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New Asian Delights, Mandurah

In Mandurah there are so many nice looking cafes and it can be difficult to choose. We found ourselves on Dolphin Quay, hungry for some lunch, and looking for a quick nutritious meal.
New Asian Delights seemed a good option with plenty of Asian noodle and rice favourites – a pan-asian mix of Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, and Singaporean.
I was drawn to the Chicken Mee Goreng, which was a delicious spicy mix of egg noodles, vegetables and tender chicken. The whole plate was really delicious.

nad 1

My partner chose the Singaporean chicken curry with rice. Again this was delicious, nicely spicy, and he ate it all with a big smile on his face.

nad 2

If you are in Mandurah and fancy some Asian food, New Asian Delights is well worth seeking out.

Visit Date – January 2019

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Must WineBar, Mount Lawley

It’s been a few years since we visited Must, and last time was a great experience, so we were really looking forward to a classy meal.
The first thing that we noticed was that the layout had changed and the area was divided into a restaurant and a busy noisy winebar. There was a DJ playing and the noise of the music was intermittently loud, then quieter, and impossible to escape, so it was really hard to have a conversation during the meal.
Anyhow, we started with a glass of Margaret River Riesling which was zesty and fruity. We perused the menu which is modern Australian, and felt good about the range of tempting choices.

must 1

I chose scallops for my entree, and they were very tasty with a pork shoulder contrast. I would have liked the corals to be left on though.

must 2

My partner chose the manna crab pasta, which was a larger portion than it looks like in this picture – the bowl is deeper than it looks. This was lovely and he really enjoyed it.

must 3

Shortly after the starters, the lights were turned down, hence the poor quality of the next pictures, and the music continued to be loud along with very noisy chatter from the wine bar next door.
For main I chose salmon with seasonal vegetables, a very nice plate of food.

must 4

My partner chose the confit Wagin Duck Leg, with braised lentils, radicchio, grapes, and pickled raisins. Again, he really enjoyed the nice combination of flavours.

must 5

For a side dish we chose the charred sesame broccoli with shichimi (a chilli dressing) – this was nicely cooked and tasty. One of my pet hates though – there were 3 pieces! Why do chefs give portions of 3 to tables for 2? I like our food to be easy to divide.

must 6

So was Must a hit? The food was nice, but probably not amazing enough to warrant the top notch prices being charged. The ambience was a complete let down though, and I think they really need to decide if they are a wine bar or a classy restaurant – maybe a gastropub would be a better option for this establishment.

Last Visit Date – April 2019

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Photos from a previous visit:

Oysters to start with a lime and cucumber dressing:

must 7a

Chicken liver parfait with Riesling jelly:

must 8a

Seared Huon Tasmanian salmon with a fennel and orange salad and
saffron vinaigrette:

must 9a

Arkady slow cooked lamb shoulder with couscous, fennel puree,
tomato confit and olives:

must 10a

Cognac chocolate truffle:

must 11a

Pears with vanilla caramel, spiced gingerbread and cream:

must 12a

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Mustard, Hornchurch, UK

I paid my second visit to Mustard tonight, having first tried this restaurant with friends a few years ago, and remembering that the previous meal was quite nice. The menu has all of the standard UK curry fare along with some very nice sounding chefs specials, however tonight I wanted a standard curry fix, so I chose something that I knew would satisfy.
The restaurant is modern and stylish – no flocked wallpaper or moving light pictures – the lighting is subtle, pictures modern, and general ambience is clean and minimal with wooden floors.
We chose some pappadoms to start a mixture of plain and spicy, and they were
accompanied by mango chutney, yoghurt sauce, onion salad and tomato onion relish. All were really nice.
We didn’t go overboard with mains, I chose a king prawn dopiaza:

mustard 1

My partner chose a chicken jalferezi:

mustard 2

We asked for aloo peas as a side dish (not on the menu) and the chef happily provided this.

mustard 3

Then a pilau rice each – the rice being lovely, fluffy and separate.
The Chicken Jalferezi was made with chicken tikka and a lovely gravy which was spicy but not overly hot. The King Prawn Dopiaza was full of juicy prawn meat, onions and capsicum in a plentiful medium heat gravy. The Aloo Peas was nicely spiced and delicious.
We cleared our plates ! A perfect amount of food to fulfil our curry craving, very nicely presented with good service. Everything was tasty and as expected. Lovely food, and I will return.

