Harvest Espresso

Nothing beats waking up early on a Saturday and being uber productive. It's particularly productive when you get sort out some "business" related things while enjoying good company, along with good food at a rather quaint cafe.

Nothing beats Harvest Espresso in East Victoria Park than being seated by the window overlooking the busy Albany Hwy, while sipping superb coffee or a green juice and digging into their spring/summer menu.

I had the crab meat, avocado, asparagus and perfectly poached eggs. All I can say is, it's a great start to the day. 

My counterpart, friend, and talented designer started her day roughly by attempting Jacob's ladder (good to know one of us is keeping fit!) so she dug into some fluffy egg omelette, grilled half tomato and toast. 

I love this place, because they provide an interesting breakfast/brunch menu and has an array of teas/coffees/shakes/juices etc. They also do some pretty delicious cakes and patisseries. It's tiny and can get really busy so opt in for an early breakfast or just for something quick. Either way, it's cosy, warm, friendly and just great for watching the world whizz by, while enjoying some cake and coffee (or brunch!).

West End Deli

I love having brunch on weekends (when I haven't got work). It's just nice to sit at a cafe somewhere with good company, gossip, eat good food and drink coffee. It's extremely important with a brunch place that it has a nice ambiance and the coffee has to be good. I decided to go to West End Deli. It's an old favourite of mine and I haven't been there for a while, and can you believe it? my other half haven't been there at all.

The interior hasn't changed much and the little corner shop turned cafe was as packed as it always was. We were lucky and got a seat near the door before an influx of hungry patrons walked through the day. The rustic, bare walls, old type writers in the corner and floating chairs always takes my fancy. 

We decided to order from their lunch menu as it was closer to lunch than it was breakfast. Coffee was in order. Flat white to boost my mood. I don't think there was enough coffee in it (and yes I realise it is a flat white, but you should still be able to taste the coffee).. what a bummer.

 Bf wanted the pork belly that was on the menu, but he was disappointed when the waiter came back to say that it was unavailable, causing bf to grumble "why put it on the menu when you don't even have it.." So he settled for the open steak sandwich. The steak was cooked well and flavoursome. It was enough to fill the belly but not stop bf from grumbling about the lack of pork belly.

I craved for good pan-fried homemade gnocchi, so when West End Deli presented it on their menu I jumped at the chance. I was disappointed though. The gnocchi wasn't cooked through properly. It was still doughy on the inside. It also lacked any sort of flavours. I was not happy with my meal. The gnoochi was very photogenic though, and looked so good to eat, but, alas it was a big let down.

There is something nice about sitting at West End Deli. The hustling and bustling of the open kitchen and the chattering of nearby tables makes it seem very homely. In terms of food quality, I feel as though they have slipped a bit, either that or they were having a bad day. I like to think its the latter.

Eat like an Egyptian

Life is hectic when you work 6 days a week and then trying to fit in errands on the one day that you are free. Then on the weeknights you have to push yourself to go to the gym so you don't get fat from all the catch-ups breakfasts/lunches/brunches/high teas/dinners that occur. To top it off Perth's weather hasn't been the best with lots of lovely pitter patter of rain drops. So all I want to do is curl up in front of the telly and catch up on movies/tv shows and fall asleep listening to the sound of rain.

Lucky for me I have amazing bunches of friends that drag me out of my hermit cave. One of the things I love doing indoors away from the cold, the wet and the heat is checking out the museum exhibition at the Western Australia Museum in Northbridge at the Cultural Centre. 

At the moment, until 22nd of September Secrets of the Afterlife exhibition is on, which if a journey into ancient Egypt and the world of magic, mummies, and afterlife. It features over 100 objects from amulets and jewellery to coffins, painted texts and spells for the dead, as well as rituals for the perfect afterlife. 

It was amazing to see objects and artifacts from thousands of years ago (and how they survived!) and just reading about the believes of the ancient Egyptians. It's worth checking out! Oh and the duck may not be thousands of years old but it's still hella cute.

After we had our education session on obtaining that perfect afterlife, we made our way to the Muse Cafe situated behind the main museum entrance. Muse Cafe is offering Egyptian Style High Tea. 

