Oslo, Norway

As much as I love Norway, I must admit that I prefer the other main Scandinavian capitals, Stockholm and Copenhagen, to Oslo. However, saying that, Oslo has some interesting places to see – some of which are quite unique. For example, Oslo is where you go to see salvaged Viking ships, the Nobel Peace Prize Centre, or the more grandly designed rather than laid back Vigiland Park.  Not to forget A-Ha and their final tour this year. Remember them?

Being surrounded by the sea and being known for their Viking heritage past or their shipping and oil and gas present, the cuisine in Norway as you would expect contains a lot of seafood. To complement the seafood, there is your usual range of meats including the game meats such as reindeer and elk. The food range in Norway is also quite diverse with local modern cuisine as well as influences and offerings from international cuisine, though I found as a whole the cuisine is generally saltier in Norway than in Australia (and perhaps to some extent Scandinavia generally).

Mr Hong’s Mongolian BBQ

I am no expert and I could be wrong, but Mr Hong doesn’t really sound like a Mongolian name to me - but walking past this place with the lure of a 3-5pm NOK 99 all you can eat “happy hour” Mongolian grill seemed too good to pass up.

Walking into Mr Hong’s Mongolian BBQ, the distinct lack of cliché Mongolian decorations and immediate strong presence of Chinese furnishings was apparent. I guess I wasn’t surprised. On entering, Mr Hong appeared to offer both a la carte and the buffet and upon opting for the latter, the waitstaff motioned us towards the buffet area of the restaurant. The presence of only a few tables of varying Norwegian and foreign looking customers (i.e. not blond and blue eyed?) was confirmation as to why Mr Hong had their enticing (or perhaps not as popular as they may have hoped) happy hour.

The buffet area was a small area filled with trays of food for the taking. On offer were meats such as marinated chicken, lamb, beef, pork, and seafood mix (which contained shrimps, squid and crab sticks). Other things on offer were vegetables such as carrots, celery, water chestnuts, capsicums, red cabbage, bamboo shoots, and then sweet corn soup, deep fried tapas, steam rice, fried rice, spaghetti, bread rolls, fruit and salad. To go with all of that, sauces such as sweet and sour, hoi sin and sweet chilli were available to take at your own discretion.

Whilst some of the food on offer was ready to eat, the raw meat and vegetables had to be passed up to the chef in the kitchen who would cook your selection in lots of oil and extra sauce (I asked for less the second time).

The food was pretty average after all that, and although the taste was quite uninspiring it was value for money.

United Bakeries

Like most countries, there is a healthy supply of bakeries in Oslo specialising in a variety of breads and pastries. I was told that to pay this particular bakery a visit with the prospect of a chocolate fountain that is used to fill a certain chocolate pastry upon order.

On entering and some searching around, I couldn’t find a chocolate fountain. Not happy Jan. However, given I was here, I figured I might grab some pastries anyway.

I didn’t end up eating these pasties straight away and actually ate them the next day which was perhaps not the wisest move. I did feel as though the pastries were a tad dry which may have been bakery related but I’ll put down to leaving it overnight.

Raisin Scroll, Chocolate Danish, and Chocolate Brioche

Chocolate Brioche – NOK28

Wth the promise of chocolate as previously mentioned, I felt in the mood for chocolate and ordered this pastry. Unfortunately the “chocolate” felt a bit more like a footnote as there were only chips of chocolate throughout. However, the brioche overall was ok just that it felt a bit ordinary to me.

Raisin Scroll – NOK 20

One thing I do like with the way they make these in Norway is the addition of custard. The custard adds a new layer of moist sugary enjoyment to this otherwise normal pastry. With this particular pastry though, I found the custard and raisins balanced the overall pastry with the sugary moistness they bring.

Chocolate Danish

This Danish was another pretty standard pastry – bits of choc chips in a Danish style pastry.

Overall though, and maybe unfairly affected by the fact I ate this the day after, I prefer some of the other bakers in Norway.

