Does My Bomb Look Big In This? | Blogger
Does My Bomb Look Big In This?
Phone: +61 414 734 292
Reviews
to load big map
25.01.2022 Tried beating the wet weather blues with a meal at Khamsa Cafe Newtown today. The glass and cement box was a little too packed with temperatures on the cold side, though folding glass doors along one side means it would probably be more COVID-19 compliant on a sunnier day. The Palestinian dishes come in solo serves, like Imam Fainted ($22) with baked eggplant, yellow turmeric-infused maftoul (pearl cous cous), almonds and tahini cream, or as share plates. Everything is fully... vegan. We tried Hummus with Palestinian spice mince ($16) and fried Cauliflower ($10) with tahini. Theres also a pastry selection running from simple rounds of Zaatar bread ($8) to filled pastries like Fattayer ($8) with silverbeet, sumac, lemon and onion. The Magic Mushroom ($6) elixir latte was slightly too sweet for me, but had a wonderful dried mushroom flavour. See more
24.01.2022 Heralded by a hipster bicycle with a woven basket of wildflowers, Knights is where Wagga Wagga goes for deli meats & cheeses. With Xmas stock already on display, it’s as much a spot to browse for something special as it is a place to pick up your weekly staples. Amongst the range of eggs, beef, pasta and Riverina dairy products, you’ll also see some of their own-brand products. Knights own piggy tails ($7.95) were too tempting to pass up, but proved a little hard and under-seasoned. I’m yet to open their highly-awarded Knights toffee apples ($12.95) where dried red and green apple slices are lashed with toffee...
24.01.2022 Busting out the best value lunch I’ve had in years, Yellowtail’s yum cha ($49/person) is your weekend must-do when visiting the Central Coast. The all-inclusive price sets you up with a five-course lunch of contemporary Asian-Australian dishes, accompanied by bottomless rose and Stone & Wood beers. Kicking off with oysters in a creamy pepperberry dressing popped open on the grill, and curls of raw kingfish taken beachside in Thailand with galangal, green chilli, fingerlime ...and coconut, it’s yum cha by and for the Australian palate. That’s not to say dumplings, like prawn hargow and pork, duck and shiitake wontons are not well executed (they are) but more that the chef has eschewed strict faithfulness to Chinese cuisine in favour of drawing widely on Asian influences to produce a sharp menu of dishes Australians will like to eat. The five-spice lamb belly wrapped in pliable pancakes with cucumber pickle and BBQ plum sauce is a good example. It’s accompanied by crisp Brussels sprouts that, right at the end of their season, still manage to impress against nori strips, white sesame oil and furikake seasoning. Good portion control, with enough fill-you-up items like pork belly bao, sees me leave Yellowtail pleasantly sated, even after a shared dessert of poached rhubarb, tangy yoghurt and rose, adorned with shards of pistachio pastry. The wine list has plenty of well-priced interest, meaning I’m keen to return for dinner to give it a proper going over. While small in size, the restaurant is clearly taking care to be COVIDSafe including by utilising two lunch sessions (12pm & 2.15pm). Along with warm service, it all adds up to this well-appointed coastal dining room being a very pleasant space to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.
23.01.2022 Across all the Wagga Wagga cafes I dined in during my recent trip, Meccanico Espresso + Wine made the best coffee. Their Art of Espresso beans scrubbed up nicely in both a cappuccino ($4) and a flat white ($4). The cafe-meets-wine-bar has all the toys, including a charcuterie fridge loaded up with local meats and a Berkel meat slicer to present charcuterie at its best. Name brand pig pops up across the breakfast menu, so we added Berkshire Gold bacon ($4) to our vegetarian se...lections. Despite not knowing who he was, Dr. Marty’s crumpets ($16.50) won us both with sautéed exotic mushrooms, black garlic, cured egg yolk, and ricotta salata (a hard Italian sheep’s whey cheese that’s perfect for grating). The mushroomsshimeji & oysterwere particularly flavoursome, prompting me to ask the waitress for their supplier & then make a quick trip to Wagga Fruit Supply to take some home with me.
