Tiny's Bar

It's been a while since I've visited a new restaurant on the block, and since my mid-year plans had changed quite suddenly, I decided I'd have the budget to be able to check out a new powerhouse created by some big name people.Since I usually only go to highly sought after places, I had no idea if I needed a booking or not... and decided to try a walk-in. Yay, I was instantly seated!I was going to order a mocktail or pass on drinks altogether, but something on the list caught my eye. I've seen a bottle floating about called Doppelganger by Brave New Wine in some of the super hipster restaurants, and I absolutely love the name. Plus, it's an orange wine, the hip thing to drink right now. They had it available by the glass, so sure, why not!It was nice, but since I don't drink and my tastebuds are pretty poor, plus the fact that I prefer light bodied red wines, means that I have no idea how to describe the taste. Oh well!The menu is designed to be shared, and features lots of things on sticks! But first, oysters. These ones were from Duck Bay, Tasmania. They came with condiments of sorrel (I think?) vinaigrette and hot sauce, so I put a bit of each on them. Given my recent Tasmania experience, I was pretty sure these oysters would be so-so (Tasmanian oysters taste infinitely better in Tasmania, as opposed to South Australian oysters which I find taste similar outside of South Australia), and yeah, they were okay, but I've been spoilt lately so I'll say no more.Garden crudites with sunflower cream and yuzu kosho. What delicious veg! I especially loved all the pickled vegetables. I dipped everything in the sunflower cream, but to be honest, it was the flavour of the vegetables that I was enjoying the most. The beans were pretty boring so needed the crema, but the sugar peas were so good by themselves!I agonised between the beef tartare and the fish crudo, and in the end chose the beef. For me, the beef was pretty standard - it didn't blow my mind so my favourite tartares are still from wherever it is that I mentioned it last. That being said, the potato crisps were fantastic! And the cured egg shavings! The crisps were super thin and crispy!!Also, this was on a bed of oyster cream. The oyster flavour was just right, and a nice touch to the dish.Okay, things on sticks time! I really liked that they served "beef intercostals" but it makes me wonder if there's a more common name for it. The king oyster mushroom with soy cured yolk was a must for me, because I love mushrooms. In the background is an octopus stick with squid ink Kewpie. When these came out, I actually forgot that that the mushroom came with egg, so when I saw it in the middle of the plate, I asked how to eat it! The waitress said I could just dip the things on sticks in it. Because of how much the yolk had condensed though, the dipping didn't really work, instead I just scooped it onto my food. And wow, it was one amazing egg yolk. I don't think I've had soy cured yolk before, and I loved it!And dessert was grilled pineapple with roasted rice ice cream. I knew I wanted this as soon as I saw the pineapple on the menu, and my mind instantly thought of Dinner by Heston's pineapple display in the kitchen, because that was an amazing sight. It was covered in a ginger sauce which worked so well with it!The ice cream was super melty (as opposed to me taking pictures of it since I usually am acutely aware of how long I spend between the food arriving, me taking shots and then eating it), and the flavour of roasted rice really came though. The feeling the ice cream gave me was a lot like the chamomile ice cream from Celcius - it was very "feel good" and an appropriate end to my meal. I was very pleased with this and it was my favourite dish of the night.I was really full after all that, but probably only because I ordered the wine - I dehydrate instantly from it so I had about a litre of water on top of all the food. I was a little surprised at the bill because it came in at over $100... which is fairly expensive! That being said, I don't usually order wine, and I don't usually order four oysters. If I deducted them from the bill, I would have hit my estimated spend of $70. Hence, I can't tell if this place is actually more expensive, because I don't know if I would have ordered an extra entree instead.Also, while the food was nice, there was nothing particularly standout about it (except for the dessert), so I kept thinking back to Petition Kitchen, which also does share plates, though the menu structure is different. I think I like Petition better because it's more my style, plus it's marginally less out of the way. However, if you're in this part of town, it's a great place to have a meal with friends.Hooray for trying new things!

