The Silver Spoon - Victoria Park

Dear readers,

I've been soooo busy working I could barely have time to breathe. Christmas is always the busiest time at work, with Coles opens 7 days a week in December, meaning I am working 7 days a week too :) sad heyyy??

Anyway, I was working yesterday (I dont usually work Saturdays) and all I could think about was FOOD FOOD FOOD. I was too tired so I didnt wanna drive too far, hence Vic Park was our choice of fine dining place for this Saturday. It was just me & Chow-Chow again this week, I couldnt be bothered asking friends out and organizing dinners & stuff. Well, maybe next month after all the craziness at work slows down a bit.

At The Silver Spoon we ended up (if you've watched Star Wars, you'll realize that's how Master Yoda arranges his wordings). ok ok ok, I'm in a hurry here, cos Mr D almost is almost done with his cooking and we're about to have dinner. Let's jump straight to the menu then.

Oooohhh, I need to mention something though. Chow-Chow has been going to the gym frequently lately because next year her big sis is getting married, and she needs to LOSE weight desperately in order to fit into her dress which she hasnt even had yet. So, Chow-Chow's stomach is kinda shrinking a bit here. That makes us jump straight to main instead of trying out the entree. Cos we were sparing some space for dessert as well.

Chow-Chow's main was really fabulous I think. She had the lamb cutlet, slow cooked shoulder, squash, corquette (now I know what a corquette is), baby aubergine, and rosemary juice. While I had the beef two ways which was roast fillet, braised cheek, parsnip, spinach, and baby carrots. The mains were good, but they werent to die for.

The dessert on the other hand, was SUPERB and to die for! Seriously that good. We shared a white chocolate & passionfruit tart with passionfruit cloud and sorbet. Oh My God, I gotta tell you, the passionfruit tart was amazing, and the sorbet was really refreshing and smooth. Another dessert that we tried berry, melon and tapoica salad with creme fraiche. It was quite a unique combination and very fruity, almost sensational. I like how it was served in a glass and it's got different layers with very interesting colour. Overall, dessert was really awesome, heart it :)

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Here are some of the photos taken ;)

Warning: bear with the photos, I forgot my camera, so we had to stick with blackberry instead

Lamb shank


Beef two ways


White chocolate & passionfruit tart


berry, melon, & tapioca salad with creme fraiche

Cranked for brekkie and Adelphi for dinner

Dear readers,

by now you must have realized that I've been blogging a lot and although I'm a terrible blogger, I try my best to update our blog once in a blue moon. I can explain why I seem to be the only person blogging recently: because 1) miss FDQ is on holiday and I havent heard from her for ages & she doesnt seem to update her facebook that much either, so I assume she's super enjoying her holiday. 2) Chow-Chow is busy figuring out how she's gonna start writing her literature review (yes, she's doing her honours in 2011, and eventhough holiday season is coming up very soon, Chow-Chow is showing no sign of slowing down) And there is a reason for that, because last week, Miss FDQ & I were officially informed that we are graduating with first class Honours, so the pressure is on for Chow-Chow. Chayooooo Chow-Chow..you can do it!!!! 3) and Stewie? well..i dont know what she's been up to, probally saddened by the fact that her boyfriend is not coming back to Perth until June next year. But hey, she still has us..dooohhh...

Anyway, last Saturday, Chow-Chow and I went to Cranked for breakfast. Surprisingly the place was not full, we could easily choose any table that we wanted. I ordered Toasty, which is bacon, fried egg and fresh sliced tomato in a light toasted turkish roll with horseradish aioli and bbq sauce. Chow-Chow ordered scrambled egg with pork and smoked honey sausage. I thought her sausage was pretty awesome, it was really tasty.



Toasty


Chow-Chow's scrambled egg

After church, we then went to Adelphi at Parmelia hilton for dinner. One thing for sure, parking was a bitch, but the restaurant was quite cozy and pleasant. Our housemate, Mr D was totally in love with Adelphi, he kept bragging about how the steak was really good, so we decided to give it a try. Chow-Chow had the harvey beef fillet mignon with melted cheese, caprese salad & mash. I had the 'surf and turf' which is harvey beef tenderloin served with prawn, squid, and scallop with creamy seafood sauce. I have to admit that the beef tenderloin and CC's fille mignon were really tender and cooked in perfection, but the sauce was just so-so, not something to die for, and the seafood creamy sauce didn't really go well with the tenderloin. Having said that, we enjoyed the dinner.


surf n turf

Fillet mignon

Fibber McGee's

Helllooooo peopleeeee :)

