Dining with the Pair: Vans, Cottesloe

Walk into Vans and you'll see that this is not the usual Napoleon St café.
Fake butterflies hang off wires stretched across the ceiling in an unexpected decor move and the breakfast menu continues this subtle otherworldly vibe.  It has an interesting mix of spicy, sweet and classic brekky dishes with Asian flavours worked in such as mango and coconut chia pudding, son in law eggs and a Indonesian fried egg dish with lap cheong and sambal.



Our food:

Buttermilk pancakes with apple and strawberry compote and whipped maple butter ($19)

The pancakes unfortunately lacked flavour and were drenched in maple syrup. Now I'm not averse to a good drizzle of maple syrup but there was so much syrup that the pancakes had begun to disintegrate in its sogginess. The sweet strawberry purée and honeycomb butter made this a sugar overload even to me and my love of sweets. A small carafe of maple syrup or perhaps some cream instead of the purée would have toned down its sweetness.

Mushrooms on toast with Fremantle life cycle mushrooms, goats curd, 63 degree egg, truffle oil and grilled gluten free sourdough ($24)

The mushroom dish was executed well and had a good combination of textures with the crusty bread. They thoughtfully supplied us with a sharper knife for this dish to cut through the harder sourdough.

Open egg white omelette with stir fried blue swimmer crab, broccolini, pea tendrils, coriander, green chilli nah jim ($26)

The whipped egg white elevated the normally hearty omelette into a very light and fluffy dish. The crab meat portions were generous and well spread so you got a good chunk of juicy crab in each bite. The cilantro, chilli and oil gave off Thai flavours but perhaps a lighter hand on the oil would have made this perfect as it got slightly too greasy near the end.

We didn't take photos of our drinks but the hot chocolate would have been a real winner if only it had been served at a hotter temperature. The milk was not hot enough to melt the dark chocolate and marshmallow leaving a clump of solid chocolate at the bottom. The chai latte was brewed with real chai tea and unlike the majority of tea leaf based lattes it actually had a good balance of mellow sweetness provided by the honey.


Overall
The service although slow was friendly. Not including the pancakes, Vans is worthy of another visit but I'd probably stick with the savoury options.
Dishes for next time: Roast cauliflower and manchego fritters with romesco sauce, soft poached egg, endive and avocado.
Rating: 6/10.

Until next time my fellow foodies,

Serena

Notes

~ Breakfast, lunch and dinner available

~ Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options are available

Vans

Open 7 days a week

1 Napoleon St, Cottesloe

http://www.vanscafe.com.au/#welcome

Friday Favourites

Hi ladies,

Inspired by the master LC (Lauren Conrad), we are starting up a Friday Favourites series so we can share our current faves with you.

Favourite show: Scream Queens
Star studded with guest stars like Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas, Colton Haynes and full of dark humour,  this show has us hooked at the moment. If you are't a fan of the slightly gory death scenes, its worth closing your eyes for those just to see Chanel's closet and their sorority house. Get your giant fluffy jacket and pastel heels out because the Chanel trio's fashion is to die for *wink*

Favourite beverage: Hot chocolate
With Christmas approaching, there's nothing better than a mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows and an episode of Scream Queens to end the night.

Favourite read: Gift guides
They're everywhere: blog posts, catalogues, magazines...
Take advantage of them for gift ideas, your own wishlist and keep up to date on all the latest sales.


Favourite scent: Vanilla Chai from their 2016 Christmas collection by the Body Shop
A combination of two of our favourite flavours to make this chai latte in a bottle, can someone please make this part of their regular range?

Favourite treat: This pale pink cross body bag from the Daily Edited

Let us know what are your current favourites!

Serena & Sara

xoxo

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Beauty Review: Alison Jade

Hi everyone,

So today I wanted to talk to you about my visit to Alison Jade in Cottesloe. Something I have found is that while there are so many bloggers and Instagrammers out there, very few people seem to actually do posts on their experiences at beauty and hair salons. I really enjoy trying out new places, and am constantly on the lookout for great local places, but I do like to research the place before going. There's only so much an Instagram photo can tell you! This is why I thought I'd share my experience, so that others looking to try somewhere new can have a little more insight into the place before trying it out!

I called in to book an appointment, and was lucky enough to get an appointment for the following day. There is parking just across the road by the train line, but you've got to keep an eye out as those spots can fill up quickly! Having said that, an eyebrow appointment generally lasts somewhere between 15 - 30 minutes, so there is a lot of movement there.

