Thip Samai, Bangkok, Thailand (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

After a wonderful five week honeymoon eating our way through Asia in 2013, Alissa and I were excited to head off for the continuing adventures of Alissa and Don Eat Asia in 2015. What started as a Japan trip with stopovers in Bangkok and Hong Kong ended up focusing on our stopovers to the point that we decided to drop Japan altogether - especially with the considerable rise of Bangkok restaurants like Nahm and Gaggan making a convincing case for Thailand as a truly great candidate for destination dining. With the risk of flight delays and missing our reservations meaning Gaggan and Nahm would have to wait until later in the week, Alissa and I headed out for our first meal in Bangkok at Thip Samai - a restaurant said by many to serve the best Pad Thai in Bangkok.

Sarawak Hawker Cuisine, Willetton, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

As much as we love trying new restaurants and visiting unexplored areas in unassuming suburbs, Alissa and I also keep a selection of local restaurants on rotation as regulars for the nights we can't be bothered to cook or drive any great distance away from home. Kai has always been our most visited go-to, however our restaurant of choice for the Singapore/Malaysian Hawker niche has been in a state of flux over the two years. Initially, we used to go to Bull Creek Hawker until we discovered Kitchen Inn, however we felt that the standard of food and service dropped significantly after Kitchen Inn moved to a bigger premises. Thankfully, a tip off lead us to Ah Mei Cafe, which became a fortnightly favourite for their handmade Bakmie Special noodles. Unfortunately, we found that Ah Mei was recently sold and the new owners no longer offer the handmade noodles we used to know and love. Having recently picked up the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide, I read about a recently opened Hawker restaurant in Willetton that specialised in Kolo Mee and Chicken Rice. Both amongst our personal favourite dishes, Alissa and I decided we had to given this new restaurant a try. What started as a single visit has ended up being more than a few occasions, even bringing my parents along to get their opinion last weekend.

Gumshara Ramen, Haymarket, New South Wales (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

While in Sydney for work a few years ago, I was fortunate enough to try a bowl of ramen so intensely porky and delicious that it was life changing. After sitting over a giant bowl of literally Pork, Pork, Pork and more Pork, I called Alissa and my parents up to tell them I'd just eaten the greatest bowl of Ramen in my life, and jokingly (but also half seriously) added that I was also about to have a heart attack due its rich unctuousness. Along with the more refined (and possibly even better) Hakata Ramen of Ichiran in Hong Kong, that bowl has been a high watermark for Tonkotsu - and Ramen in general. Called Super Mega Ramen and the most deluxe and impressive bowl sold at Gumshara Ramen in Sydney's Chinatown, Gumshara was the top priority of places to check out again while we were over from Perth for a week. Having eaten a lot of Ramen in the years since - and even written a guide to the different Ramen Joints in Perth - I was interested to found out if Gumshara was as amazing as I'd remembered it being.

The Ministry's Guide to Gluttony - Ramen in Perth

Regular readers and friends will know that I'm a sucker for a good bowl of noodles, and that Ramen reigns supreme as the noodle dish that is closest to my heart. First introduced to me years ago by my friend Dan Bankowski (better known as the hip-hop artist Coin Banks), the combination of deliciously umami broth, thin alkaline noodles with bite and toppings of pork, egg and/or chicken quickly stole pride of place from the Wanton Noodles of my childhood, and I've been obsessed ever since. The first meal Alissa and I ate during our honeymoon in Hong Kong was at Ichiran Ramen - a branch of a Hakata-style Tonkotsu specialist chain from Japan, and I've always made it a point to visit a different Ramen joint everytime I go to Sydney and Melbourne.

Lucky Chan's Laundry + Noodle Bar, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Unless you've really not being paying much attention, the online marketing for Lucky Chan's has been unavoidable. Late last year, the restaurant's innovative Pozible campaign drew a lot of attention from the media as it is the first restaurant in Perth (and apparently Australia) to be crowd-funded (at least partly; the venue is the brainchild of the team behind Cocktail Gastronomy and The Classroom who are hardly unsuccessful). With the Chinese Laundry theme suggested by the restaurant's name, it was to my surprise and delight to discover that Lucky Chan's would in fact specialise in Ramen - that most delectable of Japanese noodles, and a dish for which my love and obsession is well known and documented. When a preview of Lucky Chan's Shio Ramen at the Night Noodle Markets turned out to be a massive disappointment (it was the absolute worst Ramen I've ever eaten), I was worried that Lucky Chan's was going to be a very well publicised dud, and the restaurant's first week jitters of poor service seemed to all but confirm this. Still, as someone who actively Google searches to discover Ramen joints in Perth, I had to try Lucky Chan's for myself, and Alissa and I paid the restaurant a visit on the Wednesday of their second week.

