Chocolateria San Churro, Subiaco

The traditional churros con chocolate was my poison of the day in this chocolateria known to most as San Churro. I settled on Churros for One ($7.90) which was served with one dipping sauce of your choice and 3 churros. Dipping sauce choices include: White, Milk, Dark Chocolate or Argentinian caramel (dulce de leche).

I picked Cinnamon dusted Churros with Dark Chocolate - makes me feel slightly less guilty for indulging since Dark Chocolate  contains flavonoids and are full of antioxidants that lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

The rain was literally falling in sheets as I sat all snug and warm in this small cafe in Subiaco... perfect chocolate weather, if I say so! The churros arrived relatively quickly (it was an empty time of the day), and I was transported to heaven as this was set before me. Hot air rose from the pastry and I could almost smell the chocolate, it was THAT rich.

I personally felt the churros were a little overcooked. They were crunchy, more biscuit like than fluffy.  Maybe the Spains like their donuts this way! Still, it was a positive that there wasn't any leftover oil from  the flour being deep fried and they didn't employ a heavy hand with the cinnamon sugar.

Good grief, the chocolate dipping sauce. I'm not sure what to say, besides the fact that it was warm, rich, decadent and everything one needs a chocolate dipping sauce to be. There was more sauce than churro (to my dismay), but this was definitely a very satisfying treat while cozied up with a novel in the rain. Probably not a regular on my list - it's not cheap(!), but worth the detour for a guilty treat.

Recommended for cozy meetings, romantic encounters, girl's gatherings


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Chocolateria San Churro, Subiaco * ACROSS SUBIACO TRAIN STATION
1 Rokeby Road
Subiaco WA 6008
Tel: (08) 9388 2288

Opening Hours
Mon: 12 NN - 10 PM
Tue to Thurs & Sun: 10 AM - 10 PM
Fri & Sat: 10 AM - 11 PM

Note: San Churro also has stores in Fremantle, Hillarys Boat Harbour, Leederville, Rockingham and Northbridge.

Jean Pierre Sancho, Hay Street Perth

Pain au chocolat

I used to live down the road from a really good french pâtisserie along Nedlands. Of course, I fell in love with it - and since I now live in Perth city, I figure why not give Jean Pierre Sancho a try? It was after all, recently named Australia's best bakery on Sunrise News. So I took a 1.6km walk there (hey, it was a beautiful Saturday morning). 

Tucked in the corner of Hay Street and Shafto Lane,  I almost missed this unassuming cafe. 

I had to deliberate what to order... everything looked so good! I ended up settling for their famous Pain au chocolat with a soy latte set ($8.00). Since it was somewhat nice and empty, I settled into a sofa chair with my Kindle while waiting for my brunch to arrive. Joy! :D

To the amusement of the table next to me, I spent the next couple of minutes snapping photos of my food when it arrived. But look at that croissant! It deserves to be immortalized in pictures, if not in memory. Cos we all know the ultimate fate of food in one's tummies... anyway.

A minor gripe I had was that I wasn't offered the choice of having it toasted. And I was pretty sure the staff didn't toast it before bringing it to my table.

Buttery pain au chocolat

As you can see, the pastry is circled by a buttery shell that literally 'cracked' off the croissant with a nudge from my fork. In one intact piece too! Reminded me of a snake shedding its' skin. I found the pastry to be rather doughy. Could be quite bit heavy later in the day, in fact. The chocolate wasn't bad at all, but it just lacked a slight 'wow' factor.

Soy Latte

La! The coffee! When I took a sip of the coffee I just... sat there. And quivered. And sat there. And quivered some more. So smooth! So delightful! Just like silk! I can conclusively claim that Jean Pierre Sancho serves possibly the best coffee in Perth that I've had in a long while. The blending of flavors are very subtle as well, and OH YOU JUST HAVE TO GO TASTE THIS YOURSELF. I didn't care very much for the biscuit accompanying the coffee - it tastes like shortbread of some sort but it was much too chewy... I just left it uneaten.

