Monday, June 27, 2011

Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth, Burswood (Round 2!)

DINNER FOR TWO, SUNDAY 26TH JUNE | http://www.rockpool.com/

So this poor food blogger had all four of her wisdom teeth removed and was subsequently deprived of all solid and decent tasting food for two weeks. During this time, all I could do is read cook books and reminisce of the amazing food I’d had recently. I also whinged a whole lot to my better half and along with the help of a pouty face and some sad eyes, he made a promise that as soon as I could enjoy food again he would take me out for another dinner at Rockpool as a treat for being so brave (really, he just wanted an excuse to go back but who am I to argue?!).

I won’t go in to detail about the delightful food we had (again) for round two but wanted to make a quick post with some photos. I would’ve taken more but I was too excited and we had eaten half our meals before I remembered to take pictures! Apologies for the bad quality as well… I forgot my digi cam so took them with my mobile phone. It’s the thought that counts!

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CANDLE LIT ENTRANCE

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PEPPERMINT TEA AND CARAMEL POPCORN

But just to let you know, I took full advantage of my free meal and ordered the 200g Wagyu Sirloin ($119). Overpriced? Maybe. So mouth wateringly awesome that I’d order it again. OH YES!

A special shout out to our wonderful sommelier, Michael, as well. He really knew his stuff, helped us pick the perfect wine and for the first time, D and I shared a bottle of wine over dinner together (a long time dream of mine). Thanks champ!

x Caramel

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Bistro Felix, Subiaco

DINNER FOR TWO, SUNDAY 19TH JUNE | http://www.bistrofelix.com.au/


A LivingSocial voucher that was going to expire soon prompted me to book into Bistro Felix on Sunday night with my significant other.



We arrived on time and were seated at the bar for a few minutes while our table was prepared. Our waitress was lovely, not too intrusive but there when we needed her. Our drinks were topped up regularly without needing to ask. It also needs to be noted that we weren't treated any differently because we had a voucher. (I know a lot of restaurants won't let you book a particular table or request a window seat if you have one!)

So onto the food!


For the entrée I had Confit pork belly, sweet and sour baby turnip, caramelized apple & cider reduction ($21). The pork belly was beautiful, chewy where it needed to be and melt in the mouth.


My partner had the Braised oxtail & truffled mushroom ravioli ($24), it was so robust, the ox-tail was gorgeous. It was a generous serving for an entrée.

For mains I had Oven roasted salmon, lentil and spinach ragout with a clam and asparagus cream (39), P had the Margaret River wagyu rump, frites, café de paris butter ($40) cooked medium-rare. We also ordered a side of buttered french beans ($10) on advice from the waitress, but we really didn’t need them.


The salmon fell off the fork, it was quite a substantial size and the skin was perfect. 3 clams were on the plate and they were probably a bit chewy for my liking. P's steak was delicious, I usually hate medium-rare but this was lovely. It was cooked just how he wanted it.


Onto desserts, we chose the Raspberry & white chocolate frangipane tart, warm creme anglais ($15) and Assiette of chocolate ($20).


The tart was lovely, crumbly and had a light flavour. Not too over-powering. The chocolate was actually 3 chocolate desserts, a chocolate mousse, coffee brulee and a jaffa chocolate cake/pudding (I'm sorry I can't remember exactly what it was). One of P's favourite things about me is I can never eat a whole dessert, so he essentially gets two to himself. Well with the choc dessert it was more like 4!

At the end of the night, with our voucher ($79 for 2 mains, 2 desserts and a bottle of wine up to the vaule of $186) and our 2 entrees and 1 side dish, we only had an extra $55 to pay.


I would seriously recommend Bistro Felix to anyone, it was such a gorgeous night. They do a GFC menu Mon-Thu for dinner, 2 courses for $55, 3 courses for $65; you should definitely give it a try for that price!


5 out of 5 pork bellies from me!


x Salt

Bistro Felix on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Craftsman, Cannington


DINNER FOR TWO, SATURDAY 11TH JUNE | http://thecraftsman.com.au/index.php

Well hello Foundry, you've certainly improved yourself haven't you?

A friend and I decided to come here on a Saturday night purely because it was a location in-between our addresses. We arrived without a reservation at around 830 after watching a movie, it wasn’t overly busy, a few patrons having dinner and a few at the bar. We were promptly shown to our seats just to the right of the doors. The staff were pretty attentive which was appreciated.

