From Piccaso to Warhol.. Exhibition

I went to see Piccaso to Warhol - 14 artist through the modern art age and it was pretty amazing. Pollack, Piccaso wow.

I can now fully appreciate the fuss that surrounds modernist and surrealist. Usually I tend to appreciate the romanticism age of painting and those of Van Gough and Leonardo and Monet. Now I have a new appreciation for the modern artists and surrealists.

The exhibition is in it's last days now (having shown for a good 6 months) and will finish this Saturday so if you get a chance try and see it. Totally worth it!

Here's a bit of previews from the photos I took from the exhibit.

The Prophet Lebanese Cafe

The last time I went to the Prophet Lebanese cafe in East Victoria Park was at least a few years ago and I remembered that their falafel was so flavoursome, crunchy and delectable and their baba ghanouj had this amazing smokey flavours and their dishes seemed authentic lebanese (with some nod to an Australian twist).

This time around, I was trying to set up my bf friend with one of my gf and this just seemed like the perfect casual dining blind date. The problem was that this place gets packed quickly, (whether it's the weekend or not) and seeing as everyone RSVP'd late I booked this on a Thursday night for a Saturday night dinner and was lucky to get a table, even if it was at 530pm. Granted it worked out for my gf seeing as she eats dinner at 6pm (so early! I don't know how you could be hungry at that hour!).

The Prophet is a very conspicuous cafe. No real fancy lights, no decor on the inside and only seats about 20-30 people with simple tables and chairs. Our orders were promptly taken and complimentary pita bread with labneh dip were placed on the table.

Complimentary dip and pita bread with pickled cucumber

 

We decided that because only a few of us has eaten here before we had the meat and vegetarian tasting platters. Bf couldn't eat some of the dishes due to his nut allergy so he had to himself grilled chicken meal and bf's friend said their satay was good (I don't know if that was the best decision, to have satay chicken at a Lebanese place - but I'm up for trying!) so ordered that too. We also had the falafel and ghanouj to share.

The baba ghanouj, suffice to say, was exactly as I remembered! Smokey smell and taste to it. It was creamy and the smell of charcoal was evident. Smothered on the pita bread, it was fantastic.

 

Baba Ghanouj

The falafel was even more fantastic. Better than what I remembered. Crunchy on the outside with perfectly cooked chickpea mix on the inside generously topped with this lovely creamy sauce. I could have had a lot more than just one. I think next time I'll just have this for my dinner. Might not necessarily be a healthy dinner but it's hella delicious.

The Prophet famous falafel ball (usually comes in six but we order additional ones)

Bf started digging into his grilled garlic chicken, which came with chips and salad, before I had a chance to take a photo. The dressing on the salad was lovely and the chicken was slightly burnt but the flavours were there. Not worth the $18.00 price tag, but then bf wasn't able to eat a lot on the menu. Definitely not NUT allergy friendly. 

Garlic Chicken

The next dish was one that was recommended by bf's friend, the satay chicken. It looked like the right satay chicken colour, but the "Thai flavours" associated with satay chicken - you know the peanutty slightly spiced - wasn't in this dish. It was more sweet and garlic and I really couldn't taste the nutty flavours associated with satay. Weird. But if this wasn't called satay, and was something else (sweetened chicken?? or creamy garlic chicken?) it wasn't too bad. But if this really was suppose to be satay - I may be missing something - perhaps it's the way Lebanese people do satay?

 

Satay Chicken

 Next we ordered the mixed meat platter which contained one skewer of shish kebab, kefta and shish tawook, along with baba ghanouj, lentils and rice, hummus,and loubiah beans. The kebabs were delicious and were well marinated with what I'm sure is their secret herbs and spices. The meat were still juicy and were surprisingly tender. The hommus was creamy goodness and the lentils and rice is always a favourite of mine, especially when mum makes it at home. The loubiah beans on the other hand, I wasn't a huge fan, it was strangely bitter and sour all at the same time. Two mix of flavours that doesn't go well together at all.

