It Just Has To Be Delicious

Posts tagged ‘Cottesloe’

Boto Teppenyaki and Wine Loft, Boatshed Markets, Cottesloe

If you know Boatshed Markets, you’ll know that the food for sale is top quality, a bit on the expensive side, but great for special occasions and treats. Boto has the advantage of being perched above the markets, with access to a multitude of fresh fish, meat, and vegetables. It’s also a wine merchant with it’s own cellar, so has access to many varieties of great wine, and the menu includes takeaway prices if you want to buy a bottle to drink with your meal and take the rest home.

We sat down to peruse the menu and were offered some water for the table. We asked for some non-alcoholic drinks, but this seemed to be a sticking point. Boto do not serve mocktails, and none of their wine collection includes alcohol free wine. If you want a soft drink from ‘downstairs’ then they’ll get it for you, but as we hadn’t looked around the market with soft drinks in mind, we didn’t really know what was available. So we stuck with water, which wasn’t ideal, it was a special occasion and we wanted to toast it with a mocktail or a glass of zero bubbles, but it wasn’t to be. Most other restaurants manage to serve alcohol free drinks without making you feel like an outcast.

Everything on the menu looked great, so we chose a variety of small, medium, and large dishes. First cab off the rank was a sashimi dish of kingfish with black miso and karasumi (mullet roe). Really good flavours, and very enjoyable.

Next came tuna nigiri with wasabi salsa and caviar. Absolutely the best tuna nigiri I have ever tasted.

Wagyu gyoza were soft and velvety with a great tang of soy and black vinegar sauce.

Then we had agedashi tofu with okra and mushrooms which really raised the umami levels.

Two delightful skewers of chicken yakitori, super tender chicken with smoked salt and lime.

The larger dish consisted of hibachi cooked toothfish with turnip and umeboshi, a plate of charred seasonal greens with edamame, spinach, cured egg, and leek oil, and some steamed rice.

Everything we ate was amazing quality and really delicious. It was an expensive meal but worth it for a special occasion. The only things that irritated me about the experience were the lack of anything non-alcoholic (other than water), and the fact that when we tried to pay with a gift card (unsuccessfully), the waitress swiped the card really harshly so many times that she damaged it quite badly. I have investigated and I can’t get a replacement for my $100 restaurant gift card, so it was a way more expensive meal than expected.

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Last visit August 2026

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Restaurant review

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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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The cake cabinet looked very tempting but we decided to save that for another day. The raspberry brownies looked particularly good.

Vans is definitely worth a try – one of Cottesloe’s jewels.

Last Visit Date – August 2022

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Extra pics from another visit:

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Pink grapefruit and rosemary soda – so yummy:

Pulled pork chimichurri – top dish :

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Korean beef tacos:

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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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John Street Cafe, Cottesloe

I have been making the trek to John Street for brekkie/brunch for quite a few years now, and although it seems to have changed hands in recent years, the quality is still the same.
Using wonderful quality ingredients, there is a selection of food for breakfast and lunch, to eat in or takeaway. Breakfast is served all day and lunch starts at 11:30am. There are also tables on the pavement which makes for a dog friendly cafe. Staff are friendly and welcoming, and even when the cafe is packed to the rafters, you can often get a table with less than a 20 minute wait.
The fresh orange juice never disappoints – delicious, freshly squeezed and sweet:

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On this visit, the coffee was not particularly good, quite strong and bitter:

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I usually like the John Street ‘Lot’ for brekkie, but on this occasion chose the Hash n Smash. Very nicely constructed veggie hashcakes with two poached eggs, spinach, chunky tomato relish and a heap of bacon. Also available with smoked salmon:

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My companions chose the eggs benny with ham. Nice soft muffin with fresh thick hollandaise and perfectly poached eggs:

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By the end of the meal, the plates were clean. Another triumph for John Street. The only minus points were for the lacklustre coffee. A great way to start the day followed by a walk along Cottesloe beachfront.

Last Visit Date – December 2017

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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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Blue Duck, Cottesloe

The Blue Duck Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The Blue Duck on Marine Parade is a restaurant with one of the best views in Cottesloe. With Rottnest lingering in the distance and the beautiful blue green waters of Cottesloe Beach, it’s a fairly iconic location.

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We stopped by for brunch on Easter Monday and felt fortunate to get a table. We started with coffee which was delicious, a nice caramel flavour made with freshly roasted beans.

For my brekkie I chose the breakfast board – a triple combo of orange juice, muesli with berry compote and yoghurt, and ham benedict on a rosti. The benedict was lovely, great hollandaise with a nice acidity to it, a really tasty rosti, and a good fresh egg dribbling over the quality slices of ham. Yum. The muesli was nice and had a slightly floral aromatic flavour to it, topped with berries, a slice of poached pear and some thick yoghurt. My only issue was that the chunk of pear was too big to slice with the little spoon, so I had no choice but to pick it up with my fingers. The orange juice was fresh and tasty.

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My partner chose the surfer’s brekkie. Bacon, sausage, tomato, hash brown and eggs with some sourdough. He said it was nice but the eggs were just lukewarm, and got cold very quickly. All the elements were good quality.

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I like the Blue Duck, it’s a great location and the food is always tasty. Definitely one of the good restaurants in Cottesloe.

Visit Date – April 2018

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Restaurant review

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