It Just Has To Be Delicious

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Source Foods, Highgate

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Source Foods is a cafe and deli that know what they are doing. Everything about the ambience, the menu, the coffee, displays a real love and knowledge of food. One of the most popular breakfast/brunch spots along Beaufort Street, it is located at the City end of Beaufort on the junction of Brisbane Street.

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Stylishly decorated, the cafe has a long list of juices and smoothies, the odd special, some beautiful looking cakes and bagels in the cold cabinet, and informative tasting notes on the house blend coffee and available single origins. The menu sources the best local produce and includes items such as breakfast burger, coconut and passion fruit pannacotta with stone fruits, feta and spring onion scrambled eggs, nasi goreng, vegan feast (chick pea & black bean falafel, smoked field mushrooms, charred asparagus, butternut hummus, smooth avocado, rocket, vegan feta & smashed hazelnuts), pan fried brussel sprouts with broad beans, cress, pesto, artichoke and confit tomato, and they seem to cater for all dietary needs while still keeping the food interesting
and appetising.
My partner said that his coffee was in the top three that he has tasted in the world. High praise indeed considering that the number one coffee is in Chicago (Ipsento, in case you are interested on N Western Avenue).

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I ordered a monkey business style protein smoothie with banana, almond milk, peanut butter and protein powder. They even double checked the type of protein powder that I wanted in case of allergies ! It tasted beautifully smooth, not powdery at all, and not sickly like some peanut butter smoothies can be. Yummy indeed.

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For breakfast my partner chose the pulled pork quesadilla with chipotle beans,
cheddar, rocket, chilli mayo and onion jam. It was a lunch special, but they very accommodatingly allowed it as a breakfast item. The last mouthful was as good as the first and everything about it was beautifully prepared and delicious.

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I chose the miso hot-smoked salmon, with roasted kipfler potato, chorizo, torched eggplant hummus, asparagus, herbs & soft fried egg. Again a wonderfully constructed dish where nothing on the plate was out of place. Also a nicely sized portion. The torched eggplant hummus was smoky and delicious, and the salmon was plentiful, good quality and very very tasty.

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It took all of our strength not to have something to takeaway from the cold cabinet afterwards – it all looked so appealing.

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It was a wonderful meal, and we were serenaded by 80’s music, which had us tapping our feet. Source is definitely a favourite with the local

Last Visit Date – December 2019

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Pictures from another visit:
Kimchi avocado on toast with poached egg:
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Vegan feast. Crispy cauli, yellow beetroot, amazing cherry tomatoes, zoodles and mushrooms:
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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review, Vegan/Vegetarian

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Tra Vinh, Northbridge

Today we had a craving for Vietnamese and decided to try Tra Vinh in Northbridge. This is one of three Tra Vinh cafes, and is canteen style, no frills. The seating is not overly comfortable, it’s hard for you to move once you are at the table because the tables are crammed in and if you push your chair back you will bump into the person behind you. We had a table that was taped together and quite rocky, but once we worked out how not to tip
the table and its contents over, we were okay.
The first course was prawn rice paper rolls, nice but the rice paper was a little on the stiff side indicating that they had been made much earlier in the day.

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For main course my partner chose a noodle soup with shredded chicken. This had a lovely broth, plenty of veg, a quail egg, and a crispy wonton. The noodles were good and the chicken was a lovely tasty roast chicken.

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I chose combination egg noodles which had a lovely mixture of meats, seafood and veggies. Really good comforting noodles.

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We also shared some peking style spare ribs – again well prepared with a crispy batter and sweet sticky sauce.

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I liked Tra Vinh. The decor could probably do with an update, but it was nice cheap, cheerful food with just the right amount of spice.

Visit Date – March 2019

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Restaurant review

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The Modern Eatery, Mount Lawley

The Modern Eatery specialises in aburi sushi – the lovely charred, flame seared sushi that you see in several outlets now. It’s a very clean and minimalist restaurant, more cafe style than first date material.

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We chose a yuzu drink to start with – yuzu, citrus, lime and mint – very refreshing.

