Bites: Tasty House @ Northbridge.

After attending a graduation last week,  I was hungry beyond hungry when it finished.  So was my sis and Kevin!  Undecided on where to go at first, we finally decided to settle for some Chinese along Roe St.  Our choice for the night was Tasty House as we were craving some crabs and my sister said they were having a promotion.  I have eaten here plenty of times.  To date, perhaps 30 times?  I come here often for supper and occasionally dinner.  Honestly, it serves SOME genuinely good food although some dishes had turned out very horribly before (see my order list below).  Luckily enough, it did not fail when my stomach was at its most needy state.

 

To start the stomach a little, sis ordered the beef and coriander soup!:

The soup was delicious although for a few moments I contemplated on whether I was drinking soup or sauce.  Crunchy coriander bits and beef mince made this a welcoming appetizer for a hungry tummy!

 

Mud Crabs cooked with XO Sauce and Vermicelli was yummy!  The noodles were every bit tasty!  I love this style of cooking the crabs!  Back home in Malaysia, this is easily comparable to the Kam Heong crabs cooked with Vermicelli.  Two very similar dishes originating for two different countries! YUMS!  Funnily enough, we ordered some rice to go with the dish!  And that was because:

The crabs had a good amount of eggs in it!  Lucky or not hehe I’m all smiles to a loaded crab! And at the same time the crab was pretty big! I think it was like 1.2kg each?  I’d have to admit though, that the seafood in Australia has never been all that great although the scallops and mussels here are quite a treat!  Besides this dish, we also ordered a spinach dish which was cooked with fermented bean sauce (fu-yi) and it which turned out beautifully!  All in all, what we had for dinner was every bit satisfying!  The dinner ended with a sweet note thanks to the complementary red bean pancake which was yummylicious despite being sold in frozen packets!

 

So, what are some of the best things to be ordered here?  Well if you are coming for late nights supper, I would recommend to you the baked cheese rice with ham and chicken in cream sauce. On the other hand, darling is a big fan of their salted egg and pork porridge which is supper good too!  But if you are here on a dinner occasion, there are plenty of dishes which you could try.  My recent favourite is the OX Tail in Red Wine sauce which is a hearty Asian styled stew which goes well with rice; especially during cold days.  Other beef dishes which turned out well was the black pepper steak and the scotch fillet with XO Sauce and snow peas.  Do note that the Scotch fillet with XO sauce and snow peas is a wildcard which can be superb at times and awful!  As for seafood, I need not go further down the menu when I see the salted egg prawns! A definite prawn dish if I were to call prawns! Do note that the prawns here are not overly fresh as with other restaurant around town.  Be it prawns in a Chinese restaurant or Western, they tend to have that artificial crunch in them which is non-existent when I pick my prawns from the markets.

 

Sorry if this post was too long for its own good! I realised that Tasty House has been treated quite unfairly and thought that it deserved better !

 

On a side note, this month is going to be a busy one! With mid semester tests and the little darling’s birthday coming up, there is surely to be  a few days extra that I will be eating out!  So keep a look out ;)!

 

WenY

Bites: Ribauldo’s @ Como

While it is hard to not fall head over heels with a Italian model or sports car, it is probably even harder to not drool over good Italian food. When a coupon website promoted an Italian 3-course meal for two @ $49, I was SOLD!  Many times have I passed the Kwinana freeway but I have never noticed this little eatery tucked among the many dwellings on Melville Parade. Ironically though both D’Tandoor and Pagoda on the same row were more noticeable with their bright  neon blue and red sign boards which reminds me of a certain place in Bangkok.   After calling countless of times, we finally managed a slot yesterday night.  As of now, my list of good Italian food consists of Spaghi’s or Ciao Italia which all in car terms would have been supercars these day. So how did Ribauldo’s fare in this stiff competition? Well head down to see what we ordered ;)!

Bread was a mix of hard and some crispy. A balsamic and olive oil mix has been a favourite of mine although Bruschetta is still my no.1 :)!  However, my housemate Nee taught otherwise and felt that the offerings in another restaurant was better.  But hmm, thinking of what she said, I too realise that the balsamic vinegar felt lacking.  Perhaps it was a little sweetness that was needed.  I did not eat the olives by the way, never liked the flavour ahah.  But fishman said it adds a unique flavour to the bread!

 

A fresh garden salad was next and all I can say is MOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!

Fishman kept complaining that the little darling and I are unhealthy because we refuse to even touch it but blahhh!! I wanted to keep my stomach for the mains and dessert :P!

