The Tuck Shop Cafe, Northbridge

Tomorrow morning, if you're not running in the fit and charitable city to surf, you might find yourself running to your favourite breakfast cafe for an indulgent breakfast with some awesome coffee or tea, or even a good ol' fry-up.  No doubt even with the thousands running in the city to surf, some of the popular breakfast cafes will still be bustling full steam ahead including the well patroned Tuck Shop Cafe situated in the otherwise not-so-well-known-for-breakfast-cafes suburb of Northbridge.

The Tuck Shop Cafe, often with lines on the weekend rivaling the well-known-in-Northridge Dim Sum restaurants, is very popular with the breakfast and lunch crowd and known for serving excellent coffee and great all-day food.  Once you get in you're greeted by some friendly service - polite and helpful.  Once you get a table you'll find yourself in a modern and inviting environment where the seating is quite cosy but comfortable.

Many people would know Tuck Shop Cafe for its pie selection, but on this lunch occasion we decided to go for the more satisfying (and more expensive) main courses.  The day's menu (which happens to be an all day menu) came with variety with the likes of organic toast with preserves ($6.50), free range eggs with organic sourdough toast ($11.50), BLT on organic sourdough with tomato relish and hand cut chips ($16.50), Moroccan meatballs with flatbread, tomato, hummus and za'atar fried egg ($17.50), and Ciabatta with Tasmanian smoked salmon, lemon ricotta, asparagus, and fennel salad ($18.50).  These all day brunch dishes were in addition to the pies ranging from vegetarian to chicken, lamb, and beef (bacon and cheddar, curry, or stilton) all for $12.50.

Warm slow cooked lamb and roast vegetable salad with goats curd, dukkah, poached egg - $18.50

The slow cooked lamb, a few chunks of which were laid towards the bottom of the dish, was tender with a great seasoned flavour running through it.  For lamb, the chunks were so tender they tore apart effortlessly with my knife and melted in the mouth.

The roast vegetable salad, including chunks of pumpkin, carrot and potato, was delicious with a great hearty roast flavour running through it mixed in with a slightly acidic flavour.  Added into the mix was a creamy and acidic goats curd, a runny centred poached egg, mint leaves and a lemon wedge.  I'm not normally into multiple acidic elements in a main, but this was executed well with the acidity keeping the meal light and balanced in flavour. I was quite satisfied with this meal.

Chorizo with paprika potatoes, peppers, spanish onions and crispy pork belly, fried egg - $18.50

The highlight of this dish for us (but only just) was the pork belly, the skin of which was crispy and crunchy but otherwise the pork was not really seasoned (including no noticeable salt piles on the skin).  The vegetables seemed of similar style and roast flavour as the lamb dish, only with emphasis on sweet roasted red peppers, tomatoes and potatoes.  Added together with the salty chorizo, this dish combined into another delicious brunch meal that was satisfying without being too heavy.

Finishing off the dish was a fried egg was fried sunny side up, with a lightly crispy base and runny yolk.

Cappuccino - $3.90

This was, in my opinion, a great cappuccino.  Using a Toby's Estate blend, the coffee was smooth and strong, the milk creamy and froth thick.  I wasn't too keen on the chocolate strip piled on top, mainly because it was of the type with mixed sugar and the coarseness of it all came through when it was concentrated together.

We liked: Great tasting cafe food including some unique dishes, some with hearty flavours; great coffee

We didn't like: The wait to get a table during peak times (it gets busy!).

Other things to note:  The menu is an all day breakfast/lunch/brunch menu.


The Tuck Shop Cafe
178 Newcastle Street
NORTHBRIDGE
(08) 9227 1659

Trading Hours
Tuesday to Sunday - Breakfast and Lunch

Pepper Lunch, Perth CBD

I'm always looking out for new places to eat in the Perth CBD.  Even though there is already a good mix of cuisines from fast food to fine dining across Western to Middle Eastern to Asian dishes, I'm always looking out for new tastes at reasonable (for as far as Perth is concerned) prices.  So when the Japanese chain of Pepper Lunch opened in Perth I quickly found myself there to try out this new addition to the Perth food scene (as well as a few additional times for good measure).

The concept behind Pepper Lunch is that of a fast food style self-grilled meats restaurant, or "fast steak" restaurant.  It's a Japanese food chain that has spread throughout Asia and now Perth, offering relatively quick meat or fish based meals (with an emphasis on steak/beef) served on sizzling hot plates or bowls that allow you to cook to your own liking.

