Are you?

Is it 130?

Ever since Cafe 130 closed it's doors I've been eagerly awaiting it's return.  But has it been too long?  I arranged to meet my old bud down there to check it out this morning, eagerly anticipating my soy latte and some eggs on hot buttered toast.  But something had changed... something ... or is it just me? 

Cafe 130 was one of the only quirky cool cafes in Perth, Leederville to be exact, before Perth had quirky cool cafes.  A limited menu of eggs on New Norcia bread plus various sides (avocado, tomato, feta, jalapenos etc etc), massive sandwiches, house-made muffins, cakes and good coffee to be had any time of the day or late into the night.  Entire menu cooked from electric frypans and toasters. GI Joes abseiling from the rooftop.  Crazy wall covered in posters of Perth happenings. A massive rack of papers and magazines hanging from the wall.  Milk crates out the front.  A few booths to sit in.  It was all good until it got taken over.  Then the New Norcia bread disappeared, the staff became surly, it got old and grimy and it all REALLY needed some love.  The guy who ruined 130 (as he came to be known) shut it down and concentrated on building up the clientele at Greens and Cock over the road - also his cafe - while he quietly beavered away turning 130 into ...what?  Today was the big reveal for me, even though it's been open for a couple of months and all the good things about it are still there - it just looks better.  The booths are the same but it doesn't feel as if the couches are going to collapse underneath you. Tables are still all tatty and scarred.  The poster wall has been painted in orange wash, the rack is still on the wall, tables are in the same places, that beautiful pressed tin roof has been fixed up so that there's no longer more rust than roof...the only really different thing is that it's now not open until late - it's open until 630. 

After longing for it to open again after so long, I was kind of surprised by my reaction to being there.  In the time that it's been shut, Perth seems to have sped up and run right past 130.  There are small funky wine bars, there are lots of good cafes now with exciting menus, there are burger bars, there is change afoot my friends.  Leederville has a bunch of new places going on.  And seeing as the inside had been tweaked (same same but different), SO TOO I hoped the menu might be same same but different.  But no.  It's just the same.  It's bloody cheap - you'll only pay $13 for two poached eggs on (Lawley's) toast and a coffee, which is the kind of price that is becoming increasingly hard to find in Perth.  They also offer a half serve of eggs - we like that :-)  The toast is thick and waaaay too much to eat with just your eggs - my advice is to save one bit of toast and go up and get some jam from the pots lining the service bar.   The coffee, which was always yummy but a bit on the weak side, is still on the weak side.  Consistency!!  We like that too.

So I wondered - is it still that time?  That 130 time?  Only time will tell. 

Cafe 130

130 Oxford St

Leederville

The Blue Fuck

Oh now that's just childish!!!!! 

I went to the Blue Duck Sunday morning  for my dad's birthday. And I have to ask, what IS it about these places with the magnificent views?  Do they deliberately set out to wreck my ogling of beautiful Perth waves with their craptus food??  I paid 13 bucks for a "seasonal" fruit salad with yoghurt that was just so shit it defies belief.  Small, tasteless, with hard fruit and a tiny blob of greek yoghurt it was uninspiring at best and just plain shitful at worst.  If I dig deep within, I will admit that their coffee (Fiori) was nice.

The end.

The Blue Duck
151 Marine Parade
Cottesloe

The Mount Lawley morning coffee run - Cantina or Fez?

If you live and/or work and/or hang out in Mount Lawley you will know that over the past few years, a number of coffee shops have appeared along the strip. The first of these boutiquey type cafes was Soto which opened it's doors 8-9 years ago.  At the time, Soto reached lofty heights not previously scaled in the Mount Lawley area (which up until that point only boasted Globe and Dome)  - it had comfy couches, al fresco smoking table coolness, an interesting breakfast menu, it was open late and it had gooooood coffee.  But 8 years is a long time and Soto is now looking a bit old, a bit lonely, a bit worn and there are now a LOT more cafes to choose from - the Merchant, Cafissimo, Exomod, Cantina, Fez to name but a few.  For the most part I don't rate them for coffee, Mount Lawley cafes often seem to trade on the coolness of the area rather than the quality of their coffee.  The exception is Cantina which does just about everything well - coffee, breakfast, lunch, cakes, snacks, dinner, impromptu coffee and dessert post movies, Cantina doesn't falter.  Even though I've had a go of every cafe on the Beaufort St strip, for the past couple of years I've gone to Cantina for my coffee and it's always good, attested to by the massive queue and 15 minute wait.  Fez, a more recent addition to Mount Lawley, is closer to my work so my workmates go there on the coffee run.  Fez uses 5 Senses coffee and Cantina uses Fiori.  Fez and I got off to a bad start when my first coffee on their first day was talked up bigtime but not that great.  Being mindful that it was day 1, I've been back a few times and sadly the coffee is never quite right, but Cantina always is.  Awesome flavour and texture, never panic-attack-inducing.  So for now it's Cantina for me.  Until the Planet Cafe opens - Planet have never done anything half-assed, so I reckon they could be a contender.  Keep checking!

