Typika, Claremont, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Perhaps its the memory of hellish morning drives to UWA in my university days, but Stirling Hwy has long been my least favourite road in Western Australia. That this narrow stretch of road is called a highway is a cruel joke, and with its unwinnable combination of buses pulling over in the left lane and cars turning right without turning lanes in the right, the constant stop-start lurch means there is no street in Perth with a higher chance of rear ending a BMW than Stirling Hwy. I don't have much patience for infuriating road conditions, and as such I seldom make a trip out to the Claremont area since the very worst of the traffic bottleneck occurs there.

Of course I'll make an exception for good food, and this was what found us in Claremont on a rare work free Saturday for Alissa. I'd heard about Typika during the last year, and the mention of duck steamed lotus buns was enough to convince me we had to try this place out. Typika serve lunch every day except Sundays, so since I have work during the week and Alissa usually works Saturdays this was going to be our only chance for a while to try their lunch menu.

Having arrived at 11:30am in case there was a crowd, we were able to be seated immediately upon arrival at one of the tables in the brighter front section of the cafe - my choice since it would be beneficial for photography.

That said, the place had sufficient tables available for us to have sat in the moodier space to the rear of the venue.

As with Bread in Common, interesting lighting concepts abound in this space, the most striking being the conical flask light bulbs hanging over the high chair share tables.

Since we were early for the midday start of the lunch menu, we started with a round of coffee and some snacks. Being artisan roasters, I expected quality and my usual order of topped up long macchiato/strong latte did not let me down as it was a well made coffee at a perfect temperature. Personally, I think I like the bean at Bread in Common better but as Alissa astutely pointed out, its more a matter of a personal preference than once being inherently better than the other. If you like a softer, mellower flavour this will probably be more to your liking.

Being summertime, Alissa went with the 'naked' iced coffee. This was a nice and refreshing iced coffee, its 'nakedness' denoting it was not one of those super sweet monstrosities that are more sugar than caffeine.

Alissa loves a good sweet potato chip, so we had to order a serve of their mixed Chips. The serve may have been small for $6, but it was absolute quality - easily the best fries I've had since the last time I cooked Heston's triple cooked chips. These tasted like they were at least twice cooked, and the difficult task of making sweet potato chips as crispy as regular potato was passed with flying colours. Excellent aioli too.

Our other snack order was a serve of their Onion Rings. I've had better, more flavoursome versions of this dish, but these were excellent nonetheless - far better than the familiar mass produced version found at Hungry Jack's and less oily that the greasy version often sold by fish and chips joints.

12 o'clock came around and it was time for our very pork-centric lunch. The first share plate to arrive was the Pulled Pork Quesadillas.  These maintained the high standards set by our snack orders, the pulled pork nicely seasoned and the Quesadilla pockets both crispy and yet still malleable.

The element that really raised it as a cut above was the grilled corn, capsicum and avocado salsa. This was top notch, its refreshing juiciness complementing and enhancing the flavours of the pork and cheese.

The current Typika menu did not have the duck lotus buns. Instead, it went full Momofuku and did their version of the famous David Chang Pork Belly Buns. Here the pork was made in a char siu style as a point of difference, served with (apparently) pickled cucumber and (apparently) chilli jam. If the cucumber was pickled I didn't quite taste it, though I was very happy to find the cucumber thinly sliced. The sauce on top did not taste like chilli jam to me - I could have sworn it was hoisin. Other that these seeming discrepancies between the menu and what was served, I was very satisfied with the results.

The pork belly had a lovely fattiness that bordered on bacony, and the salty-sweet flavour of the sauce combined with the freshness of the cucumber resulted in a dish that was very, very tasty. The buns may not have been as soft as those at Ippudo, but the flavours were bolder. Different, but neither was necessarily better than the other. Alissa was a little disappointed as she was expecting the version I make at home, which is basically banh mi in a steamed bun and thus includes coriander, carrot and mint but she admitted later it was probably a case of having expectations it would be something that it wasn't. Oh well - her being disappointed meant I got to eat two of the three buns so I was definitely happy!

The Verdict: Excellent
When I went up to pay, the woman at the counter looked at what we had ordered and said, 'you guys had a really good lunch'. And she was right - the food we had that day was of a consistent standard in share plate cafe food that was well thought out and executed. Considering our meal and drinks came to under $60, I was satisfied with the price too. I don't know how often I'd be heading out to Typika considering its location and the lunch menu being unavailable on Sundays, but it impressed me enough that I'd brave a drive down Stirling Hwy for a return visit. Recommended.

Bread in Common, Fremantle, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Our initial plan for Australia Day was to have lunch at Typika in Claremont, but with friends coming over for dinner we couldn't afford the drive out to the western suburbs. Plus the fact they were closing at 1pm and advertising an all-day breakfast made us a bit worried that the exciting lunch menu would not be available. Instead, we decided to pay a visit to another coffee and casual dining establishment that is fairly new to the Perth dining scene - Bread in Common, located on Pakenham St in Fremantle.

