Sunday at Sittella

On the weekend I went with a small group of other winos to Sittella Winery in the Swan Valley. The weather was pretty awful – cold and windy with the occasional sprinkling of rain – but that didn’t stop us.

Following a few wine tastings in the cellar door (I particularly liked their Sparkling Chenin and a divine wooded Chardonnay), we moved into the restaurant itself, and spent a leisurely 2.5 hours sitting on the enclosed verandah (outdoor heaters on thankfully), with delicious food and a bit more wine.

I say delicious because it absolutely was. Three of us chose the Winemaker’s Taste Plate, which is supposedly designed to share as a starter – but we each wanted one as a main dish so why not! It contained lots of tiny portions but of a variety of things, and in the end was quite filling. I didn’t eat the chorizo/salami parts as I am still not really eating meat, although there was a tiny bit of chicken liver pate and some terrine thing – only 2 bites so hard to tell exactly what it was, but I think probably chicken again. A highlight was the wasabi-dressed smoked salmon, and the port-soaked figs, both unbelievably good. As well as the bread that came with it, we shared a serving of warm breads as well and this was sooooooo warm and soft, it really was melt-in-your-mouth bread at its best.

Top notch food (at top notch prices however……no bargains here), great service, and a lovely view over the Winter-coloured vines. A lovely way to waste a few lazy hours on a Sunday.

Happy Fooding!

Restaurant Review: Hyde Park Hotel

Lamb Pot Pie

Had a yummy lunch on the weekend at the Hyde Park Hotel in North Perth.

This pub is only 5 minutes drive from my house, yet I’ve never been there before in almost 4 years here. I was going to the Perth Mint (having a play-tourist moment!), so looked up the Entertainment Book to see what eating places were nearby, that I had a voucher for. I decided to try something new, and it turned out to be a great decision. The food was truly fabulous, in looks, portion size and taste. These mains were both about $25 each, standard pub prices, but as I had a voucher it was 25% off.

Baked Coriander & Pistachio Nut Crusted Chicken

Service was excellent and staff friendly – and the place was seriously renovated (apparently it used to be a bit of a dive – not so now, it is very upmarket) in 2011 and still looks brand new. It was my first time there, but it won’t be my last!

An added bonus is that there is a very large Dan Murphy’s bottle shop next door, so I made the most of that and stocked up on wine bargains while I was there.

Happy Fooding!

Restaurant Review: Gurkhas Nepalese

11 of us went to the relatively new Gurkhas Nepalese Restaurant in Highgate for dinner last weekend, following pre-drinks at the Brisbane Hotel, which is only a stone’s throw away.

Four of us chose to have the $38.50 banquet so that we could try a few different dishes. The starter was delicious mo-mos (steamed dumplings), with a meat filling and a bit of spice, and little paneer-filled spring roll type things that were divine.

Service was good, our main waiter was super friendly and very happy to change the listed banquet dish of Butter Chicken to Chicken Tikka Masala instead. We also had goat, cooked on the bone – the meat was lovely and tender, but I’m not so fussed about having to deal with big chunks of bone in my meal when I’m out – and very nice Palak Paneer, one of my favourite Indian dishes.

The Tarka Dal was beautiful, quite an unusual blend of spices and unlike any dal I’ve had before – quite runny in texture, but it tasted really, really good. We had plain and saffron rice, and plain and garlic naan bread.

Serving sizes were not overly big – we ate the lot and I was full, but only just.

We could choose whichever dessert from the menu that we wanted (I didn’t have one, as Indian desserts I do not find appealing at all, but the rice pudding and ice cream was enjoyed by the others).

I like my food very hot and spicy, and these dishes were not particularly so – I guess a banquet is designed to suit a blander palate than mine – but it was very happily enjoyed by the other three, who were not very familiar with Indian style foods. Next time I would order my own individual dishes so that I could ask for things to be made extra hot!

