CB's food wasn't the best, but my chicken caesar salad was quite good. A heap of chicken, prosciutto and a cold poached egg made this a tasty dinner.
26 Nov - Valley View Restaurant, Henley Brook
CB's food wasn't the best, but my chicken caesar salad was quite good. A heap of chicken, prosciutto and a cold poached egg made this a tasty dinner.
5 Nov - Boa Brazilian BBQ, Scarbourough
Spreetz had a special for all-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ so a group of us ordered a set of vouchers and decided to chow down.
ENTREE
Cheese Balls
SIDE DISHES
Black Beans
Potato Mayo
Rice
Farofa
Green Salad
MEATS
South American Sausage
Chicken Parmesan(grilled)
Brazilian Kebab
Argentinian Steak
Picanha(Rump Cap)
Pork Ribs
Beef Ribs
Lamb
ENTREE
Cheese Balls
SIDE DISHES
Black Beans
Potato Mayo
Rice
Farofa
Green Salad
MEATS
South American Sausage
Chicken Parmesan(grilled)
Brazilian Kebab
Argentinian Steak
Picanha(Rump Cap)
Pork Ribs
Beef Ribs
Lamb
22 Oct - On The Terrace / KoKo Black, Claremont
My birthday this year was in Claremont, at a cafe called On The Terrace. Upon arrival, we were shown the menus which turns out to be quite a bit smaller than the one posted online. A little disappointed about that cos the options I wanted were no longer available.
To start off with, I went for the beef cheek. This was braised and shredded, and served with some garlic puree stuff and fresh bread. The cheek was tender and had a real strong beefy taste to it, despite being braised in red wine, which tends to overpower everything.
For a main I wanted the mushroom risotto which was no longer on the menu. I opted instead for the beef fillet, which was requested rare. This bit of meat was cooked just the way I wanted it and went down a treat. The others got ripped off with their gnocchi choice as they had run out and convinced some to mix in some angel hair pasta.
After dinner was a short walk to KoKo Black where I had a drink and some sweets (I forget the name of the set). The hot chocolate affagoto was nice (although I was expecting big things from the way CB raved about it), and after finishing the drink and sweets, I felt like something savoury haha.
To start off with, I went for the beef cheek. This was braised and shredded, and served with some garlic puree stuff and fresh bread. The cheek was tender and had a real strong beefy taste to it, despite being braised in red wine, which tends to overpower everything.
For a main I wanted the mushroom risotto which was no longer on the menu. I opted instead for the beef fillet, which was requested rare. This bit of meat was cooked just the way I wanted it and went down a treat. The others got ripped off with their gnocchi choice as they had run out and convinced some to mix in some angel hair pasta.
After dinner was a short walk to KoKo Black where I had a drink and some sweets (I forget the name of the set). The hot chocolate affagoto was nice (although I was expecting big things from the way CB raved about it), and after finishing the drink and sweets, I felt like something savoury haha.
8 Oct - Zing Cafe / San Churro, Hillaries
Ants' birthday this year was at Zing Cafe, right at the end of Hillaries Boat Harbour. Upon arrival, our booking was missing however we were given a table.
CB and I started off with the taster plate, consisting of potato skins, BBQ chicken wings, grilled houlumi, celery and chicken dippers. It wasn't bad, although not great either. It was very heavy and I probably could've stopped right there, but had another course to go.
Recommended on their menu were the bourbon ribs. Whilst tender, the sweet chutney wasn't to my liking, so I ended up scraping it off. The remnants of the chutney were still there though, so it somewhat tarnished my experience.
After dinner, we walked to San Churros where I had a 'Hot and Cold' drink, which is a classic Spanish hot chocolate with a scoop of icecream. Rich, creamy, heavy and deadly.
CB and I started off with the taster plate, consisting of potato skins, BBQ chicken wings, grilled houlumi, celery and chicken dippers. It wasn't bad, although not great either. It was very heavy and I probably could've stopped right there, but had another course to go.
