Bites: Red Opium @ Perth (revisited)

Red Opium became our host 2 weeks ago for XL’s birthday.  Draped in dark red light, the venue is mysterious as it was seductive.  While my friends were talking about the pretty waitress, the owner Penny who remembers me as “the blogger” she did not hesitate to recommend me a few of their new creations.  Needless to say, I loved most of it.  But old staples became habit as I ordered several of my top favorites from Red Opium’s banquet.

See my first trip to Red Opium here :

WenY Wonders Why : Red Opium

To start the meal, I ordered meatballs.  But not just any meatballs.The finely diced meatball was all rave in my mouth.  But the little surprise was the finely diced “laksa leaf” or “bunga kantan” which gives it a lovely fragrant.  To finish, a delicious Panang curry.  Yummy!

 

Next up were the son-in-law eggs.While the savory-sweet sauce caught our taste buds, it was the perfectly cooked moist yolk that made us happy.  This was easily XL’s favourite.  Even fishman and Yv thought it tasted fantastic.  The marvels of basic things!

 

An unusual sighting at a Thai restaurant is ceviche.  But Red Opium is not shy to try.  it was a new dish recommended and I have to say that I really liked the thick slices of salmon cut.  All the crispy red onion diced with shallot, coriander and chili made it really nice too.  To bring it all together was a delicious vinaigrette!Red Opium’s Ceviche of Salmon!

 

As we were seated in what was probably the darkest corner, some of my pictures for the mains did not come out nicely.  Or maybe I was just too hungry haha.Yv’s favourite for the night was the duck curry.  I once commented that it lacked sauce and clearly it did not go unnoticed.  Here, the sauce was plentiful.  Just the way I liked my curries to be.  Duck meat was roasted spot on and was still tender.  So nice it was!  But where tenderness was concerned, the perfectly cooked beef Masaman was also a table favourite with fishman calling it the dish of the day.  Now, if only the potatoes had another 15 minutes or so, it would have been soft through.   On the other hand, the deconstructed green curry was not so popular around the table.  Its curry was flawless but something about the fish did not quite appeal @@! 

 

A final photo for the night for XL’s  birthday.  Great fun!  But we clearly ate too much @@!Red Opium was a great host that night.   The food was good and it was not priced to kill.  With 8 mains, 6 appetizers, 7 soups and rice, the bill cost around 40pp with the entertainment card shaving a couple of bucks off the bill.  Even without, it would still be less than $50pp.  It was really filling and everyone enjoyed it.  Owner Penny was her usual friendly stuff and had a good laugh at my very un-Thai Thai friend who does not do spicy or seafood. Good stuff ;)!

 

WenY

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Bites: Sayers Sister @ Northbridge

A small parcel of land can only fit so many good restaurants from my experience.  In Vic Park, we see A Spicy Affair serving delicious curries alongside the Prophet’s Lebanese  cuisine with V Burger just opposite.  In North Perth, Nine Fine Food is just beside Nahm Thai and just around the corner, Sayers Sister.  Its older restaurant Sayers is definitely one of the best in the brunch business.  But is it’s younger sibling Sayers Sister's any good? Coming in at 11am, we had to put up with a 45 minute wait.  Ordering at the counter, we waited for another 45 minutes for the food to come out.  They were clearly a favourite among the locals.  But with a wait that long, my expectations were high.

 

Ed’s Bubble and Squeak @ $19This came arranged perfectly with a thick bacon steak at the bottom topped with poached eggs, wilted spinach, potato cake and hollandaise.  Whilst he enjoyed this for most parts, his comment as a “typical diner” was that perhaps the thick bacon cut made the dish saltier than what he would have liked.

 

 

My pick was the Lemon Myrtle & mustard seed enoki, button, field, brown & oyster mushrooms, Bacon & fried egg on toasted brioche & fig chutney (I think it was fig)The flavors here worked for me.  Brioche, and the perfectly cooked mushrooms with a whiff of lemon myrtle went nicely with the salty bacon and a hint of sweetness from the chutney.  But I think I would have liked poached eggs with this one.  A runny yolk would have wrapped the whole dish up nicely as it blends the flavors together more nicely.  Then again, that is just a personal preference.  But for $18.50, this was quite a steal!  So much technicality for a small price tag.

 

 

XL ordered the Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramelized Banana  $16.50.For $16.50, the pancakes were humungous.  And I would be extremely happy if they were executed.  But on a busy Sunday morning, these pancakes were stodgy as hell with the inside feeling sticky from uncooked batter.  When I asked, the waitress said the syrup have sipped in… I am not much of a blogger if I fell for that right?  I can immediately tell that the Sunday rush has got to them.  Even the bananas were coated in slightly gritty coating, not the beautiful caramelization I expected.  Not the best and I immediately got a refund.  I looked around the internet to see the picture of people’s pancakes here … none looked as crappy as the one she was served.  Disappointing. Very. 

 

Paying a 1.5 hour wait for decently cooked breakfast it quite a put off especially when all you wanted is a smooth sailing Sunday.  But I have to commend the efforts of the staff to keep diners away from hunger with the free muffins.  The service here was poor on a Sunday and so would be a Saturday.  For many reasons, I feel that the café is a let down due to its inability to serve the crowd.  But come any other day and you will be blow away.  So maybe next time I will either be first in or a week day.  For now, it will be Sayers.

 

WenY

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SK: Dakgalbi and Korean Fried Chicken @ Myeongdong

As Spring comes back to Perth, I am filled with the good memories winter in Seoul had.  The food for sure was  a highlight with the big city so rich in culture.  No amalgamation of the Korean restaurants in any cities can replicate the quality of the food I had or even just the variety itself seems impossible.

 

One of the nights, we went to Yoogane for what seems to be the most popular Dakgalbi or Spicy Chicken rice in Myeongdong.  It was superb! The chicken was a mix of spicy, salty and sweet with generous bits of kimchee and cabbage all tossed in a cheesy rice.  The outcome was a savory delight.  This is a winter fighter that is surely to make you sweat.  Little bits of rice that crisped up as you go make great bite for that last bit of enjoyment.  Definitely a winner by all accounts.  In fact, XL still craves for it every now and then but there is no real contender in Perth :(!  Funny how the chicken pieces which tended to be dryer than usual did not bother me even the slightest bit!

 

If the Dakgalbi is too spicy, feel free to have unlimited serves of their cabbage salad.  Super yums :)! If anything else is noteworthy, I would say that you should prepare to stink as the chicken sizzles in front of you!!

 

 

Our last night’s supper here was not one which will get a tick of approval from the Heart Foundation.  From a tick off is more likely.  But who cares?  This is TwoTwo Fried Chicken in MyeongdongEvery culture has their own fried chicken.  And so do the Koreans.  It is super crispy with all the salty-peppery seasoning to complement it.

 

We had two orders that night.  One was the original and the other was the garlic one.  We both preferred the original one over the garlic chicken.  It was just good old fried chicken as is.  The garlic one was way too garlicky for our liking.  A bloody fragrant bite but the raw garlic taste might be a little over the top!Some nights, I go to bed thinking about fried chicken.  When I do, I wake up happy.. and hungry.  At least after this meal, I can tick the Korean fried chicken of my bucket list!

 

People might ask me whether KFC is better or perhaps the good old Japanese Kaarage or even Malaysian fried chicken which has like 10000 variants.  First things first, fried chicken beats steamed chicken anytime.  But when it comes to different fried chicken, everyone will have a different say.  For me, I love my fried chicken and the one at TwoTwo was really good.  In fact, it was fantastic.  But each fried chicken has its own merits making me like most, if not all of them

WenY

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