Malaysian Best

I love squid and salted eggs – and I really love them combined together and deep fried. The best place in Perth to get this delicious dish is at Hawker’s Cuisine in Northbridge. They serve delicious Chinese food cooked up Malaysian style.

One of the best ways to enjoy squid

This place is a little gem tucked in a corner where all the main Chinese restaurants are located along Roe Street. What can I say about their Golden Garlic Squid to do it justice?? Generous with the salted egg “sauce”, squid always juicy and never over fried. Just try it and come to your own conclusions

Fu Chow Tofu with teh-si-peng

Hawker’s Cuisine is also good for alot of other dishes as well, including their Fuchow Tofu – silken tofu deep fried and covered with a sauce made of minced pork, salted turnip and crispy pork lard. Nothing is more delicious and healthy for you! You can eat this dish alone with white rice and be in heaven.

I also love to order their pork chops – they can do it in a few different styles. But my favourite is called Pork Chop King. I think they use a secret sweet and a little but tangy sauce. This dish goes well with the green vegetable called kang kong fried with sambal and prawn paste.

Speaking of the smelly prawn paste, have you ever tried fried rice fried with prawn paste? No, then you’ve got to try it at Hawker’s Cuisines. Simply divine!

Rice fried with prawn paste

Hawker’s Cuisine is also good for Malaysian and Singapore style iced coffee and tea drinks like teh-si-peng or kopi-peng. Tastes just like home even if it cost 3 times more here! But don’t get me wrong, the food in this place is quite reasonable by Perth standards and won’t burn a large hole in your pocket.

If you’re planning a trip here. They are closed on Monday and come early or make a reservation as they are usually packed at night from about 6.30pm or sometimes even earlier.

Visit this place and you won’t regret it. There are so many things to discover on the menu.

Hawker’s Cuisine
17/66 Roe St
Northbridge
Tel: (08) 9328 9668

We apologise for the temporary interruption

If you’ve been waiting for a long time for a new post, my apologies, but it’s not easy documenting delicious food when you enjoy eating more than writing a blog!

Anyway, here’s hoping I can keep it up and not let this blog grow any more moss from now on as I’ve lots of food porn pics stored up

Ramen-licious!

Ramen is one of my favourite Japanese dishes as it features tender, juicy, fatty pork balancing atop springy egg noodles, all soaking in a rich delicious broth. I fell in love the first time I tasted this more than 15 years ago when the first ramen chain opened it’s doors in Singapore. Since then ramen has really exploded in Singapore with a number of shops specialising in the dish and serving up so many varieties. Eating different types of ramen is one of the main highlights whenever I go back there for a visit.

After moving to Perth I noticed that although there’s Japanese restuarants here, none that I’ve eaten ate served up ramen like what I used to have back home. I am so happy to report that after four years, I’ve finally found a place in Perth that serves up the most delicious ramen!

Arigataya opened about four months ago and features a good range of ramen for reasonable prices. The restaurant is located in Northbridge right on Roe Street. It is so prominent I wonder why I never noticed it before. I only saw it when heading to eat at one of the Chinese places nearby.

I had the “special ramen” in the soy sauce broth. It had three thick slices of Japanese roast pork, one perfectly poached egg, seaweed, bamboo shoots, and spring onions as garnish. The broth was rich and full of flavour and the springy noodles homemade in the shop. All for $15! Real value for money for the quality you get. They even give you extra noodles for free if what they put in the bowl is not enough for you. They also provide chilli oil and Japanese chilli seasoning if you like to spice up the soup.

While there we also ordered the takopachi balls which were really good as well. These are little balls made from soft batter with octopus inside. Once cooked, they are covered in mayonnaise and paper-thin fish shavings. So delicious too. $6.50 for 8 balls. Best I’ve had in Perth. (These balls are common in Singapore and sold as a snack.)

The place is simple and tastefully furnished with very pleasant staff, although they don’t really speak English that well… maybe that’s why everything tastes so good as they are really from Japan

Eating at Arigataya was a real treat, and I’ll definitely be back again – it is too good not to… and I may have to add it to my Top 10 favourite places. If you’ve never tried ramen before, start here and you won’t regret it!

