Blu Grill

I got a voucher for Blu grill when pre-ordering the entertainment card, and decided to give it a shot. Sadly there were no markings of gluten free on urbanspoon or on their menu, so we had written them off as not catering towards us. However, after seeing their facebook page, they said they did indeed cater to gluten free sufferes so I sent an email. They confirmed a few dishes were gluten free, "especially the ones from the grill, the lamb, chicken, steaks and ribs. The sauces are limited to BBQ as the others have wheat in them. With the desserts we have the panna cotta and the creme brulee"

My suggestion to Blu is to identify on the menu these options, and possibly flag themselves on urbanspoon as gluten-free friendly. However, more on this later.

Blu feels new, with fresh looking paint on the walls and a very clean modern interior. We did have a few language problems with the waitress but we were very happy she double-checked the gluten content of Rebecca's dishes.

I ordered Vish's Blu Pork which is an insane parcel of filo pastry, with porchetta, a pork cutlet inside with sage, strong asian flavours with five spice, what felt like lentils. It was sided by pumpkin mash upon sliced potato, and a polenta topped by beetroot. A tangy garlic sauce was on the side. This sounds, and is, a huge combination of flavours which many would consider uncontrolled. I think this would be a valid response from someone who likes to mix all their food together on a fork and sample it at the same time. I prefer them separately and had to keep myself from 'inhaling' this dish. Presentation was impeccable.

The polenta with beetroot and bok choy could have been a meal on its own. I would never have considered this combination of tastes and it worked out extremely well. The presentation was beautiful, with the beetroot seeping into the polenta and the the bok choy gave it a lift and a little sweetness.

The pumpkin mash and potatoes, while only a little exotic served as a foundation. It did need a little salt which I grabbed.

The star of the dish was the pork 'dumpling' which was an absolute pleasure to have. The pork was cooked just right, still moist and the textures of the (lentils?) and five spice reminded me of my grandmother's specialty yam and pork dish. The garlic sauce was the perfect companion.

I wasn't too hungry after but, Rebecca convinced me to have the 'trio of chocolates' which included the fondant. I was very happy with the fondant but found it a little too runny still - only the top was solid. The chocolate ice cream was a little generic but the star of the dish was the white chocolate mousse. This was a much stiffer mousse than normal, almost to a sponge cake level.

Rebecca ordered the panna cotta but gluten free - without the biscotti. Unfortunately a mixup a the pickup counter occured and hers had the biscuits on it which resulted in a gluten attack. I saw another simultanous order go out to a table which had no biscotti - evidently the server mixed them up. After a spoonful of the icecream and biscuits she noticed, and it was replaced but the damage was done and she left in pain. The receipt did show gluten free on the dessert so it was only a mixup at the pickup counter.

I was overall happy with the food, but the mixup with the gluten forces me to reduce the score. I wanted to award a five but the accidental glutening forces me to rate this a four. I would suggest to Blu management to mark themselves as gluten free, but train the staff a little in the awareness.

Bonsai

Our Asian themed odyssey continues with The Bonsai. It has a fancy lounge feel, and appeals to the younger fancy crowd. Bonsai is big on sharing, food comes out when it is ready, which is my preferred format. The waiter was extremely helpful, and we were enjoying watching a couple who had little experience being 'surprised' by the waiter ordering his favourite dishes for them. We were impressed with the waiter's understanding of coeliac disease.

We ordered too much. I ordered the mushrooms which were fantastic, flavoursome and fresh. Definitely choose these if you are a grilled mushroom fan. Rebecca was brave and tried about a third of a mushroom I sliced off for her.

She ordered the vegetarian sushi which she loved. It had asparagus in the middle which in my opinion felt a little overpowering and grainy, she was very pleased with it.

I ordered the tempura platter, as a big fan of tempura myself. This was not death by batter, it was light and crispy and didn't distract from the prawns, squid and fish it was on. The shredded cabbage and the sauce were great touches on the side to provide colour, sweetness and texture contrasts. The squid was very fresh without much fishy taste, and the fish was very delicately flavoured - evidently not the cheap hake usually served.

Rebecca ordered a 'teriyaki chicken' but as the waiter advised it basically became honey-soy chicken. She was very very pleased with it regardless. She hinted she would be interested in trying the scallops, I had a bit of room left so I ordered them.

I didn't need to. I was having second thoughts by the time they came out and it was a struggle to finish. Rebecca decided that she couldn't fit any more and decided not to have any. They were absolutely delicious, perfect texture, and so fresh, with a beautiful twist of a tomato paste dollop on top for a lovely surprise of tastes.

Highly recommended, and fairly priced. Excellent service, but make sure you come hungry as there are so many things to try. Probably best in a group of 4 people and sharing. Presentation and colour were always amazing.

Sidenote:
I have been before and the lamb cutlets were amazing, definitely showing Rebecca those next time.

