Nero's Italian Restaurant

On the day before I left Perth, Yi Hua and Denise took me to Nero's, an Italian Restaurant located alongside Albany Highway at Gosnells after finding out that I hadn't had my Chilli Mussels and Fish & Chips experience yet.



The setting at Nero's is a simple one, nothing fancy schmanzy like the Nero Vivo or Neroteca in KL, don't misunderstand though, these Neros are not related... though I'm just curious what does Nero means?? Anyway, as you can see from the picture above, the table setting is pretty simple too. There is a sheet of white paper that lines every table for patrons to...



... Draw! Scribble! Write! Color crayons are available. And as you can see, that's Denise's and Yi Hua's scribbles.



One of the things I noticed here is that the restaurants or eateries provide tables with a bottle of iced water and it comes refillable rather than having a waiter/waitress refilling glass by glass, table by table. The bottles are rather pretty too. I quite like the refillable water concept here, I shall do the same if I happen to open my own restaurant in the future!


Chilli Mussels- $11.95 (appetizer) or $18.95 (main)
Local mussels steamed in white wine, cooked in napoletana sauce with a hint of chilli

They say you haven't been to Perth if you have not taste the Chilli Mussels! Luckily I had the opportunity to have 'em before I leave or else I might have been accused of not been to Perth at all! The mussels look pretty big but opened to reveal an average size mussel. The sauce is excellent, alittle spicy and one can really taste the white wine. The mussels are fresh too. An excellent appetizer to open up one's appetite!


Venezia- $11.50 (entree) or $13.50 (main)
Ham, cabanossi, cheese, olives, mushrooms and green peppers

We had a Venezia pizza to share but unfortunately I was too stuffed that there wasn't any space left to fit in a slice of pizza. However, there were unrecorded testimonials from the other two ladies that the pizza was good. We even had leftovers which was subsequently ta pau'ed for Yi Fang and her mom and they too said it was good. So, yeah the pizza should be good.


Rump (350gm)- $22.95
Prime quality rump steak chargrilled to your liking with a choice of pepper or mushroom sauce. Served with golden chips and a side salad.

The affable Denise had the Rump Steak but I think she did a mistake by calling it for medium well. The steak came out... well. It was dry and a little bit stiff. I think steaks should be done medium rare to have that pinkish inside but brown chargrilled outside, like the one I had in Outback Steakhouse.


Fettucine Alla Carbonara- $10.95 (entree) or $13.95 (main)
Creamy bacon and mushroom sauce served with fettucine.

Yi Hua had the carbonara in entree size. The good thing about ordering in Nero's is the flexibility of allowing their patrons to choose whether they want their meals in entree size or main to allow for more variety of food for sharing or if you can't have a huge serving on your own although the price difference is only by about $2 to $3. The carbonara didn't receive a good response from Yi Hua as she said it tasted 'funny'. Hmmmm..... two misses and two hits so far.


Pesce E Patatine Fritte- $19.95
Freshly battered fish, lightly fried. Served with golden chips and a salad.

Don't let this less than English name of this dish fool you. It's actually only fish and chips lah. I'm a huge fan of fish & chips so I MUST HAVE IT after hearing from an ex-supplier that the seafood in Perth is really fresh and good. The Pesce E Patatine Fritte fish & chips came in 2 big pieces and was really fresh. The flesh was easily detachable.


Tiramisu

Though we were already very full, there was still room for dessert! Tiramisu was our choice that day. The Tiramisu was quite good, spongy and fluffy with an adequate taste of coffee. Pair it with the whipped cream and it was Buon Apetito!



Look at the amount of food we had to feed 3 girls!


Nero's
2328 Albany Highway Gosnells,
Perth, Western Australia.
Tel: 08-9398 2011
Business hours: Open 7 days a week, 11.30am till late
www.neros.com.au

Chinese Dim Sum in Northbridge, Perth

Perth is one of those places where you can find a lot of Asians, particularly Chinese, regardless of Australian born Chinese or Chinese Chinese or Malaysian Chinese... you get the drift. Perth is also a popular choice among Asians as a migration destination, especially Malaysians, pretty much like how the Hong Kees superlove to migrate to Vancouver, Canada- at least most of the TVB dramas tell us so.

I guess it's a universal thing that all major cities in the world has a Chinatown. The Chinese are probably some of the most commonly found people all over the world, regardless of whether they're pure Chinese from China or Chinese born. I saw from the TV once, on the Guinness World Records program that the most widely spoken language in the world is not English, but Chinese. Heh, beat that!