Currently Gurkhas is BYO only, with a corkage charge of $2.50 for each wine-drinking guest (this is VERY cheap for Perth), and we were informed that they have applied for a full liquor licence, but the process takes a long time. There is no bottle shop close by, so being licenced will be a plus for those like me who always forget to take a bottle and then have to rush off to the nearest bottle-o to grab something!

Overall a good value eating place, close to the city, relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff – not stupendously fantastic, but then again not horribly overpriced and pretentious like some Perth restaurants. Gurkhas is certainly worth going back to.

Happy Fooding!

Jumpin’ Jezebel(le)….

I had a spur of the moment brunch yesterday, whilst wandering the antique/coffee strip at the historic town of Guildford. It is only 15 minutes drive from me, but I went there by train, as it is their monthly craft market day and I expected parking to be an issue. I have never been to this market before, and was expecting big things….only to be pretty disappointed. It was just one room (the old town hall) with about a dozen stalls selling value-priced but not very exciting stuff. I could easily have found a parking space as well, but it was still nice to just wander up and down browsing – there are several antique/curio/collectibles shops and an excellent secondhand book shop – always worth a delve into.

As usual I had a book with me, so I decided to stop and have an early lunch at Jezebelle, a fairly new tapas bar/cafe. It was too early for tapas so I had brekky instead, which was absolutely delicious. I had the “hot smoked salmon cake, poached eggs & avocado”. There were 2 eggs, perfectly poached, except a bit cold by the time I finished mucking about taking photos haha, but that was my own fault and I am quite happy with cold food anyway. The salmon cakes (x2) were baked rather than fried, so not greasy and kind of like a mini hashbrown/frittata thing. The dish didn’t come with bread apparently so I asked for some rye toast with it, and this came with a tomato/onion salsa on top that was quite spicy and blended perfectly with the other flavours.

I had English Breakfast tea (it was the silk bags from Tea Drop, who seem to have a completely monopoly on coffee shop/restaurant supplying here in WA these days – it is nice tea, but I would prefer it a little stronger – I don’t think they put enough tea in the bags) and a glass of house sparkling. After all, it says on the menu that champagne is okay to drink any time, as it is always 12.00pm somewhere. I took them at their word.

The decor here is very modern – posh toilets! – and the service was good. The staff were all “young and hip” and very friendly. There was a family group arriving at the same time as me, and they were the customers from hell – they asked to be moved to a different table 3 times (just to be painful, as there was nothing wrong with any of the seating/view/light/temperature arrangements and you could choose to sit outside or inside) – I could see the poor staff doing their best to please them and no doubt wishing they would just go away! Thankfully, this lot only had coffees and didn’t stay all that long, as they were loud and had snivelling whiny kids with them, right behind me. When you are alone with a good book and have ‘been there, done that’ you don’t want rude, noisy kids mucking up your quiet Sunday morning! That’s my ‘old person rant’ over with anyway lol.

Prices were comparable to elsewhere in Perth: $16 for my main dish which is pretty good considering there was no charge for the toast (not sure if that was a mistake or not) and $4.50 for the tea. The only thing I realised when I got home and checked the bill, was that they actually charged me $18 for a premium glass of champers, when I asked for the house sparkling which should have cost $9.00. The reason I didn’t notice at the time, was that 1) I thought they were charging me extra for my toast, and 2) I had a 25% off discount by using the Entertainment card, so in my head I thought the total was about right, at the time. Hmmm, well my fault for not checking the bill properly at the time I suppose.

Had I been there a bit later in the day, there is live music from 1-3pm on Sundays, which would have been very nice alongside a few tapas dishes.

Happy Brunching!

Restaurant Review: Fantastic Pub Fare

Last week I was in Melbourne for a few days, visiting my awesome kiddies and parents, and I had several yummy meals, including a family bbq at my mum’s (where I stay when I’m there), scrambled eggs for brekky at Geo’s Cafe (complete with champagne, because it’s always 3pm somewhere!), and lunch with my mum Kaye and good friend Linda, at Kelly’s Motor Club Hotel in Cranbourne.

