Beaufort Street Merchant

Beaufort Street Merchant. It's a little something, boasting a lot.

Gifts?

Homewares?

Brasserie?

Bottleshop?

Or all 4 - your one shop stop paradise for all things dinner parties.
A once gourmet food retailer turned bar-brasserie-gift shop-restaurant that's one of Perth's most well known food places - a fact you could instantly assume from the sheer volume and activity within this large, but nevertheless cramped space.

Cute and definitely cosy, but in a loud, boisterous kind of way.

Ahh Beaufort Street Merchant. You amaze me.
Where else can you eat, shop and stock up on liquid courage under the same roof? (Shopping centres not taken as an answer).

Salted Caramel Affogato - $11.50

It is hard to go wrong with something so decadent sounding and tasting. This DIY project is not a cheap beverage to pop, but it celebrates the perfect marriage between the rich bittersweet flavours of salted creme caramel liqueur espresso with velvety vanilla ice cream.

Gremolata crumbed Fish and Chips - $29

M's Gremolata fish is a premium remake of the usual subpar greasy fish and chip takeaway - a nice crumbly golden coating on some small pieces of fish, a deep-fryer basket worth of chips and a small fennel salad on the side, just for greens sake.

Condiments with Fish & Chips

Crispy Skinned Barramundi - $37

A splurged on the barramundi, which looked really, really good. I kind of regretted my choice when I lay eyes on it, and when my salad (what the...) was plonked in front of me, my heart sunk even deeper in my chair.

The size was generous, the skin looked golden and crisp, and the chunk of mustard mash it balanced on was massive. Not too sure about the broccolini tartare or saffron emulsion, because sadly, I had a salad.

Crab Linguini - $32

The others ordered linguini, which looked deceptively small but seemed to be surprisingly filling. It was pretty and pretty colourful, with busy mouthfuls of rocket, parmesan and verjuice, a juice of high acidity made with unripe grapes and crab apples.

Greedy me thinks more crab would do no harm too!

Chicken Salad - $26

If you're anything like me, you would think there is absolutely nothing in this world that would justify paying $26 for a salad, let alone ordering salad for dinner in the first place. With that being said, I must give some credit to this because it WAS a good salad, albeit very small.
It would probably suffice as an entree portion, priced as a main.

I must confess I ordered this only because I was told chilli mussels had run out, and only after I solemnly buried my face in my hands when the waitress told me of this devastating news.

The meal I tried to replace my chilli mussel craving with was this salad, featuring lean chicken breast meat, tiny but yummy sweet potato cubes, grilled capsicum, herbed leafy greens and a splattering of pumpkin seeds. Quite good when drenched with their harissa aioli, a Tunisian hot chilli sauce made with chilli peppers, spices and herbs.

Chilli Mussels - $27

Determined to try those chilli mussels, I was delighted that the girlfriends had ordered it the next time I visited. I reunited with some childhood friends who I hadn't seen in 10 years and Beaufort Street Merchant was coincidentally chosen as the meeting point. We figured we needed a venue that were happy to accommodate with the noise we created, after a previous empty restaurant ushered us to "talk quieter"; a nicer way of saying SHUT UP.

Served up in a cute little pot, these mussels looked a lot more civilised than the usual big metal bowls that are usually used. There weren't enough to comfortably go around if you are sharing, but should suffice for one moderate eater. Charred ciabatta is also included to wipe clean the sauce cooked with chorizo, basil and tomato chunks, which could feature a lot more flavour.

Chips with Garlic Aioli - $9.50

Unfortunately the chips were not finished as they did not live up to the chip expectation, especially at a pricey $9.50. On this occasion they were a little limp, and not very perky (if chips were people).

Unfortunately I can't recall what this was, which doesn't really matter as the restaurant menu never really stays the same for too long. It was a berry dessert and was berry, berry sour :)

I was delighted to watch my friends' sour faces!

Warm Chocolate Gingerbread Cake - $16.80

Just like a simplistic piece of art that satisfies, a warm chocolate gingerbread cake might have an even better effect on the soul (but not the body, sadly! :P) I was intrigued by the precise, smooth and slick piece of cake with subtle hints of ginger, with a cutaway crater filled with dark chocolate fudge sauce.

Cleverly constructed and presented, this rich dessert is a grand finale ending with its hot and cold components on the one plate. The honeycomb ice cream scoop slowly but surely marks its territory on the rest of the plate with a crown of honeycomb balancing daintily on top.

Gingerbread cake - $5.50

Not all of us could be as interesting, so I was content with my slab of gingerbread cake from the dessert table on display at the restaurant's entrance. The staff member there was happy to chat about the different options (always a good sign :))

I admit I had kinda expected my cake to come out warm, and to replicate a yummy slice of baked dessert that could pretend it came fresh out of the oven. Sadly it was served cold - not really a gripe, just a personal preference thing.

A big pastry table always means a big decision to be made!

