J chose the stewed beef with rice (AU$8.00). The beef was very tender and would have fallen off the bone, had there been any bones.

I chose the stir-fried broccoli with chicken and rice (AU$8.00). The garlic sauce was fragrant, the chicken tender and the broccoli just the right level of crisp- it was simple and fresh and very satisfying.

We decided to take the plunge and share a dessert – deep fried banana with ice cream (AU$6.00). The banana was freshly fried and not at all greasy. The vanilla ice cream had that yellowy and wholesome buttermilky look and was really creamy. We left full and content – $11 a head for a tasty homestyle meal with a little dessert was not bad at all.

Tuesday – J unwrapped a ham and swiss cheese roll for her lunch. Not sure where she got it from, but it looked pretty good.

I had John West tuna slices in olive oil blend with fresh tomato on Vita-Wheat with 9-grains. I’ve decided from now on if I eat tinned tuna for lunch, it’s got to be tuna slices! It’s meaty and tastes so much better than flaked/sandwich tuna.

Chad made herself a chicken and salad toasted wrap at MYO. I still haven’t bought lunch from the MYO since we moved offices. There have been too many tempting eateries to check out. I’ll get to MYO eventually, but it’s not often that I get a sandwich craving.

Wednesday – Chad, J, SRM and I all went to Mai’s to try more of their lunch specials. Chad ordered the golden tofu vermicelli (AU$8.00). The noodles were a thicker style of vermicelli, which Chad rather liked. She said the stir-fry was quite tasty.

J had chicken and corn soup (AU$6.00), which was very chickeny.

See! Chickeny-ness!

To go with the soup, she also ordered a serve of the golden spring rolls (AU$4.50, 4 pcs – their name really is “golden spring rolls”!).

The spring roll pastry was crispy, filled with pork and carrots. J was too full to eat the last spring roll, so Chad and I shared it.

SRM had the braised beef with lemongrass and rice (AU$8.00). He enjoyed the beef, but thought there was a little too much onion.

SRM ordered a side dish of chilli sauce but was given cut chilli instead. We weren’t very impressed with the chilli to soy sauce ratio (chilli slices floating freely in the soy sauce, much much more soy sauce than chilli – the chilli slices you see in the photo are all there were – there’s no “bottom layer” of chilli), mostly because the menu stated that chilli/chilli sauce was 50 cents a dish.

I ordered the soy sauced chicken rice (AU$8.00, yep – that’s what it says on the menu “soy sauced chicken rice”). The chicken, stained brown from having been braised in soy sauce, was moist and flavourful. I’ll definitely be eating at Mai’s again.

Thursday – J had another of 88 Royal’s chicken schnitzel burgers (AU$6.50). She’s eaten these three or four times now, and they’ve been consistently great.

I ordered the hamburger (AU$6.00), which consisted of beef pattie, lettuce, tomato, cheese, red onion and bacon. They gave me a choice of sauce in the burger too – I chose tomato sauce. It was a rather handsome and delicious burger, one which would satisfy any burger craving. An egg and a slice of pineapple would make it even more perfect (and calorie-laden). :) I love how the colourful contents are just bursting out of that bun – to me, this burger shouts, “BITE ME!”

Friday – J and went to Manhattan’s on Hay (Shop 9, 230 Hay Street, East Perth, corner of Bennett and Hay Streets). We got there around quarter to noon, which was a good thing, as the lunch rush happened quite soon after that. We ordered from the lunch specials menu. J ordered the chicken in creamy mushroom sauce (AU$10.90), which came with chips and salad.

The creamy sauce was great for dipping chips into.

The chips were Supacrunch chips, which I really like. That thin layer of seasoned batter on the outside of each chip provides the extra flavour and crunch.

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I ordered the chicken parmigiana (AU$10.90). The crumbed breast of chicken was topped with a slice of ham, napolitana sauce and cheese.

I’m sure most of you will say they didn’t use enough cheese, but I actually like that they didn’t go crazy with the cheese.

The chef knows how to cook chicken breast! It was not at all dry. The combination of crumbed chicken, ham, napolitana and cheese was just perfect. If you’re going to eat crumbed chicken, this is one of the best ways to eat it.