23.01.2022 While fusion is almost a dirty word, Chef Taka Teramoto expertly melds Australian ingredients (kangaroo, lemon myrtle, hibiscus, Rangers Valley wagyu) with French techniques without losing the essence of being Japanese. His newly launched Kuros Kitchen at Kuro Bar & Dining is a chefs table experience ($160/head) worth indulging in. Even a buckwheat taco - sweet prawn and uni folded up in an ephemerally thin buckwheat crepe drizzled tamarillo - is taken Japanese its crispe...d head and tail passed separately. Roast beetroot is turned into a shattering sandwich with an interior of kangaroo dry-aged in kombu, all glued together with lashings of mayonnaise. Umami is a big player in Kuros Kitchen. Originally designed as a side, this medley of Chinese cabbage, blue cheese and shiitake, plays to the palate-delighting savoury middle. The kitchen makes its own umami bitters using kombu and shiitake that is dripped onto Rangers Valley beef (presented with freshly grated Shima Tasmanian wasabi) and into clever cocktails like the Soba Experience ($20). Its basically a whisky sour using white sesame and yukari shiso as seasonings. Attention to seasonality sees truffle custard and Comte custard piped into a Comte tart shell over mushroom duxelles with freshly shaved Manjimup truffle raining down in a fluffy black cloud. The luxury fungi also pops up on a Truffle Alexander with a truffle salt rim thats worth visiting the bar for all on its own. The dish I cant get out my head though is a mochi rice risotto topped with raw diamond clam, with a pea broth poured over at the table. Dehydrated Chardonnay vinegar allows you to season it to your personal proclivities with sourness rather than salt. This achingly beautiful dish is going to be hard to top in 2020!
23.01.2022 Trying to beat the cant travel overseas blues with a holiday in Toongabbie. While the Stalinist train station architecture isnt particularly inviting, the main drag offers up a lot of exciting eats, as long as Sri Lankan, Malay and Indian are your cuisines of choice. Lit with colourful fairy lights by night, Xdream dine in &takeaway is a good place to get your bearings. Two meat curries, two vegetable curries and two freshly made roti will set you back $12. The well-stocked glass counter also offers up an array of roti wraps, and pan rolls. Everything is full of flavour with reasonable heat, though if you want more the fruity red chilli sauce in combination with raita really delivers. All up lunch for two people with coconut water drinks came to $27 - much cheaper than a flight.
22.01.2022 It was actually a food truck that drew us to Sauce Brewing Co. as we were seeking a fast lunch, and not adverse to consuming it with a cold and refreshing ale. You’ll find this Marrickville brewery, complete with its own little carpark, running off an unnamed lane in Mitchell Street. Hemmed in by other factories, this factory is surprisingly expansive in the rear, where a half-covered beer garden offers plenty of seating options. To reach it you have to navigate the venue’s C...OVIDSafe arrangements, which I appreciate, but suggest staff could explain them without the frustrated tone, as every venue is enforcing their rules differently. While you can order drinks via an app from your table, you are still permitted to walk to the bar and order drinks there. Sauce Brewing Co.’s Peach Sauce ($5/schooner) produces a light, lean and refreshing Berliner weisse with a bright, acidic and peachy finale. Hop Sauce ($5/schooner) is their flagship pale ale, and, as the name suggests, quite citrusy and hoppy. Our eats, courtesy of the Ryan Gozleme food truck driven right inside the factory door, were ordered and collected at the truck itself. The namesake Ryan Gozleme ($16) certainly comes in at the expensive end of the price scale. Filled with beef mince, mushrooms, spinach (silverbeet) and two types of cheese (tasty and feta). While the pastry was nicely thin and golden, I couldn’t really see what justified the price hike. The mushroom gozleme ($14)exactly the same ingredients, minus the beefate better. One was devoid of the chilli we’d ordered (and so plain as to really need it), so after paying $31 for lunch with the inclusion, I don’t think I’d ever go back for more.
22.01.2022 Last week we hit up Nel Restaurant for their Once Upon A Time experience. Coming in at $135/head it’s currently sitting at the start of the pricier end of Sydney’s set menus. With chef Nelly Robinson out with an ankle injury, his team took us through a well-paced 7-course menu. My highlight was an opera cake update that seemed designed for the Australian climate: lychee & raspberry & rose. It’s summery, coherent and attractively plated, even without the smokin’ smashed rose ...table theatrics. I was quite enamoured with Steal from the rich, give to the poor a beefy little bouillon with sweet picked onions and lardons that released edible gold dust when stirred. Sadly though, the over-crowded basement restaurant was too dark to really appreciate the visual display. Savoury disheslike a modern duck à l'orange with blood orange gel, and a fish dish where a Californian white caviar add-on ($18) proved a good addition to the fishwere well-handled. Can’t say I loved the Melted Snowman (I dubbed it Freezer Defrosty) or the inflated wine prices. Though at the bottom end of their range, Nick Spencer Wines’s Grüner Veltliner ($85) from Tumbarumba does a good job across the whole menu, without breaking the bank. While the gimmicks are certainly bringing in a new and younger audience to nel. I think I prefer pure, unadulterated Nelly with unthematic snacks presented on a log.