Reine's Xmas 2017 cooking

Because I realised I still haven't posted this. So here is the cooking I did during Christmas in 2017. Played a lot with my live marron, whose names were Tiffany and Jake, and Jake was the feistier one.Mainly just a photodump now since it's too late to actually write about it lolThis is Tiffany the marron with scrambled eggs. I had Saint Peter's marron scrambled eggs on my mind when I made this one!I was gonna make just roast quail, but got bored, so these ended up with tea bags stuffed inside them!Kombu!Drink time!Tea "smoked" quail!It's Jake!!!Oyster mushrooms with saltbush and duck egg.Coconut yoghurt with summer fruits!Cooked Jake :DJake's tail!Cheese and meat plate!Made my own beef patties with onion, garlic, herbs.Jake in seafood broth!Making tomato soup!CAPRESESalads! I tried making a dish similar to "oysters and lettuce" from Dier Makr. It didn't even come close :DSpice haul!Yeeah comonOriginally I was gonna just make rice and eggs, but since my visit to Kisume, I changed it to mushroom rice and eggs! This was my test sample, which I gave to my flatmate and she approved!Mushroom rice and eggs - with trout roe, salmon roe, sturgeon caviar, and gold foil for overkill.And a cheap nebb, cause Perth has no nebbs. 

Saint Peter

At last, my first dinner visit to Saint Peter. I really really loved the brunch that I had, so I was eager to have some of the other seafood delights only available on the night menu.Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take a picture of the menu, which means much of the detail - especially the fish type and where it comes from - has been lost to time. Oh well, I still have pretty pictures and descriptions of the food!I took a friend along, and instead of the usual 2 oysters each, I figured we needed 3 each, especially as I won't have access to delicious, super fresh oysters for another six months. We asked the waiter which we should pick - though there was one condition - we had to have the Wapengo oysters because we loved them so much at Embla. He recommended the Petit Clair for its creaminess, then  the Shoalhaven as an in between, and then gave us the Wapengos. Wow, I could actually taste the difference between all three! Amazing! And it was exactly as the waiter described, too! I have an even higher level of appreciation for oysters now!Next up, barbecued blue mackerel with witlof. Oh yeah, look at that fish. It's so gorgeous! We were told to eat it from the tail up, to allow the thickest part to continue cooking. For an oily fish, this was quite mild for me. Probably because usually my mackerel comes from a sushi restaurant and has been marinated heavily in vinegar. So this was really nice and delicious, plus the witlof leaves weren't bitter and in fact, were deliciously sweet! Really good stuff.Another barbecue dish, this time pippies in house made XO sauce and donuts. Oh yeah, those were some super plump pippies! That XO sauce was house made and deliciously tangy and spicy! I've not had anything like it and I think it tasted amazing. If only they bottled that stuff and sold it! Not only did it go well with the pippies, but the donuts tasted great as sauce mops.Yum, fish and chips! What a classic, and to think I haven't had any in years! So I had to get it. I can't remember what the fish was though, all I know is that it was cooked really nicely. And those chips were amazing, what tasty potatoes! This came with an assortment of condiments including gherkin, tartare sauce, lemon, and tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was so good, none of that supermarket stuff. It went so well with the chips!!These are no ordinary onion rings. My friend wanted to order them, so here they were - salt and vinegar onion rings. But as soon as I bit into one, I realised this was like nothing I'd ever had before. Yes, it was salty and crispy on the outside, but that't not where the vinegar was. The vinegar was on the inside; those were pickled onion rings!! How cool! I love the concept, though it got a bit too vinegary for me.I really wanted to order the self saucing potato scallops too, but the waiter advised us against it since we already had the chips and onion rings, and he suggested a green salad instead. I didn't particularly want leaves, so instead we went for the tomato, white peach and vanilla salad. How beautifully presented! And I like the tomato and peach combination, and the aromatic olive oil really worked too. However, the vanilla really messed with my mind and I felt it didn't really belong. I think this would have been delicious without it.And lucky last, the super famous lemon tart. Oh yeah. I love the simplicity of this. I also had to wobble this around since there are heaps of videos depicting its wobbliness. So much fun! And look at that thin base. SO THIN. Quite amazing. and the actual lemon curd is super soft! It's got a lovely lemony punch, and it's just so melt in the mouth, it's amazing that it even keeps its shape! So impressive! And a nice dollop of cream to offset the acidity.Oh yeah, this is a really nice restaurant. When it comes to cooking fish, I'd say Cirrus and Saint Peter are on par with one another (I still love Cirrus' flathead fish and chips too). In my eyes, what sets Saint Peter apart is the ageing of fish, and the offal. But I didn't get a chance to try either of those this time round, so I reckon a revisit would be fantastic. The 2 hour limit for a table is pretty tight though, we just made the time! And we had over ordered, since the chips and the onion rings were both pretty heavy. But we had to try them!!! So maybe next time we'll get one dish less. And more oysters. Hopefully with tasty supplements!And I got to see Mr Niland in action! Yay!