Arigataya (62 Roe St, Northbridge)
Phone: 9227 7901 (They take reservations)

Not JUS another burger

Burgers are one of my favourite meals as I love the taste of thick, juicy meat with mayo and onions and tomatoes and cheese and pickles, and crispy, salty fries…

America is known as the home of great burgers with many claims to fame, but I think it’s still possible to get your hands on a good one here in Perth. A few places have sprung up in the last year or so that claim to specialise in this greasy treat. This past weekend I happen to enjoy one of the best at Jus Burgers. Judging from the crowds  at dinner time, the rest of Perth seems to feel the same way too.

We dined at the Subiaco branch, but I had already had my first encounter with their burgers at their Leederville location. Although both locations are quite small for the crowds this place attracts, the Subi location is far more spacious.

Be careful when you order at Jus as the meat they give you is so thick that once all the additions are piled on top, it becomes so tall it is hard to eat in a civilised manner.

Warning – if you are on a date there is no way to eat this burger and not make a mess… well at least for me. Both times I’ve eaten here, I only ordered a cheeseburger and it was quite impossible not to use a dozen paper napkins keeping it all in check. Can’t imagine what would happen if I added more toppings.

What can I say that qualifies these burgers as one of the best in Perth… they use WA ingredients so it always fresh not frozen. The meat (beef) has real flavour and very juicy, with great fries (not the best in Perth but darn good) and other sides like  three kinds of coleslaw, chutney and onion rings. You can get lamb, chicken, fish, kangaroo(!) and also veggie burgers here too. The service at the Subi branch was really good and despite the huge crowd, the waitresses were friendly and efficient.

Tip: If you’re eating there, don’t pay the extra $5 to make it a “meal” as it’s not worthwhile. Much better to use the $5 to pay for a side order of fries or onion rings. The portion of fries, coleslaw and chutney that’s included in the meal is so tiny you can inhale them.

All in all, if you have a craving for thick, juicy red meat sandwiched in a bun, Jus Burgers is the place to go to feed that need!

Update: I just visited again and had the wagyu beef burger with wasabi mayo and onion rings (courtesy of TP). Loved the burger and onion rings! The pure charred red meat taste went well with the mayo and sauce. Plus, I found out there’s self-service ice here which is perfect when you are drinking Coke Zero to wash down all that meat and grease

Jus Burgers Leederville: 743 Newcastle St. Phone: 08 9228 2230
Jus Burgers Subiaco: 1 Rokeby Road. Phone: 9381 1895
Web: jusburgers.com.au

The Joy of Thai – Saowanee’s Place

Preamble: Before start I should apologise for the quality of the pics in this post… even though I am Asian, I don’t carry my digital camera with me wherever I go I didn’t plan to eat at this restaurant and had to settle for taking photos with my Nokia E71 which produced less than spectacular pics. Anyway, on with the post…

I can’t be sure how many Thai restaurants there are in Perth, but I am quite sure it is not easy to find good Thai food here. If you were ever so desperate to take the chance and order pad thai in a foodcourt you would know how great disappointment feels like. Never again.

I heard about Saowanee’s Place from a friend who lives right across the street from the restaurant. I had driven by a number of times but would never think to step foot in there. He told me though that it was very popular and once when he went there with a friend at 8pm there was still a waiting list of people. When I hear that, I knew I would have to check it out.

Since then, I’ve been to this place several times and have never been disappointed. One of my favourite dishes here is the quintessential tom yum soup. Here they make it thick and rich, and unlike most places, the soup base is rich and flavourful. You can taste the body of the soup and it’s definitely not just mere water, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass tossed in a pot at the last minute. You can order it with veggies and tofu, chicken, beef, prawns, or seafood. It’s the best tom yum I’ve had in Perth and as close to the best tom yum I’ve had in my life (which was in Bangkok). They make it thicker than a normal tom yum would be (more like a stew), and it’s chock full of ingredients.

On my last visit I tried a new dish called pla rad prik, which is deep fried fish fillet covered with red curry. Once again this deserves top marks for the crispy fresh fish pieces covered in rich flavourful sauce. It’s not spicy at all. All the sauces and curries here have a wonderful deep coconut taste that seems so fresh. Love it! Plus dishes are served accompanied with a small salad that goes well with the rice and sauces too.