Kanta Japanese Kitchen, Langford, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

When it comes to dining out, its probably safe to say most meals are either eaten or taken away from conveniently located local restaurants within 10 minutes from a diner's home, or at places in a major dining precinct and/or eat street. These two options would probably be sufficient to cover most meals - from a dinner when you can't be bothered to a cook to a special occasion meal - however it doesn't cover every possibility. For every legitimately excellent restaurants in a Northbridge or along Beaufort St, there are just as many hidden gems known only to those lucky enough to living in the area and/or the most ardent of foodies willing to venture out to often far flung suburbs in sometimes dodgy neighbourhoods just to have a great meal. Well known in foodie circles while otherwise relatively unknown, Kanta Japanese Kitchen in Langford is one such restaurant.

Hikaru Ramen, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Being something of a ramen obsessive, I always live in hope of discovering new or hidden ramen shops in my home city of Perth. Although the worldwide ramen craze has definitely taken off in a big way in Sydney and Melbourne, there are far fewer ramen specialists of note in Perth, and in a recent discussion with a friend we both expressed our dismay over the fact so few in the CBD are open at night, and when they do its only on Friday nights - don't they know ramen is an anytime food?!? One Friday night, Alissa and I headed into Perth to try relatively new ramen joint Hikaru Ramen only to discover they were no longer open for Friday evenings - or any evenings at all for that matter! With both of us not working in the CBD, it would take Alissa and another 3 months before we finally got around to try our first bowls from Hikaru Ramen.

Tatami, Bateman, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

In spite of being adventurous eaters who are always on the look out for new and interesting places to eat, Alissa and I can be very much creatures of habit. On a regular week night when we're too lazy to cook or to go anywhere too far from home, Alissa and I will invariably go for 'Japanese'. In spite of a few Japanese restaurants within 5 minutes from our house, we both understand that going for 'Japanese' means going to Kai - a tiny, always packed restaurant in Bull Creek that serves up one of our favourite bowls of tonkotsu ramen in Perth as well as excellent renditions of others classics like teriyaki chicken, gyoza and udon (both hot and cold). With Kai's ramen being as good as it is, it took us a while to follow up on a tip to try the ramen at the relatively new Japanese restaurant Tatami.

Ah Mei Cafe, Canning Vale, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Back in June, Alissa and I dined at Formosa Vegetarian Eating House in Kardinya. During the meal, a regular of the restaurant recommended a dish for us to try. From this chance encounter he later got in touch with me after seeing the Formosa blog post appear on Urbanspoon, eventually sending me an email with a list of places to check out. His good leads resulted in satisfying dinners at Bateman Eating House and Silver Sushi, as well as a few we have yet to get around to. As much a fan of noodles as I am, he sent us a second round of leads in October, informing us that we had to try the Bakmie noodles and Chicken Rice at Ah Mei Cafe.

Nao, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Recently, I was delighted to discover someone had done a Google search with the keywords being 'ministry of gluttony ramen'.
'We've made it!' I jokingly exclaimed to Alissa, 'our reputation precedes us!'
With this in mind, it was surprising then to discover it had been a long 5 months since our last ramen-related post, especially considering how strongly ramen figured up to that point. It's not like we haven't been eating ramen mind you - I eat a bowl at least once a fortnight thanks to our proximity to Kai in Bull Creek - however, timing and circumstance has prevented us from checking out many of the places we haven't been to, or to try some of our favourites yet again. 5 months is far too long a time, and a recent visit to Nao gave us an opportunity for atonement.