As much as I'm never in Fremantle these days, my childhood and high school years were spent as a Freo kid. I've seen this city change for better and worse - I remember where Fossey's used to be, or when Watsonia's original store on High St was still open, alongside many shops and failed businesses that now live on only in the collective memories of long time residents. As a formerly safe haven for free parking, my family had often parked on Pakenham St, and I remember the converted warehouse this is Bread in Common when it was still a marine engineering company, as a lot of Fremantle's West End used to be.

Seeing it now, with its herb garden, benches and bicycle rack outside, its hard to imagine the brick exterior had been hidden under a layer of horrible render - if you look at it on Google maps, its almost unrecognisable. 

This charming façade immediately proclaims itself as very hip and very now, and the interior again showed that a great deal of time and effort has gone into design and aesthetics. 

Its very pretty in that West End, reclaimed warehouse post-industrial way - a similar aesthetic to the very hipster-trendy Gordon St Garage. But of course hipster flair will only get you so far - sure, newness and wanting to be seen will get that initial crowd through the door, but its the food that will keep the business going once the new kid in town trendiness wears off. 

While we perused their menu, we ordered our coffee - Alissa a cappuccino and a long macchiato/strong latte for me.

Having seen a Synesso espresso machine on our way in, we knew it was going to be good coffee and we were not disappointed - this was the best coffee either of us have had since Iggy's - not overly hot or bitter, the milk not overly steamed and fluffy. This was faultless coffee.

Being a place based around bread, we decided to go with a serve of their mixed bread plate for two, along with hand churned butter and the very interesting sounding Whipped Pork-Pistachio, Fennel spread. As with the coffee, this was fantastic - easily the best bread we've eaten since Caprice and Otto e Mezzo in Hong Kong. When you consider that I'm comparing their bread to two 3 Star Michelin restaurants and that we've done quite a few fine dining establishments in between, that's high praise indeed. 

The butter was very tasty (though not as good as the butter at Caprice), but the real star was the Pork-Pistachio spread. This was just incredible, combining one of our favourite meats and two of its good friends into a smooth, delicious spread. I'm more a noodle person than a bread fiend, but this spread on some quality bread everyday for breakfast could make me a convert.

We additionally ordered some polish sausage, pickled chilli and some tomato chutney to go with the bread. These were very good, but nothing really surprising - especially when you compare it to the charcuterie plate at Vasse Felix.

We had originally ordered separate mains, however Alissa's main was taking longer to make so they brought out mine to share - not how we intended, but not a deal breaker either. My order was Squid, Watermelon, Green Olive, Pork Crackle, Oregano, and was as delicious as that combination sounds. The pork crackling was like unctuous croutons on top, and the squid had a lovely char flavour to them. This green olive tapenade gave it a salty-bitter kick which was cut nicely by the freshness of the watermelon. This was a great combination of flavours wonderfully executed.

Swordfish, Coriander, Wild Rice, Pawpaw, Green Mango, Chilli was however not quite as successful. The fish was cooked wonderfully with a nice char to the sides and a rare interior, and the salad and rice were very tasty. The problem was that it was extremely salty, with the darkish sauce (hoisin?) overriding the otherwise balanced dish. Which was a shame given how expertly cooked the fish itself was.

We hadn't planned on a dessert, however our greed got the better of us and we decided that we'd share a plate. While the Peanut Mousse, Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream, Raspberry, Oreo was supposedly the most popular of the desserts, we decided the fresher sounding
Peaches, Goats Curd, Lemon Verbena, Cashew Crumble was more our cup of tea. And it sure was - this was an excellent dessert. The peaches were presented two ways (fresh and poached) and along with the candied cashews provided the sweetness for the dish. The strongest elements of the dish were the sorbet which gave the dish a cold sweet tartness and the goats curd which seemed to be a panna cotta since it had the surprising consistency of soft tofu.

The Verdict: Excellent
There was the misstep of the salty Swordfish dish (both as a dish and coming out later), however in every other way Bread in Common succeeded at proving they weren't all style; they actually had a lot of substance to back it up. Bread and coffee were outstanding, and the squid and dessert were examples of well executed dishes based around considered flavour combinations. While we felt it was a bit early for a glass of wine, we were impressed to see many of our favourite wineries represented - Marchand and Burch, Single File, Stormflower and Forest Hill to name a few. We'd definitely love to come back here for some good conversation, good wine and good cheese with friends in the future. Definitely a new favourite in the Freo area. 

Salon de Joel Robuchon, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 6, Part 1)

We knew it was an outside chance but we had to give it a go. We had to have Tim Ho Wan one more time. Just two serves of the pork buns, please. Three for me, three for Alissa. That's all we needed.

Unfortunately, the IFC outpost of pork bun deliciousness didn't open until 9am, and we simply did not have the time to wait til then plus the cooking time for our char siu bao. If we were to have Tim Ho Wan again, it was gonna have to wait until Singapore.

