You can call our first day at Perth a rather eventful one, but the rain was pretty intense come nighttime. (the cyclone has officially reached Perth). We, at least I could hear the lashings of rain and howling winds as we slept in the campervan. Thankfully, the sky cleared up the next morning.
For breakfast, we had something quick and fuss free: Sliced figs from the garden with strawberries , Greek yoghurt with a drizzle of honey.
Figs from the garden for breakfast
We met Jin, a Uni friend, and her husband for lunch at a recommended place by @brendon_fernandez. This time around, it was a tapas place in Leederville called Pinchos, 749 Newcastle St. The waitress was lovely and recommended her favourites on the menu. The food came out at a nice pace and presented beautifully. The food itself was sooooo tasty and came in huge portions for tapas. We over-ordered because we thought that it would really be served in small plates. It was a relatively good value considering we ordered sooo much. The only gripe ? It has a tiny open kitchen and it got smoky at one point during our lunch. Our clothes reeked of smoke long after.
Pinchos with a lively vibe
Slow-cooked beef cheeks with cauliflower puree and mojo verde sauce
Fish and squid with ajo blanco and zucchini salad. The squid was really well cooked, and I absolutely loved the ajo blanco. So nutty yet creamy!
Gazpacho salad: A soup-inspired salad with tomatoes, capsicum, crispy bread, basil, onions and arugula.
Pan arabe (flatbread, saffron labne, olives, beets, grapes and dukkah)
A selection of chistorra (grilled basque pork sausage) with jammon serrano (shaved spanish ham) served with fennel salad.
Isabella’s favourite: Albondigas meatballs with tomato, candied eggplant, yoghurt and pinenuts.
Chicharrones: Fried pork belly with cumin and lemon. Very crispy and lean, yet still quite juicy. Smoke ham and chicken croquettas, Eli’s fav of the day. Served with aioli saice.
Patata bravas: Paprika potatoes with tomato and aioli. Well-executed but doesn’t really wow. Gazpacho: A cold tomato soup served in a cocktail glass, full of flavour and tang.
Jin recommended that we head to Perth for our caffeine fix. LaVeen was highly recommended and we got there in a nick of time just before they were closed for the Sunday. The staff was kind enough to make us two lattes but to go which we were so grateful.
La Veen Coffee and Kitchen is located in the Perth CBD, on 90 King St, housed in a historic building with lovely interiors. Along this street is home to luxury brands with the likes of Prada, LV and Chanel which I never knew Perth had them (at least not in the 90s when I was a student)
La Veen located in a historical building, in CBD Perth
Nice interiors
Look at the number of hoppers they have! Serious business indeed.
La Veen cuppa of yumminess
Absolutely stuffed from lunch, we were happy to take a a stroll in the city with my coffee on hand. The kids were amazed by the numerous wall arts or graffiti if some may want to call them, they kept on spotting as we walked about, so we took a couple of photos of them with these fantastic backdrops. Actually, we had a hard time explaining to the kids! We had to tell them that actually this is not really right if the artist is not given permission to do so and that would be vandalism, and we need to teach kids to respect others. This was so because I have a 4 year old, that has drawn on walls at home, on his bedsheets and just everything he can get his hands own. We really did not want to give him any ideas! Little did we know there were part of something even bigger.
Fashionistas wannabe? Nah, just really cute posers!
The street art that you see here is by the infamous underground Perth street artist going by the moniker Dolus. What started as graffiti when he was in school, is now a passion. He got into trouble with the law and he actually stopped. But, his love rekindled after a friend asked him to help for some stencilling work. Now he is back on the streets, living a life filled with adrenalin, stencilling his work with a message, making a social comment and to get people smiling. In a warped way, he wants to leave treasures for those who walk on the streets, a reason to look around instead of into our screens. Not easy to live a double life and be on the lookout for the police every time you are out creating your art pieces. Recently, he was commissioned to do an exhibition and I heard it was wildly successful. To read more of the elusive Dolus please, check out more of his works here.
Stencil art by Dolus. It looks like Pied Piper to me. What do you guys think?
For dinner, we had Roasted Snapper with Duo-Colour Kumara, sweet potato with fresh thyme, chopped kalamata olives and white wine finished with a squeeze of lemon from the backyard. Everyone enjoyed this dish tremendously with a good bottle of wine.
Roasted snapper with duo kumara
These are the moments I truly live for: Spending time with my family, eating good food and a overall just having a good time.