the special of the day; the King Snapper Tom Yum. Having travelled a reasonable amount in Thailand, this clear, sweet and sour soup is one of my Thai favourites and I was counting on flashbacks of our time in the tropical sunshine. I certainly wasn’t expecting the dish I received which was more like a red fish curry than a Tom Yum. The sauce was a more modern interpretation made using coconut cream and was served with rice, like a curry. After my initial surprise, I actually didn’t mind it at all. For a curry, it was richly flavoured with all the layering of tastes that a well-made Thai dish should have. The fish was softly cooked and flaked apart gracefully and I was close to licking the bowl clean by the end.
As we arrived at dessert time, I was grateful for having a second stomach as I was totally stuffed. Whenever the three of us are out together, Kate and I will often try and guess what the Boy will order. He will then try to meet our suggestions with an air of total mystery and nonchalance. We are renowned for usually getting it right and simultaneously chanted that he would choose the Death by Chocolate. After a few minutes of playing coy and pretending we were completely wrong our waitress came up to take our order and lo and behold; he orders the Death by Chocolate. It was a rich doorstop-sized block of chocolate cake served warm and drizzled with oozing chocolicious ganache.
Both of us girls ordered the dessert special; the Loose Goose chocolate pot. Despite asking for gluten free, mine was initially served with some chocolate biscuit crumbled on top. Thankfully the Boy pointed this out to me before I had finished taking my photos and I avoided getting gluten poisoning.
Our waitress was extremely apologetic and promptly swapped it over for me. The chocolate pot was a huge serve of which neither of us needed to finish it all. Of course we both did polish off the lot which made our dancing attempts later on at the Pier nightclub not exactly easy!
The following morning we gathered ourselves together for a refreshing coastal walk. There is a walking track along most of the town’s coastline with gentle undulating hills and some of the most breathtaking views of the beaches. If I hadn’t binged so much the night before it would have made a fabulous running track to burn off those excess calories.
Sadly our weekend had nearly drawn to an end so before we headed back to the airport, Kate took us for a drive to Monjingup Lake Nature Reserve. She is a master at pleasing everyone and given I had already had a fulfilling foodie weekend, she wanted to take us somewhere that she knew the Boy would love.
The reserve has a well maintained boardwalk which takes you right out onto the lake giving gorgeous views of the reflections of the trees on the water.
There was an abundance of bird life that the Boy spotted with great ease; wildlife watching is something of a talent of his and he takes great pleasure in being the first to spot any signs of life. Once again I regretted not travelling with the appropriate camera lens!
While the Boy wandered off ahead in search of birds and frogs, my Bestie and I took our time to treasure our last hour together.
Whilst it had been a whirlwind trip this is something the two of us have grown accustomed to over the years. Previously we would both end up being shattered by the end of our rushed catch up due to our desperate attempts at making the most of our time by indulging in all the excesses.
Nearly decades later, our best-friendship has reached a point where we know we have each other for support no matter where we live and what we are doing. Our times together are becoming much more cherished and the influence of her yoga practice on living a healthy life is having a positive impact on both of us. It is a beautiful point in our lives to be.
Despite being all “zen” about my best friend living so far away, as I watched her leave us at the Esperance airport, I shed more than just a few tears. 😥
To the bestest bestie; we had such a fabulous weekend with you in your hometown of Esperance. Let’s hope the time until we meet again is short. Whaa-toot!Chompchomp travelled to Esperance on her own budget purely just to be with her bestie. She is confident that no one in town knew of her blog’s existence and was happy to be completely incognito. Pier Hotel The Esplanade, Esperance Western Australia 6450 | (08) 9071 1777 | www.pierhotelesperance.net.au Taylors Beach Café Taylor Street Jetty, Esperance Western Australia 6450 | (08) 9071 4317 | www.taylorsbeachcafe.com.au The Loose Goose 9a Andrew Street, Esperance Western Australia 6450 | (08) 9071 2320 | loosegooseesperance.com.au
Gluten Free Overload at The Brisbane Hotel's Roast & Red
Posted by Bars, Events, Featured, Perth, Pub, Restaurants | Categories:For many years The Brisbane Hotel was one of our regular Sunday Session drinking holes. However in recent years our careers, families and a hint of maturity have replaced these fun-filled afternoons making them less and less frequent. Furthermore since becoming a food blogger, I find myself searching out new venues to visit rather than returning to our tried and tested favourites. Consequently, I confess I haven’t eaten at the Brisbane for well over a year, maybe longer. Last week I received an invitation to come along to their wintertime Tuesday “Roast and Red” night.
Tuesday isn’t exactly a night that I would expect to see people out and about yet the Brisbane was alive with activity with customers drinking at the bar as well as those dining in. We were shown to our table and I was offered the “dietary requirements menu”. This wasn’t just the normal menu with scribbles and lines drawn across it but rather a specifically printed menu filled with gluten free and vegetarian options. This was a quick and easy way to impress me as there were loads of options on there including gluten free pizzas.
The Brisbane’s Roast and Red special runs every Tuesday night throughout winter offering a full traditional styled roast served with a glass of their house-label Shiraz for the measly price of $25. They are more than happy to prepare separate gluten free roasts provided they receive advance notice on booking. We were warned by our waiter that the roast is a big serve however as per usual we didn’t heed this advice and ordered ourselves a couple of gluten free starters first.
Gazing at the menu I was a little distracted by all the tasty gluten free pizzas and we nearly ordered one for our starter before my logic kicked in. It dawned on me that eating a whole pizza PLUS a roast PLUS dessert MAY just prove a teeny bit too much food for us. Maybe. We opted for the tasting plate and the special of the day instead.
The tasting plate was a decent size with all items gluten free. The chorizo was mouth-wateringly juicy and burst with flavour on each bite. The mixed olives bowl had a pleasing range of soft and firm, green and black which suited the Boy and my differing preferences.
The polenta chips were my favourite part of the plate crunching satisfyingly with each Chomp to expose the piping hot, soft centre. As we ate our way through them I thought to myself that I would have preferred it if there were a few more chips on our plate but by the time we had finished our meal I was actually thankful there wasn’t as I was super full.
Our second starter was one of the daily specials; seared scallops with crispy pancetta on a bed of cauliflower purée. Scallops and pancetta has always been a combination of flavours rocks my world; creamy soft sweetness with salty smokiness is close to being in heaven in my humble opinion. The scallops were lightly browned to a pale caramel colour yet remained silky on the inside like pillows of angelic deliciousness.
Our waiter was mindful not to pump out our food too quickly and gave us the perfect amount of time to rest between courses before bringing out the star of the show; the roast. Having already given advance notice for my gluten free version, my chook had been stuffed with lemon and herbs instead of stuffing and was roasted separately from the rest of the birds to ensure no cross contamination.
My gluten free gravy was made using the juices from my chook and arrowroot flour to thicken. The cheese sauce was omitted as there was no gluten free replacement however I didn’t even notice it missing. The chicken was tender and brimming with moisture, flaking off the bone easily. I admit that for $25 in a funky venue with attentive service, this was a meal hard to match in value around Perth.
I was close to being well and truly stuffed. Layers of polenta, chorizo, scallops, half a chicken and a man-sized serving of roast vegetables all sat in my distended stomach fighting to make their way through my digestive tract. Thankfully I am one of the many who are blessed with a second stomach; the dessert stomach. And in these times it is a worthy anomaly to have.
As I gazed over the dessert menu I was astonished to see that everything on there was gluten free. I actually had to double check with our waiter to ensure this was correct. Indeed it was! I could theoretically have ALL the desserts. I paused briefly to consider whether this was possible before the Boy read my mind and promptly said “No!”
We settled on the chocolate nemesis with stewed rhubarb and raspberry gelato. I reasoned that the raspberry gelato was to keep the Boy happy but in all honesty I was haggling for chocolate. Our dessert came out looking much more ladylike than my previous chocolate nemesis experience at the Rose and Crown where it looked more like a miniature replica of the ominous Mount Doom. Whilst the nemesis was very rich and dark, for a hard core chocolate lover such as myself it was the ideal way to end such a hearty feast.
A big thank you to all the staff at the Brisbane that looked after us for the evening, we couldn’t fault your service and friendliness. And an even bigger thank you for being such a gluten free friendly venue.
Chompchomp was an invited guest of The Brisbane hotel however her views are her entirely own and she was not obliged to write a favourable blog post in exchange for a feed. She is already planning on how she will be able to return as a paying customer so she can eat one of their gluten free pizzas PLUS a roast on the same night. It can be done. It’s all about the stretchy pants. The Brisbane Hotel 292 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9227 2300 | www.thebrisbanehotel.com.au $$$ Entrées $9-23, Pizza $19-22 (GF bases available for +$4), Mains ($25-39), Roast and Red Tuesday nights only, $25 including a glass of house Shiraz. Bookings are highly recommended. Call in advance if you want your roast to be gluten free and they will ensure it is cooked separately.
The Boheme Bar and Restaurant, Perth City
Posted by Bars, Perth, Pub, Restaurants | Categories:There are some people who come and go in your life. And then there are some people who make such an impact on you that no matter how far you are separated from them geographically, your friendship remains as strong as ever. My dear friend Melinda is easily the bravest person I have ever met. Aside from being a gorgeous person with a crazy sense of humour who is fiercely loyal to her friends AND a wonderful mother to her child, she was also born with cystic fibrosis. Over the course of her life, step by step her lung function deteriorated to the point that her home became the hospital ward located hours away from her husband and daughter on the Eastern coast of New South Wales. I was lucky enough to travel to Sydney on a business trip back in late 2011 and be able to spend every afternoon hanging out with her in the hospital whilst she sat out the long and scary wait on the transplant list. After several false alarms where the doctors called off the surgery at the last moment, she finally received her double lung transplant at a time when nearly all hope was lost.
Having been unable to travel anywhere other than back and forth from hospital, the newly found independence that has come with her shiny new lungs is enough to prick a tear in anyone’s eye. For the first time in over a decade, she was declared fit to fly and so she jumped on a plane with her family to return to her home town of Perth to visit loved ones. It was a whirlwind trip of catch ups with everybody and I was so chuffed to be lucky enough to score a lunch date slotted into her busy schedule. I was joined by the Boy and my dearest friends Amber who was one of my two beautiful bridesmaids from our wedding last year. The three of us have all known Melinda for over ten years.
