Typika Artisan Roasters, Claremont
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants
It isn’t often that the Boy wants to go out for a bite to eat and I turn him down. Being not just a mad foodie but also a food blogger means I am forever on the search to find myself decent content to publish. Ordinarily I will take every opportunity I can grab as not all our meals end up being blogworthy; be it because my photos aren’t good enough or maybe there just isn’t a story worth telling.
After working two full weekends in a row on top of my usual full working week, my overtime hours clocked through the roof. Tired, grumpy and in a rare moment of unsociability all I wanted to do was engross myself in front of the computer and work on my massive “blog-log” which is my term for the ever increasing back log of posts needing to be written. After barely seeing each other for the past two weeks, the Boy implored me to stop being so lazy, get up off my bum and go out with him for a late lunch. Having heard mixed reports about Typika Artisan Roasters in Claremont, we both agreed to go there and see for ourselves.
Situated in a large warehouse style building, Typika import their own beans and roast them on site. In the centre of the dining area is a glass encased room housing their huge coffee roaster so you can watch their creations unfold before your eyes. We didn’t arrive until minutes before the kitchen was closing which made it far too late in the day for me to try their coffee. In fact, I was wired enough from work and didn’t actually need further stimulation to add to the mix. Instead we opted for a couple of fruit smoothies to accompany our nuts and olives whilst we waited for our food.
Spiced nuts ($6.50, GF)
Within a couple of minutes of being seated our nibbles were brought to the table. The nuts contained a lovely mix of macadamias, cashews and almonds. They were spiced with smoked paprika, chilli, honey, garlic and sea salt. The serve was quite substantial in size.
Warm spiced olives ($8.50, GF)
Typika’s olives contain their own mix of kalamata and ligurian olives warmed with chilli, garlic, rosemary, cumin and slices of lemon. Soft and nearly velvety, the olive flesh slipped clean off the pit in one easy slurp. The amount of spice was fairly mild and I could easily have enjoyed a bit more kick.
Beer battered fish and chips ($30)
The Boy wasn’t that thrilled with any of the vegetarian options and opted for the beer battered fish of the day. After reminding me that he “isn’t really a fish and chips person” I was surprised that he ordered it. If any serve of fish and chips was going to win him over this would have been it. Swirls of batter fried to a crisp golden colour coated each fillet of fish. It was served with battered chips and sweet potato wedges with a side serve of tartare sauce and a bottle of vinegar.
I have to admit I was a little envious of the appearance of his dish and longed to be able to at least sink my teeth into one bite. That was until later in the day when all that fried batter started to disagreed with him. Being on a plant based diet and no longer used to such fatty foods his digestive system uttered roars of complaints which spanned throughout our yoga class!
Scallops, black pudding and pea ($22, GF)
Unlike the hungry lad, I only felt like something light and enquired to our waitress which of the two gluten free scallop options on the menu could be adapted to be fructose friendly. The chef recommended the scallops with black pudding, minted pea puree and romesco sauce. They were happy to serve the romesco on the side as it contained garlic which is something a lot of FM’s have to limit.
Scallops, black pudding and pea ($22, GF)
Plump and only briefly seared each scallop was a little raw on the inside which fortunately is just how I prefer them although I realise others may prefer them more cooked through. The black pudding was cut into the skinniest slivers such that its flavour didn’t overpower the delicate scallops. The pea puree was a little under-seasoned but had enough of a hint of sweetness to allow the scallop’s fresh taste to shine.
I didn’t think it was fair to write a blog post on a coffee roaster without trying their coffee so as all that overtime gave me an extra day off in lieu I chose to head back to Typika Artisan Roasters solo. That day luck was not on my side as it turned out that a power line had come down across Stirling Highway making access nearly impossible with the Police blocking off the road completely. After getting lost winding my way through the back streets I finally managed to pop out upwind of the drama.
Short mac ($3.50)
It was bustling for a late weekday morning and most tables were occupied. I sat down on my lonesome ready to get down to business. The drive had taken me a lot longer than I anticipated and I was champing at the bit for a coffee. Served with a bit more milk than I prefer for my short macs, my coffee was quite smooth and creamy however lacked the wow-factor that I expected from a self-proclaimed artisan roaster.
Typika Breakfast Stack ($21)
I um-ed and ah-ed whether I needed a second breakfast for about two full seconds before I called the waiter back to take my food order. I chose the Typika breakfast stack which included a shredded potato crisp, wilted spinach, avocado and house smoked ocean trout all topped with fried egg. Service was prompt and before I had finished my coffee my meal arrived. The waiter seems rushed and as he placed my dish on the table the whole mountain of food came toppling down in one messy and very un-photogenic pile. I sheepishly requested if it could kindly be send back to the kitchen for reconstruction.
Typika Breakfast Stack ($21)
I guessed at this point there was no way of remaining incognito for the purposes of my blog post. I winced a little at openly giving myself away and acting like a diva sending my food back. As I pricked my knife into my egg these thoughts quickly vanished to the back of my mind as I watch the bright yellow yolk porn dribble gracefully down my enormous stack. Oh yes.
Typika Artisan Roasters makes a nice modern change from the surrounding old-fashioned styled cafes in the Claremont area. Whilst their coffee was by no means incredible, it still hit the sweet spot for me. Their menu is very gluten free friendly and has a good variety of options beyond the standard eggs benny and big breakfasts.
Typika Artisan Roasters 331 Stirling Highway, Claremont WA 6010 | (08) 9284 6088 | www.typika.com.au Price: $$$ (Breakfast $12-21, Lunch $17-34) Food: 3/5 (a touch on the oily side, plenty of GF options) Service: 3/5 (quick, friendly but minimal menu knowledge for ingredients) Ambience: 3/5 (loud, busy, hive of activity) Drinks: 3.5/5 (great coffee but not blow-your-socks-off coffee) Total: 12.5/20 
Coles Gluten Free Food & Healthy Living Expo Perth March 15 & 16, 2014
Posted by | Categories: Attractions, Featured, Food and Wine Festivals, Perth
This year I am very excited to be chosen as the official blogger for the Coles Gluten Free Food & Healthy Living Expo in Perth. My journey into a gluten free lifestyle was one I wished happened earlier in my life. Right from early childhood I was plagued with severe skin disease and gastrointestinal problems. I saw multiple dermatologists and immunologists, lathered myself in steroid creams until my skin turned paper thin until finally in my early thirties my iron levels plummeted to dangerous levels and I was referred onto a gastroenterologist.