I’d been to this pub once before, several years ago, and I don’t really remember what the food was like, so it can’t have been too memorable, but the pub itself is an historic icon in Cranbourne and has been owned by the same family (the Kellys, strangely enough!!!) since 1923.

I felt like a salad, so decided to have a Caesar – but there was the option of paying a bit extra for either chicken or salt & pepper calamari with it. I love calamari so thought that would be good, and was expecting really just a ‘garnish’ of a few pieces on top of my salad.

WELL, as you can see from the photo above, there was actually more calamari than salad! It is rare that you get such generous portions (the prices were very good – but then I tend to compare with Perth which is more expensive than Melbourne anyway). There was a substantial amount of salad to begin with (and the poached egg was cooked to perfection and actually still HOT, which is rare by the time it comes out to your table lol), which is not that obvious in the photo, but believe me this was a humungous meal. I couldn’t eat it all and ended up wrapping half of the calamari up in a serviette and taking it home – I had it cold in a bread roll with Greek yoghurt, for lunch the next day (yes, I am strange, but you already know this).

Kaye and Linda both had “Seniors meals”, which are smaller servings, priced accordingly, and include dessert. Kaye had the battered fish & chips, which as you can see is still a reasonable size, and Linda had porterhouse steak with mushroom sauce – and they made a gluten-free sauce for her, as she can’t eat wheat. They also brought out a special serving of gluten-free bread, without being asked for it, which Linda said it was delicious (often GF breads are pretty disgusting!).

Even though the fish and steak were smaller sized options, neither of the ladies could fit in their free dessert, which was a shame as the choice was a massive mixed berry cheesecake or a very large serving of chocolate mousse.

The menu choices were really great, so much choice that in fact it was really hard to decide what to have. Service was great and staff very friendly. We were all very impressed and I will definitely go back there.

Happy Fooding!

Swanning Around….

This week I went out to the Swan Valley. This is an area only 20 minutes North of where I live, (I’m 5 minutes from the Perth city centre) – very quickly you get out of the suburbs and into “country”, and the Swan Valley is a lovely area for visiting wineries, restaurants, cafes and little side-of-the-road places selling all sorts of gourmet delights – chocolate, honey, coffee, lavender, nougat etc.

I try to get out to this area as often as I can, especially when the weather is great, as there are so many terrific places to sit out in the sunshine having an icy cold beer or glass of champers with friends.

This week I had lunch at The Cheese Barrel, a new restaurant that only opened its doors last September and which I had heard good things about. They are mostly open during the day only, although they do have the occasional theme night ie Spanish cheese/tapas night.

You can choose a ‘regional tasting plate’ for 2, from Australia, France, Spain or Italy, OR you can select individual cheeses and add your own choice of condiments/sides – olives, crackers, figs, fruit bread etc.

We went for the French tasting plate (pictured above), plus we added a Tasmanian cheddar (the tiny wedge you can see in the background!). The cheeses were all brands or types I hadn’t tried before, and were all delicious. The portions were not large, and to be honest I think this was quite an expensive lunch for the serving size. For us it was a comfortable amount for 2 girls for lunch, but someone like my 21 y.o. son (a 6′ tall streak with hollow legs!) could have eaten this platter by himself without a problem and still wanted more!

The wine list was from the adjacent Olive Farm Wines, and I had a glass of the Shimmer sparkling, which was quite young and fruity tasting and went with the cheese very well. The platter came with tasting notes and recommended wines, but I just always reckon champagne is good with everything!

The cheeses are available to buy – which we did! Quite pricey, but good for a special occasion.

I like this place, and I like to support local industry, but considering the value for money I think there are better options around in this area – a nice lunch for something different though.

Happy Summer Fooding!

Another Greek Review…

I’ve been in Brisbane for 10 days, attending the wonderful Koala Conventions annual embroidery week –  loads of fun, fantastic stitching workshops, and LOTS of food! Last Tuesday night we went as a large group, to Kapsali Greek restaurant.

The food was a banquet organised specially for function groups, so large platters were brought out, first of dips, then hot treats like calamari and saganaki.

