It Just Has To Be Delicious

Archive for August, 2023

Woodvale Tavern

The Woodvale Tavern seems to be based on an old English Pub, it has quite a large interior and stained glass windows. I’m not sure the atmosphere really feels as cosy as an old English Pub, but it’s friendly and welcoming. The visit was another stop on my mission to find the best Sunday Roast in Perth.

First of all I was glad to see that they had regular chairs and tables, none of the high tables with stools or backless chairs. I knew it was going to be a comfortable affair. The waitress showed us to our table – a nice booth and gave us the menus to peruse. I had already decided on the Sunday roast (carvery style), but I could see that other tables were choosing a la carte pub favourites.

When we went up to pay (that’s the deal, you pay first), we were given soup bowls, dinner plates and dessert bowls, and two rolls. The price includes a soup, carvery roast with all the trimmings, and a choice of desserts, and you can keep going up as many times as you like, you just have to keep your plates and cutlery.

The soup was pumpkin, quite nice, you go and serve yourself from a heated tureen, so can control your own portion size.

For the carvery, you queue up and are served a choice of turkey, beef or pork (or a mixture of the meats), and yorkshire pudding, then you help yourself to veggies. Veggies were plentiful with a choice of roast potatoes, peas, carrots, corn, squash, beans, and cauliflower cheese.

There is a table with all the usual sauces, and a tureen of gravy (which seemed quite Bisto-like).

The main course was very good. Not as posh as others we have tried recently, but good nonetheless, and a plateful was definitely enough for me I didn’t need to go up again.

Although quite full, we tried the desserts – again a serve-yourself option with heated trays of apple crumble and nutella chocolate sponge, with a tureen of custard. The desserts were lovely – the apple crumble quite sweet. My favourite was the nutella chocolate sponge – a wonderfully soft sponge with just enough nutella choc sauce.

It’s definitely good value at $34 for three unlimited courses ($15 for children) and I would go back. The service is friendly and the dining area is off to one side, so it’s a bit quieter and away from the clamour of the main pub area. Top marks for value, average quality, but all in all very tasty, and family friendly. If you have this lunch it will pretty much fill you up for the day.

Last Visit – August 2023

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Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King, Perth CBD

Do you ever get a craving for a ramen, and wonder where to go to get a quality bowl? Well look no further than Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King, nestled at the bottom of the Melbourne Hotel in Perth CBD. There is an art to a good ramen, and it’s all about the stock. If you can find a ramen outlet that take care over the stock then you are on to a winner.

RKTK is a small restaurant, and we were ushered to a table for two. You are given a supply of hard boiled eggs to snack on, and a small pestle and mortar with black and white sesame seeds. We worked out that you grind the sesame seeds and then dip your eggs into the powder, which adds a superb flavour to the eggs. The eggs seem to be unlimited – if you finish your basket of eggs, the waitress brings more.

For drinks we chose a fabulous large mug of oolong tea and a quirky Japanese soda (where opening the bottle is part of the fun).

The menu gives you a choice of ramen with different toppings. I recommend going for the ‘special’ with all of the toppings, then all you have to choose is whether you want the spicy red chilli sauce or the peppery spicy black sauce. I chose the red chilli on this occasion and wasn’t disappointed.

The ramen comes with lovely noodles, a huge piece of seaweed, cloud ear mushrooms, pork chasyu, spring onions, and flavoured egg. You can order extra of your favourite items or extra noodles if you wish. There is also a tub of pickled beansprouts on the table, which adds another level of flavour if that’s your thing.

The broth is thick and delicious, and the whole bowl creates mouthful after mouthful of umami, as well as a warming nourishing meal that will keep you going for most of the day. It’s a popular place and there seems to be a constant queue of hungry customers outside. I know why – they serve amazing ramen, which is possibly the best in Perth.

Last Visit – August 2023

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Fun thing to do, Restaurant review

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Vung Tau, Girrawheen

This is just a short post to tell you about the best bahn mi. In my opinion Bahn Mi is the perfect Vietnamese/French fusion food, and an ideal amount for lunch. It’s a french baguette, with pate, and then meats which are sometimes marinated, some sauces – generally hoisin and nuoc mam based, and cucumber, chilli, pickled carrots and coriander.

I’ve tried a lot of bahn mi, but my favourite go-to is Vung Tau in Girrawheen. They only do a pork bahn mi – in two styles, either traditional or roast pork. The roast pork version has lovely chunks of crackling and melting roast pork, while the traditional roll is an assortment of sliced pork meats, all very tasty and slightly different. They just call it ‘Pork roll’, because that’s what they do, and they do it extremely well.

There are also choices of vietnamese drinks and desserts (there tends to be more at the weekend), but the pork roll is the star, and I am happy to drive to Newpark Shopping Centre every time I get a craving (which is pretty often).

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Fun thing to do, Store review

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Taylors in the Valley

Taylors is a favourite of ours in the Swan Valley. Not only is it right next door to the tempting treats of Whistler’s chocolate factory, but it’s a quirky art cafe with sculptures and paintings and tables nestled in amongst the creativity.

The menu is equally creative, with delicious sounding hotcakes, pulled pork benny, chicken and waffles, okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), marinated mushrooms, sago pudding and many more carefully crafted options.

I chose the ricotta hotcakes with banana, lemon marscapone and biscuit crumb. Not only did it look amazing, but tasted very moreish all the way through.

One companion chose the chilli scramble, a lovely spicy plate of smooth scrambled egg on a roti bread.

My other companions chose the chicken waffle with poached eggs, chilli maple and smoky hollandaise.

Every dish was superb, and we all left the cafe with a very satisfied feeling. Taylors always delivers, come rain or shine, it’s one of Swan Valley’s finest.

Last visit – August 2023

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NextDoor, Como

NextDoor is a trendy restaurant and bar in the Angelo Street Market area of Como. It’s right next door to Olsen’s butchers, so they have a good supply of quality meats, and this shows by the superb wagyus, ribeyes, and scotch fillets available on the special meat menu.

As soon as you walk in it is oozing with sophistication, and we were seated around the grill bar so that we could watch the chefs preparing the meat and fish dishes.

The menu is based on share plates – snacks, small plates, larger plates and vegetables. I started proceedings with a Vignarosa prosecco while we perused the options.

Our first choice was a small selection of coldcuts with marinated olives and guindilla (chillies), along with some focaccia. This was a good choice – the coldcuts were such good quality and so incredibly tasty – salami, mortadella, parma ham with succulent olives. It was all quite filling.

Next came our small plates – first hashbrown with cod roe whip, pickle powder, chives and smoked trout roe, then chicken wings stuffed with prawns, topped with pickles and a honey/chilli coating. Both were very satisfying. The soft hashbrown with the smoky rish roe flavours took us to umami central, and the contrast of the chilli and sweetness of the chicken wings was sublime.

The main dish was market fish – crimson snapper, served with the heirloom carrots and kipfler and sweet potatoes. The snapper was served in a tomato butter with roast cherry tomatoes. The carrots on a bed of labne with candied hazelnuts and honeycomb, the potatoes flavoured with garlic and rosemary.

Nextdoor is definitely a quality venue with dishes lovingly prepared by talented chefs. It’s a little expensive, so more of a special occasion restaurant, but an absolute neighbourhood gem in South Perth.

Last visit – August 2023

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