Saowanee's Place

You know you had some bad ass Thai food if your stomach is beating you up while thanking you for setting it aflame. And not the type that leaves you spending leisurely time in the water closet either, because then that would just be bad Thai.


I'm not talkin' bad, but bad ass.
Bad ass Thai food will do no less than leave you wanting more.
I'm not your typical female shopaholic, but I'll gladly eat til' my stomach drops.


Saowanee has perfected the recipe for addiction, because my taste buds temporarily developed a sudden surging tolerance for playing with fire with this particular meal.

Saowanee's Tom Yum Soup (Small) - $9.90

If your stomach isn't very agreeable with certain foods, Thai cuisine might just pose a small problem. So many of their flavours focus on the spicy, salty, sweet and sour components that bring out the best kind of dish you could put in your mouth, but not the best kind of swirly whirly concoction to put into your stomach.

As such, I needed to weigh up my options. Highly saturated in fat coconut milk dishes to tone down the spicy factor and risk a stomach ache? OR, emit the fatty creamy white liquid and leave the spicy dishes alone and risk a stomach ache? WHAT TO CHOOSE?!

Perhaps To Choose or Not To Choose Thai, would be a more suitable question.

Teaser sized, but I am content

The Tom Yum is far from being protein heavy, but you are presented with a choice of what you want in there from tofu & vegetables, chicken, prawns or seafood (an entire sea of prawns, squid, fish and scallops).


Along with the meat, are morsels of mushrooms and tomatoes. The closer you bring a spoon of this towards your mouth, the more intense the rich aroma finds its way into your nose. If crack was a food, this is it. I could not stop sniffing.

Digging up my soup soaked treasures

Tom Yum is arguably a traditional and classic Thai dish that is recognised world over and favourited by appetites from any culture. It is a distinct representation of what Thai cuisine is all about, the different flavours of different ingredients that come together so perfectly when you cook 'em all in the same pot with a sprinkling of talent.

This small bowl is a magical blend of the sensations of taste - the tarty sourness of lime juice, leaves and lemon grass, the fiery heat of chillis, the saltiness of fish sauce and the light creamy sweetness of coconut milk. Just missing the bitter taste, but no one's missing that party pooper!


A slurp of this practically slides down your throat not leaving any skid marks 'cause it's just so smoooooooooth with the dash of coconut milk. So many flavours mingling on your tongue at the same time makes for a good time.

Lamb Green Curry - $21.90

Seems like I wasn't particularly adventurous and had the same mindset as when I visit Hans Cafe: "MUST. GET. GREEN. CURRY." Because a dish that makes itself so comfortable within Thai cuisine must be up to scratch to give Saowanee's Place the title of Favourite Thai Restaurant right?

They certainly don't under deliver on this classic - sliced lamb pieces moist with fragrant green curry sauce brimming towards the edge of the dish. Lamb was The Chosen Animal out of the choices of chicken, beef, pork, prawns, fish, seafood, Thai fish ball and if you really must, vegetables & tofu.

The lamb was strikingly similar to beef when it was muddled with the curry sauce. And although the amount of delicious juicy capsicums, potato chunks and bamboo shoots made eating them unstoppable, they were the only things left to eat when you have a small amount of lamb supplied in the dish.

Steamed Thai Jasmin Rice - $3 per head

The perfect complement to intensely flavoured Thai cooking is more like a requirement: rice.
Rice in its original form of glory, to fill up the belly, to soak up the juices and gravies you'd rather pour down your stomach than the kitchen sink, to be the staple carbohydrate in Asian cuisine, to just be there.


Rice, what would 4 billion people do without you?


$3 per person gets you a heavy porcelain ornament-like piece doubling as a storage for rice. It's not particularly cooked to my personal liking because it's mushier in some places and not served at a hot temperature that steamed rice tastes best in. However you do get bottomless servings to make your plate a bottomless one, to satisfy your bottomless food pit.

Table placements

Table arrangements at Saowanee's is a bit homely, neatly cluttered and a little bit cute.
Delicately folded paper napkins in resemblance of flower lanterns rest on plates that matches the crockery that your main dishes are served in, with a nice touch of flowers in a small vase (albeit fake).


At least fake flowers will last forever...when everything else just dies.


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You have every right in the world to be a little boastful with a breadth of awards under your wings all while continuing to soar even higher. Being featured as Best Thai in Perth, WA's favourite Asian Restaurant, WA's Favourite Thai Restaurant and multiple finalist awards for just being excellent close to pretty much every year, Saowanee's Place hits all the birds with its one cuisine.