Despite the initial difficultly of converting to eating an exclusively gluten free diet, within weeks my energy levels improved, my brain became clearer, my gut deflated and became much happier but most obviously; my disfiguring skin disease all but vanished. No longer did I feel like I had to hide under a paper bag! In addition to having gluten intolerance I also suffer from fructose malabsorption along with some other family members of mine however fortunately my symptoms relating to this condition are comparatively mild.
Photo used with permission from Gluten Free in WA
This year the Coles Gluten Free Food & Healthy Living Expo is held on the 15th and 16th of March at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The weekend will be an action packed two days with over 50 companies on show; including both local and national businesses. There will be gluten free food available to buy as well as gluten free beer and wine.
Over the day there will be several seminars held on varied topics including coeliac disease diagnosis and treatment, FODMAPs and healthy eating for weight control.
There will also be some lively cooking sessions with ex-Masterchef finalists Michael Weldon and Courtney Roulston hitting the stage in addition to sessions with Laila Gampfer from Rawsome and Kim McCosker from “4 Ingredients” fame.
For your chance to WIN a free double pass to the Coles Gluten Free Food & Healthy Living Expo, share with us who your favourite exhibitor at the show will be and why in the comments section below then head over and like my Facebook page and sign up to receive my Chompchomp updates by email. Good luck!
Competition Terms and Conditions
● Competition is open to all Chompchomp readers who have an Australian postal address
● The winner will be chosen by myself and the Boy based on the most interesting and creative answer written in the comments section below in addition to liking my Chompchomp Facebook page and signing up for Chompchomp updates by email.
● Entries close 5.00pm Thursday 6th March 2014
Going on a three day juice cleanse with Au Naturale Juices
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Perth, Raw Food, Vegetarian
A few years ago my dearly beloved husband was inspired to go on a month long juice fast after watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. After a full month of strict juicing not only did he lose a lot of weight but it left him feeling invigorated and much more energetic. Back then I was never keen to jump on the juicing bandwagon with him. Whilst I realised that juicing could provide more benefits to me than just weight loss, being a relatively normal body weight I didn’t feel the need to juice was urgent. To add to my reluctance, I found that juicing at home was always such messy work and quite time consuming especially because my juices had to be adapted for my fructose malabsorption. Our Breville juicer is one of the traditional centrifugal style ones that most people have and in order to gain the maximum nutrients from the juice you need to drink it immediately. I now much prefer using my new Omniblend blender for juicing as it is much more efficient and far easier to clean.
The Boy prides himself on educating me on anything non-veterinary as he believes that if I’m left to my own devices I become very one track minded and only learn about food and felines. There is nothing REALLY wrong with that is there? One night earlier this year he put on a documentary called Eat, Fast and Live Longer. This Michael Moseley film explores the benefits of fasting on our longevity and health. It’s definitely worth a watch if you haven’t already and it opened my eyes to the fact that you can be slim and still be unhealthy. Wanting to live long and happy lives together we both made a pact to try and fast for one to two days week. We each implemented our fasting in our own individual ways but the boy defaulted straight back to juice fasts and found the whole process far easier than I did.
Eat, Fast & Live Longer HD by limoslight
My own version of the fast was a struggle and after a few weeks of unsuccessfully trying to satisfy myself with piles of raw vegetables and packets of Slim Pasta I turned to the Boy for advice. Like some sort of answered wish within the same week I was contacted by Jac from Au Naturale with offerings of some cold pressed juice samples.
Cold pressed juice is different to that made with my juicer at home. With cold pressing there is no heat created by friction or grinding thus the fruit and vegetables remains raw and do not oxidise or degrade. This means much more of the nutrients and enzymes remain intact. After having a chat with Jac about my fructose malabsorption I was relieved that she was more than happy to adapt the ingredients of her juices to avoid any high fructose fruits so that my gut would remain happy.
My juices were delivered direct to my front door which gave me the chance to talk with Jac and learn more about her newly founded business. We stood out on my porch in the sun sharing stories about how closely we have found our diets to be linked to our own health and well-being. We really are what we eat. Having over five years’ experience as a chef she has a strong interest in using raw, organic and locally sourced products. I loved hearing that she supports our local farmers and purchases her produce from our local Farmers markets in Subi and Fremantle in addition to sourcing some direct from growers in the Swan Valley. LOVE!
The samples didn’t last long and I had already knocked back all three by midday. My interest was well and truly sparked and I was keen to give her more intensive three day extreme juice cleanse a go. In exchange for writing about my experience she kindly offered to provide me and the Boy with a buy-one-get-one-free deal. She emailed me an information pack detailing how to prepare for the three days.
Normally during our working week, the Boy and I eat a predominantly vegan diet and avoid eating animal products, processed foods and grains. Consequently I only really needed a day or two to prepare myself for my juice cleanse however for people who are used to regularly eating meats, grains, sugars and dairy products I strongly recommend taking a couple of days or more to prepare yourself. If you have quite a high amount of processed foods and sugars in your diet you may even want to consider doing a couple of single day juice cleanses first to get your body used to the process. If you don’t, I can guarantee you will not get a very positive outcome and risk making yourself unwell.
The following week Jac arrived on my front door with a whole eskie full of juice. It was hard to believe that my entire next three days of meals were contained in there and I was keen to see what it included. Basically, for each day you are given a 500 ml bottle of juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a veggie shot for each morning, a fresh young coconut for an added bit of energy with lunch and two 250 ml “snack” juices. There are three different types of “meals” and two flavours of “snacks”. The cleansing juices are much lower in natural sugars in comparison to some of Jac’s other juices and contain vegetables such as cucumber and celery which are claimed to help with the body’s cleansing process whilst still being gentle on the digestion. The veggie shots are designed to give a concentrate of pure vitamins and health. Jac is a big fan of juicing fresh turmeric and includes it in one of these shots in addition to some of her juices.
The eve before I started my cleanse I dreamt about juice all night. I kept dreaming that the Boy accidentally drank all my juices by mistake and I got half way through my three days and didn’t have enough left. This bizarre dream kept on repeat loop in my brain all night giving me a fitful broken sleep. Once morning arrived I bolted up out of bed and grabbed my first bottle of “Green Caterpillar” made with celery, cucumber, ginger, kale, lime and parsley with the green apple being replaced with grapefruit to make it more fructose friendly. I quickly gulped down the first half of my bottle before I remembered that I was supposed to start my morning with a hot lemon drink. Being a huge breakfast fan I wondered to myself how on Earth I would cope with drinking just liquids for three days.