 

Mixed meat platter

We also grabbed ourselves the mixed vegetarian platter. Which contains much of the same thing except the addition of vine leaves and cabbage rolls (very much like what the Greeks would make as well) and bat-injan (eggplant with tangy tahini sauce).

 

 

Mixed vegetarian platter

I was a little disappointed that the mixed meat platter and the mixed vegetarian platters were too similar. I feel as though the waitress should have informed us of that before we ordered otherwise we would have ordered something different. Perhaps just kebabs and a mixed vegetarian platter. VERY disappointed that we weren't informed. 

In fact, that's the one thing that I felt was a huge let down was that the service (that was once there and once so friendly and welcoming) was pretty much non-existent. I'm not sure if it's because we dined at 530pm and there was only a few other tables so they were feeling a little lazy or something rather, but the lack of communication was a little downer. The service was also rather slow. Took them 30-45minutes for the falafel and the babe ghanouj to come out (and come on it wasn't packed yet!). 

Overall though it's a nice little cafe that makes authentic Lebanese cuisine and is worth checking out. Not cheap for what you get and not everything is great. Perhaps stick to the falafel, baba ghanouj, hummus and the kebabs.

  

Something sweet for my wrist..

My bracelet from my lovely Aunty and Grandma (the green jade pearl style is from my grandmother).

So pretty when worn together :D

Don't you think so?

Perth city

It's my city and I'm loving it. Although you yearn the excitement of London and New York and the romance of Paris, Perth is still the best place to come back to. Tranquil, calm, relatively clean and best of all it's starting to have all the small bars and boutiques that I need! (just in time for my 20s). It's not the dullsville that it was 5 years ago.

I'm loving it.

Ps. That doesn't mean I wouldn't try living overseas somewhere for a while.

Birthday spoils

I had my birthday on Tuesday just passed and have been spoilt rotten with wonderful company in wonderful restaurants from the Loose Box with my man to Sandalford Wineries with the girls to Bistro Guillaume with the family.

It's been a week of eating and neglecting my exercise regimen. Only being able to put in 100% for one day on Thursday (I plan to go later this morning seeing as it's 2am Saturday now) and I'm starting to feel sluggish and yuck.

I know it'd only get worse once I jump onto a big jet plane. Although I'm hoping to hit the gym with my brother a few days a week, otherwise my favourite app, Nike Training club is going to get Used like crazy. It has 15minutes intense training so I should be able to fit it in.

So I will write about the wonderful foods once I get sometime to myself. But in the meantime bf got me a very nice surprise present whilst he was on holidays in Melbourne couple of months back (a miracle he even hid it from me for so long!). This is of course for my birthday and Christmas present... Introducing my very own..

CHANEL!!

It's dark red. It's a clutch bag. With straps. It's the classic cushion look. It's timeless. It's elegant.

I love it.

And I love him for getting it for me. And yet I'm really upset because he should not be spending so much money on me!! He should be saving up for that house and that car!

*sigh*

Luckiest girl ever.

Don't you just love it? I take more photos of it later, but for now you can contend with a iPhone photo.

Bistro Des Artistes

I've been wanting to go to Bistro Des Artistes since well for a while, especially seeing as it is owned by two well known French chefs in Perth's dining scene - Alain Fabregues and Emmanuel Mollois and I finally had a chance on a Friday night last month, October 19th to be precise, with my boy and a couple of friends.

The first thing you would notice about the restaurant is that it is very very bright. It doesn't help that there is a floor to ceiling mirror that seems to further illuminate the place. It hurts the eyes somewhat with the bright light and the fluorescent whiteness didn't help romanticise the place at all, in fact it made it somewhat sterile. If only they dimmed it just a tad then it would make for mood lighting.

A bit of the interior of Bistro Des Artistes

We were given a corner facing the floor to ceiling mirror and next to the pastry cabinet. The menus were around on our table - postcard menus, very cool, one I can take home. It's a 5 course menu for $75 with the entree, main and dessert having three options for you to choose from. Nicely priced, I like it so far.

