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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Mexican Madness II A tale of two restaurants: That Little Mexican Place
Posted by | Categories: Desserts, Mexican, Perth, Restaurants
Part One | Part Two
My sister’s impromptu and random visit to Perth for New Year’s seemed to keep getting extended longer and longer. Surely she has a job back in Melbourne to return to? My sister and I had partied fairly hard and fast for five days straight leaving us both a bit scattered and sleep deprived. At the end point of all this, both the boy and I had to return to work whilst my sis remained on her indefinite holiday.
The problem is when you are of one of the only poor souls who have to return to work whilst being surrounded by those still in holiday mood; you completely lose your chance to chip away at your own personal sleep debt. Eventually you may find you get a second wind of energy (or be it a third wind, or in this case – I actually think I lost track of the number). The boy had matters made even worse for him by missing out on most of it after contracting a gastro bug that floored him for over five days.
After my literally scorching experience at Pancho’s, I really wanted to redeem Mexican cuisine for myself. Remaining local, we strolled down to the Broken Hill Hotel for a few pre-dinner drinks before heading to That Little Mexican Place. Immediately, the differences to the mainstream Pancho’s became glaringly apparent to me. Although TLMP was similarly filled to capacity, there was no fluoro paint on blackboards, there were no glowing happy hour cocktails, and there was most definitely no cheesy 80’s music playing. Instead we were greeted by a cosy and sublime vibe that left you feeling like you had stumbled upon one of Perth’s best kept little secrets. TLMP’s humble beginnings started with their tiny restaurant opening over on Fitzgerald Street in North Perth and in more recent years they have expanded over to the south into Vic Park. The owners have spent some time travelling around Mexico where they ate their way around the country to eventually return back to Perth bringing all the flavours and ideas back with them.
Being BYO, we stopped by the Broken Hill bottle shop and bought a bottle of West Cape Howe 2010 “Styx Gully” Chardonnay. I thought this subtly oaked wine produced by one my favourite wineries from the Great Southern region was sure to satisfy my sister’s palate but I was informed it was too fruity for her liking. I thought the citrus was as subtle as the oak but I’m no wine expert and everyone palate is different.
Service was bubbly and helpful with the waitress returning from the kitchen with a whole list of dishes suitable for our no gluten and no onion requirements. I was actually quite impressed with the amount of choice we had with ordering as the waitress explained that they make most of their dishes fresh.
Their guacamole is made fresh “a la mesa” (at your tableside) and is served with house made tortilla chips. Serving tableside always reminds me of Hell’s Kitchen – Chef Ramsey is a keen fan of this however our waitress looked much more relaxed in front of us compared to Ramsey’s contestants in his show! This guacamole was exceedingly better than that at Pancho’s, the serving was about three times the size and it was seasoned perfectly. Even better still, I received no oil burns or other injuries whilst eating it! (TLMP $16 compared to Pancho’s $15)
Taquitos de Puerco
For entrée we ordered three dishes to share amongst the four of us in addition to the guacamole. The taquitos de Puerco was described as two crispy rolled tacos filled with shredded pork and topped with melted cheese and guacamole. Rather than drenching the crunchy little rolls in cheese and making them soggy, there was just an elegant drizzle and the taco was as crispy as a corn chip but wafer thin.
Tamal de pato
Tamales are a traditional Latin American dish made of “masa” which is a starchy type of dough that is steamed or boiled wrapped up in a leaf wrapper which is then discarded before eating. Tamales are often filled with a variety of things such as meat, cheese, fruit or vegetables. TLMP’s tamale was made with a duck confit dressed with an orange and chipotle salsa. This dish had a lot of warm in it due to the chipotle salsa which was strengthened by the acidity of the citrus. Very tasty.
