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Nine Fine Food is mighty fine!

Posted by  | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, Japanese, Perth, Restaurants

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

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

"Salmon" "Tuna" "White Fish" "Prawn" "Squid" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"

Fresh Sashimi (à la carte $27)

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

"Salmon" "Tuna" "White Fish" "Prawn" "Squid" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free" "Japanese" "Nine Fine Food" "Highgate" "northbridge" "Modern Japanese" "gluten free japanese" "Bulwer" "sashimi" "sushi" "raw fish"

Fresh Sashimi (part of $53 set menu)

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

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

Confit Duck Leg ($34)

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

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

Salmon and Scallop ($34)

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

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

Pork and Pork ($18)

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

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

Chicken and Lamb ($34)

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

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

Matcha Brûlée

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

And it was so good!

And I’m not sorry.

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

Kuro Goma Gelato (black sesame)

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

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

Kuro Goma Gelato with additional choco banana roll

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

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

 Nine Fine Food on Urbanspoon

Fuku Omakase and Teppanyaki, Mosman Park

Posted by  | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, Japanese, Perth, Restaurants, Seafood

There are many memories I have about food from my childhood and most of those involve my father.  Like many Frenchman he appreciates quality over quantity and cringes at the idea of ordering food from children’s menus. He believes that kids have just as much right to taste the finer food in life as the adults do. Growing up I was the child that was always keen to eat anything whereas my sister was exceedingly fussy. My dad embraced having a least one child with the same attitude to food as him and from a young age had me eating snails, sashimi and oysters amongst other delicacies.

One of my favourite restaurants he would take me to was a Teppanyaki restaurant located near his house in Prahran, Melbourne. Japanese cuisine was yet to take off back in Adelaide making this theatrical dining experience so new and entertaining to my young and impressionable mind. Since then Japanese in all its styles; sushi bars, Izakaya and Teppanyaki BBQs have taken off like a rocket in popularity to become commonplace and finding one that can maintain enough balance of tradition with modern flair isn’t that easy.  Fuku Omakase Teppanyaki is located next door to the popular Tsunami in Mosman Park and has been a restaurant on my wish list since its opening about eight months ago.

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Only room for a cosy few at this bar

We have visited their sister restaurant Tsunami many times and although we haven’t returned for a few years I have never been disappointed with a meal there yet. So when I received an invitation to attend their bloggers dinner at Fuku it was an offer just too good to refuse. Fuku offer a degustation style menu, or omakase as the Japanese call it. There are three options: the “Good” which is $100 for 4 courses, the “Better” which costs $135 for 8 courses or the “Best” which is $220 for 10 courses. You can also choose to have matched sake from their impressive wall of bottles for $75 per person.

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So sublime

On arrival you get the feeling you are about to be part of something special.  An intercom button must be pressed at the front door to gain entry upon which glass sliding doors automatically open to let you into the restaurant.  We were openly greeted by our hosts for the evening owner Brett Carboni and his manager Milan and shown to our seats. Warm lighting and a single row of chairs facing the two Teppanyaki BBQs made this feel like a very intimate experience and immediately my mind started ticking over what celebration of sorts I could plan here. The Boy’s 40th is only a few years away……food for thought. Literally!

"crispy prawn" "fried prawn" "Kawa Ebi" "sundried crispy nori sheet" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Kawa Ebi and sundried crispy nori sheet

"crispy prawn" "fried prawn" "Kawa Ebi" "sundried crispy nori sheet" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Oi! Don’t steal mine!

Gary our chef for the evening was so humble and gracious and I warmed to him immediately.  He patiently answered all our annoying bloggers questions regarding each dishes details and took due care that my meals remained gluten free. Our first course was presented in a lacquered bento box reminiscent of Nobu and contained gorgeous little flash-fried Kawa Ebi and some crunchy sun-dried nori.  Kawa Ebi are pint sized freshwater shrimp and tasted similar to the fried school prawns we recently tried at The Stables Bar. These crispy morsels are eaten whole as easily as a bowl of pretzels. Washed down with some sake my hopes were high for a night of feasting for the eyes and the palate.

