Merry date night at Merrywell

I feel fitting that I should post about Merrywell, as this "Men's up-scaled pub" recently turned ONE and has been a hit with may Perthians. Bf and I braved the cold, the wind and the rain to visit Merrywell for our mid-week date night. We originally didn't plan to go there, simply because the parking at Crown Casino is the biggest pain in the butt (even on weeknights.. do people not go home??!) and I've had craving for Ciao Italia's tiramisu and was hoping to go there, but the line for the restaurant is the worst I have ever seen! I guess I also had to satisfy the boy's need for MEN FOOD.

I'm suppose to be on health-kick but I've jumped off the bandwagon for a while and it's been hard trying to climb back onto it, so I figured a night (or more) of bad food can't be too bad for your soul (even if it is bad for your waistline).  

The Merrywell is decked out in almost a semi-circle and I love how you can access the place from inside the casino (blackjack is just outside) or go from the outside (it's opposite the main entrance to the hotel). The outdoor area is rather stylish and I prefer it to the indoors. Either way, it's dark and it's moody and LOUD. It can get hard to find seats so prepare to share a table with randoms.

After hunting for a seat we ended up getting one in that's away from the bar and a little more secluded (making it a little bit lower on the decibels). We ordered our mains and I really wanted to try one of their share plate and opted for the grilled ham and cheese pops with cuban-style mustard dip.

Ham and Cheese Pops with cuban-style mustard dip

These were an absolute delight to eat. The cheese wasn't like mozzarella so there wasn't that trail of mess everywhere, but it was lovely, almost light in texture. The mustard dip just gave it that zap to the pops and the dip had the right amount of mustard to give it that little spice kick.

The Merrywell Angus Burger

The boy had the burger and I may have stuffed up his order as I forgot to ask for extra egg.. opps.. my bad. The burger with the chips accompaniment is the usual suspects at Merrywell and suffice to say, why wouldn't it bad as it's fairly delicious and they have won awards for their burgers. 

My choice of meal for the night was somewhat inspire by my up and coming travel adventures to the states and to Vancouver. I got myself the fried chicken with red velvet waffles with honey. 

Fried Chicken with Red Velvet Waffles and Honey

This is probably the most unhealthy meal ever, but damn it was good. Whoever came up with this dish and concept is damn smart. The touch of red velvet to the waffles is also rather nice. The melted butter on the waffles added a little something special and the fried chicken drizzled with the sweet honey yum. Now to try it with maple syrup when I get to Vancouver! I can't wait. If it tastes so good here it must be amazing there. Anyone that can recommend me a place to visit that serves these sort of dishes in Vancouver please comment or send me an email!

It's not hard to see why Merrywell, even in it's infancy of pub/restaurant dining the place is abuzz with people. They are probably one of the perfect watering-hole with a great selection of beers, wines, sparkling, cocktails and jugs to share along with some mouth-watering food from burgers, to buffalo wings, steaks to salads there is something for everyone on the menu (except a little limited to those that are vegetarian and vegan). I hope it stays true to it's laidback, very Australian vibe with very American-Style Food.

After the Merrywell, we detoured to Ciao Italia in South Perth to satisfy my craving and have takeaway dessert consisting of tiramisu. And anyway, the desserts at Merrywell I've tried already (if you didn't recall or didn't get a chance to read it the link is here).

Can't get better than that - fried chicken, red velvet goodness and heavenly tiramisu shared with my boo.

Being merry @ Merrywell

A bottle of shiraz and cocktails can do a lot of damage sometimes. For me it makes me sleep. Once all that EtOH hits my system all I want to do is curl up and sleep.

Before that happens though I get hungry. After our lackluster dinner experience at Nobu, we ventured onto Merrywell for some desserts (it was either Merrywell or 50 cent cone at McDonalds - I didn't even realise that they have even opened one in the casino!).

I haven't been to the Merrywell since it opened (again a bad foodie misdeed) and a lot of people have raved about it (good things and bad..) and I never get a chance to go, mainly because I am not a big fan of parking at Crown Burswood - gives me a massive headache! Addicted to chaos - then this is it - finding parking at Crown.

