Lulu La Delizia - take 2!
Sometimes restaurant cravings are really annoying. I mean, I love going back, but they cost a lot! And they tend to take a bit of planning, reservations wise. I've been wanting to revisit Lulu la Delizia since my first visit there made such a good impression, but I never quite felt it was the right time. However, I've been craving Lulu for a month now, so I decided, not 4 hours beforehand, that I'd book a table for myself. I was surprised that there were tables available at such short notice, but it was because the only timeslots available were before 5:30PM, or after 9PM. So, early dinner it was!
The popcorn snack is still here! It was more addictive last time - and by more addictive, I think I mean to say that it was less salty this time around. Still yummy though!
A lot of the menu was really tempting, but since I was eating alone, I didn't want full sized things because I'd be limited in what I could try, as well as be at risk of overspending. So, I went for the chef's menu this time and let them do the deciding. The only thing I really wanted was their pasta special, and so I asked especially if I could have that as part of the chef's menu. The waitstaff was happy to request it for me!So here we are again with the pan e sugo. This was tastier the second time round! I still marvelled at the knifework on the vegetables, good knife skills never go out of fashion! While I was eating this my mind wandered over the old Slap Chop ads. I wonder, exactly what does a Slap Chop do? I don't even remember if it claims to finely dice. But if it does, I am a little curious about the results because I think that it can't replace a skilled chef and their knife.
Yes, an oyster! Jackpot! I wasn't sure if oyster would make it onto the chef menu, but lucky for me, it did! These "omakases" are actually quite intriguing and fun to do from time to time! I can't remember exactly what the vinaigrette was, but at first, I thought it was far too much for the actual oyster. However, the quality of this oyster was very good, and its sweetness and flavour actually held up really well against the sharpness of the vinegar. I was impressed!
I would never have chosen the cured kingfish with gin, citrus and celery, because there were more interesting things such as fried mozarella, meatballs and burrata to choose from. That being said, this seafood experience was actually different, even though I've eaten quite a few cured fish dishes in my time. The kinfish itself was firmer than most, and the sauce had a very aromatic citrus flavour to it, moreso than normal. The celery was a great flavour and texture to have here - I don't actually like celery because it tends to be overpowering, but this worked really well!I don't know what it is. I shouldn't be that blown away by just how good the flavours have been so far, but they've exceeded my expectations! Maybe this place really is the best Italian restaurant in Australia?
I mean, I couldn't even fault the asparagus and egg sauce (that's what the waiter said) with cheese. I forgot what cheese, but it didn't sound like the usual parmigiano? It was very deliciously pungent in its aroma though. And egg sauce... is mayo? I'll just say it's a very nice egg and vinegar emulsion, with both the yolk flavour and the vinegar flavour very balanced, so that one didn't overpower the other. The flavours were loud, but not shouty. Wow, am I really getting gushy over this place?Plus the asparagus was delicious! I'm sorry Bread in Common - I know I said your asparagus dish was great a couple of weeks ago, but this is even better. The flavour of the veg was incredible!
Oh yeah. Wow. This is what my life is all about. This was today's pasta special - squid ink bigoli, squid, roasted artichoke. I really, really wanted this, so I asked the waitstaff to include this as part of the chef's menu if possible. I'm so glad they obliged! This was mindblowingly good. Like, wow. The waitstaff had described the bigoli as a fairly thick pasta. In my uneducated head, I thought she meant wide, like pappardelle. Oh, it's actually THICK. Basically, a super thick spaghetti! I get it now! And I loved it! I found that the extra thickness gave this a really good bite, my favourite thing when it comes to pasta. The squid was also unbelieveably sweet, I've not had any squid this delicious in ages! (My last instance of squid was crumbed squid rings from a fish and chips shop and it wasn't that great) And of course, artichokes are always a winner.One thing I did notice immediately about this dish was the salt. There was a lot of salt here. I would say it was almost too salty, but it kind of worked, so I didn't mind. I am pretty sure I noticed this last time I was here too, that some dishes seem to really push the saltiness, but hey, it's not like I do this too often so I'm sure my heart remains happy. It didn't quite unbalance the flavour of the dish, so this is more of a thing to note than any real criticism.
