Night out at Nobu Perth

I'm a bad foodie sometimes, you can't blame me. There are way to many places to try and with each new openings it makes things even harder. There are only so many restaurants you can try in a week and in a year and I'm always booked to the brim as it is. Not to mention, it's not really good for my waistline nor is it good for my poor poor wallet who is always so fat from receipts and not so much cash. So it's not really surprising that it has taken me... hm... well let us see.. opened in September 2011.. finally ventured in March 16th 2013... 1 year and 6 months to get myself to Nobu.

There are many reasons why I haven't been there until now. Even this booking was a hassle. LM booked this one month in advance and she thought it was all booked and everything, but Crown seemed to have not received the booking at all when she called up two weeks later. By that stage all the good dining times were gone and they told her 930pm was the earliest time. This was rather annoying considering it was their fault that the booking didn't go through properly.

Anyway, we decided to try our luck and go early to get a walk in place at the bar. This proved to be rather unsuccessful with seating for 4 being spaced out across the square bar. We should have expected that considering it was a Saturday night and this was Crown, one of the only places to drink, eat and go out on a Saturday night (oh and the only place to gamble).

The bar area at Nobu

We decided to try other restaurants - Bistro next door, Merrywell outside - all knocked back. So ended up sitting in one of the bar lounges in the casino instead and drunk a bottle of Sandalford shiraz, long island ice teas and assorted cocktails, then half walking around the casino - losing our money at the roulette table before making our way to the couches outside of Nobu for some much needed hydration with H2O (and a gin and tonic for LM).

When we finally got in we were seated at the edge of the room so I'm not really sure what the layout of the dining area of Nobu looks like, but I can tell you I really like their lamps. The brunch holding the light area is like a lantern on a tree, love it.

SEE the lamp is pretty funky...

Anyway, the room seems to curve around and our waitstaff got us the drinks menu and we decided on a large bottle of sake (cold) to share and a glass of umeshu (plum wine) for AL.

Sake - way too much and I think we chose the wrong one too... wasn't exactly smooth

One of the waitstaff explained to us how Nobu menu works. She explained that Nobu is Japanese with a twist in addition to having flavours of South American as well (this is seen through their tacos). The menu is divided into cold, hot, teppanyaki, yakimono and sushi and sashimi and usually served in that order, unless it is requested that it isn't. It is also made for tasting and sharing rather than having a dish to oneself.

Let me tell you in advance that Nobu is not cheap. Sharing does not make it cheap. You would also most likely require two dishes each and perhaps a little bit more if you are big eater to be full. Don't expect yourself to be stuffed, but rather satisfyingly filled, not bloated. So, because we went in a group of 4 we ordered 8 dishes in total. 

We asked the staff to get the sushi dishes out first because we were starved. It was 1000pm by the time the food came out and all we've had was alcohol. 

We ordered tempura prawns (the one furthest away from you) and Unagi with avocado (Eel with avocado). 

Sushi roll cut - tempura prawn (furthest away from you) and unagi with avocado

Tempura prawns were an absolute disappointment, especially at $15, it was so average and nothing spectacular about it, in fact I should add that the tempura was rather soggy, making me think as though the prawn were fried beforehand and reheated perhaps? A let down. Should go to Aisuru or Kuza instead. 

The Unagi with avocado on the other hand was delicious. The Unagi texture went so well with the creamy avocado and the bbq sauce on the unagi did not overpower the whole dish. Having said that though, I'm not sure if ordering sushi at Nobu is worth it. But if you didn't I can tell you would most likely go hungry.

The next dish to come out to us was the cold dishes - the tataki tuna with tosazu. This dish was a definite highlight of the evening for me. HOWEVER, I picked up the first piece and there hair on it! I was going to point it to the waitstaff - there was none to be seen on the floor and my cousin ended up flicking it off. BUT apart from that piece the tuna was fresh (perhaps a little too fresh with the piece of hair in it??) and the accompaniments, consisting of spring onion, garlic, ginger and grated carrot was beautiful. Although you probably didn't need to put any of it on your Tuna. The Tosazu sauce was also fantastic. An enjoyable dish and wished there was more of it.

