Bar One

QV1 Retail Plaza
250 St Georges Terrace
Perth, Western Australia 6000
T: 08 9481 8400 F: 08 9481 8422
contact@bar1.com.au
Open 7am ’til late, Monday to Friday

Bar One is a funky little bar/restaurant at the base of the qv1 building. It is packed on a Friday night for after work drinks, but generally quite quiet in the day, and relaxing with its low lighting and wood facades.

I have been here for 100s of coffees and drinks (seeing it is just under my work), but never for a meal.

Today I had lunch and was very impressed.

The wine list is extensive, and features some great Aussie wines. I love the Torbreck Woodcutters Shiraz (8.50 glass), but there is plenty more to choose from.

Today we had for entree:
- Oysters: (12/18/24): Freshly shucked, cucumber & chardonnay dressing
- Carpaccio (16.50) Seared thinly sliced beef fillet, truffle oil, capers & parmesan. Absolutely to die for dish, so salty and tasty I would love to try this again.

For mains:
Pappardelle (24.50) with duck, mushroom, vermouth, porcini ragout. Absolutley rich, delicious, decadent.

Love to try:
Capellini Angel hair pasta, blue manna crab, tomato sugo and XV olive oil

Winos

June 25th, 2007
11 Rendall Close
Margaret River 6285
(08) 97 58 7155

Wino’s is a funky bar/restaurant on the main drag in Margaret River. The food is absolutely amazing - you can never order a dud; the service is attentive and relaxed; and the wine and drinks list is extensive.

I always love going to wino’s because it’s usually the first thing I do when I get down south and it marks the beginning of a great time down there.
On this occasion we jumped straight off the freeway after work, made it to gracetown at about 8pm and got to Wino’s by 830.

It’s good fun on a Friday night - a mix of about 50/50 locals and metros, many just catching up with friends in the bar.

The restaurant is a great big open space with the bar first thing as you walk in and the restaurant area raised a step. The bar faces out onto the street so you can see people coming and going.

We sat in the lounges between the restaurant and bar for a drink before our meal.
I had the Benaves shiraz from Coonawarra ($10) which was delicious. Dan had a crazy German beer. Mum had a Chandon, and then a Riesling from Ferngrove which was very nice.

After our drinks we sat and ordered our meals. The menu is a big blackboard at the back of the restaurant with all the dishes scribbled on it.
We ordered a pumpkin and chili dip to start. It was served with dry crostini dippers, and had a lovely nutmeg, cinnamon flavour.
We also had a dish of 4 scallops ($12), each done in a different style:
- bacon
- mango
- garlicy lemon creamy sauce
- thai with chilli, peanut, coriander, lime
They were delicious, but we all fought over the thai flavoured one.
There was a bit of a wait for our mains, so the waiter brought us some freshly baked bread with an anchovy oil - it was olive oil with anchovies at the bottom - absolutely delicious.

For mains we had:
- lamb rack with almond couscous, pumpkin, beans, mint and coriander dressing ($34.50). This dish had a beetrooty taste in dressing. The lamb was served as two large racks each about 120g (quite generous), and was cooked medium rare, perfect.
- scotch fillet with cream sauce
- duck confit with wild boar sausage served with (herb flavours – rosemary, oregano), white bean and parsnip puree, roasted beetroot and carrot. The sausage was flavoured with rosemary and oregano. The roasted beetroot leaked and flavoured the puree. The duck was perfectly cooked – crunchy skin, tender meat falling off the leg.

The service was incredible: our waiter was attentive, went over the meals with us, brought us food when the meals took to long…Things I would have liked to try, and will be back for:
o frangelico affrogato $9
o braised pork rib with fennel, red cabbage
o waygu beef with parmesan truffle oil mash $49.50

Wino’s is always a great experience, amazing food, this grublover will be back for sure.
8.5 out of 10

Jamie’s Chicken Tikka Marsala

Serves 4







6 cloves garlic, peeled
7.5cm/3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
2-3 fresh red chillies, deseeded
olive oil
1 Tb mustard seeds
1 Tb parprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 Tb garam masala
200g natural yoghurt
4 medium chicken breasts, skinned and cut into large chunks
1 Tb butter
2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 Tb tomato puree
small handful of cashews or almonds
sea salt
115ml double cream
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1-2 limes

Grate garlic and ginger and put to one side in a bowl.

