No Mafia, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

As much as Alissa and I love degustation dining, such meals are often the most draining of all when it comes to writing about them - and its all the worse when there are multiple back to back. Such was the case in August this year; with the month spent writing about epic degustations in Sydney at Cafe Paci and Sepia as well as Nomad's Shared 9-course menu, I just had no energy left in me to write about any of the meals we'd had in Perth over that month, and when September came around I mainly just wanted to write about, well, burgers. A Sauma post is still on the back-burner from then, and an incredible Il Capo meal at Lalla Rookh accompanied by a marvellous bottle of Barolo will sadly go undocumented as we were so busy over the month that we forgot to take down notes!

One place we visited during that time was No Mafia in Northbridge, and for that meal we had made extensive enough notes to be able to come back to months afterwards. A spur of the moment decision driven by the better than expected tax return we would be getting, Alissa and I drove into the city to finally dine at this pasta-free Southern Italian restaurant we'd been wanting to try for months.

LuMi, Pyrmont, New South Wales (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Although there has been a fair amount of cross-pollination of French and Japanese cuisines in a fine dining context, the crossover potential of Japanese and Italian cooking is relatively underexplored. Inherent conservatism and striving for authenticity may have kept playing around with Italian food off limits for a long time, however the strong focus on umami in both cooking traditions make many Italian and Japanese culinary ideas strongly compatible. 

With Modernists like Massimo Bottura having shown that one can be at once progressive while deeply respectful of cultural heritage from within Italy, its been interesting reading about a similarly progressive and open style of Italian cuisine developing here in Australia. Only having been open since September last year, LuMi and its head chef Federico Zanellato have already become critical darlings for the restaurant's innovative Japanese influenced take on Modern Italian. With Zanellato's resume including stints at such culinary meccas as La Pergola, Ryugin, Noma and Attica, LuMi was high on our list of places to check out while on a culinary tour of Sydney - so much so, that it ended up being our dinner on the Sunday of our arrival.

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

While Degustations and Noodle Shops are clearly food genres for which we have high levels of enthusiasm, Alissa and I rarely go out for breakfast. Being more a fan of the kinds of food available at lunch and dinner and somewhat bored of the conventions that define breakfast foods, I'm usually a bit utilitarian in my approach to breaking the fast to save more room for the lunch foods I really want to eat. Plus, with long weekend queues at the places that do serve interesting breakfasts, I'm more likely to end up grabbing an early Banh Mi or heading out nice and early for Dim Sum just as they open than stand around for an hour at all the breakfast hot spots.

For this reason, breakfast at Mary St Bakery has long eluded me. Alissa has been and raved about how good the food was, and blogger friends continually spruiked its greatness in conversation. So when I received an invite to attend a blogger's dinner at Mary St Bakery's nighttime alter-ego Mary's, I jumped at the chance - even when it turned out it was a night Alissa was unable to make it to.

La Sosta, Fremantle, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

In spite of (or perhaps because of) Fremantle's Cappuccino Strip's long association with Italian food and culture, its surprising how hard it is to find an impressive Italian restaurant in the Port City. Being an Eat Street that predated Perth's recent leap forward in terms of food quality and authenticity, The Cappuccino Strip has fallen victim to the very thing that made it a success in the first place - its relative safeness and catering for Australian tastes may have made the street, but with increasingly discerning and demanding tastes the term 'Fremantle Italian' is often said with an underlying tone of derision.

Having recently enjoyed some excellent meals in Fremantle at The Modern Eatery and The Raw Kitchen, I became increasingly curious to find out if there actually was an Italian restaurant along the main strip worth trying out. Consulting the Index of the 2015 Good Food Guide, I was surprised to find in this year's guide that a Fremantle Cappuccino Strip restaurant actually made the cut - La Sosta. With some expensive dinners planned for our July trip to Sydney, Alissa and I decided to forego what would have been my birthday degustation in May, and instead made a reservation at La Sosta for a decidedly more low key celebration.

