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A Spanish Siesta after Pinchos, Leederville

Posted by  | Categories: Bars, Featured, Perth, Restaurants, Tapas Bar, Wine Bar

“Take me back to Barcelona!” These are words that escape my mouth on more than one occasion. My love affair with Spain first developed back in the 90’s when the Boy and I went backpacking around Europe together for the summer. We were uninhibited by shackles of any debt or responsibility and traveled nearly six months roaming from city to city without any real plan. We stayed in hostels and I successfully survived living out of a backpack with only two pairs of shoes to choose from. I laugh at this fact when I think of how I travel now; with suitcases the weight of bricks complete with multiple pairs of shoes, boots, jackets, dresses, running gear, party outfits, lap tops and camera equipment. My how time can change people!

More recently I traveled alone to Barcelona on conference and despite being ten years between visits, I slipped back into my hedonistic state within the first day. Simply I ate, and I ate and I ate. There wasn’t a single meal that didn’t excite me and my only regret was not bringing the Boy with me.

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House made Sangria $19/caraffe

People in Barcelona don’t eat three square meals like us Aussies tend to prefer, and more curiously they eat at the strangest times of day with most restaurants not opening their doors until 9 pm at night. During the day for those who want a snack, there are a multitude of “pintxos” bars serving a variety of small bites of tapas with a wooden stick skewered in the middle of it. At the end of your meal, the waitress would count your sticks to determine your bill.

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Pintxos have started to take off in Perth with a couple of options around town. It is somewhat comforting to know I don’t have to travel too far to get a little piece of Barcelona. I was recently invited to dine at Pinchos in Leederville for a bloggers lunch.

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Pintxo Chorizo con miel sausage, honey, cheese ($2 each, GF)

Run by the same team behind Jus Burgers, Pinchos takes that concept of all day bites to the Spanish level, with a multitude of morsels to fill your hungry belly. They have a separate food intolerances menu making ordering very easy.

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Boquerones y pulpo ($9, GF)

We ordered a bunch of my favourites including boquerones y pulpo; white anchovies and octopus served with ribbons of zucchini, chilli and grapes. The octopus was not as tender as that in Spain but then I have set very high standards for myself. I loved the addition of sweet grapes. The Boy added even more sweetness to his by drizzling the honey from the chorizo pintxos on top.

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De la Casa (House salad) ($8, GF)

Another Spanish thing I adore is manchego cheese. This aged hard sheep cheese has a very characteristic flavour and I ate it by the truckload in Barcelona. The De la Casa salad, or house salad, is made with thin slices of manchego tossed with iceberg lettuce and a sherry vinaigrette. A simple but addictive dish that I could easily eat every day.

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Embutidos: A Taste of Four for one ($16, GF)

We wanted to try a few of Pincho’s cured meats but I was mindful that there were a number of other dishes I was desperate to order. We agreed to compromise and order a “taste of four for one”. Our plate included Jamon Serrano, Morcon, Chistorra and Fuet Anise.

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Our favourite two on the meat plate were the Jamon Serrano and the Chistorra. Chistorra is a traditional sausage from the Basque region made from minced pork and flavoured with garlic, salt and paprika.

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Bienmesabe fish and stuffed squid ($10, GFA)

Both of the two daily specials were able to be adapted gluten free so we chose the Bienmesabe fish with stuffed squid. Served in two components, the fish was delicately tender and infused with gentle spices on a bed of roasted cherry tomatoes and capsicum.

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Bienmesabe fish and stuffed squid ($10, GFA)

The stuffed squid were particularly delicious, stuffed with a sweet fig paste and drizzled in caramelised balsamic. My only gripe was I was left wanting more.

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Tortilla de Bacalao y Patata ($9, GF)

A Spanish tapas feast is never complete without a slice of tortilla. In Spain a tortilla is not a form of flatbread, but instead comprises of a thick omelette with chunks of potato and other ingredients cooked through. They are generally gluten free and an easy quick snack for a Coeliac on the go. Pincho’s tortilla is served with some salad and made a substantial meal on its own.

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Pintxo de Chocolate ($3, GF)

We were far too full for dessert but as always I was left with the need to end with something sweet on my palate. We ordered a couple of chocolate and sherry fig truffle to finish. They were soft and melted in the mouth leaving a creamy sensation to roll over my tongue for a lingering moment.

Disclaimer: Chompchomp dined as a guest of Pinchos. Her opinions and photos are her own and she will not be influenced by the fact her meal was at no cost. In a desperation for a little bit of Barcelona without the cost of an airfare, she has already returned in cognito and found the quality of the food and service to be consistent.

Pinchos

749 Newcastle Street, Leederville WA 6007 | (08) 9228 3008 | pinchos.me

Pinchos on Urbanspoon

Sticking to a budget at Ace Pizza with sangria at Enrique's

Posted by  | Categories: Bars, Featured, Italian, Perth, Pizza, Restaurants, Tapas Bar

Despite knowing that the menu at Ace Pizza is devoid of gluten free pizza options, this has been a venue that has remained on my wish list for some time. Don’t be fooled by their name, whilst I’m told Ace’s pizzas are far from shabby it’s their share plates that I was keen to try. Being paid monthly means when we hit the end of the month we are scratching for a cheap place to eat out without compromising on our needs for quality or flavour. I was hoping Ace Pizza would fulfil this basic need.

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Corn, chilli, mayo and balsamic ($9, GF)

Dishes are certainly cheap, reasonably sized and served with lickity split, no fuss speed. Perhaps too much so as within about ten minutes of placing our order all of our dishes had made their way to our table. There were a number of gluten free and vegetarian options to suit both our needs however as is often the case, we ordered far too much food.

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Corn, chilli, mayo and balsamic ($9, GF)

The grilled corn was a refreshing way to start with each of the juicy cobs lavishly drizzled in thick chilli mayo and balsamic.

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Beets, walnuts and salted ricotta ($16, GF)

The beet salad came with crunchy walnuts and dollops of whipped salted ricotta. The ricotta had the texture of soft serve giving a great play in textures with the remaining ingredients.

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Chop chop beef ($13, GF without the bread)

I was in a rare mood for a morsel of red meat and ordered the chop chop beef without the bread. There was sadly no gluten free replacement for the bread which would have been a nice touch. I confess that after having eaten the steak tartare a bunch of times at Rockpool I am yet to find a match of that calibre elsewhere in Perth. Whilst Ace’s chop chop beef was enjoyable it lacked the smooth finesse and fresh aftertaste of Perry’s signature version. I reminded myself that it was also half the price.

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Squid, crispy beans and chilli aioli ($16, GF)

The squid was my favourite dish of the evening with the surprising element of super crunchy deep fried chickpeas mixed with rings of squid all drizzled in generous lashings of chilli aioli. I love it when you don’t have to ask for more aioli! The Boy and I have a bad habit of eating quickly and before we gave our stomachs a chance to register what we had already eaten, we jumped ahead to ordering another dish; the crispy potatoes with Nduja mayo.

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Crispy potatoes with Nduja mayo ($9, GF)

Nduja is a spicy spreadable type of Italian pork sausage typically made using the shoulder, belly and jowls along with the stomach lining (tripe). I wasn’t sure how this would work in a mayo. Basically it turns the mayo into some sort of strange meat sauce. The Boy was horrified at the mere sound of this yet once the dish was brought to our table he couldn’t resist a taste. The spuds were perfectly crispy with soft velvety centres and the “meat sauce” was in no way overwhelming. I decided I was certain there would be no room for any more food after this.

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Sangrias ($5 on Sundays, otherwise $9)

Exploding at the seams we paid our super cheap bill and with some spare change in our pockets we agreed to waddle up the street to Enrique’s School for to Bullfighting for a night cap. On Sundays, Enrique’s serves their signature sangria for $5 per person – a total bargain. It is served with a cute little jar of sherbet for an added element of zing.

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Queso de cabra Pedro Ximenez ($9, no GF crackers available)

After a round of drinks I became aware that I did indeed have a teeny bit more room to end our night of cheap gluttony. Neither of us could agree on whether we ordered sweet or savoury so to avoid a squabble we ordered one of each. The Boy’s choice was a hard goats cheese; Queso de cabra Pedro Ximenez. This is a smooth semi-soft cheese that is bathed in Pedro Ximenez wine for four months. It was quite a dense almost elastic cheese with a slightly sweet flavour.

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Honey Pannacotta ($12, GF)

My choice was the gluten free dessert option. Hardly surprising really, I mean, shouldn’t I make use of that second stomach of mine? 😉 The gluten free dessert option was a Pannacotta served with honeycomb, salted caramel ice cream and chocolate soil. I was initially confused by our first waiter who told me that the chocolate soil wasn’t gluten free. Thus when it was served to us with the soil I humbly asked for it to be sent back to the kitchen. I hate being a pain in restaurants but it’s not like I can just eat around the gluten on the plate!

Returning from the kitchen our second waiter had double checked with the chef and thankfully assured me that the whole dish was actually gluten free. I nervously ate it hopeful that I was given the right advice, whilst grateful that I could eat it as it was the bomb! I had absolutely no ill effect that evening and have since contacted management who confirmed that this is correct, the dish is completely gluten free. Bit of a mix up but it was all good in the end.

Ace and Enrique’s are both affordable places to hit up for a decent meal when you’re on a bit of a budget but want more than just fast food. The music is pumped up loud, the lights are dimmed and the service is quick and friendly.

Chompchomp dined at Ace and Enrique on her meagre end of month budget with an equal contribution from the Boy. 
 
Ace Pizza
448 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | 0499 448 000 | www.acepizza.com.au
Price $$ Share plates $6-32, Pizzas $15-26 (no GF pizza available)
Ace Pizza on Urbanspoon
Enrique’s School for to Bullfighting
484 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | 0438 248 414 | Facebook

 Enrique's School for to Bullfighting on Urbanspoon

Gluten Free Tapas at Casa de Tapas, Barcelona

Posted by  | Categories: Barcelona, Featured, Restaurants, Spain, Tapas Bar, Travel

Many of you will appreciate that an important part of travel preparation is to plan all the places where you are going to head out to eat. As a direct result of this pre-planning, my holidays always seem to turn into a crazed eating feast moving from one venue to another in a mad attempt to complete an enormous bucket list of dishes and venues. One of the places I really wanted to visit in Barcelona was the famous Ferran Adria’s Tickets Bar. Tickets has the reputation of being one of the hardest restaurants in the world to secure a table at. I tried my best to get a seat online before I left Australia without success. On arrival in Barcelona I tried waiting outside Tickets before they opened that night in the grim hope of scoring someone else’s cancellation but this was all in vain. The closest I could get to entering the restaurant was a quick photo taken out the front with Debbie, my lovely new friend from Texas, that I had met at the conference I was attending that week.

