Tasik Indonesian Restaurant in Northbridge serves up remarkably cheap meals at lunch time. These are authentic, simple, no frills, home-style Indonesian food, all for under a tenner.
Tasik Indonesian Restaurant $9.50 Lunch Specials
My cash-strapped buddy and I find Tasik to be the ideal place for a lunch-time meetup. We order the Nasi Goreng Ayam – chicken fried rice with fried egg, fried chicken and prawn crackers and Bakmi Goreng – stir fried egg noodle with chicken, vegetables, fish balls, and prawns. Both are cleanly presented on square plates. The guts of the meals are stacked up neatly in the middle. Off to one side are sliced vegetables, and small dishes of hot sambal sauce.
The fried rice has a nice dark brown colour, is quite spicy, and has large chunks of chicken throughout. The rice is not so wet and soggy, but somewhat dry and steaming hot – just the way I like it. The fried egg is thoroughly cooked through, and garnished with deep fried shallots for some added texture and crunch. The best part of the dish is the fried chicken which is moist, juicy, aromatic, and flavourful. It goes well with my sambal. Gosh I’d love to steal a KFC bucket and fill it with 30 pieces of these. If I have a weakness, it’s my penchant love for Ayam Goreng. On a side note, the best place to get Ayam Goreng is here - Ayam Goreng 99 in Kingsford, NSW.
Nasi Goreng Ayam – chicken fried rice with fried egg, fried chicken and prawn crackers
Fried egg with deep fried shallots
Sambal sauce
My friend’s dish is a spicy mixture of thick egg noodles fried with large chunks of chicken, sliced fish balls, carrot, and choy sum. It is topped with a generous serving of deep fried dried shrimp to give the Bakmi Goreng an added crunch. Eating it with a squeeze of lemon and mixing through the sambal really does the trick. Oh yeah, this is good stuff right here.
Bakmi Goreng – stir fried egg noodle with chicken, vegetables, fish balls, and prawns
Tasik Indonesian Restaurant continues to please us cheap bums who need a quick Indonesian fix – dishes providing a good feed for under ten dollars. The restaurant is next to a backpackers hostel and The Shed on Aberdeen Street. It’s a must-go cheap eat! Make sure you also try the Sate ayam, sayuran & nasi putih – 4 x chicken skewers with vegetables and steamed rice, and Rendang daging sapi, sayurang & nasi putih – Indonesian style beef curry served with vegetables and steamed rice.
Tasik Indonesian Restaurant
Address: 63 Aberdeen Street, Northbridge
Tel: +61 8 9228 1884
Opening Hours:
Lunch
Tuesday – Sunday (12:00 – 3:00pm)
Dinner
Tuesday – Sunday (6:00pm – 10:00pm)
A new trend may be happening in Northbridge – the opening of some wonderful late-night coffee bars. The new kid on the block is Frisk Espresso, and the nanny state of WA welcomes it with open arms. Frisk means to ‘play boisterously’, and based on initial impressions, owner Michael encourages people to do just that – play. Much in the same fashion as Greens & Co (or rather, Greens & Co** after a vandal unofficially renamed the place), cafe dwellers can keep themselves busy with games such as Jenga and Connect Four. Alternately, the more antisocial nerdy types can utilise the free Wi-fi on offer for things such as perusing the endless number of Facebook updates on their laptops, or searching for quality pr0n. There are a variety of cakes, cupcakes, sandwiches, and drinks on offer, and the good thing is, they’re available until late at night. Kebabs after a few drinks? Prfft yeah right! Maccas run in Balga? Ha, no thanks! Kustom Cupcakes sugar delights and a long macchiato at Frisk Espresso? Hell yeah!
Frisk’s marriage of urban art with retro decor works. Dinky old items such as a cash register, a mini teevee, a red telephone, and lamps made from plastic water containers add character to the cafe, while old-school tables, chairs, and benches are used as furnishings. I swear the coffee bar and counter is actually an antique dresser. The backdrop to the cafe is a large urban artwork of graffiti. So large is the backdrop, that it could even be considered the centrepiece. If sitting inside isn’t your cup of tea, Michael’s acquired some old lounge chairs and milk crates for those wanting to catch some rays outside. Perhaps you’d like to have a nice view of the mini green hedge; or maybe the panel beater across the road.
The coffee bar
Kustom Cupcakes display window
Urban art backdrop
Various assorted retro tables, chairs, and couches
Old-school furniture
A red telephone!