Jac had advised me to avoid all caffeine starting from the day before the cleanse but I confess to you dear readers that I’m not that strong willed. I reduced my intake to one small black coffee each morning and drank herbal tea for the rest of the day. Later that day I had a business meeting in the city and afterwards we stopped in at The Terrace Hotel for a coffee and bite to eat. Well not for me of course! I brought my “Clean Paws” lunch juice with me in a cold pack to keep it cool. This juice contained coriander, celery, cucumber, ginger, kale, lemon and lime with the papaya replaced with grapefruit and pineapple. I watched on in hungry envy as my colleagues devoured their cake and coffee. I remained very hungry all day. Despite not eating, I had an insane amount of energy for the whole day. My work mates joked that they doubted I would stay like that for the full three days and it must be the high before the low.
I had the Ginger Yam juice for dinner which was made from celery, cucumber, ginger, lime, sweet potato, turmeric and grapefruit. Afterwards I enjoyed a bowl of miso soup as suggested by Jac using gluten free miso paste and hot water without all the trimmings of tofu and seaweed. I was thankful for the warm goodness in my belly as it helped ward off my tummy’s grumblings and let me sleep. The Boy caved and ate a couple of buckwheat crackers and a bowl of frozen blueberries as his hunger was unbearable. At well over six foot tall he is nearly twice my size so I can understand how much more hungry he must have felt. In hindsight I think he will need an additional large juice bottle per day to see him through.
As my first day drew to an end I was surprised that I was only slightly bloated despite drinking over two litres of juice. Fructose malabsorption sufferers are recommended to limit their juice intake to about half a glass per serve which I had obviously exceeded. Jac had kindly ensured to adapt all the ingredients to leave out all the high fructose veggies and fruits which made a huge difference but I knew I would be bound to getting mild symptoms by the end of the day. As I lay in bed my tummy let a few loud gurgles before I fell into the deepest sleep I had in weeks.
Day Two I woke up to find my skin was noticeably cleared and my weight had dropped by 600 grams. My hunger was not as unbearable as the first day and I felt buzzed and full of energy albeit a little light headed. My bloating from the night before has settled down surprisingly quickly. Usually if I have an FM reaction it will last for at least 2-3 days. My hyperactivity lasted for the whole day despite working a long and late shift that didn’t get me home until after 9 pm that night. I was still pretty hungry all day but being the second day I was starting to get used to it.
Day Three followed on from a night of less satisfying sleep as the Boy had tossed and turned all night which in turn kept waking me up. I awoke feeling tired and struggled to get going compared to the other two mornings. I found my gut reactions and bloating had stayed at bay and was amazed at how I hadn’t buckled under the pressures of hunger and eaten real food. I weighed myself and I had lost a further 500 grams.
My skin was literally glowing with health and was even clearer than usual feeling velvety soft to touch. My breakfast juice picked me up more than I thought but by late morning I was starting to lose steam again. I opened up my young coconut before lunch and drank the cool refreshing water along with some of the softer jelly like meat inside. Jac had advised me just to drink the juice but told me some people still eat the flesh. As the coconut meat does contain some fats it isn’t ideal to have while on a cleanse. I am glad I breeched protocol however because the extra energy gave me a new lease in life and I was back to the pumped up, energetic juicing freak I had been for the past two days.
By the afternoon I felt absolutely fine and being on the home stretch I knew I was going to make it. I started making plans for my first meal the next morning and decided on trialling coconut flour paleo pancakes. Seeing the finish line always makes a race easier and I found that last night was actually the easiest.
Oh my, I DID enjoy my food the next day though!
I highly recommend giving a juice cleanse a try. You will feel healthier, more energetic and may even lose some weight in the process. I will not lie to you, you WILL be hungry. For someone like me who eats a lot and eats often, this was the most difficult part and there was a significant battle of wills at play. Thankfully, if you stick to your guns you will find it actually gets easier each day that goes by. But yes. You will be hungry!
Despite the hunger and internal struggle that it created, I really enjoyed my juice cleanse and I’m now hooked having already booked a second one with Au Naturale that just I completed on the weekend. I hope to try and do one once a month just to reset my overworked gut, immune system and overall health back to a baseline. I am even considering trying a five day cleanse…is that crazy? Juice on!
Au Naturale | www.aunaturalejuice.com.au My three day “Extreme Juice Junkie” cleanse normally costs $166 plus delivery however I received a buy one for the price of two in return for writing about my experience. I was happy to pay full price for my second cleanse. I feel I have been truthful and accurate in my post and always strive to ensure that my sponsored posts remain unbiased and factual.Food for Champions at the Rose & Crown, Guildford
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Hotels, Modern Australian, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Swan Valley
In order to operate as a successful veterinary hospital, good teamwork is absolutely essential. No single individual is more important than any other and each one of our staff members, from our receptionists to our nurses through to our vets, all have key roles in caring for our patients and their humans. To help further develop our teamwork skills, every year our business puts on a Team Building Day. It is always a day of fun and adventure ending with prizes, food and lots of laughter. Our most recent day involved an Amazing Race-styled car rally across the Northern suburbs of Perth with volunteers help enlisted from husbands and wives to man all the check points. We climbed rock faces, cuddled koalas and collected a variety of trinkets and tokens to end the day at our Practice Manager’s beach shack in Ledge Point.
Now despite my retorts to the contrary, I will secretly admit to you that I have a strong competitive streak. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be placed in a team with a well-balanced group; a similarly competitive perfectionist with strong attention to detail, an exuberantly positive life enthusiast that randomly sings at every opportunity and a very pregnant peace-keeper that is easily one of the kindest hearted people I know. We named ourselves the “Innovation Commandos” and kitted ourselves out complete with toy guns and camouflage armbands. The four of us raced around together to each checkpoint and by the end of the day not only had we successfully completed every task and arrived in good time, we also had a theme song. To our further excitement and joy at the end of the Awards Ceremony, our team was announced as the winning team. Woot!!
One of our challenges was to get a photo with a fireman complete with truck!
Other than fame and glory, our winning prize was a voucher for dinner at the Rose & Crown Hotel in Guildford. The following months after the Team Building Day we repeatedly attempted to arrange a night where we were all free however this proved to be more difficult than herding cats.
Have you ever tried to do that?
At the very end of the voucher period we finally managed to coordinate a night where three of us could attend dinner and the fourth would join us at the end for dessert. It turned out to be a beautiful night but unfortunately they put us on a table inside where it was relatively dark and quiet. All the better to make noise I say!
Ploughman’s plate ($32)
The Rose & Crown are gluten free friendly and have a menu specifically for us to choose from. For entrees we opted to share the ploughman’s plate and a serve of seared scallops. Our waitress initially offered to serve the plate with gluten free bread but shortly afterward returned to apologise that they had run out.
