Mrs. S, Maylands
Posted: October 23, 2011 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: apple juice, bacon, breakfast, coffee, cornbread, eggs, Maylands, Mrs. S, tea Leave a comment »The pictures for this post have been waiting for some accompanying words for a few weeks now. Mostly because I’ve been quite busy (and lazy), but also because I knew the second I was reminded of the sight of those egg yolks drooling all over my breakfast again, I’d want to be sitting on a wobbly wooden chair at Mrs. S straight away. It’s Sunday evening and I’m full of BBQ, but I reckon there’s room for a little bit of what you see before you.
Mrs. S is pretty out of the way for most, on the corner of a busy cafe strip in charming Maylands. We arrived before 10am on a sunny Sunday morning, and joined the back of the short queue. The place was packed out and we could see the chefs working hard through the pass while people waited for their food. We were offered a friendly smile and a coffee while we waited, and shown to a table within a few minutes. The waiter handed us a couple of menus, attached with a clothes peg to an old kids book.
The menu and, err, Duck Tales.
I instantly fell in love with Toasted cornbread, bacon, poached eggs and maple syrup ($13.50); I love cornbread, and all the other ingredients for that matter. JM went for a simple Free-range scrambled eggs on toast ($12). I ordered a long mac, and JM had an apple juice and English breakfast tea. I joined the queue and made myself hungry by staring at the cakes and pastries on offer. On placing our order, I was disappointed (understatement) to find out they’d run out of cornbread. Disaster. I ordered the Full breakfast ($19.50) instead.
My long mac. The heart lasted all the way to the bottom, y’know.
The coffee was well made and went down a treat, while the freshly squeezed apple juice was full of sweet orchardy flavour, though not as good as at Cranked. I tortured myself by taking sneaky sideways glances at a girl eating the cornbread dish next to me, but our food turned up after a while and I dived in to take away the pain.
My feast of a breakfast. Shame it’s not cornbread.
JM’s scrambled eggs on toast, with home-made ketchup
My dish was a great combination of distinct flavours: sourdough toast topped with two perfectly poached eggs, italian sausage, mushroom, mixed baked beans and bacon, with a side of the house-made ketchup. The highlight for me was the beautifully roasted mushroom, rich with butter and faintly thymey. The sausage was fantastic, while the bacon was a great product but I prefer my fat crispy. The baked beans were the only let down: a nice mix but the sauce was a touch acidic and under developed, and the beans slightly hard, so not quite soaked or simmered to perfection.
JM loved her eggs; buttery and well seasoned on a nice wedge of that sourdough toast. I quote: “They were the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had”. Strong words. The ketchup was a great accompaniment, rich and savoury. Everything the bean sauce should have been, in fact.
Mrs. S is our favourite breakfast place to date, and we’ll gladly be back to queue for more. I just hope they keep some cornbread for me…
Mrs. S | 178 Whatley Crescent, Maylands | 08 9271 6690
Sayers, Leederville
Posted: September 20, 2011 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: bacon, breakfast, chorizo, coffee, eggs, leederville, Sayers Leave a comment »I’ve spent a fair bit of time wondering where the 1.7 million people living in Perth actually are. Suburbia seems to be pretty deserted in the evenings and on weekends, rain or shine. In four months on shore, I reckon I’ve nailed it; everyone is either shopping or eating. A couple of weeks ago, JM and I headed down to Sayers in Leederville for breakfast, where a fair percentage of that 1.7 million were packed inside. We were lucky enough to get our timing right and grabbed a table outside near the front door, where a constant blast of hot breakfasty air rushed past. A bunch of Saturday morning joggers were milling around outside, waiting for a table where they could undo all the hard work.
There’s a lot of good stuff on the menu, and I really struggled. I was tempted to go for the bacon and egg with a side slosh of hollandaise, but ended up picking the potato rosti, poached eggs and bacon, with spinach and onion jam ($19.50). JM went for the chorizo baked egg ($19.50) and left the buttermilk and dark chocolate hotcakes for another day. She also ordered an english breakfast tea, and I had a long black with a side of hot milk. The drinks came first, and JM fell in love with the twee teapot. My coffee was fantastic and lasted about 3 minutes. I wish I’d ordered two.
Is this cool? JM and most old people say: yes
My long black. I wish it was longer.
