Leederville Food Safari

What an awesome and fun dining concept! Some friends took us on the Leederville Food Safari as a surprise present last weekend and we had such a great time, especially since we had no idea what was in store!
We arrived at Ria and only after the waitress came over did we find out what we were doing. The entrees were delicious — the chicken satay skewers were bursting with flavour, and I loved the little square of sticky rice and eggrolls they were served with. The tasty salmon sashimi cubes were served on a Chinese soup spoon with a bit of soy sauce and the octopus was tender and expertly cooked.
It was so fun to hop onto the carriage on the back of the rickshaw and since there were 4 of us, we split out onto 2 rickshaws whose drivers were obviously friends and had a bit of friendly competition on who could race us to the next place the fastest. What a great workout for them — apparently we were the 20^th group they’d shuttled back and forth that night! Tip your rickshaw driver, people!
Next stop was Kitsch. We were seated out in the front courtyard underneath a huge frangipani tree that must have been there for at least 40 years — what a beautiful setting.
Kitsch was a cute little quirky spot as the name suggests, I love the mix of decorations inside such as the bathroom door covered completely in comic strips and the huge mural of an Asian lady enjoying a cheeky beer.
The main meal was a bit overwhelming but in a good way — there was just so much food! Some dishes were better than others.
We ordered the pork belly which was delicious but the crackling wasn’t as crispy as it could have been. The BBQ Szechuan chicken was delightful but the lamb massaman might have been my favourite with its chunky curry sauce and fresh pickled cucumber ribbons on top. The whole fish wasn’t great unfortunately which is a shame because the flavours were good but either it was undercooked or it wasn’t fresh because the flesh just turned into a pile of mush when you tried to scrape it from the bones.
For sides, the papaya salad was a bit meh — it didn’t have as much of that fish sauce and chili flavour as I wished. The green beans and sautéed Asian greens were beautiful though, perfectly cooked though the greens may have been a bit on the salty side — nice with a bit of rice to balance it all out though.
Our last stop for dessert was at Foam, a hustling little café even late on a Saturday night. I had an amazing Prana chai and fig and ginger cake.
Overall, the pace of the night was perfect — never did we feel rushed to finish up our meals or drinks to go to the next place, and we were never waiting too long after finishing for our ride to the next place. The food safari works perfectly in Leederville as the restaurants are all just a few blocks from each other. In the end, I was stuffed to the brim and couldn’t even think of more food. What a great idea, I encourage you all to take a this little safari!

Great idea, great food!
Love the idea of dinning in the three locations. Entrée at Ria (vegetarian for me) was tasty. The cocktail «Bitter Mango» (I think) was delicious. The rickshaw ride to the next location, Kitsch is something different. Tip for the lads, great idea for a first date
The vege option I had was the noodle dish, wasn’t amazing and could have been smaller with more vege rather than a huge amount of noodles.
The third stop, desert, was Foam. Tip, you are allowed to pick whatever cakes/​slices/​smoothies/​coffee you want from Foam so leave room!
There were 7 of us so we tried a lot of the cakes, all were good, the best was the choc zucchini cake and I loved the Portuguese tart.
I have eaten at all three locations prior to the food safari and will continue to.
The $ 95 per person price tag doesn’t include drinks but I felt it was good value for money.

What a fantastic idea! A progressive dinner spread across 3 locations which you get to via rickshaw! It was absolutely fantastic and we enjoyed this immensely.
First stop where you meet is Ria Malaya. We were greeted really warmly and walked through what would happen on the night. The entrees were delicious and the satays were the highlight with such tender chicken.
Second stop was Kitsch where we chose 2 mains and a side dish served with rice. The food was yum and very filling.
Third stop is Foam where we had coffee and cakes. My lord we could barely fit a few mouthfuls in but we tried.
If you get a chance, give this a whirl. It’s great fun and value for money. The service is great and we really enjoyed it.
Note: all drinks wee extra and not included in the price of the safari

This progressive dinner by rickshaw is a great idea for a date, birthday or even a fun way for a small group of friends to spend a night out.
I was lucky enough to get invited to a kind of media launch night for the Leederville Food Safari last night.
Starting at RIA, you’ll get a sample of their most popular dishes — satay chicken sticks, ribs and mushroom balls with rice. At RIA you’ll place your order for your mains at the next stop Kitsch
Hop on your rickshaw after your first course and as soon as the wheels start moving and you’re gliding along Oxford Street you instantly feel like you’re on holiday in a foreign place.
Cocktails are a must at Kitsch, which I wasn’t aware of till last night. They take them very seriously. The Spicy ginger cocktail is their specialty, but it’s not for the fainthearted, using chilli vodka and slices of chilli. The Red Rickshaw cocktail will satisfy those with a sweeter tooth — topped with a rainbow liquorice lolly strip!
I had another event to head to last night, so I didn’t make it to the third and final stop Foam, for coffee and cake.
It’s $ 75 for the three courses, including the rickshaw ride, but not including drinks. Such great value and such a fun activity!