We stopped in at Boheme Bar and Restaurant in the City as it was a convenient centre point for the four of us to meet. I knew the price of their meals were good value for those on a travelling budget and I checked to make sure there were a couple of gluten free options on the menu for me. For my lunch I chose the pan seared Huon salmon with roasted artichoke, asparagus and Roma tomatoes with an orange and rocket salad. Unfortunately my salmon steak was too dry and overcooked for my liking.
Amber loves her tasting platters so it was no surprise to me that she chose Boheme’s version. It came at excellent value with four lamb meatballs spiced with cumin, three vegetarian arancini, mergeuez sausage, some spinach and tzatziki dip and grilled haloumi. She was unable to finish it all and was happy to share it with the rest of us.
The Boy ordered the vegetarian option of the hara bhara kebab; an Indian dish made from potatoes, peas and spinach. It was served with pea purée, spinach, cottage cheese, chickpea curry and raita. A scoop of basmati rice and a soft prata was served on the side. He enjoyed all the interesting elements of his dish and was glad it wasn’t too spicy for him.
Melinda ordered a small sized pizza topped with Spanish chorizo, smoked ham, semi sun-dried tomatoes, marinated olives and pimentos. After decades of sickness and medications giving her the poorest appetite it brought a big smile to my face to see her healthily tuck into the whole pizza on her own. She finished the entire pizza without any need for help. It reminded me how easy it is to take such simple pleasures in life for granted, like something as being able to enjoy your food.
It was the first time I had met Melinda’s absolutely adorable daughter Luca yet thanks to Melinda’s talented photography I felt like I already knew her. Having grown up with a very sick mother, Luca had the maturity and sense of humour that spanned well beyond her natural age. What made me love her even more was that she had an extremely impressive appetite for such a little girl and made quick work of her toasted ham and cheese sandwich and fries.
There weren’t any gluten free desserts on the menu but as the Boy and I were heading out that night for dinner later that night I was happy to give sweets a miss. The rest of the table was keen however and ordered the rhubarb and apple crumble and the home-made sticky date pudding.
Judging by the nearly licked plates at the end I am guessing both these desserts hit the spot. Whilst we had sat in the sunshine for hours it had truly felt only like minutes and I couldn’t believe our time together was over. My sides ached from laughing so hard and I’m certain that my mascara had run underneath my big dark shades from the tears such laughter had brought. I didn’t want the afternoon to end but at least I know that this time the period between catch ups will be short.
Thanks for an amazing albeit short afternoon Mel, so chuffed to finally meet Luca, you both totally rocked my world and I cannot wait for us to hang together soon. xxxxxxxxxxxx The Boheme Bar and Restaurant 300 Murray Street, Perth WA 6000 | (08) 9338 5000 | www.theboheme.com.au Price: $$ (Entrees $12-22, Mains $17-38) Food: 2.5/5 (good variety of basic pub food, salmon could do with some loving) Service: 3/5 (minimal with no fuss) Ambience: 3/5 (dark, cooshy seats inside, large tables for groups in the sunshine outside) Drinks: 3/5 (simple range of wines and beers) Total: 11.5/20Less than impressed with Little Creatures Brewery, Fremantle
Posted by Brewery, Featured, Perth, Pub, Restaurants | Categories:For the first few years as a university student I lived just out of Fremantle and since then it has always felt like the stomping ground of my youth. Back in those days I was a bit quirky and leftfield meaning that I fitted in quite well with the other interesting types you could find walking through Freo’s old streets. Returning there brings back many memories of what was literally a life time ago for me. In those years gone by, the popular Little Creatures Brewery didn’t even exist and its predecessor was a massive crocodile farm of all things! You could pay to go in and have a look and I remember going through there with my Dad and finding the whole thing rather disturbing yet oddly fascinating.
I don’t often manage to encourage the Boy to come with me to Fremantle. It’s a shame because I love so much about it but with the horrendous parking and no similar fond memories of his own I can understand his reluctance. And more to the point, living in the Vic Park area it’s not like we don’t have plenty of our own more local options. It had been a long time since we had visited Little Creatures Brewery and after a three day juice fast I wasn’t sure if I had made the right choice going there for my first day of real food.
I asked our waitress what was available to order gluten free and was given their gluten free menu with a variety of red crosses and scribbles added to indicate what I could eat. All pizzas and desserts were crossed out so we picked a couple of nibbles to share. Whilst nothing on the menu really excited me, share plates are a good excuse to be able to order multiple dishes so I was happy with that.
My happiness was short-lived. I never realised just how average the food at Little Creatures had become. Our beetroot salad came out minutes after placing our order. The beetroot was watery and flavourless like it had come out of a can.
Service was impressively quick despite the entire dining hall being packed to the brim and before long more of our plates came out. For the chickpea falafels, I requested for the pita bread to be served on the side to avoid gluten contamination. The side salad still had onion despite my request for its omission as it is high in fructose and I react if I eat it. The falafels were dry and similarly without much taste however once lavishly covered with the minted yoghurt they were edible. It was unfortunate that we only got a teeny bowl of the yoghurt as each falafel really needed to be smothered in the stuff.
The grilled prawn skewers were the absolutely low light of the meal and I left most of them for the Boy to eat. Even he was reluctant to do so and that is unusual as prawns are about the only animal protein he will still eat happily. Hard and chewy with the flavour of dirty dishwater even the romesco sauce did nothing to save these poor critters.
The grilled haloumi was the only dish we enjoyed. It is hard to get this squeaky dish wrong. The cheese was grilled to a lovely caramelised colour and served with fresh parsley and a lemon wedge. I was thankful we saved the best until last.
There were no gluten free desserts on the menu and I was in some ways relieved because I didn’t think I could get through more of their tasteless food. Instead I took us off in the direction of the Fremantle Markets in search of some macarons. We needed an instant injection of deliciousness to make up for all that unpleasant food. Maison Saint-Honoré never fails to disappoint me with a good old mac-attack hit. Their macarons have not only aced all those vital layers of textures but also had the more difficult and intricate complexity of flavours.
Diverging away from my usual choices I picked honeycomb, their flavour of the month and coconut, The Boy chose my old favourite salted caramel and a raspberry. We savoured them slowly as we walked through the bustle of the Fremantle Markets before making our way back to the car. At least our outing ended on a good note.
Upon reflection of my photos of Little Creatures’ gluten free menu on our way home I noticed that to make the prawn skewers gluten free, the romesco sauce was crossed out yet our gluten free version had it included. Had they changed the ingredients to make it gluten free and therefore served it to me or was it an error? Given my reaction that afternoon my guess is the former although I’m certain that the poor standard of food is bound to have caused a reaction in many people without gluten issues.
Little Creatures Brewery 40 Mews Road, Fremantle WA 6160 | (08) 9430 5555 | www.littlecreatures.com.au Price: $$ (Small plates $8-12, Big plates $12-29) Food: 2/5 (cheap food for the beer drinking masses) Service: 3.5/5 (no fuss efficiency, attentive and energetic) Ambience: 3.5/5 (perfect for a Sunday sesh, great views with a buzzing Freo vibe ) Drinks: 3/5 (hard to judge unless you drink beer, short wine list has some drinkable options) Total: 12/20 Maison Saint-Honoré Fremantle Markets, Stall 6, 76 South Terrace, Fremantle WA 6160 | 0430 377 140 | www.maisonsainthonore.com Price: $ (Macarons $1.50 each, other French pastries available) Food: 9/10 (now that is what I’m talking about!) Service: 9/10 (being half French I’m a little biased but who doesn’t love a French accent?) Total: 18/20Food for Champions at the Rose & Crown, Guildford
Posted by Featured, Hotels, Modern Australian, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Swan Valley | Categories:In order to operate as a successful veterinary hospital, good teamwork is absolutely essential. No single individual is more important than any other and each one of our staff members, from our receptionists to our nurses through to our vets, all have key roles in caring for our patients and their humans. To help further develop our teamwork skills, every year our business puts on a Team Building Day. It is always a day of fun and adventure ending with prizes, food and lots of laughter. Our most recent day involved an Amazing Race-styled car rally across the Northern suburbs of Perth with volunteers help enlisted from husbands and wives to man all the check points. We climbed rock faces, cuddled koalas and collected a variety of trinkets and tokens to end the day at our Practice Manager’s beach shack in Ledge Point.
Now despite my retorts to the contrary, I will secretly admit to you that I have a strong competitive streak. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be placed in a team with a well-balanced group; a similarly competitive perfectionist with strong attention to detail, an exuberantly positive life enthusiast that randomly sings at every opportunity and a very pregnant peace-keeper that is easily one of the kindest hearted people I know. We named ourselves the “Innovation Commandos” and kitted ourselves out complete with toy guns and camouflage armbands. The four of us raced around together to each checkpoint and by the end of the day not only had we successfully completed every task and arrived in good time, we also had a theme song. To our further excitement and joy at the end of the Awards Ceremony, our team was announced as the winning team. Woot!!
Other than fame and glory, our winning prize was a voucher for dinner at the Rose & Crown Hotel in Guildford. The following months after the Team Building Day we repeatedly attempted to arrange a night where we were all free however this proved to be more difficult than herding cats.
Have you ever tried to do that?
At the very end of the voucher period we finally managed to coordinate a night where three of us could attend dinner and the fourth would join us at the end for dessert. It turned out to be a beautiful night but unfortunately they put us on a table inside where it was relatively dark and quiet. All the better to make noise I say!
The Rose & Crown are gluten free friendly and have a menu specifically for us to choose from. For entrees we opted to share the ploughman’s plate and a serve of seared scallops. Our waitress initially offered to serve the plate with gluten free bread but shortly afterward returned to apologise that they had run out.
The Ploughman’s plate had a collection of tasty morsels including potted salmon, cured meats, a thick chunk of cheddar cheese, a wedge of chicken and pistachio terrine and pickled vegetables. I asked for the wafers and crusty French baguette to be served on the side however they were placed on the same platter. I still managed to negotiate my way around the offending items and enjoy part of the platter.
The seared scallops were served on chunks of warm chorizo and a bed of cauliflower purée. Whilst small in size, each scallop was plump and juicy. The cauliflower puree lacked the strong, fairly distinct taste that is usual to this vegetable making it lusciously smooth and creamy.
