Mrs S: Maylands

Mary had a little pig,
She kept it fat and plastered;
And when the price of pork went up,
She shot the little ba$%#$d

I know it’s not your typical nursery rhyme but Mrs S isn’t your typical suburban cafe. With the interior decked out with cute references to childhood pastimes including Peter Rabbit wall pictures and Little Golden Books as menus, Mrs S automatically creates a homely environment on entry. This ‘cute’ factor is necessary based on the eyesore AKA railway line situated on the opposite side of the road.

The details:

178 Whatley Crescent, Maylands

(08) 9721 6690

Opening hours:  Tues – Sunday for breakfast and lunch.

Being to Mrs S more times than one should go out for breakfast and my painful spruiking to others about it, expectations were high. Perusing the menu I faced the dilemma of choosing between the notoriously good home-made corn bread topped with bacon, maple syrup and poached eggs or the homemade baked beans with feta and poached eggs on ciabatta. Knowing that I wouldn’t be venturing into many public spaces that afternoon I felt it was safe (for both myself and the general public) to have a good healthy dose of beans. My fellow grazer also felt it important to have some protein therefore ordering the same dish. A side order of a long black and piccolo latte was added to aid in starting the day.

Long black coffee with Little Golden Book menu

Orders are taken at the counter, so if you head in wanting high quality ‘table service’ then you might be a little disappointed. I personally don’t mind ordering at the counter as  it avoids waving your hand like a swimmer caught in a rip, which happens fairly regularly in Perth. The coffee’s came out first and although it wasn’t the best long black I still found it acceptable. The piccolo on the other hand was disappointing resembling warm milk with a dash of espresso. Not the ideal start but we were willing to persist and wait for our food, based on the quality plates being served to other grazers. (At this point I put my food stalker binoculars away)

Home-made baked beans with feta and poached eggs on ciabatta

Like a small child a wry smile came across my face as our plates headed in our direction. In my mind the plates had their own theme tune with the classic childhood song ….. beans beans the wonderful fruit, the more you eat the more you toot….. playing in my immature head. A prolonged ‘oooooohhhh’ from both grazers was elicited upon delivery of the plates indicating presentation must have been on the money. As much as I think presentation is important it really is about the taste, hence why Picnic chocolate bars are still being consumed. For me the beans could have been cooked a touch longer being a little crunchy for my liking but aside from this the meal was an absolute dream. The eggs were perfectly poached and seasoned, while the addition of the feta broke up the flavour of the beans and balanced the dish nicely. The ciabatta was fresh and allowed the remnants of the beans and eggs to be cleaned up to a point where the dish looked like it had been washed.

Despite the average coffee, the food once again excelled and we were given a nice send off by the wait staff which was a pleasant end to our morning expedition.

Negatives: Average coffee and slightly undercooked beans.

Positives: Quirky interior prompting a trip down memory lane, perfectly poached eggs and the display of appetising cakes.

Overall: 4/5. I will continue to spruik my little heart out about how much I love this place for breakfast!

Stay tuned for a write-up on ‘The Silver Spoon’ degustation menu located in Vic Park

Love The Fat Cow x

The Sake Bar Restaurant : Northbridge

The cold shudder is an instantaneous reaction that I can not stop when I hear the word ‘Northbridge’. Such negative connotations and bodily reactions arise through ones own fault, stemming from my ‘young and the restless’ teenage days. Hazy memories include:

1. The glare of the sun after emerging from the ‘classy’ Paramount at 5am smelling like redbull.

2.Colourful characters playing instruments at 1:30am with a small flock of drunken teens dancing to the beat of the drum.

3.The sound of bad karaoke music spilling from neon palaces.

Such connotations does not make Northbridge an inviting place for me to venture and dredge up repressed memories. Unfortunately for me, Northbridge has become a haven for great cuisine resulting in my greedy stomach being able to bully my cynical head into visiting the Sake Bar Restaurant. I spied this Japanese restaurant earlier in the week while having coffee at Frisk Espresso, which serves great coffee for all those caffeine addicts out there.

