Bites: Mend Street Cafe@ South Perth

Deciding on Tuesday dinner was another pick from the Entertainment Book.  Unfortunately, I found it very hard to give it any merits.  That probably explains the discomforting feeling one gets when you go to a restaurants half past seven and it is fairly quiet.   Mend Street Café should be a trademark of the beautiful South Perth.  Its dishes come out looking good but tasting lousy.  For dinner, I ordered the crispy skin pork belly with a salad.

Tragically, the skin was soggy and the meat dry.  Worst of all was the salad that came warm as if it was sitting next to the stove.  The dressing was stingy and I had to request more to relief the dryness.  Over all, it was just nightmare.  The only consolation on the plate was the prawns which were still juicy and nice.  The rest was just horrible.  Will I come here next time?  Maybe with a coupon.  And ordering more typical dishes which I would still worry about a mess up.

 

WenY

Bites: Village Bar @ Subiaco

Last weekend, the engineers and I decided to have a meet up.  Keen for a new space, I decided to look around town while avoiding all dim sum places which have become to frequent at our meet ups.  Searching around for something casual and relaxing, I stumbled upon a the Village Bar on the Queen of Bad Timing’s blog.  You can see her share of the review here.  Village bar distinct itself from other bars as this was more of a gastropub than your regular one.  The food here is pretty good and the bar prides itself with the title Best Steak Sandwich in WA.  But I was not sold to get one.  I know how overrated titles can get. 

 

For me,  I decided to get the Honey Vodka battered fish and chips.  It was every bit delectable.  While it was not cheap @ $22, it had my respect.  The fish was fresh, crisp and so moorish.  Beer battered chips were in a league of its own.  But typically being fish and chips with a serve of garlic aioli and tartare sauce, this basket of goodness soon becomes a little greasy. 

While I enjoyed my fish and chips, others decided to try to steak sandwich which unfortunately was just over lukewarm.  I find this things always happen when one tries to serve 10 dishes at the same time.  As a foodie, I reckon the kitchen should do what it does best at its own pace.  So long as the food comes out delectable and hot, everyone will be extremely pleased.  Over all, Village Bar is a pretty impressive bar.  It’s décor was nice, waitresses keen to help and food delicious.  Will I come here again?  Definitely yes, compared to the Brisbane, this place is a downright winner. The only value that is hard to beat is the $15 ribs @ The Shed!

 

WenY

Bites: Ha Lu @ Mount Hawthorn

Sis have been complaining that I have not bought her a birthday meal for awhile now.  So deciding on what to have for her birthday this time had to be special.  While I was thinking of something a little more fancy like Matilda Bay Restaurant, Friends and such, she wanted something a little more casual and with more choices of food.  In the end, we ended up at Ha Lu.  Perhaps the best small plate option where everyone gets to try a lot of food.  At Ha Lu, I have been impressed once and this time was no exception.  It was equally good!  The dining style here is Izakaya which has a similar concept to tapas.

 

That night we shared 9 dishes among us and all but one was great!  We started of with a refreshing course of vegetables and meat:Root vegetable salad with onsen egg and sesame dressing.  A delicious recommendation from the waitress.  The root vegetables of all sort were fried before being mixed with some fresh leaves and tossed in sesame dressing.  It was a textural marvel with all the different type of root vegetables with varying consistency contributing to its flavors!

 

While I used to hate sashimi, I somehow took a U turn and have started loving this little fish delights.  Now, it is almost obligatory.  Then again, I found $26 for 9 slices a little steep.  My take on having a delicious sashimi was Ha Lu’s Sashimi Tartar of the day @ $14 below.  It was fantastic.

 

This was a fantastic dish which I had in my first visit.  More importantly, it still was.  Marinated in soy and some spices, the tartar was served with a side of crisp and wasabi mayonnaise.  All the magic ingredients for a foodgasm.

 

The wagyu tataki was nice  with the dressing but I would have very much preferred it to be served with a side of finely sliced onions.  The fried onions were a tad too heavy on the palate.  In my mouth, it sort of reaches to that extent where it was just too oily to partake in such fresh flavors.

 

Moving on to the deep fried course:Dude food with a twist I must say.  But the twist was not in the chicken but rather the concoction of mayonnaise and ume plum mayonnaise.  It provided a hint of ripeness to the sauce making what usually is a rich (sometimes cloying) dipping sauce, light and delicious.   Welcoming addition which added a nice touch to the Kara age.

 

A classic favourite of scallops sitting on a fried lotus root topped with some micro herbs.  Finish with a little heat from the Chili Mayonnaise.

 

Finishing the savory course with braised and grilled foods!The Pork Belly Kaku-Ni is a slow braised pork belly in soy sauce.  No need for praises here.  Just imagine melt in your mouth pork soaked in a fragrant and rich soy braise.  All with some steamed rice.  Enough said :)!  Cannot wait to replicate this dish in winter.  It is going to be heaven.

 

The last time we came to Ha Lu, we had to order this twice.  Maybe thrice.  But this was so small! But oh my god.  This was good! Only complain could be the chicken was not as tender as I remembered it to be!  The flavors though, are your typical teriyaki.  Just a lot better. :)!!

 

Another fish on the table.  The  Miso Patagonian Tooth fish was my biggest disappointment of the night.  It felt like Ha Lu was trying to do Nobu’s Black Cod Miso but this was just not what I expected.  I wanted more quality.  More delicateness in flavors.  And the fish itself felt horrible.  This was a big no no for me.  Sorry Ha Lu.  Terrible.

 

To finish the night, we had our desserts.  This time David decided to opt out as he was not a person who enjoys sweet food.  I do not either but I reckon I would not mind having it with my sister.  It was her birthday lols.  A little sad to have it by herself!Mine was the Black Sesame Tiramisu while Sis had the Panna Cotta.  Both were delicious but perhaps mine was marginally the better of the two.

 

Over all, Ha Lu is still a damn good eat.  The first Izakaya I had still packs the great quality it had from day 1!  

 

WenY