Been dying to make this blog post since I got back a week ago. So much food that I wanted to share from the trip.Anyway after being to Perth myself, I can testify that though variety of food is one that the city lacked, but when it's good... Boy oh boy, it was GOOOD. And that's perfectly fine if you're on a short trip there, then you will be eating specialty food every day. Wonderful.
Here's a snapshot of food we've been blessed to have, in chronological order. Though the other food that we ate were pretty good too, but do add these restaurants (marked in Red) to your list of "places to eat" next time you're in Perth cause they're the more well known, must try ones. Hopefully you will have the same wonderful, gastronomical experience as we did when we were there. Enjoy!
Love,
Winston.
P.s. A big, BIG thank you to Chris Law for adding this new, AWESOME collage for this blog. It's absolutely perfect and fitting. Appreciate all that the time, energy and heart this guy has put into making my two blogs look, sound and feel exactly the way I've envisioned it to be.
Pretty sure it's the same franchise as Pancake Parlour in Melbourne, but this one is way better. Really don't like the Melbourne one at all, don't know what the fuss is about over there. First meal in Perth, dessert for lunch YUM.
Raspberry Cheese and Cream crepe. Really enjoyed this and anything Cream Cheese
2. Lunch at Taka
This place is known for good and cheap Jap food. Thus, making it a favourite among the students.
Chicken Karaage
3. Hong Kong BBQ Seafood Restaurant, Northbridge
Can't go wrong with some good old fashioned Hong Kong Chinese food. Came here for dinner our first night. Always enjoy ordering dishes to share at Chinese restaurants, especially if they're good.
Signature combination claypot taufu. You can see this dish on every single table in the restaurant, seriously. It tastes great especially with the egg but could have gone easier with the salt.
Salt and Pepper fried Calamari. I REALLY loved this cause the calamari was perfectly tender, soft, moist and chewy but not tough, with a lovely light batter on the outside. Done perfectly, which I commend cause it's easy to go wrong preparing this calamari.
Golden Egg Yolk Pork Ribs. Tasted more soy sauce (which I'm surprised to find) than the duck egg yolk. If done right, this dish would have been GREAT.
4. Bubble Tea at Tea Fusion
I LOVE my Taro Milk Tea with Pearls. Nothing else.
5. Yam Cha breakfast at Dragon Palace
Went nuts on first round from being too hungry. Like most Dim Sum places in Australia (including Melbourne), generally okay for this country's standards on the usual stuff like, "Har Kau", "Siu Mai", "Fong Zhao". Still need to go to China for PROPER Dim Sum. Dirt cheap and mind blowing.
Can't not order these when you're having Dim Sum, or Yam Cha as they call it here in Australia
The usual stuff
Steamed rice paper rolls, BBQ pork and prawns
6. Wine and Cheese tasting at Windy Creek Estate, Swan Valley
Delicious Chilli, Chives and Garlic Romano cheese, which I bought back too
7. Beer tasting at Elmars in the Valley, Swan Valley
Glass micro-brewery method to produce these German specialty beers on location. Love tasting different kinds of beer
8. Chocolate tasting at Margaret River Chocolate Company, Swan Valley
Assorted chocolate
9. Japanese Dinner at Bonsai, Northbridge
Definitely the wrong time to eat modern Japanese food. Though it was pretty good, but slightly pricey. Was a bit hard to appreciate the food when we were starving and wanted to get full. Fast.
Agadeshi Eggplant and Mochi
Aburi Salmon Nigiri. Love it
Sashimi Scallop and Nori. Really fresh, love the additional texture and sweetness of the Nori
Tsukune Chicken Steak. Done really well, mushroom was perfect
Red Wine and Miso Pork Chop. A bit too sweet but still good, especially when you're starving
Teri-Toothfish. Once again, sauce a bit too sweet but reminded us a lot like Chinese style steamed fish. Still, delicious
10. Dinner at Ciao Italia
Most famous Italian Restaurant in Perth. Pretty much the one and only good one there, from what I hear. No wonder we had to wait in line for 2 hrs (despite being starving). But let me tell you, it was well WORTH the wait. Better than most Italian Restaurants in Melbourne, but pricier too. But then again, the portion was massive. WIN.
Risotto Vegetariano - Vegetarian Risotto, no duh
Penne Vodka - Creamy tomato based with spring onions, bacon and vodka. Creamy tomato base is still my favourite kind of pasta, closely followed by pesto based. EXCELLENT!
Ragitoni Buongustaia - Tomato cream base with fresh mushrooms, onions, Italian sausage and peas. FANTASTIC!
Fettuccine Ciao Italia - Signature dish named after the restaurant. Cream base with marinated chicken, sundried tomatoes, spring onions, fresh tomatoes. Really enjoyed EVERY single pasta dish. So hard to choose a favourite, seriously. All so good.