22.01.2022 Set on the main drag in Wagga Wagga’s busy shopping district, Melbas Bakery and Eatery Wagga was recommended to us by a local. Walking into the cafeteria-like interior, I had my doubts. How could mass-produced breakfast at this level have the artisan touches I craved? I settled in with a decent cappuccino ($4.50) made on their house-roasted Green Bean Coffee and prepared to choke on my assumptions. Topped with more bacon than seemed proper, the house-made waffle ($16) was th...e fluffiest American waffle I’ve encountered since Las Vegas. Dripping in (real) maple syrup with oozing pats of Pepe Saya butter, this plate conquered me (but I gave it a really good bash). Continuing the Americana theme, Memphis Boston beans ($18) threaded pulled smoked pork butt though chipotle beans in the best rendition of this dish I’ve eaten. It’s served with poached eggs and house-made sourdough, and cleverly garnished with lemon and pickled onions to aid digestion (it’s another big serve of food). We’d added on some chilli sauce that looked like an insipid faintly pink mayo. so we slathered it on, only to be thoroughly spanked for our assumptions. Don’t judge books by their covers was clearly the lesson of the day. Recommended!
22.01.2022 The Artisan Baker - So French, So Fresh does a decent peach Danish ($5) and a credible pork, bacon and fennel sausage roll ($5). Flying the red, white & blue French flag, you’ll find them a few blocks off Wagga Wagga’s main drag on Morgan Street. While there’s no seating, there is plenty of off-street parking so you can eat in the car and pick up household staples, like sourdough bread, while you’re there.
21.01.2022 The fanciest restaurant in Wagga Wagga floats over the driveway of a motel. The Roundabout Restaurant could well have been named for the street feature, less than fifty meters up the road. Suburban nature strips and lichen-speckled roof tiles are certainly an odd view for a well-appointed fine diner. We had a shaky start to our meal. Our reservation was incorrectly recorded on their booking systemdespite both email & SMS confirmations being correctand junior staff panicked... for a manager rather than simply seating us in an empty table and working it out quietly behind the scenes. Luckily they have a good wine list, and we were soon soothed with a keenly priced 2017 Tolpuddle Chardonnay ($120) that was elegant to the final coveted dribble. The five-course tasting menu ($79/head) gets underway with bread and black garlic butter that we were cheekily advised not to devour before our dumplings. This is apparently because their sauce is too good not to dip in. While I disagree about the saucethe tamari and chilli blend was unbalancedit definitely was improved by the butter. And while the dumpling skins could do with more refinement, their packed prawn interiors were impressive. A beautiful piece of yellowfin tuna served two waysseared with jalapeño mayonnaise and tartare with tequila & lime applied too sparingly to tastewas let down by under-seasoning & corn crackers so crisp they hurt my mouth. Boned and rolled leg of chook was perfectly executed, wrapped around confit garlic and thyme risotto with an accompanying pat of the silkiest Paris mash I’ve had all year. It stole the thunder from the Wagga farmgate beef fillet, which also came with Paris mash (I suspect the former dish was meant to have cafe de Paris butter on green spears of asparagus instead). Dessertswhere guests can choose between macadamia sable with honey sorbet, lemon curd, yoghurt foam and fennel pollen or a freeze dried strawberry ice cream concoctionthrow too much at it for my liking. I suspect a simple panna cotta with the beet & Bidgee Strawberries and Cream compote would have been enough, without the Junee Liquorice and Chocolate Factory liquorice meringue, caramelised white chocolate milk crumb and aforementioned strawberry ice cream. Good produce doesn’t need over-complication.
21.01.2022 With a leafy green outlook, the minimalist glass box that is Izakaya Shogun Camperdown, takes good advantage of its off-street location in Camperdown’s City Quarter precinct to create a tranquil setting. It’s marred slightly by the unending procession of take-away orders, speaking to the way thatdespite opening during a global pandemicthe restaurant has cemented its place for the development’s inhabitants. Despite the obvious wealth on display, Shogun’s prices are quite mod...erate with BYO welcomed even on a Friday night. Beef tataki ($14) gives a uniform row of thinly sliced beef, their edges gently kissed with a blow-torch. Sashimi ($30/16 pieces) gives four fishestuna, salmon, snapper and kingfishwith freshly grated wasabi ($1) a worthwhile add-on. Before we’ve eaten a piece, our Korean deep-fried chicken ($18) arrives with a pot of pickles, turned pink with beetroot juice. The kitchen was kind enough to let us mix snow cheese and sweet chilli even in a half-serve. They’re boneless and tasty, without rivalling any of Sydney’s K.F.C. greats. It’s followed by snapper jalapeño ($14) which seemed an odd sequence until I realised the green chillis were pickled and packed a hefty vinegar bite that aided digestion (even if the dish lacked the balance of contemporary Japanese renditions I’ve liked). A mound of kimchi pork ($16) with rice is a well-balanced combination of thin slivers of grilled pork, cabbage and spicy Korean chilli sauce (gochujang). The crisp vegetable accompaniments in this, and garnished on all our dishes, are a nice way to eat your required greens. Nigiri sushi, purchased by the pair, is let down by a crumbly shari (sushi rice). Unagi ($4.50) with sticky-sweet barbequed eel eats best, followed by spicy prawn($4). Raw squid ($3) lacked the tiny cuts that make it tender to eat. Tamago ($3)a super-sweet egg omeletteis a good stand-in for dessert.
