Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant

107 Pier Street Perth

Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant first opened their doors to Perth diners in 1987, since that time thousands of people have darkened the doorstep of the little premises at 107 Pier Street, the majority of them, like me, being return customers.

 

I first dined here on the occasion of my younger brothers 30^th birthday, he celebrated his 50^th birthday last year and I have since lost count of the number of times I have dined at this wonderful restaurant, nor can I remember that number of times I wished to myself that I had been there, rather than somewhere somewhat inferior, it is that kind of place.

When owner operators Francis and Sherry Lim first opened their restaurant it was known as the Hayashi Japanese Restaurant, the business was very good to them and in 1995 they opened a second restaurant by the same name in Applecross.  I was privileged to have been present for the opening night and the memories are still vivid of beautiful food and meeting some great people.  Sometime after however, the couple sold off the Applecross store and when they did the new owners kept the name of Hayashi, hence the name change at Pier Street.

As they say “Call a rose by any other name and it will still smell like a rose” and never a truer word could be said of Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant, the food I enjoyed there on Saturday night with my wife was just as exciting and just as delicious as that first meal I enjoyed here in 1991.

Niku Tataki - Tender marinated beef fillet so succulent and tender it melts in your mouth.

It has become a standard order for our entrée to include a serve of Niku-Tataki ($15.00), the thin slices of very rare beef are so succulent and tender, once marinated at the table in a soy vinegar sauce which you have added minced ginger, garlic, spring onion and daikon radish is unbelievable.  In more cases than not this is accompanied by a large Mixed Sashimi ($35.00), David the Sashimi Chef, is a master at his craft and the food he prepares always looks fantastic, tastes even better! 

Mixed Sashimi, my favourite.

I love the Mixed Sashimi, slices of Tuna, Kingfish, Salmon and Snapper with a little wasabi for spice and daikon for texture, and I believe my wife when she says she could live on nothing else but this food!  As Yoshiya is a BYO restaurant, I was able to enjoy a Windy Creek Chardonnay with my meal, it went so well with the sashimi, I was wishing we had taken a taxi so I could have opened a second bottle.

Main course, so much food!

There are so many choices on the Yoshiya menu, but when it comes to the main course my wife, always orders the same thing, it has become her all time favourite of any meal she has had and I cannot now get her to go without her Yaki-Niku ($27.00).  

Yaki Niku, Jo's fave meal of all time!

Yaki-Niku is another beef dish, this time marinated beef tenderloin fillet which is char grilled to perfection and comes with a spicy flavoured dipping sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds, the first time she experienced this meal, I experienced what Billy Crystal did sitting opposite Meg Ryan in “When Harry met Sally”, it was one of those blissful moments for her, as when you feel you have died and gone to heaven!

The Char Grilled Salmon was divine.

I ordered Sakana Shioyaki ($27.00), char grilled snapper, only to be told they were out of snapper, so Sherry offered to do the dish with Salmon instead, I was not disappointed, it was wonderful and cooked to perfection.  Both main meals are served with steamed rice and fresh salad.

Entrees at Yoshiya range from $6.00 a single serve to $35.00 for large share plates, with main meals ranging from $18.00 to $35.00, there are a couple of desserts on offer @ $7.00, you also have a choice of 2 set menus which can be ordered for a table or for a single person the first menu includes BBQ Prawns, BBQ Salmon, BBQ Scallop, Teriyaki chicken, and a marinated cubed beef dish, this comes with Miso Soup, Rice, Salad, Dessert and Japanese Tea or coffee, great value at $60.00 per person.  The second menu includes Sashimi, Tempura Seafood and Vegetables, Teriyaki Chicken and Yaki Niku and this also comes with Miso Soup, Rice, Salad, Dessert and Japanese Tea or coffee for $50.00 per person also great value and the food is awesome. 

I introduced a few friends to this restaurant last year, they enjoyed their entrees and mains so much, when asked what they would like for dessert they ordered what they had just had over again, knowing how good the food is at Yoshiya, I can understand why!

I really shouldn't because it is hard enough to get a table already, but I do highly recommend Yoshiya Japenese Restaurant, the food is the most exciting and delicious you will get anywhere and Francis and Sherry Lim, are the most wonderful hosts, they can never do enough for you to ensure you have a wonderful meal and evening.

Mamma Agata – Simple and Genuine

We are planning a trip to Italy in a year’s time, which is keeping Jo very busy as she surfs the net looking for as much information as she can find about the place, its culture and most importantly its food.  Whilst doing this she came across a site for a cooking school on the Amalfi Coast, which is one of the areas I have indicated I very much want to see and experience.  The cooking school, known as Mamma Agata’s is perched high up on the side of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, it would be an experience just to visit the property it looks so beautiful.  She keeps nagging me, can we go, have you had look, nag nag nag, so eventually I went and had look at the site and some of the food they prepare there, and I have to agree with Jo it does look fantastic. 

