Lung King Heen (Weekday Dim Sum Lunch), IFC, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

During our honeymoon, Alissa and I had the great pleasure of dining at Caprice, the then 3 Michelin Starred restaurant located in the Four Season Hotel in Hong Kong. Almost two years on, our dinner at Caprice remains one of the best meals of our lives, with the excellent standard of cooking equalled by some of the finest service we have ever experienced in a fine dining restaurant. With such fond memories of our meal at the Four Seasons, Alissa and I had often wondered about Lung King Heen - the hotel's 3 Michelin Starred Chinese restaurant - especially since it was the place where Mak Kwai Pui worked as a Dim Sum Chef before going on to open Tim Ho Wan. Particularly keen to try the restaurant's Dim Sum selection, Alissa and I made a lunch reservation at the first Cantonese restaurant to ever be awarded the top star rating.

Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

To say that Alissa and I are fans of David Thompson would be an understatement. Earlier this year, Alissa, my parents and I cooked a Banquet Menu from Thompson's Thai Food Cookbook (as well as Grilled Pork Skewers and Mango Sticky Rice from Thai Street Food) and it was one of the best Thai meals we've had the pleasure of eating. I thoroughly recommend both books as essential reading for Thai Food enthusiasts; Thompson's encyclopedic knowledge of Thai cuisine results in recipes that are at once familiar and yet unusual as they revive recipes and versions of recipes from centuries ago.

Cape Lodge, Yallingup, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Outside of the towns and regional centres, dining out in the South West is a largely daytime affair. It makes sense - driving around the Australian bush at night with little to no phone coverage over great distances can be a bit unnerving if you aren't used to it, especially with the risk of kangaroo collisions increasing at sundown and sunset. It was surprising then to discover Cape Lodge - one of the top rated restaurants in the Margaret River Region - did not open for lunch, and that it was their fine dining dinner service that was most celebrated. With the recent arrival of a new head chef in Michael Elfwing and a recently updated dining room that has been described as the region's most fancy, Alissa and I decided to make dinner at Cape Lodge one of our two fine dining destinations during our 2015 Down South trip.

1907 (Truffle Degustation), Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Winter is one of the best times of the year. Sure, its cold and rainy, but it is also a season overflowing with opportunity. Unlike the oppressive searing summers of Perth, the cooler weather is conducive to dressing up to go out - instead of sweating even in t-shirts and shorts, it's time to step out comfortably in jackets and collared shirts, and to accept the warm embrace of jumpers and knitwear. During the season, I find myself increasingly drawn to the outdoors; rather than worrying about the rain I'm more likely to get excited about being able to push it on a bike without even breaking a sweat, and there is something about the cold air that fills me with nostalgia for childhood holidays in the forests of WA's south west.

For a foodie, wintertime in WA also holds one of the great seasonal gifts - Truffle Season. With the increasing global recognition of the Manjimup truffle industry, the unique flavour of the black truffle (tuber melanosporum) has well and truly cast its spell on Perth restaurants and diners, with truffle being featured on seasonal menus by everyone from Must Wine Bar, Lalla Rookh and even shaved on top of the barbecued meat of Old Faithful Bar! One could not have imagined this prized ingredient being used so liberally even 5 years ago, and as a self-confessed truffle pig its like Christmas in July for us antipodean gourmands.

Vue de Monde, Melbourne, Victoria (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Vue de Monde has been on our restaurant wishlist for sometime. Alissa had been wanting to go since her friends raved about it years ago, and after I enjoyed an impressive meal at the more casual and traditional Bistro Vue, I really wanted to see for myself how good Shannon Bennett's flagship restaurant was. With this in mind, it should not be surprising that a reservation at Vue de Monde was high on our list of priorities when planning our first trip to Melbourne together, with our reservation made before we even booked our flights over.

