Ross & Renée's home-cooked eggs!

We've eaten some good poached eggs at some cafés, and some less than average ones. "How hard can it be?" we asked ourselves. Our past attempts were less than successful, and the best-looking egg slid off the plate onto the floor. It was a sad moment.

After some research we decided to try two methods; the first being the standard egg in the whirlpool of vinegar water, which I chose to do. The second was the plastic bag as recommended by Gary in Season 1 of Masterchef; Renée chose this method.

An egg in a ramekin, ready to be poached!

My eggs - free-range of course!

Renée's eggs! Delicious sourdough bread from the Pearl of Highgate.

It was easier than we expected - both versions were successful and tasty, and if they were taken out 30 seconds earlier they would have been soft and gooey. The whirlpool method was easy and the eggs, after being dried on a paper towel, were great! When Renée pulled her eggs out, the plastic bag broke on both; probably melted on the bottom of the pan. This didn't happen to Gary! The eggs weren't injured, and were easily scooped out.

The verdict? Both were cooked well and looked good. In terms of taste, the plastic bag eggs were slightly better tasting, but only just.

We'll be back next time with more breakfast reviews, with our eyes keenly peeled for a perfectly-poached egg!

The Imp

Coffees!

Renée's breakfast

My breakfast!

dessert - lemon & chocolate tart

Today we checked out The Imp in Vic Park, which masquerades as a café in the morning and tapas bar in the evening. We were lucky enough to score an outside table, but the inside is equally as comfortable and it caters for the lone diner with bench seating overlooking the Highway. Not that us breakfast lovers need to worry about that!

Imp's menu covers the basics with items like eggs benedict ($13), ham baguette ($10) & tomato & fetta ($9.50). Renée chose poached eggs on toast ($9) with a side of hash browns ($3.50) whereas i had mushrooms & spinach n toast with mascarpone cheese. Renée's eggs were hard - one of her pet hates! Mine came with mass loads of button mushrooms, about 5 steamed spinach leaves and watery cheese sauce. Although it was cooked ok, i've had much better mushroom meals. The bread was crusty on both of our plates. Renée's hash browns were the best part of the meal - we think that this is because they double as the herb croquettes on their tapas menu!

The coffee was drinkable enough, but although we hung around for a while we did not want a second round. We have never understood why they insist on using sugar cubes - what happens if you want half a sugar? Wait the right amount of time until it is partly dissolved, then take it out and leave the wet mass on your saucer? Luckily we both like a full sugar so we did not have to test our theories.

To finish off we had a lemon and chocolate tart, served in a cup - it was full-on but did leave a nice taste in our mouths! It was a hard choice too, as there we many a delectable cakes and tarts on display!

The Verdict

Coffee 3/5
The Eggs (the meal!) 2.5/5
Service 4/5
Atmosphere 4/5

Overall 13.5/20

Would we go again?
for their delicious cakes

Website: http://www.theimp.com.au/

West End Deli (2) - more photos!

As promised, here are some more pics of the West End Deli taken by our guest photographer Penny:

I think they're pretty amazing, and they're only taken from an iphone!

West End Deli, West Perth

Iced Mocha & Flat White (two rounds! they were that good!)

Penny's Breakfast

Ross' Breakfast (plate 1)

Ross' Breakfast (plate 2)

My Breakfast

First up, sorry for our lack of posting we've been busy working and holiday-ing! We hope everyone had a super relaxing Easter- we definitely did!

So onto our latest breakfast adventure- West End Deli, Carr Street, West Perth with one of our best buddies in tow, Poached readers meet Penny! Now my previous dining experiences at West End have been mixed but this was AGES ago when the place first opened and I keep reading rave reviews and some of our friends are totally team West End Deli! So we thought we'd give another whirl and boy are we glad we did!

On this morning it was super packed and buzzing with a cute crowd of morning breakfast goers. The decor is just right, kinda of neutral but still interesting with rustic feel- think cement, exposed walls, big wooden tables. We totally dig the vibe!

We ended up bumping into a couple of friends of ours who were just finishing up their breakfast and one of them recommended I get the morcilla hash....eeeek I'm not sure if that adventurist...blood sausage kinda freaks me out but then I decided why the hell not! It did sounds rather appealing with pear, potato, bacon and egg with bread to dip, Ross ordered poached eggs with a side of the potted mushrooms and our breakfast guest Penny ordered the brioche with double cream, pistachio and chocolate sauce. We ordered a round of flat whites as well.

Yes, the coffee was super delicious- we went back for more! Our dishes came out and I was really impressed, first of all I noticed their mix and match vintage plates which I LOVED (well, i do own a vintage shop! haha) and they got props from me before I had even tasted the food! I must say my dish was quite tasty though I think I wussed out a little as I couldn't stop thinking about the whole 'blood-sausage' thing...I am lame I know! So I ended up having complete food envy of Penny's dish. It tasted spectacular and I am a huge fan of pistachios...yum yum yum! There wasn't a scrap left on her plate and I couldn't blame her. We didn't hear much from Ross he was busy chowing down on what he described as mushroom heaven. I'll just take his word for it...haha!

The service was pretty good considering the number of people in the cafe but honestly we were too busy chatting away to notice if was actually anything but! I ended up buying a baguette on our way out because their bread was SO delicious and they baked it in house plus I enjoyed wrapping it up myself...so cute! I think we will be back to West End Cafe....it wasn't Sayers or Cantina but it was pretty enjoyable!

P.S Our breakfast guest is actually one of Perth's most talented photographers and promises to email me some way cooler images of our dishes and the venue! So stay tuned for an update!

The Verdict

Coffee 4/5
The Eggs (the meal!) 3.5/5
Service 3.5/5
Atmosphere 4/5

Overall 15/20

Would we go again?
Yes, even if it was just for their delicious coffee and baguettes!