Food Review: Julio's

Last week a group of us dine at Julio's in West Perth. We dine out weekly and given that our current copy of The Entertainment Book (EB) is going to expire come end of June, we've been trying out places listed in there. Last week, we had a few options and finally decided to try Julio's as the menu looked very good. Butm, as the old adage goes, looks can be deceiving.

I will not go into minute details, as I have already written a review for the EB website. Unfortunately, while the EB accepted my rating for Julio's, they did not choose to include my review itself. I noticed later that the only review they did include, also had the most favourable ratings to go with it. Makes you wonder, does it not?

Anyway, Jane (who is the friend in question in my review) said I should blog about my experience and since I had also sent her a copy of my review, I've attached it here.


Food - 3
Service - 4
Atmosphere - 6
Review - "I rather liked the atmosphere of Julio's; the dark wood floor along with white walls and framed pictures gave it a bit of a French feel. However, the food was sadly lacking.

I had the grilled mushrooms for entree and while it was very tasty, it was nothing amazing and it was easily something I could also have done at home. I (and a friend) had ordered the fettucine with Morton Bay bugs for my main but was told that they were out of bugs and would be substituting it with prawns.

My friend had ordered the prawns as an entree and said she'd like to change the entree to the calamari. However, she was still brought prawns as her entree as the waitress had mixed up the order (we were later again brought the wrong meals). Our pasta was over-cooked and very bland. And we got 4 prawns each with our pasta. I thought this a very pitiful attempt, considering the prices charged.

No one came by asking if we would like fresh pepper or if the meals were okay. When we left, no one (despite me catching their eye) thanked us for coming. I would definitely not go back and neither would I recommend this to anyone. "

It was a shame really. The place had great potential; I really liked the way it had been set up and as I said, the menu looked wonderful. They just need better staff, certainly a better chef and they need to not penny-pinch with their ingredients (Morton Bay bugs aren't exactly cheap and if your dish reflects this price, you can't really expect that 4 measly prawns - that weren't exactly cooked to perfection either - be a sufficient substitute).

To reiterate, NEVER going back there again, and I highly discourage anyone else from doing so.