Thursday, February 21, 2008

Review: James Street Kitchen

Yes, yes I've been away for awhile!
And I'm aware there's only been TWO posts on this lame blog. :P
But I've revamped (of sorts) and changed the title and URL.
I figured "The Idiots Guide to Awesome Cooking" was a tad long to remember.
So here we are, at the new chefspangie.blogspot.com =D
just to confirm, I'm not ACTUALLY a chef.
I just couldn't think of what else I could put as my URL. lol.
And I decided, that apart from recipes, I could also chuck on a couple of food reviews! :)
So, here's the first.
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James Street Kitchen
It is a Chinese restaurant situated in Northbridge (Perth, WA), pretty near Chinatown (which in my point of view is extremely pathetic in comparison to other Chinatowns I've seen, and also somewhat dilapidated.)
However, James Street Kitchen is far from dilapidated!
It's recently seen a whole renovation makeover, as well as a management change.
It used to be just a very plain, simply functional place with good food. Although the quality of food dropped for awhile. But now, James Street Kitchen has gotten back on it's feet, with a whole revamp to boot!

It's got new chairs, tables, dishes & cutlery.
Freshly painted walls and a whole new colour scheme.
And very nice toilets!
So the layout of the restaurant is lovely, and quite charming.
Nice ambience for a night out with the family and friends.
But, you may ask, what about the food?
Well, I patronised the place with 4 other people, needless to say, we couldn't really order too much! Or it would've gone to waste. :)
But here are the 5 delicacies we tasted.

1. Fried Tofu with Chilli

Well, seeing as I don't actually eat tofu, I can't give a personal description.
But the others who ate it said this wasn't too bad.
However, they did say that it used to be much better.
So I guess the quality of their tofu has gone down!

2. Pan fried Toothfish
This fish is absolutely FANTASTIC.
It's one of the most tastiest fish ever to come out of the ocean ;D
The meat is soft and buttery and simply to die for.
And it is pan fried to perfection.
Having a delicious sauce would help too! We couldn't get enough of it.
however, it is pretty expensive, and should be saved when you have a number of people joining you for dinner, or if you are a very rich person. :P
The tooth fish disappeared really quickly!
We demolished it pretty fast :P

3. Broccoli and Snow Peas
You've gotta have your veggies, even if you don't like them!
But these were absolutely succulent.
Well, broccoli is my favourite veggie, so of course I attacked them :p
the sauce was very much absorbed by the veggies, as the juices squirted into your mouth when you bit into the veggies. Not such a big fan of snow peas, although the others seemed to love the snow peas! :)

4. Sweet and Sour Pork
Ahh good ol' sweet&sour pork, a common dish on the menus of Chinese restaurants.
James Street Kitchen however, is one of the Masters of sweet and sour pork! :)
the meat is so tender and the sweet and sour sauce is absolutely beautiful.
It seems to melt in your mouth. The pork I mean.
I dislike the sweet and sour pork which has that magenta/hot pink sauce.. blegh..
This one was absolutely delicious.
A definite must-try!

5. Black Pepper Fillet Steak

Last dish, my favourite dish EVER to be placed on a Chinese restaurant menu.
This is the dish I look forward to sampling whenever we go to Chinese restaurants.
James street Kitchen does it really well.
The beef is tender, soft and the sauce is absolute perfection
there's not much sauce, it seems to be marinated in the beef itself, but man is this beef delicious! :)
Another must-try for this restaurant!
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I'm quite picky about Chinese food; I'm not actually a big fan.
stupid really, since I'm from Singapore. :P
well, okay, to make it more accurate, I'm picky about Chinese food in Perth.
Because not many are up to my standards! :P
But James Street Kitchen is definitely on my list; top notch.
In short, anyone looking for excellent Chinese food, should make their way to James Street Kitchen, for good dining, ambience and friendly service! :)
Overall, a rating of:
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4.5 happy faces! :)

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