TGIF

We're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time

It's miserable and magical

Tonight's the night 

when we forget about the deadlines 

It seems like one of those nights

We ditch the whole scene and

end up dreaming

instead of sleeping...

Winners of AntiOx Chocolate giveaway!

So the decision was tough so took forever to annouce this..

But the two winners of the AntiOx Chocolate bars are...

LOUIE

And...

SHERRIE HUANG

If they could kindly contact me at sprinklingofspice@gmail.com
within the next 48 hours with their address I can get these babies posted out to you.

Enjoy them as much as I have!

And congratulations!

xx Tina

Chefz Table

One of the most fabulous dining experiences that my bf and I've had in recent times have been something a little different and unique to Perth's fine dining scene. In fact, it was this concept that have intrigued both of us, and one we were willing to splash on (we are both trying to save for a massive USA/Canada holiday, that we have been rather conservative with our dining out recently) and hey it was our anniversary. It's a small restaurant on the east side of Perth city on Adelaide terrace (in a quieter part of the city), outside the Fairlanes Apartments corner of Bennett street, sits a very unconventional restaurant with grammatical errors of all sorts, Chefz Table.

So what is different about Chefz table... Well it allows you to "design" your own degustation menu (5 courses) with the chefs at the restaurant. I don't mean completely from scratch, otherwise what is the point of even going to a restaurant right? But more telling them what your likes and dislikes are, and what you would like to see on your personal degustation menu. The two of us had similar tastes in food so made it easier for them, but of course if you and your partner have totally different tastes it's not a big deal they will try their hardest to accommodate and have all the produce you want into one of your courses. There is a little point of note, if it is season it will be done, if it isn't, well they will try their best (but then why would you want the produce that is out of season anyway? it never tastes as good..) Of course, if you don't want degustation style Chefz Table there is always their a le carte menu options. For more information on the Chefz table check it out here.

So what did we tell them? we love our mushrooms and root vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkins and the likes, I love duck and wanted to have venison for a change, while the boy wanted his pork and red meats like steak and we both wanted seafood. The boy wanted chocolate decedent dessert while I wanted a good souffle (you don't see much souffle on the menus these days, apart from at Bistro Guillaume). After emailing our lists of request through to them (the list above is a summarised version of what we told them) we were left with a "we will be accommodating your request to the best of our abilities, some of your request are out of season.. and the menu is a surprise". How exciting - a menu that is sure to be uniquely ours and no one else's, 100% personalised experience.

On the night we were running half an hour late (a courtesy call was made to the restaurant to apologize for our disorganisation) due to the lack of car parking around the area, (bare this in mind, when you go, there is only street parking - which is free after 6pm, prepare to walk to the restaurant). When we arrived the restaurant was rather modern in style with lovely timber tables a little peek-a-boo view of the swan river front, jazz covers of rock and roll playing in the background (which I loved! - the waitress even gave me the name of the artist that did the covers) and modern artwork on the walls.

We started of the night with a glass of scotch for the boy and a glass of red for me from their rather extensive wine and cocktail list (they are also happy to make whatever cocktails you would like, that is not on the menu, as long as you tell them the ingredients). 

Fresh bread was then placed on our table. We later discovered the bread really is made fresh on the night as there is a pastry chef on hand to help with the bread making and the desserts for the evening. The bread was really lovely, warm, fluffy, yummy bread with great salted butter to go with. I also know it was made on the night as when we wanted extra bread, the waitstaff apologised for the delay as the bread was still in the oven! And when it came out and you cut the bread the steam from the bun and the aroma was just heavenly. Don't you just love the smell of fresh bread?? (OK LIKE I'm A BIG FAN OF AMAZING pastry and bread/carbs OK! - No judging..)

Our first course for the night was the amuse bouche, which was a duck terrine with cranberry sauce. The terrine was rather fatty and you can taste the fat through it which made me not a fan of this amuse bouche. But lucky for us the first course was NOT an indication of what was to come, because everything that came after was uphill in food and taste experience.

