25 August - Monza, Leederville

Last night, we went to Monza in Leederville for Ah-Carley's birthday. The place looked a bit swanky and it was relatively quiet when we arrived. As the night went on, the place filled up and got a whole lot noisier. Also, we were right near the front door, and cigarette smoke came in from time to time from smoking patrons outside.

For an entree, CB and I shared an antipasto plate, and ordered an extra wedges afterwards. The antipasto plate wasn't too bad, the plate consisted of (from the top, clockwise): prosciutto, curry prawns, squid of some type, turkish bread, stuffed mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, artichoke, roasted capsicum, rocket and olives and fetta in the middle.

The prosciutto wasn't bad, although I must admit I haven't been a huge fan of it before.. (I much prefer pancetta). The prawns, squid, bread, mushrooms, tomatoes and capsicum were nice. I wasn't a fan of the artichoke, didn't try the olives and fetta (only like olives on pizza) and the rocket wasn't too bad, but would prefer it to be dressed.

The wedges were handcut and fried. Not as crunchy as say Terrazza, but not as "manufactured" as Terrazza either. The aioli was good, the tomato sauce came out of a bottle.

For a main, I went for a special. It was described as "a Mediterranean rack of lamb, on a chickpea patty, spinach and zucchini ribbons, pinenuts with tatziki and capsicum coulis. It was presented well but for me, the flavours didn't work well together. The coulis was sweet (and I much prefer savoury), and the chickpea patty was a bit bland. The rack of lamb was cooked well, pink in the middle and nice and browned on the outside. Overall, it wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as say the lamb shanks at Darlington Estate.

Would I go back to Monza? Probably not. A number of reasons, the noise when the place filled up, the amount of cigarette smoke pluming in when it was busy, the relatively expensive (but nothing to really rave about) food, and some aspects of the service weren't terribly flash.

18 August - Hungry Jacks Midland

Whilst in Midland on Saturday, CB and I decided to have lunch at HJs. It was quite busy and we had to wait for our food for a bit but it eventually came. I ordered an Ultimate Double Whopper meal (after seeing it on TV), and CB had a grilled Chicken meal. We shared some onion rings.



What can I say about this burger? Whilst not as big as the New York New York Giant Yankee burger, it has been the biggest burger / meal that I've had in awhile, and had trouble finishing it. It definitely is a heart attack in bun format. The cheese was over the top, I'm actually a fan of normal Whoppers (without cheese).

6th August - Harbour Town Noodle Inn

Lunch was a toss up between a kebab or some noodles.. my inner Asian got the better of me this time round. I decided upon Penang Fried Kway Teow, hot. It wasn't too bad for Perth Kway Teow (I'd much rather prefer authentic from Singapore), greasey as expected, however "hot" was more of a western hot, so next time I think I'll have to say "very hot" instead.

5th August - Farrell's in Vic Park

Breakfast for CB's birthday (with her family) was at Farrell's in Vic Park. I went for the 'Mixed Grill', which consisted of 2 eggs, 2 sausages, bacon, 2 small lamb chops, a tomato, mushrooms and toast.

It was the biggest breakfast I've had eating out (except for buffet breakfasts). The cutlery given to cut through the crusy loaf toast was a bit ordinary. But apart from that, it was thoroughly enjoyed and I didn't eat lunch after polishing off the plate.

4th August - Darlington Estate Winery

On Saturday, CB decided to celebrate her birthday, so a group of us went up and down a massive hill and ended up at the Darlington Estate Winery.



The place was quiet and the table settings were nice. Service wasn't too bad (if I had to nitpick, I sometimes had an empty glass of water). The chairs were made out of wrought iron I think, I thought I wouldn't be able to sit on them for long but they were OK and ended up on them for 3 or so hours. It was a nice change to have dinner in a quiet restaurant .. we were easily the loudest table.

For an entree, I decided upon some Beef Carpaccio as I hadn't tried it before, even though I was tempted to go for the salmon. It was served with some deep fried cheese (halloumi) and the cheese whiz stuff was actually white beans. Eating the beef with the cheese wasn't too bad, the meat was melt in your mouth quality, but to be honest, wasn't that tasty. Most of the flavour came from the cheese.. It was a really nice dish but I don't think I'd have it again, a matter of personal taste I guess.

For a main, I tried the special, which was a braised lamb shank, in puff pastry served with belotti beans and a pea puree. The sauce at a guess was derived from the braising liquid and was simply awesome. The lamb shank was fall off the bone tender, and the crisp puff pastry was nice. The only thing left on the plate afterwards were the bones, which unfortunately I couldn't eat.

For desert I tried the Apple and Cinnamon Panacotta, with Apple Sorbet and Almond Biscotti. It was nice but Panacotta isn't for me. I much prefer a custard base pudding instead of gelatin.

All in all, the meal was very enjoyable and would recommend the place to anyone willing to travel up in the hills. Would I go back? Probably, but atleast not till next year when we can use the Ent book again ;)

3rd August - Dome, Mt Lawley

On Friday, a group of us decided to have coffee and cake in Mt Lawley. I was actually after some fries or wedges, but the kitchen had closed. So the next choice was a Lemon Lime Brulee and a Vanilla Milkshake. The Brulee wasn't too bad, very tangy as expected, and the shake was nice and thick! yum.

3rd August - Shimizu

Today I had a Tori Karaage Bento set at Shimizu in Harbour Town with a few work mates. The food was pretty decent this time around, although I felt a bit jipped about the amount of chicken I got. I still believe that the best Karaage has to be a toss between Jaws in Perth, or possibly Sushi Train in Sydney. But this place isn't too bad either, and is conveniently located near work.

2nd August - Subway

On Thursday, I had lunch at Subway. I decided upon a Subway Melt, on Italian Herb & Cheese bread. I went for all the salads, including pickles and jalapenos. Topped off with mayo.

Before this, I hadn't had Subway in awhile. And I probably won't after this. It's not to say that it wasn't any good, but I used to have Subway quite often and am a bit scared of it.