The forecast for Christmas day in Perth, Western Australia is a sunny 32C. What’s it like in your neck of the woods?

This year, I’ll be with my family for Christmas while Jac is away down south with her family. Every few years we spend Christmas apart – it’s no big deal. It will be our 15th anniversary next year, so we’ve done this a few times.

I’ve been resisting the urge to shake the gift Jac left for me under our tree and listen for the tell-tale clatter of LEGO bricks.

This year’s Christmas message is brought to you by two very interesting famous fellows, dressed appropriately for Christmas in Perth.

Merry Christmas from Jac and me. Hope you have a merry, delicious and safe festive break.

Hope you enjoy fine feasts in the company of family and friends…

…and relax and stay safe and comfy wherever you are

Have a very merry Christmas!

Get in the Christmas family feasting mood! See last year’s Christmas and Boxing Day lunches.

We’ve been warned about the legendary dinner queue at Chat Thai. A couple of Sydney locals even suggest turning up for dinner well after 10pm.

For me, two things come to mind.

First, in Perth at 10pm, many kitchens are closed, if not the restaurants. I remember on my graduation night on a Wednesday, how hard it was to find somewhere afterwards in the city where we could grab a bite to eat. On most evenings, I’d prefer to have eaten dinner long before 10pm anyway – my growling stomach would have eaten itself long before that – but on the occasions I’ve found myself searching for food options beyond 9pm it’s generally been a frustrating experience. I’m sure many Perth readers know the feeling of turning up at a restaurant around 9pm in the hope of a getting a feed and finding staff stacking the chairs and sending out pointed “Go away” vibes. I do understand Sydney’s higher population means there is greater demand at peak dining times and it’s more economically viable (essential, in fact) to keep kitchens open for longer, compared to Perth, where the few customers who may walk in for a late meal aren’t enough to warrant keeping a kitchen or restaurant open.

Second, I can’t see Perth diners readily accepting queueing as a standard part of dining out, especially if the comments at this Perth Now article are any indication: Two-hour queues for ritzy meals – well, I’d queue for a meal, but not for two hours. Jac has an extremely low tolerance for queueing and in most cases would simply go elsewhere.

EDIT: Oh, but having said that, where in Perth do I consistently see long queues? At Sizzler.

Perhaps it’s because we’re on holiday that Juji, Jay and I are willing to take on the Chat Thai dinner queue challenge. In fact, this is the first of a number of restaurant queues we join on this trip, lured by the promise of a great meal.

At Chat Thai, you add your name to the list by the door and take a number. Some people scribble their mobile numbers on the list too, but there’s no need. When a table becomes free and your number’s called, if you don’t respond promptly, the staff do not hesitate to move onto the next number on the list – they don’t waste time making phone calls as there will be no shortage of other takers for the table.

After wandering around the Chinatown Night Market and snacking on Emperor’s puffs we’re still pretty hungry and arrive at Chat Thai Thaitown a little after 9pm where people are queueing patiently on the footpath.

We add our name to the list but we don’t wait with the hungry crowd; our serviced apartments (Meriton Campbell Street) are just a few shops down. We return to our rooms to wait in air-conditioned comfort. Yes, I know that’s cheating.

By the time we return to join the queue, 45 minutes have passed, and it takes another 15 minutes before our number is called. We are ravenous by this time.

These are views from upstairs – of the floor, front counter and entrance of Chat Thai (the people you can see just outside the door are still queueing, and the line continues along the footpath). It looks like this when we first sit down and much the same when we leave with much rounder bellies. Sydney’s appetite for Chat Thai seems insatiable.

Chat Thai on a Friday night

Chat Thai on a Friday night

Chat Thai’s menu comes in the form of a hardcover book with mouthwatering pictures of selected dishes and gorgeous images of Thailand. It’s a lovely book to flick through and would be fantastic on any foodie’s coffee table. I wonder how many of the menus are lost through theft?

Chat Thai menu

It’s another muggy night and we’re thankful for the jug of cold water and three ornate cups on our table.

Water

There are lots of sweet cold drinks on the menu. I order Nahm Lum Yai (iced longan cordial AU$4), sweet and dark with the caramelly flavour of palm sugar and longans bobbing among the ice cubes. Jay orders Lodt Shong Singapore (AU$4.50), which reminds us of cendol, made with glutinous noodles and coconut milk. Juji chooses Cha Nohm Yen (iced red milk tea AU$4), a traditional iced tea with condensed milk. Over the next week or so that we’re in Sydney, Juji returns repeatedly for takeaway Cha Nohm Yen.