Ploughman’s plate ($32)
The Ploughman’s plate had a collection of tasty morsels including potted salmon, cured meats, a thick chunk of cheddar cheese, a wedge of chicken and pistachio terrine and pickled vegetables. I asked for the wafers and crusty French baguette to be served on the side however they were placed on the same platter. I still managed to negotiate my way around the offending items and enjoy part of the platter.
Seared scallops ($21)
The seared scallops were served on chunks of warm chorizo and a bed of cauliflower purée. Whilst small in size, each scallop was plump and juicy. The cauliflower puree lacked the strong, fairly distinct taste that is usual to this vegetable making it lusciously smooth and creamy.
Seared scallops ($21)
One of our team members was yet to arrive at the restaurant meaning there was an extra scallop. As I looked up to see the Boy enviously eyeing them off and there was just no way we could leave him suffering. When he thought no one was looking I caught him sneaking a quick finger over onto my plate to swipe an extra smear of the purée. I overlooked this action and pretended it never happened so he could enjoy more of its deliciousness with me.
Crispy skin salmon ($35)
The Boy chose the crispy skinned salmon for his main dish which was served with soba noodles, an Asian herb salad, capsicum relish and tom yum jelly. It was at the upper end of his tolerance for spiciness as he is not a big fan of chilli. The salmon had a lovely darker reddish tint in the centre and flaked apart easily.
Twice cooked pork belly with missing sides ($38)
Our jovial singing team member chose the twice-cooked pork belly for her main choice. Within minutes of serving her the dish our waitress returned to collect it as was plated incorrectly missing the potato, rosemary and leek galette. After a quick visit back to the kitchen her plate came back complete.
Twice cooked pork belly ($38)
The pork belly was as tender as the Boy’s salmon and knowing it was one of the gluten free options I was also tempted to steal a mouthful to try. It was topped with a rich Pedro Ximénez glaze to add sweetness to those wonderful porky flavours and I wasn’t surprised to hear she enjoyed every mouthful.
Eye fillet ($43)r
Before I had time to obsess over the pork too much my steak arrived. Since the Boy has converted to eating a plant-based diet, beef has become an occasional treat for me. The Rose & Crown offer a few different cuts of steak to choose from. I chose the 250-gram Kilcoy eye fillet served with the potato galette and café de Paris butter. It was a shame they didn’t source the beef from somewhere more locally as we have a lot of premium beef producers in WA. Nevertheless my fillet was buttery soft and I could literally cut it with a bread knife.
Roasted lamb rack ($40)
My fellow perfectionist chose the roasted lamb rack for her main. We all wowed and cooed as her plate came out piled high with food. It nearly looked like it was enough to feed two! Her tender lamb cutlets were served with carrots, stringless beans, confit potatoes, babaganoush and chimichurri.
As we enjoyed our last mouthfuls of main course we agreed how full we felt and were nearly bursting at the seams. Just when I became convinced there was no way we couldn’t eat anymore, we received a text message from our absent and previously pregnant team member to say she was on her way complete with husband in tow. I sighed and was grateful I wore a fat dress because this boat was obviously going to be pushed out real hard! This was to be a rare moment of baby-free time for the new mum. Having checked out the menu online she asked us to pre-order her a “nannie” for dessert. Not quite knowing whether this was a slip of her subconscious thought or just a predictive text error none of us quite knew what sort of dessert this was and so we opted to wait for her to join us and clarify.
Iced banoffee terrine ($13)
It turned out that she actually meant the message to say to order the banoffee dessert and it was not a bizarre call for some parental help at home! We all had a chuckle and perused over the menu for our own choices. Her iced banoffee terrine came with drizzled caramel syrup and double cream.
Lemon lime bitters & Affrogato ($12.50)
Hyperactive people have a way of doing crazy things and despite being both late and a weeknight, our in-house vocalist ordered herself the Affrogato. Freshly brewed espresso coffee, vanilla ice-cream and a shot of Baileys Irish cream all served individually is in my humble opinion the only way to serve this treat and I wished I could handle my coffee in the evening so I could have joined in the fun.
Gelato ($9.50)
Being quite full I was hoping to share a dessert with the Boy but he had other plans and unsurprisingly ordered himself a sizable bowl of gelato. Ice creams and gelato have always been his weakness and as his loving wife, who am I to interfere with that? There were a number of flavours to choose from and he selected chocolate and strawberry. It was topped with chunks of home-made honeycomb.
Lemon curd meringue ($12)
A popular dessert choice at our table was the lemon curd meringue. Served with a velvety scoop of raspberry sorbet and berry coulis this had all the right elements of tang and sweet.
Chocolate nemesis ($14)
My gluten free dessert was the once famous Chocolate Nemesis, which is a hybrid of part cake, part mousse chocolate indulgence that resembled a replica of Mount Doom from Mordor. I was confronted by a towering mound of silky rich chocolate with contrasting colours of lime crème fraiche and blackberry plum liquor compote dripping down its sides. I can guarantee this dish tasted a hell of a lot better than it looked! In fact, it was nothing short of amazing. Chocolate Nemesis you are not my enemy, you are my hero!
The Rose & Crown is a beautiful old hotel that has been renovated to maintain its character and charm. Their food is casual enough to still be considered pub food but with a touch more finesse and effort than you would expect. The courtyard is worth a visit in summer and is a great place to while your Sunday afternoons away with a glass of Chardonnay in hand.
Rose & Crown 105 Swan Street, Guildford WA 6055 | (08) 9347 8100 | www.rosecrown.com.au Price: $$$ (Entrees $14-23, Mains $33-48) Food: 3.5/5 (reasonable for pub food with many GF choices) Service: 3/5 (friendly but a little scattered) Ambience: 3/5 (depends where you sit, courtyard recommended in summer, main dining room in winter) Drinks: 3/5 (small wine list focusing on Australian wines) Total: 12.5/20
IGA Taste Great Southern Perth Launch Party 2014
Posted by | Categories: Attractions, Events, Featured, Food and Wine Festivals, Great Southern, Perth, Regional WA
Last night marked the launch of the 2014 IGA Taste Great Southern Food and Wine festival with the Perth Launch Party being held at the State Theatre Centre in Northbridge. I joined a group of invited guests from the food industry as we wined and dined on a wonderful selection of the amazing produce this region has to offer.
The Taste Great Southern festival runs over the next four weeks with over 45 events held across the Great Southern region ranging from farmers markets, pop up dinners, guest chef cooking demonstrations, degustation dinners, beach BBQ’s and picnics.
This year a few celebrity chefs will make an appearance at the festival including the legendary Stephanie Alexander, bright and bubbly Poh Ling Leow and WA’s own Anna Gare.
