Mount Lawley

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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.

  1. First you choose your type of pasta – classic, beetroot or spinach.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

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Ibiza N2 – Mt Lawley

img_3861Ibiza N2 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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.img_3837

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!img_3839 Continue reading →

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Grab a Yabby – Mt Lawley

img_4095Grab A Yabby Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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.img_4088

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.img_4100

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.morsels

We started our feast with sweet potato chips sprinkled with “Cajun magic dust”, which is Grab a Yabby’s special seasoning.img_4104

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.img_4105

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

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.img_4129

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.img_4166

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.img_4138 Continue reading →

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Five Bar – Mount Lawley

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Five Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
{Quick Bite}

Drinks at Five is something that I often think about, but don’t do nearly enough!  Five Bar in Mount Lawley is a Beaufort Street staple. Personally, I like to go there when it’s not too busy, when I can easily grab a spot on one of the comfy sofas.IMG_0792

I was meeting a fellow foodie there, Grace and though it was mid-week I REALLY fancied a cider. Knowing that Five has a great range, I let the friendly barman pick it for me – it was a cracker! Apart from totally loving the stripy label, the Australian Endless Pear cider was light and not too sweet. I’d have it again for sure.

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For lunch I enjoyed the more-ish mushrooms on toast. I love the use of different mushrooms – especially the enokis. The tasty dish is enough on it’s own or easy to share. Most of Five’s menu can be shared.IMG_0786

Five Bar is a great spot for drinks and has good food. I always find the barmen there particularly friendly too. I really like the chilled out, unpretentious vibe and even after a stress-y work day like this one – I always leave feeling relaxed.

And a top tip – Jerry Fraser the KING of oysters is at Five bar a couple of times week! I love Jerry to bits and he is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to these yummy little morsels. He also spends time shucking at Five Bar’s sister venue Lot 20 in Northbridge. Check out their FB page for updates.Untitledohaaa