Sake Bar Restaurant

Phone: (08) 9328 3380

71 Francis St, Northbridge WA 6003

Fully Licensed

Open Lunch and Dinner Tuesday – Sunday.

I parked at the opposite end of Francis St in the State Library carpark, with no intention of popping in for further learning. I donned my knife proof vest and like a ninja in the night scurried down Francis St. While bounding from building to building I was taking mental notes of not only suspicious characters but also other busy restaurants such as Dragon Palace across the road from Sake Bar for further visits.

NOTICE: THOSE THAT ARE COOL PLEASE TURN AWAY NOW as I am going to tap into my nerdy roots to describe my entrance to the Sake Bar. For those of you that enjoy children’s movies,  it was like walking through a magical cupboard into the Japanese version of Narnia. Unfortunately Aslan the Lion was on the other side but the waitress was more than inviting and escorted me to my private table.

Along with quality food, a restaurant/cafe interior design and vibe is what excites me and makes me want to return. The Sakes Bar interior design and layout was impressive and definantly made me feel very cultural! I have to admit I was jealous that by only having 1 friend at the time ( I assure you I do have more) meant we were seated at a table and not in a funky booth fit for 6 six people or a private room able to accommodate over 10 guests.

I jinxed myself by tweeting that I was looking forward to tempura zucchini flowers because sure enough they were out of stock – damn that Murphy and his law. To drown my sorrows I promptly ordered a sake cocktail to numb the pain. Some would say sake tastes like warmed up cat’s urine. Not being fortunate enough to know what that tastes like I usually liken sake to warmed up vodka and don’t enjoy it at all. That statement now no longer applies with the cocktails (featured below) Blushing Geisha and Cherry Blossom Tini being refreshingly tasty. At $19 a pop I was glad they delivered on presentation and flavour.

Cherry Blossom Tini (Left) and Blushing Geisha (Right)

So onto the real reason why you go to restaurant’s ……. the food! We opted for a  number of the entrée dishes to minimise decision-making and taste more. Dishes ordered included:

1. Crispy Sushi – $16.00

Crispy Sushi

2. Aburi Sushi – $ 19.00

Aburi Sushi

3. Gyoza – $9.00

Gyoza

4. Tori Karage – $10.00

5. Miso Soup – $4.50

The seared Aburi Sushi was amazing, with the fish tasting fresh and nicely seasoned with my friend salt. The Gyoza’s was my favourite dish with the Gyoza’s not being sticky or gluggy which often happens. They were full of strong flavours and certainly had you returning for more. I was fortunate enough to get the last one! Never having had fried sushi I didn’t know what to expect and felt it would be something that I wouldn’t enjoy.  This was not the case with only the rice being gently fried and the sushi on top being fresh, giving the dish nice texture and crunch. It almost felt like eating a little hash brown sushi combo (a weird yet wonderful creation).  I also enjoyed the Tori Karage but it was the accompanying wasabi mayo which made the dish.

We didn’t have dessert as I am yet to find an  Asian dessert which I am particularly taken with. I am too attached to ice-cream, pudding and cake to enjoy desserts based primarily on fruit or rice. As a wise man by the name of Homer Simpson once said “You don’t make friends with salad”, and I am pretty sure this applies to fruit also. The overall bill came to $50 each which would have been substantially cheaper had we shown self-control and not drunk. (Where’s is the fun in that though?)

Walking back to the car the karaoke music of the Dragon Palace filled the air and I was struck by the fact I was still in Northbridge and feeling ok about returning despite our past indifferences. Will someone please slap me should they see me detouring from The Sake Bar to the Mustang or Paramount upon my next visit.

Overall

Positives: Loved the interior architecture, quality service, tasty cocktails and moreish food.

