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Saigon Palace, Clarkson

This restaurant is on an elevated section a short walk from the main Ocean Keys shopping centre. It’s definitely a neighbourhood gem with lots of regulars and families walking in when we visited.
The menu is pan-Asian rather than strictly Vietnamese, so don’t go expecting several varieties of Vietnamese soup, although they do serve Pho as a chef’s special. On our visit we chose a few starters. Vietnamese rice paper rolls and chicken satay.

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The rolls were beautiful, nicely packed with noodles, lettuce, mint, spring onion and prawn with a nice warm hoisin dip. The satay was succulent and flavoursome with plenty of coconut and peanut sauce. Yum.
For mains we chose the chef’s special salt and pepper fish. It was nice, but I think that they use frozen fish as it was a bit on the firm side. The little crumbs of garlic, onion and chilli were great.

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We also chose a Thai yellow curry with chicken which was lovely complete with authentic Thai basil. Really good.

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Served with a generous tub of steamed rice.

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The portions are a good size, and the food here is very tasty which is why the locals keep coming back time and time again. Well worth a visit when you’re in Clarkson.

Visit Date – October 2017

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Sedap Place, East Victoria Park

I wasn’t aware of Sedap Place until it came up on an Entertainment Book email, so I checked out the menu, it sounded good and we decided to give it a go. It’s on the main strip of Albany Highway among many other Asian restaurants. The menu is fairly typical Malaysian with favourites like laksa, nasi lemak, char kway teow, roti canai, and nasi goreng. I chose a lemon ice to drink, and we started with some spring rolls.

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The achar pickle was a nice touch with the spring rolls.
For mains I ordered char kway teow and my companion ordered beef rendang but was told that he could only have the rendang as part of a nasi lemak. When he asked if he could have just the rendang and rice it seemed that the kitchen were unable to manage anything not on the standard menu. We also noticed that there were a lot of items on the menu marked as not available. He also asked for a mango smoothie….not available. Any other smoothie ?…..not available. He ended up having lemonade.

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My char kway teow was nice and had all of the standard authentic features but could have done with some spice. A small pot of chilli oil or sambal would have been a good addition. I have eaten better c.k.t. in Perth.

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The beef rendang was very tender, and the nasi lemak was good, but again could have done with some seasoning.
We probably won’t return to Sedap Place – it is fairly average, and the service is not the best. The nasi lemak arrived about 20 minutes ahead of the char kway teow, and it really shouldn’t be that difficult to coordinate two dishes being cooked together.

Visit Date – November 2017

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Hobart Deli, North Perth

Hobart Deli is a North Perth favourite, child friendly, dog friendly, brunch and lunch spot, opposite a playground on Hobart Street.

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It has an open kitchen, and a hipster wooden cafe interior. The cake and savoury cabinets will have you drooling.

Our coffees were great – full bodied South American beans from Leftfield Roasters.

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With a selection of brekkie favourites plus a few more interesting options, my partner chose the chorizo rosti. The chorizo was spicy and flavoursome with great poached eggs. The rosti could have been crispier, but was still tasty.

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I chose the pancakes with blueberry compote, whit choc chips, and maple syrup. I asked for the ice cream to be left off – they didn’t have a non-dairy alternative such as coconut sorbet or coconut yogurt. They were lovely pancakes, but did need that little extra moisture, and a dollop of coconut yogurt would have been perfect.

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I liked Hobart Deli, the food is good. Our table wasn’t wiped down in all the time we were there, and it would have been nice to have some better table hygiene from the wait staff, however this did not detract from our enjoyment.

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Visit Date – June 2019

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Rockpool, Crown

I like Rockpool Bar and Grill. It’s classy, it’s big but feels intimate, the waiters are nice, and the menu is varied. It has a reputation for the best steaks in town, and I must say that the steaks here are exceptional, however, there is so much more to the menu. There’s seafood, caviar, salads, sashimi, garlic prawns, calamari, fish and chips, pasta, fish from the charcoal oven,
chicken, tagine, sweetbreads, meat from the wood fired grill including short ribs, lamb, chicken and partridge as well as the famous steak.
It’s one of those menus that you look through, and think “I’d like to try that” to 90% of the items on the menu, so then you have the task of whittling it down to your favourites. One of my very favourite locations for special occasion dining – the drinks menu is also impressive and has some amazingly good cocktails.