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Outside the front of Tickets Bar (I’m on the right)

Luckily there are a number of more accessible restaurants owned by the same group within walking distance albeit neither are headed by the acclaimed Chef Adria.

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I consoled myself knowing at least I would be able to visit both of these other locations called Casa de Tapas and Rias de Galicia. I was so thankful that  my newly made friends that I had met at the vet conference were also keen foodies and were more than happy to oblige my needs. I loved Casa’s quirky menu which came presented as a children’s book complete with wacky cartoons.

"olives" "gordal sevillana" "caspe" "verdial" "kalamata" "piparra" "anchovies" "pepper" "perth restaurant reviews" "perth restaurants" "perth gluten free" "perth fructose friendly" "perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food photos" "perth food blog" "food blog" "travel blog" "perth" "perth travel blog" "chompchomp" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "low fodmap diet" "fructose malabsorption" "gluten free cooking" "raw food cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "coeliacs" "coeliac disease" "spain food blog" "spain restaurant reviews" "spain travel blog" "barcelona food blog" "barcelona restaurant reviews" "barcelona travel blog" "spain" "barcelona" "barcelona restaurants" "gluten free barcelona" "gluten free spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "gluten free tapas" "tapas" "casa de tapas" "casa de tapas barcelona"

Olives (4.80€, GF)

We ordered a bunch of tapas dishes to share, many of which were naturally gluten free and thus not requiring any adaptation. Within the first few days of arriving in Spain I had learnt to politely request to the wait staff “Sin gluten per favor?” voiced in my poorly pronounced Spanish. These seemed to be the magic words needed to help reveal my gluten free options. It amazed me that how no matter where we stopped to eat in Barcelona, everything tasted so damn good! Casa de Tapas’s marinated olives contained a mix of four different types including gordal sevillana, caspe, verdial and kalamata.

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Anchovies LOLÍN 00 (1.80€ 1 fillet, GF)

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Escalivada (4.50€, GF)

A simple dish that I grew to love in my time in Spain was “escalivada”, or smoked roasted vegetables. Soft strips of capsicum and eggplant were lightly charred and drizzled with olive oil making them as delicate as butter. This dish would have been even more amazing cast on top of some crusty bread. Sadly the only place I found gluten free bread in Barcelona was back at my hotel.

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Fried box of things with pil pil dipping sauce (Cajita fritos) (15.20€)

My friends each ordered themselves a “fried box of things” as it was described on the menu. Each wooden box contained a variety of crispy fried pieces of seafood including school prawns, calamari and octopus. It smelt absolutely amazing and made me quickly reach over for the menu to order myself some more food as I started to salivate.

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Navajitas (Razor clams) (9.80€, GF)

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Prawns from Palamós (14.80€, GF)

With each dish we ate, Casa de Tapas reinforced the concept that you don’t need to use lots of fancy ingredients to make food taste amazing. All you require are fresh ingredients prepared with love. Dishes as simple as flash fried green peppers and poached prawns needed nothing extra for flavour other than a squeeze of fresh lemon.

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Padrón Pimientos (5.10€, GF)

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Tacos de solomillo (14.20€, GF)

Of course a meal in Spain wouldn’t have been complete without a serve of “pulpo”. There is nothing quite like Spanish octopus, it takes on a texture I rarely find replicated back home in Perth. It is so soft and nearly creamy, with no chewiness and is dusted with paprika and spices. This dish was served on top of slices of boiled potato that mashed easily under my fork. I smeared the potato over the spicy octopus sections and happily gobbled it up.

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Polbo á feira (10.50€, GF)

Casa de Tapas offer simple traditional Galician styled tapas without breaking the bank. I was very appreciative that they were so helpful with selecting gluten free tapas dishes for me. We found the service to be quick and friendly and would have been happy to return again and again if it wasn’t for my lengthy bucket list!

Casa de Tapas Cañota
Calle Lleida 7, 08004 Barcelona, Spain | 93 325 9171 | casadetapas.com
 
Chompchomp’s Barcelona trip in July 2013 was partly funded for by her place of work as part of her continuing education fund. She had to foot the food bill for the week herself however despite eating the most absurd amount of food she found it to cost much less than an equivalent amount of feasting in her home-town of Perth, Australia. 

Eating my way around a Gluten Free Barcelona

Posted by  | Categories: Barcelona, Bars, Featured, Restaurants, Spain, Tapas Bar, Travel

Some people shop until they drop. Me? I just eat until I drop. gluten free Barcelona

Surely, by far and by large the best part of travelling to another country is being able to taste their local cuisine. When the Boy and I travel together we will always share our dishes so that we can try as many different things as possible. Recently I travelled to Barcelona without my lovely husband to attend the International Society of Feline Medicine’s World Feline Veterinary Conference. This was a new experience travelling solo and it presented me with a problem; I no longer had a buddy to share food my food with. Now logically one would think that there is an easy solution to this problem. Just order less food. But no, this solution was never going to work as moderation has never been my forte. I take the concept of “all or nothing” very seriously.

For most of my restaurant meals that I devoured in Barcelona I will write (or have already written) an individual blog post about the experience. But as I wandered through the cobbled streets of this wonderful city I found that it was so easy finding a gluten free Barcelona to enjoy so in addition to my more elaborate meals I wanted to share these extra snippets and snacks with you.

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If you head out toward the coast of Barcelona you will find a quaint neighbourhood called La Barceloneta. It is a triangular shaped district that cuts into the sea and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Port Vell and the trendy El Born neighbourhood. Filled with cute little narrow streets you can smell the fresh taint of sea in the air. Strolling through the cobbled lane ways I found loads of busy tapas bars and restaurants serving wonderful cheap Catalan food.

On my first day in Barcelona I wanted to familiarise myself with some key foodie spots so I took a small personalised tapas tour with a German man named Dirk Engelhart. One of the places he took us to was a bustling little joint called La Bombeta who specialise in a Catalan dish called “bombas”. Bombas are deep-fried balls of fluffy mashed potato with a minced meat centre and they are served with a spicy brava sauce. They are not gluten free unfortunately so I didn’t try them. As I looked around the cramped bar I noticed it was filled with a combination of both locals and tourists. Always a good sign.

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Grilled sardines

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Tortilla and those crunchy prawns

Bombas are not the only thing on La Bombeta’s menu and there were plenty of gluten free options for me. I ordered of bowl of piping hot steamed mussels, a plate of grilled sardines and some fresh prawns. The service was quick and the vibe was noisy but fun. The prawns were so fresh and crunchy with a strong, rich flavour; these were ones that were good enough to suck the juices out of their heads. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to enjoy such a delicacy, I shamelessly sucked every one noisily while the remaining two tour members in our group looked on in horror.

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Art market in the Gothic quarter

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Passionfruit coulis, chocolate genoise, orange cream (3.50 €)

Dirk also took us to a small little dessert bar called Sweet Dreams, which is located in the heart of the winding streets of the Gothic Quarter. I was ecstatic to see quite a number of gluten free mini-cakes that looked very different from the usual boring, bog standard offerings. I tried their chocolate genoise cake with orange cream and passionfruit coulis. Fairy light sponge was topped with uplifting cream and embellished with tangy coulis. This was an assault on my senses that I could happily endure again and again.

The conference spanned over one week and the majority of it was fully catered for with meals provided by the hotel; Hotel Fira Palace. But honestly, when you are staying in such a fabulous gastronomic country like Spain who wants to eat hum drum catered food? Intermittently I found myself sneaking out of lectures into the sunshine to grab myself a quick bite of something more local. Surprisingly I found that most of the places that I visited had a good understanding of what is gluten free provided that I asked them the correct magic words:

“Por favor, Sin gluten?”

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Plaça Nova

Strangely, the remarkably similar words of “no gluten” or “gluten free’ appeared to be much harder for the locals to understand and consequently I earned the nickname of “Dr Sin Gluten” by a group of four lovely foodie friends that I meet on the first day of the conference.

The wonderful thing about travelling to an international conference is that you can meet like-minded people from all around the world. The five of us spanned across the globe; one from Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, one from West Virginia, a couple from Austin, Texas and then of course there was myself from Perth, Australia. We all instantly seemed to click with each other and proceeded to spend the rest of the week wining, dining, laughing and sharing stories together until the wee hours of each morning. I look forward to the next time that we can all gather together again! Hopefully it will be soon!

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Prior to meeting my posse, one of the first places I tried was Conessa, a little sandwich store in Plaça Sant Jaume situated in the heart of the Gothic Quarter. Conessa specialise in making gluten free baguettes and they have a huge range to choose from and an English menu. My eating habits had already started to escalate out of control so I sensibly wanted to just try something light. I chose one of their vegetarian options which contained my absolute favourite Spanish cheese manchego along with fresh tomato, fried pepper and oregano. The bread was very fluffy and did not crumble apart as many gluten free breads are prone to doing. The bread had a slight sweet taste that reminded me of brioche both with its texture and its flavour.

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Northern Spain is the origin of pintxos and Barcelona has numerous pintxos bars dotted all about their streets. Since Bar de Halcyon recently opened  in Perth many of us are now educated to appreciate what pintxos are but for those who are not in the know, they are are basically small snacks that are speared by a wooden stick and served on a bar where you go up and choose for yourself. Once you have eaten your full, the waiter will come over to your table and count how many sticks you have which determines your bill. Like many sushi bars who use coloured plates, some pintxos bars will use different colour sticks to indicate varying prices.

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Traditionally pintxos are served on a slice of crusty bread meaning that most of them are not gluten free. Bilbao Berria is a popular pintxos bar in Plaça Nova and their bar is filled with all sorts of amazing Catalan tapas. Unfortunately, whilst the wait staff are friendly and efficient they weren’t overly helpful in assisting me to choose gluten free options. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and made a not so educated guess what was suitable.