Taco de nopal
We all got quite excited about the cactus tacos which escalated when we saw it was on the list of foods we could order! Despite all of us having a fair amount of travel under our belts – none of us had tried cactus before. These tacos were made using “nopales” which are from the fleshy pad like part of the prickly pear. They are a common feature in Mexican cuisine where they are farmed commercially. It was prepared with portabella mushrooms, a popular way to serve them, however I did find that the mushroom taste overpowered the flavour of the cactus. Not that I’m complaining – I absolutely love mushrooms – but I would have liked to be able to identify the flavours of the cactus. They are supposed to taste like a tarty version of green beans however our dish ended up with quite a mild and nutty flavour (possibly from the mushrooms). I will have to go back and try them again!
Camarones al la diabla (prawns cooked with achiote and cayenne, served sizzling)
Continuing in my desire to establish a fair comparison of TLMP to Pancho’s, we ordered the sizzling prawns. Remember my experience back at Pancho’s? Think soggy vegetables, stale oil and defrosted seafood dripping in slop? Thankfully, as with rest of our dining experience at TLMP, this dish was a winner. The vibrant colouring of the achiote paste also gave this dish a very distinct flavour. The combination of spices produced a fair bit of heat which the boy doesn’t tolerate well and I looked over to see the familiar sight of him poking his tongue out in attempts to cool his mouth down! (Sizzling prawns: TLMP $22, Pancho’s $27)
Barbacoa de cordero vástago (Lamb shank smoked then braised with chipotle and tomato)
Lamb shank dishes are nearly invariably off the menu for a fructose malabsorber due to the presence of onion contained in most stocks. So when we saw that the shanks also featured on our list of acceptable dishes – there was minimal discussion, it was a done deal. It was a very good choice. The meat fell off the bone easily and was exceedingly tender.
Enchilada de Queso (Chevre, jack and mild feta cheese, rolled into corn tortillas and baked with salsa asada)
The triple cheese enchiladas were a bit of a naughty treat ordered due to our interest in jack cheese as this was another thing we hadn’t tried. Despite all the cheese, this dish was surprisingly not too oily or fatty. Because all the cheese melted into one, once again I found it difficult to place the taste of the jack cheese alone. Another excuse for a return visit I guess!
Ceviche de pescado (fish cured in citrus with mango, tomato, red onion and coriander)
The ceviche was my least favourite dish of the evening. After experiencing such amazing spices and flavours contained in the other dishes we had ordered, delicate fish with sweet mango was simply overpowered by all the other excitement on my palate.
Berry pannacotta
All the authentic Mexican desserts on the menu were not gluten free so reluctantly I had to order the only option which was the berry pannacotta. It was delicious but it wasn’t the right shape or texture for a pannacotta. I wish churros were gluten free!
By contrasting my two dining experiences at Pancho’s and That Little Mexican Place, I appreciate that I may appear to some to be comparing apples with oranges, or chalk and cheese; but here is a little piece of advice for those who believe they are happily sacrificing quality in the manner of a cheap night out at Pancho’s, you may be very mistaken. When comparing simple dishes like the guacamole and the sizzling prawns, TLMP won the fight hands down on both taste AND price. I guarantee I won’t return to Pancho’s again, but I certain my curiosity will drag me back to That Little Mexican Place. And probably more than once!
Price: $$$ ($12-18 Entrée, $17-26 Mains) Food: 4/5 (a distinct lack of slops and sour cream) Service: 4/5 (very accommodating ) Ambience: 3.5/5 (a packed restaurant gives good vibe) Drinks: 4/5 (you can BYO your tequila and they make margaritas for you!) Total: 15.5/20 That Little Mexican Place | http://www.tlmp.com.au 279 Albany Highway, Victoria Park | (08) 9472 0767 382 Fitzgerald Street, North Perth | (08) 9227 5755
Little Ying Thai, Victoria Park
Posted by | Categories: Perth, Restaurants, Thai
It was Friday night and the boy phoned me say he had just finished work and was about to head home. We had made dinner plans for in the city and it looked like he was right on schedule to get home in time for us to head straight in. Excitedly I starting thinking that we may even have time to quickly stop in at the Greenhouse for a pre-dinner drink! But as he made his way back to his car, he received a call informing him that the air conditioners in the server room were failing. This meant he would need to wait back for someone to arrive to fix them. What was even more annoying for him was that the repair men would be at least two hours away! So by the time he eventually did get home, our plans to head into the city sounded like far too much like a mission for him, so we decided to go local and head to Little Ying Thai instead.