Course 1: Duck Terrine
(Request one accomplished: DUCK) 

Our second course for the evening was completely different from any dishes, or flavours we have ever experienced before. It was a chef's experimentation and knowledge of good produce and flavours that made a dish that was completely made of tomatoes and trout amazing. It was sweet, slightly sour, crunchy of the tomatoes, and the tomato foam - wow punch in flavour... and the trout was melt in your mouth creamy. If this was on a menu, it was something one would never dream of trying, but when you do it was mind boggling to say the least with regards to how well everything went together and the explosion of sweet, sour and almost creamy goodness. It was the perfect introduction to the rest of the menu.

Course 2: Requesting seafood with in season tomatoes

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: Tomatoes and Seafood) 

Course 3: Pork croquette with seafood galore (manjimup marron, chargrilled scallops, prawns), silverbeet and turnip chips

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: SEAFOOD AND PORK) 

The third course was seafood galore. Fresh marron, scallops, prawns. All perfectly cooked, succulent with smokey flavours through it. The pork croquette was crunchy, meaty and went will with the silverbeet. A change of flavours and a heavier palate to the last course, but the courses complimented each other well. 

By this stage we were very excited for our mains and were really glad to have a bit of a break as our bellies were starting to be full as each course was rather big in portions for degustation menu (and not complaining about it at all!). 

The mains that came out was slightly different for the two of us. But nonetheless they were both very hearty and winter appropriate mains. Warms the bellies warms the heart right? Not the most photogenic of dishes but one does not care about looks when the food is so delicious and hearty. 

Main course for me: Venison, mushroom, sour cabbage and green beans

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: Venison, Mushroom)

I ended up with the venison, mushroom with sour cabbage and green beans. It was the perfect winter dish. The venison was cooked to perfection, the perfect pink, slight meaty texture was juicy and yet as tender as venison can be. The mushroom was rich, creamy, earthy in flavours which was offset by the fresh and lightness of the green beans and the sour cabbage. It was also a very big main course and one I was surprised I managed to finished. 

Bf's main course consisted of beef fillet with mushroom, tapioca thing and green beans. The beef fillet was perfectly pink, tender and juicy. Another warm hearty winter's meal. He loved it, all except for the tapioca, which he thought didn't go well with the other components in the dish. But it did give it a interesting texture and dimension to the meal. 

Main course: Beef, mushroom, green beans and tapioca

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: Beef and mushroom)

We were full by the end of the main, and even the waitstaff was surprised that we managed to finish a very big main course. We were able to hold off the dessert and the palate cleanser for a while and discuss our dining experience so far. We were impressed with the service, the food has been impeccable in quality, flavours and textures. They have got all that we wanted in at least one of the courses and suffice to say we were impressed with the creativity and experimentation of the food (and the fact that they pulled it off as well!). It was going so good so far. 

The palate cleanser was the next thing to come. It was a decent size scoop of apple and rosemary sorbet. It was refreshing and did the job to cleanse the rich earthy flavours of the mushrooms both of us consumed in the last course. The rosemary was also rather prominent in the sorbet. 

Palate cleanser: Apple and rosemary sorbet

Chocolate haven

(Request Accomplished: Chocolate and Souffle)

The final course for the evening was an extravagant, decadent, rich dessert consisting of dark chocolate

souffle mousse, orange and dark chocolate mud cake with white chocolate and orange sauce and edible flowers. It was exactly what my bf loves. And something I wasn't so keen on, because it was just too rich for my tastebuds (I've always enjoyed something not so sweet and overindulgent, with a little bit of citrus/tangy in flavours). Nonetheless, I cannot fault the dessert. It was exquiste. I'm glad there was a hint of orange throughout it as it somewhat eased the richness of the whole thing. 

