Monday, March 16, 2009

JACS Café Pizzeria


Sunday 15 March 2009

JACS Café Pizzeria
Shop 1, 45 Ardross Street, Applecross
(08) 9364 8687


1. Comfort and surroundings

Alexander: JACS is a lovely place to have breakfast, with its very pretty location on Ardross Street in Applecross. Lola made the wise move of booking a table on the balcony under the veranda. The seats were comfortable, the table was spacious and the view was perfect for a Sunday morning. JACS finds the right mix between intimacy and vibrancy (there is a suitably cool bright purple JACS sign on the wall), so this place gets high marks for comfort and surroundings, a 4.5.

Lola: The location on the relatively quiet street was very relaxing. While they have quite a lot of tables they have used the space well so there was no crowding. It is very clean and not at all cluttered but still managed to retain a laid back vibe with its modern feel. Time got away from us while we were sitting around after breakfast, a testament to JACS comfortableness. A 4.5 from me too.

2. Service

Alexander: We didn't have to wait very long before we were approached by a friendly waitress for our order. There is no drinks menu, so the waitress helpfully reeled off the items we could order. She was happy to give us more time to decide on food, and then waited an appropriate length of time before coming back to take the order. We also got water without having to ask. Very nice - it gets a 4.

Lola: I'm giving a high 4.5 for service. The staff were friendly, helpful and prompt and I was particularly impressed by the girl who took my booking. Her phone manner was delightful, she asked if I had a preference as to where we'd sit and suggested the verandah when I indicated our like of fresh air but aversion to any direct sunlight. As I mentioned above, we sat around for a while after finishing our meals. While our dishes were cleared promptly and the waitress was present if we needed her, it did not once feel like we should either move on or otherwise order something else. In this way the staff really added to our comfort!

3. Tastiness

Alexander: It was nice to see a good mix of the usual breakfast items and some more interesting ones on JACS' menu. I ordered the Cheshire smoked bacon with stuffed mushroom and poached eggs. The bacon had a distinct flavour that made it a bit different from your run-of-the-mill offerings and the eggs were poached to the perfect consistency. So that was all good. However, I wasn't a big fan of the stuffed mushroom (it was a field mushroom with cherry tomatoes and melted cheese) and I think a more boring grilled mushroom would have been more to my taste. My only other complaint is that the meal came served with toasted Italian bread. While fresh Italian bread is lovely, it doesn't have the best toasting properties, and a thick cut multigrain or sourdough would have been much nicer. I'll give it a 3.

Lola: I too was impressed with the mix of offerings, particularly the inclusion of a marron omelette and that their bacon and eggs on toast also included an 'extra' of your choice. I was very happy with my potato rosti with poached eggs, smoked salmon, asparagus and goat's cheese which also came with a piece of toast. Unlike Alexander I didn't mind the bread choice - it wasn't too crusty and was soft in the middle. I really enjoyed this breakfast and I think it was the inclusion of the asparagus that really made it. The portions were generous and the ingredients were fresh. A 4 from me.

4. Drinks

Alexander: I ordered an iced chocolate and it was really a work of art. It is perhaps the first time ever that I've thought there was too much flavour, but compared to some of the weak, generic iced chocolates I've had, that's not a real complaint. You can see for yourself how nice it looked. It gets a 4 from me.

Lola: I would have appreciated a drinks menu but as Alexander mentioned, the waitress was really helpful in this department. I selected an orange juice and had no complaints, though provided it is fresh and cold, it's hard to get this wrong. I'll give it 3.5.

5. Fiscal matters

Alexander: Prices were pretty normal for Perth breakfasts (my dish was $18), with a range of menu items for all sorts of budgets. The food and drink servings were large enough to warrant the price tags, so I have no complaints about this one. 3.5 from me.

Lola: My dish was also $18 which I thought was warranted based on the portion size and the quality and freshness of ingredients. A 3.5 here too.

The verdict...

Comfort & surroundings: 9/10
Service: 8.5/10
Tastiness: 7/10
Drinks: 7.5/10
Fiscal Matters: 7/10
TOTAL: 39/50


Jacs Cafe & Pizzeria on Urbanspoon

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Milkd


Sunday 1 March 2009

Milkd
32 Angove Street, North Perth
(08) 9228 8867


1. Comfort and surroundings

Lola: So the table was small and the stools were small but it didn't really bother me too much. I guess they were in proportion and despite their miniature quality I didn't feel like I was crammed into a small space trying to avoid other cafe patrons. The street was nice and quiet on a Sunday morning and the joint was quite charming and relaxed. But even though it was a fairly nice day it was way too hot inside meaning sitting in a booth (our preferred position in any venue) just wasn't an option bringing a big cross. I'm going 2.5.

Alexander: I don't think Milkd is really set up for comfort, but that doesn't mean it felt unpleasant. In fact, there's quite a bit to like; it's a nice setting, there's a regular stream of people (without being too busy) and there's a good vibe to the place. My biggest complaint was the heat inside. It wasn't a particularly hot day but it was too sticky to sit inside! So we sat outside on the mini table and stools. Compared to some other breakfast spots, Milkd was a bit average - it gets a 2.5 from me too.

2. Service

Lola: I had minimal contact with any staff, not having done the ordering but my impression was that they were polite enough. We didn't have to wait for a noticeably long time so no complaints from my end. A 4 from me, no complaints but nothing stood out.

Alexander: It's self-service but the waitstaff are friendly and there was just the right amount of waiting time for the food to come out. No one offered us water though, so it's lucky we brought our own. So 3.5.

3. Tastiness

Lola: Okay I had the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast with hazelnut pesto. It was good but nothing special. The hazelnut pesto was pretty special itself but the quantity of egg and the flavour of the smoked salmon meant that I couldn't taste it when eating it as it was presented. Separating the dish into pesto on toast and eggs with salmon was effective but distracting. I'll give it a 3.

Alexander: I'm giving it a 3 too. The food was like a nice meal that you cook yourself at home: everything tastes good and you have no complaints, but it's not that special. I had the pancetta bacon with poached eggs, tomato and rocket. Everything worked and there was a decent portion of food, but I could have done this myself.

4. Drinks

Lola: A 4 from me! The drink options were extensive enough and the iced coffee we both selected was to my taste.

Alexander: I was much less impressed. It was a very standard iced coffee. But I have very high standards for cold drinks. A 2 from me.

5. Fiscal matters

Lola: It wasn't amazing value but it was standard, for my mind. Not too bad at all. But points off for the overpriced nature of the iced coffee - yeah it was good but not six dollars good. I still managed to get out of there for under $20 so I'll give it a 3.5.

Alexander: You can get things for under $10 and the mains go up to about $17. I've seen much more expensive in Perth, so no complaints in relation to price. Except for the average iced coffee, which was a bit overpriced! All in all, 3.5 from me too.

The verdict...

Comfort & surroundings: 5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Tastiness: 6/10
Drinks: 6/10
Fiscal Matters: 7/10
TOTAL: 31.5/50


Milkd on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Hi hi!

So, you see, we are quite keen on breakfasts. We support each other's love of the meal by meeting for friendship over porridge and pancakes, bagels and bacon, coffee and croissants. Over the years we've discovered some great spots for morning meals in Perth, Western Australia, and now we will revisit them, as well as finding new places, and share our thoughts on them with you.

As well as having a little chat we will both give a rating out of 5 for all our categories and will also publish our combined ratings out of 10.

We hope you have fun coming with us as we eat our way through town!