Cantina:  663 Beaufort St Mount Lawley

Fez:  83 Walcott Street Mount Lawley

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1550188/restaurant/Perth/Mount-Lawley/Fez-Mt-Lawley%22%3E%3Cimg alt="Fez on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1550188/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a>

Fur (Pho) - Belicious!

 From this....

















To this!







Sunshine Lunch Bar:  683A Beaufort St, Mount Lawley 6050.  Ph:  9370 1165








<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1563235/restaurant/Perth/Sunshine-Lunch-Bar-Cafe-Mount-Lawley%22%3E%3Cimg alt="Sunshine Lunch Bar Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1563235/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a>

Tom's Kitchen

Last Friday night as I was awandering through Perth, I mentioned to my mates that there was a place off Hay Street that I'd dogeared in my mind but couldn't remember what it was.  Food, shopping - I honestly had no idea.  Anyway we got a bit peckish and took a turn down Shafto Lane - which brought us to Tom's Kitchen.  I remembered that my housemate and her gurl had dinner there a few months ago and gave it a rave and I'm pretty sure it was the reason for my dogear, so we figured we'd have a go.  At first glance it looked the goods:  Warm lighting, tick.  Friendly and attentive waitperson, tick.  A little bit bistro, a little bit New York and some intriguing menu choices (salt and vinegar crips crisps dammit for $6?).  Feeling confident we sat down and made some choices - lamb, barley and lentil soup, meatballs and orriechete with red wine and beef cheek - tick!!!  (Triple tick for housemade pasta). 

First worrying thing - the guy next to us pushing his dinner around and whispering to his date that his duck was raw.  Oops.  Never mind we said - could happen to anyone.  Our dinners came out about 25 minutes later - 25 minutes just teetering on the border of the point where you summons the waitperson and delicately ask exactly how long it's going to be EXACTLY.  Out came the soup - at first glance (and second too it turned out) it looked to be very thin with a lone lentil swimming in the bowl.  Complimentary bread with a herb "butter" was placed on the table - but it wasn't butter.  Bread was a little on the stale side. Then came my orriechete - such a disappointment - the little ears were tough and the beef cheek and red wine sauce underseasoned and bitter.  Uh oh.  Such promise!  The soup got sent back.  The meatballs eaten.  Lest we look like wowsers I didn't complain about the orriechete but at 24 bucks I expect a bit of taste and glamour.  I hasten to add that I'm not super fussy about food, but I know what I like and what I don't.  From the on-line reviews I've read there are a lot of supporters of Tom's so lets just hope that it was an off night!

Tom's Kitchen - Shafto Lane, Perth.

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1459970/restaurant/Perth-City/Toms-Kitchen-Perth%22%3E%3Cimg alt="Tom's Kitchen on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1459970/minilogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:15px" /></a>

Grill'd

Just thought I'd quickly share the love about Grill'd - I popped in there for a burger as you do, or as I do, seeing as I work and live aroung the corner.  I had the Bombay Bliss which was a chickpea patty with tzatziki, roasted red peppers, cos lettuce, other salady bits and tomato relish in a traditional bun.  Pretty tasty and a bargain for $11.50!

http://www.grilld.com.au/

Bar 399

This is my friend Dawn holding a cup of coffee at 399 on William St.  This was taken a few months ago and I've been meaning to blog about it - not the coffee, 399.  But it's kind of like falling in love - sometimes you come over all articulate, but in my case, which isn't that great for someone who writes, I came over all inarticulate.  But what I can say is this:

• the coffee is great
• the bar peeps are friendly
• you can usually get a seat and not a hideously uncomfortable one, either at the bar, or in one of the many booths with the many cushions
• they have wifi
• they don't think you're a freak if you come in on Friday night and order coffee and play uno
• the bouncer will look out for a seat for you if you can't find one
• they have yummy biscuits
• ooh they have yummy other stuff - little plates of stuff
• although drinking isn't really my thing, they do offer some of the yummiest beers, including a wheat beer that won "best beer in the world" or something - it's $10 for a stubby which isn't much more than a crownie LOL
• they can show some serious cocktail love
• they play very funky, very laid-back, always appropriately pitched, tunes

Yup we love it there :-)

http://www.399bar.com/

399 William St Perth

Not all that

Sooooo - it's the day after the night after a degustation at ... dant ta na na ta na NAAAAAAAA - Jackson's.  which you would think would be ALL THAT but, surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, it really wasn't.  and i feel a bit wanky even writing about it - it's a bit of a cliche to go to Jacksons for the dego (as they call it).  I've been once before, years ago and we had a strange experience - our waiter was weird and quit in the middle of service and i can't tell you anything about the food apart from the dessert that we had which blew my mind.  last nite was much the same.  i was waiting for the flash of brilliance or whimsey - and there were a couple - one was a little between courses amuse - it was a little pastisse dusted with icing sugar and filled with lamb and drizzled with pesto - that was really really good, as was the amuse bouche at the very start, a very thomas keller - esque cone of delights involving a sorbet and some anchovies - sounds hideous, but made me think that the meal would be one to remember.  sadly not.  the food was definitely a bit hit and miss:

Hit: the pork belly sort of banh mi, the squid and scallop risotto, the two amuse bouche, the wine's, my NOjito, the desserts, the toilets, sitting for 5 hours with good buds
Miss: the sea bass and tasmanian salmon, oyster and champagne sauce (bland), rabbit (tough, tasteless, prosciutto overcooked), the emptied bread basket that sat in the middle of the table for half the meal and wasn't refilled), the detritus of the meal that just sat there
hit and miss:  the roast beef with yorkshire pudding (beef tender, yorkshire pudding verging on burnt)

would i go again?  not on your nelly.

those french boys

I don't really know what the deal is with Scents of Taste, surely one of the worst names in the history of Beaufort and Walcott street cafes/bakeries/patisseries/eateries - how long they've been there, who originally owned or ran it,  but don't let the name put you off.  Scents of Taste is one of those little places tucked away round a corner where you will find loyal locals drinking their coffee and reading their paper outside in the middle of the carpark.  Run by two french boys who can often be found smoking filthily strong cigarettes out the front, they have quietly put SOT on the map with traditional french goodness. You can even get duck confit!  For eg, I have been eyeing off their macarons* for some time now and I just bought one - well crikey, the outside of the macaron* cracked as I bit into it, into a chewy chocolatey yummy centre - I'm experiencing a post-macaron* sugar rush as I type. 

I can't give a definitive review of all their food because I stick in a kind of compulsively OCD-ish fashion to a very limited assortment of things:

1) Their plain croissants:  the best in Perth. Well the best in Mount Lawley.  There are of course the organic butter croissants at the Subi Farmers Market but seeing as that's only open on Saturdays (and in Subiaco).....  these babies are the real deal, buttery, almost cheesy in taste they look slightly overcooked but are always always ALWAYS flaky and scrummy.

2) Their coffee:  always ok.  Not the best in Mount Lawly, but I would certainly come here if Cantina was shut and I was too lazy to get down to Soto (which can be variable - but that's another story). 

3) Their lunch rolls: I don't pay that much attention to these because I usually get my lunch from Antonio's or Elmar's but look to be pretty tasty combinations of things.  I did have mortadella, salad and cheese in a baguette with mayo the other day which was pretty rich.  Would I have another one?  Probably not my first choice, but only because it didn't feel that healthy!!  (A strange place to draw a line considering the other things I eat).

4) Their macarons* - enough said. 

5) Other pastry goodness:  their palmiers, escargot and chocolate croissants which are all thoroughly thoroughly french and not for the faint-hearted.


*macarons are not to confused with macaroons as my discerning sister just informed me - macaroons are dipped in coconut whereas macarONs are what I'm talking about.

Scents of Taste
Shop 3
80 Walcott St
Mount Lawley
Ph:  9272 6708