Friends Restaurant

"Winner of a two-star Michelin award, a two-star Egon Ronay award and four AA Rosette"

http://www.friendsrestaurant.com.au/menu.htm

Please note: I tried this place almost a year from now and just haven't had the time to blog about it. I liked it that much that I felt it deserved a posting ^^

My close FRIENDS and myself decided to try a degustation for the first time. We chose 'Friends' restaurant as the chefs scored 2 michigan awards in their pockets and at the price of $95, it seemed pretty reasonable for degustation in such a restaurant.

On arrival, the outside looked modern and classy but the interiors was a different story. To me it looked rather outdated and cluttered. I didn't fancy the floral grandma curtains and the fake vines that looked as though they have collected dust over the years. Some of the decors was very pretty though and overall it had a nice warm homey feel to it which was most important, the restaurant had views at all angles and was very spacious.

We went on a chilly Saturday night and the restaurant was rather quiet. I started questioning whether people just didn't know about the restaurant or it just wasn't that great, the crowd was mainly old people with too much money to spend..we felt quite out of place.

Each table had a cute lamp and a salt combination platter! very exciting ^^ We were then presented with a basket of different freshly baked breads to choose from and then served canapes which was delicious.

Salt platter

Freshly baked bread

Canapes

Now I don't quite remember the exact name of the dishes but I do remember the taste very clearly. First course I had artichoke and truffle soup..This was delicious! So rich and creamy and the truffle flavour was definitely there, the flavours was so rich I can understand why it came in such small amounts.

Artichoke and truffle soup

Second course I chose the rabbit terrine, This was nice but my friend had the salmon which I would actually prefer over my terrine. Nonetheless it was still delicious.

Rabbit terrine

Salmon

Third course I had chicken, I realise I'm not too much of a fan of foam on my dishes but putting that aside, the chicken was cooked perfectly, very tender. But I have to admit I wasn't very WOWed with this dish.

Chicken

Fourth course was the seafood terrine. This looked very beautiful and tasted delicious too. It is flavours you can see. I enjoyed this more than the rabbit terrine.

Seafood terrine

Fifth course was the pork belly and potato mash, I'm just so eager to talk about this dish. The pork belly was DELICIOUS! crunchy, well seasoned skin and OMG the mash potato is the BEST mash I've had in my life..it was SO creamy, silky and SO buttery! DELICIOUS! My friend had the waygu steak and he also enjoyed it, probably not as good as my dish as he wasn't raving on about his dish like I did..then again, it could be a guy thing.

Pork belly on a bed of mashed potatoes

Waygu

Our rhubarb souffle was our Sixth course and it took awhile to get out but when it did, we realised it was fresh OUT of the oven and smelt so good! We all loved this dish!

rhubarb souffle

Overall I love this place, service was excellent, food was delicious and through my palate I now understand why they've won such awards. I would definitely come back to try their ever changing menu, perhaps taking my bf here on a special occasion ;)

Beethoven

"A German feast fit for Beethoven"

I love eating German food and dining in Beethoven didn't disappoint. I came here with the bf and his family, my first impressions of the interiors is a little tired and outdated but tables are fairly spaced out so it's a good place for intimate dining, there were also couch seatings which I am a fan of. I also loved the mural on the ceiling.

Nice mural on the ceiling

Honestly, I actually thought this place would have a dress standard after having a browse through the menu displayed outside a few years ago (I was turned away after seeing the prices, mains starting at $35 onwards), the exteriors also looked deceivingly posh. So I have to admit I was abit disappointed at its rather casual standards which did not match the prices of the dishes.

We ordered the following dishes to share amongst us:
Market Fish Fillet served on creamed saffron leaks, spring onion vierge and finished with a spiced tomato Shorba sauce

Camembert cheese wrapped in smoked salmon crumbed and oven baked served on a baby spinach, poached pear and walnut salad finished with a gourmet mushroom sauce

Moroccan spiced tiger prawns served with cold potato salad and basil oil

Pork shank- Oven roasted pork knuckle with crispy crackle, served with Sauerkraut, Roast potatoes and fresh apple mousse

The Market fish fillet was delicious! you can really taste the saffron from the creamy leaks and it goes well with the perfectly cooked fish. 

Market Fish Fillet served on creamed saffron leaks, spring onion vierge and finished with a spiced tomato Shorba sauce.

Camembert cheese wrapped in smoked salmon crumbed and oven baked served on a baby spinach, poached pear and walnut salad finished with a gourmet mushroom sauce.

Unfortunately the smoked salmon dish was not as good as I thought it would be, I think it was the poached pear and walnut salad that got me excited, but in the end I couldn't really taste/find much pear. More sweetness from the pears would've gone really well with the dish. I also expected oozing camembert cheese, but that wasn't the case :(

Moroccan spiced tiger prawns served with cold potato salad and basil oil

The Moroccan spiced prawn dish would have to be one of the winners! the potato salad was so creamy and prawns spiced and cooked perfectly. The only thing I would fault, is the portion..it should have been bigger but then again, it was an entree so they're forgiven :)

Pork shank- Oven roasted pork knuckle with crispy crackle, served with Sauerkraut, Roast potatoes and fresh apple mousse

It isn't a German feast without pork shank. This was the hero of the night, we all dug in like a bunch of carnivores. the slightly sourness of the sauerkraut and sweet apple mousse went so well with the juicy tender pork. Potatoes was delicious too..buttery and perfectly cooked, I would have liked abit more potatoes though. Germans must be really good with their potatoes as I was also blown away by the potatoes served in Alpine.

Overall, I had a pleasant meal, the only thing would be the prices of the meals, if it weren't so pricey I would happily go back. Negatives aside, I do hope people will give it a chance and that Beethoven will keep running for many more years to come as Perth isn't blessed with many German restaurants.

Little Stove

"The grass is greener down south of the river"

When I hear about brunch places in southern suburban areas, I always welcome myself with arms wide open into their doors XD because for one it saves me travelling to the city or Vic park and going through the hassles of finding parking and two..not alot of people know about them and so there's a greater chance of getting a table instantly.

Usually cafes in the suburbs lack character but Little Stove is different, it had a quirky vintage feel, alot of character that screams COME CHILL! as the first thing you see are the old grandpa sofas and a vintage television (I knew these would come in handy one day). It was a perfect place for a girly catch up with M and with the spacious interiors, there was no holding back on the gossip :P. 

Vintage interiors

Unfortunately we missed the breakfast times so had to order from the lunch menu. I was a little bummed as the lunch menu didn't have alot to choose from, most being salads and baguettes and though they seemed like good salads, I DIDN'T COME OUT FOR A SALAD >_<'' The menu was cute though, being printed on paper that would take anyone back to their high school days, lets just say..I really studied the menu.

Cute menu

The drinks menu on the other hand was quite extensive from all kinds of coffee and chocolate drinks to freshly squeezed juices, teas and milkshakes. For the juices you are able to mix and match, M was going to have watermelon with pear and apple, but in the end they didn't have watermelon so she just had apple juice which she ended up loving. I opted for the Chai latte and it was perfect! the milk was all so creamy and perfect amount of sweetness and chai.

Chai latte

After eliminating all the salads and usual baguettes in the menu, we chose the chorizo linguine and lamb burger to share. Out of the two, I enjoyed the lamb burger most despite it being difficult and messy to eat. The tasty lamb patty oozing melted brie cheese with the sweet relish was a perfect match.  I also loved the chips, super crunchy and well seasoned. As for the linguine, I found it rather average, but M enjoyed it as it was light on the palate.

Chorizo linguine - with neapolitan sauce, parmesan + rocket $22

Lamb burger with crispy chips

Lamb burger - relish, brie, balsamic onion, cucumber, greens, fries $18

I will definitely come back to little stove and this time coming for breakfast which begins 7am to 12noon. Service was excellent and our waitress looks just like rachel from glee! :O she is so cute and cheery :)

P'tite Ardoise Bistro

"Good honest french food"

http://www.ptiteardoisebistro.com.au/

Being the awesome gf that I am, I took my bf to a French restaurant P’tite Ardoise Bistro for his 25^th bday. I was very excited as I heard many good reviews about this place from both friends and reviews from Urbanspoon.

I made reservations 2 weeks in advance and was told the seating at 7pm was booked out and that I can come at 6:15pm but they will need the table back at 8:30pm. I said no worries and made my booking. I also queried if they do anything special for a birthday occasion and was told they would stick a candle in the dessert and sing happy birthday..sounds good enough to me.

On arrival we were greeted warmly with a french flair. The restaurant is small and cosy and tables are close together but that didn’t really bother us. Probably not a good place if you’re planning to dirty talk your date haha.. Menu had quite alot of options both front and back in french and english. One side being the classic menu and the other being menu du jour which has dishes that changes daily.
 