21.01.2022 The virus has added hand santisiser and elbow bumps to La Disfida Haberfields repertoire, but otherwise this Haberfield stalwart puts out the same warm, convivial vibe it always has. I was delighted to find the famous Chef Danny Russo (The Russolini Group) on the floor on a casual Wednesday evening, pumping out a chalkboard menu of well-handled and well-constructed specials that change every week. Sardines ($23), prepared in-house, shine against olive tapanade on focaccia. ...Baby leeks ($22) are roasted whole in the wood-fire oven then topped with stracciatele and bright orange dusting of shaved bottarga. Witlof ($20) joins broad beans, heirloom baby carrots and whole almonds in white balsamic for a generous winter salad that will spark joy in the most jaded palate (surely by now getting bored with hearty stodge). Orecchiette ($29) is al dentedare I say chewy?against sausage, cime di rapa (turnip tops) and truffle. Punches savoury middle like nobodys business and Im hard pressed to name a better one in 14 years of writing about food. The bianca pizza special ($27) works similar turf with sausage, broccoli, potato, pecorino and magnificent little olives that eat like red wine on a well-executed king of the thin base. It wont travel so eat in: you can save on the wine bill by using BYO early in the week. Kicking myself for not visiting more often...
20.01.2022 Were the only people at The Ironbark Smoked Barbecue at the Mill, an 1861 former steam-powered mill. Tonight its dead silent but the Cowra lamb loin, chips and salad with pepper sauce ($30) is a heaving board of well-handled food. All the salad vegetables are excellent, including the full-flavoured tomatoes. The kitchen was out of brisket, so the two-meat plate ($30) with coleslaw and chips was chicken & slightly-too-sweet pulled pork. We teamed them with a Pioneer Brewing Co pale ale and cheese bread ($8.50) for a satisfying Friday night tea in Cowra.
20.01.2022 Like many Sydney restaurants, Ester Restaurant & Bar have responded to these trying times with a set menu ($98/head) plus a list of optional add-ons. The amount of food felt about right just sticking to the assigned menu, with must-eatslike Chef Mat Lindsays famous fermented potato breadalready included. Most of the wows are at the front end of the menuthe rock oysters popped open on the woodfire grill; scarlet prawns served both raw and crispy; and a compelling scallop... tartare that you eat smeared like butter onto a disc of chickpea. While I appreciate portion control is a restaurants key to profitability, the main being a shared stuffed chicken wing with pickles and mustard plus two differently handled brassicas gave the perception of poor value. All was forgiven when the palate-pleasing yoghurt sorbet landed with rye berry and strawberry gum, followed by a well-crafted chocolate fudge truffle dotted with candied fennel seeds. Asking for wine and sake recommendations led to an adequate chardonnay and a lovely sake. This is one restaurant where the reduction in capacity has led to a less noisy, more spacious and enjoyable dining experience.
20.01.2022 Lined with split bamboo and tropical plants under a wavy hessian bag ceiling, the bright green dining room at Sydney Cebu Lechon is a happy place to visit. The bubbly staff and exotic decor make you feel like you have travelled abroad, all while we cant leave the country. Made to owner, Will Mahusays, family recipe, the Cebu Lechon ($22.50) is the restaurant highlight. The crisp-skinned juicy pork is stuffed with aromats then roasted over charcoal for hours. It comes in o...riginal and spicy Tabasco against rice, achara (pickle and green papaya salad) and a vinegar-heavy dip to aid digestion. Crispy Biscol Xpress ($24.50) puts crisp pork belly into a coconut gravy flavoured with alamang (fermented shrimp and salt). The crunchy pig contrasts well against the savoury, creamy sauce - its wonderful on rice. Seating only 16 people during the pandemic, its worth booking ahead and paying the reasonable $5/head booking fee that comes straight off your bill when you turn up to dine.
20.01.2022 Recommended by a colleague, Descanso is a cheery little cafe in Glebe. Theyre supplementing a more usual cafe menu with a range of home-style Filipino House Specials. We tried Adobo ($15) where chicken & pork get a tangy, savoury treatment in soy, apple cider vinegar, peppercorns and crushed garlic against jasmine rice. Longsilog ($15) is a Pinoy breakfast dish with heavily herbed pork sausages, garlic rice, fried eggs, grilled tomatoes and pickles. We also got some Lumpia Shanghai ($7/3) minced pork and vegetable spring rolls with a red, banana-based dipping sauce. To drink, we enjoyed calamansi iced tea! Weekends see them make specials like Filipino spaghetti. Theyre doing well with hygiene, social distancing & other measures to keep diners safe during this unwanted pandemic (despite a cheeky Screw you COVID on their signboard).