The food took 20 minutes to arrive, which I thought was good going given how busy the place was. I sat on my hands while JM took the photos, before getting stuck in.
My rosti, complete with drooling poached eggs. Ideal.
My dish was a portion: a thick wedge of pan roasted rosti, with two slices of bacon, two poached eggs and a bundle of wilted spinach, all topped off with a fistful of rocket and shaved parmesan. The rosti was pretty good. Personally, I prefer them flat for maximum crispy surface area. This one was well flavoured and buttery, but could have done with a few minutes in the fires of Mount Doom to crisp up before serving. The bacon was great, and the spinach added a much needed earthy bite and illusion of healthy eating to what was a very rich dish. The eggs were perfect. If that last photo doesn’t make your stomach growl, you’re reading the wrong corner of the internet.
Chorizo baked eggs: deceptively rich. You need to be hungry for this one.
JM’s chorizo baked eggs were delivered in a mini frying pan on a tiny wooden board, topped with melted cheese, roasted tomato, sourdough toast and a bunch of rocket and parmesan. Diving in, it was clear that this was the heavily buttered child of an omelette and a serve of scrambled eggs. This was so rich. It might not look huge, but it’ll fill you from top to bottom, I guarantee it. The chorizo was deliciously firm and meaty, and the tomato added acidity and a big hit of rosemary. For me, the eggs were slightly under-seasoned; easily solved with a pinch of salt and pepper.
This was a top-class breakfast. Like most good things it wasn’t cheap, but if you’re lucky enough to find a seat one weekend morning, I highly recommend you park your behind and order something. We’ll be back (smoke me a kipper).
Sayers | 224 Carr Place, Leederville | http://www.sayersfood.com.au/
The Groper and His Wife, City Beach
Posted: September 14, 2011 Filed under: Dinner | Tags: chips, city beach, fish, fish and chips, salad, snapper, the groper and his wife 1 Comment »I reckon I know my way around a bag of fish and chips. It’s in my blood. If you’ve read any more of this blog, you might have noticed that eating for cheap is also in my blood. When an offer for The Groper and His Wife flashed up on one of those group buying sites, I snapped one up for the bargain price of $19. Recently we were in the area, so decided to drop in for an early dinner.
Walking through the door, it’s immediately clear that this is no ordinary fish and chips place; for one thing, the first thing you see is an array of great looking salads rather than a heat-lamp cabinet containing a selection of stuff “fresh out of the fryer”. There’s also a small wet fish counter and several desserts on show. The huge wedges of rocky road looked fantastic and big enough to feed a family of four.
I was met at the counter by a very friendly server, who took my order as per the deal: two pieces of fried snapper, a large portion of chips and a pot of salad of my choice. We went for the freshly tossed salad of the day. I took a seat on the tables outside with JM and we examined the menu while we waited.
Be warned: this place is expensive. Snapper and chips will set you back $17.90. In the middle of wondering if we could imagine paying over $35 for fish and chips for the two of us, our order arrived. We peeled open the crackling waxy paper and got stuck in.
Crispy snapper fillets
Mind-bending chips. Go get some.
No messing about: the chips are incredible, as good as I’ve ever eaten. Freshly cooked, crispy, salty and plentiful. In fact, this portion would have comfortably fed three. The fish was perfectly cooked, flaky and super-fresh (these guys don’t use the frozen stuff). Minor gripe? It was slightly greasy, but since it really was fresh out of the fryer and wrapped up in paper straight away, I guess that’s forgiveable. The salad was an unexpected but refreshing addition.
Salad: the opposite of fish and chips
Despite being somewhat of a cheapskate (and still adjusting to the cost of food in Australia), I found myself convincing myself I’d be back to pay full price while putting away the last few chips. For us, it’ll be a rare treat. We both love fish and chips (and are big fans of the Left Bank’s excellent Wednesday $39 seafood platter for two) but at this price we’ll never be regulars.
It’s amazing fish and chips, though.
The Groper and His Wife | http://www.groperandhiswife.com.au/
Cranked, Leederville
Posted: August 23, 2011 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: apple juice, banana, breakfast, brunch, cranked, leederville, omelette, smoothie 3 Comments »
I can’t quite decide if I like brunch. On one hand, I feel justified in eating something more substantial around breakfast time, covered in totally un-breakfasty sauces (like Hollandaise) or with more lunchy ingredients (like chorizo). On the other hand, I feel a bit robbed of a meal. Moaning aside, last Saturday morning led us to Cranked, a place at the end of the main strip of Leederville which bills itself as a “café restaurant”.