Anyway, back to Merrywell. I like the layout, I guess. It's nice enough. The outside/courtyard area is better I think. I'm not sure if people are allowed to smoke there though. I hope not, because technically it's not "outdoors" because you have this wall around it and ventilation isn't exactly the best, especially when it's hot (as it was that night) and that with smoking is not the best combo.

The service at Merrywell - don't expect one (except you may have to get onto the waiting list to get a table at busy hours - which may be up to 2 hours or more, unless you order at the bar, in which case good luck finding a seat at the bar). After all it's like going to any pub or bar. If you want food, you go to order at the area where there is a sign that says "place order here" take your seat and get a number on a stand and just wait to get your food. It is not a restaurant. You are there to watch games, eat (a little bit more fancier things than pub food) and drink. So enjoy it. Soak up the noise. Shout across the table to your friends so you are heard. It's why you are there!

In terms of food, I've heard many a good things about their mac & cheese along with their fried wings. So we decided to get a bowl of mac & cheese (no wings though - we wanted desserts and snacks not another dinner..). And well.. hmm.. UNDERWHELMED. Despite it's golden yummy appearance, after biting into it, you release the cheese has not melted properly at all. It needed another minute or so and it would have been that gooey stringy cheese. But alas it was not to be. Disappointment and just a heart attack risk with no awesomeness. It did come with HP sauce, which was nice.

Infamous Mac & Cheese

But like I said, we were here mainly for the desserts. So we got 3 pots of dessert. One of which really surprised us. We ordered the Key Lime Cheese Cake, Strawberry Trifle and the Cookie Collection. 

The Strawberry Trifle on the left was probably one of my favourite out of the three. Creamy, strawberriliousness and not too rich and not too sweet. We were all in agreement that it was good stuff in that little jar/pot.

The cookie collection - well we didn't expect homemade cookies shoved into a little jar. We were expecting something like cookie and creme of something. Nevermind though because the cookies were DAMN GOOD. 3 different flavours. 3 types of perfect cookies. I felt like I was a little kid. All we needed was coffee or hot chocolate (but it was just as good without it). I'm obviously a cookie monster!

The last and on your right is the Key Lime Cheesecake. It was tangy, perhaps a bit too much? (or defs more so than the other two desserts), but it was refreshing. It was not very cheesecakey though because I couldn't taste the cookie base (I'm not even sure if there was one!). I did like the fact that they had shaved and baked lemon/lime things one top. Enjoyable dessert nonetheless especially for those who like tangy refreshing desserts to something sweet and rich.

Overall, Merrywell isn't a bad place to hang out. It explains why it's so packed. Perhaps a little too noisy and too busy with the music, TV screens and people. I'm not sure if the massive ravings of WOW-ness is actually accurate. For me, with what I had it wasn't exactly WOW-worthy. But from the looks of the burgers that came out and things -they were huge and the buns were between BIG patty with oozing melted cheese galore. I may have to go back to try their actual food menu. But for the mac and cheese. meh. Cheese balls things -I've had better. Oh and there are little steps everywhere! I'm not sure if that is good for those who are drunk.  So take care. 

Bistro Guillaume

Bistro Guillaume was my restaurant of choice to celebrate my birthday. The restaurant occupies what used to be Allure bar and restaurant and underwent a $7 million face lift. The interior has so much colour, mainly shades of lime green, black and cream. There are puffy sofas, pantaloon lightshades, mirrors and an outdoor area overlooking the renovated pool area. Impressive.

Family and myself were placed by a window overlooking the pool and the best thing about it wasn't so much the impressive renovation done outside or even the coziness of where we were sitting, but rather who was opposite our table... *DRUM ROLL* The chef and owner Guillaume Brahimi in the open kitchen working away and olympic swimmer and owner of Louis Baxter cafe, Eamon Sullivan in the company of one of Australia's celebrated chef's, Matt Maron (having their dinner, obviously). So hey, that means we were in for a treat right?

We started off the night by having a Charcuterie plate to share. A rather generous plate with a variety of meats, sausage, cornichons, lettuce leaves, quince, terrine, parfait, pork rillettes, and of course sourdough bread. I'm usually not a fan of charcuterie plates, mainly because I find that the quality of produce and the taste isn't all that great, however, Bistro Guillaume, proved to me that there can be great charcuterie plates, enjoyed it thoroughly.

Charcuterie plate

(unfortunately already have eaten!)