Tuna Tataki with Tosazu

We also ordered some tacos - it's weird to see tacos at a predominantly Japanese menu (regardless of what the waitress told us)... Anyway, we thought that the tacos came in a pair, but this was not the case. It was one taco but minimum order of two tacos. We ended up ordering two wagyu tacos and two scallop tacos. 

Tacos - wagyu and scallops

The tacos were tiny, teensy little things. We shared so I had a bite of the wagyu and AL had a bite of the scallop then we swapped. For one biteful, the wagyu punches a lot of flavours and the scallops were rather refreshing and light on the palate. Lovely, but for the price not worth it at all.

After our one bite taco experience the next to come out was the wagyu tataki. The wagyu was quality, fatty but still meaty and combined with the carrot, spring onion and garlic this was pretty good. Whatever sauce was on there wasn't too bad either. 

Wagyu Tataki

The wagyu tataki was followed by the signature dish of Nobu (and one that every person that's been there has recommended that I must get and not miss out) was the black miso cod. The cod has that smoked smell and was the sweetened by the miso. It was buttery soft and just melted in your mouth. Gorgeous dish, but priced at $46 for the piece you see below.. hmmm....  Granted the cod was cooked with love for almost a good day, but still... Not to mention I got a piece of fish bone. Not my night I think. I realise that it is really hard to get fish bone completely out of the fish, but all that was playing in my head was if this was masterchef, the chef would be given so much crap! And anyway, it was $46 and it was Nobu, so I really expected perfection and no bones! 

Infamous black miso cod

Our next hot dish for the evening was the scallops with wasabi pepper. I didn't expect it to come out with a colour array of vegetables. The scallops were cooked to perfection. The wasabi pepper in the dish was very very faint, in fact AL couldn't make it out at all. It would have been better if there was that little wasabi kick at the end of it all. I found the dish very pleasant and the flavours nice (a little salty - again can be bias as my salt tastebuds are a little sensitive), but reminded me of mum's stir-frys. Enjoyable nonetheless.

Scallops with wasabi pepper

To mix it up a bit we got the pork belly miso caramel. The miso caramel sauce was beautiful, but the pork was a little overcooked and was drying out a bit. Not bad, but not as good as it could have been.

Pork belly with miso caramel

Overall, the food at Nobu isn't bad, but for the price you are paying I'm not sure if it is worth it. I would say however, the seafood dishes and the sashimi are probably one of the best in Perth. Fresh, juicy and filled with flavours. However, hair in the dish is a huge no! and of course the bone in their infamous black miso cod..

There was a lack of waitstaff attention and getting hold of one was hard, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with where we were sitting or the time we were eating. But one of the waiter not knowing much about their plum wines or sake (although he was running back and forth asking another person..new perhaps?) -training required.

The food did come out quickly after we ordered it, which was nice considering we were starving by 10pm. Oh on that note, try not to go there at that time, you may find it disappointing with the serving size and the price. Better when it is an earlier dinner.

Will I go back? Maybe, but perhaps only for sashimi and seafood dishes. I can tell you it won't be anytime soon.

Standing Room Only

One of my favourite coffee places in the city is the Standing Room Only. It is located in Picadilly arcade,a little room where there are only bar stools in one corner and only enough room for people to stand around and wait until their coffee order is ready. It's there for you to get good coffee and get it quickly. And at coffee happy prices (with good coffee to boot) why wouldn't you stand around and wait?

At Standing Room Only, the selection of coffee blends are extensive. They have their default house blend, which I believe changes every now and then, then there is a single origin guest and a single origin bean by 5 senses (which is one of my faves!). They provide filtered coffee only. Usually filter coffee aren't the best but Standing Room makes it with love and with all the apparatus on display, you know they know what they are doing.

