The Attic – Fremantle

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

I thought we should try something different for Mothers Day. Go a little further than our usual dim sum lunch or eggs benedict brunches. I found The Attic which would be a little bit different with its African/Australian inspired menu. I was pleased to find that it was a cosy little hole in the wall type venue with seating upstairs. It really is an attic.

Jay’s parents have never been anywhere like this and joked that the food will be coming in clay. I said it might be the case! To them, this restaurant hasn’t been done up because the walls haven’t been painted and the chairs were stools. Hahaha. I explained that this is considered trendy these days.

Here’s Mamiji with the juices ($6). The fresh juices were really good. On the left is the Uplifter - a refreshing blend of pear and apple in it. There is the antioxidant rich blazing sun, a beetroot and apple blend (on the right) and Mamiji’s summer soother (middle) – a blend of carrot, apple and ginger.

Jay could not resist ordering the sweet muffins ($3.50 each) - raspberry and white chocolate on the left, carrot with cream cheese frosting on the right. These were fabulous. Soft, moist and flavoursome without being overly sweet. I really wanted to try the chocolate and beetroot cake but I was too filled up by the end of the meal.

Jay and I ordered a salad bowl ($12.50) to make up for the meat laden meals we had recently. The salads displayed were so fresh and inviting. It is easy to go healthy here. The salads du jour were the beans with feta and cous cous salad. All fresh, all really crunchy goodness. Salt seems to be under used so add some if you like.

For his main, Jay had the chicken wrap which had generous chunks of chicken, purple cabbage and other crunchy vegetables in a creamy dressing. It tasted healthy but lacked salt. Is there something I am missing here? Perhaps this is a restaurant catered to people with high blood pressure?

Mom had the chicken curry pie with a side of salad. She didn’t think much of it – saying it didnt have much flavour and lacking in gravy. The pastry was beautifully flaky though.

Dad’s steak sandwich seemed to have satisfied him but I didn’t think too much of it when I tried some. There were flavours from the caramelised onions and the steak was tender enough to bite through – it was just that the flavours needed to be heightened. I don’t think I’ve realised just how important salt is.

My Shakshouka with Chorizo ($18) had a lot more flavour than anyone else’s meal and I think it is because of the chorizo. There were generous chunks of chorizo, red peppers along with the poached eggs. However, I would not call the dish particularly tasty too. I expected a lot more and it fell flat on me.

The Attic is a really cool venue. The staff were excellent in terms of service. The coffees and juices are great and so were the muffins that we tried. The menu was interesting, however most of the lunch items fell flat in terms of flavour. Will we return? Quite unlikely.

Protected: 25 weeks and 4 days – update

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

Bistro Guillaume

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

Bistro Guillaume - we finally made a long overdue visit. The last time we came, we sat at the bar and ate their mussels which were exquisite! Possibly the best mussels in white wine I have tasted in Perth. We heard really mixed reviews so we weren’t sure what to expect out of our proper sit down meal.

The place is lovely. I am a fan of green. I also liked that my French menu was explained with a French accent while remaining understandable. It does add a touch of authenticity to the atmosphere! haha. We had more than enough attention given to our table. It could either be because of the wine we ordered or it was a great service day. I’m not sure.

With the parents in town, we get spoilt a little.

Okay so maybe not a little. A lot. haha. The 2002 is really beautiful – much less coppery than the 1993 one I tried in Brisbane. I was shocked to find out that this wine, a local wine, cost more in Australia than overseas.

As expected, french bread is beautiful. It wasn’t particularly warm but it was still soft on the inside.

Mom and I chose the Whole marron with avocado cream, tomato, croutons and cos lettuce ($40) - because we both absolutely love shell fish especially if it is of the small and sweet variety. I am a little stunned at the price of this dish – but I guess most marron entrees elsewhere would cost around $30 and would contain about 1/4 of the generously meaty marron I had here. So in that perspective, I began to enjoy my dish – the avocado cream is made for those who find the flavour of avocado overpowering. This is creamy and mild, the tomatoes and cos lettuce crisply fresh; the croutons adding that lovely fried croutons adding a nice buttery crunch.

Dad picked the most French of all entrees (after failing to find something with foie gras in it) with the escargot en persillade ($25). $25 for 12 is pretty reasonable. It was buttery, garlicky and herby; the escargot was like… escargot - Slightly chewy like you would expect from a clam or mussel.