We have visited this restaurant before and enjoyed its simple charm. The quality of the dishes do not begin compare to some of my favourites venues such as Dusit Thai, but then neither do their prices and when you add in their BYO license it has all the makings of a cheap but tasty night out. The service is very friendly and they are more than happy to accommodate for both gluten-free and fructose friendly requests.
Pla Muk Yang (Charcoal squid marinated served with sweet chilli and ground peanuts)
We started off with the Charcoal squid which we have ordered before on previous nights here. It consisted of marinated strips of squid served with sweet chilli sauce and ground peanuts. As she did previously, the waitress warned us this dish takes a little bit longer to prepare than other entrees, but to be honest we were not waiting for long at all. The squid was surprisingly tender and although it appears minimally char-grilled it was still flavoursome presumably due to the marinade. We also ordered chicken larb, a sure-fire favourite of mine. Unfortunately with memories of the scrumptious duck larb we had at Dusit Thai still fresh in my mind, it was going to be a big ask to be able to impress my little taste buds. Little Ying’s larb had a pretty decent kick in it and the addition of fresh mint and coriander made it feel a bit more traditional however the flavours were too subtle leaving it tasting a bit bland.
Moo-yang: Charcoal grilled marinated pork with homemade chilli sauce
For mains we shared charcoal grilled pork. I’m not quite sure why I went all out and ordered so much charcoal dishes! In fact, I never really used to eat much pork until recently. In Thailand pork is a very popular meat, and many Thai chefs will use nearly every part of the pig to make a variety of different dishes – including the intestines! This pork dish was quite a standard fare, marinated nicely and the pork pieces were meaty and not fatty. It was a reasonably large-sized serve considering the price (around $16).
Gai Haw Bai Toey: Pandan chicken
When prepared and cooked correctly, Pandan chicken is a melt in your mouth treat. Wrapping the chicken in the pandan leaf keeps all the juices of the chicken inside resulting in a very tender and succulent mouthful of deliciousness. The leaf itself improves things further by adding a distinct sweet and floral like taste to the meat. Unfortunately a number of my previous experiences of this dish have not been that pleasant due to poor preparation and overcooking resulting in dry and chewy chicken. But after enjoying it cooked to perfection recently in Thailand, I thought we would give this another try. Regrettably this time round the chicken was indeed quite stringy and had a strange aftertaste that made me wonder if we would regret our choice tomorrow. (By the way in defence of Little Ying; there weren’t any further unpleasant outcomes the next day.)
Chicken Larb
This simple but delicious classic Thai dish never fails to satisfy me. I love all things eggie and I was happy to take the opportunity to sneak some into a dinner meal. Coupled with minced chicken, fresh herbs and some hot chilli sauce, we devoured this one very quickly.
Overall, for a cheap, local night out Little Ying Thai hits the spot. The food is by no means amazing and will not blow you away, but nevertheless it’s still enjoyable and the staff are all super friendly and attentive.
Price: $$ (Entrée $7-10, Mains $10-21) Food: 3.5/5 Service: 3.5/5 Venue: 3/5 Drinks: 3.5/5 (BYO – my choice was a bottle of Jarrah Ridge Chardonnay that we picked up last time we were in the Swan Valley) Total = 13.5/20 Little Ying Thai Shop 3, 895 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park 6101 | (08) 9362 3899
Mexican Madness I A tale of two restaurants: Pancho's Mexican Villa
Posted by | Categories: Mexican, Perth, Restaurants
Part One | Part Two
I have been keen to try the popular V Burger Bar for absolutely ages, so after creating much hype with the boy all day (including performing a little dance that he calls my Homer dance), we journeyed down to the Albany Highway café strip to give their burgers a shot. To my extreme disappointment I was to find they had run out of gluten-free buns! I was so devastated! I had been conjuring up images of sinking my teeth deep into a juicy burger for much of the day and nearly stamped my feet like a child in the middle of the restaurant due to my exasperation.
