Some recent Perth food

I thought I'd post a few pictures of some of the yummy meals we've had recently. Ant and I live in Mount Lawley, which is only a couple of minutes from a dizzying array of excellent food choices in Northbridge and the CBD.

Time for a Perth fact check - Northbridge, so named for being just North of the CBD over the Horseshoe Bridge, is Perth's biggest nightlife district.  This means that unless you love being hassled by drunken idiots, you should avoid it after 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.  However, it's also where you can find *loads* of excellent (and cheap!) Asian eateries.  Up around Brisbane Street there are a lot of Vietnamese places, there's a Chinatown-kinda area between Roe and James St, there are lots of Dim Sum places dotted around, and there's plenty of variety worth trying on William St too.  Notable places on William St that get a lot of our money - Shanghai Tea House, Good Fortune Roasting Duck, Tak Chee House, Mela, and (not Asian but) Perth's Best Pizza at Dough.  I do not say this lightly, but Dough rivals some of the best pizza I've had in Italy, and trust me, we are *very* picky about pizza.

I don't have photos from all of the places mentioned above, because I'm quite greedy and tend to dive in and forget to take photos when food arrives *^^*  But I shall endeavour to do better in future and write another one of these soon!

Starting in the CBD with Pepper Lunch!  They are a Japanese chain (quite popular in Singapore I think) that opened a Perth branch a few months ago.  I always order the Beef Pepper Rice with added cheese:

Left is how it arrives, right is after a minute of stirring.  The metal plate is sizzling hot - I think it's magnetic induction? - so you can cook your meat to your liking at the table.  There's yummy garlic butter hidden inside the rice that melts as you stir it up.  I add the cheese because I like the texture it adds (and I like the flavour of burnt cheese *^^*)  Ant often orders the J Curry Hamburger: 

It's a nice, fairly mild curry flavour.  Ain't no Pepper Rice though *biased*  But srsly if you like Japanese curry you will definitely enjoy this dish.

Sticking with the CBD we have Zensaki on Barrack Street.  Again I am quite predictable and usually order the same thing whenever we visit.  Here is Hokkaido Butter Corn Ramen:

Usually comes with a slotted spoon for the corn, as well it should!  The soup broth here is very good.  This is the place I usually go for ramen in Perth now.  I used to prefer Arigataya on Roe St but I had a couple of dodgy meals there early in the year.  I think they are under new management now so I will have to give them another try.

Also in the CBD, Burger Bistro.  This is the Emmental burger, and a really good strawberry milkshake:

Quite a nice burger but I still think the Summer Sunset at Grill'd is the best burger you can get in Perth.  The milkshake was really quite superb!

Moving up to Northbridge, here's a few shots from the very creatively titled Northbridge Chinese Restaurant on Roe St.  This is definitely one of the best dim sum restaurants in Perth as far as I am concerned.

 

Pictured - watermelon juice, bbq beef pastries, prawn dumplings, steam pork buns, steamed custard buns (very good, nice rich, runny custard).  Not pictured from that day - tea, squid tentacles, any of the veggies we ordered, the *super spicy* chilli oil for dipping, chee cheong fun.  We were *very* late that day and really just got what was left over from the lunchtime rush, but it was all still super delicious.  All out of yam cakes and congee though :(  I love that the tablecloths are more like drop sheets haha.  They know their customer base pretty well I guess (ie. greedy people).

Next up, the place that we probably go to the most frequently - Hawker's Cuisine in the Chinatown complex on Roe St.  (Another contender for Most Creative Name.)  I am actually shocked that I don't have many photos, but here's what I do have:

Above we have Nasi Lemak, the ever-present Iced Ribena Lemon, Fuzhou Tofu, Salt and Pepper Squid Tentacles, Hawker's Fried Rice, and rice with Butter Prawns (no shell, I am lazy) and Marmite Chicken.  Other things we frequently order but I have somehow never photographed - Mee Kolok, Nasi Goreng Special, Roti Canai (with beef for me and chicken for Ant), and hot milo and teh tarik.  Ant gets fried wontons quite a lot too but they have yet to make the Greatest Hits list.  This place is not exactly a best-kept secret so you often have to wait for a table.

Speaking of popular places where you often have to wait for a table, Viet Hoa on William St:

Pho and Goi Cuon.  I believe this is called a White Person's Order *^^*  but it's delicious so I don't mind being predictable.

One (inexplicably yellow) shot from Tak Chee House, which allegedly is Perth's best Hainanese Chicken Rice:

The rice portion is definitely the best - I hate when the rice is not very lemak! - and the chicken is silky enough.  I've had better chili padi though.  Tian Tian Chicken Rice in Singapore is probably the best chicken and chili padi that I've ever had, but I don't think I've ever had a dish where all the components were amazing.  Fussy or what?

Roast duck noodles from Good Fortune Roasting Duck:

These are really very good.  Roast duck rice is also excellent.  This place is another table queue-er.

Closing out this entry with two places that are actually not in Northbridge or the CBD, but a) I had photos on my phone, b) they were delicious, and c) it's my blog so I can change my own rules mid-entry if I want.  Here's a couple things from Tenkadori in Subiaco:

Mixed grill, takoyaki and renkon chips.  The takoyaki were for Ant, who is a veritable takoyaki *fiend*.  He says they were good but they're no Tako Tako King.  Spoilt for life.  The renkon chips are really, really good.

Finally for now, breakfast I had one time at cantina 663 in Mt Lawley.  Their menu changes very quickly and this was gone within the week :(  I'm still cut up about it because if I had my way I'd eat it every weekend:

Vanilla rice pudding with citrus salad, mint and poppy seed mascarpone.  Boom.  That sound you just heard was me dropping the microphone and walking offstage.  OK but seriously this was incredible.  I begged them to keep it on the menu but apparently my pleas don't mean that much.  I live in hope for the day this returns.

Long entry complete!  I will try to get some photos from other places in the near future.  Hope this hasn't made you too hungry!  (I'm starving now and all I have to eat is yoghurt.  Sigh.)