The Como

Food Choices 

There was a few sides, a vegetarian pizza ($19.90), a vegetarian pasta ($19.50) and a vegetarian risotto ($22.90). I thought these all sound like pretty good options. I dismissed the risotto as out of budget, and decided to go for the pizza as I wanted to share.


Food Quality

Three of us tried this pizza and we all agreed there was something a bit off about it. The pizza had: char-grilled fennel, roasted capsicum, pumpkin,mushrooms, asparagus, leek, fetta, thyme,parsley, spinach and basil on a tomato base sauce. It may have been the fennel that gave it the odd flavour. It wasn't unpleasant, but I didn't feel the desire to finish it. The base of the pizza was really nice though, and the dough was cooked perfectly.

Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3): 2 - 1 each for the in budget mains

Quality of meal (1-3): 1 - Just a bit weird

Value for money (1-3): 2 - Prices were about standard

X-factor (0-1): 0 - No strong feelings about this place

Total: 50%

Spot on, this place was average.

Guess I'll have to drink my calories tonight...

 

Grill'd (Mt Lawley)

First I would just like to say I've actually now tasted an amazing vegetarian burger. However, it comes from a small restaurant in Whittier, California, which I realise isn't the most useful place. I tried to put the epicness of this burger out of my mind when I tried the burger at Grill'd.

They had three burgers on the menu:

GARDEN GOODNESS / $12.50
Premium quality veggie pattie with beetroot, tasty cheese, avocado, salad, relish & herbed mayo.
FIELD OF DREAMS / $12.50
Grilled field mushroom, basil pesto, roasted peppers, tasty cheese, salad & herbed mayo.
BOMBAY BLISS / $12.50
Premium quality chickpea pattie with roasted peppers, tzatziki, salad & relish.

and I tried the Field of dreams, and had a taste of the Garden Goodness.

Field of dreams

So this burger really wasn't special. The mushroom was supposed to be the patty, which would have been okay, but the way it was cooked gave it a really odd flavour which seemed to ruin the rest of the burger for me. Unfortunately, my favourite bit of the burger was the bun.

Garden Goodness

I think the Garden Goodness was probably better, but I still didn't really like it. The beetroot was a nice addition.

All in all, I didn't really like them, I prefer the Jus Burger Pumpkin burger out of any Perth burgers I've had so far, but it will be hard to beat that one in California...

Empire Bar

So this place has replaced the Rivervale, and as my friend so polietely put it "Stab proof vests now optional". I'd never been to the Rivervale, but I heard it had a bad reputation, but this place was really nice. It was big, with wide open spaces, high back chairs and interesting decorations.The lights that looked like cassette tapes, seem worth mentioning.

Food Choices

I didn't have much time to look at the menu, as I had been running late, so I've looked over it now. There are 3 pizzas* ($18-$20) and one main Red quinoa risotto, fontina and haloumi croquettes, Swiss mushroom and truffled celeriac*($25). I went for one of the pizzas containing roasted pumpkin, Spanish onion, corn, piquillo peppers, goat’s cheese and pine nuts.

Food Quality

I actually really enjoyed my pizza. It tastied good and was healthy. The friend I was sharing it with was surprised by the quality that a vegetarian pizza could have. I really enjoyed the mixture of flavours. The saltiness of the cheese mixed with the sweetness of the peppers and the crunchy pine nuts were completely satisfying. I was quite impressed.

Not as impressed though, as I was with my friend's dinner.

Red quinoa risotto, fontina and haloumi croquettes, Swiss mushroom and truffled celeriac

It was really delicious. The mushrooms were cooked just how I like them, and the whole dish just worked. I wish that I had ordered it, and I am planning on going back just in order to eat one for myself. I didn't get to try the cheese croquettes, but I hear they were really nice too.

Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3): 3 - Three options for pizza, one main (over budget, but worth it)

Quality of meal (1-3): 3 - Delicious!

Value for money (1-3): 2 - Prices were pretty good.

X-factor (0-1): 0 - It was a nice enough place, but I just didn't think it was special

Total: 80%

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

*cheese warning

Run Amuk Hotdogs Unleashed

I was really impressed by this place. They did (almost) all of their hotdogs with a vegan sausage. It was delicious. It's hard to get good veggie sausages, and I really did like this one. The prices were good too at around $11 for a lot of things. The hotdogs were huge and packed with all sorts of things. I had the Mischief, which was like a nachos hot dog. It included "Premium bratwurst, tasty tomato relish, avocado with garlic & lime, aged cheddar, baby spinach, tortilla chips, jalapenos & sour cream". I thought it was great. Their sides of chips were only $3.50 as well, and they had delicious milkshakes for $5, so it's a relatively cheap night out.

The place is also really nicely decorated. It has a really fun feel. The tables are covered in Where's Wally books, and they have a Wally hidden on their wall. The seats are either bus seats or drum kit seats.

I would definitely recommend this place if you're looking for a cosy, relaxed night out with friends.

The Boheme

I saw on their website that this place had been there a year. I guess this shows just how much attention I've been paying, I thought it was still Bobby Dazzlers. That said, this place is much more fancy. The place feels really big, which is surprising considering its location right in the heart of the malls. 

Food Choices

Everything was really expensive here. For its location, I wasn't surprised. As far as mains go there was a vegetarian kebab ($26) and a Greek pizza ($17.00 for small and $25.50 for large). There was also a cheese platter (Brie, cheddar: $14, sapphire creamy blue: $16 or 3 cheese plate: $24). They had some interesting sides as well ranging between $7 - $10. I went for the Greek pizza, it had Baby spinach, ricotta cheese, spice mix and mint. I went for a small one, as I tend not to eat too much.

Food Quality

My friend also ordered this pizza, in the large size. The large size pizza was about the same size as you'd expect a small pizza to be, and the small one was tiny. My friend really enjoyed his, but I didn't really like mine. If you like mint, then definitely try it, but otherwise I thought it was a bit boring. It mostly just tasted like doughy pizza with cheese on top. I got a second opinion on this, and two out of three didn't really like it. Another friend who had eaten it before claimed "It was nice enough, but I wouldn't order it again".

Another friend ordered the kebab. He thoroughly recommended it.

Apparently the sides are good too. Garlic bread was described as "perfectly toasted on both sides"

Overall Rating

1 point per vegetarian choice (max 3): 1.5 - 1for the pizza, 0.5 for the over budget and the sides

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

Value for money (1-3): 0 - Tiny pizza, over-budget everything

X-factor (0-1): 0.5 - I didn't like the place, but I didn't dislike the place

Total: 35%

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

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.