Bites: Gordon St Garage @ Perth City

Back before hipsters were cool, a hipster once told me that hipster only have 3% body fat.  The story starts here for this new kid on the block.  Walking in, I was taken away by the retro fittings in this factory inspired diner.  It was very welcoming and felt like the place to be.  Sitting down, a cute chick takes our gave us our menu and we had water on standby.  Little darling, intrigued by the many cakes arrange near the door decided to order a slice of fruit cake.

It did not take long to arrive but we were put off by it.  BADLY.  It was crumbly, dry and sad.  But a strong point though is that there were heaps of sultanas but barely enough to justify what was served to us.   Perhaps a little short on rum and other fruits to constitute a proper fruit cake too.  For me, the only salvage here would be if it was gluten free.  Then I’d be pretty chuffed.

The comes my lunch called 2 Sliders for $18.00                                                                                                           It was a slider pair consisting of pulled pork and chutney with another one filled with pastrami.  How would I find these all?  Very very queer.  I found the flavors decent but to say it was a hit,  I would beg to differ.  Everything on this plate was very simple to put together and to have so little means to perfect every element.  The pastrami burger in all honesty felt out place in terms of flavor and to a certain extend, bland.  Not sure how pathetic bits of gherkins are supposed to salvage a poorly constructed pastrami.  Onion rings served on a stack of trio made a good visual but when bitten into, it was sad to find that the first ring was horrible.  No, it was not the batter, but rather the onion itself that was not up to mark.  Saying that is in fact a leniency considering the issue was that the chef him/herself decided to use the harder outer bit of the onion which is usually the part I would put in the bin.  But fortunately, the other two were just joy although it all ended too prematurely.

Next comes the little darling’s chicken salad @ $18.                                                                                          Just by looking at it, this salad is clearly inspired by Asian flavors.  But putting inspirations to realization requires more than just dreams, it is either a reinvention of a classic or a classic done well.  The whole thing as darling would put it, felt bland with no distinctive taste or flavors that drives a person to go mouthful after mouthful..  Only consolation was that the poached chicken was tender but unfortunately lacked even the slightest seasoning.  At that moment, I was already cursing our luck.  Who the heck set this horrible Friday for us.  Even the chilies that was meant to bring heat were not finely diced to reinvigorate the salad as a whole, but rather, it was disguised among the greens making some mouthfuls feel rather unpleasant.

 

Over all, yes we loved the venue.  Yes, the hipster looking chic and dudes were rather spot on.  But when it comes to substance on a plate, it seems like form has gotten the better of the restaurant.  It is rather unfortunate these days.  Sometimes it is even questionable to what hipsters really are.   So may the real hipster please stand up?  Some venues are fancily fitted with the right mix of service and feel but when it comes to serving food, it is where the momentum stops.  Seriously, that serve of sliders and salad are nothing more than misery.  It is pathetic, even more so considering the amount we paid.  Would I ever come back again?  Yeah maybe.  Probably with my lunch box and just for drinks.  Their pot of tea is flavorful and still has what it takes to be a good pot of tea.  It would surprise me if it turned out wrong.

WenY

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Bites: Guzman Y Gomez, GYG @ Northbridge

My fellow colleagues decided to go out for lunch one day and I took this opportunity to show them a bit of what food blogging is on my side.  It clearly felt awkward with me putting so much emphasis of food photos and not them haha.  They probably wonder why have I not even taken any photos of them lol.  Anyways, that day we went to Guzman Y Gomez which for me is a perfect chance to try this new Mexican place.  My first attempt fell short when the queue for free burritos extended to the end of the shop houses and even went around the corner.  Fortunately, it was just a small group of people this time.

 

GYG is probably one of the latecomers to enter the wave of Mexican restaurants that swept Perth a few years back.  Since then, we have seen Mad Mex, Salsa Mex and other Mexican places appear so quickly around town.  Typically, I would have that coming late would mean a little more than ignorance.  So, is this a case of “last in, best dressed” or “ GYG –> GG”?  GG pretty much just means flop!                                                                                    The GYG list is not the most comprehensive but covers all the Mexican basics like Tacos, Burritos, Bowls, Nachos and Quesadillas.  A small range of salads are also present for the weightwatchers.

 

So is there really enough substance for it to differentiate itself from others?  I started with 3 soft shell tacos for $10.90.  These felt like good value but what made my day was the fact that I could have all 3 in different flavors.   I started this taste test with a spicy chicken guerrero, a beef guerrero and a pork chipotle.                                                                My first bite into the taco, and I enjoyed the delicious flavors Mexican fare always offers.  The sweetness, and acidity mixed with a little heat from the free flow of jalapeno.  It was gorgeous.  The spicy chicken guerrero was well flavored, with its meat still tender.  Bean provided the carbohydrates and over all it was a satisfying eat.  But when I tried to repeat those with the beef and the pork tacos, it felt way too similar.  There was no differentiating factor between these meats.  Maybe because they were all called guerreros or something.  But even then, the pork chipotle had little to offer.