Having taken over one of the street facing shops on Barrack Street in the CBD, Pepper Lunch isn't a large restaurant by any means but amply seats enough to keep it bustling through the busy lunch crowd - larger groups of say more than four may have a bit of a wait or will need to come early or outside of peak times.  However, in keeping with a fast food theme you are required to order at the counter after which they give you a number that you display on your table to assist them in bringing your order to your table.  As you'd expect with this set up, the service isn't amazing but at least it's decent enough and the staff will help you out with ordering or with "do you know how to eat it?" assistance.

As you'd expect, the menu at Pepper Lunch is heavily based around grilling meats as well as the flavour of none other than pepper (from subtle to strong)!  However, the menu is split between rice meals (rice with beef, chicken or salmon and sauce/flavours), J-Curry being rice meals served with pre-made Japanese curry, and main meals which are the beef, chicken and salmon steaks served directly on the hot plate with vegetables whilst steamed rice and miso are optional extras.  Or if you can't decide between one meat, there is also a combo section where you can order more than one meat in your mains.  However, prices generally start around the $10 mark for rice meals, through to $15-20 for the steak main meals plus rice.

Kimchi beef with cheese - $11.50

This meal, part of the pepper rice range, was a pre-cooked-rice based meal topped with raw slices of beef, kimchi, corn kernels and a stretchy cheese.  All were served in the sizzling iron bowl, ready for you to combine the ingredients and cook the meat.

After cooking and combining the ingredients in this meal, and being the first dish I tried, I was pleasantly surprised with how satisfying it was.  First and foremost, the kimchi gave the dish its overriding flavour, preventing it from being bland - the light red chilli and sweet but more so sour pickle elements amongst the other spices gave the dish a real kick of flavour.  Adding to the kimchi preserved cabbage and flavours was a (true to Pepper Lunch's name) distinct pepper flavour, not enough to be overbearing but enough to be noticed.

Whilst the kimchi beef dish is available with or without cheese (with comes with an additional cost), if you love cheese then the with-cheese version is worth it.  The cheese taste and its stretchy texture worked excellently with the kimchi and beef flavour of the dish.

Curry beef - $9.50

Similar to the Kimchi beef with cheese dish above, this meal came in a sizzling iron hot bowl ready to be cooked and combined.

The curry beef came with similar slices of beef and corn kernels, but was finished with a curry powder and pepper.  Combining the dish, the meal definitely had a curry flavour.  However, as the dish used a curry powder as opposed to the pre-cooked sauce based Japanese curries, the dish didn't seem as hearty (but on the other hand not as heavy) as a sauce-based curry dish and in fact seemed to have an almost powdery texture to it.  This was further brought out by the pepper in the dish which overall meant the dish had a good level of curry and pepper flavour running through it.

So overall, whilst this definitely fit the description of a curry beef dish, my personal preference is to go for the sauce based J-curry dish instead.  That dish in particular I found to be quite filling.

One bite cut - $11 (rice + miso or soft drink $3.50 upgrade)

Another (and possibly more special) part of the menu was the "main meal" section - filled with steaks, chicken and fish (salmon) dishes that were to be cooked to your liking, adding sauce as you so desire.

This "one bite cut" from the main menu section was a pre-cut steak served with some vegetables cleverly placed such that if your steak reached your cooking point of perfection you could move the remaining pieces on top of the vegetables rather than have to scoff them down before they overcooked on the sizzling iron plate.

The one bite cut beef was admittedly the basic grade of beef on the main menu.  As such, the beef was a little tough though I'm not completely sure whether it was due to the beef itself or that perhaps it was left too long on the heat by the time I tried a piece.  However, given there were options with higher grades (and marbelisation) of beef, I'd guess other cuts of steak could offer greater tenderness.

Overall though, the flavours of the dish were quite simple with no special marinades or additions other than simple sauces to add to the meat whilst it cooked.  The novelty of cooking the steak and adding the side sauces was nice, but  just expect that what you see is what you get.

We liked: The novelty factor; new tastes to the Perth CBD scene; some satisfying meals for lunch.

We didn't like: Some of the dishes can be a bit plain tasting, but this is (upmarket) fast food; due to the (effectively) open grills at each table, you can end up smelling like your lunch.

Other things to note: During peak times, there can be a bit of a wait for a table; despite being called Pepper Lunch, it's also open some dinners.

