silks; a night of indulgence

Last night I had the guilty pleasure of dining at Silks Crown, Perth. 

Thanks to Silks Chinese Restaurant, the wonderful merging of two concepts; Chinese food and fine-dining, was a delight to my tastebuds.  When you first walk in, you are greeted by the gorgeous array of oriental lights and decor that fill the large and well-lit open space - that's a yes from me. 

To start the evening off, we ordered some cocktails, and left it up to the wonderful manager Jeffrey to decide for us. In fact, the whole menu tonight was left to his expertise, so we were in for a surprise. 

Cocktails

First up, the Golden Silks Cocktail. If you look really closely, you're able to see the small golden flakes, precipitating out as the frozen mango juice ball slowly dissolves. The title is a perfect fit for the drink. At first, the taste of vodka is quite prominent, but if you wait for the frozen ball to dissolve a bit (it takes a very long time so don't worry if you want to take pictures), the sweet mango juice flavour will dominate.

Golden Silks Cocktail Drink; vodka, mango liqueur, mango juice, lime juice. 

Raspberry Vodka Mojito - Oh my goodness, this might just be my new favourite alcoholic beverage (in close second place is now Soho x Lemonade - girls, seriously, get on that). For those of you that want an alcoholic drink without the traumatising taste - this raspberry vodka mojito is your new best friend. It's refreshing, sweet and is the perfect drink to cleanse the palate between dishes. This absolutely divine drink is served in a transparent tea pot for you to self-pour in the cutest matching tea cup. Such an innovative and creative serving method to match the concept of the restaurant. It is served on a wooden board, which is very handy in manoeuvring on the table, might I add.  

Raspberry Vodka Mojito; vodka, lime juice, raspberry, mint leaves, cranberry juice 

Starters 

For starters, an amuse-bouche; the octopus with hoisin sauce. So fresh and full of flavour. 

Next up, the Crispy Rice Paper Prawn Roll, one of Silk's signature dishes. This delightful crispy roll comes part of the Jade Degustation Menu, or ordered separately as a hot appetiser.

The Baked Crab Shell with Portuguese Sauce is another one of Silk's Signature dishes, ordered as a hot appetiser. Once you delve your golden spoon through the top layer, you'll find large chunks of crab within a hearty sauce which reminded me, personally, of curry. 

Very shortly after subtly whisking away our plates came the Peking Duck accompanied by a duck soup broth. Pretty devastated I didn't manage to capture a different angle to showcase the inside of this well-known Chinese peking duck wrap. For the least, picture succulent, moist peking duck, a layer of crispy skin, cucumber and spring onions, drizzled with tantalising hoisin sauce - all held together snug, in a light pancake. Mmmm, I could go for a few more of these right now.

Mains

After these appetisers, the mains started pouring in. Our eyes seriously didn't know where to settle.

First, the WA Broccolini and Assorted Mushrooms with Oyster Sauce, a dish for all my Vegetarian readers out there.
This was then accompanied by Silks’ Signature Fried Rice with scallop, prawn, roast duck and vegetables in XO Sauce. Definitely shareable amount, and you get a good six full rice bowls out of it.

After childishly thinking that was all for the mains, the Wok Fried King Prawns arrived. This dish comes with your choice of: Salted Egg Yolk, Honey Lime Glaze or Crispy Rice Chilli Sea Salt. We had the chilli sea salt, another Silk Signature option.  The concept of having a candle underneath to keep the temperature warm is quite smart. Personally, I think this could improve if the batter was more crispy to give the prawns more of a crunch upon each bite. 

The Peking Pork Loin was full of flavour, and its slightly sweet glaze was the perfect combination alongside the signature fried rice dish. 

By the time Jeffrey came around to check up on us again, we were absolutely stuffed. I honestly don't know how Alex and I managed to finish the food, but we ultimately devoured it. We were brought up to not waste food, so if there's food in front of us and there's a responsibility to finish it, you can bet that it will not go to waste (even if it takes some time...) So, once he mentioned "dessert", miraculously, we grew a separate second stomach for it. 

My "ready for round two" game face, it seems. 

Dessert

First up, the Green Tea Cheesecake with frozen raspberries, raspberry jelly and green tea granola (a recent addition to the new menu). And you can't forgo the white chocolate ice cream and biscuit crumb, a delightful flavour pairing to the slightly bitter (for those not adapted to the matcha taste) cheesecake. 

This dish was just so aesthetic, I couldn't not take a billion photos from different angles... as some of you might have seen from my snapchat (oops). 

Mango lovers, please now feast your eyes on this absolutely delicious concoction of Mango Cream, (Lime Streusel, Coconut and Lime Sorbet and Compressed Mango). The mango pudding was so soft; and the coconut and lime sorbet worked so well in balancing and complimenting the sweet mango pieces. A winning combination. Another one of Silk's signatures and there is no surprise why. 

Alex and I had such an amazing time dining at Silks Restaurant. We truly ended on such a good note with the desserts, but we definitely couldn't overlook the impeccable service and ambience of the whole experience. The quality of food and drinks, the attention to detail towards interior decor, as well as the friendly and helpful nature of all waiters really added to the whole experience. 

Thank you for having us down. And everyone - if you're after a new Chinese fine-dining experience, I highly recommend Silks Restaurant. 

p.s. the shell-looking couches in the centre of the restaurants are super cute for dates, just saying. 

- vic x