Since there was 7 of us, we decided to share the salad Nicoise with rare yellow fin tuna.The salad came out deconstructed, which was kind of nice, allows you to pick at it a bit more. The tuna was actually slightly seared, juicy, 'fat' and so fresh. The salad was refreshing and the beans were so good. So far, rather satisfying start to the dinner.

Salad Nicoise with rare Yellow Fin Tuna

Bf also grabbed himself a French Onion Soup, he's been craving it ever since I ordered some from Ptite Ardoise restaurant. The onion was so sweet, there was decent amount of cheese, and toasty crisp bread on top, but it didn't do much for me. I think Ptite Ardoise did it better, but still not bad.

French Onion Soup

As for the mains, mum and I decided to share their "meal for 2" and opted for the roasted whole liveringa organic chicken served with their very creamy, silky Paris mash and an aromatic rosemary sauce with a salad of salad. It was meant to be dish for 2, but everyone ended up having pieces of it, far too much for just 2 (unless you have a massive appetite). I'm usually scared of ordering chicken, it tends to get too dry, but not this one; the chicken was moist, juicy and flavoursome.

Roasted whole chicken 

Paris mash

The Paris mash is to die for - honestly one of the best potato mash ever! Silky, smooth, creamy, potato goodness served in a cute pot! We got an extra to share. It was that good.

Bf got his favourite type of meat - Berkshire pork belly with salad of lentils, green apples and tarragon vinaigrette. The pork meat was juicy and tender, crackling was crispy (the way it should be) and the whole dish went beautifully with the lentils and apples, although the sauce was a little too sour - someone over poured the vinaigrette.

Berkshire pork belly with salad of lentils, green apples and tarragon vinaigrette

Dad and little little bro had the rangers valley sirloin steak with kipfler potatoes, watercress salad and bearnaise sauce. It was just your perfect chargrilled steak delight. Nothing else needs to be said.

Sirloin steak with kipfler potatoes, watercress salad with bearnaise sauce

My little bro had the venison tenderloin with beetroot, parsnip and horseradish. The sauce on this dish was just heavenly! The venison was also rather tender even for such a game meat. However, the poor boy, a big eater of protein was a little disappointed by the amount of meat on his plate. But hey, at least it was polished and he loved it immensely. 

Venison tenderloin with beetroot parsnip and horseradish

Then the best bit of the night happened - and I thought I had enough lovely dishes, but no the desserts topped it all. But then again, we are at a French restaurant, if they couldn't do desserts I'll be worried.

I ordered the chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream. The staff recommended that I place the pistachio ice cream into the souffle and after it was mixed, and I had my first bite, it was absolute deliciousness. Orgasmic!

Chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream

Bf had the profiterole with vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce (the chocolate sauce was poured over the profiteroles). It were probably one of the best profiteroles ever. 

 Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream with warm chocolate sauce

Little bro had the Riz au lait with poached rhubarb and strawberry sorbet. Razzled rice pudding, creamy, sweet with a refreshing punch of the sorbet. He loved it and I enjoyed the small share he gave me. 

Then to top the meal, I had a glass of wine to boot. Velvety goodness to drown a year of getting older. 

The food at Bistro Guillaume is impressive and it really was a lovely birthday treat. The service was impeccable. Although, I'm not sure if I like the casual look of the waitstaff. But, I suppose it adds to that light, casual but stylish service in a beautiful room, filled with relaxed ambiance. It's probably one of the most relaxed fine dining places ever.

Have a go, be pampered and enjoy Bistro Guillaume's simple, beautiful French cuisine.

Modo Mio

Located in the Burswood entertainment complex, Modo Mio is a fine Italian cuisine restaurant decked out in simple but very chic baroque style interiors. It serves authentic Italian cuisine with unsurpassed quality and when an Italian gf loves the place you know it has too be good!

 

Their selection of food is wide and varied with quality fresh in-house pastas, pizzas, steaks and seafood it was a tough choice.

They served us a side of bread with beautiful butter and olive oil and sea salt. We had to restrain ourselves from getting more bread as we knew the mains and dessert would be filling, this also meant skipping entree.

 

However, seeing as it was the first time I've been to Modo Mio and with their well-known delicious freshly prepared in-house pasta I went for the linguiani and MT went for the black ink fettuccine. 