Recommended on their menu were the bourbon ribs. Whilst tender, the sweet chutney wasn't to my liking, so I ended up scraping it off. The remnants of the chutney were still there though, so it somewhat tarnished my experience.
After dinner, we walked to San Churros where I had a 'Hot and Cold' drink, which is a classic Spanish hot chocolate with a scoop of icecream. Rich, creamy, heavy and deadly.
30 Sep - Outback Jacks, Rockingham
Due to the completion of some projects, work had decided to put on another work lunch. The choice this time round was for Outback Jacks, so we headed there for a 1PM reservation.
I went for the bone-in ribeye, cooked rare as usual with a side of chips and mushroom sauce. This went down a treat, even more tasty cos it was free. One colleague decided to try the Outback Challenge and was disappointed they couldn't finish the meat hahaha.
17 Sep - Hungry Jacks, Beechboro
CB and I hadn't planned anything for lunch, so we grabbed food whilst we were out. After having a Whopper not long ago, I went for the Bacon Deluxe. Whilst OK, it was a heart attack burger with the bacon and cheese, I definitely prefer Whoppers. The chips were very salty this time too. My guts didn't agree with me and I had an upset stomach afterwards.I also found out that Beechboro were still doing onion rings too. Not sure what Mirrabooka were going on about.
15 Sep - Peak Petroleum, Kwinana
Running late on the way to work, I opted for breakfast on the run. I felt like a bacon and egg sandwich and stopped by a service station along the way where I knew they served food. I paid $6.50 if I remember rightly. By the time I got to the office, it was cold, but I think the burger had been sitting there for awhile as the bread was quite stale and the fillings were dry, even with the included BBQ sauce. Definitely not one of the best bacon and egg burgers I've had.
10 Sep - Hungry Jacks, Mirrabooka
A meal which tasted better cos it was free. Cos work was paying again, I went for a Double Whopper meal with a vanilla shake. I also wanted some onion rings, but Mirrabooka apparently don't do them anymore.
10 Sep - Arcade Fish and Chips, Rockingham
For lunch a few Saturdays ago, I had fish and chips from the local joint near work. I opted for the Fisherman's Basket, $15.50 with a drink. It consisted of chips, crab sticks, squid rings, prawns and fish. This was a total grease bomb, and wasn't that good to be honest. I ended up eating all except for the chips, which were quite overly salted. Even being free (work paid for it) wasn't good enough.
Little Black Egg Knockoff / Frankenweeber
After perusing pizzamaking.com, I found people where making high temperature pizza ovens using a kettle BBQ and a high power gas burner. Since I have a Weber knock off which I don't use (otherwise known as a weeber) and my natural gas burner that I use when I stirfry, I thought I'd give it a shot.
The bottom of the weeber was cut using a jigsaw with metal cutting blade. On the charcoal grate lies ceramic briquettes and some cut firebricks to support the top grate. On the top grate are more firebricks. The front and side gaps were closed up using aluminium foil.
The 22.5" lid has a 18" pizza pan and a 13" pizza stone to lower the oven height. The result of this is in the picture below.
The oven ready to go. All gaps foiled up except for the rear where the hot air runs runs up the rear, over the pizza and out the vent at the front.
A turning pizza peel, made from some aluminium rod and a 9" pizza pan. Total cost.. $3.05.
The maiden pizza. New dough recipe (high hydration). The bottom was a bit burnt, so it needs some fine tuning. But the oven definitely has some promise. The pizza cooked within 3 or 4 minutes and this pizza was tomato sauce, cheese, onion, capsicum and anchovies.
The bottom of the weeber was cut using a jigsaw with metal cutting blade. On the charcoal grate lies ceramic briquettes and some cut firebricks to support the top grate. On the top grate are more firebricks. The front and side gaps were closed up using aluminium foil.
The 22.5" lid has a 18" pizza pan and a 13" pizza stone to lower the oven height. The result of this is in the picture below.
The oven ready to go. All gaps foiled up except for the rear where the hot air runs runs up the rear, over the pizza and out the vent at the front.
