Cantina 633 (Mount Lawley, Perth WA)

663 Beaufort St
 Astor Arcade
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 9370 4883
Website 
Hours:
    Mon-Sun 8:00 - 23:00Hours
    Breakfast: Mo-Sun 8am-11:30am
    Lunch: Mon-Sun 12pm-3pm
    Antipasto: Mo to Sat 3pm-6pm
     Dinner: Mo to Sat 6pm-late 

THE PLACE

Cantina 633 is located in the Astor Arcade, in the heart of Mount Lawley, in a wonderful spot that has kept spreading at the same rhythm as the popularity of the canteen has along the arcade and over the footpath. The ambience is wonderful, with great music and a gorgeous woody classy rustic inner canteen, and very pleasant in the other areas. Having said so, the seating area in the arcade can be extremely hot in summer despite being covered, and the lack of ventilation makes things even worse, which is a bit of a bummer.  

The place has always a cheery vibe. The place is always crowded, no matter the hour or the day you go, and has a group of regulars from all ages and kinds, and a traditional hangout for hypsters, foodies, and interesting people in general. The place can be noisy, and the space between tables tiny, so don't spill your beans here, but this also part of its charm!


The clientele seems to have decreased a bit in the last few months, as the same pace as the hypsters of the area have moved to Cantina's sister place Mary Street Bakery.

FOOD 

Cantina is an institution in Perth. You have to respect that. Cantina's owners have an eye for anything Mediterranean that is good and not that popular in Perth until they bring it in. Then, it becomes trendy around Perth, like their gnocchi, morcilla, or some of their antipasti. 

Cantina's food is simple and delicious, perfect for vegetarians, vegans and celiacs. They have a very small selection of dishes, and an interesting selection of imported goodies and drinks. 

Their BREAKFASTS have been hit and miss for me, but I have to say that their slow eggs are the best most perfect looking I have found in Perth. I had scrambled eggs for my birthday three Novembers ago and they were dry and salty, quite average in every possible way. A fact that has not brought me back for breakfast until this year. Since then, I have gone a few times and found great dishes and others that were pretty average. 

The Falafel Breakfast was perfect in presentation, serving size, and taste. The slow eggs were absolutely divine, yummy and so good looking that one felt like kissing them not eating them; I would added a bit of more sauce, to moist the whole dish, but this is just a personal preference.  

The Pancetta Breakfast was average by all standards regarding size, presentation and taste. The pancetta piece was first quality, so I felt that they had wasted a big chunk of awesomeness in a mediocre dish. 

The Cantina Full Breakfast was very filling and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the bacon was badly cooked, with the borders burned and the centre not cooked enough. The rest was perfect.

Their ANTIPASTI are delicious, especially the Antipasti Board, with so many different things on it, all of them yummy. It is supposed to be for two people, but it can feed a person with a big stomach if you want a substantial dinner. 

Their imported antipasti used to be quite exclusive in Perth, although the development of Perthies' palate and joy for tapas-style plates has them also available in other places. They might not be that fancy or wow if you are from the country they come from, but they will feed your nostalgia, not just your stomach.

The LUNCHES have also been hit and miss, wish some dishes leaving me wow, and others "unwowed". The nicest thing I have tried at Cantina were the Pesto and Seafood Spaghetti, a traditional Italian dish, that was absolutely yummy: pasta al dente, perfect mix of flavours, right amount of chillies, pity about the serving size! 

The Vegan Rotolo was amazingly good looking, tasty an filling, with a great mixture of textures and vegetarian ingredients. One of those dishes that makes you feel  that vegetarian is yummy an filling, and a decent serving.  

Some of their salads have an odd mix of flavours that I not always enjoy, especially because of the pungent green they use as a base for them. My favourite one has been their Salmon and Egg Salad, which I found to be an absolute winner; the  whole mix was a bit odd, a priory, but it ended being perfectly balanced, filling, flavoursome, balanced, and awesome looking, too. 

The cuttlefish pasta was a decent serving of casarecce, perfectly cooked al dente, light, filling, and perfect for summer. The flavours per se were good, but the cuttlefish is a bit blah per se, so the dish would have needed of some more herbs or spices to be more flavoursome. I always find that pasta with fish, not tomato-based, goes perfectly with shelled seafood or fish, as the shells give the extra punch in flavour that the pasta needs.

I love pan-fried gnocchi in general, but I have had different levels of satisfaction -all based on my personal taste- regarding the mix of produce they use in their recipe, and the degree of fulfilment (of my stomach) I get, as they are mostly vegetarian or vegan recipes. Still, this the flagship of the place, and very good, and you need to try it if you haven't already. 

COFFEE  AND SWEETS

Cantina's coffee is good and smooth. If you are into strong coffee, the Italian way, you will need a long topped-up macchiato to get what I call a flavoursome flat white. The coffee stand outside, at the moment just used on weekends at peak hours, is great to keep things flowing. 

They always have a small selection of slices, mini-tarts and muffins on the counter, which are lovely to accompany your coffee or finish you meal with something sweet. I have found them to be good, but nothing outstanding.

They also have a two or three sweets cooked in the premises, which is always a bonus, and more my type of dessert. I had the Yoghurt Strawberry Pannacotta, and it was delicious and a pleasure for the senses; wonderfully plated, a lovely mix of colours and a wonderful mix of textures and flavours in your mouth. The mix of the delicate yoghurt, strawberry strips of basil and nutty "dukka" was a winner. 

