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

Bites: Little Ying Thai @ Victoria Park.

This little Thai cafe along Albany highway near Dome has a name that reminds me of one of the best Thai restaurants in Melbourne, Ying Thai 2 (check it out here).  Then comes the food unfortunately, which my sister tried once and said it was mediocre only.  I was not satisfied with her comment and could not resist trying it which I ended up doing yesterday!  Vil tagged along as it has been quite a while since I last met him!  When we went into the restaurant, we were greeted by some fine smelling Thai fragrant which covered the entire eating place.  Funnily enough, we were the only ones there at 1.30p.m.  Hmmm, who were they cooking for?

 

We promptly attended to by  the waiter who kindly asked us to call him when we were ready to order.  We soon ordered and I asked for something that was not on their lunch menu.  Well, they keen to kindly prepare my roast duck red curry which I love so much.  Darling ordered chicken tom yam, Fishman ordered spicy chicken fried rice and Vil ordered the Pad Thai!

When my dish came out it looked pretty good. Pineapples, aubergine, capsicums, and tomatoes all of that in a rich and fragrant sauce with pieces of boneless roasted duck in it.  When I first taste it, I though to myself, “Wow, this is actually pretty good,”.  But when I had my first bite into the duck, I was disappointed.  The meat was actually tough, as if the duck has been undercooked.  I would normally expected it to be tender and soft, but it turn out otherwise :(!  The taste was good but a bit sweet.  Perhaps this was because this dish was only meant to be available at night but they prepared it for me during lunch!!  What surprised me more was the difference between the red curry chicken and beef @ $8.80 while the duck curry cost $16.90.  Shocker really.  But the worst was yet to come.

 

Darling’s beaming face went to an all time low when she was served little Ying Thai’s tom yam soup because it tasted as if tom yam paste was used instead of fresh ingredients!  Real bummer without a doubt!  Vil found his pad Thai “ok” BUT he liked the one at S & T a lot more.  And then comes YH fried rice which he says its way too oily.  Overall, you can see that my sister is right here.  Goddamit I should have trusted her.  This restaurant definitely get a PASS but not even a CREDIT if it was an examinable unit! 

WenY

Bites: Phong Vinh @ Northbridge!

Pho Pho Pho Pho Pho-ker face!  Noodles are not without substance considering the comfort it provides!  Cool weather paired with a piping hot bowl of noodles is my slice of heaven.  After getting stuck in the Kwinana Freeway jam for close to an hour, we reached Phong Vinh.  My sister has been trying to bring me to this place every since she tried it a couple months back.  She describes it as “Tra Vinh’s” sister restaurant.  Feeling super hungry yesterday night, I didn’t hesitate much and quickly ordered the Raw Beef and Beef Ball Noodle soup @$10.50! 

On the first sight, this hearty bowl of noodle soup looked like an exact replication of the one from Tra Vinh.  But after slowly eating spoonful after spoonful, I soon realise the flaws which  were not so obvious on the first sight.  The soup tended to be a little oily  which is rather unfortunate because the soups felt somewhat contaminated !=X!!  But I did not feel deterred to finish the entire bowl of noodles and was close to finishing the entire bowl at the end of the meal haha! I love Vietnames Pho man!  Especially with its fresh condiments scattered around it!

 

The girls ordered the “Drop Noodle” with chicken which to me was a very catchy name.  Drop noodle huh?  Sounds like something I would not put on my bowl ahah.  But no worries, it turned out to be an udon-like noodle.  The name drop noodle did have a rationale to it though. Little Darling mentioned that she found eating the noodles difficult because it kept dropping off the spoon! xD!

The girls meal for the night, the Chicken Drop Noodles @ $10!

 

At the end of the night, the oil in the noodles mattered little, if anymore at all.  We arrived the restaurant close to 8 and finished half past nine.  Hungry much, these delightful serves of noodles soup were heavenly.  With Tra Vinh, To To, and Viet Nosh, in my good books, I would not hesitate to put Phong Vinh up there too! It was an absolute delight despite some minor setbacks!   Recommended to noodle lovers!  The rich albeit slightly oily beef broth was a pleaser!

After having our noodles, we decided to ditch our normal Dome coffee session and instead, headed over to Cream @ East Perth.  I was left shocked really!!  The place was overloaded with well dressed people, well for me whom was dressed in Polo and shorts + thongs at least. I shyly made my entry with the the gang. Quite a nice place! The Panacotta with ice cream, mango and passion fruit was stunning, the Brazilian dark hot chocolate, well, not so.  Cream has definitely made entry to one of my must try restaurants now! But first, Ha Lu next week!

 

WenY