Bites: Cream @ East Perth

Placed in the suburb of East Perth, Cream is a little establishment which have steadily attracted diners from all over.  All the positive reviews for this restaurant left little room for mistakes if any at all.  Upon entering the restaurant we were guided through the dark and intimate ambience to our cosy corner, and oh, how can I not mention the furry carpet used on the walls! Once we were seated, the waitresses promptly gave us each a menu and offered us a choice of bottled or tap water. Tap water of course! ahha.   Can’t be too spendthrift on drinks when the price of the food is rich, isn’t it?

 

The interior @ Cream, East Perth.  It was a lot darker than this so I adjusted the brightness of the this picture a little!

 

 

With temptations all over the menu, we took awhile but finally decided on our food!  Most of us had the crumbled stuffed scallop with wasabi served with Thai noodle salad and teriyaki lemon sauce @ $23!

 

The dish was beautifully presented on the plate with the crumbled scallops surrounded by swirls of teriyaki sauce.  Unfortunately, the first bite took all that excitement away! :(!  The crumbled scallops were just too hard.  Of course it wasn’t rock hard but the batter needed effort to be bitten through and it was all for naught (my palate was left sore, still is).  The scallop hidden in that batter was too little!  I personally taught that the dish would taste a whole lot better seared on half shell with the Thai noodles placed carefully on the top of the giant scallop flesh! Then the chef can swirl the sauce wherever he wants to eheh!  I do not think the dish is worth of praises surrounding it.

Another entree that we had was the salt and pepper squid with a Thai Salad.  Not sure it tasted but Kevin definitely preferred the one served in Chinese restaurants!

 

Once we were done, the attentive staff  swooped in for our empty plates and cleared them in a flash before setting the table up for our main.  I must insist at this point that the service here is kick-ass! Lovely crew of waitresses!  For our mains:

Kevin, Sis and Fishman ordered the Red wine infused slow cooked baby beef served on bed of mash @ $35 each!

This dish wasn’t much of a “looker” but fishman enjoyed the tender beef much; occasionally praising it to be well done for slow cooked meal.  I had a bite and it was delicious on the first bite, but I was not convinced for seconds.  But I didn’t have a choice, as birthday boy Kevin was totally saddened by the beef and gave him half of his meal while I traded some of mine.  He didn’t like it at all ahahaha.  My sis too wasn’t able to justify the price. 

 

The darling and Xin Nee shared a slow roasted chicken breast served with Risotto and mushrooms @ $35:

How would Malaysians describe this?  Well, it looks like something we call Lo Mai Kai or Chinese glutinous rice with braised chicken and mushroom sauce.  The girls felt that the Risotto was overly blend and there wasn’t any effort to make this meal appetizing. They also felt that it was a little too sickening for them.  I thought so too as the chemistry of this dish felt a little like hospital food.  Take a look at the Risotto I had at Blue Waters Cottesloe here and compare.  The one at BlueWaters cost $22 dollars while the one above cost $35!!

But the night wasn’t all doom and gloom because I was WINNING!  My meal for the nite was the Crispy Roasted Lean Pork Belly with Strudel of pan caramelised apple, leek and goats feta @ $35!

Perfectly roasted, REALLY LEAN. And OMG the skin was orgasmic!  Kevin hated his so I reluctantly gave him some of mine as I mentioned earlier.  Every bite was accompanied by the lovely cracking sound as I bit through the crispy skin.  The sauce was OKAY, not sure what it was really.  The Apple Strudel was a good change from the typical accompaniment, the apple sauce.  All in all, this dish was perfect.  I’ve seen the face of YH when he ordered the one at Byrneleigh (that sucked) and this was way better.  A class act for sure.

 

It was a happy night for me, but for them, not so. lol?  Overall this restaurant is pretty decent.  Not mind blowing, but alright.  The entrees could have been more well done and perhaps the mains needed a bit more appeal.  Nevertheless, the same couldn’t be said for my main of crispy roasted pork belly as it was definitely a winner. But considering the price we paid for our meal tonight, this restaurant is definitely an average.  You could easily find better food for such price unless ambience is top priority.  But credit must be given to the attentive crew of waitresses who served us throughout the night!