Oozing chocolate sauce in our souffle mousse

By this stage we were truly stuffed. I wasn't able to finish the dessert plate off. But it wasn't over yet because we were treated to our petite four, which had the lovely dark chocolate sauce happy anniversary on the top. With a cube of cranberry jubes and dark chocolate truffle. The jubes was exactly what I needed to cleanse the over indulgent rich dessert and the truffle was a creamy dark chocolate concoction.

It was a lovely meal and at $110 per person for a self-made degustation menu with top notch quality produce, dishes and service it was truly competitive to the likes of Amuse, Jacksons and Co-Op. To make it even sweeter for those who cringe at $110, it's in the entertainment book!

Our experience however, didn't end there, we were greeted by the one of the chefs who had a quick chat with us and the tables that did requested the Chefz table degustation menu. The one burning question I had to ask him was "how does the kitchen cope when every table is a chef's table menu?". The reply was "it's chaotic and very busy". I can only imagine.

I'm just really excited that a venue like this exists in Perth. It's not just the concept that is exciting and new, but the skills behind making an impressive menu that is personalised is incredible. The flavours, the ambience, the service is all top notch. I can't wait to come back. Perhaps next time I will try their a le carte menu that's on offer. I highly recommend that you give this place a try for a special event and give the Chefz table degustation menu a spin you won't regret it.

Brunch Date - No.4 Blake Street

The thing I love about weekends is the fact that I get to go on brunch dates! I love brunch. After an appointment with the travel agent (YAY for HOLIDAYS!) and booking our flights, bf and I decided that we need to eat, as neither of us have had a bite since the night before and we were getting a little hypoglycaemic and our stomachs were starting to eat itself!

After much thought, and as I'm not a fan of Mrs. S (which was two doors down) we decided to head to No.4 Blake street, as their dinner menu was delicious and something different so their breakfast/lunch would be just as creative (and from what was on their website it sounded amazing).

We arrived at No.4 without a booking and was lucky enough to get one of the last unreserved seats at the place. There was a buzz about the place with the waiters ensuring everyone was enjoying their meals, to the chatter of tables and the sleek interiors that adds charm and sophistication to the place (something so nice and grown-up, a nice and lovely change from that "artsy, hipster" overdone recycled look (that every Charles, Dick and Harry have been doing for ages!).

It was lovely to see that Romain recognised us from the media event night earlier in the year and treated us to a lovely glass of sparkling (bubbly, sweet and rather delicious drink!) and Majdouline rushed over in between her duties to give us quick kisses and hellos. How sweet! It's a pity bf and I couldn't visit earlier due to our never ending lists of places to eat. Although, I still maintain that I will do a high tea at No.4 (the menu look unbelievably appetizing and refreshingly left of centre!).

Anyway, the bubbles went straight to my head after drinking half the glass with no food in my stomach and I was rather happy sipping bubbles before I got my lovely glass of long macchiato and bf's chocolate milkshake in a rather cute milk bottle. 

A very happy kid indeed with his chocolate milkshake!

Me and my long mac topped up and with chocolate topping.. coffee happy ^_^

We had such a hard time deciding what to eat. The menu sounded wonderful and appetizing. I couldn't choose between a chicken sandwich, lamb burger, (the burger weren't really buns but amazing quality bread!), lamb tagine, the duck or the waffle with fresh blue berries, marsapone, maple syrup and bacon!! While the boy couldn't decide between the lamb burger, bangers and beans or the waffle.

In the end, I settled for the duck confit. Slow cooked duck with potato cake, house slaw and beetroot dressing. The potato cake was this crunchy outer exterior with this delicious soft mashy goodness. The duck was nicely cooked, although, perhaps a little too oily in some bits. But then it is a confit. The slaw, I thought, just didn't go with the whole thing. And I'm so not a coleslaw fan. The dish, I thought was cheapened by the slaw. But then biased here.