They decked out the room into a very Egypt theme with posters, camels and ancient Egypt themed chess pieces. They offer 3 sessions for the high tea at 11am-12:30pm, 1:00pm-2:30pm, 3:00pm-4:00pm. The cost of the high tea is reasonable as it includes the tickets to the exhibition ($65 or $75 if you want a cocktail along with the high tea). 

The Muse Cafe also offered a variety of different high tea menus to suit people's dietary requirements, which I think is brilliant! I'm so glad they take allergies and food intolerance very seriously. They have a vegetarian, nut free, gluten free, and low risk pregnancy menus. 

We started of with a refreshing watermelon and coconut salad with honey mint syrup appetizer, which had the sweetness of the watermelon, coconut flakes provided the texture and the mint (couldn't really taste the honey syrup bit of it) left you refreshingly cool. 

Then the tea order was taken (they also do coffee), but their range of teas is pretty impressive, there is about 10-15 different types of teas and they come in proper "made-to-share" teapots which can be topped up or if you are sick of the tea you are trying they will just swap over the pot for you. We ended up trying cinnamon and orange tea, pomegranate green tea and rooibos tea. The teapots are ultra cute too, most likely sourced from many an antique shop or vintage markets. I love it. 

Then the high tea delights came out (fairly quickly too might I add). We started off with the sandwiches. They were in plain white bread but the filling was rather delicious, with hints of spices and herbs to keep to our Egyptian theme. There was the cumin sandwich, the Moroccan chicken, and cucumber and rocket with goat's cheese sandwich . They were all rather delicious, although I wish the cumin sandwich had more cumin in it, because it really lacked oomph. But the waitress did warn us that the amount of cumin may be a little as people have been finding it a bit strong. They might have overdone removing it.

Then the scones came out - yum! Mixed fruit scones with the best fig compote to go with it. So delicious. So fluffy and nicely warmed.

After scones comes the warm food, consisting of eggplant masaka tart and the bay and cardamon braised lamb pie. They smelt so delicious and the flavours in both the tart and the lamb pie transported you to the hot bazaar of Egypt. Perfect to eat on a rainy day. Warms your soul.

Then the best of the high tea - the dessert. This consisted of pomegranate chocolate cake, rose marshmallow, pistachio and apricot baklava. 

The pomegranate chocolate cake was this dense, rich, moist chocolate cake, an absolute indulgence. The rose marshmallow was the complete contrast to this its light airy texture, sweet rose smells and just melt in your mouth moment of sweetness. The pistachio and apricot baklava (if eaten last) didn't taste as sweet as baklavas tend to be, which is something that I really appreciated. The nuts and apricot added textural interest and it just seemed to round out the high tea very nicely.

The Muse cafe is a lovely place with a massive outdoor area. It's perfect for the warmer climates. But even in winter and with the rain the indoor area is so cosy and warm it's just the perfect place to hide away. I love how they do their teas in large pots and with such a variety of selection. The service is lovely and as attentive as possible, and I love how they cater for dietary requirements and allergies. More places in Perth needs to take that up. It's definitely one to go to especially if there is an exhibition on at the Museum and they have themed their high tea accordingly. Why not have a day out? Go see the Egyptian Exhibition (on until 22nd September) and have the high tea as well (as a lunch perhaps?). You can get tickets to the exhibition here and for the combined experience of high tea and exhibition click here.

The Old Crow

Oh Northbridge how you have grown! From a pesty teenager rampant on god knows what to one where you've started to clean up your act and have a sprinkle of sophistication, a dash of culture and sparkle of arts and quirkiness. I've loved seeing you come of age.

Amongst all that, there will still be patches of not so niceness, but the recently revamped Newcastle street have seen increased restaurants and cafes, along with increased traffic and congestion. One of the latest addition, which JJ and I have happened to stumble on a few weeks ago (before the release of Rob Broadfield's review might I add!) is The Old Crow. 

