iMasticate daily

Good Fortune Duck House

Author: Little Miss Chatterbox, Photographer: Little Miss Contrary

Okay, so there is only one way to eat Asian food: in a massive group! The variety of tasty treats that grace your table will more than make up for the longer wait to be seated. After a busy morning at a show for Perth Fashion Week, our group of 6 headed to the duck house for a celebratory lunch banquet.

Lemon Ice Tea ($3.50)

Most of our table opted for Lemon Ice Tea. Some appreciated the strong tea flavour, but my sweet tooth was not entirely satisfied. Needed more sugar and lemon.

San Chou Bow (4 for $16)

We ordered 2 entrees to share because neither dish had the right number of servings. Each serving was tasty, juicy and moorish. However, while San Chou Bow is quite a novel and fun to eat with your hands, it feels like the price is substantially marked up.

Peking Duck Wraps (5 for $19)

The roast duck at Good Fortune Duck House is some of the best in Perth. Everyone was impressed by the juicy meat and crisp salty skin. The wrap was soft and fresh, which meant we could easily bundle up each bit-sized treat. The issue again is the mark-up in price for novel entrees. You’d be better off ordering another $19 of duck.

Ma Po Tofu ($17)

Plenty of silky soft tofu in a gluggy sauce, with pork mince mixed in. I’m a huge fan of Ma Po Tofu when it’s done right. This dish was certainly tasty, but rather disappointing in its lack of spiciness. Tasty, but I’ve had better. We ordered steamed rice to accompany our main dishes ($2 per person).

Green beans with pork mince ($13)

The serving size wasn’t huge, but we needed vegetables to balance our meal. Nothing outstanding to say about this dish, it was good enough. Perhaps next time we’ll pick another vegie dish. Note that this wasn’t listed on either the lunch or dinner menu, but you’ll see additional menu items on posters stuck to the wall..

Combination Pork (Large - $21)

Tender, well-cooked, sweet pork is always a favourite, particularly among my Aussie friends. Along with roast duck, this restaurant is known for its BBQ pork. Definitely worth ordering a serve with your meal. 

Roast Duck (Half - $16)

The best part of our meal was arguably the lovely, oily, tender roast duck. It comes accompanied with a salty, brown dipping sauce. They seemed to forget to serve the other condiment, plum sauce, but I didn’t mind because I always pick the salty sauce to accompany duck!

All nom’d out!

We had a great time, eating until we were ready to pop. I know why this is my Great Aunt’s favourite duck restaurant in Perth. The mildly amusing dampener to our meal was the poor service. We had a reluctant, moody waitress serve us in sullen silence. My friend heard her snap in Cantonese about us when we were leaving, tut tut.

Summary
Likes: roast duck, celebratory group lunches

Dislikes: overtly rude service

Value for money: reasonable, except the entrees

Overall: worth a visit, but don’t waste money on entrees

Contact
Address:
344 William St
Northbridge WA

(08) 9228 3293

Pancakes at Carillon

Author: Little Miss Chatterbox, Photographer: Little Miss Busy

My first memory of this restaurant is when my mum took me and my brother for somebody’s birthday lunch. Back in the day, ‘Pancake Parlour’ was a dimly-lit restaurant with a retro feel. Since then, the restaurant has undergone a few changes. Pancakes at Carillon is cleaner, brighter and more colourful than I remember. Service is friendly, attentive and prompt (but I’m a little biased because my mate was working that day).

Iced Lemon Tea ($3.90) and Malted Shake ($4.80)

There’s a lovely selection of cold and hot drinks to choose from. My friend changed her mind 10 times before deciding on the tasty Malted Milkshake in Honeycombe flavour. I’m a creature of habit and stuck with my standard Iced Lemon Tea. The menu brags that the tea is made in-house using their own special recipe: it definitely shows! One of the most refreshing ice teas ever, without overdoing the sugar or leaving a bitter after-taste.

Carillon Chicken Pockets (Main - $21.90)

The crepes in a ‘pocket’ style are easy to share between 2 people. We both loved the generous serving of mushrooms and chicken in a thick, creamy sauce (that’s what she said). Just like I remember from my childhood! The salad was fresh and lightly dressed with tangy French dressing. Unsurprisingly, the salad was abandoned partway through so that we could quickly tuck into our dessert item!

Devils Delight ($15.50)

Two chocolate pancakes served with fresh strawberries, cream, icecream, chocolate sauce and a dusting of icing sugar *drools*. Writing this post makes me want to go back and order one all for myself. The pancakes were not excessively rich, but my sweet tooth was certainly satisfied by the thick fudge, juicy pieces of fruit and icecream.