Negatives: No tempura zucchini flowers in stock and my bout of envy against people with more than 1 friend sitting in a booth.

Rating: 4.5/5

Strongly recommended for those that love Japanese and enjoy the full dining experience.

Love “The Fat Cow” x

 

The Imp Cafe : East Vic Park

According to my research the definition of the word ‘Imp’ means: A small devil or small mischievous child.

 

As one is able to do on Wikipedia I am tempted to alter the word  ‘Imp’  to meaning: A ridiculously small food portion.

 

I have been to Imp Cafe previously for breakfast a few times and quite enjoyed their bircher muesli and Fiori coffee. I was however interested in seeing what their nighttime tapas menu had to offer. With the cafe being conveniently located from my humble abode and being BYO, I was keen to see if The Imp could become a regular grazing pasture when the mood for Tapas struck.

The Imp Cafe

863 Albany Hwy, East Vic Park

Phone: (08) 9361 2600

Open Mon – Sun (7am till 10pm)

BYO wine (Bottle shop 4 doors down)

Thank you to all our locals for continuing to support us

Not being able to book and knowing that the cafe itself is very small, our group of 5 (university chums) arrived at 6pm in order to ‘shotgun’ a table. Fortunately we nabbed a  table in prime location AKA next to the cake display. While we waited for our late 6th member to arrive we poured the red ($3 corkage p/head) and started campaigning for whichever plate took our fancy.

In the past I have clearly shared my notion of ‘what’s yours is mine’ when it comes to dining out. With this in mind one would think that I would adore Tapas, to which I respond with a “negative ghost rider”. My aversion to going out for tapas stems from the fact that after taking all costs into account it can wind up being expensive. This is mainly due to the fact that you have to purchase a  kebab with the lot on the way home because you are still starving. Not wanting to end my night with a kebab in hand and garlic sauce over my face, we surveyed the waitress as to how much we would require for 6 people. Her answer…… ‘ 1 plate each’. Putting my non-existent maths skills to use, 6 people meant that 6 plates would be required to avoid the kebab ghost run.

After vigorous campaigning and casting our votes the selection included:

Lamb backstrap, cous cous, stone fruit, mint & yoghurt …………. 26.0

Beef shin, charred spring onions & sticky soy sauce (g) ………….. 18.5

Crispy pork belly with cinnamon sugar, sweet potato, apple & currants .. 13.0

Spiced hand cut potatoes with aioli (v) …………………………………. 9.0

Venison chorizo, lemon & parsley (g) ……………………………………. 9.5

Duck & fig frittata bites, rocket & truffle oil (g) ……………………… 15.0

After ordering we were informed that our 6th member had gone AWOL and therefore would not be joining us. Secretly I smiled inside knowing that there would be no chance of going hungry, as we were sharing 6 plates between the 5 of us!! Happy days.

Service was relatively prompt but I would have hated to have seen my face when the plates were placed in front of me. I think it would have resembled the look of a two-year old realising she had received a book and embroided handkerchiefs for Christmas vs the My Little Pony, that she had been hankering for all year. I was particularly concerned about how we would go about sharing the crispy pork belly between 5 of us when there were only 2 portions about the size of a dice sitting on the oversized plate.

Crispy pork belly with cinnamon sugar, sweet potato, apple & currants

Feeling a little deflated I hoped that by slowy gnawing on each piece I would not only be amazed by the flavours but feel satisfied. Unfortunately this really wasn’t the case with the crispy pork belly not being particularly crispy and the hand cut potatoes resembling Napoleon Dynamite’s potato tots. The duck and fig frittata bites was probably the biggest let down, with the flavours of the duck and fig not coming through resulting in it tasting very bland.

Spiced hand cut potatoes with aioli (v)

The venison chorizo however was addictive and the dash of lemon gave it a nice fresh taste. I also enjoyed the lamb backstrap which was nicely accompanied with the cous cous and mint yoghurt, and was an appropriate serving size for 6 people.