Mama Tran, Perth & Ton Sian Grocery, Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

My father introduced me to banh mi many years ago, and from my first bite I was hooked on a dish I truly believe is the King of Sandwiches. My first banh mi was from the Ton Sian Grocery store located on Palmerston St in the city. Being a manager with regular meetings in the city, it became a bit of a running joke that my father simply could not come back from a meeting without popping in. This unassuming suburban outpost that began the Tran's Emporium empire may not seem like the most likely place to get an incredible sandwich, but they are so good it became clear just why my father just had to pop in here.

Noodle Forum, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Though I'm glad I don't have to face the stress of peak hour traffic, there are times I wish I worked in the Perth CBD. With Alissa usually working on Saturdays and many restaurants closed on Sundays, many of the more casual eateries on our Perth CBD wishlist are a real challenge to get to. For this reason, Alissa having a Saturday off from work was an opportunity we just had to make the most of, and we went straight to the top of our list with a long awaited lunch at Noodle Forum.

Dosukoi Ramen, Fremantle, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Dosukoi was the first ramen place I tried after being introduced to ramen at Arigataya. Back then, the quality of Arigataya's miso ramen was near untouchable, but Dosukoi's version was a close second favourite. Located in a tiny shop in the historic Fremantle Markets, the market's unfortunately odd opening hours meant getting my Fremantle ramen fix was limited to breakfast and lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with Friday night being the only option for a ramen dinner. Given these limited opening hours, I always made it a point to have a massively chillied-up bowl of Dosukoi's ramen as pre-gig ritual to help clear the sinuses before performing with my band.

Shop Ramen, Fitzroy, Victoria (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

One of the great things about writing a blog is that you get to share your favourite meals with others. Its nice to know that I've help point people I don't even know in the right direction of great Roast Goose Noodles in Hong Kong, or the incredible fusion food of East Indies in Cochin, India. Though not specifically a blog for the gluten intolerant or for vegans, I do like to point people with dietary requirements in the right direction of satisfying meals as I feel no one should have to settle for boring food. So its one of the great food tragedies that up until now, I've never been able to share a bowl of ramen with vegan friends. I tried at Ramen Ya in Melbourne and had a decidedly un-vegan egg placed on the rice our friends Jake and Tegan had ordered, and the horrible stir fry served to our friend Gita at Zensaki in Perth was topped with bonito flakes. All these times my friends have had to go with a non-ramen alternative while I waxed lyrical about how incredible ramen is. When I heard that Shop Ramen made a Vegetarian Ramen that could easily be made Vegan by removing the marinated egg, it was the perfect opportunity to introduce my friends Jake and Tegan to a dish that is more than just a favourite, but an obsession (see here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

Kokoro Ramen, Melbourne, Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

For regular readers of the Ministry, I don't think its any secret that I'm a little obsessed with ramen. To me, great ramen is a truly wondrous thing; a surprising combination of culinary skill and precision that nevertheless seems so effortless when served up, and results in an utterly delicious, casual and approachable eating experience that is generally fairly affordable. If arteries and weight gain were not an issue, I'd probably live on daily steaming bowls of tonkotsu broth and ramen noodles, and its a dish I always have to try when visiting new places. When we arrived in Hong Kong as part of Alissa and Don Eat Asia, Ichiran Ramen was our first port of call, so it seemed only fitting that the first meal of our Melbourne trip would be a ramen joint.

Tra Vinh (Brisbane St), Northbridge, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

My family were introduced to Tra Vinh many years ago by one of my mother's friends. Located near the corner of William and Brisbane Streets in what is considered Northbridge (but is technically Perth), its hardly located on a busy thoroughfare akin to James or Francis St - especially when you consider our first visit was before the massive rejuvenation that William St has undergone in the last few years. Though slightly out of the way, the place always seems packed during peak times - a situation that has continued even with the opening of a second, more conveniently located branch in Northbridge proper.

G'Fun Cafe, O'Connor, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

When talking about cheap eats, I think there's a distinction to be made between Cheap Eats and Super Cheap Eats. The Melbourne and Sydney Good Food Guide supplement for Cheap Eats draws the line at $30, and a place like Pinchos is a good example of that kind of restaurant; $30 for tapas is really good value (with drinks on top of that). At G'Fun in O'Connor, you can get an appetizer/snack, a main meal and a drink, and still get change from $10. And if you're not that hungry you can get change from a fiver just for a main meal. That's got to be one of the biggest bargains in town.