A turning pizza peel, made from some aluminium rod and a 9" pizza pan. Total cost.. $3.05.
The maiden pizza. New dough recipe (high hydration). The bottom was a bit burnt, so it needs some fine tuning. But the oven definitely has some promise. The pizza cooked within 3 or 4 minutes and this pizza was tomato sauce, cheese, onion, capsicum and anchovies.
27 Aug - Fast Eddy's, Morley
Some of the guys wanted coffee and cake, I was after more savouries. So at Fast Eddy's, I had some wedges, which came with sour cream. I also raided the sauce tray and had some HP and Ayam chilli sauce.
I washed this down with a banana smoothie, which probably had a poofteenth of a banana by the lack of flavouring it had.
27 Aug - Bonsai Restaurant and Café Lounge, Northbridge
Julie's birthday this year was at Bonsai in Northbridge, the same place that CB and I ate at in 2009 prior to its opening.
After perusing the menu, I ended up picking a few items from the their sushi and "shares" menu, meant for sharing amongst others.
Unagi sushi. Japanese BBQ eel and cucumber dressed with aioli & caramel soy. Similar to the usual unagi sushi, but was missing the teriyaki sauce which usually accompanies it. Coupled with wasabi and soy sauce, this went down well.
Mushroom miso soup. Combination of Japanese mushrooms (shiitake, shimeji, enoki and portobello) in your favourite traditional miso soup. Sounded good with all the mushroom goodness, but for some reason, not as flavourful as other misos.
Fried chicken tosazu. Pieces of deep fried chicken boneless thigh fillets served with leek tosazu sauce. The chicken was flavoured with soy and ginger, similar to karaage and therefore disappeared within a few minutes. If only I got the crab balls with the chilli mayonaise at the same time...
After perusing the menu, I ended up picking a few items from the their sushi and "shares" menu, meant for sharing amongst others.
Unagi sushi. Japanese BBQ eel and cucumber dressed with aioli & caramel soy. Similar to the usual unagi sushi, but was missing the teriyaki sauce which usually accompanies it. Coupled with wasabi and soy sauce, this went down well.
Mushroom miso soup. Combination of Japanese mushrooms (shiitake, shimeji, enoki and portobello) in your favourite traditional miso soup. Sounded good with all the mushroom goodness, but for some reason, not as flavourful as other misos.
Fried chicken tosazu. Pieces of deep fried chicken boneless thigh fillets served with leek tosazu sauce. The chicken was flavoured with soy and ginger, similar to karaage and therefore disappeared within a few minutes. If only I got the crab balls with the chilli mayonaise at the same time...
Chilli crab claws. Golden deep-fried crab dumpling, served with hot chilli mayo. The crab was sweet and coating was crunchy, although these were smaller than two years ago.
I washed it all down with water and Gen Mai tea. The service was a little erratic this time and food came in dribs and drabs.
9 Aug - La Bella Woodfired Pizzeria & Restorante, Padbury
CB bought a voucher for La Bella from Spreets awhile ago and we finally used it earlier this month. The deal consisted of:
CB and I shared the calamari plate to start off with, and the plate disappeared as we were hungry (booking was at 7:45PM). It came quite quickly after ordering and was okay .. nothing to rave home about.
We both had pizza for mains and I went for the Trattorian pizza, which had Italian sausage, salami, bacon, mushrooms, red onion and parsley. The pizza was quite tasty with the cured meats, but was slightly soggy in the middle, which I don't like but have found at many pizza places with thin crusts.
After demolishing my own pizza, I had a sample of CBs Pescatore pizza which had prawns, calamari, mussels, fetta, olives and garlic oil. This was milder in flavour (due to all the seafood) but was still quite good.
To wash it all down, I had a Hahn Light instead of the wine on offer.
To finish off, CB and I paid extra and shared a "wicked chocolate terrine". A chocolate base with nuts, cherries and honeycomb marscapone.
- Bellissimo two-course dinner for two with wine just $35!