On the second day of my stay in Perth, we headed out to Northbridge which is within the city for a dim sum brunch. This particular restaurant is called Northbridge Chinese Restaurant but if you know how to read the Chinese name, it is called 'Luk Fook' or Six Happiness, but I guess for simplicity and not to confuse those poor ang mohs, the English name of it is just named after the area. It was a Sunday and the restaurant was already packed with people lining up outside.



We managed to secure a table thereafter. The tables are quite big, meant to fit 10 but there were only 5 of us, so kinda wasted half the table heh. There were waiters and waitresses (all Chinese who speaks Cantonese, suspect they're from HK or maybe students from Malaysia doing part-time) carrying trays of food and some pushing carts from table to table. Quite a comforting sight to know that some of the traditional ways of having dim sum are still around especially in a Western country.


Meat Floss Flower Roll Buns


Fried Lobak Gou


Fried Calamari


Yam Cake


Fried Fish Balls


Fried Triangular Fish Cake

There are some stuff here that are not seen back home, for example, the fried calamari. There are also the same stuff but cooked different ways, like the yam cake and fried lobak gou which is just plain lobak without eggs and beansprouts. The meat floss flower roll was pretty good and so are the rest although I find the yam cake abit weird and bland. I like the fried fish balls though as the fish was springy and hot from the frying wok! Shiok!


Siew Mai


Har Gao

What's a dim sum meal without the obligatory Siew Mai and Har Gao which are like the King & Queen of dim sum. The K&Q tastes not too bad, perhaps even better than some dim sum places in Malaysia. I notice that the size of the dim sums are quite big here, perhaps to cater to the ang mohs.



After our satisfying meal, we went walking around Northbridge and Chinatown which isn't really big. Here you will find Korean, Japanese, Malaysian, Indian and Chinese restaurants.



I was told that Bubble Tea is very popular among Asians here. It is like THE place and THE drink for Asians. So being a tourist, I had to see for myself the Asian culture in a Western country.



My tourguides brought me to their favourite bubble tea place called Utopia. Truth to be told, there's nothing great about the place at all, it's poorly ventilated and you won't catch me hanging around there. As if the sun's not hot enough, it was getting stuffy and warm in there. Anyway, from what I observed, ang mohs love bubble tea too. The counter is managed by Asians though. They say the cups are quite easy to notice though, spot anyone with an orange cup and you'll know it's bubble tea from Utopia.



The process to get your bubble tea is simple. They have a list of flavours and types of bubble tea on a sheet of paper at the counter. Take a pencil and tick what you want with what kind of jellies you want in your drinks, for ie. black pearls, rainbow jelly, pudding, chocolate pudding, honeydew, grape etc. Queue up to hand your forms and pay. Then wait for your drinks to be shaken and stirred and then you're good to go!

I had the Honey something flavour and they said it was bad even before I tried it myself! Such encouraging sneak previews, hmmph!



Anyway, it's Friday! Go partaaaay, have a cocktail or toast over a scotch for something good you've done over the week, can be whether you've done a good deed, perform well in school or got a job well done at work. I'll toast mine here for surviving the first week at work and finally getting my external email and internet access! (which loosely translates to... I can access my blog from work!)

Yay!

Best Chap Fan Award

New SS15 Subang Jaya market

This is a little deviation from the ongoing Perth posts as I'm too tired (from yawning at work) due to having to wake up early and reaching home late due to the jams at Federal Highway. It seems like I can never get away from being stuck in the jams even after changing jobs. What's worst was yesterday when I made a wrong decision and ended up having to make a huge turnaround only to end up back at office area and endure the whole jam process again! Really frustrating!





If you've been hanging around Subang long enough (ie. was/being a student at the nearby school or colleges, or work nearby) you'll probably know the existance of the Awesome Chap Fan at the market or pasar as we would all call it. It is quite famous and has established itself as the place to go to if you're on a tight budget but not so tight stomach. This chap fan stall has been around for years and has probably fed many of the scholars and graduates around the SS15 area. It used to be under the shabby dodgy atap zinc area near the old market but has been relocated to a better and cleaner new market. Beware though as the regular stray cats are still lingering around...





What I like about the chap fan here is that it looks like a buffet and you can help yourself like you're on a buffet line but you pay nothing like the buffet. Pasar chap fan is known to be cheap but they don't compromise on the taste. The signature item on the buffet line is none other than the Fried Chicken which is a MUST HAVE. It is always fried fresh from the wok, so you know the fried chicken is warm, tender and crispy. You can almost spot everyone's plate having a piece of fried chicken.

Another favourite of mine when it comes to chap fan dining is the braised potatoes in soy sauce. I love anything potatoes and especially that dish as it goes very well with white rice.