WINE & BEER

Their wine listing is one of the most interesting thing in the whole menu, and something you should splurge in if you want to splurge on something at Cantina. I am always pleased with their selection of Spanish wines and beers, which are badly represented in quality and variety in WA. They have Alhambra beer, which are only produced in the city of Granada, in Spain, and I almost cried when I saw it there. I have never splurged in their super-expensive wines, but every wine by the glass I have had there has been excellent.
  

PRICING

I do not mind paying a bit for a meal, if the meal is really worth it, if the cooking is sophisticated, and what you eat is artistically presented. After all, you need to pay for quality, creativity, and fine dining. However, each time I visit Cantina, I leave feeling that the food is lovely, but not always worth the price. The pricing is ridiculous for some things. Just to give an example, the fried cauliflower dish costed 14 bucks, but you get a whole cauliflower, in season, for 2 bucks.

Imported goodies and bevarages are a luxury that we need to pay. We are paying for having those wines in Perth and for the high importation taxes that businesses have to pay to have them here, not because they are expensive or very exclusive in origin - I am fine with that.

To be fair, pricing is so ridiculous in most Perth cafes and restaurants at the moment, some of them of poor quality, that I content myself at thinking that at least Cantina the food is good.  

SERVICE 
Fact - They are quite accommodating regarding changes and adjustments in their set dishes. That is my experience.

Fact - Some staff members are very friendly, sweet and serviceable, an others are unfriendly, tight, nosey and not serviceable. Generally speaking, there has been an attitude problem that I can barely tolerate. It escapes my understanding why a waiter would feel so high in his/her position to be arrogant to any customer. At the same time, I understand that, at peak hours, the place is packed to the rafters and the staff has to make do the best they can. In fact, it is stressful watching them running non-stop all over the place, and that might be the reason why they cannot provide a better service. I do not blame them, I blame the owners for not having more staff at peak times. The staff is certainly more relaxed when the place is not full or during the week.

Fact - You could arrive after some people have already ordered and be served before they do, or vice versa. Both things have happened to me. 

Fact - They serve your food fast or slow depending on the day, the hour and the moment you happen to walk in. You could be served your whole meal in 10 minutes or have to wait 10 minutes for a simple coffee. Both things have happened to me, too.

Fact - If you arrive before 12pm but after 11.30am, they will not serve you breakfast, or any food at all, they will not give you the printed menu list either until it is o'clock, because "they are deciding and putting together the menu"... Then, you get the menu list and its the usual menu that has been there for a few weeks. I showed surprise last time that happened to me, and the guy looked at me as if I had just arrived from inland Mongolia. I hate being bullxtd.


ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

& The service needs an overhaul, and more people at peak hours, so the staff can attend to customers in a more relaxed way.
 
& The food menu should change more often. An ever-changing menu brings regular backs, and it is shows the level of culinary creativity of the place. Working with seasonal produce should create a bigger and more changing menu. They change, modify and add some new dishes regularly, but somewhat, most of their dishes are set and change little. 

& They need to add more meat and fish dishes, and/or add more meat/fish to the dishes they already have.

& Servings used to be minuscule, so I would leave hungry and a bit grumpy. The last two times I have visited the servings have been quite bigger, so I have left happy. Middle-sized servings are a a wonderful thing to have in a restaurant for entrees, and big-sized servings for lunches. I can take care of my waist line myself.

& The plating of some dishes could be easily improved. Their plates are mismatched, mix of rustic crockery with modern bone china. Some of the dishes look ugly in their plate because of the crockery. If you have good food, use simple bone crockery to frame it. Plate food with a photographic eye, as this is what people notice when you put a plate in front of their eyes. If you put a "brown" sort of dish on a blue plate, it looks odd and ugly, no matter how yummy it is. 

& The coffee glasses and cups are Lilliputian for anything you order. They need a set of mugs and average-size cups right now., don't even question my statement or raise your eyebrows. It is unacceptable and highly reproachable, that they don't allow you to seat if you have a take-away coffee from their own stand, or to order one from the stand while you are seating. This is, to me, a rip-off practice that doesn't make any favour to the place or the owners. I prefer to get my second coffee or both of them elsewhere, and stay here just for the food. Tap water is free :).

& The coffee stand in the arcade should always be there, even on weekdays peak hours. It really gets things flowing. During weekdays, coffees come out quickly for take-aways depending on the amount of orders that the barista has at hand. I have found them doing everything they can, but this is not always enough. A separate stand for take-aways would just be perfect for everybody. Also, think about this - people wait for their coffee in front or around the counter, obtruding the passage of the waiters to/from the kitchen, so things sometimes do not flow not even at a physical level.

& My eyes pop up out of my sockets each time I see the Italian salt container on the table. Yes, it is Italian, who cares? it is salt, so put it in a pretty salt container, like the pepper, and there will be some harmony on my table.  Otherwise, leave the salt in its original container, so they form a visual item.  

& Paywave is the wave right now. 

& They should be updating the info in their website as the same time their menus do. 

This advice is for free :)

***

Cantina is one of my favourite cafés and restaurants in Perth. Cantina is your place if you want simple Mediterranean-inspired food and antipasti and wines you are not familiar with. Cantina is not your place if you are super-hungry, need lots of food on your plate, are looking for sophisticated Mediterranean food or just for a quiet place. 

