July 24, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Chakra, Inglewood

Indian cuisine is something I LOVE. Sadly, for the best part of a decade, we’ve not enjoyed dining at Indian restaurants like we used to – which is down to a certain Little Chef. We had a win recently with our fussy eater. He suddenly decided he liked butter chicken. I could have wept with happiness!

When an invite to Beaufort Street newbie, Chakra, landed in my inbox I jumped at the chance to try it out, especially when I learned that it’s child friendly. We could have our biryani and eat it too! 20170714_195224

We were welcomed into the stylish dining room, adorned with Indian lanterns and plush red and gold, by our hosts Sonia and Kumar. Chakra is very inviting and a lot more on trend than your average suburban Indian eatery. Chakra is best described as a modern Indian. In the words of Sonia it’s “Indian-ish”. Whilst the methods of cooking and recipes remain authentic, the modern presentation freshens it up and gives the food a fresh breath of life. 20170714_190645

The first thing I noticed when we walked in was that the room was full of exotic, aromatic flavours .While we looked over the menus, Little Chef was kept occupied with some colouring in. He did a good job! 20170714_195127

Sonia and Kumar took us through the menu and said they’d send out a selection of entrees and mains for us to try. First came the beef cones. These are a fresh take on traditional beef samosas, are filled with meat, sautéed onion and tomato. Chef tells me the carom seed flavoured cone is absolutely delicious and Little Chef scoffed the other. I love it when he’s feeling adventurous! 20170714_191050

I loved the seared scallop dish, served on a bed of roasted capsicum and tomato chutney, with Nigella seeds (DF,GF). The scallops were deliciously plump and complimented by the flavoursome chutney. Continue reading →

March 21, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Solo Pasta – Mount Lawley

Solo Pasta is the new kid on the Beaufort Street strip. It’s not your traditional Italian pasta joint at all. It brings to the dinner table a fresh and fun new concept of ordering “pasta by the metre”. I’d never really put that much thought into how much pasta, in length, that I ate! At Solo Pasta, their standard sized patsa dishes come in three metre serves, which is the average amount a person eats, if they laid out their pasta end to end!

The three of us were kindly invited to dinner at Solo Pasta by David Caro, one of its owners. He enthusiastically explained how the idea behind the new restaurant works and it sounded intriguing. The dining room is light and bright, overlooking the bustling Beaufort Street.

The menu is made up of share plates and pasta dishes, which are ordered in three steps.

First you choose your type of pasta – classic, beetroot or spinach.
Next choose your length of pasta, we chose the standard three metres. For those of us with big appetites, you have the option of adding extra pasta to your bowl for $4.50 per metre. Kids serves are two metres.
Then you choose your sauce. There are options of tomato based sauces (like meatballs, bolognaise, chorizo and chilli and more), cream based (like carbonara, mushroom and more) and olive oil/jus based sauces.

To begin Chef and I shared the tender and tasty lemon pepper calamari, $14, served with aioli and a wedge of lemon.

There’s no kids menu at Solo Pasta. Children get to pick their pasta dish from the whole menu. They simply receive a smaller pasta serve of two metres. For $13 children also receive a soft drink and vanilla ice cream along with the pasta.

Little Chef chose the spaghetti and meatball dish, though he was also tempted by the chorizo pasta too. He absolutely loved his super long pasta, served in thick, flat strips. It was topped with the pork and kale meatballs and parmigiana reggiano. I loved that there was kale in his meatballs and he didn’t even notice! Many of Solo Pasta’s dishes have hidden veggies and their beetroot and spinach pastas are packed with nutrients too.

Continue reading →

February 10, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Ibiza N2 – Mt Lawley

Ibiza N2 Gelato is no ordinary gelataria. The extra special thing about Ibiza N2 is that they are the first place in Perth to use liquid nitrogen (N2) to flash freeze their gelato. The liquid nitrogen forms a large number of microscopic ice crystals in just seconds. This makes their gelato ultra-smooth and creamy.

Kids and adults alike will love watching their gelato being created before their eyes. The fresh ingredients are mixed together and then the liquid nitrogen is poured in, creating huge clouds that billow out of the mixers. Little Chef said that it looks like a witches cauldron! After a few minutes, just like magic, you have freshly churned gelato! Continue reading →

February 4, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Grab a Yabby – Mt Lawley

I discovered Grab a Yabby just a few days after it’s opening. Little Chef and I had been to Ibiza N2 Gelato and spied Beaux Lane, a little alley just off Beaufort Street, which is lined with new eateries. We popped our heads in to see what this new dining spot was all about. Grab a Yabby’s concept of bringing an authentic US eating experience to Perth sounded like a mouth-watering prospect. A couple of weeks later, I was very excited to receive an invite to their blogger dinner.

