Rifo's Cafe

Rifo's Cafe
189 Guildford Rd

Maylands

(08) 9271 1811

1. Comfort & surroundings

Alexander: Located right on the corner of Guildford Road and Eighth Avenue, you don't get a scenic vista with your breakfast at Rifo's, but you do get to see a lot of cars go by! If you asked me for one word to describe the theme, it would be "orange". And you'd be right in thinking that the decor is pretty much as unflattering as my description sounds. Not that it was awful, it was just... not very cool. This is definitely not a place for hipsters, but there is something comforting about that fact. 2.5 from me.

Lola: They pack a lot of tables into this space without turning the venue into an obstacle course, and surprisingly, the sound and fumes from busy street don't seem to be an issue. We sat on the Guildford Road side but were protected by a plastic blind, so our breakfast did not come with a side of smog. The tables are roomy enough for two and the seats are fairly comfortable, plus I felt far enough away from other patrons to be able to share our latest gossip with each other quite freely. A 3 from this side.

2. Service

Alexander: There are plenty of staff about at Rifo's so you won't have to wait too long for service. Encouragingly, water was provided and plentiful. This isn't the place where you would expect a lot of attitude, and you don't get it from the wait staff. What you do get, however, is an interesting assortment of "uniforms" perhaps more suited to a beach. Surely there are hygiene issues in showing that much skin? But the biggest crime of all was a pair of jeans with rips going all the way from ankle to thigh... Uh oh, it's a 3.

Lola: Yeah that was a bit inappropriate. We weren't at the beach, we were at a restaurant and denim hot pants are a little icky. They were fairly friendly though! Table service was nice too, bringing it up to a 3.5 from me.

3. Tastiness

Alexander: I ordered the eggs florentine and was impressed by the speed of delivery, heat, flavours and serving size. This was a traditional eggs florentine - English muffin, spinach, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce - none of this post-modern, avant garde, reconstructed/deconstructed stuff you find at other breakfast venues. The simplicity took me back to a less complicated time. My only issue? I am pretty sure it was not homemade hollandaise sauce (it had that "out of a jar" taste), which was a big let down. 3 out of 5.

Lola: My breakfast was also English muffin based, but topped with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and a little spinach. Let's be honest, it was a completely forgettable breakfast. It wasn't the most amazing example of each of the elements, it wasn't innovatively constructed, there wasn't even a garnish. But is that so bad? Absolutely not. In fact, I too was a refreshed by the lack of complication and the good proportioning of flavours. I was also impressed by the presence of three different flavours of frittata on the breakfast menu, which I'm sure I'll opt for next time. Look the food didn't wow me, but it pleased me, and I think that's what Rifo's seems to be about. I'm giving a score of 3.

4. Drinks

Alexander: Feeling adventurous, I strayed from my conventional long black and took a shot at the mango smoothie. Now, dairy is my favourite food group, and the smoothie is one of my all-time favourite drinks - when it's done right. The milk needs to be frosty cold and the fruit needs to be flavoursome. Rifo's did a pretty good job, and the drink was a great complement to my breakfast. It was also a nice touch that the smoothie was made with low fat yogurt and low fat milk. It scores 3.5.

Lola: A smoothie was also on the agenda for me on this particular morning, but mine was of the berry variety and I too am going with a 3.5. Flavoursome, not as calorie laden as some dairy drinks and not so big that it hindered my ability to finish my meal. I liked it.

5. Fiscal matters

Alexander: At $16 for my eggs florentine and $6.20 for my smoothie, the prices at Rifo's are very "middle of the road". You won't feel ripped-off here, but then again, you won't be coming back for the cheap eats. 3 from me.

Lola: My 'Salmon Deluxe' came in at $17 and yes, smoked salmon is not cheap, and yes, the many staff that were rostered on do have to get paid, but I think it was about $5 more than it warranted. I felt close to being ripped off, but if I was going to get funny about it I should have opted for the $5.90 banana bread. So a not too harsh 2.5 out of 5.

