Mez restaurant

I went to the Mez with a group of work mates one night after a work function that didn't exactly feed us very much.

Mez restaurant is a Mediterranean restaurant on the corner of Parker street and James street, you know that building with the stairs at the front.

The restaurant is loud, it's stuffy (as in hot.. no room to breathe stuffy) and the service leaves little to be desired.

As for the food? It was in agreement that the food wasn't bad, but it wasn't fantastic. Although, I lean towards bad, because I ordered the sizzling garlic prawns and the prawns were still a little hard - and was drenched in OIL. I couldn't taste anything else except oil. In fact I couldn't finish it at all. Clearly, sizzling prawns were not their dish to have at this place.

Sizzling prawns

One of the girls had the souvlaki (pork) and she said it was marinated will, although not extremely tender, she said the dish was filling and enjoyed her meal.

Pork Souvlaki

The Lamb Kleftiko - the slow roasted lamb chunks were delicious and filled with flavour, but they were rather reserved on their serving portion.

 

Lamb Klefitko

Another one of the girls had the grilled calamari tossed through with garlic and flamed with ouzo, she said the calamari flavours were delish but it was a little chewy.

Grilled Calamari

The Mez is loud - to the point where you are almost shouting at one another and the service is less than desirable with the food taking almost 30-45minutes to arrive to our table of four. For the price you pay and for what you get (in terms of quantity and quality) there are a lot better places in Perth than Mez.

Mohinga

Mummy made my favourite Burmese dish - Mohinga last weekend!

 

It was so delicious and takes me back to my childhood! Ohh massive massive love.

 

 

So for those that don't know, Mohinga is one of Burma's national dishes. It's rice noodles in fish soup. In fact, you might have seen Luke Nguyen go to Burma and have mohinga.

 

There are different varieties of mohinga in various regions of Burma such as Rakhine mohinga with more fish paste and less soup. Its ingredients depend on their availability. However, the standard dish comes from southern Burma, with fresh fish!The main ingredients of mohinga are chickpea flour and/or crushed toasted rice, garlic, onions, lemongrass, banana tree stem, ginger, fish paste, fish sauce and catfish in a rich broth cooked and kept on the boil in a cauldron. It is served with rice vermicelli, dressed and garnished with fish sauce, a squeeze of lime, crispfried onions, coriander, spring onions, crushed dried chilli and, as optional extras (but I HIGHLY recommend that you put all the garnishes in!!)

 

 

 

I really need to learn to make this otherwise when I grow up (i reliase I am already grown up..) and leave home I will crave this so MUST learn to make it! Otherwise I will have to go to the Burmese weekend market (Second Saturday of every month) at Stirling Chinese Community Centre on Stirling Street in Northbridge/Highgate and eat it.

 

According to the SBS website this is how you make it...

(NOTE THE FOLLOWING IS COPIED FROM THE SBS WEBSITE AND IS THUS COPYRIGHTED BY THEM!) 

Ingredients

½ cup peanut oil
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ red onion, finely sliced
1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, finely sliced
2cm piece of ginger, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp sweet paprika
3 tbsp cooked, crushed chickpeas
85g toasted rice powder
4 tbsp fish sauce
2 red shallots, peeled
2 hardboiled eggs, sliced
100g boiled banana trunk (alternatively, use banana blossom)
600g cooked vermicelli noodles
4 sprigs of coriander, to garnish
4 snake beans, finely sliced
Pinch of dried chilli flakes

Broth
1 whole catfish, cleaned
1 lemongrass stalk, bruised
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp turmeric powder
2L cold water

Chilli paste
3 lemongrass stalks, white part only, finely sliced
4 whole dried chillies
4 red shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
2cm ginger, finely sliced

Preparation

To make the broth, add the catfish, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric and water to a large saucepan or stockpot. Bring to the boil and skim any impurities that rise to the surface. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the broth then remove the fish meat from the bones. Set aside and reserve the broth.

Meanwhile, to make the paste, in a mortar and pestle, pound the lemongrass, chillies, red shallots, garlic and ginger to a nice paste. Set aside.

