Review: Ria

160 Oxford St, Leederville, Perth.

There are a pair of excellent reviews for Ria over at Abstract Gourmet (1, 2). I've been far slower in visiting the deservedly popular and commendable Malaysian restaurant, largely because of the house policy of not allowing reservations. With a young family, scheduling and certainty when it comes to feeding times is very important. . . The solution of course is to visit without children (which most of the fashionable clientele do), or as close to the 5:30pm opening time as possible (arriving after 7pm will mean time waiting on the pavement).

The food is satisfyingly good and true. The menu is short, there were no noodle dishes for instance, but each and every dish I tasted was lovingly prepared and complete. Some highlights included the multi-textured egg plant salad (which had at least 15 ingredients that I could identify) and the indulgent caramelised duck (pictured above). The food, being Nonya inspired, is strongly spiced and flavoured, making wine matching challenging. It was a challenge I avoided, the excellent food and curries are much better suited to beer and in the end I opted for pint of Porters. For those interested in wine, it is BYO (bring riesling, rosé or a cheap GSM blend), or there is a short list (9 whites and 9 reds, and all seemingly from the Constellation stable of brands - Amberley, Goundry, Hougton, Tintara, Yarra Burn, Kim Crawford etc) which could do with more diversity and thought.