 

Now that we have reached the mains, I clearly understand why the patrons are divided over the food served at Ribaudo’s!  While most of the mains were decent, one was just atrocious! We ordered the following:

The Spaghetti Marinara had tiger prawns, fish, calamari, cooked in a sauce with garlic, onions, white wine, tomato, Basil and chilli, finished with fresh parsley and lemon.  End product?  A very delicious Marinara that carried a subtle seafood fragrant while packing  loads of taste in each strand of pasta.  The seafood presented was odourless with a strong garlic taste and a hint of spiciness.  For me, this was the winner of the night.  Fishman being a lover of seafood had plenty to comment on the way Australians misuse the word tiger prawn.  He said the size of the tiger prawns here are pretty much the same size as the head of the tiger prawns he gets back in Malaysia.  I cannot help but agree too.  However, the optically miniscule prawns did not stop him from loving this tongue-tastic pasta!!!  Nee Nee liked this too but the little darling did not have any because she is unfortunately allergic to seafood.

 

This next dish was really tiny! Vitello alla Griglia or grilled organic veal medallions served with creamy mashed potato finished with a red jus! As the veal slices were really small, it was hard for it not to be cooked through.  The end result was a slightly tougher than usual slice of meat which to my housemates and I is a little tiring to eat.  The mash tended to be dense and still had small bits of potatoes.  Not quite sure whether this was intentional or not but it was edible! Over all, a decent but not really recommended dish!

 

The next dish was the Lasagne con Pollo  or sheets of pasta layered with chicken sugo, Béchamel, Parmesan and Mozzarella.  While the initial impressions were good, a spoon of it had me think otherwise.  Overcooked pasta sheets which literally disintegrate  was not quite the way I would have liked it.  The chicken sugo were like broken bits of chicken tasting clay. The cream sauce was not enough to moisten the whole experience and hmm.  Ok put it this way.  I did not like it, neither did fishman and Nee Nee.  Little darling kept mum for the moment ahah! 

 

Lastly was the Pizza de Carne which had a good topping of chicken, olives and mushroom.  The cheese was enough, the chicken tasty but the crust was all but hmm not quite there yet.  Go around our dining table and you will find half eaten pizza crusts.  You then cannot help but conclude that the crust just did not satisfy!!

 

But it was not all doom and gloom even though the mains did not quite put up the show we expected.  Nonetheless, move over main and welcome the desserts!

The Vanilla and Raspberry Panna cotta served with Raspberry Coulis and Fresh Strawberry

 

Chocolate and Almond Semi Freddo served with Raspberry Coulis and Dusted with Cocoa

 

Both desserts turned out well for us. Without a doubt, the favourite for the night was the panna cotta which was uber smooth and to me I though it was very carefully served too!  Taking small scoops and a paying attention to the dessert, the little darling found a small layer of white chocolate at the bottom of the Panna cotta! Yummy!  Overtime, this Piedmontese dessert has been adopted by various non-Italian cultures. The Japanese for instance have reinvented the dessert in a way which incorporates green tea, an iconic Japanese beverage.  But going back to its roots, the Italians does it best!  As for the ice cream, it was pretty nice but ahah it tasted salty too =X!  Perhaps it is just a way to bring out the chocolate in this dessert?  I know many cooks use salt to help bring the flavours of the chocolate together, so I guess it really works!

 

Overall, our dinner at Ribaudo’s was quite a nice one with some hits and misses.  For the price of the coupons, it was well worth the buck!  However, the restaurant could do better with its pizza base.  It simply just went into the oven for too long!  Also, the veal should have appeared more generous as a main. The lasagne.. really was no more than canteen/cafeteria quality and should have been a whole lot better.  Luckily, the night ended sweetly with a delicious Panna Cotta which really lifted my mood from :( to !  In the end, is Ribaudo’s a supercar or a normal one? Well, Ribaudo’s is worth a try and perhaps paying full price will make a difference.  In fact, it had better make a difference because for the price it charges, it has a lot of expectations to meet! Over and out :P!

 

WenY

Bites: Elmars @ Swan Valley.

It has been a lengthy discussion for weeks if not months for a date that all of us could go to Elmar’s together.  Despite all the clashes of schedules, we managed a time slot last Saturday.  Upon our arrival, we were happy to see a crowded lot filling both the outdoor and indoor dining area.  However, it was quite a turn off when we were asked to sit in the bar area because we did not make a reservation when just a few days ago I was told that I did not need to make one.  The boastful waitress who insisted that Elmar’s is the busiest restaurant in the area did not help make us comfortable too.  Nevertheless, after complaining about the little comfort the bar area had, we were given proper seats! Phewh!!

