The Loose Box @ Mundaring

Posted in Food, French by Nelle

WA’s most decorated chef Alain Fabregues has announced his retirement and the sale of his iconic Mundaring restaurant, The Loose Box, after 34 years.*

The Loose Box is one of those restaurants that I have always planned on trying but kept pushing back because of its location far away in Mundaring. Upon reading the headline that Alain Fabregues is retiring my friend and I wasted no time picking up the phone and made a booking. Most weekends have already been booked out and last service will be sometime at the end of July. So we settled to have the 8 course degustation on a weeknight instead.

The Loose Box is like a cozy cottage nestled amongst the trees and it also feels sort of country. The night kicked off with a bread roll and olive oil; the bread was so good I wanted to ask for another one but my friend reminded me to save my tummy for the 8 dishes that were about to come.

One thing I liked about the whole dining experience was that you can mix and match dishes from the non-vegetarian and vegetarian menu and the “options” for the day. My friend and I are not really veggie people so most of what we chose were from the non vegetarian menu plus some options.

Course 1: Coconut and prawn broth. Coconut broth served with freshly shelled prawn, kaffir lime leaf and Balmain and Rozelle spice.

The broth is frothy and light, definitely not too heavy on the coconut cream. It also has a sweet undertone. The prawn at the bottom was saturated with the broth and it was a good addition to the broth.

Course 2: Tian de Fruits de Mer. Smoked trout, prawn and salmon gravlax tian folded in a dill mayonnaise, served with a lemon and fennel salad and saffron aspic.

It’s like a fresh seafood salad with light mayo dressing. Good contrast between the soft texture of the seafood and the crunchiness of the fennel. I did find the dill quite overpowering though.

Course 3: Le Saumon & St Jacques Aux Aromates “Jean Delaveyne”. Fresh Atlantic salmon and local scallop poached in champagne served with a light butter sauce infused with fresh herbs.

Can’t complain about the scallop but salmon was a bit overcooked for my liking. The sauce is more soupy than actual sauce and although it is butter-based it wasn’t greasy.

Course 4: Escargot a la Bordelaise en Pate de Brick sur Ratatouille Provençal. Snail fritter served golden on a warm ratatouille stack with a tomato and chilli sauce.

A break from the usual escargot en persillade dish that I have. The fritter was served pipping hot with a generous amount of snail. Eaten alone there really isn’t much taste to the fritter but with the ratatouille and the tomato sauce it becomes more interesting; they give a new dimension to the taste of snail.

Course 4: Pork hock option

To me this dish is more Asian than French. The taste reminds me of the soup/broth we usually make at home. It looks like a sausage but inside is chopped up pork hock that is full of flavour. The sauce can easily be one of the tastiest “soup” I have had.

Course 5: Daube de Boeuf Aux Chataignes. Scotch fillet slow cooked in red wine with carrot, onion, herbs and mushrooms served with a lid of puff pastry and garnished with chestnuts and red wine shallots.

A simple way to describe this is that it is like a beef bourguignon pie. Beef is tender and sauce is strong on the wine and the pastry is very flaky. It was a good sized main for a degustation.

Course 5: Lamb rack option

I’m really beginning to enjoy lamb now and this herb crusted one here was cooked to perfection. So pink and so tender and packed with flavour.

Course 6: Fruit Sorbet. Seasonal fruit churned as a sorbet.

Our seasonal fruit was apricot. The sorbet is very smooth; leaning more towards ice cream texture than sorbet. One thing I really liked was that the apricot taste was not too strong since I am not the biggest fan of apricots.

Course 7: Le Cygne Majestueux en Voyage sur son Lac de Framboises. The majestic swan, made from homemade vanilla bean ice cream and fine tuille biscuit served on a “lake” of raspberry coulis.

This is the star of the night. I loved the ice cream. I loved the cream. I loved the coulis. It was smooth and crisp; sweet and tangy. First spoon of the very fragrant vanilla ice cream and I was already hooked.