Between courses the waiters got up and did some Greek dancing, then they made all of us get up and have a go – in fact the whole restaurant pretty much joined in. Lots of fun.

Main course platters included lamb that just melted in the mouth, and delicious garlic potatoes. By then we were all so full because we had pigged out on the dips and cheese, so quite a bit was left on the platters. I hate to see food go to waste but we just couldn’t eat it all. As for dessert (baklava and fresh fruit) I couldn’t touch a thing.

A great night, lots of laughter and big garlic breath fumes in our room (I was sharing with my mum, who flew to Brisbane from Melbourne to join me for the embroidery week) afterwards!

I fly home to Perth today with mountains of washing to do, 2 new embroidery projects to complete (I did actually finish the 3rd one, which is the first time ever that I’ve been able to do that within the workshop week) and a lot of stuff to unpack. A wonderful 10 days was had by all.

Happy Fooding!

Elies Tent

Here’s another restaurant review for you…….I love Middle Eastern food – Lebanese, Arabian etc. so I was really looking forward to this meal at Elies Tent.

Overall opinion – quite nice, but not outstanding and I think I’ll try elsewhere before I go back again.

Hummus & Babaganoush

We had a banquet as this was the best value and is a good way to try a bit of everything. Whilst the dips were pretty good (hummus and babaganoush) I’m sure the pita bread to go with it was just a bought one from the supermarket – VERY dry and brittle – whereas it should be piping hot and soft, served freshly out of the oven.

Falafels & lamb puffs

The nibbles of falafels and lamb puffs were delicious, as were the lamb and chicken kebabs – a tad burnt but for my taste I didn’t mind that really.

Lamb & chicken kebabs

The tabbouleh was superb – lemony fresh and salt with loads of fresh flat-leafed parsley; my photo of that turned out blurry though 😦

Finally there was a big plate of rice, which was quite sweet with cinnamon, fruit and almonds in it – very gluggy – topped with shaved cooked chicken and lamb that was very dry. I ate as much as I could anyway as I hate waste, but in the end we really did leave quite a bit on the plates.

Meat & rice

It was worth a try, but I won’t go back there again except maybe for a big bowl of their tabbouleh one lunchtime!

Happy Fooding!

Mez – Greek Restaurant Review

Grilled Haloumi

Lots of garlic, tender chunks of mouthwatering meat, terrific presentation, HUGE portion sizes, great fast service, friendly staff and a $22 discount thanks to the Entertainment Card!

Grilled Calamari

That sums up my experience at Mez Greek restaurant in Northbridge. I have nothing negative to say about this place, which is right up there with George’s in Subiaco, my up-til-now favourite Greek place in Perth.

Lamb Kleftiko

Awesomely spectacular meal.

Happy Fooding!

Restaurant Review

I’ve been in Melbourne for a few days, to celebrate my son’s 21st birthday. I took he and my daughter to Counting House, a French restaurant in Mornington, for a birthday lunch. The restaurant is a heritage-listed, huge old weatherboard house – room upon room with hallways and a big front verandah/decking. The weather was lovely so we were able to sit out the front, very pleasant indeed.

We chose the $30 per head, 2 course + glass of wine option. I went for an entree and a main, and both of the kids had a main and a dessert. My entree (duck liver parfait) was delicious, a light and creamy pate with homemade brioche slices and a very rich caramelised onion chutney.

For main I had the Moroccan vegetable tagine – it looked small but was super filling – carrot, pumpkin, onion, parsnip, on top of a bed of couscous.

Both of the children (I say children, but they’re 21 and 24!) had the steak, and pronounced them to be perfectly cooked and tender. I tasted the celeriac puree (doesn’t it look great – full marks for presentation!) and it was divine. Celeriac is something I’ve never really used in my cooking, but I am going to try it out after this tasting.

Dessert chosen was the cheese platter x 2 – small but elegant and apparently the French triple brie was delightful.

I didn’t have a dessert but I did have a second glass of wine…..it was a special occasion, after all.

Happy Fooding!