Saturday 15 May 2010

Riki Blake's, North Perth

Fresh OJ & flat white


Renee's Fetta & Pumpkin Skak-Shuka

Roasted Lamb Shak-Shuka

I'll tell you a story...we used to go to Blake's all the time when we lived at our old house it was conveniently on route to my shop! But one morning a long time ago we were slightly fragile from a big night out and were craving their famous 'shak-shuka' which is a middle eastern breakfast dish consisting of tomatoes, capsicum, onion and spices topped with a egg served in a cute little metal pan. It used to (more on that later!) come with homemade bread to dip and green harissa which was the perfect condiment. We took a seat and were violated by this terrible thumping drum and bass music which continued throughout our meal- all I can say is people it is the morning and we were oh-so hungover so Blake's ended up on our blacklist....and we haven't returned until today!

We were looking forward to their food as its quite different to what we usually have for breakfast and we found a nice seat in the sun and we both started to wonder why we'd been so harsh on little old Blake's. Then we got the menu...uh oh it had totally changed! I found a copy of their old menu online which was much more extensive and had items like pancakes with honey and rose-blossom yoghurt but this new menu was stark. I remember Ross' favourite shak-shuka was lamb kofta and I really enjoyed the smoked sausage but they had both vanished! You used to be able to choose from flat, turkish or cumin rye dipping bread- nope not a option now! Anyways we settled on two shak-shukas- I ordered the feta and pumpkin and Ross chose the roasted lamb shak-shuka ($18.50) in hopes that it would actually be lamb kofta (he was dreaming!). We also ordered a flat white ($3.50) and a fresh OJ ($5.20).

Drinks came out and Ross liked his flat white and my fresh OJ was great! Bring on the food! Our meals arrived with 4 pieces of dry Turkish bread which were burnt and there was no harissa in sight... double uh oh....! Ross went and requested some harissa and was told it was no longer part of the dish. It pretty much goes down hill from here- beware! The feta was the best part of my meal and for $17 thats some pretty expensive feta! The pumpkin was hard the egg featured uncooked whites which was still clear (ew) and the sauce was just so bland and had no capscium or spices. It no longer had the pizazz! Shame. Ross' roast lamb was not kofta and was pretty disappointing. Neither of us finished our meal...which is quite unlike us.

On the plus side the service is super friendly and there was no in-your-face drum and bass beats-hooray! The atmosphere is similar to Coode Street Cafe or Lincoln's as Blakes it situated on the back streets just off Walcott Street. Lots of locals stop for take away coffees. We noticed no one else in the cafe were eating...maybe this was the problem? Anyhow, I don't think we'll be back :(


The Verdict

Coffee 3/5
The Eggs (the meal!) 2/5
Service 3/5
Atmosphere 3/5

Overall 11/20

Would we go again?
Um, no...sorry Blake's!

Blake's Cafe on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

Conor @ HoldtheBeef said...

Despite my loud complaining if I happen to be served hard poached eggs, I think I would rather that than a plate full of egg snot (yes, I said it). Gross.

Renee said...

Conor...I almost stole your saying to describe my eggs in the post but then it freaked me out a little...its so visual! hahaha

Steph said...

Riki Blake changed hands (I heard he wanted to go travelling?) and is no longer owned by the famous riki blake - hence the change in food for the worse :(

Ross said...

That makes sense, thanks Steph. We want Riki back!

Anonymous said...

Was surprised to read this post until I came across the comment regarding Riki Blake changing hands. So sad! We had a small office across the road 5 years ago and boy did I raid their cakes. Really unique menu from memory and goooood coffee... I guess some good things can't last forever :(