Mom Dumpling House

Perth people LOVE to talk about food. So while I was meeting up with a friend over in Melbourne, at Chin Chin no less, we got to talking about dumplings in Perth. Well, more like the distinct lack of good dumplings Perth has to offer.

The dim sum is pretty fair over in Perth but what I am always looking for is straight up dumplings. I love them and every Chinese restaurant we go to, I always try one dumpling dish, usually xiǎo lóng bāo, and thus far I have been sorely disappointed.

So, during our animated conversation, my lovely friend offered up the answer to my dumpling prayers...Mom Dumpling House.

We hopped over the river one night and service was friendly straight away. It wasn't very busy, which concerned us a bit, but nice to not have to wait.

Ignoring the distinct lack of crowds, we focused on our priority. Dumplings! And there were a good few choices. But another dish caught out eye, the oxtongue salad. This may sound strange but the combination of the spicy sauce with the the cucumber, slivers of buttery cold tongue, topped with crunchy nuts is heavenly. The tongue is surprisingly tender and I would recommend this to anyone that wants to venture into the delights of offal.

And the dumplings? We chose the pan fried pork dumpling and the steamed chive, pork & shrimp dumpling, along with some vegetables to keep it extra healthy. They pretty much all came out together which meant we could enjoy them all at once allowing us to savour our favourites.

And there was much to savour. Aside from dim sum, most places in Perth serve up dumplings that are clearly from a freezer bag. The difference with Mom Dumpling House is that they taste as though they were made fresh, in the hands of an expert.

Try them and you will see what I mean ... and you will never go back to those freezer bag insults they call dumplings elsewhere!

Ode to my bicycle

For years I lived in London, where bikes are everywhere you look. I thought they were beautiful but I was waaaay to chicken to even venture on the city 'Boris' bikes. But I secretly dreamed... then hopped on the nearest bus...or tube...or taxi.

When I moved to Perth I really struggled with the change in public transport standards. I don't drive (a car is more of a hindrance in London) so I was stuck out in the suburbs. A place where people drive 200 metres just to pick up a bottle of milk.

When we bought our new house, we discovered a cycle path metres from our house which takes me almost all the way to my office. So before we had even moved in I set out on a mission to find a bicycle.

With the gorgeous vintage bikes of Europe still spinning through my head, I knew a classic looking model was for me. I am not one for spandex, so a sport model was a definite no, no. Upon looking for my new bike, however, I was surprised by just how expensive bikes were here. As is often the case in Australia, particularly WA, something that was usually moderately priced in the UK was over three times the price here.

My saviour came in the form of Reid Cycles, an Australian cycle company that sells a whole range of bicycles at fabulous prices and they had the perfect vintage look I was after. Now the bikes aren't top of the range. They aren't going to be winning any races, but beauty contests?! Definitely!

I chose the Vintage Ladies 6 Speed, in red with special edition brown seat and handles. At the time there was no WA store, so I had it shipped over, which meant a little bit of self assembly, but nothing too taxing.

And the result? An everlasting love affair with my shiny new bike. Even the hardcore Lycra clad cyclists that wizz past me shout out "nice bike!", which always makes me smile. It may not be the most practical of bicycles but it brings a smile to my face everyday and even some passing strangers.

Someone's got a favourite new sushi joint!

After failing to pick up some sushi for lunch from our newly discovered local sushi place (it was closed!) I was a bit grumpy at my lovely man when he turned up with a 'cooked chuck'. So after a long day of tearing out our oven, amongst other things, we decided to wash off the paint and head out for a quick dinner.

With Sushi still in my mind, we decided to check out the relatively new Mr Munchies on Beaufort St and it was freakin awesome!

I have been truly impressed by the standard of Japanese food here in Australia. Back in the UK I thought Japanese food, of all kinds, was nice but nothing to pee your pants over. Clearly I just hadn't had the good stuff.

Just your average little Japanese place here is better than fancy pants places over in the UK and Mr Munchies is a great example of that. We had a Chicken Lover Roll ( grilled Teriyaki chicken, avocado, tamagoyaki topped with mayo, spring onion & karraage), one of the special rolls and a Mr Munchies Roll (tiger prawn fritters with crab sticks, sweet eggs and avocado served with chilli mayo). The Mr Munchies Roll we made large and thank goodness! It was the most delicious out of three awesome choices.

The staff were super friendly and seemed jazzed to be working in such an great place. The food was fresh and super tasty but, most importantly, it was great value for money. Now, I am a huge fan of Aisuru on William St but I have to say that Mr Munchies could actually better as well as cheaper.

From now on, just call me Mrs Munchies.

Sunset City

This is where I live... pretty beautiful, isn't it?

I am still quite fresh to Australia. I only arrived in April of last year, so I admit that I am still filled with wonder of the beauty of the place. There are a lot of things to find beautiful here but my number one has to be the sky.


Not just the sunsets, although they are exceptional, but the sky in general. It is so enormous, so present. Maybe it's from living in London for so many years, with it's often less than sunny sky's or tall buildings everywhere you look, but I hardly ever seemed to notice the sky there. But here in Perth you can't help but look at it.

Always blue (almost!) in the day and ever changing cloud patterns. Even when its a rainy day, with dark clouds to rival London's worst, there is always a patch of blue to be found. It might be small, but it's there. Trust me, I run out side every time it clouds over just to test this theory and it's yet to be proved wrong.

Then, as the sun goes down, the spectacular and ever changing colours. People travel to Iceland and Norway to see the Northern Lights, well I think it should be the same here. Come and see nature at it's most beautiful with a West Australian sunset, you won't regret it.

Look at me going on about the weather. 'You can take the girl out of the UK...!'

m