Nahm Lum Yai (iced longan cordial with longan fruit AU$4), Lodt Shong Singapore (AU$4.50), Cha Nohm Yen (iced red milk tea AU$4)

We order ourselves a Thai feast starting with Padt Thai (AU$13). The noodles are loaded with chicken, dried shrimps and chives all stir-fried in a tasty sauce flavoured with tamarind and palm sugar, garnished with crunchy fresh bean sprouts and sprigs of coriander.

Padt Thai (AU$13)

The Gaeng Keaw Gai, green chicken curry (AU$14) is one of my favourites, tender chicken pieces and tiny apple eggplants in spicy gravy rich with coconut milk.

Gaeng Keaw Gai, green chicken curry (AU$14)

The Padt Paak, stir-fried vegetables (AU$11) is such a simple dish, but so tasty and fresh-tasting – crunchy Chinese greens, crinkle-cut carrots, broccoli and juicy mushrooms cooked with oyster sauce in a hot charry wok.

Padt Paak, stir-fried vegetables (AU$11)

The Khor Mhu Yaan (AU$13) consists of slices of chargrilled pork neck served with a spicy smoked chilli and tamarind sauce. By the time this dish arrives we realise we’ve been somewhat over-ambitious (or greedy) with our order. A groan escapes my lips as I realise there is yet another dish to come.

Khor Mhu Yaan, grilled pork neck (AU$13)

The goong yang, char grilled king prawns (AU$19) are in an upright arrangement, posed almost like a monument, beady eyes gleaming. The garlic sauce is surprisingly bitey and would scare off vampires for weeks. This is the dish to order if you like sucking on prawn heads.

Goong yang, char grilled prawns (AU$19)

And of course we order steamed rice to soak up all the spice and gravy.

Steamed rice

It’s a glutton’s paradise.

So many dishes

When the prawns arrive, some reorganisation is required to fit everything on the table. This may well be the embarrassing result of that long wait to get into the restaurant.

We need another level

Despite all we’ve eaten, Juji and I can’t resist sharing a dessert of sticky rice with durian (AU$8). This is a durian lover’s delight. The slightly salty glutinous rice sits in a pool of durian custard streaked with coconut cream. On top, soft durian flesh, in all its beautiful, stinky glory. It’s one of my favourite desserts of the entire trip.

Sticky rice with durian (AU$8)

I’m still not a fan of the hardcore queueing but dinner at Chat Thai was superb. What’s your favourite Thai dish?

And going back to the original points raised at the start of this post, are you willing to queue to get into a restaurant? What’s the cut-off point at which you walk away and go somewhere else?

Chat Thai sign

Click for larger map

Chat Thai Thaitown
20 Campbell St
Haymarket, NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 9211 1808
Web: www.chatthai.com.au
Chat Thai is also at Westfield Sydney, The Galeries, Manly and Randwick. I’ve been told the Westfield Sydney restaurant specialises in Thai desserts.

Read Juji’s post Dinner at Chat Thai, Haymarket

Coming up

There are more Sydney posts on the way.
There are only a couple of posts left in my Kuching series.
And of course, there’s more great Perth eating to come.

In the lead up to Christmas, check my other blog The LEGO woman as a new LEGO City Advent Calendar item is revealed each day.

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My family arrived in Australia in January 1986. I have vivid memories from that year of my first Australian summer, when so many things were new. The sun rose much earlier than it did in Malaysia and shone impossibly bright when the most of our neighbourhood seemed to be still asleep. I learned to recognise the sound of automatic lawn sprinklers starting up in the morning. That summer, I learned how to ride a bicycle, at the relatively late age of ten.

I remember the first time my parents came home from Saturday morning shopping with the groceries and a hot barbecue chicken for our lunch. We kids grabbed plates and cutlery and helped butter bread, wash lettuce and slice tomatoes. We drank red creaming soda with our lunch. That was my first supermarket barbecue chook and the first time remember I eating chicken with stuffing. That summer, I learned to say “chook” as well as “chicken”.

From all those years ago, I still like the supermarket barbecue chicken. Although they’re called “barbecue” chickens, they’re not cooked on a barbecue at all – from what I understand, they’re cooked either in a rotisserie oven or combi-oven.

Jac recently bought us a barbecue chook for brunch from IGA supermarket. It was Sunday morning, the time of day when the chickens are at their freshest.

I tore open the double foil-lined paper bags and breathed in the wonderful warm aroma of the plump barbecue chook inside.

But the chicken had an odd shape. I was struck by a moment of panic – where were the drumsticks? I realised with relief that they were there, just hidden. For some reason, they’d been tucked beneath the chicken.