Owner Michael behind the bar
A couple of milk crates and a hedge outside
A rainy and wet day. A panel beater sits just opposite, on Francis Street.
On a cold, rainy, and windy Wednesday, my mate Stoo and I whisk ourselves down to Frisk for a few coffees. We arrive at midday and the cafe is quiet. Two students are using their laptops – one with long moppy hair slouching on the couch, and a prim and proper girl in a woollen knit, sitting at a table, sipping a cappuccino using her right hand, and finger gesturing the trackpad with her left.
We order two cappuccinos ($3.90 each) and an affogato ($4.20), and then take our loyalty cards, and get them stamped – bang, bang, bang! We sit down near the windows and look at the poor people outside getting soaked in the heaviest rain we’d seen all month. The cappuccino is not too bad. The affogato is even better – a perfect marriage of vanilla bean ice-cream (a rather generous serving) and espresso. Yum! I actually forget to take a photo of the affogato – silly me. The beans used are Five Senses. I guess you know there’ll be a reputable bean in your cup. Michael uses double short pours for his coffees.
Frisk Espresso business card
Loyalty card
Five Senses cappuccino
On the way out we catch Michael taking a break in one of his lounge chairs, eating a baked bean toasted sandwich. He’s particularly excited about where Frisk Espresso is at right now and is looking forward to getting an acoustic guitarist to play some tunes in the alfresco area. He is also keen on welcoming the idea for local artists to put up art and flyers on the outside windows.
Frisk Espresso has a great ambience, the staff are friendly, and coffee is good. Frisk will be one of the places that’ll come to mind when I need to grab a coffee or a bite late at night, or anytime during the day. It’s open for some crazy serious hours, and I like that!
Frisk Espresso
Address: 31/103 Francis Street, Northbridge
Tel: +61 403 960 642
Web: www.friskespresso.com.au
Opening Hours:
Monday – Tuesday (7:00am – 3:00pm)
Wednesday – Thursday (7:00am – 10:00pm)
Friday – Saturday (7:00am – 12:00am)
Sunday (7.00am – 10:00pm)
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
Humpty Dumpty burger
At Missy Moos Burger Bar, Humpty lives on in true style – his insides cooked and squashed between two buns. There’s no wastage of Mr. Free-Range here. My burger ($14.00) comprises a premium WA lean beef pattie, with tasty cheddar, grilled pineapple, beetroot, baby spinach, aioli, Margaret River tomato relish, and of course, Humpty (aka crime scene) himself. I eat the burger in a pure deconstructed form. Only I can manage to squish the buns so hard the insides pop out like a baby ricocheting out of its mother’s womb and hanging onto dear life by its umbilical cord. My hands are literally covered in aioli and tomato relish. My friends tell me they can’t take me anywhere. I resort to eating the ingredients one by one with thumb and middle finger acting as pincers, along with pinky in the air. My double jointed fingers come in handy.
Rewind…
Our dear FiFi and her hubby Brett secure a table for us latecomers. It’s five thirty and I’m in the car at this time. I drive past the bar and it looks chockers. Unlike most other burger joints here (in WA), there are kids. Lots of ‘em. I’m lucky to find a parking spot out the front on the street. I am told later that private parking for Missy Moos customers lies just behind the bar. Good to know for next time.
You cannot miss this place. The large silver words “Missy Moos‘ sit atop a mauve coloured outdoor front. It’s a dead giveaway. Inside, the counter top/kitchen is adorned with Missy Moos themed drawings by kids. Furthermore, board games decorate the wall opposite the kitchen – Scrabble, Cowboys and Indians, and Snakes and Ladders (just to name a few).
It’s so family friendly…
Board games decorate the walls
We ask what each other is having, and Tom, Tom the Pipers Son ($11.00) catches everyone’s eye – premium WA lean beef pattie, crispy bacon, tasty cheddar, tomato, baby spinach, bbq sauce and aioli. El Muerto, FiFi, and Brett order the Tom Tom. FiFi also chooses the chunky chips ($4.50) and aioli ($1.00). The others dare to be different. Wardie goes the way of chicken and settles for Two Little Dickie Birds ($13.00) along with a vanilla malt milkshake ($5.00), Lezza orders Jack and the Beanstalk ($11.00), Chris goes the basic Missy Moo Beef Burger ($9.00) and Goldsack gets a Humpty Dumpty without the egg ($14.00). OMGWTFBBQ? Humpty Dumpty without the egg? Riiiiiiight. And as mentioned before, I get the Humpty Dumpty, along with a spearmint milkshake ($5.00).
