Ramen Royalty at Keisuke - Perth

Every time you blink in Perth, another ramen restaurant opens. If that sounds like I was complaining, I'm not. I never say no to a good bowl of ramen and I've heard great things about Keisuke. The long queues outside their door every night is the proof. 

After arriving extra early, half an hour before opening, Miss A and I were third on the queue. Yes people arrived every earlier than half an hour before opening! So, we were seated almost immediately after opening and before long the whole restaurant was full. After quickly looking at the menu, I settled on wanting to try their original Tonkotsu ramen. We were torn between the original tonkotsu and the black tonkotsu, but when we found out "black" is from pepper not from black garlic, we quickly made our decision!

Oh, also, I ordered mine with extra strong flavour, rather the normal strength. Because of it, my broth was extra creamy and the flavour was very strong. It was delicious though! The chashu pork is unlike any other chashu pork I've had before, it was in massive slices and was very lean. Although we could've had the free hard boiled eggs, we still ordered the flavoured boiled egg and it was delicious. 

Overall, the newest ramen restaurant in Perth did not disappoint. I did find the broth a little bit too thick which made me full faster (probably a good thing!). I will definitely try the normal strength in the future.

Also, to celebrate their recent opening, Keisuke was offering free boiled eggs (all you can eat!) and also these delicious bean sprouts. I'm not sure if these bean sprouts will be a staple at the restaurant, but I certainly hope so because it was addictive. Good on its own and with the ramen. I nearly got full before the ramen even arrived because I kept snacking on it.

Ratings: /10
Food: 9
Value: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Service: 9
Overall: 8.2/10

Restaurant information

Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King

The Melbourne Hotel

33 Milligan Street

Perth

Ph: 9320 3333

When The Bite Turns Into Many Bites - Northbridge

One of the funnest food to share is Korean food. Always packed with flavour, but never healthy, just the way dinner with friends should be. My latest favourite Korean restaurant is The Bite. There's one particular dish there that has kept me coming back!

Creamy Cheese Chicken

The dish I was talking about was the creamy cheese chicken! So it's deep fried chicken, covered in a sweet creamy sauce, all on top of a bed of cheese! Yes, it's as good as it sounds. This dish is served on a pan on a portable stove, the waiter will turn on the stove and you wait until the cheese is melted, mix everything together, then feast! This dish is so addictive! The sauce is a bit too sweet for some people, but with the cheese I thought it was perfectly balanced. 

Army Stew

The Bite Pancake

Other dishes that I highly enjoy at The Bite includes the army stew and the Bite pancake. The army stew is packed with processed meat and instant noodle, the healthiest part of this dish was the thin slices of tofu. Again, unhealthy, but tasty and perfect for a cold night. The Bite pancake is another great dish to share. It's crispy on the outside, but the inside is still soft and fluffy. The dipping sauce made it even tastier.

Bulgogi Beef Stew

The healthiest dish we had was the bulgogi beef stew. As you can see, not all the beef was marinated with the bulgogi sauce, so I felt a bit duped. However, the beef that was marinated was tasty and there was plenty of beef to go around. The soup itself was a bit bland, it really brought out the taste of the mushrooms and vegetables. This dish is not packed with flavour but heartwarming.

Every dish I've tasted, although only a few compared to their whole menu, has been enjoyable. If you're looking for a relaxed and casual restaurant filled with delicious food, then look no further, the Bite is for you!

Ratings: /10
Food: 8
Value: 8
Atmosphere: 6
Service: 7
Overall: 7.2/10

Restaurant information

The Bite: Bar & Bistro

57 Aberdeen Street

Northbridge

Ph: 9228 1180

Long Awaited Meeting with James Parker - Northbridge

Yes, yes, yes, I can't stay away from good Japanese food. This time, I finally tried James Parker. This restaurant doesn't need any introductions and I've been a fool for not dining here earlier! I visited this place with my good friend Miss D and as we were dining on a weeknight, we were lucky enough to reserve a tablet last minute. They nicely warned us we can only have the table for two hours. So I laughed and said, if you can get the food out quickly we'll be done in half an hour.

3 Fish Sashimi ($34)

JP's Duck ($22)

The first two dishes we devoured were the sashimi and JP's duck. The sashimi was so fresh it tasted like the ocean (or whatever body of water they came from). They were perfectly delicious on their own and I usually love soy sauce on everything, but for this occasion, the fish was the lone hero. The sashimi was a great opener for the duck, we went from subtle tastes to punches of flavour. The dark sauce was delicious and the duck perfectly cooked. I think if the skin was crispy this dish would've been even better, but it was pretty darn good just as it was.

