Shige Sushi Bar in South Perth

**** This restaurant has moved to a new address.

Shige Restaurant
08 6161 0858
11:30am-2:00pm, 6:00pm-9:30pm 
East Perth
Opposite the FMG building
18 Plain Street East Perth, WA 6004

(Updated Nov 2014) ****

Shige Sushi Bar has been opened for quite awhile now, and this hidden small restaurant has been popular among locals and tourists.  Although the restaurant is very small – counter seats, and 3 tables (inside) and 2~3 tables (outside) -, people seem to be still enjoying going there for the food.  Because of the location, some tourists staying around South Perth also visit there.

I headed to this place with friends for dinner the other night.  When I called the restaurant to make a booking, they said the night was going to be very busy but they could squeeze us in between 6 to 7:30 pm.  When we arrived there, the restaurant was just opened and the owner chef (Mr Shige) was already working busy in the kitchen.

We can see the kitchen over the counter, and it seemed that he is the only chef who does all the cooking.

We ordered a large assorted sushi, gyoza, assorted tempura, lemon chicken and grilled beef fillet in teriyaki sauce to share.

The food came up really quick.  After ordering I went to the toilet, and when I came back to the table the sushi was already there. I think they had to push the food out as quickly as possible so that we could get out before 7:30 for the next bookings.

The gyoza was properly cooked – I mean, at some other restaurants, gyoza is deep-fried.  Gyoza is normally grilled like this unless it’s specified “deep-fried gyoza” on the menu.  The gyoza was very moist and soft.  My friend said that she prefers the skin to be crispier, but I liked it.  I thought the taste was bit thin, but I don’t really like too-much-garlicky-taste gyoza anyway, so I enjoyed it.

I must say, the tempura was very light and crispy.  The beef fillet was tender (even though I ordered very-well-done) and tasty.  Both Beef Teriyaki and Lemon Chicken came with some simmered vegetables on the side (edamame and root vegetables) and we all agreed that the taste reminds us of my grandma’s cooking. Very traditional Japanese flavour.  We loved it.

The lemon chicken was delicious too.  At first, I imagined it to be something similar to the Chinese version of lemon chicken, but it wasn’t.  The lemon chicken at Shige, the chicken was grilled (not deep-fried) and the sauce was teriyaki sauce based.  The tangy kick of lemon juice really matched with the juicy chicken meat.

Overall, the food was great and so was the service.  Around 7PM many customers started to show up (around 15~20 people at once!) and the restaurant started to be crowded and busy.  Thanks to the fast service we could finish our meal and get out the restaurant by 7:30.  If you are planning to go to this restaurant I recommend to make a booking first.  Again, this is a pretty small restaurant so you have to prepare yourself to be sitting and eating in a limited space.

Out to Lunch, Massage and Cafe

The weather was cloudy with light drizzling rain on Sunday.  I had a 1 hour massage appointment at Mayumi’s at 1:30pm, but my in-laws wanted to have lunch together at Bintang Cafe as one of the sister was going back to Jakarta on Monday afternoon.

The sister and D went to church in the morning.  While waiting I was getting myself ready for the lunch, massage and meeting friends at C15 in Applecross.  Around 10:30 the sister and D came back… with Mcdonald’s bacon egg muffins and pancakes!  “I thought we’re going to have lunch soon” then she said “Yeah, this is just breakfast.”

After eating the muffin I was pretty full, but still joined the lunch anyway.  I ordered bihun goreng (stir-fried rice noodle) and D ordered a rice dish (Nashi something Champur).  Very full… but I’d gotta go to get 1 hour massage!

This time Mayumi had prepared a big donut-shaped cushion for me so I could get massage while lying face down.  Starting from my back to neck & shoulders, then my legs…   It was again, a 1 hour of heavenly massage.  As I told her that my legs kept getting cramped, she concentrated on my calves. I was almost asleep half-way through the massage because it was so great and relaxing.

After the massage I headed to C15 in Applecross.  My friend just came back from Hong Kong and Japan trip, and she is returning to work soon after 1 year + 3 months maternity leave.  As both of us will be busy in the next few weeks we decided to catch up while we still have our time.

Friend and I wanted to order pancake (we love pancake at C15!) but it was impossible for my stomach to take another solid food.  My friend also decided not to eat pancake this time, so we just had drinks and stayed there for 2 hours non-stop talking.  As she gave birth at St John of God in Murdoch (where I’m giving birth to my baby) I had lots of questions to ask!

I love this cafe – not only the food, drinks and services, but also even customers are friendly.  Great place to pass the time.  I’m not surprised this place is always full of people.

Japanese Curry House

I haven’t had craving for curry for a long long time – any curry including Japanese, Indian, Thai and Indonesian.  But, I suddenly feel like the saucy curry and I can’t stop thinking about it!

The curry restaurant first came up to my mind was Curry House Coco Ichiban.  It’s a curry restaurant chain and is currently in Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Hawaii.  

I started browsing the website, and their limited time special curry look so nice….  There are 7 curry including Oyster Katsu Curry and Sukiyaki Curry, but this Hash De Beef & Mushroom Curry is the one for me!

Like other family restaurants, Coco Ichiban has a huge variety of menus including salads and desserts, and the curry menus are more than 50!

IF, you like Japanese curry (I know some people hate Japanese curry) I recommend you to go to Coco Ichiban and try the curry. You can adjust the rice size, spiciness of the curry and add extra toppings if you like.  At Coco Ichiban the level of the spiciness starts from mild, and as the level goes up it becomes spicier.  There are 12 levels of spiciness to chose from, and the top 5 levels are only available to people who have eaten the one level below in the past.  You can’t order mild, then next day level 10!  According to the menu the spiciness is deadly and you may need to call an ambulance…

They also have breakfast menu – of course all curry dishes.  I remember eating curry in the morning when I was a kid…

Mood for Beauty

My friend recently had eyelash extension and she kept saying that she now loves looking at her face (eyes) in the mirror.  She had the extension by a Japanese lady – friend gave me the information about the lady but I’m not sure if I ever get eyelash extension.  It sounds very interesting, but I’m not sure if it’s 100% safe, and it is also pricy and not permanent.