There is also a choice of brewing methods, which is pretty cool, it ranges from espresso, syphon, V60, pour over and cold-drip. If you aren't a coffee nerd and not sure what it all means, just ask the friendly staff there and they will be more than happy to explain.

The guys here have made me change my mind about the whole coffee brewing process. Perhaps it is possible to get good filtered coffee, well, at least at Standing Room Only (can't guaranteed other places will..)...

I love their long macchiato, they are pretty good, in fact have an espresso, the coffee here really shouldn't be masked by anything else.

This place for your coffee lovers, no frills, just good coffee with friendly staff. And if they aren't swamped by orders have a chat and learn a little about how to concoct a good coffee, or the different types of coffee beans or the difference between filtered and non-filtered coffee and different methods of brewing. You be amazed by what's available out there and the taste difference.

The Precinct

The last time I was at the Precinct, I was there for a late night dessert post dinner. This time around, the dinner and the dessert was at the Precinct.

Having been seated at the restaurant area of the Precinct, it was relaxed and the place has such a nice vibe about it, service is still a little lacking. I love that our seats overlooked the kitchen. There is something so intriguing about watching people cook your meal.

Our little group decided to have the truffle infused mac and cheese (x 2 because we were that sure that it would be good) and a side of their chips to share (because handcut chips are usually always good).

Handcut chips with tomato sauce

The truffle infused mac and cheese was - delicious. You can smell and taste the truffle throughout the dish and it just brought you back to your childhood days, except it tasted 100 times better. A little twist on a classic and it works so well.

For the mains, all five of us ended up having one of the two dishes, because nothing else sounded as good.

The boys ended up with the crispy pork belly with handcut chips and apple sauce and gratin.

Pork belly

Bf stated that the pork was cooked very nicely, although the crackling could be more crackled, but he loved it nonetheless. The sauce and the gratin also worked very nicely with the pork. I would state though, on behalf of the boys, it wasn't very big, you may need more dishes.

For me and the girls, we ended up having the market fish, and unlike what it said on the menu on their website, it is no longer a whole fish and one that doesn't need to be shared.

Fish of the day

The fish of the day was grilled snapper with pesto on a bed of herbed mash potato and tomato. The fish was cooked beautifully and the pesto was delicious spread over the top of it. Not bad at all. Satisfying and the right serving size to fill a rumbling tummy.

As for the desserts, we had the same ones as last time, banoffee pie and meringue. The meringue was still a disappointment, needed more lemon-ness.

The banaoffee pie, the receipe changed. it was less carmel and more dark chocolate so wasn't that sweet. Although it did get a little bit too rich at the end though. I think this isn't available anymore in their latest menu.

Overall, the Precinct remains a nice hangout for Victoria Park area. The food isn't bad, the menu changes, which keeps things interesting. They have amazing range of ginger beers and their cocktails are great. One to check out, but don't expect too much.

Crab Season - Crab Dinner

Sometimes the best dinners are served at home. Especially when it comes down to seafood. Mainly because of the value for money factor and also the quantity of food you get. This is particularly true when we are talking about expensive seafood dishes, such as crab.

Crab dishes tend to be rare in Perth, unless it is like "crab meat pasta" (which often makes me question whether it is actually crab meat in the pasta, or whether its the "crab" meat from the tin or the frozen crab meat - especially when it is not crab season) or some crab with egg noodle dish at the Chinese restaurant/something along those lines (in which case it is ridiculously expensive for a mud/snow crab!).

Anyway, my lovely cousin hosted a dinner party consisting of chilli crabs (inspired by her recent trip to Singapore). She bought some Swan River crabs from Melville Fish market. There was so much crab meat and the crabs were so big. The sauce that coated the crabs was absolutely to die for. Delicious. She said it was half Jamie Oliver receipe and have google.

She was afraid she didn't have enough chilli crabs so also made some lamb shank, which I ended up taking home so I can have it for lunch at work.

Desserts were velvet cupcake inspired.

All in all, great food, great company, great dessert...

What more do you need?

