Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Greatest of Expectations

So sticking with the holiday food safari  or my eat, drink everything in site challenge my girlfriends and I set about trying a couple of High Tea venues over the Christmas/New Year break. It seems like forever since I mentioned Rochelle Adonis to them and there was no time like the present to finally get round to going there.

Rochelle Adonis, the former head pastry chef of Matt Moran's Circluar Quay restaurant Aria moved to WA in 2001 and business has been booming ever since. Known for her famous nougart, cakes, icecreams and sorbet I couldn't wait to try her High Tea to see if it lived up to expectations.

The verdict - hmmm it was OK, yep you heard me just OK. I've had several High Teas and they have been good, great and amazing (Raffles Singapore - to die) but this one just didn't cut the mustard. Don't get me wrong the place itself is gorgeous, pretty, girlie everything a High tea should be but the content and what you got for the price you pay was not, in my opinion, worth it.

Let me break it down for you. For $45 you get two courses of sweet and savoury dishes (keep in mind this was shared among four women and all up we tried 7 little bites sized treats each) and a coffee plunger or tea of your choice - we went the coffee. The first plate came out with 4 x cauliflower mousse (I say mousse because of the texture not sure what it really was), 4 x beetroot scrolls and 4 x cucumber sandwiches. They were all lovely and I know High Tea isn't lunch or a meal but these things were tiny.

The second dish was a tray of creme brulee (the winner of the morning) and chocolate truffles, apricot pastry triangles and miniature cakes. Again they were lovely but hardly touched the sides. Now my gripe is not about the taste because like I have said they were lovely - lovely being the operative word - not amazing, but for $45 a little overpriced.

Will I go back there again? Probably..... but not for their High Tea but to try some of her gorgeous looking cakes - I just hope they, unlike this experience, live up to their hype.

Score: 3/5



The pretty prints adorning the wall
The beautifully decorated long table

Cucumber sandwiches, beetroot scrolls and cauliflower mousse

Chocolate creme brulee with Spanish Churro

Me enjoying the best part of the high tea - creme brulee

Cake & truffle anyone?
Now onto the next High Tea experience at Palais 85. Again I've heard only good things about this place formerly of The Oyster Bar fame and like Rochelle I had to try it for myself. Palais 85 offer four different types of High Tea - High Tea, Sparkling High Tea, Champagne High Tea and Vintage High Tea and starting from $35 (cheaper when you use the Entertainment Card) - we chose plain High Tea.

So what do you get for $35? Well here you get to choose your favourite type of coffee or tea, so this time I had a skinny latte. I know you're thinking why coffee at High Tea, I can't help myself I love my coffee. Along with this you also get 10 tasty treats from cinnamon scones, rose pannacotta and of course the original cucumber sandwich. Again they were bite sized but with three more items on the menu it left all of us quite content - not tipping over the scales full, but definitely satisfied.

All up it was a nice experience and I'd go back to Palais 85 to maybe try their Vintage High Tea next.

Score: 4/5
High Tea #2 Palais 85

Opulence

More traditional and more variety for less
Enjoying part of the cucumber sandwich
Now onto something a little more laid back and in no way pretty my visit to the famous Alfred's Kitchen. A while ago I did a piece for The West about Perth's Best New Burgers and time and time again I was told it shouldn't have been about the "best new burger" but the "best burger" because there was no better burger than those found at Alfred's Kitchen.

Situated on James Street in Guildford this roadside burger kitchen had people lining up down the street to taste "the best burgers" in town so you can imagine my excitement as I got closer to finally tasting what everyone has been talking about.

The verdict? Did I agree with the cravat-wearing-Masterchef-judging Matt Preston? I really wish I could because everyone around me was......BUT I ended up ordering a Bacon Burger and who the heck knew a Bacon Burger was just that - a burger with only bacon! Yep, you read right. What I should have ordered was a hamburger with bacon - my bad! Oh well, I guess it just gives me another excuse to go back there and get it right the second time.
Alfred's neon sign
A Bacon Burger with just bacon - who knew?

So that's it, there you have it my latest foodie adventures. Have you been to Rochelle Adonis' and have you had high tea there? Was it good & did I get them on an off day? And what about Alfred's is it really the place to find the ultimate burger? I'd love to heard from you B xo

1 comment:

  1. this post has left me craving for some creme brulee and bacon burger :)

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...