If you attended the inaugural Taste of Perth in partnership with Electrolux, you’ll probably remember that the weather was absolutely glorious – unfortunately we weren’t so lucky this year. Those who attended on Friday missed the worst of it, however I was unable to escape from work and went on Saturday aftenoon with my work colleague Linda and her budding-foodie son Aidan. We arrived at around 11:30am to find a queue of die-hard foodies already in place, despite the rain.
I was provided with complimentary entry passes by the event organisers, although we paid for our food. If you’re not familiar with the event, all items are purchased using a currency called “crowns”, and 1 crown = $1.
Ah, here’s a photo I took last year before the event started. Oh well, enough of that…
Let’s get my whinge out of the way. Now I know that there’s nothing that can be done about the weather at an outdoor event, however heavy rain on Saturday & Sunday was forecast early in the week. Marketing emails stated that there would be “plenty of shelter”, but I didn’t see that any actual effort was made to provide cover that wouldn’t have been there anyway – what is the point of the seating in the photo above? Free ponchos were on offer, although I heard staff at the front gate telling someone that they had none left just after 1pm.
Anyway, on to the food…
The first place we headed to was Lalla Rookh, and I’m ashamed to say that I’d never tried their meatballs – served here with polenta and parmigiano (8 crowns). These were soft and tasty, perfect for a cold winter’s day! I can certainly imagine tucking into a large bowl of these.
Also from Lalla Rookh we tried the ricotta gnocchi with organic beef & pork ragu (8 crowns) which were soft and pillowy.
Dessert from Lalla Rookh was fried custard with candied citrus and toasted almonds (6 crowns). How could fried custard be anything but fantastic?
This crazy man was selling Pic’s peanut butter, and he must have sensed I was a blogger by my desperation to take a photo despite the risk of severe water damage to my camera. He was kind enough to give me a jar to try, which I’ll review in my next “off the shelf” post.
Ponchos, ponchos everywhere…
Moving on to one of my favourite breakfast destinations, Asado.
This was the dish of the day for me – barbecued rump cap, loose leaf chimichurri, chioptle mayo and salsa criolla (8 crowns). The meat was cooked to perfection and everything surrounding it had so much flavour. Absolutely delicious. I wish I’d tried their burnt banana with butter biscuit, dulce de leche & marscapone (6 crowns), it looked beautiful from the photos I have seen.
I tried the chicken liver parfait (6 crowns) from Bistro Guillaume last year, but this year it came with even fewer croutons! As tasty as it is, eating it from your finger or the end of a plastic knife isn’t very elegant – I’d rather they served less parfait and more of something to eat it with. There were quite a few of these (ours included) left unfinished because of this.
Last year Bistro Guillaume served a gigantic salted caramel macaron, this year they reduced the size and added a strawberry one (8 crowns). I found the strawberry to be rather ordinary, but the salted caramel was much better.
I didn’t try Guillaume’s confit duck with Paris mash and toasted brioche crumbs (12 crowns) however it seemed very popular.
Rain? What rain?
The award for Taste of Perth’s best dish went to El Publico for their twice cooked lamb ribs with sesame, cucumber and lime (12 crowns). They were as good as they looked, easily sliding off the bone and sticky as promised.
Here’s a tip: if you like (or have yet to try) lamb ribs, pay a visit to Charcoal Chicken Express in Dianella Plaza.
Also from El Publico we tried the charred & braised corn with crema, chilli, lime & fresh cheese (6 crowns). This was warm, soft and inviting – another great dish for a cold, rainy afternoon. Linda found this too spicy, although I thought it was just about perfect.
Unfortunately, while I was eating this I was hit in the head by a flying market umbrella which put a bit of a dampener on things (if that was possible).
Someone create a distraction…
The last dish of the day for us was the Mary Street Bakery doughnut with peanut butter, jam & “crunch” (whatever that was) (6 crowns). Who cares what the crunch is when it’s this decadent? This was beautifully soft but very rich, and a little hard going after everything we’d eaten before it.
There were also cooking demonstrations and plenty of exhibits with things to sample and purchase, like this delicious honey cake…
…and these cupcakes from Sweetly Baked, two of which came home with me…
…a salted caramel popcorn and orange sherbet, which were thoroughly enjoyed later on when my stomach had recovered from the day’s tastings.
So putting the weather to one side, Taste of Perth is a fantastic event, and I’m already looking forward to next year. The huge amount of work by the organisers, exhibitors and most importantly the restaurants shows in the quality of food on offer, and the number of happy customers who were happy to brave the wind & rain, myself included.
Let’s hope Mother Nature is kinder to us next year.
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