Supermarket barbecue chook

If we want a barbecue chook on a Sunday, we get it from IGA as that’s our only local supermarket open and selling hot chickens on a Sunday. But I wish those chickens came with stuffing. I love barbecue chook stuffing. I always peek inside each chicken just in case the recipe’s been changed, but so far, no stuffing (some IGA supermarkets’ barbecue chooks do have stuffing, but not ours). Jac knows how much I love stuffing, so when she roasts a chicken, she always makes stuffing for it.

Jac made herself chicken, cheese and salad rolls. The bread rolls were white dinner rolls. She was a little over-ambitious and made three – she only managed to finish two of them. Jac loves lettuce, in case you didn’t notice. :P

Barbecue chicken and salad rolls

That’s chopped spring onion on the tomatoes in the middle roll.

Barbecue chicken and salad rolls close-up

I made myself a plate with chicken thigh meat, skin, a drumstick and a wing, fresh tomato seasoned with salt and pepper, a few slices of Maasdam cheese we got at the Good Food & Wine Show Perth, and a buttered bread roll.

Barbecue chicken, tomato, Maasdam cheese and buttered bread roll

That chicken was so moist, juicy and tender, the skin so salty and savoury.

Barbecue chicken close-up

Another reason I love getting a hot chicken from the supermarket is we can usually stretch it across a few meals over the next couple of days. Of course, it’s at its best on the day we buy it – especially the breast meat, which is much drier the next day on goes downhill from there – but it’s so handy having cooked chicken in the fridge, ready to go. We’re always careful and make sure we store and reheat it properly.

On the Monday night, we made toasted sandwiches with the leftover chicken. I took the meat off the bones and mixed it with mayonnaise, cracked black pepper and a little Australian chardonnay mustard (also bought at the Good Food & Wine Show). I spread a generous amount of the chicken mix on thick slices of bread. Jac added Swiss cheese and fresh tomato, then toasted them in our sandwich press. The Swiss cheese melted beautifully and oozed out, all gooey and chewy. We each ate one of these sandwiches and shared another with chicken, cheese, tomato and Beerenberg Taka Tala chutney, which we bought from, you guessed it, the Good Food & Wine Show!

Toasted sandwich with barbecue chicken, mayo, swiss cheese, tomato, chardonnay wholegrain mustard

On Tuesday morning I had Maggi noodles for breakfast. Chicken flavoured noodles and broth with the last of the leftover barbecue chicken.

Maggi noodles with shredded barbecue chicken

I get my Maggi noodles only from Asian supermarkets – they are Malaysian Maggi noodles. I find the Malaysian Maggi noodles have a tighter curl and tastier texture than the Australian version. The seasoning tastes different too.

I’m sure some of you think I’m crazy to eat instant noodles with leftover chicken for breakfast. I’m not crazy – many people who meet me assume I was born in Australia until these little South-East Asian habits give me away. ;)

I love supermarket barbecue chook. I’ll happily eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or take it on a picnic. Are any of you fans of the humble supermarket barbecue chook?

I’ve mentioned lamingtons a few times recently and received some questions about them from readers – so I thought I’d write a post about the lamington. There’s no recipe here – there are plenty of recipes out there if you google “lamington recipe”.

A lamington is a classic Australian cake: a cube of sponge cake covered in chocolate and desiccated coconut.

Lamington

For me, the lamington is more than just a cake that I like. It comes with lots of good childhood memories that I think of every time I see or eat a lamington.

The first time I encountered lamingtons was in my first year in primary school in Australia. I was in Year Six and we had a “lamington drive” – selling lamingtons as a fundraiser. I can’t remember what we raised money for; I just remember the lamingtons!

There were lamington drives in high school too. Some years we sold chocolates and packs of frozen sausage rolls, which I loved, but I always looked forward to the lamingtons.

There were a couple of years that we actually helped make the lamingtons for the lamington drive – the sponge cake was delivered to the school in a large slab from a commercial bakery which we cut into 4 cm cubes. Teams of volunteers worked in an assembly line – kids, parents and grandparents – and dipped the cake into chocolate icing then rolled the chocolate cubes in coconut, assembled cardboard boxes and packed six lamingtons to a box. I recall one year we sold strawberry lamingtons as well – the sponge was covered in strawberry icing rather than chocolate. They were never as popular as the original chocolate ones.

A well-made fresh lamington is wonderful. Despite looking like a block, the sponge cake is more like a soft pillow – beautifully light, with a delicate crumb. The chocolate and coconut cover the sponge evenly with no cake showing until you bite into it. They can be messy to eat, coconut falling with every bite. I love the smell of chocolate and coconut but must remember not to lean too close and inhale coconut!

