Bites: Sushi with a Modern Touch @ The Modern Eatery: House of Aburi Sushi, Fremantle

Sushi is a dish for all.  Regardless of status or culture, the love for sushi is global.  But with sushi places all over the town opening their doors to the gullible, how much actually serve substance on a plate?  I would have to say very few.  Guided by my curious foodie friend Jordan and review of my fellow Perth blogger the Ministry of Gluttony , I travelled a little further beyond my comfort zone to the city of Fremantle to the Modern Eatery: House of Aburi Sushi.  

The Modern Eatery’s decor as it’s name suggests is simple, modern with the bar counter sporting a clean neat line from start to finish.  The look is almost contemporary without the necessary clutter of the furniture.  Then comes the menu which offers a decent range of sushis with most offering the option to have it done as a normal nigiri finished as is or aburi.  The appetiser for the night was the Creamy Crab Croquettes.

Creamy Crab Croquettes ($7) - Simply fried, crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside finished with a drizzling of chilli mayonnaise.  The flavour of crab was present but did not carry a biteable piece of crab flesh.  Regardless, this was one the best Croquettes in town for $7. As a matter of fact, it was probably the best appetiser one could get for $7.

Signature Combo ($20) tells a lot about the concept the Modern Eatery tries to apply to their sushi.  The concept of aburi is to “blow torch” the sushi prior to serving.  In the Signature Combo we have the salmon, tuna and scallop along side 2 pieces of pressed salmon and prawn nigiri topped with their special aburi sauce.

The basic salmon, tuna and scallops were extremely fresh with no questions asked.  The flavours were good with the little toppings to finish.  But I really question the benefits of having them torched.  From past experience, only the fattest parts of the fish are normally blow torched so as to enhance the fatty layers in the fish often resulting in a melt-in-your-mouth feel that is serenaded by a smokey aroma.  At the Modern Eatery the Aburi noticeably produced a more tender finish but lacked the smokiness.

Then comes Modern Eatery’s pressed Salmon and Prawn Nigiri topped with the Signature Aburi sauce.  Looking at it, I felt impressed, with it simple appearance finished with the little grilled marks.  Very nice!  Taste wise it was even better thanks to the Aburi sauce.  It was slightly smokey, creamy and zesty all in one which complemented the seasoning and lightness of the sushi rice.

Itachou Nigiri Combo ($20) is a Signature dish for people who are not a big fan Aburi and want their sushi left “untouched”.

Everything on the plate was impeccably fresh.  From the bright red tuna to the squid, it was all bloody good.  Even the little tuna rolls were phenomenal.  Jordan and I despite using the word fresh so many times, still could not help but repeat it again over and over.  Not to mention, he loved the Unagi Nigiri which had the largest Unagi slice ever.

After going through the classics, our stomachs felt like it still had space to go the extra distance and so we decided to try some of their Craft Roll which employs their kitchen’s modern touches to the classic sushi dish. My choice was the Kamikaze Roll ($12).

Each bite here was to the joy of confusion.  There were so many things to like in this roll.  You had the crispy tempura prawn, the sweetness of the shredded crab meat, decadent Aburi sauce and the list goes one.  With so much happening in the little roll I was enjoying it it but did not know why.  One thing for sure though was that it took an expert hands to wrap that big roll without squeezing the rice flat.  Even the ever popular Mr Munchies in Mount Lawley is known for overly pressing their rice resulting in a gluggy finish.

Fry Me to the Moon was Jordan choice and it was a good call.  I had a very bad experience before in another restaurant where the fried sushi literally absorbed all the oil and tasted absolutely disgusting.  But this one at the Modern Eatery is far from that.  It was yummy!

Biggest like factor?  The perfect frying means the cream cheese was brought just below melting point with a crisp outer.  Coat with the chilli mayo & sweet soy on the plate and enjoy.

The perfect sushi to me is all about acing the rice, and ingredients whilst finishing it off with an “X” factor.  As trivial as it sounds, experts will tell you that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. At the Modern Eatery: House of Aburi Sushi the rice is delicious, the ingredients extremely fresh and environment really nice for chomping down decadent sushi.  Their Aburi sauce is also worth mentioning thanks to its sparing use unlike other places that drench their sushi in sauces.    Oh and the price for this meal? A very decent $78 including a pot of green tea.