Golden Dragon Chinese and Thai Restaurant

Late one night we went back through the main street in Oslo (Karl Johan’s) and looked for a late dinner. Apart from the fast food joints (such as Burger King) and a few pubs there really wasn’t much open at the time. However, we stumbled across three restaurants on one of the side streets off Karl Johan’s – one Italian, one French, and one Chinese. The Italian restaurant looked unpopulated, whilst the French restaurant looked a bit expensive for a quick late night dinner so we settled on the cheaper Chinese restaurant – Golden Dragon Chinese and Thai Restaurant. 

The notion of Chinese and Thai in a single restaurant seemed a bit peculiar but the menu did indeed show dishes of both Chinese and Thai sounding origin. In fact, the menu even had sushi – these guys were indeed multi-talented.

Our small group decided on a few dishes, including the use of a set course meal of two dishes for NOK198.

Szechuan Chicken

The Szechuan chicken was a single serving plate full of chicken fillets and vegetables in Szechuan sauce. This Szechuan flavour wasn’t as chilli/pepper hot as others I’ve tried, and rather quite mild. Overall this was pretty average.

This main dish was accompanied by steamed rice.

Thai Curry Chicken Hot Pot

The Thai curry chicken contained pieces of chicken fillets, and vegetables such as onion, bamboo shoots, and snow peas. This curry was only mild in curry taste and had a distinct and strong lemon grass taste. Also different to the Thai curries I’ve tried in Perth, the curry sauce was very thick but wasn’t a soup of creamy curry sauce I tend to mop up, as well as containing a higher amount of sodium. The curry was also served in a clay hot pot and the serving size wasn’t that big as it was intended as a main course dish served with food for one person.

Again, this main dish was accompanied by steamed rice.

Apple Pie with Ice Cream

Chinese… Thai… Then even Japanese… and now Apple Pie? Chinese apple pie? Actually, this was a decent apple pie – chunky sweetened apple in buttery shortcrust pastry.

The ice cream though was pretty standard and melted quickly due to the heat of the pie.

Some memories from Oslo…



Frammuseet - The World's Most Famous Polar Ship

The Nobel Peace Centre

The Obama Exhibition at the Nobel Peace Centre (too bad about losing the lower house)

The Nobel Peace Centre's Gallery of Peace Prize Laureates



The National Theatre



The Uniquely Designed Opera House

Vigiland Park



Sinnataggen - The Infamous Angry Little Boy



Looking Towards the Fountain in Vigiland Park

The Monolith at Vigiland Park which took 14 Years to Carve

A Recovered Viking Ship



The Beautiful Lines of a Viking Ship



Scents of Taste, Mount Lawley

Who makes the best pastries in the world?  Is it the Italians?  Maybe the Danish with their world famous "Danish" pastries?  Or perhaps it’s the French with their extravagant and rich range of treats?  Whoever it might be, I can’t believe I’m sitting here without any right now.

Scents of Taste is a bakery and coffee shop/cafe with French pastries, French bakery items, and French staff - such that it makes you feel like you might just be in France.  Whilst many people choose to dine in on the range of offerings including croissants, palmiers, tarts, baguettes, sweet pastries, eclairs, macarons, and of course coffee, there is a steady stream of people who opt for takeaway for a snack or treat for lunch or dinner.

Part of the al fresco dining at Scents of Taste before the crowd comes in

Whilst Scents of Taste appeared on the Mount Lawley scene a while ago, its position in relation to Beaufort Street (i.e. behind the Astor Theatre) meant it probably didn't receive the attention it deserves. 

Ham and Cheese Croissant - $6

Intrinsically French, we all know the croissant is a staple of French baking.  Filled with ham and melted cheese, this croissant tasted indulgently good.  The croissant itself was made how you would expect a good French bakery to do it - buttery, light, flaky, and flavoured just right to eat on its own let alone with the added savoury tastes of the ham and cheese.

The croissant was a great medium proportioned savoury light meal, even though quite rich.  Upon ordering, the croissant was placed into the baker’s oven to be reheated and for the cheese to come out nicely melted.

Croque Monsieur - $8.50

Layers of melted cheese and ham sandwiched together.  Need I say more?  Scents of Taste make a mean Croque Monsieur complete with an outer coating and filled with ham and cheese goodness.  Even though this isn't fancy food and is more like French snack food or a light meal that is more common in Europe, this was one of the better croque monsieurs around.

