Shop 2, 166 Murray St Mall
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9221 9944
Hours:
Mo-Thur - 6.30-18.00
Fri - 6.30-21.00
Sat - 8.00-17.30
Sun- 9.30-17.30
Website
Gloria Jean's Murray St in the CBD is fully packed almost every time of the day, every day of the week. One feels tempted to attribute their success to their central location, but there are better-looking cafés in the city that aren't half as crowded. Why, then, is so popular?
Firstly, and most importantly, they have a decent coffee. Their iced and flavoured coffees, are very good. Secondly, the service is terrific. Most of the staff are welcoming, smiley, very funky, willing to please, and fast at serving the crowds even at peak hours, so it is ideal for take-away. You rock guys! I love that the customer's name is asked when you order, so you won't be mydeared, sweethearted, darlinged or madamed, but called by your name instead. Isn't that cool? Thirdly, the place has two small differentiated seating areas: one open (perfect for people watching) and another semi-hidden (sought after by quiet lunchers).
If this was not enough, they have free Wi-Fi, a loyalty card program, they have a small selection of savoury and sweet light food, a varied selection of Gloria Jean's mugs, Thermos, coffee beans & ground coffee, grinders, flavoured syrups, and other little temptations.
Any not-so-good things? Yes, they have a few:
* The place can be noisy at times, and a bit messy at times.
* The space between tables is very small, even for this small reviewer.
* The place is not enclosed.
* They are a bit pricey for both prepared and ground coffee. In fact you will find their ground flavoured coffees at Woolies cheaper than they sell it ;O.
* Their food is average. But you have a Bakers' Delight and a Shimuzu Sushi at a microsecond from the café to quiet the cookie monster in your stomach.
189 Lincoln St
Highgate Western Australia 6003
(08) 9228 9011
Hours:
Mon Closed
Tue-Fri 7:00 - 16:00
Sat-Sun 7:00 - 13:00
Don't get distracted by the tiny size of the bakery, its suburban location, and the small display cabinet. This is a decent traditional bakery that has a great range of fussy breads, breadly products, traditional and gluten-free cakes, savoury and sweet pies, cookies and a selection of gourmet jams.
I have had several tasting sessions, and my favourite thing so far, among the sweets, is the gluten-free chocolate & Kahlua slice, which is light and tasty without being ultra-sweet or heavy; you can easily have two of those without realising you are having two of those or feeling bloated.Their chocolate pastry is also delicious. Among their savoury things, their chicken-curry and chilli with carne pies are yummy - full of chunks (and not of that disgusting thick gravy that other pies have), and tastes divine even cold. I would go to the Pearl mostly for the pies. They are worth the trip.
There are so many eye-candy and taste-candy things that is difficult to choose one thing. I am not into sweets, so being tempted so many times is a good sign that the bakery is good. In fact, once you try it, you will find an excuse to make a detour and end at their doorstep, especially if you are at or around Hyde Park. No wonder the place is fully packed at 8am on Sundays!
The service is very fast and friendly, matter of fact most times.
They have takeaway coffee using a pod machine, but that is never too tempting to me. If they had a seating area and a coffee machine, they would make a fortune.
The main downs of the place is that their selection of breads is limited, and that the taste and texture of most tartlets and cakes is somewhat a bit muffin-ish. They are lovely and moist, but not a proper tartlet properly speaking.
Eternal Sunshine is a philosophical analysis of the nature of love and relationships. It reflects very well the changing emotions associated with falling in love and the ups and downs of personal relationships, and how unnecessary it is to erase our emotional past to survive. None of this is said or discussed in the movie, as this is a metaphorical film that uses the visual narrative to approach these points.
Eternal Sunshine is one of those movies that many people would see twice to fully catch all the details, because the editing and what happens in the film is complex. There are three different narrative time moments, narrated in non-chronological order, sometimes overlapping each other. It is not a film for simple minded people or those who have to have everything simply explained and presented to them. The film needs of an attentive attention and mental involvement, but the poetry of the images, the oddity of the story will captivate you very soon and you won't even notice that you are making any effort to understand the whole thing.
Jim Carrey surprises everybody with a role that shows the great actor he can be, and how versatile he is, too. He's superb as Joel, a lonely insecure and depressed guy who tends to get involved with women who are his opposite, who faces love, abandonment, rejection, loneliness, and companionship. Also excellent (and outside of their usual roles) is Kate Winslet in her role as Clementine, a cheeky cheerful girl addicted to flashy hair dyes who is attracted to boring men.