WenY

Bites: Plain Bread @ Bread In Common, Fremantle

Bread In Common on Pakenham Street is a name I often hear where iconic dining is concerned in Fremantle along with the likes of Cicerello’s and Little Creatures bar.  It actually surprises me to hear that this fairly new eatery had already achieved a reputable status in Fremantle over a short period. Just before Yobi and his girlfriend headed to Cicerello’s I decided that we should all have some light brunch here to understand what the hype was.  

Walking in, I liked the interior which was quite simple but carried a lot of substance.  I noticed how well the wood on wood combination and the light bulbs presented in a minimalistic cable X bulb combination worked nicely together!

To start, we could go no further than the homemade bread with two dips.  One was a sausage dip while the other was a zucchini sesame one.   I had also asked the other bread staples which was butter and olive oil.  It was an all out affair on this one.

The bread here have all the perks of a homemade bread but unfortunately that was where it all ended.  It was simply nothing outstanding and felt all too plain.  The centre of the bread was not as expected.  But more disappointingly were the dips which were really quite mediocre.  Between the two, the zucchini one was more outstanding than the other sausage one.  Taste wise, I would not be such a hard critique but considering the price we paid for what I perceive as “1 large table spoon” of each, it was really quite disappointing.  I think Brika does a better deal with their dip when you have size X price X taste considered in the equation.

Our shared meal was a poached salmon with cauliflower, goji berries and some herbs scattered around the top.  While the salmon was poached to perfection, everything else in this dish could not be anymore boring than white paper.  The salmon carried little seasoning which was good to enjoy the delicate protein, but when it came to remainder of the plate, that cauliflower finely diced to act as a staple carbohydrate was absolutely terrible.  In fact, a little too raw for my liking.  I preference would be to have it blanched longer to make it soft and fluffy.  Basic seasoning of salt and pepper would have been much appreciated.

But hey, it was not the end of the world.  The duck fat roasted potatoes was probably the second best dish I have had this weekend.  It was bloody good.  Loved the bits of caramelised garlic that came with the potato.  Bloody sweet.  Homemade ketchup was a nice touch that did not carry the same artificial sweetness the bottled ones do.  Over all, this had to be my biggest like walking away from this place ;0!

The service here was OK but hardly commendable.  On that not so busy Saturday, we asked two different waiters thrice for a refill of bread to come with our non-existent butter and olive oil with a constant reminder that an order had already been placed before.  It took them a long time only to appear with two orders of bread which we could not finish.  With more than 80% approval and 800 odd likes, I was expecting a whole lot more from Bread In Common.  I do not believe that I am asking for  a lot.  Simple plating  with a balance between substance and value would definitely have sufficed.  Yay or Nay?  Definitely nay for me.

WenY

Bites: Red Herring @ Fremantle

Two weeks ago, I attended a wedding of a friend who was fortunate to have found  a suitable person to share his life with.  To celebrate this once in a life time occasion I was told that no expenses were spared and boy I think the groom was right.  The venue was a beautiful riverside restaurant called the Red Herring in Fremantle.  Although this seems rather cliché with heaps of other places like Mosmans, Matilda Bay, and Zafferano’s around, I am still impressed :)!

 

After the formal ceremony where the couple exchanged their vows, we were treated to a 3-course meal.

Our appetizer was shredded duck in egg parcels which was pretty damn yums! The fillings felt somewhat inspired by a typical Sang Choi Bow but a little bit more refined.   The greens were complemented the overall dish well too.

 

For my main I had the seared lamb fillet with fluffy mash, and root vegetables.

I could not be happier with what was served to me.  Despite the inconsistency in the lamb around the table, mine was spot on.  The pink in the middle was very good.  Perhaps a little more resting time would have been great but a good piece of tender lamb.  Seeing the beetroots had me feeling nostalgic reminding me of my 2nd anniversary at Amuse where the little darling and I were served lamb with beetroot.  I never liked beetroot but that earth taste of the vegetable really complements the lamb well when served in correct proportions.   This dish was definitely a highlight for me! Full points :)! Not sure how other would feel because as mentioned earlier, some lamb fillets were served well-done despite being asked to serve medium.