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Everything looked far too tempting and I wanted to try them all! To maximise how many pintxos I could eat I stupidly talked myself into believing that I would be FINE pulling the toppings off the bread and just eating those without eating the bread. Of course I was totally wrong and the gluten contamination proved enough for me to have a reaction that evening. It’s my own stupid fault for being so brazen. Or greedy. Nevertheless, despite my own self-inflicted gluten ingestion, I was still impressed with the variety and quality of pintxos on offer at Bilbao Berria and for those people  blessed with no gluten intolerance I highly recommend a visit.

"sangria" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "gluten free tapas" "Bilbao Berria" "tapas tours barcelona" "tapas tours" "Bombas" "La bombeta" "Sweet Dreams Barcelona" "Placa Nova" "Conessa" "sangria" "tapas" "tomato bread"

When we hit the mid-week mark, there was a lecture free afternoon to allow delegates time to explore the city. Our posse of five headed out together with basic ambitions to catch rays of sunshine, eat some food and do a spot of shopping. Off we headed down Avenue Parallel and before long we had worked up a bit of an appetite and agreed to stop and eat. We sat down outside at a fairly nondescript tapas bar situated along the Avenue however I didn’t catch their name. What I do remember is that despite speaking very poor English they were extremely helpful and enthusiastic in advising me what was “sin gluten” on their simple and inexpensive tapas menu.

"marinated octopus" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "gluten free tapas" "Bilbao Berria" "tapas tours barcelona" "tapas tours" "Bombas" "La bombeta" "Sweet Dreams Barcelona" "Placa Nova" "Conessa" "sangria" "tapas" "tomato bread"

Marinated octopus

For those of you who follow this blog regularly, you may have already been reading about my obsession for marinated octopus that started whilst I was over in Spain. Back home in Perth I commonly find octopus to be quite chewy. Not so in Barcelona. The Spaniards obviously take much greater care preparing these creatures and every time I ate it over there I was repeatedly astounded how soft and delicate it can actually be.

"pan con tomate" "tomato bread" "tortilla" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "gluten free tapas" "Bilbao Berria" "tapas tours barcelona" "tapas tours" "Bombas" "La bombeta" "Sweet Dreams Barcelona" "Placa Nova" "Conessa" "sangria" "tapas" "tomato bread"

Tomato bread (not GF) & tortilla

My fellow companions also ordered their favourite; tomato bread or pan con tomate. This is one of the simplest, well-loved, widely eaten and famous dishes from Cataluña. Many tapas bars will have a bowl of tomatoes and garlic sitting on the table with a bottle of olive oil so you can make the bread yourself. It is so easy to make but unfortunately not many bars have gluten free bread! Consequently upon my return to Perth I was inspired to make my own gluten free pan con tomate. See my recipe here.

"Plaça Nova" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "gluten free tapas" "Bilbao Berria" "tapas tours barcelona" "tapas tours" "Bombas" "La bombeta" "Sweet Dreams Barcelona" "Placa Nova" "Conessa" "sangria" "tapas" "tomato bread"

Before I left Perth for Barcelona, I asked around on Twitter for advice on where to eat. I was told by one blogger to just “Eat everything!” There is some merit in this comment because for my whole week in Barcelona, I didn’t have one meal that failed to impress me. Whether it was a planned and highly researched degustation extravaganza like at Nectari and Ria de Gallacia, or just a spontaneous, unplanned stop-in at Restaurant L’Amfora as we  were walking past; all the food I ate was amazing. More importantly I found that a gluten free Barcelona really does exist leaving me champing at the bit to return to this amazing city!

It is no wonder that I managed to become a fatty boombaladi so rapidly and although I cannot wait to return to Spain, I have some hard work at the gym first!

Travelling to Barcelona or Spain?  Be sure to checkout the Lonely Planet Barcelona City Guide and the Lonely Planet Discover Spain Travel Guide before you go!

La Bombeta
Calle de la Maquinista 3, La Barceloneta, 08003 Barcelona, Spain | +34 (0) 933 199 445 | (Tapas 4.50-14 €)
 
Sweet Dreams
Carrer Regomir 4 bis, Barric Gótico, 08002 Barcelona, Spain | +34 (0) 671 430 115
 
Bilbao Berria
Plaça Nova 3, Barcelona & c/Argenteria 6, Barcelona | +34 (0) 933 170 124
 
Conessa
Barri Gòtic: Llibreteria 1(Plaça Sant Jaume), 08002 Barcelona | +34 (0) 933 101 394
Hostafrancs-Montjuic: Creu Coberta 80, 08014 Barcelona 

 

Gluten Free Tomato bread (pan con tomate)

Posted by  | Categories: Barcelona, European, Featured, Recipes, Spain, Vegetarian

Tomato bread, or as it is said in Spanish “pan con tomate” is one of the simplest but most well-loved and widely eaten dishes from the Cataluña region in the Northern parts of Spain. During my recent travels to Barcelona I found that many tapas bars would actually have bowls of tomatoes and garlic sitting out on their tables with a bottle of olive oil. As their customers took their seats, waiters would bring out freshly toasted bread to the table enabling the diners to make the bread for themselves. Unfortunately for me I found that not many of these bars offered gluten free bread thus leaving me to watch others enjoy the tomato bread in envy. Consequently upon my return to Perth I was inspired to make my own gluten free tomato bread.

Just a word of warning. This gluten free tomato bread is so easy to make yet it is incredible addictive.

I dare you to stop at just one slice.

“Gluten Free Tomato bread” “Tomato bread” “Spanish Tomato Bread” “pan con tomate sin gluten” “pan con tomate” “sin gluten” “Spanish food” “Cataluña” “Cataluña cuisine” “Gluten free Spanish food” “Gluten free Spanish recipes” “gluten free recipes” “gluten free Spanish”  "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free"”Scharr” “Pane Casereccia” “gluten free bread”

Firstly gather your ingredients; all you will need is some gluten free bread, ripe tomatoes, fresh garlic, olive oil and sea salt. I used Schar’s Pane Casereccio  which has a great continental texture and toasts beautifully.

“Gluten Free Tomato bread” “Tomato bread” “Spanish Tomato Bread” “pan con tomate sin gluten” “pan con tomate” “sin gluten” “Spanish food” “Cataluña” “Cataluña cuisine” “Gluten free Spanish food” “Gluten free Spanish recipes” “gluten free recipes” “gluten free Spanish”  "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free"”Scharr” “Pane Casereccia” “gluten free bread”

Cut a garlic clove in half and rub the cut side onto the slice of toasted bread until the clove is worn down and falling to pieces.

“Gluten Free Tomato bread” “Tomato bread” “Spanish Tomato Bread” “pan con tomate sin gluten” “pan con tomate” “sin gluten” “Spanish food” “Cataluña” “Cataluña cuisine” “Gluten free Spanish food” “Gluten free Spanish recipes” “gluten free recipes” “gluten free Spanish”  "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free"”Scharr” “Pane Casereccia” “gluten free bread”

Slice a ripe tomato in half and then rub the cut side of the tomato generously onto the toast.

“Gluten Free Tomato bread” “Tomato bread” “Spanish Tomato Bread” “pan con tomate sin gluten” “pan con tomate” “sin gluten” “Spanish food” “Cataluña” “Cataluña cuisine” “Gluten free Spanish food” “Gluten free Spanish recipes” “gluten free recipes” “gluten free Spanish”  "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free"”Scharr” “Pane Casereccia” “gluten free bread”

Use one tomato half for one to two pieces of bread and allow most of the tomato pulp to be absorbed by the bread.

Drizzle with olive oil, salt to taste and voila! Gluten free tomato bread! Eat immediately!

“Gluten Free Tomato bread” “Tomato bread” “Spanish Tomato Bread” “pan con tomate sin gluten” “pan con tomate” “sin gluten” “Spanish food” “Cataluña” “Cataluña cuisine” “Gluten free Spanish food” “Gluten free Spanish recipes” “gluten free recipes” “gluten free Spanish”  "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "gluten free blog" "perth gluten free"”Scharr” “Pane Casereccia” “gluten free bread”

A little shout out of thank to my dear husband for being my hand model. 😉 xxx

 

Meeting some famous Foodies at Tapas 24, Barcelona

Posted by  | Categories: Barcelona, Bars, Featured, Tapas Bar, Travel

Earlier this year I was in Barcelona for eight days to attend a conference. Despite this being a short trip, I managed to squeeze in a tremendous amount of eating and I can proudly look back and commend myself with my efforts. The downside of my gluttony was incrementally revealed day by day as I stood in front of my hotel room mirror each morning I could see my waist line slowly enlarging! After the first few days I realised I needed an action plan and so first thing in the morning I forcibly dragged myself out of bed hung-over and blearily eyed in order to jog up the 200 stairs leading to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "tapas 24" "gluten free tapas" "Carles Abellan" "Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya" "National Art Museum"

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

On reaching the summit I nearly tripped over my own feet in exhaustion with my sides heavily heaving and my face flushed tomato red. Feeling hideously nauseous but oh-so-satisfied I vowed to return to repeat it all again the next day. This was my warped mental justification for spending the remainder of my day eating.

After thoroughly enjoying a vibrant degustation solo at Restaurant Nectari, I accepted that eating alone in a restaurant isn’t nearly as daunting or as boring as I originally had once thought and so off I set on foot to do it again. Prior to my departure from Perth I had read about Chef Carles Abellan and was keen to try one of his tapas bars. After getting a little lost wandering the streets of Barcelona I conveniently stumbled upon one of his restaurants Tapas 24.

"marinated olives" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "tapas 24" "gluten free tapas" "Carles Abellan"

Complementary marinated olives

One of the waiters could speak very good English and was happy to help me choose a couple of dishes that would be gluten free. I looked around and noticed there was a mix of locals and tourists and was relieved that I hadn’t landed myself in a tourist trap. As I waited for my dishes to be prepared I was brought some flavourful, soft marinated olives on the house.

"sea bass ceviche" "raw fish" "chilli" "Cebiche de corvina" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "tapas 24" "gluten free tapas" "Carles Abellan"

Ceviche de corvina (9.40€)

My orders came out one by one allowing me enough time to sit and enjoy each one without feeling like a greedy piglet surrounded by her solitary feast. My first dish was ceviche de corvina; thinly sliced raw sea bass. The fish was nearly translucent and delicate, tasting as fresh as the sea and melting in my mouth upon contact. It was served chilled on a bed of ice with fresh chilli and avocado on a crisp baby cos leaf.

