Bites: Café Latay @ Northbridge

“Nothing is from the bottle! Sauces, curries, marinades are all homemade!” exclaimed the lady boss who operates Café Latay.   I have been coming down here often and she often looks at us little graduates with care but mainly concern on whether our meager salary can afford the $10-20 dollar lunch she serves.  Working at Hatch for 1 year now, I have often do quick takeaway Café where I enjoy tuna croquettes, curries and their salads which I would not call cheap in anyway but in terms of quality, it was there.  In fact, takeaways usually start at $5-9 dollars which is decent.  Or one could get a mass produced unhealthy meal at Maccas?  Or that ever so boring roast chicken from Coles.

 

Knowing my background as an amateur foodie, she asked me to come down and sample some of her dine-in options.  Packing with me a crew of 4 guests, we happily headed down for a free meal last week. I have to say we were beaming with joy.  Who would not for a free lunch?MC’s lunch for today was the satay with rice, sauce and a cucumber salad.   If you like your satay flavorsome matched with a slightly spicy yet extremely rich peanut sauce, this is kick ass.  Deceiving satay felt hard to dismember using utensils but fell off the skewer effortlessly when bitten of the stick.  It’s the way we roll back home in Malaysia!  Served with rice though, felt unusual as we were more used to the traditional “ketupat” but that was a difficult thing to serve as the Australians do no quiet understand it. YET.  For me this dish was quite on the mark in terms of the flavors that I was looking for but putting health aside, I would have like a slightly unhealthy cut of meat.  A little skin on the flesh just the way it is done back home.  But this all in all was nice although MC found the rice a little dry or undercooked!

 

Steph decided to go for steak as she has a slight gluten intolerance.  To her joy, the steak was cook spot on which she found was really amazing for the $20! She commented on how most steaks in that price range always turn out overcooked but this was purrrrfect! But due to my poor ordering skills, she ended up with a mushroom sauce and not a sundried tomato sauce which she wanted.  Nevertheless, she enjoyed the sauce which I have to insist felt really delectable!   It was a mixture of saltiness and sweet with a hint of sourness.  Over all,  a good lunch which she enjoyed!

 

Café Latay changes their curry on day to day basis.  For that day, Ness had the Lamb Rogan Josh with rice, papadams and a side of raita.  Ness started enthusiastically only to find herself  struggling to finish the lamb (the serving was huge).   Sampling her curry, I found the flavors of the Rogan Josh very authentically composed.  However, as a matter of personal preference, I would have liked a higher amount of acidity from the tomatoes in a way that it is really rich.  For the meat, I typically choose lamb chops and take away all the excess fat and sinewy bits.  I like a cut of lamb that balances  well between its leanness and fattiness, all when cooked together becomes rich and full of beautiful flavors. 

 

Andrew who has sandwich every day could not depart with his routine.  His sandwich journey continued with Café Latay’s steak sandwich.  Amazingly enough, it looked like a really big sandwich and Andrew was happy that everything was put to order.  More importantly, it came out warm with the steak still tender.   In fact, he found that the one served here beat the steak sandwich he had at the Village Bar @ Subiaco which was was voted the best steak sandwich in WA.  No bad at all!

 

For my lunch, I was craving for something a little more unhealthy.   I had the Chicken Parmagiana with a side of chips and salad.  Biting into the chicken, it was delicious.  Fried to golden crisp especially on the sides, the rich sauce and cheese was a pleaser.  In fact, this was the kind of richness I was looking for in the Rogan Josh.  Just that little added acidity made wonders.  While the chicken was superb, and the chips OK, I struggled with the salad.  I think it needed a little reviving and temperature to them.  Fridge temperature is normally my preference when served with a deep fried goodies.  To add moisture, a good swirl of olive oil does the trick before being tossed with sauce :)!

 

When we were done, I believe no one felt hunger anymore.  For approximately $16 each, Café Latay had us filled.  We might not be the biggest eater but it was great value which the lady boss need not justify.  It was clear that Café Latay caters not only honest, homemade and quality food, but equally healthy ones too! A little imperfections here and there but there was no compromising on quality which I thought was acceptable.    Of all the food we had, I have to say that some dishes really set itself apart from the rest.  One that I liked particularly a lot was the satay although the rice needs changing.  Its flavors were spot on.  Other than that, the curry was also served in a manner that felt really complete with the side of raita and papadam but maybe a little fixing in the sauce to my liking.  If you asked me whether I would return for my occasional lunch spend? Definitely so.

WenY

Revisited: L’ Atelier de Joel Robuchon @ HK.

What makes a great restaurant I have asked myself over and over.  Ingredients?  Skill?  Creativity?  Sitting in a 2 starred restaurant just two days ago, I ate food that was of many sorts.  Delicious, normal and even boring.  Yet even the most boring of dishes did not feel lacking in ingredients, skill or creativity.  Nevertheless, time and time over, one restaurant have seemed to maintain their standards.  Starting with a two star reputation on my first visit and now the proud holder of its  final third star, L’ Atelier de Joel Robuchon has been a magnificent dining experience.  

 

CLICK to see my first visit to L’ Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

 

The start is a clean entrance to the restaurant where you are greeted by your hostess, brought to your sit and offered bottled water. But do not fret, you have a choice of tap too. The waiter then takes over and explains the meal and various dining experiences for this night.

 

When you are finished with the orders, out comes the best bread basket I have eaten.  Ever.