Whilst looking around on the site I found they had released the third edition of a cook book titled “Mamma Agata – Simple and Genuine” and it was available from their web site.  I could not resist so ordered one there and then, it arrived a few days later personally autographed by Mamma and the family with the words “Cucinare con amore in Jack's cucina”, which translates to “Cook with love in Jack’s kitchen!”

I sat down and had a look through the recipes one night last week, then handed the book to Jo and had her pick out 3 recipes to make up a 3 course meal, as I handed her the book I told her I think you really only need to pick the main because I know what you will want for the other two courses, a little while later she gave me the three courses, the only surprise being her main course, Stuffed Squid, the entrée  and dessert as I had predicted were to be Sautéed Mussels and Clams and an Apple Tart, know her too well!

Sautéed Mussels and Clams

A very simple entrée, but oh so satisfying, mussels and clams sautéed in garlic and olive oil finished with a squeeze of lemon, very more-ish, served up with crusty garlic ciabbata YUM YUM

Stuffed Squid

Another very simple to prepare dish, packed full of flavour, finished in a tomato puree cooked up with the left over stuffing, beautiful fresh flavours, accompanied by a Mediterranean styled salad, so glad I brought too many squid, took the left over’s for lunch on Monday and had all the office looking on in envy as I devoured my lunch!

Mama Agata’s Apple Tart

If I never made this tart again, I can promise you I will certainly be using the pastry recipe again, unbelievably good!  But then so was the filling, I was feeling a little guilty putting this together, felt like I was cheating on my Mother and Grandma, as I have made their apple pie recipe so many times and I love it, always will, but I am going to have to find room for this recipe too, it is so amazing.

So we have celebrated a year to go until our holiday in true Italian style, with good food, really good food, made with love for the one I love, now there is just 364 days to go, can’t wait!

As you can see by the photo's Jo did a great job setting the scene for our evening, she also picked out an amazing bottle of wine for us to enjoy with our meal, an Autumn Red from one of our favourite Swan Valley wineries Windy Creek, a top drop from a top little winery!

Check out Mamma Agata's Cooking School web pages

Fillaudeau’s Cafe, Pinelli's Winery Caversham

Being such a beautiful day, Jo and I ventured over to the Swan Valley on Sunday to pick up a few stores and to have a bite to eat, our first stop being Pinelli Wines in Bennett St Caversham.

Pinelli's has been a long time favourite for us and we have been eagerly anticipating the opening of their new restaurant, so we were very pleased to find on arriving at the winery, that not had they finally opened the restaurant, but they were in full swing, with around 30 people seated for lunch when we arrived.

A bit of background history…

I met Daniel Pinelli in the late 1990’s when he came to work a summer at my workplace, whilst he was a uni student studying Mechanical Engineering.  Dan’s fellow student and mate Brett, had been assigned to work with me that summer as I travelled around various regions of Western Australia collecting road data.  Brett was the envy of all his mates that summer, he landed the best assignment and experience, as he not only travelled around the state, but was paid overtime each day as he did so.  On the days when we were not out in the field, Dan would come and see Brett in my office and practically begged me to arrange for him to accompany me on a field trip, with a little gentle persuasion of his manager, we managed to pull it off and Dan came away for a week on the road.  On our return, Dan rocked up at my house in Riverton with a box of fruit, vegetables and bottles of wine and port from the family business, which was my first experience with Pinelli wines.

Then a few years later, a mutual friend was invited to Dan’s wedding, he was marrying a girl Belinda, that just happened to work with us, when my friend told me of the invitation she had added that she would have to find someone to be her partner for the night, I put my hand up and so was fortunate enough to attend and enjoy watching and celebrating, Dan marrying the girl of his dreams.

Since that time, Dan has given away Mechanical Engineering, went back to uni to study viniculture, fathered two beautiful children and is now working with his brother Robert in the family business making fantastic wines.

Knowing the restaurant was getting close to opening, I popped in to see Belinda in her office a week or so ago, she confirmed they were close to opening, but would not commit to dates or anything like that, she just told me of the plans and the fact that they were looking forward to opening, though I think she was just a little bit nervous too.

Fillaudeau’s  

The restaurant, being run by a French-born Chef Manu Fillaudeau and his Perth born wife Jasmin, has been constructed from rammed earth, opens out to beautiful wide veranda’s, surrounded by the Pinelli vines and lush green lawns, it is a very relaxing setting, tastefully decorated with lots of natural timber furniture and flooring, it is a nice place to be.