20.01.2022 Little Turtle Thai Restaurant staff are clearly nervous about being COVIDSafe, and its showing in the service, which feels abrupt and diner-phobic. Asking to increase the bao ($16.90/3) to suit four diners drew a flat no. Staff were not great at answering questionslike whether the cauliflower tempura is included on the Lil T share plate ($22.90) (it is). This meant we ordered the same cauliflower separately as well. The plate was actually a bit odd, rounding out the bite-...sized tofu and brassica florets with steamed rather than fresh crudits, a pool of satay sauce and under-seasoned sticky black rice. Rock hard bread rolls made the red curry-based bunny chow less than enjoyable. The hor mok ($18.90), on the other hand, was excellent! Served in a young coconut with rice and coconut juice provided separately, this tofu, pearl mushroom and red curry paste concoction was delicious. BYO means this spot is affordable, if hit-and-miss in the dishes, with the bonus being your vegan friends can safely order anything on the menu.
20.01.2022 With views across the Crooked River out to the Tasman Sea, The Blue Swimmer at Seahaven elicits a coo of delight as we pull up for dinner. The heavily sloping road running down to the water, gives the deep blue restaurant a ramshackle vibe, aided by a tin roof, verandah and asymmetrical glass box extension jutting off one side. Sitting inside it, we watch the sky turn forty shades of pink as we work our way through a series of share plates, complemented by our own wine (BYO $...10/bottle). Under a curly mop of fennel & micro herbs, kingfish ceviche ($23) pleases the palate with firm-fleshed fish and a tickle of mandarin. Plucked from an all-day menu, the herb felafel bowl ($24) might have been designed with lunch in mind, but works out well enough as a shared green course with dinner. The crisp green felafel are better then most, and the perfect, flavoursome avocado showed off the kitchen’s eye for good produce. Topped with a burnt lime, grilled sourdough and a dusting of cheese, a well-cleaned bowl of plump mussels ($26) is enjoyable to eat against a soupy green laksa-inspired curry. We end on clam and pork fettuccine ($28), a less eye-catching dish that didn’t skimp on flavour with cherry tomatoes, white wine, parsley lemon and breadcrumbs uniting the briny little clams and crisp pig. My only complaint was that it ate a bit dry, which would probably be fixed with a nice glass of red.
20.01.2022 With an AC/DC pinball machine, plenty of cut-price specials, and a hot stuff eating challenge, CAVE Restaurant & Bar in Wagga Wagga (Wiradjuri land) is definitely pitched to appeal to younger diners. Ginger ($15) is a souped-up mule teaming rum, Canadian Club whisky, lime and two types of ginger (beer and ale) into a heat-soothing throw-down. We team it with the Mega Sharing Platter ($48) with a two-buck melted cheese add-on for the chips. Allowing you to choose your own extr...as to the mounds of brisket, Southern fried chicken & pulled pork, our platter included a chunky but uninspiring ‘slaw, excellent deep fried pickles, crisp onion rings & hot wings slathered in Crowley's Hot Sauce. The sauce (which predated the restaurant) is the real drawcard: tangy with vinegar, rich in flavour with a whoop-your-arse level of heat. Dip frugally my friends, or pay the price for your own greed. See more
20.01.2022 Banh Xeo Bar hits those COVIDSafe vibes with a big interior airspace inside The Cannery Rosebery. Chef Ben Sinfield puts his nose-to-tail experience in Fergus Hendersons famous St. John to good effect in this Vietnamese-ish restaurant. While the menu is really centred around one dishbanh xeo or crispy pancakethere are small dishes, noodle soups and banh mi where you can explore Sinfields other talents. The chicken liver pt on toast ($16.50) is a smooth standout against ...pink pickled onions and a lemongrass chilli sauce. Other secondary cuts, like pig head nuggets ($5/3) can be added onto the main event. We took our pancakes in beef tongue lemongrass and chilli ($24) and Aussie king prawn and roast pork shoulder ($27). They came with a green cornucopia of wrapping leaves. My only complaint is both pancakes had been left on the grill slightly too long so the usual turmeric tang was lost. Hot sauce ($2) and smoky eggplant croquette ($5/2) are both necessary add-ons. I also enjoyed the clever sliced Jerusalem artichokes in brown butter ($12.50). And, if you like what you eat, many of the items (from kimchi to pt) are available in the glass counter for you to take home. BYO makes it a fiscally prudent meal, and theres a great little bottle shop in the same food precinct if you happen to forget.