Again, the croquet monsieur was heated on order giving it a nice hot melted cheese and ham taste.

Strawberry Slice - $7.50

Coming highly recommended by the waitstaff, this strawberry slice was layer after layer of flaky pastry and custard, topped with a bit of strawberry flavoured cream, half a strawberry, and completed with a caramel covered layer of pastry.  The presentation, as with most of their pastries, was impressive and led to a sweet pastry and custard dense slice of satisfaction.

Overall, the strawberry slice was a rich and fancier pastry without the feeling that you were eating something very heavy.  The sweetness levels, apart from maybe the small amount of caramel, was also good – being not too sweet.

Snail - $4.30

Escargot? Yes but no but… This pastry was lightly sweet and had the texture you would expect of this type of pastry.  The pastry also had a buttery taste and once again baked fresh to the good standard that seems to be Scents of Taste.

Paris Brest (left) - $6.50 and Chocolate Caramel - $6.50

This Paris Brest was a pastry that was composed of choux pastry (think profiteroles) cut in half like a bagel, filled with praline flavoured cream, and dusted.  The pastry had the texture and taste of profiterole pastry and the quality of the Scents of Taste pastry was good.  The cream filling didn't feel heavy and was lightly flavoured.  Overall, this pastry tasted lighter than what I'm sure it was with milder flavours to the pastries above.

The Chocolate Caramel tart was lined with a layer of sweet caramel, filled with a thick amount of chocolate mousse, and finished with this decoratively layered creamy chocolate top layer that was coated in chocolate powder.

The tart base was well constructed, being a hard buttery shell that needed a bit of force to break or cut into but also didn’t crumble or accidentally break apart whilst eating it.  Whilst the caramel was a bit too sweet for my liking, the chocolate centre and the pastry as a whole was well made and nicely.

Cappuccino - $3.45

Quite an average coffee, the froth was a little too foamy and inconsistent for my liking.  The taste was quite neutral, not really showing any strong characteristics either way.  Whilst not a terrible coffee, I would definitely call these guys good French bakers rather than good baristas.

In summary, Scents of Taste gets the thumbs up as a French bakery.  Whilst the range of pastries isn't the biggest in Perth, what they do make they make well.

Points to note: Scents of Taste serves sweet French pastries, savoury items (some of which are heated in the baking oven upon your order), as well as coffee.  Takeaway and dining in are equally popular here.

Go for: Great tasting and well made French pastries.

Scents of Taste

Shop 3, 80 Walcott Street

MOUNT LAWLEY WA 6050

(08) 9272 6708

Trading Hours

Tuesday to Saturday: 8am to 6pm

Stockholm, Sweden

There’s some things proverbial when many of us think of Sweden.  Is it blond hair and blue eyes?  Is it that hospitable and friendly nature?  Ikea perhaps?  Or maybe Swedish meatballs or princess cake?  Whatever it is, I'm sure many of us have preconceived ideas of Sweden.

I managed to spend time in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and try out some of the local produce.  Of course the infamous Swedish meatballs were on the list but Sweden has much more to offer.  With fish plentiful, gamey meats such as reindeer as well as other meats such as beef and pork, an assortment of breads and pastries, and a variety of vegetable including a very staple potato, there's plenty to eat in Sweden.

Apart from the food, I found Stockholm to be a nice relaxing city where you could eat, laze around, go visit the many tourist attractions from old town, visit parliament and the palace, wander off to the museums and reproduced cultural parks of yesteryear, or even shop.

Bakfickan

Bakfickan – meaning “hip pocket” - is situated behind the Opera House, and offers restaurant quality food in a not excessively expensive theatre café style setting.  The restaurant shares its kitchen with the more expensive Operakallaren which helps give it its restaurant quality food, but at more affordable prices.

With both al fresco and indoor dining, I chose to sit outside to enjoy the going-ons in the city.  Sitting down, my waitperson, apart from having those cliché Swedish blonde good looks, was fantastic with a very friendly personality and was also cheerfully helpful.

