Category Archives: Australia

An orange a day….

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We all know the saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’, but I’m thinking it ought to be changed to an orange.

I was asked by Citrus Australia to take part in the Go Orange Ten Day Challenge.  Okay, so what’s the challenge?  ”To eat a whole orange every day for ten days.”  Our house was shipped enough organic oranges for Zorba and I to both participate.

Prior to starting the challenge, Zorba had a niggling cold for three weeks that wasn’t bad enough to stop him from going to work, but annoyingly he was going through tissues like no tomorrow, had a slightly blocked head, and generally felt under par. I felt okay mostly, but as the challenge started I had that feeling that I was about to get a cold too.

IMG_2892After three days on the challenge, eating an orange a day, I noticed a small dip on the scales – half a kilo. Not altogether intentional, but welcomed nonetheless. I was enjoying my daily orange as a mid afternoon snack, where as Zorba had his after dinner for dessert. It filled the mid-afternoon snack spot and stopped me from reaching for anything else. Zorba’s cold also disappeared and by day five, he was back to full health.

I hate peeling oranges, really I do – it’s the pith that gets under my nails that makes it so unpleasant.  So I cut my orange in half, and each half into thin wedges.  I’d put my wedges on a little plate with a few almonds. One morning I grated the zest onto my quinoa porridge – yum yum yum.

Organic oranges are so tasty – this is the time of year when they are at their best. The Go Orange Ten Day Challenge has turned into a lifestyle change.  I feel better for it and it’s no surprise when you consider that oranges are the original superfood.

If I ask nicely, I wonder if the good people at Citrus Australia will send me another crate?

Disclosure:  Oranges compliments of Citrus Australia

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Lalla Rookh, Perth CBD

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Would you expect to find good food at a Perth CBD underground bar named after a Kalgoorlie Show Girl? The answer is yes. Let me introduce you to Lalla Rookh, downstairs on St Georges Terrace near the William Street junction.

Walking in, I was immediately impressed with the circular space of the outdoor courtyard complete with vertical gardens framed like expensive artwork.  The spacious bar area included a large screen TV but has enough nook and crannies to feel cosy and intimate, and the restaurant has a classy yet welcoming fit.  Despite covering 800 square metres, the place didn’t feel big and empty. The different areas flowed from one to the other nicely and on a Friday night, it was busy with city’s after work crowd.

Our party of five was seated in the restaurant, sans booking, without any drama.  My chosen aperitif, a Sloely Surely cocktail ($16) with aperol, gin, sparkling wine and soda was not too sweet, not too sour, and didn’t have a strong alcoholic taste. It was smooth, balanced and delicious. Another friend’s margherita had an overly salty taste, and it wasn’t just coming from the salted rim. The wine list has enough options by the glass to suit most palates. LallaRookh1

The menu is divided into small share plates, pizzas, pasta, main, and dessert. It promotes  two chef’s choice banquets, available for the entire table only at $39 and $49 per person.  One of our party has shell fish allergy and is pregnant, so we asked if four could have the chef’s choice for $49 each and the fifth just order a pasta dish.  Since we were sitting on a table designed for four, with an extra chair tacked onto the end, we thought our request was reasonable. The kitchen refused and our request declined. With a shrug of the shoulders, we chose a few dishes from the menu to share that ended up costing us $25 per head. Their loss – they could have doubled their money with us had they played nice. Not to worry.

Buffalo mozzarella with mushroom compote

Buffalo mozzarella with mushroom compote

The specials for the night were lard wrapped prawns with aioli, and buffalo mozzarella with mushroom compote. The prawns were cooked perfectly and the aioli complemented them beautifully.  The buffalo mozzarella balls were fridge cold and not as soft as others I’ve had. The mushroom compote was deep with mushroom flavour and lusciously smooth, however, none of us felt it was a good accompaniment to the buffalo mozzarella. The mushroom compote would have been lovely with penne pasta.

LallaRookh5

The baccala al latte with ricotta gnocchi ($16) was a winner. The mix of textures of the soft light dumplings topped with stewed cod fish that was beautifully seasoned was interesting to eat and was our table’s dish of the night.