Proclaiming that you will "experience the taste of real Thai", they promise to deliver on that promise. Serious about this, the menu is full of traditional favourites of Thailand's abundant culinary creations each with strong flavours and rich fragrant aromas. Apparently they even had a hand at making their own spices initially, back when it wasn't readily available in Perth - which makes their dishes deliciously intoxicating to consume.


The place has a somewhat golden ambiance, literally. You dine under a warm, yellow glow of lights in a casually comfortable but subtly elegant dining room. The addictive smells wafts throughout the place and adds to the warmth of the atmosphere while it mingles in the air with diners' voices. And while portions are just fair given their prices, you are very likely to be unable to finish or eat less than your normal capabilities due to the hotness if you don't order wisely!


I notice takeaway prices are cheaper and I also notice service can be inconsistent. It was very start-stop service as there is attentiveness at the beginning which then slowly becomes increasingly difficult to get some attention. Regarding some loud burly chaps who had drunk a little over his limit, staff handled his requests with a little less tolerance. But they do well with food and even if they haven't mastered authenticity in your eyes, they still please the appetite!


In a restaurant like this, your senses are heightened. Thai (hot!) food wakes up your senses - gets your eyes watering, burns your taste, makes you sweat, gets your nose running and gives you a temporary dose of the flu.
And although you get free water to hose down your flaming stomach, we found that a soothing McFlurry does the job a whole lot more professionally.


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(08) 9228 9307
Lunch Friday only: 11.30am to 2.30pm
Dinner Mon, Wed - Sun: 5pm to 9.30pm
Closed Tuesdays
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Hanami

So on one beautiful late afternoon, the sun was dipping into the river out on the horizon. Birds were flocking together in the skies, joggers daintily jogged past me on my shabby fold-up bike, their muscles flexing, skin glistening,
everything was just so perfect...

Until I casually crashed into another cyclist.

The embarrassment hurt so much more than the pavement scraping against my flesh. Ouucch.

Now, I'd usually need a few tubs of ice cream to numb all the shame I felt from being observed (laughed at) by the group of onlookers who were all gracious young men, but somehow!

The idea of salad seemed like the perfect remedy to soothe away the pain (of embarrassment!)

Exception? Has to be Hanami's salad. And it is ONLY Hanami's salad that I have an extreme soft spot for.

Salad isn't always disgustingly bland

Salad doesn't always have to taste and look disgusting.


Disgustingly healthy would probably be the more suitable term. Whereas at Hanami, you can enjoy delicious salads that are chock full of vibrant, fresh ingredients although not exactly entirely guilt free (with the generous ladle of oily salad dressing).


And THAT, is the only reason why I risk my voracious-eater-no-signs-of-self-restraint reputation and order salads for dinner here. If you minus all the vegetables, it's actually a little unhealthy.

Hanami Special Salad - $13.90

Stick with me now - craving for salad is actually possible. Because when a bowl of healthy ingredients is served that is both capable of pleasing both your sight and taste, you want more.


The Hanami Special Salad presents a mixture of vegetables and Japanese seaweed with a variety of seafood (seafood extender, sashimi, clam-like pieces), tossed through a sweet, citrusy, fragrant salad dressing. The flavours and textures come together really well, and the lightness of it means you can keep on eating with no worries now and no regrets later.

Salmon & Avocado Salad - $13.90

Another salad available is the strikingly similar Salmon & Avocado Salad, which replaces all the different types of seafood with the one fish you'll ever need: salmon.


They are very generous on the omega 3, with chunks of melt-in-the-mouth salmon cubes scattered throughout the entire salad, so that even your last bite wouldn't be a mouthful of just vegetables. Just so fresh tasting that you can clean out the contents of the entire bowl.


You could get a bit sick of the sauce after a while, and it may get a little oily at the base towards the final sad moments of your salad coming to an end. And while the creaminess that comes from huge wedges of avocado and velvety salmon cubes, while delicious, can get a bit too much, the crisp texture of raw vegetables and tangy sauce will help cut through the feeling of eating mouthfuls of creamy lard.

Salmon & Avocado Salad (more recent)

If you are out with dining companions who don't know you very well, it is certain that they assume you're trying to lose weight, on a diet, or just too bloody health conscious. Especially more so when you have an anorexic figure and then not finishing your salad on top of that!


I notice that all these pictures resemble a game of Spot the Difference Between My Salads.


But if you are playing the game, you would most likely spot a slight difference - the amount of salmon that is missing between the two bowls! There seems to be a slightly smaller amount given in the bowl that I ordered on a much more recent occasion than the first.