Walking into the building was like walking into what I imagine a lobby for a fashion magazine would be like. Very chic, clean and spacious with elements of luxury here and there.

Such a gorgeous waiting area!

I arrived early to my appointment (surprise, surprise), so I was encourage to help myself to some delicious T2 iced tea. There were also macarons and even champagne available for those after something a little more glamourous.

T2 iced tea

Macarons and champagne

Soon I was greeted by my brow specialist, who led me to my room. It's more like a row of open rooms, with beaded curtains for a little privacy. As I settled into my large, plush chair, I felt more like I was having a spa appointment rather than your typical brow appointment. We chatted a little about what sort of shape I was after, how long it had been since my last appointment and how I had been maintaining them. As I have Asian brows, I am really quite particular with how I like my brows shaped, and often end up just shaping them myself. I'm not a huge fan of the arched look, preferring more of the typical Korean style straight brow, but I do like a soft, natural arch. 

First, my brows were trimmed, then a medium tint was placed to match my hair. After this, my brows were waxed and then plucked to perfection. So much attention on the brows! My specialist really knew what she was doing, and was quite a perfectionist in getting a super clean shape. The whole experience was finished with her filling in my brows.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a photo of what my eyebrows looked like before to compare, however I have a photo of what it looked like straight after.

I know there are hairs sticking out! She told me to leave them to grow out more, and to use a brow gel in the meanwhile to keep them down.

Overall the experience was a lovely one, a place to feel a little bit special and have wonderful service. I do really like my brows, even though I feel like they still may be a little too arched for my taste, and perhaps drawn on a little longer than I normally would draw them. Besides that, I like how the rest of the shape and thickness ended up. At $60 for an initial appointment, and $55 thereafter, it is definitely on the pricey side, but completely worth it if you are like me and just needed a completely brow reshape. The price covers not only the actual service, which is very detailed, but also good service and yummy tea!

xo Sara

Stepping into Spring

We are so ready for spring! Personally, it's my favourite season (although maybe I'm a bit biased because it's my birthday season). I'd thought I share a few pretty things to get your month started! I'm all about the pastels all year round, but for the start of spring nothing beats a pretty pink dress. Check out our Polyvore account to see all the details for the set - just search for The Petite Pair!

xo Sara

Burrito Bowl Recipe (vegan, gluten free)

I just thought I'd share my quick and easy lunch from today. I was really feeling like something fresh and light, specifically, a burrito bowl was what I had in mind. This was super easy to whip up, and is fresh, healthy, vegan and gluten-free. Here is how I made mine, please keep in mind that the amount required is purely dependent on your taste! I added how much I used in mine inside the brackets, but feel free to change it up!

Ingredients (serves 1):

• Brown rice
• Tomato (1/4)
• Black beans (2 tablespoons)
• Corn (I used frozen corn, around 3 tablespoons)
• Avocado (1/2)
• Vegan, gluten free nachos
• Lemon/lemon juice (2 teaspoons)
• Black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook brown rice as instructions state. Or I usually cook 1 cup of brown rice with 2 cups of water, and keep any extra in the fridge for later.
2. Heat up the corn in a saucepan or using the microwave.
3. Chop up tomato and avocado.
4. Assemble!
5. Drizzle a little lemon juice over it and some black pepper.

That's it! So fast and simple, and so delicious as well! Enjoy :)

xx Sara

Dining with the Pair: Davvero

You know those days when you just feel like being outside and enjoying the sunshine, but you also don't want to get burnt alive when you leave the house? Yesterday was one of them. Trying to decide on a place to eat in this intense Australian summer can be absolutely difficult. Finally we decided to try a local Italian cafe, Davvero. Located in the outer courtyard of Floreat Forum shopping centre, Davvero is a bright, open and simply beautiful cafe. It echoes the ambience of a European summer, with whitewashed furniture, and various gifts, truffle oils etc. available to purchase at the front.

We were so hungry that we decided to skip entrees, and just head straight for the pasta dishes. Definitely satisfied our pasta cravings! And they were brought out very quickly. Bonus!

Spaghetti neri allo scoglio 

This was their homemade black spaghetti with seafood. It was well cooked, and the seafood was delicious. Portion size was a little smaller than most places, but still substantial. The seafood was fresh and tasty, and the spaghetti had a mild flavour. It was a nice dish, however, I felt that it lacked a little... flavour? I'm not entirely sure what it was missing, but while it was a great dish, it certainly wasn't amazing.