Elmar’s

 

The 7 of us decided to order a few dishes to share as we wanted to enjoy the different things Elmar’s had to offer.  Looking through the menu, one thing was clear about the Germans.  They loved their pork!  Luckily enough I do not have any problems with that except on one occasion where a tour organiser hilariously thought I was a Muslim.  I am tanned OK? ahaha. 

 

Too get the best of the German’s we had to try their specialties of course.  To start our meal, we ordered a few starters:

Elmar’s Cheesy garlic toast @ $8.90 for 3 pieces were a bit on the pricey side but served our tummies well! It was yummy and delicious in every bite!  However, I thought that the bread was a little dry and could be more moist in the middle.  But after having the garlic bread at Ikea, I decided otherwise and felt that the one at Elmar’s was more edible for sure >.<!!

 

Our next appetizer was probably the highlight compared to the rest :P!  The potato skin despite being the least eaten part of a potato was cooked to perfection! Golden, crisp and lightly salted, I cannot be more pleased! In fact, everyone was just as pleased!

(This picture was from TheMemoir)

 

As for our mains, we ordered the following:

Elmar’s Bratwurst Plat @ $36.90! A trio of Elmar’s Bratwurst - Grillbratwurst, Cheese Kransky and Coarse Bratwurst, on a bed of Potato Mash and Sauerkraut, with Crisp Garden Salad with a side of Mustard!  The sausages were delish and I thought that the middle Cheese Kransky one was really good.  Little bits of melted cheese tucked in it made these tiny morsels of food  really pleasant and a tad nostalgic considering cheese sausages were one of my brekkie foods when I was a kid back home!  And to be honest, I really dislike the Sauerkraut!  I think I have a lot of adapting to do!  Lastly, considering the price we have paid for 3 short sausages, I felt pretty ripped off for sure.  The value was somewhere but definitely not in the food.  The mash itself, oh god, it has definitely been made better at home before, if not many times!!

 

Nevertheless, the side of Fried Potatoes with Onion & Bacon (Bratkartoffeln) @ $9.90 did not disappoint!

Although onions and bacons were absent in the picture, it was still quite ok.  Not too salty but a good accompaniment compared to the Sauerkraut! lolx!

 

Even though we had a decent start to the meal, it was not until the Rolled Pork Belly @ $33.90 was served that I was finally satisfied! Even YiHeng though it was delicious!

Tender Pork Belly, Rolled with Honey Mustard Glaze and Elmar’s Kangaroo and Emu Chorizo, Served atop Fried Garlic Zucchini with Rosemary Potato, Beer Mustard Sauce and Homemade Red Onion Confit!  While every thing on the plate was almost flawless, I felt that the sauce somehow dragged the entire dish down.  The defect was not major, but it just felt lacking.  Oh, and do not be worried about the kangaroo and emu chorizo as it turned out odourless with a peppery taste!

 

Elmar’s Specialty the Pork Shank (Schweinehaxe) @ $42.90 was meant to be the killa but turned out otherwise or hmm perhaps it did kill… our jaws.

Nothing needs to be explained here I would suppose? :P!  Pickled cabbage, with the onion and bacon potatoes. Hmmm ok and the much publicised German specialty, the pork knuckle.  It is a slow cooked and roasted pickled pork shank encased in a crunchy crackling.  To our dismay, everything about this dish did not satisfy.  Did the hype kill the dish?  Perhaps so!  The meet was tasteless, cracking was barely crispy and oh @.@!  The crackling took ages to chew and nobody actually liked it!  Fortunately, the side of mustard did add the much needed flavour missing from the meat!  I came home with a sore throat and aching wisdom tooth after having this =(!  5 days after and my tooth still aches now as I type this out ahhh!!!!

 

Surprisingly, sharing all the food made us quite full even though we did not order a main each!  While everyone decided to go to the Margaret River Chocolate factory, the little darling and I decided to end our meal here with a dessert.  Below is the dessert we ordered, the Crème Brulee @ $15.

Definitely not recommended.  The custard was rough, the layer of sugar was slightly thin but sufficed because the custard was no more than a centimetre thick.  Could have been smoother but otherwise..!  By the end of the dessert, I would have honestly preferred to do without it! $$ waster!!

 

Putting our cutleries down, we looked at each other and from our expressions, it was rather clear how we felt about our meal at Elmar’s.  I cannot say we certainty that the food served at Elmar’s is truly German or pseudo-German.  But what I can say is that Elmar’s is definitely not a restaurant where money is well spent.  Despite sharing our meals, those who chose to had dessert or beer paid something closer towards $30 which is quite pricey for the standard of food we were getting.  If it was good, perhaps a 50 dollars would have been worth it.  But not this time around.  One thing we have learnt well though, that is do not get your hopes up high just because the radio plays a restaurant’s commercial too often!

 

WenY