Having read some great blogs lately (Little Piece of Pie, Opshopped and The Fremantle Doctor as well as the old fave Love Freo) I have decided it is time to kick start the lonely Chow Chow Hound. (Though one should never kick any kind of hound so let’s instead say I decided to lovingly pat the hound back to life)
I have so many food related items to discuss and I think, all without serious complaint…
Let’s start with Continue reading
It is strange to be a person who one day discovers that they are at a point where it has become ok to spend $186 on dinner. It was a birthday dinner, but really? $186? Should that ever be ok? When $200 used to be pretty close to my full weekly wage. Is it ok to say Yes to spending such an amount on a plate of tasty morsels, a tepid lamb chop and sweet, oh and don’t forget the wine…
George Street Bistro in East Fremantle is one of the” have to try” places to eat if you are kind of interested in that kind of thing. Being that Me and the fellow Chow hound are those who enjoy getting amongst the touted snacky places around Perth, we had to give George Street a bash. This is our second time round.
On a chilly darkened May night we arrived and were seated near the front window/door area. We decided to opt for the shared tasting plate for our starter. We both now fancy ourselves as duck liver pate connoisseurs so the inclusion of this item on the plate made it an easy choice for us.
The “Best Of” Tasting plate ($32 for two) consists of Duck Liver Pate, Goat Cheese Brulee and Sugar Cured Salmon. We also received a basket of tasty bread with a side of butter. Each item on the plate was delicious. The salmon was plump and rich and came with a creamy sauce, the Brulee was creamy and tangy but best of all was the Duck Liver Pate, so creamy, so smooth, the texture which almost produces its own temperature, a delight to which I say, more, more, more please?! The serving for two was generous and went down a treat with a glass of Murray Street Cab Sav ($12). If you are looking for a fantastic nibbler pre dinner, this is surely one of the yummiest.
For our main we both ordered the Rack of Lamb ($40). Upon ordering the waitress asked if we were happy to receive the dish as per the chef’s recommendation which is to serve it medium. We agreed and while I am happy with the choice I would have to say it is the rarest lamb I have eaten and I felt it lacked a little caremalisation. The lamb was to have a mustard bread crumb crust however the bread was soft and had not been crisped in the slightest. The lamb was very fresh and probably how lamb should be enjoyed however for my personal taste I like a little browning, more for the taste than the ick factor of rare meat. There was no bleed on the plate so the dish was served as we had agreed. We both enjoyed it but could not help but feel the sting at having shelled out $80 in total for some kind of soggy lamb chops.
Desert was a Crème Brulee ($13) for me and a Chocolate Pudding with vanilla ice cream ($13) (*note – recollection on exact price and ice cream flavour sketchy) for fellow Chow Hound. My Brulee was quite large and had a satisfying crack as I struck through the caramelised sugar. A fine Brulee! Fellow Chow hound however was not so impressed with his small pud which was a little dry inside and a bit small for the price and as it was not exactly rich in flavour, was a little disappointing.
My general impression of the Bistro is still positive and I would go back again. I do feel the menu is a tad over priced however we would have been smart to order a bottle wine rather than the four glasses we ordered in total which really added to the bill. The wine list is interesting however I would like to see more wine available by the glass. The next time we visit I will be tempted to partake in the set menu which comes with matched wines. I can’t say that the meal was not worth what was paid because the overall experience of sitting with fellow Chow Hound over what was a quality meal with a few glasses of wine really was a birthday treat.
George Street Bistro
(08) 9339 6352
Fremantle
73 George St
Perth, 6158
www.george-street.com.au
A few years ago Rich and I booked for a Valentine’s Day dinner at Lyrebird, now The View. The overall experience was so bad we walked out half way through. We have never been back however I have been thinking about paying them another visit.
Having left the View late into the evening on Valentine’s Day we figured our only remaining option of a romantic dinner out would be fish and chips or McDonalds on Fishing Boat Harbour (R.I.P. my good Friend) – we decided to try out luck at Char Char Bull and we were happy to discover that they had a free table. We had such good service on the night that ever since then I have always had a soft spot for Char Char.
I have since been back with family and it has always been a great all purpose winner – great food, great wine and pretty views. It will be interesting to see what happens down in this little area of Freo when the ISAF Sailing World Championships hit town in December of this year.