Jay picked the Salad of braised octopus, white beans, olives, capsicum and chorizo ($26) which Dad thought was the most special. The braised octopus was beautifully marinated, tender and was complemented by the tomato and olive flavours. The beans mashed easily in your mouth giving this dish an overall hearty and warm feel.

It was a tough choice but I picked the Rack of lamb on a bed of ratatouille, tapenade and zucchini flower ($40). They give you a choice of medium rare or medium. I wanted to go with medium rare but my dad insisted on medium. I thought I was going to regret it due to it being overcooked but it turned out that Bistro Guillaume’s medium is perfect i.e. slightly pink inside whereas in a lot of restaurants, medium rare would have been just right. Then again, after my Cantina 663 episode, I’m not so sure anymore! The zucchini flower didn’t differ too much from tempura (light, crispy batter coating mmm). I liked it. I would have it again.

Jay picked the Chargrilled King Salmon with roast fennel, oyster mushroom, clams and beurre blanc ($40) as he continues picking healthy dishes. The Salmon was pink inside (which to me is how it should always be done if the fish is fresh) with crunchy fennel (that retained its strong aniseed flavour) and a beautiful ‘white’ sauce infused with clams and oyster mushrooms.

Dad and Mom had the Rangers Valley Wagyu Rib Eye with crispy kipfler potatoes and béarnaise sauce ($145). It is meant to be shared because it is huge. This is worth having – each piece is juicy tender. If you are looking for an extremely lean piece of meat, this is not for you. There is a layer of fat that can be taken off but other than that, you know the a lot of fat has been lovingly massaged and distributed into the flesh of the cow while it was still alive. Dad went so far as to say this piece of meat was better than Rockpool’s. The crispy skinned potatoes were plain in comparison but with the richness of the meat and béarnaise sauce, it would be the perfect accompaniment.

We were so full but dessert belongs to another stomach.

Dad and mom shared the Profiteroles with vanilla bean ice cream and warm chocolate sauce ($18) which I think is the best. You can never really go wrong with good grade vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce and french pastry!

I chose the Passionfruit Souffle with Chantilly creme served with banana and passionfruit sorbet ($22) which was absolutely divine. It was the lightest souffle ever. The chantilly creme helped weigh the overall lightness of the dessert.

Jay picked a very calorie light trio of sorbet ($14) – Pear, raspberry and rose, vanilla bean. All beautifully light and tasted just like frozen fresh fruit!

The Liebster award

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

I must admit that the liebster award is a cool idea. It is really social tool – first, it pays the blogger you want to know a compliment so they don’t mind answering the 11 questions you post and then posting 11 random facts about themselves. They would also have to pay it forward by:

nominating another 11 bloggers;
and getting them to answer another 11 questions you made up.

Thank you for the compliment, Leanne from Cafe Couture and Jemima from Feed your soul! I hope you don’t mind that I kill 2 birds with 1 stone here!

First I’ll pay a compliment to the next 11 bloggers I think are awesome. I’ll even tell you why!

In no order…The 11 nominees…..

The Hungry Epicurean – Fellow Singaporean, great photos with a focus on Asian food. All the things I like!
Juji Chews – one of my favourite local food bloggers. Her pictures look so good too!
Perth Munchkin - because she’s my lovely friend and she’s #2 on urbanspoon!!!
Foodie Cravings – lovely website layout.
Chomp Chomp – I love her writing!
Only Little Once – because I was won over by her superman cake
The Next Portman - I love personal blogs – they win me over. Click for the post that made me smile.
Travel + Eating – I’m a new visitor to be honest. Why didn’t I discover this earlier? This blog is hilarious.
Travelletto – The pictures, the writing – need I say more?
Queen of Bad Timing - I’m shallow. I love your logo! I can tell you like anything aesthetically pleasing!
The Pleasure Monger – Found this via a mutual friend. Simple layout, beautiful pictures, recipes by a fellow Singaporean going through motherhood. How can I not like this?

The answers to Cafe Couture’s questions.

1. What did you eat today?

banana and porridge, a picnic bar, fried rice, octopus salad, char grilled lamb cutlets, barramundi on orzo, ricotta dumplings with baccala, pork meatballs, panna cotta.

2. Cappuccino, Long Mac or Espresso?

Long Mac, traditional please, thank you.

3. Your favourite thing to do on the weekend?

The same thing I like to do on a weekday, go for a relaxing massage.

4. Where do you want to go on your next holiday?

This is tough – but probably New York to visit the bestie.

5. What inspires you?

Love.

