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

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

A quick transit stopover here. Amsterdam is famous for many things (some of which don’t need to be mentioned here) but the many intricate canals, interesting architecture, and being home to famous people like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Anne Frank make the visit more interesting. Not to mention just missing out on the World Cup title for 2010.

I had a couple of meals here which for some reason both involved steak.

The Grasshopper

Right up against one of the canals was a pub called “The Grasshopper”. There were two separate sections, being the pub and the restaurant – with the restaurant having indoor and al fresco dining. Given the view and the weather, I chose to sit in the al fresco area.

The view from The Grasshopper

The menu included items for breakfast through to dinner, but even with the variety I got the overall impression “this is pub food” and my experience there supported this. At least the view was good.

Whilst the location was quite decent for me, I felt that the wait staff were friendly (and good looking) but the service was quite slow (I had to wait quite a while before being given the menu even though there was no one sitting out in the al fresco area and I had gone back in to ask if I could order inside) and non-caring compared to what I’m used to.

Rib Eye – EU25

Ordering the steak medium rare, the steak came out a tad rarer than that but that’s not usually a problem for me. However, I am sure I asked for an eye fillet but the steak didn’t look like any rib eye I’ve had before (in a bad way). The steak was pretty average being a bit on the tough side despite being cooked quite rare, and not really standing out as being a good cut of beef in any way that I could tell.

The steak came with fries, an onion salad, and a whole basket of condiments such as salt, pepper, and tomato sauce.

Iced Tea – EU3.50

Though a refreshing drink, this was a standard off-the-shelf iced tea that tasted quite typical of a cold and sugary lemon tea drink. However, it was quite welcome after a lot of walking and exploring for the day.

On a side note, they do sell weed for those interested.

The Grasshopper
Oudebrugsteeg 16
1012JN Amsterdam, Netherlands
020 4287224


Argentinos Restaurant Gringos

I made my way down to an Argentinean steak house, with promises of that famous and great Argentinean beef. This steakhouse, though like most other restaurants I saw in Amsterdam, was only lightly lit inside giving a warm but also nearly uncomfortable dark atmosphere. Perhaps that contributes to Holland's reputation as a "green" country. The waiters appeared to all be Argentinian and all seemed to have mildly chirpy and loudly friendly personalities.

But doh I seem to have lost the photos for this place.

Argentinean Rump Steak with fries and salad – EU9.95

The restaurant obviously specialised in steak with various cuts of steaks in various sizes and with various accompaniments. Whilst there were other menu items available, I found it difficult to even look at anything but steak in this Argentinean steak house.

Reminding of my prior trip to Argentina, and specifically the Argentinean beef I had in Buenos Aires, the steak here was good. Though ordering the steak medium rare and coming out more rare, the steak was juicy and tender and was a good steak for EU9.90 (when other steaks seemed to start at nearly twice the price).

The only unfortunate part of the steak was its size, being relatively small and maybe only 100g or so. However, the steak’s size was complimented with a bit of iceberg lettuce based undressed salad, and chips.

Cassis - EU4 (large)

I saw this drink on the menu and wondered what it was. I was told it was like Cherry Fanta and apparently is very popular. So I thought, why not give it a try? The drink indeed had a cherry taste – it was sweet, quite dark in colour (or maybe it was the very dark lighting in the restaurant) and had a deep taste to it giving a fruity (artificial) cherry taste (not to be mistaken for Cherry Cola a la Dr Pepper etc).

In summary, Amsterdam is an ok place to visit - especially if you're into its "freedom" and liberties that give it a reputation in Europe. However, Amsterdam is also filled with a lot of tourists and within the city it can give off that tourist city feel.

A few photos to finish this blog off...

A view of a Golden Mile canal

A bridge off the Golden Mile canal region

Amsterdam city with part of the tram line

Dutch loyal soccer supporters stand proud despite missing out on the World Cup trophy this year

Copenhagen, Denmark

If you ask around, many people would say Scandinavia is one of the most expensive places in the world. They’d probably be right, but I wouldn’t let that stop you as it's also one of the most beautiful.