Anna Gare introduced her work of art!
Anna Gare created an incredible work of art for the evening made entirely of fresh produce from the region.
IGA’s Taste Great Southern Food and Wine Festival runs from the 22nd of February to the 30th of March across the Great Southern region including Albany, Denmark, Mt Barker, Porongurup, Frankland and Kojonup. For more details on all the events head to their website or follow them on Twitter .
Love is in the Air at Rochelle Adonis's Valentine's Day Dessert Degustation
Posted by | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Desserts, Events, Featured, Perth, Restaurants
After nearly sixteen years of togetherness, the Boy and I still manage to find ways to surprise each other. Gestures of love can be as small as grabbing an unrequested favourite snack at the local deli right through to spontaneous bouquets of flowers, presents and most excitingly degustations! The Boy has always claimed to not be a dessert person however over recent months I realise this is not actually the case. He certainly doesn’t like your more traditional stodgy cakes and puddings but he is more than happy to fight me spoon for spoon for something fancier and somewhat de-constructed.
For Valentine’s Day this year I thought I would take a punt and secretly book us a table at Rochelle Adonis for their sensuous aphrodisiac laced dessert degustation. Having already blogged about Rochelle Adonis several times, I didn’t want to ruin the mood of our romantic evening with a series of photo shoots and although I brought my camera with me I didn’t really take my photography seriously. Our evening turned out to be such a beautiful experience that despite the poor quality of my images I am happy to swallow my pride and share it with you. You may notice that the quality of photos deteriorates further more as the night goes on and my attention gets dragged away.
Every course was careful created to enhance the love in the air using ingredients designed to tantalise the senses. We had our own private table out in the courtyard surrounded by fairy lights and scented candles. It felt like we were in our own little world and let all our cares and worries of the week wash away as we soaked up the romantic atmosphere.
“A letter to Cupid with Love potion number #9”
Our first course started off with glasses of Mumm champagne paired with spoons of dreamy coloured spheres. Each sphere was flavoured differently and burst in the mouth to reveal three flavours; strawberry and slow gin, mango and triple sec, and clove, honey apple and whisky.
It felt like a boozy version of bubble tea which many of you know I absolutely love. In fact any food or drink that involves little burstable spheres excites me!
The second component to this course was hidden in two bright red envelopes. Inside each envelope was a square of paper thin Rochelle Adonis nougat and a pen with edible ink.
We wrote little love notes to each other and exchanged before eating them. The nougat was softly flavoured with clove and nutmeg.
Orange flower honey, peach and almond
As the sun set, we were left with only the flickering light of the candles and soft glow of the fairy lights so we inched our chairs closer together ready for the next course. It was titled “Orange flower honey, peach and almond”. As pretty as I would always expect from this team, this dish contained a soft crumbled base of malted almond crumbs, poached peach slivers, honey, cinnamon and ginger. It was finished with a smooth peach and cognac gel and garnished with shards of peach meringue.
Lovingtons
The third course was one of my favourites; lovingtons. It was no problem for the chef to convert this gorgeousness to be gluten free and I was thankful for their efforts. A lovable heart-shaped lamington played centre stage for this dish and it was filled with yuzu curd and dipped in raspberry gel. It lay innocently on a raspberry “cloud” that contained a surprise of lychee parfait inside it. Mango puree and mandarin snow added sweet and citrusy notes to the dish. It was garnished with blueberries, lychee and raspberries. This had a serious wow factor!
Cheese course: Fourme d’Ambert filled cannoli, fig and salsa verd, gruyere stuffed zucchini flower (not GF)
To break the dessert degustation into two, our next course was a savoury course; cheese. Well cheese IS part of a proper dessert isn’t it? This was the only course that the gluten free option looked any different from the Boy’s. For everything else the chef managed to make our dishes appear the same. There was no missing out for me on this dego! The Boy received Fourme d’Ambert filled cannoli with a fig and salsa verd, whipped triple cream goats cheese infused with caraway and porcini with a beetroot sponge, and his favourite a gruyere stuffed zucchini flower.
THE best cheese toasty (all GF)
The highlight of my gluten free cheese course was humbly described by our waitress as a gruyere cheese toasty. It was a small, wafer thin rectangle of gluten free bread topped with cheese that in all honesty initially made me think … “Really?”
That was until I bit into it.
How could something so thin and little still contain all the vital aspects of texture and flavour of a perfect cheese toasty? The outside was crunchy crisp, the inside oozed gooey, cheesy goodness and there was enough flavour to knock my socks off.
Lingot triple cream goats cheese
There were two other components on my cheese course. Creamy blobs of Cashel blue contrasted wondrously with the sweetness of fresh figs and salsa verd. The Lingot triple cream goats cheese was served deconstructed with gluten free quinoa croutons and golden baby beets.
Pimms #1 sorbet with cucumber
To move our palates back to the realm of sweets we were provided with one of Rochelle’s signature styled sorbets. Everywhere we go recently we have been drinking Pimm’s cocktails laced with fresh fruit and it was a lovely coincidence to see it feature in the sorbet.
Perfectly light and nearly fizzy, the sorbet was made with strawberry and orange and coated with borage snow. Cleansed and refreshed we were ready for more dessert!
While waiting for our next course we couldn’t help ourselves from opening our salted caramels and devouring them. Unlike a lot of chewy hard caramels these were buttery soft and dissolved in the mouth. They were a perfect match with the Stella Bella Pink Muscat I had sneakily stashed in my handbag in case we drank our way through the provided champagne.
Blood plum, apricot and rosemary
Our pre-dessert was made from blood plums, apricot and rosemary. A tart strap of blood plum “leather” and compote was paired with a creamy rosemary white chocolate mousse, green apple gel and apricot “fluff”. It was a gentle transition to take us to the last but not least course.
“Roses and red and violets are blue, once I had a shattered heart and now I’m with you”
As our final dish arrived I was amazed that despite enjoying six courses of dessert, I was left just as satisfied as if it were a “normal” degustation. Each plate had brought with it a mini-journey for the senses and I was excited to see how it all would end. Regrettably for you dear readers, my mind was taken far away from focusing on obtaining you some beautiful photos, in fact it seemed far away from focus altogether! I was too lost in enjoying the emotions and happiness we both felt for each other and in the sheer enjoyment of this last scrumptious finale. The last dish was titled “Roses and red and violets are blue, once I had a shattered heart and now I’m with you.”
Using Valrhona’s 64% Ariguani chocolate the chef created an incredible “shattered mousse” adorned with rose petals. It was sided by a chunk of Rochelle Adonis’s signature chocolate cake blushed with brilliant coloured strawberry powder. Next to these delicacies sat a tear drop shaped ampoule that was filled with rose water. The idea was to shatter the ampoule over the dessert enhancing it with gentle flavour.