 

Moana Coffee - Yelp Elite Event

As part of the Yelp Elite I was graciously invited by Laura D (the head guru of Perth Yelp) to meet other Elite Yelpers at Moana Coffee in the city.

Moana Coffee is a balcony cafe located in the Moana Chambers building; a beautiful building, showcasing the glamour and glistening era of the 1920s. Andy, one of owners (there are three of them) of the cafe explains to us, Yelpers, that the space has been recently refurbished by architects Nic Burnsdon and Beth George to turn an empty, running down space into offices, an art gallery and of course the cafe itself.

Old architecture, cozy cute details for decoration, quiet space and nice simple fresh homemade foods is the perfect mix of the spirit of Colonial-European with modern day cafe. It's in the heart of the city on Hay street Hall, above Valley girl, but it is an oasis of peace and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. It is relaxed and calm. The perfect place to have a meal (might I add the menu looks delicious and reasonably priced too!), have good coffee and watch the world and the passerbys below at the balcony.

I'm not sure what their usual menu taste like but from the canapes, and the platter of dips that we consumed at the Yelp Elite event it's bound to be good. Andy told us that majority of the menu is homemade and they will be focusing on ensuring that good coffee is also provided and want to be the place for people to come for a coffee, relax, chat and take in the world.

We were a little late to the Yelp event and because of that the choice of food we had wasn't very large. This probably meant that the food was rather yum and was quickly consumed by all. We missed out on the chicken skewers but we had a platter of carrot, celery, turkish bread and dip and the dip was rather delicious. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure it had chives in it. 

The official yelp photographer however took many of the photos from this point onwards (the ones above were taken by my trusty and overused iphone camera). It show cased a handful of the canapes at the function.

Although we missed out on a lot of the food we didn't miss out on the desserts, which were these beautiful homemade lamingtons with cream and jam and some chocolate mini mudcakes. The lamingtons were satisfying, but I think the mudcake needed more chocolate.

It was a lovely, casual, cozy event and the venue was a great choice. To have been privy to this hidden gem in the heart of the city it's great. I'm now excited for my next RDO so I can drag a few friends here for a lunch meeting and catch up. Cozy, friendly people and the perfect location for people watching.  

And  if that wasn't enough it was just lovely to meet the organisers of Yelp Perth. A great community that promotes all the businesses (restaurants, venues, shops, pharmacies etc.) as well as events in Perth. It was also nice to see and meet other Yelpers.

Perth manager Laura D with one of the owners of Moana Cafe, Andy and Yelp Intern Abbey (seated)

If you aren't already a member check out Yelp here and sign up. It costs nothing but you get to discover more hidden gems of Perth, so why not? I especially recommend it to those that think there is nothing to do here. So why not discover Perth?

Please note that Moana Coffee opens from 7am to 3pm Monday to Friday.

Smoult's Continental Deli

Smoult's Continental Deli on Whatley crescent is a cave of gourmet goodness. From fresh continental meats, cheeses, and hard to find dry ingredients.

 

 

 

To boot they have a sausage sizzle on Saturday mornings and makes picnic baskets for those romantic outings or just days when you forgot to make a picnic basket and you have a picnic to go to! Just give them an hour ahead for their basic picnic package.

Not only that, the ladies that run this place are fabulous. Passion and personality in equal amounts.

A great local business that I'd recommend to anyone and everyone.

Location: Smoult's Continental Deli

186 Whatley Cres
Maylands Western Australia 6051

(08) 9371 9778

Opening Hours:  

Tue-Wed 8:00 - 18:00

Thu-Fri 8:00 - 19:00

Sat 8:00 - 17:00

Sun 10:00 - 16:00

Happy Monday!

Here's to a short week!

Those that are wondering what those photos are.. It's people dressed up as ducks running around - as part of raising funds for Telethon (an organization that raises funds to help sick kids).

There was a duck race then a rubber duck race on the water and a fair.

Ohnamiya Nedlands

Cheap, over-filling, yummy Japanese food, just a walk away from my work. Ticking all the boxes here so far. Ohnamiya Nedlands is located on Hampden road and provides consistently decent Japanese.