Although we could have ordered more, I thought ‘wouldn’t it be good service and logical to inform diners that more than one pork belly dish should be ordered if there is only 2 pieces with 6 people sitting at the table????’

As the cake display had been making eyes at me all night, I decided to not order more tapas and fill up on sugary goodness. There was a large selection of desserts including brownies, crumble, sticky date pudding and carrot cake to name a few. Being slightly overcast I was in the mood for sticky date ($5.50) with a side of vanilla ice-cream ($2). The presentation of the pudding was cute (being served in a coffee cup) and the generous side serving of vanilla ice-cream was not in keeping with The Imp name. The pudding was enjoyable, but could have done with more sticky date sauce (really just sugar and butter…yum) making the cake more ‘moist’ (probably the most common word used when talking cake). Fortunately with the combination of the cake and red wine I felt full despite the main event barely touching the sides.

Sticky date pudding with a side of vanilla icecream

Positives: BYO wine, venison chorizo, generous with the ice-cream and a pleasant setting.

Negatives: ‘Imp size’ portions, bland duck frittata and another black mark against going out for Tapas.

Overall: Sorry but this Tapas didn’t win me over so I am giving it a 2/5. I am however happy to return for breakfast based on good past experiences.

Love The Fat Cow x

Sayers: Leederville

Eating rice cakes is like chewing on a foam coffee cup, only less filling.

– Dave Barry –

Humor columnist Dave Barry is 100% right – Rice cake’s taste like styrofoam. As far as I am concerned rice cakes, oats, cucumber and unsalted popcorn would all be ‘beige’ if they were a colour and are a waste of calories which could be put to better use for mouth-watering  culinary delights.  Throughout the week I try to resist devouring a whole bowl of flavour filled (and sugar filled) cereal and eat the mundane healthy oats with fruit as diabetes doesn’t particularly interest me. But one can not live this way forever (or for an entire 7 days), which is why I dedicate every Sunday morning to replenishing my body with a breakfast flavour explosion that it so desperately needs. Some may say that I am a breakfast addict…… I am not willing to admit to this in case it leads to me having to give it up.

Not wanting to waste my once a week breakfast bonanza much planning, research and thought goes into which cafe will fulfill my physiological needs. Therefore, I offer you a slightly scary insight into my weekly thought process.

1. I need a cafe which serves both savoury and sweet breakfast dishes – Making a midweek prediction of,  if you will want hot cakes or poached eggs just isn’t possible.

2. I need a place which doesn’t remind me of an IKEA car park and have people stalking me for my seat while eating.

3. Most importantly though, I need a cafe which is located close to the shops so that I can attempt to make last-minute Christmas gift purchases on a full and happy stomach.

Final conclusion was the well-known and loved cafe SAYERS!

224 Carr Place, Leederville

http://www.sayersfood.com.au/

Monday–Saturday

7am–11:30am: Breakfast
11:30am–2pm: Lunch

Sunday

7am–2pm: Breakfast
11:30–3pm: Counter lunch

Like a kid on Christmas morning I awoke early keen to have the most important meal of the day, and it wasn’t long before we were scamming a table outside decked with Freudian like chairs. Perched on my chair like Queen Mary the hard work of selecting a meal began. (A story in itself)

I did a personality test the other day which resulted in me finding out that I have relatively poor decision-making ability. At the time I scoffed at this notion choosing to believe that I wasn’t one of those annoying people who were forever ‘going with the flow’ *insert cringe*. As I scanned over the menu however, I had an epiphany realising that in the space of 10 minutes I still hadn’t reached a clear decision on what I wanted. Although tests prove I am psychologically inept in this area, I truly believe that Sayers did not assist in the process having a menu that looked so damn good. Although I had been recommended the Ricotta and White Chocolate Hotcakes with sticky toffee apple sauce and double cream ($16.50) I settled on the somewhat unusual combination of Raspberry Mushroom & crumbled feta, rocket, poached egg on toasted quinoa & linseed. ($18.50)