I have been told by others that have previously done a dessert degustation that it isn’t for the light hearted. However after sharing this experience with someone who claims to not even be into desserts I can safely say this is not the case. Our evening was one of the best nights out we have had in a long time and couldn’t have come at a better time for us.
Happy Valentine’s to the best husband in the world. You are my best friend and my one true love. I love you and I love my life with you. Rochelle Adonis’s dessert degustation was $338 per couple and included a bottle of Mumm champagne. We would both like to extend a massive thank you to the whole team at Rochelle Adonis for making this one of our best Valentines to date; you have excelled yourselves once again. For more on Rochelle Adonis head over to my previous posts: High Tea at Rochelle Adonis October 2011 Returning to Rochelle Adonis for High Tea September 2012 Rochelle Adonis’s House Warming Party July 2013 Rochelle Adonis | (08) 9227 0007 | 2 St Albans Avenue, Highgate WA 6003 | rochelleadonis.com
Sharing more than just Bread in Common, Fremantle
Posted by | Categories: Desserts, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants, Wine Bar
I never anticipated that my blog would have any degree of measurable success. Blogging wasn’t something I planned to do, nor does creative writing or photography play any part in my real career. Despite being a complete self-confessed amateur I have relished in watching Chompchomp metamorphosize from an ugly duckling into something I’m proud of. Reflecting back on my first and comparatively horrendous post I can see the blog undergo constant improvement. When I recently researched to find out the Hottest 100 Food Blogs of Perth, I was blown away that my blog is at Number 5! I hope that I can remain motivated to keep it ever-evolving so that my readers stay entertained and keen to return back for more. I am always happy for feedback so let me know if you think there is something I could change or add to the blog to improve it.
Another more unexpected and even better aspect of being a blogger has been the friendships that I have made along the way. One of my closest blogging friends Michelle from Foodie Cravings had been trying for weeks on end to organise a catch up with me and after a couple of false starts we finally matched up our busy schedules. We were both happy to travel to Fremantle and agreed to meet at Bread In Common.
I had heard much about Bread in Common but didn’t expect to be greeted by the wonderful airy modern open space of which it comprises. Situated in a renovated old Fremantle warehouse, it has lots of natural light flooding through at an angle onto large communal tables and they have a sociable menu designed for sharing.
Carrot, orange and ginger juice ($8)
In continuing my attempts at keeping my alcohol consumption as close to zero as humanly possible for sixty days, I was relieved that Michelle was also happy to abstain. It isn’t often that there are fructose friendly juices on the menu and looking on their menu I was happy to see I had options. It made it a lot easier to skip the wine when one of the juices I love making at home is up for grabs; a combination of carrot, orange and ginger juice. It makes such a refreshing drink for a hot summer’s day.
Common loaf with olive oil ($2.50)
I was dismayed to learn that they do not have any gluten free bread to offer. The manager made kind apologies and indicated coyly that it could be possible if only I bought him a new oven. I initially wondered why they couldn’t at least temporarily source some from other local Fremantle bakeries such as Abhi’s until I realised their philosophy is to make everything in house where possible. Avoiding cross contamination of flours in one open plan kitchen would be very difficult.
Michelle and I simultaneously chose the duck fat roasted potatoes as our first pick. My stepmother’s duck fat potatoes are yet to be rivalled and are consistently out of this world. Bread in Common’s version ended up coming in a fairly close second attaining all the right layers of textures; from crispy to chewy, ending in a super fluffy soft centre. They are served with rosemary, whole roasted garlic cloves and some ketchup. Each garlic clove squeezed out like toothpaste onto my plate sealing the deal that no vampires would come near me that evening. Nor would my husband for that matter!
Cured pork belly, beans, green tomato, oregano ($24, GF)
Michelle’s dish choice was the pork belly which she raved about from her previous visit. Each piece was delicately gelatinous and sticky sweet. Topped with a sweet green tomato chutney and on a bed of crunchy, slippery greens it was far too easy to eat.
Cured pork belly, beans, green tomato, oregano ($24, GF)
Octopus, watermelon, green olive, lemon, pork crackle ($24, GF)
Our lunch date was the first time I had eaten out without the Boy in tow for a while and it was refreshing to be able to order some non-vegetarian dishes without getting a high browed look from him! My choice was a dish of succulent Fremantle octopus served on a bed of green olive tapenade with cubes of fresh watermelon. It was topped with the unexpected treat of tiny shavings of crunchy hard pork crackling. Whilst I was happy to indulge in the crackling, I left the watermelon for Michelle to enjoy as it is high in fructose. In turn she was happy to leave any octopus pieces with suckers intact as she found the whole look of them disturbing.
Banana, meringue, rosemary, marshmallow, caramel ($18, GF)
Michelle had forewarned me to save room for dessert as she recalls them being worth relishing. I was impressed; I rarely plan my meals with this level of strategy which probably explains why I often end up overeating. I was not prepared for the visually exquisite surprise that each of our desserts provided.
Banana, meringue, rosemary, marshmallow, caramel ($18, GF)
My banana dessert contained all kinds of my favourite sweet things; caramelised bananas, cubes of torched marshmallow and blobs of softer meringue alternated with smaller dots of tart lemon curd. With such a variety of textures and flavours this dish played the risk of being too busy but each element complemented the other well and was perfectly orchestrated music to my mouth. I wanted more and quietly plotted in my mind how to get back before the menu is changed.
Peanut mousse, chocolate brownie iced cream, raspberry, oreo ($18)
Michelle’s dessert was even more spectacular than mine with scoops of peanut mousse and chocolate brownie ice cream laying on a bed of Oreo “soil”. Dollops of brilliant red raspberry gel spotted about the plate with some sort of raspberry crumble tumbled over the top. It looked totally divine but alas is not gluten free for those wondering.
As time ticked into the late afternoon I had to decline the offer of coffee and opted for a peppermint tea instead. The tea was fresh and uplifting without any of the unpleasant metallic aftertaste that poorer quality peppermint tea often has.
Whilst I cannot deny I was somewhat disappointed I didn’t actually eat bread at Bread in Common, there were plenty of other gluten free options on the menu to fill up on. The desserts were particularly mind-blowing it’s worth returning back just for them.
