Spencer Village - Asian Food Court

I was particularly delighted to discover this place called Spencer Village in Thornlie, Perth a while back ago. That day we were driving around visiting display homes in Piara Waters. Thanks to my daughter who couldn’t stop playing in the neighbourhood playground, it was fast getting dark and my stomach has started protesting that it needed food pretty soon. So I dragged my reluctant daughter into our car and head off to Spencer Village which is the nearest we could find from that place. You see finding food after dark in Australian suburbs is a challenge, it is something that is very different from Asia.

I’ve heard of this place before and most people have positive comment about its food. So we decided to give it a try. Hawker stalls and little food courts are something that I have grown up with and it is quite unusual for me that there are so few of this type of places in Perth. So it is a big thing for us to be able to find this place.

The first impression was definitely a good one. We saw the car park in front of the place was almost fully occupied, that means good business and most importantly good food! I managed to find one parking spot at the back and we walked straight in to start our food hunt. Upon entering the building, it was as though we have been teleported back to Asia in one of those Star Trek high tech devices. Almost the entire space was filled with Asians, the ambience was noisy and chaotic, exactly what you would experience in any Asian cities. I saw familiar names like Laksa, Char Koay Teow and Roti Prata.

We ordered a Unagi Rice and Fried Hor Fun Cantonese style. As you can see in the photos below, both came in very big portions. If you get bored with Perth lifestyle at night and would like to go for supper just like you normally do in Asia, then Spencer Village is the place. And the food is really value for money. But if you have high expectation in terms of taste and quality of food, then this may not be a place for you. I’m more for taste and that’s why I’ve only visited the place once and have never gone back so far. I may go again in some nights when I miss experience the Asian ambience while in Australia!

Spencer Village Main Entrance

Malacca and KL Food Stalls

Spencer Village Interior

Stall selling Indonesian food

Hong Kong and Japanese food stalls

Roti Prata stall

Cantonese Fried Hor Fun

Unagi Rice

Jaws Town Hall

It was a maximum of 38 degrees today and we have so far experienced the hottest November month ever recorded in Perth’s history. Summer has definitely come early this year and it could be tough to walk under the hot midday sun to visit some of the heritage buildings around the city. It is the Heritage Week on today and tomorrow and we have first visited the City Farm in East Perth before catching the free Yellow Cat bus to the central city for lunch.

We initially wanted to have noodle in this Japanese restaurant called Nao along the Murray Street but it wasn’t open for lunch. We have seen many people dine in there last night when we walked past the place after the city’s Turning Christmas Light On Ceremony. So we had to changed our plan and go to the nearby newly opened Jaws sushi restaurant opposite the Town Hall.

It was a relieve walking into that outlet with their air-conditioning turned on full blast. I haven’t had that feeling for a long time as we don’t need it during previous colder months. We checked out their menu and found out that it was not costly plus we could hardly walk any further without first filling our stomach under that intense heat.

Being newly opened, it has squeaky clean interior with a wall hung TV broadcasting Japan promotional video. All the staff are Japanese and we were happy to see that because it means they would provide authentic Japanese cuisine. Japanese have always been well known for the dedication and passion they put into preparing their meals.

I couldn’t stop looking at the TV with scenes of Japanese places, people and culture. It made me almost feel like booking air tickets to fly to there instantly. The hot midday sun and my stomach’s craving for food may have caused illusion in my head. Pulling myself back to earth, we ordered two meals: a small Teriyaki Salmon with rice and a Bento Set.

Interior of the Jaws Town Hall

Bento Set

For a price tag of only $6.50, the Teriyaki Salmon was indeed value for money. It’s portion is big enough for my wife. And my Bento Set was simply wonderful with Salmon Sashimi, Tempura Prawn, Deep Fried Chicken, Beef Tataki and Teriyaki Chicken for only $19.50. As we have expected, the food tasted authentic and delicious. The service was superb, the floor manager even gave our 3 year old daughter a chocolate bar for free. We would definitely go there again for their quality food and excellent service. Jaws Town Hall is located right opposite the Perth Town Hall at Hay Street. 

Seafood Fried Ho Fun

I used to work as a kitchen hand in this restaurant more than 10 years ago when I was studying at the nearby University of Western Australia (UWA). Those days it was owned by a Hong Kong couple, the wife took care of PR and recruitment while the husband was back in the kitchen busy cooking. I wasn't too keen of their food back then because they cater to the Australian market so you would find fried rice with potato chips for example, something that tells you that it is not authentic Asian cuisine.

So I visited Sunflower Chinese Food Village again recently not because of the food but just hope to catch up with my ex-colleagues and boss. I found out that it has changed ownership instead. The interior of the restaurant does not changed much but there were completely new faces working around. I flipped through the new menu without placing high expectation and ordered Seafood Fried Ho Fun. Ho Fun is a flat rice noodle that is very popular in Cantonese dish.

My order came quite soon and I was glad to see the big portion considering that I was in the middle of winter that time. To my astonishment the Ho Fun was so smooth and with the delicious gravy blanketed all over it on top just made it so warm and tasty. They were also very generous with the scallops which is my personal favourite. Big chunky scallops sweetened your taste bud made you crave for more. The whole experience was unexpected and a surprise to me because I never thought it would taste so good. Although it costs slightly more expensive than elsewhere but with the big portion and plenty of seafood, it was value for money.

Dim Sum @ James Street

I'm now in Perth for more than one year and everything is better than Malaysia except food. Being a Penangite, food is an important part of me and I've been searching for good Malaysian food but unfortunately none is as good as what you can find at home.

As with other Australian cities, Perth embraces international communities coming from all over the world with very different cultures and not to mention their cuisines. Asians make up quite a substantial number in their population. This is a good thing because you then get to experience food from around the world.

If there is one Asian cuisine that I think is better than what you could find in Malaysia is definitely the Dim Sum. I've tried various outlets in and around Perth. All of them serve better Dim Sum than back home. Recently, we discovered a place where you think has the best Dim Sum among all that we have tried. It is the Golden Century Seafood Chinese Restaurant at 1/191 James Street, Northbridge.  

The joy of eating Dim Sum is the push carts or trolleys that the waiters bring out and move all around the restaurant. It is like food on parade and we the spectators just sit around and wait for our favourite to arrive. It is definitely a different experience with other cuisine in that you are always waiting for the waiters to surprise you with some fantastic food. The busy and often noisy ambience make you feel like you are not in Australia but in Asia. It is a good place to catch up with friends, eat some good food while sipping Chinese tea or Yum Cha as the Cantonese would call it.

Century Egg Porridge - A must order dish whenever we go for Dim Sum because this is the only food that our 3 year old daughter could eat.

Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling - Not as oily and hard compared to others I have tried which make it very delicious while still managed to retain the juiciness of the prawn meat within.

Beside porridge, egg tart is another Dim Sum dish we would order for our daughter and she loves it!

Fish ball is very common in Malaysian Dim Sum but not so in Perth. Most Dim Sum restaurants don't serve them but the Golden Century does which will surely attract me to their front door more often in the future.

Most dumplings have prawn meat inside and you certain do not wish to order 5 different dumplings with the same common ingredients inside. If you are scratching your head to decide which one to go, I suggest you go for scallop dumpling instead of the usual prawn dumpling.

Soft shell crab - a very uncommon dish for Dim Sum but very delicious, crunchy and juicy at the same time.