Chop chilli as finely as you can and mix them with the ginger and garlic.
Heat a good splash of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add them to the ginger and garlic mixture along with the parprika, cumin, ground coriander and 2 Tb of the garam masala.

Put half of this in a bowl, add the yoghurt and chicken, stir, leave to marinade for ½ hour or so.

Melt the butter in saucepan the mustard seeds were in and add the sliced onions and the remaining half of the spice mix.
Cook gently for 15 minutes or so without browning too much – it should start to smell fantastic!

Add the tomato puree, ground nuts, half a litre of water, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir well and simmer gently for a few minutes.

Let this sauce reduce until it thickens slightly and place to one side.
Put the marinated chicken on a hot griddle pan or bbq and sear until cooked through –you can also do this on a preheated grill if you like.

Warm the sauce, add the cream and the other Tb of garam masala. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. As soon as it boils, take off the heat and add the grilled chicken.

Check the seasoning once more and serve sprinkled with the chopped coriander, and the lime juice.

Jamie Oliver's Lamb Cutlets

Serves 1

115g couscous
2 or 3 lamb cutlets, French-trimmed
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
evoo
½ red onion, finely sliced
a sprig of fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped
¼ of a fresh red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
juice of 1 lemon
1 small tub of hummus

Get your frying pan hot.
Place couscous in a bowl and just cover with boiling water.
With the palm of your hand bash cutlets to flatten them.
Dust on both sides with salt, pepper, cumin and add with a little olive oil to the pan.

When cutlets have browned on one side, turn them, adding the onion, thyme and chilli and moving the ingredients around so they cook evenly for the next couple of minutes.
Finely chop the tomatoes and parsley and mix into the couscous with a good lug of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

Season carefully to taste.

Serve the couscous with lamb and onions on top, followed by a big spoon of hummus.

Yummy Fruit Crumble

Serves 6
For the fruit
2 apricots, stoned and sliced
1 pear, cored and thickly sliced
1 punnet blackberries
1 punnet blueberries
1 punnet rasberries
1/2 apple, grated
5 Tb sugar
a good glub of balsamic vinegar

For the topping
170g/6 oz butter, chilled
225g/8 oz self-raising flour
70g sugar
a large pinch of salt
130ml buttermilk
a little extra sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.
Put the fruit into a pan with the sugar and the balsamic vinegar. Put the pan over the heat and cook gently until the juices begin to run from the berries. Pour into an ovenproof dish (a big casserole type dish works well).
Meanwhile make the topping.
Rub the cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and salt, stir well, then add the buttermilk to form a loose, scone-type mixture.
Spoon this over the hot fruit (to get a cobbled effect, flick balls of dough randomly). Sprinkle with a little extra sugar and bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with a big spoon of vanilla icecream.

Grublover comment
This recipe is great becuase it is very adaptable - you can use any fruit you have on hand - last time I made it I used apples, berries and rhubarb. Yum.
This recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s book ‘Happy days with the naked chef’.

Nigella’s Chocolate Malteser Cake

For the cake
150g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
175ml milk
15g butter
2 Tb horlicks (malt powder)
175g plain flour
25g cocoa, sieved
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the icing
250g icing sugar
1 tsp cocoa
45g horlicks (malt powder)
125g soft unsalted butter
2 Tb boiling water
2 x 37g packets maltesers

Take all of the ingredients out of the fridge so that they come to room temperature (though it’s not so crucial here because you’re heating the milk and butter and whisking the eggs). Preheat the oven to 170C. Butter and line two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich cake tins with baking paper.

Whisk together the sugar and eggs while you weigh out the other ingredients; I use a freestanding mixer for this.

Heat the milk, butter and horlicks powder in a saucepan until the butter melts, and it is hot but not boiling.

When the sugar and eggs are light and frothy, beat in the hot Horlicks mixture and then fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, by which time the cakes should have risen and will spring back when pressed gently. Let them cool on a rack for about 5-10 minutes and then turn out of their tins.

Once the cakes are cold, you can get on with the icing. I use a processor because it makes life easier: you don’t need to sieve the icing sugar.

Put the icing sugar, cocoa and Horlicks in the processor and blitz to remove lumps. Add the butter and process again. Stop, scrape down, and start again, pouring the boiling water down the funnel with the motor running until you have a smooth buttercream.

Sandwich the cold sponges with half of the buttercream, then ice the top with what is left, creating a swirly top rather than a smooth surface.