"iberica steak" "black pig steak" "Presa iberica" "chimichurri" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "tapas 24" "gluten free tapas" "Carles Abellan"

Presa iberica with chimichurri (9.60€)

The next dish was the Presa iberica with chimichurri. This was an Iberican pork dish that was quite unlike any pork I have ever had. The meat was a rich ruby red colour and it was served rare like a fine beef fillet topped with spoonfuls of spicy chimichurri. It was incredibly juicy and tender as was by far my favourite dish of the afternoon.

 "black pig steak" "Presa iberica" "chimichurri" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "tapas 24" "gluten free tapas" "Carles Abellan"

And a close up….

As I waited for my next dish to arrive, the family sitting at the bar next to me turned towards me and asked me where I was from in a familiar Australian accent. It turned out that they too were from Perth and we soon got busy chatting. Theo, the father of the family humbly talked about his day job owning a family run seafood distribution business and that this was his first family holiday in many years. As he spoke it suddenly dawned upon me who he was and I blurted out:

“Are you the real Mr Kailis from the Kailis Brothers? OMG! You are basically like Perth foodie royalty!”

Oh dear. Perhaps this is why I shouldn’t dine out on my own. My mouth speaks before I think, especially once I’ve been drinking wine!

"pulled pork tacos" "Tacos de cochinita pibil" "Tacos" "cochinita pibil" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona tapas" "tapas 24" "gluten free tapas" "Carles Abellan"

Tacos de cochinita pibil (9€)

Realising that I may have just totally embarrassed myself and possibly also Theo, he graciously brushed my compliment aside with a very down to Earth and warm manner. With perfect timing my last dish arrived; tacos de cochinita pibil. Cochinita pibil is a traditional Mexican slow cooked pork dish where citrus is used to marinate the meat to give an acidic tangy flavour. It was served with fresh limes and red onions but of course I omitted the onions due to my fructose malabsorption. This was the perfect dish to end on; it was satisfying, filling and very tasty albeit somewhat messy.

Over the next few days I tried my hardest to get back to Tapas 24 for a second meal but unfortunately didn’t manage it. To be sure it will remain on my hit list for when I return back to Barcelona with the Boy. It was so inspiring to meet the Kailis family, their business is a household name for most of us Perth foodies and when I go shopping at their fish café I’m like a child in a lolly shop wanting to buy more than I could possibly eat.

Shortly upon my return to Perth I returned to their Fish Café in Leederville for a very enjoyable meal where I found their marinated octopus was as good as that I ate in Barcelona. And that is saying something!

 
Tapas 24
Calle diputación, 269, Barcelona 08007 | +34 (0) 934 880 977 | www.carlesabellan.es/restaurantes-tapas-24
 
Price:                     $$$                                        
Food:                    4/5 (hard to fully assess with only 3 dishes but fresh ingredients and great flavours)
Service:                4.5/5 (my waiter wouldn’t let me leave & gave me a extra glass of wine on the house! Too sweet)
Ambience:          3/5 (I went and sat straight at the bar where the action was at)
Drinks:                  3.5/5 (mainly Spanish wines on the list – ask the waiter for a suggestion)
Total:                     15/20

 

 

Eating my way through ten courses on my own at Nectari Restaurant, Barcelona

Posted by  | Categories: Barcelona, Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, Spain, Travel

Degustation is a French word which can be translated into meaning “a careful, appreciative tasting of various foods focusing on the senses using high culinary art”. I have always been a huge fan of tasting menus as they allow me to taste a myriad of different dishes and leave me so insanely full that I never feel like I missed out.  This style of dining is one best done slowly with good company and conversation which makes me thankful that my dear husband loves “degos” as much as I do. As you can imagine, for my recent solo trip to Barcelona I became emotionally torn; do I have a degustation in a city known for its fabulous food ON MY OWN? Is that too weird? I had read great things about Michelin starred Restaurant Nectari where their Chef Jordi Esteve offers a gluten free tasting menu complete with matching wines. Nectari opened their doors nearly five years ago and since then they have worked toward earning a well-known reputation for their service and food leading to receiving their first Michelin Star in 2013.

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

I tried to visualise myself sitting alone in a restaurant eating a ten course meal and decided that although I could do it I would be less conspicuous at lunchtime. I arranged my booking via email before leaving Australia but on my arrival I was met with a few surprised looks, mainly because I was on my own and regrettably spoke negligible Spanish. I was ushered into the empty restaurant, looked around at the vacant seats and started to wonder if this was all a big mistake. I tried to remind myself that the Spanish eat out late, and that it would be normal to find a restaurant empty on a week day.

"salmon" "egg frittata" "mango" "jamón" "mandarin" "mozzarella" "quail egg" "olive puree" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant" "salmon" "egg frittata" "mango" "jamón" "mandarin" "mozzarella" "quail egg" "olive puree" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

My nervousness was soon to pass as my waitress for the day approached me with such genuine warmth that I immediately felt at ease. I quickly learnt she was a cat person and before long we were exchanging feline stories in broken English. My amuse bouche was so colourful with four very different mouthfuls of deliciousness; a spoonful of fresh raw salmon with a sliver of creamy egg frittata, a fold of mango wrapped in jamón, fresh mandarin with mozzarella and a quail egg on top of olive purée. Some home-made gluten free olive and spiced tomato breads were also brought to the table with a selection of local olive oils to choose from.

"mussel cream" "sesame and green oil" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant" In my excitement to share my first course on Instagram I completely forgot to take a photo with my SLR camera “Gordon” and therefore only have this iPhone shot. Sorry peeps! The soup was a mussel cream served with sesame and green oil. Even though it was served cold it had a rich, strong flavour. Hidden in the bottom was a single super sweet prawn.

"foie gras terrine" "watermelon coulis" "pistachio" "strawberries" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

The foie gras terrine was served with an unusual combination of watermelon coulis, pistachio and fresh strawberries. Each sliver was decadent and creamy with a sweet after-taste accentuated by the coulis. Crunchy almond biscuits with a hint of black pepper provided a textural contrast.

"gazpacho" "poached lobster" "caramelised roasted almonds" "melon sorbet" "jamón" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

Staying true to the Chef’s traditional Spanish roots his next course was a glammed up gazpacho. Freshly poached lobster, caramelised roasted almonds, melon sorbet and jamón were all gently engulfed by the vibrant gazpacho as it was poured into my bowl tableside.

"gazpacho" "poached lobster" "caramelised roasted almonds" "melon sorbet" "jamón" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant" "gazpacho" "poached lobster" "caramelised roasted almonds" "melon sorbet" "jamón" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

My palate was entertained with layers of fruity coolness interrupted intermittently by the crunch of a roasted nut or smoked piece of jamón. This was an outstanding dish.

"sting ray" "carrot sauce" "mussels" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

The next course was described as “sting ray with carrot sauce and mussels”. I wished my Spanish was better so I could further enjoy the details that she described of this dish. Each piece of fish was delicate and soft, shredding easily under my fork. The sauce was surprisingly syrupy and sweet.

"Prawn dumpling" "mushroom dumpling" "seafood sauce" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

The following course was the only dish I didn’t thoroughly enjoy; prawn and mushroom dumplings with a seafood sauce.  The dumplings were a little chewy and their contents were too salty for my liking.

"passion fruit sorbet" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Spain Food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain travel blog" "Barcelona Food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona travel blog""Spain" "Barcelona" "Barcelona restaurants" "gluten free Barcelona" "gluten free Spain" "barcelona fine dining" "barcelona degustation" "barcelona michelin star" "Jordi Esteve" "Nectari restaurant" "gluten free degustation" "Michelin restaurant"

Before the main course I was served a refreshing passionfruit sorbet “for my digestion” topped with a sugar crusted miniature mint leaf. After the briny dumplings it was a welcome cleanser for my taste buds.

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The rack of lamb was served very rare which is thankfully just how I like it. I visualised in my mind some of my more conservative friends gasping at the deep red colour and lack of brown sear on the meat. It was served with a bright red pepper sauce and roasted green garlic. The green garlic was quite mild in flavour but even so I knew there would be no vampires attacking me on my walk back to the hotel.

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The cheese plate included Tous del Tillers, Comte and Gorgonzola. Tous del Tillers is a raw cow’s milk cheese from the Catalan province of Lleida and had Brie-like bloomy rind and rich creamy centre. Comte is a semi-hard unpasteurised cheese from France and is thus is hard to obtain in Australia. It has a complex, nutty flavour and similar texture to Gruyère. Many of you will be much more familiar with Gorgonzola as this is a regular feature on many cheese platters back in Perth.

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My dessert was quite an unusual surprise. A shimmering gold bullion shaped block of rich chocolate mousse sat comically on my plate. As I plunged my spoon into its foamy texture, thick cranberry liquor oozed out. It was magical and unexpected. The combination of tart and sweet was perfectly balanced and ended this experience on a high note.

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As my petit fours was brought to the table I realised that I had journeyed through a whole ten course degustation on my own without once feeling bored or lonely. For someone who is normally highly gregarious I felt this to be a big achievement. I have to confess however the restaurant DID have WIFI allowing me to skate across a number of social media platforms for the duration of my meal. The lunch ended with the chef coming out to my table wanting to get my feedback and to make sure that I enjoyed my meal. A lovely personal touch.

Nectari Restaurant

Carrer València, 28 08015 Barcelona | 932 26 87 18 | www.nectari.es
 
Price:                     $$$ (Awarded One Michelin Star 2013, caters for gluten free)
Food:                    4.5/5 (presented exquisitely and passionately, fresh flavours with local influences)
Service:                4/5 (one of the waitresses speaks reasonable English, otherwise best  learn Spanish)
Ambience:          3.5/5 (hard to assess as I dined at an unusual time in the middle of the week and day)
Drinks:                  4/5 (beautifully matched wines choosing predominately local wines)
Total:                     16/20

La Boqueria Market - Mercat de la Boqueria; Barcelona

Posted by  | Categories: Attractions, Barcelona, Featured, Markets, Spain

The Boqueria Markets in Barcelona date all the way back to the 1400s when a pig market existed on the same site where the markets exist today. It wasn’t until hundreds of years later in 1826 that these markets were legally recognised and shortly later an official undercover structure was built. Unlikely most things in Spain, the Boqueria markets get well under way by mid-morning and so I advise you to get there well before 12 pm. I made the mistake of fueling up at my hotel’s breakfast buffet and arrived at the markets with a full belly.  Definite fail.  Next time I am in Barcelona, I will be sure to arrive at Boqueria Markets hungry. Very hungry.

