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May Street Larder, East Fremantle

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants

After graduating from high school I left Adelaide and moved across to Perth to study for my dream career in Vet Science. Being only seventeen at the time, my worldly possessions consisted of a suitcase of clothes, some hand-me-down pots and pans, a hand written note book with all of Mum’s family recipes and my stereo tape deck. I couldn’t imagine why I would need or want anything more; music and food were enough to keep me happy.

It was fortunate that I was so easily satisfied because for the next six years I got to experience what it is like to live below the poverty line on Austudy, Australia’s government funded student income. It is easy to learn to go without when you barely have enough income to eat and pay your rent, and it forces you to become much more resourceful.

Many years have passed since then and reflecting back I struggle to comprehend how on Earth I made ends meet on such a small amount of money. I am so grateful that through all my years of perseverance, sacrifice and hard work it has finally paid off. Whilst I can hardly call myself a “rich bitch”, I am enjoying a level of luxury that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of having in my student days.

The Boy has developed a similar appreciation for the finer things in life having originally also come from humble beginnings. He has recognised my last couple of years have been tough ones and so he decided to spoil me for my 40th birthday with a brand new AMG A45. After driving a 1999 Honda Civic for the past ten years now I feel like I’m in a fantasy land. I never thought I could be in love with something with no heartbeat but who am I kidding, I’m completely smitten. She is fast, has a satisfying loud sporty engine and comes complete with personalised plates.

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Of course I now want to get behind the wheel at every given opportunity and our occasional weekend lunch dates generally involve a Sunday drive paired with a pit stop somewhere decent for food. In keeping with this concept we headed down to East Fremantle to check out May Street Larder, a new café from the creators of Bib & Tucker. Knowing Bib & Tucker’s food well I was anticipating good things.

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Banana fig smoothie

As we waited for our table in the standing area, the barista called out to us to see if we wanted any coffees. We had been up quite late the night before and a hit of caffeine was just what I needed.

The Boy isn’t a coffee drinker which is something I will never quite understand. To each their own I guess. Once we were seated at our table he ordered himself a banana fig smoothie instead. It was not overly sweet and quite creamy, and he didn’t utter a single word until it was all gone.

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Zucchini, lupin and lemon fritters (GF, $21)

I was keen to try the zucchini, lupin and lemon fritters. Lupins are a Western Australian grown product and were one of the main hero ingredients for last year’s WA Signature Dish. They are high in protein and fibre making them very filling.

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My lupin fritters were topped with smashed avocado, savoury granola and a couple of poached eggs. The eggs were cooked magically with the fluffy whites encasing liquid gold yolks. We were seated on a communal table and I received a couple of bemused looks as I furiously photographed to capture ever second of my egg porn moment.

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Pulled pork sandwich ($21)

The lack of sleep was giving the Boy a small dose of indecisiveness over the menu until he saw a waiter with a pulled pork sandwich scoot past to a nearby table and then his choice was crystal clear. The pork shoulder was slow cooked to a near melting point and was ever so moist and flavoursome. The chipotle aioli wasn’t too intense for his sensitive tastebuds and he informed me he liked that it had a subtle sweetness to it. His sandwich also came with some May Street Larder house pickles along with very moreish deep fried sweet potato crisps.

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Sadly this was a rare day where my appetite lacked its usual gusto due to a persistent hangover. Additionally my dish of lupin and zucchini fritters was so filling it left me no room for any sweets. I was so disappointed and consoled myself by wandering over to the counter to at least have a peek. What a shame! There were heaps of desserts for people like me; gluten free, vegan and raw options so I would have been spoilt for choice. Basically this simply means I will just have to come back again another day!

May Street Larder

Shop 23, 155 Canning Highway, East Fremantle WA 6158 | www.maystreetlarder.com.au

May Street Larder on Urbanspoon

Typika Artisan Roasters, Claremont

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants

It isn’t often that the Boy wants to go out for a bite to eat and I turn him down. Being not just a mad foodie but also a food blogger means I am forever on the search to find myself decent content to publish. Ordinarily I will take every opportunity I can grab as not all our meals end up being blogworthy; be it because my photos aren’t good enough or maybe there just isn’t a story worth telling.