Duck Confit

Bf ended up having the lamb burger. It wasn't in your usual burger bun, but rather a very nice slices of bread (which I thought is a lot better, because then it's not too heavy). The pattie was a lamb and oats pattie and you can see the oats through the pattie and it gave it this nice crunchy dimension to it. It had goats curd, eggplant and hummus in the burger, all of which complimented each other nicely. The goats curd wasn't that strong or overpowering either. It came with a side of chips in a really cute little deep frying basket and homemade tomato sauce. I had a taste of the "burger" and I preferred it to my duck (and the bf loved my duck over his lunch.. we probably should have swapped). 

 Lamb burger

From our previous experience, we knew No.4 Blake street made amazing desserts, and if bf had his way (and if there wasn't any in the nuts) he would have gone for the flower pot dessert, alas it has nuts. The entrance of the restaurant had this lovely display of desserts and the lunch "sweet" things enticed us to ordering desserts to share. 

Homemade churros was in order with dark chocolate and creme analgise dipping sauces. The churros were plenty - about 6-7 churros and were slightly crispy on the outside and doughy goodness on the inside. It was warm too. So when soaked in the dark chocolate.... *drool* Nothing beats quality homemade churros. Simple dessert, and yet so effective in creating smiles. 

Churros

If you also get a chance, pop out to the back of No.4 and they have a lovely and very cute micro-herb garden happening. Just the sweetest of things. So you know the ingredients they use in their kitchen is the freshest it can be!

I enjoy No.4. Their service and food is just impeccable (not just to me, but to many of their restaurant visitors from observations). Well informed staff, welcoming, professional and with just a touch of class. Romain and Maj also always goes to great lengths to ensure that you have an experience. Romain was fiddling around with table settings and menus tied with bows for a set of tables behind us the whole time, ensuring everything was perfect for the guests that were to come in (I'm assuming, may have been high tea?). It's little things like that that makes it a dining experience.

If you haven't been to No.4, you really should try it. 

Silk jersey and Helmut Lang

The last couple of nights I've gone out for dinner with family and friends have been chilly. But not so much that I couldn't wear a silk and jersey dress or a top and jeans both paired with a biker black leather jacket.

I'm really loving the simple well put together styles. Pity the room light is yellow and the photos turned out all blah. Not to mention the dirty mirror. I really need to make the boy take my fashion photos next time. The only problem is he isn't much of a photographer!

Left photo
Dress: Silk and jersey dress by Mason by Michelle Mason
Clutch: Mimco
Right photo
Top: Helmut Lang
Jeans: Current elliot
Ring: YSL arty ring

Sunny, blue skies, perfection of Perth's Winter

The beauty about Perth's winters is that you get amazing sunny blue skies with just that touch of chill (enough for you to wear your cashmere cardigan).

Pity, I'm going to be indoors at work counting stock.

Just keep thinking about the monlah.

Still... Sunday outing at Hillarys Boat Harbour - blue skies and seas - sounds so much better.

Ps. Photo is not filtered and taken by my new phone - Samsung galaxy 4.

Beethoven

My bf's family doesn't live in Perth which makes it really hard for me to catch up with them. Although they do frequently drive up to Perth for appointments, it's usually always on weeknights! I'm ever so busy on weeknights with having to do assignments, or going to the gym and busy with my exercise regimens and training and having finished a busy day at work I have no energy nor the desire to go anywhere but be at home in my trackies and watch my favourite shows on telly or go through my photos or read a book.

Fortunately, they happen to come up on a Friday night one week and I was free (for a change and not have appointments booked - which is another troublesome thing, I really need to get a good quality diary) and my bf was nice enough to tell me almost a week in advance and not a few days beforehand. He booked a family dinner at this German restaurant, Beethoven - we went to a few years back and he hasn't really gotten the memory of the size of the servings of this place nor quality of the meats since then and have been trying to go back, so a family dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Beethoven is located in Applecross opposite Maccas, and is located behind Jetts gym, just off Canning Hwy.  A family ran restaurant specializing in German cuisine with a few European dishes thrown in for good measure. It's a casual restaurant that radiates warmth and friendliness with a little outdated decor with a twist of European flare. They have soft classical music playing in the background, not necessary just Beethoven symphonies, but also the likes of Mozart, Chopin and many other greats.