These markets are filled will all sorts of fresh local produce and if your accommodation has kitchen facilities I suggest you do your food shopping here! Or better still grab yourself some provisions and head to Park Guell for a picnic in the Spanish sunshine.

I spent several hours wandering the market aisles taking it all in; sights, smells and bustling atmosphere. Here’s a taste of the excitement.

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"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Phuket Food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "travel blog" "Spain" "Spain travel blog" "Spain restaurants" "Spain food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain Markets" "Spain shopping" "Spain markets" "Barcelona""Barcelona travel blog" "Barcelona restaurants" "Barcelona food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona Markets" "Barcelona shopping" "Barcelona markets" "La Boqueria Markets" "Mercat de la Boqueria" "Boqueria Markets"

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Phuket Food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "travel blog" "Spain" "Spain travel blog" "Spain restaurants" "Spain food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain Markets" "Spain shopping" "Spain markets" "Barcelona""Barcelona travel blog" "Barcelona restaurants" "Barcelona food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona Markets" "Barcelona shopping" "Barcelona markets" "La Boqueria Markets" "Mercat de la Boqueria" "Boqueria Markets"

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Phuket Food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "travel blog" "Spain" "Spain travel blog" "Spain restaurants" "Spain food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain Markets" "Spain shopping" "Spain markets" "Barcelona""Barcelona travel blog" "Barcelona restaurants" "Barcelona food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona Markets" "Barcelona shopping" "Barcelona markets" "La Boqueria Markets" "Mercat de la Boqueria" "Boqueria Markets"

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Phuket Food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "travel blog" "Spain" "Spain travel blog" "Spain restaurants" "Spain food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain Markets" "Spain shopping" "Spain markets" "Barcelona""Barcelona travel blog" "Barcelona restaurants" "Barcelona food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona Markets" "Barcelona shopping" "Barcelona markets" "La Boqueria Markets" "Mercat de la Boqueria" "Boqueria Markets"

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"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Phuket Food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "travel blog" "Spain" "Spain travel blog" "Spain restaurants" "Spain food blog" "Spain restaurant reviews" "Spain Markets" "Spain shopping" "Spain markets" "Barcelona""Barcelona travel blog" "Barcelona restaurants" "Barcelona food blog" "Barcelona restaurant reviews" "Barcelona Markets" "Barcelona shopping" "Barcelona markets" "La Boqueria Markets" "Mercat de la Boqueria" "Boqueria Markets"

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La Boqueria is located just off La Ramblas and is open from 8am until 8.30 pm Monday to Saturday.

http://www.boqueria.info/index.php

A last minute bestie binge at Harvest Espresso Victoria Park

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

I am quite an unconventional bride.  At the time we got engaged; the Boy and I had already been together for over ten years and bought both a house and a business. It’s not that either of us is against marriage, it just wasn’t a priority for us at the time.  After getting engaged I have found the whole process of planning for a wedding very gradual as I am not one of those girls that have all the details of their big day planned out in their heads before their respective other has even popped the question.

It was the day my Bestie was to fly out to Vietnam for three weeks to finish her yoga teacher training course and we were both feeling the guilt of neglecting our friendship.  Not because either of us meant to avoid each other by any means, we just had so much going on individually in our own lives that time got the better of us and before we knew it; her departure day had arrived.

"Coffee" "5 senses coffee" "short macchiato" "cafe latte" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Harvest Espresso Victoria Park" "Victoria Park" "cafe" "brunch" "breakfast" "organic" "Vic Park" "albany Highway" "food sponge"

Creamy deliciousness. I didn’t like the wooden spoons though.

Luck was on our side as I had the morning off work and she didn’t fly out until the afternoon. I arrived at her house bright and early with the aim to take her out for breakfast as a farewell present, a Christmas present and a belated birthday present all rolled into one.  To minimize our travel time and thus maximize our time together I headed to the new café Harvest Espresso opened up on Albany Highway only a short walk from our house.

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The morning’s freshly baked treats

The small café has a very welcoming feel to it and you almost feel like you are entering someone’s rustic country kitchen with lots of natural light flooding in.  We could feel the energy and excitement from the staff that often accompanies a new business venture.

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My mac was gone a in few seconds flat!

The coffee served is Five Senses and the barista knows how to brew.  Both our short macchiato and soy latte were served at the perfect temperature and if I hadn’t already had a double shot of my Nespresso at home I could have easily had another.  My Bestie on the other hand didn’t hold back on seconds.

"Poached eggs" "mushrooms" "wilted spinach" "gluten free bread" "zehnder bread" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Harvest Espresso Victoria Park" "Victoria Park" "cafe" "brunch" "breakfast" "organic" "Vic Park" "albany Highway" "food sponge"

Poached eggs, mushrooms and wilted spinach

I ordered the poached eggs on gluten free toast paired with some wilted spinach and mushrooms.  A little unimaginative I guess but I was really in the mood for some poached egg molten goo action. I truly tend to find myself defining a good breakfast by the chef’s ability to poach an egg having failed at this miserably a number of times at home myself.

"Poached eggs" "mushrooms" "wilted spinach" "gluten free bread" "zehnder bread" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Harvest Espresso Victoria Park" "Victoria Park" "cafe" "brunch" "breakfast" "organic" "Vic Park" "albany Highway" "food sponge"

The proof is in the goo. Tell me when you get sick of these shots!

My eggs did not disappoint.  As I gently sliced into the soft egg white, out ruptured the yolk like a burst of golden sunshine. In a flurry I grabbed for Gordon, my SLR camera to capture that lovely moment that never fails to excite me.   I cannot help but fall in love with the obligatory goo shot (sorry for those that tire of my poached egg obsession).

"baked eggs" "Harvest Spanish Baked egg" "chorizo" "cabbage" "tomato" "cannellini beans" "paprika" "Zehnder bread" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Harvest Espresso Victoria Park" "Victoria Park" "cafe" "brunch" "breakfast" "organic" "Vic Park" "albany Highway" "food sponge"

Harvest Spanish Baked egg

After seeing some mouth-watering photos of the Harvest Spanish baked egg on their Facebook page; I persuaded the Bestie to give them a try. Served in a ceramic baking dish with chorizo, cabbage, tomatoes, cannellini beans and a sprinkling of paprika we were told this was their most popular dish.  We order an extra egg to be cracked in there for good measure.  After initially casting envious eye on the state of my eggs to her delight she was met with a similar experience of her own.  She happily mopped up all the flavoursome sauce mixed with runny egg with a big grin of satisfaction on her face.

We were determined to “push the boat out” and make this breakfast last for a long as we possibly could so ordering a second course was a must.  Although we have spent months apart before, the idea of spending three weeks separated from each other this close to my wedding wasn’t exactly best case scenario but unfortunately unavoidable.

"Pistachio friand" "desserts" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Harvest Espresso Victoria Park" "Victoria Park" "cafe" "brunch" "breakfast" "organic" "Vic Park" "albany Highway" "food sponge"

Pistachio friand

There was a lovely collection of home baked single serve tarts and muffins beautifully displayed near the counter.  My only option for a gluten free choice was the cutest and nearly pointlessly small sized pistachio friand.  If I wasn’t so stuffed with everything I had eaten so far I may have been a little disappointed. Or maybe I would have just had two.  But for this occasion the single mouthful was just right. Perhaps in the future they plan to have some more adult sized gluten free desserts?

"Lemon curd tart" "desserts" "tart" "lemon curd" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Harvest Espresso Victoria Park" "Victoria Park" "cafe" "brunch" "breakfast" "organic" "Vic Park" "albany Highway" "food sponge"

Lemon curd tart

Not entirely bound by the restrictions of gluten free diet the Bestie was easily coerced into ordering a lemon curd tart. She initially planned on just scooping out the curd and leaving the pastry base but after a couple of zesty mouthfuls she realised that the pasty was an essential part.  She agonised over the right words to describe her dish and ended on the conclusion that it was a hit regardless of how you described it.

Adequately fuelled for her long trip, we drove to the International Airport singing and laughing the whole way.  She has some exciting times ahead and I am so happy for her.

A bientôt ma chérie! Good luck! xxxxx

Harvest Espresso
629 Albany Highway, Victoria Park 6100 | 0416 397 088 | Facebook
 
Price:                     $$ ($9-20/meal, Cash only)
Food:                    4.5/5 (eggs are amazing, need more GF sweet treats!)
Service:                4.5/5 (super friendly positive vibe, proud of their café and the food)
Ambience:           4/5 (light, airy and homely)
Drinks:                  5/5 (5 Senses coffee. What can I say!?)
Total:                     18/20
 

Harvest Espresso on Urbanspoon

Back to Cantina 663, Mount Lawley

Posted by  | Categories: European, Featured, Italian, Perth, Portuguese, Restaurants

Many of you may know I grew up in Adelaide, the City of Churches.  At the young and impressionable age of seventeen I left my family and friends behind in order to head west to study veterinary science.  Although initially moving to the opposite side of our great continent was not easy, Perth has given me amazing opportunities, plenty of sunshine and most importantly has found me the love of my life.

In my earlier years in Perth I remained in close contact with very few of my school companions. In fact in all honesty, until the creation of Facebook I only stayed in touch with just one school friend; Lenni.  Despite our homes being geographically separated by thousands of kilometres, over the years we have always managed to see each other at least once every twelve months or so.

When we were living in London she detoured to see me from Greece where she had attended a family wedding.  We lived in a poky little bed-sit in South-east London which was  situated upstairs from the 24 hour veterinary hospital in which I worked at.  We only had enough room to fit a single blow up mattress on the floor and by the end of every night it would ensure to deflate itself. Dear Lenni never uttered a complaint. No room for luxury during these times!