But, after hearing from the friend I looked at my eyelash and realized that my eyelash has been falling off quite a lot!  I believe I had more eyelash when I was younger (>0<).  I never cared (I should…) about these things, and now I think I should do something about it.  

I bought L’Oreal Lash Boosting Serum to help my eyelash grow! L’Oreal brand seems to be quite popular among Japanese girls too.  Let’s see how it goes… 

I’ve been wearing the serum on my eyelash for 2 weeks now, twice a day.  I haven’t worn mascara for the last two weeks, and I think that my eyelash has became stronger –  less failing.

By the way, one of my friend in Japan is also pregnant (around 3 months) and they are having the wedding party on January next year.  She is already married to her husband, but they didn’t do any party or ceremony. (which is quite common thing in Japan these days)  They chose the following dress:

… yes, not white.  Wine color!  These days people in Japan don’t really care the color of the wedding dress much…  I’ve seen many brides wearing pink, blur or red dress in their wedding, not white.  I really like the dress and I think she will look great in this dress 🙂

These days my appetite has been strange.  I feel hungry, but don’t know what I feel like eating.  And, I get heartburn very often now.  If I eat a lot in the morning, I can’t eat anything until late night.  So, I just eat light food or snack little by little during the day.  

But, yesterday I really really wanted to eat chicken rice!  I couldn’t do anything but thinking about it.  It was around 3 PM, and D and I headed to Ten Ten.

I ordered Hainanese chicken rice, and D ordered roasted chicken rice.  We must have had looked like two starved little kids….   I ate it up all and so did he (^^).  It was very satisfying afternoon!

a

Japanese Restaurants in Perth <2>

<<Other Areas>>

Japanese Restaurants in Perth<1>

There are many Japanese restaurants/takeaway shops across Perth.  Some of them are operated by Japanese, and some of them are not.  I’m not saying that the Japanese restaurants owned by non-Japanese are not as good as the ones owned by Japanese.  With my experience, however, I personally think that some Japanese restaurants with a Japanese chef serve genuine Japanese food here.

Here is the list of Japanese restaurants owned by Japanese and/or operated by Japanese chef in Perth:

<<Around Perth City>> (Perth, Northbridge, West Perth, Subiaco)

Lunch at Bintang Cafe and Indonesian Comedy Singers

On the weekend I had lunch with my in-lows at Bintang Cafe in Victoria Park. (my previous post about Bintang Cafe is here)  As we’re a group of 7 people, I didn’t think we could get a table easily (this place is pretty small) especially during lunch time on Saturday.  As I thought there’re packed with people (mostly Asians) and we waited outside for few minutes.

I know their popular dish is Me Ayam Jamur (egg noodle with chicken and mushroom, soup served separately), but I didn’t fell like eating wet stuff.  I ordered Kway Teow Goreng (fried kway teow noodle).  Other people ordered Gado-Gado (Indonesian salad: blanched vegetables with peanut sauce), Me Ayam Jamur with extra wontons, Bihun Goren (fried bihun noodle), Ayam Kway Teow (kway teow noodle with chicken), and omelet-looking tofu dish (my husband doesn’t remember the name of the dish).

I actually wanted to order some Ais Kacang (Malaysian/Singapore/Indonesian dessert with shaved ice with syrup, beans, etc) but I didn’t.  I didn’t really look through the menu, but I don’t think they have it on the menu.  Sister-in-low ordered Soda Gembira – a drink with special syrup, condensed milk and soda water- and it looked nice (and very sweet).  Brother-in-low ordered milk bubble tea with sago.

We ordered Tempe too.  This is a deep-fried soy bean dish and is very good for pregnant women.

Pempek.  Deep-fried fish cake with egg inside, covered with tamarind sauce.  The sauce tastes spicy, sour and sweet.  All these food remind me of Indonesia!

When we were about to finish our food, the outside started to be little noisy.  I had no idea what people were talking about, as they were speaking Indonesian.  Then my husband told me “hey! he is a famous comedian!!”

“Project Pop” is an Indonesian comedy singer group (apparently), and the gathering outside Bintang Cafe there’re one or two of Project Pop members.  I didn’t know which one was which (as I’ve never watched Indonesian tv) but father-in-low took a photo with one of the member, Udjo.

Afterwards we found out that they came to Perth to join an event held at UWA.  Hmm… I hope some Japanese comedians or celebrity come to Perth too…

a

Free Service – Go to Mister Donut!

Mister Donut is giving away 1 free NEW donut for the first 300 customers between 01 and 03/November at the shops across Japan!

The new flavor donut is made with rice flour (chewy texture mochi-mochi) coated with kinako, sweet soybean flour.  This donut will be sold from 04/Nov at shops after the campaign.

Yoshinoya, the largest chain of beef bowl restaurants in Japan, is also giving away 1 free egg for the customer who orders the new menu kimuchi kuppa. (until 08/Nov)  So cheap… 280 yen!  

onaka suita~… (I’m hungry~)

Food I Eat and Don’t Eat in Perth

It seems that I keep going to the same restaurants over and over here.  When I go to a Japanese restaurant to eat out in Perth, deciding “where to go” is based on the price – not the food itself anymore.  The reasons are because the food (Japanese food) is very pricy here, I’m not a fussy eater, and I know I can get better food at cheaper price in Japan.