To go with meals, Bakfickan offers a variety of complimentary bread.  My waitperson came out with a basket full of bread before she recommended that I try the “hard bread” which looked a bit like our crisp or rye type of bread/crackers, although with a taste that was between crackers and bread.  The hard bread did seem a tiny bit stale though, but perhaps it was meant to be that way.

Meatballs with Cream Sauce, Potato Puree, Lingonberries and Pickled Gherkins – SEK149

This dish of well-known Swedish tradition was quite possibly the best I’ve had.  The meatballs were all nicely shaped and had a great uniform and soft texture.  Even the outer layer didn’t have that harder, drier, and oily texture that is typical of “common” Swedish meatballs that are available in Sweden and even Ikea globally.  The taste of the meatballs were excellent, full of flavour and freshly made.  My only issue was that it was a tad salty for my liking but this was offset by the condiments.

The cream sauce added to the meatballs.  It tasted like a light, creamy gravy that was made from scratch and complimented the taste of the meatballs.  The lingonberries were very sweet and together with the pickled gherkins gave good varying taste combinations and contrasts that made me enjoy each meatball.

Accompanying the meatballs was potato puree which seemed more like a mash with a mild butter taste - though in contrast to and in my opinion as a good base against the meatballs, it had a milder amount of salt.

Just to put things into perspective, I thought I might comment on Ikea meatballs in comparison.  Even the nice waitress as Bakfickan admitted that whilst Ikea meatballs are in a different league to the Bakfickan’s, Swedish people might eat Ikea meatballs when travelling overseas when they’re feeling homesick.

Unfortunately I couldn’t bring myself to get a photo of Ikea’s meatballs to show the contrast against the ones available Bakfickan.  However, a few comments were that the Ikea meatballs were comparatively hard, dry and oily on the outside, the shapes were definitely not as consistent nor were the meatballs as big, the texture was nowhere near as smooth, and the flavour was much simpler with salt being the main source of flavour. The sauce with the Ikea meatballs was also a creamy mushroom sauce which tasted powdery and in my opinion doesn’t really go with the meatballs that well.  On the side, you do get lingonberry sauce which was like the jam version served with meatballs which was different to the fresh lingonberries.  However, the Ikea meatballs are significantly cheaper than the ones in Backficken (even adjusting for Swedish prices) so it becomes a quality versus price issue.

French Apple Cider

Bakficken

Jakobs Torg 12
Stockholm

http://www.operakallaren.se/page.asp?pageID=1098

Lisa Elmqvist

This restaurant is mentioned in the Michelin guide and deservedly so.  Situated in Östermalms Saluhall (which is like a gourmet food hall in a pavilion like building) and effectively evolved from originally being a fish market (which still remains), Lisa Elmqvist is no fine dining establishment but perhaps you could say its a bit like a licensed upmarket version of Miss Mauds in Perth (with much, much better food).

Seemingly very popular with locals and tourists alike, there can be a line to be seated at Lisa Elmqvist, but the fresh fish and good meals served seems to ensure that people keep coming.  The restaurant has table dining, as well as seats up around the bar area.

With your meal, Lisa Elmqvist provides you with complimentary bread and butter – the breads varying from white to dark, as well as Lisa Elmqvists own special seed and grain bread which you can buy by the loaf to take home.

Butter Fried Fillet of Pike Perch with Creamed Wild Mushrooms – SEK295

The pike perch was a white fish with a soft and nicely textured flesh, and without a strong fishy taste.  The fish was butter fried such that it felt like it nearly melted in the mouth as much as fish could, without being undercooked.  The use of butter certainly helped too with the flavours and fat (- fat is flavour!).

The creamed wild mushroom sauce which was effectively a creamy fancy mushroom sauce was really good.  The wild mushrooms were an assortment of wild mushrooms with tastes and textures like straw mushrooms that worked well with the fish that made this an enjoyable overall dish.  Just to note though, the same mushroom sauce seems to be used in a few meal items.

Served with the main meal was a generous bowl of small boiled potatoes with dill which were cooked till the potatoes were soft yet held their form, and were a great potato side to the fish – even though I’m not a big potato eating person and would have preferred something else.