Restaurant Amusé, East Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

There was a time not so long ago when the 'best' restaurants in Perth were dated, white glove service, expensive destinations that were more about stunning views and location rather than genuinely good or innovative food. Dining at these kind of restaurants was (and is) more a signifier of status rather than taste, and these restaurants operated with an air of geography-based entitlement that meant they didn't have to be contemporary or innovative. Of course, many of the best restaurants in Perth do still follow the classic approach of an opulent design aesthetic to project a sense of classiness, but its no longer a prerequisite for success, with the most extreme example of the new good food paradigm being Restaurant Amusé in East Perth - quite possibly the best restaurant in Perth.

Jackson's, Highgate, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

A changing of the guard seems to be happening in Perth. Last year saw Alain Fabrègues close The Loose Box after 34 years as a giant of the fine dining scene, and 2013 ended with the equally sad announcement that Neal Jackson would be selling his eponymous restaurant after 15 years as one of Perth's most consistently well regarded restaurants. 

A lot has changed in 15 years, and the increasingly tough competition at the very top of Perth's scene must have be stressful for a head chef. While being the restaurant that introduced the degustation to Perth, last year say Jackson's announce its final 'Dego' before switching to a very on-trend bar/share plate menu at the front of the restaurant, while still offering a la carte. Met with protests by longtime fans, Jackson's brought back the degustation for a series of three 4-week long menus called the Limited Edition Dego before closing, offering Perth diners one last chance to dine at a restaurant that has done so much to raise the standards of cooking in Perth. Having been on Alissa's list of restaurants to try for 6 years, it was any easy task to convince her we had to go - especially considering we'd missed out on the Loose Box last year. 

Upon entering the restaurant, Jackson's reminded me a lot of the very contemporary design style of Iggy's in Singapore. The table across the way from us featured a discofied sculpture of a bull's head made of mirrors set against the classy, minimalist monochrome aesthetic of the space.

A meal like this is also a great chance to catch up for some good conversation with good friends, and Alissa and I were joined on this occasion by semi-regular dining buddies Trevor and Annaliese. You'll probably see them again in later posts.

As we were seated and perused the wine list, we got a chance to have a look at our menus for the evening - Limited Edition Dego #2: Surf 'n Turf, 'a selection of dishes from [Jackson's] early days'. After selecting the intriguing sounding 2012  Didi ‘Piniolo’ Pinot Noir Nebbiolo as our wine for the evening, we were ready to go.

While waiting for the amuse bouche, the customary bread basket was brought out featuring a selection of interesting bread options.

I decided to go with a cheese-encrusted roll first. The bread was nice and soft on the inside, with the cheese crust offering a nice umami kick. It was very good, but didn't compare with the absolute best bread I've had at Otto e Mezzo Bombana and Caprice.

Chinese spoons containing a taster of Orange, Fennel and Anchovy served as our Amuse Bouche. The clean, sweet acidity of the orange worked with in its every-trustworthy pairing with fennel, and the anchovy's salty-umami intensity gave it that extra kick. A good palate cleanser and start to the meal. 

Drunken Chicken & Prawn with Cucumber Noodle Salad was our first course, and was unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag. The strongest element of the dish was the cucumber noodle salad. I love the flavour of cucumber but dislike its texture when its cut thickly. Its presentation here as 'noodles' with a lovely Chinese-style dressing rich in sesame flavour was very much to my liking - something I'd like to try at home. I however cannot speak as highly of the prawns and chicken. Both were poached in Shaoxing wine, and based on the slightly cottony texture of the prawn I felt it had been in a bit too long. Additionally, the thought may have been that the salad dressing provided enough saltiness for the entire dish, however I felt the chicken could really have done with some low level brining as it bordered on being a bit bland. This was not exactly a bad dish, but I expect a bit more from a restaurant of Jackson's stature.

Thankfully any concern that this meal would prove to be a disappointment was abated by the next course - Roast Pork Belly, Black Pudding & Seared Scallop with Spiced Apple & Honey Sauce. It was the dish that most spoke to us when we read the menu, and  it was as good as it sounds. Presentation was beautiful, and the pork and scallops were cooked perfectly, and the accompanying flavours of apple and black pudding were highly complimentary - I could not fault this dish. Though this was a throwback featuring dishes from their early days, a look at the final form of the Dego on other blogs reveals that the basic idea of pork, black pudding and apple was so successful that it was still being played around with in 2013.