One of our team members was yet to arrive at the restaurant meaning there was an extra scallop. As I looked up to see the Boy enviously eyeing them off and there was just no way we could leave him suffering. When he thought no one was looking I caught him sneaking a quick finger over onto my plate to swipe an extra smear of the purée. I overlooked this action and pretended it never happened so he could enjoy more of its deliciousness with me.
The Boy chose the crispy skinned salmon for his main dish which was served with soba noodles, an Asian herb salad, capsicum relish and tom yum jelly. It was at the upper end of his tolerance for spiciness as he is not a big fan of chilli. The salmon had a lovely darker reddish tint in the centre and flaked apart easily.
Our jovial singing team member chose the twice-cooked pork belly for her main choice. Within minutes of serving her the dish our waitress returned to collect it as was plated incorrectly missing the potato, rosemary and leek galette. After a quick visit back to the kitchen her plate came back complete.
The pork belly was as tender as the Boy’s salmon and knowing it was one of the gluten free options I was also tempted to steal a mouthful to try. It was topped with a rich Pedro Ximénez glaze to add sweetness to those wonderful porky flavours and I wasn’t surprised to hear she enjoyed every mouthful.
Before I had time to obsess over the pork too much my steak arrived. Since the Boy has converted to eating a plant-based diet, beef has become an occasional treat for me. The Rose & Crown offer a few different cuts of steak to choose from. I chose the 250-gram Kilcoy eye fillet served with the potato galette and café de Paris butter. It was a shame they didn’t source the beef from somewhere more locally as we have a lot of premium beef producers in WA. Nevertheless my fillet was buttery soft and I could literally cut it with a bread knife.
My fellow perfectionist chose the roasted lamb rack for her main. We all wowed and cooed as her plate came out piled high with food. It nearly looked like it was enough to feed two! Her tender lamb cutlets were served with carrots, stringless beans, confit potatoes, babaganoush and chimichurri.
As we enjoyed our last mouthfuls of main course we agreed how full we felt and were nearly bursting at the seams. Just when I became convinced there was no way we couldn’t eat anymore, we received a text message from our absent and previously pregnant team member to say she was on her way complete with husband in tow. I sighed and was grateful I wore a fat dress because this boat was obviously going to be pushed out real hard! This was to be a rare moment of baby-free time for the new mum. Having checked out the menu online she asked us to pre-order her a “nannie” for dessert. Not quite knowing whether this was a slip of her subconscious thought or just a predictive text error none of us quite knew what sort of dessert this was and so we opted to wait for her to join us and clarify.
It turned out that she actually meant the message to say to order the banoffee dessert and it was not a bizarre call for some parental help at home! We all had a chuckle and perused over the menu for our own choices. Her iced banoffee terrine came with drizzled caramel syrup and double cream.
Hyperactive people have a way of doing crazy things and despite being both late and a weeknight, our in-house vocalist ordered herself the Affrogato. Freshly brewed espresso coffee, vanilla ice-cream and a shot of Baileys Irish cream all served individually is in my humble opinion the only way to serve this treat and I wished I could handle my coffee in the evening so I could have joined in the fun.
Being quite full I was hoping to share a dessert with the Boy but he had other plans and unsurprisingly ordered himself a sizable bowl of gelato. Ice creams and gelato have always been his weakness and as his loving wife, who am I to interfere with that? There were a number of flavours to choose from and he selected chocolate and strawberry. It was topped with chunks of home-made honeycomb.
A popular dessert choice at our table was the lemon curd meringue. Served with a velvety scoop of raspberry sorbet and berry coulis this had all the right elements of tang and sweet.
My gluten free dessert was the once famous Chocolate Nemesis, which is a hybrid of part cake, part mousse chocolate indulgence that resembled a replica of Mount Doom from Mordor. I was confronted by a towering mound of silky rich chocolate with contrasting colours of lime crème fraiche and blackberry plum liquor compote dripping down its sides. I can guarantee this dish tasted a hell of a lot better than it looked! In fact, it was nothing short of amazing. Chocolate Nemesis you are not my enemy, you are my hero!
The Rose & Crown is a beautiful old hotel that has been renovated to maintain its character and charm. Their food is casual enough to still be considered pub food but with a touch more finesse and effort than you would expect. The courtyard is worth a visit in summer and is a great place to while your Sunday afternoons away with a glass of Chardonnay in hand.
Rose & Crown 105 Swan Street, Guildford WA 6055 | (08) 9347 8100 | www.rosecrown.com.au Price: $$$ (Entrees $14-23, Mains $33-48) Food: 3.5/5 (reasonable for pub food with many GF choices) Service: 3/5 (friendly but a little scattered) Ambience: 3/5 (depends where you sit, courtyard recommended in summer, main dining room in winter) Drinks: 3/5 (small wine list focusing on Australian wines) Total: 12.5/20Make it all legal at the Crown Promenade and The Merrywell, Crown Perth
Posted by Accommodation, Featured, Hotels, Luxury, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Wedding | Categories:In March this year, I married the love of my life in the most magical fairy-tale wedding of my dreams. Because we chose to get married in Thailand, our wedding was not legally recognised back in Australia unless we made a pre-wedding pilgrimage to Bangkok to arrange the necessary papers. Prior to getting hitched, the Boy and I had already spent more than ten years together and we had always celebrated our anniversary in April often with much greater enthusiasm than for either of our birthdays. It seemed logical to us, that upon our return from Thailand we would arrange a very private official ceremony back in Perth specifically on our anniversary date. This enabled us to invite special friends that weren’t for able to join us in Thailand. It also means we now get to celebrate TWO anniversaries! 😉
In total contrast to the extreme detailed organisation of our Thailand wedding, this second wedding was a much more casual affair. Ann Lord, a lovely celebrant I met at a Wedding Upmarket day helped with the proceedings. We found a patch of grass in Burswood Park and without all the fanfare, anxiety, nerves or build up we repeated our vows once more.
To celebrate the legalisation of our marriage, we booked a Loft room at the Crown Promenade to enjoy one more night of luxury before we started making a serious attempt at paying off all our wedding debt! I had called in the morning to request an earlier check in and was told by the reception desk that this was not a problem. Unfortunately upon our arrival this was to prove not true; we were informed our room wasn’t ready for another hour and to make ourselves comfortable with our suitcases in tow in the lobby area.
This would have frustrated me greatly if I hadn’t managed to find to find myself a beautiful collection of macarons to snack on. Seeing as I no longer had to fit into wedding dresses, I slipped back into my excessive ways and ordered a whole box to share with the Boy. By the time the reception staff gestured to us that our room was ready, all the macarons were gone.
The loft room has an expansive balcony that gives glorious panoramic views of the city’s skyline. It was not as breathtaking as the views from our Andara villa in Thailand, but it was by no means shabby.
The loft itself is of considerable size with a living room, dining room and well stocked kitchen complete with a full mini-bar. There was an iPod docking station for music and flat screen TVs screens in the living room, bedroom AND the bathroom. Not that we watched any television that is!
The bathroom is ginormous with separate his and her vanities, wall to floor mirrors and a lovely deep spa bath. The flat screen television is positioned directly facing the spa…how relaxing would it be to sink yourself into bubbles while watching a movie. And drinking bubbles of course!
The bedroom is similarly spacious with a full King sized bed and reading area overlooking the city scape. The curtains successfully make the room pitch black no matter what time of day meaning a late checkout can be well utilised to gain those extra ZZZs if you need. We certainly did.
After the very short ceremony, we all headed over to the main casual pub of the Crown complex; The Merrywell. The Merrywell’s style of cuisine has been coined “dude food” by a number of professional food critics and whilst I don’t really like this terminology it does describe it well.
Artery clogging Mexican cheese fondues, fish tacos, burgers and hot dogs regularly feature on their changing menu. At the time we went, the waitstaff were not overly familiar with what dishes were gluten free and what wasn’t, but I have since noticed they now offer gluten free buns with their burgers so I presume they have improved their understanding.
One of my favourite snacks of the night was the lollipop Buffalo wings served with a rich blue cheese fondue and celery sticks. I am pretty sure I slurped at least half a dozen of these wings off the bone each one mouthful at a time. All my bridal grace was thrown out the window!
The drinking session progressed fairly late into the night and by following morning the Boy and I were nursing a fairly rocking hangover. But we didn’t mind one bit because it was official.
From this point we are now legally “Mr and Mrs”.
Just the very thought of this fact was enough to cast away most of our pain and we eased our stomachs back into the real world with some ultra-healthy room service. My egg white omelette was so fluffy is nearly looked like an Aerobar and it came with some roasted shiitake mushrooms, avocado, feta and fresh micro herbs. Washed down with a black coffee I was re-energised and ready to officially be a Mrs!
A big shout out of thanks to my dear friend Tara for taking most of the above photos. On the day I decided to give Chompchomp a night off and Tara was more than happy to take over the job role of photographer. She got some awesome shots and I am very appreciative. xxx Crown Metropole Perth, Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood WA 6979 | (08) 9362 8888 We stayed in a Loft room and took advantage of their advance purchase rates which gives a significant discount off the standard rates. The full price for this room is around $1250 per night. The Merrywell, Crown Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood WA 6979| (08) 9362 7551
The Precinct, Victoria Park Revisited
Posted by Bars, Modern Australian, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Wine Bar | Categories:I have lived in the Vic Park area for nearly twenty years and have loved watching the neighbourhood develop and grow. It is a great place to live for numerous reasons but in my humble opinion one of the biggest selling factors is the variety of restaurants and cafes sitting right on our doorstep. I’m certain we nearly have the “A to Z” of international cuisine and so we never seem to run out of options. One of our regular haunts in the past has been The Precinct; a casual but funky eatery only a short fifteen minute stroll from our front door. The past few months my life has been exceedingly complicated and stressful and so when my Bestie proposed to me to catch up with another mutual close friend of ours Shannon I leaped at the opportunity to be able to switch off and relax. To make things even easier for me, Shannon was more than happy to travel over to our stompin’ ground and let us go local. Getting a booking at the last-minute on a Friday night can be tricky and after several phone calls to different restaurants I was starting to think we were out of luck. Finally we had success and managed to secure a table at the Precinct, seeing as we hadn’t been there for a several months we were happy to return.
As we sat down to order I cringed at the fact that our table had such a constellation of specific dietary requirements; one of us was gluten free, fructose friendly (me), one was a vegetarian (the Boy) and finally there was a gluten free vegetarian (my Bestie). As we seemingly pounded our friendly waitress with 101 questions she proved to be totally unflappable and remained generously accommodating despite having to do a couple of round trips to the kitchen to check on ingredient details for us.