Heat the peanut oil in a saucepan and add the turmeric. Next, add the chilli paste. Add the red onion, lemongrass, ginger and garlic. Cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the flaked fish and coat in the paste. Sauté over low-medium heat for 20. Add the shrimp paste and paprika. Continue to cook, over low heat, for a further 5 minutes to infuse flavours.

Return the broth to the stockpot. Add the chickpeas paste, rice powder, fish sauce and flaked fish mixture. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the red shallots and boiled egg. Add the banana trunk.

Divide the vermicelli noodles among 4 bowls. Pour the broth over the noodles. Garnish with coriander, snake beans and chilli flakes to serve.

 

 

hmm.. don't know how authentic this is going to be.. should try it one day. Otherwise must ask mum and grandma how to make this! In fact I should spend a day with each member of my family learning how to cook my favourite dishes (as all of them are good at cooking a particular favourite) then record and write it all down so I don't forget it! Oh and then turn it into a family recipe book!

 

 

 

Mummy's homemade Mohinga

The Aviary Birdcage Restaurant's Lazy Sundays

I've been to the Aviary's Nest Rooftop bar before, having appreciated its fine deco. I have experienced its bustling Friday after work drinks and have ventured into it mid-week for chilli mussels and I have enjoyed the vibe, service and the food. So when I was fortunate to be asked to go to the Aviary's infamous Birdcage restaurant and try their new Sunday menu - Lazy Sundays at the Aviary - dim sim with a twist, I couldn't pass up.

For those who don't know The Aviary is located in the new 140 William building - the funky and environmentally friendly building. It's at the corner of Murray street and William street and sits on top of the train station. The Nest is upstairs and the Birdcage restaurant is directly in front of the entrance.

I was suppose to go to the Aviary Birdcage early August, but alas I wasn't at my best, so I wasn't able to go to it until the City to Surf weekend. I'm glad we postponed it because we got a lovely sunny Sunday instead of one with rain. Bf and I ventured into the city to walk around and do some window shopping before heading to the Aviary. We arrived early for our booking so decided to stroll upstairs and then wonder around 140 William (which unfortunately is rather desolate) and seeing as we were starving we decided to ask for our seats. We were shown to some very plush and comfy seats, had time to settle and read what it means to have a Lazy Sunday at the Aviary.

So like I mentioned before it's dim sim with a twist, which basically means dim sim portions with amazing use of asian flavours through very creative dishes. It's 8 courses at $30 (price does not include tea or drinks) available between 12 to 4pm on Sundays of course.

Originally I thought that was rather pricey seeing as 8 courses of dim sim shared between people will be under $30. However, when I read the menu it sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to get started (that and the fact that I haven't eaten since I've gotten up). The dim sum also had a list of T2 teas to go with (at of course additional cost).

Bf and I started off by ordering ourselves some drinks - a jug of Pimms (as we were both craving it!) and although they don't do by the jug at the Birdcage (only at the Nest) we were lucky that they were able to accommodate our request, which I thought was rather nice.

I also asked for the Sencha tea, but I swear it wasn't Sencha because it has such fruity, rosey flavours to the tea. From the bill, it looked like it was ruby red rosehip.

The drinks were served then came the sauces, chili, soy, truffle-infused sauce, olive oil (infused with something I can't remember). Giving you the option to dip away your dim sum!

Before long the first course arrived, which unfortunately the boy couldn't have due to his nut allergy. Instead the Aviary was happy to give him a dessert instead of the first course. I on the other hand, was fine with it. I must say the Red Curry Tartare, Young coconut and Peanut crumble was the perfect balance of flavours. The delicate tartare went beautifully with the sweet peanut crumble and creamy young coconut. This really didn't need anything extra, although I tried my hand at the chili oil - which really wasn't chili enough to complement the dish.

Red Curry Tartare, Young coconut and Peanut crumble

It was followed by the Wild Mushroom, truffle and wonton chips. The mushrooms were creamy and the wonton chips, although nothing special, weren't dripped in oil. Having said that it was really odd to have the beautifully creamy mushrooms with the crispy fried wonton chips because they really didn't complement each other.