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Preparing our Small Morsels

"oyster" "ginger sauce" "octopus" "miso sauce" "Small morsels" "Wagyu beef" "Red emperor" "Soba noodle tempura" "fried Oyster" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Small morsels (clockwise from front): Wagyu beef, Red emperor, Soba noodle tempura, Oyster

Being someone who apparently borderlines on OCD at times, I love the perfection and neatness of Japanese food. Everything is presented so immaculately and without clutter or messiness.  Our second course contained four carefully plated elements. The standard dish contained slivers of soft Wagyu beef with a sweet white sesame dressing, some marinated red emperor with octopus, a tempura oyster with a refreshing ginger salsa and the most curious addition that initially I mistook for a garnish; soba noodle tempura.

"oyster" "ginger sauce" "octopus" "miso sauce" "Small morsels" "Wagyu beef" "Red emperor" "Soba noodle tempura" "fried Oyster" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Fried oyster with ginger salsa

"oyster" "ginger sauce" "octopus" "miso sauce" "Small morsels" "Wagyu beef" "Red emperor" "Soba noodle tempura" "fried Oyster" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Gluten free small morsels: My oyster was replaced with scampi

The noodle tempura was fashioned like a cherry blossom tree and looked almost too pretty to eat. Although as crunchy as uncooked pasta it had great flavour I found myself not only munching through mine but stealing the Boys “tree trunk” and munching that too. For my gluten free version the tempura oyster was replaced with a meaty scampi topped with some tobiko.

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Fuku take their sake very seriously. This is a sake chiller.

"Snapper" "Japanese pickle" "Sweet prawn" "Tuna sashimi " "Sashimi" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Sashimi

"soba bean pancake" "Szechuan sauce" "Hunter valley quail" "Quail" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Quail

No Japanese meal is complete without sashimi. Absolute freshness is key as its raw simplicity leaves little room for disguise with sauces and other gimmicks.  Chef Gary recommended starting with the snapper with Japanese pickle to clear our palates first allowing maximum appreciation of the remaining pieces. Both the tuna and the salmon dissolved on contact with the tongue and both the Boy and I groaned simultaneously in delight.

"potato galette" "lamb cutlet" "miso sauce" "beetroot" "daikon rosti" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Lamb

Having to have my meals adapted to be gluten free means one of two outcomes; I’m either jealous for what I miss out on, or others around me are jealous for my substitution. You never know which way it will go.  The rest of the guests were served quail with Szechuan sauce wrapped in a soba bean pancake. The quails are farmed organically in the Hunter Valley and are supposed to be the biggest quails in the world.  Not that that makes them gigantic by any dimensions I’m sure.

"potato galette" "lamb cutlet" "miso sauce" "beetroot" "daikon rosti" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Another shot because it was so damn good

As I watched everyone eat their dishes with gusto, I hoped my gluten alternative gave me the same level of eye rolling pleasure. I watched the chef chop up a lamb cutlet in a flash of knives in eager anticipation.  It was served with a potato galette and a ball of grated beetroot flavoured with cinnamon and sugar.  Now it’s easy to imagine tuna sashimi dissolving in the mouth but have you had that experience with lamb? Each cube disintegrated like butter leaving the sweet taste of miso sauce lingering on my tongue. My manners went out the window and I picked up the bone with my fingers and I gnawed off every last bit of meat.

"uni butter" "Scallop" "prawn" "crispy prawn head" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Scallop, prawn & crispy prawn head

While some guests were a little nervous at the concept of eating a prawn head, I reassured them that once you have tried them you will never go back.  The subtle flavours of prawn meat are humbled by the intensity of the head and my family all consider it somewhat of a delicacy. This dish was served with uni butter which is made from sea urchins. Rich and decadent, uni butter is like the foie gras of the sea and imparted a luscious complex depth of flavour.

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Next up….Fish of the Day

As the fish of the day was being prepared, owner Brett commented with a little snigger that this dish was one of the more amusing dishes of the evening. I caught a glimpse of the cheeky glint in his eye as our dish was presented to us.

"snapper" "Eggplant teriyaki" "Lotus root sukiyaki" "Japanese citrus miso sauce" "Fish of the Day" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Fish of the Day

As I turned to look at our plates the penny dropped. I’m not sure I will be able to look at eggplant in the same light again! It brought several giggles to the table and made the Boy pause for a few seconds before he could bring himself to eat it. The fish of the day was a wedge of swordfish served with a Japanese citrus (Yuzu) and miso sauce.

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These guys are so nifty!

The final main course allowed our chefs to show us the real entertainment of Teppanyaki style dining. It was hard to catch all the action on film as fast flashes of flames, knives and food were expertly flicked and chopped across the hot plate. The Wagyu beef is the real McCoy sourced from the award winning Mayura Station; one of the top producers in the country.