Stud the outside edge, about 1cm in, with a ring of Maltesers, or use them to decorate the top in any way you want.

Grublover comment
This cake is absolutely delicious and works every time. The mixture is really wet so don’t be alarmed or add more flour when you are pouring it into the tins.
I like to make this into mini cupcakes for birthdays. Cook them in muffin cases at 170C for about 10-15 minutes and decorate each cupcake with some icing and a malteser.
The recipe was taken from Nigella Lawson’s fabulous book ‘Feast’.

Maya Indian Restaurant…by Eve Clarkson

I have enjoyed many meals at the Maya restaurant over a number of years.
However tonight I was somewhat disappointed.

We arrived at the restaurant and were warmly greeted and well looked after.
I ordered a Spy Valley Pino Gris from the Marlborough region of New Zealand and was delighted with this wine. A friend brought along an Alexander Bridge Cab Merlot (2003) which was enjoyed by the red drinkers in the party.
Genny particularly liked the metal drinking vessels used for the water.

We were a party of 6 and 2 members were late. As we waited we ordered an entrée of Eggplant Pakoras - marinated eggplant fried in flour with a sweet and sour fennel and tamarind sauce, along with Chicken Tikka. This was the most delicious dish of the night. Chicken fillets marinated in paprika, garam masala and yoghurt, grilled in a tandoor oven. The yoghurt sauce was not needed as the meat stood alone.

Just as the entrée were served, our friends arrived. The staff were most accommodating. One of the party took it upon himself to order the rest of the meal:

Butter chicken
Lamb Rogan Josh
Palak Paneer
Plain Pulao (Basmati rice)
Plain Naan ad Garlic Naan

Andy who ordered the food, said that it was ‘well ordered’
Trevor said that the meal was nice
Anne had no comment
Lesley stated that it was exceptional with beautiful flavours
Genny said that it was delicious but lacked ‘punch

I think that the most important comments were the comments not made…

The price for 6 people (including 2 bottles of wine and corkage on 1 bottle) was $271. This calculates out at $45 per head.

In summary - disappointing in food terms with a lack of aromatic diversity I would like to have savoured, and as well it was expensive…has there been some changes sine I was there last??

Good points - great staff and excellent service, but let down by the chef.

Out of 10, I am sorry to say that I would only rate it tonight as a 6, but as this is one of my old favourites I will be back to try again.

Eve Clarkson

Jamie's Chicken Tikka Marsala

Serves 4







6 cloves garlic, peeled
7.5cm/3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
2-3 fresh red chillies, deseeded
olive oil
1 Tb mustard seeds
1 Tb parprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 Tb garam masala
200g natural yoghurt
4 medium chicken breasts, skinned and cut into large chunks
1 Tb butter
2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 Tb tomato puree
small handful of cashews or almonds
sea salt
115ml double cream
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1-2 limes

Grate garlic and ginger and put to one side in a bowl.
Chop chilli as finely as you can and mix them with the ginger and garlic.
Heat a good splash of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add them to the ginger and garlic mixture along with the parprika, cumin, ground coriander and 2 Tb of the garam masala.
Put half of this in a bowl, add the yoghurt and chicken, stir, leave to marinade for ½ hour or so.
Melt the butter in saucepan the mustard seeds were in and add the sliced onions and the remaining half of the spice mix.
Cook gently for 15 minutes or so without browning too much – it should start to smell fantastic!
Add the tomato puree, ground nuts, half a litre of water, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir well and simmer gently for a few minutes.
Let this sauce reduce until it thickens slightly and place to one side.
Put the marinated chicken on a hot griddle pan or bbq and sear until cooked through – you can also do this on a preheated grill if you like.
Warm the sauce, add the cream and the other Tb of garam masala. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. As soon as it boils, take off the heat and add the grilled chicken.
Check the seasoning once more and serve sprinkled with the chopped coriander, and the lime juice.

Linguine alla carbonara di salsiccia

Serves 4







4 good quality organic italian sausages
4 slices of thickly cut pancetta, chopped
1 lb. dried linguine
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 and 1/2 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
a sprig of flat leaf parsley, chopped
evoo
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

With a sharp knife, slit the sausage skins lengthwise and squeeze all the meat out. Using wet hands, roll little balls of sausage meat about the size of large marbles and place them to one side.

Heat a large frying pan and add a good splash of olive oil. Gently fry the sausage meatballs until golden brown all over, then add the pancetta and continue cooking for a couple of minutes, until it’s golden.