We had had a late breakfast and thought we would be eating a little latter in the day, however after finding a nice outdoor table available and having a quick look at the menu, decided we would stay and ordered a shared seafood platter, consisting of a fish terrine, chilli mussels, garlic prawns, grilled squid and bread.  

We ordered a 2007 Family Reserve Chenin Blanc to enjoy with the meal, and enjoy we did, I have come to love the Chenin Blanc’s from the Swan Valley and this is amongst the best of them, if only I did not have to drive home!

The platter was absolutely YUM YUM, the only thing I was wanting was more bread, which I ordered eventually, so as to mop up the chilli sauce and the juices left behind after we had devoured the prawns and squid, the chilli sauce was unbelievably good, the bite of chilli was just enough to satisfy me without being over powering, I really regretted having to share the plate, I could easily have found room to polish it off by myself, very Moorish!

The atmosphere of the place was totally relaxing, the day was glorious sunshine with a gentle breeze blowing through the veranda, which helped intensify the experience, the other customers around us must have felt the same as no one seemed to be in a hurry to rush off, it was really lovely.

I did not want to go, and so asked to see the dessert menu, Jo quickly piped up and said she would not have dessert, then having seen Panacotta on the menu promptly ordered one, I ordered port poached pears and vanilla ice cream.  Both desserts were awesome, a perfect way to finish the meal, I think I could become addicted to pears poached in port.

When I spoke with Belinda, she had expressed a concern of how things might run and how long before they would have an efficiently running restaurant, well I can say given they were on their fourth day of having been opened, I was impressed, they are a young team and being so new, there were quite a few people wanting to say hello and discuss how things were going for them.  But I estimated that they had close to fifty through for lunch whilst we were there, and it was done without any noticeable anxiety, the staff were very pleasant, the food came out in reasonable time and piping hot, and oh so delicious, we will be back and soon, got my eye on some duck!

Bouillabaisse - Happy Easter

Bouillabaisse [bujabes] - a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille

It is Good Friday morning and I am in the kitchen preparing to celebrate this important Christian event with my sons, daughter in law and grand children, I have Bouillabaisse and Pavlova on the menu, which we will sit down together and enjoy this evening.

Bouillabaisse is my favourite all time dish to make, it does not feature very often on our menu for a number of reasons, it is an expensive dish to make, you need time to make it properly and you need a crowd to sit down and enjoy it together.  Being that it is Good Friday, it fits the “no meat” brief perfectly and it is such a special dish, the day is deserving of it, being the very special day it is. 

There is another fantastic thing about this dish, you can do all the hard work early having everything ready so that when your guests arrive all you need do is reheat the beautiful seafood stock/soup, add the seafood piece by piece and it is ready to eat in around fifteen minutes, spoon it into bowls, dish out large servings of toasted bread and your good to go, love it.

I am 3 hours into my cooking, and just as I was about to strain the stock off, a damsel in distress put out a call for help, her car had a flat battery and as luck would have it, she had not found out until after she had packed the car to the hilt for a trip down south for a family holiday.  I simply turned the stove off and took off to assist her, job done I returned home and picked up where I left off, now how many dishes can you do that with? Again the fact it is a holiday and I have plenty of time made a big difference.

You begin making the stock by sautéing a sliced up leek with an onion, fennel bulb and half a bunch of garlic, cooking for about 6-7 minutes, then adding a can of chopped tomato, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a few sprigs of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, some peppercorns, a couple of teaspoons of  cumin seeds, a few star anise and the grated rind of an orange, this is stirred while it cooks until the volume reduces by half, the aromas whilst cooking this are amazing.

Now you add in two crabs that have been cleaned of the dead man’s fingers and broken into 3 or 4 pieces, put the whole crab including the mustard in its head, the mustard has lots of flavour, cook for 5-6 minutes then add in some fish bones, I brought two whole fish for this dish, which I filleted, the carcasses when into the stock.

The flavours in Bouillabaisse are magnificent every mouthful as you eat meal makes you yearn for more, there is so much depth in the finished broth, it truly is a wonderful experience to sit with a bowl of this gorgeous seafood stew and a chunk of toasted crunchy bread, heaven.

After cooking the vegetables and seafood down you add a full bottle of white wine to the pot, Jo could not believe it as she watched me pour the contents of the whole bottle into the brew, the wine is mixed in well with the vegetables and then cooked on a simmer until reduced by half, then you add 2 litres of water, bring the pot to the boil, then reduce to simmer for an hour.

Whilst the stock is simmering away you have time to skin the fish fillets, trim the legs of the prawns and de-beard the mussels that will be included just before serving, there are also potatoes to steam, steaming the potatoes before adding them to the broth makes them more receptive of soaking up the YUM YUM, steam them with the skin on, peel them when cooked and straight into the pot.