Bread in Common 43 Pakenham Street, Fremantle WA 6160 | (08) 9336 1032 | www.breadincommon.com.au Price: $$$ (Share plates $12-28) Food: 4/5 (creative concepts using fresh, local produce) Service: 4/5 (quick, efficient and well conversed with the menu) Ambience: 3.5/5 (noisy but buzzing, communal tables) Drinks: 3/5 (interesting but small wine list but of course didn’t get to try any!) Total: 14.5/20 
Restaurant L’Amfora Barcelona
Posted by | Categories: Barcelona, Featured, Restaurants, Spain, Tapas Bar, Travel
Some of my friends suggest that I eat out too much. While that may be true it does depend on what you use as your reference point. The fact that I have an ever-increasing back log of pending blog posts may give some weight to support this accusation. On my trip to Barcelona last year I travelled without my husband making it the first time we were separated since we started dating nearly sixteen years ago. It felt strange and empty without him but I was lucky enough to find myself a wonderful group of friends which became my buddies for the whole week I was away. Every night the five of us would journey out into Barcelona for a meal together and I was so appreciative of their lovely and welcoming friendship. We all are still in contact with each other and hope to meet together again sometime. On our first night out for dinner as a group I really wanted to try to score a table at Tickets but being such a famous venue they were booked out well in advance. Deb and Tyler, the married couple among us strongly recommended to return where they ate at the night before; Restaurant L’Amfora.
Traditional and unassuming it didn’t look like much from the front as is typical of many of the excellent restaurants we ate at that week. I love the simplicity and lack of pretension in Barcelona leaving the focus to always be on the food. We were very warmly greeted and offered a table alfresco style on the street or indoors. All wanting to soak up the weather and atmosphere we sat outside.
Each table already had fresh tomatoes, garlic and oil placed for customers to make their own tomato bread. As I expected they didn’t have any gluten free bread so I watched with gleaming hungry eyes as my apologetic friends rubbed their garlic vigorously into the freshly toasted bread. I made a mental note to ensure to make this basic but very tasty snack as soon as I could get hold of some decent gluten free bread.
Snails, this was another dish I saw everywhere!
Sea bass in salt (18.50€)
Having already started our own personal culinary exploration of this beautiful city, we each had found a number of Catalan favourites. For Deb and Tyler, one of these was a dish that I hadn’t seen before; a whole sea bass baked in sea salt. Interestingly this dish is not salty at all as the sea salt hardens around the fish into a crust when in the oven. This locks in all the flavour and juices of the fish.
Our fish was part baked before being brought to the table for a theatrical finish. I am presuming most of the actual cooking is done in the oven. Our waiter put on quite a show as he lit up the whole fish into flames. You could pick who were locals and who were tourists as the former barely batted an eyelid whilst the foreigners on surrounding tables looked on in awe.
After allowing the flames to die out our waiter carefully removed the solid chunks of salt along with the skin to expose the soft, moist flesh underneath.
Paella
You can order paella from literally everywhere in Spain; in fact it was easier to find it than a burger and fries. No matter where any of us ordered it we were never disappointed. Personally I tended to steer away from ordering it too often as it often contained onions. Our table’s serve was meant for one but could have easily fed two and was topped with a variety of fresh local seafood.
Squid
Although our waiter spoke English quite well, I still showed him the courtesy of handing over my eating card in Spanish to take to the kitchen. He was knowledgeable enough of the very large menu to recommend a couple of dishes for me. The squid was simply prepared with garlic, fresh lemon and herbs. Tender without any chewiness I began to wonder if there would be anywhere in Barcelona where the food would fail to impress me.
Smoked flat-head with marinated eggplant and capsicum
My second dish he recommended was smoked flathead with marinated eggplant and capsicum. With such basic and minimal ingredients this is a meal that fresh ingredients and preparation is key. There were more fillets of fish than I could finish and each piece flaked apart easily imparting a deep smoky aftertaste. Whilst I initially thought this to be a strange combination with the marinated vegetables, the sweetness of the capsicum and near creaminess of the eggplant rounded the flavours off perfectly.
Banana flambé with rum
We ended the night with a bit more entertainment as our very expressive waiter insisted we try his speciality; the banana flambé. Whilst this is by no means a traditional Spanish dessert, it allowed our seemingly pyromaniac waiter to light another fire. As we had already drunk our way through a fair bit of gin and sangria by this point, we were not complaining. As he prepared our dish rather flamboyantly, he learnt from my friends that I was a food blogger and proceeded to extend an invitation for me to return the next day to try the whole menu. All ten of or pages of it! Suffice to say I didn’t get back to try such a feast but there is always a next time! Barcelona taught me not to judge a restaurant by its cover as it has many pleasant surprises and Restaurant L’Amfora Barcelona was certainly one of them.
Restaurant L’Amfora Barcelona
Avenue Paral-lel, 184, 08015, Barcelona, Spain | +34 (0) 933 253 427 | www.restaurantamfora.com
Feeling totally liberated with gluten freedom at Solomon’s Café & some free WIFI at Crust
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Paleo, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants, Vegetarian
Having food intolerances can be a real pain if you also happen to be a foodie. Over the years I have learnt not to get fixated with a particular dish on the menu as there is always a good chance that I won’t be able to eat it. Some restaurants are compassionate of our allergic needs and clearly identify the gluten free dishes on their menu which makes ordering food so much easier. I look forward to the day I see a fructose friendly marked menu.
Thankfully, my fructose malabsorption causes me much less severe symptoms than my gluten intolerance does. Provided that I strictly avoid all gluten, I can afford to occasionally be a little lenient on the fructose. We were recently invited to Foodie Craving’s Crust Gourmet Pizza store in Mount Lawley to give feedback on their new free WIFI installed in store. The event didn’t start until 8pm so the Boy and I decided to stop en route to Solomon’s Café on Beaufort Street. The concept of an entirely gluten free restaurant is one that already gives me warm fuzzies, but at Solomon’s Café it is also all organic AND dairy free – it almost sounds too good to be true!
Knowing we had an evening of pizza feasting ahead of us, we planned to have a light snack only but as is often the case we may have ended up ordering a bit more than we necessarily needed.
Crispy parsnip chips ($6)
Raw zucchini pasta with cherry tomatoes, carrot and coriander pesto ($20)
Maybe I should just blame it on the meal sizes? When I chose the raw zucchini pasta, I certainly wasn’t expecting the towering mountain that came to the table. Nor did I plan ahead and ask for the omission of onion. Having eaten raw zucchini pasta on several occasions myself at home, I have grown to really love the texture and will make a great effort to make sure each “pasta” strip is made from the entire length of the zucchini to give long luxurious spaghetti-like strands. For this time round I was disappointed to find my pasta was made from short, comparatively fat pieces of zucchini that would have only been about 6-7 centimetres long. It felt a bit like I was eating a grated zucchini salad. It was tasty, but not what I was anticipating.