The first time I visited, I had ‘Four raw tastes of the sea’ to start, a lovely sashimi style dish, and I had the grass-fed rib eye for main.
Last time I had the grain-fed fillet. The grass-fed tastes more ‘meaty’ and the grain-fed tastes silkier and more subtly beefy. The grass-fed is cheaper, but I think that I prefer it. If you want to, you can go the whole hog and pay $119 for a wagyu rib-eye. The desserts are amazing, I have tasted the most wonderful lemon curd doughnuts and peanut butter and chocolate tart. Mmm – what a dilemma – have starter or dessert ? Maybe pace yourself and have all three courses.

Starter – leek tart with onions and caramelised walnuts and aioli:

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Yellow fin tuna tartare with Moroccan eggplant and cumin mayonnaise:

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Grain fed fillet steak:

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Grass fed T-Bone:

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Potato and cabbage gratin:

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Mushroom medley:

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Last Visit Date – September 2018

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Public House, Perth CBD

Public House opened in November 2013, serving South American food in Perth. It is quite a large establishment on the corner of Adelaide Terrace and Victoria Avenue with alfresco tables as well as indoor dining. Nowadays it has more of a Modern Australian menu, but when we visited, the South American vibe was strong.

The drinks menu is fairly comprehensive and includes cocktails. I chose the Lichi Sueno which is gin, cointreau and lychee – absolutely delicious.

All of the dishes are served so that you can share them. There are small, medium and large dishes, and the large dishes are quite generous. We chose 3 smaller dishes and one large dish with a side vegetable. To start we had a tomato and avocado salsa with coriander and pink salted chips.

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This dish was very nice, however the salsa would have been better served in a bowl – the quirky jar was top heavy and kept tipping over. The salsa was chunky and tasty. We also chose meat empanadas – nice short pastry filled with a lamb ragout.

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There was a choice of two ceviches, we chose the sword fish with lime, coriander and chilli. I did not like this dish – it was drowned in hot chilli sauce. I would have preferred a citrus marinade with small pieces of cut chilli. I ate the fish but scraped most of the sauce off.

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For the main course we chose slow cooked pork with crackling, pineapple and guava. This dish was very nice and tender, the crackling was lovely and crisp and the fruits added a nice contrast. My only criticism would be that maybe it had been cooked a little too long and was therefore not quite as succulent as it could have been.

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The side dish to accompany this was corn puree with charred corn salsa and chilli salt. This was really delicious and I would have liked a bigger portion.

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All in all it was a very nice meal and with a few minor improvements it could have been outstanding. If you want a meal with new and exciting flavours and a good cocktail list – this is a place that you will enjoy.

Last Visit Date – January 2014

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Le Rebelle, Mount Lawley

Le Rebelle, on Beaufort Street near the Astor Theatre, is the new French kid in town amongst the hustle and bustle of the Mount Lawley strip.
It looks a bit like a a converted pub and is on two levels. As we walked in, we were seated on the lower level. My first observation was that the seating is not very comfortable, in fact it is really uncomfortable. A mixture of booths where the seat is too deep to lean back comfortably and stools with no back. Upstairs there are tall tables with tall stools, so not much better up there.
My second observation was that we had to shout to have a conversation. The music was quite loud and other diners were shouting to be heard above the music, which made the noise levels even worse. Even the waitresses had to shout.
My third observation was the darkness of the venue – it was impossible to read the menu without using my phone light, and I understand that the lighting is important for ambience, but I also like to see what I am eating, and I didn’t find the dimness appealing. The waitresses were lovely, and the menu full of tempting options.
We started with blue manna crab on toast, with lemon mayo and pickle. This was really good and probably my favourite dish of the meal. The toast was fresh and buttery, and the crab also fresh and good quality.

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This was accompanied by double spiced crispy shrimp with slaw and cocktail sauce. Nice big shrimp, cooked well and great crispy slaw to go with it and a hint of wasabi throughout.

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Kingfish crudo with apple, kohlrabi and poppyseed continued the deliciousness. Again fresh, quality ingredients, well constructed and thoughtfully executed.

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We had a bit of a wait for our last two dishes, and while we sat and shouted conversation to each other, some guys a few tables away (who had been swearing very loudly) got up to greet some friends right behind us, and were continually bumping our table and my companion, and it was quite an uncomfortable situation. I understand that the owners of the venue put the tables close to create a fun intimate atmosphere – that works great when everybody is friends – not so great when your neighbours are drunk, loud and clumsy. It was all a bit awkward.
When we eventually received the aged beef fillet with sauteed mushrooms and peppercorn sauce, it was a delight. A great variety of mushrooms, and perfect melting steak.

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We chose the salad to go with it – endive with pumpkin and a citrus dressing – absolutely yummy.

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So in summary – the food was great, really good, and it’s clear that the ingredients are quality and the dishes well thought out. My personal experience of the rest of the meal was uncomfortable. It’s no good serving top class food if your guests aren’t comfortable in their seats, and I am sure I can’t be the only one who left with an aching back and sore throat. A few simple changes would make this an amazing venue.