Dining at Grab a Yabby is a unique experience in Perth. Prepare to get your hands dirty! There’s no cutlery, well there is, though you’re encouraged to eat with your hands and there are no plates. We’re told to just go for it! Armed with a wooden hammer, plastic gloves, shelling tool and a bib (with handy food catching flap!) we got to sample their menu, where shellfish are the star of the show.

Owners, husband and wife team Phil and Bec, first opened Grab a Yabby in Melbourne. It was in idea born from the American food discoveries they made when travelling in the US. They opened up a pop up restaurant in Melbourne and Grab a Yabby has grown from there. It’s not strictly a seafood restaurant, as you won’t find much fish on the menu, but they do specialise in crustaceans. You don’t have to be a shellfish lover to enjoy Grab a Yabby, they also have huuuge racks of beef and pork ribs on the menu too. We all had our bibs on and were ready to eat! Here’s a great pic of the bloggers waiting in anticipation, by Martin of food blog Morsels.

We started our feast with sweet potato chips sprinkled with “Cajun magic dust”, which is Grab a Yabby’s special seasoning.

I really enjoyed the soft shell crab sliders, which are a favourite bite of mine, whenever I spy it on a menu. There are also chicken sliders available for the non seafood lovers.

The branding of the slider buns is really cool. I hand modelled this yummy slider for Raymond (@Perth_gram), for his excellent Instagram pic.

The pork ribs are massive and the tender meat is cooked to perfection. Chips and hot “lava sauce” is served with the rack of ribs and I’m told it’s super hot.

For the main event , the shellfish, you order in 3 stages. Firstly you need to pick your seafood. Grab a Yabby have a big range – think king prawns, Morton Bay bugs, mussels, pipies, clams, rock lobster, mud crab and much more. They have local yabbies and marron from the south west as well as importing special varieties like the Alaskan king crab. To keep the American theme going, Grab a Yabby’s seafood is priced by the pound. One pound is equal to 0.45 kg, so that’s about half a kilo.

Next, you pick your sauce. There’s the Grab a Yabby special sauce – the traditional flavours used in Cajun cooking in America’s deep south. The XO sauce is bursting with Asian flavours like lemongrass, shallots, chilli dried shrimp and scallops. The garlic butter sauce also compliments the seafood really well. I really enjoyed them. Lastly, your choice of heat depends a lot on how spicy you like your shellfish. You have the option of mild, hot, extreme and insane! Call me a wuss, but I’m a “mild” kinda gal.

The Alaskan king crab legs, poking out of their bag, are seriously massive. They are cooked in the bag with the sauce, potatoes and corn on the cob, with some rice on the side. Continue reading →

November 1, 2016 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Blacksmith – Highgate

Want a side of hipster cool with your family friendly brunch? Blacksmith, a new spot on the Beaufort Street strip, is an eatery imported straight from my favourite part of Sydney – Surrey Hills. Inside, the bustling café is teaming with people getting their caffeine fix and enjoying some tasty bites from the menu, which caters for a lot of tastes.

There’s an industrial-cool vibe about Blacksmith. My friends and I sat out the back, under the pergola. There’s where you’ll find the alfresco dining and adjoining kids area. Handy for us, as we had four kids between us to keep entertained, all whilst trying to hold an adult conversation! There’s a playroom, sandpit and lots of toys to keep the ankle biters busy. The outside area can get quite noisy with people chatting and kids playing, so I’d only advise sitting out there if you have kids yourself.
They are serious about their coffee at Blacksmith. Their machine was especially made for them and is only the second coffee machine of its kind in the world. The coffee roast at Blacksmith is by Toby’s Estate and it’s pretty darn good.

Being morning tea time, Little Chef chose a slice of the chocolate and peanut butter cake ($7) from the cabinet, which is full of house made goodies. He devoured the scrumptious slab of cake in no time!
The adults are well catered for too, with some delicious traditional dishes (and non-traditional for the more adventurous) on the brunch menu like the eggs benedict, $17. Two well poached eggs and cured ham sit upon lightly toasted bread and are covered in lashings of cider vinegar hollandaise.

Feeling like something light on the body (and hip-pocket!) I chose the Brookland Farm granola, $13. The tasty toasted muesli is topped with honeyed yogurt and seasonal fresh fruit.

Our service was really good, with a friendly waiter only too happy to help with our requests for three highchairs. What wasn’t such a great look was what I assume was the supervisor and another waiter having an argument over the till about coffee, as I was trying to pay. Awkward!

Brekkie, brunch, lunch or even coffee n cake – Blacksmith is a good spot for a meal with kids in tow or even sans children!