 

WenY

Bites: Toast @ East Perth

Toast has been popular among breakfast groups and food bloggers in Perth.  I have been dying to go Toast for awhile now, but I did not get a chance to do so until last week when Xin Ling’s dad was here!  So on his last day here I brought him, Jh’s dad and Xin Ling there.  While we didn’t know whether the place was going to be superb or not, the energetic and friendly staff helped me to a good start!  Breakfast menu was aplenty with some special dishes and of course, the usual brekkie food.

 

To help kick start the morning (although it was already 11), darling and I ordered a hot choc each, while the two uncles had their cappuccino.

Slurps!  The hot choc was super chocolaty with a nice touch of art on the froth!  It was yummy although I would have liked it to be more milky!!

 

While I would not usually fork out 20 dollars on a meal of vegetables, James St. Cafe changed my mind. I decided to go for the Vegan full breakfast. 2 Poached eggs, toast, stuffed mushrooms and a corn cake was all this plain Jane had to offer. But being plain isn’t all that bad. Generously spread the butter over the toast before smearing egg yolk all over the toast turned out pretty good! Don’t forget the saltiness of the stuffed mushrooms and the sweetness of the corn cake, woots! The tomatoes could have been more well done though!!Perhaps roasted with garlic and cheese like my aunt does it? eheh!

I like this picture a whole lot.  Not so much for the food but rather the three main colours, red, yellow and blue!  Feels like a Piet Mondrian art piece ;-)!

 

Darling decided to have toast with poached eggs and bacon!  Look at the picture and feel disappointed, but don’t judge a book by its cover!  Underneath those two thick toast are generous servings of rasher bacon and two poached eggs!  Two eggs seems to be the limit at these brekkie places.  No idea why!

How wrong can bacons and eggs be?

 

Once we were done, we felt like we had rocks in our tummy!  Despite having all vegetables, the breakfast felt really solid and heavy!  And as you would have guessed it, the breakfast last me through lunch until dinner!  Darling on the other hand couldn’t finish her meal and so I jumped in for some bacon action hehe!  Hey, the tomatoes needed salvation ok?!  Xin Ling’s dad finished the cappuccino and had the walnut and pecan bread.  He was overloaded too!  It was good to come here.  However, comparing John street to Toast, the vegan meal at John St. cafe was a lot easier to chow down.  Possibly it was because the dishes in the meal were a lot juicier like the mushrooms and the beans made the meal more digestible!   All in all, I wouldn’t mind coming here again but probably I will have something else next time :P!

 

WenY

Bites: Ha-Lu @ Mount Hawthorn.

Last year during darling’s birthday, I spent quite a great deal of time trying to seek a place that both of us would enjoy.  After searching and searching, I finally found two restaurants, Ha-Lu and Tsunami.  Unfortunately, the food at Tsunami didn’t really reflect her liking while Ha-Lu was CLOSED =.=!  Bummer to the max!  In the end, we settled for Ha-Lu’s sister restaurant, Satsuki @ Subiaco.  Ever since I had that, I have been dying to try Ha-Lu.  Today, I got my chance with my little darling, my sis and mates Jimmy, XinNee and Fishman!

Spring Flower! O yea~!

 

Before dinner, I decided to snap some pictures of the peeps before they got their mouths dirty! :P!!

Little darling and my sister!

Fishman, XinNee, and Jimmy!

Ha-Lu serves Japanese food in a similar manner to the way Satsuki does.  The Japanese styled tapas called Izakaya, recommends diners to order small plates of dishes to be shared among others while enjoying a casual evening.  Funnily enough, we spent a portion of our time talking rubbish about Pokemon!

 

Service was good as the waiter was attentive and took our order upon us letting out the slightest gesture.  After awhile, our food arrived.  I tried to take photos of all the food but, hehe there was just too many!  I left out 2 dishes or so I think!

The sashimi of the day consisting of salmon, king fish and tuna slices started our evening.  Unbeatable freshness out of each cut, I’d reckon!  Sis says its good! Jim likes it and XinNee says good but salmon slices was not as soft as it should be ahha.  She’s the pro in this! And Fishman, fell head over heels for sashimi! 