Lisa Elmqvist

Östermalms Saluhall

Nybrogatan 31

Stockholm

http://www.lisaelmqvist.se/

Bistro Berns

This café offered French cuisine, supported by offerings including frog’s legs, snail, and an assortment of other French sounding dishes.  The venue seemed reasonably popular and felt like an upmarket but non-pretentious café.  As always, the service was friendly though there was a few staff running around doing their own thing and seeming a bit busy to pay attention to everyone who needed service.

As with most Stockholm restaurants, complimentary bread was provided.  However Bistro Berns offered olive oil to go with their white bread as opposed to butter.

Fillet of Char with Blue Mussels, and Fennel Salad – SEK229

The char had a pink coloured flesh and seemed like a cross between the textures of intricate boned fresh water fish (without the bones) and meatier salmon flesh (without the strong salmon smell and taste.  It was steamed and cooked through just right that it seemed moist and soft, and yet not undercooked.

The blue mussels were considered “blue” due to its shell colour.  The mussels were relatively small in size compared to what we get in Australia and similarly, the meat in the mussels was also not a lot to get excited about.  Apart from its size, the mussel meat seemed a tad on a drier and tougher side though still highly edible so I am sure it was cooked right.  Accompanying the blue mussels was a mild tasting foam that gave some added flavour as well as welcome moisture to break up the otherwise dryness of the fish and mussels.

The fennel salad had red onion and herbs mixed in.  Also accompanying the dish were potatoes that were boiled, crushed, buttered and mixed with parsley.

Warm Chocolate Cake – SEK75

The warm chocolate cake was accompanied by homemade ice cream and berries.  The chocolate cake was heated to order (the dish and the cake were warm) and the centre of the cake was soft – a bit like a chocolate fondant.

The berries were fresh, and the ice cream creamy and nicely vanilla flavoured.  The only issue is that the clashing temperatures between the warm cake and the cold ice cream meant you had to eat the ice cream fast or eat it excessively melted.  Preferring not to eat ice cream melted, I tried to get through it fast but unfortunately still ended up mixing a bit of melted ice cream with the cake.

Bistro Berns

At Berns Salonger

Berzelii Park, Näckströmsgatan 8
SE-103 27 Stockholm, Sweden 

http://www.berns.se/en/restaurants/bistro

Gamla Stan Café Jerntorgith

As I said before, I find prices in Sweden and Scandinavia for food generally higher than in Australia.  However, this find in Gamla Stan (old town) at the old former iron market venue offered surprisingly reasonable priced coffee and cake.  This was also possibly evident through their clientele not only including tourists but locals including on the occasion I went, there was a table of local young blue collared workers having milkshakes.

Hardly a big establishment, this “café” was reminiscent of your typical breakfast and lunch café/coffee shop you get in Australia with coffee, cakes, a light made to order menu, and simple but comfortable casual indoor and al fresco seating.  The venue also overlooks the square of the old Jarntorget.

Cappuccino – SEK25 and Carrot Cake – SEK35

I noticed the barista pressed the coffee very hard.  The coffee was quite bitter and strong and dark.  The froth was decent and uniform and held well.  The smell was also a strong bitter smell.

The carrot cake itself had bits of carrot in it but didn’t seem to strongly resemble the “normal” carrot cake we get here in Australia.  The cake was lighter in colour and texture, was only mildly sweet (in a good way), and had some crunchy bits in it too.  One of the largest differences in this carrot cake was the noticeable and strong presence of cinnamon – which unfortunately wasn’t my preference.

The carrot cake was topped with a cream cheese like icing that was strong in lemon taste – a bit like a lemon cheesecake.

Café Jerntorgith

Järntorget 85

Stockholm

Café Victoria

I noticed this café whilst walking down the very nice and relaxing Kungsträdgården.  The location is right in the middle of the gardens and opening its doors in the 1800s, I am told the café itself is the oldest original café in town.

The café itself serves café style food but as I passed this in the middle of the afternoon, I only stopped in for a drink.  The café has al fresco dining overlooking Kungsträdgården, inside dining, as well as a bar area complete with dedicated bar staff.