I recently made my way to Scandinavia with the promise of amazing landscapes in Iceland and Greenland (but not to discount the other magnificent Scandinavian countries) and also to visit the rellies in Norway. Sure it was going to be an expensive trip, but it was well worth it. However if you ask me, though some things were definitely more expensive than Australia (or pretty much most or all other European countries) some things were actually cheaper than Australia.

First city, Copenhagen, Denmark: the home of Crown Prince Frederick who married Australian and now Crown Princess Mary.

Denmark (along with Scandinavia generally) is pleasantly filled with very friendly locals complete with an excellent standard of English-as-a-second-language that puts other nations (and especially the single-language English speaking nations) to shame. I argue some of them speak better English than some who speak English as a first language. On top of that, Copenhagen has a nice relaxing feel that makes me feel at home to stroll around the various canals, beautiful King’s Garden, longest pedestrian shopping mall in the world – “Torget”, or even to sit back and relax with some coffee and Danish pastries.

But enough about Denmark as a city and more about the food given this is a food blog. Apart from the obvious good connotations that Danish Pastries or “Danishes” in Denmark can bring, Denmark has quite a bit to offer. Apart from export grade produce including meat, seafood, vegetables, and the ever prominent and great tasting Lurpak butter, Denmark and specifically Copenhagen is a host to a range of restaurants and cuisine from around the world and even has the honour of being home to the San Pellegrino 2010 restaurant of the year “Nomad”. Unfortunately, the 90-day-in-advance booking process that opens at midnight each night is so quickly snapped up that I was unable to secure a booking. Sad. But no matter for this round, as I was still able to sample a few local dishes.

Nyhavn

In the heart of the canal area in Copenhagen is the infamous and postcard-famous Nyhavn strip. Nyhavn (meaning New Harbour) is the home to the start of many canal tours for those wanting to explore a part of Copenhagen via the various canals, as well as being host to many restaurants. Here you have a large choice of European cuisine, of which most venues have an attached bar, or you can even get a takeaway beer and drink it along the walkway next to the canal.

Most restaurants on Nyhavn capitalise on the scenic views of the canal by offering well placed al fresco dining that is great on any non-rainy day. Restaurants tend to be quite casual and well suited to cater for tourists including the large amount of Scandinavian visitors from Norway and Sweden (and especially Norway where street drinking is illegal and alcohol costs a lot more). Service during peak periods can be quite slow here but the staff are still seem relatively friendly under the stress.

Whilst the amount of restaurants on Nyhavn may make choosing difficult, many display a menu at their front which may help tickle your fancy or let you know in advance whether they specialise in say fish or steaks or other seafood. On top of that, many of the restaurants have set course specials with two or three courses of an entrée, main and dessert. The going rate whilst I was there was DKK225 for two courses.

Doing what most prudent people would do (i.e. walk along the canal to see what’s on offer), I came across this Nyhavn Restaurant which not only had a DKK225 two course special but allowed you to choose any two courses from their menu thus increasing the available combinations exponentially. On top of this, the Nyhavn Restaurant accepted any Kroner on a one for one basis, which for my slightly weaker Norwegian Kroner base currency represented even more value.

Foie Gras Terrine served with Elderflower Gel – DKK105 (separately)

The slice of foie gras terrine came served with a bit of salt and pepper sprinkled on top. Accompanying the terrine was some bread and strawberries. I’m not really sure where the elderflower gel was unless it was mixed into the strawberries.

The foie gras terrine was a decent entrée with a definite but not very strong foie gras taste. Spreading it onto the rye-like bread allowed you to appreciate the taste of the terrine. The strawberries were a bit sour for my liking even as a palate freshener to compliment the foie gras terrine.

Tender loin with marrow pipe pepper sauce and roast potato DKK189 (separately)

I personally made a big mistake in ordering this dish. Given that the waitress didn’t ask me how I’d like it cooked, I assumed that it’d be done medium or even medium rare. Quick assumption – big mistake. The steak unfortunately came out well done which although goes completely against how I think a steak should be done, was surprisingly still tender and juicy for a well-done steak. I later asked the waitress about it being done well-done and she said that’s the norm there unless you ask for something different. I personally would ask for something different, which is a pity as I suspect the steak would have been done great medium-rare!