While this is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the linguine and cook.

In a large bowl whip up the egg yolks, cream, half the parmesan, lemon zest and parsley. When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water.

Immediately toss it quickly with the egg mixture back in the pasta pot.
Add the hot sausage meatballs and toss everything together.
The egg will cook delicately from the heat of hte linguine, just enough for it to thicken and not scramble.

The sauce should be smooth and silky.

If the pasta becomes a little sticky add a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water to loosen it slightly.
Sprinkle over the rest of the parmesan, season if necessary, drizzle with evoo and serve.
Eat immediately!

Grublover comment
This pasta is really rich and delicious. I is from jamie’s latest book ‘Jamie’s Italy. It’s really quick and easy to make and looks impressive.

Hollis’ Decadent Double Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup crushed chocolate biscuits (I use 1-1½ package Oreos, filling removed
3 tbsp butter, melted

Filling:
3 x 250g package Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
90g white chocolate, melted
90g semi-sweet chocolate, melted
2 tbsp (30mL) raspberry schnapps liqueur, optional

Ganache Glaze:
¾ cup (175mL) cream
180g semi-sweet chocolate

For crust, combine crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes. (Then preheat oven to 220°C).

In food processor or with electric mixer, blend cream cheese with sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each. Add vanilla.

Remove half of batter to another bowl. Stir melted white chocolate and liqueur into this portion. To remaining batter, blend in melted semi-sweet chocolate.
Pour chocolate batter into crumb-lined pan; spread evenly.

Spoon white batter carefully on top, spread evenly. Bake at 220°C for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 120°C and bake for 30 minutes longer, or until centre of cake is just barely firm.

Remove from oven and run knife around sides. Let cool completely before removing from sides of pan.

To make the ganache, bring cream to a simmer over low heat in a small saucepan. Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Spoon over cake. With metal spatula, spread to cover top, allowing some to run over edge to cover sides. Garnish as desired.

Grublover comment
Hollis says: I usually decorate it with marbled white chocolate or shards of chocolate or something similar. It looks really glam if you make those chocolate leaves out of white & dark chocolate..

Danny's Sunday Night Tuna Pasta

Serves 4 (or 2 with some leftover for monday’s lunch)








1/2 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 small chilli (adjust to taste)
1 large tin sirena tuna (best flavour: chilli in oil)
1/2 jar passata or 1 tin tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper

Put the pasta on to boil.
Fry the onion, garlic and chilli in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Don’t let the onions brown - cook them just before they are brown, that way you get a great tang.
Add the tuna and cook for 1 minute.
Pour the passata in and season to taste. Add about 1 Tbsp dried oregano.
Turn heat down and simmer until pasta is ready.
Serve garnished with freshly chopped parsley (or some other herbs e.g. oregano) and some shaved parmesan.

Grublover comment
This is a delicious pasta and I am not even a huge tuna fan. Danny always makes it for me when I am tired and grumpy on a Sunday night after a big weekend and it always always hits the spot. It’s great becuase it’s quick and easy and you can have all the supplies on hand. Make sure you use a really good quality tuna - dan won’t use anything but sirena - otherwise the flavour is not right.
Bon appetit!

Jamie’s Best Aromatic Curry

2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
3 fresh green chiles, seeds removed and thinly sliced
A handful curry leaves, ripped into small pieces
2 thumb-sized pieces ginger
3 onions, peeled and chopped
6 tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 or 2 wineglasses water (about 10 ounces)
14 fluid ounces (400 millilitre) can coconut milk
Salt

Fish version:
4 (8-ounce/225 gram) haddock fillets, skinned and pin-boned
1 knob (1 tablespoon) tamarind paste or 1 teaspoon tamarind syrup
A very large handful baby spinach, optional

Chicken version:
4 chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2-inch (1 centimetre) strips
A few cashew nuts, toasted and crushed

Vegetarian version:
1 3/4 pounds (800 grams) mixed vegetables, chopped (potatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, sweet potatoes, spinach, chard, cauliflower, lentils, beans)