Beetroot gnocchi ($12)
The beetroot gnocchi was much more satisfying although that may be in part because I so rarely get to order gnocchi as most are made using wheat flour. They tasted a little doughy yet still had a light texture and matched well with the vegan pesto drizzled lavishly over the top.
Vegan nachos ($20)
As soon as I saw there were vegan nachos on the menu I had a gut feeling the Boy would order this for himself. I was quietly hoping he wouldn’t as we had only recently shared raw nachos at The Raw Kitchen the week before. I like to have interesting and different dishes to photograph and write about but he just wasn’t having it. It was a much bigger serve than The Raw Kitchen and he preferred the salsa as it was more flavoursome.
Vegan nachos: sprouted chips, tomato, black bean & guacamole with a nut parmesan ($20)
Continuing in our quest to try and abstain from alcohol for sixty days we each ordered a healthy antioxidant packed drink. I chose the “Bloody Detox” juice squeezed full of fructose friendly beetroot, carrot, celery, parsley, ginger and lemon. The Boy chose the vegan but creamy mango lassi made with mango, coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom.
Vegan mango lassi ($10) and “bloody detox” juice ($9)
Pleasantly but not overly satiated we strolled up Beaufort Street to Crust. I was glad I had left a bit of room for some pizza as they always have plenty of gluten free options for me. The purpose of the evening was to trial run their new free in-store WIFI to assess how useful it would be for their customers and if it was easy to access without guidance.
Oregano Verdi and Parmesan Squares on gluten free ($11.50)
As we made ourselves comfortable on the alfresco tables some starters were brought out including the gluten free oregano verdi and parmesan squares. All my vegan efforts were thrown out the window as I couldn’t refuse the offer of such cheesy deliciousness like this. Crust’s gluten free bases taste incredibly “normal” and fellow blogger Jacqui from Pantry in Suburbia commented how she couldn’t even tell it was gluten free.
Crust Szechuan Chilli Prawn on gluten free ($22)
After polishing off some starters we ran through an online questionnaire using the free WIFI. It was very simple to connect across the variety of devices everyone were using and the Internet speed was much quicker than my Optus 3G network. For the gluten free pizza option we chose the Szechuan Chilli Prawn. Crunchy spicy seasoned prawns were scattered generously over the gluten free pizza base along with fresh capsicum, bocconcini and sweet chilli, and then garnished with fresh lemon and chilli. This pizza has a bit of a kick to it and I highly recommend it for those who like a bit of heat.
Black Forest Crumble (not GF) ($11.50)
Crust’s dessert pizzas unfortunately cannot be made gluten free as the gluten free bases are made off site in a gluten free environment to minimise any contamination. I looked on in envy as every devoured the Black Forest Crumble; a decadent dessert pizza layered with custard, mud cake and black cherries, topped with baked crumble, drizzled with berry coulis and dusted with icing sugar. Given that our small table managed to eat its way through two of these, I am guessing they were pretty damn good. Gluten free dessert options at Crust include their chocolate mousse and all their ice cream flavours. The chocolate mousse is by far my favourite. I love how there are numerous little chocolate nibs buried in the mousse.
Solomon’s Café is definitely worth a visit for anyone with dietary issues as the menu is designed for us. Better still they use organic ingredients without the high price tag you would expect. Whilst not all our dishes had a wow factor, I loved how I could order pretty much anything off the menu like back in the days before I knew about my intolerances. Total freedom without all the health issues that used to come with it!
Solomon’s Café 487 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9328 7995 | Facebook Price: $$ (Mains $20-36, Sides/Small bites $5-12) Food: 3/5 (would prefer more vego options given niche target market) Service: 3.5/5 (slow to bring out meals however were packed) Ambience: 3.5/5 (noisy and vibrant) Drinks: 3.5/5 (both juice and smoothie options, fructose free options) Total: 13.5/20 
Minipost: Loving our local's new menu at The Precinct, Victoria Park
Posted by | Categories: Bars, Modern Australian, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Vegetarian, Wine Bar
The Precinct is one of my favourite locals; it only takes us about fifteen minutes to walk there from our house, it has an ever changing and interesting wine list and most importantly they are very gluten free and vegetarian focused. Whilst I have already written two full posts on our Precinct dining experiences, our recent visit to try their new menu warrants at least a little photographic mention on the blog. Please note this was eaten over two nights….;-)
Zucchini fritters, pickled beetroot, house made labne ($17, GF & vego)
Tomato medley, Italian buffalo mozzarella, basil ($18, GF & vego)
Their new summer menu has moved away from the traditional structure of entrées and mains onto the more modern way of dining; share plates. More than half the menu is gluten free and there are over half a dozen vegetarian options that branch out well beyond the common offerings.
Baked risotto, beetroot, mint, Meredith goats cheese ($16, GF & Vego)
Tasmanian salmon, Spanish white anchovies, caper berries, herbs ($27, GF)
Whey blanched broccoli, sugar snap peas, kale, green beans ($14, GF & vego)
Every dish was a winner in our opinion but the best dish of all came as a nice surprise; the roasted garlic and mustard mushrooms using a combination of King oyster, Shiitake, Oyster, Swiss Browns. We ordered this dish on each visit as it was too good to miss out a second time round.
Roasted garlic and mustard mushrooms (King oyster, Shiitake, Oyster, Swiss Brown) ($25, GF & vego)
Roasted garlic and mustard mushrooms (King oyster, Shiitake, Oyster, Swiss Brown) ($25, GF & vego)
Marinated Fremantle sardines, haricot beans, chilli, capsicum, dill ($20, GF)
Amelia Park lamb ribs, walnut spice yoghurt ($17, GF)
Their gluten free dessert options have had a total make over for which I am extremely grateful. Previously The Precinct’s gluten free desserts haven’t been anything I would rave about. Things have certainly changed for the better and upon reading the menu we struggled to choose one so we ordered both.
Orange and vanilla pannacotta, strawberry, rhubarb ($14, GF)
Orange and vanilla pannacotta, strawberry, rhubarb ($14, GF)
I would have been happy with either but we were both keen to share. My pavlova crumble was a pretty as a flower garden and I look forward to enjoying eating this on a regular basis!
Pavlova crumble, raspberry sorbet, fresh berries ($14, GF)
Three cheese platter: Blue de brabis, Delice de cremiries, Queso manchego ($33, GF on request)
Please note this was NOT a sponsored post. I just felt the urge to show off their new menu of my own accord!
The Precinct 834 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park 6101 | (08) 9355 2880 | www.theprecinctvicpark.com.au
