Toast - Take 2

Why am I always hungover when I go to Toast? I think it's likely because when Im hungover, I have very specific needs, I crave certain things. If I go out to get something to satisfy these hungover cravings, and it falls short, or its not what I expected - I pretty much just have to go and find something else. I can eat all day if Im hungover - not great for the waistline!


We usually head to Toast because its a safe option. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get what I want there. So again, I'm hungover and have slunk into Toast for breakfast. Im not going the healthy option this time... I want eggs benedict. I want iced coffee with ice cream.


We sat down inside, toward the back hidden from the hot sun. As usual, the water we were given was room temp and not cold, which irks me. Its also in a really small bottle - at first I thought it was cute. Now I just wish they'd be like everyone else and have those big flip top glass bottles that give you more than 2 glasses of water.. 

Anyway, we checked out the menu, I went for eggs benedict n fresh OJ, S got the roast beef foccacia and a cappucino.


Our food came out first, which was strange - we were watching the girl behind the counter and she was in no hurry to make our drinks. She was cleaning stuff up, going off and doing something else, coming back n not really doing anything. It was like she was purposely waiting to make our drinks. Maybe Toast wants you to get your drinks and food together? I dunno. I just know I was thirsty, and irritated that she wasn't making my juice. We got it eventually - the OJ was room temp as well. I wasn't pleased about that at all, I really wanted an ice cold drink, it was stinking hot outside. They don't do cold things well at Toast... That aside though, it was a nice juice, sweet with a tang of sourness. I've had better OJ but I've also certainly had worse!

My eggs benny was good - pretty standard. I would have loved more tang in the sauce, it was slightly too creamy for my taste. I like the acidity to work against the richness of the egg yolk, so I noticed it's absence. It was still nice though, with a generous crack of pepper and sea salt. The muffins were buttered, the ham was tasty and had been grilled, and the eggs were poached nicely - a little bit of water caught in a pocket which I don't like but hey, it was only a small amount! I enjoyed it, but would ask next time for an extra squeeze of lemon.

S thought his foccacia was tasty, but stingy on the fillings. It was very thinly sliced roast beef with red capsicum, onion, tomato, lettuce, cheese... pretty sure there was a chilli jam of some kind. It was really tasty, the chilli jam giving it a good kick which he loves, and added a nice sweetness. Would have been great with chunky roast beef slices and a more generous filling, as there was nothing wrong with the flavour.


I felt pretty satisfied, didn't hit the spot 100% but it was close enough... I was feeling the need for a head clearing iced coffee. I hoped it wasn't going to be a syrup job, which I hate. I ordered (ice cream, no cream), got it soon after. Pleased to report it was made with fresh coffee and LOTS of it! It was really strong, just what I wanted but I can imagine its not to everyones taste. Once the ice cream melts though, its much more balanced, and I totally nailed it. Gone in 5mins. I felt a bit sick to be honest but I think that's more to do with the hangover than anything else! It was ice cold. There was coffee. There was ice cream. It was what I needed.

Again, we had a good meal at Toast. A few minor little things here and there but again, it was a safe option for breakfast. I really must go there without a hangover... and when its not steaming hot outside... These factors aside, I've enjoyed all my visits to Toast, and would go back.

Toast - East Perth

Tis the season of christmas parties and over indulging! This is what happened when S had drinks on a friday night after work because someone was leaving. It wasn't a christmas party but it was overindulging... I was meant to meet up with him after work at Harbourtown to do a spot of shopping, however I was halfway there and he said he was still at the office and wasnt sure when he'd be finished there, due to Nigel leaving. So I turned around and went home again in a bit of a huff. He came home singing Seasick Steve (appropriately, the song he was singing was called Doghouse), had a shower, and a berocca, and fell asleep on my lap on the couch... So much for the friday night we had planned! I opened a bottle of nice red and had a couple of solitary drinks while he snored on the couch...

The next morning we both woke up a bit foggy (ok a few solitary drinks turned into maybe most of the bottle..) , and he said sleepily, "Ive had an idea... Im gonna take you to Toast in East Perth." which I thought was a great idea, especially if he was paying! He was.

We got there at about 10:45 and it was pretty busy but we were lucky to get a table outside by a couple of ladies and their adorable and very well behaved dogs! We had a view over the water and all the pots of veges and herbs from the Partisan next door. It was pretty warm but I think that we may have felt that a little more due to the delicate state we were in! They have a pretty extensive breakfast menu, all kinds of toast (including things like banana bread, fig and walnut, challah), fruit bowls, porridge, crepes... Have a look at their menu here. I decided on the bircher muesli, traditional swiss style, oats soaked in dairy, served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, toasted almonds, and S went for one of the specials, which was chorizo, eggs, roast garlic mushrooms, tomates and ciabatta toast - all washed down with a flat white.