Course 7: Honeycomb bavarois option

This one is a show stopper too. It was very pleasant to the eye and the taste buds. Personally, I never thought I’d enjoy desserts made with honey this much. The honey in the bavarois was just enough – not too strong and not too little that you don’t get to taste it.

Course 8: Petits fours

We had the option of either having these petits fours taken home or eaten at the restaurant. Since we were already quite full we took them home instead. Brought mine to work the next day and they were still fresh. The selection were:

Grand Marnier profiterole – very strong on the alcohol but very delicious and not too sweet;

Lemon macaron – shells were really smooth but brittle. The lemon curd filling was very tangy and counteracts the sweetness of the shells.

Lemon meringue – this is the first time I’m actually saying this but there was not enough sugar in the lemon filling. Some bites I had tasted like plain lemon juice curd; it was too lemony.

***

Overall a good 3 to 3.5 hour dining experience for me and my friend. The staff were lovely, though they could do with more professionalism, and helpful from the minute we called to make a booking (with lots of changes in between) to the minute we left.

What I also really liked was that all the dishes were light and fresh. They weren’t much of heavy sauces and heavy ingredients but rather simple ingredients taken to the next level. I did not feel sickeningly full (as I normally would after so many dishes) and had dessert not come I would have probably kept on going with the savouries.

If you ask me, $160 (without wine) is asking for too much; but if you are willing to fork out the money then it is not a bad idea to give this restaurant a try before it closes its doors.

*quote source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/16213563/loose-box-owners-call-it-quits/

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18Feb2013

Melbourne edition: Ezard

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Modern Australian by Nelle

There is a reason why some restaurants are highly regarded than others; awarded hats while other are not. Ezard has easily become one of those fine dining restaurants that blew me away (also partly because I went in with zero expectations).

What can I say? The whole dining experience was fantastic:

Great service. From the initial point of contact through to the second we left the restaurant, the staff had been nothing but polite. They paid close attention to us without being intrusive but what made me feel very relaxed while dining was the staff’s sense of humour.

Great food. I would not normally go to a fine dining restaurant to eat Asian-inpsired food. But Ezard takes it to a whole new level which was great because the food was better than I imagined from reading the menu. It’s almost like east meets west but it was certainly geered towards east.

More importantly, both were enjoyed while on holidays.

Entrees

Seared canadian scallops, spiced pumpkin puree, cumin caramel, pomegranate, chorizo and crispy chinese broccoli

Slow cooked bangalow pork belly, apple pudding, fennel, white peach and calvados jus

Mains

Crispy skin baby barramundi with caramelised eggplant, tomato and lime salad, yellow curry dressing

Master stock fried pork hock, chilli caramel, spicy thai beanshoot salad and fragrant jasmine rice

Dessert

Tasting plate for 2

Salted caramel parfait, chocolate peanut butter crunch, pressed paw paw and blackberry syrup & pistachio frangipane, crystallised raspberry and tonka bean ice cream

Fromage frais and strawberry cheesecake, basil pearls, lime syrup & mango bavarois, slow cooked peach, sesame seed wafer

Espresso chocolate marquise, soft meringue, raspberry gel

Too much good food! I think every single item on the menu is worth a try, except for that salted caramel parfait.

Even I was surprised we polished off every single plate.

31Jan2013

Melbourne edition: Madame Sousou

Posted in Food, French by Nelle

Three days in Melbourne and I have been spoilt for too many food choices. So much so that I can’t even decide where to begin.

But with that said I guess I’ll start with the last meal Lily and I had before leaving this wonderful city. Brunswick Street in Fitzroy has become one of my favourite places in Melbourne because it is lined with cafes, restaurants, bars, and specialty shops. Forgetting to make reservations for one of the restaurants we planned on visiting meant that Lily and I walked blindly into Madame Sousou, which turned out to be a very pleasant unplanned part of the trip.

The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we walked in without a booking but thankfully they had a spare table for us because it quickly got busy not long after we were seated.

For entrees – glorious beef!