With this in mind the fam, Rich and I decided to book in for a dinner on Saturday night to celebrate my Grandma’s 79th Birthday.
I think it would be safe to say that we are a family of big eaters, we like our food and we like plenty of it.
We decided to order some garlic bread $6 (for my Mum and Uncle) and Trio of Dips $16 for the table, this was in addition to two serves of Chicken Soup $12 for Dad and Rich and a Crispy tart, with seared Japanese scallops, fennel, caramelised onion, bacon, apple dressing $21 for me.
The breads were great, hot and fresh and almost in a damper style. I sipped the soup and it was clear, clean and fresh. My entree was delicious, the scallops were plump and moist and the apple dressing was tart and sweet so it cut through the heaviness of the puff pastry.
We ordered a bottle of Fonty’s Pool to have with dinner, you gotta have a red with a steak!
For our mains we pretty much covered all areas of the menu . Rich and I both had the Scotch Fillet, 300 grams with caramelised onion, green peppercorn sauce $39 – which also came with mash potato – we both loved our steak. Mine was served medium and was easy to pull apart along the grain; the sauce was savoury and complemented the subtly sweet meat. Great use of meat.
Mum had the 200 gram Fillet Steak (which the staff were happy to alter slightly to Mum’s liking – making a mushroom jus styled gravy instead of the regular sundried tomatoe butter the steak usually comes with)
My uncle had the Supremo Pizza – pepperoni, bacon, roasted capsicum, mushrooms, pineapple, onions & parsley $23 which he said was as good as any pizza he had ever had including some Lygon street classic’s – pretty big call but coming from a pizza buff, who knows? Maybe I’ll get pizza next time.
Dad had the Linley Valley Pork Rib Eye (270 gms), on the bone, spiced carrot puree, charred peach & pear chutney, orange vincotto & red wine jus $36 – it looked fantastic and came with a nice bit of pork crackle on top (which Dad gave to Mum – he’s one of those weirdos that does not enjoy crisped up animal fat).
Grandma had the North West barramundi fillet, with prawn & potato cake, apple & pear remoulade & chilled zucchini salad $38 which she said was the best example of Barra she has had in ages – it looked juicy and fresh – Grandma also loved the prawn and potato cake.
For dessert I opted for the Sticky Date Pudding, with hot French caramel sauce & vanilla bean icecream $12 – the pudding it’s self was a tad dry however this was countered by the lashings of the most delicious caramel sauce, I don’t know exactly what made it French as described on the menu but it was super yummy and I would like to eat it more often! Rich ended up helping me out with my dessert and he loved the sauce also.
Rich ordered the Layered Blackberry & Creme Brulee Cheesecake, with fresh cream & blackberry sauce $12, while he enjoyed it well enough, he prefers his cheese cake to be dense with cheese, cheese and more cheese so would probably get something else next time however he did like it.
Mum never goes past the Pav so had the soft baked Pavlova $12 with raspberry coulis, creme anglaise & passionfruit cream, while not keen on the crème anglaise, really liked the raspberry coulis. Though mum clarified her order twice with our waitress who by this time of the night was looking a bit frayed, she was still served the profiteroles, though they were sent out in error I almost leapt across the table to claim them as they looked sooooo good. Sadly, they were returned to the kitchen and Mum’s rightful dish was served.
Even though it still feels like summer we all finished our meal with a hot drink – Mum ordered a pot of English Breakfast Tea while the rest of us opted for Irish coffee (whisky infused) and French coffee (Grand Marnier infused) – they were sweet and heavenly.
I need to go out and get some Grand Marnier for the house and I don’t mean a big sailor!
I love Char Char Bull.