Pepper Lunch
Shop 5g, 95 Barrack Street
PERTH WA 6000
(08) 9325 3532

Trading Hours
Sunday to Thursday - 11am to 9pm
Friday to Saturday - 11am to 10pm

El Publico, Highgate

Perth for as long as I can remember has had tex-mex - the good 'ol cheese-rich and almost fast food feel meals that conjure thoughs of old el paso.  Moving on from this I got introduced to more authentic Mexican venues including The Flying Taco and (at least it used to be) That Little Mexican Restaurant.  So the natural progression to this would lead to modern Mexican right?  But what would that be?

El Publico - Modern Mexican Kitchen and Bar is ideally set amongst the cafe and bar strip on Beaufort Street in Highgate.  Its combination of booth and table/chair seating along with its bar upfront gives this Mexican bar restaurant a nice modern and cosy feel to catch up with friends or a night out snacking whilst sampling the extensive Mexican-oriented drinks on offer.  Modern Mexican food in a modern environment - check.

El Publico's menu items are set in a small typeface, and the names of the dishes are mostly in Spanish or Spanglish (Thanks to the reader who picked that up!).  If you can't read the language, you'll find yourself constantly turning the menu over for the mini-dictionary to work out what each dish is.  This probably creates a more authentic Mexican feel for some, but for me I would have preferred that they described each dish in English next to their names.  I hope that doesn't make me uncultured.

Once you get through the foreign names, the main menu offers a selection of snacks (or dishes that are about the size of tapas dishes), a small selection of "main" size meals, and a handful of desserts.  As with any restaurant that serves small dishes of food, all the dishes are designed to be shared, and can be served with a smidgen or a smothering of Sam's hot sauce served in a bottle labelled "POISON".  For the uninitiated the "poison" on the bottle should come as a warning, but for the chilli lovers out there this yellow sauce is some goooood poison.

Sam's hot sauce in a jar labelled "poison" - a warning to all

Of course any tapas meal, especially Mexican, is best served with drinks, and El Publico takes this part of the meal seriously.  The choice of beer and wine is all but drowned out by the selection of spirits and cocktails on the menu - many with a heavy emphasis on tequila...  So much so that the choice of tequila here goes beyond my appreciation - but if you think "whiskey bar" and insert "tequila" this is pretty much what you have here.

To go with this (for me) new experience, the service we were greeted with and experienced throughout the meal was very friendly, and very helpful in deciphering the menu and suggesting dishes.  This was very welcome considering the "foreign" to me menu.

Pork Scratchings Chilli Garlic Salt - $8

Why have crunchy French fries when you can have crunchy pork scratchings?  Thin strips of pork skin were fried till they were crunchy, then seasoned with chilli garlic salt.  The pork scratchings were perhaps not as crunchy as potato crisps (probably a combination of lightly chewy but mostly crunchy), but nonetheless this was a new experience for me that made a nice snack.

Lamb Mixiotes Watercress Salsa Taco - $14

Two soft shell tacos were filled with lamb that was so tender that it shredded and melted, along with chopped onion and herbs.  Completing the taco was a brown savoury and slightly acidic sauce that was mild, both in flavour and in spice.  No sign of grated cheese, or old el paso seasoning here.

Huarache House Green Chorizo Queso Fresco - $16

This dish, served on a board with a knife, started with a sandal shaped piece of bread that was about half a centimeter thick and had a dense and slightly coarse texture. The bread was topped with a mixture of the green chorizo in a sauce that was lighter in texture than it looked.  Overall the topping was a little starchy but had a nice balance of salt and savoury flavour.

Braised chicken olives sultana kifler - $24

This main course sized dish (but still meant for sharing) was like a mini stew.

A single chicken maryland was cut into two and cooked superbly, infused with the deliciously balanced savoury, acidic and lightly sweet sauce.  The sauce was no doubt enhanced by the salty olives and the sweet juicy sultanas giving it added depth of flavour.  The chicken itself fell effortlessly off the bone and was unsurprisingly tender.

Completing this "main" dish were a decent amount of kifler potatoes that were firm, yet soft to bite through.
Again, the potatoes had been infused with that delicious sauce.

The waiter suggested that we had tortilla ($1 each) with this dish.  The tortilla, which were a bit like small-ish round pieces of bread used to make wraps, were only mildly successful in soaking up the sauce.  Personally, I didn't find it really added much to the dish and thus wasn't all that necessary.