19.01.2022 Excited to eat some pies & sausages with this range of Chef Paul Coopers ketchups! The former Bishop Sessa chef is cooking up a storm at Bianchet Bistro and Winery with Yarra Valley produce. There are plenty of iso-friendly items like blueberry & beetroot ketchup, and papaya & lime jam for people all over Australia, and fancy French pies if you happen to be Melbourne-based. https://www.bianchetwinery.com.au/shop
19.01.2022 Stacks Burger House, the original Kiama Downs venue by Emma & Jase Young, oozes softly faded South of the Border surf shack sunniness with white weatherboard, rattan and pale pinks. Your sun-bleached tresses & cheesecloth dresses will fit right in here, but so will everyone elsethe space has a relaxed and welcoming vibe. With burgers their (all-day) specialty, I hit up Regret ($15.50), and let me just say, I didn’t. This well-stacked breakfast burger gives fried egg-porn, e...xcellent chorizo, a hash brown, bacon, cheese & (actually hot) harissa on a firm enough milk bun that doesn’t become a sloppy disaster before you finish it. Hallelujah! Harissa scrambled eggs ($17.50) with a side of bacon ($5) are equally delightful. The good quality fresh, eggs have an intact protein net so are silky rather than rubbery, the toast is char-grilled and the goats curd tart yet creamy. Coffee is Allpress and made with care, arriving robust but not burnt across both a double shot flat white and a standard cappuccino. This meal was a bright spot in an otherwise grey day.
19.01.2022 Truffle season is in full swing at Ho Jiak Town Hall. This radish cake (Chai Tow Kway) was a wonderful way to make the most of their redolent aroma & flavour. Chef Junda Khoos new restaurant is fancy! This restaurant opened the week before the pandemic hit Sydney around the corner from my office, right when we started working from home... While the hawker murals have made the journey from Haymarket, theres also classic jazz and a very nice cocktail bar to enjoy. Try the 1...978 Jungle Bird ($20), a cocktail that was created in Kuala Lumpur, for a thematic tipple. The Marron Char Kuey Teow ($48) is part of the upmarket Malay menu. Its got the same spiciness as the Haymarket version, just with a little extra gleaming roe-dotted luxury crustacean. I also tried sticky Vegemite pork ribs and a gentle Ya Cniau Chye ($25) that poached eggplant and long beans in coconut milk flavoured with chilli oil and flash fried curry leaves. Will return!
19.01.2022 Tokyo Lamington’s eye catching angular polyhedron couch gives you a hint of the origami-like packaging artistry yet to come. You’ll see it first when you arrive at the third floor 1909 dining precinct in Market City, Haymarket. This dessert bar is focused on Australia’s most famous cake, the lamington. Founders, Min Chai (formerly N2 Extreme Gelato) and Eddie Stewart (formerly Black Star Pastry) have meddled with the formula and come up with some startling new flavours. Fair...y Bread ($7) glues the usual vanilla sponge cake together with caramel popcorn butter, dips them in white chocolate and then rolls the resulting square in slightly-too-substantial hundreds & thousands. Once you get over the initial heavy crunch, it’s a tasty bite. Black Sesame ($7) felt a wee bit closer to the original, because the black sesame cream filling and white chocolate dip were moderated by a toasted coconut and black sesame coating. The texture was better (lamingtons should be soft and light) and the coconut reminds you of the original cake. The packaging and instructions for best eating (warmed to room temperature) helped make this a great experience. As we were walking out of Market City clutching our brightly coloured carry-all, a woman who saw it exclaimed: Tokyo Lamington is here! It made you feel almost as good to be carrying something so recognisable and desirable, as it did to actually eat the cakes. I can see myself returning to try other flavours.
19.01.2022 Ventured out for some Vietnamese food today, pulling up a street side table at Bnh Cun B Oanh in Marrickville. They make fresh steamed rice noodle rolls. Tried a mixed pork version ($15), an Egg Roll ($4/each) with a runny-yolked egg and pork mince on top (great with extra chilli) and some Yellow Sticky Rice ($13) served with cinnamon braised pork belly. Everything was fresh and tasty, with the sticky rice noodles wrapped in lettuce leaves and fresh mint proving to be my favourite. Would happily return!
18.01.2022 Theres a certain intimacy to dining alongside just seven other people at the revised, COVID-safe Sng By Mabasa. To make up for some of the profit shrinkage, its a Set Menu ($80/head) that runs from banchan (they make wonderful bokkeum kimchi take-home packs) to dessert. My highlight was the Moon-oe Dolsotbap, a stone bowl bibimbap made on pearl barley rice, seaweed and poached octopus. It was the savoury standout in a menu that felt very Korean, but tended to lean slightly towards the sweet side in balancing dishes like Ganjan K.F.C. and Yassam (pickled white radish wraps with cucumber, nashi pear and perilla leaves with creamy wasabi dressing ). Try the Cheongju (Korean rice wine) as your drinking match - its soft and delicate, and will appeal to sake drinkers. Recommended.