- Grab a dining companion and head into the newly-opened La Bella Woodfired Pizza and Ristorante in Padbury
- Begin your meal with an entrée; either delicious pizza bread and dip OR a calamari plate to share
- Leave plenty of room for mains: your choice of any two pizzas, pastas or risottos
- PLUS enjoy two glasses of Chalice Bridge Wine (red or white) with your meal.
CB and I shared the calamari plate to start off with, and the plate disappeared as we were hungry (booking was at 7:45PM). It came quite quickly after ordering and was okay .. nothing to rave home about.
We both had pizza for mains and I went for the Trattorian pizza, which had Italian sausage, salami, bacon, mushrooms, red onion and parsley. The pizza was quite tasty with the cured meats, but was slightly soggy in the middle, which I don't like but have found at many pizza places with thin crusts.
After demolishing my own pizza, I had a sample of CBs Pescatore pizza which had prawns, calamari, mussels, fetta, olives and garlic oil. This was milder in flavour (due to all the seafood) but was still quite good.
To wash it all down, I had a Hahn Light instead of the wine on offer.
To finish off, CB and I paid extra and shared a "wicked chocolate terrine". A chocolate base with nuts, cherries and honeycomb marscapone.
6 Aug - San Churro, Subiaco
After CB's dinner, we headed to San Churro for some sweets. We got there at a good time, as there were two empty tables next to each other.
CB and I shared churros for two, with dark and milk chocolate.
I had a hot chocolate to myself which was too much after eating all the food before.
6 Aug - Hippo Creek, Subiaco
CB had her birthday this year at Hippo Creek. Whilst we suggested Hillaries, we were only able to get Subiaco.
To start, I had some Peri peri corn crusted onion rings. These were crunchy, but not very hot/tasty. Some rings had a citrus twang to them but not all.
As a main, I went for the Wagyu beef (600 Day Grain Fed F1 Wagyu Marble Score +5, QLD, NSW and VIC.) Not wanting to spend a fortune, I went for the rump, with some chips and pepper sauce. The meat was quite tender and although a bit overdone when I first cut into it, it got rarer as I ate along. I wasn't very hungry by this stage and struggled by the end of it. Whilst the meat was good, I'm definitely going to try a steak over charcoal on one of my Weber BBQs and compare.
23 Jul - Hungry Jacks, Beechboro
2 Jul - Cafe Bellavista, East Perth
Ah-Stan's second birthday celebration was at Cafe Bellavista in East Perth. Everyone arrived half an hour early so we decided to start dinner a little earlier than planned.
I started off with some garlic bread. This was more buttered toast, I hardly got any garlic aroma.
I chose the linguine vongale special. This was seasoned well and very tasty. Linguine was al dente, clams were tasty and there was the slightest hint of chilli.
To finish off, I had a cafe latte. Whilst I got my coffee in a reasonable time frame, others had to wait a long time for their coffees.
I started off with some garlic bread. This was more buttered toast, I hardly got any garlic aroma.
I chose the linguine vongale special. This was seasoned well and very tasty. Linguine was al dente, clams were tasty and there was the slightest hint of chilli.
To finish off, I had a cafe latte. Whilst I got my coffee in a reasonable time frame, others had to wait a long time for their coffees.
1 Jul - Padburys, Guildford
Last Friday was Ah-Stan's supplies 60th birthday. We got there on time, and mingled a bit before dinner was served.
Starters was a poached prawn dish. Prawns were poached in a sweet white wine and served with an avacado salsa. The dish was nice, although it didn't touch the sides.
For mains, I chose the chicken option. It was chicken breast, wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with sundried tomato.
We were served cake afterwards and a choice of coffee/tea. I chose the coffee option.
Starters was a poached prawn dish. Prawns were poached in a sweet white wine and served with an avacado salsa. The dish was nice, although it didn't touch the sides.
For mains, I chose the chicken option. It was chicken breast, wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with sundried tomato. 
We were served cake afterwards and a choice of coffee/tea. I chose the coffee option.
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