An old heritage house refurbished and renovated to add a very modern-esque glasshouse at the front (resembling very much a greenhouse) and a rather traditional of eras gone by decor inside. Having said that I love the touches of old oil lanterns hanging on the glasshouse area and the succulents in teapots decoration.

We were here for a late lunch, but from what is written on their doors, they should also be opened for dinner. The lunch menu list isn't too large but it's big enough to make it hard to chose what we wanted. 

In the end we both settled for the slow roasted brisket sandwich, thousand island, pickled cabbage and fries. I would have preferred that JJ and I had two different meals to make this review a little more interesting, alas it was not to be and either of us was going to forgo our choices. 

Let me tell you, the sandwich is huge. We had to cut it into thirds to eat it without it going everywhere. I can most definitely share it with someone, because I didn't even get to finish mine. The brisket was slowly roasted to be tender, it was slightly sweet and the toasted bread was buttered to perfection. It was more than a sandwich it was a satisfying meal. The fries wasn't even needed but it was there and it's hot crispy crunchy chips. The homemade thousand island was a delicious creamy dip for the fries.

This meal was paired with the most satisfying long macchiato. But for those more inclined to start the day with EtOH then there is an extensive list of cocktails, wines and beers available at the Old Crow as well.

The only thing I wasn't too sure about was the black high-waisted pants with black suspenders and white shirts. It really minded me of Twiddle-dee and Twiddle-dum of Alice in Wonderland. Apart from the fashion choices of the waitstaff, they were attentive, patient and friendly. 

The Old Crow is intriguing, the menu is different from other places around Perth and I wouldn't mind checking more of it out, perhaps for dinner. I predict their dinner menu would be filled with good surprises. 

Wine and Cheese are like Ageless Companions

I have such a soft spot for the Swan Valley, it is only 45 minutes away from the city and whenever you go there you feel like you've taken a mini holiday. It has some pretty cool things to do, such as super golf, mini golf, a wildlife park in the form of Caversham Wildlife Park, not to mention the beer breweries, wineries, chocolate factories (x 2! - Margaret River Chocolate Factory and Whittaker's Chocolate), honey farms, nougat factory, ice creamery and of course a place to indulge in cheese. 

So as you know, a couple of weekends ago I went there for some R & R, well, more so because I was procrastinating doing my much needed to do list and driving around the Valley and stocking up on wines and eating cheese seemed like a better option. We stopped by a couple of wineries and then spent the rest of our time eating cheese at the Cheese Barrel, located on Great Northern Hwy. 

The Cheese Barrel is a place I've been itching to go to for ages (since it opened last year!). But alas, everytime I'm in the Valley, the place is either closed or we've run out of time to go there. Anyway, it stocks many gourmet cheeses from around the world. The purpose build cafe is behind the tranquil vineyard of Olive Farm Wines and overlooks the Susannah Brook. They have a lovely deck/patio area, which was the perfect backdrop to a lovely winter's day or better yet in the warm sunshine of spring and summer. 

The cheese display filled with cheeses from all over the world.. I wanted to buy some but decided against it in the fears that my mum and I would just consume it within minutes of it being home.

The best bit though would have to be their cheese boards and depending on the theme you go for allows you to indulge in a variety of cheesy goodness. We decided to go for their regional boards, in particular the French Cheese Board, because, well, the French know their fromage well. You can however chose to have the UK, Italian, Spanish, or Australian regional boards or hey you may prefer to have a soft cheese or hard cheese or blue cheese board instead (check out the menu here). To top it off, each of their cheese board can be paired with matching wines. Wine and Cheese the perfect ageless companions. Why would you not love this place?

Although it was crisp we decided to sit outdoors and enjoy some of the winter's sun. I love how they have turned out wine barrels into tables, something simple and yet gives it such flare. I wouldn't mind having a few wine barrels as tables for my door are one day. 

I ordered myself a chai latte to warm me up a little. It was possibly one of the nicer chai lattes I've had in a while. Not too milky and the perfect amount of chai flavours through it (usually it's too milky and no chai taste at all). 