Either way: GO THERE FOR THE COFFEE. Oh, and they sell macarons for $2, which is the cheapest I've seen in Perth so far. Not that I tried the macarons there, but probably worth going there for tea some day!

Recommended for Cozy tête à têtes, Work Lunches, Brunch, Lazy weekends

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Jean Pierre Sancho
878 Hay Street
(Cnr Hay Street & Shafto Lane)
Perth, WA 6000
Tel: (08) 9226 2434

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 6 PM
Saturday - Sunday: 8 AM  - 5 PM *** Now open Sundays!

NB. A second branch exists at 111 St George's Terrace and that has a higher rating than the one at Hay Street

The Royals Cafe, Siglap

The Royals Cafe has occupied its spot along the cafe strip of Upper East Coast Road for a number of years now. I've had the opportunity to visit a couple of times, but since I haven't had a meal there for a while I decided to have dinner there today (and blog about their famous Nyonya Mee Siam at the same time). Mee Siam is a favorite dish of mine - I can eat it for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. Almost every place I've eaten at interprets Mee Siam in different ways. I prefer mine swimming in spicy gravy with just a touch of lemongrass and lime! How about you?

What Style of Mee Siam do you prefer?

 The Royals Cafe was quiet when I arrived at 7.30PM (it was a Monday, after all). Normally, the atmosphere is quiet noisy as it tends to be a popular spot for students in the afternoons and families on the weekends. For dinner, I ordered the Mee Siam ($4.90) and Ice Latte ($3.50). The Ice Latte arrived first (pictured below). For $3.50, it wasn't bad indeed! I suspect that I would have enjoyed it, if I hadn't gotten a dodgy straw (it had a hole along the side somewhere, which made it impossible to properly drink the beverage). Instead of bothering the wait staff, I simply inverted the straw - voila! Except I ended up getting foam on my fingers and realized (to my disgruntlement), that the wait staff hadn't provided paper napkins yet.

The Mee Siam arrived around 10 minutes later, with the cutlery and paper napkins (finally!). I unceremoniously dumped the entire plate of chilli provided into the bowl and stirred it into the soup. Unfortunately for me (!!!), no lime was provided /sadface/. The vermicelli was cooked to a nice consistency with a little springiness left to the noodles. The gravy was flavorsome and thicker than usual - I found it to be less spicy than the version offered in most kopitiams. In fact, the thickness of the gravy fell somewhere in between the normal Mee Rebus and Mee Siam gravy (in my opinion). I would have liked it to be more spicy, but other than that, I had no complaints really. Tau Pok, Hard Boiled egg and prawns also featured as part of the dish (strangely enough, the prawns didn't seem out of place). 

I wouldn't call this place a fave hangout - but hey, if you're looking for cheap eats with air con and nice dessert, you definitely have to stop by The Royals Cafe. Other than the Mee Siam, The Royals Cafe in Siglap also serves mini pies, gelato and other baked treats. I've tried a few other items on their menu (both asian and western) - and to be honest, I probably wouldn't repeat the experience. The Mee Siam was definitely good, but their other dishes were quite a let down - for some strange reason, they reminded me of Secondary School Canteen Food.

Definitely try their cakes! My brother is a fan of their Chocolate Banana & I adore the Chocolate Mint slice. A favorite amongst regular customers is the Dark Chocolate Truffle, which simply melts in the mouth, leaving behind a slightly bitter yet refreshing chocolate taste on the palate. My brother ordered their 1.5 KG Chocolate Banana Cake for his birthday and on another occasion, my friend ordered the 1.5 KG Dark Chocolate Truffle for a small celebration - each time, no leftovers remained! I daresay I will be returning for their sweet treats :)

Recommended for: Family, Large Groups, Chill Out


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The Royals Cafe
19 Upper East Coast Road
Crescendo Building
(beside Jalan Tua Kong)
Tel: 6445 6457

Opening Hours
Daily: 7.30 AM - 11 PM