P'tite Ardoise Bistro

J'aime un bon restaurant français, I love a good French restaurant. The cosiness and simplicity of P'tite Ardoise and the friendliness of the very Frenchy staff takes me back to my time in Paris, (except perhaps the staff at P'tite Ardoise was nicer and much friendlier).

“P’tite Ardoise” means “little blackboard” or “little slate” in French, and the blackboard motif is used throughout the restaurant with a lot of their food being served on black slates - which I think oozes sophistication, elegance and simplicity. The decor is minimalistic, sleek and is very French. The waiters and waitresses are authentically French, one of whom was from just outside of Lyon and was here to study English. So you really were transported there!

The menu at P'tite Ardoise consists of a selection of regular menu items and a selection of seasonal items. It's intimate and yet quite a fine selection of food to choose from. 

Bf and I opted for a three course of French flare and the menu offered so many lip-smacking good dishes it was hard to choose. Whilst we were pondering what to get, the waitresses were rather helpful and were very knowledgeable about the dishes. The one thing lacking on their menu though was a wine list - when we visited last month the place was still waiting for their alcohol license and it was still BYO. I really hope they get it, because we forgot to bring a bottle and the meal would have been fantastic if we had it accompanied with some red. We instead opted for lemon lime and bitters - which really isn't the same.

Before the entree, we were asked if we would like bread (which I thought was free - but it turns out it's $3.50 for bread - so if you are a bread eating and planning to eat more than just one then get it otherwise forget it). Having said that though, the butter, olive oil and olive dip was rather delicious.The ambiance of the place was also remarkable - very much like we were in France - I was very much nostalgic and wished I was back in romantic Paris.

For entree bf opted for the scallops with pumpkin and pesto (i believe - i can't remember what the dish was called) . I remember it being very well cooked - the scallops were perfect - not rubbery and it had beautiful balance of flavours.

I on the other hand, opted for escargot cooked chefs way. It came in ceramic dishes with this lightly toasted bread on top and what was underneath was a bit of a surprise. There was a creamy, delicious broth (although slightly on the salty side for me) filled with escargot. With the bread soaked in the broth and with spoonfuls of the escargot, both and bread it was fantastic!

For the mains, bf ordered the steak while I opted for their signature twice cooked duck. The steak was tender with a great cut and fantastic sauce (which was served separately in a gravy boat), while the duck literally fell off the bone it was perfection, although I wished they gave more of the sauce. Although the duck did come with a side of vegetables. Despite that it was truly an amazing dish and bf thoroughly enjoyed his meal too!

Then the best part of the night - the dessert. There was such a lovely selection to chose from. I really wanted to try the chef's tasting platter but decided that I can get that next time I came back to P'tite Ardoise, so instead tried their seasonal dessert which was this "flowery" patisserie - the smell was so fragrant and the taste was sweet. The patisserie was unbelievable good and mixed with the melted chocolate sauce the dessert was sensational - granted it was huge!

Bf on the other hand got this chocolate delight - however it had peanut on the top so had to be sent back and they carefully scrapped it and gave it fairy floss hair! And the ice cream that came with it had intense flavours.

All in all, P'tite Ardoise was a culinary delight, and one with attentive, obliging, friendly service and smiles. The only downfall is that it is hard to get a booking -in fact they might have changed their rules since we were there and no longer excepts bookings. Apart from that, once their alcohol licensed is approved it would be the perfect place for a date.

ps. Sorry the photos were taking on my iphone without flash so they turned out a bit yellow from the lighting in the restaurant.

Week off

Annual trip to Melbourne and a well deserved break. Yay!

coffee break

It's rather exhausting shopping for homewares, manchester, furniture etc.

So after a yet another day of shopping (seeing as shopping days are limited to Thursday, Friday night shopping and weekends it's taking a while) my parents and I decided to take a break over coffee, latte for me and cappacino for my parents and of course a lovely lemon tart to go with it. The lemon tart was zesty with a touch for sweetness and crumbly pastry - surprisingly balanced lemon tart and the coffee, wasn't burnt and wasn't too milky and was decently made.

Lucky for me, the only thing left to buy for the house is a vacuum and perhaps more decorating stuff, which I can get anytime.

Pitter patter pitter patter.. Rain is falling down.. Splashing all around..

I love the sound of rain... Pitter patter pitter patter against my windowpanes.

It's so soothing, refreshing and cozy.

Listening to it before you drift off to dreams is pure magic.. Wish there was nights like this all the time.

See by Chloe

Oh what a steal!....

A lovely See by Chloe 3 buckle leather Carmel bootie At $290.00!

It's so versatile, gorgeous and most importantly comfortable!

I can pair them with my super skinny Lee jeans, some beautiful knits and dresses and stockings.

Here just a few examples of what I can wear them with..

Coffee on rainy days

Nothing is more charming and alludes warmness than exposed walls tight corners with black leather sofas. It screams New York!

That's what Brew-Ha in subiaco is. Oozing with coolness and yet still warm.

It's especially good to just sit in the corner leather sofa drinking a flat white and eating this perfectly balance of sweet and tangy (and not too over-powering) passionfruit tart and catching up with an old friend, whilst outside it's pelting down with rain.

The cherry on the cake would have to be that you also just finished yet another hell-ish Saturday shift on one of the busiest wards ever!

Life's great!

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.

 

Pasta with love

My bf and I made a lovely dinner and some to freeze over one night. This consisted of tomato based sauce (along with addition of a couple of tomatoes), chirozos (left over from making breakfast one day), carrots, mushrooms and broccolini, a dash of masala and tumeric powder to make lovely pasta with a twist. Along with the pasta, we had some garlic bread.

 

 

It was a lovely dinner and the pasta with the addition of some spices gave it that nice kick and made it all the more interesting. 

Cheeseburger sushi at Iku Sushi

After such a rotten day at work on a weekend as well, and having had nothing except a cup of tea and a biscuit the whole day I dropped by at Iku sushi in Perth to grab some extremely late lunch at 4pm.

Iku Sushi is a tiny little sushi bar located on William street in the near 140william building. It's decked out in very cutesy colours and bar stools and tables, along with touches of hungry hippo game dispensing out soy sauces and picnic tables holding chopsticks, spoons and tissues. very Tokyo!

Iku Sushi has your usual sushi rolls and take away bento boxes as well as catering for sit down meals. However, unlike other places it has a unique take on it's roll and the most famous of those is the cheeseburger sushi. This sushi is epic - it's rather large in size (definitely larger than the normal 6 piece sushi) so I recommend that you get the 4 piece (small size) rather than large, if you can barely finish the regular 6 pack sushi. I got the cheeseburger sushi with the lot. So this contained either teriyaki beef or teriyaki chicken (I got the beef), along with pieces of bacon, shitake mushroom and mozzarella cheese rolled in nori then rice then coated in bread crumbs and deep fried. It it absolutely delicious and definitely bad for your arteries. The mix of flavours is divine and it's worth the try!

Iku Sushi, also offer catering services and for an extensive menu and what they offer check out their website.

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.

Hot cross buns..

I'm loving hot cross buns this Easter!

Traditional, chocolate.. Even mocha!

Slightly heated quickly, 10 seconds only in the microwave and with a cup of tea or coffee.. Just perfect! If only the weather was colder it'd be even more perfect!

Shhhh... It's my secret love!

A girl should never go without her lipstick EVER. It's especially blasphemous if she forget her red Chanel lippie.

Everything seems more sexy, more seductive, more luxurious with her Chanel rouge allure 67.

I couldn't live without it. Massive love and worth every penny.

Amour Chanel.