Long Chim, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Of all the restaurant openings in the recently refurbished State Buildings, none has been as highly anticipated and hyped as Long Chim. And with good reason - it has been 20 years since Australian born Chef David Thompson last had a restaurant in Australia. During those 2 decades, Thompson has gone from strength to strength - his Nahm in London became the first Thai restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star. Although the London branch is now closed, Nahm in Bangkok was ranked the #1 restaurant in Asia on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants List in 2014, and continues to be highly placed. Additionally, Thompson's uncompromising authenticity and encyclopedic knowledge of Thai cuisine has made him an international authority on Thai cooking; his book Thai Food is the Larousse Gastronomique of this most complex of Asian cuisines. Throw in his much loved SBS food series Thai Street Food and its beautiful companion book, and its easy to understand why the fact Thompson chose Perth for the location of his next restaurant is such a big deal. Having dined at Nahm late last year and being massive fans of his cookbooks, Alissa and I invited my parents Alan and Maya to join us for dinner to see if Long Chim lived up to our lofty expectations.

Petition Beer Corner, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

The redevelopment of the the Treasury/State Buildings at the Corner of Barrack St and St George's Terrace has been one of the most anticipated I can remember since the opening of Brookfield Place gave us a plethora of good dining options in the CBD. Although all eyes are on Long Chim, and the COMO the Treasury restaurants like Wildflower and Post look to be aiming at a more fine dining market, Petition is arguably the most ambitious multi-concept restaurant and bar in the precinct. A restaurant, wine bar and beer hall across three large separate rooms, Petition dominates the Barrack St side of the building with three distinct experiences. Although we had a reservation for dinner at Petition Kitchen later in the week, we decided that a catch up with some friends was a perfect excuse to check out Petition Beer Corner.

Shadow Wine Bar, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

With Alissa and I having travelled a lot in the last 6 months, it seems like a long time since the Ministry of Gluttony has had a chance to really focus on our continued coverage of developments in Perth's food scene. With a glut of posts from our Sydney trip spilling over into a glut of posts from Bangkok and Hong Kong, its nice to finally be out from the over east/overseas backlog and be able to shift our focus back to our hometown. The timing is particularly momentous as this month marks two years since our first post as the Ministry of Gluttony, as well as our second wedding anniversary and four years since our first date. To mark the occasion, Alissa and I decided to make a booking at restaurant we've had our eye on for some time - Shadow Wine Bar in Northbridge.

Momofuku Seiobo (Bar Menu), Pyrmont, New South Wales (Alissa and Don eat Australia)

When creating the shortlist of places to check out during our trip to Sydney, Momofuku Seiobo was one of the places that I knew was non-negotiable. As long time fan of David Chang (I even cooked a dinner of Momofuku Ko dishes late last year), a visit to a Momofuku restaurant has been on my restaurant bucket list for many years, and I was not going to let the opportunity to cross one off the list pass me by. The only problem? We had already reserved degustation dinners at LuMi, Cafe Paci and Sepia months in advance, and with other banquet/chef's choice menus at Ms. G's and Nomad also planned, Seiobo's reservation window of 20 days before the requested date came a bit too late to an already crowded and expensive party, and I didn't want to cut any of those other meals out of our plans either. Thankfully, Seiobo had a perfect compromise; their small 5 seat bar offers a limited bar menu for walk-ins, and features that most famous of Momofuku dishes - the Pork Bun. With the promise of Pork Buns and other dishes in the more casual Momofuku style of Noodle Bar and Ssam, Alissa and I set off early for dinner in Pyrmont to avoid any potential queues for the bar.

Low Key Chow House, Leederville, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

If you ever want to see me irrational and highly frustrated, then hop into the car with me while driving on the freeway during peak times - especially on a Friday night. There have been so many occasions when Alissa and I have wanted to head into Perth or Leederville for the evening and decided against it, as even going against the flow by trying to drive north can be met with sometimes inexplicably slow moving traffic and the lose-lose choice of either getting off at Canning Hwy and going through the suburban rat run or committing to the Freeway with no hope of escaping a traffic jam between there and South Perth.

