tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83915236472086690812024-02-19T12:26:42.055+08:00Beaufort Street BlogThe true story of four North Perth residents and their quest to dine in every restaurant on Beaufort Street.Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-47153953438451433102010-06-17T08:29:00.003+08:002010-06-17T08:33:35.171+08:00Grill'd<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjUcqszTHm59xRVmpK2TS_yWwIdDctueSZRVHA2Gg3G1VrmWxMJ8Ydti-ZfW_cZ0DkR3MN6HRMmJB6-08dDTJuFBk0xqeCAw-AmOpOUGm-uRExJ5wKOkyvVmhiEi-v0yy6695jCBLIGB8/s1600/tomato.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483534118723900786" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjUcqszTHm59xRVmpK2TS_yWwIdDctueSZRVHA2Gg3G1VrmWxMJ8Ydti-ZfW_cZ0DkR3MN6HRMmJB6-08dDTJuFBk0xqeCAw-AmOpOUGm-uRExJ5wKOkyvVmhiEi-v0yy6695jCBLIGB8/s200/tomato.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Having satisfied their public holiday coffee needs, the Bloggers turned their minds to their stomachs. They needed burgers. Stat.<br /><br />Helpfully, Grill’d was well and truly open on this public holiday. When we walked past Grill’d on the way to find a coffee, we were particularly charmed by the number of people getting their 11.00am burger fix. They must have had worse nights than we did, as we were able to hold back until 11.45.<br /><br />By the time we got to the burger joint, we had already closely studied the menu and selected our beasts as follows:<br /><br />1. Booto went for the chicken and brie burger. Her selection resulted from her last Grill’d experience, which occurred during a visit to Grill’d in Prahran while heavily pregnant and desperate to fill up on contraband soft cheese. Today Booto’s dreams could be realised.<br /><br />2. The Brains opted for the mustard and pickle number, which, on reflection, sounds like the type of thing a pregnant woman might crave. However, the Brains’ fondness for pickles has been a lifelong trait, which was the only reason for her selection.<br /><br />3. The Deliberator went with the Cheeseburger. His reasons were obvious. It was a burger. With cheese. You’d be mad not to really.<br /><br />4. The Sponge mixed it up a little and selected the steak sambo.<br /><br />To avoid argument, we each ordered our own side of chips and made sure we had a representative of each dipping sauce on the table – herbed mayo, tomato relish and sweet chilli mayo.<br /><br />The ordering process is simple and efficient, but it still managed to perplex the Deliberator who didn’t realise he had to decide on what type of bun he wanted (Panini or traditional), and then couldn’t land on a drink because Grill’d stocks Pepsi products which are reasonably unfamiliar to him. (For those who are interested, he ended up with Panini and a Pepsi Max). The Pepsi thing must have also struck the Sponge unawares, as he brought a red creaming soda back to the table. Being in a hamburger joint made him sentimental for sugary drinks and spiders.<br /><br />The burgers arrived quickly, which was a blessing because with no alcohol to sustain our conversation, we had well and truly run out of things to say to each other. The burgers looked fabulous and fresh and we couldn’t wait to get into them, but disaster struck before we had the chance.<br /><br />You see, Grill’d has a variety of extra sauces for those who feel they need them, and as each of us tends to add tomato sauce to everything we eat, we took advantage of this offer. The tomato sauce comes in these cute, plastic, tomato-shaped dispensers with the sauce itself arriving through the ‘stem’ of the tomato. The leaves of the tomato surrounding the stem act as a lid. The Deliberator, notoriously neat with his food (any sandwich the Deliberator makes only has right angles), carefully held the leaves/lid, opened his burger and neatly covered his pattie with the correct amount of t-sauce. The Brains, oblivious to the Deliberator’s delicate handling of the dispenser, grabbed it off him, opened her burger and managed to dump the lid (ie, the leaves) of the sauce dispenser onto her burger, followed quickly by three quarters of the contents of the dispenser. The Deliberator refused to give up his ration of napkins to help the Brains with this untenable situation (he’s trying to teach the Brains how to use napkins sparingly) and proceeded to mocked her incessantly.<br /><br />Later, the Sponge, by this time thoroughly involved the steak sambo, went to add some t-sauce to his plate so he could dip his chips into it. Whether he had not seen the Brains’ screw up, or whether he’d seen it and completely forgotten about it, he managed to do exactly the same thing and tip the lid plus contents of the plastic tomato all over his plate. It was tomato sauce mayhem at our table, and Stinky wasn’t even there.<br /><br />So how were the burgers? Delicious, we really liked them. The bread is fresh, the meat is tender and, in the case of the burgers, surprisingly lean, the other ingredients are clearly good quality and super fresh and the sauces are excellent. The Brains very much liked her mustard (particularly mixed with t-sauce) and the herbed mayo on the other burgers is thick and creamy with plenty of flavour. The chips are also delicious – they are crisp and golden and come in giant serves, absolutely covered in salt and herbs. The herbs on the chips are a bit much with the herb mayo dipping sauce and the herb mayo in the burgers, but if you substitute the dipping sauce with the sweet chilli mayo, the herbiness seems to even itself out.<br /><br /><strong>In summary</strong>:<br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Exactly what you would expect from a casual burger joint. The burgers come out in quick time too, which was no doubt a product of the sweat-shop style kitchen which appeared to simultaneously employ every teenager in the area.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Great burgers that don’t make you feel too disgusting. Tasty chips. Good sized serves of everything.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The high quality meat.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The crap tomato sauce dispenser. And the fact that they charge 70 cents for chip dipping sauce – surely that can be wrapped up in the price of the chips?<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 4 herbed mayos out of 5<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Yep, particularly as it’s the only burger joint on Beaufort.<br /><br /><strong>Details</strong>: Grill’d is located next to the Astor Arcade, where Cinos used to be. They have an excellent website - www.grilld.com.au – which includes a copy of the menu. You can BYO booze and they’ll even give you wine glasses for next to nothing. A burger and chips will come in at around $17 per person. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1513815/restaurant/Perth/Grilld-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Grill'd on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1513815/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-11594161157311979962010-06-09T08:15:00.004+08:002010-06-09T08:27:21.413+08:00ExoMod Coffee House<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip42ge1YCx7aOZTnCEsOiTkb40tALFoXBuMBxBfmJTdhiyBZRMSw89xVWbyGly2asQmev8xm9I1Te7-dSMiRXO2fDRNXSXC9QfISDPcgi7197SNuLSaOf-t4hvd1kHP_pEqMzrr-Qey9u-/s1600/exomod-topbanner.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480563174482544994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 100px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip42ge1YCx7aOZTnCEsOiTkb40tALFoXBuMBxBfmJTdhiyBZRMSw89xVWbyGly2asQmev8xm9I1Te7-dSMiRXO2fDRNXSXC9QfISDPcgi7197SNuLSaOf-t4hvd1kHP_pEqMzrr-Qey9u-/s320/exomod-topbanner.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">It was the morning after the night before. The Bloggers had spent their Sunday night of a public holiday drinking red wine and watching 320 episodes of Family Guy in a row. Other than BOOTO and Stinky, who had the sense to turn in early, we woke up to a Monday feeling groggy, scattered and generally worse than we would have if we actually had to go to work. The only thing that would help our situation was burgers. And coffee. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div><br />The coffee proved more difficult than the burgers. Inexplicably, Perth coffee shops tend to shut down on a public holiday, when they are needed the most. The section of Beaufort Street north of Walcott was a ghost town. Even Cantina was closed for renovations. We walked into Globe Coffee House, which was jam packed with people looking bewildered and out of place – wondering why they were being punished for wanting breakfast on a public holiday by being forced to dine in an over-priced and underwhelming old-people’s establishment. We weren’t interested in staying around to queue for average coffee. To our horror, we almost ended up in Dome, but just in time we noticed ExoMod was open. ExoMod is always open. Booto recounted the time she was on Beaufort Street before 6.00am and it was open. The Brains and The Deliberator once needed a Christmas Day coffee and found that it was open. And these are good things. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Ordering is kind of tough work at ExoMod. It’s a busy place, especially on a public holiday when every other café in Perth is closed, and there’s no table service so someone had to line up. So, while the Sponge sat in the line, the rest of the Bloggers spent some time rearranging the furniture to their liking and soaked in the kind of weird florescent lit, bright red and white atmosphere. The lighting combined with the just-a-little-too-loud music didn’t make for the most relaxed coffee experience, but the place is nice and clean, and you do get a good people-watching viewpoint. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Our coffees took a while, but not too long to be a problem. They were fine, good in fact. Absolutely nothing to complain about. So we have to end our review here as there’s nothing left to say. </div><br /><div></div><div><strong>In summary:</strong></div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Service:</strong> It was fine. Once, on an early morning coffee run with Stinky, a girl behind the counter gushed that Stinky was a "fairy from heaven" while mimicking someone shooting a bow and arrow. This was music to BOOTO’s ears (but which neither Stinky’s father nor the Deliberator were pleased to hear about).<br /><br /><strong>Food:</strong> We didn’t have any, but the coffee is decent (not amazing) and nicely presented.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight:</strong> Hmmmmm.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight:</strong> Ummmmmm<br /><br /><strong>Rating:</strong> 3.5 wireless internet connections out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back:</strong> Probably – but only before 6.00am or on Christmas Day.<br /><br /><strong>Details:</strong> ExoMod seems to be open all the time. Coffees were the usual price for Perth.<br /></div></span><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1432245/restaurant/Perth/ExoMod-Coffee-House-Mount-Lawley"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 104px; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; HEIGHT: 34px" alt="ExoMod Coffee House on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1432245/biglogo.gif" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-35300684237539600962010-06-01T19:50:00.005+08:002010-06-01T20:11:59.006+08:00Must Winebar<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5QceNoPcckRTlo7JWj6LB6uEQdOM2-feVOUS_nqW-CM4nrIdBIVuro_pqdKiqhkCP2CsCxrrvaBa6QpC8DYtcy1WTzigXmCDq6GEf40oqPBdXuEnzbkSaviItKH61-EUTDId7ZKEhklmt/s1600/220px-Chablis_bottle_and_wine.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477775577291604066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5QceNoPcckRTlo7JWj6LB6uEQdOM2-feVOUS_nqW-CM4nrIdBIVuro_pqdKiqhkCP2CsCxrrvaBa6QpC8DYtcy1WTzigXmCDq6GEf40oqPBdXuEnzbkSaviItKH61-EUTDId7ZKEhklmt/s200/220px-Chablis_bottle_and_wine.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">It was BOOTO’s 35th birthday and so it was decided that a visit to Must was indeed a must (like you’ve never heard that one before). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">After a quick pre dinner drink at the Queens (wherein Stinks’ newest playmate Jimmy T was welcomed to the world of babies in prams in pubs), it was a mere hop, skip and a jump to Must. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As previously noted, none of the Bloggers are strangers to Must, (although it must be said BOOTO had never actually made it past the cocktail bar) however on this particular night, a quorum was finally established. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The night commenced with the Deliberator informing the group that two things were non negotiable: </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />(1) the charcuterie platter was to be ordered; and<br /><br />(2) he, and he alone, would order the wine and he may or may not consult the price before placing any of the said orders.<br /><br />The Sponge’s credit card quivered. The Brains and BOOTO giggled like schoolgirls.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">As the Sommelier approached, the Deliberator suggested both he and the Sponge partake of a cocktail to calm those wallet nerves whilst the Brains and BOOTO confirmed a chardy was definitely on the cards and left the ordering in the very capable hands of the Deliberator assisted of course by the sommelier (unless you’re a wine buff, you’ll need assistance in navigating the extensive range on offer at Must). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It was at this point that the Sponge wondered out loud what grape was used in Chablis, only to be answered in a rather dignified, posh, unDeliberator style voice that the Chablis was an appellation famous for its chardonnay, so the Chablis would be made from chardonnay grapes. Scoffs all round before the Deliberator called on the sommelier to back up his claim. And before we could stop him, the sommelier did indeed confirm that for the second time in 7 years, the Deliberator had got one over the rest of us. To say he handled the moment with grace and humility would be just plain lies. He managed to drop 'appellation' into the conversation a further 21 times during the course of the night.<br /><br />But back to the food.<br /><br />Underneath a dimly lit interior (suitably so for a certain birthday girl struggling with the idea of going up a survey group), the following entrees were ordered:<br /><br />(1) A dozen freshly shucked natural oysters – you can never go wrong with these. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />(2) Must Charcuterie plate – the Deliberator was correct – this is a non negotiable for all you carnivores out there.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(3) Chicken Liver Parfait, Grenache Jelly, Melba Toast – unbelievable – a definite stand out.<br /><br />Mains:<br /><br />(1) Brains: chicken and prawn ravioli with a creamy sauce - a super-fabulous serving of perfect pasta chock full of fresh ingredients and a heart-stopping sauce.<br /><br />(2) Deliberator: Mt Barker chicken and prawn sausage - the chicken and prawn combination again - while not all that common, this version of surf and turf is a new favourite.<br /><br />(3) Sponge: rump steak – a little overcooked (for a rare steak), however the potato pie that accompanied it was awesome.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(4) BOOTO: pan fried gnocchi with lamb, caramelised onion, Sicilian green olive and shaved parmesan – so good it made you want to lick the plate.<br /><br />(5) Chips for the table.<br /><br />Dessert:<br /><br />(1) BOOTO: apple tart – not bad, but any negative aspects could be down to the fact that she had eaten so much that by this stage of the night all she really wanted to do was roll over and die.<br /><br />(2) Brains: saffron and vanilla crème brulee, orange and tequila sorbet and citrus tuile – certainly one of the best brulees she’s ever eaten, more brulees should contain saffron. More of every food should cotain saffron.<br /><br />(3) Sponge: ice cream sundae thingy, nothing earth shattering here.<br /><br />And so it was that after WAY too much meat and perhaps just a little over indulgence on the wine side of things (because in our opinion, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to wine), the Bloggers waddled through the dim interior of Must onto the bright lights of our beloved Beaufort Street. A little older yes (in Booto’s case) and all the more satisfied to know that Must is indeed a must dine venue in Perth.<br /><br /><strong>In summary:</strong><br /><br /><strong>Service:</strong> Great sommelier, even if he did back up the Deliberator – the mileage on this one if going to last. And last. And last. Query the bling on one of the waitresses though – was there some sort of ho-down we didn’t know of that demanded sequined appliqué?<br /><br /><strong>Food:</strong> Tick. Tick. Tick.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight:</strong> Hard to cut one from the herd, but the charcuterie plate is non negotiable<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight:</strong> The Deliberator being correct on the appellation point, and the weird dreams experienced from all that meat.<br /><br /><strong>Rating:</strong> 4.5 appellations out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back:</strong> Some of us already have.<br /><br /><strong>Details:</strong> You can find Must Winebar at 519 Beaufort Street, Highgate. It’s open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, however one would recommend booking for dinner. You can call them on 9328 8255. We had a real slap up meal and the Deliberator kept to his promise to not consult the price before ordering the wine, so it did come to princely sum of $150.00 per head, but hey it’s not every day you jump up a survey group huh?<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370553/restaurant/Perth/Must-Winebar-Highgate"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 104px; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; HEIGHT: 34px" alt="Must Winebar on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370553/biglogo.gif" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-66141736020795865842010-03-22T08:23:00.004+08:002010-03-22T08:52:24.190+08:00The Beaufort Street Steakhouse<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB10dIBA1q3WULCZOSX9XDNeaG7zreTgEQOfr93rSPFMYsNguns7r697VaLbVJGM8wOd9C4vYY8H_CmlgQhoTy_E02RKScmIGNFZTWBL_tVOoGl1j8XyQ1RRGEGfW24RUzVDisCGSkbKdL/s1600-h/steak.