Cantina transports you to warm shores where food is great, but also something that bring people together and make them happy. That is included in the price, and it always makes me happy.

Location: 9/10
Layout: 7.5/10
Ambience:8.5/10
Service: 6-8/10 (varies)
Food: 7.5-8.5/10 (varies)
Coffee: 7
Pricing: 7/10 
=========================

UPDATE 14/9/2014 

It has been over a year since I wrote my last review, and these guys have made the impossible to win me over. Yes, "Cantinasins", you have wowed me lately and you have earned the Five Star. Bling. Crown. Bling.

You have to say "chapeau" to these guys because they have addressed and solved most of the issues that were bothering me in the past, which I mentioned in my long review. Her Royal Crankiness (me!) feels very proud of you.

The long expected take-away coffee available on the table is now available (I consider that my own personal victory), their menu rotates more often, their servings have increased and I have found myself not being able to finish the plate (!), the pricing has kept steady (not cheap but not expensive either), and most of the permanent staff are welcoming and lovely. Yes, there is the occasional Mfckr, but they tend to disappear quickly, so the place remains the lovely friendly place it is.

Don't look at my check-ins, I've been there more than double the number, and I can say that Cantina has a place in my heart... and stomach  - Isn't that the same?

It is not just the issues solved (I love my issues to be solved so I don't have any issue with people who create them) - it is the food. That is what brings me back.

Visiting Cantina has become a sort of weekend ritual - Walking almost 15 minutes, empty stomach with the the anticipation of what they have come up with, first, and enjoying the yummy food and telling myself, it was worth it, later.

Sometimes you look at the new "thing" and tell yourself "this looks unappealing", then you try it and it is absolutely yummy. That was the case with the morcilla, egg and salsa verde on toast a couple of weeks ago. Top notch mix of flavours, and the morcilla was absolutely fabulous. The couple by my table kept looking at my dish, more thrilled by it than by their scramble eggs and lack of conversation :O.

What about the Kedgeree. No, it is not Mediterranean, but it was yummy, man-sized, very filling without being heavy. Perfect brunch. A big "O" came from  my belly. The splash of green salad covering the crunchy but fluffy mixed-curried rice "croquettes" stood proud on a bed of potato salad telling me... eat me all over!

I love their fresh organic juices, au-naturelle but bottled. Still, it would be great having fresh juices available. I love mocktails for lunch. They are so easy to prepare and so missing from Cantina's lunch menu... just saying.... And those salt containers still look ugly...

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Source Foods Café (Perth WA)

289 Beaufort St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 6468 7100
Website
Facebook
Hours:
    Mon-Thu - 7:30 - 15:00
    Fri - 7:30 - 21:30
    Sat-Sun - 8:30 - 16:00

Source foods is a nice simple café located at the corner between Brisbane and Beaufort St, which offers burgers, salads and simple dishes made using fresh produce. They have an emphasis on vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, organic, and free range food, and affordability. 

 THE PLACE

The café is very simple and small, cozy and welcoming, very quiet, and seems to attract a varied group of quiet interesting people. The place being so small, it is never crowded. Despite the austerity and 1970s vibe, the place has cute decoration elements, and the ambience is luminous and relaxed with a nice background music. They have some of the nicest cutest blackboards in town, painted by one of the lovely waitresses. Their toilets are simple but clean. 

THE FOOD

They have a good selection of burgers (normal, gluten free and vegan), salads, tarts and other simple dishes cooked in the premises. They have a Burger night on Fridays with more than ten different burgers starting from 5.30pm.

Everything I have tried at Source -salads, burgers and sweets- is good in taste and portion size. The  problem I have with their burgers is that they are too big, or better said, the bun is too small to contain all the stuff between its two halves, so it is practically impossible to eat a burger as it should be - with your bare hands without the food slipping out of it. If you have a big mouth and the burger fits in, well, good on you!

They have a small cabinet with sweets, but they do not bake on weekends, so you are going to find what is left over from the week (or so I am been told by the waitress), which is sometimes a poor meagre selection of sweets. I tried the brown rum balls, and they tasted really nice, but were very dry.  

THE COFFEE

Source uses prepares a decent coffee using Antz inya Pantz coffee, a brand that imports the beans and roasts them locally, so they are delivered to the shop in 48 hours. This means that no flavour is lost in the process and the coffee is really fresh. That sounds good. However, the beans are not especially flavoursome or strong if you are into Italian coffees or full-body strong coffee; however, their coffee is perfect for people who like light very smooth coffees with a chocolate-ish sort of taste. If you do not want the ants walking on your tongue, Source's Elmstock teas, smoothies and fresh juices are a great alternative.

 

THE SERVICE

The staff are terrific - a very approachable chatty friendly genuine group of people. They do not have the hype factor, and focus on doing their job and being themselves without any pose or pretence. Re-Source-full people.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

+ They have to figure out the way to have an awesome full burger that can be handled manually. Perhaps they need a bigger pattie, or put less stuff inside :O.

+ Guys, do not over-grill the chicken because it rests juiciness and tenderness to the salads. 

+ They would make a favour to themselves if they baked some desserts in advance for the weekend. Otherwise, it would be great having some easy-to-make-in-the-morning sweets that you serve during the day. Like cream caramel, rice pudding or whatever you want.

