Monthly Archives: March 2011

Golden King BBQ @ Northbridge

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Perth by

I think I have just found myself a new place to eat whenever I get cravings for roast duck.

Today I’m feeling a little sick with a cold coming up and a throat that’s itching and beginning to sore up. So I figured that a good bowl of noodle soup would help alleviate my blocked nose and decided to head down to Hong Kong BBQ in Northbridge to have my usual “Sliced Duck Noodle Soup with Preserved Vegetable”. As I was walking down the street I took a quick look to see if there is a long queue outside. I only had an hour for lunch and as soon as I see a long line outside I am just going somewhere else. The street seemed strangely quiet on a weekday office lunch time and that’s when it hit me: today was a Wednesday and Hong Kong BBQ is closed on Wednesdays! I almost passed out at this thought. So I aimlessly continued walking down William Street hoping to find a decent place to eat where I can get my much needed soup.

Lo and behold! A few steps down the street was “Golden King BBQ”. I took a quick look at some of the dishes printed on the window and they had something that said “noodles (dry/in soup)”. This was good enough for me. I walked in and it was a full house but not over crowded. The waitress was just cleaning up a table when I walked in so I did not have to wait at all. She then handed me a menu and I went straight to the noodles section. Unfortunately they did not have my favourite sliced duck noodle soup with preserved vegetables so I ordered the next best thing which is simply  “Roast Duck Noodles”, not sliced into strips and no preserved vegetables. Strange how I did not order “Roast Duck Noodles Soup“, huh? Considering it was precisely what I was craving for. Let me tell you why.

Two minutes after I sat down, the waitress, without looking at me, put down a big bowl of soup on my table. I thought it was someone else’s order so I did not touch it obviously until I clarified it with the waitress. Then when she came over to take my order I asked her what is was and she said : “It’s free”. I was already thinking how awesome this is. A big bowl of soup just for me. I think they give out a free bowl of soup per table such that if there are 2 or 4 of you then you would just have to share. Dont worry, they’d give you a serving ladle and small bowls for that. But since I was having lunch alone I have the whole bowl to myself.

This is not just some chicken powder with spring onion soup. This is an actual homemade soup simmered for a least a few hours. How do I know this? Well, we make this kind of soup at home. Stock bones and chicken bones boiled and simmered together with carrots and celery (at home we would add onions and tomatoes too). I quickly took a few sips after ordering to warm up my stomach and it tasted almost exactly like what we regularly make at home. You could still see a few pork and chicken bones in the soup and that tells you it’s the real thing.

Golden King: a hearty asian soup for free

It didn’t take long for my roast duck noodles to be served. I had the dry kind because I already had that big bowl of soup and having another bowl of soup would make me too full and sleepy for work. The had 2 kinds of noodles in the menu: ordinary or special. I noticed that the Chinese equivalent of the special noodles is what they call “la mien” so I ordered that. The ordinary ones are what I assume to be egg noodles.  The dish came with a generous serving of roast duck and a side of steamed bok choy. The noodles were a bit stubborn as I couldn’t easily pick them up with the chopsticks because they were slippery and stucked together. Cutting them was hard too because they were “spongy”.  Anyway that really isn’t a big deal.

And then it was heaven in my mouth when I took a bite of that roast duck. The duck was juicy and tasty. Crispy skin and virtually fatless. Succulent duck is what I’d call it. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I quickly ate all the noddles first so that I can save the best for last. I’ve had some pretty good roast duck before and this one here from Golden King BBQ will certainly make it to my list of places serving awesome roast duck. On top of that the prices are actually pretty affordable too. My lunch cost me just $10.00. Hong Kong BBQ or Happy Star‘s noodle soup dishes cost more than that.

Golden King: Roast Duck Noodles

The place did not impress me at first glance. It looked like a Chinese canteen. But after my very good first experience here I will certainly come back and try the beef brisket noodles that the person in front of me ordered because it looked divine. Noodles smothered in beef brisket stew. Or perhaps I can just order a small bowl of steamed rice to go with my free soup?

My rating: 8/10

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Coco’s @ South Perth

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Modern Australian, Perth by

After much raving by my friend I decided to give Coco’s a try. We usually end up in Palais 85, which is next door, for desserts and I have always been intrigued by Coco’s. It is always a full house and you can see people happily chattering away. Being located on the Esplanade in South Perth this place has got some amazing views of the river and the city.