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451247721479577218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB10dIBA1q3WULCZOSX9XDNeaG7zreTgEQOfr93rSPFMYsNguns7r697VaLbVJGM8wOd9C4vYY8H_CmlgQhoTy_E02RKScmIGNFZTWBL_tVOoGl1j8XyQ1RRGEGfW24RUzVDisCGSkbKdL/s200/steak.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">It's exciting times on the Beaufort Street Strip, with 2 new meat-based establishments having opened in the last couple of weeks - Grill'd and the Beaufort Street Steakhouse. It was a tough call deciding which one to patronise first, but the Beaufort Street Steakhouse won on the basis that there was no unnecessary apostrophe in its name.<br /><br />With Stinky being happily minded by Mother of Booto (father of Booto was around, but was busy reliving his incredible conversation with a Sikh chef down at the North Perth Bowling Club) the bloggers put on their glad rags, polished their thongs and headed off to the Beaufort Street Steakhouse. The BSS occupies the space which Alt Heidelberg left vacant some years back - some you may recall the taunting sign on the door about Alt Heidelberg closing for renovations and checking the local rag for announcements on the reopening date. The Brains read each local paper (all 3 of them) every week for 3 years in anticipation of that announcement, which sadly never came. </span><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />But that's by the by.<br /><br />Parking at BSS proved to be an issue. Not because it was difficult, but because The Deliberator insisted on directing us down tiny Northbridge streets so that we ended up parking in a dark alley facing the wrong way, then yelling at Booto for driving down tiny Northbridge streets so and parking in a dark alley facing the wrong way. The dressing down continued until we walked in the door, but calm was restored as we entered our cozy and quite fabulous surroundings. The BSS has the most sensational wallpaper (stylised white bull heads on a red background, tessellated to make flower-like shapes), beautiful booths (upholstered in red velvet) and the best steak knives we had ever clapped eyes on. A discussion about how easy it might be to kill someone with those steak knives quickly erupted.<br /><br />We bagsed a booth and were soon presented with an amuse bouche, which to everyone's delight was an incredible dollop of steak tartare, delicately decorated with wafer thin slices of cornichons, mini-capers and tiny pieces of red onion. It was fabulous - had it been on the menu we all would have ordered it again as an entrée. It wasn't, so we ordered:<br /><br />1. charcuterie plate, made up of house made duck liver parfait, terrine, chorizo, mustard and thin strips of prosciutto;<br /><br />2. natural oysters<br /><br />3. garlic chilli prawns<br /><br />4. garlic bread<br /><br />We were covering all bases. Every item was great, from the delicious oily chilli sauce that the prawns were swimming in, to the generous amount of garlic on the garlic bread to the smooth and creamy parfait. We enjoyed our entrée with 2 bottles of Tim Adams Riesling and a conversation about lung oysters.<br /><br />We were keen to move onto red wine before our steaks arrived and went with the owner's suggestion of a Bellarmine Shiraz, at a very reasonable $35 (or thereabouts). It turned out to be a great suggestion, and Bellarmine Shiraz is now a firm group favourite.<br /><br />With the red wine poured, we had to make a decision about the steaks, which was a nightmare - The Deliberator wanted to have the 750g rib-eye which was designed for 2 people for himself, plus he wanted to add 2 sauces, 3 mustards and an additional serve of chips. We managed to talk him out of the 750 gram big boy into a 600 gram rump, but he still ordered that to come with chips, as well as an additional serve of chips for the table. The Sponge ordered the same, Booto had the ladylike 220 gram eye fillet and the Brains chose the 300 gram sirloin. Despite having a choice of garlic mash, hand cut chips or jacket potato with crème freche and chives, we all opted for chips, and between us, we were able to get every type of sauce and mustard available on our table.<br /><br />When the Deliberator and the Sponge's enormous meals arrived, the waitress (whose poor little wrists were bending at an unnatural angle due to the weight of those bastard steaks) accidentally dropped a couple of the monstrous the hand cut chips on the floor. While she rushed back to the kitchen to replace them, the Sponge's survival instincts kicked in as he bent over, picked up the chips from the floor and went to eat them. Thankfully, Booto was in mothering mode and managed to wack them out of his hand before they went into his mouth.<br /><br />Everyone was extremely happy with their steaks. The Deliberator and The Sponge's steak took up the whole of their plates which pleased them both no end. The sauces were all amazing - a choice of mushroom, Diane, béarnaise, port and thyme and pepper - the chef makes them from scratch on the premises and you can taste the home made goodness. The hand cut chips were enormous slabs of potato, stacked on the plate like a game of jenga. Despite their crispy deliciousness, no one touched the extra chips for the table that The Deliberator insisted we order - they were a complete waste of time as the individual servings were more than generous. We also had a rocket and parmesan salad which did get eaten, but that was probably better left unsaid.<br /><br />Dessert does not feature in our review.<br /><br />So, with stomaches filled to the brim with cow and spuds, fuzzy heads from too much booze and a general warm glow from having had such a great experience, we left and spent the rest of the evening prank calling each other in the car (and then later on The Deliberator and The Brains' couch). And we are pleased to report that even in your 30s, the Wing the Wong number joke does not get tired.<br /><br /><strong>In summary</strong>:</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Service</strong>: Very friendly and attentive. There are plenty of wait staff to go around. As the restaurant has only just opened there is a hint of nervousness and a little lack of confidence, but this will surely pass.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Food</strong>: Exactly what you want from a steak house - perfectly cooked steak, great selection of sauces and sides, giant serves and even some interesting starters.Ambience: Cosy, groovy with a hint of Spain. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Highlight</strong>: The steaks, stupid. Oh, and the steak knives.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Lowlight</strong>: We were surprised to see there was no t-bone on the menu, and we were also slightly put-out that the waitress did not stop to explain what exactly was what on our charcuterie board. Pretty minor lowlights though.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Rating</strong>: 4.5 bleeding cows out of 5.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Certainly. As far as we can tell, it's the only decent steakhouse in town. It's exactly what the Beaufort Street strip and Perth in general needs.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Details</strong>: The Beaufort Street Steakhouse is located at 283 Beaufort Street, Perth, next door to Source. The restaurant is fully licensed and you can call them on 9228 2008. We paid about 85 bucks a head for entrees, a whole beast and most of their wine. </span></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1512587/restaurant/Highgate/Beaufort-Street-Steakhouse-Perth"><img alt="Beaufort Street Steakhouse on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1512587/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-80180436209705474132010-02-26T14:50:00.002+08:002010-02-26T14:58:14.887+08:00Oriental Secrets<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Yam6MTf-sEne9oFpQs3i3B2ZMfBJqiMJSata2TZoMp2WuQiK4y6lbKdmcpss7FAhkYO1Upcifmb5kWpZXsKgPaGvSEVcUVqEZAmaFW8D0etFLS9gqTxsXymuyb5U7ZTVvg5vDgXVX2Wu/s1600-h/fortune+cookies.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442442889026046498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 168px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Yam6MTf-sEne9oFpQs3i3B2ZMfBJqiMJSata2TZoMp2WuQiK4y6lbKdmcpss7FAhkYO1Upcifmb5kWpZXsKgPaGvSEVcUVqEZAmaFW8D0etFLS9gqTxsXymuyb5U7ZTVvg5vDgXVX2Wu/s200/fortune+cookies.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Craving some spicy Asian goodness, but lamenting the fact that we seem to have already visited all of Beaufort Street’s scant supply of oriental eateries, the Bloggers were transported with delight to discover that their favourite Asian takeaway on Chelmsford Road actually has a Beaufort Street address. (Well, at least according to one website, but that was good enough for us.)<br /><br />Oriental Secrets is tucked away up Chelmsford Road behind Caffissimo (home to the once-unbeatable Eggs-On-Fire, but more on that later) and is indeed so secretive and inconspicuous that the Sponge and BOOTO had walked past it every Saturday for almost 2 years without it registering. It is a strange place, more akin to a hairdresser than a high-calibre takeaway operation, with a door (invariably open) behind the counter leading straight into the owners’ house. This gives the fantastic impression that you are ordering food in someone’s lounge room, and allows one to occasionally catch a glimpse of Mr and Mrs Secrets sitting on the couch watching Dancing with the Stars in their jim-jams. This impression spills over into the front-of-shop too: while technically a dine-in restaurant, the tiny 2 or 3 table space out the front will often be strewn with newspapers, toys, laundry and shoes, giving it a distinctly lived-in feel. Suffice it to say, the Bloggers have never seen anyone actually attempting to dine in, and decided to tackle this one as a takeaway option.<br /><br />But on to the food: At risk of flogging the term to death, Oriental Secrets offers a “pan-Asian” experience, with standard Chinese offerings spiced up (pardon the pun) by some Malaysian, Thai and assorted noodle dishes.<br /><br />Starters are quite a strange affair at Oriental Secrets: on paper, all the old favourites are there (prawn toast, spring rolls, satay sticks etc) however they come served in a c.1982-style Big Mac box with a squeegee pack of an “appropriate” type of sauce (which in the case of the prawn cutlets, oddly, was tomato sauce). Whether it’s their preparation or the polystyrene coffin they come served in, the starters are often quite soggy and not particularly tasty. The Bloggers have in the past compensated for this by simply foregoing starters and ordering another main or six. Or (as on this occasion) simply ordering a shitload of food and then just leaving the bits you don’t want (well, at least until the compulsory booze-fuelled second-sitting at around 11pm).<br /><br />The mains are fantastic: pepper beef was a particular stand-out, with so much pepper you could just about carve it. Szechuan chicken was juicy and spicy, and the chilli squid, spare ribs and pork dumplings were bloody magnificent. Not for the faint of heart though – Mr and Mrs Secrets definitely err on the side of spicy. Something (or perhaps everything) in the heaped medley of Oriental loveliness on the Sponge’s plate had enough shtang in it to reduce him to a mewling baby. And necessitate the consumption of 85 lagers.<br /><br />Deserts were, of course, omitted.<br /><br />The real kicker about Oriental Secrets though is the price – $95 bought the 4 bloggers about a million main courses with rice and noodles, which necessitated BOOTO and the Brains (being the designated picker-uppers) having to take a backpack. All served with a very nostalgic little plastic bag of rice crackers and 4 fortune cookies to celebrate Chinese New Year.<br /><br /><strong>In summary:</strong><br /><br /><strong>Service:</strong> Friendly and top notch. (We should mention that, some months ago, BOOTO and the Sponge ordered some takeaway which they were told would take around 30mins to arrive. Worried that she would not be able to make this deadline, Mrs Secrets ended up bundling her young son up into the car and delivering it herself, then knocking $10 off the price because she was around 2 minutes “late”. Exceptional.)<br /><br /><strong>Food:</strong> Other than the limp starters, top quality pan-Asian. (Shit, I said it again.)<br /><br /><strong>Ambience:</strong> “Homey”<br /><br /><strong>Highlight:</strong> Pepper beef. And the price. And the prawn crackers.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight:</strong> The limp starters. And catching a glimpse of Dancing with the Stars.<br /><br /><strong>Rating:</strong> 3.7 secretive orientals out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back:</strong> Definitely, although not to dine in. Offers a lot of good quality, cheap and varied dishes from many different Asian countries. (That’s better.)<br /><br /><strong>Details:</strong> Oriental Secrets is either at 5b Chelmsford Road or Shop 1, 595 Beaufort Street (depending on which website you believe) and can be contacted on 9227 9578. $95 for the amount of food we ordered is pretty incredible. Really. </span>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-4003831761474613312010-01-19T09:17:00.002+08:002010-01-19T09:58:34.938+08:00The Queens Hotel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70MBmY8_BorYb35nRWvXEDdgnrTjJCcEnYYvRN2S0u09VHeASwmb5SHhbJ3rfG72EdRHW8keCwudg8AEdNJHezjO8xmWnwuSeVC4G2oULYXeiy0wg2mnda2HBHls25RaSXwVMfQZR_Zjz/s1600-h/broadbeansDM1606_468x441.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428254362438517378" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 188px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70MBmY8_BorYb35nRWvXEDdgnrTjJCcEnYYvRN2S0u09VHeASwmb5SHhbJ3rfG72EdRHW8keCwudg8AEdNJHezjO8xmWnwuSeVC4G2oULYXeiy0wg2mnda2HBHls25RaSXwVMfQZR_Zjz/s200/broadbeansDM1606_468x441.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><span style="font-family:arial;">In our view, the Queens is somewhere you tend to go when a somebody who is from Perth but living in London or over east is home for Christmas and has organised drinks. It’s big, it’s central, its well-known and out-of-towners generally don’t realise there are several better places to drink in the same area.<br /><br />These organised drinks are sometimes difficult at the Queens, because on a Friday or Saturday night the place is packed and they have exactly 3 staff manning the bar and 2 of those are trainees. While the beer selection is fantastic, the wine list is pretty average and as far as we are aware, no one has ever had a satisfactory gin and tonic at the Queens (we cannot stand those tiny tiny tumblers the mixed drinks come in). This means it’s kind of difficult to get drunk, which can make for a very frustrating Friday night.<br /><br />Our views changed somewhat after our meal at the Queens. It was a sweltering evening when we, along with our good friends Double Skulls and F, hit the Queens. We had made a reservation some time before to make sure we had a table on the decking, so we had a great position in which to enjoy the balmy night and Double Skulls’ hilarious conversation.<br /><br />Our waitress was not exactly friendly and seemed to be constantly frantic - she did everything we needed but not always quickly because she seemed to have about 300 hundred other tables to run. As we have already mentioned, the Queens is consistently under-staffed resulting in pretty average, impersonal service.<br /><br />We started with beers all round and a bottle of wine, and soon moved onto an entree of spiced Moroccan calamari on cous cous, quesadillas and cacciatore. We do not think we have been to a restaurant yet and not ordered some form of squid (other than Rembrandt, but that’s only because the Poles are generally not well known for their calamari dishes). This squid was pretty good – it was reasonably tender and dusted with a mild Moroccan spice served on a bed of spiced cous cous. The quesadillas weren’t bad, but in comparison to the quesadillas at the Brisbane which are beautiful and thin and crispy and come with shitloads of salsa, guacamole and sour cream, they’re not quite as delicious.<br /><br />For the mains, the Deliberator ordered a 400g rib eye steak with mushroom sauce and chips. His critical and considered review of the steak was that, and we quote, it was ‘all good’. He also noted that he gnawed the bone till his fingers bleed AND that the BWS next door is open to midnight Mon to Sat. Thanks Deliberator. On a strange and what turned out to be a very ill-considered whim, The Brains ordered the vegetarian option, which was a haloumi and vegetable strudel with a broad bean salad. The strudel was quite a nasty puff pastry affair that contained over half a tin of olive oil in it which made it pretty much inedible. But, it was the broad bean salad that stunned Brains – it was basically a few baby spinach leaves topped with unshelled (yes! unshelled!) broad beans. Who eats the skin of the broad bean? There wasn’t even dressing. The whole thing seemed unfished, but still, the disappointment was entirely her fault for being so stupid as to order a vegetarian dish. She will never do it again.<br /><br />BOOTO’s kangaroo on a tomato and roasted red onion salad with a beetroot relish and was absolutely fabulous. The kanga could have a been a bit thinner sliced and a bit more rare, but on the whole was delish. It is worth mentioning that when she ordered, the waitress pointed out that the kangaroo was currently not being served in its usual manner (ie crusted), which ended up to be a plus given that kangaroo is a tasty enough meat that crumbs it needed not. The only real negative was The Brains looking longingly at her meal.<br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Meanwhile the Sponge was consuming his dinner which consisted of 100 pints and some scotch. Oh, and weisswurst sausages and mash. The mushroom jus on the sausage was allegedly ‘simply to die for’. F’s ‘barramundi’ on the other hand was a bit muscular, F thought that it had either been working out or had been using steroids. Therefore, F’s highlight was watching the Deliberator and finish the night by smoking the bone of his giant steak. Double Skulls chose the linguini with prawns which she thought was pretty tasty.<br /><br />So all up, an enjoyable night with some unexpected food highlights – in summary:<br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Efficient enough, but impersonal and not overly friendly. A smile or 2 would never go astray.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: A slightly mixed bag, but more positives than negatives.<br /><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: The decking area was a lovely place to be on a super hot night.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The mushroom jus.