I have a tendency to get a bit obsessed with certain food and popcorn is one of those. I have been known to devour a whole packet in one sitting and have loved that it has featured on the bar snack menu at The Precinct for some time. Theirs is strongly flavoured with rosemary and lemon pepper making it extremely addictive. To feed my addiction further, it is sold in take home bags enabling me to grab a roadie on my way out.
It is not often that fritters are gluten free but these were also vegan meaning we could all eat them. No animal was harmed in the making of these little crispy balls. Despite not containing any cheese or meat that would ordinarily make these delicious, the fritters were flavoursome with a crackly thin crumb and a piping hot soft centre.
It is unusual for me to have a small appetite and I guess this may be a reflection of the turmoil and stress in my life over recent weeks. Consequently I was happy to see the portion size for the Tasmanian salmon was fairly small. Accompanied by a fennel salad, confit tomatoes and a blob of rocket pesto it was just the light meal my wobbly stomach needed however in more jovial times I may have been left feeling a bit peckish. I prefer my salmon to be slightly rare and was dismayed to see this chunk was cooked all the way through. I consoled myself with the fact that at least the skin was brittle thin and crunchy.
Shannon has recently undergone a very successful diet and life style change that has enabled her to improve both her health and well-being immensely. Being so well behaved with her eating habits for so long she decided to treat herself and ordered herself the pork belly. The crackling was snippety snap hard and browned to a delicious honey colour. The flesh was somewhat tender but I think the portion size was a bit overwhelmingly large for someone who has been eating an abundance of healthiness of late. It was served with a potato puree and a pea, mint, apple and cabbage salad.
Earlier on this year I subjected the Boy to a six week Raw Food experiment. Instead of our usual vegetarian Meatless Monday, I turned it into a raw food and vegan version. I called it “The Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge”! Some of my dishes included raw noodles and every time I made them his eyes would light up with glee. He was elated to see that vegetable spaghetti featured on The Precinct’s menu for the evening. Julienned zucchini and carrot sat atop thick wedges of pumpkin with raisins tossed through for more sweetness. I had to fight him for a mouthful to taste.
The Bestie is also vegetarian and ordered the baked mushroom risotto with truffle oil. To add some greenery to her choice she also ordered some green beans.
Not wanting to end the evening with a savoury taste in our mouths, us girls agreed to share a gluten free brownie complete with ice cream. Whilst the brownie was gluten free, the ice cream was unfortunately not meaning Shannon got to enjoy the scoop all to herself. Our waiter ensured it was served separate from the brownie to avoid any contamination. It was a big wedge of a brownie and was more than ample for the three of us to share. I did find it a bit dry and wished I could enjoy some ice cream to wash it down.
The Boy ordered the ice cream sandwich. These are made in house and I love how they mark The Precinct logo on the top. It reminds me of years long gone by where they were one of my favourite after dinner treats. I used to walk down to our local deli with our flat mate and we would buy an ice cream each for ourselves and one for the Boy who always stayed at home. And if it wasn’t an ice cream sandwich, it was a hazelnut roll. Happy days!
The Precinct remains one of my favourite locals on the Vic Park strip. Their service is always bubbly and energetic, their wine list is interesting, and although their food won’t blow your mind it is still creative, fresh and ever changing. They are happy to accommodate for all the tricky dietary needs; be it vego, vegan, fructose friendly or gluten free.
The Precinct 834 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park 6101 | (08) 9355 2880 | www.theprecinctvicpark.com.au/ Price: $$ (Entrees/snacks $7-19, Mains $22-29) Food: 3/5 (simple, interesting and fresh) Service: 3.5/5 (these guys are always so enthusiastic) Ambience: 3.5/5 (good to find somewhere without fluoro lights on the Vic Park strip) Drinks: 4.5/5 (great list, lots of European choices of wines and beers) Total: 14.5/20A Baby Shower at Feral Brewing Company, Swan Valley
Posted by Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants, Swan Valley, Winery | Categories:Although I’m not really a baby person it is hard not to get excited when a close friend falls pregnant. One of our long-term vets is nearly at the end of her first pregnancy and she is one of those gentle, nurturing types that just seems to be born to be a mother. The joys of anticipation for the approaching arrival were very infectious amongst us women at work, so in a rather unconventional styled baby shower we all gathered together at Feral Brewing Company for a Sunday lunch to celebrate. It was the first sunny day in weeks and it was heavenly to be able to enjoy some country sunshine.
Quite a number of people at our table chose to order the pork belly. The pork was twice cooked and served on a bed of creamed cauliflower and “crinkled” courgettes. To balance the flavours with some sweetness the dish was topped with a sticky rum & apple relish. I was fortunate enough to sit next to the expecting mum’s husband who ordered the pork belly but curiously doesn’t like crackling. It wasn’t hard to find volunteers on the table including myself that were willing to take said crackling off his hands. Aren’t we kind folk? The artery blocking crackling had a satisfying crunch that was loud enough to be heard on the other side of the table.
The Feral Brewing Company offers good value in the valley; I was impressed with the size of the meals in relation to the price. The plump grain fed Porterhouse steak was a decent 300 gm cut and came with paprika potatoes, buttered broccolini and a juicy feta stuffed field mushroom.
I needed to preserve a bit of room in my stomach as we were heading out for dinner later that evening so I opted for the charcuterie meat board for something light. Creamy Persian feta, grilled Spanish chorizo, thinly shaved prosciutto and some roasted beef sirloin were served along with some locally pickled vegetables. The platter normally comes with crusty bread but I asked for it to be served gluten free. Some crackers arrived with it but I wasn’t sure whether they were gluten free or not so I left them. I wasn’t that bothered otherwise I would have asked. The chorizo was juicy and succulent and was my favourite component of this dish.
My platter was designed to share but everyone had their own full plates to contend with resulting in little luck sharing it around. My head nurse sitting next to me helped marginally to make a dent on the proviso and I helped her with her trio of dips. The dips of the days included spicy Moroccan dhal, creamy spring onion and “funky mushroom”. I smeared some of the dhal on my pickled vegetables as a bread substitute. It had a reasonable kicked to it and went well with the pickle!
Our adorable cupcakes for the day were designed and made by Cooks Cakes. Each cupcake had a gorgeous baby themed decoration and the cakes were a mix of flavours; red velvet, chocolate and vanilla. Alas none were gluten free this time round.
Feral Brewing Company offers a very casual atmosphere nestled in the heart of the Swan Valley with hearty grub and a great range of craft beers. Not being able to drink most beer due to gluten intolerance I cannot tell you much about their hand-crafted beers, but they are currently title holders for the Australian International Beer Awards “Best Medium Australian Brewery”. Their food is simple pub styled food priced reasonably well with modest portion sizes.
Feral Brewing Company 152 Haddrill Road, Baskerville WA 6056 | (08) 9296 4657 | www.feralbrewing.com.au Price: $$$ (Entrée$8.50-12, Mains $23-38 Food: 3.5/5 (simple, fresh, hearty meals) Service: 3/5 (friendly, drinks service a little slow) Ambience: 3.5/5 (country sunshine, rolling hills and vineyards) Drinks: 3/5 (I need the Boy to review the beers but I couldn’t convince him to come to a baby shower) Total: 13/20
Food Styling and Photography Workshops with Billy Law @ The Terrace Hotel
Posted by Accommodation, Events, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants | Categories:As I approach my blog’s second birthday in September this year, I have been reflecting back on what I have achieved in these past two years. Starting from humble and amateurish beginnings I have strived to improve both my writing and photography style and understand this will forever be a learning curve for me. This constant growth and development gives a great sense of achievement and satisfaction. Blogging is and always will be my hobby and finding enough time alongside my day job as a small animal vet can sometimes be a bit of a challenge!
One of the aspects of my blog that I want to improve is my food photography skills. I look at my hideously boring food styling and poor quality restaurant photos and dream wistfully that I had natural talent. Billy Law from A Table For Two is one of those people blessed with such a gift. His photos are always clean and crisp, enticing you to dive deeper and deeper into his blog. He was a finalist on Master Chef and has scored that all elusive book deal that so many bloggers dream of.
His food photography workshops are well known by foodies over east and generally sell out well in advance. So when he announced that he was planning to bring the workshop over West I took no hesitation in signing up. Held at The Terrace Hotel we were treated to a two day insight into his trade secrets paired with good food, wine and lots of laughter.
The first day was aimed at a beginner’s level teaching us how to get the most of our cameras regardless of whether it was a point-and-shoot compact or a niftier DSLR. We went through the basics of composition, white balance and he provided some helpful post processing tips. Billy went around the table and individually looked at each of our cameras to help us familiar ourselves with the manual settings. I was able to put his suggestions straight to work as food was continuously being brought to us. We certainly didn’t go home hungry!
The second day was aimed at a more intermediate level and Billy showed us how to utilise props and lighting to get the best out of our shots at home. The attendees at this day included a wide range of people from passionate foodies and bloggers to professional photographers. The atmosphere was very informal and friendly and many of us exchanged business cards and twitter handles at the end of each day.
The Terrace Hotel staff knew they were serving a roomful of bloggers so I have refrained from reviewing these meals as it would be impossible for me to give an accurate unbiased review. Throughout the day we were treated to very personalised and friendly service and I walked away impressed with the level of attention. I am keen to return for a meal incognito to discover whether this is true for all patrons.
A big thank you to Billy for making the trip over to Perth!
The Terrace Hotel 237 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000 | (08) 9214 4444 | http://www.terracehotelperth.com.au/Miss Kitty's Saloon, Inglewood
Posted by Bars, Breakfast/Brunch, Canadian, Featured, Perth, Pub, Restaurants | Categories:For those that know me, you will agree that I’m not a calm or quiet person. Nor do I tend to run out of things to say. With some people I can sense this personality trait of mine can be a little over bearing yet with others it creates a spark for even more animated conversation. One of my dear blogging friends Amanda from Chew Town shares a similar passion for words and during one of her return trips to Perth we caught up for some brunch and a “talk-off”. We cannot agree between us who can talk more and happily settled for a tie after this round. She is always keen to try new places around Perth having left our sunny city some years ago so after throwing a few options around we agreed on Miss Kitty’s Saloon in Inglewood. I mean, anything that refers to felines in its business name has to be good!