TIPS

+ They are serving coffee now from 6am during weekdays.

+ They cater for private functions.

+ They have regular food and coffee specials and offers. Check their website and facebook site to get them.

 +++

Source Café is one of those unpretentious places that caters for people who like healthy food, good portions, decent prices, a chilled relaxed atmosphere and terrific service sans le hype. My kind of place. 

Location: 6/10
Layout: 6.5/10
Ambience 6.5/10
Food: 7/10
Coffee: 6.5/10
Service: 9/10
Pricing: 8/10

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Llama Espresso (Perth WA)

Shop H17 Carillon City
Hay St Level
Perth City Western Australia 6000
0423 153 197
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Hours:
    Mon-Fri 6:30 - 15:00

Pop Up, pop Up, another Café has just popped up in the heart of the CBD, in the Carillon Ctiy, in a temporary shop facing Mazzuchelli's, where they are going to stay for a few months.

Llama Espresso is a very pretty shop, with lovely decoration details and colourful llama paintings by the RedTiki designing team. The place being so small, and the seating area limited to a big common table an four chairs, the place is always quiet. There are plenty of people entering for a take-away, but not many choosing to stay in, which is perfect if you are looking for quietness and an escape-the-world moment in the heart of the city.  

The most important thing is that their coffee is well prepared, good in flavour, and medium strength. Good enough to bring me back. They use fair trade organic coffee beans that are locally roasted by an artisan Perth house called Rubra. They also have a good selection of teas from the same brand, and an eye-catching selection of gluten-free cupcakes, muffins and sweet breads by Catering Green. The cupcakes are really really sweet, not my cup of tea, but perfect for sweetoholics.

The ladies attending to the place are lovely, relaxed and very friendly to  everybody. 

There is something especial about Llama Espresso, perhaps the colours, the quietness and not being that popular. Or perhaps the fact that I like it :O. 

UPDATE 25/02/2013
 Llama Espresso is already settled in its new location within Carillon City on the Murray St level, instead of the shop on the Hay St level.

The place has lost a bit of the charm and special something it used to have, and has transformed into a small coffee corner. Although there are a few stools and a walled table, and the llama motif is everywhere, the place is mostly for takeaways and quick munches.

On the contrary, the food and drink offer has greatly improved, and together with their nice coffee, they have now yummy crushed ice coffee and tea, a nice selection of soft drinks, juices, sandwiches, rolls, wraps, pannini, salads, and winter soups.

The place is still gluten free friendly.

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"Irreversible" by Gaspar Noé (2002)

Irreversible is a very confronting raw and violent French movie that tells the story, in reverse chronological order, of a serious of violent events happened during the return home of the female protagonist Alex. The least you know, the more shocking and though-provoking the movie will be.

Three main themes are explored in this movie. 
1/ The movie is an exploration of Sexuality - Sex as mean of human communication and love, versus love as a mean of hatred and subjugation. Sex as pleasure versus sex as abuse. The intimate scenes of Alex and Marcus are all sensuality, playfulness, joy and love. The conversations about sex between Alex, Marcus and Pierre explore the matter of pleasure and human connection, of what makes humans click sexually. The rape scene is an antithesis to all of that.

2/  The movie reminds the viewer that there is nothing to forget or forgive about rape. The movie is a brutal depiction of the brutality that any rape against any woman is. One of the most asked questions regarding this movie is, did the rape scene need to be so brutal and 9-minute long? Despite how hard was watching it, especially if you are a woman, I think the answer is yes, for several reasons:

• Because (too) many people out there consider rape a second-rate crime and somewhat blame the victim or excuse the perpetrator. There are judges around the world saying that the victim somewhat provoked the rapist with her sexiness or behaviour.
• Because the effects of rape are very damaging, emotionally and mentally, and some people cannot understand them unless they have been raped or seen a rape. 
  
• Because the erotic industry somewhat glamorises women being raped. Rape is always a brutal act, even if the rapist does not beat you, but there are rapists doing nasty brutal things to women, something worse than anything depicted in this or any other movie.  

3/ The movie is a successful reflection on the double-side of human nature and of the two faces of violence. The messages embedded in the story are important and offer a glimpse of what is having a normal life full of hopes and joy, to found it completely turned over and ruined by violence in a matter of hours. Telling the story backwards makes the story not only more interesting and intellectually engaging (or is it puzzling?!), but also a very successful way of exploring this theme as we feel an instant repulsion and disgust towards the characters that appear at the beginning of the film, and towards their language and behaviour. Some of the ethical questions posed by Noé are: Even if there is a good reason for such acts, is violence justified? Who is more ethically an morally reprehensible, the nasty person who does a nasty thing, or the good person who does a nasty thing? Does nastiness and violence have class or gender? Noé's message is that violence is always repulsive no matter the reasons (or lack of them) behind and that normal people can be as violent as violent people in certain circumstances. If we had seen the events narrated in chronological order, we would have, perhaps, justified them.

The atmosphere of the movie is excellent, as well as its hues and music. The use of strobist images is sickening, but it helps to unsettle the viewer since the beginning. However, there wasn't any need to use so many strobist images and for so long as, by doing so, the movie becomes a little bit hallucinogen and the viewer loses focus; to be honest, I would used strobist images quite differently and with a different timing.

