THE TUCK SHOP CAFE - NORTHBRIDGE, PERTH

The Tuck Shop Cafe
1/180 Newcastle St
Northbridge, Perth

This place has gone kind of crazy in Perth. It's reputation for great food, especially its pies, has meant it is literally packed every day and usually has a queue out the door as well.

So the big question was - are the pies here really that good? I was dining with D, we sampled a few and in short - they are!

I chose the beef, bacon and cheddar pie. It's a combination that instantly appealed to me. I love beef and bacon together and some added richness and texture from some cheddar was always going to be an added bonus. The first thing I noticed was the size of the pie when it arrived. It was huge - possible twice as high as a normal pie and half as wide again. The pastry was crisp and flaky and light when I cut into it. The filling was hot and the taste combination was delicious. This was a killer pie with big chunks of tender meat that dissolved in my mouth.

D had a special of the day - Wagyu beef. I was lucky enough to try a bit of this and to my amazement it was even better than my pie. The even bigger chunks of Wagyu were so amazingly tender and the red wine sauce went perfectly. Next time I'm certainly going to have this one if it's available!

When we first sat down the table next to us had a serving of hand cut chips with aioli and they looked and smelled so good we just had to get some. Again they were great but our pies were so big that we couldn't finish our substantial serving of chips. If you are hungry or have space these chips are worth grabbing!

Tuck Shop isn't in the most commercial part of Northbridge but people certainly seem to find it.

The pies here are amazing but the rest of the food looked great as well. It's doing very well for good reasons.

ANDALUZ BAR AND TAPAS - PERTH CBD

Andaluz Bar and Tapas
21 Howard St
Perth CBD

This is a popular place - so be prepared to wait. We enjoyed a leisurely drink at the bar for quite a while before we were seated - but they kept us updated and were polite and attentive. I was dining with good friends D and W and had been keen to go here for a while.

We started with the mixed olives marinated in citrus, garlic and thyme. There was certainly a variety of sizes. The smallest ones are always a bit fiddly - but the flavours were good. This dish cost $7.00.

The croquettes were a hit. They contained spiced pumpkin, sage and aged goats cheese and came in a serving of four. The insides were a smooth paste with tasty chunks of goodies as well. They came lightly crumbed and cost $14.00.

We then moved on to our order of grilled flat bread with marinated labna. The bread was torn into chunks and the labna was smooth and went well with the bread. This dish cost $9.00.

Any dish that starts with the words fried and buttermilk has already got my attention. So the fried buttermilk chicken wings with pimento hot sauce, smoked salt and lime was always on my list of dishes to order. The wings were nice and the sauce was tasty too - but certainly not hot. The dish cost $15.00.

The chorizotos with lemon sounded simple and everyone always loves chorizo don't they? These were small chorizo's - hence the chorizoto name. They were certainly tangy and very tasty. They came out in a decent sized serving and were cooked perfectly. This dish cost $13.00. 

We ended up with a nice Spanish red - the Romanico 'Teso la Monja' Tempranillo '10 from D. O. Toro Spain. Wines aren't cheap here - this one was at the lower end at $58.00 - but there's a good list and plenty of choices from Spain and Argentina as well.

I'm not 100% sure what this dish was - but I think it was grilled snapper. It was recommended by our waitress who was extremely helpful during the whole evening. The dish tasted nice anyway and I'm not sure what it cost but probably just under $20.00 I imagine.

For me the dish of the night was the mushrooms with crispy speck, tallegio and sage. The mixture of different mushrooms was excellent and the baked whole garlic cloves were also delicious and everything combined perfectly. The crispy speck also gave it all a little extra hit. This dish was $17.00.

We had a couple of lounges in front of a fireplace. We couldn't have picked a better spot - except we didn't pick this one - it was chosen for us. Great choice and thank you!

Andaluz Bar and Tapas is very popular and therefore very busy. It has lovely decor, great service and excellent food. While the drinks are pricey this place is certainly well worth visiting.

LA CHOLITA - NORTHBRIDGE, PERTH

La Cholita
279 William St
Northbridge, Perth

No photo's at all from here sadly but it was pleasant. Its certainly a busy place - clearly one of the hot spots lately. The food is largely Mexican tapas style but there are larger main courses as well. I was lucky enough to get to try a few dishes.






I started with a serving of the guacamole with crispy flour tortilla. The guacamole was slightly chunky with good flavours and the tortilla's were excellent too. At only $6.00 its pretty good value.

I then chose two taco's. The beef cheek with pico de gallo and a prawn one as well. They were both on small soft taco's and tasted great. I particularly liked the beef cheek one - the meat was so tender and tasty. These were around $6.00 each.

Later I tried a piece of chicken from an order from someone else. It may have been the mole negro chicken but I'm not 100% sure. The meat was tender and it had very nice flavours.

I also shared a serving of the 3 cheese quesadillas with jalapeno. It came out like two large pancakes cemented together with melted cheese - so tasty. The jalapenos were hot though - so if you're sensitive don't order this (a few in our group found it to hot). This came in four large pieces and was around $12.00.

I also had a margarita (or two). They were delicious, but quite pricey at $16.00 each.

La Cholita is popular. It has great food and good but pricey drinks. If you want to be where the action is then its certainly one of the places to be!

BELGIAN BEER CAFE - PERTH CBD

Belgian Beer Cafe
347 Murray St
Perth CBD

While the Belgian classic of moules (mussels) is on the menu with a variety of broths to go with them, they have plenty of other options here as well. The food is decent with the quantities being generous and the quality good too.





Although I sadly did not have my camera with me, my main course was the chargrilled 300gm graziers beef rump served with pomme frittes (chips) and Belgian style slaw and red wine jus. The steak was nicely cooked and the chips were crunchy. The slaw was in a small bowl at the side and was tangy. This was a decent meal - but its hard to do steak and chips badly anyway. This main cost $29.50.

For dessert I chose the orange and cointreau bavarois. This came with honeycomb shards and an orange and strawberry salad. The bavarois was nice and rich and the honeycomb shards in a chocolate sauce smear were sweet and decadent. The orange and strawberry salad was nice but seemed almost out of place with its rich partners. This cost $13.50.

Belgian Beer Cafe is a decent place to go for a decent pub-like meal.

JEAN PIERRE SANCHO - PERTH CBD

Jean Pierre Sancho
878 Hay St
Perth CBD

Its a high benchmark when a place advertises that its been "voted Australia's best bakery". In fact this is printed on their bags, serviettes - basically everything. The real question was - is it really that good? Well it certainly was nice - but the best is alwe\ays hard to tell.

I ordered a croissant and a coffee. The croissant was straight - not an Aussie horseshoe style - which was good. It had a really nice flavour, the pastry was nice and flaky and it was a decent size too.

I couldn't resist one of these sugar brioche rolls. I loved the smaller version of these in Paris and the larger one was really nice too - not as good as the French ones but good. At only $1.90 it was reasonably priced too.

I have to confess that I love a good palmier. So when I saw these large ones here I had to get one to go. Later when I had time to eat it I discovered it was very nice. Light and flaky with a great syrupy texture to it.

They serve a decent cup of coffee here as well. Nice flavours, good in every way.

Jean Pierre Sancho is a really good bakery. Is it the best in Australia - obviously it is for a lot of people. I cant agree or disagree - but I can say that the food there was very good.