Miss Kitty’s is a quirky new-ish venue on Beaufort Street in Inglewood. Their menu is inspired by Canadian and American cuisines and they shamelessly have a pig’s head suspended in one of their fridges behind the bar. Our delightful waitress proudly informed us they buy the “whole pig” and pretty much use all of it in their dishes. The pig’s head specifically features on their evening menu in the form of Pig’s head nuggets!
There are a number of gluten free options and the chef seemed happy to fiddle around with some options to accommodate me. Our stand-out dish for the day was undoubtedly the char-grilled tamarind pork ribs. I’m not normally a big pork fan, nor do I often order ribs, I often find that they are too fatty and grisly for my liking. Additionally getting all the meat fibres stuck between my teeth drives me mad.
After eating Miss Kitty’s Saloon ribs, I am proud to say I am a converted rib fan. The meat pulled off the bones in one clean bite and the mapley after taste was enough to make me weak at the knees. Our more heart conscious choice of the fennel salad balanced the syrupy sweet ribs with some acidity and freshness. Surely all that summer on a plate negated the sugar and fat in the ribs?
Although I had already had breakfast, I couldn’t resist ordering a serve of their devilled eggs. The cute presentation of these little beauties was enough to make me giggle. The seasoned whole boiled egg gave me my much needed egg porn of the day and if I had showed better self-control and not already eaten earlier that morning I would have been happy to do another round of eggs and ribs.
At this point in time our entertaining waitress had caught eye of my conspicuous SLR camera and shimmied back to our table for a laugh and a chat. She was such a crack up, even to herself, and she confessed that she was obsessed with reading Miss Kitty’s Saloon reviews on Urbanspoon to see what things people said about her and her fellow colleagues. It turns out that she is also gluten intolerant and we shared stories of our experiences eating out. After finding out there were no gluten free desserts on offer she offered to us a de-constructed gluten free version of their Banoffee pie. Finding her wide eyed energy and joy hard to resist we found room in our bellies and ordered dessert to share.
What came out was the most hilarious Banoffee pie I have ever seen; thick syrupy banoffee pie contents sans casing filled the plate and was decorated with chocolate nibs, fresh banana and kitsch bright yellow dyed cream. Amanda and I could not stop cracking up at this comical dessert. Although it was super sweet, the lack of pie casing didn’t stop us and we sat giggling like school girls as we spooned it into our gobs.
My late morning brunch has definitely incited my interest in this venue and I am determined to come back and try their evening menu. All the staff were vibrant, passionate and looked like they loved their jobs and enthusiasm is very infectious. I can’t wait to see what the Boy thinks of Miss Kitty’s!
Miss Kitty’s Saloon 882 Beaufort Street, Inglewood WA 6052 | (08) 9272 6669 | Facebook Price: $$ Food: 3.5/5 (keen to go back and try some more dishes as they use some interesting combinations of flavours) Service: 4.5/5 (bubbly, interesting and funny without being obtrusive) Ambience: 4/5 (an eclectic muddle of Country and Western style with quirky antique oddities) Drinks: 4/5 (Five Senses coffee……) Total: 16 /20The Stables Bar, Perth CBD
Posted by Bars, European, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants, Wine Bar | Categories:Our main wholesaler we use at work wanted to do something interesting as a thank you to their valued clients and so they organised a night out to see Cirque de Soleil’s latest touring production Ovo. Our practice was lucky enough, or should I say valued enough, to receive four tickets. Having never been to see this internationally famous Show I was the first one to put up my hand to go. It seems that everyone who wanted to go already had their own tickets and those who didn’t have a ticket weren’t that keen. Although we are now creeping into June, on the afternoon of the show the sun was shining defiantly outside like a Spring Day and so the Boy suggested we walk into the city and stop somewhere earlier for dinner. I jumped at the opportunity to work on reducing my restaurant wish list which is currently longer than my arm. Near the top of my list was The Stables Bar in the CBD a convenient ten minute walk from the circus’s marquee.
I am known by my close friends as a planning freak and I love to be prepared. Although it was a warm day, I anticipated a chilly night knowing that Cirque de Soleil’s marquee is on the Esplanade; a potentially windy spot. In addition to needed some warmth, we were looking at a 14 km round trip on foot and strutting that distance in my high heels would not be realistic. Proud of my organisational skills in addition to my handbag I packed an extra bag filled with a scarf, high heels, my extra camera lens and a wool jacket. Sliding into my sneakers the Boy looked at me with an astonished look on his face and said: “You’re seriously not going to carry all that around all night?” I retorted “Of course!” and we headed out the front door and into the sunshine.
By the time we arrived at the Stables Bar one hour later, I had definitely lost some of the bounce in my stride. I felt a bit lopsided from carrying the heavy bags but strangely satisfied that I had a good workout! Now I could eat a decent meal without the guilt of overindulgence. Bring it!
In order to make it to our 8 o’clock show we had an early dinner booking and when we arrived there was only one other couple dining. Parched and hungry, we quickly ordered our drinks and scanned the menu. The wait staff were all super friendly and enthusiastic such that we were approached by each of the five of them asking for our drinks and food orders. It’s certainly better to be too attentive then to leave a customer waiting but some communication between the team wouldn’t hurt either.
The crispy school prawns were far too moreish and I could have easily crunched my way through a second bowl. The Boy explained to me that they tasted very similar to the fried insects he ate in Thailand. If that is the case, maybe I could be enticed on our next visit to try them? Hmmm, maybe. The chipotle mayonnaise balanced the saltiness of the prawns but I would have preferred a touch more spiciness.
The zucchini croquettes were gluten free and having a one track mind on anything remotely Spanish with my impending trip next month I simply had to order them. A thin shell of crispiness enveloped their soft interior to expose very subtle and gentle flavours. I almost felt they could do which a dash more seasoning. The cardamom flavouring in the yoghurt was also very subtle. Nevertheless they were still a tasty treat as they were.
The Boy has recently been contemplating giving up eating meat based on ethical, environmental and health reasons. As easy as this may be for some, it is a big step for someone whose previous diet, like many men in our country, was very meat focused. His half way step has been to become a pescatarian. When the waitress came to the table with our meals a steak and a Niçoise salad, she presumed the salad was for me and gave us a bit of a high brow look as we advised her that the orders were in fact the opposite way round. His Niçoise salad was made with flaked Rankin cod, steamed green beans, hard-boiled eggs and white anchovies. All the ingredients were brightly colours and fresh and although being a small serve for a main it was decently priced at $26.
Being someone that commonly suffered from iron deficiency anaemia, in part due to my gluten issues and worsened by my infrequent ingestion of red meat I decided to have the first steak I have had in a long while. The steak was sourced from Blackwood Valley who are well known in WA for their high quality organic beef. Although the minute steak isn’t the softest cut of beef it is certainly very flavoursome and was cooked rare exactly as requested. The super sweet roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh horseradish added some bite and after a long walk this sat very well in my stomach.
The char-grilled baby cos lettuce was a little bland by comparison to my steak and although the dollops of tangy goat cheese and white anchovies helped improve it significantly I still felt like it also needed a little more seasoning. And that is coming from someone who rarely adds salt to her meals.
We still had another hour before we had to depart and start walking down to the Esplanade for the show. As is often the case when we are out for dinner, it was an arm twisting event getting the Boy to agree on dessert and my requests for dessert and cheese were met with a decisive “No!” He knows from years of experience that I always have eyes bigger than my stomach and once I have a few drinks in me I tend to just keep ordering food until we nearly explode.
The poached peach Melba and vanilla pannacotta came highly recommended by one of our wait staff. She was right on the money with this one and once again for someone who didn’t want dessert the Boy helped me finish it matching me spoon for spoon. It was served in a cute jam jar reminiscent of our recent Watermelon Foam dessert at the Greenhouse. A definite winner. Our dessert was obviously too good because we scoffed it down in record time leaving us with another 45 minutes to spare. As we ordered a final round of drinks I was surprised that I successfully persuaded the Boy to share a cheese platter. Up until this point everything we had order was requested gluten free but I forgot to mention it to our server again when I ordered the cheese platter.
It came out with a scrumptious looking assortment of crackers and breads which were obviously not gluten free. I called the waiter over who confirmed this to me and within minutes the platter returned without any crackers at all. Such a shame as each cheese was just the right temperature for serving making them fragrant and soft. The well thought out selection included Fourme d’Ambert; a mild blue cheese made from cow’s milk from France, Deuce De Bourgogne; a rich and creamy soft French cheese also made from cow’s milk and Capricorn; a hard goat cheese from the UK. We were advised that the kitchen changes their cheese selections frequently which I quite like the idea of.
The Stables Bar is a stunning location in the heart of the city with a range a decently priced pub meals. It is another great addition to the increasing number of prime venues dotted around the city and definitely worth a visit for a few rounds of drinks or a meal.
The Stables Bar 888 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000 | (08) 6314 1300 | www.thestablesbar.com.au Price: $$ Food: 3.5/5 (small menu with some interesting dishes) Service: 2.5/5 (some teething problems with communication which should be easy to iron out) Ambience: 3.5/5 (awesome fit out of some old stables originally built in the late 1800s) Drinks: 3.5/5 (lots of creative cocktails, will have to come back and try a few more) Total: 13/20The Publican Bar, Victoria Park
Posted by Bars, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Pub, Restaurants | Categories:Some of you may recall my unusual Australia Day weekend this year. It started off at our local pub The Broken Hill Hotel where we munched on casual pub food with drinks a plenty and could even see the fireworks show from where we sat on their balcony. A far cry from our usual annual party extravaganza we hold at our house but a great night out all the same. The reason for such a tame national holiday you see was that the weekend preceeding this relaxing weekend happened to be my Hen’s day. In true Chompchomp style I burnt all my candles at both ends and managed to come out with a fair share of bruises coupled a strained joint in my spine. It was worth it; we had a total hoot of a time but entertaining and cooking for the masses was out of my capabilities that following weekend.
After such a fun night at The Broken Hill, we decided to continue in our “let’s go local” mode and walked down to the other end of Albany Highway to The Publican Bar. Our wedding was just over a month away at this point in time and both of us were filled with excitement and anxiety. The biggest thing that recently was absorbing our thoughts was the choreographed dance for our first dance. We were both feeling like we may have bitten off more than we could chew but knew how jaw dropping it would be if we could pull it off. To make matters worse, our dance practice had been stalled to a halt by my stupid drunk and disorderly neck injury from the Hen’s. This left me feeling guilty as I was the one responsible for disrupting our progress.