Another time she flew over for a whirlwind trip down to Margaret River and Pemberton.  Eager to show off my newly adopted home, I tried to squeeze everything into a tight 3 day schedule. For those who know these areas you will understand what a crazy schedule this was.  We covered a LOT of ground!

Whenever I was visiting Mum in Adelaide, Lenni would always manage to fit me into her hectic on-call schedule for some late night drinks and a bite to eat.  No matter how long between impromptu visits we would always manage to spend the whole time laughing and chattering late into the night. I would often wake up the next day with sore stomach muscles from too much giggling.

"pork belly" "cotechino" "potato hash" "crackling" "pork" "pickled onions" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Cantina 663, Mount Lawley" "Cantina 663" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Portuguese" "Spanish" "tapas" "Italian"

Crisp pork belly, cotechino, potato hash, pickled onions

Fate has a way for bringing good friends together and in recent years Lenni’s career has also brought her to this state of opportunity. Being well overdue to see each other we met up one weeknight at Cantina 663 in Mount Lawley to enjoy some good food, wine and conversation.

I love eating out with someone who really enjoys their food.  It is so much more pleasurable to take the time to savour all the flavours of a meal as opposed to quickly wolfing everything down. Better still, it allows you to analyse and really appreciate what you are devouring. Lenni is a gracefully slow eater and meals with her are always at an extended relaxed pace.  Cantina 663 is perfect for this style of eating as much of their dishes are designed to share.

There was initially much confusion from our waiter upon ordering our food.  At first, he gave me the impression that he was quite familiar with fructose malabsorption and advised me that there was only a couple of small nibbles I could have and nothing on the main menu.  He told me as a replacement the chef was happy to specially make me a risotto for my main instead.  As he walked away from our table I was left feeling a little bewildered as I have previously been able to eat a number of their menu items as much of it is gluten free.  What made things worse was I didn’t feel like a risotto at all yet didn’t want to seem like a complaining ungrateful customer!

"Salumi platter" "Chorizo" "Prosciutto" "Bresaola" "kofta" "salami" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Cantina 663, Mount Lawley" "Cantina 663" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Portuguese" "Spanish" "tapas" "Italian"

Salumi platter:Chorizo, Prosciutto, Bresaola, kofta and salami

On further questioning I discovered that my waiter had presumed that fructose malabsorption meant I had a fruit allergy and couldn’t eat anything with any fruit at all. As many of the dishes contained citrus or lemon juice he thought that they would all be unsuitable.  After giving him a brief run down on fructose malabsorption, he returned to the kitchen armed with a wealth of information on this frustrating condition and found out that there was indeed a lot more on the menu that I could eat.  What a relief.  I was starting to get a bit worried for a moment there!

"Smoked salmon rillettes" "preserved fennel" "seafood" "fish" "salmon" "rillettes" "charred bread" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Cantina 663, Mount Lawley" "Cantina 663" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Portuguese" "Spanish" "tapas" "Italian"

Smoked salmon rillettes, preserved fennel, charred bread

The buttery smooth smoked salmon rillettes had the consistency of creamy pâté and smeared elegantly over the crusty charred bread.  There was no gluten free bread available but when I booked the table a few days prior the waitress kindly advised me in advance and welcomed me to bring my own…which of course I forgot! Paired with crunchy liquoricy preserved fennel and a bottle of Grenache this was perfect dish to kick start our night.

"Port roasted mushrooms" "buffalo mozzarella" "vegetarian" "basil" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Cantina 663, Mount Lawley" "Cantina 663" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Portuguese" "Spanish" "tapas" "Italian"

Port roasted mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella, basil

The sauce for the roasted mushrooms contained onions so the chef served this on the side.  Despite omitting this potentially key ingredient, the earthy mushrooms were still bursting with rich port flavoured juices. Shreds of buffalo mozzarella cut through the acidity of the dish leaving a lingering creaminess on the palate.  A simple dish done well.

"pork belly" "cotechino" "potato hash" "crackling" "pork" "pickled onions" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Cantina 663, Mount Lawley" "Cantina 663" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Portuguese" "Spanish" "tapas" "Italian"

Crisp pork belly, cotechino, potato hash, pickled onions

Lenni had the crisp pork belly with cotechino, potato hash and pickled onions.  Nestled in amongst all these ingredients were finger like slivers of sweet Pink Lady apple.  The crackling was as hard as toffee and snapped satisfyingly in the mouth with an audible crack.  The meat lacked any unpleasant porky after-taste and the fat had emulsified to a custard-like texture. I was lucky enough to try a small sample denuded of any sauce and could see why she finished every morsel on her plate despite being very full!

"Pan fried barramundi" "almond" "green salad" "fish" "seafood" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Cantina 663, Mount Lawley" "Cantina 663" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Portuguese" "Spanish" "tapas" "Italian"

Pan fried barramundi, almond with green salad on side

I enjoyed the pan-fried barramundi served with an almond butter sauce laced with baby capers. The fish was normally accompanied with artichokes and asparagus which presumably wasn’t onion free so the chef made me a large garden salad instead. The fish had thin crispy skin yet the flesh remained flaky and delicate requiring minimal effort to reduce into bite size morsels.  The nearly sweet almond sauce made this ordinarily light meal much more satisfying and I was contentedly full by the end.

Fructose malabsorption is by no means an easy intolerance to understand, and to an untrained ear the requirements are complicated and difficult. I was impressed that although our waiter’s initial presumptions regarding my diet were incorrect he put in the effort to understand the facts and find me something I would enjoy. We will most definitely be back again.

More on Cantina 663: Birthday Dinner at Cantina 663, Mount Lawley (March, 2012)

Cantina 663
Astor Arcade, 663 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, 6050 | (08) 9370 4883 | www.cantina663.com
 
Price:                     $$$$ ($7-16 share plates/entrees, $25-35 mains)
Food:                    4.5/5 (they really need to consider stocking gluten free bread)
Service:                3.5/5 (bubbly, efficient, but a little confused with my food intolerances)
Ambience:          4/5 (warm and cosy inside on a cold rainy night)
Drinks:                  4/5 (Interesting Portuguese, Spanish & Italian wines. Perfectly matched to the food)
Total:                     16/20
 

 Cantina 663 on Urbanspoon

Celebrating my blogiversary at Duende, Leederville

Posted by  | Categories: Featured, Perth, Restaurants, Tapas Bar, Wine Bar

This year has been such a hectic and emotional one which has flown by with the speed of light.  It has been a whole year since the Boy finally managed to convince me after much persuasion to start writing a blog.  After an initial few quiet months while in its fledgling state, it has now grown to be something I am proud to call my own.  Many of my close friends are loyal regular readers and are always keen to be part of the Chompchomp phenomenon by joining me on my gastronomic expeditions around Perth.

My wedding expert friend Tara is one of these supportive people and she jumped at the opportunity of a night out with our respective others to Duende to celebrate my first blogiversary coupled with a bit of “wedding talk”.

It was one of those first glorious balmy spring days and I was drunk on the delightful sunshine and perhaps maybe also the bottle of Billecart the boy bought for us in the afternoon.  I donned a short summery frock, slipped on some killer Diavolina platforms and bared my winter legs.  Call it a stark rebuttal against any further threats of the dreaded cold weather!

We started at The Garden for a few rounds of drinks before heading over to Duende for dinner. Neither Tara nor her husband suffer from any dietary intolerance and were happy to order a selection of dishes that were suitable for me so we could all share. We started off with a bottle of gorgeously bright ruby coloured Pe Tinto Tempranillo, an organic and biodynamic wine from Portugal.   We then proceeded to work our way through most of the gluten free options on the menu.  Of which there were many!

"Marinated olives" "wine" "grilled chorizo" "Tempranillo" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Marinated olives, grilled chorizo, Tempranillo

The marinated olive selection contained over four different types with a broad range of textures and tastes to suit all of our palates. The chorizo had generous amount of heat in it and was thickly cut and juicy.

"Patatas bravas" "potato bravas" "potato" "fried potato" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Patatas bravas

Patatas bravas are one of my favourite Spanish dishes. Parboiled potatoes are deep fried before being coated with a variety of spices, vinegar and red pepper.  They can be served with a number of different types of sauces depending on the area of Spain and which can range from a tomato based sauce to more of an aioli style. These crispy slices of heaven had a generous paprika dusting and were seasoned with some lemony tasting vinegar.  The level of spiciness was fairly mild and I would have preferred a bit more of a punch however the Boy was relieved with the relatively low heat.

"Pork belly" "polenta" "roasted pear" "muscatel" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Pork belly, polenta, roasted pear, muscatel

The pork belly had a luscious creamy texture and literally melted into the polenta without any fatty aftertaste. The pear and plump muscatels gave a pleasant sweet note but I did my best to avoid these two fructose filled fruits.

"Lamb rump" "hummus" "feta" "fenugreek" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Lamb rump, hummus, feta, fenugreek

The lamb rump was quite a surprise.  I didn’t really read the menu carefully enough to be prepared for the enchanting sweet maple flavours from the fenugreek.  It actually took us all a few moments to work out where the flavours came from!  The rump was succulent and pink.

"Pickled beetroot" "goats cheese" "vegetarian" "hazelnuts" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Pickled beetroot, goats cheese, hazelnuts

The pickled beetroots were hidden under a loose pile of fresh rocket, goat cheese and hazelnuts. Hazelnuts are my favourite nut, in part due to my praline addiction but additionally it brings back indulgent teenage memories of eating Nutella by the jar full. Although an interesting dish this wasn’t one of the better ones.

"Beef cheek" "prunes" "pickled cauliflower" "almond sauce" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Beef cheek, prunes, pickled cauliflower, almond sauce

Initially we were a little reserved in ordering the beef cheeks after hearing negative feedback from a friend that found them to be dry.  Cheeks are a cheaper cut of meat with a higher proportion of fat, sinew, connective tissue and bone in them. Provided they are cooked correctly this generally means they are more delicious, though they do require a little time and care when cooking.

"Cruzcampo pilsner" "beer" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Cruzcampo pilsner

We were right in taking the gamble because our cheeks were incredibly flavoured, delicately tender and we really should have ordered two serves and maybe left out the beetroot.

"Smoked eggplant puree" "haloumi" "olives" "honey" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Smoked eggplant puree, haloumi, olives, honey

The sensation of squeaky haloumi always brings a smile to my face.   Coupled with rich smoky undertones of eggplant puree this simple dish was a crowd pleaser.