La Scarpetta, Margaret River, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Local knowledge can make all the difference. Talk to most Perth residents about places to dine on the Margaret River main strip, and you'll get the same standard answers - Morries, Muster Bar and Grill and Settlers Tavern will be the mainstay answers, while those keeping up with more recent openings will probably recommend Swings Taphouse (which replaced the much loved Wino's) and Miki's Open Kitchen in Margaret River. When planning our 2015 trip through the South West, I wanted to try out places that are perhaps a little less well known, and our friends in Margaret River thoroughly recommended a place they frequent called La Scarpetta, an Italian Trattoria located on the north end of the main strip run by Italian trained Italian chefs, with a strong focus on the food of Sardinia.

Jamie's Italian, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Jamie's Italy was the first cookbook I ever owned. My mother, ever the rabid fan of all things Jamie, originally bought the book for herself when it came out in 2005. I soon became clear however it was I who really took to actually cooking from it, and she told me that when I left home the book was mine to keep. While my favourite cookbooks these days are more challenging works by people like Heston Blumenthal, David Chang, Daniel Humm and Ben Shewry, I cannot stress how important Jamie's Italy was for me in becoming a better home cook - my ability to improvise a pasta dish out of what is in the fridge or make Carbonara or Trapanese Pesto from memory is indebted to the lessons I learnt cooking from Jamie's Italy.

Ilpasto, Inglewood, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Living in Bateman is great for a lot of reasons: long walks along the river, easy access to both Perth and Fremantle, great proximity to public transport options and Spud Shed, and quite a healthy selection of good restaurants nearby. That said, we sadly don't find ourselves in the Mt. Lawley/Maylands area quite as often as we'd like, and our list of restaurants to try there is always growing thanks to so many of our friends being residents.

Ilpasto is one such restaurant. Technically in the suburb of Inglewood near the corner of Beaufort and Ninth, this Italian Trattoria has turned a site that has seen a few restaurants come and go over the years into a thriving and successful business - so much so that a second Ilpasto is opening in Mt. Hawthorne sometime in May.

The restaurant was recommended to us by our friend (and former Ilpasto employee) Kat Osborne, an award winning theatre director who worked with Alissa in the theatre company the Duck House before moving on to co-found the new company The Last Great Hunt. It was fitting then that our meal was in the company of Kat and her husband Jamie Breen (talented designer/photographer and EPW wrestler(!)) fellow Last Great Hunter writer/actor Gita Bezard and her partner Adam Mitchell (also an award-winning director).

We decided to share two entrees, with the first being the fairly exhaustive many-entrees-in-one Antipasto Platter, consisting of Sicilian olives, pork sausages, crumbed artichoke hearts, goats feta, smoked salmon, d’Argental Lingot cheese, roast mushroom, peperonata and baby calamari served with crostini and olive oil. Its hard to tell how much of this would have been a source-and-assembly job and how much of it was made in house, but everything on the plate was uniformly excellent and varied. The cheese, smoked salmon, caperberries, olive and the sausage were about what I would expect for a place of this calibre and reputation, however the elements that were most definitely made in house were probably the best - the baby calamari pieces were lovely and tender, and the crumbed artichoke hearts reminded me of a). how good fried food is and b). how unique and delicious artichokes are.

As a second Entree, we went with one of their specials - a Radicchio and Zucchini Salad. This was a fairly simple salad done well, with the nice soft texture of zucchini combining nicely with the spicy bitterness of the radicchio and the olive oil.

The house bread was nice slices of New Norcia Campaillou loaf. As is to be expected from New Norcia bread, this was quality. This was nice, soft and crusty, though I still contend the best Italian bread selection I've had is at Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong.

For mains, Kat and I both ordered the Spaghetti Pesto and Lobter Tails - spaghetti tossed with basil, garlic and slipper lobster tails. I'm something of a pesto fanatic and have fairly high expectations when it comes to the King of Pasta Sauces. Ilpasto's version followed the classic Genovese style of basil and garlic, though sans parmesan or pecorino. My first mouthful was without parmesan added, and it was well balanced in terms of ratios of pepper, salt, garlic, basil and oil, however it didn't have that umami punch that a generous sprinkling of parmesan brings to the proceedings. I added some parmesan to mine and found that it really gave that missing element to the dish, and I enjoyed it immensely. Kat and Gita pointed out that the lack of parmesan was probably intentional considering the addition of the lobster tails to the dish, as a more delicate flavour allowed the flavour of the lobster tails to 'sing'. I always see meat added to a pesto as a bit unnecessary however the lobster tails were lovely; being perfectly cooked and tasting very fresh.