Wild mushrooms, truffle and wonton chips

Next was the crab, sweet corn, kaffir lime dumpling. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the plate presented as bf had already dug into it, so all I have for you is A DUMPLING. It had a strong crab flavour, balanced by the sweet corn and zesty lime. But the wonton skin was hard an chewy; it was undercooked. This was somewhat disappointing. To top it off I have to comment that ours did not come with the orange caviar that was present at many other bloggers reviews.!

Crab, sweet corn, kaffir lime dumpling

After dipping the dumpling into the truffle infused soy and devouring it, the muchly anticipated confit champignon, white truffle, egg wonton arrived. It reminded me of curry puffs in appearance, but in taste far from it. The earthy goodness of white truffle with the mushroomy goodness of the champignon was rather a tastebud pleaser. And to quote dear bf "I wish there was more of the stuffing". How eloquently put.

Confit champignon, white truffle, egg wonton

The next dish that came out, I couldn't have as I'm allergic to squid. Coming out in rashes while eating Sunday brunch is not very appealing. So the Pink Pepper Squid, garlic, lime and shallot was bf's own, much to his delight. The waiter that served us said that the dish usually had nuts sprinkled on top, but this was absent in ours. Bf while chewing said it wasn't rubbery, well cooked pink squid with lightly coated tempura with hints of garlic and peppercorns, which was paired well with the lime mayo. He then continued to wipe the plate clean and didn't talk to me until he did so. T_T

Pink Pepper Squid, garlic, lime and shallot

Ah, a dim sim wouldn't be complete without red braised bbq pork buns. The buns were well made; sweet, fluffy and although a little too much of it in some areas it was so delicious I didn't mind it. The bbq pork itself was deliciously sweet and melted in your mouth. What really got to me was that there was no dipping sauce for the bbq buns, which was present at another blogger's website. Quite worrying that the restaurant would miss out on an element in their own dish. Two dishes in one sitting is not a good sign of consistency. Nonetheless the dish itself was good.

Red braised BBQ pork buns

The next dish would have to the highlight of the Lazy Sunday. Bourbon and coke spare ribs, black salt and pepper. This was an absolute gem. The spare ribs were cooked so slowly that it melted in your mouth as you eat it. The sticky, sweet bourbon and coke was lathered throughout the ribs and on the plate and I could have had more of that sauce. It was divine.

Bourbon and coke spare ribs with salt and pepper

The eight and final dish of this rather appeasing meal was the yellow curry whiting, pickled cucumber. The whiting was so well cooked and although the yellow curry looked oddly too yellow thanks to the spices it was nonetheless delicious. However, the flavours of the curry and the whiting was enhanced when eaten with the pickled cucumber salad that came with it.

Yellow Curry Whiting, pickled cucumber

Of course, the meal didn't end there, we had to have dessert, mainly because the Aviary was going to give bf one and because we are dessert fans. The dessert, I have to say though is not part of the lazy Sunday meal of $30, it is an additional $5. And what is the dessert? Well, it's Turkish-style donuts with red bean ice cream. I couldn't really taste the red bean ice-cream, in fact we thought it was raspberry. The flavours of the ice cream could have been a lot better. The donuts on the other hand were fluffy and dense and probably needed more cinnamon and sugar.

I enjoyed the food and the Lazy Sunday - Dim sim with a twist is a great concept with creative dishes full of flavour and texture and a good homage to asian dim sum with tapas styling but seriously, the service and the vibe is rather a huge let down.

The waitresses had sullen faces. The restaurant wasn't busy, only 4 tables were occupied when we were there, there was about 4-5 waitstaff and only one was friendly. The rest looked like they had better places to be.

This is rather unfortunate because the Nest Rooftop bar had lovely friendly staff. How can "one place" have such different mannerism? It's also a shame that the ambiance at the Birdcage is a little - well cagey. It's not warm, it's not friendly, it's a little tense and cagey. But then it doesn't help that only one waitress was happy and friendly.