| char char bull | |
| 44b mews rd | |
| fishing boat harbour | |
| fremantle wa | |
| ph: 9 335 7666 |
I reckon we Perth people are a lazy bunch of merdes. We make a lot of time for complaining and procrastinating but we are sometimes a bit slow on the seeking and the doing. The point I am skirting around is the “Pert so boring” phenomena (if you are not into random pop culture reference this will just look like a typo to you – if you are into random pop culture reference and also a closet fan of one Ms. Rose Lang – Hancock – Porteous – you will know exactly which tree I am barking up)
It’s not bloody Perth that is so boring; it’s some of its bloody citizens. Every mother flipping city is boring IF you are a lazy merde who cannot be bothered to hop off Mr. couch and actually step outside and see what’s shaking in the real world (thank you Mr. Butler). This is not the part of the story where I start to make like a journalist from the Sunday Times Magazine and proceed to list things on a scale of what is now hot in Perth and what is now not in Perth. This is also not the part in the story where I start talking about how Melbourne we now are (Cause we are not, ok? And we are not ever going to be. Melbourne is Melbourne, Perth is Perth, celebrate the difference or fuck off. It’s getting a bit embarrassing)
This is the part where I talk about how freaking awesome Whisper Wine Bar is. Yes, it’s in Freo not the actual city of Perth but given how close everything is to everything here and how ridiculously easy it is to get from the city to Freo, it’s all a bit of muchness.
I have lived in Freo for almost three years and only got around to visiting Whisper a week or so ago, because I am a lazy merde. On the day that my BF and I tried the wine bar the temperature was up around the 100 degree mark yet we still chose to sit outside on the very high but very comfy outdoor chairs. I have a major crush on almost all things French and having been to France twice now, I like to consider myself a bit of an expert on the country (I do try to avoid sarcasm in print usually but I thought I’d just go for it here) Whisper Bar is the kind of place that always freaks me out a bit, because it’s just so Frenchy so chic, I hear they import baguette dough from gay Paris and cook it here in town –yikes! AND because these kinds of places are sometimes staffed by art wank arseholes that get high off of their own excellence and super expensive hair product. Not so here! Our host, who I think may have been the friendly owner, was indeed French, however there were no art wank antics to be found, he was a genuinely nice chap, happy to serve a pair of sweltering, sweating customers some great wine and some great cheese.
Up until very recently I have been an adamant red wine only kind of person, I don’t know exactly what has happened but ever since Rich and I took a wine tour of the Swan Valley, during which I sampled many a fine white, it’s been on like donkey kong for me and the white’s of the world. On this day, Rich and I shared a bottle of Marsane Grenache Blanc from Rhône France (around $30) and it was delicious, I am still to learn how to describe white wine with any kind of eloquence however, I will say this, wedding days and soft sugar- while not overdoing it. That means it’s good.
In accompaniment, we enjoyed The Three Cheese Platter, which turned out to be The Four Cheese Platter – you are speaking my language when you offer me an extra variety of cheese for no additional cost.
There was a soft cheese which was on its way to be becoming a spread what with the oven like heat we were experiencing, a goat cheese (my personal fave), a hard cheese and a pepper corn filled cheese. Really each one was as good as the next, a small salad in the middle of the plate acted as a decoy to the large amounts of saturated fat and calories in the cheese. Also of note is the way our host would lavish us with baguette, basket after basket – He treated the sharing of the bread almost as if it were not a crime to give a customer a top up of something without asking them to pay more or add it to the menu as a “side” and charge extra for something that should clearly come with the meal. The combination of friendly service, great wine and cheese and very pretty lay out means that I will be going back to Whisper Wine Bar again. It is a small example of something not trying too hard and I think in this state, this is to be celebrated and rewarded with repeat custom.
1/15 Essex Street
Fremantle WA 6160
(08) 9335 7632
The little stretch of South Terrace which is tboned by Wray Ave is, I think, the most delightful part of Freo. The little community vibe is happening. I love that it is comfy walking distance into “town” and also just as close to South Freo. The little shops in the area are superior in what they stock (thinking Freo Doctor Liquor store on Arundel, Galatis grocer and Franks gourmet meats on Wray Ave) and are really well priced. I have just started frequenting Wild Poppy on Wray Ave and it is officially my new fave, not just in our little nook but in town generally. So far I have had a breaky and two lunches there and they were all fabulous. (Admittedly I have had the same lunch twice, but its soo good.)