Located in what used to be an Italian Restaurant in the South St row of shops as a McDonald's and a Red Rooster, the oddly named G'Fun Cafe has been a regular haunt for my family, especially when my father and I used to work just 5 minutes away. Lunch run orders for up to 10 people were not unheard of since at prices this low its a pretty easy sell, and we still offhandedly refer to it simply as 'Cheap Chinese'. G'Fun is owned by a fairly enterprising family who have worked out that there is a profit to be made if you open up near a university and offer no-frills meals for dirt cheap prices. I used to frequent their older store in Nedlands during my UWA art school days, and recently discovered it has since been rebranded under the G'Fun name.

The interior is an odd, spartan combination of standard cafe tables and decor that seems like it came free with the store when it transitioned from Italian restaurant to feeding bargain hunters and hungry student masses.

Obviously too expensive to pull out, the old pizza oven remains, though I'm sure it has not been used for years now. Though keeping elements of the old store, G'Fun have recently renovated their counter space by moving the hot display cabinets closer to the kitchen and moving the condiment station further away - all good and logical moves to make the busy weekday lunchtime service as fluid as possible. Alissa and I came on a lazy Sunday afternoon, hence the emptiness in the photos above.

Usually we would get one or the other, but for the benefit of demonstration Alissa and I ordered two items each from their small snack selection - Stuffed Crab Claws and Spring Rolls. Both are fairly standard examples of the dishes that are probably frozen bulk buys quickly fried up for sale. Which is not to say we didn't enjoy them; the Crab meat (and probably filler) is sweet and deliciously tender, though having been in the food warmer lacks the crispness that it would have hot and fresh out of a fryer. The spring rolls are also tasty, but again suffer from a lack of crispness.

Being the noodle fiend that I am, I decided that the Dry Noodles with Roast Chicken was the way to go. The noodles were fairly standard for this type of dish, with the roast chicken being quite juicy in spite of being a piece of breast meat. The addition of some greenery helped make the dish have the semblance of healthiness and I enjoyed it for what it is and is something of a regular order for me. You're not going to be mistaking this for the handmade noodles of Kitchen Inn anytime soon, however when you're looking at paying around $6 (including a 50c dine in surcharge you can simply avoid by ordering it to go) you can't really complain.

For a point of difference, Alissa went with their Chicken Rice with Barbecue Chicken. Interestingly enough, G'Fun don't serve any pork dishes and thus make their char siu out of chicken. I've never quite understood why they do this since they make a beef curry and teriyaki fish, however I'd have to assume they must get some kind of amazing deal on bulk chicken due to the amount of food they sell during peak times, or they have religious views that preclude dining on swine. Their signage refers to their chicken rice as 'famous', and while this might be justified by G'Fun being renowned for being cheap, its definitely not the best chicken rice I've had. Chicken rice made the legit Hainanese way has a stronger, fattier flavour to the rice and a characteristic oiliness. This chicken rice is probably healthier, and has enough of the chicken flavour in the rice to be tasty by itself without any sauce. The char siu style chicken actually tastes fairly similar to real char siu, with a nice sweetness and the blackened edges signs of that smokey barbecue touch. As with the noodles, this is not going to be replacing your favourite chicken rice stall anytime soon but for $5 ($4.50 takeaway) its almost absurdly cheap.

The Verdict: Good
Okay, so its not the most exciting place to eat, but it fulfills the same role as Taka's Kitchen does for Japanese food by providing tasty Chinese at highly affordable rock bottom prices. This is not the kind of thing that is worth driving long distances for, but if you're living in the Melville area and are looking for a bargain you could do a lot worse than G'Fun Cafe. A word of warning though; Alissa and I have repeatedly made the mistake of driving to G'Fun for a weekend dinner only to find the place closed; they only do a lunch service on Saturdays and Sundays, and their opening hours are always a little off-kilter around public holidays.