As for the food? Well, the place mainly being German in flavour, you have to and can expect hearty, big, German dishes, especially your meats. The dishes are massive in size, rather generous, cooked well, salted and flavoured with condiments like sauerkruat, bavarian dumpling, potatoes, braised sweet red cabbage, and vegetables.

Bf ordered his usual favourite - pork with crackling, in this case it was the pork shank. An oven roasted pork shank (a massive one at that.. I had to take the photo from a bird's eye view to get the whole dish into the photo!) with crispy crackle (which was yum! although some bits weren't 100% crackled but for the size, which you can feed at least 2-3 people, it's pretty good that 95% of the crackle was, well crispy!). It also came with sauerkruat, roasted potatoes and apple mousse. It can be shared or can be for one extremely hungry person.

Pork shank with sauerkruat, roasted potatoes and apple mousse

Bf's dad and his brother on the other hand got the whole lamb rack. Again,a massive dish. At least 8 pieces of lamb cutlets still held together (not chopped up) cooked the way it was bought from the butchers, served with goose fat baked potatoes, red cabbage and a minted pesto jus. The lamb was cooked to perfection, ever slightly pink and juicy. I can tell you that the boys couldn't stop raving about how good it was and what a decent size it is. Worth the price at $41.

Whole Lamb Rack

Bf's mum opted for something the safe option (and smaller portion size) of beef fillet with creamy garlic prawns (surf and turf styling but a little on the European side more than the Australian way) served with mash potato, asparagus spears and shiraz jus.  

Beef fillet with creamy garlic prawns

Despite it being very surf and turf like, the fillet was juicy and cooked to a slight pink with a nice creamy garlic, almost broth like sauce of the prawns. I thought it was also visually pleasing.

As for me? I couldn't take a lot of red meat, in fact I wasn't in the mood and I decided to take a chance on chicken. I hardly ever order chicken because well, I eat a lot of chicken dishes at home, and secondaly, chicken in restaurants tend to be on the dry over cooked side. However, apart from a pasta, a chicken dish was pretty much the smallest portioned sized meal on the menu. 

Pan-fried chicken breast wrapped in ham stuffed with camembert on a bed of spinach and sundried tomato risotto

So I ordered myself a pan-fried chicken breast wrapped in ham stuffed with camembert, served on spinach and sundried tomato risotto drizzled with roast garlic sauce. It looked and smelled divine. It tasted just as wonderful. The chicken wasn't dry at all. The risotto was lovely, although a little salty for my ever sensitive salt taste buds. But the one thing I was a little disappointed that the "stuffed with camembert" to me means the chicken breast I have is somehow stuffed with the lovely soft cheese, so when you cut into the breast you have the cheese in the middle. Alas this was not the case, in fact it was more the cheese was attempted to be stuffed by making a tiny finger mound at the top of the chicken a small amount of cheese was pushed into this said mound. So basically NOT "stuffed with camembert". A little disappointed because I really craved and wanted cheesie-goodness! But overall, I did enjoy the dish. 

Even with the largest of dishes somehow we managed to get desserts into us. Crazy I know. Overeating, for sure. Unhealthy. Most definitely! And one I do not recommend you do often!

Bf's brother and I got ourselves a hot apple strudel with vanilla ice cream. The strudel was definitely homemade and it would have been wonderful if it wasn't for the fact that the pastry was tough. It didn't flake and they have burnt the underside of the strudel. But I did love the cinnamon and apple smells and taste of it. 