"Tequila Slammer" Lolly - $6

With a name like "Tequila Slammer", this sweet sparked my curiosity.  A single serving of this lolly came with two squares of home made marshmallows infused with tequila.  The marshmallows were almost jelly-like in texture, but soft like a marshmallow.  Tastewise, the marshmallows were sweet with an additional dusting of icing sugar, and lightly flavoured with tequila - but unfortunately not enough to give you a real kick.


We liked: Fresh and interesting flavours and food; an appealing modern take on Mexican food; friendly and helpful service.

We didn't like: Having to decipher the menu (but some might consider that fun); the small dish pricing (when multiplied) can be a bit pricey for a casual meal.

Other things to note: Reservations are only taken for 6+ people on a set menu for a 6:30pm or 8:30pm sitting

El Publico Modern Mexican Kitchen and Bar
511 Beaufort Street
HIGHGATE
(04) 18 187 708
http://www.elpublico.com.au

Trading Hours
Wednesday to Friday - 5pm to midnight
Saturday - 12 noon to midnight
Sunday - 12 noon to 10pm

Buddha Bar Curry House, Subiaco

Though I really enjoy my Thai and South East Asian curries (such as Malaysian curries), there's another country that is very famous for curries - India!  Indian food (which as you'll know is a lot more than just curries) is growing in popularity much like it has in the UK, though ask many an Englishman and they will tell you that the Australian pricing of Indian food is significantly higher compared to what they pay back home.

On a wintry Sunday night, I found myself at Buddha Bar Curry House which is located near the busy end of Rokeby Road in Subiaco, dominated by trendy bars, cafes and the Regal Theatre.  Bringing its own charm to the area, Buddha Bar has a simple modern interior, heavily covered in dark brown colours and its own large Buddha decoration.

As its name suggests, Buddha Bar has a bar complete with beer, wine and cocktails.  Though the selection isn't huge, it's still quite decent for your average restaurant, and the range includes mostly Australian wines and beers, as well as a few New Zealand wines, French champagne and foreign named beers.  Foodwise, Buddha Bar's menu offers many Indian favourites including tandoori, butter chicken, vindaloo, and even a goat dish.

Vegetable pakora - $14

The vegetable pakora were strips clumped together of spinach, eggplant, potato and onion that were seasoned, battered and deep fried, and served with a sweet chilli sauce and minted yoghurt.  Although the vegetable pakora seemed well made and seasoned for an entree start to the meal, I found it to be very salty which for me dominated the taste.  The yoghurt based dressing helped to cover up some of the saltiness.

The vegetable pakora was also served with a side serve of greens which appeared to consist of dry pieces of lettuce leaves that looked unappetising.  Suffice to say that I didn't eat any of it.

Poppy seed squid - $18

On the menu, this squid dish was marked as being made from Kailis seafood.  The squid, or calamari rings, were coated with what seemed like a light cornflour base as opposed to the heavier batter in the vegetable pakora as well as poppy seeds, then deep fried.

Whilst the squid itself was nice and tender (as you'd expect from Kailis seafood), the seasoning was in stark contrast to the vegetable pakora with the squid being almost bland in taste.  For the squid, the yoghurt based dressing (which seemed to be the same as that served with the pakora) helped to add flavour (and fat flavour) to the squid.

The side salad that came with the squid was dressed with a Gremolata dressing, making it refreshing and cleansing on the palate.  This salad I did eat!

Butter Chicken - $24

I don't know about you, but I find that almost every Indian food place I go I find the taste of butter chicken can vary a great deal.  Overall, I found the butter chicken ad Buddha Bar to be really enjoyable.  In the dish photographed above, the chicken was so tender it melted in the mouth, and the rich sauce had a combination of creaminess with tomato, yoghurt, spices and very mild chilli flavours that worked well on my taste buds.

On the negative side, I only found 6 slices of chicken buried amongst the sauce.  I'm not sure whether the quantity of chicken was reduced for the Sunday special, but it made the dish otherwise hard to justify for value.

(As a small note, we ordered a second serving of the butter chicken.  The second serving wasn't as tender or as delicious as the first serving but still acceptable).

Lamb Korma

Like the butter chicken above, the lamb in this lamb korma dish was cooked soft such that it broke apart effortlessly and also nearly melted in the mouth.  The korma sauce was (I thought) very mildly spiced, but even without a lot of "heat" the spice and flavour in this dish was still good.