"wagyu steak" "mayura station wagyu" "Wagyu full blood" "wagyu sirloin" "Mayura Station Grade 9+" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Wagyu (full blood) sirloin steak Mayura Station Grade 9+

Having had the chance to eat “real” Wagyu recently at Waku Ghin in Singapore I feel like I can truly appreciate how eye-boggling amazing this meat can be.  Whilst this was not in the ball park of the brilliance we ate in Singapore, the buttery cut was still mind blowing and this quality is not one you will find easily here in Perth. (PS My Waku Ghin review is on its way!!)

"Crème brûlée" "chocolate drink" "mountain peach" "wasabi cream" "dessert" "japansese dessert" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Crème brûlée, chocolate drink and mountain peach

My final course was a cute collection of a vanilla crème brûlée, a warmed molten chocolate drink, curious mountain peach and a plume of wasabi foam. I am a little biased with my opinion on things like wasabi foam. I have been known to mix wasabi with foods like Camembert and Lindt chocolate just to see what it’s like and ended up loving it so it comes as no surprise the wasabi foam rocked my world.  The brûlée had a thin crackable top with a smooth underbelly and the peach was unusually refreshing. 

"wasabi cream" "dessert" "japansese dessert" "Yuzi Cheesecake" "chocolate drink" "mountain peach" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Perth bars" "Perth restaurants" "Perth food reviews" "Perth Japanese restaurants" "Japanese restaurants" "Teppanyaki restaurants" "Perth Teppanyaki restaurants" "Omakase" "Degustation" "fine dining" "Tsunami" "fuku" "fuku perth" "fuku mosman parK" "fuku restaurant" "bloggers dinner"

Yuzi Cheesecake, chocolate drink and mountain peach

The other guests enjoyed their gluteny dessert of a Yuzu cheesecake. Yuzu is Japanese citrus fruit that is tart in flavour much like a grapefruit.  This dish was also served with the chocolate drink, wasabi foam and mountain peach.

And so the journey came to an end.  Fuku was everything I imagined it to be and I was left feeling a warm glow of happiness I get from a truly satisfying degustation.  I look forward to splashing out on the “Best” menu sometime in the future! A big thank you to Brett, Milan and Gary for providing the Boy and I with such an enjoyable evening.

Fuku – Omakase and Teppanyaki
20 Glyde Street, Mosman Park WA 6012 | 0403 470 964 | http://thefuku.com/

Chompchomp dined as a guest of Fuku. As a result I will not give a score on this dining experience as it is too hard to be 100% subjective when the meal is complementary.  When I return incognito for the “Best” dego I may give a score.

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A spontaneous visit to Nobu, Crown Perth

Posted by  | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, Japanese, Restaurants, Seafood

This year the Boy’s birthday caught us both by surprise as it seemed to come around with lightning speed. Appreciably the first half of our year was a whirlwind hurricane of wedding planning followed by the most fantastic wedding celebrations.  I haven’t even had time to stop and catch my breath yet half the year is already gone by. It is such madness how quickly time can fly when you are busy.  As we really need to try to fit more exercise into our hectic routines instead of catching taxis to restaurants we have been choosing restaurants that are within walking distance from our house and getting ourselves there on foot. Some of these restaurants have been relatively local and close to home such as Pinto Thai, but others have been a vigorous hour and a half trek away like The Stables Bar in the City.

Funds are a little tight this year and so the birthday Boy was happy to settle for a  night out with each other in lieu of a gift.  I think experiences make the best presents anyway. We headed off in the direction of the Crown Casino with the intention for a casual night out at The Merrywell. It was a beautiful 45 minute walk along the Swan River that time of the evening but once we got to the Merrywell we were desperate for a drink. I found a table for us while the Boy went over to the bar to get us a round of drinks. More than ten minutes later he was still standing at the bar drinkless waiting to be served. I received an exasperated sounding text message from him proposing we go to Nobu instead.  My rubber arm didn’t need much twisting; give me Nobu over Merrywell any day!

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The chefs in action

We didn’t have a table booked but fortunately for us there were a couple of seats available at the sushi bar. Woot! A spontaneous visit to Nobu is a sure-fire way to amp me up. This was turning out to be a much better way to celebrate the Boy’s birthday. There must be something about this restaurant and our birthdays; I celebrated my birthday here last year.