Ricotta gnocchi with stewed bacala

Ricotta gnocchi with stewed bacala

We also ordered a main pasta dish, pappardelle with wild rabbit, chestnuts and prunes ($25) sounds as interesting as it tasted. The pasta was perfect – silky and al dente. The sauce included small chunks of meat, and sadly, a little bone.  The chestnut and prune flavours were blended beautifully but were not pronounced. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pappardelle with wild rabbit, chestnut and prunes

Pappardelle with wild rabbit, chestnut and prunes

The service was adequate and polite. I felt a little sorry for the waitress who had to repeat everything she told us because those at the other end of the table couldn’t hear her. The atmosphere is buzzy, if slightly noisy. Perhaps the interior could benefit from soft furnishings to tone down the bouncing noise?

Verdict:  A great choice for an after work drink and dinner in the city. Order the ricotta gnocchi with bacala.

FACT FILE

Lalla Rookh Bar and Eating House
Lower Ground Floor, 77 St Georges Terrace, Perth 6000
Tel: 08 9325 7077

Open Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner until late.
Lalla Rookh Bar & Eating House on Urbanspoon

Cook like an Italian

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If you want to cook like an Italian, then you need to learn from the best in the business – makes sense, right?

Guiseppe Pagliariccci (Perugino) and Egidio Squillace (Event Style)

Giuseppe Pagliaricci (Perugino) and Egidio Squillace (Event Style)

Six Italian chefs are each holding an Italian Cooking Master Class between 20 May and 9 September 2013 at the stunning Accento Home showroom in Claremont, Perth. Each chef’s restaurant has earned the Ospitalità Italiana certification awarded by the Italian Government. That means they are proficient with Italian cooking knowledge, have Italian speaking staff available, and use some Italian imported ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil.

Last night was the Accento Italian Cooking Master Class series launch. We thought the chefs would be demonstrating three or four dishes. Wrong. We watched them prepare and we tasted  20 dishes. No wonder we all rolled out of there at the end of the night, vowing not to eat for the next week!

Giuseppe Pagliaricci from Perugino Restaurant and Egidio Squillace from Event Style were our chefs for the night. They wow’d the room with every dish.  Just when you think, ‘this one is my favourite,’ the next dish is even better. Their execution was mesmerising to watch. Precise cooking times and fastidious presentations to ensure we were well looked after. This is what we ate:

Finger food / Antipasti

  1. Prawn and pesto sauce
  2. Scallop carpaccio with mango
  3. Pumpkin and smoked cheese dumpling
  4. Bacala (cod) and potato fritters
  5. Bacala (cod) fritters (without potato)
  6. Prawns and pancetta with balsamic
  7. Deep fried mozzarella balls
  8. Crostini with cheese and truffle
  9. Herbed focaccia
  10. Crostini with Italian sausage and cheese
Fried mozzarella balls
Finger food
Scallop carpaccio with mango
Prawn and pesto sauce
Crostini with cheese and truffle, photo courtesy of http://www.wenywonderswhy.blogspot.com.au

Pasta

  1. Gnocchi with gorgonzola, apple, parmesan and pine nuts
  2. Ravioli filled with potato, cheddar, and proscuito di San Daniele with a pumpkin sauce and a dash of béchamel
Egidio Squillace (Event Style)
Preparing ravioli with proscuito San Daniele with pumpkin sauce and a dash of béchamel
Ravioli with proscuito San Daniele with pumpkin sauce and a dash of béchamel
Gnocchi with gorgonzola, apple and parmesan

Main / meat

  1. Rack of lamb cooked with olive oil, lemon juice and oregano
  2. Chicken with olive oil, mint, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper
  3. Rabbit with black olives and white wine
Plates of chicken with mint and parsley, and rabbit with black olives and white wine
Rack of lamb with lemon juice and oregano
Chicken with mint, garlic, and parsley

Dessert & Cakes

  1. Macadamia panna cotta with white chocolate sauce
  2. Pistachio panna cotta with berry sauce
  3. Fig and amaretti tart
  4. Rice and apple cake (gluten free)
  5. Quince and chestnut cake
Macadamia panna cotta with white chocolate sauce, and pistachio panna cotta with berry sauce
Macadamia panna cotta with white chocolate sauce, and pistachio panna cotta with berry sauce
Fig and amaretti tart, and quince and chestnut cake

Needless to say, the food was delectable. The gnocchi was an absolute stand out dish. The gorgonzola had that gorgeous blue cheese bite to it, the sauce was creamy, and the addition of apples added a tarty sweetness to the salty cheese sauce. The gnocchi were light and fluffy, just as they should be – and just as one would expect them to be given they were made by a pro.