The menu for the night

I think that's pretty much when it went a little pear shaped. We had a very inattentive waitstaff. He was too busy looking at himself in the mirror that explaining to us what the dishes actually were (considering they were all in French!). Not only did he not explain to us what the dishes were, when informed that my bf had an allergy to nuts he looked blankly at us (like nut allergies were unheard of!) and then said.. "hmm.. I think none of the choices for sir has nuts.." then went off. There was not a word of "I'll double check with the chef" and his reponse wasn't exactly reassuring. Shocking really.

Our bread and butter were delivered to the table - cold bread - I think I've been spoiled and have been given warm bread at so many other places that I just expect warm bread now. Still it was nice bread and butter (so silky, smooth and slightly salted).

We ordered a bottle of French red - Domaine Charvin 2010 Cortes du Rhone, rather lovely, rich, fruity velvety red. Our glasses were never topped up. Our glasses of tap water was never filled up when emptied nor were we given a bottle to fill ourselves. Service really was lacking, even for a Bistro! Especially one that is owned by two well known chefs (each having very successful and amazing venues of their own - Alain Fabregues and Emmanuel Mollois).

So anyway back to the meals.. for entrees, one of the guys had beef carpaccio served with watercress and blue berry dessing. It looked rather freshing and the carpaccio was thinly sliced and drizzled all over with the dressing. He enjoyed the dish and commented on the quality of the beef carpaccio.

Beef carpaccio served with watercress and blue berry dressing

Bf and DS opted for the roasted scallops with cream leeks and a citrus emulsion. I was lucky to have a little taster of this dish and the scallops were cooked to perfection and the cream leeks gave this dish richness, although the citrus emulsion was a little too tangy and tart for my liking and the acidity and the citrus flavours seems to be just sitting at the bottom of the dish. Wasn't well emulsified perhaps?

Roasted Scallops with cream leeks and a citrus emulsion

I ordered rather blindly, mainly because I wanted something different that the boys didn't have and I wasn't explained what a champignon farci was (I'm really not cultured when it comes to culinary names that I don't come across often and this happens to be one of those). Suffice to say the dish came out and I was pleasantly surprised. Stuffed field mushrooms at its best! The mushroom was nice and juicy and the sauce was creamy goodness. The whole dish worked really well together and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Then the mains came. Bf was the odd one out and opted for the braised lamb shank served with flageolets. It came out somewhat like a stew/curry/very Moroccan inspired. Something he wasn't expecting. Filled with chickpeas, beans potatoes, and spices. The lamb however fell off the bone and was very tender. However, it had that intense lamb smell which wasn't to my liking. However, the flavours of the dish was nice, although it could be a little stronger.

Braised lamb shank served with flageolets

The rest of us opted for the cobble of Atlantic salmon with aromatic beurre blanc and herb mash. This was just divine. The salmon was cooked perfectly. Nice and pink on the inside. It had this wonderful buttery texture and just melted in your mouth. The herb mash was yum and the beurre blanc sauce was delicious was creamy and thick. Melt-in-your-mouth salmon/perfectly cooked salmon is hard to come by and this was one of those moments that was perfect.

Cobble of Atlantic Salmon with aromatic beurre blanc and herb mash

Next is one of my favourite courses that I don't ever get. Cheese. I'm actually not sure what type of cheese we got, but I'm pretty sure it was two different cheese and this apple date salad thing. We weren't explained by the waiter what exactly was on our slab. It was just placed down in front of us. All we knew was that it was cheese and bread and apple matchstick salad with a creamy yogurt dressing.

Le Fromage du jour; La Buche D' Affinois 

If anyone knows what the two French words I wrote up are please let me know because that was what was written as our cheese course. I would love to know as I really enjoyed the cheese and wouldn't mind finding it at the shops for myself. Cheers ^_^

Once our cheese course was finished we were given our pre-dessert, which was this very lovely creme caramel rice pudding with caramelised walnuts on top. It was creamy, sweet, cold and somewhat palate cleansing and perfect way to get ready for the dessert. 