Alissa and Jamie went with the Risotto of the Day, which was Italian Sausage, Leek and Goats Cheese. Alissa's immediate comment was that it was very delicious, with the creaminess/cheesiness of the goats cheese and the acidity of the leek balancing out nicely - an assessment I would concur with. Alissa went on to add that the Italian sausage was her favourite part. The sausage gave the dish body, textural difference and porky goodness. I'm always a bit iffy about risotto since it can be a gluggy, overly cheesy mess but this was seriously good.

Adam ordered the Paccheri, Zucchini e Frutti di Mare; large tubular pasta tossed through finely chopped slipper lobster tail meat, tiger prawns and crab, zucchini, extra virgin olive oil and cherry tomato topped with fresh herbs. Adam's immediate comment was that when he orders seafood in a dish he wants to be able to see the seafood; 'you don't know if you're getting seafood extender' when its cut up into pieces. This is a fair comment, and I think it actually does wonders for presentation when seafood is served whole - I remember ordering an excellent risotto at Bistro Vue in Melbourne in my pre-blog days that looked absolutely stunning, mainly due to the two Moreton Bay Bugs sitting on top. Presentation aside, the dish was a success tastewise; Adam described the flavours as 'beautiful', with the pasta cooked to a perfect al dente.

Oh dear. Gita's dish arrived last and since we'd already started eating I was too distracted by deliciousness to notice I forgot to photograph her dish - Gnocchi with Italian tomato and basil sauce topped with herbs, and without the Grana Padano given Gita's dietary requirements as a vegan. Gita described the dish as being 'simple but lovely' and 'el rustico'. It was about what she expected for the dish, and having tried it I would concur. 'Nothing to write home about' Gita said, jokingly adding, 'Believe me; I do write home about all my good meals. This one... I'll just email'. I think with the Grana Padano, this dish would have been a lot tastier given Grana Padano is pretty delicious, and the Gnocchi in itself had a lovely, smooth texture. However, I think this goes to the heart of a problem with menus planned by restaurants that are not strictly aimed at a vegan market - the vegan options ended up being a bit, well, boring. Its not Ilpasto's fault of course, but I think there is a challenge here for restaurants across the board to rise to in coming up with inventive dishes for people with dietary restrictions, as it certainly can be done beyond simply taking cheese out of the dish.

After a breather, we decided to share three desserts between four of us, with Gita and Jamie abstaining from this course.

First up, the Vanilla, Orange & Saffron Crème Brûlée. The flavours were well balanced with the orange flavour not overpowering the vanilla, resulting in a dish that was quite light and delicate. The texture was wonderfully smooth, which provided a good contrast to the cookie served on the side. A seeming afterthought, the cookie was almost a show stealer, having a lovely gingery spiciness, and a super crunchy texture that was very appealing. I'm a sucker for a good cookie, and this was seriously impressive.

The Dessert Special was a Coffee, Hazelnut & Chocolate cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, though since I forgot to take down the details I can't quite remember what style of cake this was (a torte?). Whatever the style, it was another totally impressive dessert. I'm not usually a big fan of cake because I can't stand it when its dry, but this was baked perfectly - nice and moist in the inside, with a crispy outer crust. This is how cake should be baked, and showed the great skill of their dessert chef. Flavourwise, it was all intense flavours of coffee, hazelnut and chocolate, however these flavours were in such perfect harmony they complemented and elevated each other to be greater than the sum of their parts. This dish was the perfect example of what I love about Italian food - its often presented in a way this is not overly flashy, but it tastes so, so good it really doesn't matter.

Finally, The Sicilian Cassata. Kat was a little hesitant about ordering this dessert as she does not usually like Cassata, but she really liked Ilpasto's version. The ice cream was really well made, with all four of us commenting on how great the airy texture of the vanilla layer contrasted with the fudginess of the dark chocolate in the middle. Commercial supermarket Cassata can be diabetes-inducing sweet; this was thankfully more balanced in its sugar content, allowing the flavours to shine through. Kat and I both don't like glazed cherries for this overly sweet reason, and the fact that they had far less glazed cherry that normal made for a better, more refined balance. In fact, looking at the dessert in hindsight, I'm wondering if they used glace apricots as well as cherries - a variation that I have always found to be superior to the more common cherry version. Whatever the case, it was a wonderful dish. Adam called it as dessert of the night and I would wholeheartedly agree.