You have to go and order up at the counter, and when S got back he had a cute Pastis bottle with the table number in it. I looked around at all the other tables and they had different kinds of bottles with their number which was a cute touch. Our mugs of coffee came out about 10mins after ordering, and looked good. They had a nice creamy froth on them with latte art, which after being in Melbourne and it coming standard I noticed we dont do often over here - so a nice touch they have a barista that can actually do it. I stirred mine around before I took a picture though so it doesnt look as nice in the photo as when it came out! The coffee itself was nice - it was slightly too milky for my taste, but was still perfectly drinkable. It wasnt overly bitter either which I dont like, it had a nice balance. It wasnt a coffee that either of us thought WOW but it wasnt one that we had much bad to say about either!

Our food came out about 15-20mins later, long enough for us to notice a longer than normal wait anyway... We didnt mind though because we had enough coffee and really nice surroundings so it was no big deal! Shortly after we noticed the wait though, our food was bought out. My bircher muesli was pretty small but I know how filling they are so it was a blessing in disguise really as if it were bigger youd leave feeling really full! S had a plateful though! A whole split chorizo, 2 eggs, a mushroom laden with garlic, a whole tomato and 2 big pieces of ciabatta!

This was a big meal.. the chorizo was salty and a really strong flavour, the eggs were runny, and mushroom had alot of garlic on it... I was not in the mood for such strong flavours that morning so I wasnt a huge fan - however any other day, it would have been a really tasty meal. I had a bit of egg on toast which was nice, and tried some chorizo which was spicy, salty and tasted just as it should. I didnt like the mushroom at all, it was too over the top and WAY too mushroomy. I like roast mushrooms though so Ill put it down to me feeling a bit precious! S couldnt finish it, which was a suprise as he normally finishes everything!

My muesli was nice and pretty much what I felt like. I mixed it all up and I was happy to notice that the toasted almonds stayed crunchy throughout the meal so the thick porridgy muesli was balanced by the crunch of the slivered almonds through it. The compot was really nice, sweet and full of flavour. I would have liked there to have been slightly more acidity left in there from the rhubarb and raspberries, but was nice nonetheless. It reminded me a bit of lollies - thankfully though there wasnt too much of this candy sweet compot to make the whole dish feel like you were eating a redskin...

Overall I enjoyed our experience at Toast - the service (from what I saw) was good, it was obviously popular as there were rarely tables free! Our food was good and there was plenty of choice, you can come here for breakfast for weeks and still have something new to try!

Id definately go back to Toast, the view is great, the vibe is relaxed and if its full, you can always go to the 3 or 4 other cafes around it - its a safe option!

Shilla Korean BBQ, East Perth

After walking past Shilla Korean BBQ restaurant a few times when wandering around East Perth, I mentally took note, because it looked cool and always had a good crowd in there. The time came - a friday night! We rang up and made a booking and headed in on the train. The train turns out to be a bit further away than we thought, but its not that far, it took us about 10minutes to get there on foot, past posh apartments, pathside water features and some small cute bars and restaurants.

We got there and were seated straight away, and its got such a nice setting - right next to the water. We had quite a big table facing the water which started the night out well.

The decor was nice and clean, some quirky Korean bits and bobs along the side of the room, with ambient lighting and lots of wooden tones. S decided he liked it already! I opened my bottle of wine (its BYO with $9 corkage), and S ordered a Korean Beer (that was the name of it in the bottle!). The beer came out quickly, and we always had plenty of water on the table. S decided that its not a beer he'd order again, it was really watery and flavourless - we both decided it was a beginners beer! It was about $7 I think so no harm done, now we can say weve tried Korean beer!

S was a bit nervous about having only chopsticks and a spoon, and asked for a knife and fork! The waitress was very gracious and got them for him no problems - though I was determined not to use such western conviniences! Im pretty handy with chopsticks though so I wasnt worried. Metal chopsticks however are a little trickier to use! Bit more slippery, a challenge to those used to wooden or plastic ones!

Our waitress had given us some menus earlier and we were really spoiled for choice, however we've never really eaten Korean before so we were a bit lost. They know this though and there are plenty of explanations, and the staff are very happy to help you demysify the menu. We ended up going for an easy option, of the banquet. You get an entree, 3 kinds of meats + veg for the hot plate, sides, unlimited rice and dessert, for about $40. We also ordered lettuce leaves, which are used to wrap up the meat and various sauces, sides and rice - to be, according to SBS's Food Safari, eaten in one mouthful!

