Tuck Shop Cafe

If you have not heard your foodie community/neighbour/friend/friend's friend/friend's friend's neighbour/the entire Perth population on Urbanspoon rave on (and on and on) about the words Tuck Shop Cafe,
you probably do not live in Perth.

And if you do live in Perth and have not heard from your friend's friend's neighbour mention Tuck Shop Cafe, I assume the whole food blogging scene isn't your thing.
(In that case humble old me says THANK YOU for being here!)

And just like their Tips jar, the amount of food bloggers that have come out (on Urbanspoon of course) is absolutely overflowing.
They must be doing something right - something perfect - as it seems this place is the bomb-diggedy right now.

Perth people have spoken, so I won't need to.
I will shut up and let the pictures do their thing.

Bruschetta - $17.50

Known for their food as well as their waiting line, my fashionable lateness resulted in not needing to experience the latter :)

Despite the frenzy of activity, our orders were served quick despite a friendly forewarning that our stomachs would need to wait a bit longer. About 3/4 of the way through her dish, J kindly and thoughtfully offered me a taste. What a sweetie.

The bruschetta style dish was absolutely loaded with salty grilled bacon and chunks of goats curd, with the tomato looking juicy, avocado creamy and basil salad fresh.
I think she really enjoyed this. Explains the 3/4 thing.

Merry Christmas on a plate!

Food here proves that simplicity handled wisely goes a long way. Standard ingredients go just so right with others to create a stunning masterpiece that you can't wait to destroy.

With a refreshing everchanging menu, I can't spy your usual eggs benedict dishes here.
Many of the plates feature fresh raw components, whether that be herbs or vegetables. It tricks you into thinking that you are eating healthy - but you sort of are!

I spied their coffee loyalty card pin-up board, experiencing massive growth. I know the point is to prevent cards from getting lost, but your card is likely going to get lost anyway in the abundance of cards up there!
Equally as hard, trying to find a card in a card stack.

Moroccan Meatballs - $17.50

With a grumble tum needing to be suppressed, a salady dish with just a mere piece of bacon just won't cut it. My stomach is a spoilt little brat to be honest, as I slave away my savings to attend to its needs.

I went for the more substantial dish of spiced Moroccan meatballs with a thick layer of hummus on flatbread, tomato and a completely foreign language to me - a za'atar crispy fried egg.

It wasn't a huge discovery to learn of the dried herbs, sesame and spice mix that adorned my sunny-side-up-obstructed-by-bits-of-cloud egg, but gave the egg a good flavour.

Meatball sub anyone?

An avid lover of meat made into balls, I thoroughly enjoyed the lean meatballs, marinated and infused with spice and flavour. Complemented by the vibrancy of red and green on the plate, Christmas is always just a plate of food away!

But also as a loyal Subway 6-inch meatball sub buying customer, I can't help but liken this to an open subway sandwich - the crisp/mush combination of the crisp flatbread and hummus to my toasted Italian Herbs & Cheese bread with extra avocado...

Maybe eating my Subways on a plate with cutlery from now on will make all the difference.

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Famous for food, infamous for queues - just like those annoying school canteen trips. It is evident that word has spread about this small, quaint cafe and has kept on spreading with piles tucking in at the Tuck Shop.
Having multiple identities of tuck shop, cafe, pie house, a delicatessen, it has not bitten off more than it can chew. Whereas I nowadays, have definitely ate more than I can pay! 

People are noticeably lovin' the food, which seems wholesome, hearty, delicious and made with love, visible through the intricacy of plating. I love how the portions actually make use of and take up the plate size :D Their style of food is real and rustic. Simply put, their food is charming. Tables with wheels, but you'll need patience with this version of meals on wheels.

The service is actually great, the staff very competent in their roles as waitress and crowd controllers. While it looks like they are balancing the world on their shoulders, they make time to ask how your meal's going and still manage to make you feel like the world is spinning around you. Though you'll find the consistent praising reviews will have all efforts focussed on the food side of things. Naturally.

A bustling lively place, it is full of natural light, angled tables that makes for intimate seating, and pot plants that hang from the ceiling, upside down. I was in much initial fascination as much as I was mesmerised, while simultaneously my instinct slowly moved my dish that was situated directly below the upside down dirt-filled pot plant :)

So they say they have a story to tell with food...and they'll have many eager listeners.
Coincidentally situated on the corner of Money Street, I'm guessing Money St is living up its name from this Tuck Shop.

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(08) 9227 1659
Tuesday - Sunday: 7am to 4pm
Tuck Shop Cafe Facebook page

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Update: 2 January 2013

L's birthday called for a short brunch session at the Tuck Shop. And as always, I could never bad mouth the service, even if I tried.

L ordered a basic but nonetheless well made breakfast dish of sauteed mushrooms with feta and spinach on toasted multigrain sourdough bread.

I battled a very difficult inner conflict inside myself, and I really should know I shouldn't take up a losing battle.
You know when you just know you shouldn't do something, but you do it anyway?

I did this. This amazingly beautiful dish.

Very ridiculous, knowing that me and this overly creamy and rich dish, was never ever meant to be. I just needed the temporary satisfaction of indulging in it, and ended up driving home on the freeway in acute pain.
Ah, the consequences.

Smoked Cod, Potatoes and Leek Bake with Poached Egg and Buttered Sourdough

 I very well knew this could knock me out, just by looking at it while breathing in its beauty.
W raved continuously about this pot of gold and I thought I'd dig some gold for myself.