We initially took a seat indoors but after such a relaxed evening outdoors the night before I could immediately see the Boy was uncomfortable and not happy with our choice. We looked out into the tiny courtyard and although there were no customers sitting out there to give any atmosphere it was still better than sitting under the dim lights indoors.
The Publican Bar has a number of gluten free options and these are clearly marked on their menu. We started with some lemon pepper squid and garlic prawns. Their prawns had a lot more flavour than those we had the previous night at the Broken Hill Hotel lacking that metallic watery after taste that can only come from frozen produce. The calamari were an eclectic mix of chewy and soft so it was a secret surprise whether you got the perfectly cooked piece or the rubbery one.
Predicting what the Boy will order to eat can sometime be a challenge. Often he will go for a long spell of choosing the same dishes over and over and then randomly pull out a left field and often successful punt at something more unusual. This Australia Day weekend however he has sticking to true blue Aussie man food and ordered another steak, this time the surf and turf.
I could hear an audible crunch as he chowed down his beer battered chips and noticed that his steak was cooked rare just as requested. We have had previous experiences where this wasn’t the case so it was a relief to see the kitchen was on track to serve this simple hearty meal well. The prawns however were more tasteless than our entrée and his salad appeared like it was dressed much earlier in the day leaving it looking sad and wilted.
I never used to be one to obsess over calories but preparing for a wedding will surely do it to the best of us and after drinking more than a bottle of wine with my three course meal the night before I was feeling racked with guilt for my indulgences this close to our wedding. To amplify my worries my injured neck meant my usual fall back to combat caloric excesses of running long distances was an absolute no go zone.
Taking this into mind I chose the grilled vegetable salad served with baby spinach, mushrooms, pumpkin, almonds, feta and roasted beetroot. Now I cannot say I’m a vegetarian by any means but I do actually prefer to eat a lot of vegetarian meals. I would expect maybe 3 out of 5 of my meals are meatless and when I do eat meat it tends to be from the sea. However, vegetarian doesn’t have to equate to boring and I cannot imagine what the chef was thinking when he prepared this salad. What ever happened to tossing all ingredients together? Odd. Needless to say I do love roast veggies so I still managed to walk away very satisfied. Just a little confused.
The Publican Bar is one of our locals but with the increasing number of new bars and restaurants opening up in the area I think they should really consider lifting their game in order to keep up with the competition. There were items still on their menu that I recall from visits several years back. I’m sure we will head back there again but it won’t be in a hurry.
The Publican Bar 774 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park 6101 WA | (08) 9470 5818 | http://thepublicanbar.com.au Price: $$$ (Tapas $7-16, Mains $23-36) Food: 3/5 (a little hit and miss but does the staples well) Service: 2.5/5 (slow and reluctant) Ambience: 2.5/5 (it has a sports bar feel) Drinks: 3/5 (big range of beers, wine list fairly standard) Total: 11/20Celebrating Australia Day at The Broken Hill Hotel, Victoria Park
Posted by Desserts, Featured, Hotels, Modern Australian, Perth, Pub, Restaurants | Categories:We traditionally celebrate Australia Day in our household by throwing a Triple J Hottest 100 countdown pool party. Joined by our close friends we devour lots of good food, drinks a plenty and generally end our night with a short stroll to the end of the street to view the fireworks show. In the ten years we have lived in this house we have only had one year off when I had the misfortune to be rostered on to work.
On the weekend prior to Australia Day this year it was my Hen’s day. It was a fabulous day out in the Swan Valley which turned into a Hen’s night with many of us boogying on the dance floor of Geisha nightclub until the wee hours of the morning. I had an absolutely ball of a time and am so grateful for all that came to the various parts of the day and night to celebrate with me.
However what goes up must come down and the following day I seriously began to regret my stubborn choice of monstrously high shoes that I had spent the night dancing in. Within 24 hours the whole side of my neck swelled up and I could barely move my head without sharp pinching pain. After a few days in a cloud of pain killers I popped my head up out of the self-induced haze and ta-da; it was Australia Day! No party for us this year!
Having such a quiet and empty house felt like a bit of a fizzer for us so in order to liven things up the Boy suggested we walk down to our local; The Broken Hill Hotel. I donned some boringly flat shoes in a moment of complete sensibility and off we set down to the pub.
We were greeted by the sounds of the DJ spinning many dance music hits that all seemed to be released in the same year; 1989. We both found this very entertaining until we both realised that although it felt like yesterday we were dancing in the clubs to these very songs, it was indeed over 20 years ago! We really are getting old!!
Our waitress was very helpful in negotiating with the chef what could be done gluten and onion free. We started with the seared scallops served on a bed of apple purée. The chorizo was excluded as it couldn’t be guaranteed gluten free. With the second main ingredient of this dish omitted it did seem slightly unfinished however the scallops were adequately browned to a rich honey colour whilst maintaining their delicate softness within.
The chermoula prawns were the least enjoyable dish of the evening. The prawns didn’t taste very fresh and lacked that exquisite crunch that I love. After failing to taste much in the body of the prawn the Boy proceeded to suck out all the heads in a quest for something with more flavour. This was something my family introduced him to over Christmas and he is now converted to dedicated prawn head sucker for life.
The Bestie’s birthday weekend fortunately coincided with her parent’s return from their month-long holiday in Vietnam. Her parents live in southern Western Australian in a town called Esperance which is about a ten hour drive from Perth. This means she doesn’t get to see them as often as she would like and having them in Perth for her birthday was a bit of a treat. To make the most of the occasion, she agreed to stretch out her celebrations over two nights starting with her parents cooking up a storm for us at their friends’ house followed by a casual night out at the Karalee Tavern in Como. During our time living in London, it was a common occurrence for the Bestie, the Boy and I to visit a number of run down English Pubs. Horrendous food and cheap drinks would be served well past the old fashioned pub curfew under the premise of a “lock out”. These were crazy times and there is a little part of each of us that wistfully longs for those hedonistic days gone by. I’m got the feeling that was part of the vibe she was going for by choosing The Karalee as especially since Chompchomp’s creation we have a tendency to go more popular or newly established venues. Despite the fact the windows at Karalee face out onto the Como foreshore, it was near impossible to see through the smudgy cloudy glass and even with a recent revamp of their décor I still felt trapped in the nineties. To my complete surprise there were a number of gluten free options marked on their menu. Of course the Bestie had kindly thought ahead and made sure we were going somewhere where I could eat something. I started with the char-grilled calamari served with tomato kasundi, warmed chick peas salad with a lemon dressing. The kasundi had none of the spiciness I would expect in this Indian relish and the chickpeas had that flavourless powderiness I can only expect came from a can. The calamari was ever so slightly overcooked and chewy. Not a good start. The Bestie ordered the grilled chilli and garlic tiger prawns. Four small shelled Tiger prawns sat perched on a few triangles of cold toasted Turkish bread. Although the prawns looked a little dry to me, I didn’t taste them so cannot pass a true judgement. The Bestie and I both ordered the veal saltimbocca. The veal medallions tasted like overcooked cardboard and literally sucked all the moisture from out of my mouth. I’m sure it took me a good five minutes to chew each mouthful. I was thankful for the crunchy prosciutto topping to add some flavour into all that blandness. The thick creamy mushroom sauce did nothing to improve the meal nor did the unseasoned gritty block of set polenta that was meant to be crispy. The Boy ordered the slow cooked lamb shank with sweet potato and maple syrup mash and roasted broccolini. The succulent lamb collapsed effortlessly off the bone and was accompanied by moans of approval and enjoyment. I often put a dash of maple syrup in my pumpkin and sweet potato mash when cooking at home. As long as you only put a dash it serves to provide a subtle lingering to the already dulcet flavours of the vegetables. Although the texture of this mash could have been creamier, they were cautious enough not to overdo it with the maple and its hint of flavour was balanced just right. The broccolini was burnt to a crisp which completely sabotaged any sense of its flavour other than charcoal. The Bestie’s Mum ordered the roasted sticky glazed pork belly. It was curiously paired with a mound of potato mash and sesame tossed Asian greens. The pork was buttery smooth with crunchy crackling and she was left feeling very full and satisfied. The meal sizes at Karalee are generous meaning this is a good place to come if you want value for money. If quality is more what you look for in a night out I suggest you look elsewhere. It is finally getting close enough to our wedding to start to feel the buzz and excitement and relieved to say I think I am pretty well set. Well, at least for the important stuff!. I have found the perfect dress from Luci Di Bella, I am blessed with two of the most awesome bridesmaids who also have fabulous dresses, I have a choice of stunning Dior or Jimmy Choo bridal shoes and our wedding venue at Andara, Phuket is something dreams are made of. Best of all; I have found the most amazing man who I could have ever wished to marry. Naw, that’s enough gushing for one post I think! My engagement ring was designed at Linneys; a well-known West Australian jeweller famous for their Broome pearls and Argyle diamonds and it seemed fitting to return there for our wedding bands. We both arrived wide-eyed and smiling as the reality of our big day approaching fast sunk in. We helped each other deliberate over all the beautiful wedding band designs and each ended up selecting ones we both loved. It seemed ridiculous to go home straight away while on such a high so we strolled over hand in hand like newly found lovers over to the Subiaco Hotel to relax with a few drinks and a bite to eat. It was still early in the evening and strangely neither of us had very big appetites. Maybe it was due to all the Slim Pasta we have eaten lately because it is quite an unusual occurrence for either of us. Perhaps the knowledge we didn’t have much time left to get our bride and groom bodies in fit shape played a factor. We both ordered some small dishes to share. Our food took an exceedingly long time to arrive and our quick drinks started to drag out into the evening. The quail breasts served on kebabs were stringy and dry making them very hard to eat. I didn’t try the eschalots for obvious fructose reasons however the Boy felt that they greatly improved the dish and he didn’t feel it was as great a failure as I did. The barbecued lamb ribs were sticky and tender, slithering off the bone easily and leaving a sweet caramel after-taste in the mouth. The addition of sharp tangy pomegranate brought an exciting extra level of flavour and we were both thankful there was an even number of ribs because I’m sure we would have fought over the last one. The balsamic poached chicken salad was nothing spectacular but served its purpose to cleanse the palate after a taste overload from the ribs. Anything more complex may have been a bit much to eat all at the same time. I didn’t think to ask if the chickpea dish contained onions and alas it was full of it so I didn’t try much of this one. The chick peas were lacking in flavour and had a very soft texture making me suspicious they may have come from a can. The addition of avocado saved this dish. I have never been big fan of Geláre waffles; not even back in the day when I was oblivious to my gluten intolerance and could have eaten them to my heart’s content. But let’s be honest, you don’t have to be a fan of waffles