Again like the butter chicken, the quantity of lamb was relatively little, and the sauce was very thick, rich and heavy with decent flavour.

Naan Bread - $4.50

The naan bread was nice and light, a little fluffy, but just a bit oily.  Great to help scoop up that butter chicken sauce.

Things we liked: Tender meats; flavoursome sauces; good friendly service.

Things we didn't like: Apparent value for money; richness/heaviness of some of the dishes.

Other things to note: Specials are available during the week including 50% off curries on Monday and Tuesdays, and the $29 all you can eat Sunday special.

Buddha Bar Curry House
88 Rokeby Road
SUBIACO  WA   
(08) 9382 2941
http://www.buddhabar.com.au/

Trading Hours
Lunch - 7 days, 11:30am to 3pm
Dinner - 7 days, 5:30pm to late

Toraya Sushi, Subiaco

There seems to be an abundance of Japanese restaurants in Perth, enough so one has to attempt to separate those that offer something to make it stand out.  Whether it be the quality, value for money, or innovative dishes, these are some of the things I look for to help me decide whether the meal was a good experience - even if it was a experience I would probably only try once!

Recently I had a dinner at Toraya Sushi - a place that I would say offered some different or unusual variations on common dishes or elements to at least make the meal interesting.  Although this was a dinner, Toraya Sushi seems to be more known as a lunch venue - and its trading hours seem to confirm this.

For dinner Toraya Sushi's atmosphere is a little strange for the dinner scene.  The warm dim lighting seems a little awkward given the lunchbar-like feel of the decor and tiled floor.  However, balancing that out, the service I received was friendly and helpful and seeing Japanese patrons eating there was encouraging.

For dinner, Toraya Sushi had two menus to order from - the normal menu and a separate page of specials.  The dishes are focused on share dishes, where you can choose a variety of Japanese dishes from sushi to tempura.  Accompanying the food is a drinks menu offering beer, wine and a selection of Japanese spirits.

Rainbow Roll - $16.00

Nicely presented, the rainbow roll was presumably named as such due to each piece of sushi containing all of raw tuna, raw salmon, prawn, crab stick, avocado and cucumber.

Though the inverted sushi rolls (i.e. seaweed inside and rice showing on the outside) were well prepared with the different taste elements combining together, I felt the rice was a little under-seasoned for my liking.  If it wasn't for the four different bits of seafood combined into this sushi, I would have thought it nothing special.

Wagyu Tataki - $16.00

One of the specials for the night was the wagyu tataki.  Although keeping to the main elements of a tataki, this version didn't do much for me.  Although the wagyu was seared well, leaving a good rare layer inside, I found the wagyu to be a bit chewy.

The ponzu "sauce" that dressed the wagyu was a jelly that seemed to have the acidic, salty and sweet flavours you expect from sauce served with tataki.  However, after tasting it, it had me wanting for a traditionally prepared sauce instead.  Sure it meant you could easily combine it with the beef in a mouthful, however I felt the cold jelly texture didn't do it justice.

Cheese Tempura - $8.00

Even though I have eaten tempura seafood and vegetables before, I wasn't sure what to expect of tempura cheese.  The cheese component of the cheese tempura was a soft, stretchy cheese.  Deep frying the stretchy cheese with a light crispy batter was a treat.  I'm happy I tried it.

The cheese tempura was placed into a bowl of thin sauce that tasted like a salty, lightly sweet and strong stock (as it does with many tempura that come with sauce) rich in flavours including dashi (a type of fish stock), salty soy, and a small amount of mirin sweetness.

Mixed Seafood Marinade - $11.00

Octopus, salmon and tempura prawns with a spicy mayonnaise

First up, the diced octopus was tender and mixed with a small amount of Japanese mayonnaise.  The mayonnaise gave the octopus a light creamy taste but was otherwise relatively subtle in taste.

In the middle of the tray, a chilli-spicy mayonnaise was mixed into a few tempura prawns.  The prawns were crunchy, the level of spice in the mayonnaise moderate but definitely enough for you to notice, but combining them did make some of the tempura batter soggy.


Lastly, diced raw salmon was mixed into a similar chilli-mayonnaise sauce.  As to be expected, the Japanese mayonnaise blended perfectly to add its creamy texture to the sashimi grade salmon.  All up, as much as I like raw fish, I enjoyed the spicy raw salmon salad.