 

A cheesecake dessert was the sweet ending for the day.  Unfortunately though, it shot wide.  Presentation was one of its weakest points.  The cheesecake served to me felt like it was falling apart.  The sides were very messily cut.  I guess no amount of hot water can keep the knife warm in such events.  Luckily, the flavors were really good except for those black espresso jelly which was so bitter it was beyond belief.  But for coffee lovers , this might nice because the bitterness do tend to cut through the sweetness of the cake.

Overall, it was a pleasant meal that I had that afternoon.  Other than the gloom from the overcast, the ceremony turned out beautifully.  The Red Herring provided the guests with a solid meal that was both delicious and special.  For myself, I was impressed for most parts of it, except the dessert.  Definitely have room for improvement and perhaps with smaller volumes, heightened finesse in the presentation.  At the end of it all, my wishes are for the bridge and groom, live happily ever after and love each other.  Last but not the least, they say a man without a woman is nothing.  So is human without food! nom nom nom nom!

 

WenY

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Bites: The Monk Brewery @ Fremantle

We recently celebrated Vanessa birthday at The Monk in Fremantle.  From my previous trips to Fremantle, the Monk has been a place I’ve always passed by but never ate there before.  With rave reviews in the pipe and through word of mouth, it seemed like a must try.  Pair those reviews with a steady steam of awards for their home brewed beer, the Monk is a must GO.  So, how did that turn out for us?  To begin, the interior was well presented and was well above my expectations.

It was really spacious and slightly dimmed with a high concentration of light in the centre of the dining table to see the food.  Also, I found the fitting quite stylish and there was a good mix of sitting areas.  Some were intimately hidden, while others like our table of 20 was in the middle of the dining area.  Quite good really.

 

Reservation for 20!

 

Unlike all Monks, this one has a different approach to its religion.  It’s way?  Good food & Great Beer.  So, now for the most important question: did the Monk’s philosophy satisfy me that night?

 

Lets see the food we had that night.  I only have a say on the food I have tried by the way!

Tiong’s entree was a mix of prawns and sausages was it?  Cannot really remember.  It also had a garlic sauce I believe?

 

The next appetizer for the night was the one most recommended dish by all reviewers and patrons .  The sticky pork belly with scallops and Asian salad @ $20!

The delicious sticky pork belly and scallops is described by most as flavourful and delectable.  Without tucking it, I was already pleased with the way the dish was presented, neat and nice!  My first look without touching the dish tell me that the sticky pork belly along with the scallops and salad has a very Oriental feel to it.  When it comes to taste I loved the sticky sauce that came with the Pork Belly.  The acidity of the beansprout salad was lovely too.  But after that, it was down hill.. all the way..  The  let down was the decency of the cooking.  With about 6 plates of these lovely beauties on order, every plates’ quality were different.  Mine has two main problems. One, the pork belly was not soft enough.  The skin ended up being chewy while the bottom bit was a little tough.  What I was really looking forward to was a soft layer of meat with a melted layer of lard enclosed in a beautiful soft/crisp skin.  But it was not so.  The scallops on the other hands were not seared properly.  A little longer on the pan would have been perfect.  Charles on the other hand felt that his scalloped tended to be a little raw.  It’s not that we cannot eat raw scallops because they are delicious when served as sashimi.  But in this scenario, it was BAD. Not at all acceptable.  One trivial but hmm ok not really trivial.  The serve was inadequate and not as I have seen on other bloggers’ posts.  Each plate was written to cost $18.50 but cost $20 instead.  In addition, we see 1 set of scallop and pork belly less.  So putting that to numbers we had 6 plates but which had a total of 18 pork-scallop pairs and paid $120.  In contrast the old menu would provide us with 24 pairs for $111.  That is a whole lot of difference!  Money back please! $$$$!