Steak tartare with potato crisps and traditional Accoutrements for me, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have never actually eaten full on raw meat before this because the thought of that just doesn’t sit well with me. But then I thought why not give it a go? So I did and I have no regrets. What I liked was the beef tasted absolutely fresh; no meat stench and the capers and onions work wonderfully with the meat. Given the texture of the meat I crushed the potato crisps and mixed them all up with the meat and you get a nice crunch with every bite.

And Carpaccio de beouf with horseradish aioli and micro watercress for Lily. Eye fillet was sliced super thinly and well seasoned and the flavour of the aioli was just divine.

For mains – carbs for her, more meat for me!

I had the special of the day, lamb en croute with something that consists of sundried tomatoes, capsicum, olives, and garlic -the waitress used a term to describe this but I can’t remember what it is exactly at the top of my head (could be a la florentine) – because this sounded the most interesting.

The meat was too well done for my liking and the pastry was a tad soggy. But what made the dish worked was the accompaniment of sundried tomatoes, capsicum, olives, and garlic. If you don’t prefer the strong taste of lamb (like me) but would like to order lamb for a change then I think this dish is good for that purpose.

Lils got the gratin de gnocchi with blue cheese, spinach, and walnuts because she’s biased towards gnocchis. We both loved the creaminess of the dish and those walnuts added that little oomph.

Even though we were both as full as one can be, there is always room for dessert.

Mine is the classic creme brûlée with a twist; it had prunes inside. Taste-wise the brulee was lovely. Rich and smooth custard with a slightly bitter/burnt tasting sugar coating which is how I like my creme brulees. Serving-wise this was very generous!

On the other side of the table is a panna cotta with chilled rhubarb mint soup and thyme poached rhubarb. The panna cotta itself was delicious but, as refreshing as the soup was, this is not something I would polish off. Lily seemed to have enjoyed it though despite her aversion to any food containing mint. The best way to put it is that this dessert was interesting.

Overall a fantastic meal to end our trip. What made the experience more enjoyable was we dropped by Madame Sousou unplanned and it turned out to be better than we expected. Only thing I want to add is that they need more staff during busy periods.

www.madamesousou.com.au

15Dec2011

The Red Herring @ Fremantle

Posted in Food, Modern Australian by Nelle

Just among the many Christmas dinners and functions that are laid before me in 2011, my company booked 2 tables at The Red Herring in Fremantle. Located along Riverside Drive, there is no question that the view was spectacular. Summer has began so by the time we were all settled comfortably in our seats at 7pm we were able to catch the sunset with hues of orange and purple set against the river and yachts.

I have heard good reviews from friends about The Red Herring so I was delighted when the company sent out the invites with this venue. Finally, I get to see what the fuss was about. But it quickly turned out to be a much ado about nothing. We had the December set menu and, frankly, I was not all that impressed. For such a much talked about fine dining restaurant I expected something different. Something more exciting.

For starters, among the choices were:

Snapper and spring onion fishcake, Thai noodle salad

The fishcakes tasted fresh and are lightly seasoned. The outside was fried to perfection and I thought that snapper was a good choice for the cakes. The Thai noodle salad, however, is neither Thai nor a salad. It was more like 5 strands of noodles lumped together to create a salad illusion. I not sure what we were supposed to be tasting here.

Warm pork belly salad, bacon, egg and brie

Again, what was the flavour combination supposed to taste like? The combination of pork, brie and egg did not make sense to me as there was not any harmony with the flavours. Worse, the star of the dish, the pork belly, just did not make the cut for what a good pork belly should be. In my opinion, pork belly should only be cooked in either 2 ways: stewed or crispy skinned. Nothing in between. What was wrong with this pork belly was that it did not taste fresh and the skin was chewy. It’s as though the pork wasn’t given enough attention.

For mains, some of dishes included:

Crispy skinned salmon, seeded mustard mash, asparagus, lemon beurre blanc

The salmon was perfect. Crispy skin, as it says on the menu, flesh cooked just right leaving it moist and juicy. The mashed potatoes were cold; not sure how long it has been sitting out before they plated up the whole dish. And it looked like someone went overboard with the mustard seeds seeing as the mustard way overpowered the potatoes. Well the beurre blanc looked more like a curd but the zesty lemon taste gave a nice tang to the fish.