Kitchen Inn, Kardinya, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Outside of blogging, I'm a keen collector of vinyl records, in particular focusing on Soul and all its subgenres both old and new. One of the great pleasures of record collecting is when you dig up a record by someone who didn't blow up the way a Stevie Wonder or a Marvin Gaye did, but nevertheless put out work that, while obscure to the mainstream, is consistently excellent (see Sam Dees or Lou Courtney for example). In exploring Perth's restaurants I find a similar satisfaction; as fun as it is visiting a new, on-trend eatery in a blue chip prime location, its the discovery of hidden gems surprisingly buried in suburbia that are probably the most rewarding.

My parents had been raving about Kitchen Inn for almost a year now, but for whatever reason it was only after an aborted visit for a dirt cheap meal at G'Fun Cafe on South Street that eventually brought us to this unassuming restaurant buried in a small row of shops in suburban Kardinya. Literally under 10 minutes from home its a wonder we never got here sooner, but I guess unless driving through suburbia is your thing you'd never know it even existed. However seeing Kitchen Inn's subheading of 'Your Handmade Noodle Shop' (my italics)  I was really excited. I'm a massive wanton noodles fanatic, and though ramen has quickly overtaken it as my noodle dish of choice, it remains a strong, nostalgic favourite that conjures up memories of my childhood.

Jun, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

You've gotta love a serendipitous discovery. Every now and then I do a Google search for 'best ramen perth' to see if there is a place doing ramen I've just never heard of or is newly opened, and jot down the details as a lead to follow up on. Of course, I've been to all the major ramen joints in Perth, however such is my obsession with this dish that I am irrationally afraid that I've yet to try Perth's best bowl of ramen. I will not stop until I've tried them all.

Jun was one such lead. Years ago its location in a dark, dingy, literally home to the homeless alleyway just off Hay Street was indeed a ramen noodle house - there is even a remnant of old signage along the wall of the alley - and this older restaurant came up in a search for Perth's best ramen. I was disappointed to find it no longer existed when I searched for it on Urbanspoon, however when I saw photos of delicious looking Katsu Pork Skewers and Cold Soba Noodles at Jun it quickly jumped up the priority queue of places to visit. 

Located in a basement in an alley, the entrance to Jun is really cooling looking, and exudes a certain Melbournesque bohemian/hipster charm...

...so it was really surprising to find the interior of the restaurant looking a bit staid and dated, with a non-working water feature and a stack of books piled near the entrance. I've seen photos of eateries in Japan that look similar, and there was something charming about its unassuming and decidedly unhip appearance. The slightly ramshackle appearance seemed to have no negative effect on their business, as by 7:30 the place was pretty much packed. Thank goodness we booked.

 We were seated near the rear of the restaurant, giving us a decent view of the the chef at work. While advertising themselves as a Kushi-Yaki Restaurant, Jun has a fairly extensive menu and it took us a moment to decide on what we wanted to eat. As appetising as the yakitori looked, in the end we decided to try three of their fried items and a bowl of noodles each.

First to arrive was a plate of Seafood Croquettes. Being of Dutch descent, Alissa's family have schooled me on the delicious ways of the croquette, so I was most interested to see the differences between Dutch and Japanese versions of this dish. These seafood croquettes were quite different to the gravy-filled versions Alissa's Oma makes, however I did enjoy the meaty chunks of prawn and other seafood inside. What struck me as most impressive however was how well fried it was. Deep frying something may seem like a fairly simple task, but there is a skill to getting fried items to be both nice and crispy, and not greasy. It seems to be a rare skill based on how greasy a lot of lunch bar fried food can be, so its to the chef's credit that these came out as well as they did. Combining this with the tastiness of the tonkatsu sauce which reminded me of a better version of HP Barbecue Sauce, and this was an excellent start to our meal.

It got even better with the Karaage, arguably the best and most refined Karaage either of have had in Perth. As with the croquettes, the frying skill was exemplary. The coating was thinner than most Karaage Alissa and I have had, yet still maintained that deliciously gingery flavour we've come to know and love. Most amazing however was the soft, juicy and tender texture of the meat. I thought Kai's Karaage was very good, but this was even better. Seriously, if all you know of Karaage is the cheap, mass produced pseudo-KFC version common to food court Japanese you owe it yourself to try Jun's version to see how good it can be. Simply phenomenal.

