Chapel Farm Mongolian BBQ

Easter Sunday, April 8

Our activities for the day were a leisurely morning at home and a trip to Chapel Farm in the afternoon for Mongolian BBQ. Since we would be returning home after dark and would be having a glass or two of wine, we decided to take public transportation. We took the train to Perth but had to get off and take a bus part of the way due to track maintenance. Then we took another train to Midland where we caught another bus which dropped us off right at Chapel Farm. It took about 2 hours total compared to a 25 min. drive but it was stress-free and we had plenty of time.

Darren and Myra, our hosts, welcomed us with a glass of wine and when the rest of their friends arrived they gave us all a tour of their new guest accommodations. Chapel Farm has been a restaurant and event facility for about seven years. Darren and Myra have been working very hard to add on the six guest rooms doing most of the work themselves. The facility used to be a horse farm and the guest rooms were stables. Each room has a different theme: African, Beach, Bali, Black & White, Australian and Japanese - I think. The rooms are lovely - they did a great job.

The atmosphere is very warm and casual. The grounds include a pasture and pond with a burra, young alpacas, exotic goats and a couple of sheep - all one big happy herd. The restaurant includes an indoor lounge and tables, covered pavilion and a dance floor. There are also outdoor spaces suitable for wedding ceremonies.

As for the Mongolian BBQ: we were given a bowl to fill with raw ingredients of our choosing from a refrigerated buffet cart containing beef, chicken, fish, squid, a variety of veggies and a large assortment of sauces - mostly of the Asian variety. We then handed the bowl to the chef who skillfully cooked it all (like a stir-fry) on a huge gas-fired grill - 1.8 meters wide. Actually, there were two cooks and quite a few dinners could be prepared at one time. The completed meal was plated and we helped ourselves to steamed rice and more sauce if desired. The results were delicious and you would only have yourself to blame if you didn't like the taste since you chose the sauces yourself.

One of the guests was Darren's mother visiting from Melbourne. After dinner, she and a friend of hers entertained us all with line dancing on the dance floor. Now the last time I was involved in line dancing was when we lived in Missouri. There it was all country & western music. It seems that now it's done to all types of music including opera. Anyhow, it was great fun watching and lots of the kids in the restaurant joined in.

Darren's chef very kindly offered to give us a ride home since he lives near Joondalup and we gratefully accepted. We said our goodbyes and thank-yous and were home in about a half hour.