Aburi Wagyu Roll ($25)

Mushroom Tempura ($26)

Then came the aburi wagyu roll and mushroom tempura. Both these dishes were very enjoyable. I loved the smokiness on the wagyu beef and the sushi rice was delicious, the perfect texture. The mushroom was crispy and juicy. The enoki tempura was my favourite as it was the most crispy, it was like eating a slightly healthier version of French fries. The tempura sauce was also very tasty and complemented the mushrooms well.

Kamogawa ($15)

For desserts, we shared the kamogawa. This dish came with a cheesecake and lemon sorbet. The cheesecake was very creamy. Disappointingly, the bottom of the cheesecake was not a cookie crust, but a light sponge cake, so it was missing a bit of crunch. In saying that it tasted amazing, light but indulgent. If you don't like creamy desserts then the sorbet is the component for you. It cleared out palates right up and left a refreshing taste in our mouths.

So glad I finally got to try James Parker and thanks to Miss D, who have been here before, we chose all the delicious dishes and had a very satisfying dinner!

Ratings: /10

Food: 9

Value: 8

Atmosphere: 9

Service: 8

Overall: 8.5/10

Restaurant information:

James Parker

Shop 2, 182 James Street

Northbridge

Ph: 9328 2525

Swimmingly Good Fun at Aloha Poke - Perth

On a fine Wednesday night, 18th of April to be exact, Aloha Poke had its grand opening night! They were very generous in having inviting a bunch of bloggers to the event and Mr. T and I were humbled to have been invited too!

On the night there was live music, plenty of drinks and of course, lots of food! Below are the photos of the pretty display of food they had on the night.

Below were the samples of poke bowls we received on the night. The one I had had tuna and pineapple chunks on top of the greens and rice. The tuna was definitely the hero of the dish, it was fresh and the sauce coating it was light, but tasty. I love the warm rice against all the fresh ingredients, it was satisfying.

The bowl Mr. T received had the spicy salmon, pineapples and edamame. The spicy salmon was also fresh and the spiciness was enough to give you a kick but not burn your mouth. I also liked that the sauce coating the salmon was creamy, it was a bit more indulgent than the salmon. I also liked the edamame on this, it made the dish even more filling.

On the night of the opening, the guests received goody bags which included vouchers for free poke bowls on our next visit! Mr. T enjoyed what he sampled so much on the night he went back there within the next few days. He ordered the large spicy salmon poke bowl, the same one he tried on the night. As you can see, the portion is generous and even Mr. T was full after this filling meal!

So glad that there's another Poke restaurant in Perth! It's a trend that I enjoy and hope it's here to stay! If you enjoy a good Poke bowl yourself, then I highly suggest trying Aloha Poke!

Restaurant information

Aloha Poke

St Martins Centre

Shop 4A, 50 St Georges Terrace

Perth

Ph: 9225 7273

Website: alohapoke.com.sg

First Cooking Class Experience - Mt. Pleasant

As the title suggests, I will be writing about my first ever cooking class experience. Last year for my birthday I received a very generous gift, two entries to a cooking class by Matters of Taste. It took me a very long time to decide which class I want to go to. In the end, I chose Tastes of Tokyo. Obviously a class about Japanese food. Mr. T and I chose this class in the hopes that we can take away the recipes and incorporate it into our weeknight dinners.

So, below are the dishes we cooked on the night.

Top of the dish: Teppanyaki vegetables, Sauce: Ponzu sauce, Bottom of the dish: Miso Salmon

So the first course we had the above plate, an assortment of vegetables cooked on cast iron grill with ponzu sauce and the salmon miso. I love vegetables but not great with ideas on how to cook them, so this gave me a new way of serving vegetables at home (I know how basic of me). The miso salmon didn't look great, nothing like the black cod miso at fancy Japanese restaurants, but it tasted great. They did pre-marinade this for us before the class, but the cooking time of the salmon itself was a matter of minutes. I know what I'm having for dinner every night next week... miso salmon!

Top bowl: Pickled cucumber, Bottom bowl: Edamame, Right: Sushi rice

Left: Ramen bowl, Right: Karaage chicken with Sriracha Lime Mayo

Ramen Bowl

For mains we had the ramen bowl and the karaage chicken. I had the task of deep frying the chicken and if noone was watching I would've ate all the chicken before it got to the serving plate! It smelled so delicious and it tasted great too. I always thought karaage chicken was complicated to make, but the cooking class showed me otherwise!