Next came the Pork Belly and Onion skewers. Basically Tonkatsu Pork on a stick with slices of onion between the pork belly pieces, these were piping hot to the point of being a little difficult to eat (admittedly, this was our own greedy fault). Once it cooled a bit, we were greeted by delicious chunks of pork belly's unctuous goodness, and the addition of onion gave it a certain onion ring quality - an inspired twist. That said, as people who are fairly obsessed with pork (and pork belly in particular) this was probably the most anticipated of the three dishes, yet it didn't leaving us gushing as much as the Karaage did. This however was not a reflection on the quality of the Pork Belly and Onion so much as how amazing the Karaage was.

While I consider ramen's alkaline noodles the best of all Japan's noodle styles, a good bowl of fat Udon Noodles remains Alissa's firm favourite. As with the Karaage, this was near best in class - better than Kai, Zensaki and Taka's. Udon's shoyu-based broth has a cleaner flavour than that of ramen's, and Jun's version was totally on point, with a certain marine umami flavour that made it all the more delicious. While both Kai and Zensaki top their Udon off with a more deluxe serves of mixed tempura and soft shell crab respectively, the fact we'd already had some delicious fried goodness before the noodles meant the two pieces of sweet and succulent baby squid were more than sufficient.

I personally feel soba noodles are a dish best served cold, and the Cold Soba with Sweet Potato Paste and Raw Quail Egg sounded so good I had to try it. Wow. This was seriously some next level shit. Firstly, the presentation was beautiful, with the soba framed by thinly sliced spring onion and nori and topped with a raw quail egg. I even liked their choice of plate! Mixing the egg into the noodles and then dipping it into the accompanying bowl of dipping sauce, this was a serious salty-sweet-umami explosion, rich in the flavour of sesame and soy, made all the better by the added kick of the wasabi. This was so good I didn't want it to end, and I continued to pick up every single stray strand of soba until there were none left.

The Verdict: Excellent
In David Chang's Momofuku cookbook, he recounts his tutelage under soba specialist Akio Hosoda and how when realising David was dedicated to a completely different noodle, he gave David the ultimatum; "you're either soba or not". I feel a bit this way about the various Japanese noodle styles - we'll eat them all but I'm a ramen man, while Alissa is all for the Udon. In Alissa's case, the excellence of Jun's Udon noodle served to reinforce her belief in its ascendency while for me, trying a soba this good was enough to almost make me a convert to the ways of the soba noodle. Almost. Ramen still rules supreme in my eyes, but I enjoyed the cold soba at Jun so much I'm gonna have to make some room in my life for this alternative noodle. Combine that with best-in-class Karaage and the need to try their yakitori next time, and this is a restaurant we'll definitely be coming back to. Repeatedly. At $51 for the five items, Jun is a tad bit pricier than places like Kai, Zensaki and Nao but we left feeling seriously full and satisfied with our meal - next time, I think two items to share and then a bowl of noodles each would be more than enough for the two of us. The very next day after eating there, I got an SMS from a friend asking for a restaurant recommendation. With no hesitation and no alternative suggestions, I responded with Jun. I don't think I can recommend them enough.

Hometown's Kitchen, Parkwood, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

My work colleagues always seem a little bemused when I talk passionately about food, or predictably respond with 'dinner plans' when I'm asked what I'm doing this weekend. For some its the fact that I'm 'mad' enough to pay fine dining prices for a meal, while others think of food in such utilitarian concepts that even just using Urbanspoon to find good places to eat nearby is a strange, alien concept. Still, as much as they think me a little odd, they can be quite supportive. Knowing I'm always on the lookout for new places to try, one colleague handed me a menu to a Malaysian Chinese restaurant called Hometown's Kitchen, located in the middle of suburbia in Parkwood. He hadn't eaten there himself, but  he grabbed a pamphlet as a hot tip for me to follow up on since they claimed to have the best Laksa in Perth according to SBS. I don't go out for Laksa very much as my mother makes a killer version of the dish that is far better than most I've tried, but such a major claim as 'Best Laksa in Perth' had to be investigated.

The restaurant is a fairly large, deep space with the middle and left side of the room filled with large round tables...

...while the right side is populated with two-seater tables. Note the funky green chairs.