I found Monica Belluci great as Alex both in the sweet and playful scenes, and it the harsh ones; she demonstrates here that she is not just a pretty face. Jo Prestia is superb as the disturbing disgusting rapist Le Tenia. Vincent Cassel is just OK as Alex's boyfriend Marcus, while Albert Dupontel is good as Alex's best friend Pierre.

Among the downsides, beyond the overuse of strobist effects, I would mention two. The first is the opening scene, which is irrelevant and does not add anything to the story. Moreover, All the gay thing was really unnecessary as does not add anything to the story and is very negative bordering homophobic. There are heterosexuals who would have similar sort of clubs and behaviour. 

This is not an easy film to watch, and it really gets you upset. In that regard, it achieves what aimed, as it makes you think and react against the motto of "an eye for an eye", violence confronted by violence, and reminds you that rape is a brutal act of violence, not just an act of sexual abuse. 

If you can stand the whole ordeal and reach the last minutes of the movie, you will get to the start of a relaxing bright day that was full of promises, which is how most of our days start  before something bad happens. That is life in its full splendour and nastiness.

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Flipside Burger Bar (Northbridge, Perth WA)

222 William St
Northbridge Western Australia 6000
9228 8822
Website
Hours:
    Tue-Sun 11:30am til late.

THE PLACE - Centrally located in William St, just steps away from the Culture Centre, Flipside Northbridge has a small, simple and  luminous shop, with three seating areas: a few communal/group tables, a long decked table facing the wall and a three-seat table facing the street. I love this one, which is perfect for people watching if you are on your own, On the other hand, who is watching whom? You are being watched, too!  I love their bulb lamps and the background music they have! On a more practical level, you can see the guys cooking the burgers, so nothing is hidden and everything looks clean and properly managed. 

If the place is full, it can be noisy even loud, especially when there are  boisterous men - the "Me-Tarzan-eating-Burger" species. Other days, though, the place is very quiet at lunch, and more enjoyable if you are with your partner or eating alone. If you want a quite place and having a romantic affair with your burger, take it away. 

THE FOOD - I am sure that you, like me, have a sensual relationship with your burgers. To me, for them to be fully enjoyable, they have to be nicely sized (yes, size does matter), tender, juicy, tasty, easy to bite and masticate, and manageable with my hands without the thing falling apart or stuff flipping out after the first touch. If this is so, you can do what any burger lover does when facing a good burger - look at it in love  and eat it with an expression of unbeatable happiness. You are with me, right? Well, I had just that experience the first day I visited Flipside Northbridge, and, to the date, remains my best experience at Flipside.

This is not a place for fussy eaters, so you get a burger on a plate without any adornment - simple god big burgers. You can adorn them with a bucket of chips :O. They have gluten free rolls, though (paid as an extra).

Their Garden Party Veggie burger is light but flavoursome, very fresh ingredients, and with a delicious fluffy bun and chickpea patty, and I did not feel heavy despite its size. The best one I have eaten at Flipside regarding preparation, textures and assemblage.

Their hot beef burger is my favourite in flavour, despite its simplicity, because the chilly sauce/jam they use is really full of flavour, but not overwhelming in hotness. A hottie!

The classic burger is simple but nice, and not heavy on your stomach, but, for whatever reason the meat patty was a bit on the small size and the cheese unnoticeable...The mini-flip is decently sized for a snack and perfect for a light lunch if you add some chips.

Their chips are thick and crunchy. Simple but nice.

Your burger can take a while to be prepared, even if they are not full. On the other hand, this is a guarantee that the food is being prepared in the way it should be and not rushed out.

THE SERVICE 
The staff taking your orders and the waitress are really friendly and smiley, and eager to please.


ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
- They use iceberg lettuce in many of their burgers, which is very crunchy but not tasteless, so I would replace it with a more flavoursome variety of lettuce.  

- I would provide customers with a small knife -Just Burgers's style- to half their burger if they want.

 

THE DOWNS
- The cooking and assembling staff changes from day to day at lunch (I guess also for dinner), and you will soon notice that the burgers are some days better assembled and prepared than others, and  the patty can be on the small side (as in the photo). 

-  Their chicken burgers are, like in other Perth burgers bars, a fillet, not a burger. Me like burger chick, no fillet chick.

- The long walled table facing the wall is not very inviting. Nobody wants to eat looking at a beautifully empty white wall. 

***

Flipside Northbridge is becoming increasingly popular due to its killer location, the friendliness of the staff, and because, really, who does not like a burger? Still, the burgers are simpler and less tasty than at Grill'd, to which the place reminisces the most in burger philosophy. Their burgers are good-sized, good-prized, very fresh, juicy, easy to eat and move with your hands, and some of them really nice. To be honest, these are the sort of burgers that anybody could prepare at home, which is kind of  cool if you are out and feel like eating decently-prepared food. 

Location 9
Layout 6
Ambience 6
Food 6.7
Drinks 6
Service 7

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"Grave of the Fireflies" by Isao Takahata (1988)

The Grave of the Fireflies  is the story of survival of two Japanese brothers: 4y.o. girl Satsuko and her 14y.o brother Saita, at the end of the Second World War in Japan. It is based on the semi-biographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka.