Guests can expect to taste a number of beautifully cooked Italian dishes. Moreover, there’s the chance to ask questions, like, ‘how do you make the gnocchi so it is light and airy?’ Or, ‘what is the secret to cooking the perfect tomato base sauce?’

Marco Mari, Secretary General of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) that are facilitating the cooking series said that attending a class is a perfect opportunity to learn from the best in the business as the masters of Italian cuisine are not readily accessible.

“Guests will learn techniques and specific Italian dishes, and they will also taste all the dishes and sample matched Italian wines, so we advise guests to come along with an empty stomach!”

For the wine aficionado, varietals on offer include Barolo, Chianti Classico, and Nero D’Avola Syrah from the respective esteemed wineries Michele Chiarlo (Piedmont), San Fabiano Calcinaia (Tuscany), and Fuedo Arancio (Sicily) to name a few.

Mr Mari said the series is designed to be informative and fun. “For the same price as eating out at a good restaurant, guests have the added bonus of taking home new skills, making it exceptional value for money.”

If the launch is anything to go by, I’d recommend wearing elasticated pants, the most stylish ones you have of course. After all, you will be mingling with Italians.

FACT FILE

All demonstrations start at 6.30pm and held at the Accento Showroom, 256 Stirling Highway Claremont. Cost per class is $90 or $500 for the series of six.

For more information, visit www.icci.asn.au or call 08 9217 4200.

Declaration: The ICCI is a client of Dianne Bortoletto’s business, Pronto PR. Despite this fact, I would have posted about the cooking class in any case because learning about great food is an absolute passion of mine – and so is eating it!

Other Blogs

Check out what other food bloggers had to say:
Perth Munchkin

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Eating without cooking

To eat like this, you can always book a table at Perugino Restaurant in West Perth. It’s one of the best Italian restaurants in the city, getting the mix of food, service and ambience right.
Perugino on Urbanspoon

If you have a function, then Event Style are the caterers that will ensure every guest is impressed and left feeling satisfied.

Foragers, Pemberton WA

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Located 6km from Pemberton in Western Australia’s Southern Forest region, the entry into Foragers feels like you are entering somewhere special. Beautiful trees surround the restaurant and flanking the walkway are large raised timber garden beds growing fresh herbs: thyme, basil, parsley, mint, rosemary, and sage, just to name a few.Pemberton6.IMG_5682

Foragers’ Head Chef and owner Sophie Zalokar trained in the Barossa Valley under foodie icon Maggie Beer. She shares the same lovely food philosophy as Maggie, from paddock to plate.  Her food is fresh, wholesome and delicious. You can learn from Sophie during one of her cooking schools, or simply book in to dine at the restaurant that has regular seasonal dinners ($75pp) and wood-fired dinners ($55pp). Bring your own wine, sit at a long table, and enjoy a relaxing evening.

Pemberton12.IMG_9319

We booked into a Friday night wood fired dinner.  The lovely thing is that you can see the big Italian imported wood oven at work from the restaurant. You can also see the kitchen and the busy staff working hard.  The restaurant features long communal tables that feel inviting.

Our dinner started with freshly baked sour dough bread, still warm from the oven. A generous antipasto plate followed that had thin and crispy beetroot slices with feta, baked ricotta, roasted eggplant, marinated olives, roasted cauliflower and cacciatore salami. It was rustic, fresh, and excited our taste buds.

Main course was braised beef cheeks. The beef was amazingly tender – just touching it with a fork, it fell apart.  It was so succulent. Zorba absolutely loved it.