After working two full weekends in a row on top of my usual full working week, my overtime hours clocked through the roof. Tired, grumpy and in a rare moment of unsociability all I wanted to do was engross myself in front of the computer and work on my massive “blog-log” which is my term for the ever increasing back log of posts needing to be written. After barely seeing each other for the past two weeks, the Boy implored me to stop being so lazy, get up off my bum and go out with him for a late lunch. Having heard mixed reports about Typika Artisan Roasters in Claremont, we both agreed to go there and see for ourselves.

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Situated in a large warehouse style building, Typika import their own beans and roast them on site. In the centre of the dining area is a glass encased room housing their huge coffee roaster so you can watch their creations unfold before your eyes. We didn’t arrive until minutes before the kitchen was closing which made it far too late in the day for me to try their coffee. In fact, I was wired enough from work and didn’t actually need further stimulation to add to the mix. Instead we opted for a couple of fruit smoothies to accompany our nuts and olives whilst we waited for our food.

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Spiced nuts ($6.50, GF)

Within a couple of minutes of being seated our nibbles were brought to the table. The nuts contained a lovely mix of macadamias, cashews and almonds. They were spiced with smoked paprika, chilli, honey, garlic and sea salt. The serve was quite substantial in size.

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Warm spiced olives ($8.50, GF)

Typika’s olives contain their own mix of kalamata and ligurian olives warmed with chilli, garlic, rosemary, cumin and slices of lemon. Soft and nearly velvety, the olive flesh slipped clean off the pit in one easy slurp.  The amount of spice was fairly mild and I could easily have enjoyed a bit more kick.

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Beer battered fish and chips ($30)

The Boy wasn’t that thrilled with any of the vegetarian options and opted for the beer battered fish of the day. After reminding me that he “isn’t really a fish and chips person” I was surprised that he ordered it. If any serve of fish and chips was going to win him over this would have been it. Swirls of batter fried to a crisp golden colour coated each fillet of fish. It was served with battered chips and sweet potato wedges with a side serve of tartare sauce and a bottle of vinegar.

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I have to admit I was a little envious of the appearance of his dish and longed to be able to at least sink my teeth into one bite. That was until later in the day when all that fried batter started to disagreed with him. Being on a plant based diet and no longer used to such fatty foods his digestive system uttered roars of complaints which spanned throughout our yoga class!

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Scallops, black pudding and pea ($22, GF)

Unlike the hungry lad, I only felt like something light and enquired to our waitress which of the two gluten free scallop options on the menu could be adapted to be fructose friendly. The chef recommended the scallops with black pudding, minted pea puree and romesco sauce. They were happy to serve the romesco on the side as it contained garlic which is something a lot of FM’s have to limit.

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Scallops, black pudding and pea ($22, GF)

Plump and only briefly seared each scallop was a little raw on the inside which fortunately is just how I prefer them although I realise others may prefer them more cooked through. The black pudding was cut into the skinniest slivers such that its flavour didn’t overpower the delicate scallops. The pea puree was a little under-seasoned but had enough of a hint of sweetness to allow the scallop’s fresh taste to shine.

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I didn’t think it was fair to write a blog post on a coffee roaster without trying their coffee so as all that overtime gave me an extra day off in lieu I chose to head back to Typika Artisan Roasters solo. That day luck was not on my side as it turned out that a power line had come down across Stirling Highway making access nearly impossible with the Police blocking off the road completely. After getting lost winding my way through the back streets I finally managed to pop out upwind of the drama.

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Short mac ($3.50)

It was bustling for a late weekday morning and most tables were occupied. I sat down on my lonesome ready to get down to business. The drive had taken me a lot longer than I anticipated and I was champing at the bit for a coffee. Served with a bit more milk than I prefer for my short macs, my coffee was quite smooth and creamy however lacked the wow-factor that I expected from a self-proclaimed artisan roaster.