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We chose a crunchy salad to open proceedings – leaves with lotus roots, crunchy sweet potato shreds, and sesame dressing. This was lovely – a nice contrast of flavours and textures.

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Next came a selection of signature aburi sushi, some salmon and some tuna, all really good.

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We finished off with tempura prawns and vegetables, very nicely cooked with a great ponzu dip.

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I loved Modern Eatery – it was clean, tasty and reasonable and the staff were really welcoming. Definitely one of Mount Lawley’s best.

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Visit Date – April 2019

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Restaurant review

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Tom’s Italian, North Beach

The views at Tom’s are spectacular. Situated on the site of the old Soda Sunlounge, it’s worth the walk up the stairs to enter this restaurant, which has tables inside and an outside deck. Having said that, the windows could do with a clean.

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The waitresses were really pleasant and brought us the menus and table water. My companions were keen to have a pizza, and they chose the Hawaiian (ugh, not something that I would choose) and the capricciosa. As you probably know I am not a fan of nontraditional Italian pizzas, and the idea of pineapple on a pizza fills me with horror, but my companions thoroughly enjoyed it.

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The capricciosa was more to my liking with tomato, pancetta, mushrooms, artichokes and olives, and again this was an enjoyable pizza.

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I chose to have fish and picked the barramundi with smoky eggplant, tomatoes,
marscapone and cabbage. It was really enjoyable, the fish was very fresh with a lovely crispy skin, and the vegetables were cooked perfectly.

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We were too full to have dessert and left with smiles and full tummies. My only
disappointment was that they didn’t have orange juice to make a mimosa – no restaurant should really run out of orange juice, but that aside, it was a really nice meal. Personally I think that the pizzas are better at Pappagallo, but I would definitely return to Tom’s for that wonderful fish and the amazing view.

Visit Date – January 2018

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Restaurant review

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May Street Larder, East Fremantle

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On Canning Highway just before you get to the Fremantle gateway sits May Street Larder (unsurprisingly at the junction of May Street). It’s a cafe with a very chilled vibe, and a very allergy friendly menu including some Cocowhip options (vegan friendly, dairy and gluten free). The coffee is Campo’s and the blend of the day was round and smooth on the palate.

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I chose a breakfast smoothie – bananas, dates, honey and almond milk – very yummy.

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The menu was full of tempting options – sweetcorn, coriander and lupin fritters; baked eggs with harissa, yoghurt, quinoa and herbs; chilaquiles; mushroom bruschetta; and a very yummy sounding multigrain porridge special with coconut milk and berries.
I couldn’t get past the beef brisket hash though, and oh my goodness it tasted amazing and certainly ticked all of the boxes for me. Crispy fried potatoes, soft poached eggs, onions, leeks and chilli hollandaise – perfectly put together with a nice serving of brisket.

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My partner chose the breakfast burrito with chorizo, feta, scrambled egg, white beans, herbs, coriander and jalapeno salsa. This was a gorgeous combination of flavours, very tasty with a nice bright fresh salsa.

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This is how our plates ended up:

It was very tempting to buy takeaway cakes for later, but we thought no, we’ll come back soon and try some of the other yummy menu options because this is definitely one of Perth’s finest cafes.

Last Visit Date – May 2019

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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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The Apple Daily

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The Apple Daily Bar and Eating House is part of the Print Hall complex in Brookfield Place on St. George’s Terrace in Perth CBD. We had some difficulty finding it and couldn’t see a signpost, so I asked one of the bouncers at the downstairs bar, and he directed me up the stairs to the first floor. Even on the first floor it wasn’t obvious that the restaurant was Apple Daily, and we had to check again as we walked in.
We were directed to our table, and sat down to peruse the menu. We ordered a Xabregas Riesling while we were deciding, and it was a really lovely crisp apple flavour with a soft honey citrus and apricot bouquet – one of the best rieslings I have tasted.

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The menu is a mixture of small, medium and large plates, and we keenly chose the raw kingfish with black bean and ginger dressing, green onion and coriander.

