a day at fremantle markets

Entrance to Fremantle Markets.

I love markets. I love my local markets, and I love exploring markets that are foreign to me.

So it goes without saying that when we were in Perth, I enjoyed it very much when we went to Fremantle Markets, with Simon's brother and his wife playing tour guides. They love food and are happy to recommend their favourite eats! My kind of tour guides.

Oh, we did other wonderful things as well, like strolling around, visiting a museum, appreciating the ocean. But as usual, all that I seem to capture is the food. So here we go.

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Michele's Crepe Suzette was an interesting start to the day. They are very popular, so there was a queue. We got a number and returned about ten minutes later for our lemon cinnamon sugar crepe. This is different to the wispy-thin crepes I usually have - they're thicker, chewier, more substantial. Keeping that in mind, I'm not sure about the authenticity, but they work as sort of a humble comfort food, if also a bit messy to eat in takeaway form - watch out for the syrup!

Lemon cinnamon sugar crepe by Michele's Crepe Suzette.

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Then we stopped to purchase a cup of soy chai masala from Black Cherries Espresso. I've mentioned before that Simon and I are picky about our chai, ever since he came back from his India holiday with the real thing. But we fancied this one - Simon even suggested this could be on par with the ones from India, or at least very close. While it does not emphasize the biting hot spices like peppercorn, it is certainly well-endowed with other lovely, fragrant, warm spices... my memory fails me now, but if I recall correctly, the notes of cardamom and cloves were particularly pretty in this one.

Masala chai from Black Cherries Espresso.

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I forgot to mention that the above two stops were, in some ways, placeholders for the main event - a ramen lunch at the famous Dosukoi Ramen Bar. We had registered our interest with them earlier in the day, and were told it could be up to a two-hour wait. So we gave them a mobile phone number, and happily wandered about until they called us. I'm not normally someone who hangs around this long for a meal, but hey, we're tourists with so many other things to explore, and all the time in the world! In the end, I think the wait was an hour and a half?

For starters we had chicken karaage. It was nicely seasoned, though that didn't stop us from liberally using the shichimi shaker on the table. You can almost never have too much spice. It could also be crunchier, but it was addictive regardless. Come on, it's deep-fried chicken.

We got the soft pork ramen, and while, given the hype, I think there is room for improvement, it was still tasty. I relished the kick of miso in the broth (though I suspect there is also added MSG swimming around in there, and the stock could use more depth); the noodles were perfectly cooked with great springy texture.

Pork ramen at Dosukoi.

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Finally, I became the cheerful owner of a chocolate doughnut from Levi's Doughnuts, made fresh so it came piping hot, much to my approval. This rustic, irregularly shaped beauty concealed a luxuriously glossy melted dark chocolate filling. It's both down-to-earth and sexy.

The dark-chocolate-filled doughnut from Levi's Doughnuts.

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Next post - saying goodbye to Perth, and then, finally, a recipe post, for those of you who miss them.
So do stick around!