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Sashimi: Fresh water eel & Yellowtail

It was a week night and we both needed to switch off from our days’ work so to ease ourselves into it we ordered a couple of pieces of sashimi. We asked our waiter for his recommendations and on his advice we ordered the Yellowtail and some freshwater eel. Both were exceedingly soft and delicately flavoured. Such simple morsels are so easily perfected when they are fresh.

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The Nobu balls

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New Style Sashimi Salmon

New Style Sashimi is one of Nobu’s classic signature dishes. The idea came to Nobu Matsuhisa whilst he was trying to find a way to convince people who don’t like raw fish to eat sashimi. Thin slivers of sashimi salmon are plated beautifully and sprinkled with garlic, ginger, spring onions, sesame seeds, soy sauce and yuzu sauce. Boiling hot sesame and olive oils are then lightly dropped onto the fish around the plate which lightly sears it. Although this was quite an oily dish, the flavours balanced nicely and the occasional crunch between the teeth of sesame seeds added a bit of fun.

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The Sushi master at work

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Spicy Miso Chips Tuna

The spicy miso chips tuna dish reflected the fusion aspect of Nobu’s Peruvian Japanese cuisine. The spiciness was a bit disappointingly subtle for my palate but was at the perfect level for the sensitive tastes of the Birthday Boy. The tuna was as soft as avocado and sat coiled neatly on top of a crispy miso chip. This play on textures was really interesting and I will definitely order this dish again.

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Toban-Yaki Mushroom

Toban-Yaki refers to the method of cooking which involves serving the dish sizzling on a super-hot ceramic dish.   Being a self-confessed mushroom addict, this dish was the highlight of the evening for me.  Layers and layers of slippery mushrooms bubbled away in the piping hot plate including shiitake, eryngii, shimeji, king oyster and the cutest little babies of the mushroom world enoki.

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Sushi rolls: House special

We had been trying to make a conscientious effort to avoid ordering any dishes off the menu that we have already tried on previous visits to Nobu. Despite the lure of mind-blowing dishes like the Miso Black Cod we have so far had success. However our night was drawing to an end and we forgot our efforts and ordered the Nobu House Special sushi rolls. These tasty rolls are filled with smoked salmon, fresh tuna, flying fish roe, white fish, snow crab and avocado, and then wrapped in nori and daikon. Despite containing what sounds like a considerable amount of seafood to fit in one roll, each perfect bite size roll held together until the end giving a wonderful hit of flavours.

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Sea bass with jalapeno dressing

Our last main dish for the night was the sea bass with jalapeño dressing.  I wasn’t really expecting the appearance of this dish because I think I muddled up the name of this dish with their signature Yellowtail Sashimi with jalapeños.  Thick wedges of sea bass sat semi-submerged in a brilliant emerald green jalapeño dressing that at a first glance looked like pea soup.  The dressing was reasonably spicy with a very smooth and creamy after-taste.

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Sushi rolls: Soft shelled crab

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My mound of ginger

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Sushi rolls: Salmon skin

Sitting right in front of the sushi chefs as they perform at their craft made it very hard to resist ordering more. The Boy ordered us two more serves of rolls; one was his favourite and the other choice was something we hadn’t tried before. The soft-shelled crab sushi rolls were a crowd pleaser as always.  The other choice was the salmon skin rolls. These had a very strong salty taste with a similar crispy inside like the crab. I was nearly home and hosed in meeting my goal of being totally full and only had a tiny bit of room left for dessert.  There is always room for dessert.

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Bento Box: Chocolate fondant with green tea ice cream

There are only a couple of gluten free dessert options at Nobu but who really cares about options when you can have their Bento Box. It’s hard to believe that something this delicious can be gluten free.  The ooze speaks for itself.

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Nobu Baked Cheesecake with passionfruit sorbet

Earlier in the evening when we were ordering our dishes, it came into the conversation with our waiter that it was the Boy’s birthday. It was only a brief comment, yet he secretly took it on board and back to the kitchen in order to surprise us at dessert.  What a lovely gesture!

Read my previous review on Nobu from my birthday last year: Nobu, Burswood and a Birthday Surprise

 

Nobu
Crown Casino Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood 6100 | (08) 9362 7551 | www.noburestaurants.com/perth
 
Price:                     $$$$ (Cold dishes $14-65, Hot dishes $19-85, Sushi $8-28, Sashimi $3-10 per piece)
Food:                    4.5/5 (this is my kinda food. If only I could eat here every week)
Service:                4/5 (Much improved since our last visit)
Ambience:          4/5 (Watching all the action in the kitchen was great fun)
Drinks:                  4/5 (Extensive wine and sake list, I just stuck to my Verve this time)
Total:                     16.5/20 Half a point up from our last visit due to a perceivable improvement on service. 

