Friday 31 August 2012

Estia, 6052

There have got to be only a handful of Greek restaurants in Perth (kebab shops not included!). When playing word association with Greek food, I think dolmades, greek salad and 3am kebab. Well, Estia plates up beautiful Greek dishes that prove far more sophistication and variety than the stereotypes.


The restaurant is modern with hints of 'Greek', themed in pale blue. Casually elegant and warm, much like the cheery boss - a lovely Cyprus man who makes sure every table leaves happy and full. And I don't say 'full' lightly - the portions are HUGE. This is some of the best value restaurant food you will find. The Spaghetti Thalassina ($27) is a supremely generous dish - four kinds of seafood; prawn, fish, squid and scallops, married in a glorious tomato sauce with peas and red peppers.

Spaghetti Thalasina
The restaurant speciality is the massive shared mezze; two courses of Greek delights like olives, fresh pitta, dips, grilled seafood and meats with all the trimmings. If you're not in a grazing and sharing mood, you wont be hampered with the mixed bag of mains of offer - seafood, meat, salads, vegetarian, light, heavy... a dish for every belly.

Prawn Saganaki

The Prawn Saganaki ($28) is a treat. Plump prawns cooked in a rammekin of rich tomato sauce, roast peppers, topped with melty haloumi and a side of fresh toasted pita. The Spanakopita ($26) is a classic Greek dish when you want something unfussy but satisfying. Spinach and fetta layered between flaky filo pastry with yoghurt dill sauce and rocket salad.

Spanakopita
The entrees are also massive. We share a squid entree; tender coils in a dusting of herbed flour. Two of us had the soft shell crab entree for main. 2-3 whopping crabs in a crispy batter and a drizzle of garlicky, lemony aioli.


The only let down was the  dolmades. Too fat on the rice and the vine leaves too dry. I missed the vingery taste and dissolve away texture.

Dolmades entree

Soft shell crab entree
Daggers of food envy were directed at this lavish dish - Velvet ribbons of parpadelle roped with prawns, spicy sojuk sausage, broccoli, artichoke hearts and cream sauce, $27. It was like an antipasti in a pasta dish. Deluxe!

Parpadelle with prawns, artichoke, sausage, broccoli, $27


Estia is a winner. Unpretentious ambient restaurant with beautiful Greek food in colossal proportions.

Food: 4/5 (BIG portions, terrific value, masterfully cooked seafood, wide choice)
Ambience: 4/5 (spruce enough for a celebration, warm and friendly)
Service: 4.5/5 (jolly and efficient)
Value: 5/5

Estia Cafe Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Monday 6 August 2012

Neighborhood Pizza, 6016

Fresh off the boat! This new kid on the block has gathered a bit of buzz since opening, so naturally; I had to check it out. I went on a Sunday night and the industrial space was humming with curious punters. There were a few families with young kids but mostly hipsters bearing burgundy beanies and bottles of booze. Neighborhood Pizza breathes at the back of IGA car park inside a warehouse, which is cool in concept but if you like conversation with your food - not so practical. Warehouse = noisy. Hard surface, voices, echoing...it's just basic physics, baby. Add BYO to the mix and yep, more noisy.

# 3 Mushroom, ham, olive tepenade $19

OK so onto the pizza. The bases are thin, which I like but the toppings are equally skinny.  #4: pumpkin, artichoke, capsicum, rocket and olive pizza on bianca base ($22) had *shavings* of toppings rather than hearty *lumps*. I like lumps. I found the choice of toppings very enticing- probably even the best selection of toppings I've seen going (how yummy does 'sweet potato with rosemary and maple syrup' or 'chill, capers and white anchovies' sound??) I just wanted them in vaster quantities! The dough tasted good and the lightness meant I was able to chow down without the post-carb bloat, but overall the pizzas lacked any real punch. If you like your pizzas cheesy and chunky then you might not be so crazy about this place. If you like 'em refined and lean then hey, this could be your new friendly Neighbour. If I put it another way - Neighborhood Pizza is the opposite of Little Caesars. It's all down to personal taste really.
#4 Pumpkin, peppers, olives, artichoke, rocket pizza on bianca base $22

Apologies for the rather dismal photos. Dim-lit warehouses aren't conducive to food photography.