Then the best bit came out - the cheeses. Our French Board consisted of four cheeses from four different areas of France. There was the Labuche d’Affinois, a soft white mould, cow’s milk cheese, the Rouzaire Camembert, a hard cheese in the form of Marcel Petite Comté and the Papillion Black Label Roquefort blue cheese. This was accompanied by figs (so yum!), crackers, bread and quince with macadamia nuts through it. 

I actually thought all four were absolutely divine (but then I'm cheese biased.. I love most cheeses, exception of the really smelly ones and the ones with fruits and what not in them that they don't taste like cheese but seem more like dips), even the blue cheese, it wasn't too strong at all.I would have to say though my favourite was the Labuche d'Affionis soft cheese, which was just creamy goodness. If I had more time in the Valley I would love to try their matching wine and cheese set. 

If you ever get a chance, head to the Cheese Barrel, have a cheese and wine board and just take in the fresh air and the rolling green (or it may be yellow-ish in summer) horizon of the Valley. Just make sure you have a skipper.

Lunch at Gordon st Garage Coffee/Bar/Kitchen

My very last RDO was a few weeks ago, and it will be the last for a long while. This meant it's time to enjoy it the only way possible - organising for my epic holiday and of course catching up for a very late lunch with a good friend.

After practically running across the city (very fast walking pace from one end of Hay street to another - east to west) to get to Gordon St. Garage. An old warehouse turned breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night dining area. Exposed lights, air-conditioning units with lots of different areas for dining - upstairs, outside, main area. A little canteen like, for some reason reminded me of school/university and of course very much like Little Creatures in Fremantle.

Jojo and I were served by a lovely French waiter who has only been in Perth for a few months and will be travelling around Australia and New Zealand in another few months time. Sounds rather bliss. I don't think my travel bug will ever be extinguish. Anyway, he recommended us the soup of the day, but we both weren't in the mood and it just wasn't cold enough at the time. It was sunny and warm, despite it being close to the start of winter.

We started off the afternoon with a flat white for Jojo and a Zenzero, ginger beer with ginseng and apple (warning it is alcoholic) for me. Zenzero was refreshing and did not taste alcoholic at all, but the taste of ginseng, ginger and apple was all there. Delicious in a drink.

Our mains followed a while later. 

Jojo opted for the open pork sandwich with a side of coleslaw.It was served on a wooden slab, which at the moment is all the rage for serving dishes. It was most definitely open sandwich and the bread (not sure what kind because I didn't get a chance to have a proper look) was definitely well toasted and possibly grilled too. I was lucky to have a taste of the chutney and the pork. The chutney was flavoursome and so was the pork but nothing that was outstandingly amazing.

I got myself a quinoa and lamb kofta on a bed of pita bread. The lamb kofta was delicious and the quinoa (one of the super foods prounced "Keen-Wah" NOT "qui-no-a") added that bit of dimension to the chickpeas/hummus and vegetables. I felt rather healthy eating it too! However, the downside was the pita bread was a little tough and definitely was left in the oven a little too long. Like the open sandwich it was served on a wooden slab, which is all very cute, if not a little small for my dish, as I keep getting quinoa rolling out around everywhere, and didn't help that I couldn't cut into the pita bread. Nevermind, it was great lunch, just ate it like 2-year-old. 

Of course an RDO lunch is never complete without dessert. We decided to share a piece and after having a look at their cake selection and their little dessert cabinet consisting of pannacotta, mousse etc. After much deliberation, we settled for the peanut butter gateau/wafer cake thing and was also recommended by one of the waitresses.

It was most definitely peanut buttery and the wafer/biscuit thing at the bottom was chewy and crunchy all at the same time, a nice textural difference to the creamy peanut buttery taste and the dark chocolate. It was a little bit hard to crack through though and again a little messy, but hey at least it tastes great.

Gordan st. Garage is your little casual chilled place to catch up. The female toilets also have an awesome mirror to freshen up from head to toe. The service is a little slow, even at 3pm and there was hardly anyone there, or it is because it was 3pm and there was hardly anyone that caused the slow in service? The one thing I love about this place though is the desserts and you can usually get the full and fresh range in the mornings. They also open late Monday to Sunday meaning you can get your coffee and dessert fix at any time! BONUS.