Walking out of the restaurant I could see the dismay on the boy’s face too. I know how much he loves nachos, so I made what ended up being a very bad decision and suggested we stroll over to Pancho’s Mexican Villa instead. We walked by all the tried and tested Thai and other Asian joints and walked down the dirty mall corridor into a packed and noisy restaurant.
Service started off a little slow leaving us sitting thirsty and peckish for long enough to notice. As I perused the menu I was pleased to see there were plenty of gluten-free options and figured that all I needed to do was stay well away from any salsas to avoid the onion. We started off with some strawberry daiquiris – this is the boy’s favourite drink when we were in Thailand. Unfortunately none of our memories came flooding back to us when presented with this toxic looking beverage. It came out a strange bright fluorescent red colour and was sickeningly sweet presumably with the A to Z of all things artificial. Not exactly my kind of drink but with a half of a bottle of Cloudy Bay Chardonnay already in me I was willing to compromise and just go with the flow.
Trio dips: Chilli con queso, guacamole, chilli con carne
For entrées we ordered some dips with corn chips and some potato skins to share. Our dips came out after a short delay without the accompanying potato skins entrée. As we chatted and tapped our feet to the horrific mix of 80’s tunes playing, we ate our first half of our entrée and I began to wish we had stopped at Little Ying Thai instead. The corn chips tasted commercially made and the dips were very oily and bland. The guacamole was basically just mashed avocado with minimal lemon juice, tomato, spices or salt added. The Queso dip tasted like the plastic cheese that you get in little cheese sticks for children’s lunch boxes but melted down into goop a bowl. I avoided most of the chilli con carne dip as I figured it would most likely have some onion in it. I had a very small taste of it which proved to be watery and as tasteless as the rest of the dips.
As we nibbled away and wondered where our skins were, a waiter zoomed past our table with a sizzling plate of hot food. As he walked past us big spats of hot oil came showering over the top of me and left a couple of blisters on my neck. I wasn’t sure if I was being a bit of a sook but it was stinging a fair bit! The boy gave a quick glance at my neck in the dim light and could see little blisters starting to form on my skin! I gestured to the waiter and explained to him what had happened. He said he would talk to his manager however unfortunately that was all we heard from him all night. No apology was forthcoming, nor was any discount or compensation offered.
Cajun camarons
Slowly but surely we managed to work our way through our fairly dismal entrées. We are normally fairly speedy eaters but these dips were by no means delicious. Finally our mains were brought to our table however we were still without our second entrée. We let the waiter know that we were expecting another entrée and we were informed that it was on the way.
I ordered the Cajun camarons – this was described on the menu as northwest sizzling prawns, dusted in spices, served with rice and vegetables. I figured a meat dish with spices and no sauces would be an easy way to avoid onion as it was already marked on the menu as gluten-free. The prawns came out sizzling in about half a cup of stale oil which drenched through the whole remainder of the dish. The vegetables that accompanied the meal consisted of a soggy slop of cooked grated carrot, zucchini and capsicum with micro-heads of mushy broccoli. It was so overcooked the vegetables had progressed in texture to become more of a stringy mash. The oil from the prawns soaked right through the vegetables to give everything on the plate an unpleasant and nearly rancid aftertaste. The rice was about the only thing edible on the plate and although that was a little overcooked; in my hunger I still ate it.
The boy ordered his beef nachos. They were unmemorable and a bit soggy and he had very little to comment about them at all.
Beef nachos
Once we had both finished our main meals our second entrée finally appeared. At this point in time we had to laugh. I was expecting some crisp skins, ones that you could eat with your fingers – a little like wedges but less meaty, with maybe some kind of sauce (we chose beef). Nothing prepared me for the mountain of mush that was put in front of us. We started to eat it but found all the oil, cheese and sour cream piled high on top of a barely existent poor potato skin proved as inedible as the rest of our meals. I gestured to the waiter to take it away before I started to feel ill.