Grave of the Fireflies is one of the saddest stories and movies I have ever seen. It puts a face to the children of any war, those who lose everything and are left with nothing, those too easily forgotten and so easily neglected. What makes the movie sad is the verisimilitude of the story, that something like that happened and is happening any time that there is a war anywhere in the world.

The animation is marvellous, colourful, attentive to the detail, scenic and intimate, with a lyricism that only Ghibli’s Studies are able to create. The drawing of the Japanese countryside is simply superb, and the same can be said of the city destroyed environments. The atmosphere is great. The colours are precious - a little more saturated than usual for Ghibli’s. The music by Michio Mamiya is extremely subtle and beautiful, perfect for the story.

The characters of the two brothers are wonderfully drawn and dubbed by the Japanese actors. Some of the intimate scenes of the two brothers are really magical, especially the ones involving the fireflies that give tittle to the movie.

What is great about this movie is that, very soon, you forget that you are watching animation, as the story is so strong, captivating and engaging, that those drawn characters become real - alive. Please watch it in Japanese with English subtitles, otherwise you will miss a bit of the essence of the film.

A classic animation movie difficult to forget, soulful and marvellous in every possible way. One of those movies that should be in any bucket movie list. So good it is. One of the best animation film I have ever seen and ever made. No doubt. No perhaps. Go and grab it.

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Fringe World Festival (Perth WA)

Cultural Centre
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9227 6288
http://www.fringeworld.com.au

Three and a half weeks of entertainment, fun and cultural activities featuring Australian, European and American artists In boring Perth? Perth? Boring?

The FWF has dramatically transformed Perth's cultural scene for good, with a varied, interesting and independent (stress independent), offer of Music (all styles indie!), Theatre (comedy, drama, burlesque) and Films (independent & World films). The Cultural Centre really comes alive when the "Fringers"  set their feet in our city and with the many activities and temporary spaces set and come alive in this space.

It is remarkable that the festival, despite its quality, has decent pricing. From the medium-high (mostly for music events) to gratis (free!) for some open-air shows. You could attend an event for less than the price you expend eating out. Is that for real? Yes! Yelp!

The festival attracts a great number of people of all ages, allured by a cultural offer that is relatively new in suburban Perth and allows us experiencing what is happening beyond our shores. We like it because we are citizens of Planet Earth, right?  Aliens also like it. So good it is.

The colourful vintage ticketing caravans, the super-friendly staff, and the program were excellent in 2012. I went to four shows this year, and I reminded myself that I should had gone to many more.

DOWNS
I find a disrespectful towards Artists and the public locating their shows in places that are not well prepared for a paid show.  Example - the Treasure Chest Chamber was especially opened for some of the FWF shows, and the event much publicised. I attended a theatre function there. The place did look ugly, the antithesis of an artistic-minded place, did not have any ventilation (being a Southern girl I always have a hand fan with me, that was the only ventilation I got), the room was really hot for the public, can you imagine for the actresses under the lights? Moreover, the movable grades were not steep enough, so people looked like a bunch of geese swinging their bodies to see over other people's heads. I hope they are a bit more mindful next year.

I am looking forward to next year's program and to Perth becoming, again, a cheery princess with a fringe. 

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"Brave" by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman & Steve Purcell (2012)

Merida is the oldest daughter of Fergus and Elinor. She is a tomboy, a bit of a rebel, opinionated and wild. She happily lives with her parents and triplets until she is asked to fulfil her destiny, comply with her clan's tradition, and choose a husband from the allied clans' suitors. In constant conflict with her mother, Merida visits an old witch in search for a potion to help her escape her destiny. However, what she finds is a curse of cosmic proportions. How is Merida going to save her mother, herself and the kingdom?

 Pixar lost a bit its essence and idiosyncrasy when was engulfed by Disney. Since then, every second Pixar movie we get a real Pixar movie in conception, ideas and originality. The in-between years are for movies like Brave, which follow a template with structured predefined characters, values and jokes that are very much modern Disney.

Brave's animation is amazing from a visual point of view: the colours, layouts, backgrounds, the rendering of the landscapes and characters movement, the camera angling, the 3D design and even the movement of Merida's hair are spectacular. Still, a good animation movie needs of a good script with a sound story and narrative to be successful: what it tells and how it tells it are always more important than how it looks like.

Brave's script -by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman and Irene Mecchi- is, a priory, a winner. It mixes many European folk legends and human archetypes (like the ones we see in Anderson or the Grimm Brothers' tales) with modern attitudes and sensibilities. Moreover, Merida is in a way, a combination of all old Disney's heroines. 

The film is entertaining and beautiful to watch, and some of the characters are very funny. There are many funny moments especially those involving the witch, Merida's triplet brothers, and the lady bear.

All the cast of actors do a good job at dubbing their respective characters: Kelly Macdonald as Merida, Billy Connolly as Merida's father, Emma Thompson as her mother, and Julie Walters as the Witch. To be fair, Billy Connolly's dubbing always sounds like himself not as the character he plays.

