Perth Voice Interactive

THERE really was rice in my green tea (toasted), along with wild-flowers and lemon verbena leaves.

And there was I thinking the blurb on  the menu was a bit like the description on a bottle of wine; pretentious flavours you try vainly to detect.

Secondeli in Mt Lawley is one of the first to serve Whistleblower Tea, produced by a WA start-up.

My meaningful green ($5) was superb, the slight bitterness of the green tea overlaid with a myriad of sweet flavours.  And, full of antioxidants, it’s good for you too.

It arrived in a tall mug, the blend still infusing and the leaves and flowers looking like they’d just been picked.

Six teas

A choice of six teas range from delicate green tea to a robust Sri Lankan one.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, the tea being the finale of a very pleasant lunch at Secondeli. It started with a cheery “hi” from no less than three staff as I perused the joint and its many offerings.

The sun was warming a seat on the pavement so I grabbed a table outdoors despite the funky semi-industrial chic interior, where mellow jazz added to the ambience.

If it had been breakfast the coconut pancakes, with salted caramel sauce, bananas and hazelnut cream ($14) wouldn’t have escaped.

But this was lunch and a spanakopta $15) caught my eye.

Crisp, delicate filo pastry encased a tasty mix of spinach and ricotta, with plenty of flavour and none of the bitterness some spinach pies have. And the rich tomatoey chutney was a deliciously sharp accompaniment.

My companion took a nanosecond to choose the crumbed chicken breast with caramelised onion.

It’s coating was such a rich, golden hue he mused it deserved its own place at the London Metals Exchange, perhaps at $16/oz.

“Thick, even and delicious, it took aeons to make my way through to the chicken, where crunch gave way to a tender piece of breast. The caramelised onions were subtle and complemented the fresh salad, and left a pleasing zing in my mouth as a reminder of a lovely meal,” he enthused

The dessert cabinet was groaning under a great selection, but we finally settled on a Persian love cake (“I need love,” my mate said) and a sticky date pudding cake ($6).

Magnificent

Warm and moist, the sticky date was magnificent with the tea and quickly gobbled down.

The love cake was so moist it was threatening its own “not Persian – Iranian” decree and rebadging itself mousse.

“It was slightly more sugary and less piquant than other versions where they’ve hammered the nutmeg and cardamom to get that exotic east feel, but was delicious and well worth it nonetheless.”

by JENNY D’ANGER

Secondeli
751 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley
open 7 days 7am–4pm