Tropical Drink – SEK29

There’s not really much to say about this, except it was a nice refreshing non-alcoholic drink made with a combination of juices and mixers put together on the spot by the bartender.  After a bit of walking on a warm Stockholm day, this was a welcome stop.

Café Victoria

Kungsträdgården, Stockholm, Sweden, 

Trading Hours

Monday to Friday – 11:30am to 10pm

Saturday – 12 noon to 3am (Sunday)

Sunday – 12 noon to 6pm

Some memories of Stockholm

Jarntorget (area for the old copper and iron trade)

Marten Trotzigs Grand (narrowest steps in Gamla Stan/Old Town)

Overlooking the Palace and Parliament

Parliament

Stockholm Palace with Guard in Swedish Blue (and yellow)

Vasamuseet - Housing Sweden's Maritime warship that sunk on its maiden voyage

Vasterlanggatan - a pedestrian street in Gamla Stan (Old Town)

Nao Japanese Restaurant, Perth

On a cold day or night, or just when I'm after something quick and warm to fill up my insides, I find it quite satisfying to have a nice ramen noodle soup.  Here in Perth, we've been fortunate enough to have at least a couple of home-made ramen places that make excellent real-Japanese style ramen - Arigataya (which I previously reviewed), and Nao Japanese Restaurant.

Nao is a not-too-big Japanese restaurant located on the East side of Perth city's Murray Street pedestrian mall that has been around for several years.  Nao serves a range of dishes in line with its advertised "sushi and izakaya" (or otherwise its menu contains dishes such as sushi, teriyaki, Japanese curry, and typical Japanese side dishes varying at around $4-7 for sides and $9-15 for mains).  However, Nao is also commonly known for specialising in soup based ramen (a type of Japanese noodle).  Given its specialisation, I really find it hard to go past choosing their ramen especially on a cold night to give me that warm kick to help me get by.

As I mentioned in my review of Arigataya (which also sells ramen), the “art” of making ramen comes with training and experience.  In common, Nao produces a ramen made with the principles of a flavoursome and properly made soup base, a varied and variable choice of stock base and toppings, and well prepared and home-made ramen.  Not so in common would be Nao's more diverse menu, as well as the taste and feel of the final product - and in particular the ramen.

 Chasu Ramen with Green Jade Ramen and Soy Sauce Base - $13

The Chasu Pork Ramen was the rolled pork option.  The ramen was topped with five slices of rolled pork, bamboo shoots, seaweed, and cooked green leafy vegetables (perhaps spinach?).  As far as the optional components are concerned, you have a choice of stocks such as soy sauce, salt, miso, and spicy (chilli), as well as the type of noodle such as normal egg based, spinach infused, and chilli infused.

The base price of this dish was $12.50, with a 50c additional charge for the Green Jade or otherwise spinach infused option.  The soup base I chose was the soy sauce option.

Though this ramen was the spinach option and did in fact look green in colour, I could barely taste the spinach in the ramen which though I thought was a bit disappointing, probably is right considering this is a soup based ramen and not a vegetable soup.  Perhaps the flavour of the soup and the whole dish also help mask the spinach taste.

The soup broth itself was quite light and even though it had the colour of a stock was quite clear, with a small amount of clear oil on top.  The taste of the broth matched the colour and clarity of the soup, but was still packed with ramen stock flavour.  Most ramens tend to have a high sodium content and whilst this one didn’t break the tradition, it didn’t seem excessively salty.

The pork was rolled, with distinct layers of meat and fat and skin rolled into a round slab, cooked and sliced thinly.  Its taste was also quite moderate, and the texture was quite soft and light but matched into the saltier soy sauce based soup broth well.

Spicy Chicken Ramen with Green Jade Ramen - $11

Similar to the ramen above, this dish had the green spinach ramen option.  The difference was in the topping (this ramen had chicken pieces in it) and the soup base which was the spicy option (for an additional $1, making this ramen $11, or $9.50 base cost plus $1 for the spicy soup base and $0.50 for the green spinach ramen).