Missy Moos Burger Menu
Big red tomato
It’s six o’ clock and the waiting line is long. It’s rush hour.
Busy hour
We get back to our table with a rubber ducky. It’s happy with the big red tomato.
There’s no table number. It’s just our purple starred yellow duck.
“Tom, Tom, the piper’s son,
Stole a pig, and away did run;
The pig was eat
And Tom was beat
And Tom went crying
Down the street.”
I take a rushed snap of El Muerto’s Tom Tom burger. It truly is delicious (I’ll take his word for it). Simply put, there is no mess. He makes me look bad. He mentions that it’s easy to pick up, easy to eat, and damn tasty. No spillage either. The secret lies within the buns. They are slightly cupped, with the outer edges bleeding over. They feel like baseball mitts – so crusty and worn on the outside, but delicately soft and white on the inside.
Tom, Tom the Pipers Son burger
FiFi’s chips are crunchy and cooked well. The unfortunate thing is that they aren’t hand cut, but rather, are of the frozen McCain variety. I caught one of the staff members unloading a whole pack into a basin (when I ordered my burger). Yikes! FiFi describes the aioli dip as very light – just a faint taste of garlic.
Tom Tom burger, chips, and aioli
“Two little dickie birds,
Sitting on a wall;
One named Peter,
One named Paul.
Fly away Peter!
Fly away Paul!
Come Back Peter!
Come Back Paul!”
Wardie’s Two Little Dickie Birds burger is the best looking of the lot. It is made up of two WA free-range chicken tenderloins, crispy bacon, grilled pineapple, cheddar, tomato, baby spinach, aioli, and Margaret River tomato relish. Chicken = protein. Double chicken = double protein. Double protein + Wardie = bigger chest. Yes, that’s right. He’s a gym junkie. He tells me that his tenderloins are cooked perfectly (not tough like rubber hockey pucks). It is a total mouthgasm.
Two Little Dickie Birds burger
“Fee-fi-fo-fum!
I smell the blood of an Englishman?
Be he ‘live, or be he dead,
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.”
As for the others, Lezza’s vegetarian burger (Jack and the Beanstalk) is made up of grilled tempeh, tomato, baby spinach, avocado, hommus and Margaret River tomato relish. She hardly gets through half the burger. Chris’ Missy Moo Beef Burger is a back to basics simple burger comprising a premium WA lean beef pattie, tomato, baby spinach, aioli and Margaret River tomato relish. He’s a big guy and gobbles it up in an instant.
My Humpty Dumpty burger is sweet. Sweeter than the burgers previously mentioned. I blame the large juicy pineapple, and its beetroot counterpart. The burger is massive. It is a task to finish. It is the most expensive burger on the menu but I finish it. I wash it down with my spearmint milkshake which is thick, spear-minty, and fluffy. It gives me a bloated feeling. I’m so full at this point.
Spearmint milkshake
We are all full.
Missy Moos Burger Bar is the latest offering to WA’s burger scene, offering over 16 nursery rhyme inspired themed burgers (along with 2 varieties of toasted sandwiches). The place is not meant to be “cool” like Grill’d or Jus Burgers. It’s family friendly. It’s for the parents who want to give their children a taste of the “gourmet style burger” that all the adults get to enjoy. The burgers look, feel, and taste fresh. All menu items are reasonably priced. Kids are just so lucky these days. Gone are the Happy Meal days. Despite the fact that frozen chips are used rather than hand cut ones, Missy Moos get everything else right. I like it! Bery bery much.
Missy Moos Burger Bar
Address: 400 South Terrace, Fremantle
Tel: +61 8 9433 3322
Opening Hours:
Dinner
Wednesday – Thursday (5:00pm – 9:00pm)
Lunch and Dinner
Friday – Sunday (12:00pm – 9:00pm)
Victoria Park has two developing cafe strips. On one end (approaching east to Cannington) is the more attractive developed entity – the asexual organism colouring the town with its sexy looking, modern-style jaunts; think The Imp, The Prophet, Crumpet, and Antz In Ya Pantz. The other end is its degenerate hobgoblin brother, lacking pizazz and in need of some magic puff – kebab shops, Gloria Jeans, Madison Avenue… OK, I might be a little bit harsh, but the west side is getting better. You’ve got a new Dome cafe opening up on the corner, new unit developments planned, a late night Woolies, and Tlmp (just to name a few). Tlmp. What the heck is a Tlmp?