March 17, 2016 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Mr Munchies Sushi – Mt Lawley

Before the wonderfully wild and wacky Fringe Festival was over for another year, fellow blogger Jennie and I headed to Mt Lawley, to see the comedienne-singer-diva Em Russiano. Some may know her from Australian Idol, her 92.9 breakfast host gig or her honest and hilarious take on motherhood on her popular Facebook page.

I’d wanted to visit Mr Munchies for some time and suggested that we give it a try. The popular little Japanese spot is tucked down an arcade on Beaufort Street. Jen and I found it difficult to choose what we wanted to eat, so we decided to share a few things, to try as many fillings as possible!

Jennie and I had the “Sushi Platter”, $45 between us. This comes with 4 types of sushi rolls, miso soup and a side garden salad. My salad was basically a bowl of leaves, as I only had half a cherry tomato in it, but hey, I was here for the sushi anyway!

The crunchy Spider rolls were lush! I’m a big fan of soft shell crab and these little morsels were very fresh. The rolls were stuffed with deep fried soft shell crab, iceberg lettuce and cucumber, with a sprinkling of white sesame sauce and shallots on top.

The mango chicken rolls are also a favourite – filled with chicken, prawn fritters and a sweet chilli sauce, which gave them a nice kick. We had initially chosen the duck rolls, but sadly Mr Munchies was out of duck that day. We loved all their options (there’s even a Mexican and Surf n turf!) and will have to go back for the confit duck rolls.

There are a few “modern Japanese” places opening up that serve sushi with fillings that are not traditionally Japanese, but still work really well – like the yummy beetroot and cheese sushi at Sushi WAWA. Dinner cost us just $22.50 each, proving that you don’t have to spend a fortune in Perth to get a very tasty feed. Mr Munchies was a fab spot for a cheap, delicious and casual meal on our way to the Astor theatre – and Em was just as much as a hoot as I’d expected. Top night!

Mr Munchies is found in Mt Lawley and Vic Park too.

January 31, 2016 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Inglewood on Beaufort – Monday Night Markets

Everybody gets Monday-itis… Poor Monday is the most unloved day of the week – from which Friday just seems so far away! I’ve discovered a reason to LOVE Mondays in Perth! Inglewood on Beaufort is a night market that’s held each and every Monday night from 6pm – August till March.

Both sides of Beaufort Street between Sixth Avenue and Dundas Road are lined with a mix of food trucks and hawker food stalls, with a couple of craft and fresh produce stalls too.

We started our foodie trail at the city end, near Mondos Butchers and walked up one side of the street then down the other side on the way back. It’s a nice stroll, not a great distance for little people and there’s lots of live music along the way adding to the atmosphere.

Admittedly, I did have my food blinkers on a little as I was on a mission to find hummus. I’ve met the lovely people behind the Hummus Club at a few foodie events. I’ve had scrumptious little samples of their food and been desperado to try a proper sized portion for a long time!

It was totally worth the wait. I savoured the Club Mix – which is a mix of all their favourites- a generous serve of hummus, fluffy falafels, a middle eastern salad with a pomegranate dressing and fresh pita. I had a little chili sauce on the side too which gave a spicy kick. The delish dinner was washed down with their refreshing pomegranate lemonade. Find the Hummus Club at their Trinity Arcade pop up in the CBD and Friday Hawkers market in the city too.

Little Chef chose a woodfired pizza ($15) from Porta Pizza. Just like Daddy, he chose his favourite topping Meatlovers, fresh leg ham, Italian sausage and bacon.

There’s a huge choice of cuisines from all around the world…

This fresh seafood paella from KQ Spanish food looked amazing!

And what a mouth-watering mountain of meat at El Argentino!

You’ll also find:

Soup from Suppa Club
Columbian empanadas from Marcelita’s
Dutch pancakes from Café Oranjeaus
Gourmet toasted sandwiches from Grilled To The Mac
Arabic Rice and more from Meast (Middle Eastern Street Food)
Freshly baked bread from New Nocia Bakery
Indian treats from Bollygood Foods
Bratwaurst from Antons
Meat, meat and more meat by EL Argentino
Chilean delights by La Fuente
Coffee from Coastal Coffee
Chilli Dawgs and more at Smokin BBQ Bus
Handmade marshmallow from Mashmalloz
Asian eats by Bangkok Jump Street
Moroccan Food by Shak Shuk

I’ve hardly even scratched the surface. There is SO MUCH more food too! Wether you have a savoury appetite…

or sweet tooth there’s something to suit everyone’s taste.

Heading back to the car, Little Chef bought a choc mint ice cream from Wicked Waffles and Ice Cream with his pocket money. It was a hot summers night so he had to eat it very quickly!

I was really impressed with the Inglewood on Beaufort Night Markets. You could go every Monday and eat from a different vendor every time. I think making Monday a cooking free zone sounds like a very good idea to Chef and I!