 Nobu Perth on Urbanspoon

Sukishi Charcoal Grill & Japanese Restaurant, Central Festival Phuket

Posted by  | Categories: Fast Food, Japanese, Korean, Restaurants, Seafood, Thailand, Travel

After nearly two years of preparations and a lot of blood, sweat and tears here we are……finally in Thailand for our wedding week extravaganza! With my insane desire for attention to detail, we had arrived 4 days prior to our wedding guests to finish off all our last minute preparations.  There were welcome presents to arrange for each of our guests, gifts for the parents, cake testing, hair and make-up trials and so much more! For the final touches to our wedding welcome gifts we headed into Phuket’s largest shopping centre Central Festival.

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Strawberry daiquiri AKA “The Boy’s Pink Drink!”

I was trying so hard to be super adherent to my dietary requirements as I didn’t want any last minute facial eczema to ruin my bridal beauty preparations. Sushi is always a good option for me in these circumstances provided I stick to simple options. With this in mind we stopped at Sukishi Japanese Restaurant for a bite to eat.  I didn’t have any gluten free soy with me and hoped the sashimi would be fresh enough not to need any.

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Japanese Green Tea

After weeks and week of being subjective to Slim Pasta, the Boy was rebelling against any form of weight loss and got back in to the Thai rhythm of things ordering himself a strawberry daiquiri. Despite not having a girlie bone in his body he certainly loves his pink drinks! I opted for some Japanese Green tea knowing that coffee in this place would be bound to disappoint. The tea was refreshing and uplifting and perfectly calorie free.

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Sashimi set

The menu was more like an encyclopaedia and it took us some time to look through all of its pages.  It contained a combination of Japanese sushi and sashimi with more Korean style BBQ meats.  Normally when we eat out we love ordering unusual things but with only a few days to go I didn’t want to risk any sort of reaction.  I stuck with a simple, but enormous serve of sashimi. The prices were dirt cheap compared to Perth with the whole “boat” costing us about 350 Baht (about $11 Aussie dollars). Bear in mind that this restaurant was in the middle of a touristy shopping centre so I’m sure it was considered pricey by Phuket standards meaning you could get such a meal even cheaper elsewhere.

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Viking Maki

To fill the Boy up we ordered a couple of plates of sushi rolls in the hope that there wouldn’t be any gluten. To increase my chances of this I showed our waitress my Thai eating card with information regarding my allergies written in their language.  She nodded her head at our menu choices assuring me they were suitable.  Unfortunately however for both dishes the rolls contained seafood extender sticks in them and I didn’t want to take any chances as these are generally not gluten free.

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Norway maki

After a few annoying attempts at poking the offending ingredient out with a chopstick I eventually gave up and left them for the Boy to eat for himself. Not such a bad thing as it stopped me stuffing me face right before the wedding anyway! The rolls were freshly made and the fish was delicate and soft.  Next visit I will be more prepared and bring my own gluten free soy which by the way, I suggest you bring with you from Australia as it is hard to find in Thailand. I usually bring a bottle with me whenever I travel in Asian countries.

My apologies for the poorer quality iPhone photos in this review.  Lugging dear “Gordon” (my Nikon SLR) with me shopping all day was not my cup of tea. 

Sukishi
3rd Floor, Central Festival Phuket, 74-75 Moo 5 Vichitsongkram Rd., Amphur Muang, Phuket 83000
 
Price:                     $
Food:                    6.5/10 (not bad for a shopping centre sushi joint!)
Service:                2.5/5 (meals were slow to come out but were made fresh to order)
Ambience:          2.5/5 (tables are set up like booths so although big and busy you still have privacy)
Total:                     11.5/20

 

Nobu, Burswood and a birthday surprise

Posted by  | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Japanese, Perth, Restaurants, Seafood

On the last night of my 3 day birthday eat-drink bender we booked a table at Nobu for a romantic night out just the two of us.  My only request to the Boy for my birthday present this year was for him to get me a gift that would be a total surprise!  Upon suggesting this to him some weeks before I was met with a number of retorts and complaints as he was certain that there would be no way he could think of something without any guidance. I knew he was wrong – when he puts his mind to it he comes up with the most awesome present ideas.