After selecting all the dishes you want (dine-in or takeaway), you line up to this mak cik and she'll tell you how much and also ask what drinks you want. This mak cik, folks, is a legend herself. Her classic, legendary, signature lines that you'll always remember after eating here at least once, after ordering your drinks, are,

"Leng Chi Kang satuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...."
"Hoi Tei Yeh satuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...."

If you hear anyone speaking like that from far, it must be unmistakenly her. But other than that, she charges quite arbitrarily but not too expensive.


Sea Coconut Ice/ Hoi Tei Yeh- RM1


Leng Chi Kang- RM1

Though eating in pasar means saving on money, it can become quite a put off when the sun gets very hot. You'll almost be sweating as much as you'll be eating, so sometimes people don't quite like to eat here. But hey, isn't this the Malaysian experience? To 'counter' the heat, have a bowl of refreshing sea coconut or leng chi kang at only RM1 per bowl. These two are quite often the default drinks for most chap fan eaters here.


Chap Fan Sample #1

My friend had the above selection with a drink (can't remember what but it's not the default drinks) and he was charged something between RM4 to RM5 due to the fried fish. Prices have gone up for fish I guess...


Chap Fan Sample #2

Another friend had a simple meal of just a piece of fried chicken and some cabbage with curry gravy and a bowl of sea coconut. He paid RM2.70, which means the plate of rice is only RM1.70.


Chap Fan Sample #3

I had the above selection- braised potatoes, curry potatoes, long beans with brinjals, some pieces of sweet and sour chicken and a piece of fried chicken. I also had a bowl of sea coconut. I paid RM4.50. Quite a steal for the variety of food I had.

I'm just thinking, if chap fan stalls had to do accounting entries and their accounts have to be audited, I think they would fail terribly as there is no proper guidelines to dictate how much should three pieces of potatoes or a scoop of curry gravy or two chunk of meat patty cost. Some chap fan owners are just so horrible!



I really miss having my meals here but it's better now as I can still have chap fan and it's for free at the cafeteria! Heh. The good people from HR is bringing A&W to our cafe tomorrow though, so coney dogs, rootbeer float and curly fries for lunch tomorrow! Awesome!!


SS15 Pasar Chap Fan
Jalan SS15/8A,
47500 Subang Jaya.

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Bottle Shops

Prior to the Perth trip, I have never thought alcohol can be so easily and conveniently obtained, besides getting it at the supermarkets of course. Itulah, macam katak di bawah tempurung, never been outside of Malaysia before, so didn't know there was such a thing called Drive-Thru Bottle Shops.



These Bottle Shops are aplenty around Perth, just like how you can find a McDonald's or Hungry Jack's at every corner, and I'm assuming it's a normal thing in the whole Australia as well. Not all are named Bottle Shops though, I've seen stores by the name of Cellarbrations (which I think is quite a great creative name!), Thirsty something, and blablabla. But generally they're known as bottle shops. Beer and booze is the staple drink of the people here, much like our Ais Limau and Teh Tarik. We have one thing in common though, the Australians will probably suffer liver problem or beer belly while us Malaysians will have diabetes.

I'm still sticking to my resolution of drinking water! Of course, you can't say no to booze once in awhile ;-)



Not only booze is available everywhere, they also make buying booze a hassle-free and convenient process for lazy bums! Drink more, buy more, and have a more visible beer belly! Yay! Just drive through the pathway, order your booze from the shopkeeper manning the counter, pay and drive off! But of course, no drink and driving :)



If you're the type who wants to put some effort in selecting your booze, there's always the self service option. Park your car, get down, choose your booze from the selection available, and pay!



But I suppose stores like this can only survive in Australia or US or other less Islamic and high crime-rate countries. Can you just imagine if we have one of these in our country? The poor shopkeeper would either be robbed and murdered or the shop will be sabotaged by those holier-than-thou politicians and so-called religious officers.

p/s: Have you seen pictures of our Minister's son drinking like he was a non-Muslim in the internet? Well, preach all you want about Islam and the don'ts but here's the perfect epitome of holier-than-thou.





I wanted to grab a pack of 6 of the Smirnoff Black Ice to bring home but sadly we couldn't find one that was 24 hours and it was already about 2am in the morning and I was leaving in few hours time :(



I had my first and last Smirnoff Premium Ice Double Black at Burswood Casino (no I didn't gamble) and it was really awesome. Contrary to first impressions, no the bottle is not neat vodka but has already been mixed with some citrusy flavour. I think it has 6.5% alcohol content so it's almost like your Kampai drinks. I can't remember how much a bottle cost here but don't think it was that cheap though.