Summary
Likes: 20% off for UWA Guild members, booth seats

Dislikes: -

Value for money: reasonable

Overall: fun idea for weekend lunch

Contact
Address:
Level 1 Carillon City
Hay St Mall
Perth WA

(08) 9322 6177

Some AMAZING Perth Foodies!

Pearfect Pantry

Author: Little Miss Chatterbox, Photographer: Mr Cheerful

Pearfect Pantry is a cute little cafe tucked behind a grungy laundromat. This popular spot in the suburbs serves up a wide range of cooked breakfast on weekends (there’s less variety on weekdays). My breakfast companion is a regular diner: we picked 2 awesome items to share, our stomachs grumbling with hunger!

French Toast with Bacon, Maple Syrup and Rocket

Our ‘savoury’ pick was a stack of french toast, drizzled generously with maple syrup. I was very excited to see the pile of carefully browned, crispy bacon. An unexpected addition was the rocket dusted with icing sugar. Surprisingly, all the elements came together splendidly. Sweet eggy bread, the saltiness of crunchy bacon, and the bite of the rocket. Wow!!

Crepes with Yoghurt, Berries Compote and Walnuts

The sweet crepes perfectly complemeted the other saltier breakfast item. With a generous serving of berry compote, the crepes quickly became juicy and soft. The sweet, tart flavour cut through the creamy yoghurt. I am seriously impressed by yoghurt on crepes, despite my love of ice-cream. Walnuts added new texture and flavour - I just wished there were more pieces!

Our meal for 2 came to around $40, including a coffee and bottled juice. Not affordable as a daily expenditure on a student budget, but certainly a worthy weekend indulgence. Extra points for a cheesy cafe name and golden pear ornaments. I’ll be back to try the cute cupcakes and pastries!

Summary
Likes: delicious cooked breakfast, bacon

Dislikes: waking up early on weekends..

Value for money: treat yourself

Overall: great find in an unexpected location

Contact
Address:
49 Herdsman Parade
Wembley WA

(08) 9284 1710

D`Nyonya Penang

Author & Photographer: Little Miss Chatterbox

Since the start of April, my family has made 4 visits to our new favourite Penang restaurant Restoran D’Nyonya (previously known as Rasa Nyonya Penang Restaurant). Nyonya is a unique cuisine that grew from a combination of Chinese and Malay influences, traced back to Penang in Malaysia. My mum’s family lived in Penang during her childhood - she seriously loves this place!

The waitress directed us out of the restaurant and into a back room, which adds extra seating capacity. It felt strange to dine away from the kitchen and bustle of the cashier, but the room had pleasantly comfy chairs. The service is generally friendly but be prepared for potentially frustrating service because some waitstaff process requests rather slowly (my mum describes such people as ‘blur-case’).

The menu features single-serve Hawker’s style dishes and larger dinner dishes to share. During each visit, we ordered white steamed rice ($1.50 per serve) and sambal chilli on the side ($1.00 for extra bowl). The sambal is not for the faint-hearted so test it before you grab a spoonful!

My favourite dish is Curry Kapitan Chicken, which my mum says tastes like her grandmother’s cooking (a huge compliment). I usually find Malay curries palateable, but this dish is distinctly awesome and less oily. The chicken pieces are tender and bursting with flavour. We order this dish on every visit, but once the sauce lacked its customary richness. Nevertheless, it’s still my top pick and highly recommended!

Curry Kapitan Chicken ($15.50)

One dining companion spotted this interesting caramel-coloured mountain on another table. Special Telur Tofu is quite a novelty, a tall stack of deep fried deliciousness. Peel off stringy pieces of melt-in-your-mouth egg and beancurd and dunk them liberally in sweet chilli sauce and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). Such a guilty treat and the most interesting tofu dish I’ve eaten. However, don’t be fooled by the description - the dish does not contain kerabu (sour pickly salad).

Special Telur Tofu ($10.00)

My mum’s favourite is the Assam Gulai Fish, a spicy sauce with sour tanginess. Sitting in the sauce are silky pieces of fish, semi-raw chunks of onion, squishy tomato pieces and a few okra (or ‘ladies fingers’, as my mum calls them). Yum!

Assam Gulai Fish ($16.50)

Deshelled prawns, lightly battered and fried. The Salted Egg Prawn dish is a generous serving of tasty bite-sized prawns, but I would have enjoyed a more crispy texture.