18.01.2022 What a treat Jugiong Wine Cellar was! Celebrating the bounty of the local region this is a bottle shop that knows how to write descriptions of wines non-locals might not know much about. Of course there are some better known brands in the range, like Eden Road Wines & Collector Wines, but I was most excited by Cupitt's Winery and Restaurant’s 2019 The Pointer Chardonnay ($45) that drank with great intensity of flavour and that driving acid I like from Tumbarumba Chardonnay. ...Scattered amongst the wine you’ll also find a good selection of well-priced artisan products, from jams to chilli sauces. Looking forward to getting stuck into some Cootamundra chipotle chilli sauce ($10) by Claron Park Produce; dressing up my Berkshire Gold pork with Walsh’s Kitchen’s blackberry sauce ($9) and eating toast with Ballinaclash Wines & Fruit cherry jam. Worth checking out before exploring the pricier jam range next door... See more
17.01.2022 I liked Uneke Lounge Wagga more before my dining companion dryly pointed out it was pronounced unique. Not really sure why an already attractive word needed fixing, but here we are. Weaving our way through the local constabulary, past what looked to be a horse rail to tie up your ride, we found ourselves in another expansive space. It’s an odd conglomeration of businessesa homewares store, a bar, a cafe-come-restaurant, and a function centretaking up a historic warehou...se, resplendent with exposed bricks, high ceilings & contemporary wall-art by Binx Designs. The breakfast menu gives you all your Sydney standardssmashed avo, shakshuka, eggs Benedictplus a Uneke breakfast ($18). It’s a single egg your way with spinach, bacon, tomato, a hash-brown & sourdough. Nothing I’d call unique, but not shabby either. A hash-brown ($3) was also the suggested add-on with a bacon & egg roll ($12.50) served on a seed-dusted brioche roll with tomato relish. It came on the side, not in the bun as I expected. I reckon for stand-alone, they need to be made in-house with a bit of flair. Bills Beans coffee, roasted in Orange, was competent in a cappuccino ($4), and social distancing certainly felt easy in a space this big.
17.01.2022 Tried Rk San Contemporary Japanese Restaurant on Cleveland Street in Surry Hills. Its doing a decent job at contemporary Japanese dishes like Maguro Hana ($12) which presents little flowers of raw tuna with spicy mayo. centres on cubes of crispy rice. Toro Carpaccio ($20) was slightly less successful, losing the beauty of the fatty tuna belly in a sea of garlic dressing, coriander and green jalapenos with no bite. Meaty Hokkaido Scallops ($18/4) treated with black pepper d...ashi and shiitake chips were enjoyable in the tiny dining room. Buried under yoghurt foam, youll find pistachio ice cream with whole nuts and yuzu parfait in a dessert called Yuki ($13) that is fun to share. It goes well with Takara Sparkling Junmai Sake Mio ($32/300ml). This is a competent restaurant best suited for local area folk who are seeking a reasonably-priced, contemporary Japanese feed.
17.01.2022 Shaky service that saw us told our order had been lost 45 minutes into our meal, certainly diminished our dining experience at Paste Thai Food Australia. However even having the whole meal arrive in an avalanche at the one-hour mark didnt take away from the excellence of Chef Bee Satonguns cooking. The highlight here is indicated in the restaurant name. Satonguns curry pastes have extraordinary vibrancy, throwing up notes of gunpowder and lime leaf in the Smoky Southern Crab Curry ($34). The Tropical Pomelo Salad ($30) has a punchy anchovy-like hit in the Thai red chilli based sauce, but still manages to leave a perfect hole to taste the delicate Australian slipper lobster. Go before you cant book a table...
16.01.2022 Kicking off with a super-sized deep-fried oyster, abalone and truffle, Soi 25 Restaurant & Bars Truffle Set ($151/2 people with an extra $25 if you both like oysters) is a fun, contemporary Thai take on my favourite fungi. A Canadian lobster claw and king prawns are used to great effect against Manjimup truffles in a thick soup flavours with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf, and garlic oil with tiny king crown mushrooms. The spacious gold dining room gives you good distance from other diners as you tuck into a Thai tartare. Made using Wagyu MSB 9+ its tasty, well-presented and adorned with more thinly shaved truffle. The same high quality beef is served lightly cooked in a smoky yellow curry that needs rice to tame its truffle-topped intensity. Worth a quick visit to enjoy a Thai take on truffles!
16.01.2022 Multicultural breakfast: sliced (not smashed) avocado on Penny Fours sourdough topped with Chilean pebre (salsa) from Theos Cecinas Butchery & Smallgoods and Greek Galotyri cheese.
14.01.2022 With their abundant trays of freshly prepared salads and their ability to cook fish gently, Fat Fish Annandale have a devout lunch-time following, even during a pandemic. Annandale residents are being respectful about accessing the galley-like store. Todays special was grilled South Coast tuna ($16.50) with golden, crisp chips dusted in chicken salt, and a salad of your choosing. I opted for roasted pumpkin, baby spinach, semi dried tomatoes and creamy feta, and was not disappointed. A generous serve of fish was served lightly caramelised in butter on the grill, and still translucent in the middle - just the way I ordered it.