Sponge cake cooking in wood fired oven, Foragers

Sponge cake cooking in wood fired oven, Foragers

Dessert was a real treat, apple sponge cake cooked in the wood-fired oven. It was light and airy with small chunks of apple at the bottom. It was slightly sweet, yet beautifully balanced when eaten with the cream. I loved it. To follow, Zorba enjoyed a Fiori coffee (skipper), while I sat there wishing we hadn’t finished our bottle of Fraser Gallop Cab Merlot (Margaret River)…

The service was friendly and efficient and the general ambience was relaxed and it felt like you were part of something bigger – a community. A strange ambience for a restaurant I’ll agree, but the communal tables and people chatting to one another is what brought it about.

We sat next to a very friendly couple from Perth, Greg and Cheryl, whom we chatted with all night. It’s a small world – as we learned, there’s only one degree of separation between us. Greg is a motorsport organiser and we know quite a few people in common.

Sophie also heads up the Slow Food Movement in the region and once or twice per year travels to Italy or France for slow food conferences.

You can stay in a chalet at Foragers also. They look lovely. We stayed at the luxurious Silkwood Wines Chalets, about a ten minute drive from Foragers on Chanybearup Road.  You can read about it in my previous blog post here.

Foragers
Sophie & Chris Zalokar
1 Roberts Road
(cnr Roberts Rd & Pemberton Northcliffe Road)
Pemberton WA 6260

Tel: +61 (0)8 9776 1580
Email: discover@foragers.com.au

Foragers on Urbanspoon

Road trip! Destination Pemberton, WA

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Australians love a good road trip. What’s not to love? You have freedom to go where you want, when you want. I love that freedom!

Our destination: Pemberton. If you believe google maps, it’s 3 hour 40 minute drive from Perth. My tip, don’t believe google. It took us four and a half hours, because we left Perth during rush hour traffic, and stopped once for a 10-minute break. Also, driving at night, we had to slow it down when visibility wasn’t so good.

Pemberton was an exciting destination for both Zorba and I, mainly because we have not really discovered all Pemberton has to offer. I was impressed with Pemberton when I hosted a short trip last year. Six months later, I’m back but this time it’s a holiday.

What lured us to Pemberton this time instead of the much loved Margaret River was a place to stay I’d been dying to go back to: Silkwood Chalets. I stayed there last year and they are divine. Think luxury spa, leather corner lounge, gas flame fire, a TV that slides up out of the marble topped cabinet, fully equipped kitchen, marri wood floor boards and a huge spa bath. The bed is made up of quality linen including a feather doona and there’s fluffy white robes in the cupboards with matching slippers.

Inside our chalet, Silkwood Wines

Inside our chalet, Silkwood Wines

There are only four chalets on the Silkwood Wines estate, each named after a wine varietal. We stayed in Chardonnay. The are nicely spread apart, and each chalet overlooks the dam with views of the bush beyond. So quiet and peaceful.

Silkwood Wines Chalets

Silkwood Wines Chalets

Pemberton has earned itself a reputation as a foodie hot spot, however, it is still overshadowed by the well known Margaret River region. In and around Pemberton, you’ll find avocados farms, wineries, orchards, marron farms (now we’re talking), and celebrated truffles known as black gold. We bought some apples and avocados from the side of the road and left the money in the honour box.

Fruit shop with honour box

Fruit shop with honour box

A big bag of each for a total of $5. Zorba and I both commented how crispy, sweet, and juicy the apples were. I haven’t had apples that good in a long, long time. The avocados are a bit hard, so we hope they ripen up in a few days.

Did you know that more grapes are grown in the cool-climate of Pemberton than in Margaret River? That’s what the brochure said. Silkwood gave us a complementary bottle of pinot noir from their estate, and I have to say, the cool-climate obviously works wonders for this varietal. After it breathed, the pinot noir opened up to a smooth, rounded, light red wine.

The town of “Pemby” has a population of under 1000 and it is very cute. It’s an old wood-mill town and along the main road, you’ll see a handful single storey wooden houses. There’s a bakery, a couple of cafés, a lawn bowls club, gift shops, a pub, a butcher, IGA supermarket, a couple of clothes shops, newsagent, and not a whole lot more.Pemberton02.IMG_9138

Driving from place to place, we were awed by the beauty of the green rolling hills, some lined with vines, others used for cattle or sheep, and the majestic tall timber karri forests. Every road we turn down, Zorba and I looked at each other and said, “Wow, it’s so pretty!” It reminded Zorba of Sicily. The landscape reminds me more of Tuscany. It’s so nice to see hills – which might sound weird, but when you live in a city as flat as Perth, hills can be somewhat of a novelty.