Our starter came out and had 3 different things on the plate, and each were packed with flavour!

There was sweet and sour chicken, a dumpling and a fruity chicken salad. The sweet and sour chicken was surprisingly nice - thankfully nothing like the generic chinese take away, bright orange abomination. It was really tangy and fresh, the chicken had been battered but it was very light and crispy. If youre going to have sweet and sour chicken - this is the way to have it! The dumpling was really good as well, I just wish I remember what was in it... A quick check of the online menu doesnt shed any light either. Sorry! The chicken salad was really fresh, it was fruity which was a surprise! The entree was light, full of different flavours and delicious. Its what an entree is meant to be, it totally stimulated our appetite without being too heavy or filling. Fresh, tangy, fruity.

Our meaty banquet came with chicken, beef and chilli pork, and our waitress delivered all the side dishes, the meat and then lit our on table bbq. She placed the veges on the hot plate and instructed us to start with the chicken, move to the beef and then the chilli pork as that was the strongest flavour. We were also told, when the veges start to sizzle, you put the meat on.

So when I said she bought the sides out - I didnt mention how many! There were heaps! I love variety and tapas is one of my favourite ways to eat - so having all these little condiments is heaven for me!

Firstly we had soybean paste - a Korean staple, and spread on the lettuce leaves you use to wrap up all your BBQ'ed goodness. It was quite a strong flavour but we both really liked it. There was sesame oil, garlic, soy... Something to be added to our cupboard of sauces and condiments for sure, it tasted like it would be extremely versatile and would add flavour to most asian dishes! Im not too sure how it goes being used in cooking, rather than a condiment? Any Korean foodies able to help me out there?

Another Korean staple, Kimchi - pickled cabbage in chilli, garlic, and a bunch of other things. Recipes vary from person to person, however one thing is certain, a Korean meal isnt complete without this! I loved it. It wasnt so spicy that it overpowered anything, it just gave a hum of chilli with that fresh pickled flavour, but again without overpowering anything. I actually got a chinese cabbage in my organic vege box today so I may just have a go!

This was just a simple salad with an asian style dressing. It was very light on, and it was a nice refreshing, cleansing bite between spiced meats and sauces!

Steamed potato with soy and sesame oil - pretty nice, though we werent sure what to do with it. Do we just eat it? Put it in the lettuce leaves? We did both.

This cute little container housed our perfectly cooked rice, which came free and unlimited. We only used one each, but if youre a big rice fan you can get as much as you like!

Marinated beansprouts - again Im pretty sure there was sesame oil in here, it seems to be an important part of Korean cooking! These were nice too, finished them up pretty quick!

Our veges started to sizzle, and we left them for a while because we wanted the veges to be cooked when the meat was done, as it was sliced really thinly. However our plan was thwarted, as our waitress came over and put the meat on for us. No biggie,  it just meant that we ate our veges with the next meat! The chicken was first and it was pretty delicious. It wasnt marinated, just plain but when you team the golden chicken, rice, soybean paste and whatever other sides or condiments you like, its just delicious!  The beef was the same, unseasoned, but delicious. The chilli pork was great - the chilli sauce that the meat had marinated in did overpower the flavour of the pork a bit, but pork is a great carrier of flavour I think. Its not really amazingly flavoursome and needs a bit of a pushalong sometimes. It wasnt too spicy, just moreish and made you feel all warm inside!

We polished off the lot, and were feeling a bit full and satisfied! The great thing about this meal was that we certainly ate our fill, but we felt good, the food was really healthy but still delicious. This was something we loved about the place, and about our first time eating Korean food!

Our dessert was a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, and a deep fried dumpling. We werent sure what was in it but I think it was some kind of ochre/red coloured bean paste, as well as something else sweet. Not helpful I know... If it helps, it was nice. We had no idea really what we were eating but we liked it! Again, Korean foodies - help!

To sum up our Shilla experience - we LOVED it and we definately want to come back. It was all so fresh and tasty, we felt good after we left, well fed and satisfied. It was a touch pricey, the bill all together came to $110 for 2 banquets, 2 beers, lettuce leaves and corkage. But the service was impeccable, they were polite, attentive and professional, and you hardly knew they were there most of the time. They had really cute outfits on too! By the time we left it was packed, tables full of Koreans, who seemed to come with their whole families and packs of friends, as well as Aussies.

We will go back for sure, the hotpots that I spied on other peoples tables looked so so good, and I want to try that! As well as the bulgogi and bibimbap. Maybe Ill book for tomorrow night.........