Tag: restaurant

Duende

Well Sharon and I just got back from visiting Duende. It’s located in a funky spot in Leederville, and boasts an extensive wine list and a bevy of tasty bite sized dishes on the predominantly tapas menu.

I’ve been to Duende a few times now, and this return trip was mainly to refresh my memory on how great the place is, in readiness for writing a stunning review. But after getting back, I’m left with a somewhat dissatisfied feeling in my mouth/stomach/wallet.

Duende’s style is trendy tapas. Not cheap $5 potato balls, or spicy meatballs that you might find in a cheap tapas bar… more along the lines of intricate dishes made with specialty ingredients often sourced from overseas (like jamon serrano and manchego cheese).

My memories of this place are sublime tasting dishes full of flavour and paired with a huge selection of local and international (Spanish and French mainly) wines. This trip however, i found myself looking at the menu and wondering how a dish of potato, chorizo, mint, and olive oil, served in a dish the size of a peanut bowl, can be worth $14… Sure it was tasty… but was it worth it ? I am far from one to skimp on prices, but when I feel like im not getting value for money it tends to grate pretty quickly.

Then looking at the wine list and seeing out of total of a hundred or more wines… there was only a handful available by the glass.

I was really trying to find things to like, but it seemed like it just wasn’t the right night. We had a selection of different wait staff, who varied between forgetful, cheeky, and patronisingly friendly. The wait staff there generally have a bit more character and spunk than your regular restaurant, but tonight instead of seeming refreshing or funny, it just came across as irritating. You can joke and muck around all you like if you remember my order and bring me decent food… if not… don’t even bother.

So what did we order:

Organic Bread
Jamon Serrano
Potato, Chorizo, and Mint salad
Sweet Corn and Manchego balls
Some kind of avacado salad
Skewered King Prawns in garlic butter (i think)

Having ordered the sweet corn and manchego balls before, i clearly remember them being light and airy and melting in your mouth as you bit into them. This time they would be more accurately described as salty cheese balls, dry and floury. Far from the experience I’ve had in the past.

So after finishing our dishes and waiting another 15 minutes for someone to come back and take our dessert order, we thought it best to end the night there and then.

I would really love to go back and describe the first experience I had dining at Duende. Being continually delighted as dish after dish of simple, elegant, and above all delicious food came out… but alas, this was not that night.

I still think it’s a great place, but perhaps not the golden child of my memories.

As always, do try it yourself… having too high of an expectation may well have been a factor in my overall level of satisfaction.

Duende
662 Newcastle St
Leederville 6007
(08) 9228 0123 (booking advised, no byo)

[geo_mashup_map]

The Prophet

No, im not referring to myself… (bom! bom!). The Prophet is a great little Lebanese restaurant in Victoria Park that i used to frequent when i lived in area.

The Prophet is a nice cosy restaurant near the Balmoral Hotel in Victoria Park, it’s run by a cool old guy called Jihad who makes his own garlic dipping sauce from a secret recipe. You get a bowl of it along with some flat bread and pickled beetroot (i think, it could be anything?) free with every meal… it’s a really tasty way to start… the garlic dip is strangely moreish and tastes best when you dip the pickled beetroot into it and then wrap this little package with the flat bread.

In terms of the menu itself, there’s a whole range of traditional Lebanese foods, and some more western oriented ones. For the die hards there is a Lamb Kibbeh (raw minced meat in a ball with wheat and spices), and for the light weights, theres the Shish Tawook (garlic chicken shish kebabs). Most meals are served with chips and a tangy salad (kind of similar to a Greek salad, but without feta and olives). There is also a few other lamb dishes, and a ‘hot’ fish dish, basically a whole fish with scarily hot chillli sauce over it.

There is no wine list as it’s completely byo, but if i recall correctly they dont charge for corkage. The meals aren’t what you’d call fine dining…they’re simply presented but quite filling (especially when you’ve eaten a stack of flat bread to start with), and are really cheap. Most meals range from $14 – $20. I think last time i went the bill for two of us came to $28, very low in my book, and for what you get, amazing value.

As always, check it out for yourself :)

The Prophet
907 Albany Highway
East Victoria Park, 6101
Tel: (08) 9361 1101

[geo_mashup_map]

Alt Heidelberg

Alt Heidelberg is on Beaufort St in North Perth, basically diagonally across from the Brisbane Hotel on the corner of Beaufort and Brisbane Streets.