The spicy soup broth was reasonably spicy as far as Japanese food goes, with a chilli like flavour and colour running through the soup.  The chilli wasn’t overpowering though, allowing you to still taste the soup stock base under the chilli flavour.  I found myself wanting to keep drinking more of the infused flavour soup broth and if you like chilli based broths, this was quite a nice option to go with the ramen.

Being the chicken option, the ramen was topped with chicken – which was pretty standard chicken (perhaps teriyaki chicken) and not a great deal of chicken at that.  However, as an overall dish, the spicy option made for a good spicy change to the “standard” ramens.

In summary, Nao is a great little Japanese restaurant offering authentic Japanese cuisine at reasonable casual meal dining prices.  Specialising in ramen, but also offering other Japanese dishes, Nao is a great option for a quick affordable Japanese meal.

Given everyone’s taste is different, I will try and avoid categorically rating one restaurant against another unless clearly necessary.  However, I found the ramen at Nao to be lighter than Arigataya in its stock, serving size, and price.  In my opinion, both venues make great ramen though so it’s up to personal preference which you prefer.

Points to note: This is a casual restaurant which specialises in home-made ramen - from the soup base, through to the ramen noodles as well as the toppings.  I found the serving size to not be too great so if you're hungry you may want to order some other things to go with your meal.

Go for:  Trying out their home-made ramen, and the different varieties and combinations available.

Nao Japanese Restaurant

117 Murray Street

PERTH WA 6000

(08) 9325 2090

http://www.naojapaneserestaurant.com.au/

Trading Hours

Monday to Thursday - 11:30am to 6pm

Friday - 11:30am to 9pm

Saturday and Sunday - 12 noon to 5pm

Sundays Everyday, Myaree

You know those days when you can’t be bothered cooking, you want something filling and tasty, or perhaps even a good fry up… but you want it cheap!  Maybe this is the time to say “fast food chain” but although they certainly have their place in society, it’s good to go out and see what else is on offer – especially since there is a lot to choose from that doesn’t necessarily involve “would you like fries and a coke with that?”

Some time ago a friend, who has a very diverse and discerning palate for someone from a spit roast and oversized outdoor home built oven background, asked me to meet up at this “local” Japanese joint in Myaree called Sundays Everyday.  My initial thoughts to the name were a bit of confusion – which gets even more confusing considering it isn’t even open on Sundays, but perhaps they were trying to give the impression that their meals make every day seem like a Sunday.  Arriving for Saturday lunch and immediately getting the glorified lunch-bar feel, the clientele was a mixed crowd from families with kids, to friends hanging out as well as individuals in for a quick bite.  Also noticeable were the big Kara-age udon and rice bowls that my friend had been talking about in his bid to sell the place.

Despite the mention of kara-age, Sundays Everyday also sells other well known Japanese dishes such as teriyaki and sushi packs for around or just under the $10 mark.  However, not exactly matching the rest of the Japanese oriented menu in my opinion, Sundays Everyday also sell sandwiches - possibly to cater for the workers in the area since it is located in an industrial area.

Whilst Sundays Everyday has an ordering and pick-up system like a lunch-bar, there is a fair amount of seating both inside and outside the venue to make it like a small restaurant.  But note that it can get busy at times and the limited seats can fill up – though you would expect table turnover to be relatively fast.

Kara-age Udon - $8.90

The udon was cooked nicely, not being too soft but also cooked enough to not be floury.  The soup broth was light yet very flavoursome.  I found the combination of the udon with the soup was quite light yet for an udon (which normally has a lighter stock than say a ramen) it was flavoursome without being salty.  The udon was topped with shredded spring onion.

Kara-age Chicken with a dollop of Japanese Mayonnaise

The chicken in the kara-age was tender and moist, and the coating was slightly sweet and deceptively light.  The amount of kara-age was quite generous with the udon for the price, such that it gave you a nice fried chicken feeling that got a bit heavy for the health conscious individual.  The chicken kara-age was also topped with a generous dollop of Japanese mayonnaise that seems to go well with a lot of Japanese food.

The Kara-age Chicken coating

OK… so perhaps this isn’t the epitome of traditional Japanese cuisine nor the culmination of true-and-tried dishes meshed with contemporary flair and technique, but it tastes good enough and fills me up for $8.90.