Last Visit Date – April 2017

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Mends Street Cafe, South Perth

The Mends Street Cafe always seems to be busy when I go next door to La Patisserie. I even saw Manu Feildel in there once when the Good Food show was on at the Convention Centre. Today I went to La Patisserie for a last coffee and almond croissant before the New Year diet starts and was disappointed to find it closed. I decided to go next door to Mends Street cafe for something brekkie-ish.
The area around Mends Street is very nice – it’s a little bit of a cafe strip with a quaint nearby arcade, and the South Perth foreshore at the bottom of the street, and the Transperth ferry jetty close by. It is usually a very good photo opportunity and today was no exception – a lovely sunny New Years Day.

mend 1

I chose a soy chai latte and a plate of blueberry pancakes. My companion chose a full brekkie and a flat white.
The waitress brought the wrong drinks to the table, and when we said that we had not ordered cappuccinos, she looked at us as if we must be in the wrong. Eventually the correct drinks were served.
The coffee was a little bitter (which usually means that the beans are not fresh), but I was pleased to see my chai latte served in a glass with a handle. Nothing annoys me more than hot coffee served in a glass with no handle. You then have to wrestle with the glass and a napkin to avoid burned fingers – in my opinion glasses are for cold drinks (unless they have a handle).

mend 2

I did have to send the chai latte back though – it was incredibly weak and tasted like hot milk. I didn’t get any kind of apology – the waitress just said that the chai they use is a very weak one…. hmm…. why not use more of it then ? or use a stronger version?

mend 3

Blueberry pancakes were nice – I could have had cream, but as I am minimising my dairy intake, I chose syrup alone. Nice, but not wow. I know when food is delicious when I already start planning my next trip to the restaurant, whereas today, I was just reinforcing my disappointment that next door’s cafe was closed.
My companion’s full brekkie was underwhelming too – the eggs were nice, but one was a bit hard, the fried potatoes were a nice touch, but the bacon and sausages were average and the whole dish underseasoned.
Will I rush back to Mends Street cafe ? Not really – there are way better cafes in Perth – it’s time that Mends Street picked up their game.

Visit Date – September 2011

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Lawleys Bakery Cafe, North Beach

Just a quick review here of Lawleys at North Beach. This is one of several Lawleys outlets in Perth and has the advantage of being close to the ocean, just a little back on Flora Terrace, which is quite lively at weekends with neighbouring Tropico offering great brunches.
As soon as we walked in, we noticed an array of bread, savouries, pastries and cakes. Looking at the menu, Lawleys offer some fairly regular breakfast options, but after seeing the wonderful subs and sandwiches, we couldn’t resist giving them a try. It was nearly lunchtime and a sandwich seemed more appropriate than a brekkie style meal.

I chose turkey, cranberry and brie on dark rye.

law 1

This was a great sandwich, plenty of turkey, not too much cranberry, nice ripe brie, and a suitable helping of salad leaves. the bread was delicious too and the quality shone through. My partner chose a continental roll on a white baguette.

law 2

Again the bread was superb, the ham and salami were delicious, and the cheese melted temptingly in the middle.
The selection of cakes available here is wonderful – danish pastries, slices, scrolls, buns, sponges and tortes. The hot cabinet contains fresh and appealing pies and sausage rolls, and the cold cabinet contains a great selection of sandwiches, wraps and rolls. I must come back to report on the other yummy options.

Last Visit Date – March 2018

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Kitchen Inn Express, Karawara

Kitchen Inn Express is a favourite with the Asian community in Karawara. Situated in Waterford Forum, this cafe serves up the kind of Malaysian fare that you would find in Borneo. It’s one of the few places in Perth where you can find good Loh Bak, so obviously we started with a plate.

ki 1

Crispy, tasty, meaty and with a delicious chilli sauce this was a lovely starter.
I chose fried kway teow as my main, which was full of flavour, had three large juicy prawns and lots of sliced fish cake. It definitely satisfied my hunger.

ki 2

There was also a pot of rocket hot chilli oil to add some spice.

ki 3

My partner chose the chicken rendang rice which came with a fried egg – again very tasty with a nice rich sauce.

ki 4

We’ve been here several times and will definitely go back again when we’re south of the river. It’s casual, cheap and cheerful, and the seating is looking a little tired now, so the restaurant could do with a makeover, however the staff are lovely and it’s a real gem in Karawara.