Salted Egg Prawn ($21.50)

We often ended up with leftovers for breakfast the next day (don’t judge me). However, the dinner bill was rarely more than $15 per person. As budding regulars to the restaurant, we also scored free takeaway containers!

The restaurant is a licenced Halal establishment.

Summary
Likes: authentic Nyonya cuisine <3

Dislikes: occasional slow-brain waitstaff

Value for money: excellent

Overall: fast becoming a family favourite!

Contact
Address:
1019 Albany Hwy
East Victoria Park WA

(08) 9470 3847

Recipe: Shakshouka

Author & Photographer: Little Miss Contrary

One of my favourite people yesterday gifted me an egg basket as a late birthday present. It is one of the coolest things ever, and to stay on theme for my breakfast this morning, I decided to make shakshouka. Inspired by my recent trip to The Attic, and another friends success at home cooking these delightful baked eggs, I ventured online for some tips and went to town.

I was too hungry to stuff around taking process photos, so you will have to bear with me.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Oil
1/4 Onion
1 Clove of garlic
1/2 Tin of tomatoes diced
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Paprika
2 Eggs
2 tbsp Feta Cheese 
Parsley, Salt, Pepper

Method:
1. Cook the diced onions until soft, add garlic and spices and cook until aromatic and garlic is also soft.

2. Add tomatoes and simmer until sauce of thick and flavours are well mixed (taset test time!!)

3. Make little indents in sauce, and crack eggs into them, letting white spread accross surface. 

4. Place frying pan in oven at aprox. 150degC until eggs are at your preferred cooked-ness.

5. Remove from oven, scatter feta over top, and garnish with parsley, salt and pepper.

Serve with toasted bread.

Remember to make sure your fry pan is oven proof! My wooden handle suffered a little as a result of the short stint in there.

To To Vietnamese

Author & Photographer: Little Miss Chatterbox

Just a short rant about To To Vietnamese because my unpleasant visit is stuck in my memory. Please forgive this post for the scant detail because I’m just writing a quick one today.

You should always be suss when a restaurant claims it can cook ‘Asian’ cuisine.

First complaint: the restaurant chooses not to provide free water. How rude. I shared a lemon ice tea with my mum ($3.80).

Vietnamese spring rolls with prawns (approx $6 for 2 rolls)

Vietnamese spring rolls use softened rice paper and the contents vary greatly. We ordered an entree because I love to make these at home and wanted to suss out how to improve my own efforts! What a waste of time. The thin slices of prawn on the top were far from generous and the rolls were mostly filled with vermicelli (rice) noodles, lettuce and mint. The sweet dipping sauce was basically hoisin from the bottle with some chilli sauce and peanuts thrown in. Rip off! My dipping sauce is far tastier - I’ll post my recipe sometime so you’re convinced.

Combination beef rice noodle soup ($12)

Pho is a popular Vietnamese vermicelli noodle soup that usually includes a variety of bits of meat and is often accompanied by hoisin sauce, mint leaves and fresh bean spouts to throw in. The soup was flavoursome, there were plenty of beef bits and the noodles were well-cooked and slippery. This dish was the highlight of our rather disappointing meal.

Random beef dish with rice (approx $16)

We ordered this dish on the waiter’s poorly informed recommendation. The beef cubes were very tender, but the flavours were unremarkable. It would be easily forgotten, but for the fact I took photos during our meal.

Also, a waitress dropped the teatowel used to clean cutlery onto the floor, but picked it up as if nothing had happened. Eww?

Summary
Likes: decent pho in suburbs south of the river

Dislikes: average westernised ‘Asian’ cuisine, no free water

Value for money: not great

Overall: might be good for a lunchtime pho craving

Contact
Address:
875 Albany Highway
Victoria Park WA

(08) 9355 2388

Greenhouse

Author & Photographer: Little Miss Chatterbox

A long overdue post about one of the most novel desserts I’ve had to this day. Greenhouse is in the heart of Perth city and a popular spot for workday lunches and Friday night drinks. On a quiet evening, I joined my handsome dinner date for some tapas and lovely conversation. Easily the most entertaining dish was the Passionfruit Jelly dessert that we shared.

Due to my lack of diligence, I’ve not recorded the prices for this post or discussed much about the other dishes (apologies).

Passionfruit jelly with pineapple and mango

So what made me giggle like an idiot? This dessert had popping candy :D I literally put my ear towards it and listened to it calling to me.

The passionfruit ‘jelly’ was opaque and thick, somewhat mousse-like in texture. Icy pineapple shavings were mixed together with curls of ginger that caught me by surprise. Sweet, juicy cubes of mango complemented the tanginess of the jelly. Delish!