It was a warm night when we came here. Thankfully we were seated outside where there is a little bit of fresh air. As I sat down the first thought that came to my mind was that my seat is not comfortable at all. It is too wide and sinking a little bit which made it hard for me to sit comfortably while reaching for my dishes. Bad seats are a turn off for me. After deliberating on what to order, I settled for “Coco’s famous creamy dhufish chowder” and “Linguine sauteed with Carnarvon king prawns, chilli, garlic and lemon juice” while my friend ordered the “Steamed Carnarvon king prawns, rocket, avocado and red onion with chilli and spiced mango chutney” with a side of mashed potatoes.

I believe this place is highly overrated. Everything I have tried was only mediocre considering this is a fine dining place. To start off, I ordered the dhufish chowder and the waitress told me they had no dhufish and that they’ll be using snapper instead. I said OK, hesitantly, given I was already craving for that chowder. It was as bland as can be. Where is the creaminess in that chowder? I can hardly taste anything special in that chowder. Next up is my pasta. This, too, was very bland. It tasted exactly as what was written in the menu – lemon juice. Not salty enough and I cracked a lot of pepper on it to no avail. Halfway through my meal I just noticed that our waitress did not even tell us of the specials like what the other waitresses have told other patrons. That was disappointing as well. Moving on, I tasted my f riend’s prawn salad and it was a little better because the mangoes were sweet and she had dressing. The only tasty dish for the night was the mashed potatoes. It was very smooth and cheesy and it comes with fried sweet potato chips.

Cocos: snapper chowder

Cocos: king prawn linguine

Cocos: king prawn salad with mango chutney

Cocos: mashed potatoes with sweet potato chips

Even though I was already disappointed and very full I decided to give their desserts a shot. I had the “Crepe Suzette” with a glass of iced mocha and my friend had the “Hot Chocolate Fondant” with a cup coffee. The crepes were pretty good. 3 pieces of crepes cooked in cointreau and brandy served with vanilla ice cream. The crepes were in themselves good. Definitely not of pancake consistency and they reminded me of the crepes my French friend used to make for me. The iced mocha I had was a bit too strong on the chocolate and it came with the glass too full. My drink was dripping everywhere! The fondant was OK. Too sweet for my liking but otherwise very gooey.

Cocos: Crepe Suzette

Cocos: hot chocolate fondant

Hmm, I think I may consider giving it another shot. Or at most just come here for desserts – at least they looked promising.

My rating: 5.5/10

www.westvalley.com.au/index.html

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Ciao Italia @ South Perth

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Italian, Perth by

A must try for every Italian food loving person? I would say so. Ever since I moved to Perth I was having a hard time finding a good italian restaurant. This was until my friend brought me to Ciao Italia in South Perth.

The first time I dined here the restaurant was only half its current size sitting about 30 people max with some tables just outside the toilets and hardly any floor space to walk on. Today they have expanded. It is now twice the original size bigger but still leaving just enough space for you to squeeze yourself in while taking care not to whack people’s heads with your handbag.

For the past 4 years that I’ve been coming here 2 things have always remained consistent: food and service. They have a loyal staff – charming Italian men who makes you feel very welcomed as soon as you step into the restaurant. And food? Well the taste has not changed and I’m thankful for that. I frequently order the “Fettucini Ciao Italia” because it is very very tasty. I don’t even bother counting the calories anymore because I would just die of guilt. It is a big plate of fettucini with chicken and sundried tomatoes  in a tomato and cream sauce. Taste wise it is heavenly. Health wise it is probably not a good idea to eat the whole plate by yourself, especially when you are on a diet. Try microwaving this the next day when you have leftovers and you will see the sauce turn into melted butter. So much so that I have to drain the “butter” before I actually eat it. Draining the “butter” will not affect the taste though so no need to worry. I always share this with a friend to leave room for pizza and dessert.

Ciao Italia: Fettucini Ciao Italia

Sitting in a small table surrounded by big and small plates alike plus a watter bottle plus salt and pepper shakers, there’s virtually no room left for that pizza that my friend and I always get, “Chilli King Prawn Pizza”. My friend has to have everything hot and spicy so this is the perfect pizza for her. I don’t mind chilli so it’s good for me as well. Thin crust with banana prawns smothered in creamy melted cheese. This is good enough to stop your heart too but it is very delectable.