This was the bread basket for 3.  Your are spoilt for choices.  Easily, most diners at L’ Atelier have been quoted saying that they feel a need to finish it, but are worried about the coming courses.  Indeed you should.  Easily there are over 5 types of bread.  Maybe 6 or even 7.   If you are a bread fan, you would be sold.  But more importantly, there is something for everyone.  My favorites of the lot were the twists, croissants and the fruity roll.   It was simply sublime for something no penny is paid for.

 

Amuse bouche was a little parmesan biscuit with tomato and ham accompanied by a shot glass filled with a cream of artichoke with ginger and carrot.  Something so small yet so much impact.  The light parmesan biscuit was really airy with a delicious slice of ham and some tomato.  Imagine a biscuit and ham from the cold platter but a 3 starred version with a lot of substance and ingredients :)!

 

The combination for me was spot on.  It was still that lovely creamy taste!  That slices of carrot did not do too much but the hint of ginger throughout the cream was a pleasant surprise for some like me who did not like ginger.   But something about the warm chestnut soup I had earlier in 2012 makes me crave for that more.

 

For the soup course:

Corn veloute, beef jelly and caviar.  This was a decadent little bugger.  To be honest, I hated corn soups until now.  In fact, I never understood how does one enjoy corn in any soup! Even in the Chinese ones as the corn tend to overpower everything.  But in this case, the corn flavor was really subtle.  Something typical in cold soups where the taste of the main ingredient tend to be less intense but slowly picks up in flavors over ones tongue.  The beef jelly was a great addition to the soup as it slowly melted to the heat in your mouth.  Caviar, pop corn and little croutons were textural wonders for this little soup! A great surprise! 

 

The little darling got a little more posh with her starter.

Chicken broth, black truffles, parmesan net served with a side of black truffle toastie. Seriously.  Who serves black truffle puree in toast.  This was really yummy.  I could not help myself but dig into the little darling’s soup.  It was yummy.  One can really get  a good feel of flavor and aroma of the black truffles in there.  Sort of makes an ordinary experience into a gourmet one.  Nice!

For the darling, she did not deviate from what she had during her trip here before.

Black cod fillet with smooth daikon cream and olive oil.  The fish for starters were  cooked to perfection.  Flake by flake it fell apart.  However, the daikon cream albeit being smooth was a bit of a turn off for me.  It had a bitter aftertaste which the waiter say is typical.   For me, that is the difference of whether it was cooked well or not.  I have eaten daikon and every time it turns out bitter, it is sad when one insist that it is the natural way it should be.  Maybe a pre boil? This could have been an awesome eat!

 

My main presented before me again, looked very artsy.  Pork flap with greens and other edible leaves.  My expectation was something rather tough.  Perhaps somewhere around the ear haha.  Ear flap lols. I have never eaten flap meat before.  But this was just spectacularly moist.  And its accompaniment the mash (bottom pic) was legendary.  Obviously butter was a big player in this delicious mash but hey! Once in a while!

 

Who says mash cannot be brought to a whole new level!?  One of L’ Atelier’s bragging rights.

 

The little darling’s final course was something I recommended to her based on my liking.  She happily went with it. 

Kagoshima beef and foie gras burger with lightly caramelized bell peppers.  If you thought the wagyu sliders at Merrywell was good.  This was even better.  It was reach creamy and woah!  The perfect fast food meal.  Really a once in a life time thing considering how rich this was.  In fact, if you read one of my post about how I have eaten various foie gras which went from dry to creamy to rich.  On a scale of 0-100. This was 101.  See the post on Sage here.  In fact, when the little darling tried to press in down, the foie gras literally smashed into a puree.  It was a class act.  Shoe string chips were crisp but it was no killer side.  But hey?  Burger and chips are probably the marriage in the world! Nom nom nom nom!

 

My final course was the lobster risotto!  Lobster flesh was succulent being cooked just right.  Risotto sauce carried a decently strong flavor like a bisque.  But thicker.  As an avid fan of most shell fish, this was slurps!  The risotto was silky, each piece still separated not like some really bad ones that turned out gluggy.   Another thumbs up! Picture will come up once the little darling sends it over :)!

 

Last bit of the night were the desserts which I will let the pictures do the talking :)!!

The Chestnut which was part of my dinner set menu.

 

The Pear which was darling’s choice for the night.

 

The Apple which was my dining companion’s choice.

 

The final complementary course of the night besides the amuse bouche and bread were the  Petit Fours.  Small oven creations from the Robuchon kitchen are another magical part of the evening.  Faultless.

 

At the end of the night, I cannot thank L’ Atelier enough for being a great host once again.  Plate by plate each put together so meticulously with the emphasis on perfection.  I could barely fault with anything except the daikon cream that darling had with the black cod.  Otherwise, this meal was great.  However though, my dining companions who were not the keenest of fine dining found a few dishes to strong for their palate.  One such instance was the sea urchin with lobster jelly which was way too strong in seafood flavor.  I had a taste of it myself and found that it was a little heavy on the heavy side.

 

A meal at Robuchon like mine cost approximately $HKD780 while if you picked 4 individual dishes including a dessert, that would set you back approximately $HKD1000.  This really is no small sum of money.  On the streets, great feed start as low as $HKD30.  Not everyone likes fine dining and would compare it to being able to eat tones of street food.  Some like it, some hate it.  With a hate mentality like that, it is hard for one to appreciate the finesse revolving around effort of one putting together a plate of art with the hands of many.  Nevertheless, the few decadent meals every year does not revolve around the need for luxury, but rather a treat.

 

WenY

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