Accompanying the reasonable but well-done steak were roast potatoes which had a nice golden outer layer with a buttery taste, pickled cabbage to offer a palate freshening side, and a beef flavoured pepper sauce to go with the steak.

Det Rome Brod

I found this 100% organic bakery whilst walking along Kronprinsessegade but there are a few branches across Copenhagen. Det Rome Brod is a bit of a mix between a bakery and a coffee shop, serving (limited and casual) dine in or takeaway breads, pastries and cakes, as well as machined coffee.

Cinnamon bread, apple cake and cafe latte

For DKK51 I got a cinnamon bread, apple cake, and a café latte.

The apple cake was a recommendation from the very friendly and helpful (and quite frankly very attractive) girl running the store and my own tastebuds confirmed it was good. The cake had only a moderate density of apple (as opposed to say a typical apple heavy apple pie) and yet was reasonably dense. The moderate levels of sugar, freshness of the apple, and light crumbly and cake like taste and texture of this cake was a pleasant surprise to me as something different in a good way.

The cinnamon bread was like a typical cinnamon roll that you get in Australia, but was very fresh, didn’t feel too sweet (even with the sultanas and the icing), and had a crispness to it that made this taste all the more fresher. Overall, I found this nicely balanced and fresh.

The coffee was smooth, had a slightly nutty taste and only a slight bitter aftertaste, but the froth was pretty average – being a thick layer of inconsistent bubble sizes that created a foam that didn’t sit as well as better frothed milk.

Overall, and with the added goodness of being an organic bakery, I really thought the pastries (or *ahem* Danishes) were great. However, this is the home of Danish pastries.

Café Copenhagen

This café came recommended to me for the Copenhagen Burger. It’s situated in Hillerod, very close to Frederiksborg castle, so a visit to the grand and postcard-worthy castle warrants a visit to this café.

The café has a very casual and relaxing atmosphere, but feels clean and modern with indoor and al fresco dining. The waiter who served us was very friendly and accommodating but I found this not unusual in the places I went to in Denmark.

Copenhagen Burger – DKK110

The burger had a thick patty, bacon, red onion, gourmet lettuce, cucumber, tomato, tomato sauce, a creamy cocktail sauce, and was set in a crusty herb bread.

I was impressed. The burger tasted great with the marinated patty, mixed sauces and combination of ingredients creating a very big and filling burger that was fresh and tasted like an excellent gourmet home-made burger.

The burger was served with wedges and aioli. The wedges were crunchy and seasoned really well. To be honest, I was very impressed with the quality of these wedges and the aioli was also well made – creamy with a light garlic flavour – such that this tasted as good as some of the best wedges I’ve had in Australia.

Cappuccino – DKK30

The cappuccino wasn’t the best I’ve had and was the let-down for me at Café Copenhagen. Unfortunately the cappuccino was served only warm and the foam was quite poorly made in my opinion – being a very thick layer of foam that contained a lot of large bubbles. The cappuccino was topped with cocoa.

So all in all, Copenhagen is a great place to visit.  Though in no way able to capture the charm of Copenhagen, I leave you with a small selection of photos for a little taste of what you might expect if you visit Copenhagen.

One of the palaces of Amalienborg - where Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary will reside

Frederiksborg Castle

Monument to Hans Christian Andersen

One of the Grand Halls in Rosenberg Castle

The Rosenberg Castle with the Three Lions

Danish Crowns on display at Rosenborg Castle

View of Copenhagen from Vor Frelser Church

 

Thai Orchid, South Perth

Creamy Thai curries to saturate your rice? Sounds a bit indulgent but this is one of the things you can see me do when I eat Thai food. Not to say that I only eat fatty foods but I’m only human and Thai food is good for a delicious fix (including healthier options) every now and then.