Firstly we were presented a basket of  bread to indulge with butter, olive oil and olive mash on the table. Delicious. For entree I ordered the pork belly and scallops from the menu du jour..it was a hard choice but I ended up going for my usual likes =-= . The bf chose the escargot..I’m terrified of snails so the last thing I'd do is put one in my mouth, but I was very excited for him.

Pan seared scallops and Pork belly on celeriac puree, bouche cider sauce

Unfortunately I was so excited to dig into this dish that I forgot to take a photo first =-= This was delicious, to me if pork and scallops are cooked well..you really can’t go wrong with the dish. I still preferred the pork and scallops from Silverspoon though. It was great but there wasn’t anything unique about it..I think it needed something sweet to it? apple?

Pan seared scallops and Pork belly on celeriac puree, bouche cider sauce

 

 

Snails cooked my way

Bf enjoyed the escargot, he found it difficult to describe the taste but he enjoyed it.

Escargot

While we waited for our mains, the staff came out singing happy birthday to a customer just a few tables down, I was thinking DAMMIT there goes my ultimate surprise, but bf didn’t really put alot of thought into it. PHEW!

For mains I had the duck *face palm* always going for the duck, but my friend recommended the duck so I couldn’t resist. Bf had the steak. We were also given a complimentary side dish of steamed vegetables to share.

Twice cooked duck leg with vegetable tian, orange sauce

Overall, I enjoyed this dish, the crispy skin and the meat that just fell off the bone delicious! Orange sauce went well with the duck and I loved the potato stack.

Twice cooked duck leg with vegetable tian, orange sauce

Char grilled rangers valley black angus 300 day grainfed sirloin steak with herbs sauteed potatoes red wine jus and bearnaise.

Bf loved the steak, I had some too and it was perfectly cooked  and tender. bearnaise sauce was abit sour for my liking, I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be that way. The hand cut chips looked and tasted delicious as well as the gravy. Steak size was more than enough and the bf got rather bored of the dish after awhile, I guess in the end of the day, steak is steak.

Char grilled rangers valley black angus 300 day grainfed sirloin steak with herbs sauteed potatoes red wine jus and bearnaise.

After finishing our mains, we ordered desserts, I ordered the crème brulee (classic menu) and the bf had the trio of mini's chef selection (menu du jour) which was what I initially wanted but didn’t want to order the same thing. The restaurant quickly filled up with diners by then and it was almost 8pm. I was still optimistic that we’d finish by 8:30pm but it turned out to be quite a wait. I realised almost half of the guests were celebrating a birthday function including the table beside us. We waited to the point that we started fiddling with our phones and while the bf was browsing through his phone the staff came out singing happy birthday and boy was he surprised haha! Watching his face was priceless. Dessert had a little candle and was presented nicely that made my night and hopefully his night haha.

Creme brulee

This was delicious! Lovely caramelised sugar topping and creamy brulee, perfect texture and flavours. The shortbread cookie moulded into an Eiffel tower was average, just a cookie and was a little bit hard. I didn’t finish it in the end, overall an enjoyable dessert. You won't be disappointed creme brulee lovers.

Creme brulee

Trio of mini's chef selection

Visually this was very cute and wasn’t as sweet as it looked so the bf who doesn’t normally like desserts loved it to pieces. 

Trio of mini's chef selection

Happy Birthday!

We finished just after 8:30pm and was not pushed to leave nor did it look like they needed the table, I’m thinking it’s just a business tactic to maximise table turnovers. After paying the bill, the lady presented a box full of candy for us to choose, that was nice ^^. Just a little warning though, the bread is $3.50 pp..so if you're going to eat bread..eat 10! Haha..*so asian*.

Overall, I had a pleasant meal, but I have to admit I was abit disappointed, though it could be because I had high expectations. I just felt the dishes didn’t have a sense of uniqueness or a modern feel. I guess this place is where you’d get good ol French cuisine. No doubt the chefs have skill and I'd come back knowing the food would be cooked to high standards. Service was excellent and the french waiter is very cute! BONUS! So YES I'd come back ^^

Taro Taro

"Can we have some TARO with that?"

Taro Taro has sparked an asian frenzy all over perth, I first heard of this place from my work colleague who loves the food. So being the curious foodie that I am, I decided to try it out with bf and C.

Taro Taro sells Taiwanese desserts and is popular in Taiwan. If I had to describe Taiwanese dessert, I’d say it is a bunch of asian stuff in a bowl. Nothing fancy, nothing pretty, just tasty and refreshing.