Every time Alissa and I have had a free night to visit Low Key Chow House in Leederville, its been a Friday night and the thought of the drive has been enough for me to not want to go - especially since Leederville is only 15 minutes away from home if we have a clear run. With Alissa dying to try their food, I eventually gave in, and after a race against the clock we found ourselves in on the Oxford St main strip in time for our 6pm reservation.

The Court (Summer Menu Launch), Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

I have to admit a slight prejudice; I'm not really a fan of the kind of 'Parmi and Pint' food often served at old hotel pubs. Chicken Parmigiana is alright and all, its just a little too safe and easy for me; its the kind of food favoured by an older and conservative generation who would never try sashimi or sweetbreads or anything remotely adventurous, and its something I could easily whip up at home with very little effort at all. So when Alissa and I were invited to the launch of the Court's new Summer Menu, we accepted the invite with a little trepidation - would they deliver their pub style menu with enough panache to allow it to rise above the usual pub grub fare? Given the progressive nature of the venue and the behind the scenes effort that had apparently gone into the new menu, we had high hopes that it just might. 

The Standard, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

With a seemingly one a week rate of notable restaurant openings, its been interesting to see a common framework emerging as a model for success in Perth's burgeoning dining scene. Conceptually, its fairly straightforward: put together a great drinks list, combine it with a kitchen headed up by a chef with fine dining bonafides cooking technically proficient but accessible share plate food and serve it all up in a room with a hip and inviting mise en scene. The underlying formula may be predictable but the specifics are so open-ended that the permutations are seemingly endless - a whiskey bar with an ex-Vue de Monde chef (Varnish on King), Asian/American inspired 'dude food' from a guy who used to serve up fine dining food at Harvest in Fremantle (Pleased to Meet You) and a fortified wines specialist and artisanal bakery/charcuterie also staffed by Vue de Monde alumni (The Flour Factory) are but a few examples scattered around the future Perth City Link. Located next door to the Bonsai on Roe St and conveniently located facing the future Queen's Square precinct of the City Link, the recently opened Standard is quite possibly one of the best yet.

The Flour Factory, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

The last time the Google Streetview Car drove down Queen St was in November 2007. Although the Queen St of today is still dominated by the imposing power of the Brutalist carpark located where the road meets Wellington St, the grainy, low fidelity images seem to come from another time. While its heritage building proudly displayed its year of construction, 1907 was not yet the name of a fine dining restaurant and bar, the corner of Queen and Murray St was a construction site and the building that would house Venn Gallery was the home of WA Hospital Supply.

Clearly seeing the future prominence of the streets that surround the area of the Perth City Link, some of Perth's most savvy restaurateurs have obviously seen an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the new Perth, with none perhaps being as wildly ambitious as Andy Freeman. Opened last year on King St, Varnish on King's focus on whiskey, wine and some of the best, more refined bar food in Perth had us gushing so positively that it remains the most read post at the Ministry of Gluttony. Others obviously agreed as Varnish was recently awarded Best Small Bar in Australia by Australian Bartender Magazine. To follow this up, Freeman and business partner Sam Astbury opened the late night Sake and Dumplings themed Darlings Supper Club on the Northbridge side of the future link earlier this year. More food focused in appearance than Varnish, Alissa and I found Darlings' food paradoxically less impressive, so when we heard about the opening of Freeman's third opening in the area - the bakery, butchery and fortified wine focused Flour Factory - we were interested to see how it fared.

Darlings Supper Club, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Edit: This is a review of the earlier, not particularly great original menu served at Darlings. For the more recent and vastly improved menu, check out the more recent review here. 

Alissa and I are massive fans of Varnish on King. Ostensibly a whiskey and wine bar, the quality of the food that they serve is as impressive as their drinks list, with their Beef Short Ribs and Sweet Potato dishes being some of the most memorable and satisfying dishes we've eaten in the last year. So when we heard that Varnish's owner Andy Freeman had just opened an Asian Fusion venue in the form of Darlings Supper Club, we quickly added it to our list of places to check out. With a Truffle Degustation at 1907 and the final service of Dear Friends taking priority due to their limited nature, our planned dinner at Darlings fell by the wayside. Additionally, with early reviews a bit mixed, we decided to give them a bit of time to settle in before we finally popped in for an impromptu dinner in early September.