Some Japanese restaurants serve food at the price which I don’t think it matches with its food.  For example, I wouldn’t pay $9.00 or $10.00 (around ￥700~￥800) in Japan on a donburi with just a few meat and no garnish etc.  To me, the food looks like the one you can just get from a chilled section in a convenience store at ￥298 (around AUD$3.80)

So, if my friends or in-laws wants to eat Japanese food in Perth, we end up going to the Japanese restaurants at the reasonable pricing – so that we can still have fun without spending hundreds.

The food I like eating in Perth is Asian food (except Japanese and Korean).  Malaysian, Singapore, Thai, Vietnamese etc… those are the food I can’t eat when I’m in Japan.  There are many Asian restaurants in Japan, but most of them converted the menu to suit Japanese people’s tongues.  As there are many Asian people living in Perth, the foods are similar to the ones in their country.  (I’m sure the food in the country of origin tastes much much better and cheaper though)

Shiki Group (Zushi Bento and Edo Shiki), Matsu Sushi, O’Ba-san, Taka’s Kitchen, etc.  They are all low-priced Japanese restaurants, and they have at least 3 shops across Perth.  The business seem to be going well, so it means that many people actually prefer going to have a casual dining experience at inexpensive restaurants more often.  Of course people may like going to an expensive restaurant to enjoy the atmosphere and the food occasionally, but we can’t do that all the time (unless you have lots of money to spare).

I’m the type of person who can survive with cheap foods (of course there is a limit!).  Oh, but the Japanese people who live here temporary (business people) tends to like Ha-Lu, Satsuki and Restaurant Jun.  I do like the food there too, the chefs are Japanese and the foods are much similar to our normal Japanese food.

a

(laksa photo from Google)

Sapporo Japanese Restaurant

Yesterday I went to Sapporo Japanese restaurant in Carlisle for lunch with a friend.  It was my first time to go to this place, but I knew I was going to enjoy the food as I’d heard many nice reviews from my friends about the food and the owner of this restaurant.

The place was, as I was told before, pretty small.  That’s one of the thing I liked.  The inside looks like the eating place where I used to go with my family in Japan.  While I was dining there, I felt like I was in Japan!

When I arrived this place, my friend was already there.  She was talking to the owner lady at the counter, and told me “Ume, they are actually closed today”.

“Really?”  … I must have got the wrong info from a website.  But, the owner lady said “No, it’s ok, it’s ok.  I can cook for you.”  She insisted with a smile, so we decided to sit down at the table and order some food.

We ordered Hiyayakko and Agedashi Tofu to share.  I had tofu in the morning too, but still wanted to eat it.  Tofu is one of my favorite food ♪

I ordered oyako donburi.  My another favorite food.  I can eat oyako donburi and tamago udon even when I’m sick.

My friend ordered katsu don.  Both looks similar 🙂

Everything was delicious.  The home-style looking food was cooked behind the counter, and although there was only one owner lady cooking, we didn’t wait more than 15 minutes until all the foods were served.  She brought up all the food at the same time, which is an important thing when you are dining with someone.

Hiyayakko tofu was fresh.  The soup of agedashi tofu was mild and delicious.  And, also I wasn’t that hungry I finished the oyako donburi all up.  Seasoning was just perfect.

The owner lady brought us cups of hot green tea, and we talked for a quite long time.  She is a really good listener!  Very kind, friendly, and great food and pricing.  I definitely recommend this place, and come back sometime near future.  I loved the lemon tree near the toilet at the back too.  It felt like home.

A

Address: 186 Rutland Avenue, Carlisle 6101
Phone: (08) 9470 1473

Open Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner until late

a

My Weekend

I’ve been not to try to make any plan ahead for the weekends lately – just do whatever I feel like on the day, and I think it’s the best way to spend a relaxing weekend.

On Saturday we started the car engine around noon.  I bought a set of new quilt, pillows and sheet from Target the other day but I forgot to buy the quilt cover, so we headed to IKEA to buy a cover for the quilt.  

When we arrived at IKEA we noticed that they’re doing something near the entrance escalator.  $2.00 donation and you can get a copy of IKEA catalog with your photo!

Here is our 2010 IKEA catalog! 🙂  

After shopping, we headed to Scarborough beach.  We sat down at the stairs and watched the big waves.  At the beach the wind was little cold, but there’re people playing with water. I saw many lady bugs there.  I wanted to play with it (I can touch lady bugs) but they just ignored me and kept walking… 

My husband had a hotdog at IKEA, but we went to Jimmy Deans Diner in Scarborough to have burgers again.

A tall burger stacked with 150g beef patty, lettuce, tomato, mayo and tomato sauce.  

He ate with lots of extra sauce…  Mixture of BBQ sauce, chili sauce and American mustard.  I need to do something about his “sauce” addiction.  Too much is not good! 🙁

I like mustard, so I added heaps to my burger and ate it all up.  

… I didn’t have dinner on the day.  The big burger stayed in my tummy until Sunday morning.

aa

Ume’s Today

This morning I went to see my doctor.  She called me up yesterday saying that she wanted to talk to me about my blood test.  I was so worried if something was wrong!

She said that Vitamin D level in my blood is quite low, and suggested I should take Vitamin D supplement.  The average level of Vitamin D level is 50 – 120, but mine was 40.  It’s not really a dangerous number, but if the number doesn’t change in future my body will have some problem, such as breakable bone.

You get Vitamin D from the Sunlight (natural Sunlight generates Vitamin D in your skin)  But, I don’t normally go outside in the Sun, especially in Perth, just to stay away from the UV and having skin problems.  If I do, I’d wear sunscreen or some jacket to cover the skin.  I actually haven’t been outside much since I started to work , around 15 years old.  That could be the reason..

After seeing doctor, we went to Emperor’s Kitchen in Leeming Shopping Forum to have Dim Sum.