I often take the ‘what’s your’s is mine approach‘ when dining with most people. My fellow grazer played a strategic game however and ordered the Green tea salmon egg, baked ricotta, Denmark asparagus & rosewater poached pear ($20.50) knowing that I wouldn’t eat off their plate due to my strong dislike of smoked salmon.So the stage was set – Sayers had only one chance to blow me away with the one dish that I had ordered. At no point would unseasoned poached egg or mushroom cut it, I could not have my Sunday morning ruined by a breakfast which tasted like rice cakes.

Green tea salmon scrambled egg, baked ricotta, Denmark asparagus with rosewater poached pears

Fortunately for Sayers things were looking positive, with my star sign (in the paper) indicating that I would have a good day. The meals arrived in a timely manner and were aesthetically very pleasing. The lashing’s of raspberry over the top of the mushroom gave the plate a real lift in terms of presentation. I was additionally excited to see that my lone poached egg had been seasoned well with sea salt and pepper – BIG TICK.

Raspberry mushroom & crumbled feta, rocket, poached egg on toasted quinoa and linseed

Although I was dubious about how the raspberry would taste when combined with the other components of the dish I was pleasantly surprised. The strong flavour of the crumbled feta was nicely offset by the delicate sweetness and freshness of the raspberry drizzle. This was a good dish and I was feeling that I would be awarding my first 5/5 score to Sayers. The ultimate and final test however came down to that little poached egg sitting ever so quietly next to the quinoa & linseed toast – would it have the ‘goo factor’ that one aspires to get right when poaching their own eggs?????? As the knife pierced the surface, like a little rays of sunshine the bright yellow yolk ran all over the mushroom making me (in a sad way) very happy. As I scraped my plate clean I felt fulfilled and happy to take on the arduous task of Christmas shopping amidst the rest of the unorganised Perth population.

Overall:

Positives: Great food and coffee, good atmosphere and prompt service (despite being busy). It is easy to see why Sayers has been and remained a popular and well liked dining spot since its opening.

Negatives: Fairly small place – Based on its popularity it would be difficult to get a seat if you have more than 4 people and it is fairly loud if dining inside.

Flaversome food,  crave curing coffee, sensational staff and a scenic setting = a top score of 5/5

Up next is tapas at ‘The Imp’ in Victoria Park so stay tuned.

Love ‘The Fat Cow” x

Rockpool Bar & Grill : Burswood

If you had one final meal would you choose a plate of savouries or sweets?

This was the ‘first world problem’ that my friend and I mused over with the assistance of a bottle of red the other night.

Cheesecake over crispy pork belly? Slowly roasted beef cheek over warm chocolate fondant’s? ……. You can clearly see it is a hard decision.

Past history suggests all my best ideas and notions can be found at the bottom of red wine bottles and this specific night was no exception.

The place to solve this ‘problem’………. Rockpool Bar and Grill (A Neil Perry restaurant) It was agreed research via taste testing at one of Perth’s most recently discussed and acclaimed fine dining restaurants would help in the decision-making process.

Seeing I had been wanting to go to Rockpool since it’s opening, I took it upon myself to organise this crusade with a group of 10 friends in tow. Booking was relatively difficult considering the time of year and having a large party, so we settled on a 7pm booking on a Wednesday night. In hind sight going out on a ‘school’ night served us well making us practice self-restraint when it came to ordering cocktails.