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Some long waits for drinks and unshelled broad beans.<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.7 fat yaks out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: While we won’t fall over ourselves to get back, there’s no doubt that some function or other will be held there that we will be attending. And that won’t be a bad thing.<br /><br /><strong>Details</strong>: The Queens is at 520 Beaufort Street Perth – they have a helpful website at www.thequeens.com.au; and their number is 9328 7267. The bill for 3 shared entrees, 6 main meals, 2 bottles of wine, 100 pints and some scotch came to roughly $70 per head. </div></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370637/restaurant/Perth/Queens-Tavern-Highgate"><img alt="Queens Tavern on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370637/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-76882651257003324642010-01-12T11:40:00.005+08:002010-01-12T12:07:00.884+08:002 Fat Indians<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4kP7n9zss3G9IgaLoGAx9dk_5nQWD3-Rpjt_EuU4OiIruw_NMZHHzZV0OaE-QaxlNzRdDsS1qKOrq1z7-8kuIjPuOeYOdmP8bYgndHgsaXIGzOv7jOUBllJLgO-olteKt-Vs5quJyulz/s1600-h/fat+indian.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425694341378190786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 149px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4kP7n9zss3G9IgaLoGAx9dk_5nQWD3-Rpjt_EuU4OiIruw_NMZHHzZV0OaE-QaxlNzRdDsS1qKOrq1z7-8kuIjPuOeYOdmP8bYgndHgsaXIGzOv7jOUBllJLgO-olteKt-Vs5quJyulz/s200/fat+indian.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Having had a pretty average experience at 2 Fat Indians in Cottesloe (which probably had more to do with being in Cottesloe than anything else), and being reasonably sceptical of this strange Indian chain restaurant thing that seems to be taking over Perth, the bloggers were not super fired up about their trip to 2 Fat Indians on Beaufort Street, but, as usual, tried to keep an open mind.<br /><br />When we arrived we were warmly greeted and promptly shown to our enormous table. The table was huge. At least 30 people could sit around that table, so it would be perfect for the 4 of us and the 5 or 6 wine coolers they would require. We took in the atmosphere and were impressed by the understated but rather beautiful décor, fresh flowers, calming lighting and appropriate yet slightly wanky Indian lounge music.<br /><br />The wine list was also impressive - an excellent selection of varying prices, regions and varietals - and all the appropriate beers to boot. So, in that stuffwhitepeoplelike kind of way, we felt obliged to order a couple of rounds of Kingfisher beers before we moved onto the first of our 4 bottles of white wine.<br /><br />To the food. Instead of the menu, the waitress accidentally gave us each a copy of Britannica's Encyclopaedia of Indian Cuisine. The list of foods was staggering. The Starters menu was divided into 6 separate sections - vegetarian, chicken, lamb, seafood, platters and 'sizzlers' - each section had at least 6 selections and some selections had options. Christ. Asking the Deliberator to choose a starter would be like taking an epileptic to a rave - something terrible would happen so you just wouldn't do it. In fact, choosing a starter was even troubling to the Brains, who loves nothing more than to order for the whole table without paying heed to anyone's suggestions, preferences, food allergies or pregnancy status.<br /><br />So, there was no way round it, it had to be a platter and, just to see what the hell they were, a sizzler. On the side we ordered Calamari Chilli Mili, which was calamari deep fried and tossed with vegetables and Indian spices. The platter comprised of samosas, paneer bhatti tikka, lamb seekh kebab, macchi amritsari, murgh malai kebab. We're embarrassed to admit that we don't know our macchi from our murgh or our bhatti from our amristari but it was all pretty bloody delicious. The sizzler was a combination of prawn, fish and chicken, cooked with onion, capsicum and kadahi masala gravy (ie, tandoori). The tandoori'd products were succulent, full of heat and piping hot. So far so very good. But it was the calamari that was the stand out – tender pieces of spicy squid quickly fried and served with (not too many) fresh vegetables. Impressive.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Moving to the mains. If we thought ordering starters was a chore, mains were practically impossible. The same 6 headings came up again, each with several selections, but this time with the addition of goat. After much bickering, backstabbing and juvenile squabbling, we landed on baby goat curry, palak paneer, lamb saagwala and murgh peshawari (which was chicken) and at least $350 worth of condiments, breads and rices. The best part about Indian food is the sides.<br /><br />The goat curry was the standout, the meat was strong and the saffron flavouring was fabulous. The Deliberator loves nothing more than sucking on the bones of a dead baby goat, so he was in heaven. The rest of us had to endure around half and hour listening to him slurp out the marrow and chew off microscopic bits of meat left on the bone, then loudly spit the bones into the little metal serving bowl, ensuing each bone made maximum noise on departure from his mouth. The palak paneer was also a highlight, with the paneer being of the finest home-style quality which most definitely did not taste like the cans of palak paneer The Deliberator and The Brains so love to buy from Prime Products. The other dishes were good, but frankly, it is hard to distinguish them from similar dishes served at every other similarly priced and styled Indian restaurant in Perth, including: Bollywood, Nine Mary's, Chutney Mary's, Little Chutney's, Mela, the Cinnamon Club - the list probably goes on.<br /><br />Of course, we had over ordered, so dessert was not on the cards. Instead, the Bloggers rounded out the night by lying on Booto's and The Sponge's couches, rubbing our bellies and discussing what form the meal would take in the morning (incidentally, that conversation continued by email for most of the next day).<br /><br /><strong>In summary</strong><br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: The service was really good actually, there was always someone around ready to bring us more wine. At one stage a waiter smashed a beer bottle on our table, but the apology was quick, the clean-up even quicker, and as a result we couldn't have cared less about it.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Fresh ingredients, appropriate heat, tender meats and great condiments. However, not so amazing we couldn't wait to get back.<br /><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: Perfect - a great mix of low lighting, casual seating and spa-like décor made us feel like we could sit there for hours. So we did.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The goat curry.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The Deliberator sucking the goats bones dry.<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.5 goat femurs out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Hard to say really. Probably. Maybe. We don't know. Indian's hard, it's not something we eat all that regularly so when we do we tend to try new places. It is 100% better than its Cottesloe sister though.<br /><br /><strong>Details</strong>: 2 Fat Indians is next door to the Queens Hotel. Call them on 9228 0720. It is fully licensed and our meal plus drinks came to about $70 per head. But we did over order and drink far too much.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">PS: apologies, we could only find a picture of one fat Indian.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370006/restaurant/Perth/2-Fat-Indians-Highgate"><img alt="2 Fat Indians on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370006/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-2947059795812152062010-01-11T13:06:00.002+08:002010-01-11T13:13:43.546+08:00New years resolutions<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMO6KO9cYiW-XVaxKGJc_XuVrryNGejkgrvE_SRS_J7eH4hjvuKMqniT2dw9vZd6baDcrVa0gbxw8G76nz8JFuRn29dv2ugqPU9wBWpYG5RBr-R38064AmVCF_7l6wlGAJ842pKZltH_0k/s1600-h/babi+guling.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425345331750774002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMO6KO9cYiW-XVaxKGJc_XuVrryNGejkgrvE_SRS_J7eH4hjvuKMqniT2dw9vZd6baDcrVa0gbxw8G76nz8JFuRn29dv2ugqPU9wBWpYG5RBr-R38064AmVCF_7l6wlGAJ842pKZltH_0k/s320/babi+guling.bmp" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">As the Beaufort Street Bloggers sat by BOOTO and the Sponge’s pool, each with a glass of the cheapest Prosecco money can buy and a handful of Samboy Salt and Vinegars, we reflected on the year that was. There were some memorable moments in 2009 – Stinky had his first birthday and first European vacation, BOOTO returned to the workforce, The Deliberator and The Brains managed to order, and receive, a whole baby pig in Bali (that's him on the right) and The Sponge got a new front lawn. Yes, 2009 was a successful year for all.<br /><br />Of course, there were disappointments. The Brains scored the least Brownlow votes in season one of her and BOOTO’s Tuesday night netball team. BOOTO didn’t get the bathroom renovation she’s been dreaming of. The Sponge did not quite reach his goal of 1 million beers drunk for 2009. Stinky’s salty snack intake is not nearly as high as he desires. And a BBQ duck house is yet to open within 20 metres of The Deliberator’s front door. But there was a unanimous agreement among the bloggers, the biggest disappointment of 2009 was the failure to complete the Beaufort Street Challenge.<br /><br />Since the last post, we have regularly breakfasted at Soto, we once had the entire Beaufort Street Merchant menu in one sitting (and that’s not a word of a lie), we have enjoyed the view from the bar upstairs at the Scottsman, eaten charcuterie at Must, ordered countless serves of tempura prawns with wasabi mayonnaise from Koinonia and consumed Third Avenue café’s Café De Paris butter on at least 2 occasions. However, none of these meals qualified for the blog due to quorum issues.<br /><br />With a new babysitter for Stinky, a fresh outlook for 2010 and a 4 insatiable appetites, the Beaufort Street Bloggers are back on track to meet their challenge. Thank you for your comments and emails of encouragement. We hope you forgive our tardiness and continue to support our mission – god knows we need it when we embark upon another year of slightly too tight pants and empty wallets.<br /><br />Stay tuned for the first 2010 instalment of the Beaufort Street Blog.</span>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-87772360907664311682009-06-05T10:06:00.006+08:002010-01-12T12:18:50.517+08:00Little Saigon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTwIkHgxHO0UFjp2a3J6Yqh8B3yFRjHdLP2QMCCx7x1wRq-wnQ3Ffj_NCkGHJ5UG2p52VD2ENCSxHa-uZyhNuGPxnK2l6RdipryY41yPL1o1quxcyCyJKxnmr9MdfRWFQCL72k_c05pWE/s1600-h/Rice+paper+rolls.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343659693053624946" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 220px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTwIkHgxHO0UFjp2a3J6Yqh8B3yFRjHdLP2QMCCx7x1wRq-wnQ3Ffj_NCkGHJ5UG2p52VD2ENCSxHa-uZyhNuGPxnK2l6RdipryY41yPL1o1quxcyCyJKxnmr9MdfRWFQCL72k_c05pWE/s320/Rice+paper+rolls.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Booto and the Sponge, having known the Deliberator for far too long, made a booking at Little Saigon for 8.00, but wisely told the Deliberator the reservation was for 7.30. As 7.30 approached, Booto and the Sponge casually went about their business, attending to Stinks and discussing their pre-dinner snifter (‘was this the $5 white from the Re Store?’, ‘oh, no no no, this one was $7.80 from Dan Murphy’s… so don’t quaff it, enjoy the fine flavours and sip slowly woman’). However, for possibly the first time in the Deliberator’s 1.5 year history of Beaufort Street Blogging, the Deliberator was home, dressed, shoed, washed, texting the others furiously and ready for action by 7.20. This left Booto, the Sponge and the Brains in a never-before-experienced situation. They were going to be early.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><p>On arrival at Little Saigon, the Bloggers were happy to discover their pre-booked table ready to go, complete with a high chair for Stinks. Booto, the Brains and Stinks happily sorted themselves out while the Deliberator and the Sponge went across the road to the Merchant for more of their favourite cheap piss. During their absence, our fabulous waitress made all the appropriate looks, sounds and movements in front of Stinky to keep Stinks well pleased with himself for the next 2.5 hours.</p><p>Entrees arrived and they were tremendous. We ordered 2 serves of prawn and potato cakes, 1 serve of stuffed chicken wings and 2 serves of rice-paper rolls with hot (hot!) beef. The prawn and potato cakes are outstanding – shredded sweet potato wrapped around a huge, plump prawn and deep fried till crisp. There’s so much surface area on these things that there must be about 4 tablespoons of oil in each one, which makes ordering them very worthwhile. The stuffed chicken wings were not the monsters we’re used to, but were far more flavoursome than their Viet Hoa or Phi Yen counterparts. And fresh rice paper rolls with steaming hot crispy beef? Heaven. We really wanted to try the stuffed squid but couldn’t justify more food – could someone please try it and let us know how it is?</p><p>While we smashed our entrées and bottles of cheap wine numbers 1 and 2, we watched other people’s mains pass us by, until one looked so fantastic we stopped the waitress on her way out the kitchen and asked what it was. It was the old Vietnamese favourite, lemongrass and chilli chicken, but it was done better than anywhere else we could recall. For mains we also chowed down on a plate of lightly deep friend salt and pepper squid (fast becoming a benchmark we use to compare all Beaufort Street eateries) which was perfect, pork with anchovy sauce (amazing ribs cooked in that pan-Asian method - being grill the shit out the food, add salt, serve), goat curry (which was delicious, but a bit sinewey and tripey, and loaded with cloves, and although we consider ourselves adventurous, apart from the Deliberator we are all a bit more Caucasian than we’d like to think when it comes to food preferences), and finally, on a crazy and embarrassing whim, mixed vegetables. All in all outstanding Vietnamese cuisine.</p><p>And now to the service. What a delight. The fellow who took our order was charming, courteous and ever-so-friendly. And our waitress, who turned out to be the chef’s sister, quickly fell in love with Stinky (and who wouldn’t?). Stinky got cuddles, kisses, 2 trips to the kitchen to meet the chef, a couple of photos with the waitress and even a free Vietnamese desert. </p><p>Our meals came out in good time, we were quickly supplied with the 5 or 6 ice buckets we needed, the Sponge smashed a glass which was swiftly swept up and replaced with a minimum of fuss (he also managed to smash another one later that evening on the Balcony of Broken Dreams. This time, with the Deliberator as the host, there was a maximum amount of fuss and a refusal to replace, leaving poor old Sponge drinking straight from the bottle for the rest of the evening) and smiles all round from the wait staff.</p><p><strong>In summary</strong>:</p><p><strong>Service</strong>: A joy. Particularly thanks to the due appreciation the staff showed for Stinky’s fine looks and impeccable behaviour. </p><p><strong>Food</strong>: Really really good, flavoursome, fresh Vietnamese food. </p><p><strong>Ambience</strong>: A cosy restaurant lit with pretty Vietnamese silk lanterns. The Aerosmith CD was an dd choice though.</p><p><strong>Highlight</strong>: Definitely the crispy potato cakes with prawns. </p><p><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Nothing really. While the goat curry didn’t float our boat (except the Deliberator's), it was an ordering problem, not a cooking problem.</p><p><strong>Rating</strong>: 4.4 goi cuon out of 5.</p><p><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Absolutely. It’s a perfect place to take parents too – good food, not too noisy and it’s not grimy and plasticy like the Vietnamese restaurants in Northbridge (and no disrespect to those places, we love them, but we know the older generation sometimes struggle with them). </p><p><strong>Details</strong>: Little Saigon is located at 489 Beaufort St, and can be contacted by phone on 9227 5586. Reservations are strongly recommended. 3 good sized entrees and 4 mains plus vegetables and rice came to a low low $35 a head.</span></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370474/restaurant/Perth/Little-Saigon-Highgate"><img alt="Little Saigon on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370474/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-80418916960378216602009-05-29T10:57:00.006+08:002010-01-12T12:19:40.706+08:00Veritas Restaurant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBocLe8iwW-wsKCxqSRhvkS5XSR29HbNhsMIMR9yAEVVJ6r-vDhYOzMXraHGzO6IEBEvt6GbRg9gihOFXP7zOFJE9jLzrPrkqyDAy7isPQnlYU-Bz1uB6N9wgYSjFAMF3IcUDuEcOt65g8/s1600-h/Goat.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341076276780111154" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 133px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBocLe8iwW-wsKCxqSRhvkS5XSR29HbNhsMIMR9yAEVVJ6r-vDhYOzMXraHGzO6IEBEvt6GbRg9gihOFXP7zOFJE9jLzrPrkqyDAy7isPQnlYU-Bz1uB6N9wgYSjFAMF3IcUDuEcOt65g8/s200/Goat.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">It is hard for the Bloggers to imagine there even was a time before the BSB – it feels like we have been tramping up and down this bloody road for decades, much like Kane from Kung Fu. Or the Littlest Hobo. Or Michael Landon from Highway to Heaven.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> <div><br />However, many years ago in the pre-BSB dreamtime, the Bloggers (then just 3 friends and the Deliberator) dined at Veritas and were gravely disappointed. The food was a standout, however lingering delays (ie. dining at 10:30pm after an 8pm booking) and woeful service marred the occasion. Not to be dissuaded, the Bloggers visited Veritas last week in their professional capacity. (The real Bloggers that is – see comments under the Beaufort Street Merchant review.)</div><div><br />This time, it was our turn to keep Veritas waiting - our 8pm booking turned into 8:45pm by the time the Deliberator had got his pants on. We had phoned ahead to warn of our impending tardiness, but were still a little ticked off when the waitress on our arrival told us that the kitchen was closing so we’d better hurry up and order. We were also told not to expect any specials whatsoever, as they’d sold out of everything due to demand (which demand was not then evident, there being only 3 other occupied tables).