6. What is your favorite blog/website?

My most visited websited is actually urbanspoon – where I am always looking at the next place to eat at.

7. A memorable event in your life

The first time my (then as good a stranger) husband and I kissed while I was backpacking in Thailand.

8. Favorite movie

Forrest Gump

9. What do you buy online and where from?

Champagne from Dan Murphy’s website. Spend more than $300 and delivery is free*.

*free for in the city deliveries.

10. Do you love winter or summer?

Winter

11. Which camera or phone do you use to snap pictures?

My iphone or my Sony T5. Love that I can take photos without worrying about dunking my camera in water.

The answers to Feed your soul’s questions.

1. What inspired you to start your food blog?

It was an accident. I started my blog writing about random things but it found its way to food.

2. Favourite place for breakfast in Perth?

I am Asian – I love Dim Sum breakfasts. Northbridge Chinese Restaurant is pretty consistent.

3. Favourite place for dinner in Perth?

I don’t have a favourite place for dinner - but Bistro Guillaume was pretty good the last time I went!

4. What is your ‘go to’ meal? The one you cook when you can’t be bothered thinking about what to cook?

Spicy instant noodles with 2 eggs and a bunch of Chinese vegetables. If I am feeling healthy, its normally a tomato and cucumber salad with pan fried fish.

5. What one thing are you constantly buying even though you absolutely don’t need it? i.e. for me it’s serving platters and scarves.

Definitely cutlery and serving dishes.

6. You’ve got half an hour to kill online, what do you do?

Facebook of course!

7. Must buy food magazine every month?

Mindfood.

8. What do you do for a living?

I work in treasury but I wouldn’t say it really provides a living.

9. Favourite ingredient to cook with?

Canned tomatoes

10. How do you take your coffee? Best coffee in Perth?

Long mac – best coffee belongs to Low Down.

11. What is your favourite way to spend a Sunday morning?

Sleeping in and then having a relaxing breakfast with my husband on the patio.

11 random facts about myself

I need entertainment while on the toilet.
I can fall asleep anywhere.
Some friends call me the ‘Oracle’.
I still cannot believe I am having a child.
The meal I am going to celebrate the end of my pregnancy with is Sashimi.
I cover my nose and mouth with my hand for comfort. This makes people think I am shocked at what I am reading.
I love massages and facials more than food. Surprising fact.
For many years growing up, my best friend was a dog.
My favourite champagne to drink and serve is Bollinger.
I have the worst poker face in the world.
I only wear OPI nail polish – and I choose the colours based on the names!

My Questions to the nominees

If you were about to be executed, what would your last meal be?
Everybody is afraid of cooking that one (or more) ingredient, what is yours?
Complete the sentence: I would rather die than eat _______.
What’s the most amazing thing you could ever do in your life?
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Complete the sentence: The one fad/trend I cannot understand is __________.
What dish do you most fondly remember eating while growing up?
Would you prefer to A) work 6 hours a day and earn $80,000 p.a. or B) work 14 hours a day and earn $190,000 p.a.? Assume you can only have 1 job.
Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?
If you could only have one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be? (Please do not give umbrella terms like ‘Asian’ because it encompasses Japanese, Korean, Malay…etc cuisines)
If your life is a movie, what movie would it be?

Thank guys!

Gaga for Lalla Rookh

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

Lalla Rookh is underrated! Why aren’t more people talking about it? The food was fabulous at its price. For $49 per person, we had the il Capo which would include 6 small dishes chosen by the chef including the more premium dishes. You can go cheaper for $39 per person (il Ladro) which won’t include those dishes. Even if you went ala carte, smalls are around $16, pizza is around $20, pasta at $25 and the mains were in its $30s.

After having a few drinks at the lounge, we were seated.

The menu was explained, we ordered and then the first delight came. The bread was really, really good – buttery and soft like a brioche. Perhaps, it is a brioche – eaten with olive oil and sea salt, it was wonderful. Such bread is great because it’s not expected to be served warm – so no disappointments there.

The first surprise dish was the Salad of Fremantle Octopus, celery, green olive and cherry tomato. The serve pictured is for 3 people. The Octopus was grilled lightly and placed in this salad of crunchy celery, olive and blanched cherry tomatoes (Liann loved the touch of skinless tomatoes.) which were sweet and tart. Sweet and tart – is the overall flavour of the dish – wonderfully interrupted by the surprisingly tender chargrilled Octopus.

