Review – Page 3 – Abstract Gourmet

Melbourne: Liar Liar – Hawthorn

I really didn’t get very far with these Melbourne posts did I ? Well now that things are settling down a little I’ll at least try and catch up with the photos I’ve already uploaded.

Liar, Liar in Hawthorn in the latest venture of former Perth coffee dignitary and 2007 WA barista champion Nolan Hirte. Nolan and his partners have set up an excellent space in Hawthorn, funky, relaxed, but focused on quality and totally befitting of the owners.

I can’t say I know Hawthorn very well as an area, but I’m led to believe it’s vaguely similar to Claremont in terms of style and clientele. An old and well established area with a fair amount of old money around the place, but not completely wrapped up in the establishment to realise the value of people trying to do something fresh and different.

Fresh and different would sum up Liar, Liar pretty well. From the decks on the bar where Nolan spins tunes when he isn’t pulling shots, to the very chic Clover Coffee brewing machine, and seriously tasty breakfast choices. It’s quite the compelling package.

We stopped by for breakfast on day 2 of the trip and a caught up with Nolan while talking coffee. This was first introduction to the Clover, which takes an innovative approach to single serve brewed coffee. From the Clover website:

After dosing it and grinding it to your specifications, you will add the coffee to the Clover brew chamber. You will choose the cup size and the steep time on the user interface, and then press the brew button. Clover delivers the exact dose of water at the temperature you’ve chosen. Stir and wait while the coffee steeps. At the end of the set time, Clover’s piston rises, creating a vacuum that draws the coffee through the grounds. The piston will then descend and deliver the coffee into your customer’s cup.

The flavours are very clean and there mouthfeel is entirely different to regular french press style coffee, which still retains a lot of sediment. We tried an Ethiopian and a Guatemalan through the clover and were pleasantly surprised by the delicate flavours and finish.

The regular coffee was of course fantastic. Nolan takes his espresso seriously even managed to swap records in amongst pulling some fantastic shots.

The food was on song too. My poached eggs (the test of any cafe) were perfectly presented, and Sharon’s coconut bread with fresh berries and yoghurt was more art piece than breakfast.

If I had to live in Melbourne, I think a trip out to Liar, Liar would be a weekly necessity.

Liar, Liar
90 Kinkora Road, Hawthorn
Phone (03) 9818 8864

Vue de Monde

How do you describe the indescribable without sounded like an idiot ? How do you condense 4 hours of dining into a relatively concise and relevant review ? How do you justify the expensive of spending more than the airline tickets it cost you to get to Melbourne on one nights dinner ?

The answer to those questions and more is… you don’t. You simply say, it was a nice and lovely experience that we won’t be doing again in a hurry.

We arrived at Vue de Monde for our 8:30pm reservation only to be seated directly in front of the hot pass. Looking up into a flurry of activity we saw chefs busy plating, brushing, stirring, and tasting. Essentially carrying on like they didn’t have an audience right in front of them. In the middle of them all was Shannon Bennett. The dilettante responsible for the organised chaos going on around us. He was there briefly and then vanished, back into the shadows from whence he came.

Our attention focused back onto the pass, a mirror hanging above it making it feel vaguely like a cheap motel room in Vegas… looking up at what you’ve always wanted to see happening, but never wanted to admit. It’s dinner and a show and the Rat Pack are crooning.

The food begins. “I’ll have everything you’ve got”, I say stupidly. The service all night is impeccable, the wine is unique and well matched to the food on the non-existent menu by sommelier Raul. The mood however, is far from the restrained intimacy I was under the impression was to be found here. It’s more like a boisterous gathered of the over endowed and out to impress, along with those scraping it all together to get a taste of something elusive. There’s an air of expectation on every table I peruse.

The dishes rolled out over the course of the night, each more elaborate than the next. The steady flow of wines making sure we never got too ahead of ourselves. Not all of the dishes worked for me personally. I can’t honestly say it was the greatest meal I’ve ever had, nor something I would necessarily recommend to anyone unless they had more than a passing interest in high end cuisine.

The only dish I will attempt to describe is the truffle risotto. If I had eaten only one dish this night, it would be this one. Unlike so many risottos I’ve tried this one was cooked perfectly. The soft bite to the rice was texturally sublime, and the combination of porcini mushrooms and truffle classical but right. Perhaps it says something that this was the most traditionally made dish of the entire evening, without a scoop of foam or a whiff of dry ice about it. I guess I’m just an old fashioned kind of guy.