Heat the oil in a pan when hot add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, then add the fenugreek, green chile, curry leaves, and ginger, stir and fry for a few minutes.
Using a food processor, chop the onion, add to pan, and continue to cook. When brown and soft, add the chili powder and turmeric.
Using the same food processor, blend the tomatoes and add to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, add 1 or 2 wineglasses of water and the coconut milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes until it has the consistency of thick heavy cream then season carefully with salt. Take this sauce as a base.
To make the fish curry, add the fish and tamarind to the sauce and simmer for about 6 minutes. Feel free to add some baby spinach at the end of the cooking time.
For the chicken version, stir-fry the chicken strips, and cashew nuts until lightly coloured, then add the sauce and simmer for ten minutes.
For the vegetarian version simply add all the vegetables to the sauce at the beginning when you add the onions. Continue to cook as normal and simmer until tender.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Medium

Grublover comment
This recipe is really fun to make and pretty easy. It takes a while the first time but it is really impressive. Serve with a nice salsa, some raita and some steamed rice. I like to steam my rice (use basmati for indian curries) with a pinch of saffron to give it extra flavour and that beautiful, rich saffron colour.

Georg Jensen Cutlery

Not for the short on change, this cutlery is an artform.

Beautiful to touch and hold and use, I thoroughly enjoyed licking the sauce off my fork at Jessica’s the other night.

The cutlery is beautifully weighted, heavy in your hand, making it a true pleasure to use.

Check out www.http://www.georgjensenstore.com

Chutney Mary’s Indian Restaurant…reviewed by Eve Clarkson

67 Rokeby Rd Subiaco 6008
(08) 9381 2099






We were looking for a good meal to share as we bade farewell to a fellow worker. Chutney Marys had it all.

The ambience is set as you approach the front door, with a carpet laid in the entrance. The atmosphere is vibrant, with large picture of India on the walls, painted in the intense warm colours of spices from the region. The staff quickly greeted us and showed us to our table. I started off with a delightful crisp Saint Clair 2006 Sauvignon Blanc a very good representative of this variety, a benchmark wine of the Marlborough region, New Zealand.

The forward planners of the group had studied the menu, available on the restaurants website. For the nine of us we selected 2 chicken dishes, 1 lamb, goat and prawn/scallop mains, as well as Saag Paneer (Indian cheese and spinac) and cuccmber raita. To accompany these we ardered some Saffron Basmati Puloo (yellow rice) and a selection
of 5 breads. The restaurant was busy, but the meals arrived in a timely manner.

Butter chicken, an old favourite did not let us down with its aromatic rich smokey flavoured sauce. Chicken Palak was again aromatic, with a bit of a bite to it. The Goat Curry, a house speciality was tender, still relatively mild, but with a more gamey flavour. The Gosht Saagwalla again had its own individual combination of spices, with the tenderest of meats. The Prawn and Scallop Molee Curry, from Kerala in the South of India would not have been a dish that I would have selected, but was surprisingly delicious. I look forward to experiencing more of these types of dishes when I visit the region this December. The Saag Paneer, Raita, rice and breads balanced the meal perfectly.

Comments from the crew :
MArgaret oh,oh,oh….she was speechless
Melissa fully..
Hils aromatic tasty food, with piquancy - thotoughly enjoyable
Vicky each dish had ist individual aroma and flavour
Viv bloody best Indian nosh

The cost - which included a great bottle of white, and some other wines by the glass - $22 per head.

Any complaints - we were sitting near the window, and the airconditioner blew directly onto the people sitting nearest to the corner, making them uncomfortably cold.

In summary - great night, superb food, attentive competent staff, good surroundings.
Will I go again? you bet.

Out of 10 I would rate it an 8

Eve Clarkson

Tim's Spicy Mutton Curry

1/2 kg mutton (or goat) cubed
1 tspn tumeric powder
1 tbspn ginger-garlic paste
1 cup oil
8 cloves
1 tspn coriander seeds
8 peppercorns
1 tspn poppy seeds
1 tspn aniseeds
1/2 coconut grated
3 tomatoes
1 cup coriander leaves
6 red chillies
2 large onions, chopped
4 potatoes, peeled, halved
Salt to taste

Marinate the meat pieces in salt, tumeric and ginger-garlic paste for 1 hour.
Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a pan. Add cloves, peppercorns, coriander seeds, poppy seeds, aniseeds and red chillies. Brown the spices mixture.
Add onions and brown them.
Add coconut, tomatoes and brown.
Remove from stove and cool.
Grind to a paste. Keep aside.
In a pressure cooker, heat the remaining oil. Add meat and potatoes. Stir-fry until brown. Add the masala paste and salt. You may need to add water. Heat under pressure until meat is soft.
Remove from the cooker, Garnish with coriander leaves and yoghurt.
If you do not have a pressure cooker then cook the meat slowly for a long time in a big pot with the lid on.