It was a bright sunny morning, so it was packed in and out when we arrived at 10:30am. Our timing was lucky and we grabbed a table outside straight away. The menu is pretty extensive and includes some interesting sounding options, such as “zucchini and goat cheese fritters” or the “Crankin’ grill”, which is topped with a much beloved ingredient of mine, haloumi. I struggled to pick, but eventually went for the omelette ($14) with ham (+$2). JM only had eyes for “Monkey Business“; banana bread with a ricotta and yoghurt spread. To drink I had apple juice ($5) and JM had a banana smoothie ($6).
My omelette came out frighteningly quick: less than five minutes. Our drinks arrived another five minutes later, which we found strange. Omelettes don’t like hanging around, so I had to dig in before JMs food arrived.
My omelette, topped with a fistful of pea shoots. Nah.
Apple juice (hit) and banana smoothie (miss)
The omelette was a mistake. It was cooked well enough, the egg was just how I like it and atop half a nicely toasted bagel. I realised immediately that for me, this is a very poorly thought out dish. First off, and maybe it’s just me, but raw tomatoes should never find their way to the middle of an omelette; they had seeped acidic juice, slightly curdling the on-the-point egg and melted cheese and making the whole thing very wet. The “tomato, basil and lime chutney” on top was also poorly executed – far too acidic, with a strong taste of undercooked tomato and no detectable basil. The ham was firm and generously portioned but soaked in the middle of omelette mess. The whole thing just didn’t work for my palette.
My apple juice was perfect, I’d return to Cranked just to taste it again; smooth and slightly sharp with the tang of freshly squeezed green apples. JM’s smoothie was a disappointment, containing no fresh banana (that we could taste) as advertised. A large quantity of extremely sweet banana syrup topped up with milk made it dubiously worthy of the $6 price tag and fairly unpleasant.
I ate slowly in the hope that JM’s food would arrive, but to no avail. It finally turned up in the hands of a very apologetic waitress five minutes after I’d finished. Two very generous slices of toasted banana bread with the side of ricotta spread turned JM’s frown upside-down and she dug in.
JM’s banana bread: a triumph of toasted nuttiness
The bread had a half-dense, nutty texture with a (slightly vague) banana background flavour and the occasional palette-tweaking hit of fresh raspberries. The toasting really brought out the nuttiness with a few singed ends of almond enhancing the flavour. I thought it tasted fantastic. JM found it a little under-sweet with a fruit cake texture. The spread was very rich with a grainy ricotta texture and a well balanced pairing of vanilla and raspberry; a good knob of butter would have been equally welcome.
Overall we found the food hit-and-miss, and the service … it just wasn’t our day. But they were busy. We used a 25% discount voucher from the entertainment book when paying our bill, but were told the discount only applied to food and not to drinks.
If we come back, it’ll be for an apple juice to go.
Cranked is in the 2011-2012 Entertainment Book (25% discount on food).
Cranked | 106 Oxford St, Leederville | http://cranked.net.au/
The Left Bank, East Fremantle
Posted: August 21, 2011 Filed under: Dinner | Tags: chips, fish, Fremantle, mussels, seafood, seafood platter, The Left Bank 1 Comment »
I love a bargain. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve eaten enough great food to know that it often comes at a price, which I don’t mind paying when it really is great food. There are few things that make me happier than getting a good feed for a good price and it’s that instinct that sends me trawling for good eating out deals.
The Left Bank got caught in my net before we even arrived in Perth. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about my stomach and where the next meal to fill it will come from; in fact, I served most of my notice period at the job I left behind googling my gastronomic destiny in my new city-to-be. When the words “half price seafood platter on Wednesdays!” flashed onto my dusty computer screen, my dreary surroundings drifted away and I found myself basking in the warm evening sun by the calm Swan river. With an enormous pile of seafood awaiting my attention… No such luck.
We were through the door of The Left Bank within 2 weeks of the plane hitting the runway. Having enjoyed some lovely food that day, we returned this week, camera in hand, for another big feed. All in the name of bringing our experiences to you, the fine reader. How selfless are we?