Another must order is the green paw paw salad that is also one of the best I’ve tasted. It comes with a generous serving of fresh prawns, and the dressing has just the right combination of saltiness and sourness. Don’t ask me where they get fresh green paw paw here in Perth as I’ve not seen any readily available… or maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough

There are many other dishes on the menu that are equally good. For dessert, this is also the only place I’ve seen in Perth that has durian with sticky rice! My favourite. For those who don’t like durian (too gross?!?!?!) they also have fresh mango with sticky rice when in season.

Finally, go early to get a table if you haven’t booked (around 6pm) as the place is tiny and can be packed. They’ve opened a new outdoor seating area so this might help with things. Street parking is available along Chelmsford Road. Enjoy!

348 Fitzgerald St (corner of Chelmsford Rd)
North Perth, WA 6006
(08) 9228 9307

JB O’Reilly’s Food and Drink Emporium

I love a cold beer on a hot day or after a long week of work, but this is not the reason I’m writing about this traditional Irish pub that supposedly sells more Guinness than any other pub in Australia. I think though their claim to fame has got to be the food that they serve to go with all those lovely beers, ales and ciders on tap.

I first fell in love with their fish and chips. Crispy light battered fish and the best chips I’ve ever tasted. Mind you, I am of Asian heritage so I might not have that much experience tasting heaps of chips in my life, but I’ve had my fair share though. JB’s are fresh cut, crisp and golden, and really fluffy on the inside. Sprinkle a little salt and make sure you have the ketchup bottle close by. (At JB’s you won’t have to worry as there is one on every table.) Heaven. Then wash all that lovely grease down with a bottle of Magner’s cider over ice.

After many fish and chip visits it was time to try something new and that’s when I discovered their Sunday roasts. Real great value at $18.50. They’ve got chicken, pork, lamb and beef. Every one has different side dishes. Such great value for a nice Sunday meal. The pork roast pictured was adorned with roasted veggies, sage stuffing and apple sauce, all crowned with a generous sliver of crackled. Put that crackle aside as you don’t want it to get soggy.

The last thing I need to rave about are the fresh mussels steamed in cider. Oh so juicy, they are so tender and delicious. So different from the traditional Aussie favourite of chilli mussels that has a tomato based, these come in a pale sauce flavoured with cider and butter, and a hint of parsley. Piping hot mini french baguette is served with it. Get the 1kg order as it’s more value, and you will definitely need more that 500g once you’ve tasted it. I am not a fan of mussels at all, but I dare say that this dish has converted me.

JB’s has special lunch deals all weekdays The staff is always nice and friendly and there is a proper restaurant in case the pub section is not your scene. Live music on some days. Their website has all the details. Parking is fairly easy too. Happy eating!

99 Cambridge St
West Leederville, WA
www.jboreillys.com.au
(08) 9382 4555

My 10 Favourite Perth Eats

Here’s my top 10 list of favourite places for a bite to eat in Perth. This list needless to say includes places with good food and prices. I hope to have an  individual post for each one in the near future. Let me know some of yours. Here goes in no particular order:

1. Hawkers Cuisine (U 17/ 66 Roe Streert, Northbridge) – crispy garlic golden squid.
2. JB O’Reilly’s (99 Cambridge St, West Leederville) – Best chips, and cider steamed mussels.
3. Hong Kong BBQ (76 Francis St, Northbridge) – Roasted pork.
4. Big Bowl Noodle House (408 William Street, Northbridge) – Prawn dumplings.
5. Cafe Cafe (29 Station Street, Subiaco) – Breakfast before shopping at the Subi markets. They have bagels.
6. Dragon Palace Chinese Restaurant (66 Francis Street, Northbridge) – Dim sum!
7. Sienna’s of Leederville (115 Oxford Street) – Pasta nights are cheap and good, and always packed.
8. Voyage Kitchen and Delicatessen (128 West Coast drive, Sorrento) – The best coffee and breakfast in Perth me thinks.
9. Phong Vinh (Unit 3/323 William Street, Northbridge) – The best pho.
10. Saowanee’s Place (348 Fitzgerald St, North Perth) – The best Thai, especially the tom yum.