I received a message the other week from one of my friends from school organising another catch up. This had already been organised so i asked where we were going, when I heard that we were going to 7th ave I was quite intrigued as i have been there for drinks 3 or 4 times however I have never had a meal there. I was interested to see what this meal would be like.
As i walked into 7th ave to see if my friends were there I took in the atmosphere of the place. I found the decor to be very dated with a lot of wood and carpet covering the restaurant and bar.
When we sat down i decided to start of with a refreshing beverage, I went with a very reasonably priced pint of Stella Artois which was only $8. That is one thing that i should mention about 7th ave, the drinks are really cheap! In the west Australian a few weeks ago they ran a special about the cheapest beers in Perth and 7th Ave was the cheapest. The cheapest beer I noticed on the menu was Emu Bitter at only $4.75 a pint, unfortunately i can’t bring myself to drink that.
While looking over the menu at what to decide we decided to snack on a order of garlic bread. The garlic bread was fairly unremarkable, I mean it was tasty due to the fact that it was hot, buttery and garlicky but nothing particularly stood out about it.
Looking over the menu i noticed that it featured many of the standard pub choices, while looking at the menu I was reminded of one of my dads favourite sayings “always make safe choices”. I decided to go for the chicken parmigiana and i was a little surprised when it first came out, I mean it’s not that often you have a meal that is so big it casts a shadow! The actual parmigiana was pretty tasty with a really fresh tasting salad. Although i do have two criticisms about this particular dish (one is to parmigianas in general). One is that i don’t understand why they put the slice of ham under the cheese, when you have all these bold flavours from the chicken, sauce and the cheese anything else is just going to get ignored. As such I couldn’t taste the ham at all. My other criticism is one that The Food Pornographer has mentioned in the past and that is when chips go soggy due to having things (in this case the parmigiana) rested on them, I love chips when they are nice and crispy so towards the end of my meal the chips were getting quite soggy.
We sat around for another 30-45 minutes exchanging stories however I did notice one other thing. When we first got there at about 6:30 on a Saturday night it was quite a nice family atmosphere, however towards the end of our meal it started to get a little rougher as the families started to leave and the seasoned drinkers started to reach there stride. This lead to a slightly aggressive atmosphere in the air. So overall I would recommend 7th ave as somewhere to go as a catchup, however I would recommend leaving before things get too rowdy.
Bec and I eat there regularly when we are in Perth. The service is generally excellent with the main MD very helpfully and professional. To the point he takes 3 or 4 tables of orders and doesn’t write a single thing down. This I find impressive for a Midlad pub. I’ve tried the steaks and a few other bits and pieces an have always been happily impressed with the food.
It’s great to find somewhere like that where you know that you are going to get a satisfying and tasty meal.
Nice review Simon! We have work functions there sometimes and it hasn’t been too bad. I like the fact that it is cheap!
If you like cheap drinks you should check out The Stirling Arms in Guildford. They have just had a re-furb so it’s a little sterile whilst the new trees grow in but the food is good and the drinks SO cheap. A pint of Cider was…. I can’t remember if it was $7.50 or $8.50 – but I remember being shocked at how cheap it was.
Thanks liz! I will have to try the Stirling Arms, I went there once years ago but i found it pretty rough but if you are saying that they have done it up then i will give it a try! I will take sterile over places which i don’t feel comfortable.
Hi Simon, really happy to have chanced upon your blog from ladyironchef. I live in SG and my BF is from Perth. I’m heading there again in June and now have a list of food places to visit
My favourite thus far is Boucla!
Thanks for your comments! It’s funny that you mention that you are from Singapore and coming to perth for a holiday as i am from perth and in two weeks i fly out to singapore for a holiday! I haven’t been to Singapore before so any restaurant reccomendations would be greatly appreciated!
haha i know what you mean, that’s the beauty of things!
anw food in sg is really cheap (compared to aussie that is). I say, go for the hawker centres, it’s like a food court but without air conditioning, there’s fumes and everything but it’s fun. if you’re in the central part of SG, try Maxwell Food Centre (http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_29588/travel_site_144404/), it’s a stone throw from Chinatown. there’s also People’s Park Complex Food Centre (http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_6169/travel_site_1214/) which is right by Chinatown too. some must-tries in SG: chicken rice, char kway teow, laksa, rojak, hokkien mee and tourists love the sambal stingrays (at seafood stalls). the malls in town would have air-conditioned food courts too, but slightly pricier and not as authentic.
for breakfast/craving anything yummy, head to Ya Kun (http://www.yakun.com/) easily found at many malls. try Set A (kaya toast with soft boiled eggs. empty the eggs onto the plate, be sure to add a dash of dark soya sauce and pepper, and true SG style, dip the toast in eggs / slurp eggs from the plate – no utensils!)
a treat – No Signboard Seafood Restaurant. Chilli crabs are a must in SG, with the fried buns. If you’re not so much of chilli, their Black Pepper Crabs are worth a shot. (http://www.esplanade.com/eat_drink_shop/dining/no_signboard_seafood/index.jsp)
Hope this suffices! Do drop me a comment on my blog if you need any additional directions etc. Have a good trip!