 Linguiani with salmon and prawns

I must say the pasta was absolutely delicious. It was creamy, smooth beautiful pasta. The diced salmon and prawns with the sauce was fantastic. Although, again with my very sensitive taste buds I found this dish slightly salty. But nonetheless it was probably the pasta dish I've had and the freshness is so obvious. 

Black ink fettuccine with seafood

 

I didn't get to taste MT's dish as I'm allergic to squid/octopus/cuttlefish but she absolutely loved it.

This was of course accompanied by a glass of red wine.

For dessert, it was such a tough choice, I wanted almost everything on the menu, but alas we Tiramisu and the Panna cotta con fragole marinate all’aceto balsamico e basilico. 

The tiramisu was AMAZING. The richness of the marscapone with the strong flavours of the espresso. It was exactly the way it should be.

The panna cotta - again, the custard was smooth, creamy delicious. And the hint of sour and sweet fruits with the sweetness of the panna cotta was the perfect balance. 

We were both in dessert haven. I still however, preferred the tiramisu, simply because I love coffee-flavoured things (done with real coffee) and I don't particularly have a sweet tooth.

I must say, Modo Mio is definitely worth the fuss and is sure worth the visit. Just be warned, that the staff wasn't exactly attentive and the service can be somewhat lacking, but the food is amazing and ambiance makes up for it.

 

Mary Poppins Musical

If you get the chance go and see Mary Poppins live musical at Broadway, West End or even good ole Perth's Burswood theatre.

It's amazing. The setting especially and the lighting, effects, show itself! And of course the familiar music and songs.

Thoroughly entertaining and definitely a great way to end my one week holidays!

Rockpool Bar and Grill

M and I arranged a date night for a celebration of a couple things a few month ago and we decided to go to Neil Perry's Rockpool in Burswood for dinner. We made our reservation over a month in advance and after all the hype it caused after opening in late-January we were really looking forward to this meal.

Just from the entrance, you can tell that they have spent quite an effort jazzing up the place. The impressive double wooden doors opened up to a candlelit walkway leading into the restaurant. On one side there was a window displaying their fine-cut aged meats. It was quite magical.

The inside of the restaurant has a beautiful setting, with an open kitchen and a massive dining area. However, it was awefully dark. There were however, several waitstaff showing us the way. They were all quite attentive with our table which I thought was great, offering drinks as soon as we sat down, we settled for sprinkling water before we browsed through their very impressive wine list.

We ordered a glass of red wine each (unfortunately I can't remember what I ordered), then the lovely complimentary crusty bread and soft, lightly salted butter. The butter really was good - we wanted more bread, but the choice of a three course meal meant that we had to have self control and forego the bread and butter.

For our entrees, I grabbed the Yellow Fin Tuna Tartare with Moroccan Eggplant and Cumin Mayonnaise

The tuna was fresh, the mixed spices and herbs provided the right amount of kicks, the only disappointment was the dish being slightly salty.

M grabbed the salmon and tuna with goat's cheese on toasted ciabatta.

The salmon and tuna were differently fresh and the lime juice it came made it light refreshing taste.

For our mains we ordered their famous grills. M had the Cape Grim Dry Aged 36 Month Old
Grass Fed Rib-eye on the Bone 350g 80 days grilled rare.

The grill came out charcoaled on the outside, the pink-ness of the meat was seen when cut, but it wasn't oozing. The steak was well sealed, tender and was expertly grilled. Definitely one of the best steaks I've had in Perth and somewhere where I have to bring my bf to, who thinks Hippo's Creek still makes the best steaks. (Granted for the price range Hippo's Creek doesn't make bad steaks).

I, on the other hand had the David Blackmore’s Wagyu Chuck Braised in Dark Lager and Onions with Potato Gnocchi and Silverbeet. All the components of the dish were fabuously cooked. The gnocchi was fluffy, with a creamy centre, not too chewy, while the wagyu was tender and just melted in your mouth.But, the sauce was a little too much for me. Overall, it was delicous.

Then the dessert, who would have thought a grill can make mouth-watering desserts.

We ordered the Raspberry Mille Feuille - which came in a huge, very pretty bowl (much to our amusement) - it was sweet, creamy, with a hint of zest, the way a dessert should be.