It has been nearly ten years since I have eaten Mexican – we ate it often when we lived in London as there were a couple of favourite places we used to visit. I am reluctant to even eat it again after this experience but we are going to give it another shot and hit up another Mexican place in my next blog …. Stay tuned……
Price: $$ ($10-16 Entrée, $17-27 Mains) Food: 0.5/5 (near on revolting) Service: 2/5 (service with a smile and a scar to make sure you never forget) Ambience: 3/5 (a packed restaurant gives good vibe) Drinks: 2/5 (too toxic and artificial for me but cheap) Pancho’s Mexican Villa Restaurant 885 Albany Hwy, East Victoria Park 6101 | (08) 9361 2135 | www.panchos.com.au
Phu Pho Vietnamese Rice and Noodle House, Victoria Park
Posted by | Categories: Perth, Restaurants, Vietnamese
It’s only one week until our engagement party! And even better still nearly everyone is coming! My Mum is travelling over from Adelaide and my sister is flying in from Melbourne. I am actually originally from the Eastern states but I have lived over here for seventeen years with a few years also in London. During my time in sunny Perth my Dad and Step mum have not been able to attend any of my little life milestones – not my 18th, my 21st, my University graduation or even my 30th birthday. So you can imagine my delight when they told me without hesitation that they are both flying over for our engagement party! To top it all off; my estranged best friend who has lived up in Dongara for far too long has decided to take the plunge and move down to Perth to live with her boyfriend. This means two of my gorgeous bridesmaids will both be in Perth for all the wedding planning and festivities!
To celebrate her arrival in Perth and also to celebrate her birthday which was earlier in the week, we all decided to have a little night out down on the local strip in Vic Park. Unfortunately for me I had a busy day planned at work the next day so it wasn’t going to be a crazy night. It was such a beautiful evening so the boy and I decided we would walk down instead of driving. I work in a very busy Veterinary Hospital and I was still really wound up from an absolutely insane day. The day had been a stressful yet very rewarding as we were flooded with a string of critical emergencies cases all of which we managed to save! This left me on a bit of a giddy high so we held hands, talked and strolled in the setting sunlight down to Albany Highway.
We all met at The Publican for few pre-dinner drinks. The crowd was a bit older than we normally expect to see on a Friday night and there was a one man band playing music that would have been better suited on the Love Boat. Good company has a way of improving things so despite the horrendous tunes we stayed for a few rounds and chatted away about how she is settling into the city lifestyle and about the upcoming engagement party outfits.
We moved on from The Publican and started walking down Albany Highway looking for somewhere to eat. We were drawn into the Vietnamese restaurant Phu Pho which unlike the other neighbouring bare and brightly lit Asian restaurants had inviting soft lighting and modern interiors. Although my last visit to the Park was also for Vietnamese I figured maybe this may be a way to do a bit of a comparison of the popular To To’s versus Phu Pho.
Beef fresh rice paper rolls
We were greeted with lots of smiles from all the staff – they were all lovely and very polite. I remember similar treatment when we ordered some take out from here recently. Service was prompt although it took a little explaining for them to understand what gluten was which always makes me a little nervous. We started with the obligatory Vietnamese fresh rice paper rolls. I cannot imagine a Vietnamese meal without them. We ordered grilled beef rolls and the combination rolls with prawn, pork and omelette. The rolls were presented on their own on the plate – no fuss and no garnish. They were made filled to capacity and were so fat it was nearly a struggle to open my mouth wide enough to fit them in. The combination rolls were fairly standard fare, and I also felt the dipping sauce was a little too mild and bland. The beef rolls were tastier than the combination rolls; the beef tasted like it had some marinade to improve flavour.
For mains we ordered four dishes all to share. Learning from my bestie’s boyfriend that crispy duck is actually flourless therefore hopefully gluten-free, we ordered some duck accompanied with Chinese mushrooms. The duck was very meaty and not covered in fat, but it wasn’t served hot enough and could do with some extra crisp in the skin. The mushrooms were a delicious addition to the dish which would have been less enjoyable without them.