Last Visit Date – April 2019

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Inglewood Hotel, Mount Lawley

The Inglewood Hotel is a fairly traditional pub and restaurant at the North end of Beaufort Street in Mount Lawley. We attended for a Christmas function and sampled the set menu. There were three choices of starter, three mains and two desserts.

ing 1

I chose the beef cheek croquettes with watermelon and feta salad for starter. They were a little under-seasoned on their own, but the addition of the sweet balsamic and salty feta made for a nice mouthful when sampled together. My colleague chose the vegetarian bruschetta which she said was also a little under-seasoned but the artichokes were a nice touch.

ing 2

For main course I selected the fish – grilled goldband snapper with edamame, pickled cucumber, chill, gem lettuce and red onion salad with lime dressing. The fish was a little on the dry side, but not overly so, and the pickled cucumber was lovely, I would have liked more of it. The salad had way too much lettuce and red onion and I think that a vietnamese style salad would have been a nicer accompaniment. The fish skin was nice and crispy and the fish had a lovely flavour.

ing 3

My colleague had the vegetarian cranberry and pistachio loaf with caramelised fig and mushroom parcels and salsa verde. The description sounded much nicer than the dish that was presented, however, my colleague enjoyed, she said that it was like a chunky risotto.

ing 4

Another colleague chose the quarter roast chicken with lemon thyme baby potatoes, honey roast carrots and leeks, with pan gravy and sage stuffing. He enjoyed it – it was a fairly standard roast lunch.

ing 5

Of the two desserts I chose the warm dark chocolate hot pot with raspberry ice cream and orange candy bits. It was lovely but quite rich and I couldn’t finish it all. I enjoyed the raspberry ice cream more than the chocolate – it was like a brownie mixture and quite runny underneath the crispy topping.

ing 6

The other dessert was house-made christmas pudding with vanilla brandy snaps. The texture was more of a cake than a pudding, but my colleague enjoyed it very much.

ing 7

Considering that this was a Christmas lunch and our tables totalled 23 diners, the staff did well to serve all of the meals in fairly good condition. There was a lengthy wait between courses though, and the meal wasn’t really a stand-out feast for me, it was fairly average, but also very good value at $48 for three courses.

Last Visit Date – December 2018

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Restaurant review, Vegan/Vegetarian

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Hong Kong Cuisine, Myaree

I was really looking forward to this outing. Our friends Susie and Simon had been telling us for a while about this fabulous Chinese restaurant close to their home. It had been dubbed ‘Chinese in the Cave’ and I was curious to experience this food in an unusual setting. The first thing that you notice as you walk in is that the decor is indeed very cave-like, but also the clientele is almost exclusively Chinese, and there are various notes on the window (probably special set menus) that are not in English. This was a good sign because if Chinese people are happy to eat here, it points towards it being very authentic.

hkc 1

The menu is quite extensive and contains photos for some of the dishes, so that you know what to expect. We were certainly spoiled for choice because many of the dishes had our tastebuds tingling in anticipation.
We chose prawn toasts to start, quite good, but also quite a thin layer of prawns, and I would have liked them a bit fatter. Served with a sweet dip and very good on the crunch factor.

hkc 2

We also chose the fungus with chilli. This was a dish of cloud ear mushrooms served in chilli oil, and the waitress double checked with us because she knew that it would be spicy. It was spicy, but very very tasty, the only difficulty being that as you got nearer the bottom of the dish it was impossible to take a spoonful without scooping up a large amount of the super hot chilli oil. If you have ever tasted chilli oil, you will know that you only need a little !

hkc 3

Next to arrive was the young chow fried rice, a very tasty and slightly smoky ‘special’ rice containing shrimps, pork, onions, egg and many other little flavour bursts.

hkc 4

Next came the salt and spicy ribs. These were the star of the meal with an amazing depth of flavour and a definite umami kick. I could have eaten the whole plate of these and nothing else, and I would have been very happy (but we had to share).

hkc 5

We also ordered beef with ginger, another fabulous dish, full of flavour, with really good ‘melt in the mouth’ tender beef.

hkc 6

Next to arrive was the fish – a whole halibut with ginger and spring onion. I couldn’t fault this – very fresh and with delicate flavours that complemented the fish perfectly. Another star of the show.