 

As I am not so much of a sashimi fan, I decided to appreciate the freshness of the Japanese food culture in another manner, so I ordered:

Tartar style sashimi of the day.  It was really really good.  The chopped up mixture of tuna, salmon and kingfish lightly seasoned with god knows what and what.  WOW!  Top the crisps with wasabi mayo and the sashimi tartar, and slurpss!! Kickass!

Then came the Wagyu Beef Tataki:

Hehe, I really liked this as well.  Double the price at Kanta, but double the serve too! Seared local Wagyu beef, thinly sliced and served with seasoned root vegtables! I like the vegetables that accompanied the beef tataki.  It differed from the usual beef tataki severed with grated onions.  The spiced vegetables were really delicious and provided a tastier kick compared to the pungent onion taste.

 

Oww yeah! Pork Belly “Kaku-Ni” was deliciously tender with that melt in your mouth feel when there is just that perfect ratio of meat and fat! I likey!  However, I think Jun @ Perth City does it better though!  More fats! ahaha

 

The typical Teriyaki Chicken did not turnout so typical and was an absolute favourite on the table.  Chicken was tender, sauce wasn’t overpowering with sweetness, and the mayonnaise was just sooo desirable!

1 word? Awesome.

 

Next up was another beefy delight!

This is the Wagyu Beef “Ishi-Yaki”  with fried onions which was Wagyu beef grilled in a hot stone pot served with “Oroshi Ponzu” sauce!  This one was really pricey and we probably paid for the restaurant’s gas bill because notice the stone pot above, it was radiating with heat when it was served. Recommended that you do not touch it because it absolutely burns. How would I know? Because I tried it =.=!

This dish is actually quite unique because you can choose how cooked you would like your beef to be!  Too raw? Just press it on the rock pot.  It cooks in an instant!

 

Next up was the Scallop Nanban.  This was another favourite for the night!

Deep fried scallops marinated in sweet soy vinaigrette.  Served with crispy lotus roots chips, chilli mayonnaise and pumpkin julienne! YUMS!

And darling’s favourite, the Agedashi tofu!

I cannot say much about this really, it is most of the time, very delicious.  Whether it is served at Kanta, Satsuki or Fuji. 

 

Chicken Karaage with Iwanori sauce!! Hoho! Crispy chikennnnn!  But what made this different from other Chicken Karaage out there? If not already obvious in its name, is the sauce itself :)!

 

Crispy Pork.  Crispy sliced pork belly served with “Oroshi” ponzu vinaigrette!  If Yobi had this, he would definitely be back for this again.  So damn crispy even though it is a piece of cake to make!

 

The last picture here is the Squid and Octopus Mayo Gratin! Squid, octopus, and mushrooms baked in a creamy cheese gratin sauce.  Normally, you would expect this sort of dish to be a bit stinky (if you are particular about your seafood) and a bit heavy (if you hate cream + cheese), but believe me, the Japanese are passionate about their food and they like nothing more than people eating their food happily!  This one was good and I don't think anyone felt sick from this.  Oh, but XinNee though that Ha-Lu was a little stingy on the cheese as there wasn’t any cheesy fragrant from a baked cheese dish!

 

Darling’s desert:

The little darling’s dessert was rwarrrrrrrrrrr! Three elements to this one.  YUMMY, SMALL and PRICEY!  But the idea of giving the berry pannacotta  a layer of white chocolate was brilliant.  Then there was the Ume Plum Jelly which had a distinctive flavour bursting with fruitiness!  It was lovely even though the serve was miniscule.

 

Ok, I’m nearly dying of exhausting trying to put everything on @,@!!!! But everything tonight was yummyyyyyyy.  OMG everything was so god damn yummy! *ackk*  Only if I could somehow use a magic wand and double up the size of the dishes, I would not mind coming here every week!  At the end of the meal, we were all poorer.  I think poor Fishman was not entirely full! The serving size here is really small.  In a way, you could say that Ha-Lu does casual fine dining.  Nonetheless, it was an experience I would not regret.  Maybe next time, just the little darling and I?

 

WenY