Raah

Once again, I realise this isn't a pub, but stay with me. I guess our group is looking for a bit of variety so I've just decided to review everywhere we go.

Raah is a Middle eastern style restaurant with a stylist look and prices you would expect. This meant, of course, that nothing was within my budget. It was a sharing style place, and that would have been great if I wasn't a vegetarian. Out of the "More substantial" menu there was only one vegetarian option. We ordered a few Meeze dishes are well, where there were a few more options.

I started the night with a Turkish Delight martini. It was amazing. It tasted like liquid turkish delight with vodka. It wasn't cheap, but I'd definitely recommend it.

Out of the Mezze dishes I got to try the corn dish (Chunky cut corn on the cob with sumac-dried lime butter) and the boreks (Mixed cheese and dill boreks). They were at bit pricey at $10 each, as you only got 4 pieces. The corn was really amazing. The subtle lime flavour really worked. The boreks were nice, but not really my thing.  

The one vegetarian main was "Sweet potato, lentil and golden raisin tagine with lemon pickled turnip,  parsley and preserved lemon salad" and was $26. This would be out of my budget, but I guess things are different when you are sharing everything equally. It was the cheapest of the mains, which mets my philosophy of "Vegetarian food should be cheaper".

The sweet potato crisps on top were really nice. Probably the best part of the dish for me, which was overall slightly too spicy for my liking. I'm not very good with spice, so perhaps it would appeal to almost everyone else.

This is what my plate looked like on the first round of food

Overall everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, and at the end of the night we ended up paying around $40 each. This is probably more of an expensive night out than I am used to, but the food was good quality, the place had a nice atmosphere and the staff were friendly.

Somewhat unusually for me I had a dessert. All of the desserts were between $8-$12.

Saffron and cardamom crème carmel with almond shortbread ($10)

Cherry Parfait with pistachios and mulberry syrup ($10)

Turkish Delight sorbet and fresh strawberries ($8)

I had the sorbet, and I must say it was amazing. It was really delicious and tasted very fresh. I would definitely recommend it.

If you are looking for a nicer place than I normally review, then go to Raah. It's probably not the best choice for a vegetarian on a budget, however.

Side Quest: Rosie O'Gradys (Fremantle)

Night at in Fremantle, and wanted to quickly grab some food before heading out. I really like Rosie O'Gradys in Northbridge, so I thought I'd give the one in Freo a try.

I ordered the veggie burger. It was $15.90, which wasn't the most expensive in the world, but also not the cheapest. 

The burger, which sounded great on paper (Tofu, pumpkin, potato and feta cheese burger on a toasted bun with aoili, lettuce, tomato and beetroot relish) was pretty much inedible. I couldn't finish it. In fact, I took about 2 bites, gave up and ate the chips. Suddenly $15.90 makes for expensive chips.

Would not recommend. At all.

Belmont Tavern

The Belmont Tavern (aka Silks) is a really nice looking place on the inside. Outside, it looks a little dodgy, but once you are inside there is a very nice restaurant section, which included table service, and a waiter that did everything with one hand behind his back. Our group felt a little out of place, though, as we seemed to be about half the age of the rest of the patrons.


Food Choices

Minimal. Actually, there was only one vegetarian main. A vegetable tart, and it was $21.50. Which was over budget. All of their meals were over budget, which really surprised me. There was the usual sides, as well as a Soup of the day, which was a reasonable price. It was potato and leak, which was vegetarian. However, I went for a creamy fettuccine and mushroom meal, without the chicken. It was, like everything else, over budget at $21.50.

Food Quality

It was nice enough. I was quite hungry, and I enjoyed it. That said, it wasn't $21.50 worth of food. It wasn't amazing at all. Overall, it was a bit bland. I feel like I could have made something better myself and saved myself a lot of money. 

I wish I could comment on the soup, but I didn't try it. The garlic bread was cheesy and tasty, though. I guess, I wouldn't recommend this place for dinner as it's a bit more expensive for most mains. The options are also very limited, unless you want to eat only side dishes.

Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3): 1 - 0.5 for the over budget food, and 0.5 for the soup of the day, which may or may not be vegetarian

Quality of meal (1-3): 1.5 - A bit bland, but not horrible

Value for money (1-3): 1 - Everything was over budget

X-factor (0-1): 0.5 - Whilst we seemed to be the over young people around, I'm giving them points as it was nice enough inside, and the waiter was very professional. However, I don't want to give them full points, as two of my friends ordered a dessert, and they were told they didn't have any left. This would have been fine if it has been at the time they ordered, but the waitress had to come back twice, one for each dessert, to inform us they were out.

Total: 40%

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

The Rosemount Revisited

Went back to the Rosemount this week. Just wanted to say I ordered their burger and I really didn't enjoy it. It just tasted like generic burger. Like you could get from Hungry Jacks, or a cheap frozen patty from the supermarket. Definitely would not recommend!