Hello Tasmania, the cold but beautifully delicious food place

Oh Tasmania. The final state in Australia for me to visit, and now I've done all 6 states, and one territory. Northern Territory is my final frontier, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. I've always wanted to visit Tasmania, but never really bothered to go. All I wanted to do was explore the food festival that happens every new year, but I never wanted to put up with the crowds and the cost of travelling in the holiday season.Well, finally I got my chance since I had a friend move there, so my accommodation was provided for. It was time to get to know Tasmania and see Salamanca Markets. All in less than two and a half days. First of all, here are some plane pictures!Wow, what a tiny airport! That it's it. It's so small that all the gates are in the same place too, and there are no airbridges. Just wheely stairs everywhere!My friends warned me that Hobart was really, really old. According to Google, it's the second oldest city in Australia. There are buses but no train system, a lot of things are still cash based, and probably other oddities, but I didn't notice too much....The air smelled really nice though, very oceany.I landed in Tas just after 10AM, and taxi'd it into the city. The taxi driver was telling me things such as needing to go to MONA and about the bridge that connected the east and west. She was super friendly! I was hungry so my first stop was Small Fry, which was at the top of my list. I didn't realise it was a tiny hole in the wall with a communal table, it was absolutely adorable! They also had some specials up on the board which were really nice. There was a single chef, whose kitchen was partly the communal table too, and he talked as he worked - sometimes guiding the waitstaff (it was a busy day so it took up to 30mins for food, and I heard him instructing the waitstaff to apologise for the wait), or simply talking to himself or the customers. They also had a sign that said that photos were ok, but to ask for permission for videos. I don't think I've ever seen a cafe put up that kind of sign before, so I wonder what prompted it. I'm not a fan of having people in my shots or taking videos, so it didn't really affect me.Because of how busy it was, there wasn't room at the communal table, so I said I'd be happy to sit at the espresso bar. Turns out, it's really awkward eating food on it because the chair height isn't suited for sitting and eating, even though it was perfect for sitting and drinking. I started to panic while waiting for my food though - the bar was a poor choice because it was on the outside and the sun was shining down! No! Being out in the sun that long was bad (and bad for photography) and now I felt like I was getting sunburnt! Oh well, it's not like it's the first time I've made poor cafe seat choices. However, I didn't realise until the next days when I checked my arms - no redness! Wow, the sun here musn't be as strong as on the mainland. I can't believe I survived that without a burn!I agonised over two of the three specials, one was a tomato tartine with goat curd, basil and egg; and the other was a classic pavlova. I decided to be sensible and get the savoury dish, and it turned out to be great! Totally loved it, though I must have looked totally weird standing up and eating. I don't mind though since I do that all the time though.They also have really cute coffee cups, and only serve espresso. They used a local roaster, and from the flavour of the flat white, a short black would have been too dark for me, but as a milk coffee, it was quite enjoyable. Most of the time, it's the experience that counts. It's also one of my barista's favourite places.Next stop, Villino. I remember when a barista friend gave me a list of Tassie cafes ages ago, he mentioned that multiple cafes generally had the same owners. I can't remember exactly which ones, but it became evident because usually there were two cafes next to each other or in very close proximity, and the connection became quite clear. How interesting! I'd actually tried Villino from Venery in Perth, and now I got to try it from the makers themselves! I had some Kenyan Githongo AB, which was quite passionfruity.Since the transport system looked really limited here, I decided not to get a transport card and just walk up to North Hobart for this particular cafe, because it popped up on my feed and looked nice. It was quite a leisurely stroll, and I could afford to take the time since I'd already managed to explore half of Hobart in less than half a day. Yep, it's a really tiny city. This is Born in Brunswick, a massive cafe with a lot of plants and natural lighting. My filter was the Kenya Windrush Estate by Rumble Coffee Roasters. I'd actually had the same coffee from Verve in Japan earlier this year, so it was nice to compare. It actually tasted very similar! And then because I