I'm not sure if it's because I was there to blog, although I don't think any staff member apart from, the one girl that took us to our seat (whom I presume is the manager) knew and I also never expect any preferential treatment when I blog and review because that's not my goal, I blog because it's an outlet for me.

If you are in Perth and need a break from shopping definitely head to the Birdcage and book a table (9226 0259 ) and maybe the weekend I went they were having a bad day.

**Please note all nuts, peanuts, chashew, walnuts etc. etc. sprinkled on top/on the side etc. of any of the dishes were not present in ours due to my boy's allergies, hence photos may look different to the dish in front of you!**

colours

I am loving the combination of these colours and how romantic, whimiscal, dreamy and yet simple and elegant it all is. My favourite at the moment is mint green/ tiffany blue and powder blue and soft pinks. I wonder what it means to be loving these colours at the moment. Maybe it means my life is mellowing out since the colours are somewhat mellow, pretty and relaxed. Or maybe it means I'm in lala land, because the colours matched in a particular way is rather dreamy.

Nao Sushi and Izakaya

I love good noodles and I love Japanese noodles dishes, udon, ramen, soba yum yum for my tum.

Nao Sushi and Izakaya is a tiny bustling sushi and izakaya restaurant on Murray street, in between Barrack and Pier street.

 

 

This place is always so packed that I really don't have the patience to wait around for a table so most of the time I just walk by. But this particular RDO day, I met up with another girl from work and seeing as we both weren't starving but wanted good Japanese noodles, it Nao (haha had to do that!) the perfect time to try it.

 

 

So the concept of now is that, if you want ramen you chose your soup base and then the noodle type and then get their chasu or you can change it and get something else like chicken or have extras to their "set" chasu.

 

 

I had the chilli ramen with chicken in chilli noodle. The broth was so delicious and filled with flavour, I wished they put more chilli. The chicken pieces provided was huge, but I felt as though they needed more flavour in their chicken. Nonetheless, it filled my appetite for a good ramen dish!

 

 

JF had the udon, which she couldn't stop raving about. She said the udon broth was very flavoursome and is definately the best in Perth. I can tell you that it smelt amazing!

 

 

Apart from udon and ramen, Nao also offers cold soba noodles, curries, bento boxes, sushi, takoyaki and dumplings.

 

 

For such a busy place, the service was quick and efficient and the dishes are huge! (not just for the soup noodle dishes). They also have a back area now, which I'm not sure is 100% ready for opening, if it is, it would be amazing, and would be great in sunny weather! For now, will have to contend with the small pantry-sized inside area and the tiny alfesco area at the front of shop.

 

The other unforunate thing is that Nao is opened from 1130am until 6pm Monday to Thursday and 11:30am til 900pm on Friday, CLOSED SATURDAY and Sunday 12pm til 5pm.

 

I will definately be back for more. I want to try their cold soba noodles and of course the udon!

 

 

 

 

The Nutcracker on Ice

A couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of seeing something rather outstanding; a historical building in Perth; His Majesty's Theatre being turned into an ice rink. It took 3000L of ice so that a cast of 25 world renowned skaters, The Imperial Ice stars can perform impressive stunts and graceful ice-dancing all to the tune of Tchaikovsky's famous suites - The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker on ice is an adaption of the classic Russian tale of Maria, the little girl whose love brings to life her cherished Nutcracker doll - a magical Christmas gift from her mysterious godfather. This leads to adventures with the Mouse King, the enchanted Prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

It was spetacular to see them perform, what I can only imagine, is a small stage doing their crazy flips and acrobatic ice skating without missing their landing on the ice. There was a few times that I was sure I held my breathe in fear that they would miss the ice and break their necks!

If you get a chance go and see it in your city, it's so different to your usual plays, musicals and ballet. It's rather exciting.

I believe they will be going to Spain and Singapore in the coming months.

And for those in Perth, wait until the next production! Hopefully they will be back with another exciting production. I know last year's (2011 production by the Imperial Ice stars) in Perth was Swan Lake on Ice. How amazing would that have been?

