The Wine Store and Wine bar

I love discovering quaint little places around Western Australia. My latest discovery is a corner deli shop turned into a boutique wine store and bar on George street in Fremantle. Such a random place to find amazing wines and good food! It's in the middle of residential area!

The Wine Store is divided into two areas - the store stocks boutique wines sourced locally and around the world - from vintages in Burgundy and Bordeaux to joining the new-world - Argentinean revolution, wines from Portugal, brewing behind the iron curtain and winemaking at home in Australia and at such fair and affordable prices and the bar next door has a cellar downstairs (perfect for functions and perhaps a very intimate wedding reception!). Their team is also very knowledgeable (did you know Malbec actually originates from France. The French then brought the grapes over to Argentina where it thrived in the climate and now everyone thinks it originates from Argentina) and they really appreciate well made wines that are true to their vineyard and of course taste.

Then there is the food, the menu is European and South American inspired made with fresh, local Western Australia produce. Oh and of course cheap coffees with free babycinos (which is the way it should be!).

I had the privilege of being invited to the Yelp Elite event and getting a chance to check out the place and taste test their canapé menu.

The interior design is so nice and the cellar.. perfection for a function. Just look at the photos.

The interiors of the bar upstairs. Love the wallpaper

The cellar dining area - wines on display and right at the back is this beautiful wood table.

An intimate Wedding reception can be held here. If only I had a small family for an occasion like that. But unfortunately I don't. (These two photos are taken by the lovely Adam the photographer of Yelp - thank you muchly for allowing me to use these on my blog).

PLEASE NOTE: The mains shown in this post may not be what is available currently at the Wine Store as the menu changes often.

They also have a open kitchen were you really can see everything. I spent way too long hanging around watching them prep the food. 

On the night, Yelp provided the yelpers with canapés - This lovely ham and cheese croquette with salsa. Divine. I ate a bit too much of those yummy balls. 

Ham and cheese croquette

Then there was the beef empanadas with this nice chilli (hot meter of slight). It was packed with goodness and the pastry wasn't too thick either.



Beef empanadas 

Then the food came out for other people at the bar and I took the opportunity to photograph them and make them look as sexy as possible.

Salad

Fried fish heads

The two canapés didn't cut it, and we were still hungry and the menu looked so good so we stayed for dinner to sample more of the food. 

 Cousin and I - the obligatory toilet photo

 My obligatory social media update on my Samsung Galaxy S4 - the screen is so much bigger making it so idea for instagram and facebook and using blogger on the phone!

We ordered the stuffed field mushrooms to start. They gave us three rather large stuffed mushrooms with feta and breadcrumbs. It was rather tangy which was something I was not expecting. 

Stuffed mushrooms

I really wanted the gnocchi but with the urging of cousin and my health conscious kicking in I want with the half roasted quail and chorizo with sweet corn puree. 

Half roasted quail with chorizo and sweet corn puree 

The sweet corn puree was creamy and sweet and added the much needed flavour to the quail. With the quail they gave me the wrong half, I ended up with two wing pieces instead of a wing and thigh, which greatly diminished the amount of meat I got on my plate (and considering quails are already rather limited in meaty-ness).. it was little bit of a let down (especially when the canapes were so good!).

My cousin got the steak with fries. Her fries had old oil being used and were cold once it reached her. The steak itself was perfectly cooked medium with a tangy pesto sauce on top, which complemented the dish rather well. 

Steak and fries with pesto sauce

The Wine Store is a little gem of a place. It's ambiance is so chilled and with couches to lounge in with a glass of beautiful red or white or even sparkling in hand and with people you love nothing is more glorious. And hey if you want to buy a bottle of the wine you have on hand you can always pop in next door (before 8pm - the liquor store closes at 8:00pm) and get it for cheaper (they stock things not found anywhere else!). They also do breakfast and lunch and cheap (but good) coffee. 

I can't wait to come back with my friends and just spend the night talking, laughing, enjoying good wines and going through the small bites menu. Then going next door to get a bottle of the red we had so we enjoy it all over again at home.

**PLEASE NOTE THE MENU DOES CHANGE OFTEN SO PLEASE CHECK THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE TO SEE WHAT IS ON OFFER**

Disclaimer: The last few dishes were bought by us where the two canapes were part of the Yelp Elite function so thus were on the house!

Reminder: This website is under copyright so if photos are going to be used please kindly credit them back to me. All photos taken by me with my Chiro (Nikon D90) exception of the two that I have credited.

X-wray

Oh what surprises Fremantle brings! In a little, blink you will miss car park in Fremantle lies X-Wray, a cafe by day (with a choice of beers for drinks) and a bar at night (with some live jazz music on some nights). With a big alfesco area and a small-ish indoor dining, X-Wray is decked out in retro simplicity and with palm trees around the outdoor area, it reminds me of a beach bar, minus the water. Using recycled San Pellegrino bottles to hold their sugar and their toilets filled with gigs and street festival information, X-Wray is friendly to the environment and dedicated to promoting local talent.

We had a very late lunch consisting of homemade lean beef burgers with a side of wedges (which were really homemade potatoe chips) and aioli dip. The patty was lean, juicy, moist and delicious. The sauce the burger came with was to-die-for. Really makes the burger. And of course you can't really go wrong with wedges and aioli dip!

Then with a cup of coffee Freo day out was to be fantastic.

I think next time I would try to make it for breakfast, because the menu looked great and it's a pretty nice place to just hang out.