</div><br /><div>Unperturbed, we assumed our places. And immediately noticed that Veritas is a very stylish joint – great décor and art, with the wine menu occupying an entire wall a standout. We were also quite fond of the couch-like seats we occupied. (Alanah McTiernan, sitting next table, appeared to be enjoying hers too.) Our orders were taken (quickly), at which point the waiter (owner?) gave us a very knowing rundown of the ingredients and method of preparation of each dish we’d ordered. This rundown did became a little overbearing as it unfolded. And unfolded. Still we were glad for the attention. The waitress too showed an intimate knowledge of both food and wine when quizzed, and answered our dumb-ass questions with aplomb.</div><div><br />On to the food: starters consisted of shared plates of squid, anchovies in tomato sauce and bread. And were f*cking good. The squid was perfectly weighted, and we’ve had to open a new category of "Best Anchovies on Beaufort St" just so that we could anoint this batch as the winner.</div><br /><div>Mains were a marinated chicken dish with a "special kind of salad" (Booto), lamb served with "a delicious pumpkin stack which I really enjoyed" (Brains), very nicely done steak portions (Sponge) and little dainty goat cutlets (Deliberator). Actually, the Deliberator was a little disappointed with his, only on the basis that every goat he has eaten previously still has a bell hanging around its neck, but we thought it looked amazing. In any event, the obligatory "pattatini for the table" were "some of the best chips [the Deliberator has] eaten".</div><br /><div>All this was washed down with a very nice temperanillo and a chardonnay (both recommended by our waitress), however we did feel that the wine list could have contained a couple more reasonably priced options (both reds and whites tending to start at around $45-$50).<br />We declined coffee and desert (in favour of a small nightcap at Must, which boded well for our impending visit there), and were left to mop up at our leisure. </div><div><br />Price came in at around $75 a head for shared starters, mains and wine. We would certainly say the food and ambience warranted the price, however think that there were still sufficient rough edges to not quite justify Veritas charging at the top end of the market (eg. the sometimes hit-and-miss service, the unwashed hair and old cargo pants sported by the front of house guy – please take this as constructive criticism!) </div><br /><div>Mind you, with the food and layout as good as it was, something is very wrong in the world when Martino is only charging $20 less per head (without taking into account that we’d also BYO’ed there) - wake up Martino!</div><br /><div><strong>In summary</strong>:</div><div><br /><strong>Service</strong>: After a shaky beginning, service was good. And while the informative, but lengthy, interruptions weren’t always the most well-timed, we appreciated the effort and preferred them to the alternative of being ignored (as happened on our last visit).</div><br /><div><strong>Food</strong>: Top notch. Current holder of "Best Anchovies on Beaufort Street" title.</div><div><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: Small and intimate, and immaculately decked out. (Toilets could do with a little polish though.)</div><br /><div><strong>Highlight</strong>: The starters – the squid and anchovy combo were exceptional. </div><br /><div><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The top-heavy wine list. And the cargo pants.</div><br /><div><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.8 succulent anchovies out of 5.</div><br /><div><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Possibly, however with Must just across the road, and (appearing to) offer the same thing for the same price, but done slightly better, it will be tough.</div><div><br /><strong>Details</strong>: Veritas is located at 484 Beaufort St, and can be contacted by phone on 9227 9745.</span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370803/restaurant/Perth/Veritas-Highgate"><img alt="Veritas on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370803/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-56994591483263041562009-05-27T08:51:00.005+08:002010-01-12T12:27:09.590+08:00Caffe Martino<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXORuEM8VbqOGfarE3G7rTPEV7eFtIrApTlfGXUyy3NGgKbFPv47NpSNYZuxAaExSLlyyCJcQzHsYIwvKtNsFHkkYCFSjEyonA7fMfmu3fbmVgxYByOOMV8fpqr8YMADi7F4sI_LKXgkX/s1600-h/lemons.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340301437639175986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 147px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXORuEM8VbqOGfarE3G7rTPEV7eFtIrApTlfGXUyy3NGgKbFPv47NpSNYZuxAaExSLlyyCJcQzHsYIwvKtNsFHkkYCFSjEyonA7fMfmu3fbmVgxYByOOMV8fpqr8YMADi7F4sI_LKXgkX/s200/lemons.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">With Stinks in tow on this particular Thursday night, the Bloggers decided to avail themselves of a family orientated cheap pasta night at Caffe Martino.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It must be said we held no lofty expectations as we departed home with our usual 12 bottles of BYO wine. The night was a little breezy and the prospect of some good solid Italian food to warm the cockles was sitting well with the Bloggers.<br /><br />Martino’s was relatively empty for a Thursday night on Beaufort Street and the Bloggers were seated with a minimum of fuss, complete with high chair for Stinks, who was more than a little excited at being allowed to stay up later than usual.<br /><br />The menus presented by Martino were typical, with nothing terribly exciting or new catching the eye of any of the Bloggers (and we do know the Deliberator does peruse a menu at least three times over per visit). Starters ordered included squid, Italian sausage and garlic bread. Boring perhaps, yet in the Bloggers’ opinion, the simplicity of such dishes can be a great yardstick when measuring the worth of any Italian restaurant.<br /><br />It was at this stage that the cracks began to show. There was no lemon served with either the Italian sausage or the squid. The garlic bread was dry and overcooked, although BOOTO was able to salvage small pieces to feed to Stinks, who it must be said is not fussy about what he eats (having come nightmarishly close to eating a cockroach recently).<br /><br />Mains ordered included 2 x chicken parmagianas (the Sponge and Deliberator of course), Gnocchi (Brains), the fish of the day (BOOTO) and of course, the obligatory bowl of chips for the table.<br /><br />Brains’ gnocchi was well presented and although she’s had fresher pasta, all in all the dish was bland, but satisfactory. The Sponge and Deliberator could also make no certain complaints with regards the chicken parma, although given it is a dish they regular partake of, they were well able to declare that it “okay”. Breaths were held in anticipation of BOOTO’s fish of the day (salmon), however this was soon replaced with disappointment. The term “home made” can conjure up images of a real Italian experience, but in this instance, home made came in the form of a plate of grilled salmon and slightly wilted salad (minus any dressing). Being someone who keeps on top of her omega 3 intake, BOOTO was, to say the least, quite disappointed with the lack of flair shown in this dish – with a price tag of $37.00, one does expect a little of evidence of effort.<br /><br />Now as you read this review, you may be excused for thinking the Bloggers had set their expectations too high prior to dining at Caffe Martino, but indeed we had not. We were quite ready for the Sienna style no frills cheap pasta night and although we do think a little lemon with the entrees ordered together with a drizzle of dressing on one’s salad or even the offer of cracked pepper and parmesan cheese is not too much to ask of a restaurant (particularly when you consider this restaurant was more than half empty on this given Thursday night), it was upon presentation of the bill that we realised Caffe Martino has a very high opinion of itself.<br /><br />For the night’s decidedly average food, we were met with the sort of figure you come to expect when having dined on tasty, inventive food in ambient surrounds that appear to have been redecorated in the last 15 – 20 years. Alas, the Bloggers had dined at Caffe Martino and paid the princely sum of $50.00 a head for shared starters and pretty basic mains.<br /><br /><strong>In summary</strong><br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Not bad, but then again the place was half empty. Points off however for not offering either cracked pepper or parmesan. We must note however that despite being the last patrons in the restaurant, we were not hurried along.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div><strong>Food</strong>: Just “okay”. Nothing set the world on fire and old favourites were not done exceptionally well either. The Bloggers could probably forgive this if the prices were reflective of the quality of the food.</div><div><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: Outdated décor with a very family feel to it (i.e. you wouldn’t get worried about Stinks spilling food on the floor or making too much noise).</div><div><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The bowl of chips were much to the liking of both the Deliberator and Stinky. But even they came in at a princely sum of $8 for McCains quality. No hand cut chips here.</div><div><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The prices.</div><br /><div><strong>Rating</strong>: 2.5 not so cheap fish of the day out of 5</div><br /><div><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Probably not. There are many family friendly, reasonably priced Italian restaurants in the area with much better food than that offered at Caffe Martino.<br /><br /><strong>Details</strong>: Caffe Martino is situate at 550 Beaufort St Mt Lawley WA 6050 and is open from Monday to Saturday for dinner from 6pm to 11pm. Bookings can be made on (08) 9328 4400. </span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370149/restaurant/Perth/Caffe-Martino-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Caffe Martino on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370149/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-12077696827139417872009-04-16T16:28:00.005+08:002010-01-12T12:20:31.417+08:00Mykonos Greek Restaurant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIV09spKp4hcSyAzI69-BJ5FRp1opyBEJU8LZZqH7naj52Ht48qSXSLvRZ52cp6WZIZygvbfcwXC9f6fXKNldwMhuJQberflq7hfZM0B4pX92yoFYnrGVbjdMosKiiYiiuM7K_zv3dq32/s1600-h/mykonos-greece-big.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325204495904064850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 232px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIV09spKp4hcSyAzI69-BJ5FRp1opyBEJU8LZZqH7naj52Ht48qSXSLvRZ52cp6WZIZygvbfcwXC9f6fXKNldwMhuJQberflq7hfZM0B4pX92yoFYnrGVbjdMosKiiYiiuM7K_zv3dq32/s320/mykonos-greece-big.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">To be on the safe side, the Brains thought she’d ring Mykonos to book a suitable table for the Bloggers. The friendly waiter told her that 8.00pm would be fine, and confirmed that he would put a table aside, close to the footpath, with plenty of space for Stinky’s pram.<br /><br />At 7.45, the Bloggers quickly popped into the Beaufort Street Merchant, picked up 4 bottles of their new favourite cheap Chardonnay and a 6 pack of beers, and set off across the road to enjoy a whole lot of meat, a shitload of chips and something, anything, with garlic sauce. We were very much looking forward to Greek grilled meat feast.<br /><br />On arrival it was clear that no table had been put aside. Interestingly our names were on their booking sheet, but there were just no tables available. So, our Greek waitress (cleverly disguised as a Japanese backpacker) directed us to the shitty mezzanine floor that’s decorated like a State prison and furnished like a 1960s bus port.<br /><br />And, alone, from our lofty position high above the humming crowd at Mykonos, we waited. And continued to wait. And for 15 minutes we received none of the following:<br /><br />1. service<br /><br />2. wine cooler<br /><br />3. bottle opener<br /><br />4. cutlery<br /><br />5. wine glasses<br /><br />6. menus<br /><br />So, we walked downstairs and fetched another Greek waitress, this one in ingeniously disguised as a Chinese English student, and asked her to help us out with the 5 items listed above, as all we had so far were 3 tumblers. After a couple more trips downstairs, and another 15 minutes, we procured ourselves 4 mismatched wine glasses and some menus. The menus were interesting, a half a page of the menu was dedicated entirely to setting out the strict terms and conditions attached to ordering, eating, paying, drinking, etc - like we were entering into some sort of Deed of Eternal Disappointment.<br /><br />Items 1 to 4 never arrived, leaving the Deliberator and the Sponge to crack open their beers using the side of the chipboard table we were sitting at, and Bito and the Brains drinking wine that was positively sweating.<br /><br />After reviewing the terms and conditions on the menu, we ordered the trusty tasting plate for entrée, with a large portion of calamari. The pickled octopus on the platter (a team favourite) wasn’t bad, and the dips were fine and the calamari was crispy and fresh. Everything else was a greasy, cold, oily mess. There was also a lot of garnish dressed up as salad on the plate, which was largely inedible and a giant waste of space.<br /><br />When our mains arrived, we hadn’t finished the platter, so the Sino-Hellenic waitress simply popped our mains ON TOP of our platter and entrée plates. This was quite stunning, and something we’ve never seen before.<br /><br />It’s hard for us to discuss the mains themselves as they were completely and utterly inedible – and generally, we eat anything. We each left meat on the plate, and plenty of it. This has never ever happened before to the Deliberator and the Sponge. But really, the food was foul. The meat could have been used as a shotput, the spices were completely wrong, the fish was ok, but only just, and the sauces lacked any flavour whatsoever. All in all, it was unbelievably, horribly bad. Which was very strange considering we’d all had very passable kebabs from Mykonos in the past.<br /><br />We eventually went downstairs to pay the bill. By now, we were unhappy, spiteful and really really pissed off. And to just really hammer home the general shithouse nature of the night, we were charged double the corkage for the privilege of us getting our own wine glasses, and having our wine left sweltering in its paper bags on the table all night. Mykonos, if you’re reading this, you are by far and away the worst restaurant we’ve reviewed on Beaufort Street for service, produce and cooking. At least the Peking Chinese Restaurant had the Chinese Dragon counter.<br /></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">In summary:</span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div><br /><strong>Service</strong>: We had a waitress come up twice in 2 hours – once to deliver the entrée, and once to deliver the mains. We were otherwise completely left to our own devices.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Food</strong>: So bad its outrageous. And what’s with all the good reviews on eatingwa.com?</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Ambience</strong>: While the mezzanine floor is awful, the rest of the restaurant has a cheerful, casual Greek-restaurant style ambience.</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Highlight</strong>: The new curse-words we invented to describe the food. And the calamari wasn’t bad.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Everything else.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Rating</strong>: half a lamb kofta (although only beef kofta is available at Mykonos) out of 5.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Will we be back? </strong>Sadly, we probably will end up buying more kebabs from Mykonos. But we’ve promised each other to try our best not to.</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Details</strong>: It’s not even that cheap – about $40 a head for crap. We won’t bother you with a phone number, as we strongly suggest you don’t go. Oh, and it is also worth mentioning that the owner has appeared in the local rag a few times over the last few weeks for allegedly not letting a guide dog in the premises. </span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370556/restaurant/Perth/Mykonos-Kebabs-Highgate"><img alt="Mykonos Kebabs on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370556/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-73285793119016224432009-04-01T11:40:00.006+08:002010-01-12T12:21:26.844+08:00The Beaufort Street Merchant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrb_4A2rLr2fwgSLgIzlGl9QSdvhtRXQLHMFEGBOyjDjeucRgbjQrSaPc8wXLTaRvBaTSQpRvYJS_VMcUm4AAnYQtRfdwe0blDuz71fHTP4bV_LwNAmApJKxP77hyphenhyphenqlm6vU72GE8LLUCp/s1600-h/crusty_bread_main_photo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319564045084577778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 164px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrb_4A2rLr2fwgSLgIzlGl9QSdvhtRXQLHMFEGBOyjDjeucRgbjQrSaPc8wXLTaRvBaTSQpRvYJS_VMcUm4AAnYQtRfdwe0blDuz71fHTP4bV_LwNAmApJKxP77hyphenhyphenqlm6vU72GE8LLUCp/s200/crusty_bread_main_photo.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">It had been a while since the bloggers had managed to get together for their Thursday night fix. Booto, Stinks and the Sponge had been gallivanting around the South-West, having every whim attended to by the staff at the Bunker Bay Resort. For Stinks, that meant somebody had to blow a raspberry on his stomach every minute on the minute. For Booto on the Sponge, it was a fresh bottle of wine every hour on the hour. Meanwhile, the Brains and the Deliberator went on a 5 day long eating challenge in the far east, where their fabulous hosts managed to stuff them with dim sum on a daily basis, plus all you can eat mussels, all you can drink gin and tonics and all you can watch amateur cricket. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />When the bloggers read that one of their favourite businesses, the Beaufort Street Merchant, was opening for dinner, we soon decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to swap stories on how much squiz we had consumed, how many meals we’d had and how much weight we managed to put on throughout our respective vacations (which, on average, in the relevant units, per person per day was 14, 5 and 1).