The Ellington Jazz Club

Ruth was telling me about a place called The Ellington Jazz Club out on Beaufort St that she went to a few months back. I love the idea of sitting in a fancy dimly lit jazz club and soaking in the sounds of the singers and instruments. In all honesty, I've never been to a jazz club before, so I didn't even know if the image in my mind was accurate.

We scoped out the performance schedule and decided on tonight's show which featured the Roger Garrod Quartet. I liked the idea of listening to a quartet play. Not sure why though. None the less, it was a great opportunity to admire all the talent from Perth. The quartet included a piano, saxophone, double bass and drums. They were four very talented musicians and the audience seemed to really appreciate their music. 

The club was pretty close to what I had envisioned. It was dimly lit with red lighting and there were plenty of tables to sit at, along with the bar and a standing area. There was even a small dance floor.

Upstairs was the cocktail area where you could bring your drink and have a chat. There were separate rooms for groups to sit in and have a bit more privacy, and in all the rooms there were TVs which fed live footage of the artists playing downstairs. 

There was such an elegance to the place, and I look forward to coming back again to listen to some sweet and soothing jazz music. 

Perth's Big Cake Bake Off and Ace Pizza in Mount Lawley

I found out about a fundraising event for the Red Cross out at Ascot Racecourse from the Perth Weekend Notes website and was quite worried that it was going to rain like it has been for the past couple of days. Yesterday in particular had very heavy rain fall and strong winds. But luckily for everyone who went out today, the weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and there was a lovely slight breeze. Perfect weather for the Perth's Big Cake Bake Off. 

The cake entries were very impressive. The novelty cake exhibition was my favourite. The talent was just amazing! After the cakes had been judged and the winners announced, you could buy a slice of cake for a gold coin donation. 

The popcorn was made out of marshmallows!!

My favourite :)

There was quite a lot to see and do, especially for the little ones. There was a petting zoo with pony rides, a bucking bull, bouncy castle, candy stall, a kids dance competition, a men's dart competition, clothes and jewellery stalls and food for sale. We tended to gravitate towards the candy and fairy floss stall :P

Little Batkid on the bucking bull. So cute.

There were also lots of goodies being raffled as well. We bought raffle tickets for a giant Toblerone and 10kgs of Cadbury chocolate in a giant novelty box. So cool...but alas, we didn't win. It's probably better that way because we already overloaded on enough sugar for one day.

All of us had never been to the Ascot Racecourse, so that was another new thing for today. No matter where I go, it's always a great time when I'm with my girls (plus my brother today) :)

I also did another new thing for today and had dinner at Ace Pizza on Beaufort St in Mount Lawley. I've seen a lot of good reviews on Instagram and so we took our friend there for his birthday. 

The restaurant was very spacious and had a very modern look to it. The walls were dark and the lighting was dim, but it all added to the nice atmosphere. The place was very busy, so it was lucky we made a reservation. 

My friends ordered two pizzas and I got the beetroot salad (minus the ricotta cheese). Unfortunately the pizza dough was not vegan friendly, but it was OK because the salad tasted really good. The serving was huge, so I was very full by the end of dinner. What I enjoyed about this salad was that it had both cooked and raw beetroot. The cooked beetroot added a lovely sweetness, while the raw beetroot added crunch. There was rocket and walnuts in the salad as well. It was just delicious. 

For dessert my friends ordered the soft serve which came with salted caramel topping, chocolate ice magic, crumbled biscotti and honeycomb. Are you drooling yet?

This is definitely somewhere everyone has to check out at least once. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

Lunch at The Beaufort St Merchant, Mount Lawley

I organised to catch up with an old friend today who my brother hasn't seen in over two years. When I told him I was going to see her, Peter asked if he could come along too. I was just about to text her and ask if it was ok for him to join us when we had the idea of surprising her instead.

The plan was to hide Peter in the trunk of my car, lead her out and tell her that I had a present in there for her.

The plan actually went surprisingly well. When she opened the trunk Peter screamed and frightened her so much that she slammed the trunk closed again. Quite hilarious :P

That was the first (and probably only time) I have (or will) put a body in the trunk of my car. But no, that wasn't the only something new that I did today. 

We had originally planned to have lunch at a new burger joint called The Angry Moose, but unfortunately it was closed today. Instead we wondered down Beaufort St and decided to eat at The Beaufort St Merchant. I've been there for breakfast a few years ago, but I've never actually been inside or tried their lunch menu. 

This place was so lovely. It was warm and cosy inside and I really liked the decor.  The food was quite fancy and well presented. I managed to order one of the vegetarian dishes which the chef was happy to make vegan friendly for me. It was very colourful with purple carrots, slices of radish, brown lentils and yellow cherry tomatoes. 

My brother and friend ordered dessert afterwards which looked absolutely scrumptious. They ordered the chocolate fondant, which had popping candy inside, and the beer creme brulee which came with chocolate ice cream. 

There's something so great about catching up with those rare and special people in our lives and tucking into some good grub at the same time. Our bellies were very full by the end of lunch and ain all, I was very pleased with my second visit to The Beaufort St Merchant.

My brother ordered the beef pie.

My vegan meal.

Beer creme brulee with chocolate ice cream.

Chocolate fondant with caramel sauce.

Peter and I loved the large cutlery on the back wall :)