Momiji, 6104

Momiji happens to serve the most spectacular sashimi I've ever eaten. It also happens to be the cheapest, as well as the most ample. Fleshy cuts of raw fish that sparkle with ocean-to-table freshness. More than a dozen pieces of assorted sashimi go for around $13. Other mains range from $6 to $15. Simply amazing quality and portions, at next to nix prices!

Salad, miso, mixed sashimi and rice

Mixed sashimi gleaming with ocean to table freshness

The owner is an interesting sort. Call him the Sushi Nazi. Don't meander over the menu and definitely don't try negotiate any swapsies, add-ons or switches, you will just regret you ever asked. And perhaps don't bring young children because you will be turned away. I joke not. It's his way or the highway!

Dine-in...but really he wants you to take-away

From the street

Part of the Momiji experience is encountering the owners eccentric personality. Those who abide by his rules will have no problem with service. And anyhow, Momiji is a rare gem, a gift. And didn't your mother tell you to never look a gift horse in the mouth?

Food: 4/5 (Made fresh, fleshy chunks of well-sourced sashimi)

Service: 2.5/5 (Don't take it to heart. Amusingly blunt.)

Ambience: 2.5/5 (Clean, spacious, no frills)

Value: 5/5 (At least a dozen pieces of high calibre sashimi for $13 OMG)

Love Thy Neighbour, 6003

In a word: humble

Rear entrance and courtyard neighbouring Ezra Pound

LTN aren't trying to be anything far-out or exotic, just a warmhearted place with quality comfort food, at reasonable prices. Coffee is strong and the home style brunch has that (currently trending) American-Canadian twang. Boston Baked Beans with poached egg come under $15 and are warming and delicious. A rich tomato sugo seeps through the rye bread forming soggy tomato-y goodness. This is the kind of food and feeling you fancy on an overcast/antisocial/hungover day.

Boston Baked Beans on Rye Sourdough with Poached egg, 

Home cooking isn't the only thing to warm you up at LTN. The pint sized cafe rests inside William St Arcade. It's closed off and hushful. Introverted, yet cool. Mahogany coloured decor and personable baristas, lend that familiar vibe. LTN makes you feel at home. 

Poached eggs on Rye Sourdough $9.50

If you're on a diet, take full use of the table service and avoid the counter at all costs. The sweets are deadly! Some guest appearances: Banana Caramel Layer Cake, Mississippi Mudpies, Oreo Cupcakes and many more gut-busting Americana experiments! Peanut butter is a favoured ingredient.

Food: 4/5 (Simple hearty food, lovingly prepared)
Coffee: 4/5 (Velvet smooth and on the stronger side. Like!)

Ambience: 5/5 (Buried at the end of an arcade. Warm, quiet and mellow.)

Service: 5/5 (Affable and relaxed. Not all up in your business but pleased to serve you)

Value: 4.5/5 (On a hipster budget. $9.50 for eggs on toast. No. B.S.)

New Moon, 6000

A hint for a good Chinese restaurant I think, is the house chili oil. Chili oil to Chinese is what complimentary bread is to a French restaurant. New Moon have built a recipe for a deep flavoured spicy oil that has an unpredicted crunch. Between three of us we drained about nine serves of the stuff. Couldn't get enough!



As the routine goes at any worthy dim sum joint, the room is hustling in disorderly order. Things move rapidly and orders are hollered across the room. High turnover means dumplings appear in shimmering, steaming, joyous freshness. I'm not exactly the authority on a quality dumpling like I am say on cake or ice cream (I have only had a handful of yum cha experiences in my day) but these guys impressed me most. 



I heart the comforting fluffy pork buns (Char Siu Bao). Sweet shreds of Chinese barbecued pork, snuggled inside a pillowy bun. I had to gobble two. Prawn Coriander dumplings were also le goods. The parcels were packed with hearty chunks of sweet prawns and chopped herbs, with little stodge.

BBQ Pork Buns

Prawn and Coriander dumplings; slippery wrappers with generous stuffing

Fried Chili Squid Tentacles were a tad on the tough side, but I don't think I've ever tried any that weren't.  We ordered some perfectly steamed Kai-Lan which were served with the routine oyster sauce on the side. 

Chilli Fried Squid Tentacles; well seasoned but hard to the bite

Steamed Kai-Lan served with self pour oyster sauce

Xiao Long Bao come recommended. Also known as Shanghai dumplings or soup dumplings, these gems contain filling along with a gingery rich broth. They’re a bit of a delicate procedure and best consumed with a spoon or by slinging them into your mouth in one go! 

Xiao Long Bao; 'soup dumplings' or 'Shanghai dumplings' reveal a surprising broth inside

I'm not usually an Asian dessert wooer but the silky Egg Custard Tarts were perfect! The flaky pastry split in a pinch when I divided it with a chopstick. And those golden sunny centers. Yerrmm.