Last Monday, Chow-Chow and I went to Fibber McGee's for dinner. Another housemate of ours, Mr D (who usually cooks for us) was taking a break from cooking, hence leaving us no food at home.
The dining area was at the back of the pub and considering that it was Monday, the place was quite packed. We were greeted by this tall and lean waitress who had deep voice and looked scary, but nice nevertheless.
We ordered Irish soda bread as an entree and were presented with 3 big slices. I had one, and Chow-Chow had one and both of us almost felt full already. I'm not particularly good at describing food, but I reckon the bread was really compact and a bit dry, I could almost taste the soda.
As for the main, I had braised lamb shank with garlic mash, root vegetables, and rich braising sauce. Lord, my lamb shank was huge and I was really struggling to finish it - which I didnt in the end. Chow-Chow had slow roasted Linley Valley pork belly served on colcannon mash, roasted root vegetables with a meat glaze and apple & sage puree. Her pork belly on the other hand, was pretty small. So, I guess the lamb shank was quite worth to have, considering the prices for both our dishes were similar.
Anyway, with the E-book, we just ended up paying $33.50 and leaving very full and satisfied, we didnt even have room for dessert.

ohhhh...life is good :)


Irish soda bread


The huge lamb shank

Chow-Chow's pork belly

Rembrandt Restaurant - Inglewood

A few weeks ago, the TBS members paid a visit to Rembrandt restaurant in Inglewood.
They serve polish food and because none of us had ever tried polish food before, so the idea was quite exciting.

I remember being earlier than miss FDQ (which is unusual, because it's usually the other way around), and while we were waiting for miss FDQ to come, we were served with a plate of rye breads and lard. I honestly think the lard was gross, but the rye bread was pretty good.
Our theme for the day was "sharing is caring", so we shared all the dishes.
For our entree, we ordered vegetarian croquette with mushrooms and cheese fillings. As for the main, we had duck old polish style with red cabbage stew; pork hock served with potatoes, saueurkraut, and condiments; and "Pierogi" or traditional polish dumplings with meat (pork and beef), herb, and spices.
Lastly we shared 3 dishes of dessert, which were: polish doughnut, apple crumble with vanilla ice cream, and honey cake. We all agreed that the best dessert among the 3 was the polish doughnut. The apple tasted a bit funny although when eaten with the ice cream it tasted quite nice. I reckoned the honey cake wasn't so honey as I couldnt really taste the honey, but Stewie said she liked the honey cake just fine...well..she pretty much likes everything, if you know what I mean?

Dinner was nice and cozy & by the end of it we were all well fed and feeling fabulous. So, no complaining from me :)


Vegetarian croquette with mushrooms and cheese fillings


Rye bread with lard

Pierogi or traditional Polish dumplings

Duck old polish style with red cabbage stew

Pork hock with potatoes, sauerkraut, & condiments

Polish doughnut

Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream

Honey cake

Pre-Xmas Dinner @ Olive Tree, West Perth

Hi Peoples! Apologies from the TBS for the long hiatus (IF there's anyone still following this blog). We have been pretty swamped with work, manuscripts, pickling, eating, rotting, codewords and whats not. BTW, this is totally random BUT I HAVE TO SHARE THIS. CODEWORDS ARE ADDICTIVE!!! This is the most well-spent $2.49 in the entire 23 yrs of my life.. It helps to prevent dementia, Alzheimer and *insert any sickness linked to old age*.

*heavy post ahead*

Since some of the TBS members will be away during the festive season, we have decided to bring forward our Xmas Dinner. Er, bring forward x 10 considering we had it more than a month in advance. The awesome one (forgot who) came up with the idea of having Secret Santa! Wohohohoho.... All of us behaved like lil' girls awaiting for our SS to present us our gifts! Speaking of which, I should do my part to help prevent the risk of dementia amongst my friends by getting Miss Von 20 codewords book instead of a Country Road shawl as xmas present! Hahaha

Twas was a fun night with loads of laughters, giggles, vain pictures, non sense, craps and POLAROID!!! FDQ hereby declares that POLAROIDS ARE THE BEST INVENTION AFTER CODEWORDS! Wokiee, i seriously need to stop mentioning about codewords before I get sidekicks from the rest of the members.

Food at Olive Tree was so-so. Nothing much to rave about. Considering the price we paid ($65 for premium 4 course), the amount of food we had were quite worth the price. More of a quantity over quality type. We ordered a bottle of moscato from T' Gallant Juliet to be shared. A light citrusy, crisp wine with a sweeter note. For starters, a basket of sad-looking garlic bread was served. Just a personal opinion, I expected the garlic bread to be thicker, toasted and more flavourful. Entrees were quite big in portion, mains and desserts were alright. Scroll down for pic of the foods.
The Menu
not-so-awesome garlic bread
Ravioli with spinach and cheese in nap. sauce

300g sirlion steak with mash and red wine jus
Roasted vege with 3 cheese filo parcel
Grilled Tasmanian salmon with mash
Apple crumble with berries coulisTiramisu
Long live polariod!!!!You can never get more vain than this! XD They look as if they're doing camera advert

Thanks for the awesome get-together, girls!! Hope there are more to come in 2011!!! *cheers*

Signing off with love,
FDQ
*off for more codewords*

The Publican bar & cafe

Heyyyy Hooooooo :)

18th Nov 2010 was a memorable date for both miss FDQ & I.
Why why why?
because the day marked the completion of our honours study, like really complete.