For those inclined, here’s a list of everything we had, kindly supplied by Vue de Monde afterwards, as I had no clue what we were eating most of the night.

AMUSE BOUCHE
Pea and jamon soup with a jamon tartare served with a confit quail yolk on a lettuce raft
~
SAUMON AUX EPICES
Salmon jerky with toasted brioche, smoked salmon vale, Sterling caviar and a fish emulsion
2006 Cantele Fiano Alticcelli Puglia, Italy
~
RISOTTO AUX TRUFFES
Classically inspired truffle risotto
Barbeito Sercial 10 years old Madeira Madeira Island, Portugal
~
BOUILLABAISSE ‘EN CINQ MINUTES’ ET TARTARE D’ECREVISSE
5 minute bouillabaisse, tartare of crayfish, buffalo milk skin, finished with aromatic herbs,
and a touch of theatre
2006 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Loibner Wachau, Austria
~
PAIN PERDU ACCOMPAGNE DE SON FOIE GRAS
French toast, green apple purée and foie gras flavoured with eight spice and jamon Serrano Gran Reserva
2005 René Muré Riesling Clos St Landelin Alsace, France
~
BOUDIN D’ÉCREVISSE GRILLÉ
Grilled boudin of crayfish, glazed with beurre Café du Paris, sauce Américaine and blood orange
2006 Bindi Chardonnay Composition Macedon, Victoria
~
CONSOMMÉ FROID À LA TOMATE
Delicate tomato consommé with gazpacho jelly
~
TATAKI DE BŒUF WAGYU
Tataki of Wagyu beef with soja yuzu noodle and sweet corn purée
2005 Château Pierre Bise Anjou Villages Sur Spilite Loire Valley, France
~
AGNEAU ‘SATAY’
White Rocks lamb (WA), served four ways, spiced with a satay peanut butter with a honey and bay leaf jelly
NV Sanchez Romate ‘La Sacristia’ Oloroso Jerez, Spain
~
FROMAGE
Salad of Roquefort ravioli with hazelnut dressing
1997 Château Doisy-Daene 1er Grand Cru Classé Barsac, France
~
SALADE DE FRUITS
Fruit salad
~
‘CHEESECAKE’ AUX FRUITS DE LA PASSION
Passionfruit cream with frangipane sand and passionfruit soufflé
2007 Santa Rita Moscatel Late Harvest Valle del Limarí, Chile
~
BOULE DE CARAMEL FOURRÉE À LA MOUSSE DE COING
Quince foam set into a caramel sphere with white chocolate cage and frozen white chocolate soil
2002 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance Constantia, South Africa

*Updated to fix my erroneous spelling of the name*

1907

Meanwhile, back in Perth, life still goes on. It’s more than a couple of weeks before the now larger than life sized trip to Melbourne, and there’s plenty of serious eating to be done til then. As well as concerts, my Dad’s 60th birthday, and possibly some actual work.

So the latest place to get noticed on my food radar, came by an interesting set of circumstances. I was at home busily preparing dinner for guests when Sharon called. “Have you heard of 1907 ?” she asked while I busily shelled beans and tried to work out if my dates were sticky enough. “The year ?” I respond… “Only vaguely and in black and white”… (Aren’t you glad you’re not her :) ).

“No… (exasperated pause) I just got some spam email about a new restaurant called 1907… look it up.”

“Sounds dodgy” I reply, before getting ensconced in making sure my lamb shoulder and haricot stew wasn’t too tomatoey.

Surely enough though, that ever present need to know what is happening first crept back in, and I took a moment while the stew was simmering away (on a medium low heat for 90 minutes) to peruse this curious new venture who had decided that mass email marketing was the way to do a soft launch.

Turns out the restaurant is:

…a world class restaurant and bar housed in a 100 year old rag trade factory, situated in the hub of Perth’s former fashion district. 1907 is the result of an idea to evolve Perth’s inner city, maintaining its old charms and incorporating cutting edge design to match a world class dining experience provided by our enthusiastic team of hospitality professionals.

Well fair enough then. The photos on the website look nice, and the menu sounds interesting, and despite the fact that head chef Graeme Shapiro once appeared on an Ainsley Harriot show, I figure it’s worth checking the place out.

So on a casual Wednesday night after a gym session and realising that there was no food left in the house, the decision was made. Sharon decided to dress classy, and I went for something that could be described as post work chic (which in reality is all I can do to match up). Of course she ended up looking glamorous, and I looked like an over sized school boy.