to be stopped dead in your tracks by that sweet aroma that wafts out of their stores onto the facing street. As we walked down Rokeby Road toward Geláre on our way back to car I recalled they recently started offering gluten free waffles. Once we were hit by the fragrance of maple dough, I turned to the Boy and suggested we try them. He declined, not really being a dessert type of guy, so I ordered a small gluten free waffle with maple syrup and cream. I planned to just have a couple of mouthfuls then walk away. Wasteful I know but I need to fit into that wedding dress! It has been many years since I tried a normal waffle to compare but this one had all the layers of texture I vaguely recall makes a good waffle. It was crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. I put my spoon down and stared into the distance daydreaming for a few minutes. Before I knew it the Boy had eaten the lot! So much for not wanting to share! We are not big eaters of classic fast food; I’m talking burgers, pizza, kebabs and the like. Ultimately I prefer much more refined dining but let’s be honest, one simply cannot afford to do that every weekend. At least not on my income. So when we both got a craving for junk, we decided to head to our local V Burger Bar excited about our naughty treat. Last year our initial attempts at visiting this popular place resulted in us being diverted over to Pancho’s Mexican Villa due to a lack of gluten free buns. Now that was some night…..sloppy microwaved food, blistering burns and a scathing retaliation from a fan (or owner) in the wake of my review; the Pancho’s post has certainly become infamous! We stopped in at The Balmoral for a couple of pre-dinner drinks and bumped into some old friends that we hadn’t seen for a long time. As we chatted away a local band called Retriofit set up in full view of our tables and started playing some funky acoustic covers. After some time our friends departed to make their own dinner reservations leaving us sitting alone together. We were both in such a fabulous mood so we took the opportunity of using some interesting mood lighting to take portraits of each other with Gordon my SLR (yes, I named my camera!) After several rounds of drinks and photos my post-run hunger started to climax and was accompanied by some rather unladylike noises erupting from deep in my stomach. We skipped across the road to V Burger Bar nearly drooling in anticipation. I had already called ahead to make sure they had gluten free buns in stock. After briefly scanning their menu my not-so-sober eyes saw the words “fried egg, beetroot, cheese and bacon” and without giving it one more second of thought my decision was made. I vaguely remember the Boy making some comment about how enormous my burger choice was but in my hunger and excitement I didn’t really register or pay much attention. I was quite disappointed to hear that all the sides on their menu are not gluten free but we ordered a serve of their beer battered chips for the Boy anyway. Our burgers came out in super quick time and we tucked into them immediately. I observed that my F.B.A. (Full Blooded Aussie) burger had a significant amount of extra height in comparison to the Boy’s Blue Mushie burger choice. I actually struggled to get both by hands around it let alone my mouth! As the Boy finished his burger he started to make wise cracks about my eyes being much bigger than my stomach as I was only half way through mine. Thankfully earlier in the day I had run 12 kilometres around the river at a cracking good pace so like a horse being whipped into action I successfully polished off all of my delicious juicy burger! It was faultless! The Boy really enjoyed his Blue Mushie too. He was surprised how well the burger held together and didn’t crumble or fall apart in his hands. He loved the hint of blue cheese with earthy undertones of the mushrooms and the succulent perfectly cooked meat patty. The chips were less impressive, they lacked the expected crunch of beer battered chips and needed extra seasoning. Despite feeling like I was literally going to explode I needed something sweet on my palate to end the night. I had recently read about Taro Taro on WenY Wonders Why and was desperate to check it out. I have always LOVED Asian desserts however there isn’t a great amount of options available here in Perth. Given that Taro Taro is a mere ten minutes’ walk from our front door I had high hopes it would be awesome. It was getting quite late and much of the bustle of the café strip had started to die off however at Taro Taro it was absolutely packed full of customers. We shuffled into the brightly lit store and felt like we had been transported into another world! Despite being such a fan of Asian desserts I have to be honest, I haven’t got to try nearly as many as I would like. This was my first experience trying herbal jelly and taro. If you are not familiar with Taiwanese desserts the menu can be a little confusing, so to simplify things for ourselves we ordered the Taro Taro Signature Herbal Jelly ice which contained herbal ice, dark black folds of herbal jelly, balls of sweet potato, sago and taro and lots and lots of sugar. Underneath all the intense sweetness, the flavours were quite soft and delicate and the texture of each type of ball was slightly different ranging from jelly like to nearly chewy. I honestly really enjoyed it but I realise it probably isn’t for every Westerner’s palate. As we sat outside on a park beach we watched more and more cars turned up full of hungry customers all looking for their taro hit. Such a hive of activity in sleepy Vic Park! We will definitely return again but this time I might be brave enough to create my own dessert of the custom menu. Keep up with the latest on Facebook or Twitter! I had been stuffing my face with scrumptious gluten free cakes at the Clandestine Cake Club all afternoon. Despite my gluttony I wasn’t feeling overly full and seeing as the Boy had actually gone to the effort to book us a dinner reservation at The Precinct in Victoria Park so I couldn’t exactly refuse. Being the obsessed foodie of the house, I am generally the one who arranges our regular eating expeditions and so I get very excited when the Boy does it all for me. I was hoping I could extend my afternoon with the bestie and drag her along too especially as she hadn’t hung out with the both of us in some time. However my powers of persuasion were seemingly dulled by all my cake indulgence because she declined my pleading to return home to study for her yoga teacher training class the following day. The preceding week had been a fairly traumatic one for us both due to some distressing major family issues all finally coming to a head. To add insult to injury, we were both under the weather with the winter sniffles and as if things couldn’t get any worse I had accidentally reversed into the Boy’s car in the pitch black of the early morning. Eeeek! So I’m sure you can understand why we just wanted to put all our cares aside and do what we both enjoy most….dining out together. The Precinct in Vic Park was opened earlier this year by Daniel Morris who is well-known for also running the highly successful Little Creatures, Balthazar and Il Lido. It was to be our first proper wine bar here in Vic Park; something many of us locals feel has been a long time coming. But despite public support they were knocked back twice for their Small Bar license and operated as a BYO wine bar for several months. Finally they have managed to secure a restaurant license and have ensured that all their staff know their wines exceedingly well. We have revisited a number of times since they have opened and I have confidence that they can always recommend a suitable choice for us both. Initially I found that their gluten free, onion free options were quite limited for me but since then I have noticed that this has improved somewhat upon subsequent visits. The food style is quite casual and simple but seemingly executed fairly well. In usual style we started off with a couple of share dishes before our mains. The marinated olives contained a mix of black and green olives with a variety of types and intensity of flavours. As the Boy wasn’t nearly as full of cake as I, he also ordered the whitebait (not gluten free). They were very crispy, perhaps a little too much so and came served with a beer aioli. The Precinct’s charcuterie plate changes regularly and although we order it nearly every time we visit we have never had the same plate twice. This night we had some fresh sliced Angus beef salami, some orange chicken pâté and a pair of pork rillettes. Some cornichons and mustard were served on the side. The salami was delicate and soft with a slight salty aftertaste. Hints of citrus undertones came through beautifully in the pâté although I wish they had some gluten free bread for me to smear it onto. The pork rillettes held great shape and texture and were mildly flavoured. Although the Boy and I love eating and discovering new foods, prior to my blogging days if we were out at one of our regular haunts, we would often both fall back on ordering our tried and tested favourites. These days I feel so guilty when doing this. I believe in order for me to accurately make an assessment for a review of a restaurant I need to sample as many of their dishes as possible. This gives me a much wider and more realistic perception of their food. This ideal has fallen out the window during our past three visits to The Precinct ever since I tried their roast chicken. It’s really really good! To be quite honest, I’m not even one to order chicken in the first place. I figure why order something I can cook just as easily (and as well) at home? Thank goodness I forgot about this theory and tried this dish. The chicken is slow cooked (sous-vide) and so be aware it is normal for such chicken to appear slightly pink on the inside. The consistency of this chicken is like no roast chicken you have had before. The breast nearly melts under my knife and is as juicy as you would expect a thigh to be. The leg meat slips of the bone effortlessly. You can taste lemon thyme though every mouthful. It is served simply with some seasonal vegetables on the side. The boy ordered the lamb duo which consisted of some slow cooked pulled lamb topped with a lamb cutlet. The cutlet was very meaty and although quite chargrilled on the surface was cooked beautifully inside. Walnut spaetzle is a type of Northern European style noodle made with flour and eggs, and in this case also walnuts. They almost looked like little dumplings and tasted fairly bland on their own without any of the lamb or sauce (so the Boy informed me). The Boy kept proclaiming (again) that he didn’t want dessert! I think this past month of incessant eating has dulled his sweet tooth somewhat. Refusing to be completely defeated I ordered us the citrus chocolate salad. I don’t recommend this dish if you genuinely want a dessert as it is very light and refreshing. However seeing as I had indulged all afternoon on all the cakes, it filled my last spot in my stomach perfectly. For something more substantial I recommend their banana pie. This gluten free decadence is nothing like you expect and is more like a mousse than any pie I’ve ever had. During the course of this evening, the Boy and I pondered over Chompchomp’s growth and development since I commenced blogging some 11 months ago. It has been such an exciting and rewarding journey so far as I continue to try and further improve both my writing style and my photography. Better still it is satisfying to watch my readership grow week by week knowing that others are (hopefully) enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. The Boy started to consider whether he too may gain such rewards from writing his own blog and decided if he ever did, it would be about beer; a long standing passion of his. Thus after a number of drinks, together we created the game “Chompchomp roulette”. This is where the Boy hands the beer menu over to me and I choose a random beer for him to enjoy. Relinquishing this control over his beverage choice is huge…..he is a fussy connoisseur with his beers. To make matters more interesting my knowledge of beers is very poor due to my inability to drink it. For our first play on the “wheel” I chose Delirium Nocturnum; a triple fermented Belgian ale known for its high alcohol content. Suffice to say after finishing our drinks, his attitude on dessert came around full circle and he insisted on stopping in at Baskin and Robbins for a tub of dairy deliciousness. He defaulted to his usual favourites of cookies and cream with peppermint choc chip. Every night that we have visited The Precinct we have always found all the staff to be energetic, friendly and very well acquainted with both their wine list and their food. On earlier visits we did find the staff lacking a bit of team work with drinks being forgotten and multiple staff coming to us to asked the same questions however, like the number of gluten