The Little Banksia – Kensington

The Little Banksia has recently become a bit of a hit on instagram, I don’t know who started this off but it was popping up in my feed constantly for about three weeks or so. This leads to three weeks or so of me constantly whining to Riley ‘we NEED to go to The Little Banksia – Did you see this picture? we HAVE to go there!! – Have you seen those pancakes OMG’. So eventually one morning we headed out to the Little Banksia.

It is a cute little cafe set in an old house across the road from a primary school. Very kid friendly if you happen to have kids, they have a play room I believe. The latte was great, I’m pretty sure Riley’s hot chocolate was a success as well, I don’t recall him complaining anyway! The pancakes came out and by golly are they instagram worthy! Those are the kind of dishes that get me excited – the ones that look like a piece of art rather than something you should devour. Riley ordered the beef brisket on savoury french toast with poached eggs – that may not be what it’s called but there is no menu online so forgive me.

 

The Pancakes were absolutely delicious as was the beef dish. The pancakes were light and fluffy, well balanced and the sauce was absolutely delicious. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals, drinks and experience here and will definitely be back!

Cantina 663 – Mount Lawley

We dined at Cantina 663 for the second time about a week ago now. Both times we have gone booking through Dimmi with the 50% off food offer they sometimes offer for Cantina, because of this we dined at 8:30pm which is very late for us as I am a grandma (stuck in a 23 year olds body) and I like to be out for dinner at 6pm!

The first time we dined at Cantina we had a wonderful experience and thoroughly enjoyed the food so we were excited to head back. We were seated and it took quite some time before a waitress came to take out order, they were fairly busy though. We ordered and began waiting, already hungry from the unusually late dinner for us. The table next to us who were seated and ordered a lot later than us, began having plates of food placed down on there table, and we were yet to receive our entree. They had well and truly 6+ plates on the table and ours was still empty, it had been about 40 minutes since we arrived at the restaurant. Just as I was about to go and ask, our entree was placed in front of us, though there was no apology for the wait.

The mains came out and I ordered the gnocchi again, but this time the menu had changed and there was lamb. Riley ordered the fish with a side of potatoes, he said it was good though I didn’t try as I’m allergic. The gnocchi was fluffy perfection, the lamb was cooked to perfection. The arranchini we ordered for entree was divine, with baked celeriac in it, I think it would have to be one of the best arranchini’s I’ve had.

Cantina serves up delicious Italian food and it was worth the wait! I will definitely be back

Brika – Northbridge

We dined at Brika with our family members on Brika’s 3rd birthday night. The restaurant was completely full and the atmosphere was incredible! With a lamb spit roasting out the front. The service was great, despite how busy they were. A lot of Perth restaurants should take note!

We ordered a bunch of food to share between the four of us –

We ordered the Melitzanosalata, Hummus, Spanakopita, Greek salad, Pantzarosalata, Patates, Goat Keftedes, Pork Belly and for dessert the Galaktoboureko and Loukomades

 

Everything was absolutely delicious – the type of food that makes your taste buds sing – Sound outs would be the Melitzanaosalata, the Spanakopita’s, the Pork Belly, and the Galaktobouerko. The only thing that wasn’t amazing was the Loukomades, which were a bit over and not as good as ones we’ve previously had. Other than that, everything was absolutely delicious! We had a lovely night, and can’t believe it took us so long to get here! We will definitely be back and have already had Filos & Yiros twice since!

Brooklyn Lounge – Claremont

Given my bad luck with the two American joints I’ve tried in Perth, I get hesitant and scared I will be leaving disappointed when an American restaurant is brought up. So I was a little reluctant to try Brooklyn Lounge, though it is in the Entertainment Book so we decided to try it out. We came during the week for an early lunch, arriving shortly after 11am, when they open.

 

We ordered and the waiter explained the coffee machine was heating up so my latte might be 10 or so minutes, which is fine, it was nice he let me know. About 30 or 40 minutes went by after ordering and the latte came out, the waiter apologised and said it had been taken off the bill. The food then also came out and boy did it look good!

 

We ordered the Alamo burger which consists of chicken, bacon, cheese, jalapeños, and queso. We chose to upgrade our fries which come with every burger, to loaded fries, the pulled pork ones. We ordered the New York styled corn and the Mac and Cheese. Yes we are pigs, and yes it comes with food blogging!

 

The corn was divine, the sauce on the corn, well I would buy that in litres if I could! The mac and cheese was good, it could’ve been a little bit cheesier for me but it had great flavours. The Alamo burger was tasty and well balanced, the meat perfectly cooked. But the stand out of the lot I have saved for last….the Pulled Pork Fries!! If you haven’t tried these…get in your car and get to Brooklyn Lounge NOW! These are the best loaded fries we have EVER had, they are not soggy, they are packed with the most incredible pork and flavours. I will go back for those fries alone. They were that damn good!

 

 

Canvas Cafe – Fremantle Arts Centre

Canvas Cafe is one of the brunch spots we’ve been meaning to try….for the past couple years. It is a 2 for 1 offer in the Entertainment Book which is about to expire, so we thought we’d go check it out! We arrived for a very late brunch around 11am and I began to immediately wonder why we hadn’t already been here yet!

 

The courtyard is cute and homely and everything that I love in a cafe. We ordered our regular latte and hot chocolate order along with the lamb shoulder and a fried chicken burger – which was on the specials board. The cafe was very short staffed and busy but one of the young waiters was still very friendly and accommodating. It was another waiter who brought my latte out and also tried to give us someone else coffee, repeating a latte and ….. whatever the drink was about 3 times, after I said no 3 times and finally corrected him that we had ordered a hot chocolate. He plonked my latte on the table and walked off without apologising or saying the hot chocolate would be out soon.