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This was a lovely dish. The onions had been marinated in the dressing so they weren’t too hot and overpowering, and the black beans weren’t too salty. It was really fresh and flavoursome.
We also chose pork spare ribs with tamarind, lime and chilli. The flavours were really good, but the pork needed a little more cooking time. It didn’t have that satisfying ‘fall off the bone’ quality, but the ribs were very enjoyable nonetheless.

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We chose the duck with spring onion, cucumber, hoisin and flower bun. I think I
would have preferred pancaked because it was difficult to wrap the long slices of duck in the thin bun dough. The duck was also a bit tough in places and hard to digest, but the majority of it was nice.

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For the main dish we chose the lamb shank mussaman curry with sweet potato, confit shallot and peanuts. The curry was a nice flavour, and the lamb was still on the bone, but it was lacking something, maybe a squeeze of lime would have helped.

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We also ordered a green papaya salad, which was lovely and fresh if a little hot, and a roti and some rice.

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All in all it was a good meal, and a little on the expensive side, but with a bit more attention to detail it could have been a fantastic meal.

Visit Date – October 2018

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Restaurant review

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Tao, Joondalup

Tao sits on the corner of Boas Avenue and Grand Boulevard in Joondalup and was quite busy on the Sunday afternoon that we visited.

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The restaurant is dominated by a sushi train, and food offered on the menu is
predominantly Japanese with Thai and Vietnamese options. I always wonder why restaurants offer a variety of cuisines rather than sticking to one and making it really good, however, I had heard good things about Tao and wanted to give it a try. I ordered fresh coconut to drink, which arrived in the coconut shell, so it was lovely and fresh.

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While we perused the menu we chose some crab claws from the sushi train. The flavour was good, but they had been on the train too long and were cold, which detracted from our enjoyment. We also chose a crab/potato cake plate which was quite nice, and again could have been warmer.

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Eventually we decided on a mixed tempura, a karaage bento and a crazy crab roll.

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The bento box was dominated by orangey yellow sauces – chilli mayo for the karaage and an odd dressing for the salad (which had separated making the salad quite wet). The miso was good, and the karaage was okay but could have been crispier.

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The tempura was a bit bland. The prawns were fresh, but the veggies and ponzu sauce were a bit tasteless and I added plenty of wasabi to ramp up the flavours. I like tempura when you get a little heap of grated radish to add to the sauce, but sadly this was missing, and I have had much better tempura than Tao provided.

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The crab roll was lovely – nice tasty flavours, but not very tightly wrapped, so it fell apart while eating it. It was accompanied by deep fried soft shell crab in the middle of the plate, but this could have been crispier, it was a bit oily and soggy. Despite a fairly lacklustre meal, I was impressed with the array of cakes in the display cabinet and on the sushi train. They really looked appealing.

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The wait staff were a little mixed, the guy was lovely and apologised profusely that the freshly prepared ordered items were taking a while (I didn’t actually mind – I prefer to wait for fresh food), whereas the lady was a bit brusque and not very attentive. It was a cold night and we were seated close to the door, so every times somebody came in or out, we felt a draught and had to keep getting up to close the door. I probably wouldn’t go back to Tao. It’s not cheap, but portions are large. Sadly the big portions are not matched by big flavour, and it was a meal that I didn’t really enjoy enough to return. If I did come back, it would be for tea and cake.

Visit Date – June 2019

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Restaurant review

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Swell, Mullaloo

Swell is a relatively new cafe at Mullaloo, perched at the top of the Surf Life Saving club. With no road between the cafe and the beach, it has uninterrupted views of the Indian Ocean, and on our visit we had a great sunset. There are several tables along the window with the best view, but you have to book for those, and we were given a seat a little further back, but still good enough to catch the beauty of the sun going down over the ocean.

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We chose an exquisite home made Raspberry and Lemonade kombucha to drink. This was lovely with really nice iced raspberries – very refreshing.

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Our bread starter was very generous with a good serving of EVOO and balsamic as well as some whipped butter. The bread was fresh and warm from the oven.