Homemade apple strudel

Bf's dad got the chocolate overload (which bf really wanted but unfortunately the brownie in the chocolate overload had nuts in it). The chocolate overload came with a chocolate brownie, coffee infused chocolate mousse, with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. He polished of the plate and seemed to have enjoyed it and said that the brownie was nice and fluffy.

Chocolate overload

Vanilla creme brulee wild berry compote and lemon sorbet

Bf's dessert was suppose to a sweet and sour concoction. A balance of sweet with the sour. But unfortunately it was a little bit of a fail. The brulee itself had the nice crack through the carmelisation, but other than that it was little eggy, and felt more like eating custard. Proportions of the ingredients slightly wrong. The berry compote was sour and in a shot glass, it caused a little confusion as to what to eat it with and how to eat it. By itself it was too tangy and with the brulee, it didn't go. The lemon sorbet was lovely on it's own but again, with the other elements on the dish, it was questionable. A disappointing dessert for my boy.

Overall, Beethoven is a warm, casual and hearty German restaurant with beers on tap (and German beers are also available), along with assorted wines. The service can be a little careless, but they try and you can see them try. The food is big in portion so wear your stretch pants and bring your appetite. The prices are reasonable for what you get and with it being on the entertainment card it's a win. 

Will I go back? Well, I'm sure bf will drag me back but I will have to bring someone else along to share the dishes with.

UWA Club House Restaurant Dinner

The UWA club house is for the alumni house for ex-University of Western Australia students. It's suppose to be rather exclusive or something rather and costs a fair bit to join and keep your membership. The perks however is that you get to fully utilise their function centre and of course dine in their restaurant. The restaurant and cafe area isn't just for club members, so you can dine here if you like.

I didn't graduate from UWA, but I've been fortunate enough to have had the food provided by the restaurant and catering staffs of the UWA club on numerous occasions, such as balls, seminars and of course my cousin's wedding. The wedding and the seminar provided rather nice food, although the balls, was a bit of a let down. The recent dining experience at the Club Restaurant was at my Aunty's 60th birthday. A 3 course meal enjoyed with the best of companies, many happy and funny speeches and of course with delightful food.

The entree served to us was a tasting plate consisting of 4 different dishes.

There was seared wagyu beef, sesame crusted pan-fried scallops, butter and garlic prawns and I can't remember what the green thing and yellow-corn thing was but both were really delicious. The seafood was cooked to perfection the scallops being so wonderful I wanted more than just one. The only let down would have to be the wagyu beef. 

The main was a choice of either the angus fillet or barramundi fish. Bf opted for the steak, while I went for the fish. The fish was wonderful, melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Although I'm not sure about the condiments on the plate. They were a little sour.

The good thing about bf having the opposite dish to me is that I get to taste test his and he gets a bit of mine. The steak was perfectly pink, gorgeous to look and taste just wanted you wanted medium-rare. No major bleeding. The jus that came with it, wasn't the best of sauces, it had a slight tang to it and wasn't something you wanted the steak to be covered in, which was a bit of a pity.

Of course the best course of the evening was of course the dessert. Another tasting plate to boot! Tasting plates in the form of dessert I think is the best, because you get to try a variety of different ones so you don't get sick of just eating one thing, especially if that one thing you chose is ultra rich! Having said that, the bad thing is that if there is one that you like on the plate, it tends to disappear much too quickly!

The plate consisted of vanilla ice cream coated in dark chocolate, orange sponge soaked in lovely sticky syrup, strawberry meringue and an orange cake thing topped with macaroon (and everyone got a different flavoured macaroon! - I liked the coffee one best, but I ended up getting a chocolate orange one). The desserts were all lovely, but I have to say the orange sponge was delicious and more of it was definitely required. 

I think overall, the Club Restaurant is one that I have enjoyed having functions at as the staff are so professional and the food is pretty good, especially when they have to cater for a fair few people and each presentation plate of dish have to (or should be) the same. 