The ramen bowl was, unfortunately, not my favourite dish of the night. I thought it was a bit bland. I don't think I'll recreate this dish at home, I'll just visit one of the many ramen restaurants available in Perth now!

White Chocolate and Matcha Mousse Mille Feuille

For desserts we made the white chocolate and matcha mousse mille feuille. It probably doesn't look great, but it tasted great. The mousse was nice and light and perfect with the light crunch of the puff pastry. It also wasn't too sweet and because I like the slight bitter matcha taste, I would definitely add more matcha powder when I make it next time.

So, those were the dishes we cooked and enjoyed on the night. I won't be posting the recipes as they're obviously the property of the cooking school. But, if you were thinking of date night ideas or even something to do with a group of friends then I would highly recommend attending a cooking class!

Cooking school information:

Matters of Taste Cooking School

The Precinct

G03/ 19 Ogilvie Road

Mount Pleasant

Ph: 9319 1097

Web: mattersoftaste.com.au

Ooh Lu Lu - Subiaco

Well, well, well, today I decided to review my dinner at Lulu La Delizia. This is simply to show people that I do eat food other than Asian food. I'm cultured like that. So this place was suggested by Miss A. We haven't seen each other in three months! We're those friends who don't need to meet or talk everyday, but when we do it's like the past three months didn't happen! Also, she's humble socialite, so of course she suggested the coolest place in Subiaco right now for our dinner.

Lulu La Delizia is the cutest little Italian restaurant located off Rokeby road. Walking into the restaurant feels like walking into another world, it's dark, but lively and all the staff speaks with an accent, so we felt like tourists!

Nonna's Meatball

To decide what to order, we were watching what other people ordered, to the point where the lady on table next to us thought we were spying on her and her family. So of course we tried to play it cool. Don't worry lady, we were stalking what your son was eating, not your son. 

To start with we ordered the meatballs. The meatballs is served on a bed of polenta and covered with parmesan cheese. The meatballs was really tender, you barely need the fork to cut into it and it tasted amazing. The polenta has similar texture to congee, and made the dish very filling. The flavours were a mixture of sweet and cheesy which worked well together.

Tagliatelle Della Delizia

For the mains I ordered the tagliatelle della delizia. On the menu it sounded delicious. It did taste great, but it tastes exactly the same as the meatballs. So I felt like I was eating one dish, which was a little disappointing. I even think the meat from this dish was crumbled meatball. So I wouldn't recommend ordering the meatball and the tagliatelle together!

Smoked Spaghetti 'Ai Funghi'

Miss. A ordered the smoked spaghetti. It smelled great and it tasted great too! The sauce was light and tasty and there was plenty of mushrooms and the smokiness was apparent. The dish looked so simple, but was very satisfying!

Tiramisu

To close off our meal we decided on the tiramisu. It looks very rustic, looks like something my nonna would've whipped up with her eyes closed, if I had a nonna. The tiramisu tasted nice, the alcohol was a little too strong for us, but the cream mixture tasted great. I didn't end up finishing it, I was worried I would get pulled over for drink driving!

In the end, it was a great night catching up with Miss A. All our gossiping was enhanced with the great food we had!

Also today is Miss A's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Miss A, thank you for your friendship and for always trying to broaden my culinary horizon! xoxoxo

Ratings: /10
Food: 8
Value: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 9
Overall: 8.5/10

Restaurant information

Lulu La Delizia

Shop 5, 97 Rokeby Road

Subiaco

Ph: 9381 2466

Slurppudo - Perth

Yay for a new ramen restaurant in Perth. This one has a big reputation, kinda like Taylor Swift, so it comes with high expectations. To my surprise, this time it was Mr. T who suggested we check this place out. Usually I'm the one that have to drag him by the hand to leave the house! So I quickly walked out of the house before he could change his mind. When we arrived, we were seated within a minute and dove into the menu straight away.

Akamaru shinaji

For the ramen I ordere the akamaru shinaji that comes with the flavoured egg. I chose this one simply because it comes with umami-dama, apparently it's a special blend of miso paste, and I love miso in anything. Well, the flavour lived up to its expectations, it was delicious! The broth is very rich, to the point of creamy, and I didn't feel like it needed anything else, it was just right the way it is! I also liked how they cook the noodles perfectly. Many ramen restaurants now allows you to choose the toughness of the noodles and I like my noodles on the hard side, but most of the time I couldn't tell that it was hard, but here i was done perfectly!