There are things I always and only get when I go to have Dim Sum.  Fried squid, steamed prawn dumpling, chicken feet (if I’m with my husband), and ginger tripes (if I’m with my husband).  But this time, we were starving (probably from the worry I had since the doctor called me), so we ordered A LOT.  Perhaps we ate equal amount to what 4 or 5 people eat.  I ordered some vegetables too, just to help cleansing the oil in my body from those oily Dim Sum food.

The price was more expensive than the place we normally go to in Northbridge, but we were satisfied 🙂

Can you see this?  ….  maybe not :p  When we were at the house someone released tens of balloons to the sky!  There are many balloons … but by the time I grabbed the camera they’re too far already.

Happy weekend to everyone!

Birthday Dinner at Zushi Bento Ascot

Yesterday was my sister-in-law’s birthday!  We had a birthday cake on last Saturday night at her house, and went to Zushi Bento in Ascot for dinner last night.

I must say, I like the atmosphere of this place.  It’s an individual building, and it reminds me of family restaurants in Japan.  At the door several Japan-like stone statues welcomed us, and the interior of the restaurant was very tidy.  I loved the furniture and the water glass.  The space was wide, they’ve got around 13 tables, counters, and also ozashiki : tatami-matted room with horigotatsu (low, covered table placed over a hole in the floor of a Japanese-style room).  The toilets looked good too.

The food: we ordered Maki Delight (assorted rolled sushi), niku soba, and niku donburi.  Maki Delight contains 3 kinds of sushi rolls: robster, tuna and softshell crab.  They are all uramaki (nori sheet rolled inside)  

Robter roll was with avocado and little pieces of row robster meat mixed in mayonnaise, and the roll was covered with furikake (Japanese seasoning powder).  Tuna roll was tinned tuna mixed with mayonnaise.  This roll was topped with tenkasu (crunchy bits of deep fried flour-dough).  Softshell crab roll was deep-fried sofsshell crab, covered with tobiko (frying fish roe).

The beef on the niku soba and niku don was really tough.  And, the egg sauce on donburi was not enough: the dish was dry.  The soup of soba were little oily.  

Well, if I come here next time I will probably order just sushi.  I heard the dim sum is not nice too.  From the whole experience, the food was not great, but it was ok it’s average. The price was ok too.  The atmosphere of the place was great.

V Burger Bar in Victoria Park

Yesterday we headed to a burger bar in Victoria Park, V Burger Bar.  I was soooo hungry!

Continuing from my previous post about burger cafes in Perth, this is the forth shop that I visited which specialises in burgers.  The shop is right next to the Bintang Cafe.

I ordered Chickcorian Burger which consists of chicken patty with chopped coriander, gourmet lettuce, red onion and lime sweet chilli mayonnaise.  My husband ordered Classic V Burger which consists of prime beef patty, gourmet lettuce, red onion, V relish and aioli.

The bread was Turkish style, and the burger didn’t come with chips or salad.  The price is pretty reasonable.

Chickcorian Burger was delicious – the tangy sweet chilli mayo was well-matched with the chicken patty.  I couldn’t taste much of coriander in the patty though.

The Classic V Burger was good.  The amount of the beef patty was just right, and the aioli and relish were great for the burger.

If I compare with other burger shops I’ve been to, the beef burger at Gourmet on Wray was the best so far.  The beef patty was divine – smooth, tasty, and I could enjoy the genuine delicious “beef”.  A beef burger at Jus Burger was hard to describe, as there was too much sauce and the sauce was overwhelming the taste of the patty, so I have to exclude it from the comparison.

V Burger Bar website

aa

Matsu Sushi

What a beautiful day today!  Sun is out, the sky is blue…  I love driving the freeway to the city and looking at the Swan River…  It may be still bit too cold, but when it gets warmer you can see many people enjoying water sports, including canoeing, jet skiing, paragliding, swimming, etc.  I saw few canoes in the river today.

I felt like something Japanese today.  I asked my husband what he wanted to eat for lunch, then he replied to me with the usual answer…  ” Up to you.”  I hate the word!  (#_#)

I said “Ok…  Udon” coz I know he doesn’t like udon. After few minutes of discussion we decided not to eat udon, but ended up going to a food court and chose whatever we wanted.

I was actually thinking about teriyaki fish.  We went to a food court and I had teriyaki fish at Matsu Sushi.

Umm…. presentation-wise, it’s not really great.  The taste, it was ok, average. 🙂  I don’t actually like them using basa fish, but well, almost all Japanese restaurants/takeaway shops in Perth use basa fish for teriyaki fish, so I can’t complain!  I did enjoy it.

My husband had a mixed Chinese dish.  Umm.. fried stuff.

Matsu sushi has quite a few shops across Perth.  In Rockingham (Rockingham shopping centre), in Mandurah, in Morley (Galleria Morley), and in Leederville.  The Leederville shop used to be Banzai Sushi and Noodle before, and now it’s Matsu Sushi Leederville.

You can dine-in at Matsu Sushi Leederville (and probably in Mandurah), and Matsu Sushi Leederville has liquor license now.  I’m sure the food there are much better than Morley and Rockingham (in the food courts)

aa

Saigon in Northbridge

On weekends we went to Saigon for lunch.  That’t type of food is my favorite (Chinese/Vietnamise/sometimes Malay) 🙂

At Saigon, Saigon Chicken Rice is the popular dish.  When I just came to Perth, my classmate took me to this restaurant for lunch and told me “Ume, you should try this Saigon Chicken Rice.  It’s really yummy!”

“Chicken Rice”…  I didn’t know what chicken rice was at that time, as there is not such dish like Hainan chicken rice or roasted chicken rice in Japan.  At first, I thought chicken rice was the stir-fried rice with chicken pieces in tomato sauce.  That’s the chicken rice in Japan.

It is really “chicken” and “rice”.

But, it’s really yummy!  The chicken skin is crispy, and the sauce is… addictive.