T = That, l = little, m = mexican, p = place. We (as in the blonde one, the ranga, the brownie, and the blackhead) delivered a head first assault on the Victoria Park sister of its older North Perth brother. “Head first” was the appropriate term for our predicament when attempting to enter the restaurant. We couldn’t open the door. With a shake, rattle, and roar, the patrons inside all looked at us thinking “what the blardy ‘ell are they doing?” The waitress came to open the door for us and quietly mentioned that “it [was] a slider“. Of course the group blamed me – “Good one Dev…….” We sat down and with menu, monkey claw grip, and reading glasses on, we pondered over the dinner items.
Our dinner comprised of entrees, mains, and desserts. For entrees we chose the Chorizo En Vino ($14.00), Albondigas ($16.00), and Guacamole A La Mesa ($16.00). Mains included the Quesadilla De Carne Asada ($30.00), Asado De Borrego ($36.00), Tamal De Frijol Negro ($25.00), and Pozole ($26.00). We would order desserts later.
Entrees
Our meal began with the sharing of several entrees. The Chorizo En Vivo was a chorizo sausage thinly sliced and simmered with olives in red wine. The bright acidity of the wine helped to cut through the richness of the spicy chorizo. A small dish, with the contents disappearing from the table within seconds. A bit too small for $14.00.
Chorizo En Vino – chorizo sausage simmered with olives in red wine
The Albondigas was an earthy, spicy dish comprising soft meatballs in a grilled tomato and chipotle salsa. This was a favourite.
Albondigas – Mexican meatballs, served simmering in grilled tomato and chipotle salsa
The last entree was a Guacamole A La Mesa – house made blue corn tortilla chips, and guacamole mixed at the table in front of our very eyes. Salt was provided to sprinkle in the guacamole and on the warm, crispy, glazed tortilla chips. At this stage it was a good start to the night.
Guacamole mixed at the table
Guacamole A La Mesa
Salt anyone?
House made tortilla chips
Mains
Ranga’s Quesadilla De Carne Asada was a spice rubbed steak, grilled then toasted with two cheeses in a folded flour tortilla. The tortillas were beautifully soft, and the steak mild and chewy but not tough. The complement of beans and greens made the dish an overall package… enough to fill the belly.
Quesadilla De Carne Asada – spice rubbed steak, grilled then toasted with two cheeses in a folded flour tortilla
Blondie’s Asado De Borrego was a smoked lamb shank braised in a chipotle broth. A squeeze of lime on top added an acidity that cut through the richness of this earthy, sweet messy delight. It was by far the best main. Blondie was so generous to offer us hombres some shank love.
Asado De Borrego – smoked lamb shank braised with chipotle
Lamb shank
Brownie, the token vegan for the night, dug into a Tamal De Frijol Nego, which was a steamed bread made from corn masa, stuffed with black beans and topped with salsa veracruzana (salsa of tomatoes, green olives, capers, thyme, and jalapeno). The bread, steamed in banana leaves, had a texture similar to cous cous or rice pudding. Likewise the beans were of a creamy consistency. The dish looked like a dog’s breakfast, however, the taste was there – it was nothing Brownie ever tried before.
Tamal De Frijol Negro – steamed bread made from corn masa, stuffed with black beans and topped with salsa veracruzana
My Pozole was a thick, hearty soup with shredded pork and hominy (boiled ground corn cereal). This was served with lettuce, coriander, radish, lime, and pico de gallo (salsa of tomato, onion, chilli, lime, and coriander). I was told to throw the salad into the hot soup so as to experience the “hot and cold” at the same time. The soup was actually very good – a mild, meaty stew, with a cool salad garnish that was very refreshing.
Pozole – thick, hearty main course soup with shredded pork and hominy. Served with lettuce, coriander, radish, lime, and pico de gallo
Lettuce, coriander, radish, lime, and pico de gallo
Pozole with salad mixed in
Desserts
Up to this point, we all felt satisfied – not too hungry, not too full. Everything built up to this point. Dessert! We ordered the Flan De Coco ($9.00), Sopapillas ($9.00), and two Churros ($12.00 each).
Ranga regrettably ordered the tropical flavoured coconut and caramel dessert called the Flan De Coco, wishing he had stuck with his first decision – the Churros. Ranga welcomed my spooning of his dessert. It was sweet, rich, creamy textured which I liked.
Flan De Coco – traditional Mexican dessert with coconut and caramel
Blondie’s Sopapillas were the bomb. These were essentially churros in chip form – puffed fried sweet dough – dusted with sugar, and drizzled with honey and pomegranate syrup. The last element was a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top. Calories galorie, oh yes! Ranga was very happy to dig into his partner, Blondie’s sopapillas – he wanted redemption!