Karaka-Men 

Mr. T ordered the Karaka-Men, also with the flavoured egg. The karaka-men is their spicy ramen so I thought I wouldn't like it, but when I tried his broth, I actually thought it was better than mine and it wasn't spicy at all! This is definitely what I would order next time! If the spiciness is not enough for you, they do have chilli oil available at every table! Also the egg was perfectly cooked, but you could hardly taste the flavour as the richness of the broth overpowered it.

Nutella Choc Pot

For dessert we decided to share the nutella choc pot. It sounded a little boring, but in reality it was anything but! This dessert ticked all the boxes, sweet, smooth, sour and crunchy. The nutella mousse was thick, creamy and smooth. Yuzu grapes added some zing and the matcha crumble was the highlight. Everything in one spoonful was perfect!

So, yes we highly enjoyed our dinner at Ippudo, we were impressed by the food, the atmosphere and the service! It is definitely one of the priciest ramen restaurants in Perth, but well worth the extra cost!

Ratings: /10

Food: 9

Value: 7

Atmosphere: 9

Service: 9

Overall: 8.5/10

Restaurant information

Ippudo

556 Wellington Street

Perth

Ph: 9324 2757

When Only No. 1 Will Do - Victoria Park

Hi everyone! Just want to wish everyone Happy Eater, I mean Easter! Hope everyone is having a great extra long weekend. If you don't get a long weekend, I feel you. I, myself, had to work on Saturday and it was HECTIC. But, now time to let the good times roll... until tomorrow.

So today I'm writing about a place that is totally unassuming, I wouldn't blame you if you've walked past it and thought it wasn't even a restaurant. The place I'm talking about is Perth No. 1 Chicken Curry Bread. The name is a mouthful, but just wait until you get a mouthful of their food.

Mr. T and I have visited this place numerous times and Mr. T's favourite dish of theirs is their Mamak mee goreng. This mamak mee goreng is delicious! It's perfectly saucy and perfectly charred so it has an amazing smoky aroma. The sauce is the perfect spiciness, although you can request to your taste. They're also generous with their topping! Some mamak noodles tend to be too tomatoey or too spicy, but this one is just right. It smells amazing and tastes amazing too.

My favourite dish at this restaurant is the Moonlight Fried Kwey Teow. So I didn't try this dish until our third visit here, I usually stuck with their Mamak Mee Goreng. That's because mum and Mr. T always turn me off eating raw eggs. But, one day I was feeling rebellious and you know what, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. So I ordered it and fell in love. Again, this dish has a smokey aroma and tastes amazing! The egg gives it a creamy texture and the topping includes chunks of tasty braised pork belly! Now I have to warn you, you don't always get the pork belly, when you do, you know it's your lucky day! 

As the name of the restaurant is Perth No. 1 Chicken Curry Bread, of course we had to try the chicken curry bread too! When it was served it was a bit of a visual marvel. This dish is humongous and it makes you wonder what's brewing inside all this bread. Now, to be honest, I wouldn't rate this dish too highly, sorry for the anti-climax. The curry was too watery and it tasted just okay. The chicken was cut in a haphazard way, it makes it difficult to completely clean the bone. The bread was also a bit tough.

So, yes we didn't love the curry bread and never ordered it again. We have also tried a few of their main dishes and were not wowed, but we really enjoy their noodle dishes and have stuck exclusively to those every time we visit!

If you do go try the food here, let us know if you like it!

Ratings: /10
Food: 8
Value: 9
Atmosphere: 6
Service: 7
Overall: 7.5/10

Restaurant information

Perth No. 1 Chicken Curry Bread

Shop 4/ 393 Albany Highway

Victoria Park

Ph: 9472 0042

Main Street Ryu for Something New - Perth

To follow from my last blog post about Korean food, I'm now going to write about Japanese food. Yes, I like Asian food. In saying that, I like most cuisines. This time, I'm writing about my experience at the new restaurant Main Street Ryu. They've taken over from the good people of Zensaki and turned it upside down. What used to look like a family-friendly restaurant, has now been transformed into a hip and modern bar/restaurant. Not that I'm saying you can't take your family here, but once you get there you'll understand what I mean!

Did you see how I just tried to subconsciously make you visit this place? Clearly some kind of power has gone to my head.