Ciao Italia: Chilli King Prawn pizza

Half a plate of pasta and 2 slices of pizza later I am already as full as one can be. But I never leave Ciao Italia without having my fix of “Tiramisu” no matter how full I am. People say that this is the best tiramisu in Perth. I would agree if they’d only make it with less cheese mixture. The dessert in itself is really good – sponge fingers dipped in coffee that is not too bitter layered with smooth mascarpone cheese that is of just the right sweetness finished off with dusting of cocoa powder with the whole cake sitting on a puddle of cream. The only problem with it is there is too much cheese. You get filled very easily after a few bites.

Ciao Italia: tiramisu

The popularity of this place is evidenced by the queue forming outside the restaurant. No reservations here so to get a seat without waiting you have to be at the door by 5pm or earlier to give your name to the waiters before they actually open. The last time I was here with my friend we came at 5pm, got a seat, first ones to be served our food, and we finished dinner by 6pm. Half an hour later and you would find yourself waiting for as long as 2 hours just to get a table (which was what happened to us when I came with a group of 8-10 people at 5:30pm).

My rating: 7.5/10

Ciao Italia on Urbanspoon

Taka’s Kitchen @ CBD

Posted in Japanese, Perth by

There is only 1 dish that I come to Takas for – Miso Katsu Don – and I swear by it. It is described by Taka’s as “chicken katsu served over rice and shredded lettuce covered with special red miso sauce”. Costs $5.30 for the small meal with no soup and $7.30 for the large with miso soup. This is easily the cheapest, most divine meal in town. Great value for money, as they say. The chicken katsu is always deep fried to perfection and there is something in that miso sauce that keeps me coming back for more. Perhaps it’s the saltiness. Or it could also be the sesame taste in the miso. Whatever it is it’s heaven in every bite.

Taka's: Miso Katsu

Because I am too addicted to it, I would brave the heat during lunch time to travel to CBD from West Perth just to have my miso katsu fix. This is not available in the Shafto Lane shop though. Last year after a 12km walk for City to Surf I made the mistake of going to the Shafto Lane shop thinking they had miso katsu there. So imagine my disappointment after walking 12 kms and feeling famish and being told that they don’t serve miso katsu in that particular shop. I almost blurted out profanity at the waitress. But I kept my cool and settled for “Teriyaki Fish”. It was alright but why settle for teriyaki fish??

Both shops are in food court style. Lots of tables joint together and you share tables with strangers. For such a cheap price don’t expect to be dining in somewhere fancy. Air conditioning is crappy too on very hot days. Diners would easily outnumber the chairs so it’s better to dine alone because there’s always that 1 seat gap between 2 people who don’t know each other and you can easily just squeeze yourself in; or dine with a friend and assign him/her to save you both seats while you order. Big groups? Either come in really early to bag seats and order take away and enjoy the food in the comforts of your home.

My rating: 8.5/10

www.takaskitchen.iinet.net.au/index.htm

Taka's Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Joy Cafe @ Northbridge

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Perth by

I was looking for someplace to eat for my lunch break as I did not have my usual packed lunch and I stumbled upon Joy Cafe in William Street, Northbridge. I walked in not expecting too much because I had a feeling that this place would let me down. The photos of some of the dishes like “Fragrant Chicken Rice” and “Beef Brisket Noodle” posted on the window looked good enough for me to try this place.

An alarm sounds when you walk in notifying the staff that there’s someone at the door. So I was looked after quickly. The interior is a bit weird for me. It looks like a typical chinese restaurant setting but also a diner with Asian-style diner couches. I really could not make up if this is a Hong Kong style or, perhaps, a Taiwanese style restaurant. The TV screen was playing a Hong Kong TV series but the staff were speaking in a Taiwanese accent. To add to my confusion, this place also serves some very Hong Kong style cafe dishes like “toast and ham with creamed corn soup” or “toast and steak”, something very similar to Hong Kong’s Cafe de Coral’s breakfast and tea menu.