Still, Brave does not deliver beyond the artistic qualities of the animation, because the story sends contradictory messages. It feels as if the writing team had done bit and pieces separately, and then stitched them together without further adjustment and polishing. Being so, the movie can be labelled, depending on the moment, as feminist, sexist, retrograde, modern, advanced or conservative. Two main messages are sent to the world. 1/ "Obey your mother". That can be a revolutionary message in a world in which children are spoiled-rotten and disrespect their parents. However, going from there to deciding that everything mammy says is good for your future and that the tradition has to be respected no matter how senseless it is, it is a bit reactionary. 2/ On the other hand, the story tells us that you can be brave and daring, but until certain point - bravery is subversive, and subversion is not good. What?! Be brave and make your own fate, free will do exist, but fate is fateful and will crash you if you subvert the status-quo. What! What? What?!

Too much is always too much. Brave is a beautiful senseless sermon that gets lost in its own wordiness and senseless preaching. It is perfect for small children, as it has lots of action and some funny moments that the little ones (and your inner child) will enjoy. More sounded boys and girls, our just your sound self, could get a bit puzzled at the moral of the story and the wordy ending.

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"Kiki's Delivery Service" by Hayao Miyazaki (1989)

Kiki's Delivery service is a Studio Ghibli's traditional hand-drawn animation movie loosely based on Eiko Kadono's eponymous book, but with important additions by Miyazaki. It tells the story of Kiki, a 13's y.o. witch who leaves the family home with her cat Jiji to get a life of her own and start her training as a witch in a big city away from parents and friends.

It is a Ghibli's trademark the detail and artistic drawing of the scenery and cityscapes, and Kiki's is no exception. It has a precious and colourful drawing. The European city where Kiki goes is a mix of Northern European architecture and Southern European lighting and mood. The time frame is an imprecise point in time, a golden-era of peace and tolerance, set around the 1950s, but with elements that go from the 30s (the zeppelin) to the 60s (B&W TV), with other elements that can be placed in between.

Three elements stand out in this movie beyond the hand-drawn precious animation. The first one is Kiki's story - a metaphor of the changes that take us from childhood to adulthood, from being in the family's womb, many times taking for granted what we have, to being alone, unprotected, standing by ourselves, defining who we are and want to be as individuals. Jiji's evolution with regards to Kiki is just the result of Kiki's transformation into an adult, not of the cat's changing ways!

The second element is very Miyazaki's - the presence of magical and non-magical elements combined harmoniously in a world of good-natured tolerant humans that accept magic as a natural thing,  like Kiki's flying her broom through a city making courier deliveries.

Thirdly, this is a movie about women, female nature and sisterhood. Except for Tombo -Kiki's admirer and good-natured inventive friend- the main characters are powerful savy women: Osono, the pregnant baker, represents acceptance without questions, maternal care, the City, hard work and determination. Ursula the painter, on the contrary, represents freedom, personal independence, individuality, the wild, the follow your heart and explore your soul message. Finally, the two old ladies in the blue-roofed house -Madam and Bertha- are examples of kindness, carefulness, attention to the detail, old manners and class. In fact, Kiki finds a mother, two grandmas and a big sister in the city. Miyazki's Europe is, it seems, a a matriarchal society.

There a few points that I would have liked further explored with extra footage, as the movie is enjoyable, and the ending was unnecessarily hasted and leaves you with a big sweet and sour after-taste. Still, Kiki is an adorable story with lovable characters, that is entertaining and good for both children and adults, especially if you love magic realism and Ghibli and Miyakazi's magic worlds.

A warning - Some of the DVDs come with several dubbing versions and several captions. Beware, the original first dubbing of the original was done without respect to the original, and changes and mutates the dialogues without respect,  changes the tone of the movie and even transforms Jiji into a sarcastic adult cat.  It is not a proper dubbing but an interpretation with additions to the original made by Disney. It is shameful and disrespectful and you better ignore it. There is a second American dubbing that is truthful to the original. Watch the original Japanese with captions, and choose the captions that follow the Japanese script not the invented superposed American. Who wants to watch an adulteration when the original is perfect?

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Portmans (Hay St, Perth WA)

661 Hay St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9321 2522
http://www.portmans.com.au/

THE GOOD
+ They have very girlie trendy classy stuff, with lots of colour, plus a good selection of work clothing.

+ Their accessories section is small, lovely and well priced, with pretty trendy pieces. Their scarves are among my favourite things here because, unlike other chain stores, they have texture, volume, the right length, and awesome fabrics. They always have a huge selection of belts.

+ The staff are a bunch of no-fuss, friendly and helpful girls, no matter the day or the hour you visit. I always prefer this shop to the one on Murray St just because of their terrific service and friendliness.

+ They open before 10am.

+ They have nice changing rooms.

+ They have an exchange policy of 14 days, so you can drop by, grab something without trying, and return it if the size or style does not suits you. This is especially convenient if you work most shopping hours and take advantage of your lunch break for shopping! So very convenient.

THE SO-SO
- The quality of the apparel and most complements is poor to medium, with a few exceptions. The fabrics are very thin and not good quality, although they look fantastic on. I have bought many things there, and except for the scarves, they tend to deteriorate soon. For example, I bought a couple of stockings this year, and they torn apart quicker than the ones I bought from Coles! Their belts are synthetic and very "plasticky" and the same can be said of their wallets, bags, and so on. They are so pretty, though!

- The prices are a too high for the quality of the products sold.
 

***

Good for fashion fixes and emergencies, Portmans at Hay St offers what other Portmans shops sell, but the shop is smaller and the service way better than in other branches of the chain.