You can always hire a car if you don’t have one, or get a car loan to buy your own. Once you have wheels, you can say hello to independence! I don’t know how anyone in WA copes without a car.

Pemberton12.IMG_9319

There are plenty of places to eat. One of my favourites is Foragers, a cooking school, a place to stay, and a great restaurant. Chef Sophie Zalokar trained under Australian food icon Maggie Beer in her home town, the Barossa. She has a wonderful food philosophy – cooking and teaching how to serve good wholesome unprocessed dishes, in fact, Sophie heads up Southern Forests’ slow food branch.

Millhouse Cafe is another good choice for breakfast or lunch. The service is slow, but the coffee and the food are good. They even have fresh local marron on their menu. Our late breakfast was almost perfect. Had my poached eggs been soft, they would have oozed the perfect dressing for my charred bread, crispy proscuito, and the sharp-tasting parmesan flakes. Zorba’s poached eggs were soft and runny and he ate up every mouthful of his classic big breakfast. The tables outside under the veranda over looking a park with an old-fashioned shiny steam train parked under the trees sets the scene for the archetypal Australian country-town cafe.

The Pemberton Hotel (“The Pemby”) looks like a nice spot for a pub lunch, but it aint much chop. My smoked trout was ok, the salad nothing more than a garnish, and the chips tasted like they were fried in old grotty oil. Zorba’s home made chicken burger was huge and he hated it every mouthful. He said he felt like throwing up after it. We met another couple later that day who said they have been coming to Pemberton for years and years and have slowly watched the grand old pub’s food diminish. So much so that after their meal there the previous night, they vowed to never, ever eat there again. What a shame. One positive I can say about the pub, the James Squire Pale Ale was cold and slid down my throat beautifully, and the outdoor area in the sun was a lovely spot to sit and relax. Pity about the food.

Gorgeous autumn colours, the approach to Silkwood Wines
Scallops with truffle on leek puree, Silkwood Wines Cafe
Inside our chalet, Silkwood Wines
Marron with porcini risotto, Silkwood Wines Cafe
Sponge cake cooking in wood fired oven, Foragers

FACT FILE

SLEEP
Silkwood Chalets
Debi Johnson
9649 Channybearup Road, Pemberton, WA
Tel: +61 (0)8 9776 1584
Mob: +61 (0)428 105 075
Email: silkwood@silkwoodwines.com.au
Cost $330 per night, but ask for specials (we received pay for three, forth night free)

EAT
Foragers
Sophie & Chris Zalokar
1 Roberts Road
(cnr Roberts Rd & Pemberton Northcliffe Road)
Pemberton WA 6260
Tel: +61 (0)8 9776 1580
Email: discover@foragers.com.au
Woodfired dinner $55pp; Seasonal dinner $75pp. BYO (unlicensed). Open for dinner Friday and Saturday – check website for details.
There are also chalets onsite at Foragers if you fancy staying there.

Millhouse Cafe
14 Brockman Street, Pemberton Wa 6260
Tel: 08 9776 1122
Pemberton Millhouse Cafe on Urbanspoon

Disclosure: This post was done in partnership with Westralian Auto Finance.

Woot! Cheap fares to China and beyond

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China Southern Airlines has introduced new A330-200 aircraft onto Australian routes with the airline’s A330-223 touching down in Perth for the first time yesterday.
It’s great that another full service airline can now give some of the other big players serious competition.  Travellers can fly return to Guangzhou, the airline’s modern hub in southern China, from Perth for $760* in Economy and $3230* in Business.

The introductory fares include taxes and are on sale now for travel throughout 2013, but flights need to be booked by 5 April, so you have to be quick!
The new A330 Airbus has flatbeds in Business Class and personal entertainment television sets for everyone.
China Southern’s Canton Route to the world reaches almost 200 destinations in 35 countries and regions using a range of aircraft from its growing fleet of more than 500 planes.
FACT FILE
For reservations call 1300 889 628.
For customer service assistance email customercare@csair.com.au
China Southern's A330-223 arriving at Perth International Airport
Declaration:  Pronto PR (Dianne Bortoletto’s business) is working with Bright Communications to promote China Southern Airlines in Western Australia.

Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe

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Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe has once again transformed Perth’s iconic beach to an open-air Sculpture Park.  Over 70 local, national and international artists have created cool works for everyone to enjoy.  Best thing of all, it doesn’t cost a cent. That’s right, it’s completely free.   From the grandiose, to those that are fun for the kids, to the thought provoking, the range of sculptures will appeal to a variety of tastes.  Some sculptures are truly beautiful and pretty cool, while others left me wondering, really is that what they call art?

I checked out the 9th Annual Sculpture by Sea very early on opening day and was as impressed as I have been in past years.

I particularly loved the fishing rods piece, aptly named ‘casting around’.

Image

casting around, Ruth Downes & Geoff Webster, NSW

This big wooden sculpture called ‘upside down again’ was also really cool. It was big and I loved the way you can look through it and see the ocean.

There we so many great pieces, it’s hard to choose which ones to write about. I’ll let the pictures paint the words and do the story telling, then you can see for yourself and make your own mind up.

Upside down again
Casting Around
glacier depository
Exhibition inside the Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club
m.130301.2 with liquorice all sorts in the background
Happy floating dream cloud
the listrumpet
Tokyo crows
jewel de la mer
tolerance, change, difference
(cray) pot luck!
habibi
how close we are
ghost net crocodile
portal
oushi zokei

A great night out would be to grab some fish n chips and enjoy dinner on the grassy banks or on the beach itself surrounded by inspiring art.

If you end up going, let me know your favourite piece. I really liked habibi on the end of the groin, portal depicting three men crouching together, and upside down again twisted wooden cavern.

Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe started on 8 March and finishes on 24 March.

Zumbarons

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In my previous post you might have read about my heart-break when I left Sydney and left a box of Zumbarons in my friend Hubba’s fridge. I was a tragedy to leave Sydney without even tasting a Zumbaron, also known as macroons when made by anyone other than the Master of All Things Sweet, Adriano Zumbo.

Hubba kindly texted me the following day mouth watering descriptions and photos of the zumbarons, just to highlight what I’d missed out on.

“I don’t know the flavour of this black one you bought, but OMG it’s amazing.”

Thanks Hubba, that would be the black vanilla flavour.

Black vanilla

Black vanilla

“These are so crispy on the outside yet slightly sticky and gooey on the inside. And that’s just the biscuit. I’m loving this flavour and could eat this all day, every day.”

Salted caramel

Salted caramel

“OMG Maggot, you missed out!  This chocolate one is amazing. Not as good as the caramel one, and I don’t normally like caramel. In heaven.”

mocha chocolate

mocha chocolate

It is my mission to eat a zumbaron or two when I am in Sydney before Easter.  If I do nothing else in Sydney except eat a zumbaron, I’ll leave satisfied.

 

 

Is Zumbo the King of Sweets?

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Australian foodies know the name Adriano Zumbo. The celebrity pastry chef has a reputation for setting the most impossible and complex sweet dishes for TV Master Chef contestants to replicate.  He is known as the Pattisier of Pain.

2013-01-27 13.23.27During a recent trip to Sydney, my friend Hubba went out of her way to take me to Zumbo’s patisserie in Balmain.

The sweet treats in the display counter looked amazingly tempting.

With so many sweet treats on offer, making a decision on what to take home was difficult.

I went for the Dirty Dani ($9) and Hubba chose Mangoes and Cream ($9).

Dirty Dani and Mangoes and Cream

Dirty Dani and Mangoes and Cream

We also bought half a dozen Zumbarons or macaroons as most other people know them.

We couldn’t wait to get home (back to Hubba’s place) to eat.

The Dirty Dani was delectable. Eight layers of deliciousness, consisting of caramel creme chantilly, passionfruit creme, salted caramel mou, hazelnut dacquoise, caramel crunch, milk chocolate plaques.  The crunch of the thin and delicate chocolate, teamed with the smoothness of the custardy cream, with the salted caramel cutting through the sweetness.  I was in heaven. Seriously.