Pizza: 2.5/5 (nice light dough but lacked flavour, not more-ish enough)
Service: 2.5/5 (Stressed, bit slow, could have used some more smiles)
Value: 2.5/5
Ambience: 2/5 (Lacked warmth, noisy, dark)


Neighbourhood Pizza on Urbanspoon

Sunday 5 August 2012

Ingredient Tree, 6014

Ingredient Tree is a delicatessen and cafe rolled into one spruce little European package. Shelves of niche foodie products, a selection of raw meats and cheeses and pretty wholefood cookies and cakes decorating the kitchen marble counter. It’s all very country Europe. 




Dining in? Coffee, cake and brunch where the rule of thumb is quality produce, prepared simply. Take the German style breakfast for example–a wood board bearing ham off the bone, fresh cucumber and tomato, house baked bread and select cheese.

                   

I went for a side plate of roast vegetable and quinoa salad ($6). It was the perfect size for someone who’s not all that hungry. We also liked the sound of the 'Polpette a la Zia Theresa di Bivongi' – meatballs in a rich tomato sugo with sourdough. My other companion took fancy to one of the cheese, sundried tomato and ham paninis in the front display ($12).

Roast veg quinoa salad side $6
panini $12
 
 Ingredient Tree is a local place for an understated, yet pleasing brunch. The quality is obvious but its not a destination brunch spot like Sayers or Cantina is. I enjoyed the food but there’s no real pull factor like an ocean view or finger licking, ingenious food to make me rush back. Coffee rates a mention as do the look of the pretty cupcakes. Just be weary of parking - scarcer than the presence of preservatives in the menu.

Polpette (meatballs)

Food: 4/5 (ingredients are the key, but not blow-your-mind cuisine)
Ambience: 4.5/5 (nice little bustle, love the cool light fittings and furnishings, heaps of unknown foodie products to browse)
Service: 4/5 (friendly, waited a little long for meals though)
Value: 3/5

Ingredient Tree on Urbanspoon

Friday 3 August 2012

Sayers Sister, 6000

Well hello there, lovely! It’s the grander, younger and I daresay -prettier, younger sister of the famous Sayers café in Leederville (not that the original isn’t easy on the eyes). There’s also a hellofa lot more legroom, elbowroom and general airiness than its ancestor. Seating is comparatively ample too - more places to dine with a group, high chairs to solo coffee, chairs to lounge in and corners to linger. 

The lovely Stephanie Sayers at the till
Communal table and high chairs

After much deliberation eyeing the menu, I opted for a Sayers classic- the potato rosti with wilted spinach, roquette and poached eggs, substituting the bacon for smoked salmon. It was plated with the same finesse and cooked with the same precision as the many I’ve had before – the only difference was the addition of baked apple compote in the rosti. D-E-Licious! There was a liberal helping of greens and the eggs were poached to absolute 10/10 excellence. What is their secret? They were seriously Gourmet Traveller cover material, these poached eggs. The mountain of a dish was topped off with a zingy homemade mustard vinaigrette that left me wishing for more.
Potato rosti 

























I only picked a few distinctions between the menus at Sayers and Sayers Sister. I found the food delicious, cooked perfectly and plated beautifully, but I was sort of hoping for a few more degrees of separation between the two. 


Now, I won’t rush into things and declare unwavering love after the first go, but this sexy younger sister has positioned itself very well for a top position on my list of new favourite cafés in Perth. 


Get down and check this lady out before fame gets the better of her. I came on day two and whilst it wasn’t hectic, it wasn’t quiet either.

