Sunday 17 April 2011

Pearfect Pantry, Wembley

or 'the Land of the Doughnut Buildings'

We were planning a trip to Innaloo, and came across the 'Pear'fect Pantry in Wembley as a place to have a bite to eat in the morning in the area. Pearfect's Facebook page gives an idea of the types of food they offer, including bacon, apple & smokey cheddar-baked risotto, creamy chicken & spinach pie, raw vegan chocolate cake, passionfruit & white chocolate muffins, & more - all good-sounding lunch things. Our blog is not called 'Panini'd Perth', so we were interested to note that Pearfect has a gourmet brekky menu.

Pearfect is located behind a laundrobar in a set of units. The wonderful world of doughnut-shaped buildings is only visible from the air; from the street it is more old units and rows of letterboxes. The laundrobar serves the units, and our guess is that the building Pearfect is located in might have been a common room for the units. Add some customers who looked like they have just come back from a swim somewhere or just looking generally relaxed, plus miss-matching seats, cups and plates and you have a holiday vibe. Like a caravan park. But this is a good, relaxed vibe and they make you feel at home.

I ordered a soy flat white. Renee felt like a smoothie (they had banana and berry to choose from today) and we asked if they could do a soy smoothie; they were happy to oblige. We went for the banana one. The smoothie ended up being delicious, and so did the soy flat white.


On the breakfast menu are items like smokey potato, spinach & cheese burrito with eggs, avocado salsa & sour cream ($16), which Pearfect also do in a vegan option with nut cheese and nut aioli ($16) and avocado with coriander lime pepper dressing on toast ($13.50, with bacon $16.50). I chose the homemade pancetta and maple baked beans with poached eggs & spinach ($16) and Renee decided upon the grilled potato stack with bacon, herb-roasted tomatoes, spinach-scambled eggs & toast ($16.50). Mine was cooked well, the star of the meal was the poached eggs which were flavoursome and cooked to perfection! The spinach was not astringent and the beans were a vegetable delight. Renee thought that scrambled eggs didn't have much flavour and could have done with some more herbs; the potato stack was a type of potato slice bake. The bacon was maple-lious!

 pancetta and baked beans above, and potato stack below

Although the sun was intent on making the shade under our table smaller and smaller, Tallulah and I were both relaxed, so Renee insisted on trying out the sweet treats for dessert, and out came a Belgium brownie; it  was very rich with a crispy top but oh-so-delish!



The Verdict:
Coffee  3.5/5
Eggs (the meal!)  3.5/5
Service  4/5
Atmosphere  3/5
Total  14/20


Baby T's score: 4/5 (Tallulah was quite relaxed at Pearfect Pantry - it's just like a holiday in a caravan!)

Would we go again: Probably not as we're not in Innaloo very often, but this one suits the locals!

Website: Pearfect Pantry's Facebook page

Pearfect Pantry on Urbanspoon

Friday 8 April 2011

Deli Chicchi, Mount Claremont




Looking at the above photos, I realise that I have managed to take photos of Deli Chicchi without a single person in them! How I managed that I don't know, because on this Friday morning there was a respectable crowd of customers, and staff, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere, inside and out (for the record, there is a slither of a person in the middle photo)! We used to come here with our friends, sisters Kristy and Sam. Now that they are living in London and New York, it is just ourselves today!

We grabbed a seat in the booth next to the large windows which wrap around the street corner. Tallulah enjoyed kneeling on the booth, looking out the windows. Later she snuggled up to rest between us on the booth - we got to eat together! No more strange looks from waitstaff wondering why one plate is polished clean and another untouched. We like booths. Here is a picture of a baby in a booth.


She's wearing a bat top. But that's not the point of this blog; you can read all about that in Renee's renosslah blog. This is about the breakfast, and Deli Chicchi know what's good. The diligent waitstaff brought us a menu after seeing us try to scan the blackboard menu. Among the offerings are sweet brioche French toast with raspberry coulis, fresh banana and marscapone ($18.90) and medley of fresh tomato and avocado on toasted olive bread with ricotta and fresh herbs ($18.90). I chose the omelette with chorizo, aged cheddar and spinach, which came served with some rocket on top ($18.90 - a different version also comes with caramelised leek and goats curd) and Renee picked zucchini and haloumi rosti with smoked salmon, rocket, poached eggs (sorry we missed the price for this one, but it's around $18-20). Both of our meals were delicious - full of flavour and difficult to fault. The rosti was rich and tasty- Renee was in heaven it was such a great flavour combo. My omelette was heading towards the consistency of a quiche, and the chorizo really brought it to life. Good, good, good.

 rosti above and omelette below


Baby Fact #27: nursing babies are generally intolerant to cow's milk; thus soy flat white is the new flat white. While I'm not nursing, I have a y/fw as well out of principle. After all, when you think about it drinking out of another animal's teat is kinda weird (though delicious in the case of the cow). Deli Chicchi know how to make a a good soy flat white; these ones were creamy and rich, and the soy flavour much more subtle than when done elsewhere. Good, good, good. While on the topic of drinks, I like the choice of mint- or lemon-infused water, or plain water that they offer at Deli Chicchi.

We left the delicious-looking cakes, muffins, tarts and other lunch items behind to have hot chocolates at the much-talked about Koko Black - this was generally regarded by us as a bad move, and we agreed that we should have stayed at Deli Chicchi!

The Verdict:
Coffee  4.5/5
Eggs (the meal!)  4.5/5
Service  4.5/5
Atmosphere  4/5
Total  17.5/20


Baby T's score: 4/5 (Baby T likes booths!)

Would we go again: yes yes yes its good good good!

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

Deli Chicchi on Urbanspoon