Pre-dessert - Creme Caramel Rice Pudding with caramelised walnuts

 

For the dessert I wanted the creme brulee but they ran out which I was very disappointed about, because after all they are a French bistro how can they run out of brulee!! Very sad. So instead I opted for the Dessert of the day which was a fruit of the forrest tart. It was very sweet and the base was very well done, but I really am not one for sweetened fruits and should have known better than to have chosen it, but for those that fruit tarts this would be for you. I loved the ice cream though and thought that the pre-dessert was better and wished there was more of the pre-dessert! I didn't end of finishing it because it really wasn't to my taste.

Dessert of the Day - Fruit of the Forrest

Bf on the other hand opted for the petite pot de creme vanille with canelle de bordeaux. Which really is vanilla creme and baked/caramelised custard. The custard by itself is a little dry but when eaten with the vanilla creme it is delicious. Light for a dessert and very typically French. 

petite pot de creme vanille with canelle de bordeaux

After our desserts were done our coffee/tea orders were taken, although our dishes were left on the table. They were eventually cleaned well after our pots of tea and coffee were served on our table. In fact we had to ask for our dishes to be cleared in order for us to drink our tea and have the petites four. 

The other disappointing thing was that we were given one pot of small tea between two people, just because we ordered the same tea. Jasmine Tea. Seriously, tea for the restaurant is just throwing in the tea leaves (leaves if you are lucky.. at times it's just a tea bag!) and boiling water. I'm sure they can spare to give us a pot each. The petites four given to us were a jube and chocolate truffles, which were lovely indeed and was the perfect way to end the meal.

Choice of tea/coffee and petites fours

Overall, the food at Bistro Des Artistes is pretty good more hits than misses. Definitely value for money if you are having their set menu and 5 course meal. They also have a nice selection of wines on offer.

There is however, a huge problem with service - lack of service, which really impacts on how your enjoy your night. It's worse when you were 15 minutes late to your car because you couldn't find ONE waiter in sight to ask for the bill at the end of the night. They seemed to have vanished. AND because of looking for a waiter and ONLY 15 minutes to your car - you got a parking fine (and you already forked out $10 on parking ticket!). NOT nice. There is also a lack of ambiance in the restaurant, nothing romantic or cosy or warm and I think it has a lot to do with the lighting, because the decor it self is nice.

If those two things are fixed, in particular the service I think this restaurant has ticked on the boxes.

Will I go back? Maybe, but I'm not in any rush to.

OversiZE

Lookie what I found!!! 5kg of nutella... nom om om om :)

You can see my cousin in the background.. Two thumbs up :D

I don't think I need to say anything else..

The Precinct

I've been so bad and have been neglecting this blog for a few weeks. Not so much because I have nothing to write about but more because I have too much to write about and too much going on that I haven't had much energy or time to unwind and slow down my thoughts.

So finally I have, at 1240am in the morning. So to continue with the theme of desserts we should continue onto The Precinct. I must admit The Precinct is a rather nice addition to the Albany Hwy Victoria Park area, mainly because it adds that "nice small bar" amongst all the pubs and cheap italian restaurants (not that there is anything wrong with pubs or cheap italian restaurants.. it just adds that something something).

I'm not sure if it's because it's still unknown, or whether Victoria Park hasn't been picked up as the place to go on a Saturday night (and rightly so, there still isn't that much going on but it is picking up.. there is a lovely book store a few doors down and a few boutiques I wouldn't mind checking out that sells bits and bops, along with the usual pubs and a handful of good places to eat other than pub food), but The Precinct was rather quite for a Saturday night.

The precinct has two clear divisions where there are diners and the bar (no idea why a clear partition is needed considering no one came into the bar to drink but lots of diners - unless the "partition" is actually part of ensuring structural soundness of the place?).