Sizzling Mongolian Beef
The sizzling Mongolian beef was quite tasty although once again I forgot to ask for no onions. There was much less onions to negotiate compared to To To’s so it wasn’t really a problem for me. Better still the dish wasn’t just meat and onions (like To To’s) and actually had a range of other crunchy vegetables included. Again I felt this dish could have been made spicier – in hindsight I should have asked for some extra chilli on the side as the boy can’t tolerate too much chilli.
Tamarind King Prawn
The Tamarind king prawn was the best dish of the evening. You are probably thinking I’m turning into a tamarind addict and you may very well be right. I blame Thailand and all her delicious tamarind dishes we have enjoyed for creating this new obsession to add to my growing list.
Finally to add some green to our meal we had the Sambal with garlic and oyster sauce. Although this dish was served with a lot of garlic, it wasn’t overpowering and made the perfect light addition to the rest of our more heavy dishes.
Overall in comparison to the other week at To To’s, I feel the food here was much more flavoursome. I also preferred that their meat dishes included some vegetables other than just onions. Only the rice paper rolls were not quite as good. Nevertheless if I had to pick between the two restaurants I think would return to Phu Pho.
Food 7/10 Service 7.5/10 Venue 7/10
Phu Pho Vietnamese Rice and Noodle House 800 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park | (08) 9361 2139
To To Vietnamese, Victoria Park
Posted by | Categories: Perth, Restaurants, Vietnamese
Oh my goodness! What bliss it has been this week to finally return back to my gluten free diet! I know it will take me a few weeks for my skin to heal and a few more weeks to maybe months on top of that for my gut to settle down……but my mood? It is astonishing how avoiding eating just one seemingly harmless little protein can alter my mind so dramatically. For the past six weeks I have carried a whinging, negative dark presence in my mind that was constantly criticising and complaining about everything and anything, and made dealing with all the other physical effects of eating gluten so much more difficult. I was oblivious to the presence of this monkey on my back until now when I can see he has left! My energy and excitement for life is returning and my sense of humour is lifted!
One of my bridesmaids suggested we go out for a casual meal to kick off the CHOGM long weekend. As we both had later shifts at work that day we opted for an easy peasy local night out on the strip in Vic Park. To To’s was packed full of customers and only had a couple of spare tables. This is always a good sign. After enquiring about gluten free dishes, we were promptly assigned a very flamboyant waiter who was bubbling to help us. He pondered expressively on options for us and was keen to ensure that we chose a good range of dishes. For Vietnamese starters, I can never go past fresh rice paper rolls. Unfortunately they only offered prawn rolls which meant my bridesmaid couldn’t try any as she doesn’t eat seafood. I would have liked there to be a pork or chicken option for those who don’t eat prawns. Nevertheless, the rolls were fresh and neatly rolled and the dipping sauce was not too overly sweet.
Chicken Satay
The sang choy bow was made with chicken and pork mince. The meat was very moist and seasoned perfectly, however silly me forgot to ask for the shallots to be omitted and I had to pick them out. We also ordered chicken satay for my bridesmaids children but unfortunately they contained gluten so I did not try. They gave us a generous serve of these and I was informed they were finger licking good.
Stir fried chicken with chilli and lemongrass
For mains we were recommended to order the stir fried chicken with chilli and lemongrass, Vietnamese style beef, chilli and pepper spare ribs and stir fried vegetables with garlic and oyster sauce. Both the chicken and the beef dishes contained copious amounts of onions which I had once again completely forgotten to request omission. I guess after six weeks of foodie freedom it will take a bit for me to remember to ask for all the finite details of the fructose malabsorption part of my diet. Thankfully fructose ingestion doesn’t mess with me to the extent that gluten does. The onion was in big strips so it was pretty easy to pick it all out. By the end of the night I had a cute little pile of onion next to my plate.
Vietnamese beef (with chicken satay garnish!)