free options, this is definitely improving. I figure it is better to have overattentive wait staff than ones that ignore their customers. I am keen to return for breakfast as they have slow cooked eggs on the menu but it currently looks like I’ll need to BYO gluten free bread. That I do not mind! I am so happy this is my new local! Do you remember when we celebrated our Engagement Party late last year at The George? Although everyone had a fabulous evening, our night was tainted by some terribly rude attitudes and comments coming from the bar staff upon our departure from the venue. To make matters worse, they then refused to call us any taxis and left us standing outside the hotel well into the wee hours of the morning. In the course of the following few weeks I tried via various methods to speak with one of the managers in order to retrieve my iPod that I left at the venue. After weeks of her avoiding my contact (including refusing to meet me as I stood outside the venue) it was too late and the iPod was nowhere to be found. I wrote a formal letter of complaint to the Venue Manager detailing all my grievances. I thought some of you may be interested in reading their reply….. “Good afternoon, I was extremely disappointed to receive your email late last week. We do value all of the feedback receive both the positive and the occasional feedback that gives the venue something to improve on or fix. I can appreciate that this has been a frustrating experience for yourself and I would like to thank you for allowing me the time to investigate and ensure that I could get to the bottom of the issues you raised. I have spoken to all the staff members and managers working that night and Katie prior to her leaving on annual leave. I went through your email with them high raised the various matters and got their view as to what happened. The staff members that were working that evening were spoken to about the profanities that your guests believed were directed at them. They all claim that they did not say anything inappropriate towards your guests, however I have reiterated to all staff members and the management team how unprofessional and inappropriate that kind of behaviour is and that it will not be tolerated here at The George. In regards to your guests being asked to vacate the venue, Liquor licencing laws state we have to have all patrons off the premises within 15 minutes of our closing time, we have no control or any flexibility with this. Both the managers on duty and the venue are liable for fines if this does not occur, hence why at 1230 your guests who were still on the premise, in breach of our liquor licence, were asked to leave the premises immediately. I spoken to the manager who was on duty that evening and he reassured me that he did in fact call for taxis for yourself and for your party. However, I do know from past experience that calling for a taxi to the premises often takes significantly longer than both hailing one from the street or walking across the road to the taxi rank. Whilst I can appreciate that two people from your party were unable to make their way down to the taxi rank, I can say that taxis were indeed called. When speaking to the manager on duty, I brought to his attention the importance of tone and delivery and how it can affect the impression left of people and that he needs to be aware of this. The London Room is open to both tenants of the building and their guests when not booked by The George, and is left unlocked and fully accessible from the foyer of the building. In the three weeks between your function and your email advising of the lost iPod, the room was open and many functions were held in it, functions that were not just booked by The George but also by building tenants who have full access to the room and its facilities, including the Audio Visual system located in the cupboard where the iPod was left. Therefor I cannot say if the iPod was still there when you sent you email three weeks after the function, as we were unaware of its presence. I have spoke to Katie and she said that she did make several unsuccessful attempts to contact you by phone after your initial email before contacting you via email. I will have a meeting with her when she returns and talk about the length of time it took you to get a response from her and highlight the need to respond promptly to enquiries, especially when it relates to missing property. I have brought up all of your feedback at our regular management meeting and we have introduced steps to ensure that, in future there are no repeats of your negative experience at The George. I hope that you will give the venue the opportunity to live up to the high standards for both the food and service they we are know for. With that in mind I would like to offer you a $200 voucher for dinner at The George. If you could please provide me with a suitable postal address I will arrange for the voucher to be sent to you. If you could contact me directly when you would like to redeem the voucher I can ensure that you have the proper George Experience. We look forward to seeing you soon. regards Venue Manager” (name withheld) Unbelievable. This is how the manager and his staff choose to resolve this issue: deny, deny deny. Since that night, nearly everyone of my friends have come up to me individually with their own story about something the staff said or did to them. But surely the more likely truthful story is that all 70 of my guests and I would make all these elaborate details up? How insulting. I am not perfect but I am in no way a liar! And as for their offer of a dinner voucher? After making such a complaint the LAST thing I wanted to do was return to their restaurant to eat their food!!! Cripes. If they were quite happy to blatantly lie to their boss regarding the true events of the evening, I would hate to think was they might do to my food! Thanks but no thanks! Considering the very hefty bill we had at the end of the party an offer of some sort of partial refund would have been more appropriate. Especially when I emailed him to decline his voucher offer. Since then, it has amused me to note the number of excessively positive reviews on Urbanspoon for both The George and their sister venue The Aviary. Most of these reviewers have never written anything else. With the collection of top-notch eateries opening up along the Terrace this year, I have a sneaking feeling that if The George don’t get their act together and actually start listening to their customers; they may be in for a nasty shock! Read my original Post: The George and Our Engagement Party Like Me on Facebook! What a horrific week it’s been for me! This persistent stomach bug has put me out of action for the whole week!. It started brewing on my wedding dress shopping day with my bestie and then developed more dramatically into a further two days at home in bed. I always get racked with guilt whenever I take a sick day as everyone else’s work load increases to compensate for my absence. So when I woke up on the fourth day and managed to hold a piece of toast down I figured surely I must be good to go. I was wrong and a few hours later my manager sent me home ashen-faced and dizzy. Being our first Easter off together in several years, I had booked a weekend getaway with the Boy down in Margaret River which also happened to coincide with our 14th anniversary celebration. Prior to falling sick I was so excited about this little minibreak and was looking forward to a few days of eating, drinking and romantic fun. As I sat unusually quietly in the car on the drive down, I accepted that although I am not feeling at my best I was not going to let it ruin our holiday. We didn’t arrive until the late afternoon on Good Friday by which I was too tired to consider the notion that I may want to blog about our accommodation so dear readers please forgive me for the lack of any photos. We stayed at Chandeliers on Abbey in Yallingup and were quite impressed with the quality of the chalet – it had a fabulous sound system with speakers throughout the chalet, warmed bathroom tiles, and a fridge stocked with fresh milk, OJ, eggs and butter. The kitchen was well equipped and there were candles all about the chalet to help give more atmosphere. After relaxing on the deck for some time, we headed out to Gnarabar Bar and Bistro which was seemingly one of the only places I could find open on a Good Friday. Situated just out of Margaret River Township near the Gnarabup beach, the bar was humming with life and nearly full capacity. The staff seemed a little run off their feet and perhaps also a tad disorganised. Seeing a menu clearly marked with gluten-free options always instills hope for an easy ordering experience. If gluten-free dishes are regular menu items then this indicates to me that the kitchen must be familiar with correct food preparation for us more challenging customers. I ordered the gluten-free option of chilli salted calamari with Thai chilli jam and lime. I just wanted a light snack for entrée as my stomach had shrunk from my lack of food intake during the week as a result of being so unwell. When my dish arrived, it was coated in batter and for some reason I thought there was a chance it wasn’t actually gluten-free. I asked the waiter who assured me this was gluten-free batter and I was totally fine to eat it. Fortunately my usual ritual of photo taking delayed me starting to eat this dish as a few minutes later the same waiter came out of the kitchen looking a little flustered exclaiming I can’t eat it and that it WASN’T gluten free. I couldn’t believe my ears! If I hadn’t double checked with the waiter, and then paused to take photos, I would be back to square one with my stomach ills and our romantic weekend would have been ruined. It astounded me that the kitchen allowed this error to occur! The Boy order the pan-fried gnocchi with rabbit and shiitake mushrooms. I told him not to wait for my replacement meal to arrive before commencing so he could enjoy his while it was still hot. The gnocchi was soft and not too doughy and he said the rabbit was tender and sweet. My dish didn’t end up being brought out to the table until well after he had polished off his gnocchi. It didn’t actually look a grand deal different from the previous dish but the Boy had snuck a taste of the one with gluten and said it tasted different. Seeing as my appetite wasn’t the best I was happy to share some of my calamari with him rather than have him stare hungrily at me while I ate. I’m not sure what happened to my “chilli jam” as my calamari was served with some aioli…maybe I read the menu wrong. The calamari was fairly bland and not seasoned very well, and although most pieces were tender there were a few chewy ones in there. There was only one main dish on the menu that was able to be prepared both gluten and onion free and unfortunately it was a fairly unexciting looking chicken breast dish. Thankfully I was informed by our waitress that it wasn’t a problem for the chef to make any of the entrée dishes into a full main meal size for an extra ten bucks. I was impressed with the size of the meal that was to follow. Juicy meaty Moroccan spiced quail served on a creamy pumpkin purée with an olive, feta and parsley salad. The spices were not too overpowering for my delicate gut and the quail were super-sized and succulent. The boy ordered the 10 hour braised beef cheek with parmesan polenta for his main meal. He was quite disappointed in his choice as the meat was unexpectedly dry and chewy; not tender or flavoursome as he imagined. There was no way I was going to fit in a third course until I had given myself another day or two for my stomach size to re-expand to its previous size so we skipped dessert – an unusual occurrence for me indeed! We returned to our cosy chalet and flaked out for what was to be one of the best night’s sleep either one of us has had in over a week. Bliss. For what it is, a casual beach pub, the Gnarabar fits the bill. However despite us using our Entertainment Book discount, we both felt we could get better quality food at better value at many of the beautiful wineries we visited over the following few days. Additionally the oversight of serving me gluten accidentally is of considerable concern not just for me but for other gluten intolerants out there. If I hadn’t asked, I would have found out the hard way a few hours later. Follow Me on Facebook!The Karalee on Preston, Como
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| Categories: Wedding band shopping, Subiaco Hotel and some Geláre gluten free waffles
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| Categories: Stuffing my face at V Burger Bar
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The Precinct, Victoria Park
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| Categories: Epilogue: The George and Our Engagement Party
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Gnarabar Bar and Bistro, Margaret River
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