Matisse Beach Club, Scarborough, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

It's been quite a while since Alissa and I headed out to Scarborough. When Alissa lived in North Perth, we used to include walks from City Beach to Scarborough as part of our regular walking route repertoire, however since moving to Bateman our visits have been much more sporadic. So when we received a surprise invite to attend a blogging event at Matisse Beach Club, we were delighted by the chance to return to an area of Perth we probably haven't visited for a year.

Located along the Esplanade in Scarborough's main beach precinct, the first thing one notices about Matisse is the immense scale and ambition of this undertaking;  the Beach Club is a massive venue, and one that bucks the trend of the small bar boom. The intimacy and often 'bespoke' and 'artisanal' nature of the best small bars make a persuasive argument that smaller is better, however Matisse avoids the impersonal pitfalls of larger venues by having one of the most eye-poppingly colourful and boldly futuristic venue designs I've seen in Perth.

Varnish on King, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Before I even stepped through the minimally signed front door for the first time, Varnish on King had already impressed me. Being a typically congested Friday night in the Perth CBD, I had opted to use a combination of train and bicycle to get there instead of driving in. Unsure about the attitude Varnish might have towards cyclists parking their bikes out the front (even some casual restaurants in Melbourne can be a bit dickish in this regard), I decided to head a bit further down to the Wellington St end of King. As I was chaining up my bike, a man approached me.
"Hey mate, which way are you going?"
Uncertain of the guy's motives, I gestured vaguely up the street; "That way."
"There's been a lot of bike theft on King St recently. If you want you can chain your bike out the front of my bar and my bouncer can keep an eye on it for you."
The bar was of course Varnish on King. The guy (presumably the owner or manager) could not have known at the time that I was dining there, but the thoughtful and unpretentious attitude started everything off on the right foot, and set the tone for the entire evening.

G&T Bar, Soho, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 2, Part 3)

Alissa loves her gin, so when I found out that Hong Kong's Soho actually had a bar completely dedicated to gin I knew we had to go. Located conveniently on the way to Monogamous Chinese just under the Mid-Levels Escalator on Hollywood Road, G&T Cocktail Bar is a little difficult to find as its above the ground floor, with its entrance to the side. Luckily, I'd done some research so after a bit of orienting ourselves we made our way to the empty bar. It was a little early for a drink, so this is understandable but I hope that Hong Kong's ever-growing rent does not make this situation untenable for them. 

With 80+ gins to choose from you're really spoiled for choice here. We started with some gin and tonics. Being proud of her Dutch heritage, Alissa went with an aged Genever and wanting to try something different rather than go with safe choices I asked for their recommendation. Their pick – the highly regarded German gin Monkey 47.

The drinks arrived with fairly premium tonic and one giant carved piece of ice in each glass. Sadly, as a bit of a blog rookie mistake I did not write down the tonic name so forgive my vagueness. Alissa's Genever had been aged for a year, and had developed flavours that reminded both of us of rum. Very interesting and unusual. We both agreed that my gin was even better. Featuring 47 botanicals, Monkey 47 is full of flavours ranging from the usual juniper berry to... well, so many more we couldn't possibly put our finger on all of them. As someone always on the lookout for something unusual for the liquor cabinet, Monkey 47 is something we'd be looking for when selecting our duty free liquor on return to Perth.

With a bit more time to kill but not wanting to get too smashed before dinner, we decided to share a cocktail before heading to Monogamous. We went with the Thyme for Gin, a cocktail consisting of gin, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, raspberries, thyme and egg white. This was a very good cocktail – the thyme blended naturally with the gin botanicals, and had a nice crisp acidity from the lemon juice and muddled raspberries. Delicious, and all the better for the huge raspberries used as the garnish.

The Verdict: Very Good
Obviously a bar this niche is not going to be for everyone, but if you're a gin lover looking for your next new gin and are in the Soho district, you've gotta pay a visit to G&T Bar.