It’s just as well we made an effort though, because this place is swish. A barely concealed frontage, with steps leading up to a set of large foreboding wooden doors immediately open into opulent surrounds. The designers have clearly spared no expense on the interior, and aside from some unfortunate choices in music (for mine), it did feel like we’d been transported somewhere very unPerth.

The wait staff were friendly without being being intrusive and come across as knowledgeable but not cocky. I thought I’d caught one of them out for a moment when I asked if the (complimentary) bread was made here, which he replied it was… small rye loaves and a slices of focaccia.

So we ordered a bottle of Bellarmine Chardonnay that I thought would go passably well with all of our dishes. There is a very limited list of by the glass selections, which the Maître d’ recited for us. Clearly quick meals and glasses of wine are not the desired way to dine here.

To start with we shared the manjimup marron and port lincoln mussels steamed in broth of
tamarind, lime leaves and coconut cream. Quite a mouthful on the menu, and equally so on a plate. Our waitress brought side plates so we could easily share the dish, which was thoughtful. The marron was personally a little chewy, perhaps it was undercooked. The broth was delicious though, the lime and tamarind create a lovely sour counterpoint to the sweetness of the marron.

For mains I ordered a seared duck breast and duck tortellini, while Sharon had the masala spiced gnocchi, braised fennel bulb and baby spinach. My duck came medium rare, as I like it, and in an oddly sweet sauce, which for the life of me I can’t remember (and it doesn’t seem to be on the menu on the website). Sharon’s gnocchi was actually good… As opposed to almost every gnocchi I’ve ever eaten. It was light and airy, and the masala worked really well with the fennel. Overall the food was good, though perhaps not heightened experience I was looking for. Though there is a “menu prestige” degustation which we could have opted for which may offer some added finesse.

The total bill came to $150 for two people. Which to be honest is not expensive if you compare it to what the vast majority of mediocre restaurants in Perth are charging at the moment. Add that to the effort that’s gone into the design and service, the private dining rooms, and the funky cocktail bar downstairs which is the latest place to be scene for inner city hipsters, and you’ve got quite a compelling package.

Now please email this post to all of your friends and let them know…

1907
26 Queen Street
Perth
Telephone: 08 9436 0233

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Cafe Zekka

inside Zekka looking up

Sometimes I feel far too uncool to be a cafe reviewer. At Cafe Zekka, that isn’t particularly hard. The places oozes cool and style, and if hipness was a liquid it would be coursing through the very veins of this new King St cafe. It’s enough to make a geek like me run for cover and hide myself in the gadget section of GQ.

Though the stylishness is not surprising however, when you consider that the co-owners of Cafe Zekka also run the funktastic Test Tube in Mt Lawley, and a tres chic guys clothes shop next door (which I will have to get the name of, and perhaps try and buy some fashion sense from).

But whilst there is plenty of style to the place, the reassuring thing is that there’s also substance.

Managers Aaron and Bill have made sure that the food and coffee is a lot more than just an afterthought. The coffee is being supplied by Campos Coffee from Sydney. It’s a big undertaking to be shipping coffee from over East, and not something I’d be doing unless I had a product of Campos quality to rely on. Will Young of Campos is ultimately committed to his product however, making sure that each of his contracts are making espresso up to his standards, and refusing to supply those who don’t.

Aaron is formerly of Tarts in Northbridge, and also helped establish Lincolns in Highgate, and really loves his coffee. Will from Campos came over to make sure he was on the right track and was happy with what he saw, which is evident in the effort he puts in. Bill was formerly the man behind much of the good food that Lincolns made, and will be making all the lunches on the premises as of today (they were temporarily supplied by the good people at Sayers), now that the ovens have gone in.

So what of the food and coffee then ? The espresso follows the Campos style (as it needs to), and displays a comfortable level of acidity that the Superior blend is famous for, but without going overboard, there’s some definite body and kick to it that finishes off nicely. Perhaps poured longer than I’m used to, but a lot of that comes down to personal preference and it’s good to be able to appreciate espresso in all it’s various permutation from cafe to cafe. A double shot flat white in a small tulip cup punched through the milk with ease.

The food we had was also fantastic. A moroccan lamb pie and a roast mushroom quiche, served with a fresh green salad with avocado and roast chicken. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of Bill’s creations, as he really has a flair for tasty lunches.

If you’re lucky enough to be a part of the CBD set, then make sure you take the time to wander a bit further down King St, and check these guys out.

** A little update with some new photos from Zekka, who have now changed to using local Crema coffee, roasted in Perth. They also have the power team of Jackson (formerly of Tiger, Tiger) and Ledeta running the cafe, and are open Friday’s for BYO lunches. Grab a bottle of wine and head in for specially cooked meals.

