Recipes, Reviews, Profiles, Tips and other information from the world of master chefs
Tao Cafe, Innaloo
We have been to the Tao Cafe in Innaloo a couple of times. The staff young but always efficient and friendly. The restaurant covers three nationalities, Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese, and surprisingly seems to do all of them well. The restaurant is very family friendly, and provide regular table sitting, booths or you can sit along the sushi train. Our favourite entrees include the spicy Thai fish cakes, fresh Vietnamese rice paper rolls, and a plate or two from the sushi train. There are a few kids meals such as kung fu fried rice, but we prefer to let them choose a plate from the sushi train. All meals are of very decent size and the price is reasonable. For mains, we have nto had a bad meal. You can eat around the world with the tom tum noodle soup (Thai), Pho tai (Vietnamese) and Chicken teriyaki (Japanese).
Other Things You Should Know
- BYO beer and wine. Corkage $4 a bottle, but not sure about beer bottles!
- open for lunch and dinner every day
- entertainment book 25% off (up to $25)
Location & Contact
- address: 381B SCARBOROUGH BEACH RD, INNALOO 6018
- phone: 92044774
- web: www.taocafe.com.au/
Harvest, Kyoto
An amazing buffet format restaurant in Kyoto station area that offers a large variety of Japanese food, with the aim of being healthy and natural using seasonal ingredients. A sign out the front says their philosophy is the “beauty comes from a healthy body”. And best of all it is all you can eat! We used the opportunity to sample a wide range of foods that we would not normally try, knowing that if we did not like it we could always try something else. There were a few surprises and overall a very good experience. It is not the cheapest place to eat, but worth a splurge if you want to try something different.
Other Things You Should Know
- the restaurant is all you can eat buffet style
- limit to 90 minutes per sitting
Location & Contact
- address: among the other restaurant in the basement level of Porta, the Kyoto Station underground shopping center
- website: none
Ninniku Jip, Victoria Park
We heard about Ninniku Jip because of the children’s playground inside, a reason to go there with my kids in itself. We have also recently been to Japan, so were interested in eating more of that cuisine back home. The large sushi selection was a great place to start for our kids meal (we tried the Torimaki), though there was a specific kids meal menu too (nuggets and streamed rice!). Another favourite of ours is japanese gyoza which we were glad to see on the entree menu. We always look for something new and different on the menu, so some kimchi was in order (a traditional fermented Korean dish made of cabbage or other vegetables with varied seasonings). We tried the Kimchi & Pork Rice (Kimchi and pork stirred with rice and served with a sunny side up egg), and Kimchi Nabe (soupy kimchi with pork served in a hot pot). Very tasty and enjoyable. Next time (yes, we will go back) I’ll be trying the Yakisoba.
Other Things You Should Know
- open Mon,Fri-Sun 11:30am-3pm, 5pm-11pm; Tue,Thu 5pm-11pm
- Ninniku means garlic in Japanese, and Jip means house in Korean
- BYO wine (corkage $5)
- If you have the Entertainment Card, you can get 25% off total bill
Location & Contact
- address: 867 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park WA 6101
- phone: (08)9355 1988
- web: www.ninniku.com.au
Jaws Sushi Restuarant, Perth City
The Jaws Sushi Restaurant is located in the Hay Street Mall in Perth, Western Australia, and has been around for a long time. It can get very busy with the lunch time work crowd, so avoid the rush hour if you can. There are not a lot of sushi train restaurants around Perth so if you want that experience it is a good place to go. The mostly Japanese staff are happy and friendly. They offer what you expect for such a restaurant, with plates ranging from $3.10 to $6.80. There are a couple of other places in the Jaws chain around town – East Perth, Forrest Chase and London Court.
Other Things You Should Know
- open Mon-Thurs 11:30-19:30, Fri 11:30 – 21:00, Sat & Sun 11:30 – 18:00
- the first sushi bar in Perth
- if you don’t want sushi, there is a range of other menu items to choose from
- BYO wine only
Location & Contact
- address: Shop 1, 726 Hay St, Perth
- phone: 08 9481 8280
- web: www.jawssushi.com.au
Wagamama is a successful international restaurant chain, with more than 90 restaurants around the world. They serve great food at reasonable prices. You will have to sit side by side with strangers, but that is part of the experience. They serve Japanese and othee Asian cuisine inspired food, mostly noodle and rice dishes. We have been to several, the latest was in Subiaco, WA.
Food & Drinks
The restaurants are kid friendly, which is part of the attraction for us. Not only do they provide crayons and paper for the kids to play with, but all children under 12 eat for free. The children’s menu is not the standard chicken nuggets and chips, though the majority of their choices did have chicken. The rest of the menu is mostly noodle as expected, but a good choice of flavours and regional specialties.
Our Meals
I had Yaki Soba – teppan-fried soba noodles with egg, chicken, shrimps, onions, green and red capsicum, beansprouts and spring onions. garnished with mixed sesame seeds, fried shallots and pickled ginger. It was a good as it sounds. My partner did not have such a great experience. She ordered a vietnamese beef salad from the specials menu. It came out bland with the noodles undercooked. She is not one to send back food, but she had no choice this time as it was unedible. They happily took it back and returned with the same dish cooked as it shoudl have – cooked noodles and lots more flavour. The chef apparently cooked it this time! For the kids meal, we chose chicken skewers (Yakitori), which came on a fun serve of long noodles.
Service
The staff were great, even though we moved tables to get a better view, and sent back one of the mains. Young and cheerful, they were efficient and there when needed.
Ambiance
It was a windy evening, and we were not too sure about our choice to sit on the balcony exposed to the elements a bit. The space to ourselves and the comfy lounges made it worthwhile. It is probably easier to eat your meals seated at the long tables.
Price
Reasonably priced meals, which you would expect for a mostly rice and noodle menu. Drinks were a bit pricey, I never like paying over $7 for a local beer.
Overall
It is a nice casual place to go out, and not too expensive. We will go back.
Contact
Wagamama Subiaco
Shop 1 / 3 Roberts Rd
Subiaco 6008
phone (08) 9388 6055
web: www.wagamama.com.au