Siciliana - Mozzarella cheese, mild italian sausage, bacon, black olives, Ricotta cheese and mushrooms
Calzone. Saw it at another table and thought it looked BEAUTIFUL. Had to order one to try for our table. They should have separated the salad cause the dressing made it wet. But pretty good nonetheless
Smoked Salmon. Never a fan of smoked salmon on pasta or pizza. Only like it served on crackers or toast. Look at how beautifully charred the pizza was from the woodfire
Croquembouche. It was okay, nothing fantastic
The Tiramisu at Ciao Italia, however, was TOP NOTCH. No wonder it was highly recommended. Could have done with more liquer but still, it was really light and the cream cheese was incredibly tasty
11. Supper at Concas for their famous Chilli Mussels
Really looked forward to trying this dish in Perth, cause they don't have it in Melbourne! One mild and other spicy. Mussels were so fleshy and sweet. Really, REALLY enjoyed this!
12. Pizza dinner at Little Caesars
Arguably the BEST and most famous Pizzeria in Australia, this place is totally not overrated (surprisingly) despite winning awards after awards. Flavours were unique and more importantly, every single pizza was done to PERFECTION. I was blown away.
Quattro Formaggi - Pizza with 4 kinds of cheese: Mozzarella, Ricotta, Cheddar, Fetta. Lovely
Janes Addiction - Marinated prawns, prosciutto, garlic cream cheese. Again, I am a BIG fan of Prosciutto
Oyster Kilpatrick - Just as the name calls it. Oysters on Pizza? Surprisingly good! Loved the sauce for this
Greek Lamb Pizza - I love any lamb pizza and kebabs. This one had Tzatziki too which was great, went really well
White Rock's Roast - Basically veal with potatoes, cheese and cream on top. Veal was tender, which I liked
Chicken Fettucine - Like Fettucine Carbonara on Pizza. Clever. Don't kick it till you've tried it
What really rakes in the awards is not just the interesting, innovative flavours, but the execution of the Pizza. WAO WAO WEEEE. Perfectly thin, solid and CRISPY base and crust
If this picture does the pizza justice, you'll know how HEAVENLY this pizza was made. Hats off to these guys for delivering the most perfect pizza I've ever had.
However, flavour-wise I still have to say the best (shockingly) is at this little Pizzeria we ate at the side of the road on the way from Queenstown to Christchurch. THAT and this place, hands down the best two pizzerias I have EVER had. Still think about that place till today.
Eskimo Joe Dessert Pizza - Cookie base, icing sugar, vanilla ice cream and raspberry fruit sauce. Nice but too sweet for me but most desserts are too sweet for me so nvm
Blackforest Cake Dessert Pizza - Really enjoyed the layer of jam in between, just like the cake. Like the previous, was nice till it got too rich towards the end. But then again, we did just have 10 - 15 slices of pizza before this per person. Yeah, we ate and ordered a LOT that night
13. Malaysian Gourmet at Broadways
Located right opposite UWA, this tiny Malaysian restaurant served REALLY good and authentic Malaysian cuisine! What I loved most is because each dish, is EXACTLY how you would find it in a GOOD kopitiam in Malaysia. Don't underestimate this modest shop and try it for yourself!
Claypot Yee Mee - One of the Malaysian dish that I crave most when I'm in Australia, cause it would be nice in winter and extremely rare in Malaysian restaurants here. This one was REALLY nice, even better than the ones I used to eat in KK. I let my friends try it and they agreed too. Please order this when you're here, highly recommended.
14. Dinner at Kailis Fish Market, Fremantle
NO trip to Perth would be complete without having the obligatory seafood meal at Freo (short for Fremantle). Extremely particular with my Fish and Chips and Seafood in general, in Australia, that's why I didn't have high expectations. Another reason why was this place was huge and catered to the masses. First mistake of any good fish and chippery. Overall, it was okay.
Standard Fish and Chips. Fish, mmm... CHIPS?! MMMM... See note above
Chilli Mussels, nothing compared to Concas, a small family business still run and cooked by the senior owners themselves. Seafood chowder was not thick and rich enough
Oyster Mornay and Kilpatrick. These were done pretty well, I must say. I could tell they were gonna turn out good when I saw how fresh the oysters were.
15. Supper at Alfred's Kitchen
From what I hear, this place earned great reviews from Matt Preston himself. A great dining experience, eating outdoors in the cold around a communal fireplace. Yes, this place has no tables and chairs and it was freezing in Winter but DAMMIT they served good burgers.
The Cram - Steak, beef patty, bacon, egg, tomato, lettuce, cheese and forgot what else. Doesn't matter but it was GOOOD. YUM!!!
Cross section of this epic burger. Then again, I think that burgers generally taste good everywhere in Australia as long as they use fresh meat and ingredients, CAN'T go wrong. Here just has the additional "feel" of it.
