New Year's Eve

We leave for our tour of north Vietnam in the early hours of tomorrow morning, so today was a free day for us to explore the part of Saigon that we’re staying in. All the women in the tour group went out and got manicures, pedicures and our hair done. Pampering is definitely something everyone needs to do on holidays, and what’s better than being pampered for a fraction of the price that would be charged back at home.

Afterwards we went out for lunch at a place called Bánh xèo Ăn Là Ghiền. Banh Xeo is also known as Vietnamese pancakes. They are more like a crepe than a pancake, but are much thinner. The edges are crispy and is thicker towards the centre. It's filled with any fillings you like; generally pork and shrimp. It's yellow like an omelet but the colour comes from the turmeric which is added into the batter mixture which also contains rice flour, corn flour, coconut milk and water.  

I was happy to see that they had a vegetarian section on the menu which took up a full page! Cool man! There were heaps of different vegetarian fillings, but I ended up going with the mixed mushroom one and the cassava one. They were even good enough to give me some vegan dipping sauce, which is pretty much like nuoc cham, except they substitute the fish sauce for soy sauce.  

What I also liked about this place was that they cooked the banh xeo behind a counter out the front of the restaurant. I ordered some take away for my mum and my friend and I had a good time watching them being made. They had special skillet type woks. They poured the batter along the edges so that it would pool into the centre. This way, the edges are super crispy. They had take-away boxes for the banh xeo, and put that all together in a big bag with the fresh salad that you traditionally eat it with, and of course the nuoc cham. So cool! I don't think take-away banh xeo will ever become a thing in Perth. But I'll cross my fingers for it to happen. 

The view from my hotel in Saigon :)

I also had a boiled jackfruit seed today (the two things in the front). I love jackfruit (the yellow thing on the left), and now that I know the seeds are edible, it just makes the fruit even more awesome. The seed tastes pretty good too! A bit like a chestnut :)

Toscanini's, Hillarys

My lovely nursing friend and I had a catch up at Sorrento Quay today. We figured that because Hillary's Boat Harbour is so nice, we'd be able to find somewhere nice to have lunch. My friend had some vouchers for a few places around the Quay, and we ended up using one for the restaurant Toscanini's. 

Toscanini's was a lovely place. Very spacious, with a simple but classy kind of feel to the place. They also served breakfast until 2.30pm. I love places that do extended breakfast hours!! That's already a win in my books. 

I was happy to see that there were lots of vegetarian options, and luckily for me there was a pumpkin and spinach focaccia which I was able to alter to make it vegan friendly. They also do fresh juices there. Another win! I have forgotten the name, but I had a super delicious red juice with watermelon, strawberries and apple. What a combination. So good!

The weather was so lovely today. It was a great day to be near the ocean. I think I'll definitely hit up more restaurants in Hillarys. It's a great place with this laid back kind of vibe. I think I'll come out here whenever I want to mellow out. 

Thai Corner Restaurant, Applecross

The last time I was dining along Canning highway, my friend and I went to the vegan restaurant Heavenly Plate Cafe. As we walked into the cafe, we noticed a nice Thai place right next door and we said that we'll have to try it out one day. A couple months on, we made reservations for Thai Corner Restaurant, next door to Heavenly Plate. I love crossing stuff off my list of things to do :)

The restaurant was lovely inside and seemed fairly busy throughout the night. They have received a lot of awards over the years and have them all framed and put on display in a large wine cabinet near the entrance. Good move guys, way to impress us :)

Service was lovely and I really enjoyed the food. They were happy to make their vegetarian dishes vegan friendly by omitting any fish sauce for me. The prices are a bit steep for the serving size, but I was surprisingly so full by the end of dinner that we had to get the rest to take home in containers. So I guess there was value for money in that way :)

I particularly enjoyed dessert. We had durian with sticky rice, coconut milk and sesame seeds. The both of us hadn't had durian in a while so it was an easy dessert choice to make because I think we had some durian cravings. It was served warm and was a perfect sweet treat to finish off our dinner. Normally durian and coconut are quite strong flavours, but this dessert was made so well that one didn't overpower the other, and I could still appreciate the flavour of the sticky rice too. Really top stuff. I love being a dessert person :)

Curry puffs

Ginger tofu

Mild green curry

Durian, sticky rice, coconut milk and sesame seeds

George's Meze, Subiaco

My good friend Ruth had her birthday dinner at a lovely restaurant called George's Meze in Subiaco tonight. The venue used to be a residential home, but was transformed into a restaurant. No matter where you sat, be it indoor or outdoor, there was definitely a nice cosy homely atmosphere. There isn't much space in between tables, so it may seem quite packed, but the layout still works well. 

There was some live entertainment from a young boy and a man that I assume to be his grandpa or older relative. The boy was playing a traditional Greek instrument and traditional Greek songs which was a nice touch and added a very real Greek vibe to the restaurant. I didn't get any photos of the interior of the restaurant, but the bar was lovely. 

I was initially worried that I wouldn't be able to find anything vegan on the menu, but after having a nice conversation with the waiter, he managed to ask the chef to whip me up something vegan. The chef kindly obliged and put together a great platter especially for me. I was so impressed! George's Meze is definitely vegan friendly!

The food here was great and the service was good too. I think my favourite dish of the day was the onion rings. I've been craving onion rings for a long time now, but these amazing circular goodies went above and beyond what I remember about onion rings. They were coated with an amazing crumbed spice combination. I can't even think of what spices could have been used, but oh man, tasty tasty tasty. They could just open up their own little onion ring shop and they'd still rake in the money. 