On arrival, the place was packed with people...asians...I looked around and felt like I was in asia..Taiwan in particular. We were lucky enough to score a table and abused C's coupon ordering the taro taro signature herbal jelly soup, the famous fried chicken, braised pork rice and lychee and green tea ice drink. For the taro taro signature dessert, you can design your own and select different toppings, you can also choose to have it warm or cold and staff will ask for % sugar preference.

Our taro fiesta ^^

The Taro Taro signature herbal jelly soup comes in quite a large bowl so I'd recommend sharing and trying out other dishes. Though not pretty, it is refreshingly delicious. I really liked the sago, better than Utopia sago, it was soft and gooey but not too gooey. I also enjoyed the soybean pudding and grass jelly, there was something fresh about the ingredients, grass jelly was very soft and jelly-like, different to those in grass jelly can drinks. As for the taro, I don’t remember =-= hahah.. bf absolutely loves taro...actually...maybe I didn’t actually have any taro coz HE ATE IT ALL :O

Taro Taro signature warm herbal jelly soup

The fried chicken was yum! Basically chicken rolled in MSG..ALOT of MSG, how can you go wrong right? Braised pork rice was rather average, but it’s cheap and fills you up. So if you’re looking for a cheap lunch go for it. As for the drinks..the name says it all, tastes like lychee flavour with ice/ green tea flavour with ice.

Taiwanese fried chicken and pork braised rice

After a decent first impression, I've returned twice, but it was disappointing. Due to the high demand, they ran out of TARO! :O bf was particulary devastated as he was the one longing for taro..me..not too fussed haha..but despite not having taro, the joint was still packed with asians. We had to replace the taro with another topping choice, the second visit I chose the lotus seeds and the third occasion I opted for the lychee balls.

Lotus seeds was well..lotus seeds, I don't know how to explain the taste but mum makes it at home so it wasn’t anything special, I just chose it coz I knew it was good for you. Lychee balls was very interesting! When you bite into the balls it squirts out lychee liquid. I was so fascinated with how they’d inject the liquid into the balls. It’s like those fish oil capsules except more pleasant to eat.

Taro-less herbal jelly soup with lychee balls

I also tried the Oolong tea milk float. My friend who tried this in Taiwan absolutely loved it, but in this case she was disappointed. I decided to try it myself and yeh..I didn’t find it that great, pretty much just Oolong tea. I wasn't sure if I was meant to mix the milk into the tea or increased my 25% sugar to 50% as it was rather tasteless and the milk float tastes like nothing, just a slight flavour of milk.

Oolong milk tea float

Overall, I think taro taro is overrated, but I still think everyone should try this place out. Though I know people have been disappointed especially my Taiwanese friends, I don't find it bad at all, it's a good change from the usual ice cream chocolate dessert and I reckon it's a healthier dessert option too. I hope taro taro will be ordering a GAZILLION more taros from now on after their taro crisis, otherwise..I expect a name change.

Kai Japanese

“Get your slurp on!”

One of my favourite ramen hot spots is Kai in bullcreek Parry avenue. I’ve been here twice and it’s usually quite busy. A very small joint so be prepared to wait for a table. I think if you live down south, crave for ramen and don’t want to travel a distance, Kai is the way to go, otherwise I would still prefer Nao.

Chairs for the awaiting customers

Interior

I’ve tried the karaage chicken tonkotsu ramen and the chasu miso ramen. Ramen comes in a big bowl of miso goodness, very hearty and the noodles cooked perfectly. I’m not sure if the noodles are house made but it still tastes good. I’ve also tried the takoyaki which is delicious, you can see the octopus in the balls so that's always a good sign.

Out of the two ramen dishes I enjoyed the karaage tonkotsu ramen most, karaage chicken was perfectly seasoned and the egg perfectly cooked with the gooey yolk centre. Each order also comes with pickles and soya sauce side dishes.

Karaage chicken tonkotsu ramen

Chasu ramen

Since I always have the Chasu ramen in Nao, I can't help but compare and realise the chasu in Kai is a little bit tougher not being the melt-in-your-mouth texture like Nao. The difference is not a big deal, still delicious!

The one thing that separates Kai to Nao is the green tea, when they say green tea they’re not kidding, it’s green assss! And they come in a plunger with green tea leaves and roasted rice kernels. I’ve never seen green tea so green. It's the green tea real deal yo!

This is real green tea!

To summarise it all, definitely a place to go for good ol japanese ramen! popular, delicious and great price. Will come back to try the other dishes.