Sopapillas – dessert style nachos with honey and pomegranate syrup
And last but not least, the Churros. They were cooked differently from the ones at San Churro Chocolateria, and I had feared they were slightly undercooked. However, I was wrong. The exteriors were slightly hard and crunchy, while the insides were as soft as a baby’s bum in whipped cream, requiring no monotonous chew to get through. I coddled my dessert unto the very end – those light feathery churros were dipped in warm chocolate sauce laying at the very bottom of the glass, and then stabbed into the cold, melting ice cream. A bit of an ice cream smear in the corner of my lip, and soft chew, and a delicious gulp to push the fried bready delight down. Good stuff.
Churros – house specialty. fried sweet dough, vanilla ice cream, chocolate dipping sauce
Afters
And if dessert wasn’t enough, Brownie and I ordered a Cafe De Olla ($4.00) each to cap off a wonderful meal. My Mexican spiced coffee was spilt on the way to the table, which was unfortunate. The coffee (Antz In Ya Pantz) was spiced with cinnamon, and given a stir of brown sugar. Brownie commented that it tasted like hot cross buns. We liked it, but it would not have been made the traditional way with real cinnamon sticks, orange zest, and brown sugar.
Cafe De Olla – Mexican spiced coffee
Our group thoroughly enjoyed our meals at That Little Mexican Place. It was an expensive dinner, but that was the price we paid for authenticity. The dishes were truly Mexican with heavy influences from Oxaca and Baja California and it was so welcoming to have something different for once! It just shows that Perth’s food industry has diversified over the last few years.
With that said, reviews across the Interwebs have been inconsistent – some like Tlmp, some don’t. Questions have arisen about the consistency of their cooking (i.e. overcooked, undercooked), bad setting, average service, etc. A week after my experience at Tlmp, a friend and his partner found their first dinner at the place to be unappealing. They chose the Chimichanga De Nopales (sauted cactus, mushroom, and chayote squash, rolled into a flour tortilla with mexican rice and beans, then baked), and the Chile En Nogada (Poblano chile stuffed with pork, tomato, apple, peach and pear, served with a walnut and sour cream sauce). They simply could not enjoy the “sweet and savoury”. On our very occasion, we were very lucky as we experienced fantastic service, and enjoyed some incredibly tasty food. We chose the dishes that appealed to us, and they were winners.
That Little Mexican Place
Address: 279 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Tel: +61 8 9472 0767
Web: www.tlmp.com.au
Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday (7:30am – 9:30pm)
A sample. A trio of chocolates to taste.
These are bespoke chocolates made by Gosnells chocolatier Katya Oost. She supplies her Aristokat Artisan Chocolate Couture Collection to two stores in Perth, one of which is The Good Store in Victoria Park.
High quality ingredients are utilised in order to perfect each of these little treats. The chocolate chosen is Callebaut from Belgium, and the fillings are made using Danish Lurpak butter. These give the chocolates an overall smooth, caramel, and creamy taste – rewarding from start to finish.
I choose three ($3.00 each) from the 19-chocolate couture range.
Lychee Flower – the floral fruit of asia is encased in this delicate shell
Hardened outer white chocolate casing, just hard enough to break under the slightest of pressure. The pink flower is buttery, sweet, and creamy. Slightly fragrant.
County Fair – childhood beckons with this rich toffee apple ganache
A gold leaf coloured milk chocolate outer shell with an inner white chocolate infused toffee apple ganache. Not so sweet at all, which was unexpected. A lovely overall package.
Theia – mahlab (dried cherry stone), star anise & honey infused ganache
A dark chocolate dried cherry flavoured casing with a smooth ganache that had a hint of star anise and honey. Balanced and not so bitter, well rounded ending on the palate. My favourite.
Each of the Aristokat chocolates have their own individual identity or character. Although each chocolate has a unique flavour, the tastes are quite subtle and not so overpowering. All elements are balanced with each chocolate. In store you can choose individual chocolates at $3.00 a pop, or a gift box of 9 (your selection) for $27.00. New deliveries of chocolates to the store occur every few weeks.
The Good Store
Address: Shop 4, 363-367 Albany Highway
Victoria Park
Tel: +61 8 9361 8271
Web: www.thegoodstore.com.au
Opening Hours:
Friday – Wednesday (10:00am – 5:30pm)
Thursday (10:00am – 9:00pm)