Cafe Zekka
74 King St, Perth
Phone: (08) 9481 1772
www.zekka.com

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The Flying Taco

The Flying Taco is the latest edition to the North Perth Mexican food scene (making a grand total of 2). Owner and chef Anna (formerly sous chef at George St Bistro in East Fremantle) has an obvious love and passion for Mexican food that shows through in her simple but very tasty menu.

The concept is simple, you pick a taco, quesadilla, or burrito, then pick what you’d like to have in it.
At present the list of fillings is:

Carne Asada: Grilled sliced steak marinated in lime juice, garlic and oregano
Carnitas: Pork shoulder stewed then fried, with grilled fresh pineapple
Mole Poblano: Shredded chicken in festive sauce of chiles, nuts and chocolate
Pescado: Fresh fish, green chiles, spring onion and coriander (tacos and quesadillas only)
Vegetarian: Crispy potatoes and zucchini in a pasilla chile sauce

Then you choose a salsa to go with it, which at the moment are:

Pico de Gallo: Fresh chunky tomato, onion and green chiles
Salsa Verde: Blended tomatillos, garlic & green chiles
Salsa Chipotle: Smoky, spicy red chiles

So far I’ve dropped by for a carne asada quesadilla, and Sharon and I went back the other night for a carnitas and a mole poblano burrito. All of it has been great. The steak particularly juicy and tender, with enough cheesy goodness to bind it all together when fried inside the quesadilla.

The fact that they’re open late is something I think will be a big hit with the locals stumbling out of the Rosemount looking for a kebab alternative, as well as the late night workers and other chefs getting off work, wanting something tasty and simple to line their stomaches before crashing.

Check out the flip books at the counter for a chuckle, and try the El Salvadorian cola Kolashampan (if it’s there… the stuff is popular and hard to get hold of).

The Flying Taco
40 Angove Street,
North Perth
Tel: 08 9227 6393

Open Late

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5 reviews in 5 paragraphs

As a little window into the length and breadth of my dining experiences, I present a not particularly succinct summation of some of the more memorable meals I’ve had in the past month or so. Please feel free to add your experiences of the same places in the comments, and let me know where I should be trying out next. Please bear in mind that these are all very much my opinion, and should no way be construed as having anything to do with reality or objectivity :)

Star Anise, 225 Onslow Road, Shenton Park
9381 9811

Another dinner with the lovely Clotilde (and the ever lovely Sharon… I am so spoiled). Marron for the ladies entrees, Jamon Iberico and 1 hour poached egg for me… The marron was delicious, the egg interestingly textured, the jamon tasty but overrated given it’s considerable reputation. Mains were a black angus steak with some amazingly meaty oyster mushrooms and a cauliflower puree, an ocean trout with eggplant purée and roasted vegetables, and the ubiquitous duck with gai lan. All very satisfying and worth the price. Washed down the lot with a 2005 Joseph Cabernet Merlot Moda (one of my favourite wines, but not the 2004 listed on the wine list). Service left a little to be desired in an overtly fine dining establishment, but that could be because I ask a lot of annoying questions and point out things like the wine being the wrong year. Worth it if you’re up for an experience you don’t mind paying for, and have great company to share it with like I did.

il lido – 88 Marine Pde, Cottesloe
9286 1111

Love the atmosphere of communal dining. Everyone sitting on long benches next to groups of other people. Sadly the people sitting next to me didn’t feel the love, and just kind of looked at me strangely when I inquired how their dishes were. The food is simple / rustic (for want of a less abused word) Italian food. Nothing regionally specific as far as I can tell, and far from the “peasant food”, they claim to be making, but all our dishes were delicious. The wine list is extensive and interesting, and remarkably well priced. A bottle of Pio Cesare Barbera D’Alba set me back around $32 (if memory serves me). A shared antipasto plate of vegetables and dips with bread was a nice way to start the meal, and my beef shin parpadelle was exactly the fall apart texture and stringy meaty richness I was after. Mains are definitely on the small side, but I had expected not to enjoy myself, so I was pleasantly surprised by the whole place. Again the service left a little to be desired, I think the waiters were getting into the communal side of things as much as we were, and expected us to order our own desserts.