<br /><br />The Merchant is a wonderful venture. The staff are friendly and fun, the produce excellent, the beer and wine plentiful and varied, the tunes always top notch and the furniture suitably eclectic. We've always known this so we were very keen to try it out for dinner.<br /><br />On arrival, we were excited to be told that we could choose anything we wanted to drink from the bottle shop out the back, and the staff would open it and pour it on our request for a low low $5.00. The Deliberator and the Sponge put their hands up to do the all important boozy choosing, and ended up being away for around three quarters of an hour while they squabbled over the appropriate beer to purchase. They ended up buying one bottle of virtually every beer available, plus 1 bottle of French sparkling, and 2 bottles of Sav Blanc. Of course, this was never going to be enough, so they organised a second purchase of 3 bottles of clean skins to get us through the main course. And, as an aside, the cleanskin reserve chardonnay at $11 per bottle is some of the best value for money wine going around town. A blind taste of that stuff and you would swear you’re drinking Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay (almost).<br /><br />Finally, after the Choosing Of The Booze and subsequent pouring, we sat at our lovely roomy table with our friendly flickering tea light and got down to the menu. It was a short but well put together menu with ‘something for everyone’. Gordon Ramsey would be proud. Of course, we had to start with the grazing platter which, for $22, was excellent value. The platter came beautifully presented on a large bread board and contained such delights as Danish feta, chorizo, catalan tomatoes and loads of crusty bread. We also had a cheeky serve of bread and balsamic and olive oil, which was a steal at $4 as the bread was perfect.<br /><br />To the mains. The Sponge and the Brains wisely chose the meatballs ($17) – the meatballs were perfection – cooked in a thick, fresh tomato sauce and served with a mound of bread, they were some of the finest meatballs man could make. Booto went for the Thai chicken salad ($17.50). It was a generous serve of salad – spinach, tomatoes, cashes, avocado and snow peas, with an equally generous serve of beautifully marinated chicken breast. The chicken had a coconut flavour that was complemented very well by the salad dressing. It clearly demonstrated great attention to detail. The Deliberator had an equally appealing pie ($20) – 5 hour braised beef (amaaazing), mushroom and Guinness served with potato gratin, savoy cabbage and a little jug of gravy. Unfortunately, there was not enough gravy in that little jug for the Deliberator’s liking. Fortunately, our waiter immediately picked up on the distress on the Deliberator’s face and within seconds produced a second jug of gravy. The pie, after that, was perfection.<br /><br />We finished of the night with a couple more glasses of wine (served in our favourite Riedel stemless wine glasses), a long macchiato, an espresso and the last four tiny cakes left in the store. The long mac was not quite right – it should have been a lot stronger – but this is a small issue in an otherwise seamless evening. An evening made even better by being able to pick up a cold bottle of tonic on the way out for some late night G&T’s on the veranda.<br /><br /><strong>In summary:</strong><br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Our waiter, Tyson, was wonderful. Everyone went out of their way to help us. And the best thing about the service? It’s very relaxed without the rules that piss us off so much about so many places. Extra sides? no problem. Another jug of gravy? on its way. More beer? here it is. You wanna stay for more wine? stay as long as you like.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Tremendous. Fresh, simple, generous and home-style. Could not ask for more.<br /><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: While a Simply Red CD was playing at one stage, we realised it must have been played in irony, so it was perfectly acceptable. The atmosphere is friendly and casual and the décor is perfect.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The bottleshop/corkage set up and the divine food. Oh, and on the corkage, the menu says it's $5, but we were only charged $3. And that's one flat charge, no matter how many bottles you buy.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The long mac.<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 4.7 crusty loaves out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back?</strong> In a heartbeat.<br /><br /><strong>Details</strong>: You know where the Merchant is. You can book on 9328 6833, and we suggest that pretty soon it will become very wise to book in advance. The Merchant is open 7 days til late (there’s no feeling of being rushed out here). Our total food bill came to around $100 (excellent value), and drinks is another story. But that was our fault for buying one of basically everything they had. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1421990/restaurant/Perth/The-Beaufort-Street-Merchant-Highgate"><img alt="The Beaufort Street Merchant on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1421990/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-78245701144735231552009-03-03T08:49:00.010+09:002010-01-13T07:58:55.281+08:00The Pony Club<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6tlsjC7yhyphenhyphenrilU4ckw6jG4dcN8dipfo0ZkKgYP0cm3LiNyPq9zYsLWTwDJkpB8i6NTV-XSeXv1cvs1mlU6At1t23_kxEc-VRJbH8xqkTAY-8rjQTy34unWoTPtRcge4dlg6ukY0KbLlh/s1600-h/whitebait.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308744372541162114" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 283px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6tlsjC7yhyphenhyphenrilU4ckw6jG4dcN8dipfo0ZkKgYP0cm3LiNyPq9zYsLWTwDJkpB8i6NTV-XSeXv1cvs1mlU6At1t23_kxEc-VRJbH8xqkTAY-8rjQTy34unWoTPtRcge4dlg6ukY0KbLlh/s320/whitebait.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">As you enter the surrounds of "The Pony Club" situated at 620 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, you are immediately struck by how right they have got the decor - the mix of rich striped fabrics and minimalist furniture works surprisingly well with the OTT chandeliers and traditional architectural features of this period building. Given that the Brains and BOOTO spend somewhere in the region of 10% of their annual taxable income on interior design and decorating magazines, you can imagine that, coupled with the oh so right level of lighting for those who regularly "over do it", the Pony Club started ticking their boxes right from the get go.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div><br />Seated by a rather familiar looking waiter (the Brains and BOOTO may have completely overstayed their welcome, drinking well past closing time a couple of years ago, but that is another story entirely..), we were given menus, had our water glasses poured and drink orders taken promptly. The Sponge and Deliberator (never ones to stick to the rules) ordered margaritas. Thankfully, the Brains and BOOTO stuck to the theme and went for a jug of Sangria.</div><div><br />Turning to the menus, it was interesting to note the heading "The Pony Club a little taste of Spain using the fresh ingredients of Australia". Pulses began to race. The Deliberator, Sponge and BOOTO had eaten and drank their way around Spain in the pre-Brains and Stinky eras. Thoughts of whitebait, chorizo, croquetas and patatas bravas sent the saliva glands into overdrive. But alas as our eyes travelled down the Spanish (with helpful English translations) menu, we were saddened to note the lack of simple traditional tapas dishes. As those smiles turned upside down however, the drinks arrived and as often happens when the Bloggers meet anything alcoholic, it was smiles all round again. Even the overwhelming strange taste of cloves in the Sangria (something never before experienced by BOOTO - a well seasoned Sangria consumer), could not deter us.<br /><br />And so the fun began.............<br /><br />We ordered copious amounts of food (at times helpfully directed by the wait staff) and sometimes the same dish twice. And whilst the Sponge is loathe to stray far from his favourite staple of squid, dishes devoured by the Bloggers included:<br /><br /><strong>pulpo abobado</strong> marinated octopus with jarrah smoked tomatoes</div><br /><div><strong>el pan bollo</strong> in house baked multigrain rolls (a ridiculously expensive 3.50 each!)</div><div><br /><strong>crespones de calabaza</strong> pumpkin crepes with brown sage butter </div><div><br />(The conversation at this stage went something like...<br />BOOTO: better than sex<br />Sponge: WHAT?<br />Deliberator: Oh BOOTO, you need to get yourself a real man<br />Brains: What? Like you? Huh!<br />BOOTO: Does anyone mind if I lick the plate?)</div><div><br /><strong>la carne crudo</strong> wagyu eye fillet with sangria jelly & baby cress</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong>albondigas</strong> venison pork duck meatballs</div><br /><div><strong>abalone empanadas</strong> Albany abalone pies with cherry tomato salsa (second only to the pumpkin crepes because we had to endure the Deliberator professing his sublime skills as an abalone fisherman during this dish)</div><br /><div><strong>salmon curado</strong> Mt Cook blood orange cured salmon with baby chicory and broad beans</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong>trucha arcoiris</strong> smoked Manjimup rainbow trout with artichoke hearts and citrus foam ( the presentation on this dish made it almost too pretty to eat. But eat we did).</div><br /><div><strong>plancha calameres</strong> grilled chilli squid with tomato and aioli (well we had to have it in order to shut the Sponge up)</div><div><br /><strong>pastelillos de chorizo de carne de venado</strong> venison chorizo and quail egg tartlets with mojo pico (had to order this - it was the only dish featuring chorizo - but please don't ask us what mojo pico is).<br /><br />Phew - looking back on it, we're almost ashamed to release this review, lest we become the subject of the latest biased obesity study featured on Today Tonight.<br /><br />It must be noted that as the meal progressed, the Sponge and Deliberator's penchant for margaritas subsided and soon not even the Brains could be enthusiastic at the Sangria that contained far too many shades of mulled wine to be drank at length. So it was to the beer and wine list which was ample, but pricey.<br /><br />The Bloggers do so wish we could comment on the Postres (desserts) offered by the Pony Club, however we're sure you'll understand that in endeavouring to bring to you a substantial review of the Pony Club's tapas menu, we were far to stuffed to try dessert. Besides which, Stinky was being babysat and the Deliberator and Brains' "Balcony of Broken Dreams", complete with booze fridge beckoned...................<br /><br />In summary:</div><br /><div><strong>Service:</strong> Friendly, guiding us well as to the better dishes to order. However, it was not quite as super slick and all knowing as the service we've had at Duende, which we think is a reasonable comparison in terms of both price and dining style.</div><div><br /><strong>Food</strong>: If you're after traditional style Spanish tapas, then continue your search elsewhere. However, the food is fresh, different and will take you out of your comfort zone.</div><br /><div><strong>Ambience</strong>: Pretty perfect, although as with all restaurants with floorboards, the acoustics can become a bit much when full.</div><div><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The pumpkin crepes.</div><div><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Sangria (and for BOOTO waking up to Stinky at 6am after a night on the Balcony of Broken Dreams).</div><div><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.5 abalone empanadas out of 5</div><div><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Maybe if someone organises a dinner there. We don't have too much to complain of, but our overall impression of The Pony Club is just a an unexciting good. It's a bit like a "nice" boy. He's probably not going to get a second date unless you're desperate, let alone become your boyfriend. It's also crazy expensive when you have 4 diners with enormous appetites.</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Details</strong>: The Pony Club is a hop, skip and a jump from the Walcott Street intersection (city side) and is fully licensed, although do have BYO nights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The tapas dishes soon add up and the bill came to approximately $100 per head. Bookings came be made on (08) 9228 8801.</span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370630/restaurant/Perth/Pony-Club-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Pony Club on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370630/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-120191523108795682009-02-25T17:41:00.003+09:002010-01-13T07:49:08.539+08:00Diva Café Mt Lawley<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0AUV8XyePthXbBHmvVtA0bAvDO9UEQ7lDP6-gb6jABGmS4UyLgEstgHC-vkoqYVarV09t1Dj9MS6p5vDlEbccpKE9edkTOx6aHyLKpvlmECEqWhTbXCWF-aaQqlDiQ48kIgbfq6tq15t/s1600-h/pasta.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306653718069975330" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 204px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 126px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0AUV8XyePthXbBHmvVtA0bAvDO9UEQ7lDP6-gb6jABGmS4UyLgEstgHC-vkoqYVarV09t1Dj9MS6p5vDlEbccpKE9edkTOx6aHyLKpvlmECEqWhTbXCWF-aaQqlDiQ48kIgbfq6tq15t/s320/pasta.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">So, here is the Diva review that has been so long coming. Unfortunately, it was that long ago that none of us really remember it, so we consider this to be one of the weakest reviews so far. Sorry about that.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div><br />What we do remember follows. The night was warm, and we had young Stinky in tow. Upon arrival, and looking into the long, skinny, multi-layered restaurant, we realised that Stinky’s pram was going to be a tough squeeze. The waitresses helpfully navigated a path and set up a table at the back, giving us plenty of room. (Unfortunately this was located in the highest part of the restaurant right next to the kitchen, meaning it was hotter than Kelly le Brock in Weird Science (although not quite as hot as that French chick out of Braveheart).)</div><br /><div>Stinky proceeded to vent his appreciation by fidgeting and farting around for the next hour, preventing Booto from achieving the state of wine-induced nirvana as quickly as she might have liked. </div><div><br />The night was also memorable for the fact that the Deliberator announced what he was having for both starter and main within 90 seconds of sitting down. The other Bloggers without hesitation drove a wooden stake through the heart of this imposter, whereupon the real Deliberator made an appearance and began acting like his trademark puerile self for the remainder of the evening. </div><div><br />As per usual, when we reached into Stinky’s nappy bag and the back of his pram to pull out a bottle of wine each, the bottles were left sitting on our table, warming up in the hot night. We’ve grown so used to the fact that people don’t offer to put wine in the fridge or bring out an icebucket that this has basically stopped being a complaint. </div><div><br />Food consisted of a very passable tasting platter (of course) and pizza to start, followed by a tomato/salmon pasta (Sponge), Moroccan lamb salad (Booto), another anonymous pasta (Brains) and a steak (Deliberator). Oh, and a trough of chips. (Diva does a "cheap" pizza and pasta menu during the week, which offers some pretty good value.)</div><div><br />Service was very helpful and friendly (particularly considering our various impairments), although the food was not overly quick to arrive and those wine bottles continued to sit there sweating.<br /><br />In summary:</span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Young and enthusiastic. </div><div><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Good size portions and better than expected. (Sorry for doubting you, Diva.)</div><div><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: The people down below and out the front seemed to be enjoying it, from where we sat in our lofty sweatbox.</div><div><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The platter was pretty good from memory.</div><div><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Warm booze. And Stinky’s belligerence.</div><div><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.5 warm sweaty arm-pits out of 5.</div><div><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Conceivably. Diva ticked all the right boxes, without any particular chutzpah.</div><br /><div><strong>Details</strong>: Diva is over the road from the (now defunct) Astor. Food was fairly reasonable, and came out at around $40 a head including corkage. Contact them on (08) 9371 9971</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Next up</strong>: We spent some serious coin at the Pony Club recently, we'll let you know what we thought soon...</span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370233/restaurant/Perth/Diva-Cafe-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Diva Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370233/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-28264521573887206662009-01-08T12:39:00.006+09:002010-01-13T08:00:30.478+08:00Siena's Mt Lawley Pizzeria and Café<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2RNO1IUzbfh32CxUP7FYfaBeK4FXh1iHq7KKort8xFseIXLYr-MfvuMbyMmZMTTBZvcA62AuTMQJAqGlxN6_KbZvNAk0vYKuOq6PXpGJAOW1vwBhBCd4uTJRz5A0BpqXB04j5Bu_9SmG/s1600-h/Arancini.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288763726418662562" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 143px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 107px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2RNO1IUzbfh32CxUP7FYfaBeK4FXh1iHq7KKort8xFseIXLYr-MfvuMbyMmZMTTBZvcA62AuTMQJAqGlxN6_KbZvNAk0vYKuOq6PXpGJAOW1vwBhBCd4uTJRz5A0BpqXB04j5Bu_9SmG/s320/Arancini.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Siena’s is not particularly well-regarded among food lovers as a decent place to eat. The Bloggers’ view is no exception, previous visits (which took place many years ago) have been uninspiring – bland food, average service, mass produced pasta with little love or attention to detail. However, we had to go to Siena’s with an open mind, and we were prepared to be surprised. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />To make the experience more palatable, it was decided that takeaway Siena’s might be better than dine-in Siena’s. Not sure how this reasoning developed, but it seemed logical at the time. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Siena’s was not worth a baby-sitter for Stinky.<br /><br />Our first experience was in placing the order. Helpfully, Siena’s has a good website listing its full menu. We love this, more restaurants should devote time and energy to setting up a website, particularly casual-dining places which do takeaway. The average office worker spends fucking hours on the internet, loves to be immediately informed and doesn’t really want to talk on the phone with a restaurant for longer than needed.<br /><br />Ordering was a smooth and successful transmission and soon Siena’s was cooking up the following for the Bloggers:<br /><br />1. arancini balls (2 serves)</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">2. calamari (1 serve)<br />3. garlic bread<br />4. penne al diavolo (penne, spicy Italian sausage, onions,<br />mushrooms, in a chilli tomato sauce).<br />5. fettucine Siena (fettucine with prawns, broccoli in vodka flavoured<br />tomato and cream sauce, sprinkled with chilli flakes)<br />6. an Isabella pizza (tomato, mozarella, basil, Italian sausage,<br />olives, onions, artichokes)<br />7. a meatlovers pizza (Tomato, mozarella, bacon, ham, sausage<br />and chicken)<br /><br />Picking up the order was more difficult. The Deliberator and the Brains were entrusted with the role of pick-up and take-home. The Deliberator, starving, sulky and desperate for a drink, made several driving errors that saw him turn right where no right turns were permitted, do a u-turn in the middle of Beaufort Street on a busy Thursday night, run up a curb and then park illegally. The Brains’ constant nit-picking did not help, and at after the car was finally stationary, the Deliberator stormed off the Vietnamese deli across the road, god knows what for, leaving the Brains to pick up and carry what was about 45kg of food. Order and calm resumed shortly thereafter.<br /><br />As usual, and much to the bewilderment of anyone who actually likes food, Siena’s was packed to the rafters. It’s unbelievably popular, but does anyone know anyone who goes there? Anyway, the order was retrieved, and the only notable thing in relation to the pick-up was that the pizzas were sitting on a the bench a long way from the wood fired oven, so they were dead cold by the time we got them home.<br /><br />So, to the food. It was fine. Really, it was. The pizzas, although cold, had good crispy bases and nice fresh ingredients. The pasta was not full of flavour, but the ingredients themselves were fine. The arancini were each as big as a cannon ball. The calamari was a disappointment, the takeaway container contained more lettuce than squid, and the squid itself was rubbery. So, all in all pretty much exactly as we expected. While we were not surprised, we weren’t completely put off either.</span><br /><p><span style="font-family:Arial;">In summary:</span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"><p><strong>Service</strong>: Fine. Standard. Typical.</p><p><strong>Food</strong>: Fine. Standard. Typical.</p><p><strong>Ambience</strong>: Busy, loud, happy atmosphere, as always.</p><p><strong>Highlight</strong>: Giant arancini.</p><p><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Rubbery squid and cold pizza.</p><p><strong>Rating</strong>: 2.5 half-price-pasta-and-pizza-nights out of 5.</p><p><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Very unlikely. For similarly priced Italian we would go to Al Sito up in Inglewood (see previous <a href="http://beaufortstreetblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/al-sito-soon-to-be-tonys-pasta-house.html">review</a>), Il Pasto in East Perth or Il Padrino in Northbridge.</p><p><strong>Details</strong>: Everyone knows where Siena’s is. While we didn’t go on a half price pasta and pizza night, the price was still reasonable, coming in at just under $100 for all that food. We expect there may have been some kind of calculating error there. Siena's website is <a href="http://www.sienasmtlawley.com.au/">http://www.sienasmtlawley.com.au/</a></p><p><strong>Coming up</strong>: We finally made it back to Diva, a full report will be available soon.</span></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370723/restaurant/Mount-Lawley/Sienas-Pizzeria-Caffe-Perth"><img alt="Siena's Pizzeria & Caffe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370723/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-87679757803183703722009-01-08T11:54:00.003+09:002009-01-08T12:35:25.180+09:002009<span style="font-family:arial;">Hi everyone. Thanks for all your emails and comments, it's nice to know we have a reader or 2. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We have not disbanded the blog, we have not lost our jobs (yet), we have not moved overseas/interstate/south of the river and we have not gone into hospital/asylum/a witness protection program.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">What we have been doing is getting drunk at Christmas and New Years functions every day since early December which has left us with little time to write. New reviews will commence shortly.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now is a good opportunity to reflect on what is now a year's worth of work. We have discovered some amazing places which we never would have visited if not for this blog - to name a few - Jessie's Curry Kitchen and Cafe, Third Avenue Cafe, Al Sito, Koinonia and Charco's Charcoal Chicken. We will also mention Cantina 663, but we suspect we would have gone there regardless of whether or not the Beaufort Street Challenge was taken up.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We've also discovered some duds - Peking Chinese Restaurant, Seven Seas (which has thankfully closed down) and Magic Pizza.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It's been a long journey, we thought we would have wrapped it up in 2008, but it looks like we'll go well into the new year. As for future plans - we are considering not stopping at the end of Beaufort Street and going right down through Barrack Street, ending up at Halo on the Barrack Street Jetty (which would give us a wonderful opportunity to see the grandious, beautiful and highly-original Perth ferris wheel up close. That thing is AWESOME). Or, we might have a stab at William Street next, although the MSG we'd get from eating at William Street restaurants once a week would probably never leave our bodies.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As you can see, there's much to be excited about. Happy 2009 food fans, we hope it's a great one for all of you.</span>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-70558164407701074362008-11-20T17:15:00.002+09:002010-01-13T07:54:16.051+08:00Koinonia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEGpE3dnZoKqkxyVxC6JOH7t4nQoSKlfpYlBOnSIyrcAKf3PrnqMjnCez2j1GE04TEIOKnfIsGJiuA3wVs2aERxAs45pzB_hgv_lp_ssBXri9u7lpol1a2-ABbLbUyfJAYbQP7ty55mTC/s1600-h/PekingDuck.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270650882062975442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 221px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 221px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEGpE3dnZoKqkxyVxC6JOH7t4nQoSKlfpYlBOnSIyrcAKf3PrnqMjnCez2j1GE04TEIOKnfIsGJiuA3wVs2aERxAs45pzB_hgv_lp_ssBXri9u7lpol1a2-ABbLbUyfJAYbQP7ty55mTC/s320/PekingDuck.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Koinonia: the name conjures up images of palm trees, oases, dusky Arabian wenches and fan-waving eunuchs. (Well, for us it does anyway.)<br /><br />The reality, at least from the outside, appears a little different: Koinonia looks from the street to be a lunch-bar type, set back off the street and up a couple of steps. It is housed in the uninspired cream-bricked and new-ish building that Balshaw’s Florist is also located in. We’ve always assumed that the folk at Balshaw’s designed that building, as it is about as unattractive as that ridiculous van they drive around in with the giant rose in a plastic coffin on top of it. Anyway, do not be deceived by the building: once inside, Koinonia (which incidentally means “murder-inducing elevator music” in Esperanto) is a warm, inviting place, made all the more so by the immediate attention given us by the hostess and the leather booth-like couches around which the BSBers immediately splayed themselves.<br /><br />As if this was not congenial enough, the mural on the wall expounded the benefits of “fellowship”, “virtue” and “loving thy neighbour” (or something like that – the BSBers ignored these sentiments completely and engaged in their usual infantile squabbling over the menu.)<br /><br />This evening, the BSBers were joined by their travelling English friend, The Pikey. Being of Cockney extraction, there is little that the Pikey could not tell you about the potato chip, chicken tikka masala or soggy Pret tuna-and-sweetcorn sambos. How would she cope though with the fusion-style array of spices from the Orient? For Koinonia (formerly “Infusion” further south on Beaufort) offers the full gamut of Asia-wide generic dishes.<br /><br />Starters were plentiful, prompt and very tasty. Duck pancakes were suitably moist (take heed, Red Teapot), san choy bow of the perfect consistency, satay sticks a delight. Even better, the menu stated that each of the starters came in 4 pieces, which was of a huge concern to the Pikey as there was no way we were going to share with her, but when the kind waitress saw the pain on the Pikey’s face, she quickly reassured us that they would be happy to make them 5 pieces each. And we didn’t seem to be charged for the extra either.<br /><br />Mains continued in the same vein: chicken curry tantalised the taste-buds (although BOOTO suggested the meat was a little dry), the garlic lamb was a revelation, the squid and prawns an oral celebration, all washed down with a pad thai, a crash-helmet sized tub of fried rice and 14 litres of cleanskin sparkling shiraz (the BSBers’ cheap plonk of choice).<br /><br />Our hostess was particularly generous, and seemed to be always at hand and directing staff to indulge our every (culinary) whim. She even gave us champagne glasses, which is a rare treat for a BYO restaurant.<br /><br />In summary:<br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Very friendly (without being intrusive), polite and ever-present. Very quick on the drinks.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Very, very good pan-Asian.<br /><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: Surprisingly chic inside, with an extended balcony overlooking the Scotto.<br /><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The expression on the Pikey’s face as her taste-buds were awakened after decades of culinary neglect.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The piped Muzak. (Although this may have been deliberate – very reminiscent of a Hong Kong taxi.)<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 4.5 Hello Kitty’s out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Definitely – undoubtedly the pick of the bunch for Asian delights thus far.<br /><br /><strong>Details</strong>: Koinonia is a couple of doors down from Monte Fiore. The bill came to about $50 a head for (far too many) mains, starters and corkage. Booking is advised, particularly on warm evenings.<br /><br /><strong>Be aware</strong>: Koinonia is not licensed (although permits BYO beer and wine). Also, the Liquor Barons at the Beaucott corner closes at the ridiculously arbitrary time of 8:45, meaning that the Sponge had to walk 6 minutes to the Queens to collect booze. This resulted in a lot of self-indulgent whinging from the Sponge and general disharmony at the table. You have been warned.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370435/restaurant/Perth/Koinonia-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Koinonia on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370435/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-79773371977642852122008-11-04T11:11:00.004+09:002010-01-13T07:50:03.993+08:00The Flying Scotsman<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAWQRDz0gSMbVBBZ3JXasK_V6S86h0mNlcezix-I9TuC_2IRky1tt6KycXdMXu_0UZaw1WruT5FMtYhrv_TFF8Ej73l1JXi7SAvg5cCIMJ4b-mz7bgD-Ohj_ajtfW6l14FLMaLOiRYfbM/s1600-h/Flying+Scotsman.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264620126418201954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAWQRDz0gSMbVBBZ3JXasK_V6S86h0mNlcezix-I9TuC_2IRky1tt6KycXdMXu_0UZaw1WruT5FMtYhrv_TFF8Ej73l1JXi7SAvg5cCIMJ4b-mz7bgD-Ohj_ajtfW6l14FLMaLOiRYfbM/s320/Flying+Scotsman.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><span style="font-family:arial;">With BOOTO and Stinks on a promotional tour of Victoria (leaving the Sponge trying in vain to remember what he used to do when a bachelor), it was decided to take guests for our next blog: the Pakistani Prince and the South Sea Island Princess* gratefully accepted the Bloggers’ invitation to join them for an evening of lager and pub grub at the Flying Scotsman.</span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div>(* Note: not real royalty.)</div><div><br />We had no expectations as to quality of the food at the Scotto – each of the Bloggers had been there from time to time for a quiet (or loud) drink, but never to eat. All recent reviews we could find appeared to be of the whiny variety, focusing on how much character and ambience the place had lost since its upgrade and how it would never be the same. (Apparently someone had neglected to pass this on to the punters though, who were there in droves.)</div><div><br />A table was booked (which we found to be essential if intending to eat), and was promptly and graciously reconfigured at least 3 times by the friendly staff as they tried to find the best way to seat 5 people. The Scotto is a bit like the scruffy, charismatic cousin of the Queens and (being what we understand to be the only viable drinking alternative up this end of Beaufort) was packed, while still maintaining a friendly and informal atmosphere.</div><br /><div>Starters (ordered from the bar) arrived promptly and were unexpectedly brilliant: a platter consisting of a generous spread of such delights as octopus, ribs, chicken wings and some of the best and most tender squid any of the Bloggers (or their royal companions) had eaten for some time. This was accompanied by a dish that made the Deliberator curl into a foetal ball: pouteen. Pouteen is simply chips, melted cheese and gravy. Once combined however, they transform into a manna-like concoction that would make a grown man (in this case, the Deliberator) weep.</div><br /><div>Mains were again impressive: the Brains’ Fat Bastard Pizza lived up to its name, parmagiana was bloody good (and enormous), the Deliberator’s ribs (washed down with a second bowl of pouteen) did the trick and the South Sea Island Princess’ salad was tasty and lovingly crafted. Unfortunately, so too was the Pakistani Prince’s. The Bloggers are collectively still stunned and slightly hurt at the Prince’s decision to order a salad at a pub, and will no longer mention his name on this blog. He is dead to us.</div><div><br />Service was attentive, speedy… and knowledgeable – our waitress chimed into our heated debate to confirm that the minimum contingent for a gang-bang was indeed 5 people. Debate concluded. (Incidentally, and while we had already established that 3 people formed a threesome, we are still in the dark as to the correct term for a beast with four backs. Suggestions welcome.)</div><br /><div>In summary:</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Service</strong>: Great, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the karma sutra.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Food</strong>: A couple of cuts above what we anticipated. Sorry, Scotto.</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Ambience</strong>: Lively, informal and eclectic. The Brisbane it ain’t.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Highlight</strong>: The squid. And the Deliberator’s vow to plant a pouteen tree in his backyard.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Maybe slightly cramped and noisy for dinner. (But hell – it’s a pub.)</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.9 pouteen trees out of 5.</div><br /><div></div><div><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Yes, either to eat, drink or both. (Not just for the fact that we note that the bloody upstairs balcony is finally completed!)</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Details</strong>: The Flying Scotsman is just down from the Walcott/Beaufort St intersection. The bill came to about $50 a head for mains and a shared starter (and drinks. Lots of drinks.) Kitchen closes at (we think?) 9pm, although pizzas are available later than this.</div><div></div><br /><div><strong>Coming up</strong>: Alright Diva – your turn next so we can finally tie up everything north of Walcott.</span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370285/restaurant/Mount-Lawley/Flying-Scotsman-Perth"><img alt="Flying Scotsman on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370285/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-18015984160516874722008-10-24T17:54:00.003+08:002010-01-13T07:58:11.109+08:00Monte Fiore Cafe Restauant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3XSdWlQT9RtMOblFwFjoCz-OnXZbbMleVaNdAOtZ0cRitxJ0JuWXh6SkEXxZkIY9vcvuPPuifJFG7yrENYgeEsPEhn2CKoQBD-2oxS2TKI3z0YpD4IyRmY7D-OPadXconK0IUrvM7frM/s1600-h/Ribs.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260657209134501938" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 113px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3XSdWlQT9RtMOblFwFjoCz-OnXZbbMleVaNdAOtZ0cRitxJ0JuWXh6SkEXxZkIY9vcvuPPuifJFG7yrENYgeEsPEhn2CKoQBD-2oxS2TKI3z0YpD4IyRmY7D-OPadXconK0IUrvM7frM/s200/Ribs.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Monte Fiore is terrible. Really terrible. Everything about it is so bad, from the acronym, which is used liberally throughout the menu (we’ll have an MF salad and an MF side of chips please), from the terrible oily smell in the restaurant that seems to have seeped into everything, to the bland 1990s décor to the uninspiring chap who runs the front of house.<br /><br />Luckily, it was a stinking hot night when the Bloggers decided to take the M-Fing challenge, so we were able to sit outside and watch people eat decent food at the Flying Scotsman. Which was quite pleasant really, especially after we smelt that weird, old oil smell that would leave you gasping for fresh air if you spent more than 10 minutes in it. Also, if we had sat in the tired, outdated surroundings we would not have been able to hide all of our bottles of wine quite so easily.