16. Lunch at To To Vietnamese Restaurant
I admit, before giving this place a shot, I was pretty skeptical about eating Vietnamese food in Perth. Just cause we have heaps of great ones in Melbourne (due to the larger community there as compared to here), so how good can this place get? Especially if they didn't have that many places to compare with, unlike us. And I usually opt for more traditional Vietnamese restaurants, and this one looked Modern.
SO WRONG!!! This place completely surpassed my expectations. I really, really, really loved the food and drink I ordered and felt bad for misjudging it earlier cause it turned out to be one of my favourite meals in Perth! SRYSRYSRY.
Thai Fish Cakes - It's okay, like any other fish cakes you find
THIS drink, however, WOW. Loved every single drop of it. It's basically coconut milk (which I love!!), red jelly, and DURIAN!! Wao! The Durian was so sweet and flavourful. YUM YUM YUM. Highly recommend this drink (the only Durian drink in the menu), if you're a fan like me
My friend's all time favourite dish here, never ordered anything else. Rice Vermicilli with Spring Rolls and Grilled Chicken (?). Tried it too and was really good. Bravo
Friend's Traditional Combination Beef Soup, Pho, pronounced as FA okay?! I asked my Vietnamese friends before and even had the waiter verify it. FA FA FA, stop calling it "Fer".
Grilled Pork Chop with Fried Egg and Broken Rice. Not bad.
But what really BLEW MY MIND was this Slow Cooked Pork Bone Noodle Soup. WAO WAO WAO WEEE!! The soup was so flavourful but more importantly, the Pork was braised so perfectly from being cooked for hours that it was extremely enjoyable to eat the meat slices and tendon. HIGHLY RECOMMEND you break away from your usual Traditional Viet dishes and try this for once next time you're there!
17. The (Seriously) Famous Apple Strudel from Corica's
I've known about this since I first had it about 5 years ago, when my friend, Shiela, specially hand carried a box for us ALL THE WAY from Perth to KK just to let us try. Still remember her for that till today.
And before we left for Perth, we already had people ordering a few boxes for us to bring back to Melbourne. Hand carried 7 altogether. Glad to FINALLY be able to eat this again!
Oooooh. What a beauty. What makes it famous is also cause of their pastry made with their own secret recipe. Though it was about a foot and a half long, it is so easy to eat a huge chunk of it at a time cause it's so light, delicious and not rich at all. Perfect!
AAAAAAAAAH... I'm sorry to those that I didn't get a chance to share it with, I thought I had enough to go around but apparently not! Next trip perhaps ;p. Ultra light and crispy pastry, delicious custard and sweet apples in between. Honestly, this Apple Strudel can NOT get any better even if they tried. Love this so so much. Gonna get my friends to bring more back for me when they visit in December tee-hee.
ALAS, thus concludes the summary of the wonderful meals we've had at Perth, now for some random stuff =) :
LOVE eating Nissin Chicken Cup Noodles on planes. Taste so good especially when you're flying, I don't know why. Great thing to eat with your mates on a trip too
Erm, was extremely starving after getting back to Melbourne, it was late so I quickly made myself one of my all time comfort foods. Huge ass bowl of rice with Bovril Soup (add Omelette and Ikea Meatballs). YUM!!!!
Once again, the only souvenirs I ever buy back when I'm on holiday is food. Bought this all natural Mango Coulis when we were at Swan Valley. Looked too good to resist and can't wait to try it out on Cheesecake or some other dessert soon, stay tuned! =D
Finally learned what Nougat actually was when we went to the factory. Basically made of honey and sugar. This jar is the Nougat without the nuts, Cappuccino flavour, for spreading on toast and pancakes. Tried it. Didn't like it. Shouldn't have bought it. Argh.
FINALLY got my truffle oil from this specialty shop in London Court. This is a good brand, one of the few truffle suppliers in Australia, The Wine and Truffle Company. Unfortunately, I completely underestimated the price of these 2 small bottles and they costed me a total of $78 ZOMG TTM. No wonder there wasn't any price tag. Gave one to Sis and can't wait to try it on my mushroom risotto tomorrow. Looking forward to buying White Truffle Oil instead next time. Apparently much more fragrant (and expensive).
Chilli, Chives and Garlic Romano cheese, will grate some on my risotto tomorrow too
Plum and Port Jam, Tomato Relish, Eggplant & Capsicum Relish from Swan Valley. Every one went NUTS over the last one right after trying it. Surprised by how good it was and a few of us had to buy some back. So, SO good. Don't get to have it cause I gave it to my Sister to bring to Adelaide sighhh. Damn, I wish I weren't such a good brother sometimes haha jk.
Hope you all enjoyed the post. Extremely long, but as you can see, there was too much good food about Perth to share. Having a Masterchef inspired Potluck Dinner with some friends at my place tomorrow night, will blog about it after so stay tuned!!!