Monday to Friday Rich and I are on the bran which we make a bit more exciting with a sprinkle of nuts, seeds and dried fruit. If it’s a weekend I am always going to be the person to get eggs Benedict, something with bacon, something with cheese, something with hash brown (which reminds me that I really need to do a quick rundown of one of the most heart stoppingly so wrong it was right breakfasts I have ever eaten, hash brown related*) But though I love all of these crunchy, salty carby things I do like a fresh weekend breakfast from time to time especially if we are planning on cooking up a feast for dinner. Other than muesli from home, I have found the perfect breakfast courtesy of Wild Poppy which is a Thai sticky rice pudding with cream. (Writing this makes me realise two things, I can’t remember exactly what kind of cream or the price which leads to a third conclusion, my reviewing skills need to improve above randomly woofing food and then sprouting half memories of the event) This rice pudding is delightful; it’s dark and kind of purple, warm, sweet but def not too sweet. It also comes with a small side of banana fritter. The slightly salty crispy fritter batter is a wonderful friend to the creaminess of the ricey goo. I love banana fritters from way back (Hawaiian pack?) so I am always overjoyed when they turn up on a plate. I think this is the kind of dish that while totally simple, is one that I will start to crave.
When I am lucky enough to get a day off work, I like to grab a take away lunch and bring it back home to eat while watching the end of Dr. Phil and the start of Oprah. Lately I have been grabbing the Roast Vegetable Turkish bread toasted sandwich from Wild Poppy ($9 each) while I personally think any sandwich over $7.00 is getting a bit silly, I have had this twice now and will no doubt have another. It is the only sandwich of Turkish bread that is done well. While I love fresh hot Turkish bread, especially from Istanbul, in my opinion unless you eat the bread then and there directly out of the oven, it turns yucky town and incredibly dry. I have been served sandwiches of Turkish bread which were wholly inedible and could have served as house bricks. This is not the case with the Vege toastie, they are cut not too thick, are super flavoursome and toast beautifully. Inside is a mix of eggplant, pumpkin (other veg I can’t distinguish right now) and a garlicky tasty pesto. So even though they are $9.00 they are tasty, substantial and moreish. I will try to vary my choice next time.
Something else well worth mentioning is how pretty the place is. It looks like every 20 – 35 year old Art student’s future dream home. It is really well set out and looks Amazing from the street at night with all the pretty lights glowing away behind lacy lamp shades. Pity it’s closed of an evening however for now I’ll be grateful for the current opening hours and continue to make good use of them.
2 Wray Ave
Fremantle WA 6160
(08) 9430 8555
I could not help but feel as though the Fremantle I have always loved is losing a little or shall I say a lot of what makes it awesome as some friends, Richard and I walked into town on Friday night. After watching what turned out to be a majorly entertaining movie (The A Team! Do see it on the eXtreme Screen) we proceeded to look for somewhere for dinner. We first walked up to Soho Burgers on South Terrace, we have eaten there before and are fans of the place, I was keen to try one of their pizza’s, we scanned the menu posted on the front doors, we were all in agreement when my friend noticed the CLOSED sign popped up proudly on the shiny glass doors. So it’s 9.30pm, it’s Friday night, you rent what must be an expensive space on one of busiest streets in Fremantle and, Closed? Ok. Not the smartest business plan but I am sure you know what you are doing.
Disappointed but not altogether so surprised, we decided to head on and along to what appears to be a new place, Mediterranean House Restaurant. I think the fact that there was only one occupied table in what is a large dining room should have been our first warning sign however only having eaten a choc top since lunch I think we were all just ready to eat. As we walked in we attracted little to no attention from those behind the counter, maybe it was a case of if we don’t look at them, they may go away. A staff member approached us to say that they were about to close but could offer us a limited menu this being the pizza’s and maybe pasta, he’d have to ask the chef’s but he thinks they could russell up a pasta. He explained because they were about to close (yes you mentioned that) the oven’s were off and to cook other dishes they may have to be turned back on. Thank you sir, yes that is my understanding of how the cooking process works. Because Pizza and pasta is what we were after we decided to go for it. Our host however did not appear overly enthused that we had taken his token offer of the limited menu and proceeded to linger at our table while we reviewed the menu, my friend already feeling the eat and get out vibe asked twice to be given more time to review the menu. It was at the second time of asking that my friend suggested we take our business elsewhere. There’s an idea! So we did. As we left another gentlemen approached and asked if everything was ok, we said we had decided to leave. Our original host now behind the counter looked pleased with this and wished us a good night. As a restaurateur, if you are closing and decide to take in last minute patrons, treat those patrons in the same manner in which you would treat the first customer of the night. While I think it was a genuine compromise on the host’s behalf to offer the limited menu, the way in which we were handled was totally unprofessional and we will very likely not make a return visit. We eat out almost every weekend, their loss and perhaps ours if the food we never got to try is any good.