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Typika Breakfast Stack ($21)

I um-ed and ah-ed whether I needed a second breakfast for about two full seconds before I called the waiter back to take my food order. I chose the Typika breakfast stack which included a shredded potato crisp, wilted spinach, avocado and house smoked ocean trout all topped with fried egg. Service was prompt and before I had finished my coffee my meal arrived. The waiter seems rushed and as he placed my dish on the table the whole mountain of food came toppling down in one messy and very un-photogenic pile. I sheepishly requested if it could kindly be send back to the kitchen for reconstruction.

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Typika Breakfast Stack ($21)

I guessed at this point there was no way of remaining incognito for the purposes of my blog post. I winced a little at openly giving myself away and acting like a diva sending my food back. As I pricked my knife into my egg these thoughts quickly vanished to the back of my mind as I watch the bright yellow yolk porn dribble gracefully down my enormous stack. Oh yes.

Typika Artisan Roasters makes a nice modern change from the surrounding old-fashioned styled cafes in the Claremont area. Whilst their coffee was by no means incredible, it still hit the sweet spot for me. Their menu is very gluten free friendly and has a good variety of options beyond the standard eggs benny and big breakfasts.

Typika Artisan Roasters
331 Stirling Highway, Claremont WA 6010 | (08) 9284 6088 | www.typika.com.au
 
Price:                     $$$ (Breakfast $12-21, Lunch $17-34)
Food:                    3/5 (a touch on the oily side, plenty of GF options)
Service:                3/5 (quick, friendly but minimal menu knowledge for ingredients)
Ambience:          3/5 (loud, busy, hive of activity)
Drinks:                  3.5/5 (great coffee but not blow-your-socks-off coffee)
Total:                     12.5/20

  Typika Artisan Roasters on Urbanspoon

Feeling totally liberated with gluten freedom at Solomon’s Café & some free WIFI at Crust

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Paleo, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants, Vegetarian

Having food intolerances can be a real pain if you also happen to be a foodie. Over the years I have learnt not to get fixated with a particular dish on the menu as there is always a good chance that I won’t be able to eat it. Some restaurants are compassionate of our allergic needs and clearly identify the gluten free dishes on their menu which makes ordering food so much easier. I look forward to the day I see a fructose friendly marked menu.

Thankfully, my fructose malabsorption causes me much less severe symptoms than my gluten intolerance does. Provided that I strictly avoid all gluten, I can afford to occasionally be a little lenient on the fructose. We were recently invited to Foodie Craving’s Crust Gourmet Pizza store in Mount Lawley to give feedback on their new free WIFI installed in store. The event didn’t start until 8pm so the Boy and I decided to stop en route to Solomon’s Café on Beaufort Street. The concept of an entirely gluten free restaurant is one that already gives me warm fuzzies, but at Solomon’s Café it is also all organic AND dairy free – it almost sounds too good to be true!

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Knowing we had an evening of pizza feasting ahead of us, we planned to have a light snack only but as is often the case we may have ended up ordering a bit more than we necessarily needed.

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Crispy parsnip chips ($6)

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Raw zucchini pasta with cherry tomatoes, carrot and coriander pesto ($20)

Maybe I should just blame it on the meal sizes? When I chose the raw zucchini pasta, I certainly wasn’t expecting the towering mountain that came to the table. Nor did I plan ahead and ask for the omission of onion. Having eaten raw zucchini pasta on several occasions myself at home, I have grown to really love the texture and will make a great effort to make sure each “pasta” strip is made from the entire length of the zucchini to give long luxurious spaghetti-like strands. For this time round I was disappointed to find my pasta was made from short, comparatively fat pieces of zucchini that would have only been about 6-7 centimetres long. It felt a bit like I was eating a grated zucchini salad. It was tasty, but not what I was anticipating.