As the taxi pulled up outside our house, the Boy handed me a birthday card in a red envelope saying “Here’s your present!”  I decided to wait until we got to (A)LURE for our pre-dinner drinks before opening it.  It was such a fine evening so after ordering our drinks we sat out on the balcony basking in the setting sun.  I opened the envelope and in it was a card containing a printed piece of paper……curious….

“Happy Birthday Beautiful! Hope you’ve had a marvellous birthday and looking forward to an extra special one next year!”  Before even reading the enclosed piece of paper it suddenly dawned on me what he meant and I felt an overwhelming feeling of excitement and happiness! Next year for my birthday we will be in Thailand celebrating our marriage!!! Wooot!!!

To my even greater surprise the paper read as follows:

 “Aerial Combat Flight for Two: If Top Gun looked like fun then you’ll be thrilled by these combat formation flights with your family member alongside you!  Strap into a war bird and get set for an adrenalin fuelled flight!

When you and your companion arrive at the airport we’ll have you looking the part in no time when you put on your flight suit! You are then strapped into the seat behind the pilot and briefed on the mission ahead. Then it’s out to the flight line – the fun is about to begin!

The combat formation flight is performed with two CJ-6A Nanchangs. At the beginning of your flight you will experience the art of close formation as practiced by the air forces of the world. Then it’s time to split the formation. The fight is on! Diving and turning to gain position behind the opposing aircraft, your pilot will take you on an amazing aerial combat adventure, using real military rules and procedures. This is not a simulator or computer game – this is the real thing!

The CJ-6A Nanchang is the current primary trainer of the Chinese air force, with a 9-cylinder Radial-engine and sliding canopies. This aircraft is still in use, being employed by several air forces in training military pilots around the world.

After your aerial combat flight you and your friend will climb out of the cockpits, grinning from ear to ear and buzzing all over with excitement after having experienced an absolutely mind-blowing flight!

Far out!!! This has to be one of the most original and brilliant presents yet! The Boy has totally excelled himself! After guzzling a couple of glasses of champagne we moved over to Nobu to continue our evening.

We were warmly greeted and shown to our table where our waitress offered to bring us the cocktail special of the evening.  It was something sparkling and peachy but unfortunately I cannot recall much other detail.  The drink was very sweet almost overpoweringly so but totally enjoyable nevertheless.   Without even needing to ask, she came back to our table as we were sipping our drinks to remove our normal soy from the table and replace it with gluten-free soy.

Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno

Our waitress was very knowledgeable about the menu and was thrilled to enthusiastically describe some of the preparation in the kitchen to us.  We started with the yellow tail sashimi with jalapeño – a true example of how Nobu does Japanese differently with Peruvian flair.  For this signature dish, we were advised to eat each delicate velvety slice of tuna with a coriander leaf to experience all the flavours. The cool freshness of the coriander along with the bite of the jalapeño was out of this world!  Being a big fan of wasabi – the heat of the jalapeño is quite a different kind of heat and made a unique and interesting change.

White Fish with Dry Miso

Miso is traditionally used as a paste to flavour a vast number of Japanese dishes. To dramatically increase the flavour Nobu has pioneered the technique of processing the paste to create “dry miso” and he uses it throughout the menu as a powerful seasoning.  To make the dry miso, the miso paste is spread out onto baking paper and cooked for a few hours in the oven at low temperature.  It is then crushed in a food processor to produce small granular chips of intense flavour. Our white fish was served with dried red miso, fried garlic chips, a sprinkling of chives and a tangy lemony dressing.  After the combination of heat and sweet coriander with the yellow tail tuna, the more salty and acrid flavours of this dish was a great progression in flavours.  An excellent second choice.

Miso Black Cod

If you are going to order anything off the menu – the Miso Black Cod is a signature dish that cannot be missed. This is where you really better believe the hype.  After being wowed by a copy of the same dish at Ku De Ta in Bali, I can truly appreciate how the original version here at Nobu has been perfected and mastered.  The fish is marinated in miso for no less than three days allowing it to fully permeate through the thick slab of Alaskan Black Cod.  The texture of the fish is so buttery and slithers into your mouth like silk.

Pork Belly with Miso Caramel

The pork belly with miso caramel is another signature dish but this in no way compared to the show stopping black cod.  The miso had caramelised to a sticky sweetness but the crackling lacked oomph in its crunch which was a little disappointing.

WA Marron Spinach Salad with Dry Miso

The marron spinach salad was a bit of a spontaneous order as we originally wanted to have a mushroom dish but were informed that all the mushrooms were marinated in wheat based soy and therefore not suitable.  Surprisingly the spinach was the highlight of this dish with the dry miso giving such an incredible flavour.  The marron was quite humble in comparison to its salad.