 

The food came out and it was well presented and also very tasty! The burger was perfection and once again I wished I had ordered Riley’s dish instead. The lamb shoulder was cooked perfectly, though I felt some yoghurt or tomato chutney/relish would’ve balanced it out as it was a bit tangy.

 

Overall I plan on coming back, there were quite a few menu items I would like to try. It was a shame one of the waiters was a bit rude, though we have experienced worse.

Bistro Bellavista – East Perth – Invited

We were invited to Bistro Bellavista for dinner one night. This restaurant is very close to where we live, but to be honest, after trying quite a few restaurants in our area we are quite skeptical of venues around here. We have had no such luck in finding a local favourite in the year we have lived around here. Bistro Bellavista has recently had a makeover, it looks a lot more inviting, relaxed, modern and bright then when we had previously walked past.

Going in with low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised. The wood fired pizza with a thin, crispy base was absolutely delicious. The arranchini was divine, the croquettes were possibly the greatest we’ve had. The pasta was fresh and flavoursome, the lamb cutlets, cooked to perfection! The staff were friendly and attentive, had we found our local gem?!

Dessert came out and I have to say I am quite fussy when it comes to desserts, sometimes I will look at a dessert menu and find nothing that appeals to me. I had the semifreddo and I have to say it was one of the best desserts I have had in Perth. Perfectly balanced, not too sweet and the perfect consistency!

 

Bistro Bellavista is definitely a new local gem! We will definitely be back again! Bistro Bellavista is also in the Entertainment Book and also have $15 pizza and pasta specials Monday and Tuesday nights. Definitely worth a visit!

Frisch and Barc – Coffee and French Toast

We first went to Frisch and Barc for breakfast in their first week of opening. While their was a couple of hiccups back then, it was an overall great experience and the dishes we ate were delicious.

We stopped by for what was meant to be a coffee and a muffin on the way to Fremantle (for lunch). But being foodies a muffin was simply not good enough. We were given a menu, to which I could only see FRENCH TOAST, FRENCH TOAST. So as the French toast was calling my name, I asked Riley if he would rather we shared a French Toast, he didn’t argue with this.

Our hot chocolate and iced coffee came out, the hot chocolate was great and nice and hot this time and the iced coffee was tasty too!

The French toast was delicious, though we couldn’t really taste the Kaya in it, not like the first time we had ordered it. Overall it was still a very tasty dish and the Rhubarb really adds to it. We would definitely come back here again. They have pretty good service and a great vibe and space here!

Propeller – North Fremantle

The first time I went to Propeller was for coffee, in Perth it is a struggle to get a good coffee after 2-3pm, but luckily Propeller are open pretty much all day and serve up coffee.

The coffee was very good, probably one of my favourite lattes to date. After looking at the lunch menu, and smelling the kitchen. I decided I needed to come back here and soon.

My partner and I, and two of our friends dined at Propeller for dinner recently. We ordered the Black Pudding, baharat chicken ribs, chicken kibbeh, the moorish spiced pork skewers and the pumpkin manoushe pizza.

Everything came out pretty quickly and not all at once, which was perfect. Every dish was amazing! The chicken ribs and pork skewers were not as stand out as the other dishes we ordered though. The Chicken Kibbeh is divine, so much flavour in this dish, it is a must try when dining at Propeller. The Black Pudding was amazing, the lentils and egg were tasty  and really added to the dish. The pizza base was perfect, nice and thin, and oil free. The service was good, nothing stand out but still good.

The food here is incredible, highly recommend eating here! We will be going back to try out the breakfast menu soon.

The Precinct – Victoria Park

The Precinct in Victoria Park doesn’t get as much attention as they should in my opinion. This was our third time dining here, and our first for dinner, the other two times for dinner. Every time the food has been great, flavoursome, cooked to perfection. The staff have been great and friendly. There has never been anything we could fault. Yet some people seem to have an idea that they’re not great, I’m not sure if people just say this or they have improved since opening.

The Precinct serve up a sharing food type menu for dinner, that consists of smaller and large share plates. I believe the menu has changed in the short time since we dined there, so please do not go there expecting the following dishes. We ordered the chicken wings, the meatballs, the chickpea fritters, and truffle mac and cheese.

The chickpea fritters were delicious, who knew vegetarian could be so nice when eating out! The meatballs were nice and I’m not usually a big ‘meatball person’. The truffle mac and cheese was divine and something I’d go back for. The Chicken wings, oh my god, can we talk about the chicken wings? They were incredible, the sauce consisting of brown ale barbecue sauce with ranch. The flavours were phenomenal and went together perfectly. I strongly hope these wings haven’t been taken off the menu!

 

Honey Beanz – Subiaco

Honey Beanz is a new cafe situated in Subiaco, serving up Korean eats and some more traditional breakfast options (such as muesli).

We ordered two Bibimbap burgers, which come with sweet potato chips, and at the time they had an offer for a free drink with certain menu items, this being one of them. So we got an iced chocolate and an iced latte.

The popular black burgers came out fairly quickly. The sweet potato chips were delicious but the burger we weren’t too fussed on. There was nothing wrong with the burger per say, I personally found it a bit salty, though I don’t like salt much and my boyfriend didn’t pick up on this. The burger felt like it needed another flavour in it, some tomato or chilli sauce maybe would’ve helped. Either way I didn’t feel the meal was worth $21.50 if the drink had not been included.

The staff were so friendly, the space was so cute, I really wanted to love this place. The staff brought out little cups of the Bircher Museli as a sample for us to taste, which was really sweet of them. The muesli was really nice. Overall this place has a lot of potential, and with a few changes could be amazing!