Visit Date – August 2019

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People’s Inn Dumpling House, Perth CBD

People’s Inn is at the East end of Hay Street, and serves a variety of traditional dumplings and soups. All dumplings are hand made, you can see them being made as you walk in. It’s a casual cafe, where you order first and then sit down.
This is a fairly short post because I tried the fried cabbage and pork dumplings for my lunch one day. The steamed dumplings look really tempting, but they come in a portion size of 12, which is a bit much for me for lunch, so I chose the fried ones.

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They were really delicious, the table had a good supply of soy, red vinegar and chilli sauce to accompany them.
This cafe also serves pies like pork and leek pie – and the soups being served to other tables looked really generous. I must return so that I can update this post with more pictures and thoughts.

Last Visit Date – October 2019

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Trangs, Girrawheen

There’s a whole Vietnamese community shopping centre on Marangaroo Drive, dominated by Vietnamese cafes and my nail technician swears they are the best in Perth. We visited Trang’s on a Friday night, and it was really busy with a constant stream of visitors waiting for a table.
Once seated, Vietnamese tea is complementary, which had a nice toasted coconut fragrance to it.

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We chose some spring rolls to share, nice succulent veggie rolls, thin and crispy too.

I chose the Bun Rieu – crab and pork special, a rich soup with fried tofu puffs, minced crab and pork balls, pork blood cubes and sliced pork. Full of nutritious veggies and herbs, it had a lovely depth of flavour. The broth has a tomato base, and we were given a mountain of cabbage, beansprouts, mint, and chilli to add to our taste. I tried the blood cubes, but I wasn’t overkeen – they are authentic, but also an acquired taste. The minced crab and pork balls were delicious and the noodles a nice bland backdrop to the flavours of the soup.

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My partner chose the spicy pork and beef bun. It was well spiced but had quite a lot of fat included, which he put to one side. He did enjoy it and ate it hungrily.

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We also had some fresh lemon soda.

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It was a great authentic meal. Trang’s is cash only though, so make sure you have enough cash before you visit.

Visit Date – August 2018

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Tropico, North Beach

Tropico is a casual cafe on Flora Terrace, just a street back from the main coastal road. We didn’t book and were pleasantly surprised to be seated straight away for brunch. The wait staff are really nice, and very efficient. It’s quite large and airy inside, and they offer table service.

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I chose a soy iced coffee to drink, which was nice but with an edge of bitterness. It wasn’t my favourite type of coffee, as I prefer a mellower blend, but it was certainly very drinkable. I am not sure which blend was on rotation on the day – but then again I have been a little spoiled with Five Senses at home.
For my brunch I chose the Paleo plate – a delicious combination of avocado, spiced nuts and seeds, and spinach topped with two beautifully poached eggs. It was tasty from the first mouthful until the last and surprisingly filling.

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One of my companions chose the cornbread with chorizo ragu, poached eggs and chilli jam. He thoroughly enjoyed it – a well thought out plate – and a very satisfying meal.

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My other companion chose the brioche toasty, consisting of fried egg, leg ham, bechamel and cheese on a toasted brioche. A dish where all of the ingredients complemented each other perfectly, and he polished it off in record time.

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At the end of the meal, we felt very happy. We didn’t have to wait ages for our food, the staff were great and the quality was excellent. I am looking forward to going back soon.

Last Visit Date – March 2018

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Vans, Cottesloe

I’ve been meaning to try Vans for a long while, and it’s definitely a popular location, situated in Napoleon Street behind Boatshed Markets. I immediately loved the vibe of the cafe – friendly staff, a great looking cake cabinet, jazzy music and nice decor, and it had quite a buzz about it but wasn’t so loud that you needed to shout. I chose fresh orange to start which was good and vibrant – great flavour.

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My partner chose a decaf soy flat white which was smooth and little thin maybe because of the soy.

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It was difficult to choose a main – there were way too many delicious options, but in the end I plumped for the potato cake with smoked salmon, spinach and poached egg. It usually comes with lemon butter, but I asked for that to be left off because of my dairy allergy. This dish was perfection on a plate – the potato cake tasty with a bit of crunch, the egg perfectly gooey, and the smoked salmon was good quality fare – not the usual gelatinous packet bought version.

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My partner chose the cheesy jalapeno cornbread with bacon, poached eggs, smashed avocado and a black bean and corn salsa. The poached eggs were perfect, the cornbread very tasty and the bacon – like my salmon – was good quality and yummy. There was a nice zingy lime backdrop to the avocado smash.

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