Thai Orchid is one of those restaurants that some people I know have praised, and has some gold plate awards to back up this assertion. Thai Orchid is situated on the second floor of a building (be warned about steps) and this, along with the proximity to the Swan River, allows it to have some reasonable views of the Perth skyline.

Inside, Thai Orchid is decorated with …. The tables all have tablecloths which include a deeply coloured table covering which helps give it an upmarket Thai feel. To compliment the Thai feel of the decor, the restaurant has waitresses dressed up in pleasant Thai garments to further enhance the atmosphere.

Clearly supporting the fact that it is a Thai restaurant, the menu contains a lot of typical Thai dishes - including: Thai style entrees; green, red, and other curries with a choice of meat or seafood; stir fries that include of a host of ingredients used by the Thai including lemongrass; some Thai desserts; and a range of special dishes in a separate section of the menu. Prices for mains seem to average around $25-35.

Golden Bags - $8

This dish consisted of minced chicken, corn, and peas wrapped in pastry which was deep fried, and served with sweet chilli sauce. The pastry was thin and light such that it didn’t detract from the taste of the filling. However, I personally wouldn’t rave about the filling which was a very smoothly minced combination of chicken and corn with a small amount of savoury seasoning. The sweet chilli sauce gave the golden bags a bit more moisture and flavour to complete the light entrée.

Gang Keow Wan (Green Curry Chicken) - $25

The green curry came served in a bowl, filled with chicken, eggplant, red capsicum, and lots of green curry sauce. To be expected, the green curry sauce was rich and creamy (most likely with lots of coconut milk), as well as being quite a mild and sweet curry.

The chicken and eggplant were cooked nicely such that they weren’t overcooked and everything retained its form and a level of juiciness. Given I like eating creamy fat sauces (and I do like my tasty Thai curries), I found myself mixing this dish with white rice in large quantities.

Zest for Life - $36

This dish was described as marinated lamb cutlets with Thai herbs and spices, grilled and served with savoury chilli dip.

I’m not exactly sure why this dish was called “Zest for Life” – I don’t think I personally felt like I had any more zest for life after consuming it. There were four cutlets, each was marinated in savoury herbs and spices but I didn’t get much hint of anything like lemongrass or other “zesty” herbs. Each cutlet was then grilled and a small piece of aluminium foil was placed at the cleaned end of the cutlet for you to handle the cutlet with your fingers. Though each lamb cutlet was marinated, for those of you that have experienced it in the past there was a distinct lamb smell and taste through the lamb which was quite strong which can be offputting to people who are particular about their lamb.

To accompany the lamb cutlets, a savoury chilli dip was served which wasn’t very chilli hot, nor sweet chilli sweet. Instead, the sauce was a light chilli sauce balanced with sweet and saltiness to make it a thick savoury sauce to go with the lamb cutlets.

Flying Duck - $30

I'm not sure why the duck was flying but this dish was described as roasted duck topped with tasty plum and chilli jam sauce, on a bed of crispy noodle and broccoli.

The duck pieces seemed to mainly consist of duck breast that was roasted and came out with a red skin which was slightly crispy. The plum and chilli jam sauce went quite well with the duck, offering a good level of fruity sweetness (plum sauce) and a light spiciness from the chilli to add flavour to the otherwise relatively basic tasting duck. The crispy noodle wasn’t much to talk about (being a deep fried rice noodle) and the "broccoli" was a few pieces of broccoli, cauliflower and carrot steamed and placed on the side.

In summary, Thai Orchid offers some good tasting Thai cuisine. Sure it’s a little on the pricy side for the servings you get but not exorbitantly so, and for the nicely decorated and presented restaurant and food quality it’s able to attract a decent clientele.

Points to note: The restaurant also has views of the swan river which most seats will have some level of, but you may want to ask if that is important to you. The restaurant is also BYO and on busy nights you should book ahead – especially if you have a larger group.

Go for: Good quality Thai food in a semi-upmarket Thai restaurant setting.




Thai Orchid
Level 2, 35 Mends Street
SOUTH PERTH WA 6151
(08) 9474 1888

Trading Hours
Dinner: Tuesday to Sunday