Learn what Whitney Ng has to say about her Perth

Have you heard of Taste Master of West Australia? Organised by Tourism West Australia, a range of films centre on the 6 months that Rich Keam spent in WA as Taste Master were developed. Here is one of the film that showing how Rich Keam, the Best Jobs in the World winner and the Taste Master of Western Australia described Perth from the ocean to the city with Whitney Ng, a local blogger and food writer recently.

This video is truly an eye opener that completely changed my perception towards Perth and West Australia, somewhere that I’ve been getting rain checks for a visit.

To understand Perth and its food scene further, thanks to the WA Tourism board, we managed to have an exclusive interview with Whitney Ng. Here is the interview session with here to learn about her blog journey and what Whitney Ng has to say about her Perth.

Why did you start Dine Whit Me?

Starting a blog is probably one of the best accidents I’ve ever made and also a good example of how peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing. I lacked the self belief and my best friend, as an accomplished food photographer himself was always pushing me to get comfortable with sharing my opinions and photographs of food beyond instagram – thus, dinewhitme.com was born.

What do you think readers get from it?

From the start, I said that I’d only do this (blogging) if I could truly express my own opinions as blogging ethics is an aspects of the industry that I feel very strongly about. I will always tell it like it is and I feel that my brutal honesty is what a lot of my readers appreciate. I also like putting together guides and being that hub of reliable information that people can always come back to for all their food and travel needs.

What is your goal for Dine Whit me in 2014?

In 2014, I hope to share more of the actual stories behind all my food experiences; I come from a family of foodies, where food is part of our day to day both at work and at home. I really like to idea of sharing not just a review, but a perspective – literal “food for thought”. Improving my photography is another big focus of mine for this year; it’s quite possibly my favourite thing about blogging. I love the challenge of getting the “money shot” and I feel like photos give another beautiful facet to whatever story I’m telling.

What do you love about the Perth food scene?

Compared to all the other Aussie cities, Perth has been a bit of an underdog – we’ve known it for a while now and I think in recent years people have just decided to put their foot down and step up. It’s like overnight, we decided we’d stop being boring; bars open later, all day dining is celebrated, the coffee can rival our eastern neighbours and we now also have some of the best food trucks in the country. We have amazing produce that is championed by a lot of amazing local chefs, there’s a uniquely West Australian feel to it – our food scene is progressive and it’s something to be proud of.

When you return to Perth what are the things you want to do first?

Get a good cup of coffee – when I lived in Russia, it took me three months to find a cafe that was on par with anything that we had back at home. When I came back to Australia after my time in Moscow, I felt like I had just woken up from a long hibernation and I really took the time to rediscover and appreciate the restaurants and cafes we have here in Perth.

What does Perth do better than anywhere else?

I like that good food in Perth isn’t all concentrated into one place – we’re good at offering diversity without compromising on quality, it’s all about the food and it’s very down to earth. If you want authentic Vietnamese Banh Mi, you go to Girrawheen. If you’re into classy degustations, go to Restaurant Amuse or Co-Op Dining in East Perth. If you’re hankering after for the best coffee in city, you’ll find it all through the central business district, up Northbridge and onto North Perth. Authentic South East Asian food is King in the Southern suburbs and personally, I think Highgate does a great job of doing a little bit of everything really well.

What do you wish Perth did, but doesn’t?

Not to say that Perth isn’t catching on but I’m all about the street food, cheap authentic eats and the hawker markets. Our food markets here are seasonal and with the Winter months coming up, I’ll be sad to see some great food vendors have to pack up for the season. I really wish that there was more of street side eating culture – you know, have that one place that I can go to, for that one good thing that they do, any time of the year.

What is your hot tip for Australian food in the next 12 months?

Just watch as “artisan” and “small batch” everything pops up – doughnuts especially; I’m surprised that nobody has put out gourmet doughnuts yet in Perth. People are really getting into the idea of communal dining, share plates and eating everything family style – I think it’s great and I really embrace menus that do that. Australia as a whole has really been put on the world food map in the last couple of years and with Heston Blumenthal’s the Fat Duck migrating to Melbourne soon, I think everyone will get even more excited about food and fine dining in general. We’re going to see more and more international ideas coming in but hopefully with some kind of Australian twist on the menu – over the next year, everyone is bound to get more adventurous. I’d really like to see someone do great things with crocodile or witchetty grubs!

What are you travel plans, next stops?

I’d love to go to North Korea – from a photojournalism point of view, it would be my dream to capture an environment that is so elusive and intriguing; my curiosity and my sense of adventure beckons me there. Returning to Italy is also on the cards; I’d love to live there for a few months and learn all I can from the land, restaurants, learn nonna recipes and uncover the street corners that I remember exploring years ago for the first time. – Travel Feeder

Bio: Whitney Ng is a Perth based food and drink writer and blogger. She’s a dab hand at all things photographic and written on her blog Dine Whit Me as well as working with food and culture publications.

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.