They have different size dishes bento options. For example you can just have Karaage Chicken or Fish (where you will get a very decent size karaage chicken in a bento box and comes with Japanese mayo and bbq sauce) or you can chose to have it with their rice bento or better yet have karaage chicken or fish and sushi.

Karaage Fish + Sushi Bento Box

So basically you can have..

Chosen dish (aka Teriyaki Chicken/Fish, Karaage Chicken, Unagi, Agedashi Tofu) - Small, Medium, Large
or
Chosen dish + rice
or
Chosen dish + rice + sushi

My favourite however have to be their agedashi tofu. I am yet to find an agedashi tofu quite like theirs. The tofu is creamy goodness covered in very light tempura batter then covered in the sauce. Unlike other places, the sauce other covering the tofu, doesn't make the tofu go soggy, the tempura remains relatively crisp. The medium size is plenty to fill you up, but if you want some sushi with it you might as well have the tofu sushi bento. The price isn't that much different either.

Agedashi Tofu + Sushi Bento Box

Alternatively, there are things like udon dishes (which is also rather delicious - the broth is yummy and udon noodles are just so filling and you can't help but slurp up the noodles and make a mess). Although the udon is a little hard to eat quickly during lunch hour at work. It's too hot and you tend to burn your tongue.

For lover of sushi there is a decent selection of sushi on the board from your teriyaki chicken, salmon/tuna rolls, unagi, to vegetarian options.. Just take a pick!

They also offer sashimi plates and there is even this tuna and salmon sashimi bento. This is where the salmon and tuna cover a bed of rice. Their sashimi isn't great quality but for the price of about $12-15 it isn't bad.

Sashimi Tuna and Salmon bento box

OH also note that there is also free self-served Japanese green tea and refrigerated tap water.

The staff there are friendly, but the place can get noisy. But it's great value for money Japanese. It's filling, way too filling that you are more than likely to have food coma afterwards, which may be a problem if you have to go back to work. Nonetheless, I like it.

Also note that the place gets packed at lunchtime especially when university is on, so its worth getting there early. Otherwise, the other option is to give them a call and pre-order from their menu. This also saves you a bit of waiting time, which means more time to eat without scoffing your food down. Although it doesn't guaranteed you a seat in the tiny restaurant. Then again, you can always pre-order then get take-away. So many options of ordering and so many menu ordering options too.

Why not try it for lunch? OH a plus they have also started opening in the evenings, so good for those shift workers at the hospital or those stuck at UWA.

Alliance Francaise French Film Festival

Every year around March, the French Film Festival starts, sponsored by Alliance Francaise.

I love French films and never seem to get enough of it, especially their comedy and romantic films. They are so enjoyable and an absolute delight to watch without the trashy lame rom-coms of Hollywood. Instead they are rather insightful and witty. And anyway, it's nice to see my favourite French actress and actors on screen.

Tonight I'll be heading to Cinema Paradiso to watch Sophie Marceau in Happiness Never Comes Alone (Un Bonheur N'Arrive Jamais Seul) with my younger cousin, who also happens to be a lover of French films as well. Before we see the movie we be heading to Oliver's Restaurant because my cousin hasn't been and hopefully it will be better than the last time I went.

Then on April we will be seeing Meet Me in Real Life (Chercher Le Garcon) and heading to P'tite Ardoise Bistro, to complete our French experience.

I would recommend you to see a film or two or more. Check out the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival website here for the schedule of films and trailers and book tickets through Luna Palace Cinema group here.

Experience the magic of France, even if it is just for a couple of hours. It's on in Perth from 19 March until 7th April. Check it out!

Chocolate Delights @ Koko Black Claremont Quarter

A gf and I ventured to Claremont Quarter for a dose of chocolate delight at Koko Black. Somewhere I haven't been to in over 1.5 years. We grabbed a sit at the outside area of the cafe, it doesn't feel so congested that way, and it was the only seat available.

