The Arthouse for the big 40 brunch

Searched online for quite a while before deciding on this place.

It's convenient for me who live in the city.
You can book.
It's pretty cool decor - the giant disco ball is curiously kitsch
I love the bright, light setting.
The service was really good. Our water was refilled quickly. When we had one extra person coming, the waitress kindly offered us a bigger table.

But

the food was rather average...

The house burger was too salty.
The meat was a patty with a fair bit more than just beef...rubbery
The poached eggs were boiled ...

On the other hand

Chips were crispy and fresh
Barramundi was reportedly well cooked and yummy

My avocado mousse and buttermilk crisp with heirloom tomatoes was nice but a bit light for a brunch! Even for me! A poached egg on the side would have made it a bit better. But a piece of that brioche wouldn't hurt either. The plate looks a bit like someone had a right parietal stroke and suffered from neglect...where's the other half!

So when we decided to go to Chicos for gelare, that was the best part of our meal :D especially for a 33 degree day with ice cream on brioche :D

West end deli

Ages and ages since any missions were posted. Life gets away from you so sneakily!

Anyway, I've accumulated so many "war trophies" of poached eggs from various cafes but haven't had the chance to report back to "headquarters" about it...

So it'll be rapid fire reviews from here on:

Well this is the latest mission at West End Deli on Carr St in West Perth.
Good points about this place are:
- you can book!
- Parking was plentiful.
- APPARENTLY the food was pretty good. One of us had salmon and the skin was pretty crispy...mind you she was VERY hungry :D
- The vietnamese roll with duck was good.
- The chicken quinoa salad was also reportedly good.
- The setting is pretty funky. Don't know why they put the chairs up on the roof but it looks cool.

Bad points are
- service: when I got there our table wasn't ready
                They ran out of the side of avocado green peas and mint that I ordered but "forgot" to tell
                 me.
                Gave us one less set of cutlery even though there were CLEARLY 4 adults sitting there!
             
- poached eggs were grossly over cooked

west-end-deli-west-perth

Dementing God

Dementia forces us to question what contributes to a person when the normal markers of a person gradually disappear by disease.

Yet it is clear from carers that there is a distinct quality of a person that remains, in spite of it all, that tells them, often only the carer, this is still a person, their loved ones.

In the increasingly secular world, God becomes less and less distinct, more and more distant. In a way, our perception of God is ... of a dementing God.

Much like the medicalised term "dementia" equates to something being diseased within the person, (as opposed to a normal part of life and aging) we get angry at God for not being the God we want him to be. WE are the ones that forget what the person has been before. Not unlike how Israelites forgot how God led them out of Egypt when they wandered in the desert. Consequent to that, is the seeking of idols, false gods. Consequent to a person having dementia today, is they become increasingly excluded, rendered irrelevant.

It is by what the person does and say that we INFER there is a person in that body. So when these markers are lost as dementia progress within the person, we lose these markers and we feel the person is therefore lost.

By corollary, in modern day society, we see less and less of God doing things, we no longer have new scriptures to hear what He has to say, society becomes more and more secular. Is our God dementing?

So really, it is our inability to God in these circumstances, just like a paid carer without a relationship with a patient with dementia will not see that "glint in the eye" that says who they are.

So carers hold the memory of the person, and is able to conitnue seeing the person as a person. May be that's why Christians take communion, read the scriptures, to remember God.

And in rememberance of the patient, carers continue to construct the relationship with their loved ones. By definition then, they also continue to construct themselves in this relationship.

Words don't mean anything unless there is a common understanding of the meaning of these words. In this way, a carer and her spouse have that "secret language" that gives meaning between them. That "glint in the eye" of the patient means things to the carer that no one else understands. Is God like that for Christians? So may be,if non Christians spend time to build that relationship to understand what that gesture, what that grunts means, that they too develop a personal language with God, God will remain...demented, for them.

Carers often still have happy moments with their loved ones at the end stage of dementia. The dementia experience may be foreign but need not be inaccessible. I remember visiting a lady in a nursing home, when asked where does she live, she replied "the world". So in being a carer, one does gain and grow in the relationship as well, if one tries. THis is not an entirely one sided relationship the carer works on.