We ended up visiting Hometown's Kitchen twice before writing this post, and on both occasions we went with a starter of Chinese-style Salt and Pepper Squid. A dish commonly found  in Chinese 'Combination Plate' eateries either hard and dry from being in a food warmer, or soggy and lacking crispness due to sweating from being covered in a food warmer, Home Town's version was delightfully crunchy and fresh tasting, with a nice saltiness. One thing I find with badly made Salt and Pepper Squid is that it can be outrageously oily, but thankfully this version did not suffer from this problem. The garlic, chilli and spring onions tossed with the squid was addictively tasty, leading Alissa to ask; 'why is it so nice?'

For our first visit, we decided to go with a bowl of the Laksa each. There are a lot of really weak Laksa's in Perth with a feeble yellow colour and watery consistency, so its was heartening to see Hometown Kitchen's version was a fiery orange-red. Tasting the Laksa gravy, I was happy to find that it was indeed a very good, very hot Laksa; having a good balance of coconut and prawniness, and brimming with prawns, chicken and sliced fish cake. Though I consider the thick Laksa mee to be the most authentic noodles, as a fan of yellow mee I was happy with the yellow mee and bee hoon combination served. What I did think was missing from the dish was a decent garnish of daun kesum, something I have fond memories of my father liberally piling onto his bowl. I mean, its use is so synonymous with this dish that its even known simply as laksa leaf, so its omission was a little disappointing. 

We were pretty full by this stage, so we decided to share a Red Bean Pancake with Ice Cream for dessert. This was excellent; better than a similar dish we had eaten when we went for Xiao Long Bao in Singapore. The pancake was nice and crispy on the outside but had that nice chewy texture on the inside, with a lovely red bean filling on the inside. As with the Salt and Pepper Squid, it wasn't super oily tasting either. Served here with a simple but effective scoop of vanilla ice cream, Alissa and I were both very satisfied with our meal.

So much so, we decided to come back for a second visit to try their main dishes. For our entree we again had the Salt and Pepper Squid, with the first main being a sizzling plate of Spicy Pork Belly from their 'Hometown's Special' menu. This was reminiscent of the Pork Spare Ribs in House Black Vinegar Sauce that we had at Monogamous Chinese in Hong Kong, though less vinegary. The pork belly slices were deliciously unctuous as expected, and we both liked the thick, treacly sauce and the abundance of dried whole chillis in the dish. It was a nice enough dish, however it was a little heavy-handed in the onion department; a typical Chinese restaurant bulking technique that I'm not a huge fan of. In the end, Alissa and I agreed that while we liked this dish, the Pork Spare Ribs from Monogamous Chinese was a better variation on this basic idea.

Alissa and I are fanatical about Sizzling Tofu with Chicken and Salted Fish, so we decided to try the Beancurd-Tofu, a dish of Japanese tofu served with spicy chicken mince with homemade sauce. As with everything we've had here, Hometown did not hold back on the chilli content, making for another hot dish. As with the previous dish, there was a lot to recommend it - the tofu had a nice crispy outer coating that gave way as soon as you even moved it, and the chicken mince was tasty - but in comparison to the usual Sizzling Tofu with Chicken and Salted Fish we had to admit it just was not as good.

I was pretty full by this stage, however Alissa was feeling greedy for dessert and wanted to try the cold Bobo Cha Cha as she had not had it before, and has a deep-seated fear of missing out on something that could be amazing. I'm not a fan of Bobo Cha Cha so didn't try any of it, however as much as Alissa liked it she said she would have preferred the Chendol that would have been her second choice.

The Verdict: Very Good
I'm not sure if I would call Hometown's Kitchen's Laksa the best in Perth as I haven't ever had a bowl that I find quite as satisfying as what my mother makes, however it definitely is one of the better Laksas in town - especially when you consider how many place serve up terrible, watery versions of this dish. Their Red Bean Pancake and Salt and Pepper Squid were amongst the best versions of each dish that we've had, however while the main dishes we ordered during our second visit were very good and satisfying in their own right, they were simply outclassed by similar dishes Alissa and I have had elsewhere. Still, in spite of these lesser dishes, there was enough good here for us to come back with a larger group to try something else from the extensive menu, as well as a repeat of our first Salt and Pepper Squid, Curry Laksa and Red Bean Pancake meal.