It’s (suprisingly enough) a German restaurant, and apparently has quite a bit of history to it. The owners are a German husband and wife couple who moved to Perth quite a while ago and started it as a way of furthering their love of cooking, and filling the void of quality German restuarants in our fair city…

This is another place that i’ve driven past hundreds of times, and finally curiosity got the better of me. So one night after a work social function Sharon and I decided to stop in here for a late dinner. The place looks like a German pub (or what i imagine one might look like after reading Asterix & Obelix go to Germany)…with low ceilings, nice wrought iron lamps and light fittings and candles on all the tables.

The waitress was a friendly German girl who looked at me weird when i asked for “the most German thing” on the menu… But then suggested the ham shank on mashed potato for me and a beef olived sausage type thing with cabbage for Sharon. Must say the Germans love their meat… well at least pork anyway. When my meal arrived it looked essentially like half a pig slow cooked and then fried to make the skin crispy… served on a bed of mash potato… There was no pretense of other vegetables… and i was too hungry (and partially drunk) at that stage, so didn’t bother ordering any. Sharons meal looked like about 15 types of meat wrapped in other meat…and stuffed with meat… It was tasty for about three mouthfull’s, but then meat fatigue set in, and it was all over. Let’s just say that meat got the better of me that night… i never thought it would happen, nor that i would admit it… but sometimes there’s just too much meat on the plate. Perhaps if i hadn’t had to chew through a substantial amount of grisel to get to the meat it would have been a more rewarding experience, but i didn’t really have it in me… so i chalked it all down to experience and bid the owner adieu (or its equivant in German).

In it’s defence, this is a really nice quaint little restaurant. It obviously has a following or it wouldn’t have been around for as long as it has, and while we there it was full of a big mixture of people. The table next to us looked like a group of backpackers from an array of different countries… which gave way to one of my favourite people watching passtimes of seeing people who don’t speak English natively try and communicate in English with other people who don’t English natively either… comedy gold… but then love finds a way in the end.

Alt Heidelberg
283 Beaufort Street
Perth
Phone: (08) 9227 0988

Lava Stone Grill

I’m trying to catch up on the reviews to some of the places i’ve eaten recently… So here’s another one.

Lava Stone Grill is on Walcott St in Mt Lawley, it’s a funky looking place in a refurbished house… it looks pretty small from the front, but actually has two really big rooms inside.

Sharon and I had driven past this place all the time on the way in and out of the city or to Mt Lawley, and so one lazy week night we decided to try it on a whim and see what it was all about.

The concept is basically that they bring out these special hot “lava” stones… that have been in the oven for a while and are bloody hot (don’t touch them!). You then order your meat and/or vegetables, which are brought out to you raw, with an assortment of sauces. You then put your meat onto the stone and it literally cooks in front of you. When the meat or veges are done to your liking you cut bits off, or transfer it to another small plate, add the sauces and away you go.

I ordered the mixed grill which comes with fillets of beef, pork, & lamb and a chicken tenderloin…and is served with a pepper and brandy sauce, maple syrup, and a whisky and ginger sauce… which were really tasty sauces.

I’d have to say it’s a novel concept, but i thought it was pretty pricey… most of the meals are in the order of $25-$30… which is not extravagently expensive…but when im cooking the food myself i’d expect it to be cheaper. I also found the practicality of cooking and eating from the stone didn’t really add up to the novelty… My food ended up getting overcooked after a while and it was hard not to burn yourself on the stone every now and then while leaning over to pick up your glass etc.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a good meal, i did enjoy it, and the meat was excellent quality. I guess i’ll just put it in the nice to try once basket, but not the type of place i’d go to regularly. On another positive note, the wait staff were all really friendly, almost to the point of being quite casual, but then this is Perth :)

Anyway… Give it a try and make up your own mind.

Lava Stonegrill
155 Walcott St Mt Lawley, Western Australia, 6050
(08) 9328 6669

[geo_mashup_map]

Cinnamon Club

After a tiring volleyball game on a dark, cold, late night, Matt and I decided to drop in to Cinnamon Club in Leederville to feed our empty stomachs. It was only a few weeks prior that we saw a sign on the vacant room advertising for “exceptional waitstaff” for this restaurant, so we were quite curious to find out what it would be like.