I suppose the same goes for God. If we look, we see how he still intervenes.

Just like communicating with a person with dementia takes adequate time and patience, so does communicating with God perhaps.

I should say though, that "God" in this may be different for everyone too.

SoI hope at the end of this life, I have a few persons that don't define me by what I have, what my house looks like, even what I say or what I do, define me, by being with me. ,

(this is actually not my own thoughts but combination of talks from conference and an article called Alzheimer's and the dementia of God, on random google search)

Mission12 - Chinta

Tis a long weekend and the operation has been given another target - Chinta in Scarborough. The skies were blue and the day was heating up. We booked for a table at 11am. Us girls must be all wanting to savour the lie-in, we got there right on 1110. THe place had queues of people inside and outside. We were then greeted by the waitress who informed us we were 10 min late so our table had been given away! None of us said much but I wasn't all THAT happy about it. If they were THAT strict, I thought they should have said something when we booked...

Anyway, we waited for about 20 minutes before a table that fitted us came up. In the mean time, there were a steady stream of people adding to the every growing wait list.

It's really a shop plus a cafe with a back yard. I loved the furniture - really quirky and interesting. There were lots of buddhas and dream catchers of all colours. Fortunately it wasn't filled by incense smell.

I loved the wooden bench we sat on. Even in the blazing midday sun, we were well covered by the numerous paper umbrellas over head while still letting lots of natural sunlight through. The seats were all different styles. I particularly liked the big wooden benches with cushions where you could put your feet up or have a lie down - like the Romans did. However, I did find the place a bit cramped, a fault many of these little cafes suffer from. I suppose economics forces do intrude on this little spiritual haven.



The waitress forgot to give us menus but that was understandable as the place was buzzing. The menu printed on A4 refill which reminded us middle aged women of our high school days. And we reminisced over those good old days while we poured over the choices.




We wondered what the "beetroot toast" was in the vegan option but at the end of the day, we ordered choices that were more trusted old favourites. Two chorizo eggs, one atlantic eggs and two modest brekkies. THere was no "eggs on toast" as such.

Everyone were served by paper plates and plastic cups. Friends who have been here before thought it must be a change they made because it was so busy. So it had some negative impact on the aesthetics as everything was kinda squashed and mixed together.



I was kinda disappointed with my modest brekkie although I was surprised by the bacon added. The grilled cherry tomatoes and mushrooms were nice. I found the bacon too salty but then I have never liked bacon. Friends' chorizos were tender and flavourful. Oh and the modest brekkie only gets one egg. The bread was toasted sourdough. The egg was quite disappointed. It was nearly cooked, only the very middle was still a little bit runny. Friends who got two eggs said at least one of them were runny.

So overall, 3 out of 5 eggs from me. I love the surroundings. It would have been even better if it was less busy. To me the food was average, nothing memorable but may be I would go back to try the beetroot toast (hopefully it's not just beetroot on toast :D)

Mission 11 - the old laundry

I work around the North Perth area and had known for some time that Angove Street has sprouted a trendy row of cafes and shops. It was only last week that I had the chance to finally try one of these places for my operation.

It was a lovely sunny day. I was running late as usual. As I became aware that it was ...11 20 am, I started to drive like the Chinese woman that I am... Breakfast stops at 1130. My very considerate friends however, whatsapp'ed me the menu. But having been brunch buddies for so long, she knew my taste already. So her suggestion was exactly what I wanted.

I loved the ample parking on the street which was free although there were a few motorcycles, making sitting outside not quite so pleasant.

The place was busy but not too crowded. The table was a bit small for three plates of food. We however all loved the ledge on the side for us to put our hand bags and phones on. It's a girl thing.

I had the smashed pumpkin bruschetta with hazelnut dukkah, poached egg, feta, honey and dill dressing. My friend had sweet potato and chorizo hash. My other friend had the Old Laundry green eggs and ham. That consists of pork hock, green pea, polenta fried cakes, poached eggs, pesto and rocket. Then we all shared the Old Laundry peanut butter and jelly pop tart.