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Beetroot gnocchi ($12)

The beetroot gnocchi was much more satisfying although that may be in part because I so rarely get to order gnocchi as most are made using wheat flour. They tasted a little doughy yet still had a light texture and matched well with the vegan pesto drizzled lavishly over the top.

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Vegan nachos ($20)

As soon as I saw there were vegan nachos on the menu I had a gut feeling the Boy would order this for himself. I was quietly hoping he wouldn’t as we had only recently shared raw nachos at The Raw Kitchen the week before. I like to have interesting and different dishes to photograph and write about but he just wasn’t having it. It was a much bigger serve than The Raw Kitchen and he preferred the salsa as it was more flavoursome.

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Vegan nachos: sprouted chips, tomato, black bean & guacamole with a nut parmesan ($20)

Continuing in our quest to try and abstain from alcohol for sixty days we each ordered a healthy antioxidant packed drink. I chose the “Bloody Detox” juice squeezed full of fructose friendly beetroot, carrot, celery, parsley, ginger and lemon. The Boy chose the vegan but creamy mango lassi made with mango, coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom.

"blender" "juicer" "smoothie" "Vegan mango lassi “bloody detox juice" "Mango" "coconut milk" "cinnamon" "cardamom" "Beetroot" "carrot" "celery" "parsley" "ginger" "lemon" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free cooking" "raw food cooking" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Fructose friendly" "Mount Lawley gluten free" "Green smoothie" "Highgate gluten free" "Vegetarian Perth" "Vegetarian restaurants perth" "Solomons cafe" "Beaufort Street" "Mount lawley" "highgate" "raw pasta" "raw noodles" "Crust pizza" "Crust Gourmet pizza" "Crust Mount Lawley" "Crust gluten free" "Perth free wifi"

Vegan mango lassi ($10) and “bloody detox” juice ($9)

Pleasantly but not overly satiated we strolled up Beaufort Street to Crust. I was glad I had left a bit of room for some pizza as they always have plenty of gluten free options for me. The purpose of the evening was to trial run their new free in-store WIFI to assess how useful it would be for their customers and if it was easy to access without guidance.

"Oregano Verdi" "Parmesan Squares" "gluten free pizza" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free cooking" "raw food cooking" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "Fructose friendly" "Mount Lawley gluten free" "Green smoothie" "Highgate gluten free" "Vegetarian Perth" "Vegetarian restaurants perth" "Solomons cafe" "Beaufort Street" "Mount lawley" "highgate" "raw pasta" "raw noodles" "Crust pizza" "Crust Gourmet pizza" "Crust Mount Lawley" "Crust gluten free" "Perth free wifi"

Oregano Verdi and Parmesan Squares on gluten free ($11.50)

As we made ourselves comfortable on the alfresco tables some starters were brought out including the gluten free oregano verdi and parmesan squares. All my vegan efforts were thrown out the window as I couldn’t refuse the offer of such cheesy deliciousness like this. Crust’s gluten free bases taste incredibly “normal” and fellow blogger Jacqui from Pantry in Suburbia commented how she couldn’t even tell it was gluten free.

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Crust Szechuan Chilli Prawn on gluten free ($22)

After polishing off some starters we ran through an online questionnaire using the free WIFI. It was very simple to connect across the variety of devices everyone were using and the Internet speed was much quicker than my Optus 3G network. For the gluten free pizza option we chose the Szechuan Chilli Prawn. Crunchy spicy seasoned prawns were scattered generously over the gluten free pizza base along with fresh capsicum, bocconcini and sweet chilli, and then garnished with fresh lemon and chilli. This pizza has a bit of a kick to it and I highly recommend it for those who like a bit of heat.

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Black Forest Crumble (not GF) ($11.50)

Crust’s dessert pizzas unfortunately cannot be made gluten free as the gluten free bases are made off site in a gluten free environment to minimise any contamination. I looked on in envy as every devoured the Black Forest Crumble; a decadent dessert pizza layered with custard, mud cake and black cherries, topped with baked crumble, drizzled with berry coulis and dusted with icing sugar. Given that our small table managed to eat its way through two of these, I am guessing they were pretty damn good. Gluten free dessert options at Crust include their chocolate mousse and all their ice cream flavours. The chocolate mousse is by far my favourite. I love how there are numerous little chocolate nibs buried in the mousse.