The most special dish of the night goes to the Stewed Baccala ‘al latte’ with Ricotta dumplings. Baccala is a salt cod that has been soaked (rehydrated) in water overnight and then stewed in milk. I’ve had a spanish version but this Italian tomatoey version is beautiful. The texture is pretty flaky but after it is stewed, it becomes soft and soaked full of flavour from its sauce. It wasn’t overly salty but enough to give flavour to the wonderfully light ricotta dumplings – a chewier version of its potato cousin. Beautiful.

The Braised pork meatballs, soft polenta, parmesan also scored with its flavourful tenderness. I did not realise that tomato sugo is pretty much passata – which is a basic Italian tomato sauce. The meat balls were braised in the tomato sugo. It was served on a creamy bed of polenta – which could have potentially gone wrong, however the sugo and parmesan spiked it with tangy and cheesy flavours.

The chef’s specialty is the ravioli of spinach and ricotta; served in a beautiful fig and walnut sauce and topped with montasio cheese. The montasio cheese was superbly nutty, complementing the walnuts and sweetness of the fig sauce. The ravioli itself was good because its filling – the spinach and ricotta was creamy and soft from it being freshly prepared. The only thing that could make the ravioli perfect would be the pasta itself. If it was slightly more delicate, it would suit the dish a lot better.

If you love fish, you will not be disappointed by the Roast Barramundi, tomato, mussel & orzo minestra. My only complaint is that 1 serve was too little for a table of 6. Then, I realised that they had spoilt us with an extra dish! It was not easy dividing this slab of fish into 6! Dear me, this was not easy sharing. The Barramundi had beautiful crisp skin – and its freshness showed through the soft succulence of its flesh. It was served on a really thick porridge of barley, orzo minestra, tomato and mussel. Bursting with flavour and also very hearty.

Finally my favorite dish of the nigh – Char grilled lamb cutlets, wood roasted mushrooms, pumpkin, goats curd. BELLISIMA!!! The lamb cutlets were char grilled so it had a lovely grilled flavour while retaining its tenderness. I had to resist sucking on the bone in front of everyone. The mushrooms fresh and its skin roasted lightly. The pumpkin puree was creamy and sweet – beautiful with the curd. I would have glad eaten all 4 on my own.

Dessert was the pannacotta vera with roasted cocoa and walnut crumble. I never thought a muesli-like mix would go with panna cotta but it did, perfectly. The roasted cocoa was to die for (I am a fan of chocolate) with the nuts and raisins. Thilan loved the orangey syrup that went atop the really firm panna cotta. I like my panna cotta to nearly disintegrate when it touches my toungue but I guess it was undoable in this case, having to hold up all that syrup.

As always, I like to sign off with a group picture of the models that offered their opinions. This picture is also a lesson on how not to take a photo when you’re pregnant. 1. Do Not be the one right in front. 2. Do Not lean back.

Yes I will recommend this place.

Protected: My top 4 parenting fears – and the resources I will use to navigate through it

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

I’m in love with Jamie

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Tasty Liaison

I had visited Jamie’s Italian in Sydney but somehow, I didn’t fall in love with the food as much as I did this time. Was it because we didn’t go all out with several courses? Perhaps this time I knew what to expect. If you’re expecting fine dining sophistication, you are barking up the wrong tree. Jamie’s cooking and food has never been about that – it is about fresh, simple goodness. His cookbooks ’15 minute meals’ or ’30 minute meals’ give you a hint.

So I wasn’t banging at the door to get a table when Jamie arrived in Perth because I thought, I’ve tried it but really I haven’t. I am so glad we decided to queue up at 5pm for a table. It took us an hour before we got to the counter to put our name in. I am surprised we even waited. We hate waiting…but we had a great time chatting in queue and just being funny with each other. Date nights like this – will soon be history! *cry*

We opted to wait for our table at the bar. Being pregnant, a nice young man got me a high chair to sit at the bar where I had great views of the going ons behind the bar.

Jay got himself a Negroni ($14) which is made with Campari, gin and vermouth – great if you like slightly bitter drinks. I got myself a Ginger mojito ($6.50) – an non alcoholic concoction so delicious I didn’t feel like I was missing out. It is made with ginger beer and mint. Yum!

It was barely half an hour before our buzzer buzzed despite the suggested hour wait. We were seated in a lovely cushioned corner booth.

Moments later, a well spoken Brit poured us our water and presented us with Jamie’s signature bread basket – full of wonderful goodies and far from boring. The bread was already drizzled with pesto and olive oil but more olive oil and balsamic vinegar was provided should you need more.