 

Saturday Delights

I say nothing is more delightful than spending a lovely sunny Autumn day being immersed in culture. So on Easter Saturday, I grabbed my younger cousin and drove down to Fremantle to see at least one French film, as the French Film Festival was still on, and an added bonus was that the Fremantle Arts Festival was on.

It took us half an hour to find parking, went around in circles far too often, due to the lack of signs around Fremantle and their many narrow one ways streets, street closures due to the festival and what nots, I've almost given up. But out of the blue, this 4WD leaves and right opposite the Luna SX as well.

Our luck was turned. We ate a lovely meal at X-Wray (see next possible post) then off we went to the Fremantle Markets and to explore its streets.

Had my dose of caffeine at X-Wary - had a slight burnt taste, but wasn't too tragic and AL catching up on scheduling her diary.

We wandered around Fremantle markets and the watched a few street performers do their thing and of course wandered into a few second hand book stores and boutiques scattered around the center. There was so many people, it was a little cramped on the narrow footpaths of Freo, but, that's half the fun.

While wandering around the Fremantle Markets, we managed to grab some dessert at the Macaroon stand. The display at the street front was lovely and oh so french sheek but alas the reflection in the photo did not portray that.

There were plenty of Macaroon flavours to chose from so we decided to be good and only get one each. AL ended up getting honey and thyme which was excruciatingly sweet, couldn't taste the thyme and the "honey" tasted more like caramel than honey. I settled for something more zesty, in the form of Lemon, because I always think it works better for Macaroons, gives it that nice balance of sweet and citrus, and it definitely turned out to be nicer than honey and thyme.

After dessert, it got a little too hot, so we went back to Luna, which was actually timed perfectly, as people were entering the cinema and grabbing a seat. So with a glass of San Pellegrino Chinotto to quinch our thirst we headed in to watch Paris-Manhattan staring Alica Taglioni and Patrick Bruel.

It was a lovely film. Made me smile and laugh throughout it. It is why I love watching French movies. They always tend to make "romantic-comedies" with sophistication, humour and of course, an air of utter romance and yet although dreamy, its still somewhat realistic. If you get a chance definitely go and watch Paris-Manhattan, its fun, funny, romantic and I couldn't help but feel happy after seeing it, it was nostalgic and makes me want to desperately go back to Paris and explore, even if I think Parisians are rather rude.

The day was definitely worth the drive and the stress of parking an the traffic on the way home. All that couldn't wipe away the delightful day and from the feeling that you get from watching a romantic French film.

At Moore & Moore brunch is the most important part of the day..

Bf and I had a lovely brunch last Saturday at Moore & Moore Cafe in Fremantle. It's situated at the famous Moore & Moore building (DUH!) which is part of the Notre Dame University complex, opposite the Law and Medicine buildings and of course amongst this charming little house painted blue with a red door. 

Seeing as it was summer I doned a yellow dress paired with a red belt and headband, ready to take on the heat! It also make me feel happy. Anyway, I've forgotten how quaint and lovely Fremantle. Their heritage listed buildings, the side streets waiting to be explored, the cafe strips, very Marais, except, perhaps not as jammed packed with shops/cafes/interesting finds as Marais. I'm with what I have.

So back to Moore & Moore, it's a cafe with a gallery, which unfortunately, when we went didn't have anything on display. It is also known to also host some lovely vintage styled receptions and engagement parties. The sign casually pokes out from between the buildings, nothing too obvious, but the umbrellas and the sittings outside the entrance definitely makes it obvious that this is one popular brunch venue.

Like all trends in Perth, and like the best of cafes, the interior has a rustic charm, with every nook and cranny filled with leather counches, stools and recycled chairs and tables to make the most of the small area of the cafe leading to the order area. They also have setting indoors in another room. But I love the nooks and cranny, it gives you privacy, allows you to observe the happenings and people and makes you forget that you are even out; it's just you and your boy.

 

Moore & Moore, also has a courtyard, which is just perfect for this Saturday morning brunch. It was also cooler than being inside as well.

The menu at Moore & Moore has the usual selection of brunch meals - bircher museli, eggs on toast, but they also have steak sandwich and daily specials. All of which looks absolutely fabulous.

Bf had lemon lime bitters as his choice of beverage and for his meal he chose the daily special of creamy mashed pumpkin with greens, poached eggs on toasted bread. I had some of this brekkie and it just fabulous, it was creamy, moist, filled with flavours of possibly turmeric, pepper and other herbs I can't identify.

I got myself a honeycomb espresso affagato (perfect for a warm morning) and it was just delicious! The sweetness of the honeycomb with the rich coffee taste as you get close to the bottom of the cup, and of course the honeycomb pieces! I was in coffee and sweet heaven.

For my brekkie, I had the french toast with honey mascapone and fresh fruit. AND OMG it was to die for! It wasn't too sweet either and the toast wasn't too thick and floury, and honey covered french toast with the mascapone was perfect. Only thing I wish there was more of was the fruits.

 

and I also had a side of poached eggs - which was perfectly cooked - runny on the inside and perfectly round! Just needed a pinch of salt and pepper and it was perfect.

After what was an amazing breakfast, and spent a couple of hours talking, (we didn't even mind too much that our meals took a while.. even if we were hungry!) we wondered around the streets of Fremantle, visited multiple secondhand bookshops. Discovered and bought some treasures home. We would have wondered more, if it wasn't for the heat of the sun getting to us, and the fact that I had a thermomix demo later on in the day and he wanted to go and get his camping equipment. 

All in all, we promised ourselves that we will explore Fremantle more and definitely come back to Moore & Moore for a taste of more of their menu, if not at least to have coffee and just sit in their courtyard under the shade of white umbrellas.