 

My mates on the other hand called the burritos in a wrap.  These were really huge stuff with rice, meat and vegetables with a finish of salsa.  Seeing them chow down those whole burritos in under 10 minutes really shows how much the boy enjoyed their wraps.  But I do not blame them, I would have these over Subway anytime. 

 

GYG is a pretty good eat when you take into consideration how quick and fuss free it is to get decent Mexican.   But what does it offer that others do not?  Perhaps more flavors for your burritos or tacos but then again, I had difficulty telling which is which if not for the color and texture of the meat.  So if I ever had to decide whether it was going to be Mad Mex or GYG or others, it would be important to see who is nearest.    GYG?  Definitely not GG.  A worthy bite!

 

WenY

Bites: Kuza @ Victoria Park

A new Japanese place never fails to tingle my excitement, but dining with such expectations always lead to mixed endings.  Late last year, Kuza opened along the busy Victoria Park Café strip but I was warned by a few friends that the price it charges is no less than my much hated Sake Bar in Northbridge.  Since then, the Entertainment Card recently added Kuza onto their list, so dining there now comes with a 25% discount.  Walking on a Thursday night, the restaurant was not busy and did not require any bookings.  Waiters quickly served us and offered the four of us a larger table meant for six.  Soon, they found other patrons to fill up those seats.  I really found this weird as other 2 person seats were still very much available.

 

I quickly scanned fellow blogger reviews rather then the menu as it is probably good to know what is worth sharing around the table.First starter for the night was the ceviche of salmon.  For me, this was delicious.  While to call it a ceviche feels not quite correct as the acids in no way cooked the fish before it hit the table,   finely shaved onions and a delicious vinaigrette made this a delectable experience!

 

The mock chicken salad was the next dish we ordered.  Hoping to relieve the crispy chicken salad from Bonsai @ Northbridge, I found my enjoyment quickly diminishing with the bitter greens over powering the rest of the ingredients.  Mock chicken is a vegetarian chicken which as really crisp.  One odd member which seemed lost on the plate though, were the little diced bean curd.

 

The next shared plate we ordered were two served of Kuza’s assorted aburi nigiri.  Aburi is simply blow torched sashimi but the winning question really is, does all sashimi torched make good aburi?     Simply NO.  Aburi for me is a technique reserved for the fattiest part of the fish like tuna or salmon belly.  In fact most oily fish would do fine.  Simply blow torching delicious seafood like scallops rarely works for me.  Its original sweetness that mellows with good sashimi rice is already an appealing dish.  So why blow torch and dry it out?  An even bigger issue for me was the fact that the lean fish was blow torched too.  If you have a thing for dry, tough fish, it might be your cue, but this was just totally disappointing.  But no problem beats my biggest issue which was the Aburi nigiri’s  burnt rice.  I really think this was a horrible thing because although it smelt pretty nice, but bitter burned rice with my fish?  Sorry, I would rather not. 

 

Our next dish was the gyoza serve on a capsicum coulis and drizzled with a reduced vinaigrette.  Visually spectacular, these gyoza continue its journey to make the taste buds happy.  But really, how hard is it to make a delicious gyoza?  Nevertheless, a perfectly executed dish deserve recognition. 

 

New can be a good thing.  But calling yourself Kaarage only to be something else?  It was mehhhhhh!   Kaarage to my friends and I is more than just fried chicken bring crispy.  It is also about the good flavors in the marinade.  The slightly pungent flavors of the garlic, ginger and onions is definitely a must.  So when one serves me peppery crispy chicken drizzled with mayo and a side of salsa, YOU MAD BRO?  This was definitely a fail.  It would be nice to try blend the delicious flavors of the kaarage with the salsa, but not bland tasteless chicken with the salsa.  NOPE.  For me this was even a bigger fail compared to the aburi.  Probably because even places like Taka pack good simple flavors into their $8 el cheapo lunch.

 

This brings me to the conclusion that Kuza despite its effort and pricing still have many areas it can work on.  Yes, they did show a certain level of innovation and creativity, but the food really must have taste before looks.  A special mention also goes to the confusion caused by us being seated with another couple.  Foods we did not order came to us.  In fact, every single dish the couple ordered probably landed on our side of the table before travelling up to the couple’s.  WHY SO STINGY WITH SPACE?  For reasons only known to them.  Over all, yes it was hip and cool with all that funky interior, but when it comes to food, it is back to the basics.  Substance before form.  Rather unfortunate but it seems that the gullible little Asian in me took the better side that night and fell trap to the discount.  Total damage that night was $130 with tap water.  Not bad I reckon but neither is it the best value in town.

 

WenY