I can eat it every day, but I’m sure this dish contains quite lots of sugar.  Vietnamese food are high in sugar and I can taste the sweetness in the sauce.  But… very yummy!

aa

Ramen, Ramen, Ramen…

I miss ramen…  There are thousands of ramen shops across Japan and ramen lovers go hunting for the best ramen every day.  Each shop has different recipe for the soup and noodle.

There are roughly four types of soups for ramen – Shoyu (soy sauce based), Shio (salt based), Miso (miso based) and Tonkotsu (pork-bone based).  There are other types, including “Tan Tan Men” (well, it’s more like Chinese noodle), “Chanpon” (soup noodle in Nagasaki prefecture, seafood based) etc.

What type of soup and what type of noodle (thin, thick, straight, wavy, etc) to chose depends on your liking, and each tastes totally different.

Personally I like Shoyu, but some restaurants have really good Tonkotsu or Shio, and it really depends.  There is a super small restaurant near my house (… I don’t know if we can call it a restaurant) and it only opens at night for few hours. They serve very delicious ramen, cha-han (fried rice), gyoza, and karaage.  Gyoza and Karaage are typical accompaniments to ramen noodle.

By the way, have you been to Arigataya in Northbridge?  They add more menu every time I visit there…  Now, I think there are around 100! :p

At Arigataya, I recommend Shoyu based soup.  I don’t like Shio ramen there.

I never tried their rice dishes – curry, donburi, yakisoba – because it’s a ramen shop.  But, I’m sure they’ll all taste same as other places.  Their menu sounds funky (takoyaki ramen??) but you have lots of variety to chose from and I guess it’s a good thing.

Another Shopping Day

This morning I woke up earlier than usual, and went down to the post office.  I wanted to send a gift to my formal student who lives in Hakodate. (I wrote about him here)  His birthday is coming up, and I wanted to send something “Australia” to him 🙂  He’ll be 11 at the end of this month… so fast!  I only remember him as 6 years old.

I also picked up a package from the post office as no one was at home when a mail man delivered it yesterday.  It was a MacBook case that I bought online!  Yey♪  You can always find things at cheaper prices online … 😀

After that my whole family (in-laws) and I went to Retravision in Midland.  I always think that Midland Retravision has one of the friendliest services in Perth!  They even serve coffees, teas, cookies and cakes for free to customers 🙂  I was checking up the new mixer, and one staff came to me and asked “would you like coffee?”.  “Sure” I said, then she made a coffee for me using one of the coffee machine that they sell there.  All the staff are friendly…  and I bought a new mixer 🙂  The price was sooo cheap, as they’re doing one-day sale today.

Then all of us headed to Jimmy Deans Diner for lunch.

At this Hollywood style themed restaurant, we ordered chicken burgers, chilli beef burgers, nacho chips, beef nacho, fish n chips and steak burgers…. plus milk shakes etc.  There wasn’t much vegetable on the table and obviously the food was not healthy…  (nacho chips!  Deep-fried chips with cheese and nacho toppings)  but I like the atmosphere there 🙂  I used to go to Jimmy Deans Diner in Scarborough and have milk shakes with friends.

I couldn’t finish the chicken burger… so full.

I’m watching World Cup now…. Japan vs Nederland.  Japan is 1 goal behind so far (><)

I got World Cup glasses from McDonald, by the way.  My husband insisted that he wanted. ^^;  I actually want the green Shrek ears !  The staff was wearing it and it looks so cute 🙂  I should get a Ogre premium chicken burger sometime ..

Cozy Afternoon

Although the mornings and nights get really cold, the daytime is still pretty warm and I like hanging around at a cafe and having a little time for myself.

As I sat down at Fiorentina in Fremantle and ordered a glass of latte, I started to hear some Italian people talking.  Then  I remembered my friend’s blog writing about her trip to Europe last month.  She showed some photos of cafes there, and pastries and tartlets in a showcase looked so delicious.  I liked the atmosphere of those photos.

I like this cafe in Fremantle, although the sweets here are little too sweet to my taste, I enjoy the atmosphere.  I noticed their kitchen has been changed from my last visit.  There’re more staff working in the kitchen too.  I guess their business is well.

The other day I had lunch with friends at Vinh Hong in Northbridge. I was curious what’s Vietnamese coffee is, so I ordered one Vietnamese white coffee.

It was drip brew coffee mixed with condensed milk…  The taste was just like normal coffee with condensed milk.  I thought it has different aroma or some spiced added :p  Anyway, it was just as nice.

I didn’t like this Beef Brisket Noodle when I just came to Perth, but since sometime I realised how much I like beef.  I like the ethnic flavor of the soup and tender bits of beef.  It warms up chilled body 😀

By the way, I baked souffle cheese cake that I was talking at here.

It is very sponge-like, and very fluffy and soft.  Should I call it “cheese sponge” ? 🙂

Joy Cafe in Northbridge

It has been cold weather in Perth, especially the mornings and the nights.  I’ve went to Perth international airport just recently to drop off my friend who was going back to Jakarta.  It was around midnight and the air was freezing cold.  Inside the airport wasn’t that bad, but I still couldn’t take off my jacket.  On the other hand, the friend seemed to be ok with it and took off his jacket and put it into his check-in luggage.  If it was me, I would keep wearing it or at least keep in a cabin luggage in case it becomes cold in the plain.  I sometimes have to ask for an extra blanket to a cabin attendant.

It often takes some time for me to decide what to wear when getting on a plain.  Mostly, the countries I’ve been flying from Perth is either Japan or Indonesia.  The climate in Indonesia is always hot and humid.  The seasons in Japan and Australia are totally opposite.  So, whenever I fry, I always have to think about the climate and the season of the destination.  If I fly to Japan in February, I have to bring a thick coat or jacket with me on the plain, otherwise I’d be freezing from the snowing weather.  But I wouldn’t be able to wear even a long sleeve clothes to Perth airport as the temperature would be around 40 degree in February here.

