Murphy's Irish Pub, Mandurah

This pub, on the Mandurah foreshore, was lively at lunchtime on Easter Sunday, without being so noisy you couldn't hear the conversation around you. It's clean and the decor is pleasant. All in all a very laid-back atmosphere.

They have a decent lunch menu, not huge but the usual pub fare was there. I ordered the marinated chicken salad with cashews and caramelised pumpkin ($17.50). It was delicious, though packed to the brim with salad onion. Had this been listed on the menu I wouldn't have touched it with a barge pole. After I had picked it all out, I got stuck in. The raspberry dressing was very tasty. There was only four or five pieces of pumpkin, so maybe they should have listed feta - which was plentiful - on the menu, instead of pumpkin! The chicken was flavoursome without being too salty or overpowering. The feta was delicious and good quality, and there were just enough cashews too. Salads can often have far too much lettuce/rocket to outweigh the other ingredients, but not in this case. I would definitely order it again.

As an aside, my mum ordered the steak sandwich ($19), which I considered but for my fear of too-strong aioli. But I tried it - delicious! I'd probably order it if I had another lunchtime venture to Murphy's.

Murphy's also has a good, interactive website that's clearly updated often, to their credit. Recommended, especially for lunch on a weekend to watch the footy.

Paddy Maguire's, Subiaco

Paddy Maguire's is actually something of a chain, with restaurants in Perth, Sydney and Adelaide. It hasn't a decent website too. Bonus!

It's got a good Irish pub vibe, the soccer was on when we were there and everyone was in a good mood. It's definitely a Subiaco venue (read: not a Northbridge venue), so the place wasn't full of bogans and their half dressed tarts.

The tables weren't cleared too quickly, so it was a little bit of a trek to find one that was clean.

The menu was pretty decent. I was in need of a hamburger, so it was Paddy's Burger ($18) for me. It was pretty decent, though the beef was a bit on the dry side. But the onion chutney was delicious and the side salad wasn't packed with red onion.

My mum ordered Maguire's Steak Sandwich ($18.50) which was huge! And also a bit excessive maybe, what with the bacon, egg AND beef. But if you can handle your food falling apart before it between the plate and your mouth, the steak sandwich is a goer.

The drinks cost a fortune; we paid well over $20 for two Southern Comforts and a Diet Coke!

But overall I was impressed by Paddy Maguire's. It's nice to find a venue where I don't feel like I don't belong there just because I know all the letters of the alphabet. And the food was pretty damn good as well. Would definitely go back.

Recommended.

Kulcha, Joondalup

I went to Kulcha for dinner a week or so back with my family. It was quite a spontaneous decision, which is rare for us, so good to try somewhere new.

Although it was a Friday night, being in Joondalup I didn't expect the restaurant to be busy, but on the contrary it was packed and we were lucky to get a table.

It's a casual place, not big and not particularly posh, but other than the constant drone of noise the ambience was more akin to a huge and cosy family gathering than a free-for-all in a barn (unless your hold your family gatherings in a barn, and if you do, good for you).

In fact, the noise was only downside. The food arrived quickly and there was mountains of it, enough for a weekend of leftovers (yay a restaurant that still lets you do this!). The best thing is, of course, that it was really tasty, even though we ordered fairly standard dishes, they were not neglected in terms of their flavour.

The staff were very friendly, accommodating and efficient, which was a wonder considering how busy the restaurant was the night we were there.

Including drinks, four adults ate for around $60 - a rare thing in Perth these days.

Kulcha also have some great lunch specials. Recommended.