Piccolo – 44 Angove St, North Perth
9227 5250

My second trip back to this little suburban gem was supposed to be much better. The new Scottish chef Graham Stewart definitely has a thing for the number three. There’s pork cooked three ways, beef cooked three ways, and salmon cooked three ways. I guess I’ve discovered that I’m just a monogamous kind of guy… because after the first three way it all got a little too much and the excitement was over far too quickly, and I really just wanted one dish done really well. The dishes at Piccolo also bely the name. The entrees are huge ! An order of squid was enough to feed everyone at the table alone, and the crab tian in gazpacho could have swum back to the ocean on it’s own. Still, the food is generally good, well priced, and with no wine list, it’s a byo paradise. I’m hoping at my next visit it will spring back to it’s best.

Ha-Lu – Unit 4, 401 Oxford St, Mt Hawthorn
9444 0577

Simple and tasty Japanese food. Ha Lu has done a great job at making a relatively soulless / odd shaped little restaurant into a warm, inviting space. The menu is set out like an izakaya in that the dishes are small plates designed to be shared. Unlike most izakaya you will find in Japan however, it isn’t full of salary men getting morbidly drunk after a hard day pretending to work. Rather they focus on the food, and the clean flavours that make Japanese food so good. We started with fresh sashimi of tuna, salmon, and kingfish, moved on to pork belly kakuni, sliced duck and eggplant, agadashi tofu, dorper lamb cutlets with fried camembert, ramen, and rice. “I think you have ordered… a little bit too much”, our waitress politely but insistently suggested… so I cut the ramen to make her feel better. All the dishes were superb…the sashimi fresh and succulent with just a dash of wasabi and soy, the standouts for me being the pork belly (in which I have a vested interest), and the duck. Word of advice though… DO NOT ORDER DESSERT. I was foolish enough to order a chocolate parfait (I know, I know… what is a parfait anyway??). I could see our waitress toiling for a good 10 minutes before presenting me with a monstrous concoction of (I kid you not), ice cream, cream, crushed oreo biscuits, cocoa pops (!), pocky sticks, and ice magic… Such a sad way to finish an otherwise great meal.

Basil Leaves – 82 Royal St, East Perth
9221 8999

Proof that you can not take friends to a restaurant you plan to review. Good friends will improve the experience of any bad restaurant by an amount completely undeserving of certain establishments. Brad and Nat are such friends, and Basil Leaves is well and truly one of these restaurants. The atmosphere was non existent outside of the sparkling repartee of our group of comic geniuses (and Brad). The toilets a near hazardous waste area, the food a clever mixture of every kind of Asian you can think of. At last count there was a total of 6 separate ethnic regions represented in all their generic glory. As Nat so aptly put it… It’s not often you come across a restaurant bold enough to put all their faith in iceberg lettuce. But Basil Leaves perseveres. If you’re feeling like Indian/Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese/Malaysian/Japanese or “other”, it may well be the place for you.

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Big Bowl – Noodle House

How very remiss of me to miss this lovely little spot out for so long. Big Bowl has been a welcome addition to the upper end of William St in Northbridge for a good year or so now, and has not disappointed every time I’ve been in.

The “gimmick”, if you can call it that, is that all of their noodles are made fresh to order for all the various dishes they serve.
There are two large machines behind the counter with big signs on them saying “No Photo!” that I was careful to respect, which would appear to be the driving force behind the fresh noodle phenomenon. It has a large container on the top full of flour, and various mechanisms that I assume add water and salt and mix the whole batch together, then spits the noodles out the other end, either of the thick or thin variety.

These noodles then find their way into an assortment of dishes of various types. There’s wonton noodle soup, char kway teow, something vaguely reminiscent of spaghetti bolognaise, and a few baked noodle dishes that taste a bit like macaroni cheese.

Regardless of what you’re after, there’s something to please just about everyone, and clearly people are pleased. A casual Monday afternoon lunch today saw the place as a hive of activity, with not a spare seat in the place, and a steady flow of people in and out hoping to snag a table.

The fact that it’s hugely popular with the local Chinese community means that there’s not a lot of reading material besides the local “Asia Times” newspaper, that I casually flick through on occasion just to put a lingering doubt into the minds of nearby Chinese speakers who might wonder if I can actually understand any of it.

Still, the place is friendly, clean, and simply appointed, and service is always accompanied by a smile and a laugh.

If you’re looking for a quick / cheap / tasty lunch or dinner option in Northbridge, I can highly recommend Big Bowl. Most of the dishes range from $8 – $12 maximum, and represent great value.

Do yourself a favour and try the Big Bowl on for size :)

Big Bowl

408 William Street
Northbridge,
Opening Hours: 11:30AM to 8:30PM (Closed Wednesday)
Phone: 9228 4448

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