"Mushrooms" "vegetarian" "px vinegar" "gorgonzola" "walnuts" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Mushrooms, px vinegar, gorgonzola, walnuts

Px vinegar is made with the sweet Pedro Ximenez grapes and was the perfect combination with gorgonzola to top the earthy mushrooms. I know I’m a little biased as I have a mushroom addiction but these slippery little nuggets packed a powerful burst of flavour and I could have eaten many more had I not already stuffed my face with everything else!

"Cheese platter" "Sainte Maure" "French cheese" "Mahon" "Spanish cheese" "Roquefort" "cheese" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Cheese platter: Sainte Maure (France), Mahon (Spain), Roquefort (France) (left to right)

We chose 3 out of the selection of five available French and Spanish cheeses and it was quite a feat narrowing it down to three.  If I wasn’t already bursting at the seams I would have said one of each! Our choice included a semi-firm cow’s cheese Mahon from Spain and two French cheeses; Roquefort, a creamy blue sheep cheese and Sainte Maure, a soft buttery goat cheese.

"Cheese platter" "Sainte Maure" "French cheese" "Mahon" "Spanish cheese" "Roquefort" "cheese" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Cheese platter: Sainte Maure (France), Mahon (Spain), Roquefort (France) (top to bottom)

"Cheese platter" "Sainte Maure" "French cheese" "Mahon" "Spanish cheese" "Roquefort" "cheese" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Sainte Maure (France) (I know this isn’t the correct way to cut cheese….but I’m just the photographer!)

For sweets we ordered the doughnut balls with condensed milk ice cream.  Obviously these were not for me as they are full of all the gluten in the land; a fact my companions were very content with as it meant there was all the more for them!

"Doughnut balls" "Spanish doughnuts" "dessert" "condensed milk ice cream" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Duende" "Duende, Leederville" "Leederville" "The Garden, Leederville" "Spanish" "tapas" "wine bar" "late night" "Newcastle Street" "blogiversary"

Doughnut balls with condensed milk ice cream

After reading a multitude of positive reviews on Duende over the years I cannot believe it took me this long to try them for myself.  They more than exceeded my expectations and have to be the best tapas I have experienced in Perth by far.  We loved it so much that we actually headed back for a quick midweek bite later that following week!    And yes….we ordered more of those patatas bravas.

Duende
662 Newcastle Street, Leederville 6007 | (08) 9228 0123 | http://www.duende.com.au/
 
Price:                     $$$ (Tapas share dishes range from $4-25, we share 11 dishes/4 people = stuffed!)
Food:                    4.5/5 (if I had more room I would have tried more!)
Service:                4/5 (dishes didn’t come out too quickly, friendly and helpful)
Ambience:           4.5/5 (buzzing vibe, I could nearly imagine myself back in Spain…)
Drinks:                   4/5 (interesting wine list, plenty of by the glass options)
Total:                     17/20

 Duende on Urbanspoon

The Imp, Victoria Park

Posted by  | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Perth, Restaurants, Tapas Bar

I have been literally dying to take the Boy with me to The Imp in Victoria Park for so long but every time we plan to go there it is so packed full of customers that there is no free table available for us. Having been there several times myself I knew he would love it.  It’s always buzzing and alive with atmosphere and the staff are all funky, vibrant and friendly.  We had completed our usual Sunday walk around the river together accompanied by my new toy; my first DLSR camera which I have nicknamed “Gordon”.  I had been busy happy snapping away at the gorgeous scenery and felt that all too familiar reminder what an awesome city we live in.

"The Imp, Victoria Park" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Food Photos" "The Imp" "Victoria Park restaurant reviews" "Vic Park" "Albany Highway" "Victoria Park" "Spanish" "tapas" "breakfast" "brunch" "lunch"

The Imp is not a place to go if your prone to claustrophobia, it is a tiny cosy little place and the tables are squeezed together closely meaning you have to shimmy in-between them to get to your seat.  We sat next to an attractive looking African family who were enjoying their lunch. Sitting with them was their gorgeous little toddler with hair all up in little pony tails.  She couldn’t drag her eyes away from staring at us, seemingly mesmerised by my Fendi handbag brimming with contents.  As I pulled out my new camera her interest heightened and she watched with great amusement while I played around with the settings.

"Fiori coffee" "short machiatto" "menu" "The Imp, Victoria Park" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Food Photos" "The Imp" "Victoria Park restaurant reviews" "Vic Park" "Albany Highway" "Victoria Park" "Spanish" "tapas" "breakfast" "brunch" "lunch"

Upon ordering I enquired which dishes could be made gluten free.  I was informed by the waitress that they no longer can guarantee any dishes gluten free.  She explained to me that the previous chef made a big mistake in sourcing non-gluten free soba noodles and served them to a Coeliac who proceeded to become very unwell halfway through her meal. This chef was sacked as a consequence of her oversight and since then they don’t want to take any further risks in making people unwell. Fair enough.  I appreciated her honesty.  I am lucky enough to not be quite as sensitive as other gluten intolerants; provided gluten isn’t an actual ingredient in the dish any slight cross contamination in the kitchen very rarely poses me too much trouble.

"scrambled eggs" "truffles" "truffle oil" "avocado" "The Imp, Victoria Park" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Food Photos" "The Imp" "Victoria Park restaurant reviews" "Vic Park" "Albany Highway" "Victoria Park" "Spanish" "tapas" "breakfast" "brunch" "lunch"

I ordered the scrambled eggs, herb salad & truffle oil which normally also comes with toast.  As they didn’t have any gluten free bread as a replacement the waitress kindly offered to serve some fresh avocado on the side instead at no extra cost. To my satisfaction the truffle oil tasted very strong and fresh. I get so disappointed when the oil is aged so much that the truffle flavour is nothing but a mere hint, that’s just teasing.

"beef burger" "burger" "bacon" "cucumber relish" "hand cut chips" "The Imp, Victoria Park" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Food Photos" "The Imp" "Victoria Park restaurant reviews" "Vic Park" "Albany Highway" "Victoria Park" "Spanish" "tapas" "breakfast" "brunch" "lunch"

The Boy ordered the burger which came with pickled cucumber, hand cut potatoes and aioli with the added option of bacon.  The beef burger was small but very juicy and seasoned well.  The bun was soft and held its shape adequately without going too soggy or brittle.  The bacon was grilled a touch short of crispy which was fortunate as the boy prefers his bacon meaty not crunchy. The fries needed a little extra salt but were otherwise quite tasty.

"Flourless orange cake" "meringue" "ice cream" "dessert" "cake" "The Imp, Victoria Park" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Food Photos" "The Imp" "Victoria Park restaurant reviews" "Vic Park" "Albany Highway" "Victoria Park" "Spanish" "tapas" "breakfast" "brunch" "lunch"

We had both worked up a reasonable sweat during our walk (despite my constant stopping to photograph things of interest) so we agreed to share a dessert.  I ordered a flourless orange cake which came with some vanilla ice cream and was topped with the cutest little meringue.  I was probably a bit too full to enjoy this thoroughly as I found the cake to be a little bland.  The Boy enjoyed most of the ice cream which was creamy and sweet. Perhaps my taste buds  were still too busy rocking out on all that amazing truffle oil!

Serving fabulous breakfast, lunch and dinner; The Imp is somewhat of a foodie’s icon here in Vic Park.  They continue to be extremely popular due to consistently great food, quirky friendly service and an ever-changing seasonal menu.  A definite local fav of ours.

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The Imp
863 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park 6101 | (08) 9361 2600 | www.theimp.com.au/
 
Price:                     $ (Breakfast $6-20, Lunch $13-16, Tapas $8-26)
Food:                    4.5/5 (who doesn’t love lashings of truffle oil for breakfast?)
Service:                4/5 (no table service, but friendly and fast)
Ambience:          4/5 (busy, loud and vibrant)
Drinks:                  4/5 (serves Fiori coffee, big selection of teas, BYO for dinner)
Total:                     16.5/20

The Imp on Urbanspoon

Cantina 663, Mount Lawley

Posted by  | Categories: European, Perth, Restaurants

It was my birthday weekend and I decided to treat myself with a three-day eating and drinking fiesta with the Boy and a few of our close friends.  Our first night was a very casual affair at our local Victoria Park favourite Little Ying Thai.  My bestie and her man came along with us but as it was a weeknight we all managed to contain ourselves from getting too carried away.

On our second night we seized the rare opportunity for an outing with the Boy’s Best Man along with my two Perth-based bridesmaids.  His Best Man works FIFO on a number of mining sites so we don’t get to hang out with him nearly as much as we would like to.  Last year during one of Mum’s visits to Perth we took her to Cantina 663 and were all really impressed with our memorable meal.  Since then I have been really keen to go back and so I suggested going there to one of my bridesmaids Amber.  It turns out Cantina  has been on her wish list for some time.  Perfect!

Decked out in my brand new outfit from Abercrombie and Fitch (courtesy of my Dad and Stepmum) and feeling like a million bucks, we headed out on the town for a night of fun.  We were supposed to start off with meeting everyone at the Flying Scotsman for some pre-dinner drinks but we both took way too long getting ready and subsequently had to head straight to Cantina.

Cantina 663 serves European style food with predominately Spanish, Portuguese and Italian influences.  They pride themselves on having a fortnightly changing menu that reflects what’s seasonally available locally and they strive to source organic and ecologically sustainable produce when they can.

The wait staff exude edgy style and are energetic and friendly.  Our table’s waitress for the evening was very proficient and her passion for food was obvious as she discussed the suitability of each dish with me even prior to chatting with the chef.  She was even familiar with the condition fructose malabsorption which I was impressed with.  She happily communicated back and forth with the kitchen to assist in creating an adapted family style menu that was ample food for all of us to enjoy despite my allergies.

"Pork Rillettes" "Mustard butter" "Gluten free bread" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" Chompchomp "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Cantina 663" Spanish Portuguese Italian

Pork rillettes, mustard butter, pickled beans, brioche (note someone had already started...oops!)