Grilled sirloin of beef, sweet potato, pancetta, field mushroom

Nothing special about this dish, really. It’s a lump of steak that anyone can cook at home. I asked for medium and got a well done one instead. The sweet potatoes are not my choice of carbohydrates with beef. Best thing about this dish was the field mushroom and that’s only because I love mushrooms.

The menu said that all mains are served with a side of salad. Where was my salad?? Oh wait, there it was in the middle of the table. The bowl of salad was placed in the middle of the table and they expected us to share it. The ratio was 1 bowl to 4 people.

For desserts, we had a choice of:

Pavlova, lemon curd, rosewater ice cream, berry compote

This wasn’t my order personally. Based on what my colleagues have told me it’s a mixed review. One says it absolutely delicious, well, because she loves anything pavlova and thinks that the lemon curd made it all the more special while my other colleague thought it was so-so. The dessert was sweet, sour and bitter all at the same time, she said. Meringue was sweet. Lemon curd was sour. Berry compote was bitter. Go figure.

Plum pudding, nutmeg ice cream, brandy sauce

When it comes to “fruitcake”, it’s either you love it or you hate it. In my case, I hate it. I was kind of hoping that this would taste something like sticky date pudding but obviously it did not because it is a plum pudding. Putting aside the fact that I do not like fruitcake, which this plum pudding tasted like, one of my other issues with this dessert is that it tasted like it came straight out of the box.

My boss on the, other hand, told me just minutes ago that it was “simply beautiful”.

To me it was sort of a disastrous fine dining restaurant. The seafood was great; I’d give that to them. But just because a restaurant specialises in seafood it does not mean that they can overlook the way other foods are prepared and served hoping that good oysters can make up for a bad steak.

To make it worse than it already was service was not good either. My colleague asked for another basket of bread twice. And twice it never came. We assumed they forgot about it the first time. And the scond time she followed up we were told that it was placed at the other end of the table. Wouldn’t one put the basket in front of the patron who asked for it? On a another note, I asked for a little bit of white wine, about 1/8th of the glass, just to have a taste, while physically showing the waitress how much I intend to drink and still I ended up with half a glass full and it wasn’t even my choice of wine (hence the tasting first).

The evening was only saved by a good company. And the fact that it was a Christmas dinner.

My rating: 5/10

3Apr2011

1907 @ CBD

Posted in Modern Australian, Perth by Nelle

1907, situated along Queen Street, is an almost perfect fine dining experience. The restaurant is located in a somewhat dodgy aisle making it hardly recognisable from the outside with no visible restaurant door. The entrance door looked like a door to a house with a “push” (or was it a “pull”?) sign. We walked in greeted by a french waitress who showed us to our table. I did not even notice that HUGE wooden horse at the door food review sites have been talking about because I was anxious to sit down and order my food as I haven’t eaten for more than 6 hours.

The restaurant was unusually hot and stuffy when we went in. I was about to complain to the waitress to turn the damn aircon on but, thankfully, the place started to become cooler. After we placed our orders we were given a complimentary bread basket. It was a very generous size with 3 bread rolls and 4 slices of bread from a loaf. Dips consisting of olive oil, dukka, salt and a slab of butter were also provided.

1907: complimentary bread basket

1907: for the bread

Finishing almost the whole basket of bread was a terrible idea. It obviously fills you up really quickly so my friend and I decided against eating another piece of bread even though they were very tasty, not the kind you get from, say, Bakers Delight. By this time, the complimentary amuse bouche was served. Today’s dish was “Roast Pumpkin Soup” served in what looked like a flat-bottomed test tube or a long shot glass. Being the FOB that we are, my friend and I looked at each other thinking how we are supposed to eat it. There was no spoon and the fork was too big to fit into the ‘test tube’. So we just drank from it. It was very very delicious with a nutty flavour. Why can’t my homemade roast pumpkin soup taste like this? I wanted more of this – a big bowl of this. My friend made it into a dip for the bread too which was surprisingly good!