Anyway, he was flying to Jakarta, a place where you start sweating right after getting off the plain, so he was just wearing half sleeve shirt until the boarding time.  The reason for him taking off his jacket could be also the sweet ginger dish that we ate at Joy Cafe in Northbridge before going to the airport.  As he was flying with Jetstar, and it was his last night in Perth, we all had dinner together at this Chinese restaurant.

We ordered a banquet for 4 which comes with today’s soup, choice of 4 main dishes, steamed rice and Chinese tea for four.  It was $62.00, so we thought it’s a pretty good deal.  It was only three of us when we got to the restaurant, but we were expecting three more people to join us.  In the end, two canceled and one showed up with full stomach, so three of us had to finish up the four dishes. :p  We ordered stewed beef brisket, honey king prawn, spinach with two kinds of egg, and Peking pork ribs with mayo.

The food was good, but what surprised me was the speed of their service.  It may be because of the time we arrived the restaurant (late night), but they served the soup and 4 main dishes within 5 minutes we ordered. All the ingredients were ready to be cooked, I guess.

You can’t imagine how full we were!  But, unbelievably, my husband and the friend ordered dessert (#0#).  They ordered peanut balls in warm ginger syrup soup, and Chinese pancake with sweet red beans and vanilla ice cream….  and we also finished them up too.

With warmed-up body, he flew back to his home. 😀

MOSMANS Restaurant

My husband and I attended our friend’s wedding at Mosmans in Mosmon Park.  It was my first time to go to this restaurant, and my first impression for this place was “wow so beautiful”.  The location is perfect, it’s situated right on the Swan River, with glass walls where customers can enjoy the beautiful views across the bay.

It was such a nice day.

The bride and the groom showed up by a boat!  (there is a jetty connected to the restaurant)  It was really entertaining 😀

The food was great too.  The entree was salmon souffle, and for main we had a choice of rib eye steak or red emperor.  I had red emperor.

Starting with white wine, then champaign for a toast…  With those great food, it was a great dining experience.

I know wedding day is one of the wonderful, important day of a lifetime, but tiring at the same time for the bride and the groom.  Planning the wedding, booking the venue, picking up relatives and friends from the airport…  But, I believe this day was perfect for the couple and they enjoyed their special day.  So did we!

Congrats, and thanks for the great time 🙂

Seoul Buffet

Again, Korean food!  Seoul Buffet is a buffet style Korean restaurant located in Victoria Park.  I was so hungry that night, so I took a full plate of meat, seafood, salad and some Korean side dishes as soon as I went inside of the restaurant.

At the buffet, they had beef tongue, thinly sliced meat, marinated pork/beef/squid, etc for BBQ, and tofu, some vegetables, seafood and mushrooms for steam boat. Some hot dishes such as grilled dumplings and cooked chicken dishes were also available as well as some salads and side dishes.

I like eating those Korean salads.  Seaweed (wakame) salad, beansprout namuru, simmered potatoes, kimuchi, topokki….

We started with BBQ first.  I love grilled beef tongue with lemon juice.  Yum!  There are several types of dipping sauces to chose from: including Gochujang, salty sesame oil and chili oil.

I wished they had some chicken meats.

For steamboat, I put lots of vegetables: Chinese cabbage, bean shoots, mushrooms, and seafood, jellyfish, tofu etc.  You could choose the soup from chicken or beef, and they are also available at the buffet counter.  You get what you want to eat.

I was so full!  One thing (very small thing) if I have to say is that I was kind of hoping to eat the crunchy bean thing (a condiment for steamed rice) there, but they didn’t have it.  Hana BBQ has the bean on their buffet counter, and I love eating it with steamed rice.

Good thing about this Seoul Buffet is that coffee/tea and some dessert are also included in the buffet.  I was so full after enjoying the bbq and steamboat, but I have to get a cup of coffee after each meal.  Their coffee machine is an automatic one, and I actually wanted to get black coffee but the machine only had cappuccino, latte and milk coffee buttons. (or maybe I just didn’t see “black coffee” button)   It didn’t taste as good as fresh brewed coffee, of course, but it’s free anyway.

The dessert menu was actually just 3 flavours of ice cream and sago.  Hana BBQ or Shimizu Floreat has more variety of dessert menu.  But, it was ok to me as I couldn’t eat much for dessert anyway.  I had a bowl of strawberry ice cream and a cup of cappuccino.  Yes I have 2 stomachs.

Overall I pretty much enjoyed the food, and their service.  Nice place to hung around with friends.

Seoul Buffet

08 9470 1133

425 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park WA 6100

Open 7 days

Lunch : 12:00pm – 3:00pm  Saturday – Sunday

Dinner : 6:00pm – 10:00pm  Monday – Sunday

Took Begi Restaurant

Korean food is one of my favorite!  Well, I can eat almost anything, but I really think that Korean food and Japanese food are very similar.  (except for being spicy)

I had lunch with my friend at Took Begi Korean restaurant last week.  Normally this place is always full (one of the reason is that the place is small and not many tables inside) and I had to give up eating there few times in the past as I had no time to wait that time.  Last week, there was no available table for us when we arrived, but we decided to wait.  We both had a craving for spicy Korean food 😀

The staff was very friendly, and spoke some Japanese to us, such as “konnichiwa”.  We ordered Gochujang Topokki (rice cake with spicy sauce), Kimuchi Bibimbap, and Haemul Joen (thin, savory Korean pancake with seafood).

For Joen (savory pancake), actually we were expecting it to be thin and crispy, but the one at Took Begi was little thick and soft.  But, we did enjoy the taste, and also the chewy texture of topokki… 😀

Next time I want to try their dumplings and also bul-kogi menu.