didn't get any avocado toast while I was in Melbourne, I made up for it here.Taking touristy photos. What's really cool is that Hobart is actually rather hilly, and a lot of the houses are built in the hills so there's still a lot of greenery about!Jingle horses! I would have loved to ride on this, but I think it's a full tour that takes about an hour or so to complete.This picture looks fuzzy because it was taken from inside a car. That's the Tasman bridge, and apparently you can walk on it since there's a pedestrian footpath. I would have loved to walk across it; it's only about 1.5km, give or take, so it doesn't take very long to do. However, I didn't have that kind of time, plus, getting to the bridge is a pain, and then you'd need to go all the way back or proceed into the suburbs, so it simply wasn't worth it.Crossing the bridge in a car :)That night was dinner at Dier Makr, which has its own post.Because I was worried I would be hungry afterwards, I made my friend take me into Woolworths while I looked around and didn't buy anything.The clouds here are crazy looking!This was taken from a rooftop carpark since my friend was working that day. Pretty cool view!Pigeon Whole Bakers was a late find for me, but it looked so good that it went towards the top of my list very quickly. I'm really impressed with this place! It's right next to Franklin, and the pastries are delicious! I really enjoyed both my croissant and my super mini super juicy fruit mince pie. They did a whole bunch of other pastries that I would have loved to try, and their cookies and their jams too!What's also nice and unique about this place is that they only serve batch brew coffee. There's no espresso machine or anything, and they use Melbournian roasters such as Market Lane and Seven Seeds, so I was very eager to try the Market Lane Dukunde Kawa, which was absolutely delicious. Would definitely come back here again for treats.The final cafe that I really wanted to visit was Vilicia Coffee, because they were serving up ONA coffee, and ONA is a rare find for me. It's the first time I've had something other than raspberry candy as espresso, these guys had the founder blend so I took it for milk, had the Colombia La vega as a really tasty espresso and then struggled by the time I got to the Ethiopia Wush Wush as a filter. I knew the Wush Wush would be tasty, but I also remember it not ranking that high when I tried the varietal in my Cultivars of Colombia set (my favourite were pink bourbon and I think maracaturra). However, my one tasted a bit odd - my first thought was that maybe I had a quaker in my coffee! Just like that time I said my coffee tasted a bit weird at Steamtank, so they tried it, and then explained what I was tasting. This felt very similar, but I didn't verify since I was on my fifth coffee (the espresso was a double shot) in an hour and my heart was giving me warning shots, so I had to stop and hydrate up and eat the haloumi burger.I would have loved to chat with the baristas here if I wans't dying though.I deliberately gave Yellow Bernard, Bright Eyes and Ecru a pass. I think there is another V cafe that I decided not to go to?Luckily, I'd recovered enough that I could continue exploring instead of being incapacitated like that one time back in Sydney. So I found this little donut shop tucked away in a really dark downstairs thing. That's the most hipster thing I've seen yet!After having lunch at Franklin and being absolutely full, I stopped by Salamanca Markets to see what it was normally like (I had 45 mins to kill before the next boat to MONA). I picked up some edible souvenirs of pepperberry salt and wakame salt from the seafood shop, and I also found bugs in candy! Though hideously overpriced, I still decided to buy one. I would have loved to gotten an edible tarantula too, but those were $20 and you couldn't see inside the packet to assess their "intactness," so I didn't buy one.I'd also managed to find a little Japanese shop that sold Tasmanian kombu, so I picked up a couple of packets of that so I could make dashi again, since WA isn't allowed to import Japanese kombu due to the iodine levels found within them or something?Anyway, then it was time to go to MONA, where I spent the entire afternoon there, and then went straight to Aloft aftwards for dinner. It was a totally hectic day!The next morning, off to Salamanca Markets for real! Oh yeah. This is what I like to see. It's no longer about the touristy stuff for me, I was here to eat raw vegetables and other goodies for breakfast.Look! Bruny Island oysters!!! At first I wasn't sure about getting these, but then I really thought about it, and since Tasmania is the place for food, I decided, why not. I'll definitely do oysters for breakfast. This place sold them according to their size, so the small ones were $15 per half dozen, and went up from there. They even had super jumbo giant oysters for $6 