Gami Chicken & Beer, Perth

These past two weeks, everyone close to me has decided it was a great idea to jet off on a plane and leave Sydney. I mean, that’s cool – I’ll just stay here alone and appreciate this city. Cue in Eric Carmen’s ‘All by myself.’

But in saying that, I jetted off to Perth and left them all behind before – so it’s only fair, I guess, maybe. So, continuing my Perth eateries, we found ourselves sitting inside Gami Chicken & Beer for a Friday lunch and it was buzzing with people already. The weekend has sure started in Perth already.

Corn cheese $9.80

Three girls, four dishes – we can do this right? Starting with the corn cheese. Not sure if we were really hungry or this simply took us to a happy place. It is like a mac and cheese, except with corn instead. I did expect a smaller serving, but found it to be a really generous size.

The cheese was stringy, and every bit of sweet corn was smothered in cheesey goodness. There was a great amount of self-control stopping ourselves from demolishing this.

Tteokbokki $14

The tteokbokki had a mix of fix cakes, vegetables and instant ramen. Rice cakes takes up a lot of tummy space, but it was definitely a good call. I personally really enjoyed the spicy kick, however it could have been a bit too much for my eating companions. The rice cake had that great chewy bite, and was not overly cooked making it soft, the fresh vegetables allowed a nice crisp texture in comparison.

Korean style fried bonless chicken $32

BAM! Fried Chicken!  Nothing gets me more excited than hearing a crunch and being met with juicy chicken. And that was what you get here at Gami, along with a choice of two sauces. But personally, I much preferred without.

Potato heaven $14.50

Because I always eat with my eyes and forget that Miss MC has a super tiny stomach, I ordered the wedges. It was like I had something against carbs or something because this is totally potato filled. Wedges doused in sweet chilli and dollops of sour cream sat on a layer of smooth creamy mash. A little more sweet chilli would have been nice, but no complaints. The wedges were everything you expect, and the tiny ones had an extra crunch. So greedy me may have indulged on the tiny ones.

Pickled radish, honey mustard sauce and sweet soy garlic (comes with fried chicken)

We were done; we rolled out of the restaurant and may or may not gone in search for more food …  because that’s what holidays are all about, right?

Do you eat non-stop when you are on holidays, or are you much more sensible and space your meals out?

Mary Street Bakery, Highgate, Perth

How did we come sliding down the middle of April hill already? The year sure has been slipping through my fingers way too fast. I’ve been a little swamped with work, my last semester of uni and just life. Trying to find a nice balance of all three things, but struggling, but it’s ok – I’m crawling to that light at the end of the tunnel despite the fact that I’m unsure if I’m headed in the right direction…

Anyways, on with it! Continuing my Perth adventures, this week I’m bringing you all to Mary Street Bakery. It’s always an awakening call when I find myself scrolling for places to eat last minute, and I call myself a food blogger – psh. I felt like pancakes, so it was a bonus that fried chicken sat on top of my pancake stake on this lovely first day in Perth.

You know when you’re on holidays, and all you seem to do is eat – it seemed like this could have been the case with the way Miss MC and I were going when exploring Perth. So, we decided to be realistic and try to not order the entire menu, even when that was exactly what I wanted to do.

Braised beef cheeks with parsnip shallot $26

The beef cheeks were soft, almost falling at the touch of a knife. The sauce was rich, with a touch of sweetness. The mash was smooth; your palate gets a hit with flavour mixing the sauce and creaminess.

Polenta chips $7

The polenta held a good crispy exterior and was fluffy inside. A dip of aioli helps take the strong polenta taste down a touch, if you’re not such a fan of polenta – this may not be an ideal dish to order.

Fried chicken buttermilk pancake with peanuts, maple, chilli, fried egg $23

And the reason I was sitting in here was because of this monster. Thick and fluffy pancakes were set out to defeat us, while the maple butter was sweet, I actually loved the kick that the chilli flakes offered. A kicking sticky sweet maple has brought on new levels. The chicken was fried perfectly and drenched in this lovely maple; surprisingly the pancakes weren’t soaked to the point of sweetness and still had a nice balance of buttermilk. Not sure how we managed to fit it in, but we did – and there was no denying that we were happy to walk to the next bus stop to get the bus rather than the one across the road.

So, are you on that would base your holiday around where you want to eat or by where you are going?

Mary Street Bakery

507 Beaufort Street

Highgate, Perth

DuoTone, East Perth

… And just like that Chinese New Year has come, and gone.

But Gong Hei Fat Choi to you all. May the year of the monkey be a prosperous and healthy one.

Speaking of time flying by, it’s been 4 months since Miss MC and I flew over to Perth to meet up with Miss NH. So, I decided it was time to try and conquer some of these posts and I bring to you all DuoTone, the first eatery we visited when in Perth. Less than 5 minute walk from our hotel room.

It’s still fairly new, opened by two Melbournian friends. And when asked for any must visit recommendations in terms of food, we were told, “It’s hard to tell you any cafes that must be visited if you’re from Sydney.” That, was when my unknown mission was set, keep a watch out on more Perth posts to see if I found some “Sydney like cafes”.

Miss MC’s espresso was unfortunately not a favourite of hers.

I had the chai latte, and the spices were strong in the right ways.

Avocado on toast with hummus $8.50

Miss MC had the avocado toast with hummus, feta, chilli flakes and dukka. It looked absolutely delicious, I wanted to order this, but she did too – so I was the bigger person and let her have this one.

Soft boiled eggs toast $7.50

In order to feed the blog, it’s all about the variety, so I had wanted the ham and eggs toast, but unfortunately they had no ham. So, I settled for the soft egg toast with horseradish-chive labbneh. I had expected the eggs to be runny, but that horseradish labbneh was totally what pulled this dish together with the added flavours to the egg.

The dish sizes here were considered a little smaller, offering only a slice of toast, but looking at the price you pay it is reasonable. I guess they are also catered more for the office quick coffee runs as the menu is not too extensive but clean and simple.

Have you ever gone somewhere and been told that the food your city offers is a little hard to compare to?

DuoTone

313 Hay Street

East Perth