A few weeks ago we were invited by David Gardiner PR to attend the event, A Tale of Two Cities presented by The Publican Group. This event showcases the best of sister restaurants, The Aviary and Public House which are under the same group. We were given a choice of starting our gastronomic adventure at either one of the restaurants and we chose to commence with a South American adventure at Public House.

Public House is a South American inspired venue, drawing  culinary influences from countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia. Public House is a perfect venue to enjoy food cooked slowly with love and passion with family and friends just while enjoying a great range of beverages from Australia and South America.

We started with an interactive hands-on ceviche masterclass hosted by Chef Josh Pearce. I love a good ceviche and enjoy the refreshing and tangy flavours. To start, we enjoyed our drinks and snacked on chips served with a creamy guacamole dip. On Josh’s instructions, we added our assorted flavourings to the fresh white groper. What I found interesting was, according to Josh, the acidity from the lime juice helps to cook the thin slices of fish to produce a beautiful ceviche dish. We loved the bright ricoto sauce which added some heat to the ceviche. The ceviche masterclass was enjoyable and is perfect for any occasion!

The ceviche masterclass runs every Monday at 7pm starting Monday 3rd October and is priced at $10 per person. Recipe cards are also included for you to take home to recreate your very own ceviche at home.

If you love cocktails, there’s also a Pisco Masterclass at $10 per person which starts Monday 7th November where you will be guided through a hands-on masterclass to create and enjoy your very own Pisco Cocktail.

For more information and to purchase tickets, check out  www.publichouseperth.com.au/whats-on

After the ceviche masterclass, we boarded the bus to be transported to The Aviary’s Bird Cage Restaurants for a South East Asian feast. We enjoyed a palate cleanser on the bus before arriving at our destination.

The Bird Cage Restaurant and Lounge Bar is located on level 1 of The Aviary in the heart of Perth CBD. The food is inspired by the flavours of South East Asia with a modern Australian twist with a menu perfect for sharing with complimenting sides and choices of delicious dumplings. For after work drinks or a sneaky rest stop between shopping, the Lounge Bar offers Asian inspired cocktails with some bar bites as a perfect match. Not a fan of cocktails? You can also kick back and relax with your favourite beer.

This was our first time at The Bird Cage restaurant and the interior was stunning with an intimate atmosphere, perfect for a date night or a special occasion. We started our South East Asian adventure with the Infused Gin Lady cocktail, a concoction of kaffir lime and lemongrass infused Tangueray, Cointreau and Lemon. It’s refreshing, sharp with a hint of sourness.

Following on was The Flamingo, a sweeter cocktail which comprises of St Germain Elderflower, Fairy Floss and Pizzini Lana Prosecco. It’s poured over fairy floss which dissolves and reveals a floating flower as a hidden surprise tucked in the middle of fluffy clouds of fairy floss. Such a beautiful cocktail.

Here comes the South East Asian feast! For our mains, we enjoyed the smoked half chicken, chinese masterstock, celeriac and chilli lime sambal. I love the smoky aroma of the chicken with a crispy texture on the skin. It was so flavoursome and the chilli lime sambal added spice to the dish.

Next up was the fresh Humpty Doo barramundi with basil, clams, mussels served with Tom Yum teapot. Following chef Alex Baglin’s suggestion, we poured some Tom Yum soup onto pieces of barramundi giving it a punch of tangy flavours on the juicy, well cooked barramundi.

We also had the roast duck fried rice with Szechuan school prawns topped with a sous vide egg. The roast duck fried rice was delicious with tasty pieces of roast duck and crispy prawns. It was a dish bursting full of flavours.

As much as we enjoyed our mains, the sides were also pretty good too. We had the red plum kimchi with cucumber ribbon salad and roasted ginger beans. A perfect complement to the delicious mains.

To finish off our South East Asian feast, we had some desserts. The roasted banana, white chocolate parfait, mandarin and star anise sorbet was creamy and very dreamy.

If you love chocolate, the dark chocolate pave, kaffir lime berries, coconut and sesame crumble will win your heart! It’s decadently rich and smooth, with beautiful flavours well balanced with fresh and light textures.

Being in the heart of Perth City, the Bird Cage Restaurant serves up beautiful South East Asian inspired food along with good Asian inspired cocktails. We really enjoyed our dining experience at the Bird Cage. Can’t decide what to order? Try the Feed Me menu. For $48 per person, let the chef do the work and create a feast with the Chef’s daily favourites. All you have to do is to sit back, relax and bring an empty stomach!

We would like to thank David Gardiner PR for the invitation to attend A Tale of Two Cities and the team behind Public House and The Bird Cage Restaurant at The Aviary for the food and the awesome night out!