The pork rillettes were decadently rich and oh so moreish and this dish was the first thing to disappear.  I had brought along some Schar brand Italian gluten-free bread with me in preparation as I recall from our last experience that a lot of Cantina’s dishes would be much more delicious smeared on bread and they currently do not carry gluten-free bread.  I delighted in lashing thick layers of the pork on my charred grilled bread.  The pickled beans were surprisingly sweet and were the ideal match with the pork.

Fig walnut beetroot "goats curd salad' "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" Chompchomp "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Cantina 663" Spanish Portuguese Italian

Fig, walnut, beetroot and goats curd salad (not currently on the menu)

Because a lot of the dishes on the menu contained onion, the chef offered to especially make for me a fig and goats curd salad.  Apparently this dish used to be on their menu and was very popular.  Fructose malabsorbers do have to be a little careful with eating figs, but to be honest this salad would have been scrumptious even without them…I have to confess I did eat just a few as I figured can tolerate a very small amount without too much problems.  Gluten is my real enemy.

The salumi platter was entirely gluten-free however she informed me that two of the meats may contain onion as they are not made on the premises.  I cannot remember all that was on there but I do remember some luscious dark bresaola, spicy chorizo and soft delicate jamon amongst others.  It was served with house pickles which were quite tasty and not too acetic or briny.

"Crisp stuffed zucchini flowers" ricotta "capsicum jam" labne "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" Chompchomp "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Cantina 663" Spanish Portuguese Italian

Crisp stuffed zucchini flowers, ricotta, capsicum jam, labne

Unfortunately for me the zucchini flowers were off the menu as they were battered in flour before frying so I missed out on this wondrous looking dish.  I was quite jealous as they looked incredible and were demolished very quickly.  I was told the batter was fluffy and light and there was so much flavouring in the stuffing. Instead I ordered the tin of pollastrini sardines piccanti served with fresh lemon and my charred gluten-free bread.  I used to love sardines on toast as a child and these little fishies brought back great memories. I was nearly the only one who ate these – I guess you really have to be a hard-core fish fan to eat sardines. They also had a bit of a kick to them with the added chilli.

seafood "pan fried barramundi" "spiced black eyed ragout" "preserved lemon yoghurt" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" Chompchomp "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Cantina 663" Spanish Portuguese Italian

Pan fried barramundi, spiced black eyed ragout, preserved lemon yoghurt

After stuffing our faces with all our entrees, we ordered a couple of mains to share between us.  I originally wanted to order the risotto but the rice is parboiled with stock during prep and the stock contained onion.  Instead I opted for the pan fried barramundi.  The fish was so heavenly and was cooked to a perfect buttery smooth consistency and had crispy crunchy skin.  I can honestly say pan fired barramundi is right up there in my top five favourite fish so perhaps I’m a little biased with my praise for this dish.  Putting my approval of the fish aside though, even its accompaniments were so appetising in their own right and pushed me and the girls well into the realms of being seriously full!

"pan fried gnocchi" cauliflower hazelnut sage fontina "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "food blog" Chompchomp "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Mount Lawley" "Beaufort Street" "Cantina 663" Spanish Portuguese Italian

Pan fried gnocchi, cauliflower, hazelnut, sage, fontina

The boys ordered the gnocchi which although it was a small serve it left them quite satisfied.  We also ordered a couple of sides to go with our mains, the spinach and avocado with walnut dressing and the roasted zucchini with tahini yoghurt.  Considering these dishes were just meant to be sides – they were so good I could have easily had a whole serve of either to myself!  Especially the zucchinis; they were slightly caramelised during roasting and literally burst in your mouth with every bite.

Once again, I can see its obvious why Cantina 663 consistently receives great ratings on Urbanspoon and other restaurant review sites as they have everything going for them:  great food, dynamic staff, flexibility with catering for allergies and they are situated in an awesome location. This remains a definite fav for Chompchomp!

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Cantina 663
Astor Arcade, 663 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, 6050 | (08) 9370 4883 | http://www.cantina663.com/
 
Price:                     $$$$ ($7-16 share plates/entrees, $25-35 mains)
Food:                    4.5/5 (as many dishes are served with bread it would be great if they stocked GF)
Service:                4.5/5 (efficient, quick and knowledgeable)
Ambience:           4/5 (bustling energy but air con struggled in the heat)
Drinks:                 4/5 (extensive wine list with a lot of interesting options)
Total:                    17/20

Cantina 663 on Urbanspoon

Pata Negra, Nedlands

Posted by  | Categories: Featured, Perth, Restaurants, Tapas Bar, Wine Bar

I am always feeling like I’m so time-starved; something I’m sure many of you readers can empathise with. I never have enough time in my days and weeks to catch up with the friends I hold dear to my heart. There is only so much of that void in my life that I can successfully offset via networks like Facebook and as soon as I have some time off from work, I get busy lining up catch up dates with neglected friends and family. A fellow foodie Tara and I have both been going on and on about wanting to go to Pata Negra together for ages. I’m sure the first time we discussed it must have been last year some time!

Pata negra is a Spanish tapas bar owned by chef David Coomer of Star Anise fame which was a fine dining icon in Perth for more than a decade. Regrettably Star Anise closed their doors last year but thankfully her edgier sister Pata Negra has remained opened.

After a number of false starts, Tara and I finally managed to coordinate our busy schedules and it was all locked in for a girlie night out. Her husband offered to stay at home with their two adorable little girls, and the Boy even offered to drop us in so we could both drink! We really are lucky women!

Contrary to my usual organisation, I had failed to notify the kitchen of my dietary requirements in advance. I’m not sure how I missed doing this and thus was a bit apprehensive as I sheepishly apologised to our waitress saying that I am a “difficult” customer with a couple of allergies. She didn’t seem too concerned with this and went off to the kitchen to have a chat with the chef.

We decided it was absolutely essential to start with a glass of Billecart-Salmon champagne while we deliberated over the menu. As we became more and more overwhelmed by all the mouth-watering options our waitress came over to say that pretty much anything off the menu could be adapted for me (except obviously the bread and crumbed items). Given my recent run of limited options dining out I was literally blown away. “Like you mean anything? Wow!”

Olives arbequina manzanillo gordal "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

Olives: arbequina, manzanillo, gordal

While we agonised what to order we asked for some marinated olives to be brought to the table, hoping some food would facilitate some decision making. I was so thankful this time round that our waiter was more than happy for me to use my flash to take photos as the interior lighting is quite dim. After all my fuzzy images from Marque, I really wanted to be able to relish in some focused pictorial memories. The olives contained a satisfying range of types, sizes and colours allowing a variety of tastes. It was served in adorable little antiquey dishes.

"cecina beef" "beef carpaccio" "dried beef" beetroot walnuts fetta "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

“cecina” air dried beef, beetroot, walnuts, fetta

The beef was such a simple dish yet each ingredient was carefully selected to create wonderful tiers of strong yet complementary flavours. The meat was a stunning dark cherry colour and had micro-thin veins of marbled fat running through it evenly. The walnuts introduced a slight bitter taste which was softened by the silky fetta and sweetened by the beets. Exquisite.

"roasted mushrooms manchego cheese "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

Roasted mushrooms, manchego, garlic

Ok, I realise this dish probably doesn’t look like much, but for those mushroom fans out there – this is the bomb. After falling in love with Andaluz’s mushrooms (and going back for subsequent visits for more) I am tempted to say these are even tastier! Some of this decision is possibly facilitated by my passion for the Spanish cheese Manchego. The distinctive and slightly salty flavour of this sheep’s cheese is wonderfully unique and is something not to be missed. Add in some meaty, juicy mushrooms and you have something quite amazing to devour! I again marvelled at how such simple dishes consisting of such few ingredients could be so fabulous.

"slow cooked eggs" "sous-vide" octopus chorizo "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

Marinated Octopus, chorizo and slow cooked egg

I first discovered the deliciousness of slow cooked eggs some time ago at Greenhouse. These eggs are cooked for about 40 to 45 minutes but at much lower temperatures producing a very soft but evenly cooked egg. If you love soft poached eggs you will think these are nothing short of perfection. The octopus was slightly tougher than I prefer but was still very tasty and the chorizo provided a good contrast in textures.

"Spiced quail" "wild rice" lentils "buffalo mozzarella" "quail egg" "smoked almonds" "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

Spiced quail, wild rice, lentils, buffalo mozzarella, egg and smoked almonds

These quails were huge in size! I am so used to being served such tiny little birds but these richly flavoured quails must have been weight lifting in their time! The meat was so moist, easily falling of the bone and it went well with the accompanying nutty wild rice and lentils. Two generous blobs of buffalo mozzarella completed the dish ideally.

"Pork belly" figs watercress "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

Roasted pork belly, figs, watercress

The pork was my least favourite dish of the evening however there wasn’t really anything majorly wrong with it except maybe the meaty part of the pork was a bit dry. I think I was so excited about the layering of tastes in our previously ordered dishes that I wanted it to happen again and again.

"Blood plum" meringue dessert "pistachio cream" "perth Restaurant review" "Perth food blog" "gluten free" "fructose malabsorption" "food blog" Chompchomp "Pata Negra" "Star Anise" "David Coomer" Spanish tapas "Spanish tapas" "Perth tapas bar" Perth wine bar" Nedlands

Blood plum, meringue and pistachio cream

Our dessert was absolutely blissful. The meringue had all the right components – the crisp outer shell, the hollow crunchy under-surface and the spongy moist centre. After spooning some of the tangy blood plum sauce liberally over the top, it was supremely heavenly. I didn’t try the pistachio cream as it contained gluten but if Tara’s oohs and aaahs were any indication it must have been pretty good. This year I seem to really be having some great success at shortening my restaurant wish list however many of these places just haven’t lived up to my own hype. Pata Negra on the other hand exceeded my expectations by a long shot. Brilliant service, awesome company and fantastic food; I cannot wait to bring the Boy back here!

Pata Negra
26 Stirling Highway, Nedlands 6009 | (08) 9389 5517 | www.patanegra.com.au/
 
Price:            $$$$ (tapas style dishes $7-17, mains $35-65)
Food:            4.5/5 (not a single dish disappointed)
Service:       4.5/5 (helpful, enthusiastic and knowledgeable)
Ambience:  4/5 (ambient lighting and a Spanish feel, some couches would be nice though)
Drinks:       4.5/5 (very large wine list with a lot of Spanish and Portuguese options)
Total:          17.5/20

 

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