each, but that day they weren't that big (I had one maybe the same size or a tad bigger in Adelaide where I got it all dressed up), so I didn't get one just for the fun of it. I decided to stick with the small ones since small ones usually taste the best.The ended up being huge! Bigger than any I've had at a restaurant! But they were also very delicious. Really good, fresh stuff. Nothing beats fresh Tassie oysters. A lot of Asian tourists wanted the large ones. Nah, I don't think large ones taste better. You need tiny flavour packed morsels for maximum enjoyment. But anyway, I finally decided I'd ask this shucker where Flirty Bay was. And I got my answer! It is definitely Flirty Bay, not Floaty Bay, and it's sometimes known as Fancy Bay! So now I know :) Asking questions pays off!This was the stall I was looking for - Provenance Growers, who supply high end restaurants with amazing produce. I'm so glad  I found this stall! While there wasn't any fresh stuff that I could really enjoy raw, I bought some of their pepperberry salt, saltbush wakame salt, green tomato sauce, raspberry jam, and some rose/rhubarb/geranium shrub drinking vinegar concentrate (which I would later dilute with tonic water and maybe some gin). So far, I loved what I've tasted!Fat Pig Farm also had a stall here, which was a place my friend in Adelaide really wanted to go. They're also high end and farm to table, having a farm and restaurant. But since I'd already bought so much from the stall before, I settled for just some ham from this place. And it was really, really nice ham!!!I found some organic Tassie baby carrots, so I bought a bunch and nibbled away at them while I browsed the markets.I saw these the day before, apparently the scallop pie is a Tassie thing, so I tried one of these too. They're okay. Had to have one just to say I did. Probably wouldn't get another one since I could totally eat more oysters instead.Or more berries. Look at this wonderful little berry punnet! Red currants! Red currants that tasted inifinitely sweeter than what I had at Orana all those years ago! And those strawberries were so sweet, like the ones I had in Japan. Absolutely wonderful! I loved muching on all the berries here. I'd actually taken this to the nearby park and sat in the grass eating away, while watching a bagpipe group in action. Again, I'd spent hours in the sun, and no burn. Magical!Since I had a tiny bit of spare time, I could visit one last cafe, so I chose Pilgrim. They use Sensory Lab, but I haven't liked Sensory Lab beans much. Good thing I got the flat white and not a black coffee!And a gruyere omelette with bacon. Nice and filling, but nothing as spectacular as the brekky I got from Small Fry. That place was still the best for food.And that's Tasmania done. Two and a half days, covering several cafes, three restaurants, Salamanca Markets, and MONA. That was epic. At the airport, I also got a little survey thing to fill in, I'm guessing to help the government find out why people visit. Of course, my reason was food!To be honest, I think I didn't do my Tasmania trip correctly. I thought that there'd be enough "Hobart" for me to want to come back, but no, it was too small. I have zero interest in Hobart city except for the restuarants, Small Fry and Pigeon Whole Bakers. Maybe Vilicia. Oh, I'd redo MONA and spend a day there, definitely.Instead, what I would like to do, is instead of visiting Hobart, I'd visit Tasmania as a whole. I would love to spend a couple of days in the Huon Valley (apparently it snows here!!!!), then a couple on Bruny Island. Definitely a day for MONA, and whatever else there is. Tassie is so small that you really do need to go out of the city to take everything in. But that's a next time thing. If there's a next time. The food here is absolutely gorgeous.But for now, it's back to Perth.

The original Cumulus Inc (2014 visit)

Well, since I'm here, I found that my original Cumulus Inc photos are uploaded, but were never posted! Oh dear. Better do it now.A pinot noir that I no longer remember.The best steamed mussels I've ever had. Fantastic garlic aioli and very tender mussels. The sauce was also amazing!!!At a guess, scallop and pea soup.Every visit up until 2017, I ordered this every time. And the only reason I didn't this year is because my food buddy didn't eat parfait and I already had almost a whole flounder to tackle, on top of all the other tidbits I ordered.Jamon, maybe?And that flathead special. I was with my brother at the time and when they told us about it, we both said yes. And I since then, it's been one of the best fish dishes I've eaten. I still remember how happy and impressed I was because even the pickled veg flavours were spot on and worked perfectly with the fish, and it's the reason I keep ordering fish dishes here. I absolutely love it. Have not had a better flathead since. Not even Cirrus.The end!A nice blast from the archives.