<br /><br />It’s a M-Fing funny place Monte Fiore. It seems to be very popular, and on the Thursday night we visited it was probably at 70% capacity, which is not bad because it’s a pretty big space. We discussed the reason for its popularity among ourselves and Booto quite correctly pointed out that it looked like a place where people who met on RSVP.com might have had a first date. It’s safe, it’s inoffensive, it’s well known and it’s bland. Perfect.<br /><br />To the food. We had to try the standard tasting platter and a serve of garlic bread. The platter was bizarre, though not necessarily in a bad way. It consisted of a pizza base brushed with oil and garlic and sprinkled with herbs, and on top of the base there were your bog standard kalamata olives, grilled chorizo and fetta. The ingredients, other than the fetta, were fine. The fetta was revolting, and looked, felt and tasted more like tofu than fetta. And, annoyingly, there were 3 bits of garlic bread for a party of 4. Can’t cafés count?<br /><br />Booto had a delicious Moroccan lamb salad for her main. The lamb was outstanding, well cooked with plenty of spice, and the salad was super fresh. The joy ended there though. The Brains’ Gamberi (Neapolitan pasta with prawns) was woeful. It seemed to be badly cooked packet spaghetti mixed with tomato sauce (as in ketchup, not Neapolitan sauce) with a generous number of shrivelled up cheap tasting prawns. The Sponge opted for his old favourite veal parma, and it was described as mystery meat with tomato sauce. The Deliberator’s giant pork ribs were tasteless, meatless and not at all giant. And, the bowl of ‘thick cut chips’ for the table turned out to be a bowl of frozen McCains wedges (wedges? cafés still serve wedges? what is this, 1995?) served with a minimum of flair. Overall, outstandingly disappointing.<br /><br />We were left wondering what the M-Fing place could do properly. We didn’t stick around for dessert to find out.<br /><br />The service was a mix. Our po-faced chap we mentioned earlier attended to us with very little charisma or affability. The lovely, bubbly blonde-haired waitress who served our meals was a dream, but once our plates were in front of us she never came back. No parmesan cheese, no cracked pepper and no ‘can I get you anything else’. We were abandoned on the side of the road with our rubbish food, empty bottles and slowly warming wine.<br /><br />All in all, don’t bother with those M-Fers, head across the road to the Scotsman instead.<br /><br />In summary:<br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Variable.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Heinz does a better spaghetti and it’s only a couple of bucks.<br /><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: Outside is lovely, but that was courtesy of the steamy Perth night and the action on Beaufort Street. Inside looks like a 1990s telemovie.<br /><strong><br />Highlight</strong>: The Moroccan lamb salad and the sweltering heat.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Food you might find in a school cafeteria.<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 2 McCains wedges out of 5.<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: No. And we hope you won’t be either until these guys lift their game, update their menu, sack their chef and redecorate their restaurant.<br /><strong><br />Details</strong>: Monte Fiore is licenced and BYO wine only at $5 per bottle. The bill came to $120 for a platter, 4 mains, GB and a bowl of chips. We checked out the wine list and surprise surprise, it’s boring as hell. All wines in the same price range $19 - $26 and all the usual suspects were there – wines like Goundrey and Madfish – ok, but so dull.<br /><br /><strong>Coming up</strong>: We’re really struggling to get to Diva, so we’ll try and get there next week.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370539/restaurant/Perth/Monte-Fiore-Cafe-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Monte Fiore Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370539/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-61270862848283529862008-09-30T11:11:00.005+08:002010-01-12T12:29:12.091+08:00Da Bruno's<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkI2Qk9nXEeVutyNNrqBsMBI61sPCQVnOrOKQn_CL9HqytubrAi_XNsQg4QxgZE_WyZWWCrR0lqz-foVhSpYZd9r55WWD8H37FA1JtBkD-xTOR8lJ1lRLvbK-a6tRaG0bRah4UobdTNBvN/s1600-h/Da+Bruno.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251650386187129778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkI2Qk9nXEeVutyNNrqBsMBI61sPCQVnOrOKQn_CL9HqytubrAi_XNsQg4QxgZE_WyZWWCrR0lqz-foVhSpYZd9r55WWD8H37FA1JtBkD-xTOR8lJ1lRLvbK-a6tRaG0bRah4UobdTNBvN/s200/Da+Bruno.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Everything was going very well for the Bloggers last Wednesday. The Brains and the Deliberator successfully settled on their purchase of a new home, or rather, new mortgage, Booto was able to hand over a grumbling Stinky to Mother of Sponge for the evening, and The Sponge spent the day with a powerful thirst that needed to be quenched. So, what better time to finally circle back and make Thursday night ‘Da Bruno Night’.</span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"><p>While the Brains and the Deliberator drank champagne in their empty new house, the Sponge was charged with the task of buying suitable drinks for the evening. By suitable, we mean wine with labels, something that the Sponge has never been too keen on. He did a sterling job though, and showed some incredible insight when he suggested that 4 bottles might not be enough. The Brains scoffed at this suggestion, but relented and she and Booto packed a couple more bottles of wine from home in their handbags in case of emergency. The Sponge was on the money. The 5th and 6th bottles of wine were removed from the handbags within what seemed like minutes of arriving.</p><p>We arrived late, as usual, but this was absolutely no problem to the accommodating wait staff at Da Brunos. We were shown to a cosy table next set right next to a bronze, naked torso of a fit-looking fellow. The Sponge and The Deliberator were unimpressed, and disappointed that our table was not closer to the complementary female torso with the pleasing breasts.</p><p>Da Brunos has a blackboard menu only, which changes every day. Soon after arrival, our very knowledgeable waitress came to the table and explained the menu which left the Deliberator in a state of flummox and bamboozlement for the next 10 to 15 minutes. Decisions were eventually made.</p><p>We started by sharing an antipasto platter. Thrillingly, there was not a spot of chorizo on the platter (we love chorizo, but boy do we eat a lot of it). Instead, the beautifully presented plate was filled with gourmet bits of complex deliciousness like scallop salad and thinly sliced veal with a cream and caper sauce. The entrees were also a delight, al-dente home made ravioli stuffed with prawn and scallop with a saffran sauce, beautiful pieces of gnocchi in a heart-busting cheese sauce and Booto’s Carpaccio with a rocket and parmesan salad was divine.</p><p>The mains were a bit more difficult. The Deliberator’s view was that the selection was not quite as tempting as it had been on previous visits, and he has a point. On other occasions it has been almost impossible choosing one of the 5 things on offer. This time, we did struggle a little to choose something that really appealed. The Deliberator and The Sponge chose capretto, the Brains had steak, which was perfectly cooked and came with an excellent chicken parfait and Booto’s duck in marsala sauce was excellent. Each of the dishes came with mashed potato, slightly overcooked snow peas and tomato. The mains were really very good, but for the price (the duck was the cheapest dish at $44) we were not blown away. We thought the sides could have been a bit more considered, and while a lot more effort and detail was put into the mash than the mash your mother used to make, it was still mash. </p><p>For dessert, The Brains and The Deliberator both had a crème brulee which perfectly crispy on the outside and super creamy on the inside. The Deliberator, treating dessert like breakfast, asked for a side of semifreddo and his wish was granted without a problem. The Sponge’s cheese plate had a great combination of blue, brie and reggiano cheeses. Booto was less excited about her semifreddo.</p><p>After 4 courses, nearly 6 bottles of wine and a few coffees, we were suitably stuffed.</p><p>There was one niggling issue we had throughout the evening, and that was with the bathrooms. The toilets are horrifically outdated, and while clean, for a swanky restaurant with swanky prices, getting rid of the 70s tiling in the dunnies would be really appreciated (and in case you were wondering, the tiles aren’t cool in a retro way, they’re just plain ugly). But that’s not the problem, the problem was that by Booto and The Brains’ second (and final) trip to the loo, there was no loo paper left. To continually check on the status of bog roll is a very easy and a terribly important job that someone should be responsible for. If our local Thai takeaway joint can get it right, Da Bruno’s sure can too.<br /><strong></strong></p><br /><p><strong>In summary</strong>:</p><p><strong>Service</strong>: Excellent. Both the people looking after us were very knowledgeable, very attentive and pretty damn groovy to boot.</p><p><strong>Food</strong>: There’s no doubt that Bruno is a bloody fine chef, but we thought the mains menu was not particularly imaginative when compared with previous visits. However, everything else was exceptional, particularly the pastas – easily the best pasta in Perth.</p><p><strong>Ambience</strong>: We love a restaurant that exists in a house, it makes for a cosy, fun and personal atmosphere. The décor is tasteful and not at all bland - there’s plenty to look at without it being over the top. The front alfresco area is fabulous also, sitting in the Mediterranean styled courtyard on a balmy summer’s night would be unbeatable.</p><p><strong>Highlight</strong>: The ravioli and the porn statues.</p><p><strong>Lowlight</strong>: $110 per person. Without drinks, or even sparkling water. That’s pretty pricey in anyone’s book. And the lack of loo paper.</p><p><strong>Rating</strong>: 3.8 milk fed baby goats out of 5.</p><p><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Yes, for sure. It’s a great place for a special occasion. And while it was not perfect this visit, it has been much closer to perfect in previous visits.</p><p><strong>Details</strong>: Da Brunos is easy to miss – if you’re heading north on Beaufort and you get to Charco’s, you’ve gone too far. It's at 965a Beaufort. The restaurant is unlicensed which we love. As mentioned earlier, the bill came to about $110 per head.</p><p><strong>Coming up</strong>: We are so close to finishing off the section north of Walcott – we just need to get through Chicken Treat, Globe and Diva Café before adventuring south of Walcott. Who would have thought there were so many restaurants on Beaufort Street? We’ve been at this for 9 months and still haven’t made it to the heart of the strip.</span></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370223/restaurant/Perth/Mount-Lawley/Da-Brunos-Inglewood"><img alt="Da Bruno's on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370223/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-87698056348516710672008-09-23T17:28:00.006+08:002008-09-23T18:38:39.383+08:00Mt Lawley Fish and Chips<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclO_201WBoEjb0LOlbqoyixJFh29hEDuA0UPqxTihmC3Pm7XyGUQFrMsa1jMdGbEimSLxZuDoFHrNr_qtRz9oG-fzjgafAORMMdAr6CSKSZ1zXYuYpYPEEbErXJyvWXnz577IcIZnA1UZ/s1600-h/chiko_hand.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249147016311748322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclO_201WBoEjb0LOlbqoyixJFh29hEDuA0UPqxTihmC3Pm7XyGUQFrMsa1jMdGbEimSLxZuDoFHrNr_qtRz9oG-fzjgafAORMMdAr6CSKSZ1zXYuYpYPEEbErXJyvWXnz577IcIZnA1UZ/s200/chiko_hand.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">It being too late to eat out (due to the incompatability of Stinky’s sleep patterns with the Deliberator’s perpetual fannying about), the Bloggers found themselves housebound and feeling too healthy. The Sponge was complaining that his arteries felt too soft, Booto that her cholesterol was alarmingly low, the Brains that the kilos were simply dropping off her and the Deliberato .. well, he was just generally complaining about his lot in life. Some form of action was required – some call to arms to alleviate this disgusting feeling of fitness and well-being. Like Han Solo taking out Darth’s tie fighter, it was Mt Lawley Fish and Chips to the rescue.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div><br />We weren’t really sure what to expect from this establishment: Where was it? And what did they sell? And accompany it with?</div><br /><div>All was revealed by our phone conversation with the very helpful proprietor. It’s a fish’n’chipper. In Mt Lawley. Selling the basics together with all manner of fried acountrements that one might expect from its ilk. With this in mind, we ordered the following: </div><br /><div>4 x f’n’c (2 grilled, 2 fried)<br />2 chiko rolls<br />2 crab sticks<br />2 serves squid rings<br />1 crumbed sausage</div><br /><div>The Deliberator, completely off his own bat and without a single complaint, offered to collect this feast (passing a flying pig on the way). </div><div><br />And here lies the Bloggers’ major issue: as instructed, the Deliberator arrived at the shop precisely 20 minutes after the order had been placed. And proceeded to wait there for an additional 40 minutes while the order was made ready. The problem lay not with the delay per se, but the misinformation: had we (well, the Deliberator – the rest of the bloggers were p*ssing it up at home) been accurately informed as to the preparation of our battered treasure trove, he could have whiled away the time on the couch. Instead he was made to pass that time alone in the car, phoning the rest of the bloggers every 4 minutes to remind them of the suffering he was going through and his imminent beatification. </div><br /><div>Taking into account the fact that Mt L F’n’C does not pretend to be anything other than what it is, the food wasn’t bad. Not brilliant, but passable. Grilled fish and salad (for the ladies) was light and tasty (although they were ridiculously heavy handed with the iceberg), fish fairly well battered, squid rings did the trick and the crab sticks and chiko rolls were suitably greasy and disgusting.<br /><br />In summary:</div><div><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Polite enough on the phone. Possibly trapped in an alternate time continuum though.</div><div><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Not worth driving across town for, but an OK local.</div><div><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: With its chocolate walls, dazzling light feature and slick modern art, the restaurant is subtle and sophisticated, like the man himself. Crisp white linen laid tables and highly polished silverware provide an excellent canvas for the chef to reveal his artistic flair and innovativeness. The colour presents itself upon the plate of each diner, with meals being skillfully delivered by waiting staff clad in white gloves and silver grey monogrammed uniforms. The ambience of the restaurant, not unlike the warm shadows created from the slowly flickering glow of the table lamps, seeks to provide a comfortable and inviting haven for the patron to enjoy as they await the amazing creations that arrive before them. (Only joking – it’s just your standard fish’n’chipper.)</div><div><br /><strong>Highlight</strong>: The Sponge’s reintroduction to the chiko roll. (Tuesday night $6.90 fish and chips is not to be sniffed at either.)</div><br /><div><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The rest of the Bloggers having to put up with the Deliberator’s hysterical whining.</div><br /><div><strong>Rating</strong>: 2.9 battered savs out of 5.</div><div><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: Not unless our car breaks down out the front.</div><br /><div><strong>Details</strong>: Shop 7, 776 Beaufort St (next to Thai Orchid and Third Avenue). (Consume at least two additional beers before collecting order.)</div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div><strong>NOTE</strong>: The Deliberator, having just proofed this entry, wishes to add some further comments, which are repeated verbatim below:</div><div></div><div>'Happy with the review with two exceptions:</div><div><br />1. not enough emphasis on the wait. Beaufort Street proprietors should be forewarned; and</div><div><br />2. 2.9 battered savs is an indictment to the battered Sav. Max of two battered Savs only. Beaufort Street Bloggers should not give battered Savs out willy nilly.'</div><div></div><div>Consider yourselves told.</span></div>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-17887848827032369802008-09-02T09:57:00.004+08:002010-01-12T12:28:21.540+08:00Cantina 663<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE77C-7HvxnwnCHop0VGK0I-LUqDNEVZs_xctedr49ihW3hNm0FbBX_bnh_ff4eIzBbjRDxzL9fDb4skIDRd-RnfWxuKc7WrRCBZMXHu-r0kHlKljrmc0rFj_jwouuPkM91a68INX7-Omm/s1600-h/carafe.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241238029930364818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE77C-7HvxnwnCHop0VGK0I-LUqDNEVZs_xctedr49ihW3hNm0FbBX_bnh_ff4eIzBbjRDxzL9fDb4skIDRd-RnfWxuKc7WrRCBZMXHu-r0kHlKljrmc0rFj_jwouuPkM91a68INX7-Omm/s320/carafe.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">For people who even have the vaguest of interests in new restaurants, shops, pubs or cafes that pop up in Perth, Cantina 663 needs no introduction. The lead up to its opening was splashed across STM like a 16 year old Perth model who is tipped to be ‘the next big thing’ in Milan. And no wonder, the guys running the ship have had success in some of Perth’s favourite ventures, like the wonderful Harvest in North Fremantle and the luxurious Mariposa store in Mount Lawley. This was enough for STM to refer to the fellas in their ‘Perth Confidential’ section every other week (to date, we think only Melanie Greensmith and Megan Gale have had more mentions).