Grublover comment
My good friend Tim made this for us last week at his goodbye dinner. It is absolutely delicious - the slow cooking makes all the flavours come alive, and the meat is tender and melts in your mouth. An absolute winner.
And while you’re at it, check out tims site Soup Toys: www.souptoys.com

the twisted fork

3 Glyde St Mosman Park 6012
(08) 9385 3854
Danny and I finally visited the Twisted Fork last night. It is a beautiful venue – small, intimate, low lighting; set in the quiet, almost spooky Glyde Street in Mosman Park. The specials were written in black pen on an old ornate mirror with a gold frame.

The food was fantastic – unfortunately we both ordered the lamb ($37) and so didn’t get to try much. The lamb was served as French cutlets stuffed with onions and herbs – it had a German flavour to it – that strong, almost mincey taste. It was tender, falling away from the bone as we devoured it. It was served with mushrooms, ‘poor mans’ potatoes, roasted capsicum, and a red wine jus. They had some very interesting things on the menu – pork trotter, steak tartare, violet crumble ice-cream, coffee panna cotta. I can imagine they would all be equally delicious and if I wasn’t so full I would have definitely hit the panna cotta.

Unfortunately the service was a bit average – there was only one man serving, and he just seemed too busy to give us any time.

$12 corkage for wine and quite pricey meals (around $30-35 for a main).
Not going to be this grublovers favourite restaurant, but it’s definitely worth a try. Although it is a bit on the pricey side, they were very generous serves, and it’s worth paying if it’s good. Check out Mosman Park video while you’re there if you’re into art-house or quirky films..

Funtastico

12 Rokeby Rd Subiaco 6008
(08) 9381 2688


We visited Funtastico last week on our lunch break after a grueling PLT exam.
I have always had a love/hate relationship with this restaurant. Hate the service, hate the characters, hate the acoustics…but love love love the food.

Funtastico is full of the sleaze of Subiaco and the attitudes in the staff reflect this. But I will continue to return as the food is just so good. Beautiful, traditional italian food, generous servings, nice wines. Leave with a full belly, one button less, and a big smile on your face.

One of my favourite dishes at Funtastico is the spaghetti alla marinara – it is baked in a cartouche (a bag made out of baking paper) which they bring to your table and slide the pasta out. This makes it really yum – the flavours all get richened and exaggerated.

This time I had the Spaghetti alla arrabiatta ($19) – it was cooked with pancetta and chili and was delicious. The pancetta had a richy, smokey flavour that penetrated the spaghetti. We also shared a pizza covered in hot sausage, mozzarella, olives and artichoke which was hot and crunchy and delicious (although I prefer a more modest pizza with only a couple of flavours where you can enjoy the dough).
My friends ordered the Risotto del Giorno (risotto of the day) which was a delicious, creamy risotto with a generous amount of prawns and mussels, finished with fresh spinach.

You won’t be disappointed with the food at Funtastico, but you may not be a fan of the service.

Chez Jean-Claude Patisserie

333 Rokeby Rd Subiaco 6008 (08) 9381 7968
26 Oxford Cl West Leederville 6007 (08) 9381 1235 http://www.chezjeanclaudepatisserie.com.au/


If you have not yet been to Jean Claude’s, do yourself a favour and go today. There is a line out the door all day long of people dying to get their hands on one of his sweet flakey pastrys, or mouth-watering baguettes. I had a chicken baguette for lunch the other day, took one bite, and had to sit down it was so good (not kidding!). Jean Claude’s cakes are also fantastic and great for a birthday or celebration.

German Love

Wow. This looks like a dream to me. German wurst wrapped in bacon, sizzling in the frypan.

The best place to go for german sausages is of course Elmars.
Elmars has three stores - one in Myaree, one in Mount Lawley on Beaufort Street, and Elmars in the Valley in the Swan Valley which is also a brewery.

Head down to the Mount Lawley store on Saturday morning for the sausage sizzle cooked by a vegetarian! haha - fantastic - you will get a bun, wurst, kraut and traditional german mustard. Leave with a big smile on your face. You may also get some taste testers inside.

The shop is full of german meats, cheeses, mustards, and other condiments. It is reasonably priced and of the highest quality. Well worth a visit.

A true grublover love.