Ginger Brulee - $11.00

Rich and creamy, the lightly ginger flavoured brulee was served cold with a freshly hardened caramel top.  The caramel top was quite a thick layer, requiring a bit of effort to crack through in order to get to the creamy brulee underneath.  On top of the caramel was some simple vanilla ice cream (that had started to melt from the still warm caramel layer) and a couple of blueberries.

As a brulee, I quite enjoyed the light ginger taste running through the cream and egg taste of the brulee.  Though not as creamy as some other creme brulees I have had at some other nice establishments, the ginger taste kept the dessert from feeling too heavy and the thick caramel layer added a nice texture and sweetness.

We liked:  The different approach to dishes - such as the cheese tempura or changing the common brulee by adding ginger.

We didn't like:  The venue is a little lunch-bar like with tiled floors; some dishes were hit and miss

Other things to note: Licensed with Japanese alcohol available; dine in or takeaway

Toraya Sushi
Shop 8, Subiaco Square
29 Station Street
SUBIACO WA
(08) 9382 4433


Trading Hours
Lunch - 7 days
Dinner - Thursday to Saturday

P'tite Ardoise Bistro

Taking a break from going home to a home cooked dinner, a friend of mine and I decided to go out for something different, something you don't come across everywhere you go.  Going through our bucket list, we booked an early session at the French restaurant P'tite Ardoise Bistro in Highgate hoping to try some of their Normandie-an cuisine and see if it really was as good as we'd heard.

From the moment you enter P'tite Ardoise Bistro, you know you're in a French restaurant.  From the French waitstaff with their smooth French accents, the sublime French background music, the hypnotic smell of crusty baguette, and the quick French language course menus, I felt as though I was truly getting a French experience.  The restaurant itself isn't large, and even though the tables are quite tightly packed, the experience is still inviting if not intimate.

The menu at P'tite Ardoise Bistro is split across two sheets, with what appear to be a classic menu and a daily menu.  Both are written with enough French to really make you feel like you're in a French bistro and enough English so, at least in my case, you can make out what most of the meals are.  Suffice to say there is a fair amount of French cuisine on offer!

Bread basket - $3.50

For $3.50 per head, you can have just about as much bread as you like.  The bread is heated and there are a few choices - generally a white bread, wholemeal bread, and the French baguette.

Duck l'orange - $34

This twice cooked duck leg was served with vegetables and orange sauce.

The duck leg was delicious - it was tender and moist, and the skin was lightly crispy.  The orange sauce added that familiar sweetness that goes with duck so well.

Overall, we were impressed with the flavours of this dish, even though it wasn't a huge serving.

WA beef tenderloin - $44

The beef tenderloin, served on a large rectangular rustic-feel board that really let the presentation of the beef tenderloin stack shine through, was served with foie gras, mushroom duxelle, red wine jus, and mashed potato.  Similar to the duck l'orange, the beef tenderloin (served on a big rectangular board and pictured in its entirety above) wasn't a huge serving but in a two or three course meal with bread it's easily satisfying.

I ordered the beef tenderloin medium rare and, sitting on a bed of silky smooth and rich mash, it was cooked perfectly.  The beef was pink in the middle and so tender it just about melted in the mouth effortlessly.

The combination of the beef with the rich and strongly flavoured red wine jus, silky smooth foie gras and the mushroom duxelle (a bit like a mushroom paste cooked with butter and onions) had a luxurious feel and blended perfectly into each mouthful.

Vegetables for the table

Vegetables were served with the main course.  Nothing too special here, but the vegetables were lightly cooked and seasoned and always welcome.  As you can see above, having the vegetables served separately helped keep the main course presentation neat.

Trio of minis - chef's selection - $14

Why have one dessert when you can have three?

This trio of minis had a chocolate ganache, creme brulee, and custard with a meringue.

The chocolate ganache was hot and oozed chocolate goodness in the middle; the creme brulee was super creamy with the classic crisp caramel top; and the custard with meringue had a soft melt-in-your-mouth light and airy meringue.

We liked: Fantastic French food with a French atmosphere.

We didn't like: To maximise the tables in the not-so-large restaurant, some of the tables can be very closely packed together.

Other things to note: Book in advance to avoid disappointment; very gluten-free friendly menu.

P'tite Ardoise Bistro
283 Beaufort Street
HIGHGATE WA 6003
(08) 9228 2008
http://www.ptiteardoisebistro.com.au

Opening Hours
Tuesday to Saturday - from 6pm