But hey the upside is that the Swan Lake ballet is coming to Perth in November and the Russian ballerinas will be performing.

The Classroom

The Classroom is the brainchild of Adam Keane & Daniel Sterpini from Cocktail
Gastronomy, located on the corner of Angove/Scarborough Beach Road and Charles street, opposite Maccas in North Perth.

The classroom themed school takes you back to the school days of yesteryear with the good 'ole tinned lunch boxes, the old style bell, a clock that stands still at 325pm (the best time ever), the awesome sharpeners (which I still own one), trophies, Britannica encyclopedia all displayed on shelves and school bags hang on top of the doorway and of course two square/four square and hop-scotch paves the floor. 

 

 

Apart from the deco of the place (which my bf pointed out may not be the best for those that hated school..) the music was pretty awesome - 'ole school tracks, loud enough to hear, but quiet enough so you can have a chart to your friends without screaming. Then there was the TV playing class 80s show like Batman.

 

Their food and drinks menu was written in the good ole Tudor exercise book! GOD I remember using them to write notes.. right through to my uni-days. Always have to get the 98 page ones! 

 

I have to say their cocktails are amazing (and if cocktails are not your thing there is a wine list, beer and cider and for the skippers - the mocktails).

 The LN02 Espresso Martini - made with awesome espresso, topped with sherry creme, iced with liquid nitrogen turning it into this amazing frappe on the top to crack through to this lovely espresso martini drink. FANTASTIC!

   

LNO2 Espresso Martini

 

Then there was the Blue Blazer - I forgot to take a photo of the end product but alas that's not the fun bit.

 The fun bit is watching the guys heat two steel mugs, set it alight and 

 

pour it between the two vessels before extinguishing it. Then you get this lovely smokey smell of scotch, which goes so well with fruity liqueur and the orange peel that they put at the end. Although the drink is slightly more for the boys.

 The Sidecar wasn't too bad either, although must admit was a little too strong for me.

The Campfire Negroni is another entertaining one to watch. I also took a photo of the bottle because I promised the bartender I would and he told me it was from his grandpa so I have to post it!

 

They toast their homemade marshmallow with a gas cylinder. 

The marshmallow sits on top of the drink and has this very musky taste and smells so beautiful. You take the drink through the marshmallow so you have the taste of the sweet of the marshie with the bitterness of the vermouth and dry gin.

The Campfire Negroni

Then there was the Bunsen After Burner - so upset that Carrot did not take photos of this and went up and ordered it without calling me! Alas this one is actually really quite nice! Although would have been better if the bananas they used to caramelise were actually ripe instead of the green bananas.

The Bunsen After Burner

Then I had a drink that's not on the menu - the lemon drop - AMAZING. It tastes like lemon tart/meringue but in an alcohol goodness!

So now that the drinks are done and you've gabbed for a while, you starting to feel hungry. The Classroom has a small but rather interesting list of food - very canteen like really.

 We opted for two little somethings to nibble on and a dessert.

The hand cut shaker chips with dynamite dust and chipotle aioli (that aioli was soo good) came in little brown paper bag with the classroom stamp *SQUEAL*! and were really good chips, although I wish they cut them a little finer.

Then there was the yummy homemade pork sausage roll with fennel and apple and apricot chutney. The pastry on the sausage roll was crispy, flaky and so good, and the pork was good quality lean meat.

Satisfied!

But alas must try their amazing sounding desserts. So we went for the Chocolate pot du crème, cardamom tuille. Creamy dark chocolate (slightly denser than mousse) topped with salt and comes with diced strawberries. The best way to eat it? add the strawberries into the creamy chocolate goodness, and crush the tuille on top and eat ...it's just heavenly.

Verdict?

I love it. It's a bar where I can relax with friends while sipping on cocktails, gas-bagging, eating, laughing, listening to ole 90s tune. Everyone in the place is (including other classmates) so damn friendly. It really does feel like a classroom. Only thing I was surprised by was how bright the place is on the inside!

But then when you are dealing with gas cylinder and liquid nitrogen I hope they can see what they are doing!

I be back to finish off trying their cocktail and food menu.