Elmar’s Smallgoods
493 Beaufort St Mt Lawley 9328 4050
North Lake Shopping Centre, 67 North Lake Road Myaree (08) 9330 2304

Elmar’s in the Valley
8731 West Swan Rd Henley Brook 6055 (08) 9296 6354

http://www.elmars.com.au/

Nigella's Chocolate Loaf

Combine in food processor:
- 1 and 1/3 cup plain flour (200g)
- 1 and 1/3 cup sugar (275g)
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb/baking soda
- 1/2 cup (good 50g) cocoa
- 6 oz soft unsalted butter 175g
- 1/3 cup (80ml) sour cream - makes sure you get tender crumb
- good splash vanilla
- 2 eggs

Mix in food processor
Add 1/2 cup water just off the boil and mix more
Give it a stir
Add 1 cup (175g) chocolate chips
Stir the chips into smooth batter
Put in loaf tin (2pound tin) line with foil and pour batter in
1 hour in 170 degree oven

Chocolate syrup
Fill pan with 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
Whisk (don’t stir on the heat)
You want the syrup to bubble away until it is thickened

When cake is out puncture top of cake so syrup can come down.
Then drizzle with syrup.

Then top with shards of chocolate.

Tigerlils

437 Murray St, Perth(08) 9322 7377

Tigerlils is "restaurant" by day, and turns into a trendy bar at night. It’s really just the old Spirit Soundbar spruced up with some Chinese lanterns.I went for lunch last week with a few girls from work and was severely disappointed.I ordered the thai beef salad ($19). The girls ordered pad thai ($17) and a fish curry. The meals were bland and boring and I got violently ill that night from my meal. The whole salad tasted like it had been dumped on the plate out of a bowl in the fridge.Thumbs down. Don’t bother.

Claire's Favourite Orange and Poppyseed Cake

4 eggs
250g butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 jar of masterfoods poppyseed
1 teaspoon of bicar soda
1 cup sour cream
5 teaspoons of vanilla essence

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time while still beating. Add poppy seed. Beat in soda and sour cream.
Fold in flour and vanilla.
Bake at 180C for 1 hour.
Dust with icing sugar when cool.

Grublover comment
This cake is delicious and pretty much a winner with everyone. Serve it with some thickened cream mmmmmm.
I love making these into little cupcakes - cook for about 20 minutes instead and turn the oven down to 170C
Orange: Instad of vanilla add rind of 2 oranges and juice of 1 orange - you may
need a little extra flour if mixture is too wet
Lemon: You could also make it a lemon and poppy seed cake as another alternative

Passionfruit Sponge

4 large eggs
170g caster sugar
½ tsp natural vanilla extract
60g cornflour
60g self-raising flour

passionfruit curd
3 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup passionfruit pulp (about 2 passionfruit)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
75g unsalted butter, chilled, chopped
80g caster sugar

Passionfruit icing
125g icing sugar, sifted
20g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbs passionfruit pulp (about 1 passionfruitr)
1 cup pure thin cream, whipped, kept chilled

Put passionfruit curd ingredients in a heatproof bowl.
Sitr continuously over a pan of simmering water for 25-30 minutes until the curd is glossy, easily coats the back of a spoon, and holds a trail when you run a finger through I t. Strian and cool slightly, then refridgerate for 3 hours or until completely cold and thickened.

Preheat the oven to 180. Lightly grease two deep, round 20cm cake pans and line the bases with baking paper.

To make the sponge beat eggs, sugar and vanilla using beaters on high for 8-10 minutes until sugar has dissolved and mixture is pale and creamy. It should hold a ‘ribbon’ shape when drizzled from the beaters back into the bowl.
Sift the flour and cornflour together 3 times to ensure it is well aerated. Sift flours over the egg mixture and gently but quickly fold into the mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix or you will beat out the air.

Carefully divide batter between prepared pans.
Bake, without opening oven door, for 20 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and browned on top and have slightly shrunk away from t he edge of the pan.
Cool in pans on a wire rack for five minutes, then trurn out onto the rack to cool completely

To make the icing, combine icing sugar, butter and 1.5 Tb passionfruit pulp in an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. If needed, add remaining pulp, a teaspoon at a time, until the icing is of a smooth, flowing consistency.
Ice the bottom (flat side) of one cake with a palette knife or spatula – let it run down the sides a little if you like. Then leave it till it has set.
When ready to serve, spread the other sponge cake with the passionfruit curd, then top with the whipped cream. Place the iced cake on top and serve immediately.