Solomon’s Café is definitely worth a visit for anyone with dietary issues as the menu is designed for us. Better still they use organic ingredients without the high price tag you would expect. Whilst not all our dishes had a wow factor, I loved how I could order pretty much anything off the menu like back in the days before I knew about my intolerances. Total freedom without all the health issues that used to come with it!

Solomon’s Café
487 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9328 7995 | Facebook 
 
Price:                     $$ (Mains $20-36, Sides/Small bites $5-12)
Food:                    3/5 (would prefer more vego options given niche target market)
Service:                3.5/5 (slow to bring out meals however were packed)
Ambience:          3.5/5 (noisy and vibrant)
Drinks:                  3.5/5 (both juice and smoothie options, fructose free options)
Total:                     13.5/20 

 Solomon's Cafe on Urbanspoon

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar Mount Lawley
69 Walcott St Mt Lawley 6050 | (08) 9227 1288 | www.crust.com.au

 Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar Mount Lawley on Urbanspoon

Detoxing for the Drive back to Perth at Samudra, Dunsborough

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Margaret River, Raw Food, Regional WA, Restaurants, Vegetarian

After decades of suffering from the consequences of eating gluten, it has been incredible to discover what life is really about. No itching and scratching, no depression or wild mood swings, endless energy, the disappearance of embarrassing, unsightly eczema and best of all I feel on top of the world. Since learning more about my body and what it can and cannot digest, I have delved deeper and deeper into what IS ideal nutrition. Part of that journey has involved eating much more raw, unprocessed and plant based food. Whilst I’m not a strict vegetarian by any means, meat is only something I eat once or twice a week and the majority of that is seafood. Recently we took a weekend break down to Margaret River and fell off the wagon by eating and drinking ourselves into a blissful coma. After three days of pure gluttony it was time to head home by which point our bodies were crying out for something healthy. I had heard of a vegetarian café called Samudra located in the heart of Dunsborough and instructed the Boy to take us there urgently!

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Smoothie ($8.50)

At home the Boy and I are very dependent on our Omniblend blender to allow us to drink freshly made smoothies regularly. I was suffering from smoothie withdrawal and needed one to hydrate and cleanse my poor overworked liver. Samudra have a number of freshly made juices and smoothies to choose from so I chose their “ABC” which contains apple, beetroot, carrot and ginger. I asked for them to not include the apple as I cannot eat them due to their high fructose content.

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Smoothie ($8.50)

The waitress kindly replaced apple with celery and kale to give it an extra antioxidant boost. Sitting outside soaking up the sunshine, it was a wonderful feeling to treat my body with such fresh organic goodness and I vowed to have the next seven days off alcohol and all other decadent excesses.

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Scrambled tofu ($18)

Secretly I was craving eggs, so I chose the scrambled tofu which I figured would be pretty close in their texture at least. I was right. My “vegan eggs” were coloured bright yellow with added butternut pumpkin and resembled what I craved enough to leave me very satisfied.  It was served on thick slices of grainy gluten free toast with tamari balsamic glazed Portobello mushrooms and zigzags of parsley pesto. Despite being a tower of food it didn’t leave me feeling overwhelmed or uncomfortably full.

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Breakfast burrito ($17)

The Boy ordered the breakfast burrito with smoky red kidney beans, smashed avocado, greens, tomato and coriander all wrapped in organic spelt mountain bread. It was wrapped tightly making it quite easy to eat and didn’t fall apart after one bite.

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Watch out hunny it’s spicy!

The sauce that accompanied it was very spicy and too hot for the Boy but it went very nicely with my tofu so I finished it off for him.