Oh, another pasta dish? Whoops I must have miscounted, I thought I hit 5 courses already? Maybe the bread wasn't part of it? Maybe the oyster was an extra treat? Maybe the special was thrown in for free?? Maybe I miss out on dessert??? I have no idea. I actually wasn't expecting the same size of pasta again, but I managed to eat it all anyways!This was a pork sausage and pea pasta, with a side of grated parmesan so that you could add your own to taste. This was much less of a flavour bomb than tonight's special, but still very good. The pasta here was a complete contrast from the bigoli - this pasta was thin so it tasted a lot softer. Almost too soft, but maybe that was just because I'd just had a very bitey pasta. I don't think I can accurately assess this particular dish as a result.
How cute!!! It looks like I do get dessert - tiramisu in a spoon! I was really happy my bite sized treat was served like this! Call me hipster, and yes, I know it's been done in Melbourne as a thing and got made fun of, but for me the serving size was perfect, so I had no issues with this. I also love licking spoonfuls of cream and other things at home, so I felt like this was the right thing to do.Okay, either there's something wrong with me, or I haven't had enough restaurant experiences this year, or my appendicitis last year was doing weird things to my tastebuds for my first visit, but this tiramisu tasted amazing. So much better than last year! Is it possible that this restaurant is even stronger than before? I have no idea but I gotta say, I absolutely am in love with this place.
And for my last course, a crostoli with cinnamon sugar! Yes! Sweet fried Venetian pastry! It actually looks a lot like a sweet fried version of the pork sausage pasta! I guess this makes 9 courses? This was light, crispy and delicious! A perfect end to the night!I love this place. It's exceeded all of my expecations. Overall, I loved it just as much, if not more than my first visit here. The flavours are bold and incredible, but never heavy. I've always claimed that I like this place better than Tipo 00, but I don't think that's fair on them??? Both places are amazing and generous. They both serve similar food. Today's squid special here blew Tipo's signature squid ink pasta out of the water. But I don't think I would ever recommend one over the other, simply because they are in different locations. They're not competing; they're both superstars in their respective states. I will tell everyone to love them both!For the $69 I paid, what I can compare is this: Tipo and Lulu cost the same for the chef's menu. The service from both were great. Tipo gave far more food, but I also couldn't finish it. So for a normal person, both places serve more than enough food - you'll be super satisfied and won't go hungry. Splurge on both!I love traditional Italian food!!!
Lulu La Delizia
It feels like it's been a long while since I've eaten at a restaurant in Perth. I keep saving my money for interstate/international restaurants, mainly because nothing here really compares, but that's probably bias at work too. I still love Sydney the best. Of course, if I'm offered, I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to visit a restaurant that's been raved about by chefs and critics alike.I don't do Italian food because it's done so poorly and your average non food person thinks it's just all pizza and pasta, really heavy, tomatoey things. I always look for something more, like a fish soup, white pizza, or really light looking dishes, but they're hard to come by. Rosetta was really good, but not a standout - the best thing there was the olive oil for dipping bread in. There's so much mediocre stuff out there and I'm not game enough to learn the world of Italian food. But given the rave reviews and a great opportunity, I decided to give Lulu La Delizia a go.A bit of background, there's a restaurant in Perth called Lalla Rookh that caught my attention when I first came to Perth. The second Italian restaurant I was recommended was a place for Galileo. I never went to either. But, I'd heard that the head chef of Lalla Rookh quit to open a new restaurant, and lo and behold, I saw it pop up during some of my walks. I've always been curious about it, and then the reviews started coming in, saying it was the best pasta, not just in Perth, but was holding its own against level of praise of places like Tipo 00 (which I still need to go to!). My flatmate decided to treat me since I finally had (several) nights off because of my recent appendicitis, and my appetite was back so why not!
I like the decor, it's pretty nice. And do you see that San Bitter bottle holding the twig of rosemary? That was pretty cool. And yeah, that's the head chef towards the centre of the photo. I may or may not have been staring ever so slightly.I also had a great conversation with the waiter because at this point he asked me if I was a blogger. Definitely not. I don't like saying I am (even though I have a blog lol?), so I kind of just said I had an Instagram account but didn't consider myself a blogger. There was also a conversation about the last restaurant I'd been to, so I mentioned I went to Waku Ghin. At the mention of Singapore, he asked if I made it to Burnt Ends. I said that I'd preferred sampling the street food there, but that I had made it it Firedoor instead. At that point he smiled and said I was a real foodie! lol.
And another shot, just cause.
Pan e sugo
OK, onto the food. This was bread, but the bread was gone by the time I was bothered taking a photo (I was hungry). Bread, with cultured butter, and vegetable sugo. The sugo was ok, the butter was great, but it was the knifework on the sugo that really caught my attention. Can you see how finely chopped all those veges are? It reminded me of the tartare from Fix Wine Bar! I'm impressed. I should one day do some crazy knifework again.