Soft Shelled Crab with Watermelon and Sesame

The soft-shelled crab was one of the specials of the evening and I was so pleased to hear it could be adapted to be gluten-free!  It was served with fresh watermelon and sesame which I haven’t seen before.  Although I know I shouldn’t eat watermelon I did eat some this time and its bursting watery sweetness was an interesting match with the salty crispy crab.  I really shouldn’t have though because I did suffer a bit the next day! Watermelon and other melons are a no-no for fructose malabsorbers.

Sashimi: Squid, Salmon and Smelt Egg and Sushi Rolls: Tuna Asparagus, House Special and Soft Shelled Crab

Now that we had sampled some hot dishes and some cold dishes, we moved onto some of the sashimi and sushi.  We order some squid, salmon and smelt egg sashimi. The sashimi was fairly good quality but not the best we have ever tried.  The squid was particularly well prepared with no chewiness. It was the sushi rolls that we both found most special.  The tuna and asparagus rolls looked so simple but they were like little bombs of flavour and the larger house made rolls were even more so.  I highly recommend all of the sushi rolls we tried.

Bento Box with Green Tea Ice cream

For dessert I ordered the Bento box purely based on it having green tea ice-cream which I adore.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when she opened the box lid and sitting innocently in there was a gluten-free chocolate fondant with one lonely little scoop of green tea ice-cream.  My eyes lit up like a child at Christmas as I cut my spoon into the centre and out gushed delicious chocolaty goo.  My birthday celebrations were satisfyingly complete!

Nobu definitely broke the birthday budget, and it may indeed be sometime before we return there but it was totally worth it!

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Nobu
Burswood Entertainment Complex, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood 6100 | (08) 9362 7551 | www.noburestaurants.com
 
Price:                     $$$$ (Cold dish $18-65, Hot dish $22-52, Sashimi $3-10/piece, Sushi rolls $8-28)
Food:                    4.5/5 (one word – cod! OMG!)
Service:                3.5/5 (although initially brilliant, service slowed significantly as evening progressed)
Ambience:           4.5/5 (great lighting and relaxing but sophisticated)
Drinks:                  4/5 (tried the Hokuetsu Junmai Daiginjo sake – floraly sweet and refreshing)
Total:                     16.5/20

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Fraser's Restaurant, King's Park

Posted by  | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Perth, Restaurants

My sister has never been known for her punctuality.  That’s not to say I’m an expert in such matters myself however she does tend to take it to the next level.  I guess I wasn’t considering this fact when I decided it was a great idea to book an elegant dinner at Fraser’s for the boy and myself, my sister, Dad and our stepmum for the very next day after our Engagement party.  We had spent the bulk of the day nursing sore heads and rumbling tummies and feeling the foggy effects of overindulgence and sleep deprivation.  So when I saw it was only thirty minutes before our departure time and that she still had not started to get ready for our special dinner I prepared myself again for a late arrival.  Surprisingly she managed to get beautified in a whirlwind of hair straighteners and outfit changes for us to arrive an acceptable 20 minutes late.  A record for us as a team I’m sure and it makes me wonder why it normally takes her three and a half hours to get ready?!?

My stepmum has never been to Perth before so I wanted to show her the fabulous view of the city at night from King’s Park.  Fraser’s offers spectacular views from the restaurant and it seemed like a logical choice.  If you exclude a couple of veterinary functions sponsored by drug companies I haven’t actually eaten here in the restaurant before.  Such events generally involve far too much wine and networking for the food to even make a mention.

When we arrived at the Duxton for a few pre-dinner drinks, I was relieved to see the little blue bag containing our shiny gift from Tiffany’s had made the journey from The George where it was initially given to us both as our engagement gift, then returned back to their hotel room for the night only to be handed over to us a second time but in a much more sober fashion.  As I pulled it out of its box I couldn’t help but admire its shininess.  It is a classic Tiffany’s style silver frame which we shall be placing one of the many gorgeous shots of us as a newly engaged couple from the memorable night.

For the duration of our evening, we were all blown away with the high quality of service.  Our waiter for the evening named Justin went above and beyond his call of duty to ensure that our every whim was accommodated for.  This flexibility and can-do attitude carried right through to the kitchen where the chef Chris Taylor and his team were more than happy to alter dishes and suggest alternative options for us rather than just omitting sauces or key ingredients and serving us half of the intended dish. (See my next review on Clarence’s for a comparison!)

