This is what happened the day after I stayed up the whole night watching movies......

No 1 – Wake myself up with a cup of coffee eventhough it’s 12.30pm

Good coffee in Perth is hard to come by and is more expensive than Melbourne. Research needs to be done and even if you are armed with information, you might still be disappointed. This was the case today. The cafe recommended was supposedly one of the best in Subiaco, but the one I had was burnt and the milk was so hot that I had to wait for it to be cooled down whilst waiting for the train.

In the 2 weeks I have spent in Perth, I have found couple of coffee places which have done these beans justice:

• Spring Espresso in Subiaco - Probably one of the best latte I have had. The milk was silky with the creamiest foam. This is a place that I wouldn’t have even known about if not for a recommendation from the owner of the bakery across the road from my apartment in Perth. According to the owner, the guys at Spring travel all over Australia to compete in Barista competitions.
  
• Ristretto Espresso - These guys are definitely serious about their coffee and are known as the espresso specialists. They roast their own beans and have two types of beans on offer each day. They also use Bannister Farm milk which I have noticed to be the milk of choice in the better coffee places in Perth.

No 2 - Deal with ny craving for Indian

Indian is one of the foods that I will crave and crave and then I will completely forget about it. I definitely woke up this morning with a prominent craving for Indian. When I was working in Perth before this current 3 months secondment, I had a workshop in a hotel in Northbridge and my Perth colleague mentioned that he gets his Indian hit just down the road from the hotel. Hence, I decided to give this place a go. As I arrived, I peered into this unassuming place half awake and saw the first good sign, the place is filled with native Indians. On top of that, there were serving the street foods that I remembered from my time in India last year.

Being the glutton that I am, I wanted to try as many things as possible. Hence I settled for the non vegetarian thali. I was also tempted by the mango lassi which were on every table in the restaurant. The lassi arrived promptly and is exactly like the one I had in India and definitely hit the spot.

Whilst I sipped on my lassi, I noticed that although the place was slowly getting busier, it seemed like most people were at the restuarant for its Indian sweets. People were leaving the place with boxes and boxes of these things. For once in my life, the popular sweets did not entice me at all. I think it’s probably because I find Indian sweet extremely sweet and overpowering. Though I did remember polishing off a bowlful of Gulab Jamun in a remote Indian village last year.

Alas, my thali arrived and I was presented with an array of food which included lamb masala, butter chicken, dahl, a vegetable curry, raita and a sweet yoghurt based dessert which tasted a little like rice pudding. The thali also came with rice , pappadams and naan as well. The serving was massive and it was enough to feed 2 people. Unfortunately, as I wanted to leave some room for dessert in my next destination, the thali was left unfinished.

No 3 – Settle my craving for ice cream

Lou and I first came across Rochelle Adonis when her rose nougat was available for tasting 2 years ago in a Good Food Festival in Melbourne. We were disappointed that her nougat was not for sale and were left with only a memory of the creamiest nougat we have tasted. I subsequently read about her in the Qantas magazine on one my work trips earlier this year and also read about her house churn ice cream with interesting flavours such as Turkish delight with cardamom and pressed lime and vanilla nougat.

As I walked into the place, the staffs were busy setting up for a high tea reservation. A lady came and served me and I was telling her about how I came across Rochelle’s rose nougat. The next thing you know, the lady went back to the kitchen to tell Rochelle about my little story and Rochelle was walking out of the kitchen to greet me.

After all the commotion, I sat myself down in this little pretty place and enjoyed my scoops of turkish delight and cardamom and smashed chocolate sable and sour cherry ice cream. I was also pondering that maybe on my next special day, I might be able to have a cake as gorgeous as the one that’s in the picture below which a lady carried home from Rochelle’s. Lou and Nut are coming for a visit during the Melbourne Long Weekend and we will be heading off to Rochelle's to try her high tea. At $35 for a 2 course, I couldn't resist and made a reservation before even checking with the girls. No doubt, one of us will be blogging our experience at Rochelle's.

Contact Details
Spring Espresso Bagot Street Subiaco http://www.springespresso.com/
Ristretto 160 St Georges Terrace Perth http://www.ristretto.com.au/
Mela India Sweets 428 William Street Northbridge
Rochelle Adonis 193 Brisbane Street Northbridge http://www.rochelleadonis.com/confectionary.htm