The next course served was Ocean Trout Confit, Rabbit Sauce & Mushy Peas. Basically oil-poached trout, the fish was a served rare which highlighted the freshness and quality of the trout. The rabbit sauce was basically a rabbit ragu, and it was flavoursome without being overly gamey. I'm not usually a fan of mushy peas but being cooked here by a restaurant brigade of this level, it was very nice indeed. That said, while everything was cooked with a lot of skill and faultless in its execution, it was probably less memorable than the pork it preceded, and the beef dish that would come after. I think part of the reason for this is that a dish like this is perhaps a bit dated, which is understandable considering this was a 'greatest hits' meal of sorts.

As the main for the evening, Roast Beef Fillet, Braised Beef Cheek & Jacko's Oyster Sauce with Truffle Potato Mash & Beans knocked it out of the park. I'm not the biggest fan of beef (and have some environmental objections to cattle farming) but this was a dish that highlighted how great this protein can be. The beef fillet was either cooked sous-vide or more conventionally through immense skill/black magic as it was a lovely medium rare almost from top to bottom. Even better was the braised beef cheek, being flavoursome and extremely melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Jacko's oyster sauce went wonderfully with both versions of the beef, and the smooth mash decadent with the flavour and aroma of truffle. On the plate it may look a bit simple, but when simple is done with this level of complexity I wouldn't have it any other way.

Dessert of Passionfruit & Banana Cream Pie with Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crispies maintained the standard. I've made the kind of passionfruit tart that was served here and know its not the easiest thing to get right, and yet the filling was perfectly set. All the other components were well thought out and executed, with the intense flavour of the mango ice cream being the highlight. I had to admit the dish showed its age a bit - it was not quite as inventive as desserts Alissa and I have had in places like Caprice, Iggy's or even Co-op Dining for that matter - but considering this was an early dish from a restaurant 15 year old, one can see how this would have been as cutting edge and surprising in its time.

As I'd expect from a restaurant of this calibre, coffee was well made - the milk was not frothed the death and overboiled, and the espresso shot extracted with skill.

Petit fours were again a bit old school, being Raspberry Shortbread. Having seen what was served at the last Dego in 2013 (see 'coffee, tea and things' for details), this was a bit of a disappointment but we could not fault the quality of the shortbread as it was crumbly and buttery as good shortbread should be.

The Verdict: Excellent +
Being a retrospective of dishes from Jackson's early days, the food presented was never going to be as innovative and on-trend as newer restaurants in town, or even Jackson's in its later years. How could it be? 15 years ago the Molecular Gastronomy wave of el Bulli, the Fat Duck and Alinea had yet to crest, and the farm-to-table/foraging sustainable fine dining trend of places like Noma, Narisawa and Attica had yet to gain traction. In a sense, the Limited Edition Dego could be called classical Modern Australian, a look back at the proud history of this great restaurant's contribution to the cuisine of this country, and Perth in general. Other than the chicken and prawn dish, everything here executed perfectly with great skill, and presented in combinations that were well thought out. I'm so glad that we did get to have a meal at Jackson's, and if you've got a night free before last orders are taken on Saturday 12th April, 2014, I thoroughly recommended popping into Jackson's to send them off with a bang.

Co-op Dining (Vegetarian Experimental Menu), East Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

In Heston at Home, Heston Blumenthal says 'meat is one of the most exciting ingredients to cook, because it's a real technical challenge, but when you get it right the results can be sublime'. As a cook, I strongly agree; there is something really satisfying about cooking chicken breast that isn't dry, or a sous vide salmon that is perfect medium rare from top to bottom. I enjoy a meal with good protein content and the challenge of cooking it right, however I'd contend an even greater challenge is to make a vegetarian multi-course meal that is so good that an omnivore won't miss the fact that the protein content is either absent or limited to non-meat sources.