Dirty Dani

Dirty Dani

Hubba’s Mangoes and Cream was fruity and smooth with a crunchy biscuit base.

I tasted the Mangoes and Cream, and whilst it was something special, pretty amazing even, it was no match for the Dirty Dani.  Chocolate and caramel are no match for fruit and cream in my book.

After much arguing, Hubba convinced me to take the box of macaroons back to Perth with me and share them with my husband Zorba.  On my insistence, I left Hubba the liquorice flavoured macaroon that she had chosen and decided to take the rest home.

It wasn’t until we were almost at the airport that Hubba and I both realised that I left the box of macaroons in her fridge. Tragedy!! She offered to do a u-turn and go home to get them, but there was no time. I had a flight to catch. Bugger bugger bugger. I left Sydney without even trying a Zumbo macaroon!

Hubba however did eat the macaroons and texted me several times to tell me all about them.

“Oh my God. Crispy thin wafer shell with a slightly gooey centre and then you hit the filling. The flavour explosion is unbelievable!”

Yes, thank you for that text Hubba, and the following five texts that followed.

I missed out on trying blackened vanilla, salted butter caramel, citrus, chocolate, and hazelnut. Just as well I have another trip to Sydney to coming up for a night before Easter!

Not macaroons, Zumbarons

Not macaroons, Zumbarons

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie on Urbanspoon

FACT FILE

Adrian Zumbo Patisserie
296 Darling St, Balmain NSW 2040

Open Monday to Saturday 8am to 6pm and Sundays 8am to 5pm.

The Prophet, Vic Park, Perth WA

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The Prophet Lebanese Cafe is a little gem in Vic Park.  It is also BYO and payment is by cash only.

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We watched SBS Food Safari and it was all about Egyptian food and boy did it make me hungry. We rang The Prophet and booked a table that night – the last table available.  Whilst the Prophet is Lebanese, Middle Eastern food is similar from country to country. I couldn’t wait.

The cafe is medium size and was absolutely buzzing on a Friday night.  Every table was full and in the hour or so we were there, several tables turned over.  It’s not surprising really. The prices are very reasonable and the food is good.

As soon as you sit down, warm pitta bread is brought out with a taste of labneh and some pickles.

We ordered hommous ($11), one of my all time favourite Middle Eastern dishes. It was fresh, smooth and creamy. Teamed with the garlicky labneh (a yoghurt dip), it was extra delicious.

Prophet02

The tabouleh ($11) was the best tabouleh I have had in a long time. It was mostly parsley, with some other herbs, finely chopped tomato and doused in lemon juice. There was a little cracked wheat, but it was not heavy with it like many other tabouleh’s I’ve had.  Seriously fresh, light, and perfect on pitta bread laden with hommous. Zorba and I were fighting for the last spoonful!

A second basket of pitta bread costs $2. Bargain. It would probably cost you that much to it in the supermarket.

In Egypt, I fell in love with eating Ful, cooked mashed up navy beans that were often served in pitta bread with salad.  They taste a little like refried beans those that know the famous Mexican dish.  But better.Prophet06

At The Prophet, we ordered their Ful (they spell it Fool, $15) and Zorba absolutely loved it.  I quite like it too, but I had to add salt to mine and the beans were chunky and not so mashed.  I had a different expectation to what was brought out.  It tasted healthy yet hearty, the beans were quite creamy in texture and very pleasant.

Prophet10 Prophet14

The spicy lebanese sausage was tasty, but quite dry despite it swimming in oil in the bowl. There was not much fat through the sausage – I expect that is the style of the sausage and the way it is meant to be.  Again, Zorba enjoyed it, more than I did.  I was also pretty full by that stage.

I wished we had ordered the falafels because when they were coming out for others who had ordered them, I had definite food envy. They looked beautiful. Something to look forward to for next time.

I wanted to order more and try more, but we were both so full. I couldn’t pass on a sweet treat to finish the meal. I chose a slice of the almond and polenta syrup cake ($3). It was moist, sweet, grainy, and delicious. Yum!

Dinner for two cost $51 and there was no corkage.  No wonder it’s so busy! Cash only.

Recommendation: A fantastic BYO cheap eat option.

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