Perth Food Review

C hef John Mead has outdone himself again.. I dare say that I wouldn't mind dining at Cream every meal, every day for the rest of my life.. No, wait I take that back.. But I would not hesitate ever to dine there again.. In the near future..

We arrived and were friendly greeted.. The cold, harsh winter winds might play a part in this, but the atmosphere in Cream was simply inviting, warm, comfortable and friendly.. A nice bubbly to start and we were ordering away..

For starters we had the king prawn & chicken spring rolls with thai salad and dipping sauce,
retro double crumbed french brie, redcurrant glaze, roasted pear and rocket salad,
handmade potato and ricotta gnocchi with tomato, white castello sauce and grano parmesan,
and crispy fried salt and pepper squid with salad of tomato, cucumber & creamy fetta..
The spring rolls tasted great, managing to stray away from the conventional spring rolls taste and flavor, the only slight complain was an insufficiency in terms of size..
The gnocchi was out of this world, I don't blame it for staying on the menu, it was unbelievably soft and failed to lack texture, the sauce beautiful and not overpowering..
The squid was perfectly cooked, no complains there..
Now the star of the starters, the double crumbed brie.. Simply fantastic.. The perfectly crunchy crumb layer followed by the soft cheese, and the sweetness of the pear seeped right through the brie, and topped off with fresh rocket.. Its sophisticated, yet balanced, its the perfect entree..

Now the mains, baby beef slow braised in red wine, crispy onion rings with horseradish potato crush,
chilli crab & king prawn risotto,
crispy roasted pork belly with caramelised apple, leek and goat's fetta strudel,
and tagliatelle with boneless lamb shank and tomato, oregano, roasted capsicum & persian feta..

The beef was a dream come true, warm, flavorful, unbelievable tender and it just gently spreads in your mouth..
The risotto, no complaints.. The prawns and crab meat blended well and managed to provide two contrasting flesh-iness to the dish, and a balanced mix of chilli and sweetness..
The tagliatelle was definitely extraordinary.. The handmade tagliatelle was beautiful, and the shredded lamb shank provided a home-y rustic element to the dish, yet the taste showed its class alongside the oregano and feta..
The pork belly was my choice and I did not regret it.. The skin was perfectly crisped, it retained a degree of solidity to it, but crunched(not crumbled!) easily.. Now crackling the skin has always been a hard thing many people find, as its either never enough and it turns out flaky or overdone and too hard to eat, but this was perfect.. The meat was moist, tender and juicy.. It's a perfect roast pork belly(I remember helping dad out trying to figure out how to roast the perfect pork belly, spending ours in the kitchen, but could never solve the mystery), and the piping hot strudel was a great complement to the pork..

Desert, homemade ice cream (I think there was vanilla bean, rum & raisin, pistachio and some sorbets..), and pistachio creme brulee with a dark chocolate sorbet.. Without a doubt one of the best creme brulees, and sorbet was absolutely gorgeous to coat every spoonful of the brulee..

It's not exactly a big restaurant, and there are usually at the most two waitresses on at a time, but they have no trouble managing.. I may have a more complete dining experience at one or two more places, but food-wise, I don't think Cream can be outdone so far (If you go there, please have the double crumbed brie!!!).. Top marks for creativity, consistency, and good use of good quality ingredients.. Fantastic food.

Reactions (8)