The food? I don't rate it as amazing and it isn't bad. It's decent and the dessert selection is what is probably going to be bringing me back.

Seoul BBQ Cafe

In the last few months my dad discovered Groupon. Since then he has been buying these lunch deals from there and taking us along. He has been very fascinated with the deals and have been calculating and maximising the coupon to make it worth buying the deal in the first place.

One of the latest places that we went to was Seoul BBQ Cafe - it was once upon a time my quick yummy lunch fix when I used to be a student and working to get some experience in the health field at $8/hour (hard slave labour wages! Don't think health professionals earn a lot because it's all a myth! - you could have gotten more working at Myers, David Jones and Maccas!!).

Anyway, for those that don't know, Seoul BBQ cafe is located upstairs, from Woolworths, but at the other end of that concourse area. It's also not really a cafe, because it's more like a canteen opening where you place your order then there are seats in the arcade/veranda area, where pigeons love to hang out.

Anyway, without the coupon the place is dirt cheap as it is, between $7.50-$11.50 and you get decent sized portions of their mains that you order. With the coupon, it was for 4 mains + 2 entrees (entrees being gyoza and chilli chicken wings) + 4 drinks for $29.

So for our "entrees" we got a plate of gyoza and a plate of chilli chicken wings.

The gyoza were dry and seemed like they have been sitting around for a while. The stuffing wasn't great either.

Gyoza on the Right and a Bowl of Miso (that came with the mains) on the right

The chilli chicken wings/there was also a drumstick in there.. on the other hand were delicious! Nice and crunchy with the right amount of spice. I wish we got two serves of it instead.

Chilli Chicken Wings

Then the mains. Each main came with a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, sides of bean sprout salad and a rather depressing looking salad (which really was lettuce and tomato drenched in salad dressing) and dipping sauces. Not bad for usual price of $7.50-$11.50.

So what did we get?

I love their Bibimbap. Apart from the bibimbap sauce (which I know you can get it yourself at the Korean Supermarkets..), the mix of slightly sticky, soft rice with vegetables and meat and topped with egg (runny egg might I add) is just so satisfying. In reality though, it's the sauce that makes it awesome. The sauce mixed with runny egg york - so good. It's like having a homemade meal - making you feel all warm and fuzzy, except not.

Pork Bibimbap - 

before the mix of the sauce and all the ingredients together

Mum got the Dak Gogi (Chicken bbq dish), which was rather very normal, but the flavours of their grill/bbq through the meat and the marinate was what makes a rather boring dish, not so.. well boring. It is healthier option for lunch than a lot of other places and you get a fair bit of diced chicken and paired with the rice, sides and miso soup it is a big enough serving for lunch.

Dak Gogi

Dad got the Daeji Gogi (pork grill/bbq dish), again a rather simple dish, but the marinate is the highlight of it all. I found the pork a little tougher than the chicken (but then that is generally the case). Again, more than adequate main for lunching. 

Daeji Gogi

Two meats BBQ

My brother on the other hand got his intake of protein and carbs by ordering the two meat bbq dish. You get a choice of chicken, beef  or pork and he chose the chicken (highest protein out of the three meats) and beef. Again, it is the marinated of the meats and the bbq taste that makes the dish. 

Overall, Seoul BBQ Cafe is your cheap (and possibly cheaper) alternative to your food court menu. The menu isn't exactly big but it has enough variety to keep things interesting. It's simple, but sometimes that is the best. The only down side to this place is the pigeons. And when people leave and plates don't get put away on time, they swoop to eat off the plate. Really unhygienic that way. But generally, the staff are good and the plates get put away fairly quickly. Also note, the place is only open for lunch hours 11am-3pm. They can get busy and seats are limited but they do serve fairly quickly (it took them only about 10 to 15 minutes after ordering for all of our food to come out - not bad at all!).

Ps. My dad told me off for taking photos of food.. but having said that mum was like "hmm.. she has a blog she has to do it.. " Mum so cool like that. ^_^