Food: 5/5 (Tasty, interesting, cooked perfectly - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree)
Coffee: 3.5/5 (Taste - YUM, but sadly a bit burnt, I think the barista was in training)
Service: 5/5 (Affable, fast)
Value: 3.5/5 (Bit on the pricey side but you are paying for quality)

Sayers Sister  on Urbanspoon

Thursday 2 August 2012

Amphoras Bar, 6005

Amphoras is a spot probably not well known to the greater population of Perth but certainly to those working in West Perth area. Because of the locale, Amphoras comes alive after 5. It’s a perfect spot for a bit of post work carousing, especially on a Friday. The ambience is just what you want after a day at work – pleasant staff, elegant furnishings, sexy lighting and an upbeat crowd. The size of the place is perfect too; intimate but not crowded. Serving a small number of patrons maintains the quality control in the kitchen too.

Chorizo, Pedro Xeminez, corn bread $16
The food – it’s not the holy grail of Spanish tapas but it’s definitely delicious. Between the two of us, we ordered a serve of roast pumpkin and fetta arancini ($16)- served in rich basil pesto, these were cheesey on the in and well crusted on the outside. A serve of Chorizo ($16) came out hot, chunky, glistening in syrupy Pedro Xeminez – a sweet, Spanish sherry. The taste of the sauce over the chorizo was delicious, although it did intrude a bit on the bold taste of spicy sausage. A squirt of lemon would have been enough. The chorizo came with a side of corn bread, which did not quite represent the corn bread I know and love. It was more of a white bread with remnants of corn. We could have used a couple more slices to mop up the juices. Still, the bread was fluffy and tasted home baked.

Dessert selection $14
Done with our chorizo, we ordered the dessert selection ($14) of four minis – chocolate tart, passionfruit and lime meringue, crème catalan and the cutest little baby churros in chocolate sauce! Each were lovely and not one was more carefully prepared than the other. The serving was small enough for one and just enough for two.

Food: 3.5/5 (scrumptious enough, but not at the Duende level, although I would definitely eat here again)
Ambience: 4/5 (classy but casual and fun at the same time)
Service: 3/5 (friendly but not the most efficient, although lingering over drinks doesn't call for fast service)
Value: 3/5 (Dessert well priced, arancini and chorizo not so much)

Amphoras Bar on Urbanspoon








Wednesday 1 August 2012

Cambridge Forum International Food Court, 6014

This Wembley food court is an ol' faithful for food urgencies among locals. There's no food in your house, you don't want too spend much money and you want to eat now. Cambridge Forum food court is cheap, open most nights a week, has choice and is BYO. Most food courts are generally parcel of a larger shopping complex, where business is owed to shoppers in the right place at the right time. Cambridge Forum brings customers without the help of nearby stores. People visit for the food court fair alone.






















It’s not all gravy though – the carvery and Japanese aren’t super great. But that’s ok, it wouldn’t be an authentic food court without the bad stalls too. The best is probably the Singaporean – famous for their Char Kuey Teow. Flat rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp, tender strips of chicken, omelette egg, bean sprouts, onion and chives in a mix of soy sauce. I have not eaten a truckload of Char Kuey Teow in my time but a plate of this stuff is too more-ish to savor. Delicate ribbon like noodles tossed with a bundle of chunky fresh prawns, combined with the salty soya sauce and a tinge of aromatic sourness…ideal comfort food.

Stir fried vegies
Char Kuey Teow $10.50
A plate of the Char Kuey Teow will set you back $10.50 here. We also knocked back a bowl of stir fried vegetables which came to under $10. These were tastier than they sound. I could eat a bowl of the veggies and be satisfied. If you don't feel like noodles, the dim sum place is also pretty good.

bzzzzz..
Dim Sum

Food: 4/5 (For the Singaporean Char Kuey Teow! Seriously better than tasty and not too oily, generous on the seafood)
Ambience: 2/5 (Its still a food court)
Service: 4/5 (Super fast, buzzer system)
Value: 5/5 (good size and freshness for what you pay)