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Raw carrot cake ($8.50)

Earlier this year a few months before the Boy decided to be vegetarian, I suggested to him to try doing a six week “Meatless Monday Raw Food Challenge”. I planned out our recipes so we would only eat raw food on Meatless Monday, all of them adapted for my gluten free, fructose friendly diet. Prior to the challenge I never really realised how diverse a raw food diet could be. It was loads of fun and inspired me to eat more raw food in the future.

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Raw carrot cake ($8.50)

We probably didn’t really need sweets after a whole weekend of spoiling ourselves but it isn’t often you see raw, gluten free, dairy free carrot cake on the menu and after a little insistence the Boy agreed to share one with me. The only thing I have to be careful about with raw desserts is that they often contain a lot of dried fruit such as sultanas and dates which both hold a very high fructose content. I carefully negotiated parts of the cake that didn’t have dried fruit while the boy ate the remainder. It was moist, soft and had just a hint of sweetness.

As we were paying the bill, my emotions hit me; I was so sad that our short trip was all over. It had been a magical weekend away and was just what we both needed; for our inner selves and for each other as a couple. To end the wonderful experience with such a fresh, healthy breakfast left us smiling all the way back to Perth. I couldn’t help myself and bought us a bag of dried kale chips to snack on once we hit the half way mark and stretch out the holiday vibe as long as I could.

Samudra
226 Naturaliste Terrace, Dunsborough WA 6281 | (08) 9779 9977 | www.samudra.com.au
 
Price:                     $ (Breakfast $12-18)
Food:                    4/5 (lots of interesting choices, perfect for that healthy boost)
Service:                3/5 (unobtrusive and meals came out fairly quickly)
Ambience:          3.5/5 (Fremantle styled hippie chic)
Drinks:                  4/5 (this is the place to drink green!)
Total:                     14.5/20

 Samudra on Urbanspoon

Sassys on Swan, Perth

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Perth, Restaurants

After weeks and weeks of the Boy and I talking about increasing the distance of our Sunday walk to 20 kilometres, we were finally faced with a free day with no time restrictions.  Better still, my bestie who is normally busy on this day with yoga teacher training had a free day too. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend my day off; strolling in the sunshine with two of my most favourite people.

Our initial leg took us headfirst into a strong Easterly wind which nearly blew our caps off into the Swan River.  Not willing to give in to the elements so soon we powered on in silence each quietly trying to will the gusts away.  Luckily once we hit the more protected side of the walk path going through to Burswood the wind had started to die down and we could chatter away to each other and actually be heard.  Foolishly I had gone to the gym the day before (in fact I ran to the gym) and I had done a full leg muscle workout completely forgetting about our usual routine the following day.  We had barely reached the quarter way mark and my legs were already starting to feel wobbly and tired. Oh dear, I did it once again….the all or nothing part of my personality really does need to be contained sometimes!

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Chocolate macarons from Kinky Lizard

As we passed through East Perth, the Boy also started to feel a little weary as he too had done a workout the day prior.  In contrast to me, his forethought meant he only trained his upper body knowing full well that his legs would need all their strength for our epic walk.  We stopped in at the Kinky Lizard for some “sugaries”; the Boy got an Anzac cookie, Kate and I shared a couple of macarons.  I lost a little confidence from the outset as I overheard the waiter call them macaroons.  Macarons and macaroons are not the same thing! Our macarons were extremely disappointing and had the texture of a chocolate brownie with the taste of mud cake.  No crisp shell, no chewy centre and definitely no layering of flavours.Kinky Lizard Espresso Bar on Urbanspoon

Energised by the sugar hit we marched on crossing over the Causeway to the South Perth foreshore and then back over the Narrows to the Barrack Jetty area. By this point we had walked a total of 16 kilometres and we were all in desperate need of something more substantial than a snack. We hadn’t visited Sassy’s on Swan for some years and figured it was time for a return visit.

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I ordered my usual short mac which I was pleased to see wasn’t topped up with milk – I like mine served traditional.  It was very good coffee; not too bitter and a little creamy in its aftertaste.  Kate wasn’t as impressed with her latte, it was made too strong for her liking and she felt that the froth was too thick to drink through needing to be scooped off the top first and eaten separately. I actually quite liked the description of her coffee’s thick nearly hardened foam but then to each to their own.