The first time we came, I had a panic about getting fed so booked a table. I mean, who wouldn’t spend a Wednesday evening eating discounted seafood? The answer that night was, well, everybody. We had a table in the upstairs restaurant, which was largely empty for the whole time we were there (around 6-7:30pm). This time, we didn’t book but headed straight for the bustling bar section, complete with live music. The riverfront setting is beautiful and the place has a somewhat piratey feel with the old wooden furniture and basic décor. The atmosphere was lively, but looking around at the tables it was pretty clear what most people were here for…
Being on the brink of unconsciousness (I’d been saving myself all day), we ordered the Turkish bread with EVOO, balsamic vinegar and dukkah ($8) to start, and the seafood platter for two ($39) for the main event.
The bread was decent, served with reasonable quality (if not quite enough) dipping oil and vinegar. The dukkah was an odd addition, with the taste and texture of dry falafel mix, but we were hungry.
Turkish bread with EVOO, balsamic vinegar and some strangely dusty dukkah
The seafood platter arrived shortly after we’d calmed our rumbling bellies, and I spent a few painful minutes trying to think about something other than the steaming feast in front of me while JM took photos.
It’s a miracle JM managed to get a photo of the intact platter
The line-up goes like this: Up top, four shell-on king prawns, four oysters and two large slices of smoked salmon atop a green salad of mixed baby leaves, rocket and beansprouts, with Thousand Island dressing. Underneath, a bowl of chilli mussels surrounded by four fish goujons, two large servings of calamari and the same of chips, with tartare sauce and sweet tomato relish.
It’s tempting to dive into the cold stuff first, but it’s a big meal so my advice to the prospective diner is to kick off with the bottom layer while it’s still piping hot.
Generous mounds of calamari atop crispy chips, with the mussels in the background
Fish: This was slightly disappointing. The first time we came, we were delivered two flappingly fresh fillets of snapper. This time around, we got four goujons of less fresh but still perfectly edible fish of unknown parentage.
Chips: Steaming hot, crispy and well seasoned.
Calamari: Nicely fried, not the most tender I’ve eaten but very enjoyable. Kudos to the chef for giving us enough to put squid on the endangered list.
Mussels: These were nicely cooked in plenty of sauce with some background heat, with no empties. I’ll save my general thoughts on chilli mussels for another time…
Salad: This was fresh and crisp. The prawns were tasty enough and the salmon had a nice woody flavour, but was a little wet and mass produced for my taste. The oysters were very fresh and a total pleasure to gargle with a squirt of lemon.
Sauces: The tartare was excellent, and I’m guessing it’s homemade from the uneven chunks of gherkin and caper. The Thousand Island was pretty ordinary, and the relish was slightly out of place with a bland flavour and too much sugar for my taste.
We like this place. As I said, it’s a good feed for a good price. This is no ‘fruits de mer’ all-singing-all-dancing celebration of the sea like you’d find on the South-West coast of France, but it’s not trying to be.
Think of it as good fish and chips with all the trimmings. We’ll be back for more.
The Left Bank is in the entertainment book (buy-one-get-one-free mains) and has a different special every day of the week.
The Left Bank |15 Riverside Rd, East Fremantle | http://www.leftbank.com.au/
The Pickled Fig, South Fremantle
Posted: August 16, 2011 Filed under: Coffee & Cake | Tags: apple pie, beach, cake, coffee, hot chocolate, The Pickled Fig Leave a comment »I tend to be a savoury food person. Left to my own devices on one of those days where three courses just won’t fit, it’d be an entrée and main for me without fail. The world can be a cruel place sometimes: JM is the polar opposite. Her world revolves around dessert.
On the other hand, we share a love of tea and cake. We do that a lot.
So, on our way back up the coast we called in at The Pickled Fig, located just off the beach on the South side of Freo. Despite the location, the view was a tad underwhelming. And it was windy and cloudy, but we can’t really hold that against them can we?
The Pickled Fig is very set up for its beach-side location, with as many tables outside as in. It also has some cool deco and a quirky interior. I particularly liked the lighting, probably because it looked similar to my attempts at installing light fittings.
The light fittings: my kind of DIY
We were still reeling from our huge brunch so decided to share. JM doesn’t like coffee, so I stared longingly at the espresso cheesecake before dragging myself back to reality to survey the rest of the dessert cabinet. We settled on apple pie. JM also had a dark hot chocolate, and I had an affogato.