All in all, this place is worth trying out if you're in the mood for a good Mediterranean dining experience. Opa!

Saganaki – lightly grilled Greek kefalograviera cheese, served with pickled figs,

cinnamon, attiki honey and lemon.

Onion rings!

Combination of breads and Greek dips with feta, and olives, skordallia, tzatziki, taramasalata, hommus and melitzano salata.

Paithakia

- Hay Valley lamb rack served with rosemary potatoes, grilled Mediterranean vegetables

and mint Greek yogurt dressed with juices of the pan and red wine jus.

Kotopoulo

– chicken breast stuffed with semi dried tomatoes, baby spinach, feta and

black olives, served on green beans and chat potatoes.

Harvest Espresso, Victoria Park

Today was the second time that I rocked up to Crumpet along Albany Highway in East Vic Park only to discover that it was closed. I think the Heavens are trying to tell me not to eat there :P But they do vegan breakfast! I have to eat there!

Even though the original plan didn't happen, we Googled some other vegan friendly places near by and settled on eating at Harvest Espresso. I'm actually really glad we ended up dining here because I thoroughly enjoyed my vegan breakfast. I asked the staff what was available for vegans, and they gave me three delightful options which were variations of some meals already on the menu. I had the choice of the roast vegetable toasted sandwich, mushroom ragu with polenta and toasted ciabatta or tomato, wilted spinach and mushrooms on toast.

I don't know about you, but that mushroom ragu was calling my name! 

I'm quite happy with that choice because it was delicious. So flavoursome and hearty. Even though it is summer and the weather is warmer, this pot of hot ragu was so very enjoyable. The ragu had about four different types of mushrooms as well as lentils. These were cooked in vegetable stock and served over polenta. It was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a while; in terms of eating out. 

I also had the red iced tea with coconut water and pach puree. The red tea is rooibos tea. Love rooibos. It has a lovely subtle floral taste and is 100% naturally caffeine free. The iced tea was lovely and refreshing. The peach puree was delicious, and the coconut water added a nice little twist. A very interesting drink.

I really enjoyed my first experience at Harvest Espresso. I will be back again for sure. I need to try the other two vegan options on the menu :)

Outback jacks

My friends and I originally planned to go dine at Jamie's Italian tonight, but the next table available for our party of six would have to be an hour and a half wait. We decided to head over to Outback Jacks in Northbridge instead. Yes, that's quite a different dining experience to Jamies. 

 

I just had a look at the reviews on Urbanspoon for Outback Jacks in Northbridge and saw a majority of dislikes for the restaurant. This was quite surprising for me because we had lovely service and we all really enjoyed our meals. You'd think that a steak house wouldn't have a vegan option, but luckily for me there were nachos on the menu which I was able to order without the sour cream and cheese. The nachos were actually really good. There were beans, tomato salsa and avocado on a huge pile of corn chips. So plenty to fill up on. There were salads available but all of them had meat so I had to forego any of these options. None the less, I was really happy with my meal. 

Huge pepper dispenser!

Their range of steak cuts and sausages.

Although I loved the huge crocodile hanging from the roof, and the large didgeridoo thingy that was actually a pepper shaker, the highlight of the night was the good service from our waiter. When dessert time came, the waiter asked what topping my four year old Goddaughter Cathy wanted on her ice cream. He listed the options: chocolate, strawberry, banana or spearmint. Cathy's mum repeated the options to her and instead of picking one of the toppings she said "Rainbow!". So cute! Anyways, the waiter then said that he would try and use all the flavours to make a rainbow topping. He actually did an impressive job! That's great service in my books! 

Rainbow!

The restaurant also has a cool kid's room. There was a TV, four gaming consoles, toys and colouring in to do. Hours of fun for the kids. Cathy didn't want to leave. Mind you, I found a Marvel game on one of the PlayStation's, and if I could, I would have stayed longer to play too. 

I was pretty happy with our dining experience. The service was good, the food was nice and we didn't have to wait very long for them to come out. Even though there aren't too many good reviews on Urbanspoon, I'm glad that we had one of the better experiences :)

Ninniku Jip, Victoria Park

I went out to a great place called Ninniku Jip on Albany Highway with my friends Nhi and Jenni. It's a Korean and Japanese restaurant which does some Asian and Western fusion dishes like their kimchi spaghetti. Kimchi and spaghetti? My friend Jenni was daring enough to order it and apparently it's actually quite tasty so if you're a big spag bol fan, then why not give it a try :)

As we were driving along looking for the place, we ended up getting a parking spot right in front of the restaurant...love it when that happens! and what was even better is that parking is free on a Sunday night too. Winning!

The place was very spacious and there was even a whole room with children's play equipment. I'm talking a slide and everything! Like at McDonald's but probably a third of the size. They take words kid-friendly to a whole new extreme. 

The service was great and the food was very enjoyable too. There were lots of vegan friendly dishes on the menu and they were happy to exclude any fish or oyster sauce. My favourites for the night were the kimchi pancake and the vegie japchae. The pancake batter was only flour and water which is good because normally there is egg and/or milk in pancake batter. 

I like the names of the levels of spice

Tofu salad

Kimchi pancake

Vegie japchae. The noodles were made from sweet potato. This dish was super good.

Tofu Ishiyaki Bibimbap

For dessert I ordered a cute serving of orange sorbet which was served in an orange skin. Top marks for presentation. I thought it was quite unique indeed. The sorbet was very refreshing too. Perfect for warm spring night. 

Azuki beans with green tea ice cream