Pleased To Meet You

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Pleased To Meet You – Northbridge – Sunday 1 February 2015 – Dinner

Peach salad

Peach salad

As I approach my first anniversary on this blog there is no doubt that American barbeque is the hottest trend in the past year. It is not simple cuisine, but certainly isn’t the most difficult to execute, and has the favourable aspects of being easy to share, and completely delicious in both a high flavour and high guilt fashion.

Having been past for a drink a few months ago, I have had Pleased To Meet You on the short list for Perth ever since. Tonight is the night Catherine and I get to try some of the offerings of the chefs here.

Luckily we are here relatively early and get a seat at the bar. Unusually you order your food at the counter, so the bar is actually the only place you get service without going up. I say unusually because it gives the instant impression at busy times that this is akin to a take away or dine in style restaurant. To me, that impression is not commensurate with reasonably expensive food.

Pork slider

Pork slider

Looking down the menu I am expecting high quality and great execution given the price for one slider is $9. To my pleasure, I can say that my expectation was generally met. Interestingly my first impression that this is American barbeque is tempered by some of the dishes on offer that have their origin in Vietnam, China and other Asian countries. American fusion perhaps?

Besides a slider each, we order the squid bahn mi, beef tongue ruben bao, chicken taco, and peach salad. The first dish we received was the peach, fennel and palm heart salad. Peaches are amazing at the moment, and they are amazing in this salad which is inspired. The combination is beautiful, and the dressing only adds to the flavour with dill, almonds and rocket thrown in too. It was initially questionable that the salad came first given the rich food we were going to be eating, but we kept half of it to refresh ourselves through the meal.

Squid bahn mi

Squid bahn mi

Next came the chicken taco which is tiny. It packs a good punch of flavour from the chicken which has been on the rotisserie (you can have a plate of the chicken if hungry or in a bigger group for only $30) along with a gorgeous sweet corn salsa. It’s a nice dish but hardly there and the pickled cabbage addition (a theme in a few dishes) is not needed. The bahn mi on the other hand is more substantial. The make or break in this roll is the squid, which is beautifully cooked with a smoky grill flavour. The roll is fresh and after one bite I couldn’t stop until it was gone!

Chicken taco, corn salsa

Chicken taco, corn salsa

Next came the pulled pork sliders which are a better size. The pulled pork is tasty, but no more or less than most good cafes, but the brioche bun stars along with a good helping of chipotle tasting sauce. Last I tried the beef tongue ruben bao. The execution here of the bao makes it easy to tell that steamed buns are not the focus of the chefs. The beef tongue is excellent, but the bao needs improvement.

Tongue bao

Beef tongue ruben bao

We had enjoyed our meal, getting to try some terrific snacks and an amazing salad. Instead of trying one or two more dishes we decided to share the chic sundae. There is gimmick in the presentation, but the whole dessert does not work. It is one of the most disappointing desserts we’ve eaten in some time. Soft serve lacking in flavour, a few peanuts and some chocolate sauce that is plain. I completely understand it is only $6, but my suggestion would be do it properly or take it off the menu.

Choc sundae

Choc sundae

With a nice selection of beer and wine, the bar is a worthy place to just have a drink. While it is counter service, the staff on the bar were good at answering questions and offering suggestions, and the food came out in good time. The space works with several communal tables, some more intimate spots towards the front, and plenty of bar space. It is refined, playful, and attractive.

Pleased To Meet You provided a different experience and one we enjoyed. Next time we’ll come with a few others and try some of the heavier meat dishes that look fantastic.
Pleased To Meet You on Urbanspoon

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Billy Lee’s – Northbridge – Thursday 2 October 2014 – Dinner

Prawns and Vegetable

Prawns and Vegetable

Tradition is often as important as finding the next big thing. There is a lot more to Billy Lee’s than merely tradition, but it is the kind of restaurant that you cannot help get caught up in the past when you sit down and start flicking through the menu.

I know why I love Billy Lee’s. It is because I have been with large groups, small groups, with family, with friends, and every time it has been in equal parts about catching up to enjoy each other’s company, and the sizzling beef. Yes, the sizzling beef.

There is nothing cliqued about a boiling hot plate topped with onions, and then throwing three quarter cooked thin slices of beef and sauce over the plate. It is probably frowned upon but I like to push the beef to the edges of the hot plate to get even sizzling. The taste is good but this is the highlight!

The incredibly long menu can be difficult. I often look at it and wonder how I ever worked out how to order a dish or two when choosing from literally a couple hundred. It is like an Italian pasta place that has ten types of pasta and ten types of sauce – that is one hundred dishes just there! Though if you don’t know what you are doing, it can be very difficult.

Mum said she felt like prawns so I rattled off the options (just on the specials there were nine prawn dishes!) We settled on prawns with vegetable. At first I thought it was a typo, but it was actually correct as it was just prawns with chopped Chinese leaf (I think it was choi sum). The prawns themselves are excellent quality. Large, cooked properly, deveined and fresh. The sauce has heavy hits of ginger and is quite glutinous. It is an excellent dish and I personally cannot fault it.

Sizzling Beef

Sizzling Beef

The sizzling beef is, as always, superb. The beef is always tender with minimal (or no) chewy bits and the onion needs no further cooking having been subjected to the outrageously hot plate. The sauce is indulgent and rich. We also have the special fried rice which is filled with prawns (not quite as amazing as the actual prawn dish), chicken and squid. The rice is the hero here, though the addition of some vegetables would ease some of the guilt about such a large amount of food.

While the Chinese tea is great, Mum and I were dying for a wine so we left promptly without enjoying the watermelon (or other seasonal fruit) that traditionally comes out once you have sat with your leftovers for 30-45 minutes. Sure, the service norms can be interesting at Chinese restaurants, but that seems to be the culture. In the USA you often get the bill before you ask, and perhaps in China you get to reflect on the food you can’t fit in while it sits in front of you.

With that we were gone. Around the corner, Pleased To Meet You, a new Northbridge restaurant that is well and truly on the trend of Southern American cuisine, rum and share food. The “Head Nouveau” TMG wine is great and not taking advantage of Billy Lee’s BYO policy makes sense now.

Back to Billy Lee’s. I can only say start the tradition as soon as possible because it is a fantastic place to share food with family and friends. No fuss whatsoever.

Billy Lees Chinese Restaurant on Urbanspoon