Well, unfortunately it didn’t meet my expectations as I feel that indian restaurants trying to be different and unique, have to ultimately achieve this goal – which I feel Cinnamon Club does not (well not yet anyway).

We ordered a couple of standard indian dishes including butter chicken, an eggplant curry and a lamb vindaloo. The food was nice, but didn’t differentiate itself as much as I thought it should have to match it’s pricing. I felt the food was not as cheap as what you could get at other indian restaurants but for the price you pay, I didn’t feel the food was that much better either.

The music didn’t set the appropriate mood for the restaurant as it sounded like a cheesy 80’s “best duets with a saxophone” CD. This was a pity, as the restaurant looks great with its stone walls, suede booths, and unique red lamps but this atmosphere is quickly destroyed by the music which made me cringe with memories of my Dad’s St Elmo’s fire and Kenny G music.

However, the waitstaff were friendly and attentive and the food arrived quite quickly, which still made it a pleasant dining experience.

To summarise, the restaurant wasn’t bad, but wasn’t exceptional either. You can try Cinnamon Club at:

228 Carr Pl
Leederville 6007 WA
Phone: (08) 9228 1300

[geo_mashup_map]

Ciao Italia

Ciao Italia is one of Perth worst kept secrets. It’s an vibrant lively little restuarant in South Perth, where almost every day of the week you will find a queue of people outside waiting to get in.

Being fortunate enough to know the pizza chef (and most of the staff) doesn’t even help…there’s just too many people wanting to get in, and no space to put them all !

Half the time’s i’ve been there i’ve been put on the end of someone elses table, just because they need every seat they can get.

That might almost sound like a bad thing, but the atmosphere in the place is just buzzing the whole night. It’s like everyone is invited to some big Italian family dinner… which is really nice.

The one thing that knowing the pizza chef does help with is that whenever i order a pizza it’s freakin huge. The calzone shown above is bigger than my head… Not that that is a really good thing to compare it against, nor an accurate indication of big it really is… but its goood :)

If you live in Perth, and want a down to earth, friendly dining experience, with big hearty (tasty!) Italian food…then Ciao Italia is the place to go.

Ciao Italia
273 Mill Point Rd
South Perth
Tel: 9368 5500 (but they don’t take bookings ! )

[geo_mashup_map]

Reviews to Write

These are the restaurants i’ve been to recently that i plan to write reviews about… one day… perhaps never… this is here more of a mental prompt for me, rather than a way to show off at how i waste my money on eating out on a far too frequent basis.

So in rough chronological order we have:

* Star Anise – foie gras and pigeon pie… delicious
* Jacksons – the dego… too many sublime dishes, and too much wine… unreal
* Loose Box – traditional french food at its best, delicious terrine of rabbit, and more foie gras
* Tsunami – Shabu Shabu (with extra beef) !
* Lamonts – 6 courses of pure pleasure
* Eminem – Modern Turkish… very tasty.
* Duende – Fancy tapas… little morsels of goodness.
* Veritas – Looks nice… always empty ?
* Riverbank Estate – delicious food and cheap booze !
* Cream – Food by Cream + Wine by Matt = happy good times.
* Must Wine Bar – Tonight… aka my birthday…aka talk like a pirate day… arr.
* Maurizio Restaurant – Most authentic italian restuarant i’ve been to…
* The Prophet – Tasty Lebanese food… and cheap !
* Alt Heidelberg – Those Germans love their meat (well pork at least).
* Ciao Italia – An institution of hearty Italian food in South Perth.
* Billy Lee’s – A dirty secret… this used to be a regular spot for me… things haven’t changed much.
* Lava Stone Grill – Interesting concept… food comes out uncooked, you cook it yourself on hot “lava” stones.
* Diva Cafe – Mt Lawley, really nice little place which should be a lot more popular than it is. Modern Australian/ish food,
stylish setting.
* Sail & Anchor – Fremantle
* Vans – Cottlesloe
* Cinnamon Club – Leederville – New indian restaurant with possibly the worst restaurant music i’ve ever heard. To be written by Sharon.
* Red Teapot – Funky take on your average plastic fantastic Chinese restaurant

Think it’s time this post became unsticky because this list is going to keep growing… And it gets boring looking at it all the time.