To begin our meal, we ordered two nori tacos. Oh did I mention this is a Japanese fusion restaurant. It's Japanese fused with whatever the chef wants, which is awesome! Back to the tacos, we ordered the salmon belly tartare taco and red back spider taco. If you Google translate red back spider, it translates to soft shell crab. 

Now, normally I love soft shell crab more than salmon sashimi, so I was sure I would like the red back spider taco more. But, boy was I wrong. The red back spider taco was full of flavour from the crab, the mayo and the tobiko. This taco was crunchy inside and out, so this was a winner at our table. But, the when I bit into the salmon belly taco, it was like a lightbulb switched on in my mouth. Whereas the red back spider taco was full of crunch, the salmon belly taco was the perfect balance of crunch from the nori taco shell, freshness from the salmon belly and flavour from all the yuzu dressing. 

For mains, we decided to share the Volcano ramen. This is the first seafood ramen I've ever tried, so I was very excited to try it. It is definitely in no way traditional, but that's not a bad thing. As the name suggests, the broth is spicy, it was a little too spicy for me, but in small doses I loved the flavours. I did also love the toppings. There was green mussels, prawns, squid, fish and soft shell crab. All the seafood bad absorbed all the flavour from the broth, so even without slurping on the broth everything tasted great. Due to the chilli oil, this dish was a little heavy, but we still cleaned the bowl. Also, I would've loved a boiled egg in there (there I go again with my boiled egg, should start carrying a whole boiled egg with me everywhere I go).

That was our experience at Main Street Ryu. It's certainly a new, original addition to Barrack Street and I hope they do well! So, go check it out! We didn't try many dishes, but we were very satisfied and everything tasted great! 

Ratings: /10
Food: 8
Value: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Service: 8
Overall: 7.8/10

Restaurant information

Main Street Ryu

83 Barrack Street

Perth

Ph: 9221 7577

Mr. Bean meets Phill - Shelley

Hey there faithful readers!!! I assume you're out there and have been waiting on the edge of your seat for my blog post, seeing as the last one was in July last year! Shame on me! I wished I had a great reason for my absence, like travelling around the world or super busy with new ventures, but no, just pure laziness. Well I'm stretching my fingers and slowly getting back to optimal typing speed and prowess.

So where did I go this time, you might ask. Well wait no longer. This time I'm writing about my experience at Phill Bean. We were first introduced to Phill Bean two and a half years ago by Mrs. M. Apparently this is her and her hubby's absolute favourite Korean restaurant. We loved our first visit, but haven't been back until now. We were missing Mrs. M and Mr. A so much, we tried to emulate our last dinner together by visiting their favourite restaurant. Creepy, I know.

First, the entrees, seafood pancake and deep fried pork dumplings. We loved the pancake, it was crispy on the outside and still fluffy on the inside. We also loved the generous amount seafood. One thing I didn't enjoy was the chunky cuts of chilli, but I simply removed them with my impressive chopstick skills. The dumplings were also delicious, although they were a bit oily. But, the flavour of the filling left us wanting more!

For mains, I ordered the bibimbap. It wasn't a great choice in this heat, but it was a great choice in terms of flavour. Once I added the gochujang and mixed everything well, it tasted amazing. There were charred pieces of tasty rice and the egg yolk was the perfect ooziness. I did think there was very little meat, after mixing, it was like the meat disintegrated, but it left a lovely meaty aroma. 

Mr. T ordered the spicy cold noodle. This was under the persistent and slightly pushy recommendation of Mrs. M (she bosses me around all the way from Singapore). Well our obedience paid off! Ok, let's just start by mentioning I was very disappointed by this egg, on the picture and when it was first served, it looked like a whole boiled egg, but when it toppled over, the ugly truth was revealed, it was only half an egg. 

Although the egg disappoints, the rest did not. The soup looked red with chilli, but it wasn't too spicy at all. The beef broth was ice cold, so it was refreshing, and it was packed with flavour. The noodles were the perfect chewiness and they were so long we needed scissors to cut it to size. This dish was tasty and fun to eat!

So, we finally revisited this restaurant after putting it at the back of our minds for a couple of years and we're glad we did. We were so impressed with the food we actually took my brother and sister-in-law here the week after! They too were impressed! It's not the fanciest of restaurants and the always seem understaffed so service might be a bit slow, but, friendly. 

Ratings: /10
Food: 8.5
Value: 9
Atmosphere: 6.5
Service: 7
Overall: 7.8/10

Restaurant information:

Phill Bean

2/17 Tribute Street West

Shelley

Ph: 9354 7272