Anyhow, the waiter led me to sit on one of the Asian-style diner couch which was super uncomfortable. The seat was sinking in the middle and I could hardly rest my elbows on the table. So I moved around trying to find a spot on the couch that is not sinking but everywhere was just as bad. The waiter stared at me while I was decided what to order. After a few minutes of glancing at the menu nothing caught my eye so I just asked him what is a good noodle dish? He suggested the “Beef Brisket Noodles” with soup on the side and I said OK.

And just as I had predicted, this is not the best beef brisket I had eaten but it was edible. Good enough for me not rant about it. My plate had a small serving of the beef brisket, about 6 pieces medium sized beef cubes, that had been cooked in either a sauce from the jar or a homemade blend of oyster sauce and sweet soy sauce. There are no spices (e.g. star anise) to be seen nor tasted that goes into cooking beef brisket. The beef itself was not even tender enough. To make up for the small serving of beef 1/3 of my plate is covered in thin egg noodles lightly tossed with a soy sauce gravy. The amount of noodles is enough to make you full. And to top it off they will also give you 1 bunch of bok choy cut in half and a spoonful of dry chili. From what I can assume, the soup that came with it is made from chicken powder and a whole lot of ground black pepper and a whole lot of spring onions. It was obviously not made with stock and I was simply grossed out by the amount of pepper that I am sipping with each spoonful.

Joy Cafe: Beef Brisket Noodles

I hurriedly went to pay for my meal rushing back to the office. Cost me $10.50 for such a mediocre meal. I gave the cashier a $20 note and a 50-cent piece and they had no $10 notes to give me. So I went out with a pocketfull of $1 and $2 coins.

My rating: 5/10

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Happy Star @ Myaree

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Perth by

My family’s connection with Happy Star goes a long way back to the Chinese restaurant’s humble beginning in 2007  when it was first known as Myaree Chinese Restaurant. Then the business was sold and the new owners named it to what is now called Happy Star. And then the business was yet again sold but the current owners kept the name, which is a brilliant idea as this little restaurant has a long list of happy clients thanks to the second owners.

This restaurant is the go to place for a quick takeaway, a lazy day when you don’t feel like cooking, a Sunday lunch or a big celebration. Being close to my house, needless to say, we are regulars here. As much as I love this place, I won’t lie – the chefs have their off days too. Taste has considerably changed when the current owners tookover, and not in a way. We missed the tastiness of what was served up by the 2nd owners and there was something clearly lacking in the dishes prepared by the new chefs. That, coupled with the fact that they messed up our orders for Chinese New Year’s dinner, convinced me not to go back unless really necessary. They messed up our family’s favourite “Yam Duck” by giving us tasteless yam with no visible duck meat (only skin and bones). It was a busy night with everyone dining out to celebrate the new year and the kitchen was terribly busy but this was no excuse to produce crappy dishes.

Alas, last night, things changed. I have not stepped into this restaurant since that awful Chinese New Year experience so I was hesitant to go again. But so much has changed. First thing I noticed was the menu. The owners have had new menus printed out in glossy book-type menus instead of the brown file inserts type of menu that they used to have, passed down from the 1st owners. More importantly, the dishes have greatly improved! Everything came out to restaurant standards. We ordered a few new dishes too.

“Yam Duck”, definitely 100% better than the ones we had before. The yam was smooth and tasty and the duck was virtually fat-less with a crispy skin.

Happy Star: Yam Duck

 

“Deep Fried Eggplant with Salted Egg”, the goodness of deep fried veggie with a hint of salted egg coating. Absolutely divine!

Happy Star: Deep Fried Eggplant with Salted Egg

 

“Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce”, this is more than just an ordinary steamed chicken with soy sauce. This version here is loaded with sesame oil and fried onions so it was much more fragrant than, say, Hainanese chicken dish.

Happy Star: Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce

 

“Tofu with Minced Meat Sauce”, silky tofu with minced meat in a sweet tangy sauce.

Happy Star: Tofu with Minced Meat Sauce

 

“Peking Pork Spare Ribs”, the sauce was just great! Sweet and vinegar-y that works really well with pork.

Happy Star: Peking Pork Spare Ribs

 

“Lo Han Zai”, a vegetarian dish. There wasnt really nothing special with this dish..tofu, mushrooms, black fungus, brocolli. We just needed a vegetable dish and this was an alternative to the usual spinach with garlic that we usually order.