Then, the waiter plonked 2 of these in front of us.

I picked it up and looked at it quizzically. He said ‘ ah that’s for your entree.’ and hurried off! I felt the top of the can. It was perfectly sealed so it wasn’t a show piece for presentation of a dish. Or so I thought! I left it and waited in anticipation to find out what it would be used for.

Meanwhile, the Stuffed rice balls with porcini and smoked mozarella ($9.50) was really good. I’m not sure what the perfect arancini is but these slightly dry balls of rice were crumbed and fried to a perfect crisp. Cutting it open, a waft of delicious smokiness hit me. Of course, it was the smoked mozzarella that did that. The tomato relish combatted the dryness and also gave it a yummy tangy flavour.

Still no idea what the can of tomatoes are for. I asked a waiter and he said ‘ hang on, thats for your pasta.’. Still puzzled and giggling a little now because there’s definitely a little joke going on here.

We wanted to try different things so we ordered entree sized pastas. I chose the Black Angel Spaghetti ($14/$22) which was squid ink pasta, scallops, garlic, chilli, anchovies, wine & capers. Disgraceful for a food lover but I normally stay well away from capers and sometimes even anchovies. However, in this dish, these flavours weren’t even the slightest bit overpowering. In fact, I didn’t sense much of it even though I think it brought the flavours together. We were pleasantly surprised by the spiciness of the flavourful broth – both of us coughing as we took a sip. The pasta is wonderful though. You can really taste the difference when the pasta is made fresh daily.

Here are some at work. Because of this, I think it is a must to have a noodle at Jamie’s Italian.

Not to say that the Blue swimmer crab risotto ($16/$26.50) wasn’t good. Our amazing waiter highly recommended it because we could not have the ragu (it had beef in it). It was a shame. Unlike most risottos, this wasn’t creamy and mushy. In fact, it was like a teensy weensy slightly bit runnier version with its rice still quite intact. Served with samphire sprinkled on top and a spoonful of breadcrumbs fried with onion and a whole lots of other yummies. So glad for my experience at Sepia; I now know what samphire is like. Don’t expect them to be stingy with the crab; they weren’t. The entire dish was really lemony, spicy and fresh. Beautiful! Jamie really likes his chilli – and I am so happy about that.

Okay so we were expecting the cans of tomatoes to be taken away since we didn’t use them for the entree or pasta. They didn’t take it away.

Then came the plank….and then we realised what those cans were for. Ingenuity I must admit – they were used to prop the plank on a higher level for our small table! I could have opened the can and looked inside!! How did they risk that? Hahaha

The Fish Plank ($12.50 per person) was WONDERFUL. We started with the mini fritto misto (right) which were crumbed mackerel and ling to be dripped in a yuzu mayonnaise (fusion eh, Jamie?) sprinkled with paprika. Yuzu is a citrus fruit that has a mix of lemon and orange flavours. So fresh too. I liked the mackerel but the ling – *gasp* – was juicy and flaked away in moist, gorgeous pieces. Beautiful with the slightly mayonnaise. We also had the boiled mussels and New Zealand surf clams (only available at Jamie’s Italian in Perth). After cleansing our palate with the tangy carrot and beet slaw, we went for the thinly sliced pecorino on crisp thin bread with a dollop of Chilli jam. The pickles of olive and giant caper went wonderfully with the bread smeared with a thick layer of cream cheese.

For some reason, we were happy enough to go without dessert but for some reason we felt compelled to stay and try their desserts. So glad I did because the waiter recommended this fabulous Tutti Frutti Lemon Meringue Pie ($8.50) which had a beautiful crust topped with a limoncello (Italian lemon flavored apperitif) filling and then on top of that was the fluffiest, marshmallowy meringue you will find. It will have bits of pistachio brittle – which really tastes like caramelised pistachio. It was wholesomely wonderful. A friend told me this dessert was sold out the last time he was there.

Jay picked the Chocolate & Vin Santo Pot ($9) which was an elegant little dessert for dark chocolate lovers. Served like a cappucino, the mousse is beautiful with the creamy zabaglione ice cream. It even has a yummy biscotti on the side!

In all, I really enjoyed myself. The menu is a lot better than the Sydney branch (or perhaps we chose better), the service is amazing (full of well spoken, hardworking Brits who bother to explain!) and the atmosphere was a lot better than the one in Sydney too. The prices also made it difficult to hate this place.