Friday 28 October 2011

Hyde Park Hotel

I'd been to the Hydey before, a few years ago and It used to be dark, grungy, and I wasn't that impressed. I didn't go there to eat last time, so I can't comment, but I didn't go back until I had not it had been renovated. Wow! What a difference. The place now looks fantastic, it's very spacious and modern. I was very impressed with the "Jugtails" which were only $25 on Thursday nights. (Normally $32-35) We tried the "Sex on the Beach" cocktail, and it was pretty tasty.

Food Choices

NONE! But they had plenty of:



Honestly, once again, not bad! I was impressed. Apart from the usual sides, there was  roasted beetroot salad ($17.90), an open sandwich($18.50) and a "Hydey casserecce" ($22.90). There was also a pumpkin cous-cous salad ($18.90) which you could probably have without the prosciutto.


They also had sweet potato fries. I really like those. We ordered some to share for the table, and I got the open sandwich.


Food quality

Good! It was tasty! There were a lot of chips and I probably filled myself up on those a little much, but apart from that, I was pleased with my meal. The sweet potato fries were really nice too. They had just the right amount of crispiness and salt.

As you can see, it's pretty chip-heavy
One friend ordered the beetroot salad. He said he didn't really like it, because he didn't like the dressing. I tried it and I thought it was actually really nice. He then commented that he normally ate salad without dressing. I would recommend it, it had hazelnuts and feta in it which were really nice.
Actually, I don't usually like rocket, but this was really nice
Another friend ordered the pumpkin cous-cous salad. This wasn't a strictly vegetarian dish, but I thought I'd comment on it anyway, as it could become one very easily.
I didn't get a chance to try it, but my friend said she enjoyed it. Actually, I asked everyone at the pub that night if they enjoyed their meals, and everyone did. One guy was a little skeptical, and said the food was average, however, everyone else was pleased. I'll also note here that I have one friend who always orders Chicken Parmigiana and he said that it was the best he's ever had. So if you're not a vegetarian, this place is still worth a visit.

Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 6):  3 - 1 for the sandwich, 1 for the salad, 0.5 for the casserecce as it was out of budget, and an 0.5 because of the pumpkin cous-cous option as well as the sweet potato fries.
Quality of meal (1-3): 3
Value for money (1-3):  2.5 - There were several options under $20, and the sides were reasonably priced. It was pretty standard for a Perth Pub.
X-factor (0-1): 1

Total: 95%

Definitely a winner. I was impressed with the atmosphere and the new look of the place. The food was good, the prices were standard and there were a few legitimate options.

Guess I won't have to drink my calories tonight...

Hyde Park Hotel on Urbanspoon

Friday 21 October 2011

X-ray Bar

Now let me just say that this place was ADORABLE! The staff were really friendly and I had a delicious cocktail. 


Food Choices

Good! Well, not bad. There were several options for mains which is better than a lot of places. There was a pasta dish ($22), tomato soup ($12), veggie burger ($16) as well as wedges and nachos. The pasta dish was outside of budget, but the soup (which was apparently "hearty") was inside, as well as the burger. It came with wedges for an extra $2.

I was particularly impressed that the pasta dish could be made a meat dish for an extra $6. This fits my ethos of "vegetarian meals should be cheaper". 

I must admit, I broke my budget. I was thinking about changing the budget to $25, but instead I've left it at $20 and excluded drinks. I think this is fair. However, last night for the duration of when I bought my meal I was thinking about a $25 budget. So I bought the pasta.


It looks pretty tasty

Also, I may have mentioned this before, but I'm really wary of veggie burgers. They are often terrible, so I tend to avoid them. (Someone recommend me a good one!)

Food quality

So I'm going to rank the pasta, and the veggie burger, because my friend ordered the veggie burger. This way I'm technically reviewing something in budget as well.

So the pasta was pretty average. It was cooked fine, and the veggies in it were nice, fresh, etc, but it was a bit bland. It was OK, definitely edible, but could have been better for the price.

My friend was happy with her burger. She said the patty was particularly tasty, and had obviously been home made. However, she said the burger as a whole could have been improved with some more fillings. I tasted a bit of the patty, and wasn't too impressed. It wasn't horrible, but I'm very hard to please with veggie patties.



Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3):  3 - 1 for the soup, 1 for the burger, 0.5 for the pasta as it was out of budget, but 0.5 for the nachos because they sounded filling and less like a side.
Quality of meal (1-3): 2
Value for money (1-3):  2
X-factor (0-1): 1

Total: 80%

Overall not bad. The place was cute, had a nice atmosphere, and a live jazz band. Would thoroughly recommend the Apple Crumble cocktail. It was amazing. I wouldn't go there to eat though, everyone agreed the food was a bit disappointing.

Guess I will just have to drink my calories tonight...

UPDATE: 21/9/2012
So, we went back last night and the place is just as adorable. This time around I ordered the gnocchi (which wasn't on the menu last time and was $24) as well as a Lucy's face cocktail. The cocktail apparently containied "ingredient x and some kind of fruit" which made it pretty exciting, and tasty. My friend's mojitio came in a jar as well, which was cool.



The gnocchi was really really good. It kind of melted in your mouth and I really enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend.



I also got to try some of the nachos. They were $16 and labelled "for two" but seemed to be closer to a one person meal. They were good as well, they tasted like actual food (I usually count nachos closer to junk food than a meal, but these ones were substantial).


So, I would definitely recommend this place for food. The atmosphere was great and the food seems to have improved since my last visit.

Guess I won't just have to drink my calories tonight...


X-Wray on Urbanspoon

Friday 14 October 2011

Fibber McGee's

Food Choices

I must say when I read the menu I was very disappointed, as there was nothing on there I could eat. Then my friend pointed out to me that it said down the bottom of the page "Vegetarian menu on request". I was very excited about this. Here it is, in all it's glory:



As you can see 4 choices all under $20. However, I was in a really cheap mood, and didn't really fancy anything on the menu so I just ordered chips ($7.50)

Food quality

I feel it is a little unfair when I am judging them merely on their chips. They were quite tasty though. I shared my friend's onion rings and they were pretty tasty too. The chips were "hand cut" and were kind of like unseasoned wedges. They were huge.

Overall Rating


1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3):  3
Quality of meal (1-3): ~ choosing to opt out of this one
Value for money (1-3):  2 - They had cheap options, not sure if they were good though.
X-factor (0-1): 0

Total: 60%

Fibber McGee's on Urbanspoon

Friday 7 October 2011

Grosvenor Hotel

Had a little bit of extra cash on me, which is good because this place is EXPENSIVE.

Food Choices

Nothing! Wow. Disappointed. Not even the usual sides, only chips and wedges. Even the bruschetta had sausage on it. There was a vegetarian pizza on the specials menu, but It was $20.

I wasn't very hungry, so I ordered the bruschetta, thinking it was $6. I realised when I went to pay that it was actually $19.50. They did take off $4 to make it vegetarian for me.


Food quality

I'm not sure I should really comment, I didn't really want it, and I wasn't really hungry. It looked okay, and it was super expensive. My friend ordered it, and she said she enjoy it. I wouldn't recommend it only because of the price, and that it's not a real dinner.

At least it looks tasty

Overall Rating


1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3):  1 - For the pizza
Quality of meal (1-3): 1.8 - my friend gave it 3/5 which works out to be around 1.8/3
Value for money (1-3):  0.5 - They gave me money off for it being a vegetarian dish, but everything else was really expensive.
X-factor (0-1): 0

Total: 33%

Guess I will just have to drink my calories tonight...

Grosvenor Hotel on Urbanspoon