Jeannie's Birthday Dinner

Thursday, April 5

Even though my 65th birthday was on March 31, John decided to organize a dinner party to celebrate and last night was it. He asked our neighbors for a restaurant recommendation and invited them to join us for the dinner. He also invited Myra (our friend from Kansas City's daughter) and her partner Darren. Our destination was the Matilda Bay Restaurant overlooking the Royal Perth Yacht Club harbor. We were delighted that Geoff and Joy offered to drive since John still is not keen to drive at night. He was also able to partake in our wine drinking without having to worry about driving. In fact, last night was our first time to see Perth at night.

We arrived at the restaurant for our 8:00 reservations and the view of the harbor and the Perth city lights was stunning. The weather was perfect and the bay was like glass. Matilda Bay was a lovely restaurant - perfect for our little celebration. After enjoying our first bottle of wine we ordered our dinner (I ordered Tasmanian wild salmon which was served over risotto and a delicate orange glaze all topped with a couple of perfectly cooked onion rings) and more wine, ending with dessert 3 1/2 hrs later - a fun leisurely and delicious dinner party. While I certainly would have enjoyed having old friends there too, we did enjoy the evening with our new Australian friends.