Took Begi Restaurant

(08) 9225 4557

Shop 6, 542 Hay St, Perth WA 6000

Japanese Food to Try

Although there are not many Japanese restaurants that I go to in Perth, some of the restaurants are doing some campaign and serve interesting food.  Here are some of them :

< Jaws Sushi East Perth>

Jaws Sushi East Perth is doing a campaign for Nigiri Sushi tasting plate (with miso soup) for $15.00.  I don’t go to Jaws, but if you like sushi at Jaws it may be a deal.  This is only available at Jaws East Perth.  (vsit Jaws website for more info)

<Edo Shiki>

I found some interesting flavor of sushi at Edo Shiki (Perth CBD).  They occasionally serve rolled sushi with banana, strawberries and mango on their kaiten sushi train.  I tried the banana sushi.  At first I thought it was a really weird combination, but it did taste quite nice 😀  They fry the banana first (like banana fritters) and then roll in the sushi rice.  Personally, I like it without dipping in wasabi+soy sauce.

<Arigataya>

Arigataya gives customers extra noodle for free on their ramen menu (exclude udon and soba noodle) .  You can request for the free noodle once you finish with your ramen/tsuke-men.  You can browse their menu from their website.  Although they started as “ramen shop” they now serve Japanese curry, donburi, inari sushi and other side dishes (such as gyoza and takoyaki).  The location is good 🙂

Open 7 days

Mon – Sat 11:30〜14:30、17:30〜21:32
Sun   11:00 ~ 19:00

62 Roe Street Northbridge WA 6003
TEL : (08) 9227 7901

<Toraya Sushi>

Toraya Sushi in Subiaco is serving Wagyu Sukiyaki as their seasonal menu.  You will need to make a booking for this dish.  Why not try the delicious melty wagyu this winter?  It sounds yummy…  And their pudding is also quite popular.

Shop 8, Subiaco Square

29 Station St Subiaco WA 6008
TEL:  (08) 9382 4433

Lunch :  Mon – Sat 11am-3pm

Dinner :  Wed – Sun 6pm – 9:30pm

<Wasabi & Green Tea>

Wasabi & Green Tea is not a restaurant, but they do delivery service across Bunbury and Perth metropolitan area.  You can purchase rare wasabi stem and leaves, organic tea leaves and also some meal packages such as “Beef Teriyaki Dinner Pack”, “Organic Fruits and Vegetables Pack” and “Sushi Starter Pack”.  Online shopping is available from secured website mysouthwest.com.au (government owned).  You can also purchase from the shop directly.  

Shop 4, 9-12 Albany Hwy East Victoria Park WA  
TEL:  (08) 9470 5213

Open: 13:00 ~ 18:002   
Close on Sundays and public holidays

Zensaki in Barrack Street

Zensaki  in St Georges Tce opened its second shop in Barrack street, where  Mr Samurai  was before it closed its door.  This Zensaki offers some of Japanese typical menu such as donburi and sushi , and also some noodle menus.  

At Zensaki, they cook the soup broth for over 24 hours for deeper and developed flavor.  They promised to use no preservatives and msg on all the dishes.

At the moment Zensaki at Barrack is doing a special campaign – $6.00 for teriyaki chicken, teriyaki fish or teriyaki tofu for a limited time only.  Normal price for those dishes is $8.50.

I think their price range is pretty reasonable.  All the donburi menus such as katsu-don (deep-fried crumbed chicken on bed of rice) and ginger beef donburi are $8.50, except for three items : salmon donburi, unagi donburi and teriyaki salmon donburi which are all at $12.00.

This time I ordered teriyaki chicken and teriyaki fish to take advantage on their special campaign, but I would like to try their noodle menu on my next visit.  The pictures on the menu board looked delicious, especially “Zensaki Ultimate Ramen” .  This Zensaki ultimate ramen noodle contains charsiu, karaage, fish cake, boiled egg etc, and you can chose the flavor of the broth – shio, miso or shoyu (soy sauce).  Other ramen menu are also tempting such as shio butter corn ramen (ramen noodle in salted broth with butter-sauteed corn) and katsu chicken ramen.  The price is around $12.00, and the ultimate ramen noodle is around $15.00, if I remember it right.

<Zensaki Barrack>

83 Barrack Street, Perth WA 6000

(08) 9221 7577

Tenkadori Subiaco

While Tenkadori has 60 stores across Japan, the Subiaco store is the very first
overseas, and they use quality products produced in Australia including free-range chicken.  I took my friend to this place on Friday night for a drink and yakitori 😀

I made a booking just in case, but there were few empty tables inside.  The owner (whom I spoke on the phone to make a booking) prepared a window-side table for us 🙂  The place was little small, but enough to enjoy drinks and tapas!  The staff were very friendly.

Unfortunately I had a big lunch on the day, so I wasn’t really hungry.  So was my friend.  We started with edamame, assorted 7 kinds of yakitori plate, and tofu salad.  You can also order small dish of a la carte menu such as tsukune (skewered chicken meatball), mushroom, tebasaki (chicken wings) and ika no ichiyaboshi (semi-dried squid – a typical food to be eaten with sake, sho-chu and beer in Japan).  We weren’t sure if we could eat some of their main meal such as teriyaki plates and oyako-donburi, those 3 dishes we ordered seemed pretty enough for us.

Assorted 7 kinds of yakitori plate wasn’t all “yakitori”, as it contained sauteed mushroom and okura (not skewered), and the tebasaki (chicken wing) was deep-fried, not grilled.  Well, I thought the dish got good variety , and they’re delicious.  You can chose your yakitori to be grilled with either “sauce” or “shio (salt)”.  Although many people would go with “sauce” ( I assume), I prefer the following combination:

• Yakitori (skewered pieces of chicken thigh) = shio
• Tsukune (skewered chicken meatball) = sauce
• Kawa (chicken skin) = shio (not available at Tenkadori)
• Nankotsu (chicken cartilage)= shio (not available at Tenkadori)
• Negima (skewered pieces of chicken thigh and springonion)= sauce (not available at Tenkadori)
• Tebasaki (chicken wing) = shio

I thought it would be nice if they had some light meals on their menu such as “ocha-zuke” (a dish in which hot tea is poured over cooked white rice topped with a few simple ingredients. It is a deceptively simple yet extremely tasty), soba noodle (either cold or hot) and yaki-onigiri (grilled rice ball brushed with soy-based tasty sauce).