Lamington – innards

You can make your lamington even more special by filling it with fresh cream and jam, like the Alice lamington at Koko Black, which is filled with cream and delicious sour cherry jam. So good.

Alice lamington, Koko Black, Claremont

I’ve heard that in Cleveland, Ohio in the US they have a similar item they call “coconut bars” – do any of you guys know about those?

Feel free to share your lamington love, favourite lamington bakeries and lamington memories/stories!

The lamington in the first two photos in this post came from the Gosnells Railway Market bakery – sold in a six-pack for $6.

If you go grocery shopping while hungry, do you end up buying more? I’ve read articles that argue both for and against that theory.

This was a meal we shared before grocery shopping recently: a teriyaki chicken bento set from Nagano Sushi at the food court in Carousel Shopping Centre. You get teriyaki chicken and rice, salad, California roll and prawn sushi and a whole lot of tempura: prawn, eggplant, broccoli and a craggy sweet potato and onion tempura, which is my favourite. In the corner of the plastic serving dish is dipping sauce. Between the freshly panfried teriyaki chicken and the hot steamed rice is a layer of cabbage. You get a cup of piping hot miso soup too. I was a little over-enthusiastic – or perhaps I should just say greedy! – and burned my mouth on the soup.

Chicken teriyaki bento from Nagano Sushi, Carousel Shopping Centre

It’s a good feed for around AU$15. When I’m really hungry I can eat one of these on my own, but it’s nice to share one with Jac for brunch on a Saturday morning.

Another favourite meal we sometimes share when we’re at the shops is nachos (AU$9.50) from the Spudbar. I’ve mentioned before how I get grossed out sharing mushy foods with other people – nachos always end up a gooey sloppy mess, as do ice cream sundaes. After 14 years with Jac, we’ve had plenty of “gross” moments… sharing nachos with my sweetheart is not so gross after all :D.

Nachos

Spudbar’s nachos are vegetarian: corn chips, chili beans, cheese, jalapenos, light sour cream and guacamole – simple, tasty and wonderfully colourful.

I don’t know if it’s a myth or not, but I definitely try to avoid going grocery shopping when I’m hungry. It doesn’t matter that we have a shopping list – everything looks unbelievably good to me when I’m hungry. I reckon I’m more likely to throw snacks and junk food into the trolley if I shop hungry. Pringles! Chocolate! Salami Slims! I’m probably a slightly more cranky shopping companion when I’m hungry too.

So what do you reckon? Do you buy more if you go grocery shopping when hungry? Take my un-scientific opinion poll and answer based on your own experience!

EDIT, November 2011: Crumpet is now under new management. The menu is predominantly Lebanese and no longer features homemade crumpets

It’s been almost a year since I blogged about Crumpet in East Victoria Park. Crumpet was one of the eateries I listed in my Top 5 Perth eats of 2010.

Something you must never forget when reading online reviews is to check how recently they were written, because a lot can change over time. In Crumpet’s case, it seems a lot can change in a year.

We went to Crumpet for breakfast a couple of weekends ago. Jac was keen for their eggs Benedict and iced coffee, and of course we were both eager to share a plate of hot buttery crumpets.

The freshly toasted homemade crumpets with butter and honey (AU$4.50) arrived quickly and were superb.

Crumpets with butter and honey (AU$4.50)

They were soft and doughy in the middle, and toasted brown and crisp on the top and bottom.

Crumpets with butter and honey – crisp brown bottom

Whenever I read Enid Blyton books that describe eating crumpets with lashings of butter and honey, this is exactly what I imagine. Only bad thing is sticky fingers make it tricky to work the camera!

Crumpets with butter and honey, lots of honey

Thank goodness the crumpets arrived so quickly, because the rest of our food took ages – so long that Jac even checked with our waiter to make sure our order hadn’t been forgotten. We don’t do that often.

After all that waiting, Jac was very disappointed to discover her eggs were overdone. We’d waited so long for our food she didn’t want to send her dish back and then wait even longer. It’s hard to forgive badly cooked eggs in a cafe or restaurant. The ham was so thinly sliced it was practically transparent. The toast was like a rusk – tooth-breakingly dry.

Eggs Benedict now

I ordered the homemade cornbread with bacon and maple syrup (AU$12.90).

Homemade cornbread with bacon and maple syrup

The cornbread was delicious but it was so thickly sliced I didn’t need nor finish the second slice. The bacon was crispy but there was barely a drizzle of maple syrup on it – there definitely needed to be a lot more syrup, as the dry cornbread and bacon became increasingly difficult to eat.