Carne crudo
Hey a beef tartare on the menu! Described as raw beef crostini, smoked bone marrow, anchovy salsa. This had a great vinegary hit and the crunchy crostini really brought texture to this! Again, really nice knifework, but on the beef itself, I reckon Fix was better. I'm so shallow!
Oh yeah. We got snack things at the start too. Deliciously addictive herbed popcorn! These were so good! I only decided to take a picture of them afterwards. I think I'm getting out of practise when it comes to taking pictures of food...
Braised globe artichokes
I'm addicted to artichokes even though they cost a fortune (relatively speaking), but they are so delicious. And I've been wanting to see what a restaurant does with artichokes. I hate the overly vinegary stuff from the supermarkets, and I'm pretty sure I was slightly disappointed that the last time I ordered artichokes from a restaurant, they were still a little too acidic. But this, this was really nice. It was lemony, but like lemon zest and lemon oil, rather than being soaked in lemon juice. The anchovy fillets were amazing and not overly salty or acidic either, and the ricotta helped balance out the strong lemon flavour. I quite liked this dish! It was also a better and lighter choice than Nonna's meatballs, which I also really wanted but knew I wouldn't have room for. That's a next time dish I reckon!
Ricotta gnocchi
Gnocchi was my flatmate's choice, though we got everything to share. I was more after the pasta since I'm a tougher pasta critic than I am with gnocchi (I almost never eat gnocchi, and avoid risotto like the plague). I was amused because as always, gnocchi really is just potato lump things, so trying to get it looking good in a photo was difficult! So top down it was. My memory of my favourite gnocchi is pretty old and undocumented. I think it comes from Andre's Cucina back in Adelaide. But apparently searching my history shows only my raving of their polenta. Anyway, the texture of the gnocchi was nice, but it was the sauce of blue swimmer crab, tomato, basil and chilli sugo that really made this dish shine.
Special pasta of the day
I love specials. There's always something so exciting about the anticipation laden moments of time between the waiter announcing there are specials, and then hearing them. I love that point in a restaurant outing. It's like the most glorious few seconds where nothing is actually happening, but you know that the next moment could be the most exciting moment for your ears. And imagination. Or something. Having not stalked the restaurant's or chef's feed, I didn't know what to expect. As soon as I heard that there was double sided pasta, I was sold. I really wanted to see this double sided pasta. Saffron one side, basil on the other. Green and yellow ribbons!! I just had to. And vongoles sealed the deal. Yes, I love clam pasta.It was a fantastic dish. That pasta was perfect, it had chew but there was not even the slightest hint of undercookedness. It was like this is exactly how pasta is supposed to be. It had bold flavours but wasn't heavy. It was amazing. And to top it all off, I tried playing with my food, but the two layers of basil and saffron were so well melded together in that thin ribbon that I couldn't separate them. That was so cool! Absolutely stunning stuff.
Tiramisu "corretto"
The one dish I regret. It was tasty; don't get me wrong - it was a light fluffy cream, well soaked sponge and that chocolate powder was lovely and rich. It was actually the waiter who took our dessert order that made me think that in hindsight, I should have ordered the fried custard. Basically, he came up to us and asked us if we were going to get the crema fritta. After placing my order, he got it wrong repeating it back to us, again saying the crema fritta. It made me wonder if this was something everyone ordered, and that I should have asked about and also tried. But alas, I didn't, and now I want to go back and try this wonderful thing that the waiter kept talking about. Kids, your waiter is sometimes not wrong when he or she is wrong. Take hold of that chance at serendipity!
Gorgonzola dolce
I almost never order cheese desserts. But I've been loving gorgonzola dolce recently, and in fact, earlier that day, I almost forked out $15 for some, but decided against it because it would have cost too much money. So when I saw this as a dessert, I couldn't resist. Blue cheese and honeycomb is such a good combination! That was my night of happiness complete.I managed to order perfectly for two people, so I guess I'm still good at getting food portions right! And this was definitely a fantastic restaurant experience and it's exactly what I expected from an Italian restaurant. The flavours were great without being heavy or oily and everything was cooked so well! Again I have to mention, I loved that the flavour of the artichoke stood out and wasn't drowned by sauce.Overall, yes, this deserves all the praise it gets. It deserves its top 100 position in whichever one of those magazines, and top 50 in whatever other magazine. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only Italian restaurant you need to go to in Perth. And I like Italian food all the more, now having eaten here. I can't wait till I get to visit Tipo 00!