So, as Alissa sometimes puts it with great concern in her voice; 'but what about breakfast!?!?!!?' Thankfully, our reconnaissance mission to find the best way to Caprice held the answer. Located in IFC and on the way to the Four Seasons is Salon de Joel Robuchon, the cafe side of Robuchon's vast restaurant empire that includes many L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon restaurants around the world. We checked out the food on the way to Caprice, and everything looked delicious and reasonably priced considering it came under the brand of the world's most Michelin Starred Chef.

Introduction & Dome, Perth Airport, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 1, Part 1)

As with all travelling stories in the de Souza family, it all starts with a coffee at Dome. Whenever any member of my family travels overseas we always make sure we’re at the airport with sufficient time for one last cup of coffee together, and in the ensuing years it’s become something of a family tradition. Not that the coffee at Dome is particularly special or there aren't any other options (albeit from Perth Airport’s very meager food and drink selection), but so entrenched is this familiar ritual that it just would not feel right to start a journey without it.

For most of these cups of coffee Dome was as far as I was going. This was my parents’ travelling story, and my role in the adventure ended with goodbyes at the departure gate. Sometimes I went with them too - in 2009 and 2011 I joined my parents on their then-biennial voyages to India. But this trip is different. For the first time it is my parents staying behind in Perth. For the first time this travelling story belongs to me – and my favourite dining partner.

Friday 25^th October, 2011 was the last time I went through those departure gates, travelling with my parents for a food odyssey to Hong Kong, Mumbai, Udaipur, Munnar and Singapore. This was an exciting trip that I’d been looking forward to for months; however a part of me didn’t want to go. See, just 5 days before departure I’d met a girl. Or rather, it wasn’t that I met her (we’d been friends of friends), but that we’d started seeing each other. And I liked her, and felt immediately that I’d found someone truly special. With the bad timing of my departure we chatted online just about every night I was away, and though we’d only been on two dates beforehand I felt even then that I wished she had been there with me for all of it.

6 months later we were engaged, with November 23^rd, 2013 being our wedding day. And now exactly 2 years after I left for my last overseas holiday, I’m correcting the wrong of that last trip by taking Alissa to all the cities I told her about every night I was overseas. With meals booked at 5 of San Pellegrino’s Top 50 Restaurants in Asia - 2 of which also boast 3 Michelin Stars – and 5 weeks of amazing meals planned it seems only fitting to open the Ministry of Gluttony with our first travelling story – Alissa and Don Eat Asia.

Alissa and I have talked about ratings for food. With food varying from 3 Star Michelin to a simple temple meal, how does one rate a meal on its own merits? Additionally, as people who enjoy eating we probably find most food is at least passable, therefore its probably more important to distinguish between varying levels of good. Rather than allocating a star rating of giving a score, we've come up with a rating system for our blog that we feel better reflects our experiences in a straightforward manner:

Poor - Food that is of an unacceptably low quality. Best avoided
Okay - Passable food of acceptable taste and quality. Not bad but not exactly 'good' food.

Good - Worth a try; a satisfying meal if not exactly mindblowing.

Very Good - Recommended food to eat if you are in the area; a satisfying meal +

Fxcellent - A very satisfying meal; food that you should eat if you are visiting this place.

Exceptional - The very best food of its class. Food and/or a food experience so good that you should make travel plans to eat here!

So with this in mind... back to Dome. Alissa and I ordered long macchiattos (a strong or double shot latte in correct terms) with Alissa eating a chicken wrap and a ham and cheese croissant for myself.

The coffee was okay. Not a bad or a particularly excellent coffee. It served its purpose of waking us up after getting out of bed for 3:15am. What wasn't so good though was the paper cup - I'm fairly certain that in the past we've been given proper cups at Dome, so someone made the unenvironmentally friendly decision to switch to disposable since our last trip. 

My croissant was not very good. The pastry had obviously been given the microwave reheat treatment and was lacking the crisp flakiness I associate with a good croissant. The filling was very poorly spaced out - so much so I basically ate half of my croissant before I even got to the ham and cheese, and then it felt as if they'd put way too much in this half as it seemed overly generous. I would have preferred a more evenly spread out filling, and I finished my meal wishing I had ordered something else, like Alissa's chicken wrap.

Alissa's order looked a lot more appetizing, and had clearly been seared in a sandwich toaster, making me wish mine had had a similar treatment. I had a bite and appreciated the well-seasoned chicken. Thankfully I hadn't taken a large enough bite to have noticed something Alissa later pointed out as a fault - as the wrap had been microwaved to reheat, the thickly sliced cucumber had become warm and semi-cooked with a weird texture. As someone who doesn't like thickly sliced cucumber, perhaps the ham and cheese croissant was not such a bad choice after all.

The Verdict: Okay
Its a family tradition, so we'll keep coming back. However, as the food is only of a passable standard I cannot exactly recommend it as a place of interest.