Homemade cornbread with bacon and maple syrup – cornbread innards

The napkins we received (wrapped around our cutlery) were strangely damp. It seemed bizarre that the waiter wouldn’t feel the dampness in her hand when she picked up the cutlery to take to our table.

In my original write-up of Crumpet, the iced coffee Jac was served was magnificently memorable – back then it came topped with whipped cream sprinkled with fresh coffee beans, chunks of toffee and vanilla-flavoured rock sugar. See below:

Crumpet’s ice coffee back in June 2010

What Jac got instead this time was pale and plain. Having had the previous more spectacular iced coffee, this one was somewhat of a let-down.

Freshly squeezed apple juice and ice coffee

We weren’t as impressed with our food this time around, but the homemade crumpets with butter and honey are still something special.

Every time we’ve walked past Crumpet, it’s been packed. When we were there for breakfast, the cafe was full the whole time, with people constantly peeking in at the door, gazing enviously at those of us lucky enough to get a table. But clearly, the kitchen was not keeping up the orders – we could see we weren’t the only ones waiting a long time for our food.

Breakfast in Perth published a post recently about a disappointing breakfast at Crumpet too. It’s such a shame. The comments at that post suggest our experience was not just a bad day at work for Crumpet.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not naive enough to think any restaurant wouldn’t change its menu, or the presentation or composition of its dishes. There are also things like availability of ingredients and ongoing costs to take into consideration. But overcooked eggs and a long wait for food… those aren’t mere “changes” – they’re the unwelcome symptoms of complacency and slipping standards.

On food bloggers and restaurant reviews

This dining experience and blog post prompted me to write On food bloggers and restaurant reviews

Crumpet – frontage

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Crumpet
8/885 Albany Highway
East Victoria Park WA 6101
Telephone: (08) 9355 0901
Tuesday to Friday: 7.30am – 3pm
Saturday and Sunday: 8am – 2pm
Mondays: closed
Breakfast is available all day.

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If you visit Busselton, you can’t miss the jetty, which stretches 1.8km across Geographe Bay, the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s been through a lot over the years, including being severely damaged in 1978 by Cyclone Alby, the worst cyclone in the history of South West WA, and a fire in 1999 that forced staff to chainsaw the burning section of jetty into the Geographe Bay waters in a desperate bid to control the flames. Read the full history of Busselton Jetty.

This post doesn’t feature food, by the way. Well… it does, but it’s still alive and swimming! :)

After our Simmo’s ice cream, we headed to the jetty.

Busselton Jetty

Busselton Jetty stretches 1.8km out into the ocean

Juji had booked us Jetty Train/Underwater Observatory tour tickets online a week or so before our trip. We picked up them up at the Interpretive Centre, a blue building at the start of the jetty where there’s a museum and you can buy tickets, gifts and souvenirs.

Note: I didn’t use the loo while I was there but those who did told me you can listen to the sounds of the sea through the open window while you um, do your thing. :)

Busselton Jetty Interpretive Centre – Souvenirs, Gifts, Museum

The train travels at a speed of 6km per hour and takes you all the way to the end of the jetty where the Underwater Observatory is. See Jetty Train ride and Underwater Observatory opening hours and prices – bookings are essential.

Busselton Jetty Train

Before we went into the Underwater Observatory, I took some pictures of seagulls as they flew overhead.

I wish I could fly

Seagull gliding

My Highway to Heaven/Touched by an Angel shot

Busselton Underwater Observatory

Busselton Underwater Observatory descends to a depth of 8 metres with viewing windows at each level as you follow the stairs down. Our tour guide told us about the history of the jetty and observatory and talked about the marine life we could see through the windows.

I love aquariums, so I had a wonderful time gazing at the fish along all the levels. There were quite a few of us taking photos as we gawked at the fish.

Here’s the fish you keep catching on a bad fishing day: the blowfish, or as we call it, the blowie. No wonder they are so easy to catch – there were heaps of them swimming around.

Blowfish

I felt a rush of excitement when I spotted this school of tailor. My dad used to catch tailor which we’d eat for dinner. I love panfried whole tailor but haven’t eaten any in years. I think Jay was thrilled to see the tailor too, but from a fishing, not so much eating, perspective. :D

A school of tailor

I could’ve watched the fish for hours but it was soon time to jump back on the train for the return journey.

The train ride is fun, but if you enjoy walking and the weather is good, it would be fun to walk the 1.8km all the way to the Underwater Observatory.

It was a little disconcerting as we rode the train just how close we were to the people fishing along the edge of the jetty. It felt like a little nudge would be all it took to push them into the water! Not that we’d ever do that, of course. I’ll be surprised if there have never been any mishaps.

More information about the jetty, train and underwater observatory
Visit The Busselton Jetty Experience

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. We went back to our holiday apartments for a rest before dinner. We’d be back at the jetty in a little while…

Busselton trip, April 2011

See the full list of posts from our Busselton trip in correct reading order.

Eating an ice cream by the beach is one of life’s simple pleasures. And of course, it’s even better when you’re on holiday.

Simmo’s strawberry ice cream – bigger than life-size!

I was very keen to visit Simmo’s Ice Creamery in Busselton as I was the only one in the group who hadn’t eaten Simmo’s ice cream before. Simmo’s ice cream is made from South West local produce, including milk and cream delivered fresh from the dairy every morning.

It was a mild, cloudy day, probably not ideal ice cream eating weather – but I can eat ice cream at any time and in any weather (just as I’ll happily eat ice cream on a cold day, I’ll crave and eat curry on a scorching hot summer’s day). There was a pretty good crowd in the shop, choosing from the many flavours available.

I was torn between Mars Bar ice cream, which looked wonderfully chocolatey with swirls of thick caramel, and my all-time favourite, strawberry. In the end, strawberry won – I can’t go past the opportunity to eat fresh strawberry ice cream made with real strawberries.

I ordered a scoop on a cone. The scoops are very generous at Simmo’s! Eating my strawberry ice cream, I had happy flashbacks to the beautifully refreshing strawberry sorbet we enjoyed in Albany back in January. Simmo’s strawberry ice cream is super creamy and flecked with strawberry seeds and real bits of strawberry. It wasn’t overly sweet either, which I liked.

We sat down and raised our ice cream in a toast, declaring “Here’s to holidays!” Clockwise from my strawberry ice cream in the foreground: Jay’s cookie dough; Jac’s coffee crunch and vanilla berry swirl (she got one scoop of each, in a cup); Juji’s banana choc chip. I discovered how hard it is to take photographs with your camera in one hand while you’re holding a rapidly melting ice cream cone in the other!

An ice cream toast – here’s to holidays!

We all enjoyed our ice cream. Besides my strawberry, I thought Jac’s coffee crunch was delicious (not sure what the “crunch” part was). Juji had a cold, so I didn’t try her banana choc chip, but she said it tasted like real banana, not horrible fake banana flavour. I love ice cream that’s been made with real bananas (remember the macaron ice cream sandwich with banana ice cream I had recently at Rockpool Bar & Grill?). Jay went all quiet as he gave his ice cream his full attention.

It’s lovely, fresh-tasting, rich, creamy ice cream. If you like ice cream and have never tried Simmo’s, it’s worth a visit if you’re ever in the vicinity (locations listed below). Next time, I must have ice cream with a hot waffle!

Simmo’s Ice Creamery, Busselton

Simmo’s Ice Creamery, Busselton
Next to Nautical Lady Entertainment World
Central Beach Front, Busselton
Web: www.simmos.com.au
There are Simmo’s Ice Creameries in Dunsborough, Margaret River and Mandurah.
Simmo’s ice cream is also available at selected outlets in Bunbury, Kununurra, Perth (Cottesloe) and Wilyabrup (visit Simmo’s website for details)

The only other thing better than eating ice cream by the beach while you’re on holiday is probably eating fish and chips by the beach, followed by ice cream…while you’re on holiday!

Busselton trip, April 2011

See the full list of Busselton trip posts in correct reading order.

Not many people know that besides food, computers, cats and taking photos, another of my great loves is Lego. This blog remains my passion and priority, but lately I’ve been rediscovering my LEGO love and having fun combining LEGO with photography. It’s hard though, finding the time and energy to do all the things I want and like to do. I get really frustrated about that and I’m sure many of you struggle with it too.

“Sorry sir, we’re all out of rum & raisin.”

You probably need to have seen Pirates of the Caribbean to get the joke. :)

Even in LEGO I gravitate towards food! I bought the ice cream man and cart (Legoland set 6601, circa 1985) recently on eBay. It came with the original instructions and was fun to build. I just need to find some little ice creams to put into the ice cream cart’s freezer. I turned 36 last month but I don’t think I’ll ever stop playing with toys!

• Follow @TheLEGOwoman on Twitter for all my LEGO-related tweets.
• Like The LEGO woman on Facebook!
• See my LEGO collection at Brickset.

Don’t worry, the next post coming up features real food. In fact, there’s a lot more food on the way! I’ll be continuing with my posts about our recent holiday in Busselton.

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As I get older I notice changes in myself. My tastes continue to evolve. For example, I used to detest avocado but I quite like it now, especially in the form of fresh guacamole. And although I know I’ll always be a savoury tooth, lately my sweet tooth has been making her mark.

Launch party

The latent chocoholic in me has recently been awakened, thanks to Koko Black (is it “thanks” or “all Koko Black’s fault”? I can’t decide! ;)). I attended their official launch party recently with Jac and surprised myself with how much chocolate I consumed. In fact, I was amazed that I out-chocolated Jac, who usually has the far sweeter tooth. At the end of this session of chocolatey indulgence, we drove home from Claremont and Jac even admitted feeling a little ill from too much chocolate; I felt a little gluggy (being mildly lactose intolerant) but overall I felt good and happy and ready for something savoury and salty: noodles or hot chips.

The Koko Black salon at Claremont Quarter was closed to the general public during the two-hour launch event. There was a jazz trio playing in the corner. We were warmly welcomed and given a glass of bubbly. We sat with fellow blogger Grendel next to the jazz band. Then out came the chocolate… lots and lots and lots of chocolate.

We shared a mini serving of the indulgently rich Belgian chocolate mousse.

Chocolate mousse

We sipped on mini Belgian hot chocolates served in dainty little cups. It’s made from full cream milk, cream and 54% dark chocolate and tastes as rich and luxurious as it sounds.

Belgian hot chocolate

From Koko Black’s ice creamery, milk chocolate ice cream garnished with chocolate flakes. The ice cream tasted just like milk chocolate but delightfully cold and creamy.

Milk chocolate ice cream with chocolate flakes

The iced chocolate included vanilla bean and chocolate ice cream, a generous sprinkling of chocolate shavings and rich chocolate sauce.

Iced chocolate

We also enjoyed savoury pancetta and cherry tomato petite tarts, freshly baked and hot from the oven.

Pancetta and cherry tomato petite tart

We were in the Land of Chocolate. In between the ice cream, the hot and cold chocolate drinks, more savoury tarts and more champagne, waiters came bearing platters of beautiful handmade chocolates.

We shared and tried just about all the individual chocolates that came our way. At one point, Jac whispered in my ear: “We should’ve brought a zip-lock bag!” She’s a woman after my own heart! I’d been thinking exactly the same thing – but don’t worry, we’d never do such a thing! We shared and tried:

• caramelised coconut – almond praline blended with caramelised coconut
• single malt whiskey – milk ganache made with Melbourne’s Bakery Hill single malt whiskey
• stout caramel – I wrote about these in my previous Koko Black post, made with Little Creatures Single Batch Oatmeal Stout. This, and the truffle caramel made with local truffle oil and garnished with crushed black salt are my favourites.
• almond praline – with milk and white chocolate
• hazelnut praline
• raspberry ganache – French raspberry puree in ganache stamped with the Koko Black cacao bean logo – we tried both dark and milk varieties. This was Jac’s favourite.

Caramelised coconut, stout caramel, single malt whiskey chocolates

By the time the chocolate shortcrust tarts came around we had almost hit chocolate coma.

Chocolate tarts

I had seen Kim the head chocolatier in her kitchen less than half an hour ago arranging the chocolate tarts on the two-tiered plates.

Kim Linssen, head chocolatier

I took a walk around the salon and took photos of the other delights on display. Here are the Alice lamingtons, filled with fresh cream and sour cherry jam.

Alice lamingtons

Individual serves of vanilla pannacotta, each topped with a layer of shiny strawberry jelly.

Vanilla pannacotta

You can buy individual chocolates or choose an empty chocolate gift box and fill it your own assortment from the chocolates on display.

Chocolates in display case

I liked the look of the candied South Australian orange slices dipped in dark chocolate.

Orange segments

The dulce de leche, like faceted gems, milk chocolates filled with sweetened milk caramel.

Dulce de leche

Saffron chocolates, with saffron-infused white ganache on a base of puffed rice, garnished with tiny threads of saffron.

Saffron

Leatherwood honey, made with Tasmanian honey blended with milk ganache.

Leatherwood honey

Tikal chilli, dark ganache laced with hot chilli. Watch out for the dried chilli flakes and seeds!

Tikal chilli

Teddy bear pops, available in milk and dark chocolate.

Teddy Bear Pops

Right now there is a great range of Easter-themed chocolates for sale, including hand-painted chocolate Easter bunnies, available in milk and dark chocolate, in small, medium and large sizes.

Easter bunnies – milk and dark chocolate

Displayed in the window, more Easter bunnies, chocolate chickens and shiny little Easter eggs.

Koko Black window display

We had a great time at the launch event. Jac’s decided Koko Black chocolate is her new chocolate of choice. Looks like we’ll have to come out to Claremont more often. A Belgian hot chocolates in winter sounds good to me!

Koko Black, Claremont Quarter

Tweetup

Besides my evolving food tastes, I’ve noticed that I am slowly emerging from my shell. I will always be quite a private person and am naturally not a social butterfly – I feel more like the clumsy, stumbling black beetle in the corner. My colleagues who have seen me in my element delivering presentations to rooms full of people at work find it hard to believe that I usually feel awkward at social events. Lately though, despite the dorky awkwardness I feel, I’ve been getting out more, attending events, meeting more people and, dare I say, enjoying it. I recently went along to a Twitter meetup at Koko Black. I’d been “talking” with these four lovely ladies on Twitter and met them for the very first time over a chocolatey afternoon tea.

It was Saturday afternoon and the salon was very busy. We were lucky to get the last free table. After we’d placed our order, a waiter brought five napkins and five spoons to the table.

The spoon of expectation

After much deliberation, we had ordered an Autumn Spoil for two (AU$24) and a Belgian Spoil for two (AU$24) to share between the five of us. The spoils were served in dainty little cups and dishes on blocks of wood. It didn’t look like it would be enough but we soon learned this was plenty for five. In fact, we didn’t finish it all.

The Belgian spoil and Autumn spoil are also available for one for AU$13.50 each. The serves for one include a hot chocolate or iced chocolate; the serves for two include two chocolate drinks. Combined with the drinks, the spoils are deceptively rich.

Autumn spoil for two (top), Belgian spoil for two (bottom)

Chocolate ice cream, decorated with two pieces of chocolate lattice.

Chocolate ice cream

The rich Belgian chocolate mousse featured on both spoils.

Belgian chocolate mousse

On the Belgian spoil plate: ginger dark chocolate and a walnut chocolate molded to resemble a walnut on one side, with a real walnut on the other side. Also on the dish, walnut shortbread and chocolate cake.

Chocolates, shortbread, chocolate cake

On the Autumn spoil plate: pear sorbet garnished with caramelised walnuts and a quiff of Belgian chocolate mousse. I had been hanging out to try the pear sorbet ever since I heard about it at the Koko Black media preview event. It was sweet and refreshing and next time I’m going to get pear sorbet all to myself.

Pear sorbet, chocolate mousse

Also on the Autumn Spoil, stout caramel chocolate and a mystery chocolate that disappeared before my eyes :), a gingerbread cookie, and pear and cinnamon cake. The cake was wonderfully moist. Koko Black may be a chocolatier, but they have a special way with pears – both the pear sorbet and pear cake got rave reviews from us all.

Chocolates, ginger breadcookie, pear and cinnamon cake

S ordered a cappucino (AU$3.80), which at Koko Black is served like a flat white with chocolate flakes for you to MYO cappucino. There is way more chocolate than you’d probably need to top your coffee with, plenty to share with your chocoholic friends. Presumably if you added it all and stirred it through you might end up with a mocha.

Cappucino (served with chocolate flakes)

I ordered the soy hot chocolate, which I really enjoyed. The strongest flavour was the rich chocolate rather than the soy, which was great.

Soy hot chocolate

The iced chocolates had an imposing presence on the table, served in large balloon glasses.

Iced chocolate

Thank you to my chocolate eating and drinking companions for their patience as I took photographs. Chocolate really brings people together! We laughed and talked… a lot about food, actually! We talked about seafood, curry, chocolate and macarons! K sheepishly confessed she was still recovering from a big Friday night and had arrived earlier and devoured hot chips from Grill’d next door just before our get-together – hot chips followed by chocolate, sorbet and cake sounded awesome to me – why didn’t I think of that?

We plan to all meet up again next month for more sweet indulgence. I think I will enjoy discovering my slow blooming sweet tooth and getting to know new friends. How have you changed as you’ve grown older?

Chocolate feeding frenzy

Click for larger map

Koko Black Claremont Salon
The Lane, Claremont Quarter
23 St Quentin Avenue (corner of St Quentin Ave and Bayview Terrace)
Telephone: (08) 9284 2049
Current Koko Black Perth menu (PDF 84KB)

Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday 9.00am – 10.00pm
Friday 9.00am – 11.00pm
Saturday 9.00am – 11.00pm
Sunday 10.30am – 10.00pm
They don’t take bookings.
There are 7 Koko Black salons in Victoria and one in Canberra. See details at www.kokoblack.com
Koko Black chocolates and gift vouchers can be ordered online too.

The Food Pornographer attended the launch party as a guest of Koko Black.

See my previous post on the Koko Black media preview event.

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