Chicche - potato gnocchi

The gnocchi was also homemade, and was served with zucchini and smoked scarmorza cheese. All up, the dish had a very mild taste to it. The gnocchi had a more sticky, mochi-like consistency, which I tend not to prefer with my gnocchi. I like it when it is more light and fluffy, although in all honesty I am clueless with what is the more authentic style. This dish was nice, but a little too bland for my liking.

Though we were not all that impressed with our mains, we decided to give dessert a go, because we love our sweets! We were so glad we did, because the desserts certainly managed to impress us!

Pannacotta with raspberry and white chocolate 

We originally had ordered the chocolate parfait, however they weren't available that day. Instead, they made this pannacotta with white chocolate and raspberry sauce. This was such a surprisingly dense, creamy and rich pannacotta. It almost was too rich by the end! I especially like the cute little lovehearts on this one.

Semifreddo alla pesca 

This was deliciously refreshing. Peach semifreddo served on a biscuit that was puffed brown rice and chocolate wafer. It was so nice to eat in the warm weather! Again, the semifreddo was much creamier than I expected. I am a huge fan of anything creamy, so I was very happy with this.

All in all, Daverro is a great place to go if you want to enjoy the sunshine, and have a conversation with something in a serene and pretty environment. I would highly recommend the place for tea and a dessert! The staff are all extremely friendly, and are good conversationalists. I think I would like to try it again, perhaps for dinner so I can sit in the beautiful outdoor area.

Sara

Davvero Caffé E Cucina

Monday - Tuesday (7:30am - 3:30pm)

Wednesday - Saturday (7:30am - 10:30pm)

Sunday (8:30am - 3:30pm)

882 Beaufort St, Inglewood

http://www.davvero.com.au

Dining with the Pair: Kuza

There weren't a whole lot of places open on New Years Day, so when we came across Kuza in Vic Park, we thought we'd give it a go. It has a very modern and more upmarket interior, with a monochrome colour scheme and a feature wall filled with various Japanese wines and sake bottles.

The menu is quite expansive, with plenty of choice for sashimi, sushi rolls, entrees, and even lunch sets.

Our drink:

Iced rose tea

We ordered drinks first while perusing the menu, and the drink that caught our eye was this amazing iced rose tea with lychee, strawberries and mint. This was a most refreshing and tasty iced tea, especially given the high temperature that day. The tea flavour itself was very mild, but the rose and lychee was a really lovely combination. It was sweet without being sickly and the fruit added great flavours to the drink. I absolutely love rose flavoured anything, so this was definitely a winner for myself.


Our food:

Seafood pancake

Our first entree to arrive was this modern take on the お好み焼き(okonomiyaki), or Japanese seafood pancake. This particular version was quite nice, though the seafood flavour was not that strong, and the overall consistency was not as thick and doughy as the traditional ones. Other than that, it was still a nice start to our meal.

Fried crumbed oysters

This was a really interesting dish. Fried oysters covered with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), and served with a potato and mayonnaise sauce. I personally found the crumbed exterior to be too overpowering for the oysters, however, the dipping sauce was the most delicious surprise! It tasted like a very gourmet potato salad, and was well flavoured and complemented the oysters really well. It was definitely one of my favourite touches from this place.

Crab croquettes

The crab croquettes were quite nice, but very potato heavy with barely any crab, or at least crab that could be tasted. It came with a very nice topping of mushrooms, which was cooked well.

Miso eggplant

This is one of my favourite dishes to order at Japanese restaurants! The one I like the most so far is at Satsuki, and while this one was definitely one of the better entrees, it just doesn't quite compare. Still tasty though, so I can't complain!

On to the mains! I simply had to get the うなぎ (unagi = eel) lunch set. Anything that comes in a set is always fine by me. Possibly one of the many reasons I am always travelling to Japan. The cutest touch to this set was that the 卵(egg) was branded with the restaurant's name!

Serena decided to try one their ramen. She went with the original ramen with pork. The main thing is that it came with a soft boiled egg, which not enough ramen dishes seem to come with! Other than that, the broth was quite tasty and the pork well cooked.

Overall:

The place was quite nice, and prices were pretty average, contrary to my initial impression. The dishes all came out in a timely manner, and overall it was a pleasant meal. Probably not one of my top choices for Japanese, however it was great to try a new place!

Sara