It's been brought to my attention that chickwithguts has been VERY slack lately. it's not like i didn't know that, its that ive been working really really hard at work (not slacking off) so have slacked off in the area that previously i wasn't so.. well... slack in! Plus my phone died which meant that my super dooper photos suffered cos i had to go back to my old phone.. anyway none of this means that i haven't been thinking of food, obsessing about food, EATING food (altho this has suffered too from recent tummy bug action, which has just meant a lot of miso) and taking photos of food, it just means that none of it has made it's way onto my blog...
Anyway.
A round up of the past month. I went to Perth. Had some GREAT food there. My standout would have to be Divido in Mount Hawthorne http://www.divido.com.au/index.htm Check out the dinner menu and you will find the thing, the dessert, the ONE if you will - my new grrlfriend, Croatian Doughnuts with almond and vanilla custard and summer berries - although on the nite I had it, it was served with roasted rhubarb!!!!! Words cannot express how i loved this dish - it had everything i love in a dessert - it was comfort food with great flavour and flair ... it was divine..it was divino! Sadly I was too taken with my new love to take any photos of her....Croatian Doughnuts - will you marry me?
Old Bud (OB) and i checked out Voyage Kitchen and Deli at 128 West Coast Drive cos a friend had said it had great coffee - the brekky menu looked good and it was PACKED - old bud and i got take away coffee and lunch and sat in the sand on the beach opposite - so it could have been the general ambience of gorgeous sunny perth day on white sandy beach with sea lapping at stuff, but the coffee WAS rich and yummy and my ham and cheese panini (which i swore off years ago cos perth got completely panini obsessed and i decided that panini was the foccacia of the 00's) did seem to be particularly tasty.
Went to Cimbalino in Dalkeith too - last time i couldnt taste anything, this time i could taste too much! the coffee always rocks here, but the bircher muesli was too sweet for me and the croissant i ordered came out cold, not warm and flaky - i was only consoled by OB, who told me in no uncertain terms that in Paris croissants did not arrive all flaky and warm...? Still not convinced by that, but it worked for me at the time.
I had two brekkys at Sayers at Shop 1, 224 Carr Place Leederville (swapping my old haunts for new this trip). OH. MY. GOD. So good!!!! I went to Sayers when it first opened, drawn by the tenuous link to Tarts in Northbridge. I was unimpressed by the froufrou cushions, the massive gilt mirror on the wall and the businessy clientele - but this time.. well maybe i've just chilled the fuck out. It's 2 years on and the mirror is still there, so are the cushions, but the music was good, the ppl a mix of business types...hipsters and well...us! The first brekky i opted for some savoury bizness - poached eggs, home made beans, rocket and parmesan, potato cake - again, my words fail me.. it was all just so and tasted amazing. The second brekky i opted for sweetness and being partial to a pancake, i ordered the ricotta pancakes with strawberry compote, double cream and maple syrup. well. pancakes - light, fluffy, just a HINT of ricotta oozing from the centre, fresh strawberries, dusted in icing sugar. And MAjor brownie points for all the rest of the things on the plate coming in little individual pots so that you can mix and match everything until its just how you like it. PLUS the woman who took our order recognised us from another cafe we used to hang out at all the time and was very enthusiastic about it, which stroked my pathetic ego. Only drawback - the coffee. Looks promising, not unpleasant, but fails to really drive it all home. Nevertheless, double thumbs up to Sayers.
My last night in town i went to Jessies Curry Kitchen, which has had a number of really flattering writeups including respected Perth blogger Abstract Gourmet and the Beaufort St Bloggers:
In fact these were what led me there - that and the fact that when OB and i went on a reconnaissance mission to check it out, Jessie told us that she cooks fresh every day. Twice. Frankly, this shows the kind of foolhardy dedication to quality food that will suck me in every time, so we invited everyone down for a goodbye Jay, hello Jessie dinner. All that needs to be said is in the two links above really. Cheap as chips (cost $130 for 9 of us), yummy, good sized portions, personable service (Jessie's partner Jeya runs the floor), the best Teh Tarik i've had since Singapore (hurrah! Jeya told me you have to use Boh tea ONLY and he lugs it in from Malaysia packed into a suitcase LOL). Check it out.
Last but not least, I had yum cha twice. Now you'd be hard pressed to find better dim sum than at Darwin's Tasty House, but in Perth the benchmark used to be Hoi's Kitchen (RIP). When i was informed that the chef from Hoi's was now at a new place, Dim Sim House on William St in Northbridge I had to check it out. The cafe is a new style cafe rather than an old school dim sum house, but the food rocked. And the SQUID! It brought a tear to my eye. Service was great. And they serve shanghai dumplings which made OB and Tables very happy. Ate a variety of dim summy type stuff and it was all delicious. So if you like it - get on and eat it.
ok nuf from me now.
:-)))