Rabbit pie with labne and herbs

I ordered this rabbit pie the first time I visited Greenhouse. It costs around $15 and is seriously amazing. Cinnamon dusted, crumbly pastry, succulent pieces of meat *drools*. It comes with labne, a dense yoghurt that I mistook for some sort of sweet, fluffy cream. The herb salad with red onions is well-dressed and tasty, which says a lot because I usually judge people who eat salad.

Our other tapas were Afghan bread with tahini dip (thick, crusty and filling), Grilled haloumi with mixed tomato salad (tasty, but overpriced) and Squid with ancho chilli and coriander (expected sambal spiciness, disappointed).

Summary
Likes: listening to my dessert

Dislikes: driving (because I want to try their cocktails!!)

Value for money: tapas are normally a bit pricey

Overall: great spot for a first date..

Contact
Address:
100 St Georges Tce
Perth WA

(08) 9481 8333

http://www.greenhouseperth.com/

flamingash asked: I love this blog. It is such a real person's dining experience. I can't wait to try out all these places with my family ^_^

Thank you for such kind words you sweet thing! Maybe we should go exploring together sometime soon? (that is code for I miss your face Flamingash)

- Little Miss Contrary

Anonymous asked: your blog makes me salivate with pleasure

Himalayan Nepalese Restaurant & Cafe

Author & Photographer: Little Miss Contrary

What is open on a rainy Monday night in Vic Park? A quick search on Urbanspoon, cross referenced with recommendations from friends lead us to the Himalayan Nepalese Restaurant.

Chicken Momos ($14)

On recommendation we ordered momos for entree, and they were really really good! You get 10 in a serve. A little like the south asian version of xiao long bao, the dumplings have chicken and soup inside them, giving you a nice burst of flavour and texture when you bite into them. They are all warm, soupy, with a hint of spicy flavours, and a really great dipping sauce.

Butter Chicken ($20.50)

My dining partner chose butter chicken as her standard dish to test the quality of the restaurant. The chicken had a really smokey flavour which I had not tasted before, or at least anywhere near as strong before. It gave a real foil to the sauce which can sometimes be really sweet and too much for me. But it could have done with a bit of added spice in my opinion.

Saag ra Panner ($16.50)

I chose the saag. When I travelled to India last, my most memorable dish was fresh saag made in the village I was staying at (I watched them grind the spinach all day to make it up). It was quite honestly one of the most spicy things I have ever tasted, I think there was as much chilli as spinach! 

This saag is not at all like the one I had in India (maybe this is the fundamental difference between Indian and Nepalese cuisine). This was sweet, not sugary, but the sauce was fruity sweet. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great dish, and the paneer cheese was a great texture, but it was not at all what I was expecting.

Garlic Naan ($5)

Aloo Paratha ($5)

We chose two breads instead of rice. The waitress seemed to think that was an odd choice, but for real, I could eat JUST south asian breads, forever. Naan, paratha, dosa, puri, chapati, they all hold a very special place in my heart. The garlic naan was really nice, but the aloo paratha was lacking a bit of oomph in the filling and was a bit too oily.

We ate our meal slowly seeing as it was the beginning of the week and we did not anticipate much of a demand on the seats, but as we were finishing up (we ate quite early, arriving at about 6) the place suddenly filled up with a few large groups. And we were strongly encouraged to leave (with takeaway containers being offered to us while we were still eating). So I would recommend booking a table just in case there is a similar demand.

Summary
Likes: MOMOS!!!

Dislikes: Being pushed out of the restaurant, lack of heat.

Value for money: Fair, large servings are great for lunch tomorrow! 

Overall: A good place to re-visit for a filling meal.

Contact
Address:
419 Albany Hwy
Victoria Park

(08) 6161 8645 

http://www.himalayanrestaurant.com.au/

Anonymous asked: if you were a food, id eat you everyday.

Flattered, but I’d like to point out that this isn’t a question o_O

-Little Miss Chatterbox

Anonymous asked: Any recommendation of a nice and reasonably priced japanese restaurant somewhere in the vicinity of Perth?

I’m so glad you asked! There are plenty of awesome japanese restaurants around the Perth CBD so here are some of my recommendations:

Jun, particularly for yakitori (they’re like kebab sticks)… check back soon for my blog post on Jun :)

Matsuri, my favourites are the special sushi rolls with eel or spicy salmon.

Nao, very tasty ramen for under $15.

Thanks for your question and I hope this helps!

Check back soon for a flood of new reviews :)

-Little Miss Chatterbox