Next Door @ No. 4, North Perth

Website: http://no4blakestreet.com.au/

Next Door @ No. 4 is the sister of the well-known restaurant No.4 Blake Street in North Perth. The style of this restaurant is targeted towards quality wine and small bites. They're the only place in Perth we know of that offers a "Trust the Chef" option for $50 per person, where you receive a selection of dishes chosen by the chef without knowing what they are until they come out. However they do ask if you have any dietary requirements beforehand. We were motivated to try this out after seeing the 50% off deal on Dimmi. 

We were seated and served with complimentary sourdough bread. We were already impressed because the crust was beautiful and crispy, while the inside was light and fluffy. Dat bread dough! We figured out how to use the aperture settings and f-stop on our camera ;)

Duck and Taleggio Croquettes, Hazelnut Marmalade 

The first dish we received were these amazing croquettes. They were fried to perfection with a gooey cheesy centre with a hint of duck meat. However, the sweetness of the marmalade on the side was a little too overpowering for this dish, luckily it was on the side and you had the option to dip or not. We rate this dish 7/10.

House Feta

The feta was amazing, so soft and creamy, you could definitely tell that it was a high quality cheese! The coleslaw on the side wasn't creamy which made it a perfect match for the cheese and the tanginess worked so well with the dish. The slices of ham was also a great addition, this dish would've been perfect with a glass of wine as a starter, it deserved a rating of 8/10. 

Chicken Terrine, Liver Parfait, Stone Fruit

This dish was probably the downfall for the "Trust the Chef" option as you never know what you're going to get especially when it includes liver puree. We went in this dish with an open mind as we personally aren't fans of terrine and liver or any organs for that matter, but we understand that many people enjoy this type of food so don't be discouraged to try this out. After one bite, we were put off by the cold meatiness of the terrine which lacked any other flavour beside meat and the puree did not help either. We rate this dish 2/10 for presentation.

Puy Lentils, Smoked Onions, Saffron

We were glad that this dish came out next! It was warm and hearty, just a nice comforting dish after going out of our comfort zone to try liver. It was reminiscent of an Indian style dhal, only it didn't have any spice. The saffron sauce was a nice touch, but we did find that this dish was a little plain, still it was a good choice to have this in the selection as the other dishes were quite flavoursome. We rate this dish 6.5/10 

Beef Intercostal, Burnt Cauliflower, Parsley 

The beef was cooked to perfection while being slightly pink on the inside. The sauces complemented the dish very well and we could tell there was a lot of effort put into the preparation of this dish. The beef was cooked a lot better than what we've tried at other restaurants, we only wish that there was more of it though, we give it a rating of 7/10.

Chocolate Garden

This is a very rich chocolate mousse dish, with dashes of salted caramel and macadamia inside, targeted towards all the dessert lovers out there. If you're not a sweet tooth this will probably be a little too sweet after a long meal, but if you are, this dish is heaven in a flower pot! We adore the presentation, the chocolate crumble on the top gave the mousse the perfect texture, we rate this dish 7.5/10. 

Mango, Coconut Sago, Lime, Sesame

This dish was a perfect ending to our variety of dishes. It was light, refreshing and not too sweet. We can appreciate the asian influence with the sago and mango sorbet, the honeycomb added just enough texture to the desert. This is a universal dessert that most people will enjoy, it was also one of our favourites, we rate it 9/10.

Overall Review

We would like to mention that the customer service here was great, the staff were friendly and efficient. "Trust the Chef" is an excellent concept for those that are adventurous and love to try new things, it does work out to be cheaper than ordering each dish individually. However, we wouldn't come here for a big feed as it is quite expensive, Next Door @ No. 4 is more suited towards having luxury bites and speciality wine. Overall we rate this restaurant 8/10.