1907: complimentary amuse bouche - roast pumpkin

And so we chatted away. It did not take long for the entrees to be served. Mine was a “Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Cucumber and Fresh Coconut Salad and Watermelon”. I have not tried a half cooked half raw tuna before and this was a very good first experience. It was very fresh and the salad, with a spicy and tangy taste to it, complemented the fish really well. Now I know why that watermelon was there. It was to cool down my palette after eating that spicy salad. My friend had the “Ginger Glazed Berkshire Pork Belly with Prawn Salad”. The dish was presented very beautifully! Great for photos indeed. And the taste did not disappoint either. Pork was tender and the salad fresh and tasty. The only complaint was that the pork skin was very tough. It was hard to cut it with a knife let alone chew and swallow it. If the skin were crispier it would have made this dish even better.

1907: seared yellowfin tuna

1907: ginger glazed Berkshire pork belly

For the mains, we both ordered the “Coq au vin, sous-vide Spatchcock with Mushrooms, Mashed Potatoes and Brioche”. We were craving for mashed potatoes so this was the obvious choice. To start off, the mash was very very smooth and creamy. The brioche was buttery and great for polishing off the sauce from the plate. And the spatchcock? It was delicious. Perfectly cooked and the mushroom sauce went really well with it. If there is any thing wrong with it it would be that it was a tad too salty. But otherwise this was a perfect dish.

1907: 'coq au vin' sous-vide spatchcock

I was already becoming very sleepy from being really full that I left half of my brioche untouched. But I just simply could not pass up dessert. The dessert menu had a “65% Dark Chocolate Marquise with lemon cheesecake ice cream” and anything that has ‘dark chocolate’ in it I have got to try. It’s something like chocolate mousse and the lemon cheesecake tasted like a yogurt-y ice cream. The sourness of the ice cream offsets the sweetness of my marquise. I still found the marquise a little too sweet for a dark chocolate concoction but otherwise good. My friend opted for a “healthier” treat, “Caramelised Orange with saffron ice cream and rose fairy floss”. The saffron ice cream was very exotic. Something different but something that I don’t think I would eat on a normal day.

1907: dark chocolate marquise

1907: caramelised orange with saffron ice cream and rose fairy floss

We paid our bill and walked out the door and that was when I saw that giant wooden horse. Why there is a horse in this restaurant is something I do not comprehend. Perhaps it’s something to fill in the void in the reception area? The place looked like a remodelled living room which made it cozy. Well at the least the table we were at felt cozy. The service was very friendly, too, from the minute we walked in to the minute we walked out. The waitress asked if we enjoyed our meals and wished us a good night when we left. She even offered to take a photo for us without us having to ask ask her – that is someone who is alert, I would say. Some of the bad reviews I have read freaked me out at first because I really do not want to pay big money just to be disappointed. But I’m glad my friend and I took the chance and now this is one of my favourite fine dining restaurants. I would most definitely come back.

My rating: 9/10

www.1907.com.au

2Apr2011

Fraser’s @ King’s Park

Posted in Modern Australian, Perth by Nelle

Known as one of Perth’s poshest place to dine in, Fraser’s offers a variety of interesting dishes and a stunning view of the city. Sadly there were construction going underway when we dined here so the views of the city were blocked by railings and barricades.

You can clearly see why this restaurant is posh as soon as you walk in. The interior is modernly designed and dimly lit giving it a cozy feel. We were led to our table and given the menu. It was really difficult to chose what to order given that most dishes seemed interesting enough for me to want to try everything.

Our table ordered a “Soft shell crab with cumin salt” to share. The serving size of this came as a surprise! We were expecting to be served about 3-4 pieces of crab but it came in a big plateful. Even after sharing this amongst 3 people I already started to feel full. The crab in itself was very good. Nicely deep fried although the cumin salt tended to settle unevenly. I would get bites of really salty crab and other bites of non seasoned crab. It was strange that out of the 3 of us I ate most of the crab pieces where the cumin salt settled. This was served with a side of japanese seaweed and a soy ginger sauce, which was really unnecessary given the crab has full flavour just by itself.

