Zig Zag Hill

That tiny little cluster of squares is actually what we locals know as "the city". Perth. It's funny to see how small and compact it looks from so far away. Zig Zag hill is a one way dirt track up a good few kilometres away from your city sushi bar, with two ways down - one by the road and one if are unfortunate enough to tumble down the side. The sun was out and we took a minute just to enjoy time spent overlooking one of the most isolated cities in the world.

Harvest Espresso

Although winter weather has been quite cold and grey of late, this Saturday proved to be a sunny one, calling for a trip down to Victoria Park and a visit to Harvest Espresso. Harvest is much smaller than I had imagined and a line does tend to slowly gather outside as tables are fairly limited. There is a little of the shuffling and the sucking in of stomachs as you try to squeeze past people before and after your meal but this is a small hindrance considering the food and the matcha lattes are perfect.

I adore the cafe with its wooden tables and takeaway coffee cups that change every season and I sincerely look forward to the next season's menu. If the dishes on the menu don't quite tickle your fancy (but seriously come on, they're amazing) then you could request a look at their raw cakes and delights on offer, not to mention you could always just takeaway a latte and a freshly baked good.

I couldn't go past the Banana and Peanut Butter Toasted Brioche with toasted museli, mascarapone and of course chocolate sauce. Jason went for something a little savory and chose the House-cured Salmon Gravlax which had two poached eggs, watercress, potato hash, hollandaise and a few scattered togarashi croutons. I absolutely loved the brioche, with just the right amount of crunchy and soft, it was delicious and beautifully presented. The thing I think I like most about food is disassembling it and literally digging in. I would however have loved another little dollop of mascarapone but gee, it was beaut.

As soon as I had taken one sip of my matcha latte I made a comment to Jason saying I would be purchasing another because it was damn good, however I spoke too soon as I only just managed to finish my breakfast at the end of it. Safe to say I didn't have any room left in my stomach for a second matcha latte, however on retrospect I probably could have ordered another to take away and sip later when we drove up to the Zig Zag hill.

We were sitting right near the window (if you look in the last shot you can see the remnants of our brunch) and it gave me a good vantage point to take photos and see all of the neat little cafe. I'll be visiting again, perhaps will try the lamb meat balls and definitely aim to go every season from now on as each season the menu changes. Bring on Spring's!

Address:

629 Albany Highway, Victoria Park

Opening Hours:

Tuesday - Sunday 7am - 4pm

Closed Monday

Supanova

There are always really lovely fun things to see at Supanova which is held annually in Perth. Famous actors and actresses and voices of characters in beloved pop culture visit Perth once a year. Cosplay judging is held and it's a good opportunity for fans to dress up like their favourite characters and put their DIY skills into practice. There is plenty of beautiful fan art to purchase, bits and bobs and photo opportunities. The costumes are wonderful along with the best Anna cosplay which I just managed to snap before the battery on my camera went out. 

Architects and Heroes

Architects was a cafe I felt I needed to visit with Matthew as it's just up his ally. Adventure Time? Adventure Time as part of a Perth Cafe's interior? He's there. On the walls are some great illustrations and designs (minus the incorrectly drawn snail from Adventure Time but we can overlook that) and the cafe itself is interesting and heralds yummy food, lovely staff and even sparkling water on tap!

Being nooblets we weren't sure if we had to wait outside for a table, give our name or stare into the back of unsuspecting diner's heads in the hopes of getting a table, but luckily a few minutes after we had arrived, a couple had finished and told us we could have their table. Perhaps we looked incredibly lost and they took pity on us but either way we had gotten ourselves a table.

There are baked goodies on the counter just near the entrance, a mix of peanut butter cupcakes, almond and orange gluten free slice to name a few. You can pick up a treat to take away with you in one hand and a warm and damn fine coffee in the other and you'd be good to go in this winter weather. There are window seats for those that like to people watch and for others, tables on the right of the cafe. The baristas weave their magic to your left and also in an area just at the back of the cafe which is stock piled with teapots and other brewing necessities.

I was itching for something sweet and picked the brioche french toast with apple and rhubarb compote, honeycomb parfait and vanilla labne. For those that didn't know, vanilla labne is a specially strained yoghurt. The dish was a wonderful combination of textures and mixes of sweet and tangy (courtesy of the rhubarb). I really loved the honeycomb and saved a bit of that for last.

Matthew ordered a savoury dish with saurkraut, chorizo, tomato, rosemary, spinach, balsamic vinegar - I can't quite remember what else, I was too busy chowing down on my own brunch. If I ask him I know he'll say "I don't remember, all I remember was deliciousness!" so I guess you'd all just have to go down to Subiaco and try it out for yourself.

Opening Hours:

Monday - Saturday 6.30am - 6.30pm

Sunday Closed

Address:

Shop 25, 17-31 Rokeby Road, Subiaco

The George

I'm glad that Meng and I share the same food values - that food should be shared and accompanied with conversation, even if that conversation includes discussing how to hide oily hair on days you're just not bothered.

It was raining, the weather was gloomy and I had plans to curl up and watch Seinfeld re-runs. Those plans were dashed when Meng called for an impromptu food date. She was restless and excited that her final exam was done and we had been trying desperately to find some time to see each other before she jetted off to Sydney, Melbourne and then Brisbane for a few weeks so we said why the heck not get food now and we did. To be honest her craving for a food platter was what made the decision as to where we would go and when and after her nap, we met at The George.

We ordered the platter and the Chocolate Fondant and the pannacotta just because fairly floss. Well it turns out the fairly floss wasn't quite how we thought - for us we thought we'd be getting our hands on the show ground cotton candy, but instead it was infused and tasted like a sweet and strong smelling perfume and so had to be eaten with a spoonful of pannacotta.

The chocolate fondant was nice but we were both glad we could just take some of the left over raspberry syrup from the pannacotta plate and eat that with the chocolate because it was so rich and filling and we barely even finished it then. Mind you we thought we could tackle one platter which is meant to be shared with three people so I guess we brought it on ourselves.

I loved that we could just pick off random bits from the platter, potato croquette in hand as Meng tried to persuade me to fly over to China with her when she does her 6 months of student exchange, with "It'll be fun!" Haha and maybe I will. We'll see.

Address:

216 St Georges Terrace, Perth

Opening Hours: 

Monday - Friday 7am - Late

Saturday & Sunday - Dinner at 5pm - Late, High Tea 1pm - 5pm

Tulips