The verdict...
Comfort & surroundings: 5.5/10
Service: 6.5/10
Tastiness: 6/10
Drinks: 7/10
Fiscal matters: 5.5/10

TOTAL: 30.5/50

The Silver Spoon

The Silver Spoon
691 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
(08) 9361 4220

1. Comfort and Surroundings

Alexander: For this review, let's break comfort and surroundings down and consider each one separately. First, comfort: The Silver Spoon is very comfortable with well-spaced, well-sized and well-apportioned tables. The bathrooms are clean and pleasant. You could sit in the seats for hours and not feel uncomfortable. So, yes, it's a comfy place. But turn to surroundings and things are a bit different. It's not that anything is particularly bad, just that some things seem a bit, well, awkward. The Silver Spoon is obviously going for a classy vibe with white table cloths and a sleek black, silver and white theme. But there were a few things that stood out: the cigarette butts on the veranda, the waiters in casual clothes (one of whom I originally mistook for a patron taking a bit too much interest in whether I had finished eating). Plus, it's smack bang on Albany Hwy, across the road from a car dealership, which doesn't make for the nicest view. (Some people might argue that there's not much you can do about that; well, what about a giant wall with a delightful trompe l'oeil painted on it? Problem solved!) All in all, I am going with a 3.

Lola: So Alexander has summed it up very well, The Silver Spoon just feels a little awkward. I'm a big believer in working within the space that you have and making the most of it, but this wasn't done here. Having said that, the hall to the bathrooms, including a water feature, is quite lovely. And I think the entire place would scrub up really well, sans cigarette butts. I'll have to give an ambivalent 3.

2. Service

Alexander: Table service at breakfast! Hooray! And pleasant service at that. My only complaint: no one refilled our water, and it ran out pretty early into the meal. A 3.5 from me.

Lola: The wait staff seemed to genuinely care about the food and how we liked it, which gave the feeling of one big Silver Spoon family, where everyone is passionate about the restaurant and their product. This is always wonderful! And I too enjoyed the table service, though it would have been more worthwhile had they been close to us during our meal, so we could request more water. A 3.5 from me too.

3. Tastiness

Alexander: I ordered the vegetarian breakfast and 5/7ths of it as a great experience. The poached eggs were cooked perfectly, I am happy to report, and the potato cake had a delicious crunchy exterior and soft, pillowy centre. The roasted tomatoes were sweet, roasted with a hint of garlic, the mushrooms weren't oily and the house made beans had a lovely rich flavour. So that's the five good parts. The two bad parts? The toast was a bit thick and very hard to cut into and there was a noticeable amount of grit in my spinach, making that part inedible. What a shame! I will give it 5/7ths out of 5, or in other words, 3.5.

Lola: Oh yeah, I could see the spinach grit on Alexander's plate from where I was sitting! For my meal I chose the Mt Cook smoked salmon with truffle scrambled eggs, asparagus and Turkish bread, and also a side of sausage (yes, it was a singular sausage when delivered). I'll award it a 3.5. The smoked salmon was abundant and superb, the asparagus cooked to perfection, but unfortunately my scrambled eggs were clumpy and overcooked. Really disappointing. And I'd heard such good things about the food here! The sausage was pretty tops though, I must say.

4. Drinks

Alexander: You can't get too much wrong with a long black and there was nothing awful about mine. But I am used to my long blacks coming out steaming hot and needing a few minutes to cool down, whereas this one was drinkable straight away. I'm not a coffee expert, but it seems like this is unusual? Perhaps a reader could enlighten me. Anyway, I am going to give my drink a 2.5.

Lola: Meh. Lukewarm coffees are not okay! And neither is a lukewarm, 'hot' chocolate. I couldn't resist trying the marble chocolate, a mix of milk and white, and the flavour was great but the milk was barely heated. Sure, it's better than burning the milk, but that's not a concession I'm willing to make. I also sampled a chai and that too was lukewarm. Sigh. Add some undisclosed soy milk to the mix and I'm giving a 1.

5. Fiscal Matters

Alexander: Prices are reasonable for Perth, coming in just slightly below the average price point. Toast is $5 and the priciest items are $18. My dish was $14 which I thought was quite reasonable (some breakfast places still try to charge the "big breakfast" price for a vegetarian breakfast, which is just ridiculous). I also like that there is not one set price for all sides; I find it strange that a side of tomato often costs the same price as a side of bacon. 3.5 from me.

Lola: Hmm, I thought it was still a little overpriced, my dish coming in at $18. While there was a good portion of smoked salmon, and it was really large, the price is not quite what I could call reasonable. And a $4 teeny sausage was a bit steep. However, the $5 toast and $11 eggs and tomatoes on toast on offer are both pretty good value. I'm even it out and awarding a 3 overall.

The verdict...

Comfort & Surroundings: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Tastiness: 7/10
Drinks: 3.5/10
Fiscal Matters: 6.5/10
TOTAL: 30/50

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

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