Get snap happy with beautiful vegan brunch dishes at Flora and Fauna, Northbridge

Flora and Fauna, Northbridge

If I was perfectly honest with you, I hate places that are hidden off the street out of sight - the so often quoted 'little gem of a restaurant tucked away in a back alleyway'...that is just so hard to find! I love the idea of a hideaway place being in some unknown nook and cranny, but hate spending a year and a half on an empty stomach driving up and down with my brake lights flashing like a disco ball trying to find it.

Yup, I guess I do get a little hangry!

Fortunately we only drove all the way up Aberdeen Street and back down again just ONCE whilst trying to find Flora and Fauna. It's not easily visible from the main street, as it is in the laneway just next to Via Torre Lane. Situated right next to Varsity Burgers, these two polar opposites could not be more strikingly contrasted neighbours. As a tiny boutique cafe, Flora and Fauna has built itself quite a loyal and vocal fan base touting about all of their beautifully artistic vegan, healthy brunch dishes and raw treats. And it is true, the bright pops of colour and arrangement of the food make delicious camera candy.

Goji Superfood Muesli - $14

As a firm believer of strictly no ordering of muesli bowls when eating out, I couldn't help but be lured in helplessly by the endless photographs of their muesli bowl I was exposed to. Because I don't think I would ever a). get full on a bowl of measly muesli; b). fancy ordering something I could smash together at home (just a less fancy version); and c). eat something so healthy, this is an entirely different story. Everyone's a sucker for pretty looking food and in this instance, all my anti-muesli values flew out the window. Gone are the days of healthy food looking and tasting like cardboard!

The prettiest breakfast muesli bowl

The combination of different fruits, nuts, flowers and vibrant colours would see this take out the title in a muesli bowl pageant. It is much like eating out of a flower garden with the presence of flower buds scattered over the bowl. I love the look of the dish with the addition of flowers, but I left a few buds uneaten as I wasn't a big fan of the slightly hard and gritty texture from the multiple layers of petals.

Digging up the treasure

The look of the muesli bowl is everchanging, as it constantly changes with the seasonal fruits available. Yay for the strawberries being sweet, because I have developed a slow dislike for strawberries over the years as the sour ones always have a fond attraction towards me. The passionfruit pulp added a nice and sharp zesty flavour burst to a few mouthfuls, and I would have loved a few blueberries too!

My eyes widened at first sight, mostly because the size of the bowl is ridiculously big and so loaded with fresh ingredients that it would overflow if you go heavy on the milk to muesli ratio (which I tend to do at home). I proved my 'I don't get full on muesli bowls' theory so wrong and ended up being pretty stuffed when I reached the bottom of the bowl.

The all important First Pour

I have always eaten goji berries in Chinese herbal soups all my life, so I'm not fazed by the sudden crowning of them as superfoods. I do like their sweetness and enjoyed them alongside all the pecans, almonds, coconut flakes and seeds in my muesli. The muesli itself is sweetened with real maple syrup, and is served with a choice out of dairy, almond, rice or soy milk or yoghurt. My only gripe is not having enough milk to pour into that deep bowl, so some mouthfuls were rather dry for me (sometimes greediness may get the better of me) :P

Herbed Smashed Avo on organic Turkish Toast (plus a side of free ranged scrambled eggs +$4) - $13

My hungry friend decided on the smashed avocado on toast, adding a dainty pot of scrambled eggs on the side as an extra. Even without it, the portion of the avocado was pretty generous and there has never been a time when a pile of green mush looked more delicious. I sneaked a spoonful or two of the smashed avocado and my tastebuds swooned in delight - the avocado is slightly tangy and bursting with flavour from the lemon, basil and whatever other seasonings were added to give it that full flavour punch. On the other hand, it was a slight punch in my face that I didn't order this for myself!

Happiness comes in so many forms

My ignorance meant that it came as a surprise that Flora and Fauna served only vegan fare. The food is so real and unpretentious, so it is refreshing for a change that I can read their menu and understand absolutely everything written on it instead of trying to guess or consulting Google what on earth my dish even is.

There is very limited seating inside the cafe - you are able to prop yourself up against the 3 or so bench seats and watch other diners eat outside the cafe at the few mismatched tables and chairs. It is a very quiet laneway and the passers-by are mostly patrons of the cafe, making it a quiet breakaway right in the middle of, yet calmly shielded away from the hustle and bustle of Northbridge.

Fauna and Flora, Northbridge

Fauna and Flora

Tuesday - Friday: 7:30am - 4:00pm

Saturday - Sunday: 8:30am - 3:00pm

Closed Mondays

0468 948 281

4/70 Aberdeen Street, Northbridge WA 6003

A mixed bag of Persian, Italian and Modern Australian cuisines at Recipe Restaurant, East Perth

Recipe Restaurant

After going through a few difficult months after my grandma's passing, my family has made a more conscious effort to spend more time together. Time is precious, and fortunately for us that means more frequent family dinners, whether that be around the dinner table at home or a restaurant dinner.

After I excitedly declared to my family that I had made a booking at Recipe Restaurant for the week's 'Restaurant Family Dinner', the conversation went a little like this:

Family: What cuisine are we eating?