The Verdict: Excellent
Alissa and I thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Ilpasto. The pasta serving sizes were enormous and well made, providing ample amounts of authentic flavour, quality and quantity - though Adam and Gita had fair, constructive criticism of their respective dishes. As impressive as the pasta was though, the desserts really knocked it out of the park with the Cassata being quite possibly the best I've had. The desserts we so good, I would go as far as to contend they were better than the desserts we had at the 3-Michelin starred Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong. With the new store opening in a few months at time of writing, it won't be long before our next Ilpasto meal.

Francoforte Spaghetti Bar, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Alissa and I hardly ever go out for Italian food. Not because we don't like it - on the contrary - but it was one of the first cuisines I learnt to cook and understand, and with Jamie's Italy, the exceptionally good The Art of Pasta and a plethora of other cookbooks at home to scour for ideas, we tend to eat Italian at home instead. Combine that with the fact it's generally seen as acceptable to charge $20-30 for a bowl of pasta and yet under $10 can get you a bowl of ramen, dining out for Italian ends up being saved for an 'event' meal rather than casually popping in somewhere the way Alissa and I do for Japanese and Vietnamese food. So when I heard there was a fairly new pasta joint in the (recently) hip arcade at 189 William St with prices in the under $20 price bracket, we had to try it out.

Hidden away down Arcade 189, the restaurant may not be the easiest to find if you don't know what you're looking for, so the chalkboard easel standing near the arcade entrance was a comforting sign that we were heading the right way.

In a move that must surely warm the hearts of Perth hipsters hoping to be ahead of the curve, the restaurant's signage is notable for the glaring omission of its own name, instead featuring an image of a fork next to three squiggly lines. In spite of this 'in the know' right of passage, the glyphs' representation of a fork and pasta was clear enough a signifier that this was indeed the place we were looking for - Francoforte Spaghetti Bar.

The interior featured a very contemporary bare bones design - wood panelling on the right wall, an exposed, intentionally crappy industrial feature wall on the left, a long communal table, a few smaller tables and bar seating by the window.

We were here for Alissa's birthday weekend as a catch up with her brother Ben (centre) and his partner Kelsey (left). With Alissa's parents having moved away from Perth, it was particularly good to see Ben and Kelsey and spend some time with her immediate family still in Perth. After perusing the menu, we decided to go with a plate of the Antipasto for Two to share between the four of us, and a large bowl of pasta each.

The Antipasto for Two was a fairly standard combination of cheese, bread, italian sausage, olives and capsicum, some fresh vegetables and a few slices of rockmelon. These kind of plates are fairly simple assembly jobs, so its really down to the quality of the produce on hand to impress. Everything was good but not exactly surprising, with the exception of the olives and the rockmelon. The olives presented here had a softer flavour than the usually super-salty variety most of us are used to, and as such was definitely above average. The slices of rockmelon were very sweet and refreshing, combining well with many of the other components on the plate. If going with the smaller bowl size of pasta, it would probably be advisable to go with a plate of this antipasto to share between two rather than the between four we attempted, but was probably right considering the size of the large bowl.

Ben and I ordered the same dish - the decidedly hipsterish Kale Pesto consisting of kale and lemon, pine nuts, almonds, pecorino cheese and cacciatore sausage,  with some added chilli as a side order. I've had all kinds of pestos over the years and it always exciting to try a new take on something I've repeatedly proclaimed as being the king of pasta sauces. The use of kale here instead of the more orthodox choice of basil was inspired, making a convincing case that this healthy vegetable is so much more than the ever predictable kale chip suggests. When I've eaten them as chips I've found this vegetable can be bit on the bitter side, yet in this context and cut by the lemon, it tasted very nice indeed. The slices of cacciatore sausage on top were unnecessary but a welcome bonus to what was ultimately the dish of the night.