Of course having a preference for pesto (its the king of pasta sauces) and cooking from Ottolenghi's cookbooks has meant I've had many wonderful vegetarian meals. But a vegetarian degustation? That's something else. And it's not just my perception - when you look at a list of 'best vegetarian restaurants in Perth' or 'best vegan-friendly restaurants', there is a distinct lack of fine dining degustation options that immediately pop up alongside the stereotypical hippie cafes, and if they do they charge the same as their omnivore degustations that features waygu and expensive seafood items. There is often a misconception that all vegetarians and vegans mustn't like food due to their dietary restrictions, but that's simply not true - I have many friends who have made moral decisions against meat eating who are undeniably passionate foodies. Surely fine dining restaurants can do better than the token mushroom risotto and, unless its heavy on the truffles or other particularly expensive ingredients, offer a vegetarian degustation for a lower price?

Kiren and Kelli Mainwaring's Co-op Dining is not strictly a vegetarian restaurant, however due to their strong seasonal/regional farm-to-table and foraging ethos the restaurant's dishes feature a plethora of quality locally sourced vegetables, and their regular 5 or 10 course degustations feature inventive vegetarian courses. There is good news for those who have a strictly vegetarian diet - every Tuesday Co-op Dining offer an experimental 5-course vegetarian degustation menu using 'Tuesday's fresh from the farm produce' for a very reasonable $69, cheaper than the usual $95 asking price for the degustation with meat. They are also happy to tailor your meal to you dietary requirements should you require gluten free or vegan.

Keeping with the sustainable theme, Alissa and I decided to use public transport and our bikes to get to the restaurant's location in the fine dining mecca that is East Perth. We were greeted by our very friendly waiter and sommelier, Eric and David respectively, and ushered to our very comfortable booth table in the corner. The unstuffy and comfortable atmosphere was very welcoming, complete with a very modern soundtrack of hip-hop, reggae and soul playing in the background.

We were struck by David's sheer passion for wine, and after discovering we were Pinot drinkers suggested a lovely Monomeith Estate Pinot Noir by Lucy Margaux Vineywards to accompany our meal. This was a lovely wine, with all the wonderful cherry and raspberry notes I expect in a good example of this varietal.

The obligatory bread was brought out, with a choice between a white roll and the seed bread Alissa and I decided to go with. The bread was a good seeded multigrain but nothing overly special.

What elevated the bread to a memorable dish was the mushroom butter. On the table it looked like mustard, and it was only after we'd already spread it on that Eric explained what it was. Mixed with what I'm guessing is porcini powder, this butter had a wonderful unexpected umami kick. Co-op were off to a good start.

The first course was a fairly simple dish of watermelon topped with a ginger granita. This dish was all clean, fresh summer flavours; the sweetness of the watermelon and the contrast of ginger zing in the refreshingly cold form of a granita worked to cleanse or palates and cool us down after the uncomfortable heat of a hot Perth day. It made me almost wish I had gone for the wine pairing, as a nice dry riesling or similar would have been a great accompaniment.

I'm not a fan of celery, so when our next dish was brought out I was a bit worried that I hadn't mentioned this to the staff. This second course was a salad of shredded fennel & celery, radish, avocado puree, tomato powder and ingredient I recognised and have long wanted to try - samphire. One taste of the salad, and all my fears of hating this course were quickly allayed. Just as I like cucumber only when finely sliced, the overpowering flavour of celery was tempered by the fine slicing and being mixed with the equally powerful (though more agreeable) flavour of fennel. With a nice tangy dressing, this was a gorgeous, crisp salad. Dipping it into the avocado puree added a lovely creaminess, and the savouriness of the tomato powder only added more interest to the dish. Radishes were again nice and crisp, but the star of the dish was the samphire. Having never eaten it before, Alissa and I didn't know what to expect however we found its pleasing saltiness and intensity of flavour to be very delicious. I saved mine for the last mouthful to end on a high. I could have easily eaten more of these.

Noting that we were enjoying the wine, David admitted that it would be nicer in a varietal specific glass. When I said we had some Riedel pinot glasses back home, David said we should bring them with us next time! Though not perfect, he found us another wider glass and decanted the Pinot for us to try, and it did indeed taste different - more open and with a stronger bouquet.

