Perth Events

That's right, awesome things in Perth when I'm not around to enjoy them. WHATEVER, PERTH. (call me)

There's a new shop opening in Freo, Cruelty Free WA Shop. Cruelty Free WA provides cruelty free, environmentally friendly products made with no animal products and no animal testing. Their grand opening is tomorrow, Saturday 24th October, and if you go along there are free taste testings and 10% off all items in store. PROBABLY AWESOME? They're at 28A Queen St in Freo (across from the Juicy Beetroot).

World Vegan Day is Sunday 1st November. I'm super excited about being in Melboure and getting to go to Abbotsford for the event, but there is also a World Vegan Day Picnic being held in Perth! It's 12-4, at Sir James Mitchell Park (which is in South Perth).

Also on the 1st of November, is a Vegan Food Basics Workshop, being held at Earthwise in Subiaco. You can click the link for more details.

the juicy beetroot, fremantle

We ignored Melbourne Cup day last Tuesday by adventuring down to Fremantle to visit the Juicy Beetroot for lunch. Happy Cow tells me that Juicy Beetroot is ‘vegetarian-friendly, not 100% vegetarian’ but I’ve never seen anything available there that isn’t vegetarian. They do gluten-free cakes and allegedly vegan cakes, though I’ve never seen any of the latter.

D and I shared a tofu burger and a large bowl of mixed curries. The large really is very large, and the burger was massive. I enjoyed both the beetroot-ness of the burger and the fact that it was a giant chunk of tofu, something of which I am not usually a big fan. The curries included an aloo muttar-y thing, a dahl and some mixed veggies. They were very tasty curries. We also had a couple of mixed juices, I had an orange and ginger, as I often do, and D had the house juice without the celery, which was pretty tasty. All up it cost us about $30ish dollars, which was cool for a big, tasty, vegan meal.



The Juicy Beetroot
Tum Tum Tree Lane
132 High Street
Fremantle

annie's bread stall, fremantle markets

Wandered down to Freo today to see MV Doulos, the floating bookstore. I love the idea of a ship that is a bookstore, sailing around the worlds bringing books and person-power to various countries. That's awesome! The bookstore itself was a bit average (and quite filled with books on Christianity), but it was, after all, a bookstore on a ship.

Popped by the markets to see if there was anything new and interesting (there wasn't). Passing by Annie's Bread Stall, we noticed a tiny sign indicating vegan pasties and samosas, and they were gigantic. We felt we had to try them, though we were full, so we saved them for later.

Having now eaten them for dinner (and our dinner now languishing in the fridge), they were pretty tasty! The flavour of the samosa in particular was pretty good. The pasty was a little too spinachy and unexpectedly mushroomy, but still good! And it's always lovely to find the surprise of random vegan food when out and about.

asian food fair, fremantle

On Sunday we ventured down to the Asian Food Fair held on the Fremantle Esplanade. The fair was to raise funds for people aiding in Burma, organised by the Buddhist Society of WA.



One of the things I love about a lot of Asian food is the way we categorise it. The fair advertised that vegetarian and non-vegetarian food would be available. 'Non-vegetarian' is not a term you see so much in Western restaurants, but you see it a fair bit especially in Indian restaurants. I love it because 'vegetarian and non-vegetarian' usually indicates there's some thought that's gone into the vegetarian food, and I have made this choice to not eat animal products but it's nice to have some choice in my food, too, which often people don't understand. I was at a workshop yesterday and seeing if there was anything I could eat (yes, I had told them in advance) and there was one thing on the menu that was probably vegan. I commented "at least there's one thing" and the guy I was with said, well, that's your choice. Which fills me with rage, like because I make this choice I should have to not eat delicious food?

Anyway, there was lots of vegetarian and vegan food at the food fair. The line for the dosai was sadly very long, so although I could smell it as we wandered past we walked on by, I will make it up to myself by going for dosai sometime soon. D and I shared a fairly average miscellaneous Indian curries and rice (it was a bit cold), and some mee goreng when the Buddhists ran out of char kuay teow.

When I have been away too long, I forget things, and the look the guy gave me when I asked if there were eggs in it and he said, no, it's strict vegetarian was a moment of oh, of course, how embarrassing for me.



We took home some mock chicken rice, which D and I fought over for breakfast (we both ate it), and some bacheng, which we have yet to eat but which will hopefully be delicious. The chicken rice was a great way to start the day, and also had some char siu which was a surprise delight, and I wish I could buy it more regularly.

The great thing about Chinese cakes is that they are often vegan by default, made only of flours and nuts and things, but I wasn't in the mood and D doesn't like them, so sadly we passed those by.

zapata's mexican restaurant, fremantle

As part of my current obsession with Mexican restaurants, last week we went to Zapata’s in Fremantle.

The menu is fairly extensive, and though I found my portion size to be a little on the small side the prices do reflect that, so next time I’ll probably order something a little more expensive. M ordered the fajitas, for example, which are among the more expensive items on the menu and he was unable to finish his meal (though he really wanted to).



The spicy was spicy, but my enchilada was soft and delicious and everyone (all ten of us) enjoyed their meals, and I will definitely be going back. On Tuesdays they do cheap tacos and cocktails, I understand, and everything that we wanted vegan came out vegan.

They are able to do separate billing if you let them know before you order. I can't remember how they were for gluten-free options.

Zapata's Mexican Restaurant
Shop 30, South Terrace Piazza
Fremantle
(opposite Gelare, above the Pickled Fairy)

istanbul turkish restaurant, fremantle

I was previously introduced to Istanbul Turkish Restaurant about six months ago, and since then have been looking for excuses to return. Yesterday D and I found ourselves in Fremantle at about lunch time, and sick of looking at menus where all we could eat was a fettuccine with tomato and basil sauce, I remembered it was located just one street over.



We seated ourselves at one of the footpath tables, and ordered the zebzeli patlican and the patatas ispanak pide, both to share. The zebzeli patlican, an eggplant and tomato dip, was slightly tart but the turkish bread with which it was served was fresh and crisp. The patatas ispanak was delicious, with the soft, slightly spicy potato adding a nice flavour to the spinach.

It was quiet, late yesterday afternoon, and the food was clearly freshly prepared and promptly served and it was a pleasure to people watch on the footpath in the afternoon sun. My previous visit was a Saturday night with a large group, the restaurant was packed and you had to weave to avoid the bellydancers but service was prompt then, too, and just as tasty.

The pricing is about average: the pide + entree cost $25. Gluten-free things are on the menu, though not a wide variety. A moderately-sized vegetarian menu with a few vegan choices, and a few more things that can be easily veganised. If you're dining with meat-eaters, the menu for them is also quite large, though they should just shut up and try the patatas ispanak, I was seriously delighted with it.

Istanbul Turkish Restaurant
19 Essex Street
Fremantle