There was an ancient washing machine in the backyard but the staff didn't think it was a laundromat in the past. Nonetheless, the decor was trendy and unique.


My friends' meals came first so I tried a bit of chorizo and a bit of the polenta. When I saw my bruschetta, I was quite excited. It looked a good size and rather delicious.



THe smashed pumpkin was nice but better when mixed with feta. Otherwise it tended to be too sweet. Mind you, I've never really felt comfortable having pumpkin as a vegetable. There was only ONE egg! I had to deliberate for some time, how to eat it. From the absence of a photo with the egg cut open, you would be correct to assume I ate the whole egg in one mouthful. The yolk was fairly runny. It was a bit on the small side though. THe bread was ok but I always find the toast in cafes too...toasted...dry. One could argue that's why you put the pumpkin smash on it.

Friends had a few misgivings about the pop tart, namely because they made it too early when we told them we wanted it as a dessert. They apologised and later returned with the plate at the right time. However, the pop tart was cold. So we surmised they just left the plate and did not make a fresh dish even though it clearly would have affected the taste. Apart from that, there was a fair peanut butter taste and it was very pretty, with edible flowers sprinkled over.








So overall, it's a 3 out of 5 from me. THere was only one egg. I just though perhaps avocado smash or somehting would be better than pumpkin. I would go back but only because their dinner menu looked interesting and I like tapas - dates, villa queso blude cheese, ricotta, pancetta, lemon!

Brilliant day for brunch by the sea

About 25 min from Perth CBD is Fremantle Loop, a set of apartments by the sea. Underneath is this bustling cafe The Shipping Lane. The theme of shipping is around. The mirror at one end of the room is framed by a container. The feature wall is a nautical map. But the most captivating feature is the view of the sea and the brilliant clear blue skies. Although if the cafe was 1 floor higher, it would have had a much better view of the sea and the coast line.

There is a brunch menu, sushi menu and dinner menu. My friend ordered a serve of poached salmon sushi with popping candy and fish roe, a rainbow juice and the slow poached salmon salad. I ordered the avocado guacamole on toast plus 2 eggs, poached of course.

The staff came around offering water giving us time to order drinks. They were very attentive throughout actually.

Sushi came first. Perhaps they could have offered us an extra plate, seeing that we were going to share. But they automatically gave us 2 sets of chopsticks

My friend's slow poached salmon came slightly different from what I envisaged. I thought it would be a portion of whole salmon. But it came in pieces. But the most important thing was that it was nicely poached. I thought it was a bit fishy but very tender and juicy.

As for me, my guacamole smothered toast was topped with cherry tomatoes and feta. The two poached eggs came wobbling, ready to burst! There was some pepper and salt seasoning on the egg. I didn't do much egg white resection because both looked like they were on the verge of bursting already. The toast was a little bit thick for the about of egg available. Plus as my friend noted, rye bread (or some form of brown bread) was not buttered making it a touch on the dry and bland side. The guacamole could have done with a squeeze of lemon or a touch more salt. But overall, it was nice.

My friend's verdict of the coffee was a bit average. My Marrekech tea was reasonable - a bit spicy and aromatic.

Overall, the eggs were better than average but the rest of the food was probably average. 3.5/5 on the Olivia egg scale. Would be back for the view but then there is another cafe even closer to the sea 100m from here!

Sprolo- poached eggs with kayan jam

Haven't blogged for some time. However, it does not mean that I ceased my search for the perfect poached eggs on toast. Quite the contrary.

Firstly there was Sprolo. Sous vide eggs on toast plus Kayan jam. THis was a much better experience of sous vide eggs than Nul Nam. The eggs were just that tad more cooked and I didn't feel like a neanderthal eating something completely raw.

One criticism I do have is the use of packets of butter. It just doesn't look quite right. I do however always had this preference for whipped butter. It would be even nicer if it was whipped and flavoured. The kayan was good but nothing special.

THe cafe itself was nice and casual. I loved the guitars on the wall. Apparently the owners are also musicians. Although I did think my guitar loving friend might have a heart attack, seeing the dismantled instruments on the wall.

Overall, on the Olivia egg scale, 3 1/2 out of five.Losing points on just being average, nothing very special.