Egg Custard Tarts. Divine!

Décor is new and well lit with the token garish light fixtures. Is it an authentic dim sum restaurant without the kitschy chandeliers? The brigade of trolley shufflers revealed a friendly demeanor, which was out of custom with the usual yum cha service.

Dumplings and iPhones. New Moon on a Tuesday lunch

8 bamboo baskets and endless tea filled three of us up for just under $16. Great-value fresh dim sum means that weekend queues are a norm. I ran into a (hungover) friend who had been waiting over an hour (ouch!). VIP-it and book ahead. You'll be the object of dim sum die-hard envy! 

While New Moon is probably the newest dim sum joint in Northbridge, they're already a hit with dim sum devotees. They offer the traditional trolley service but step into the new age by blessing us with dumplings on Friday and Saturday nights too. Picture it: the tail end of Friday night drinks and the munchies call. Dumplings rule over a greasy doner kebab, for sure!

Food: 4/5 (Fresh, delicate, hot and tasty!)
Ambience: 4/5 (A bustle of efficient chaos, bright modern interior with the token garish light fixtures)
Service: 4/5 (Super efficient and friendlier than is the norm for dim sum)
Value: 5/5 (8 plates and endless tea = $47)

The Office on Harrogate, 6007

I knew I was onto a winner when I recognised the lady heading up the kitchen here is from Voyage in Sorrento. You can expect the same wholesome and modern food that doesn't rely on fatty crap for bravado. Fresh and lean; an excellent lighter lunch option for West Leedy office workers. Actually, I'm kinda jealous I don't work within radius! 

Snazzy salads, toasted paninis, lamb wraps, seasonal soups...Might all sound a little 'standard' but you'd be way off. Everything is done with a little more attention to detail here like; serving fresh squeezed juices in mason jars and making sure every quesadilla that leaves that kitchen has a spritely garnish of greens and house made chutney. 

Medium mixed salad plate

For your afternoon sugar fix, The Office on Harrogate has you sorted. Of the wholefood treats on offer; the miniature Sticky Date Cakes proved most popular. Deftly crafted coffee is of the 5 senses breed and the gentlemen serving it up are super fine.

I wouldn't make The Office on Harrogate your next location for a fancy lunch date, but working 9-5 in the area, this should be your staple!

Food: 4/5 (Fresh ingredients, changing menu and never boring)

Coffee: 4/5 (Expertly crafted)

Service: 4/5 (Friendly, efficient for the quality)

Space: 3/5 (Variety of seating indoors and outdoors, for large group meetings or two person lunch dates)

Moana Coffee, 6000

We don’t ‘look up’ enough we humans. Focused always on the path ahead, we fail so often to observe the beauty above us. Moana Coffee reminds us to stop and smell the roses. You’d quite likely fail to notice it if you hadn’t heard the chatter on the grapevine. Suspended over the commercial Hay Street Mall, Moana is like a floating island of calm, and is perfect for a bit of solitude away from the tourist traps below. 

The balcony cafe, which you reach by a stately staircase, is positioned at level with the canopy of colonial buildings; the historic skeletons, of what they today house at street level. Up here you’ll meet Tranquility, History and Coffee.

Since its beginnings in 1907 as a café, the bygone Moana Chambers have seen an assortment of tenants from tailors, to jewellery makers, to families and theatre performers. Sewing machines and theatre chairs have since been replaced with coffee gears and low and high seats on which to perch; but the historic casing still remains. The reactivation of Moana Chambers into cafe-gallery and office space is thanks to a collab between the City of Perth and Spacemarket. Spacemarket has been responsible for awakening a number of underused buildings around Perth and repurposing them for creative ventures like artist studios.

 

Hanging outside on the quiet balcony is peaceful and charming. British Racing Car Green coffee cups, looped fairy lights, buffed floorboards, up cycled chairs and elegant archways. The ambience is lovely. Leaving will be an ache.

The beans are supplied by Bonissimo; my soy cappuccino had rich flavour and a fat crema, with good cocoa dusting. To fill your tummy, there’s a simple selection of bakes, toasties and salads, plus soups for the wintertime. 

I’ll be honest, I’ve been sitting on this review for a while, mostly for self-seeking reasons; I’d like Moana to stay the city centre sanctuary it is! The earnest owners work hard though, and deserve every patron they get. So I put my selfish motives aside, to share with you this treasure…

Coffee: 4/5 (Full flavoured and produced to a high level)
Ambience: 5/5 (An oasis. Can’t help but linger)
Service: 4/5 (Sweet and sincere)
Value: 4/5 (Slice of homemade pumpkin bread: $3.50, Small coffee: $3.80, soy milk: 30c)