Soto Espresso

Soto Espresso
507 Beaufort St
Highgate
(08) 9227 7686

1. Comfort & surroundings

Lola: Though I regularly pop into Soto for a takeaway beverage before work, I'd never sampled their kitchen offerings before this visit. It's down the Highgate end of the Beaufort Street strip, with scattered tables, a long booth seat down one side of one room, and art for sale which changes every so often. Somewhat surprisingly, you might think, we decided against one of the half booths, but just because of the spaciousness of our chosen table's corner location. The seats aren't conducive to relaxing for a whole morning, but overall it's not a bad place to spend some time, and I did like this art rotation. A 2.5 here.

Alexander: Beaufort Street is probably one of Perth's most popular cafe strips, so breakfast purveyors need to do a decent job to survive amidst all of the competition. Soto has been around for a while, so it must be doing alright! The venue has a casual vibe, although there are plenty of people around to give it a lively atmosphere. As Lola mentioned, you get your choice of seat type, either booths or tables. I am a big fan of the booth, but so were a lot of other people, so we decided to give ourselves some more space at a table. I could have happily sat around people watching for a while, so I will give it a 3.5.

2. Service

Lola: It's counter service here with self service water too. This, of course, is not a problem, but it does mean that our contact with staff was minimal. So nothing to complain about, but no one seemed particularly happy to be working either. So a 3.

Alexander: Lola's right - counter service and minimal contact make it hard to say much on this front. I thought our server at the counter seemed friendly enough, but the waiter who brought us our food had a more surly attitude. Of course the biggest crime was that my plate was cleared before Lola finished... uh oh, 2.5 from me.

3. Tastiness

Lola: I had spied the menu while waiting for a takeaway one morning and the interesting sounding options enticed us to give it a crack. I chose the pork belly chorizo omelette with sugar candied bacon over the smoked kipper, which also sounded appealing. It was a close fight for my taste buds! The omelette was ginormous, I reckon there must have been six eggs in it, and it came with a hefty slab of sourdough toast and a handful of rocket. The chorizo was tasty though the bacon was easily overlooked. There was some softened onion throughout the dish which added some much needed sweetness, and the freshness of the rocket was appreciated. I say freshness but the rocket wasn't all that fresh, really, a sizable amount of it being old and yellow. I would have loved some balsamic to help the onion and rocket out. Determined to get through the mountain of food, I left the toast and focused on filling my belly with the good stuff. And while I did manage it quite comfortably I was so full and eggy that I couldn't possibly eat anything until dinner time. Maybe this is a good quality for a meal, but I felt it was a bit heavy for my liking. I'll go with a 2.5.

Alexander: I love eggs so it came as some surprise to me that I was drawn to the grilled mushroom and asparagus with Persian feta. Even more of a surprise, I didn't regret not getting eggs - this was deee-licious! The mushroom/asparagus/feta flavours all worked really well together, and the addition of some rocket and balsamic lifted it to something a bit more special. Plus, there were some carbs under there to help fill me up! Well done Soto, this gets a 4.

4. Drinks

Lola: Soto do a good mocha. My only complaint is that they are a little bit small! This brings my score down to a 4.5.

Alexander: The people at Soto care about their coffee, so I strayed back to long black territory for this breakfast. I was amply impressed without being blown-away. 3.5 from me!

5. Fiscal matters

Lola: I suppose a dish so large with so many eggs and so much sausage comes close to warranting an $18 price tag. But no one needs to eat that much, really, and I resented having to pay that fee when I probably would have been better off with half that amount and spending $9. The little coffee was $4, I believe, and although it is not uncommon, looking back I feel it was a bit steep. I'll give a 2.5.

Alexander: Prices are pretty average here, not too expensive, not outstandingly cheap. There is probably a small "location premium" built in, but this is balanced out by the fact that there are plenty of other cafes around competing for your business. I was happy to pay under $20 for breakfast and coffee, so I am giving it 3.5.

The verdict...
Comfort & surroundings: 6/10
Service: 5.5/10
Tastiness: 6.5/10
Drinks: 8/10
Fiscal matters: 6/10
TOTAL: 32.50

Sensations en Ardross

Sunday 19 April 2009

Sensations en Ardross
43A Ardross Street, Applecross
(08) 9364 8806

1. Comfort and Surroundings

Lola: Needing a south of the river location we once again ventured to Applecross, this time trying the spot just next door to the location of our last expedition. Accordingly, the view and surrounds were just as nice, though I couldn't help but compare the seating arrangements to Jacs. The table and chairs this week were adequate but not particularly comfortable and I felt a little cramped. It's nice there, but nothing special, so I'll give it a 3.

Alexander: Our table felt like it was a bit smooshed in between other tables, which wasn't very impressive. The decor is a bit of a jumble without any discernible theme. Also, the line of people waiting to order tends to snake through the tables, meaning things felt a little unsettled. It also made it hard to reach the condiments table! This may sound harsh, but I am going with a 2.

2. Service

Lola: You order at the counter at Sensations which I don't mind at all. The girl who served me was friendly and accommodating, granting substitutions and answering questions. They also provide water and a huge range of condiments for self-service, meaning there was no further contact with staff. I find this kind of set-up often results in not being able to obtain access to what you want because it has inevitably been taken by a customer for exclusive use at their own table, but they had so much on offer that we weren't disappointed. No problems but I can't give more than 3.5 since we largely served ourselves.

Alexander: I didn't have much contact with the people working at Sensations because Lola ordered my breakfast for me. The brief encounters I had with the waitresses were pleasant though. As a self-service place, the marks are never going to be super high from me - I'm giving it a 3.

3. Tastiness

Lola: I really liked the menu and was torn between many dishes! I finally chose the breakfast wrap minus the fresh tomato. This was a thin crepe with perfect scrambled eggs, chives and avocado inside. Unfortunately the avocado you see in the picture was almost the entire amount of avocado in the wrap. Sigh. While the eggs were cooked to perfection I did expect a bit more out of each bite. I was still pretty happy though and would like to return and try another option! But for this meal, a 2.5.

Alexander: It was a big menu and in the end I went for the scrambled eggs with spinach and feta. The scrambled eggs were well cooked and there was a good (but not overpowering) amount of spinach and feta included. The combination of flavours definitely worked and the bread held it all together. I could probably have used a bigger serve though. All in all, 3.5.

4. Drinks

Lola: My chai was extremely disappointing. It was insipid, tasting of slightly flavoured warm milk. The flavour itself was promising but was not brewed for long enough! Only a 1.5 from my end.

Alexander: Given how fussy I am about drinks, I am surprised to be giving a higher mark than Lola. I ordered a cappuccino and, while not the most exciting coffee in the world, it still hit the spot - a 3 effort.

5. Fiscal matters

Lola: At $18.50 for my fairly small and simple crepe I thought the prices were a bit steep. I have to go a 2.5.

Alexander: The prices weren't exorbitant but they were on the high end of the scale. It's pretty much what you would expect from Ardross Street in Applecross. Given it's self-service, I think the menu was a bit overpriced, so I am only giving it 2.5.

The verdict...

Comfort & Surroundings: 5/10
Service: 6.5/10
Tastiness: 6/10
Drinks: 4.5/10
Fiscal Matters: 5/10
TOTAL: 27/50