Salmon Sushi Roll (5 pieces) - $8.90

Hanami wins much brownie points for presentation and food styling. Plating on a fan-shaped dish makes it look a little delicate and a lot of delicious. Priced at above-average sushi price, it's kinda like...designer brand sushi. Yes you've got the looks, do you have the quality? Do you fall apart after a few washes touches?


Salmon sushi is never a loser, especially with perfectly rounded sturdy sushi with sushi rice with a good consistency. The salmon filling does however, taste different to the pieces they serve as sashimi, with these ones tasting a little bit chewier.

Salmon Sushi Roll (10 pieces) - $13.90

One thing they do different here is the inclusion of a dab of mayonnaise inside the sushi along with the other fillings. It ensures the contents are moist, but to some it may taste a little strange with the soy sauce that sushi is usually dipped into prior to eating.


Salty and sweet combinations work like a miracle sometimes. Besides those times, they aren't always the best partners!

Beef Udon - $13.90

Even when you try to pick a relatively cheaper item from their menu, a bowl of udon here does not even come across as that. Honestly speaking, udon is udon, you can't really make it flashy and I'm waiting on the day I come across spectacular Udon. Which I suspect, would probably never come.


But what is different here that makes this pricier bowl more worth it is the meat. Whereas a lot of the time you will chopstick up pieces of thin, tasteless, chewy strings of beef in noodle soup, the beef included here is thick and juicy, minus the stringiness while plus the flavour.


Slightly more justifiable for a bigger priced but no-bigger-sized-bowl of udon.

Assorted Sashimi Large (18 pieces) - $29.90

So like most sashimi fanatics know, sashimi is a pretty good indicator of the overall quality of a Japanese restaurant. If it can deliver up fresh, good quality, velvety smooth raw fish that has you lusting after it, you've got yourself a pretty safe option.


The Assorted Sashimi comes in 3 sizes with a selection of the best creatures of the sea to consume raw. They all give a satisfying mouthful - firm, sweet and a heavenly moist, soft texture. The recognisable, vibrant coral colours of salmon and tuna alongside 2 other white fleshed fish (perhaps snapper or kingfish? Pffftt and I call myself a sashimi fanatic!), a few very limited pops of caviar and marinated octopus salad will set you back $30.


If you get the chance to try lobster sashimi, DO IT. For the love of God, do it.

Napkin Crane

Cranes for every seat on every table adds a nice touch of Japan to Hanami, as does the wooden furniture and kimono-wearing waitresses. You can imagine how big a portion crane folding becomes part of the staffs' job responsibilities here!


Relatively complex to fold, cranes look simple yet are such a powerful symbol of peace. Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes is a story told in my childhood that will stay with me forever and somewhat inspired my own ongoing mission of 1000 paper cranes.


And while I am about 600 short of my target, it is a privilege that I'm folding cranes for leisure, and not as a hope for life itself.


...


As one of the restaurants I come back to once in a while, Hanami delivers up good quality, fresh tasting Japanese fare. The food is tasty but if you are on a mission to dine out on a budget, you may find the upmarket pricing a little intimidating to your wallet. The pricing does accompany good portions however, I don't always feel inclined to come back here to satisfy my ongoing Japanese cravings.


Many perceive the seemingly downmarket ambiance does not match the upmarket prices, and I do agree the atmosphere is somehow a little bit cold. However what it lacks is made up for by attentive staff and prompt service in its noticeably always busy restaurant. It might feel a little restricted to be eating with a time limit too, as our 6pm dinner meant we had to be done and out by 7.30pm, so bookings are probably recommended for even 1 diner really!


With the aforementioned good service however, it comes down to where you're seated. Although all tables are thoughtfully fitted with personal buzzers to call for service, I question their efficiency. Hanami's full capacity means the restaurant overflows with patrons and tables right out into the dark carpark, where the ambiance drops to a big fat zero.


As much as I feared of being seated outside, you have no voice if you have no booking. After periods of waiting and spamming the buzzer multiple times to try get somebody's attention to make an order, it was convenient to leave unnoticed. Mount Lawley has flourished to a hot eating spot overtime, and Hanami seems to have maintained customers that are hot for it.


But for myself, I find that it is neither hot or cold. Hanami does alright, just not just right.


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(08) 9371 9855
Mon - Fri Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm
Mon - Sun Dinner: 5.30pm to 10pm
Public Holidays: Dinner only or closed
So is it dinner or is it closed?


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