The pub is unpretentious but still has an air of something just a little bit above normal pubs. Coincidentally we happened to dine during the 80's and 90's night so we got to groove along to Wham and Backstreet Boys while waiting for our meals. The tables were spaced a decent distance away from each other which was fantastic. We could have an animated conversation without interrupting other diners.

We chose the crumbed mushrooms ($11.90) to share as an entrée. 5 came quickly on a plate with a bit of side salad and aioli for dipping. The mushrooms were crumbed with a lovely cream cheese between the crumb and the shroom. I'd recommend them if you're after something light.
My main was the Chicken Galliano ($24.90), it had such a lovely soft sweet vanilla flavour in the sauce, on a bed of risotto, surrounded by a tonne of mushrooms (yum!). The chicken was wrapped in prosciutto and cooked perfectly.
My friend had the porcini mushroom risotto with chicken ($26.90) and said it was wonderful. We both couldn’t finish our meals, although we weren't ravenous to begin with. I'd say the portion sizes are on the mark.

For a casual meal I'd definitely recommend this place. It actually surprised me as I'm usually a very harsh critic. Actually the only thing I could complain about is our table was in the draught near the door so it was a bit cold.

4.5 out of 5 from me!

X Salt

Craftsman Bar Brasserie on Urbanspoon

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth, Burswood

DINNER FOR TWO, FRIDAY 3RD JUNE | http://www.rockpool.com.au/

Neil Perry, you dead set legend.
As soon as you open the enormous wooden doors you feel as though you’ve entered another world. The candle lit corridor behind the doors sets the mood and builds anticipation as you admire the aging beef behind the glass on one side, and the hundreds of bottles of wine on the other.  At the end we were surprised to see such a large dining room however there were smaller areas sectioned off by large sheer curtains giving a warm and inviting sense of intimacy. We were shown to our table and handed our menus and very extensive wine list.
For entrée I chose the roast squid, smoky chili and pork belly ($28) and D chose the charcoal king prawns, split and marinated ($30). My squid was cooked wonderfully and the roasted red onion and capsicum was so complimenting with the chili giving it the perfect kick. I am not a huge fan of pork but it was delicious! It was very substantial and could easily have been shared between two people. D was just as satisfied with his prawns saying they couldn’t have been any more flavorsome and well cooked.
There were four different types of beef on the menu and apart from the wagyu, we weren’t sure of the difference between them all. Our waitress was very helpful and we learnt that the grass fed beef has a meatier flavor whereas the grain fed has more of a creamier taste and texture. D went with the Rangers Valley dry aged 300 day grain fed fillet (250g, $69) and I ordered the Cape Grim dry aged 36 month old grass fed rib eye on the bone (350g, $60). The steaks are served on their own with only a slice of lemon so we also ordered two sides - royal blue potatoes sautéed in wagyu fat with rosemary and garlic ($10) and the green beans with creamy anchovy, chili and lemon dressing, and toasted almonds ($9). Our steaks were mouth-wateringly good and came with a complimentary condiment service. D admitted that his fillet looked little rarer than he would’ve liked but it tasted incredible. We both tried each other’s and could definitely taste the difference between grass and grain fed, grain being the winner! The beans, oh the beans! They were hands down the best beans I have ever eaten. Sweet and crisp and the dressing was amazing. The roast potatoes were also delightful – crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, like a good roast potato should be.
By this point we were so stuffed but just couldn’t bring ourselves to skip dessert. Being a massive sucker for pudding and any dessert containing rhubarb, I couldn’t go past the warm rhubarb, strawberry and almond pudding with vanilla sauce ($25).  It was heavenly but I couldn’t finish the very generous serve. D chose the butterscotch pecan tart with iced coffee ($16) which the perfect balance of sweet and bitter.
We finished our meal with peppermint tea which came with complimentary caramel popcorn. The popcorn was divine. Sweet, light, and so utterly mourish.
Overall it was an incredible experience. The service was wonderful, the food was spot on and timing between meals was perfect. I had to think really really hard to come up with a fault and it would only be that the tables are a little bit too close to each other. But we were in our own world so it didn’t matter. We will be back. Very soon.
A big 5 out 5 juicy steaks for this bloggers first post!

x Caramel
PS. Next time I will post photos. Promise!

Update! 27/06/11 - Check out my second post on Rockpool which also has a few pics :)

Rockpool Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon