School is back in! @ The Classroom

Tick! I said to myself after visiting The Classroom (354 Charles Street, North Perth) last weekend. Located opposite the McDonalds and BP station at the corner of Scarborough Beach Rd and Charles Street this is a nicely decked out bar!

There is the main public bar area (long and narrow and tables/seating is a premium! next door is two private function areas called the School Yard (closer to a tuck shop/ cafeteria in decor ) and the Library with some very nice chesterfield sofas about the place (think a den - though I think someone called it a Harry Potter type library room!)

The Classroom's strength is in its array of cocktails and alcohol selection, a different spread (but pricey) with a good selection of small plate food menu; think eating lots of entrees for dinner (not quite as small as tapas but not as large as restaurant type mains. food style could be described as modern with a gimmick, pipettes for dispensing Tabasco? 

Most dishes have multiple servings to share but each item was roughly $15+ (wedges were $7). All up our total food bill for a group of three was about $40 each, four dishes and chips with some drinks left us mostly satisfied food wise, not too hungry and if we had more drinks we wouldn't have cared ;)

So our order that night consisted of:

Shaker hand cut chips (wedges served in a hot chips cup with a paper bag with shaker salt + lime(?) ) 

(It was just chips.... That were limp and soggy - apologies on the pic, maybe a brown paper bar doesn't really convey what a bucket of chips with skins on really looks like right?? Imagination people..... Use it :D why inside that bag could be something much more awesome like.... The next dish??)

Beef Brisket (yum - came with pickled veggies and extra sauce) - the vegetables felt more decorative than being an important component of the dish however, cauliflower, carrots in a jar? I'll have the meat thanks!

Fish Fingers - more like fish footballs :D three little footballs of fish paste sitting on top of a fennel salad and anchored in place with tartare sauce - tasted nice, better than my school days of fish fingers :D

Fried Chicken - four pieces of fried chicken! Supposedly 12 secret spices, looked nicely friend and crispy though lacking in something, maybe the 13th spice should be flavour hmmmm. Was cool it came in a little bucket and napkins to absorb the grease...

Finally we had the Chicken Quesadillas - with Tabasco in a pipette and fresh guacamole (three pieces) 

Not too bad, crispy, filling and guac was fine

Overall the food did its job, the people were very friendly and service was very attentive! They were very happy to answer questions, cleared up the table quickly (flipping tables probably their priority) and drink orders were delivered promptly. Food was pushed out quickly and they used a buzzer system so you ordered at the bar (or waitress) and collect your food from the "canteen" essentially you bus your own food to your table from the pass lol. Anyhow the decor was great, decent food and alcohol selection. My overall impression is not too bad but am looking forward to lounging on them chesterfield..... hmmm yes :D

Tuck Shop Cafe - Northbridge

So whilst I'm not what you would call an early riser, when organising a breakfast catch up with A popped up I found myself suggesting a visit to Tuck Shop Cafe is in order. The good news was it was totally worthwhile waking up so early on my usual sleep-in day, the bad news was that it involved making sure we got there before 8am on a Saturday morning!

Thankfully Northbridge in the morning is a civil affair, families, DINKs and people in cycling gear all gather, grab coffees and chat away the morning in a lively atmosphere in decor i'd describe as eating inside a providore store?

When we arrived it was about 1/2 to 3/4 full already ( seating really was suited for groups of four or less) so I was glad we went early (plus being able to find side street parking was a bonus too)

So here's the skinny, the menu is pretty much a gourmet brunch menu, service was friendly and attentive (quick for food to coffees, food and clearing the table) and pricing wise was roughly $12-20, the cheap end was for their continental breakfast options or from their pie selection and the $18-20 range consisted of more substantial foods. Coffees ranged from about high 3's to $4+. Good quality brews with a frequently rotating coffee blend.

Ordering myself a mocha whilst A grabbed a fruit juice (beetroot celery and apple!) we talked as our hot dishes were served up,

In summary, this is definitely going to be one of my goto breakfast places, only downside is having to beat the rush of people to get a table :((

My dish was average, the pork belly a bit dry and chewy, the crackling crunchy but felt dried out making it a tough chew early in the morning. The potatoes and chorizo were fried nicely and the sweetness of the Spanish onions was a welcome addition. Overall serving size was very filling.

The salmon and ricotta dish looked fantastic, again a good serving size with a good serve of smoked salmon. A lot of ricotta cheese to fill out the dish.

Is Donburi... is good :D

So for our Wednesday dinner and games nights our nom noms was at a restaurant quickly becoming one of my go to Japanese restaurants, Is Donburi on William St (next to Jus Burgers in the refurbished arcade containing Superstar Waffles).

One thing you'll notice is there aren't many seats at the restaurant so I'd recommend coming with groups of less than 8 as they have such limited space you could be waiting for a while. They do take reservations and I was quite tempted to see if the AMEX concierge would be able to reserve a table on the spot since I saw those reserved Amex signs (with no one claiming them....)

Anyhow dinner was kicked off with some Karaage chicken (which were awesome in taste though slightly disappointing as they bulked it up with a lot of salad, so much so it was closer to being a karaage chicken salad entree instead).

Taste wise the batter was great, crispy and not oily, looked slightly too dark though, definitely pass the golden brown stage. There were dipping sauces included (one which looked like sweet chilli and a dollop of Japanese mayo in the corner)

For mains I ordered my trusty I-Bento set (well presented with great variety of dishes for $24!). You choose your main protein of teriyaki chicken/beef/tofu/fish then the side dishes consisted of fried gyozas, pan fried salmon piece, sushi and a serve of sashimi ( three varieties of fish each with 2-3 small servings!) and a Japanese salad to round things off.

My friends had a mixture of S Bento sets a business was bento set ?l( essentially a donburi bowl filled with your main protein with rice topped with the fried gyozas and tempura pieces).

Serving sizes were are generous and plenty for dinner and it tasted very good. A highly recommend from me to check it out! Apologies on the lack of photos, I concentrated more on eating than taking pictures this time round :D)