Thursday, March 11, 2010

Chinese Food

By popular demand, I have to recommend some chinese food places.

Well there is this duck place in Northbridge which is a no go zone if you are a tourist. There is also a chicken rice and laksa place which is pretty authentic and good. But, it is also in the no go zone. Not forgetting the vietnamese food there. Although, in the day, you can go there for yum cha at Dragon Palace. Best yum cha ever.

On a serious note, there is 1 chinese takeaway behind our place which is pretty good and bloody expensive. Their beef is tender and juicy. The only other place that is safe to go is Spencer Village, but since you are here on holiday and it is really out of the way, we can skip that. I mean really out of the way, we took 45mins to drive back the last time.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Char Char Bull

From the first time we went to Fremantle last year, we have always wanted to try this steak house; Char Char Bull. Finally, we did, last Saturday, for the missus' birthday.

Although we arrived some 25mins late, they actually saved our table for us, which was a surprise as we were expecting them to ring when we were still on the road at the stipulated time and they didn't. Then, add in the traffic and lack of parking spaces, we ended up pretty late.

Straight to the point, much like what I was doing that day... Our starter was the natural oysters with verjuice vinaigrette. Then the main course, I had the Rib Eye while the lady had the Scotch Fillet. Mine was as that kid said in that old school McDonald's ad in the 1980s, "marvelicious". The Scotch was less tasty as mine but still pretty satisfying, I think. Here is the rest of the menu.

Although this is not the best steak I have ever had, it is definitely one of the better ones... Off the top of my head, I can think of 2 reasons not to eat here. One, if you live in Melbourne, go to the Loft Steakhouse. Two, if you live in Christchurch, go to Oscars steakhouse. Don't bother trying Char Char Bull, but since most of you reading this don't live in either places, go try!

From an earlier post, I recommended this seafood place in Freo. Well, I have since discovered another one, in Freo. Cicerellos, the first thing I tried was the Prawn Pasta and I haven't gotten round to trying something else. Yup, it is that great. The missus reckoned I said her fish was great too, but the fact that we both cannot recall what fish it was says it all. This is not to say Kailis is not good, I just prefer Cicerellos.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Japanese Izakaya

We are both huge fans of Japanese food and living in Perth is really testing our cravings. We tried several Japanese restaurants but most are not that bad sans one. Let's start with the ones at the top of our list of best Japanese food in Perth.

We went to this Japanese place near our place on Sunday for dinner; Satsuki, above the Subiaco train station. This is the sister restaurant of another place we tried last year; Ha-Lu.

Both these places are Izakaya restaurants. What this means is each diner orders 2 to 3 dishes and it is shared by those at the table. This guide to the number of dishes to order is all good, till the 2 of us came along and ordered 3 to 4 dishes each, and polished it all off. Yes, both these restaurants are that good!

Satsuki is supposed to be famous for their edomae sushi. This we discovered only towards the end of our evening when our order of sushi finally arrived. Somehow, I had this idea that sushi are meant to be served first. We had the degustation sushi. We actually had several other dishes before that, but the highlight must be the sushi. At least that's the one I can still taste in my mouth right now. This place is a definite must try for Japanese food fanatic, just make sure you bring us along.

Ha-Lu on the other hand, is more renown for their dishes, I think. We love their food as it reminded us of what our grandparents used to cook for us. This is not to demean their food, there is just something about their style of cooking that connected with us on an intimate level. The one dish I cannot forget is their wagyu beef tataki. I can still remember how the beef melted away in my mouth... The only reason I can come up with not to try this place is that it is rather out of the way for all of you who are coming here for our big day.

All this writing is making me hungry... I want my all you can eat sushi buffet. Despite the fact that this is a buffet, the quality of food is top notch. We ate twice so far and I ate 19 plates the last time, while the missus had 18. Told you its good. Best part is the time limit, makes you go all out to beat the clock, your stomach and each other to get the food.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Ticked

Finally started ticking off list of things to do for the wedding and getting down to the nitty gritty. Does this stone look good next to that tiny rock etc etc. You get the point.

As for the things to do in Perth bit, we will take some time to get to that. We are starting to eat out more so that we can find good food to recommend to you. Which is rather tough, most of our adventures turned sour (read - cannot make it). At least it wasn't up to our usual standard, although we went in with the lowest of expectations and came away with some minimal satisfaction. But looking back now, I would not have subjected myself to those what-you-want-to-call-it.

On a brighter note, we went to Freo last friday for dinner as I was craving Italian food. I was introduced to this cheap student eating hole back in Melbourne, opposite the Queen Victoria Market, when I first arrived in Australia way back in 2000. Then, when I moved to Perth, I was absolutely stoked to discover that there is one here too!! My all time favourite cheap eat in Australia; La Porchetta. There is one and only one in Western Australia. Although, it's not as cheap as it used to be.... D'oh.

This is one place you must eat if you like Italiano cuisine, ahem, fast food. I would even go out on a limb and say try this place when you are at Fremantle. But then there are several other places that we go to. Not as cheap but the food ain't too bad either. We will get to those next time.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Why would you want to do that?

No seriously, why would you want to come to Perth? There is absolutely nothing here but sand and dirt, and maybe some water. Oh yeah, that's right. If you are reading this cause you were directed here for things to do, food to eat or what have you not, while you are here for yours truly's wedding, then read on, I will try to work my magic.

First thing first, if you are renting a car. Please and by that, I meant, you MUST take insurance no matter what. As a matter of fact, make sure you reduce your liability to the lowest possible sum, the drivers here are so terrible, they simply shouldn't be allowed to drive. I am dead serious, not kidding, or you will regret it.

Next thing to note is this, try to avoid this area called Northbridge, especially the area where all the clubs and watering holes are.

Alright, the next post shall be the beginning of my recommendations on what to do in Perth...