Sun and satisfying food at Fortysevenkirwanstreet

Spring is officially in the air, and although it's only one month late, it is oh so welcome. 

With blue skies (and just the slightest hint that it might rain later in the day), Jeremy and I decided to make the best of our weekend by heading out for brunch. There's a few places on our wishlist to try, but Floreat's Fortysevenkirwanstreet is only 10 minutes away so it was a natural decision. We set out, smiled on our faces, sun baking down (a little) on our skin and fingers crossed that we weren't about to encounter a ferocious line like we would if we were venturing into Leederville or Northbridge. 

When we arrive I'm pleased to see that this place is a beautiful neighbourhood cafe. There's an abundance of light streaming in through the windows, with wooden tables and bright red chairs. There's outdoor seating with bowls of water nearby if you choose to bring your dog along to keep you company. Definitely my kind of place!

The service starts off as extremely friendly and remains that way for the entirety of our visit. Our waitress was bubbly, helpful and efficient. It makes such a difference to the dining experience to have positive service, and so I'm pleased to say that this gorgeous cafe really does shine in this department.

We start off our meal by ordering a drink each, choosing from the selection of beverages quickly. I can't quite remember the prices so what I say in here may be slightly out but should be more or less correct!

Jeremy opts for a Chocolate Milkshake ($7), which comes out to our table as thick and luxuriously chocolatey. The waitress tells him that it may be too strong, and if he'd like her to make another just to let her know. I love that she made this disclaimer instead of waiting for us to complain - but as it turns out, the taste was just as he liked it. Sweet, thick and absolutely satisfying. There's the occasional lump of ice-cream present which adds to the decadence of the drink.

As I often reiterate when writing my blog (and in ordering my choice of beverage), I am an absolute juice fiend. We often joke amongst my friends that it's like crack cocaine for me - which sadly I often wonder if that's the case!

On this occasion I spy a delicious combination of Fresh Strawberry & Watermelon Juice ($7). It comes out bright pink and refreshingly cool. The watermelon is the predominant flavour, but the strawberry kicks through slightly offering a sugary finish to each sip. It's a really enjoyable drink, and a flavour that isn't very common which is always a bonus when it tastes good!

When it comes to ordering, Jeremy's torn between a couple options - which is not really like him. That's usually me, umming and arghing for ages before making a last minute decision. He's loving the sound of the pork belly with beans and the beef cheek & artichoke pie.

But in the end he chooses the Open Lamb Burger ($19). Crusty bread, za'atar crusted lamb, red onion, tomato, spinach and spiced yoghurt.

It's a bountiful, extremely generous and overflowing concoction that basically has me speechless in trying to work out how he's going to eat it. He tells me he'd rather eat it like a burger, but due to the size of it, knife and fork come into play. Never mind though because that doesn't impact the flavours at all!

I love how they've used a couple different types of tomato - with standard slices as well as halves of green skinned cherry tomatoes in there too. It's a variety of texture and sweet acidity to enhance the lamb. 

Za'atar spices are something Jeremy and I first encountered at The Tuck Shop. They're a Middle-Eastern spice blend, normally made up of oregano, thyme, marjoram, sesame seeds, salt and sumac. In this dish, it works so well with the soft, tender lamb and the creamy flavoursome yoghurt. 

Strangely (for me) I manage to decide on my dish straight away. It basically leaps off the page at me and though the corn & ricotta fritters sound tempting, my mind is made up. I order the Grilled Mushrooms with Caramelised Onion, Endive and Goats Cheese on Parmesan Brioche ($17) with a side of Hollandaise ($3).

If you haven't read my blog before, you probably won't know that I think brioche is the best bread ever. Soft, buttery and oh so sinful. Yes, I'll take that!

My dish looks beautiful, and it tastes even better! The mushrooms are grilled perfectly - they're soft but still retain their shape. The parmesan brioche is soft on the outside and crunchy along the edges. I would have loved more parmesan taste as I found it not very distinguished, but the bread itself still tasted amazing.

The endive salad on top was fresh and just slightly bitter - exactly as it should be. I love the texture in comparison with the soft bread and mushrooms. The caramelised onion is tangled throughout the endive leaves and is so sweet, it makes me want to cry. Yes really, it tastes that good.

It tangs on my tongue, teasing my tastebuds. And with that creamy, dreamy goats cheese, it's enough to round this dish out as an absolute winner in my eyes.

I probably didn't need the hollandaise, but hey if you can - why wouldn't you! I love the presentation of a shot glass full of the creamy yellow liquid which is just the right consistency and butteriness. It's not as tangy as other hollandaise sauces I've had elsewhere, but I think in this case it works in it's favour. It's mild enough to truly compliment the dish I've ordered as if it naturally belonged.

When we finish up our brunch meal, Jeremy and I look at each other with huge grins. Yes, as cheesy as it sounds, we both were so utterly satisfied that we had to express it. From start to finish, I can say that I enjoyed every minute of our first experience at Fortysevenkirwanstreet.

As we get up to pay for our meals, I can't help but stare at the baked goods on display. The macarons look so appealing (cotton candy, black forest, honeycomb, sticky date, pistachio and salted caramel!), as do the lemon curd tarts adorned with a fresh strawberry.

We're too full to eat anything else at this point, but the greedy pig inside me insists on getting some items take away. We pick the Carrot Cake ($4.50) for Jeremy, a Blondie ($4) for me and even get my mum one for when we see her later - the Pear & Raspberry Frangipani Tart ($4).

 

We don't get to them for a few hours, but the result is as expected. A moist, flavoursome and just slightly sweet carrot cake with a lovely topping of cream cheese icing and pistachio nuts. My blondie was amazing too - full of sweet pear slices, tart raspberry waves and macadamia nuts for that added texture. I loved it and it was just the perfect way to end our outing.

Fortysevenkirwanstreet, I will be back.