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We both fancied fish (because the original plan for the evening was to get takeaway fish and chips). My partner chose the special swordfish with crispy kale, roast potatoes, charred corn and tomato salsa. The fish was fresh and tasty, the potatoes had good flavour with creamy soft insides, the salsa was fresh, and the kale a nice crispy contrast. He left a clean plate.

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I chose the fish and chips with rainbow slaw and home made tartare sauce. The chips were plentiful, the fish fresh with a lovely crispy batter, and the slaw had a good zing to it.

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There were lots of other nice options on the menu such as beef duo – steak and brisket pot pie, pulled lamb flatbread, swell burger, braised lamb shoulder and chicken penang curry. It all sounded lovely and we had difficulty choosing, but we did choose two winning dishes, and the staff were lovely. It will be nice to go back for breakfast.

We did return for coffee and cake and also for breakfast in 2018-2019, sadly the subsequent visits were expensive and not as good as the first visit, and we did not return again.

Update – returned for lunch with friends in August 2020, and Swell have added lots of vegetarian and vegan options to the menu. The salads are really good, and the vegan cakes are awesome. I had vegan lemon cake which was moist and delicious with great frosting:

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My friends had the semolina cake, which was good but they did leave some of the icing, so maybe that was too sweet:

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It was an expensive lunch, but the quality was good.

Last Visit Date – August 2020

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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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The Shorehouse, Swanbourne

Just north of Cottesloe is the quieter suburb of Swanbourne, and at the north end of marine parade lies a small car park, a children’s playground, a surf lifesaving club, and the rather fabulously situated Shorehouse – a restaurant with views straight across the ocean to Rottnest Island.

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It’s quite a big area with a lovely outdoor deck, high tables and regular tables inside. We chose a table inside near the window so that we could enjoy the view.

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The coffee served here is lovely – a nice rich chocolatey blend, I really enjoyed my iced coffee, and my partner loved his flat white.

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The menu is full of yummy sounding options like chilli scramble, ricotta hotcakes, and bacon and egg roll with rosti, but we both fancied the swimmer crab omelette – it seemed perfect for a breakfast by the beach. The waitress was really friendly and helpful.

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What a lovely omelette – perfectly made with a generous helping of crab and a buttery slice of quality bread. It was one of those omelettes where the last mouthful was as good as the first, and really nicely seasoned too (eggs need salt, and often arrive without enough seasoning). We sat there looking out of the window at the fabulous view, drinking great coffee, eating an amazing omelette, and listening to the chilled sounds of Sia and Zero 7. It was the perfect breakfast – the location, the food, the service, you can’t beat Shorehouse.

Last Visit Date – January 2019

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Restaurant review

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Shehnai, Ocean Reef

I haven’t been to Shehnai for over 3 years. It used to be our favourite local Indian restaurant, but we had a few lacklustre meals there, and just stopped going. Today we decided to give it another try and were delighted to find that the food was good. The restaurant was full and everybody seemed to be a local regular. The wait staff were really friendly too and very helpful.
We just chose pappadoms and pickles for a starter, deciding to save ourselves for the mains. First up was Chicken Korma, this used to be a favourite, and did not disappoint. Very rich, slightly sweet, with huge chunks of chicken and a nice coconut base, we made sure that we ate every last drop from the bowl.

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The pilao rice was light and fluffy and perfectly separated.

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Prawn Bombay had a rich tomato flavour and was brimming with juicy fat king prawns. A lovely succulent dish, beautifully spiced.

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We also chose a garlic naan – light slightly crispy at the edges and well flavoured with just a hint of garlic that wasn’t too overpowering.

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After all of that we were very full and didn’t have room for dessert. Whatever happened to Shehnai a few years back has now passed, and they are back in the game as one of the best Indian restaurants in the Northern suburbs. Highly recommended.

Last Visit Date – We are always here – this is a regular favourite

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Sheekh kebab
Garlic naan
Prawn Bombay

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Restaurant review

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