Happy Star: Lo Han Zai

 

We may have ordered too much food but every dish was polished! I’m just glad that Happy Star is back to serving great and accessible food.

My rating: 8/10

Happy Star Noodle House on Urbanspoon

Epic Espresso @ West Perth

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Perth by

Epic? A word that is overused in today’s times so much so that it’s beginning to have a negative connotation to me.

 But “epic” would definitely be a great word to describe Epic Espresso’s mocha. It is mocha non like any other (and I used to think that Dome serves the best mocha and hot chocolate around). It says in the cafe’s website that their mocha is made with “Belgian couverture chocolate” which makes this little chocolatey pick me up sinful. Rich chocolate with a hint of coffee mixed with creamy milk. That’s perfection in a cup if you ask me.

Located in West Perth, this little coffee shop is a 2-minute walk from my office, which would be a bad thing if I come here every day simply because of the price. A small takeaway cup costs a whopping $5.40!! This little cup gives me only about 5-7 big sips. Regular coffee such as flat white and lattes and the like starts from $4.80 for a small cup. The price really is the only drawback to this cafe.

If you like to spoil yourself once in a while, definitely give this place a go. You will be a very happy customer, specially after that yummy goodness of mocha..

My rating: 8/10

http://epicespresso.com.au/

Epic Espresso on Urbanspoon

Hawker’s Cuisine @ Northbridge

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Perth by

Tucked away in the little alley of what is known as “Chinatown” in Perth, who would have thought that this place actually whips up some pretty good dishes.

First things first. Hawker’s Cuisine, just like all the other restaurants in this little Chinatown alley, is open for dinner only. 5:30pm til late. And by late they mean until the wee hours of the morning (3am or even later, I think) perfect for those nocturnal beings.

My cousin who has dined here before has recommended the “Marmite Chicken” and for weeks we have been trying to come here to try it out but we kept forgetting that this place only serves dinner and supper and early brekkie. So finally we managed to drop by early one Sunday evening. Oh by the way, bookings are essential! We arrived early enough for them to give us a table for 8 people. A few minutes later we could’ve been waiting for hours.

Their menu has over 100+ dishes and that obviously made it hard to decide which dishes to order. Of course we had to try the “Marmite Chicken” which was unusually good. I don’t like vegemite or marmite or any other yeast extract spreads for that matter but this was a good “special” sauce for the deep fried chicken. It has a sweet taste to it.

Also on the table were:

 ”Special Fried Rice”, a very taste fried rice with salted fish;

 ”Hawker’s Fried Rice Vermicelli”, which is good just because anything that involves rice vermicelli is good enough for me;

“Jellyfish Salad”, a cold dish of jellyfish, chicken strips and vegetables. A little bit of chili would have definitely made this dish even better. Also there wasnt enough jellyfish in it;

“Steamed Toothfish with Soy Sauce”, tender toothfish cooked perfectly with a salty-sweet soy sauce;

“Eggplant with Salted Fish”, this was a normal dish that I could easily prepare at home. Definitely not our favourite as this dish was barely touched that we had to bring it home. The eggplant skin was too hard so might as well peel the whole damn thing (although presentation wise this would be a no-no because the skin adds to the colour of the dish).

“Pork Spare Ribs with Lychee Sauce”, the only disappointment of the night. There was nothing special with this dish. Pork was over cooked making it hard and chewy, and the sauce? What lychee? I couldn’t taste where the lychee is.

And of course I had to have my own “Hot and Sour Soup”. In my opinion, every Chinese restaurant should be able to make hot and sour soup from scratch. This one here was definitely VERY hot and sour…just the way I like it. The serving size per one bowl was quite big and could easily be shared by 2 people so you’d have room to try other dishes. But if you served me this soup and a bowl of rice I would be 100% satisfied already.

Service here is really fast too. We waited for only about 10-15 minutes and all the dishes came out one after another. It helps to be early as the kitchen is not as busy. But even as I look over to the late comers’ table, I can see dishes on their tables shortly after they have ordered. I would definitely be back. One of my auntie’s only complaint — a tad too salty. Well that what you can expect from a Chinese restaurant. For me it was just right. A restaurant that serves bland food just does not go well with me.

My rating: 7/10

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