 

The girls called a few mains to share and one of it was Monk’s Ribeye @ $40:

The girls and everyone else including Vil and Edwin seemed really please with the steak. It was deliciously juicy, more importantly, the chefs listened and cooked to order.  The potatoes were not out of the bag chips but hand cut and fried.  It was delicious.  The sauce did justice with its good flavour but lacked the much needed saltiness.  Luckily the potatoes itself were salty enough!  But the drawback of the Rib eye was from the knowledge the Monk website puts up! We went there hoping to get a 350gram slab for $38 BUT ended up paying more for LESS.  A little nuisance here considering that this problem went on the entire night .

 

Goat Shoulder Meat or was it called Greek Goat.  Whatever it is, Henry’s first mouthful left him with a speechless expression.  Pretty much said what it needed to anyways.  “WTF”!  Easy

Kelvin, Henry and I were the unluckiest people that night.  We ordered this disastrous dish. To sum it up, uninspiring, blend, horrible and oh jeez man! Seriously?  The meat was lean and it tastes horrible in stew!  The sour cream/yoghurt at the top did not help a tad.  Aubergines pickles were used but why?  Over-roasted potatoes sounded promising but it was a big NO-NO with this dish.  At the end, I only ask one question.  WHY ME?  For $32 bucks I believe it was a BIG BIG mistake.  But the joyful crew at the Monk should only ask ONE question.  Why was this even on the menu? Oh my god.  Seriously!@#

 

Nana’s Steak Sandwich!

 

Fish Pie.

The Fish Pie was pretty much a Shepherd’s Pie with a creamy sauce and fish flakes instead of a meaty one.  Xin Nee and Xin Ling took a bite into the pie and immediately said ‘I think your Shepherd’s Pie is better’! Wahahahah!  My take on the pie is that the fish-cream-mash combination didn’t really do the trick for me.  It felt rather flat.  The sauce did not have enough flavour and the fish.. what did they even do with it before making the pie?

 

At the end, the dinner left me with mixed feelings. The dish served to us that night really showed me how wide the quality of food can range in one restaurant.  From the delicious steak all the way to the horrible goat shoulder.  Also, Cherry ordered the Risotto that which through my experience is a no nonsense-killer dish.  The end result at the Monk?  An inedible Risotto which even the most forgiving monks will not eat.  Why? Undercooked and consistently crunchy bits in it had us return the dish after a few spoonful.  THAT INEDIBLE.  But I have to insist that perhaps the sheer volume of us that night left the Monk’s with little time and ingredients to serve our hungry crew.  Perhaps an intimate evening for two will allow the chefs to work up their magic.  But then again, the company might end up stealing the limelight from the food.

 

WenY

Bites: Missy Moos Burgers @ Fremantle

Coming back to Perth after holidays, I knew that my care free life would have been put to rest.  Eating like a glutton, bunking in bed from 12 till 12.  You should know what I mean.  Fortunately my parents were here for two weeks.  Being parents, they did what they could to make life better.  Nonetheless, it did not stop me from getting less than 10 hours of sleep from the first three days.  I had to clean my car, clean all my linen, sweep and mop the floor and others. Moving from one house to my new place wasn’t easy either.  3 petrol tanks in 2 weeks shuttling from one house to another to move things.  Have to thank the little darling and fishman too! They helped much as they were only three of us moving everything.  Waking up 5am and sleeping at 12am was almost routine for the past week.  But I definitely could not miss spending the the last day of my parent’s holidays.  After we settled in, my sister brought them over and I drove them for lunch at Freo. As mom was dead bored of having Chinese everyday, I decided to bring them to try a burger place called Miss Moos which fares well among lovers of this sinful meaty affair. 

 

My sister and dad! My sister looked half-assed the entire day because she was suffering from symptoms of a coffee drawback lol!?

 

Missy Moos don’t do UFO buzzer when it comes to picking your order, instead they have colourful figurines.

Missy Moos!

 

Before the food came, I snapped shots of the wall which was cheerfully decorated with colour works of children who patronise the burger bar.  How so? Well, when a child comes to Missy Moos, they are given a drawing and a set of colour pencils.  They are allowed to colour it in anyway they like and bam! The drawings are stuck onto the wall when they have been coloured :)!

