Perth bites
On a trip to Perth this week for work/play I managed to check out a few local eateries and drinkeries...
Tiger, tiger
Shop 4/329 Murray Street, Perth, Western Australia
Website
Tucked down an alley, Tiger Tiger is a hip, casual bar affair with some good grub to boot. During summer they have ‘Mary’s Bloody Sunday’ on their schedule, which involves house made Bloody Marys and a BBQ. Vege kebabs, pork belly kebabs and chicken drumsticks are BBQed to order, and served with house-made carrot & red cabbage coleslaw, rocket & spinach. The kebabs and coleslaw were tasty, greens were a little past it, but hey, it was a hot summer afternoon I think we all were. The music could use some work – sounded like staff with steeply varied music tastes had each a put a CD in the stacker and it was set to random.
Dancing goat
3/142 Railway Street, Cottesloe, Western Australia
Started the day with a glorious early-morning swim at City Beach (I know this sounds either like an oxymoron or conjures up images of tourist-laden fake-beach inner cities such as Southbank in Brisbane, but is far from either of these). Growing up on the Sunshine Coast in QLD I have pretty high beach standards, but the beaches in WA definitely hold their own. It is more of a rugged, dramatic coastline with exaggerated features… white sand, crystal clear blue water, monster sharks.
After consulting a few reviews/ blogs, we decided to breakfast at Dancing Goat. Although not on the beach front but in an unremarkable little row of shops, the dining experience had been well-reviewed on all accounts.
We had:
Beetroot, ginger, apple, lemon, carrot juice: $6.50 – This was a perfectly balanced juice with ample ginger zing.
Bircher muesli: $12 – another perfectly balanced offering.. mixed raw nuts (walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds), some dried fruit, julienned apple, stewed rhubarb and a side of pot-set natural yoghurt.
Smoked salmon bagel: $12? – also a win. Fresh white bagel, good amount of salmon, cream cheese, avo and capers, although far too many sprouts (one is too many in my book… how does one bite a sprout?)
Later that day…
Cottesloe Beach Hotel
104 Marine Parade, Cottesloe, Western Australia
Website
This place was packed on a Monday evening, no doubt with sunset watchers eager to enhance their experience with a cold beer.
Barchetta
149 Marine Parade, Cottesloe, Western Australia
Website
On scoping Barchetta from our perch at the pub across the road, we decided to stop in for a glass of wine an appetizer.
The chardonnay, bruschetta, beachfront and friendly staff lured us in for another 2 rounds of food.
Bruschetta: $17 – on the menu this appeared as ‘Danish feta & white anchovy bruschetta’ – while not coming with either of these things it did come with some kind of sun dried tomato tapenade and tomato a balsamic reduction, and was just perfect.
Calamari: $17? – these crisp little numbers were tender, flavourful and plentiful. YUM
Scallop sashimi, tangy pawpaw salad: $24 – ok, but a little disappointing. This dish had all the right things on paper, but just needed a squeeze of lime of sprinkle of fresh chilli or something to give it its rightful pizazz.
Watching a storm roll in over dinner…
