PERfect Places

[exceladdict]

For a long time, I've liked the approach of 'Acting like a tourist in one's own town' and given the 'coming of age' vibe that's been around Perth of late, I thought I'd start to document some restaurants, activities and locations around Perth that I'd recommend to visitors. I will aim to come back and add in experiences as they come..

Of course, I welcome any questions and would be eager for any other AFF PERsonalities to jump in with experiences of their own!

Unfortunately, the first example is photo-less as it might ruin your experience...

Time's Up Escape Rooms, Wanneroo (January 2018)
http://timesup-er.com.au/

Mrs Excel & I have recently gotten into the 'escape room' craze. The concept, put simply, is you're 'locked' in a themed room for a period of time, normally around an hour, and need to solve various puzzles to 'escape' (win). We've visited a range of places across Perth and get quite a buzz out of the process, though it can be quite a communicative challenge!

Time's Up is a relatively new entrant in Wanneroo, approx 25 minute drive north of the CBD in good traffic. Parking is plentiful, but it's not really close to any train lines. At present they have three rooms, all of which we've tried, and compared to other venues these rooms have a fantastic level of detail, are all custom-written stories and have a variety of puzzles (so it's more than just padlocks and codes).

The most recent room we completed was The Grinchmare Before Christmas which we completed with two people (apparently we were the first to complete it with no clues!). This room was probably the easiest of the three (we needed clues for the other two rooms), but was still challenging enough to be entertaining. It's also the most family-friendly from a theme/story perspective of needing to solve a range of puzzles to save Christmas.

In late 2017 we tried Wanted, a western-themed room where you and your fellow escapees start in a prison cell, destined to be hanged unless you can break out. When we completed this, it included puzzles that required a minimum of four people, which was actually more of a challenge than usual (we try to go in as a pair most of the time). But it's since been changed to two. This was a more difficult room than Grinchmare but was great for testing theories to try to get correct.

Mid-2017 we tried their first room, Pursuit, where the escapees, as police detectives, become trapped in a serial killer's apartment while trying to track him down. This was the second escape room we completed, and was very different to the first (Pipeline at Ultimate Roomscape). Acting as police, you search the room for clues to find the murderer, and ultimately, escape.

Altogether we love the level of thought that the owner has put into decorating and designing each room. All three rooms have interactive elements, beyond just padlocks, and she has done a fantastic job pulling the stories together and matching them to puzzles. If you visit, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

 

[exceladdict]

Juniper & Bay, Como (5-10 mins south of Perth, January 2018)
Juniper & Bay Restaurant, Como

We had a marvellous weeknight meal at Juniper and Bay, catching up with some friends. Would strongly recommend for either a date night or a special occasion, but do book ahead as the indoor seats seemed to fill up.

There's a special deal on Monday to Thursday for a 2 course meal at $48, or 3 course at $56 (which we went for). There's also a degustation menu available with 5 courses for $73.

Apologies if some of the photos are out of focus, it wasn't very brightly lit. I'm going to thumbnail insert the photos but I believe you can click on them for a bigger view.

On arrival - I think our friends are regulars - we were treated to a complimentary Watermelon Gazpacho, which I can only describe as a tasty cold soup. Turns out you don't use cutlery but drink it kind of like a shot!



My entree was an Asian Popcorn Chicken with wasabi, which was amazing:



Around the table, other orders included a salmon:



Bresaola:



And a prawn coughtail:



On to mains, the best steak I've had in 2018 (or 17):



A vegetarian tasting plate:



And a cod and potato wrap:



All reports were that the food was amazing. Servings weren't huge, but weren't underwhelming. You can see that the chef and their team have put a huge amount of effort into appearance, and it shows.

We couldn't not have dessert, which included an amazing chocolate and coffee tart:



And a creme brulee.



Not pictured was a cheese platter.

I've been asked to keep this restaurant quiet so it doesn't go the way of The Shed at Dulwich and become impossible to get a reservation. But, the meal was so good I have to recommend this to AFF'ers in or visiting Perth, would be straight to my top ten if wanting to treat or impress.

 

[exceladdict]

Fresch Restaurant, Como (5-10 mins south of Perth, June 2018)

A short post, but a noteworthy occasion!

I've been continuing to travel down this 'foodie' wormhole and, coming across Fresch's Instagram, put them on my list of places to take Mrs Excel for a meal out. Noticing a special for truffle oil chips and with nothing in the fridge to cook, we headed out without making a booking and arrived just after 8pm on a Friday night.

We weren't sure what to expect as we're not that familiar with the area, but Fresch is a little bit away from the busier South Perth / Como restaurant areas so wouldn't get a lot of foot traffic. As such there were plenty of tables available but still plenty of waitstaff on despite our somewhat-late arrival.

Their instagram account, as mentioned earlier, was a fantastic reference to help make our choices. We locked in the truffle-oil chips:


An amazing octopus dish which had a myriad of flavours:


And a chorizo pasta, cut out of a combo pic as unfortunately my focus was off for the solo:


I was very impressed by the presentation of the food and every dish was backed up by a solid gamut of flavours. Unfortunately, we had no room for dessert, though the choices looked great.

Don't be fooled - this may be a restaurant on the ground floor of some holiday apartments, but the chef and their team have put an amazing effort into their food and service. We've recommended Fresch to a number of friends and would gladly recommend it to any AFF'ers nearby.