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Fresh fruit smoothie: Berry magic

The Boy went all out trying not one but two of Sassy’s fresh fruit smoothies.  His first and favourite smoothie was the Berry magic with ice cream.  It was thick and tangy with lots of berries and the serving was huge.  I’m surprised he had room for another with his breakfast but I guess we had just walked a fair distance.  His second smoothie was the mango and banana which tasted less fruity and needed more mangos in it.

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Parmesan polenta pizzetta: Golden polenta topped with sundried tomato, sassy’s own pesto, brie, roast caps, artichokes, kalamata olives and golden parmesan

I was having a fair bit of indecision with my selection but finally managed to choose the parmesan polenta pizzetta. I love polenta’s versatility, ranging from creamy purée through to being able to have enough substance and form to be used as a baked quiche base.  I imagined this pizzette to have a lovely crisp firm base and was disappointed to be served a thick crumbly cakey door stop of polenta with all the toppings piled on top.  My serve was huge, they are very generous on their serving sizes; you will not walk away hungry from this place. I couldn’t taste or see any brie cheese as per the menu’s description. Also I felt that the olives should be pitted if served on a pizza and I nearly cracked my tooth on the first one before I realised that they weren’t.

From about the half way mark on our walk, a large component of our conversation was centred about food.  Kate had talked at great length about her craving for pancakes and having already read the menu to us earlier on our walk, she thought she could recall reading that there were some served with mascarpone cheese and fruit.  By the time we stopped for breakfast her heart was so set on the mascarpone cheese that it nearly skipped a beat when she read the menu properly and realised she was mistaken.  She still ordered the pancakes without said mascarpone but should have followed her better judgement and given them a miss.

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Thai banana pancakes: Grandmas buttermilk pancakes with chunky bananas, toasted shredded coconut, coconut syrup & maple syrup

Like my dish, hers was super-sized consisting of two enormous thick fluffy looking pancakes topped with unfortunately scant pieces of fruit and dried coconut.  There was a drizzle of maple syrup over the top but due to the sheer thickness of the pancakes she had to ask for more as she started to feel like she was eating dough.  Ideally this dish should have been piled high with some fresh fruit but ended up being too stodgy and overwhelmingly chewy to enjoy. She described them as a poor copy of MacDonald’s hotcakes and regretted her choice for the remainder of our walk home.  Poor lass!

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Cajun spiced organic chicken with Sassy’s salad veg & red pepper relish cheese tortilla

As it was nearly lunchtime the Boy decided to forego his usual choice of eggs and ordered a tortilla instead.  He initially wanted the lamb however they had run out so he chose the Cajun spiced chicken instead.  This ended up being the best meal on our table. The tortilla didn’t fall apart and remained resilient despite lots of juicy sauce flavouring the meat.  The chicken wasn’t dry and there was a generous serving of other fillings meaning it received definite thumbs up from the Boy.

We felt the service could have been a lot friendlier and were astonished to see the manager correct one of her employees in front of us customers, something I feel is embarrassing to us and demoralising to the staff member.  She did this while failing to even acknowledge us standing in front of the counter.  Perhaps she was having a bad day as during my many previous visits I had never seen this attitude before.

Sassy’s used to be a favourite of ours and we returned this time round after a long hiatus of more than twelve months.  It would have been nice to see a new menu or maybe even just some fresh seasonal specials but unfortunately things haven’t’ changed since our visits some years ago.  Although it was good to return, I was left wishing we had stopped in at Toast instead.