 

 

To quench our thirst on that 40 degree day, we had the world most well-known brand to accompany us at the table  too ;) After waiting for awhile, the efficient Missy Moos crew had our burgers rolling out :P

I had the burger (shown in pic) which had aioli, baby spinach, crispy bacons and a really tasty patty!  I have to say, the best part of the burger was the blue cheese and fresh spinach.  It really worked for me.  My sister had the Jack & Jill which was pretty much the same as mine except that it came with Cheddar Cheese instead of blue cheese, and an extra avocado mash!  I think hers was good too? ahha! But she does not like bread so I guess burger won’t make the cut for her.  She had half left at the end of the meal.  Yh gladly finished it for lunch a few days later!

 

Parents had the chicken burger hohoho! It was OK, but the hand cut chips was really good. Crispy and tasty :)! Yums for sure!  Aioli made the combination perfect from start to end.

 

I think I will cut the post here.  At the end of the meal, I was satisfied and was craving for a second time.  Its true, the burgers here are easily one of the best.    It is definitely better than FAB at Subiaco, but easily on par with Jus Burger and Alfred’s @ Guildford ahah.   Can’t wait for my second time haha!  Oh and really, much credit for the fresh baby spinach which was juicy and sweet.  The meatiness was not overly, a good ratio of bun-meat-vegetable.

 

WenY

Bites: La Porchetta @ Fremantle

IT’s another Friday and the week has simply gone by just like that again.  The week has been quite good for me now that my parents are here.  They’ve been doing all the dinners and lunches for me! Mmmm Malaysian food.  But they just don’t seem to want to go out for a meal.  Only brought them for a meal of dim sum @ Golden Century and burgers @ Jus Burger.  Hope they liked it!  Other than that, we’ve been going grocery almost every single day @.@! They’ve been here for 6 days and we went grocery 5 times.

Other than that the guys and I went to Freo in the evening.  But before that we pretty much spent the whole afternoon in the city just walking around drinking and talking rubbish.  The cafe along Kings Street is really quite a pleasant place for a drink.  After that we adjourned to ENEX 100 for teatime.  Had sushi! Rwarrr!! Weather was being a bitch yesterday.  Kept feeling thirsty!

Oh and I drove to Freo yesterday lol. 

@ Car park.  Vil and Cr

We had our meal here.  La Porchetta.  The food here is simple and cheap.  No particle physics in taste or Michelangelo’s artistic food arrangement.  Simply good on the pocket, filling for the tummy.

Complementary rolls with butter.  Vil hates it ahah.  But o well. It’s free :)!

We’ve been here a few times, each time trying different pastas.  This time we decided to go for something not Marinara or Cream based so we opted for the more common Bolognese.

Definitely not your typical meaty bolognaise.  I’m actually quite confused.  Is bolognaise even supposed to be meaty or not?  I look back on my adolescence days where I would eat most of my bolognaise in a super meaty tomato paste.  Yummmm followed by a good licking to cleanup the sauce left on the plate! *Slurps*!  The bolognaise here is ok-ok only.  Definitely need lots of Parmesan to make it taste yummy.  Oh and Vil thought it tasted a bit sour-ish.  Probably because of a tomato overload!!

Fried Calamari with chips! A favourite of mine.  Especially the lightly fried ones in Bella Roma just up the street!  These were delicious too.  Or perhaps the calamari is just something that cannot go wrong? Tartar sauce with chips are yums too!!

Chicken Pizza!  This feels like the Hawaiian Pizza from Pizza Hut in Malaysia.  Just that in Malaysia, it is tomato based compared to the barbecue sauced one.  This chicken pizza tastes nothing like the ones I’ve eaten.  Felt somewhat weird ahah.  But it was decent. Just that I hate the pizza crust when it is dry.  Maybe pure Italian authenticity don’t go too well with me.  

After the dinner, we were all topped up.  Full tank but not satisfied I would say.  So naturally, the guys and I would go on and have a drink aahah.  Our choice of drink?  The over mentioned San Churros!

Classic Spanish.  Super thick, super chocolaty and super fattening.  But its ok.  Chocolates are cancer killers hoho!

After our drink of chocolate and nibbles of Spanish Churros we headed over to Hoyts to watch Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.  It was a fast paced 2 hour action movie.  Found it quite nice but definitely not as good as the Road.  WTF reality movie.  Super nice.

WenY