Rockpool Bar and Grill

Great Eastern Hwy (Burswood Entertainment Complex)
Burswood, WA 6100

Phone: 08 6252 1900

http://www.rockpool.com/rockpool-bar-and-grill-perth/

As I walked up the long passage flanked with pictures of seafood and glass cases of fresh meat, I felt as if I was about to encounter a true gastronomic experience. We were immediately greeted by a number of staff and escorted to our table. Although it was a big restaurant,it’s arrangement with partitioning and mood lighting made it warm and inviting. Being a lover of anything with carbohydrates, I was pleased to find complimentary crusty warm bread waiting patiently for me to devour. As girls do cocktails were ordered at about $18 per drink. Although a little pricey each cocktail was enjoyable in particular the margaritas with charcoal(yes, what santa fills your sack with)salt. If you are a wine person then you will be impressed by the 62 page wine list, which we also dabbled with.

In the spirit of the research entree’s were bypassed to ensure a) we could afford to pay the bill and b) ensure we could fit a savoury main and sweet dessert in. Being indecisive once again the waitress was a great help in suggesting a variety of ‘well loved’ dishes. After being disappointed that they had run out of the popular crispy pork belly, I opted for the Mishima chuck braised in dark lager and onions with potato gnocchi and silver beet ($49). Sides of roast pumpkin and sweet potato with burnt butter and garlic yoghurt ($12) and roasted parsnips and eschallots with swiss chard and ginger ($12) were ordered to share. With one of the girls ordering the Mt Barker char grilled free range chicken ($39) we knew the wait for mains would take 50 minutes to come out as indicated by the extensive menu. Due to good company, drinks and bread this was not a problem, and no one got hurt by a mob of disgruntled hungry women.

The meals arrived together and looked visually appealing. The portion sizes for the meat and fish were substantial, especially with the sides. Surprisingly the pasta serves looked limited however I was assured by my fellow grazers that this was not the case. My meat was top-notch pulling apart with ease. I did add a little more seasoning aka salt, but I will openly admit that this is a bad habit of mine ,which I am yet to successfully give up. As the sound of silence filled the air, I realised that good food was the only way to stop a group of ten girls from incessant talking. Savoury dishes were off to a good start and sweets would have to be of a high standard to make my decision swing that way.

Macaroon Icecream Sandwich

Although tempted by the peanut butter caramel chocolate tart with milk ice-cream ($23), I decided to opt for the hazelnut macaroon sandwich filled with banana ice-cream ($14) (probably influenced by my one true love being a Peters ice-cream giant sandwich). Others opted for the ice cream filled profiterole’s ($16) and the red velvet cupcake with marshmallow icing ($6.50). After such a good main expectations were high, which was perhaps a reason why I was slightly disappointed with the desserts. The macaroon itself was cooked well with a crunch to the outside and soft middle but the flavour combination of hazelnut with banana ice-cream didn’t work for me personally. Mixed reviews were given about the profiterole’s with some wishing for the custard to come back, while others loved the ice-cream and chocolate filling. Most disappointing however was the red velvet cupcake with the marshmallow icing which lacked in flavour and certainly didn’t have the ‘wow factor’ that a restaurant of this calibre and cost usually offer. On the upside, the icing to cupcake-base ratio was great (more icing than base, which I love). With my sister-in-law making officially the worlds best cupcakes (check out her blog ‘top the cupcake’ –http://topthecupcake.blogspot.com/) it may have been an unfair comparison.

Ice-cream filled profiterole’s and red velvet cupcake.

So there it is folks based on extensive research at Rockpool, I have come to conclude that savory mains might be the plate of choice should I ever face the ‘one last meal dilemma’. Until that point in time, I have taken a personal oath to continue to eat both savoury and sweet dishes, to establish validity and reliability in the above statement.

Positives: Excellent customer service and wine/food knowledge by the staff, great variety in food and wine list, great atmosphere and complimentary crusty bread.

Negatives: Some financial planning required prior to the visit, no pork belly left and slightly disappointing dessert menu.

Overall it was a fun, tasty and memorable experience. Although I won’t be rushing back for another meal, I certainly won’t object if anyone wishes to take me to dinner here (hint hint).

Rating: 4/5

Love The Fat Cow x.