Me: Persian!

Family: What kind of food is Persian cuisine?

Me (with sudden images of the Prince of Persia computer game popping into my mind): I think it's...bread, and, uh...yeah don't know.

I have never dined at a Persian restaurant before so I was quite ignorant at the type of food involved. I thought I'd educate myself a little by having a look at their menu but was left in a slightly more puzzled state than I was in to begin with. The menu doesn't reflect its claims of authentic Persian cuisine, but is rather a mix of Western and Italian dishes such as pastas, burgers and grilled seafood. It is actually a huge menu and choosing is a bit daunting.

Garlic Bread - $9.90

Our waitress was very friendly and was more than happy to guide us through the maze of choices on the menu. All the mains look very similar to one another as they consist of largely the same ingredients but with different combinations. Will we have the beef and chicken, or beef and lamb, or chicken and lamb, or beef and chicken and lamb together, or just the beef on its own?!
Gosh, it was as hard as choosing my career path!

Looking around us at the restaurant that was filled to capacity, we started lamenting about how long our dinner would take to arrive. Just in those initial moments of sorrow, the basket of garlic bread was plonked onto our table with our other orders following closely behind. The wait time for such a busy restaurant is quite impressive!

The toasted garlic bread did not disappoint - it was fragrant and crispy and perhaps might be a bit too much if you like your garlic bread to be slightly softer and fluffier. The bread is buttery and sprinkled with herbs and 24-month old parmesan cheese, and is extremely moreish and satisfying on a hungry belly.

Caesar Salad with Chicken - $23.90

On the flip side, the caesar salad leaves much to be desired. The serving size is meager, and looked somewhat poorly presented. The taste of the caesar dressing was tasty and strong but there wasn't enough of it to coat the cos lettuce. For its price, I think we could do with more chicken, croutons, bacon and parmesan.

Family Feast - $94.90

The Family Feast was the most anticipated dish of the night and the our first introduction to authentic Persian cuisine after the initial entrees. It is a massive protein feast; a huge plate loaded with skewers of different meats with different tastes. I really enjoyed the variety, which involved two skewers of seasoned hand-ground lamb (koobideh), two skewers of chicken breast and thigh fillets marinated in a mix of saffron, lemon juice and capsicum (jujeh) and one skewer of grilled beef striploin (barg). The description in the menu simply states that the beef has been 'tenderised in the traditional way', and whatever that way might be definitely left the meat deliciously tender.

Fragrant saffron rice (served with the Family Feast)

I underestimated the size of the skewers in the dish, and was pleasantly surprised at how hefty the skewers turned out to be. The chicken and lamb skewers were especially tasty and did not need any more seasoning - they were fragrant, delicious and very easy to finish! The beef striploin was tender but lacked flavour, and caused me to be heavy handed with the salt shaker. The grilled tomatoes, barbequed jalapeno peppers and shirazi salad (tomato, cucumber and onion tossed with mint) sides were not star components by any means, but a welcome addition to a very carnivorous meal.

Chicken Saffron Risotto - $26.90

Again, not an entirely authentic dish is a seemingly authentic restaurant true to Persian cuisine, I wanted a carbohydrate rich dish to fill the carb-hungry void in my stomach (more so my mind hehe!) Unfortunately I can't find any stand-out components of the risotto to speak about highly, as the dish was somewhat mediocre.

The rice is still quite hard and overall the dish is dry. I looked forward to this as I loved each of the individual ingredients - chicken, spicy lamb chorizo, peas, mushroom and asparagus - but compared to other risottos I would probably stick with the dishes that Recipe Restaurant does best by staying grounded to their roots, cooking delicious food that is aromatic from the combinations of herb and spice marinades.

Pay Recipe Restaurant a visit or two if you love your meat and to try the different combinations in their menu. A good idea would be to round up a few carnivores and share the dishes with each other so that a little bit of a lot can be tasted, especially when their dishes are more towards the pricier end. The food is worth the experience if you stick with eating Persian cuisine at a Persian restaurant rather than gravitating towards more contemporary western meals.

The restaurant is very family friendly and when the relatively small restaurant is full (like it was when we visited), the noise bounces and noise levels can become uncomfortably loud. A personal pet hate of mine is needing to compete with other tables just to talk to someone sitting just across the table within arm's reach of you, and this was a constant occurrence on the night.

The service was commendable for such a busy dinner service - our waitress was happy and friendly, and was great enough to share a joke with us that the kitchen did not need to wash our plates as we left them so clean after our meal. The wait time for food was also great for a restaurant that was full house! Positives aside; this is a message for the food photographers among you: You're going to absolutely hate the harsh white lighting inside the restaurant.

Isn't it just the worst when your food just doesn't look as good as it tastes?! Haha!

Recipe Restaurant, East Perth

Restaurant Menu

Recipe Restaurant

Monday: 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Tuesday - Friday: Lunch 11:30am - 2:00pm and Dinner 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Saturday - Sunday: Breakfast 8:30am - 11:00am, Lunch 11:30am - 2:00pm and Dinner 5:30pm - 9:00pm

(08) 9225 5484

1/78 Terrace Road, East Perth WA 6004