We had our biostatistic & epidemiology (honestly cant remember the unit number, but who cares?) presentation, starting at 9. Luckily the previous night I bbm-ed miss FDQ and confirmed with her the time of our presentation. Because I thought it started at 12, i'd be 3 hours late if it wasnt for blackberry (xoxo blackberry).

I was the 7th person to present, while miss FDQ was the 9th person. Apparently there was a super-long-2hour-break between the 8th and the 9th person, so miss FDQ wouldnt get to present until 1.45 pm. We thus decided to grab something to eat, drove to Victoria Park, and ended up at the Publican.
The place was pretty empty when we arrived, only few tables were occupied, and few people were at the bar. We ordered 3 tapas dishes: Lamb kofta kebab with pistachio cous cous and yoghurt drizle, chorizo & manchego croquettes with smoked paprika, and buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese sauce.

Overall the food was pretty standard; the croquette was too cheesy; and according to miss FDQ, the lamb kofta was too dry. For me, the food wasnt memorable or to die for. Having said that, the day was splendid (well, not the weather, it was effing hot, even breathing took some real efforts). I've waited forever for this day to come, and when it did, OH MY GOD, how relief I was!! I guessed doing honours can really screw your brain cells. ck ck ck ck ..sooo unhealthy for my wellbeing.

Anw, WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!! so long, honours...wont miss you!!!!


chorizo & manchego croquettes with smoked paprika


Lamb kofta kebabs with pistachio cous cous and yoghurt drizle

Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese sauce

Duende - Leederville

Helloooo people..or whoever out there bothers to read our blog :)

Sooo...amidst the headache from my half finished manuscript, I still spared some times to scribble something on the blog. You see...this show how dedicated I am to this blog..or maybe just how bored I am editing and re-editing my manuscript. Not to be hyperbole, but I think I've edited my manuscript for ten billion times and it still isnt perfect yet..Nothing is perfect *sigh sigh*

Speaking of perfect, Duende wasnt perfect either.

Chow-Chow papi (daddy) and mami (mommy) are here in Perth to celebrate CC's bday last week. They'll be here until the end of the week, then they are flying back to Jakarta.
I'm not sure how this all started, but auntie had a craving for paella, which made CC remembered how good the squid ink rice dish at Pata Negra was the last time we went there.
So we decided to try another spanish tapas restaurant similar to Pata Negra.
Off we went to Duende.

The place was actually kinda nice, i especially liked the decor on the window, they had all this colourful beads hanging on the window, really pretty. Sooo, in total we ordered 6 dishes and 1 dessert. The dishes actually took forever. And from where we sat, we could actually see the kitchen. Small kitchen with 4 chef moving around from one corner to another, real cramped i'd say. And and and..no handsome chef :( dissapointing..





Sweetcorn & manchego cakes with capsicum jam


house-made pork sausage with pickled red cabbage and diced apples.

callaspara rice with prawns, scallops, parsley, & saffron.

Auntie was expecting a *wow* rice dish, instead we got this dish that looked bland and tasted even more bland. The dish just crushed auntie's heart, so much so that the following day she went to Nando's to eat the paella.


Pork fillet with roasted peppers and oregano. We all agreed that this dish is the winner, the pork fillet was tender and juicy and combined with capsicums, it was pretty awesome.

char-grilled courgettes, pumpkin salad, feta, and roast garlic oil. I ordered this dish, thinking that it was croquette. Imagine my dissapointment when the dish came out and I didnt spot anything fried. Apparently croquette is not the same as courgette. We found out that courgette was actually baby zucchini in french.. baaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Dissapointment number 2!! I was interested to try out Duende because I saw churros on the menu. I looooveee churros. But Duende's churros were actually mini churros and werent as good as San churros' or brisbane hotel's. But it wasnt a complete disaster tho, because the churros were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. And the dipping chocolate was actually pretty good.

My brain was too occupied, i couldnt even be bothered to remember the name of each dish, soooo i took a photo of the menu.

WARNING! If you are as lame as we are (we like to look at menus on websites and decide in advance which dish to order), the actual menu and the website menu was actually different. They change the menu regularly and only occasionally update the website.




Soooo...in conclusion (oopppsss...forgot i wasnt writing manuscript) the food wasnt as good as Pata Negra's, but it was ok. The service was ok too, the waitress was really friendly, although it took ages for the dishes to come out. Wouldnt really think of going back there- unless the meal is paid for by someone else, hence free meal - anytime soon.