Despite having to negotiate my chopsticks around the presence of so much onion I really enjoyed the lemongrass chicken. The beef on the other hand was quite dry and bland and I wouldn’t recommend it. Unfortunately when the ribs were brought out to our table we noted that they were covered in batter and called our exuberant waiter over to double check that this wasn’t wheat flour batter. He was very apologetic and offered to replace the dish. This wasn’t before one of the kids managed to quickly nab a pork rib to try! According to his palate it tasted like KFC so he renamed the dish VFC! (Vietnamese Fried Chicken). As a replacement we were offered a dish that wasn’t on their menu – some roast pork. This dish was definitely the best of the mains – the pork was deliciously tender and marinated to perfection and enjoyed by all at the table. With our bellies comfortably full we all skipped over the road to Baskin and Robbins for an ice-cream fix to end our chilled out evening and we were very satisfied and ready for our long weekend!
Food 6/10 Venue 6.5/10 Service 7/10
To To Vietnamese 875 Albany Hwy, East Victoria Park | (08) 9355 2388
Old Cathay, Victoria Park
Posted by | Categories: Chinese, Malaysian, Perth, Restaurants
I decided to buy a Scoopon to Old Cathay Restaurant to give to my beloved as a small token gift to further lengthen our post-engagement celebrations. I’m currently on Doctors orders to punish my body with six weeks of gluten hell in order to determine for once and for all whether I am actually coeliac or just have fructose malabsorption. I am still trying to continue to convince myself that this is a time to embrace this character building experience as an opportunity to have total freedom in ordering whatever I like and just grit and bear the consequences.
Chinese food is not one that can be gluten/onion free very easily so it was exciting to order the tasty dishes we wanted instead of the select few adjustable ones. Old Cathay has a warm and inviting interior and was full of customers on a Thursday night. The staffs were very welcoming despite us being Scoopon customers (something not all restaurants do!). Upon being seated we were quickly informed our Cathay tasting plate was being prepared and our bottle of wine was brought to the table. We had choice of white or red – we chose the white (Rothbury Estate SSB). We requested to order an additional entree to the coupon offer which was no problem.
Old Cathay Tasting Plate
The platter contained 2 Golden Vegetarian Spring Rolls, two Prawn Twisters, one bowl of Chicken Kerabu Salad and two Crunchy Prawn Kataifi. The spring rolls were fresh and hot. The two prawn dishes were both fried and looked like heart attack central. I’m not the hugest fan of deep fried food; however these were actually very crispy and light and didn’t leave my mouth feeling full of oil. In addition to the platter we ordered the boy’s favourite: Soft shelled crab. This was not the tastiest soft shelled crab I’ve had – it felt like it was missing a dipping sauce? Nevertheless it also was crispy and not soggy at all.
Old Cathay Gui Fei Tofu
For mains our Scoopon included two mains so we ordered the Old Cathay Gui Fei Tofu and the Kung Po Squid. Being food obsessed, we always both tend to want to order more food than is humanly possible to eat so we ordered an extra main of the sweet and sour pork. I’m not usually a big tofu fan, I don’t hate it, but I never think to order it. But Old Cathay tofu is something not to be missed. They make their own tofu and it was wonderfully soft as silk in my mouth. It was accompanied with shredded chicken, mushroom & carrots. The Kung Po squid was stir fried with dried whole chillies and cashew nuts. The sauce with this dish was scrumptious. Unfortunately this dish was a little lukewarm and ideally should have been served at a hotter temperature. The sweet and sour pork had decent sized pieces of meat with a light batter cover that maintained its crispiness and hadn’t gone soggy in the sauce – fresh! The sauce was tangy and gingery and not overpoweringly sweet. A winner for sure.
Sweet and sour pork
To end our overindulgent evening, our coupon included a desert each. I was so excited to see red bean pancake on the menu – a Chinese delight I have been deprived of for many years! Imagine my disappointment when they told me there wasn’t any left! Boo! Instead we ordered the Taro Ice Cream and the Sago Gula Melaka served with Ice Cream. These were fairly standard dishes although I like the extra touch of shaved crispy coconut pieces on the top.
I am already planning our return before my gluten clock runs out – to be continued……
Venue 8/10 Service 8/10 Food 7.8/10
Old Cathay | 59 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park 6100 | (08) 9361 1881 | www.oldcathay.com.au