If there was ever a time you'd eat garnish, it would be now. That spring onion was heaven, amongst every thick, rich and buttery mouthful. In hindsight, substituting the original cheese toastie for buttered toast was a useless idea, when I have a pot of cream to eat.

Add to the creamy monstrosity a poached egg, and you've got yourself all the components for a artery clogging meal. The girls enjoyed dipping their chips into my sauce, as I went through my buttered sourdough toast, as plain as can be.

I was good, and completely avoided these freshly fried hand cut chips with house aioli.

For $8, it is a big bowl and full of gorgeously unperfect, rugged real potato chips with jagged hand cut edges.

Salt & Pepper shakers

What adds to the charm of this place, are the cute little couples sitting at every desk, waiting to be picked up and sprinkled onto your lunch.

Not that you would need them, but just like the staff at Tuck Shop, they are there when you need them. And they never stop smiling.

The Aviary: Nest Rooftop Bar

When agonising over dining options for a mid-week dinner, with no spare cash readily available to be casually flung around, a restaurant with enticing vouchers starts to look attractive.

I will accept all cheapskate remarks thrown this way, because I've taken the word poor to a whole new level for a while too long.
I know deep down, secretly, if you took away any social shaming aspect you feel about using vouchers to buy your meals, the feeling of saving a couple of dollars is a very happy feeling :)

So off we went, chirping with 5 freshly printed vouchers in hand to see just what the guys at The Aviary are breeding in their nest.

Lamb, Coriander, Chilli & Yoghurt Pizza - $16

When it comes to eating out nowadays, I am a bit of a loner.
A loner, in the sense of ordering and only eating my own dishes, if the communal dishes on the table are loaded with fat, oil, cheese, or all 3.
Which, ever since I can't (...well, shouldn't) touch them, seem to be pretty much the ONLY things that people eat.

Having said that, yes, I am indeed implying that I actually have to order a whole pizza (without cheese), for me, myself, and I.
After finishing whole pizzas I think to myself, it was probably better off to have eaten the fat I avoided in the first place...

The one slice I finished for them, could have been a lot more meatier.
But then again...you can't speak very loud for just $10, can you?

Chorizo, Tomato & Roquette Pizza - $16

Despite the few vegetarian options available, the girls had firm decisions to order everything that wasn't. Animal enthusiasts, in every way.

They settled with a chorizo pizza, a firm and cheesy pizza base with sliced chorizo, fresh cherry tomatoes and a handful of raw rocket leaves, which was devoured in an amazingly quick time.

Crinkle Cut Chips with Spiced Aioli - $8

Forget everything I said before about not touching oily food.
I had a lot of this. This was good. This was also taken away from me, to stop me from getting a stomach attack.

I don't remember anything from the spiced aioli to be phenomenal, but the piping hot chips are a dieter's/gall-bladderless person's dream. The crinkles make them deliciously crunchier (or that could be a psychological thing).

A thing like this conveniently placed right in front of me, and all my morals go out the window.
Because everything that you can't eat, seem to taste so much better than they probably are.

Prawn, Coriander & Chilli - $16

This is my pizza for one, to which I was commended for finishing :D
I found this quite light and easy to finish, despite the others being unable to finish 3 pizzas amongst the 4 of them.

Ordered without cheese, the pizza is admittedly a little brittle and dry. The place can't be faulted for this, because making a hot dog taste good without the sausage IS difficult after all.

I'm guessing the kitchen substituted my cheese with basil pesto spread over the base, and coriander was mysteriously replaced with fresh snow pea sprouts. Eating this was like eating a salad, but the feeling of munching rabbit food while devouring a pizza, while healthy, is surprisingly disappointing.

...

My one regret of my experience with The Aviary is not heading back to try their advertised Pho Pizza, a westernised take on the Vietnamese beef noodle dish with beef and crushed peanuts. The $10 price tag of these pizzas is of value, considering the standards of the place, but I think I'd rather pay a little more, if it meant even better quality :)

I can't judge too much on the food since I've gone ahead and changed their ingredients to suit my needs because I'm selfish like that, but truthfully I would probably be somewhere else where $16 buys me a bigger, tastier pizza. What I managed to sip from a glass of their homemade mulled wine however, was a sweet stomach warmer from standing at higher altitudes with its colder breezes on the rooftop.

And there ARE lifts, in case the flight of seemingly neverending stairs are too confronting. Especially if you've just ran your marathon up the Perth Underground Station's staircase right below The Aviary.

Boasting Perth's largest outdoor rooftop bar (out of, what, 2?), the atmosphere is trendy and lush from what I could see with my poor night vision, with a strict dress code enforced. With requirements like "no fancy dress" and as detailed as "plain non branded t-shirts permitted", I felt a bit self conscious turning up. But upon seeing all the big shady umbrellas and toasty heaters, snagging a seat next to one became top priority.

I wouldn't mind a revisit, at an hour where there is still enough light to make out what's around me and what I'm actually putting in my mouth. And despite the issues floating around about their service levels, The Aviary is flying high with all the socialites in town and on social media.
I couldn't avoid all the little birdies around town tweeting and tooting about its existence.

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(08) 9226 0259
Mon - Sat: 11am to midnight
Sun: 11am to 10pm
www.theaviaryperth.com.au

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