Can anyone tell me where we can get bottled pre-mixed Smirnoff here?

I'll leave you guys with another awesome picture of the sky. I like how the crane is in the foreground though :)

Little Creatures Brewery

Little Creatures Brewery is listed in the Lonely Planet website as one of the attractions in Perth. Earlier on before making my way to Perth, I had sent a list of places that I would like to visit (according to Lonely Planet and various travel sites) to my gracious hosts and Little Creatures Brewery was one of them.



Little Creatures Brewery is located at Fremantle and it was the day's agenda that we visit Fremantle and drop by at the brewery for lunch. Coincidentally, the kangaroo satay that Fang has been raving about since I met her during CNY was at Little Creatures!



The brewery is quite a popular place for locals here as when we were there, there was already quite a full house and we were given a number (which was written on the green rubber dinosaur). Once it's your turn, they will write your number on a small black board and hold it up high and ring the bell. It is important to stay alert!







The brewery is rather big, so there are a few sections to it. The restaurant area where people can walk in to drink and dine, the bar area, where you can just hang around sipping your freshly brewed beer, the brewery itself with all the big metal tongs and pipes, and the souvenir area where you can pick up a carton of beer, some teeshirts and souvenirs.



Little Creatures also offer free bicycle hire with their signature red bikes. Ride through the lush greens with blue skies and cooling breeze from the sea AND a beer in hand gives u the PERFECT Australian experience!



We were seated soon after. The waitress handed us a menu which proudly claims that they reuse and recycle :) Not a bad looking menu though, simple and straight to the point though I would prefer my menus to be descriptive and with visuals!



As usual, always let the hosts do the ordering! When in Australia, eat as the Australians do! Ok, in this case, just eat whatever people say is good!


Marinated Kangaroo w Bush Tomato Chutney- $19

The much anticipated, raved and craved kangaroo meat!!!!!! Looks pretty damn yumm to me already!



So how does kangaroo meat taste like? Well it looks and taste pretty much like beef, slightly chewier but still soft and tender. The meat was done in medium rare which is how it should be done as I predict any more well done it would be like chewing on your japanese rubber slippers. FYI though, the kangaroo is not a protected animal in Australia as there are just too many, wild and running free. That's why we kill 'em and eat it.


Mushroom, Mozarella, Olive Pizza- $17

This was my first pizza in Perth. Also my first to the many pizzas I have eaten throughout my week-long trip. The pizza is wonderful, fresh from the oven. Crust was thin so you're actually eating real pizza rather than just dough like *ahem* Pizza *ahem* Hut. The mushroom toppings taste pretty good, oven roasted to perfection and it's not a pizza without the cheezzzze!


Lemon Lime Bitter

Lemon Lime Bitter is like the default drink for people who has to drive but still wants to go out drinking in Australia. It has very little traces of alcohol (vodka I think) and tastes pretty refreshing. In Australia, they take drink driving very seriously. So I think this may be a very good training ground for aspiring GOOD drivers (they put signals for every single freaking turning even if everyone knows that way is a turning way- quite annoying sometimes but hey it's good driving habits!).


Meet your friendly chefs at work!

Although we did not have the chance to tour the Brewery, we did bought 2 cartons of beer back home to sample. The brewery produces a range of beers to suit your palate, from Pale Ale to Pilsner to Rogers and Bright. Don't ask me what the differences are because I don't drink beer! IMHO, it's even harder to drink than hard liquor or whisky which some people say smells and taste like cockroaches for that matter!


A cutie for you!

~

My first day at this new job was pretty boring. But let me tell you the awesome cafeteria! It looks like a real cafe slash restaurant! There's the usual economy rice, mee goreng, kuey teow etc (but with nice setting!), western fares and sandwiches. The HR also informed us that on Fridays, sometimes they will get outside restaurants like Tony Roma's, Nando's and Manhattan Fish Market to cater in. Does that sound awesome or what! No, no not the bestest part yet.

Lunch is paid for :DDDDDD

Every employee gets an ID tag which is pre-credited with an amount every month to buy food from the cafeteria. Then there's also the provided nasi lemak breakfast and little teatime munches at the pantry. Oh and a Nescafe dispenser, woot! The toilets are very nice, sleek and clean too. So is the whole office...

Though parking's quite a bitch at the moment. And me having nothing to do on the first week, WITHOUT internet omg. So I can't reply to comments :(

Ok nvm think of the awesome lunches.


Little Creatures Brewery
40 Mews Rd,
Fremantle 6160,
Perth, Australia.
Tel: +(0061) 9430 5555
Business hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-24:00, Sat-Sun 09:00-24:00
www.littlecreatures.com.au