If you ever get a chance, or you are in the area, the UWA Club restaurant is really a nice place to dine at. It's tranquil and calm and the service is lovely and attentive (and especially patient on this occasion!). But please be aware that they have a strict dress code. For more information on the venue check it out here. The latest menu is also available here.

Eating healthy with AntiOx Chocolate and Snack Bars and GIVEAWAY!

One of my biggest vices in the quest to become toned and fit is.. well can you guess?.. my love of food. I think this blog says it all. It's a miracle that I don't weight a ton.

When I'm not out dining my diet is generally good, except for this minor (ok fine it's a major problem) thing.. it's snacking. I snack on too much junk. The biggest vices being chocolate and chips.

Good thing for me that I discovered Australian made AntiOx Snack Bars and Chocolate (and just in the nick of time too, because I have been coming home this past 3 weeks eating my little heart out on cadbury chocolate blocks of milk chocolate and crunchies and feeling rather sluggish!). They are high in natural antioxidants, low in sugar and calories. Winning so far!

The chocolate bars are made with rich 70% cocoa dark chocolate (which you can really taste) and super fruits goji or acai. I really couldn't believe the low sugar content and the low calories. I could eat the whole packet and still wouldn't be as bad as eating one piece of Lindt or blocks of cadbury chocolate. Just see for yourself in this photo.

Ok, so you are probably wondering, something that healthy can't possibly taste good. But trust me they are! Surprisingly. I couldn't believe that they punch a fair bit of dark chocolate, that slightly bitter dark chocolate bitter goodness taste. The goji berries flavour is better than acai one. The goji berries have this slight chewy texture and reminded me very much of the "fruits of forrest" cadbury minus the sugar content and AntiOx Goji is dark chocolate deliciousness. I was in chocolate haven. Now I can snack and not feel guilty. And to top it off, just four blocks or even less fills you up and satisfies you so much more than any other chocolate.
WINNING.

Enjoying my block of dark chocolate and looking rather worn out from the cold and stresses

Then there are the AntiOx Snack Bars that come in three flavours (made of super foods!) - goji, acai and chia and quinoa. The snack bars are made of 70% cocoa dark chocolate coated around super fruits (goji, acai or chia and quinoa, depending on the flavour), forrest berries and wholegrains. I have been having them after work but before gymming, that in between time where you are so famished and wanting to consume everything. The snack bars were great to satisfy that craving.

The insides of the Goji snack bar

The snack bars a little higher in calories, but are still better than most snack bars on the super market shelves and they actually surprisingly taste good, even without the added sugar, just natural sugar. Again, the goji flavour came out best in terms of taste. Have a look at the calorie content.

The AntiOx chocolate and snack bars range is the way to go in terms of not giving up on the chocolate love, and keeping your waistline in check. It's an option to substitute your bad cravings, whist giving you all this antioxidant boosts. In fact for further nutritional information on the AntiOx products check out this page.

But HEY don't let me tell you about it, you should try it out yourself and let me know what you think and if you agree with me.

Better yet, I have 2 AntiOx prize packs to giveaway.
Each prize pack contains:
6 x AntiOx Snack Bars
4 x AntiOx Chocolates

All you have to do to get the prize packs is answer this very simple question in my comment section of this post...
"Why do you want to try the new AntiOx Snack Bars and Chocolate?"

Competition closes Friday 28th June 2013 and the winning entry will be the ones that have the most creative answer. Don't forget to leave your preferred contact details so I can contact you after the competition closes if you are the winner!

Some T&C:
Entry is only open to Australian residents aged 14 years and over.
The winners will be notified via their preferred contact method and will be asked to provide their email and contact phone number at that time.
To claim the prize, the winners must reply to the winner notification and accept the prize within 14 days, as well as, indicate their preferred address for the prize to be sent. If the winner does not respond within 1 days they will forfeit the prize.
Further T&C check here.

(This post has been sponsored by nuffnang)

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.