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Sassy’s on the Swan

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Sassy’s on the Swan
171 Riverside Drive, Perth 6000 | (08) 9325 4191 | http://www.sassysontheswan.com.au/
 
Price:                     $$$ (All Day Breakfast $12-28)
Food:                    2.5/5 (GF options, huge serves but needs revamp of menu – hasn’t changed in years)
Service:                2.5/5 (owner/manager needs to smile and not discipline staff in front of customers)
Ambience:          3/5 (lovely location, could make more use of the view)
Drinks:                  4/5 (smoothies and coffees excellent)
Total:                     12/20

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The Raw Kitchen, Fremantle

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants, Vegetarian

After a pretty hectic start to our year, thoughts about planning for our wedding have remained in the infant stages.  But there are some things that need to be commenced well in advance of such an occasion and one of those is getting our bodies into top shape!  Seriously, there are no real overnight miracles to losing weight and toning up, the secret is really simple.  Eat healthily in moderation and increase your amount of exercise.  It’s definitely not rocket science.  The trick is just sticking to it!

The Boy recently was inspired by a documentary called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.  It’s about an overweight Australian guy named Joe Cross who suffered from a number of illnesses secondary to his poor diet and weight problem. He decided to go on a 60 day juice fast drinking only fresh fruit and vegetables.  During his fast he drove nearly 5000 kilometres across America with only one goal in mind; to get off all his medication and achieve a balanced lifestyle.  During his road trip he met a man with similar health issues as he had and together they supported each other to becoming fitter, healthier and happier men.

After watching the doco The Boy went out and bought himself a juicer and a fridge full of fresh fruit and vegetables and tried it for himself.  As I watched the kilos peel off him, it wasn’t hard to partially convert me however I’m not sure I could get through the whole day drinking just juice and no food!  My will power is not that strong!

In a way to complement his new founded desire for raw fresh produce, I suggested a trip down to Fremantle to try The Raw Kitchen where all the food is vegetarian, vegan, organic, raw, dairy free AND gluten-free!  It almost sounds too good to be true!

Their dairy free green smoothies were much tastier than our own concoctions at home although bear in mind we didn’t add any nut milk to ours – they were just straight vegies and fruit! They are made with handmade almond milk, filtered water, spinach and banana.  The Boy had fresh mango added to his which made it a bit sweeter.  Despite being served enormous glasses full we both easily gulped ours down quenching our thirst from the mornings exercise around the Swan River.

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Raw Pizza: Dehydrated buckwheat base with raw tomato, basil and capsicum salsa, macadamia and cashew nut cheese

So much for my words of wisdom to eat in moderation.  We got quite carried away as everything on the menu looked so good and we ended up ordered way too much food leaving no room for any dairy free cheesecake! The raw pizza was packed full of flavour with piles of fresh basil on top.  There was some red onion on the pizza which I had to pick off which wasn’t a big issue.  The cashew nut cheese tasted surprisingly cheese-like and it was hard to believe that it didn’t contain any dairy.

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Nachos: Dehydrated corn crisps layered with our spicy “refried” walnut and pepita blend, tomato salsa, fresh guacamole, raw dairy free sour cream all topped off with a sprinkling of chives

The nachos were a small serve but for us this was fortunate for us!  The corn chips had an almost nutty flavour and were surprisingly crisp considering they had not been baked.

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Pasta” Raw spiralised zucchini “noodles” in our rich homemade marinara pasta sauce

The “pasta” was made out of ribbons of raw zucchini which had an excellent firm texture to mimic that pasta feel.  The rich sauce was lip smacking good and contained some sliced Kalamata olives and more delicious fresh basil.  It was topped off with a sprinkling of raw macadamia “parmesan cheese”.  Highly recommend.

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The Raw Kitchen
Shop 14, Piazza Arcade, 36 South Terrace, Fremantle 6012 | 0409 323 441 | www.therawkitchen.com.au
 
Price:                     $$$ ($18-23 lunch, $3.80 espresso, $8.50-10 smoothies)                
Food:                    5/5 (the pizza and the pasta are complete winners)
Service:                3/5 (quick to bring food but slow to clear tables)
Ambience:           2.5/5 (in an arcade in front of shops)
Drinks:                 4/5 (fabulous smoothie)
Total:                    14.5/20

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