Tsunami

I had been to Tsunami before, hoping for a traditional/exotic teppanyaki experience and was let down that I had to do the cooking myself. I decided not to visit again but others who visited suggested I try something not-teppanyaki.

We ordered some fried chicken drumettes for starters, just in case Rebecca really didn't like the sushi she had ordered. (She had ordered one with raw tuna, avocado, and roe, which are things she hates or hasn't tried before. She even tried Miso soup for the first time, very proud!). These drummettes came out very hot but as expected fiddly to get all the meat from.

My main was a big soupy serving of wagyu beef, mushrooms, tofu, udon noodles with onions and lots of beansprouts. While a very nice combination, it was a very large serving and became boring after a fairly short time. It needed some brightness, so I asked for some cut chili. I probably could have asked for coriander to bring some more interest.

I had a lychee coke, which Rebecca tried (again very proud!) and it was pretty nice.

Overall I was fairly happy, four stars.

Kitsch Bar

I think it was Rebecca who suggested Kitch, but we found it very worthwhile in the end!

We parked next to the Re-Store in Leederville and found the dark, low shed which is Kitch Kitchen. It's got a very strong tropical Asian decor inside with rusty corrugated iron and timber tones. Admittedly a little dark, and cramped, Kitch definitely feels like a young person's lounge. Food comes out when it is ready so be prepared to share!

Neither of us were particularly hungry, so we started on our normal share of Sang Choy Bao. These were brought out very quickly. The duck was very rich, and had very meaty pieces (low on fat). Huge amounts of vegetable was served with them, long pieces of coriander and spring onion. With a hands-on dish like this, where we portion ourselves, we need these things chopped up! I ended up ripping what I needed. There could have been about twice as much duck meat too. However, the hoi sin sauce was excellent. There were cramping problems due to a small table and a slightly messy dish.

Rebecca ordered the coconut chicken curry, and the chili was very strong. It was dispersed in large slices, which, while adding colour to the dish, was really overpowering. I ended up picking a lot of the slices out. Perhaps fewer slices and use chili flakes to disperse it through the dish better? I loved the sweet sting of the lime, and sprouts.

The price was very reasonable, and overall we were very happy with our food.

Four and a half stars!

La Bella

We visited La Bella on a whim, I had been there before when it was under other names and wasn't too impressed. However this time was far better. The food isn't too bad and reasonably priced.

We ordered a very tasty penne carbonara for Rebecca (gluten free of course) which was bursting with flavour. Mushrooms and parmesan and some parsley made for a very enjoyable dish - by both Rebecca (who filled up) and me (who finished it off!)

Mine was a calzone with chorizo and a basil pesto which balanced it nicely. The shell was a little flakier than I would have liked but enjoyable and fun nonetheless. It was served at just the right temperature and salt was well controlled. A light and refreshing garden salad was on the side, a little vinegary for my tastes but still very plesant.

For such a low price and tasty food, we were very impressed. Going back there again some day.

Five stars.

The Trustee

The Trustee bills itself as a high-class restaurant, but is more of a glossed-up tavern. It's very noisy inside with hard floors, ceilings, and walls which reflect a lot of noise. Those who don't like crowds and noise will struggle.

We were impressed with the affable waiter's attention to Rebecca's gluten free needs, and checking when he wasn't sure of things. I ordered the gnocchi and after an excessive wait (about an hour) it was brought out. My gnocchi was quite nice, very soft and well sized, with a twist of rocket. It could have been served a bit warmer, but after a very long wait, I was very hungry still.

Rebecca's lamb was bone cold. It would have been quite a nice dish, with Asian hints of wild rice and some unknown oil, if it were not for the temperature. Another diner was flatly disappointed with his duck which was floppy and cold.

Two stars, while mine was alright, the dissatisfaction by the other diners was very visible. We waited too long for cold food.

Kailis Leederville

After our unsuccessful attempts to find calamari at Giardini, I booked Kailis as a mild surprise for Rebecca. I was a little concerned seeing varying reviews on urbanspoon, and with Sen5es no longer doing their squid, there was a lot of hope riding on Kailis.

It was busy, even though it was a Tuesday night, so make sure you book. We were attended to by a rather blunt waiter but a reasonable waitress. Rebecca had her squid, and I chose a very normal-looking fish and chips. I was prepared for a steep price, but found the fish quite fresh and tasty - not the heavier, oily fish you normally have at a fish and chip shop.

I liked the tartare sauce but the chips were a bit lacking. Overall, batter was probably a little harsh for this delicate fish - grilled would have been less aggressive. The side salad wasn't anything special.

Rebecca also found her squid very fresh but a bit bland. This seems to agree with most others' views - great ingredients but lacking love during the cooking process. In summary, more expensive than it should have been, but reasonable food.

Three stars.