The place had wooden tables and chairs (and area where there is almost a canteen like dining table for "sharing table" with others). The walls on one side is exposed with a recurring theme of a dog taking a piss on a pole. Nice. Oh and a motif of the queen's face. Random. But loving it so far. The kitchen area is also exposed so guests are invited to observe and watch chefs under pressure.

The menu at The Precinct was pretty impressive when we went there with pork belly, half chicken and the likes on offer. But we had just finished eating at the Prophet and was instead more interesting in their dessert menu.

There was a few to chose from but the thing that stood out and impressed me the most was that they had a dairy free and gluten free bread and butter pudding (which in itself is an amazing concept! especially considering the name and the nature of the traditional bread and butter pudding - needless to say I was intrigued).

MR chose it considering she was severely allergic to lactose. It came warmed and smelling lovely. perfect for a chilly night. It was obviously not as creamy as the original, but nor was it runny like it was just water. To be perfectly honest considering it was guten and dairy free it was a rather enjoyable dessert. I immediately thought of taking one of the girls from work here! I think she would enjoy it!

Bf opted for the deconstructed banoffee pie. Needless to say it was sweet and rich but delicious nonetheless. I would recommend sharing because the portion is generous, but then again if you have a sweet tooth, go all out and have one yourself.

The deconstructed banoffee pie

MM and myself onthe other hand, opted to share desserts - the cheese - delice de cremiers, pear sorbet, pear tullie and the lemon meringue, lemon curd.

The lemon meringue with lemon curd was also somewhat deconstructed as the lemon curd provided that tartness that generall comes with lemon meringue but this had to be eaten with a constructed meringue that was a little too sweet to eat on it's own. I felt as though it didn't work so well, only because the lemon curd ran out too quickly versus the meringue bit and I was just left with too sweet a meringue. Unless of course that is what you are after? I've never had too much a of sweet tooth.

The lemon meringue, lemon curd

The cheese on the other hand was lovely, I would have preferred they gave us crackers or bread instead of the tuille, because the tuille was rather blah and ran out way too quickly, that you were just left with cheese. The cheese was too strong to not have with crackers. Crackers were needed. The sliced glazed pear, only four was given, little disappointing there. But I liked the cheese! (Most important part - if only there were crackers!)

Overall the Precinct is a lovely venue and one worth checking out (although I hate saying that only because then it gets too packed and I can't go back because it's too crowded and I never end up with a seat!) We did a walk in and got a table (share table nonetheless but a table) and I would hate it if we couldn't do that anymore. The only compliant I have is the "hipster" waiters, the one that served us was rather rude and condescending when we asked more questions about the menu. Like DUH we haven't been there before of course we would ask. Such attitude!

Apart from that the menu looks fantastic and I can't wait to try more than just their desserts. Perhaps ask their staff to lose the attitude of "I'm too cool for school" because clearly they are not at school.

Dessert Celebrations

Finally the time has come after slightly over a year of hard work.. The hard earned annual leave.

Seeing as you suppose to bring cake for your birthday to share at work I bought mine early as I won't be there on my day.

So I got a raspberry cheesecake from Chez Jean Claude in Subiaco - the consistency was more of a mousse. Rather light not too rich, but the berry flavours and pieces of beries was throughout the cake. The cake was enclosed in marble dark chocolate slates. Yummy light cheesecake.

 

I also got a lemon & lime brûlée tart from Lawleys bakery in Shenton Park. The pastry was a little undercooked but the lime and lemon flavour is perfectly balanced with sweetness. I'm always such a fan of good slightly tangy desserts.

Unfortunately I only got the chance to take a photo of the two after it was cut and eaten into.

Then for the family I got a bunch of the famous Chez Jean Claude in Subiaco almond croissant - beautiful, soft, flaky, almonds cream goodness.

Now I'm feeling guilty and fat and will be hitting the gym before massive feasts that is to occur over the weekend.

I.MUST.NOT.GET.FAT.BEFORE.TRAVELS