After the stock has simmered for that hour, strain the solids off, pound the crabs to a paste, I used my pestle and it worked well, you could bung it into the food processor but why create extra work when a bit of elbow grease will do the job!  Once they’re crushed down add the stock back mix in well and then strain the solids off again, this is done to extract as much flavour as possible from the crabs, fish and vegetables, the solids are then discarded.

Now add a heaped teaspoon of saffron, some salt (be generous with the salt) and some cayenne pepper to taste, bring back to a simmer and the stock is now ready, you can leave it here and reheat later or continue on and begin adding in the fish, potatoes and other seafood.

I added the potatoes and then turned the pot off, coming back to check the taste about every fifteen minutes thereafter, not that I needed to, it tasted great, hence the several consequential checks!

Garlic and capsicum mayonnaise served with the Bouillabaisse which is spread on the crusty toasted bread, the mayo is made from a little baked potato, red capsicum, garlic, egg yolks, lemon juice, saffron threads a pinch of cayenne pepper and olive oil, all the ingredients are blended together to make this rich creamy mayonnaise, it is beautiful.

Having everything prepared including the Pavlova and its topping by three o’clock, gave me time to lay down for an hour for a poppy nap, very relaxing way to spend the afternoon after a busy morning.

The fish I choose to use included a Red Throat Emperor, a Red Coral Rock Cod, Exmouth King Prawns, Shark Bay Prawns, Blue Swimmer Crabs, Mussels, and a little Squid.

You add the seafood to the simmering stock starting with the fish that will take the longer cooking time adding the other pieces within the cooking time of the first, get it right and everything will be beautifully cooked, I added the squid and smaller prawns a little early, so they had shrunk by the time they hit the bowl, but overall I was happy with the final result.

While we waited for my son Ryan to arrive, Jo readied the bread grilling one side then buttering the other side and then grilling that, by the time he arrived there was a huge plate full resting in the oven, when it came to the table I thought there is no way we’ll get through that, but I had forgotten just how good it is soaking up the broth with the crunchy bread and before we were done I was cutting more bread for the table.

I learnt on the night the only seafood my daughter in-law likes is fish, I knew she did not eat prawns but mussels and crabs came as a surprise, given the broth was based on a crab bisque had her plate looking very grim with only fish and potatoes to eat, however as it turned out even she loved the flavours and when offered more fish, she requested that it come with some of the broth and a slice of bread, I wasn’t at all surprised when her bowl was emptied and she was complaining of having eating too much, that’s just the way it is with Bouillabaisse!

Son In-Law Eggs and the best Salmon EVER!

Well it was nice to get back in the kitchen today and do some cooking, though I am suffering a little now with a sharp pain in my back!  But you get that so I won't sook too much.  I have most of the afternoon preparing food for during the week, a beautiful lamb curry I cooked from scratch, as I could not be bothered looking for a recipe and it has tuned out just as I had hoped, we'll enjoy that come Monday night.  I've also made a zucchini slice, which will be for lunches and maybe the odd breakfast too, I left it in the oven a few minutes too long and the onions seem to have started to caramelise, it smells awesome and can't wait to try that out too.

It is funny how when you start to tire, little errors start creeping into the kitchen, the slice was the first of it, I had decided earlier in the day to prepared a three course dinner for Jo tonight, it was a sort of a challenge as we are in a healthy eating mode attempting to shed a few pounds.

Jo is trying to keep her calorie intake below 1200 a day and I knew she was sitting at about 440 after her lunch, so the three courses needed to be less than 760, though I was told it had best be a little less than that.  I am happy to say I managed to pull it off, and whilst I am feeling like a stuffed pig right now, at least I met the target.

And the three courses where awesome, we started the meal with Son In Law eggs, a Thai dish, one we tried in Melbourne a few months back at Ginger Boy, a very trendy alleyway bar style restaurant that serves the best food.  I had a small disappointment in that I cooked the eggs a wee bit too long, I wanted soft gooey yolks, not soft boiled, just gooey, I didn't get them, but they tasted fantastic anyway, Jo insisted she was only having one and i think she regretted it in the end as they were good, instructions have been left to do them again.   I have entered the recipe for these into a site called SparkRecipes click the link and have a crack at them, well worth the effort.

For main course I prepared some Tasmanian Salmon from a recipe from the same site, and the comments the dish had received had me wanting to try it instantly, having made it and enjoyed it, all the while listening to Jo almost reach boiling point with Ohh's and Ahh's, I have to agree it was so YUM YUM YUM, so much so i wished I had brought more salmon so we could do it a gain tomorrow, really is that good.  I made up a fried rice to go with this, and whilst I thought I might try plain steam rice next time, Jo was of the opinion that the rice I prepared was the perfect accompaniment.

We finished the meal with some low cal Yoplait yoghurt and Raspberries, very refreshing and yummy too!

Just made it!