As we looked around upon leaving there were signs of places packing up, closing down and looking dismal. Next Door were shutting up shop, Soho had long closed, the only signs of life were coming from Metro’s and a huge group of teenage girls who appeared to be trying to attack a man in the front of Hungry Jacks. It was not so many months ago Rich and I were turned away from the Dome cafe on Fishing Boat Harbour at 6pm as they had decided to close due to lack of custom.
As by this time we were all pretty hungry our friend had a smart idea which was to grab a kebab from Nick’s Place. Richard and I had the chicken kebab; it was everything a kebab should be, salty, messy, cheesy, saucy, garlicky and filling. We also shared a fresh basket of chips. Coming in at under $30 for the two of us it was a cheap end to the night.
I had the feeling as we walked home that night that Freo needs to take a long hard look at its self. Glorious location, potential plus but repeatedly not hitting the mark when it comes to food. Maybe if we could get some of our restaurants to stay open and take orders past 9.30pm we could promote a culture which is the opposite of what it seems to now be which is eat at home then head into Freo to get pissed, have a fight or spew (or both for those with stamina) on the main street then get a cab home.
Nick’s Place Shishkebab
Shop 2 South Tce Piazza
Fremantle WA 6160
(08) 9336 2391
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fremantle-Australia/nicks-place/101796189803
Mediterranean House Restaurant
Within Paddy Troy Mall, off South Terrace
Fremantle (in the alley near Rosy O’Grady’s)
Call 9336 3003
There are a few Indian restaurants in Fremantle but I think my fave right now is Bengal. Rich and I have been going to Bengal off and on for a few years. Bengal has not been the most consistent in that sometimes it is great and then others very much like something I could make at home. Nice but not I’m happy to fork out close to $80 kind of nice. This being said we have had more hits than misses so this is why we always go back. Rich and I used to favour the buffet (was Sunalay, Now Gates to India) near the main street but having had consistently bad meal after bad meal from there we are giving it a substantial break.
We and some friends headed to Bengal on Saturday night after a full day of Swan Valley wine tasting tours. Though I had eaten a truck load of cheese and had a plenty of wine I was still really in the mood for a proper dinner. No matter what I have eaten during the day, a full dinner or at least some small hot savoury dish is always a must for me.
Rich and I ordered a mixed entree to share (A selection of Spinach Pakora, Kashmiri Kebabs, Chicken Tikka and Shahi Jinga $22.50) I really liked the Chicken Tikka, really tasty and moist and moreish. I could snack on this kind of chicken all night. I was not thaaaat keen on the kebabs, I don’t actually think this is a reflection on the kebabs I think more of a personal taste thing. I was just not in the mood for a spicy lamb sausage. I was also not overly into the spinach pakora, again, I think this is personal preference and not a bad example of a pakora. Our dining buddies had ordered Onion Bajji and Spinach Pakora. The Baji’s were great and I think next time I will get these instead of the mixed entree, that or a serve of the chicken tikka. The entree’s are really big so even the entree’s not specifically made for sharing could easily be shared. Our entree came served with a nice green yoghurt dippy sauce which I could have eaten a lot more of.
For my main I went for the Lamb Korma ($19.90), I am usually almost always inclined to get the Butter Chicken however I was really after the Korma flavour. I am glad I decided to stray from my OCD like ordering of Butter Chicken because the Korma was delicious. The sauce was savoury with a very small hint of sweet; the lamb was very tender and fresh. It was great Korma. We also ordered a garlic / plain naan combo, fresh, hot, crispy, great. We also ordered a rice to share which turned out to be enough for all four of us. Rich ordered the Goat Curry ($20 approx) which was on the special’s menu. Rich did not really like his meal. The accompanying sauce was quite spicy however was a bit too tomato – ee. There was very little meat and what meat was on the bone was chewy. This curry only gets a half a bleat. Our dining buddies each chose from the vegetarian menu both dishes got the thumbs up (Kofta and Vege Korma from memory and website check). Apart from the goat I think all dishes were great and I will definitely be keeping Bengal on my Indian fix list.
Old Firestation
18 Philimore Street
Fremantle 6160
Opening Times:
6:00pm every day.
Last Orders:
Sun to Thurs – 9:00pm
Fri to Sat – 9:30pm