Their lunch menu seems to be different from the dinner menu, so I would like to come back here during the day next time 🙂

(browse here for the conversation between kind viewers and Ume about this place)

Ten Ten Cafe

After having the amazing success in Vistoria Park, Ten Ten Kitchen opened its second shop in Myaree last November, named “Ten Ten Cafe”.  This place was formally operated as Luncheon Forum, where I used to get chicken rice from quite often before. (I wrote about the place here)

A good thing is, Ten Ten Cafe opens from 10am to 8pm for 7 days a week!  Luncheon Forum used to open until 4pm everyday from Monday to Saturday only, so opening 7 days is a very good news for me 🙂

They specialise in delicious Malay cuisine, and also serve some snacks-to-go for workers around Norma Road.  Having a brain marie with daily specials is also a very good idea for those customers who want to just drop by, grab and go.   They promise that everything is made fresh in order by an experienced chef.

Their price range is around $7.50 ~ $12.50.  I think it’s pretty reasonable.  As they’re doing Dinner Special for a limited time, I ordered Hainan Chicken Rice.  It was on special price – $3.80!

I couldn’t believe it was $3.80.  I took it home and started arranging on a serving plate, but it couldn’t fit on a plate.  It was generous amount of rice and meat.  I was afraid that I won’t be able to finish, but I did anyway.  It was delicious 😀

They also have a private function room, fully catered.  It would be a good place for your next family occasion, or big work lunch.

Ten Ten Cafe  Open 7 days 10am – 8pm

95 Norma Road, Myaree  (08) 9317 1227

Wait until April

It’s been soooo… hot  🙁  Summer is not my season, I’m so weak against the heat and my body has been really weird.  Headache, sleepy, tired, and annoyment…   I go out for walking in the evening so that I can feel cool air on my face and body.

I have been planning to go to Tenkadori in Subiaco (please see the comments on my old post) to try their yakitori, but I heard that they are still not opened at night.

I could talk to the head chef in this restaurant.  He told me that the boss (owner) is currently in Japan, and they are still waiting for the liquor license to be approved.  All the equipments and menu has been organised already, and they assume they will get the liquor license very soon.  So, they will start opening at night with Yakitori menu after the boss comes back (after 8th of March)

Too bad, I will be in Japan by then.  Well, I will go there after I come back to Perth :p

I was thinking which Japanese restaurant I should go to with my friend. Then I thought “hey I’m going to Japan in few days.  Maybe I shouldn’t go to Japanese restaurant in Perth.  I can enjoy lots of nice food in Japan.”  That is true…  I guess I will postpone the night out and try Tenkadori after April.

High Tea at Duxton Hotel

The other day my friend and I went to Duxton Hotel for high tea.  We were actually thinking between Hilton and Hyatt, then we decided neither in the end and went to Duxton.

As the high tea hours at Duxton Hotel is for 3 hours, from 2pm to 5pm, my friend and I gathered at the lobby just before 2pm so that we could enjoy the whole 3 hours there.  I was driving and trying to find a parking spot in the city, then I noticed some of the parking spots are now not free until 6pm on Saturdays.  It used to be free after 12:30 on Saturdays before. 🙁  Anyway I could find a free spot just few meters away from Duxton, and ran to the lobby!

I guess we’re the first customer for high tea.  We sat down, and ordered chai tea and mixed fruits tea.

Although I was pretty hungry, I couldn’t finish the food.  It’s not only because we’re so busy talking, but also I found the food was very.. common.   I was little disappointed.  I felt like the tower of sweets and savories, except for the sandwiches, was just taken out from a box from suppliers.  And scone was little bit hard and dry.

I paid $28.00 for the food.  I don’t want to compare again, but you could enjoy dessert buffet at hotels in Japan with 1500 yen (about AUD$15~20.00) and it’s “all you can eat”.  $28.00 for a scone, tart, sandwich and a pot of tea was little too expensive, I thought.

<Duxton High Tea Menu>

Sakura Sushi

Sai Koh Sushi Japanese restaurant changed its owner few months ago, and now this place is called Sakura Sushi.  

The menu is quite similar to before, but there’re several new items listed on their current menu.  I haven’t got chance to go there and try the food yet, but I recently had a chance to have a little chat with the owner about the menu.

Some new items are Okonomiyaki as entree, which is savory Japanese pan cake, and Miso Katsu Don, which is chicken katsu served with tasty miso-dare sauce.  Miso Katsu is a kind of Nagoya food in Japan, and it’s very nice 🙂  I may want to try it on my first visit.

One thing I noticed on their menu is “Potato Cake”  I can’t imagine it as a Japanese food – well, we eat potato cakes in Japan, but I was curious to know why they put it on the menu as a Japanese food.  I asked the owner, and she said that it’s a kind of Japanese food which is a deep-fried dish with potato and vegetables.  …  croquette ??  Is it ??  I just noticed now :p

Sakura Roll Sushi ($7.00 for 5 pieces) contains raw salmon, tuna, crab stick, egg omelet and coated with tobiko (frying fish roe : they describe the frying fish roe as “caviar”).   It sounds nice 🙂  I wish they add avocado!  I love avocado.

The prices are fare, around $4.50 ~ $13.00 for entree and $9.50 ~ 24.00 for main.  The owner couple are very nice people and that’s one of my reason I would like to go there in near future 🙂

Shop 11, Ranford Shopping Centre