hkc 7

I chose a claypot chicken dish with soy and oyster sauce. This was a dish that was full of flavour but at the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat, I found it hard to eat. All of the chicken was on the bone and every mouthful was 50% bone and cartilage. Cooking meat on the bone definitely adds to the flavour, but there comes a point where the pleasure of eating it is slightly spoiled by the effort involved, so although I enjoyed the taste, I would probably not order this dish again.

hkc 8

Rice can be ordered by the bowl, plate, or bucket. We ordered a bucket of boiled rice and found that the insulated bucket was very effective at keeping the rice warm.

hkc 9

At the end of the meal, the waitress brought fresh melon (which we didn’t need to order), jasmine tea was also included.

hkc 10

Well Hong Kong Cuisine was wonderful and I can’t wait to go back and have ‘Chinese in the Cave’ again ! I absolutely loved the fried rice, the ribs, the fish and the beef, and would probably order them again with a few different additional dishes. It was good value too, working out at less then $30 a head for such a huge amount of food. Yum.

Last Visit Date – December 2018

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Papparich, Joondalup

When Papparich arrived in Australia, I was quite pleased to see somewhere serving Malaysian delights, and a good place to get a Nasi Lemak fix.
In recent times I have also found some limited vegetarian options, and the vegetarian ‘mutton’ nasi lemak is definitely a good substitute. If you are vegan you have to ask them to omit the egg.

Papparich also serve noodles, kway teow, roti canai, laksa, the menu is quite extensive – complete with an array of authentic drinks. You complete your own order form, press the doorbell on the table, and a waitress arrives to process the order.

This is the chicken curry nasi lemak:
pappa 1

This is the beef rendang nasi lemak:
pappa 2

This is the satay:
pappa 3

This is the vegetarian ‘mutton’ nasi lemak:
Pappa 4 veg

This is the vegetarian laksa:

pappa 30

Generally this is a good restaurant, but it can be quite variable depending on when you go. Portion sizes can vary considerably, and the quality of the beef rendang ranges from perfectly melting to a bit chewy.

Drinks include various fruity options plus teh tarik, kopi o, jelly drinks and soy options.

This is the lychee and grass jelly drink:

pap 20

Definitely worth a visit.

Last Visit Date – May 2020

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Restaurant review, Vegan/Vegetarian

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La Patisserie, South Perth

This cafe seems to be another outlet of Nedlands favourite La Galette de France. This is one of the few cafes in Perth that consistently delivers good
coffee and good pastries. Known for their almond croissants, they produce simply the best almond croissants that you will find in Perth. I have tried to reproduce them at home, and although I have made a good attempt, I cannot make croissants with the same crispiness and flavour.

lepat 2

When you ask for coffee in a mug, you get a decent sized mug, the iced coffee is amazing, and the hot chocolate is pretty awesome too. They managed to make me a lovely soy hot chocolate, and every hot drink comes with a little sweet palmier biscuit. The coffee is always good quality – not always the same brand though – I have known them to use blends from Antz inya Pantz as well as Five Senses among others. For the uninitiated, Antz inya Pantz is a coffee shop in Vic Park on the Albany Highway which was opened by a guy who just loves good coffee – he really goes the extra mile to source the best beans.

lepat 3

As for pastries, it is so hard to decide because they all look delicious, danishes, macarons, tarts etc., and if that wasn’t enough they have a crepe menu too.
The staff are mainly young and French, their lovely accents adding an extra touch of delight to the whole experience. I can’t praise this cafe enough, I have been coming here for years, making the journey down to South Perth, and I truly believe that this is the best of the La Galette outlets. It is just a short stroll from the South Perth foreshore, and parking is relatively easy.
If you make the journey too, you won’t be disappointed.

lepat 1

Last Visit Date – September 2019

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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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Truly Scrumptious

It Just Has To Be Delicious

Archive for the ‘Restaurant review’ Category

New Asian Delights, Mandurah

Must WineBar, Mount Lawley

Mustard, Hornchurch, UK

Mends Street Cafe, South Perth

Lawleys Bakery Cafe, North Beach

Kitchen Inn Express, Karawara

Inglewood Hotel, Mount Lawley

Hong Kong Cuisine, Myaree

Papparich, Joondalup

La Patisserie, South Perth

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