Sundays Everyday also offer a Kara-age that goes with rice.  Though I did not order this dish, the Kara-age with rice is also $8.90, comes in a big noodle sized bowl and consists of steamed rice topped with a lot of kara-age chicken (seemingly more than with the udon) such that it's practically overflowing.  Whilst this makes it seem like very good value, in hindsight the amount of kara-age chicken might have sent me overboard with good fried fattiness that would have put me out for the rest of the day.  Well, maybe an hour or so.

In summary, if you’re looking for a cheap fix and especially if you’re looking for a good filling fry-up you might like to give Sundays Everyday a go.  It’s not fancy, nor does it sit at the cutting edge of food, but it is a good value lunch-bar type place if you want to stuff yourself with say fried chicken.

Points to note: Despite its name, it’s not open on Sunday.

Go for: Cheap meals, filling chicken kara-age.

Sundays Everyday

43 Hulme Court
Myaree WA 6154

(08) 9330 2911

Tom's Kitchen, Perth

Who is Tom?

Perth city is filled with cafes and restaurants offering a range of international and local cuisine, many targeted at office workers and visitors to the city alike. One area of concentration that has seen a few restaurants and pubs is Shafto Lane, where you can get food from cheap Japanese through to cafes and pub meals.

Cue Tom - or rather his kitchen. Tom’s Kitchen is situated in Shafto Lane and offers casual dining for breakfast through to dinner with what seems to be food with a European emphasis. With the inclusion of a small amount of indoor dining, and more bench-style outdoor covered al fresco dining, Tom’s Kitchen makes for café style dining complete with friendly and attentive wait staff.

Aiming to be above café food in terms of menu choices, the menu options include not too unusual but Tom-tweaked breakfast options followed by lunch and dinner food that seems to cross French, Italian, English, and to some extent modern Australian bounds including the likes of gnocchi, coq au vin, osso bucco, cassoulet, risotto, and ragout. To accompany the food, Tom’s Kitchen has all the usual coffees, and is also licensed and offers a local and international range of wines and beers.

Crispy skin pork and a chucky apple sauce with mash - $23

Crispy skin or pork crackling really does it for me. The taste, texture, and crunch in a good pork crackling can get me coming back.

Tom's Kitchen's crispy skin pork was aimed to give that crispy pork skin goodness. Did it deliver? Well, parts of the skin gave off a nice crunch and flavour, but other parts were tougher and barely crunchy from what I could tell.

The crispy skin formed the top layer of a deconstructed pork dish, where underneath the skin were pieces of seasoned pork that overall meant the pork dish wasn't so bad. Though not very groundbreaking, the chucky apple sauce's sweetness complimented the pork, whilst the mash was reasonably smooth and completed this dish.

Coq au Vin - $24

This dish was described as “Chicken, mushrooms and smokey bacon braised in red wine, with green beans.”

The chicken was cooked such that the chicken came off the bone reasonably easily. Being a coq au vin, there was also the distinct red wine taste mixed in with the sauce to give the chicken the nice coq au vin flavour. The chicken pieces were also wrapped and covered with bacon, thus adding additional flavour and interest to an otherwise simple dish.

Short macchiato, topped up

Tom's Kitchen uses Essenza beans. The coffee produced was mildly bitter but had no noticeable level of acidity or sourness which from my experience seems pretty normal for Essenza. I felt the taste of the beans and resulting coffee was within my preference enough to say this was a decent coffee.

In summary, Tom’s Kitchen tries to break away from the typical common café in the city by offering more fancy and classy dishes without being fine dining. The food isn’t bad for the market it is aimed for along with the prices, and I found the coffee to my liking to accompany some food.

Points to note: Tom’s Kitchen sits in between the typical café and fine dining in terms of food and prices on offer. It is fully licensed and has indoor and al fresco dining producing a casual and relaxing dining experience.

Go for: A nice but not too fancy meal in the city.



Tom's Kitchen
Shafto Lane
PERTH WA 6000
(08) 9321 0345
http://www.tomskitchenwa.com.au/
 
Trading Hours
Monday to Thursday: 6:30am to 9pm
Friday: 6:30am to late