The lyricism of the music, the surreal scenes, the poetic cinematography, the part of the movie showing Joel efforts to preserve the memories of the past he initially wanted to destroy, the fact that the special effects are no such a thing but camera tricks and the result of a meticulous preparation and tampering of the movie sets, adds even more artistic value to this unique piece. The director and the editor of the film really deserve a big praise, as the movie is indebted to them beyond belief.
The only flaws I saw in the movie are the little romance mini-stories related to the technicians and doctor of the Lacuna Clinic (which do not contribute much to a film that, otherwise, would have been perfect), and the outcome linked to those actions could have been presented in a different way.
I would not call this movie a comedy, but a light drama.
Eternal Sunshine is a magical, unique and unforgettable movie. A piece of art, really, and of the best movies by Gondry.
A brilliant Sci-Fic movie. Something that makes the genre proud, but explores new ideas and narrative, and offers a story that is clever, thrilling and entertaining. It had to be a non-Hollywood director, a South African (and some "Kiwis" too) to come up with such a good story and cast.
The narrative of the film is great as the film is presented as a documentary that tells the story of the leading character in the past, with the colours and realistic use of the camera of documentaries, but still developing a fictional story that is presented as real. The use of the faded ochre colours it helps to convey realism and past tense, and gives credibility to the whole setting.
The main character is superbly played by an unknown (at least to me) Shartlo Copley, who has done a tremendous job playing with credibility a demanding character that goes from being a naive a little bit jerky soft-mannered public officer to an action fighter. He has later on being part of the remake of the A-Team for the big screen.
If you want stunning star special effects this is not your movie. This is a movie in which those effects are powerfully developed but subtly and realistically integrated in the story, which is what matters here. The aliens are greatly designed, especially their language, character, social structure and biology, points that are all relevant to the story, never self-indulgent.
The director has done a super-job in directing a movie that could have been cheesy or comic (in the bad sense) irrelevant and unsubstantial, but is nothing of that. We cannot forget Peter Jackson's production and the creative team in New Zealand either, who deserve a great praise for supporting such a great project!
My main problem with the movie was the setting, the fact that the spaceship stops over South Africa and the relationship that the locals establish with the newly arrived. Don't take me wrong, I think it is great that a country that is not the USA or an Anglo-Saxon country is chosen as a set of a movie; that's great! It is also true that the setting is perfect to explain many of the social reactions that we see happening in the story. My concern has to do with the fact that the movie, involuntary demonizes South African society and black people in general, and Nigerians in particular, who are portrayed as a despicable subhuman group. All of this was unnecessary, truly. Imagine how much verisimilar the storyline would have been if the setting was an invented country in which the social groups are not from a certain known country, just humans. Unintentionally, the script has done something that I usually hate in Hollywood movies - that is, that the bad guys are most of the time black, mixed race or dark colour, and/or non-Anglo-Saxon people, while the hero is usually a white Anglo-Saxon person.
The personal relationship between the leading human and alien characters vaguely reminded me of the one shown in "Enemy Mine", although both movies are quite different in story and narrative.
I loved the last scene of the movie, really tender and full of hope. I would say that the movie was left open to a sequel, which I would definitely welcome.
Sci-Fi fans will love the movie, and lovers of good movies in general, too.
N. B.: Oh, I've just realised that I forgot to write the synopsis of the film... well, in cases like this, please visit IMdb. :)
212 William St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9227 0930
http://www.thegrumpysailor.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/thegrumpysailor
Closed Down
A wooden bookshop with a café is my sort of favourite café, the one that invites me to enter, perhaps because I associate both things with nice interesting people. However, I am very picky with my
coffee. I like it to taste of coffee, smell of coffee and have
consistency or creaminess. We get coffee concoctions in most of the
city, not proper coffee, so when I found the Grumpy's I thought my prayers to the Olympus had been heard.
The Grumpy Sailor Northbride had my super-favourite coffee in Northbridge by far regarding taste, consistency and creaminess. They had a great selection of home-made cakes, too, although I never tried them. Not only that, the staff really gave the visitor a genuine friendly treatment and conversation, teamed up in genuine friendliness with the lovely guys attending to the New Edition's bookshop. Winner team! Something that you rarely see nowadays, as you get to a café and your "good morning" is not replied to.
