Duende, Leederville

I have been here on two occasions in the morning and afternoon and I have really enjoyed it both times. Its a really nice casual place to catch up with friends but the decor could probably be updated and it can be a bit cramped if you have a large group. They don't take bookings and open from 7.30am. Its a tapas restaurant and ranges from $14 to $28, or $4 for nibbles.

The menu contained some ingredients that I needed further clarification on but the waitress wasn't too friendly during her explanations, almost talking down upon us which I thought was rude.

Firstly, I started out with strawberry juice and I initially thought that they used fresh pressed juice as stated on the website, but then I later saw it was just purchased in bulk without any labels just like an ordinary drink from the grocery stores. It was still pleasant, but a bit sweet.

For starters we had the Prawn and Chorizo Paella Balls. This came with a creamy dipping sauce on the bottom which complimented the fried texture well. It was tasty and not too salty. I would try this one again.

For my main I had the eggs Benedict and the Hollandaise sauce was light and not too overpowering which was nice with the sprinkle of chives. The prosciutto was generous and worked well with the whole dish. The poached eggs on the other hand was overcooked! So was everyone else's and this included my friend's dish containing one sole poached egg, which I thought was strange that they couldn't get right. The sour dough bread on the bottom was rock hard and I couldn't bite through the crust, so I didn't eat most of the bread. Overall, the flavours were nice. I also tried a bit of my friends vegetarian mushrooms and spinach on sour dough bread. The mushrooms had a char grilled flavour and were excellent. However, the bread was hard in this instance as well.

For dessert we had the Doughnut Balls with Condensed Milk Ice-cream, the restaurants speciality dessert. The ice-cream scoop was so tiny and was enough only for one mouthful. It was creamy not too sweet which I really enjoyed, but I wanted more and I'm not a huge eater. The doughnut balls were light and fluffy on the inside and coated in sugar on the outside approximately 10cm in diameter. This is a must try if you come here and like dessert.

On my previous occasion when I came here in the afternoon I tried the Rabbit Tagine. The meat fell away from the bone and was very filling. Its was also the largest meal on the menu and came with rice. However, the meat contained a lot of fat and I couldn't consume all of it. It came to the table piping hot from the oven.

The chips and chorizo was also very nice and are good for a small starter dish if you are planning on ordering more later on.

You can order wine and cocktails from here too that aren't too bad. Its a great place to relax and socialise with friends.