All About Perth

Today, my sister & I headed off to Morley Galleria shopping centre for lunch, and I suggested we go to Han's Cafe, which is hidden outside the building, just near the movie cinema complex on the top floor.

I generally enjoy Han's, and figured a meal there would make a nice change of pace from the usual range of same-old same-old of the food court. After all, there's only so many times you can eat at Red Rooster or the crepe place before you get sick of it all.

So… we probably arrived at about 2pm, which was (admittedly) a late lunch, so there were PLENTY of seats available, and we were greeted and shown to a seat immediately, which is always nice.

We were both starved, so I figured we'd order an entree and a main + drinks, and therein is perhaps my 1 MAJOR complaint about Han's in Morley…

They take AGES to come and take your order (this judgement has been made after quite a few visits to this restaurant in the last year). Either they're on you in 1-2 minutes, before you've had a chance to even browse the menu, or you can expect to wait at LEAST 10 minutes before a waiter comes into sight and actually asks if you're ready to place your order yet. Out of all the Han's Cafes in Perth, in my opinion, the Morley one is absolutely the WORST for this and I don't really understand why that's the case.

Whether it's a lack of appropriate staff training, or the wait staff just don't care, or some other reason again, I have no idea. I just know it cheeses me off every time I go there, and I wish someone in power there would actually do something about it. Complaining does nothing either, because it seems half the waitstaff barely speak English, which makes it an exercise in futility!

They couldn't even claim they were busy and rushed off their feet today, because they weren't. There have probably only been 10 occupied tables in the entire place, and if you've ever been there, you know it's big and caters to a LOT more people than that.

ANYWAY, enough of my petty bitching once we finally got the attention of an elusive waitress, she came and took our order.

Having eaten at Han's many times over the years, I know what I like, so I tend to stick to the old favourites, and nothing was different today. I ordered their yummy chicken satay sticks for starters and the squid pepper for main. My sister ordered the spring rolls as her entree and Singapore Noodles for main, along with a plate of stir fried vegies for us to share. Once the waitress had taken our order, she scarpered to do whatever it is they do behind the protection of the kitchen wall, and my sister bolted to grab some cash from the ATM.

Our entrees turned up within about 5-10 minutes, which is actually a bit slow for Han's - speed of delivery of your food is (from my experience) one of their strengths. Since my sister hadn't returned yet and I was starving, I got stuck into the satay sticks. As usual, they were great! These guys REALLY know how to knock out an awesome satay stick (their beef is nearly as good as the chicken), and the satay sauce is always tasty. If you're a satay lover like me, I highly recommend these.

Just as I finished, Dani got back and started on her Spring Rolls. Now, usually I also enjoy their spring rolls - they're not the best I've ever had, but they're usually tasty and they come with a yummy sweet chilli dipping sauce, but today Dani was not impressed… She finished them but commented that they were only "OK". Since I didn't taste one, I have to leave that judgement up to her…

Not long after that, our mains arrived and looked pretty tasty. I've never really had a bad experience with the Squid Pepper at Han's, and today I wasn't disappointed either. It is delish - squid cooked in a crumbly crispy tasty batter (somewhat reminicent of KFC Hot n Spicy coating but milder tasting) - with a nice sweet chilli sauce on it. Not too much, not too little batter - just right! Also, not swimming in grease or oil - they're just right!

They're tight with the sauce - there was very little, although I guess I could have asked for more (but that's usually another exercise in futility at Han's…), but it's very enjoyable and compliments the squid & the batter nicely.

I thoroughly enjoyed my squid, so I had no complaints there.

On the other hand, Dani must have been having a bad hair day because she hated the stir fried vegies AND she was under-impressed with the Singapore Noodles! The poor waitress who was at the cash register when we went up to pay copped a serve from my grumpy-pants sister, which was made all the worse by her limited english language skills. She just didn't know which way to look or what to say…

I tried the vegies myself - a large plate of brocolli, cauliflower, mushrooms, tofu and HEAPS of bean sprouts (not my fav) and they were OK, but (I thought) lacking in flavour. They definitely could have done with a nice asian-flavoured sauce lightly blended through them to add some oomph, and perhaps the liquid drained off from the cooking (the plate was swimming in the juices, which really didn't enhance the meal). I wouldn't say I hated them, but Dani was definitely NOT impressed!

Oh well, some days you win, and other days you lose when it comes to eating at restaurants. Anyway, I definitely enjoyed my meal, so I'll be back for more squid and satay another day soon.

Final Comments:

Hmmm… well, first, you've got to accept that Han's Cafe is NOT a 5 Star restaurant. They specialise in low priced asian cuisine, which is USUALLY very tasty, but the service often leaves a lot to be desired, and they are slack as all hell on things like taking a drinks order as soon as you arrive and coming around on a more regular basis to see if you want more drinks, etc. I am convinced they'd enhance their bottom line significantly if they just made that 1 small change to how they do business, because I have had plenty of times when I have been dying of thirst and unable to get hold of someone to take my order for even something simple like a can of diet coke!

Secondly, one minor thing about Han's that has bothered me for ages is that they are stingy with the darn napkins! Yeh, sounds really silly (and petty!), but the food can be sticky & messy at times and they only ever bring you 1 napkin, and if you ask for more, you usually only get 1 more! In the end, you have to get up and go grab some more from the dispensary areas where they keep the cutlery, etc. It's frustrating and stupid, when you consider how simple it would be to supply some extras upfront, OR bring back more than 1 if you ask for more. What price customer satisfaction eh???

Their strengths are: good quality food, cheap prices, LOTS of choices (over 125 menu items, which can actually be a bit overpowering at times, but there's usually something for everyone's tastebuds, and they tend to bring your food out quickly, which is a good thing, IMO. Oh, and there's plenty of Han's around town - 14 of them so far, with plans for more as time goes by, according to their website.

Anyway, overall today, I'd give them an 8.5/10 for food quality, a 4/10 for service and a 6/10 for the actual look & feel of the place. I hesitate to give a score for Dani ;-), so let's leave it unwritten eh, and hopefully she'll have a better experience next time! The bill came to a total of $44 for 3 mains, 2 entrees and 2 drinks - not an expensive meal, unless a McHappy meal is your idea of a big night out!

Address: Centro Galleria Cnr Collier & Walter Road, Morley

Phone: (08) 9375 6822 (from experience, they don't normally take bookings for tables over the phone, but maybe that's changed now?)