The view that greets you

The clutter that makes up the interior of Beaufort Street Merchant is what makes up its quirky character, criss crossing between cafe, shop, and anything in between. It's a long stretch of road (not really) from the front to the back, and while all the restaurant action happens at the front, make sure to check out what's up the back :)

If you don't mind the noise (which is comparable to a rowdy night market), you'll enjoy the upbeat, lively atmosphere all around. It's just the combination of noise and dim lights that make the place not overly picture or conversation friendly - only because I found myself giving up listening and speaking mid-conversation the whole time...

As one of the top-rated establishments along Perth's foodie street, Beaufort Street Merchant throws opens its doors, leaving it wide open every single day of the year (except for a well deserved break on Christmas) - you're bound to come across it on at least one of those.

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(08) 9328 6299

Open 7 days: 7am - late
Kitchen closes at 10pm

http://www.beaufortmerchant.com/

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Himalayan Nepalese Restaurant & Cafe

This was my first restaurant meal of 2013.

If I had to describe this meal, it'd be somewhat like how I feel towards the year so far - not completely underwhelming, but nowhere near overwhelming either. Like this meal, it's brought in a bit of sweetness, bits of spice, and glimpses of gold among the rougher bits I'd rather forget.

There were a few dishes here that looked like they'd be genuine gold but unfortunately, they were gold plated at best. Beneath the golden batter, a lot of them lacked that type of flavour and excitement we were hungry for.

Free nuts?! That's nuts!

I'd have to thank this bowl of addictive roasted spiced peanuts and soy beans for helping make the long, unbearable long wait for our entrees slightly more bearable. Judging by the ~25 people table that ordered JUST before we did, I suspected a couple more bowls would be needed.

Surprisingly, a little goes a long way :) Like most good things in life.

Momo - $14.50

I'd like to introduce you to the affectionately named momo, which I suspect is one of their most well known and ordered dishes. Momo here is a traditional dumpling dish and comes with either minced chicken, lamb or vegetable fillings and a sweet, tomatoey homemade sauce.

The little dim sim-like parcels are specially spiced and wrapped in dough with coriander, ginger and garlic. The skin that holds filling and liquid inside is delicate but not too fragile, so the journey from the serving plate to your plate can be a successful one.

After our last entree arrived and trudging through them (entree being the only thing we ordered - 5 of them), I think this first dish may have been the best one. I don't think people save the best til' last anymore nowadays!

Masu Ko Tandro - $12.50

The next dish we picked out from the entrees list was a minced lamb one - 4 stubby lamb cigar-esque rolls seasoned with Nepalese herbs and spices, skewered and grilled in a Tandoori oven.

I enjoyed these on their own without the minty yoghurt sauce, which I felt seemed to mask their fresh, meaty fragrance.

Chara Ko Sekuwa - $15

I don't normally order chicken unless I have to, and usually when you are dining with a group of friends, you have to.

Chicken is a foolproof, trusted food and these tender pieces of grilled chicken don't differ. I couldn't really taste the marinade of yoghurt and herb mixture the chicken was described to be marinated with though, unless I was meant to marinate the chicken in that herbed yoghurt sauce myself right before I ate it.

Jhinghe Machha Poleko - $15

Probably scoring the least points with our tummies this meal was probably this grilled prawns dish, that came in a batter that could have made a lot of improvements. The prawns were small and not too appealing, and tasted sadly ordinary at best.

And before I sound like a broken food record, all these dishes were indeed described on the menu as marinated in a special seasoning of Nepalese herbs and spices and cooked in a tandoori oven. And in hindsight, remembering how similar in tastes they all were, that description is heck accurate.

Machha Tareko - $14.50

The panfried fish fillets were last to arrive and definitely looked the most flavoursome of the lot. I'm pleased that these were moist and flaky, even though their cut is on the thinner side.

Garlic Naan - $5 per serve

This is actually 2 serves of garlic naan, studded with chopped garlic. The thin pieces of aromatic flatbreads were missing their trusty sidekick - which is usually a generous serving of thick, fragrant curry sauce to wipe plates clean of.

Should have ordered some mains, like normal people do.

The restaurant promises authentic Nepalese cuisine for all of us out there who have been through the same old Japanese-Indian-[insert overdosed to death cuisine here] rotation. It's a nice change from having purely Chinese or Indian cuisine, as Nepalese cuisine draws upon both these cultures.

Prices have definitely risen, and even with just a dinner purely comprised of entrees, this stacked up to a total that could get us not too shabby main meals elsewhere. The kitchen has also taken a one-size-fits-all approach to dressing the plates, so while presentation is nice, I can't help but want a bit of unpredictability to the overused cucumber, carrot, lettuce and lemon wedge look.

Seating is quite packed and the tight squeeze elevates the volume of noises to an uncomfortably loud level where we had to lean across the table to hear and talk to each other. It's a busy, happy environment but hinders on service as a result; staff were a little slow on the floor and in the kitchen.

They do have a fantastic feedback system by leaving a little review notepad on the front counter, which was absolutely drowning in positivity. To our table of surface scratchers who only tried entree dishes, the food was hit and miss.
Not ordering their Nepalese Homemade Mango flavoured Ice Cream made with almonds and pistachio nuts though, could be one of my biggest regrets.

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(08) 6161 8645

Open 7 days

Lunch: 11am to 3pm

Dinner: 5pm to 10pm

http://www.himalayanrestaurant.com.au/

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