We wanted to try more than their drinks so settled for the chocolate affogato bliss, which comes with a choice of 2 truffles (from their chocolate display), 2 Florentine and a brownie. We also got an additional cappuccino affogato.

The cappuccino affogato was absolutely delicious and I regretted that I didn't get that. It had a beautiful shot of espresso combined with flakes of Koko Black's famous chocolate poured over their homemade vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect mix of sweet and coffee flavours.

 

I think next time because I found the chocolate affogato a little too sweet after the first few sips of heaven. Although I love how the hot chocolate is in a separate pouring jar to the ice cream.

For the truffles, it was such a hard choice, the selection was extensive. We ended up having the dark chocolate salted caramel. It was salty it was sweet with a slight hint of bitters from the dark chocolate. We also had the dark chocolate hazelnut praline. Lovely moussey dark chocolate centre covered in hazelnut crunch. The Florentine was also rather beautiful - crunchy with dried fruits covered with dark chocolate on one side. The brownie was moist, chocolatey and rich, the way it should be.

I have forgotten how good the quality of the chocolate is at Koko Black, it's rich cocoa goodness and it still has the best range of drinks. A way to increase those endorphin!

Breakfast @ Greenhouse

I haven't been to the Greenhouse in few years, partly because the first time I had it for lunch, I found it rather noisy and the food, good, not brilliant and over priced. But after a few years of break, I decided to give it a try again for their breakfast, which is suppose to be a better menu.

One of the girls from Uni and I both had our RDO on Thursday a few weeks back and decided to head there after meetings with travel agents to sort out flights to America for our holiday this Christmas (now that trip is going to be fricking amazing, I'm already dreaming of all the places in San Fran, LA, Les Vegas, New York, Vancouver, Hawaii that I'll be stuffing my face in and of course all the shopping and the amazing New Year's in New York, skiing in Whistler, snorkelling and quad-biking in Hawaii, Christmas with family in LA, high life in Les Vegas etc. etc. etc. ) but anyway, back to the RDO. We decided for breakfast at the Greenhouse.

Greenhouse is unmissable in Perth's CBD area, it's the only building that's boxy and is covered in leaves/vines/moss thing on the outside. I do love how they used recycled material to make everything, even the seats - recycled pipes with old leather covers. For breakfast at 9:30am, it wasn't too busy, just some business guys having their early morning meetings and coffees. We took a seat in a corner and decided on a breakfast pizza and kimchi pork brown rice. Big dishes for breakfast, but one that would surely last us the whole day. Of course, breakfast isn't complete without a pot of tea for Jojo and coffee for me.

Flat white and Jasmine tea

My kimchi pork brown rice came out in a terracotta plate with a perfectly poached egg on top. The pork was succulent and added that little something that was needed. I also love eating brown rice because it's a little bit chewier than white rice and has a bit more texture. The only disappointing thing with the meal was that there wasn't enough of that kimchi flavour, in fact I only had a hit of it once or twice of eating the meal. I expected more kimchi especially as it was called kimchi pork brown rice! It was also slightly oily for my liking but others may disagree. Overall though I was happy with the meal and loved it. It was also very very filling and lasted me the whole day. Definite value for money for a breakfast!

Kimchi pork brown rice

Jojo had a breakfast pizza. We were a little intrigued as to what would come out as there was no hint on the menu as to what the toppings would be. When it came out there was mushroom, egg, sweet potato and bacon. I was lucky enough to have a slice and I must say I didn't think eggs can work on pizza mixed with the other things, but it wasn't bad at all. The crust and base of the pizza was rather nice as well. She was well and truly full after her meal.

Breakfast Pizza

I can now understand why Greenhouse's breakfast menu is better. The servings are similar to that of lunch, the prices slightly (a few dollars) cheaper than their lunch menu. Their breakfast menu is definitely more exciting and does not have your usual culprits of bacon and eggs. It's worth a visit for their breakfast if you are ever in town that early in the morning. Plus their coffees aren't too bad.