Our second dessert to share was the Peanut, Caramel Chocolate Tart with affogatto - the tart was soft, gooey, sticky goodness. The chocolate poured out as we cut into it. The coffee was delicious - not burnt and was of high quality.

To compliment all this we ordered a glass of wine to share. The 2009 Xanadu ‘Cane Cut’ Semillon Sauvignon Blanc from Margaret River, WA. The fruity sweet flavour of the wine brought out the taste of the desserts even more, the perfect accompaniment.

To our horror, the night ended after 3 hours of wonderful eating, completely satisfied with the service, food and even the bathroom (they use Aesop soap!). We went home happy and promising each other that we won't tell anyone of the huge bill for the 3 course meal with 1.5 glass of wine each, oh and sparkling water. More importantly we promised to come back.

Wicked!

Having epic weekends is something to look forward to after a long week at work. A few weekends ago, after waiting almost 5 months it was finally the day of the show - the broadway musical, Wicked - The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz! I went with my family and all I can say is I know why it's so POP-U-LAR!

The setting was detailed and amazing, the lighting was well done. The costumes, stunningly detailed and beautiful. The songs and music - so catchy!! and the plot? - well, although I'm not a big fan of the Wizard of Oz, I absolutely loved this. I thought it fitted very nicely to the whole Wizard of Oz. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but I can say that Wicked is loosely based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel 'Wicked: The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West' and it's about all the things that happened before Dorothy dropped. And of course, like most musicals there are lessons to be learnt, little morals and guidance.

The only thing I was a little disppointed about was that Bert Newton (who was to play the Wizard) was sick and his understudy, although pretty brilliant, was unable to fully capture the Wizard character. He did try and wasn't bad at it. As for the Glinda (Good Witch of the South) - Lucy Durack and Elphaba (Wicked Witch of the West) - Jemma Rix, they were both so amazing! such fantastic actresses!

If I had the chance to see it all again I would! I might even try finding all the songs, they just so catchy.

Hopman Cup 2011

To fit in with the Australian Open that's currently occuring in Melbourne, I thought I might write about my first LIVE tennis event that I went to on a balmy Perth night. It was on a Tuesday night in January, a workmate of mine was kind enough and nice enough to give me her ticket because she was unable to go. I headed home after work, freshened up, before heading to Burswood Dome to watch Australia vs. Serbia fight it out to win the Hopman Cup.

I've missed the women's game but it wasn't all that exciting according to Jojo who was there, she said that Australia went down in straight sets! It wasn't all that surprising really, seeing as it was Austrealia's Molik vs. Serbia's Ivanovic - Ivanovic probably had speed against Molik, even if Molik was a stronger server and someone with more emotional control.

Anyway, the men's game, Hewitt vs. Djokovic was better, there were some great moves and in some instances Hewitt looked set to win the point (40 vs. 0) but then he choked under the pressure and just gave his points away. He also needed to lift his serves, shockingly bad. Djokovic on the other hand, wow service speeds of 200km/h + at times, I could barely see the ball fly across the court!

Hewitt going for the tennis ball

A blur of tennis ball hurtling towards Djokovic

The single games didn't compare to the awesome game that was the doubles, and I must admit Australia played admirably and came so close to taking the doubles game away from Serbia. But alas, in the game point - where they had to reach 10 points with 2 points difference, Australia lost. Djokovic served up a storm to give the Serbia the win, allowing them to reach 10 points first. So devastating, but MAN what a game it was. So exciting the doubles match. It was one of those things you just have to see, especially some of the volleys. Unbelievable. Just describing it wouldn't help.

The Serbian team coming out onto the court for the doubles game

The Australian team - consisting of Molik and Hewitt making their entrance onto the court

Coin toss time

 Hewitt serves it to the Serbian team of Djokovic and Ivanovic

Interviews with the winners of the night - Ivanovic and Djokovic

 

Interviews with Molik and Hewitt

All in all, my first tennis match was rather exciting, even if it was boiling hot under the dome and its lights. I wouldn't mind heading to the Australian Open (or better yet, Wimbledon) and watch Nadal and Federer play. Now that would be AWESOME!


ps. Please note the photos abover were taken by me with my humble compact camera whom I have abused a bit too much.