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"Little Miss Sunshine" by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris (2006)

 Little Miss Sunshine is a road movie about a dysfunctional family trying to take their seven-year-old Olive to an interstate beauty pageant from Alburquerque NM to Redondo Beach CA in their yellow Volkswagen Van.

Little Miss Sunshine is an fresh, witty and enthralling movie with freak and quirky characters, brilliant dialogues, great performances, and an original story. It is an entertaining funny crazy film that makes you think about subjects that are never confrontationally presented.

What makes a family dysfunctional? At the beginning of the film our family seem to be dysfunctional and freak, although they are  depicted in an empathetic way and epitomise, in a way, the dysfunctions that most so-called-normal families have. The thing is, the family does not push Olive into the pageant, does not force her to dress or behave in a certain way, does not dress her as little prostitute, does not expect anything from her, just supports her the whole way, even when everybody turns against her. The other parents, the "normal" ones, appear as real freaks after all, projecting their frustrated dreams and personal failure into their little kids. All of the sudden, the dysfunctional family is quite sound, warm and caring, the others just the opposite.

There is a subtle but clear criticism of the ideal of the American dream and of the self-help books and coaching focusing on becoming rich. The character of Richard epitomises the bullshit that these sub-culture has, pushing people to fight for money success following recipes that frequently lead to failure for which they do not prepare anybody. Sheryl the mother is instead the voice of common sense and more successful in her approach to life and its problems.

There is also a very cleaver non non-confrontational criticism of child beauty pageants. The script poses a rhetorical question to the viewer: what is it freakier, a beautiful child sexually dressed wearing sluty make up who poses and moves as a sexy adult, or an innocent child who sings and dances to a raunchy song that she does not understand? What happens to Olive at the pageant is the answer that the script gives to that rhetorical question, and surely the one you would identify the most.
 
The movie provides the viewer with many iconic movie images, which will imprint your retinas and stand the pass of time: The pushing of the van and the music, the girl singing "super freak", the escape from the hospital, among many others.

If this was not enough, all the actors give unforgettable performances in their respective roles: Toni Collette as the family's warm-hearted sound mother Sheryl, Greg Kinnear is her unsuccessful husband Richard, Alan Arkin as Richard's dirty father Edwin, Steve Carell as Shery'ls gay suicidal scholar brother, Abigail Breslin as the sweet innocent Olive, and Paul Dano as Olive's half brother silent rebel Dwayne.

A modern classic.

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Standing Room Only (Perth WA)

Shop 7, Piccadilly Arcade
Hay St
Perth 6000
Phone:  Ring Ring No Ring
Hours:
   Mon-Fri 7am-3.30pm
Facebook

I  discovered the SRO café in one of my visits to the Piccadilly Cinemas. I was instantly attracted to it by its Italian concept, the vintage super-stylish look of the place, and its location in the lovely Piccadilly Arcade. Then, I saw their blackboard (see the photo), stating very seriously what they do and what they stand for - Infatuation in five seconds. I told myself, this is the sort of café who cares and caters for coffeeholics of the world. Yet, here I am, a bit disappointed.

THE PLACE - I triple-love the place. It is the class of it, its vintage ambience and music, the coffee addict messages on the mirrors, the painted chalkboards, the wonderful flowers painted on the lamps, that awesome ice-dripping syphon for ice coffee and glass steamer that look so very artistic, the gorgeous coffee machines and coffee grinders... almost everything!  I say almost, because the coffee cups are plain and look out of place here.

THE SERVICE - The young staff are not only gorgeous looking, but friendly and smiley, especially the girl, who really pops up because of her genuine friendliness. All of them are courteous and operate the machine with the precision of a surgeon operating on a dangerous ill patient, but my coffee deserves their concentration. 

THE COFFEE - This should be the first thing to comment about a café, right? Especially this being a place that claims that steams the milk just once, roast beans to order and has very professional baristas who take very seriously anything coffee. Perhaps my expectations were too high after SRO's self-promotion and my fatal attraction towards style with capitals. 

Their coffee is well prepared, but OK in flavour. Sometimes, my three-shot flat white is weak and bland (how can that be possible?!), others it is stronger and nice, always better without sugar or sweetener. Never wow in flavour. It might be the "Five Senses" beans, which are not that sensual to me, the roasting of the beans, the age of the beans, the grinding of the beans, the milk, or the barista operating the "machinery". Dunno. My royal tongue wants a more creamy flavoursome coffee that is consistently prepared and has always the same flavour disregarding the day I visit. I cannot explain why their coffee does not taste better, SRO having all the paraphernalia they have and the enthusiasm they put into preparing our coffee.

***

SRO is perfect to grab a cup before heading to the cinema or your are in a hurry and want a takeaway right now. You will love their coffee if you like Five Sense beans and smooth/weak coffees that do not need of sugar or sweetener. However, if you like well-rounded creamy coffees consistently prepared and with a distinct flavour, you might need to wow yourself on your own. At SRO, the place is amazing, the staff are lovely, and the coffee is OK.

***

I stand in the room only to tell you that I do want to love you more, honey, but you do not give me what I need. I hope you get fit for summer and wow me with your sexy syphon.

MIND
The place does not have EPFTOS. I asked one of the guys if it is temporarily, and I was told that no, that the place and location is not set properly for using EFTPOS. I wonder how the other shops in Piccadilly do have it, then.

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