It Just Has To Be Delicious

Archive for September, 2023

Allegria, Ocean Reef

Allegria is a family run cafe, in the Ocean Reef shopping centre on Constellation Drive. As part of my quest to find Perth’s best Sunday roast, we decided to give Allegria a try. The roast is available from 4pm on Sundays, and there’s a Happy Hour between 5pm and 6pm.

Allegria is about much more than Sunday roasts, it’s a cafe, open from breakfast through to dinner, and has a wood fired pizza oven. They host theme nights (a recent one was a mexican night), and Paul the owner boasts that they make amazing coffee along with the tastiest pizzas around.

We dined for the roast beef and it was nice to see that the menu included other options – we could have also had chicken, pork, snapper or a beef rendang. There seems to be something for everybody. The wine list as also good, and I started with a prosecco, my partner choosing a lemon lime bitters.

When the lady took our order the overriding feeling was that this is a restaurant that cares about its customers. She explained everything really well, and we anticipated our roast beef with excitement. The ambience was really chilled and the young girls next to us were tucking into a delicious looking pizza, while the couple the other side were enjoying some very generous and yummy looking desserts.

When the plate arrived it didn’t disappoint. The beef was incredibly good quality, really tender and perfectly cooked. Accompanied by carrot, greens, broccolini, roasties and a superbly mutant yorkie it was delicious from the first mouthful to the last. We didn’t have to ask for sauces, we were given horseradish and hot mustard. One very minor criticism – I prefer to pour my own gravy, but luckily this was nicely distributed just as I like it.

Sadly we didn’t have room for dessert, but we will be back to try their other offerings and for several more Sunday dinners. This is the winner – Perth’s best Sunday roast!

Last visit – we’ll be back but this visit was September 2023

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The Galway Hooker, Scarborough

Continuing with the quest to find the best Sunday roast in Perth, we decided to give the Galway Hooker a try. It’s a traditional Irish pub in Scarborough – a mecca for backpackers who want to enjoy the bustle of the bars and cafes, and sunbathe and surf.

As soon as we arrived I was struck by how noisy it was. The pub was absolutely packed, and the waitress directed me to my reserved table which was in the middle of all the clamour. She explained that there was UFC being televised throughout the pub, and it would be noisy for the next hour or so, and she suggested that we come back later. As we had come a fair way (40 minute drive) we decided to stay, but it was impossibly noisy and hard to have a conversation.

I went to the bar and ordered two $28 roast beef dinners (the other choice was roast chicken).

It was certainly plentiful with several slices of beef, a Yorkshire pudding, some greens, squash, carrot, roasted potatoes and mash, with a nice amount of gravy. We also asked for horseradish, which was of good quality. The beef was a little variable, some slices were really tender where others were a little fatty or slightly tough. I would have liked a few extra roasties and no mash, and would have preferred to pour my own gravy, but it was still a nice plate of food, and I suppose they are catering to a lot of people and providing hearty Irish portions with something for everybody.

In terms of the noise, I really wish that they had a) informed me of the situation when I booked and b) seated us in a corner or booth rather than in the centre of the pub. I think on a different day, we may have enjoyed it more, but the noise, the table location, and the fact that it was ‘okay’ food rather than amazing means that we probably won’t return.

Last Visit – September 2023

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Canton Roe, Northbridge

Our favourite local yum cha joint has closed down, so we had to find a new one. There are really not many places in the Northern suburbs, so we decided to look at Northbridge again and settled for Canton Roe on Roe Street.

There’s 3 hours free parking at the Cultural Centre car park, which is always a bonus in central Perth. Canton Roe is busy and sometimes appears chaotic, but is incredibly well organised. We didn’t have to wait long before being seated.

When you order tea, you get a bowl of chilli sauce too, always good for dipping dumplings.

They have all the favourites on the menu, and the quality of the food is very good.

We chose:

Xiao long bao
Seafood sui mai
Seaweed prawn rolls
“Footballs” minced pork dumplings
Har Gow prawn dumplings
Stir Fried radish cake in XO sauce

All of the dishes were really good, and excellent quality. The prawn in the seaweed rolls was plentiful, the football dumplings were crispy on the outside with a very tasty mince filling, sui mai were wonderfully delicious with a nice amount of roe on top. I think we’ve found our new favourite, Canton Roe is the real deal.

Last Visit – we’ll be coming here a lot so likely in the last few weeks!

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