In spite of these positives, the execution was not without its faults. There was a glaringly obvious issue with the dish as it tasted as if there was little to no salt added, or someone forgot the 'season to taste' step before serving the dishes to us. This was an easy enough fix as there was a salt shaker on the table, but generally speaking I'd expect a dish to come to the table with no reason to reach for the shakers. Also, Ben and I both thought that a few whole pine nuts on top would have been a nice garnish.

Alissa was tossing up between the Guanciale Carbonara (cured pigs cheek!) and the Cartdriver's Pasta. She eventually decided to go with the latter, a combination of porcini and portabello funghi, tuna and tomato. Alissa commented on how decent the serving sizes were, and thought their was a good balance of tuna, mushrooms and sauce, and that the spring onion was a welcome touch. As with the Kale Pesto, Alissa thought this dish needed more salt and possibly more garlic too - an assessment I would concur with. After adding some salt and chilli the dish markedly improved, becoming punchier and more robust in flavour though she ultimately admitted to have serious dish envy looking at the Kale Pesto.

Though not a vegan, Kelsey decided to go with the (Wish You Were) Vegan as she thought the limitation might result in a more interesting option. A combination of spinach, mushroom, cannellini beans and fresh tomatoes, Kelsey had originally not asked for extra chilli, however her initial impression of the dish was that it was a little on the bland side, needed more garlic and that she really had to dig to find the mushrooms. Kelsey half-jokingly suggested adding parmesan would probably have made it even better, though of course de-veganising it.  After adding salt and chilli to bolster the flavours, she felt it was really nice and in particular thought the cannellini beans were delicious. Having tried a forkful myself, I felt it was quite similar to Alissa's order and that the beans filled the role of a meat analogue admirably.

The Verdict: Very Good
I read someone on Urbanspoon refer to Francoforte as 'the best pasta in Perth', which I think is either unfairly hyperbolic or naive, and undermines the value of what these guys are about. We have much better pasta restaurants in Perth, but those restaurants are pitched at a much higher price point and thus fill a different niche. I think what Francoforte are offering is really commendable - a no frills, rustico pasta specialist offering very good pasta for a reasonable price in a central location. There certainly was a hole in the market and they have filled it commendably. They have some work to do in terms of getting their seasoning right, but overall Francoforte Spaghetti Bar was a satisfying meal. We'll definitely be back; I've gotta know what their Guanciale Carbonara tastes like...

Govinda's, Udaipur, India (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 12, Part 1)

One of the challenges in smaller cities and towns in India is finding decent espresso coffee, so knowing that Govinda's is so centrally located in Udaipur is comforting. When we came to Udaipur two years ago, Govinda's was a daily haunt for my parents and I as we drank our daily cappuccinos and watched the myriad tourists and locals as they went about their day on the way to City Palace Rd. This time was no different, and as we received our caffeine fix we were able to listen into to conversations by elderly British people who seemed to have seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and decided to become characters from the film, younger hippie Americans living up to their own cliches, dogs fighting on the street and adorable puppies being played with by local shop owners.

Govinda's does some interesting food too, and on my previous trip here I particularly enjoyed the Chocolate Chilli Cheese Pizza. We decided to have lunch there on our second day, ordering one of the pizzas and a bowl of the Pesto and Olive Pasta to share between us.

The Pesto and Olive Pasta was good by Indian standards, but of course did not compare to what we get back in Australia. Italian products can be very expensive in many parts of Asia, and as such the fresh qualitry standards of Australian Italian food cannot be matched; to try would make it outrageously expensive as I have found out cooking pesto in Singapore. The pasta spirals in this dish were slightly softer than al dente, but at least it was tasty with a nice cheesiness and basil flavour to the pesto sauce.

The Chocolate Chilli Cheese Pizza was better. What may seem like a strange combination actually works really well, and its odd to find such an adventurous cafe in what is a fairly small city by Indian standards. The saltiness and umami of the cheese works well with the fudgy sweetness of the chocolate, creating the kind of salty-sweet combination that Alissa loves. And just when the flavours dissipate on your palate, the chilli gives a nice kick in the end and goes wonderfully with a cup of coffee.

The Verdict: Good
If in town, I always stop by Govinda's for coffee as the quality here is reliable. The food here may not be amazing but if you're looking for something a little different in Udaipur Govinda's Chocolate Chilli Cheese Pizza is worth a try.