The next dish of grilled corn, capsicum and broccoli florets came served in the kind of asymmetrical white bowls I'ma sucker for.

As a bit of tableside theatre, a sweet corn puree/soup was poured over the dish in front of us by the chef.

Owing largely to the corn, this course was wonderfully sweet. Grilled corn and capsicum may seem like a fairly simple dish, but prepared here so expertly and with such quality ingredients it was exquisite. The slight char flavour and the bursting juiciness of the corn had Alissa and I both saying 'mmmm'.

Just one look at the next dish as it arrived at our table, and we knew the egg was sous vide. Eric confirmed that it was indeed sous vide egg cooked for an hour, served with fried shallots & kale, balls of scooped potato, cauliflower, courgettes, straw mushrooms, pumpkin puree, mushroom powder and the surprising incorporation of native sandalwood nuts. This was even more delicious than the previous course, with the cauliflower, courgettes and potato being cooked to a level where they were softer than raw by not soggy and overcooked - just perfect. The fried shallots and kale were addictively good and provided a lot of the flavour, as did the sweetness of the pumpkin puree. Even if the egg were not included, the nuts did the neat trick I've seen in many an Ottolenghi salad of providing protein content and beefing up the dish. This was our first time eating sandalwood nuts, and they tasted similar to hazelnuts but with a subtle sandalwood aroma about them. Very interesting. And of course the sous vide egg was perfectly cooked, with the combination of  runny yolk and mushroom powder acting like an additional sauce. Alissa really liked this course, and was very tempted to lick the plate clean (for etiquette's sake, she settled on scraping the plate instead).

Alissa's favourite course of the evening was the dessert course of honey and vanilla ice cream, figs, nectarines poached with kaffir lime, pistachio crumble, and powdery clumps of fennel prepared in a manner I couldn't quite discern. This was truly top notch, easily up there with some of the best fine dining dessert courses we've had. The components all complemented each other; the ice cream had a wonderfully smooth texture and relatively neutral flavour, the poached nectarines imparted a sweet tartness made all the better by the addition of kaffir lime, the fresh figs a summery sweetness, the pistachio crumble textural interest and the fennel an aniseed kick. Just the kind of summery, fresh dessert I was hoping for. 

This was the end of the five courses, however we were offered an additional cheese course if we wanted. Knowing that they make their own cheese, we decided to partake in this extra course. David suggested a Margaret River Gewürztraminer to go with the cheese. We went with a glass each however I forgot to take down its name. This was partially due to David's enthusiasm, as he brought out a complimentary tasting of Irvine MV Meslier Brut to try.

The cheese was guernsey rolled in paprika, served with sweet onions and olive. It has a similar crumbly-soft texture to goat's cheese. Neither of us has been served a cheese course in this fashion, as it's generally served as a share plate. Earlier in the evening I'd asked Alissa if this was the best vegetarian meal she'd had, and after a bit of thought said, 'no, the best would probably have been something with some cheese'.
As we were eating this course I said, 'so, you got your cheese. Best vegetarian meal?'
Alissa nodded as she ate another mouthful of the cheese. Yes, definitely.

To finish our meal, a palate cleanser of kombucha with sparkling water was served. Neither of us have had kombucha before, and we found it to be very refreshing.

The Verdict: Exceptional
Co-op Dining definitely met the challenge of vegetarian fine dining, and left both of us very impressed with the high quality of the local produce and the skill of the chef. This was the best vegetarian meal either of us have had, and this Tuesday special would be an excellent choice for vegetarians and vegans looking for a special meal at a good price. Regardless of the vegetarian qualifier, this was an exceptional meal. Service was very friendly and attentive, with David giving us some excellent suggestions for a return visit such as asking for the wine to be decanted ahead of time and bringing our own glassware if we so wished. Alissa and I are by no means small eaters, so I'm not sure what some of the negative reviewers on Urbanspoon were expecting as we left feeling satisfied with the quality and quantity of food we had eaten. Co-op left us very impressed, and we will definitely be back for their full 10 course degustation in the near future.