The apple pie was … ok. We liked the pastry, which I’m pretty sure was a suet recipe. Deliciously thick and crisp at the crust end, while a bit limp and underdone at the pointy end. I realise I’ve made that sound negative, but it isn’t. I like pastry a bit ‘fudgy’. Sadly the filling was disappointing: flavourless and quite dry. That familiar, comforting fondue of sugar and natural apple juice was totally absent. The accompaniments of strawberry compote and a generous quantity of whipped cream were welcomed with open mouths.
Apple pie, with whipped cream and strawberry compote
Lovely gooey pastry, disappointing filling
JM’s dark hot chocolate also missed the mark. I quote: “Not hot enough, not creamy enough and not chocolately enough”.
“Hot” chocolate
My affogato on the other hand was delicious. The ice cream was top-notch and the espresso was smooth.
My excellent affogato
We probably won’t be back to The Pickled Fig. This was sadly another example of the “don’t eat food on the sea-front” which we’ve been experiencing lately. There must be some exceptions out there?
The Pickled Fig is in The Entertainment Book 2011-2012 (25% discount).
The Pickled Fig | 21 Ocean Dr, South Fremantle | http://www.thefig.com.au
West End Deli, West Perth
Posted: August 13, 2011 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: bacon, breakfast, coffee, eggs, mocha, tea, toast, west end deli 2 Comments »
So we’d been fancying breakfast. We usually start the day with a bowl of cereal or a Nature Valley granola bar (JM and I share an unhealthy obsession with these). Sometimes on the weekend an over- enthusiastically tall stack of pancakes and two strong teas will make their way to the bedside table.
But today, a long week in work and the promise of a sunny Saturday morning led us to the West End Deli. We parked up in a nearby side street and followed the promising smells of bacon, coffee and baking bread to the shop front, which was buzzing with chatter. A quick scan of the twenty or so tables told us we were in for a wait, but we were handed a menu and shown to a window-side table within ten minutes by a friendly waiter.
Were you on a tour of West Perth looking for a rental, you’d probably take one look at the peeling paint, chipped plaster and yellowed plastic fittings before politely thanking the estate agent and getting out of there. None of the crockery matches, and I don’t think there’s a table that doesn’t wobble in the whole place. Now, the term ‘shabby chic’ grates on me like fingernails on a chalkboard, but we reckon it’s pretty cool. Somehow.
Chairs tangled with the light fittings. Weird.
I’ll be frank; there ‘aint enough stuff on the menu, at least not breakfasty stuff. Maybe I’m being unfair and was just a tad bitter not to see my favourite eggs Benedict there. JM was up for eggs; scrambled, on toast ($12), with a side of bacon ($5). I love eggs, but spotted mushroom terrine with blue cheese butter ($8) nestled amongst the side dishes to go with my toast ($7). As well as complimentary glasses of water, which were kept attentively topped up, JM ordered a tea ($3.50) and I had a mocha ($3.80). The drinks turned up first. The tea was English breakfast loose leaf; business as usual. The mocha was served in a glass, capped thickly with rich frothed milk and cocoa powder. It was very smooth and delicious in its own right, but I would have preferred a stronger dose of coffee.
My mocha
Then the food. These guys make their own bread, and it’s right up my street. A nice springy and slightly dense texture, kind-of sourdoughy. We each had two thickly sliced and lightly toasted pieces. JM’s dish was impressive, and huge; two or three perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs and three slices of very thick-cut bacon (about 6mm). The eggs were buttery and well seasoned, and the bacon was firmly meaty and oozing with salty juices. JM loved it but struggled to eat it all (cue my fork).
The toast
The toast: under the hood
Scrambled egg on toast, with bacon
This bacon was seriously thick
My mushroom terrine didn’t look great, but was warm and dripping with blue cheese butter. The texture was nice and firm but the earthy mushroom flavour that I love so much was shadowed by just a little too much parsley. I mopped up the last of that savoury butter with my toast crusts, so it can’t have been that bad!
Mushroom terrine, topped with blue cheese butter
At just over $40 for two of us, it’s not cheap, but it’s no ordinary egg on toast either. Will we be back?
Absolutely.
West End Deli | 95 Carr St, West Perth | http://www.westenddeli.net.au/