Despite so, the Grumpy Sailor struggled to survive in Northbridge, and closed down its doors a few months after opening. How can that be possible?! I truly can't believe that cafés in the Perth Cultural Centre get all the hype and people cueing for average coffee and poor service, while the Grumpy Sailor struggled to survive. What is wrong with you people?!!!! Well, I know exactly what is wrong with you people...
The place was mostly for take-away coffee, as the seating space was limited to a few benches on the footpath and a little corner inside, so this might be one of the reasons why they did not attract more customers.
Fortunately the Grumpy's are still open in Fremantle.
Please come back grumpys!
194 William St
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9227 1684
http://www.iskconperth.com
Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 - 14:30
Mon-Fri 16:00 - 19:00
I hadn't been to Govinda's for about three years or so, before the general overhaul of that part of the street and the restaurant moving a few doors down from its primitive location on William. I had very fond memories of Govindas, so I was looking forward to returning to the place, to enjoy their food and hospitality.
The food hasn't changed much, except for the pricing, but it is still very cheap and very tasty. Indian people say it is real Indian, so Amen! It is certainly not refined Indian vegetarian but still very good. You can have an all-you-can-eat buffet for 10 bucks, or 8 if you have any concession card. The menu consists of a dish with rice, a side (curry or bean dish), salad and one piece of pappadam, plus a mini-bowl of dahl (so good!) and a mini-bowl of their famous custard & halva dessert (yummy, but very sweet). They have yummy samosas, pakoras and other Indian dumplings (always my fav) for which you pay an extra, between 3-1$. If you are hungrier, you can bring your plate back for refilling. You can also buy your food out of a meal.
I am a bit disappointed with the refurbishment. The place looks now bigger, cleaner, wider and also as any other average eatery. Something is missing - that indescribable charm that the former place had, part of it because of the cosy layout and angled counter that created a contained space that was much warmer and more welcoming.
The joy of the place has somewhat gone, too, and the service is more matter of fact, go down to business, so to speak, than anything else. There was a joy in the people serving the food at Govindas in the past. They were really welcoming and hospitable, and you felt that they were there more than serving food. I don't know if anybody who has been going there for a few years has the same feeling. I didn't feel the same while eating at Govinda's this time. I felt more like having food at a cheap quiet eatery than anything else, despite Brahmanic texts, Krishna bibliography and other religious things being on display for sale.
Despite everything, Govinda's is still a local institution on William St and in Perth, a quiet place to eat, a place with cheap good vegetarian food that serves a good cause. You will leave happy with you belly full and a smile of satisfaction written all over your face.
TIP
Budget take-away from 04:00 to 7:00PM
Upper Hay St, Carillon City Arcade
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9322 4001
http://www.sassellas.net.au/
Hours:
Mon-Fri 10:30 - 20:00
Sat-Sun 10:30 - 16:00
Sasellas is a shadow of what used to be - a family friendly unpretentious tavern offering nice pub food, with a nice range of Mediterranean and Australian dishes. The food used to be fresh, well cooked, the portions considerable. This has changed, and nowadays, despite the size being OK and dishes well plated, it is mostly fluffy stuff. The catch of the day is actually frozen food, refried and tasteless surrounded by a humongous serve of fries and salad (the latter very tasty), or minimal meat portions in the same arranged fashion. I mean, if you call a dish "lamb chops whatever" I expect at least two or three, not one. If you call something catch of the day, I expect the fish to be fresh. The traditional pies are good, their pasta OK, their fried food shrinking in size and quality by the year. If I pay +20 dollars
for a dish, I want the dish at least to be good in what I am asking,
meat or fish, and the sides be just that, sides, not most of the plate. The prices are still considerable, but the quality and quantity of the food is just mediocre.
The only good thing about Sassellas, at present, is mostly the convenience of the place, its atmosphere and the service, which is still fast and extremely friendly. Also great the location and the balcony, although, to be completely honest, the space in the latter has been maximised to the extreme, and the space between tables is minimal. Therefore, if you have a big bottom, mind it, because you could get stuck in there. ;O
I used to love and frequent Sassellas in the past, but after my last two experiences, last year, I am not hurrying to return.