House made Gluten free bread $14 a serve!!

Justin informed us that the chef makes his own gluten-free bread on the premises and recommended we try a couple of serves.  It was accompanied by some Baba ghanoush topped with a sprinkling of Dukkah and some fresh butter.   It was grainy bread with good texture – poorly made gluten-free bread can turn out very crumbly like cake or worse still very heavy and stodgy like a rock.  This bread had just the right balance of flours to create normal bread-like consistency and was matched well with the Baba ghanoush.  The only downside which we discovered at the end of the meal was it cost $14 per serve!  We got two serves!!

For entrée my sister and I ordered the Grilled WA rock lobster which was served the only way lobster should be; simply with lemon butter.  Lobster is one of my favourite seafood creatures to eat, and its unique sweet flavour is often spoilt by complex creamy sauces and heavy cheese.  This time round it was fresh and cooked just to perfection, the meat easily tearing delicately away out of its shell and into my mouth!

Sashimi of Tasmanian salmon, Bluefin tuna, hiramasa kingfish, soy pickled ginger wasabi

The boy is a huge sashimi and sushi fan.  He has been known to journey over to Kailis Bros Fish Market in Leederville, bypass all the little packets of pre-prepared sashimi cuts of fish and buy a big chunk of tuna and an even bigger chunk of salmon and proudly carve it up at home for us to eat.  The sashimi he ordered was brightly coloured and soft and the size of his serve was reasonable given the location and the price.  I did think the Fraser’s card on the top of the dish was a little touristy and tacky however.

Crispy fried Soft shelled crab with cumin salt and ginger dipping sauce

My Dad wanted the “Soft crab shell” as he called it (we were all still a little exhausted from the night of fun last night) which was only available as part of the tasting plate of the day.   Once again the kitchen was very accommodating and was happy to offer this separately as an entrée sized meal.  Such an easy task for a kitchen to do yet this is often something that is refused to customers as chefs allow themselves to become nothing more than a line cook preparing meals without alterations.  Having eaten his way around the world hundreds of times over the past years, my French-born father is a natural food critic.  He was impressed with the amount of meat on the crab and seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

Chilled asparagus soup with manna crab and asparagus salad

My stepmum ordered the crab soup which was vibrantly coloured, thick and creamy.   Despite all of us commenting our appetites were a little depressed from the evening prior we all managed to gobble up our entrees without complaint ready for our mains.

Roast duck breast and confit sausage with brandy butter jus (normally served with pistachio beetroot jus)

For mains I ordered the duck which is originally served with a beetroot jus.  As with most jus, there was onion contained in the stock so it was not suitable for me or my sister.  To our delight this was no problem to our chef who created delicious gluten-free, onion-free brandy butter jus to pour over the duck instead.  Both my sister and the boy also ordered the duck and commented to me that a few of their pieces were a little overcooked and dry.  I must have been the lucky one at the table as every piece of my duck was juicy and scrumptious and I could not complain.

Rocket pear and parmesan salad with chardonnay vinegar dressing, Salt roast potatoes, Local new season white and green asparagus, rocket parmesan and pinenuts

Our side dishes were fairly standard and unexciting except for the salt roasted potatoes which looked a little bit like the eggs from the movie Aliens but they tasted absolutely divine.  As we watched the smoke from a bushfire roll in over the city like a blanket we all started to infect each other with our yawns.  We realised just how exhausted we all were and skipped ordering dessert to head home for some well-earned rest.

In my sleepy content state I foolishly left the little blue bag behind at the restaurant and didn’t realise this until the boy shouted as we drove off in the cab: “The Tiffany’s present!!!”  My heart literally jumped into my throat and I was completely awake in a second!  Before the boy had even managed to jump out of the cab; lo and behold we see Justin our waiter running toward us clutching our treasure in his hand.  This gesture just clinched the deal that I’m happy to say this is the best customer service we have received in Perth for a long time!  My opinions of Fraser’s have been completely turned around from previously feeling it may be a bit of an overpriced tourist trap to now understanding that you simply get what you pay for.  I look forward to our return; we just might have to save up for a while!

Score Food 8.7/10 Service 9.5/10 Venue 8.6/10

Fraser’s Restaurant
Fraser Avenue, King’s Park, Perth 6005 | (08) 9481 7100 | frasersrestaurant.com.au
 
 

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