</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;">So, after a series of reasonably uninspiring restaurant experiences along Beaufort Street, we were looking forward to something different, something a little controversial (as we have heard both positive and negative reviews) and something that we were pretty confident would be up our alley. </p></span><p>The Brains and The Deliberator’s old neighbours (‘old’ in the sense that are no longer their neighbours, and that they are both pretty old) joined the bloggers for an evening of even more wine than usual, and some conversation that made WA politics’ chair sniffing incident seem reasonably innocent. We’ll call them Fat Bastard and Double Skulls. </p><p>The Sponge, Booto and Stinky arrived first and requested a table for 6 (Cantina does not take bookings). The only 6 seater table was being occupied by a couple, while several 2 seaters remained empty. A confrontation was required. Our waiter professionally and elegantly dealt with the situation by asking the couple if they wouldn’t mind moving (they had not started eating yet) but it turned out they did mind. Firm, but polite, words were had and they eventually moved onto a smaller table. With much gratitude, the Stinky family secured a high table and 6 stools at the entrance of the restaurant. The table was in the Astor Arcade itself, so while we had a sense that we were eating alfresco, the heater and the protection of the arcade meant we were toasty warm. (Incidentally, the high table is great for families with babies – we were able to park young Stinky right next to us and easily peer down at him at regular intervals, without the pram getting knocked or bumped).</p><p>The Deliberator, the Brains, Fat Bastard and Double Skulls soon rolled in, already warm and loud from Thursday evening pre-dinner drinking. The wine list was quickly requested. We ordered an excellent bottle of pino gris and litre of red from the Swan Valley. The fact that you could buy a carafe of well-priced and very drinkable wine was something we took a huge amount of delight in. Especially when we were given stemless Reidel glasses from which to drink from. The novelty was so great that the white was soon dismissed as more and more carafes of wine were required. Drinking from a carafe gave us such a southern-Italian holiday feeling that we quickly forgot we had work tomorrow and smashed our way through several litres of this holiday happiness during the course of the night.</p><p>Finally we took a look at the menu. Half of the menu changes each week, so while it’s short you can be sure you’ll find something different on it. The menu is very well priced for the quality of the food and the location of the eatery – entrees between $14 and $16, and mains between $24 and $32 (the $32 item being the steak, most other things were considerably cheaper). The entrees are designed to be shared, so we ordered one of each offering – grilled chorizo, olives and bread; marinated garfish with blood orange fennel salad; roast potato, spiced carrot and onion salad; and beef cheek with baguette. Each was outstanding. The delicate flavour of the garfish was a nice contrast to the strong flavours of blood orange and fennel, the chorizo (which seems to fast becoming the yard stick the bloggers use to rate restaurants) was smoky flavoured and chilli-hot and we can’t even talk about the beef cheek without dribbling over the keyboard.</p><p>After such a successful entrée, we simply had to order a congratulatory litre of wine.</p><p>Our mains arrived. Booto and the Deliberator went the slow cooked lamb neck with capsicum and polenta. The meat was strongly flavoured and fell apart with the touch of a fork. The polenta was soft and creamy. Fat Bastard and the Sponge raved about their roasted free range chicken leg and lentils, beans and pork belly. And who wouldn’t, that sounds like the finest combination of foods man can prepare. The Brains and Double Skulls enjoyed the home made pappardelle with prosciutto, courgettes and ricotta stuffed blossoms. The pasta perfectly al dente, the proscuitto uncooked and plentiful and the ricotta blossoms so ridiculously delicious and Italian it further added to our holiday-feel.</p><p>A celebratory litre of wine was ordered and quickly consumed through a number of toasts (to the food! to the company! to Stinky! to that guy walking past in the red jumper! to Phil Matera trying but not being able to get a table!).</p><p>Our delightful and patient waiter (and part owner) Alex was insistent that we try the last remaining slice of lemon tart. We were grateful for the recommendation, and ordered the lemon tart and then a slice of everything that was left in the dessert fridge. A wonderful array of cakes and pies were presented to us that we enthusiastically shared. Each one was better than the next, and like the main menu, the desserts are ever-changing. </p><p>The evening was drawing to an end, but there was of course room for a few coffees and one more litre of wine.</p><p>When the time came to settle the bill, not just the restaurant but the entire Beaufort Strip precinct was completely empty. We had been sitting at our marble table for hours. We had no idea it was close to midnight as there was absolutely no hurry-along from the staff. Another massive tick to Cantina 663.</p><p><strong>In summary</strong></p><p><strong>Service</strong>: Very professional, friendly, good humoured, patient and most knowledgeable.</p><p><strong>Food</strong>: Outstanding all round.</p><p><strong>Ambience</strong>: A relaxed European feeling with a funky vibe.</p><p><strong>Highlight</strong>: Being able to buy wine by the litre.</p><p><strong>Lowlight</strong>: The conversation.</p><p><strong>Rating</strong>: 4.8 hangovers out of 5.</p><p><strong>Will we be back</strong>: As soon as possible.</p><span style="font-family:arial;"><p><strong>Details</strong>: While we thought the prices were very reasonable, the bill did come to around $75 a head. But when you consider that we practically had every item on the menu, and we drank nearly 5 litres of wine, this was pretty good value. Cantina does not take bookings and offers wines in a range of prices. We did not make enquiries about corkage, but you really needn’t bother taking your own.</span></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1370155/restaurant/Perth/Cantina-663-Mount-Lawley"><img alt="Cantina 663 on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1370155/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-2134841871124396162008-08-28T08:53:00.004+08:002008-08-28T09:17:41.241+08:00Seven Seas Bar & Restaurant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoIzHfDoAi9PJAMGpI9Uj8D5SECdiJde-v3E3i2PDDlkPyhubBm6isujt_5wnuw4dkIQX8pvSEC_wpn45HlAsG4zIME7RBtzRSf_Cad9-LqDhb-Nzt4VmdPjJ0ur-Vrc5PNAc5QcbbYnC/s1600-h/fishfingers.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239371031899586610" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoIzHfDoAi9PJAMGpI9Uj8D5SECdiJde-v3E3i2PDDlkPyhubBm6isujt_5wnuw4dkIQX8pvSEC_wpn45HlAsG4zIME7RBtzRSf_Cad9-LqDhb-Nzt4VmdPjJ0ur-Vrc5PNAc5QcbbYnC/s320/fishfingers.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;">With the timely arrival of the Mother of Booto from interstate and with it, the much anticipated arrival of a live in babysitter for Stinky, the Bloggers thought it an opportune time to circle back and tick off Da Bruno's from the 2008 Beaufort Street Challenge. As you can imagine, Booto immediately commenced salivating at the mere thought of the vast array of wine that awaited her. Alas, it was not to be. Despite our burgeoning reputation amongst establishments on the Beaufort Street strip, we were unable to secure a Saturday night booking (the Brains showed great restraint in not screaming "Do you know who I am??" down the phone line) and the Deliberator was otherwise engaged on the alternative Friday night.<br /><br />With Booto desperate not to waste the services of a baby-starved grandmother who was more than happy to see the back of her daughter and enjoy a night of one on one with Stinky, the Bloggers shelved Da Bruno's for another week and returned to the next establishment on the challenge - Seven Seas.<br /><br />After a quick glass of bubbles at the home of the Brains and the Deliberator, we arrived in good time for our 8.00pm booking. As we waited to be seated, the Brains and Booto duly noted the warm chocolate tones of the venue which was pretty much full - a good sign - and Brains congratulated herself for having made a booking earlier in the week to ensure a good table for the night ahead. Meanwhile, the Deliberator and the Sponge contented themselves with watching the big screen TV showing the Olympics - a bizarre aberration on an otherwise tastefully decorated interior.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Seven Seas appeared to have lost our booking. Although to their credit, they did attempt to pretend they had not. However, a table directly in a thoroughfare and feeling the full brunt of the draught from the front door is always a dead giveaway!<br /><br />Nothing could dampen the spirits of Booto however, who promptly called for the cocktail list and ordered her first Cosmopolitan post Stinky. The Sponge and Deliberator followed suit, whilst the Brains contented herself with a bottle of her trademark bubbles.<br /><br />It was at this point, that it came to the attention of the Bloggers that they were not the only ones out for a big night at Seven Seas. The music was positively booming from the upstairs function room, making it hard to hear and overall, rather distracting. Surely, if you're going to have as function room above your restaurant, one would hope you'd go to the trouble of soundproofing. It seemed not.<br /><br />However, despite the physical agony the Sponge was in (he's a massive Tom Petty fan and abhors all that "wretched doof doof noise"), the Bloggers focused on the task ahead....<br /><br />In time honoured tradition, a couple of tasting plates were ordered. The usual foods were represented – including the ubiquitous fried chorizo and kalamata olives, several portions of arancini and some marinated octopus. It was all reasonably tasty but not particularly memorable.<br /><br />The Sponge, Brains and Deliberator all ordered seafood platters for the main course, before Booto caved into the pressure to conform and thus made it a simple "2 x seafood platters for 2" for the Bloggers.<br /><br />The "2 x seafood platters for 2" were served in good time which was just as well as the Deliberator was shivering in the draught and the Sponge had refrained from taking his jacket off.<br /><br />Each platter was generous in size and included a generous mix of:<br /><br />oysters kilpatrick - so drowned in bacon and worcestershire sauce, they resembled a parmagiana;<br /><br />crumbed fish - to quote the Sponge: "unnecessary";<br /><br />chips - always going to get a vote from the Deliberator on this one;<br /><br />calamari - not melt in your mouth, but not too chewy either; and<br /><br />whitebait – so crispy they were almost hollow.<br /><br />Whilst the Bloggers would not rave about the quality of the fare offered, it must be said that Seven Seas do not skimp on quantity. Unfortunately, whilst the Sponge and Deliberator did their best and the Brains and Booto gave it their all, there was more than a little left over for "Mr Manners".<br /><br />Despite being looked after by both a rather young waiter and a bizarrely dressed waitress (whose attempt at jazzing up her black uniform with some silver appliqué can only be described as plain scary), the Bloggers were duly attended, although all in all, it was hardly service to remember or indeed give much mention to on this blog. There were several instances where the bloggers were left waiting for wine, which was particularly irksome on a Saturday night when the general plan was to get as drunk as possible before midnight.<br /><br />Despite feeling like falling asleep in our chairs, so full were our stomachs, the Bloggers soldiered on and called for the dessert menu. Whilst the Deliberator and Sponge opted for coffee and a licquer, the Brains and Booto dove right into the chocolate crème brulee and a chocolate sponge pudding. Booto’s brulee was quite delicious but the Brains’ sponge had a strangely familiar texture and taste – one that reminded her of those that came straight from a Betty Crocker packet.<br /><br />Finally, with the Deliberator announcing he could take the cold draught no longer and the Brains and Booto having to deal with a rather rude punter on the table behind, the Bloggers departed Seven Seas with a rather indifferent feeling. Was it hideous - no. Was it great - equally no.<br /><br />In summary:<br /><br /><strong>Service</strong>: Average, but all the more interesting with the added sparkle to the waitress' uniform.<br /><br /><strong>Food</strong>: Okay, but for a specialist seafood restaurant, with a name like Seven Seas, we do expect a little better than a pub standard seafood platter.<br /><br /><strong>Ambience</strong>: Lose the party and the music resonating from upstairs and you might have something.<br /><strong><br />Highlight</strong>: Booto's cosmopolitan, although after 9 months of abstinence, her judgement tends to lean to the generous side.<br /><br /><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Toss up between the party upstairs and being seated at a draughty table.<br /><br /><strong>Rating</strong>: 2.5 crumbed frozen fish out of 5<br /><br /><strong>Will we be back</strong>: With the high standards set by other seafood restaurants in Perth, probably not.<br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Details</strong>: the bill was higher than expected, although this probably had something to do with the volume of alcohol that was ordered (cocktails were an outrageous $16.00 and a $28 bottle of Cloudy Bay Pelorus was $53). The food was priced as you would expect, about $82 for a seafood platter for 2. You can call them on 9370 3030, or visit their poorly designed website on </span><a href="http://www.thesevenseas.com.au/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.thesevenseas.com.au</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></div>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8391523647208669081.post-8846026743376876382008-08-07T12:38:00.002+08:002008-08-07T12:43:28.040+08:00Tombstone Mexican Restaurant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvxobp-11oZn7uK4wjZxgMGP8xA-gufCCiRHNQgS_DxtuTRQ6V2_As7Y9I7merXUfMcbs6YeUOVzP2Hd3ItyT9_SkEBOBylzfMm5WkXJ-PPzdsrCoPXHP4d6kCjpvXZH-FhqKyaqnxLMV/s1600-h/sombrero.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231631658694083010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvxobp-11oZn7uK4wjZxgMGP8xA-gufCCiRHNQgS_DxtuTRQ6V2_As7Y9I7merXUfMcbs6YeUOVzP2Hd3ItyT9_SkEBOBylzfMm5WkXJ-PPzdsrCoPXHP4d6kCjpvXZH-FhqKyaqnxLMV/s320/sombrero.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;">While the title of this blog would indicate that it is about all things Beaufort Street (and, well, it is), we thought we would comment quickly on a little gem the BSBers stumbled across last week. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Tombstone on Walcott Street (which incidentally intersects Beaufort, lending a skerrick of legitimacy to this post) had been regularly carpet-bombing the area with pamphlets announcing their arrival and various specials. Booto, Stinky and the Sponge found themselves at a loose end last Thursday (having been passed over by the balance of the BSBers in favour of bridesmaid duties and general tooling around respectively) and accordingly decided to see what these paper-wasters were all about. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Tombstone is an eclectic place – set up in the former grand foyer of the Menora Theatre, it shares premises with a squash court (though you would be none the wiser for it until needing to use the loo). While ostensibly billing itself as Mexican, the interior is a garish mix of a dozen competing themes and styles, from Clint Eastwood posters to a large screen showing early-80s dance clips to 50s diner-type booths along the walls, all overhung with the ornate drapery and trimmings left over from its cinematic days. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Like the surrounds, the service was excellent because of, rather than in spite of, its unpolished edge. Staff and owner were very attentive – noticing the Sponge’s predilection for all things hopped and frothy, the owner made a point of offering him a particular new beer from the owner’s personal stash. He also very politely, but firmly, steered Booto away from the super-hot burrito sauce, a fact she was most thankful for as the "medium" proceeded to melt her fillings…</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Which leads us to the food: Despite a Mexican theme running through the menu (with the standard burritos, enchiladas, nachos etc on offer), there are plenty more traditional meat and other options for those not willing to venture south of the border. Shared chilli con carne dip was very tasty, Booto’s beef burrito was tender and spicy, and the Sponge’s meal had to be seen to be believed: the $28 surf’n’turf steak procured a delightfully large and tender steak, a mound of garlic mussels, prawns and scallops, a log cabin of wedges and a side salad.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">Stinky, sated with milk, slept through proceedings and only roused now and then to flatulate his approval. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">In all, Tombstone is the ideal place to come for a cheap and casual meal with a bunch of friends intending to eat and drink the evening away.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">In summary:</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Service</strong>: Went above and beyond.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Food</strong>: Fantastic quality and value Mexican/steakhouse fare.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Ambience</strong>: Dizzying. Despite sitting there for 2 hours, we still can’t tell you.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Highlight</strong>: The surf’n’turf (seriously, has anyone ever seen scallops on a steak before?) </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Lowlight</strong>: Not entirely sure what it wanted to be (not convinced this is necessarily a lowlight though)</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Rating</strong>: 4.2 distended bellies out of 5.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Will we be back</strong>? Hell yes, with an appetite, a thirst and a table full of like-minded punters.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Details</strong>: Tombstone is at 344 Walcott St, and can be contacted on 9443 8888 or email at </span><a href="mailto:michaelriseley@hotmail.com"><span style="font-family:arial;">michaelriseley@hotmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. 2 (enormous) courses and 2-3 drinks each cost around $80 total. (We defy our readers to produce tales of better value!) Tombstone is fully licensed, and offers an array of dazzlingly cheap margaritas and assorted treats. </span></p>Beaufort Street Bloggershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149948676308695623noreply@blogger.com23