Fraser: soft shell crab

Feeling really hungry, I also ordered an entree of “Wok Fried Fremantle Octopus with chilli dressing” for myself which ended up being shared anyway. This dish had a Thai flavour to it. Octopus was cooked just right and the coriander in the dressing gave it a nice kick.

Fraser: fremantle octopus

And then we waited for our mains. And waited. And waited. Even as chatting/gossiping/catching up with friend made time fly by really quickly, the mains took forever to be served. The restaurant was not overly busy given it was a Thursday night so I don’t know why the food took so long to come out.

Finally the food came. The presentation was not as good as I expected it to be. But of course I had very high expectations from Fraser’s because it is Fraser’s at King’s Park. One of my friends and I had the “Roast Duck Breast and Confit Sausage with Beetroot Puree”. The waitress told us beforehand that this was cooked medium rare but I had mine well done because I cannot fathom eating bloody poultry. The duck breast was tender but it needs more flavour. The skin was not crisp enough making it a little chewy. And the beetroot puree? Well I wouldn’t say that the 2 flavours were complementary to each other. I like beets by itself and I like duck by itself but I am not so sure if combining them together was a great idea. I did like this dish although it could have been better. My other friend had the “Mt Barker Chicken with Baby Turnips” and she did say it was good. I wasn’t able to try it for myself but it did look good.

Fraser: roast duck breast with beetroot puree

Fraser: Mt Barker chicken with baby turnips

The waiter cleared our table after the mains but did not even ask if we wanted to have a look at the dessert menu. So we tried flagging down any waiter/waitress but perhaps they were understaffed? It took a good 10 minutes for someone to finally respond to us.

For dessert my friends and I each ordered a different sweet so we can all share. I had the “Steamed Fig and Ginger Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce and Pouring Cream”. This was very very good! The pudding is a little bit dry but just because I think it could be more moist. So I simply drenched every bite in the butterscotch sauce and the cream, which was really fragrant. Also served with vanilla ice cream and slices of banana that tricked me into thinking it was a tad healthy (because of the fruit). My friend had the “Frangipani Plum Tart”. It had a baked cheesecake texture with sour plums in the middle. My friend said it was too sour but I enjoyed the sweet-sour taste to it. My other friend had the “Pistachio Creme Brulee with fairy floss and vanilla ice cream”. There was nothing special about the creme brulee , to be honest. I can hardly taste the pistachio flavour.

Fraser: Steamed fig and ginger pudding

Fraser: Plum Tart

Fraser: Pistachio creme brulee

Overall, I think Fraser’s is overrated. The menu looks interesting but don’t have high expectations because it does not live up to the hype it has created. Everything could have been better – taste, presentation, and service. Service here is not the friendliest. The staff all seemed too uptight. They dont smile a lot, nor do they pretend, at least pretend,to be happy to serve you. There was only 1 friendlier waiter that night and even then he was a bit clumsy. He spilled red wine on the table next to us! Red wine! Spilling red wine in a fine dining restaurant is an epic fail moment in my opinion. Then when we went to the till to pay the bill it included a bottle of beer that we did not even order. Good thing the clumsy waiter picked this up before I had a chance to tell him off. The only good thing I can say about their service is that they did accommodate my requests for a glass of warm water (because I had a cold and I needed something to relieve my symptoms).

Would I come back? Maybe. But I’d rather go somewhere else that is cheaper but serves much better food and gives better service (for example, “1907” in CBD).

My rating: 7/10

www.frasersrestaurant.com.au

29Mar2011

Coco’s @ South Perth

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Modern Australian, Perth by Nelle

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

joie de vivre

gastronomic diary of a foodie at heart

Tag Archives: fine dining

The Loose Box @ Mundaring

Melbourne edition: Ezard

Melbourne edition: Madame Sousou

The Red Herring @ Fremantle

1907 @ CBD

Fraser’s @ King’s Park

Coco’s @ South Perth

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