14.01.2022 With one side of King Georges Road lined with Chinese restaurants, we decided to investigate why Beverly Hills is such a mecca for Cantonese cuisine. Selecting Fortune King Seafood Restaurant almost at random, we uncovered quality Cantonese cooking in a dining room ringed by gold-tipped white swallow wall lights. The well-decorated menu is supplemented with a list of chef’s specials. Pipis in syrupy XO ($43.80) served on a crisp noodle base are a must-order. Steamed silver t...hread loaf ($4.50) (or the deep-fried golden version) will help mop up any remaining XO; and the thread-like construction of these buns makes them fun to pick apart. Crunchy green capsicum provides a great counterpoint to tender slices of Sichuan-style beef ($22.80). Shandong chicken ($22.80) presents a generously proportioned crisp-skinned bird in a fragrant sweetened vinegar sauce. With its amped chicken flavour, it eats well on a fairly plain rendition of the chef’s special fried rice ($26.80) where scarce tiny scallops and pale pink prawn meat are the only bright spots. Fans of the full-service Aussie-Chinese dining experience will no doubt appreciate that complimentary orange and watermelon wedges and gold foil-wrapped fortune cookies arrive as a matter of course. BYO is also welcome.
14.01.2022 Late afternoon light paints the stone walls of this former 1860s stable a glowing orange. It streams into the glass-fronted dining room, where (very) well-spaced tables give you the airspace to completely focus on your own conversation. A bubbly floor team explain how the ($60/head) all inclusive menu works, while we neck jalapeno margaritas ($19/each). As Wagga Wagga’s premier wedding venue, the kitchen have evolved a formula that allows them to serve a lot of people fast. ... Entrees are set - extraordinary salad greens and tomatoes from the garden, a generous portion of bread oil and dukkah, then a plate of hot canapes. Each itemsmoked trout croquettes made with four types of cheese garnished with pickled ginger; kangaroo kofte and puff pastry tarts with darkly caramelised onion jampunches flavour. Mains you get to select yourself. The Riverina lamb rack is evenly cooked with a juicy pink interior, and a surprisingly good sweet potato. Crisp cabbage roesti is the star of the chicken supreme, accompanied by sticky chickpeas and spinach gomaea Japanese-inspired sesame treatment. A bowl of garden-fresh cooked vegetables is equally as compelling as the mains. Dessert isn’t my favourite course, but I liked the burnt butter peach that came with the panna cotta. I found the orange blossom flavouring, mulled wine syrup, edible flowers and gingerbread crumble to be overkill. For a $6/cheese add-on we tried three local cheeses on a well-presented cheese board, prompting a drive to Coolamon cheese the next day. Local produce and careful cooking makes Magpies Nest Restaurant a winner whether you’re here for a wedding or for a romantic dinner for two and a twilight stroll through the grounds to take in the sunset.
14.01.2022 Set amongst the gum trees, the warm wooden dining room of The Quarry Restaurant in Cowra is popular with locals. The conservative menuavailable as two-course ($60) or three-course ($75)celebrates the produce of the Lachlan Valley region. Dotted with red grapes and walnuts, the twice-baked gruyere & blue cheese souffle is the highlight of my meal. It outperforms a generous serve of dry-aged sirloin with sauteed potatoes, mushrooms and eschallots in red wine jus. A Cowra lamb shank braised in tomatoes and red wine on potato mash is simple but enjoyable. Local area wines, like the 2017 Rosnay Organic Wines Rose ($35), are well-priced, though this exemplar was a fraction sweet for my liking. Overall, this restaurant is putting out competent bistro-style cuisine in a nice setting.
13.01.2022 Theres something to be said for expansive views during a pandemic that has seen many of us work from home more frequently. Views dont get much more expansive than those from the 47th floor of Australia Square, where you emerge into the dramatically darkened interior of O Bar and Dining. However my visit was actually more about the chefDarren Templemanwho, after tonight, has just one more service remaining in this lofty space, after six years. The five-course ($125/head) ...menu allows you to add on freshly-shucked Pambula oysters ($36/6) and split, grilled marron ($25) from Western Australia. The former are delicious, and Templeman extracts so much flavour out of the marron, youll curse the lack of soft pliable bread and consider licking the plate. The caviar-topped steamed dashi custard is another bowl-scraping affair, with the beautifully textured savoury custard providing a perfect Oscietra caviar delivery vehicle, its richness offset by baby broad beans, charred spring onions, and lotus root chips. With owner Michael Moore pushing healthy-eating, youll find plenty of nuts, grains and vegetables accompanying the well-handled proteins; which run from raw yellowfin tuna to cooked hiramasa kingfish to wagyu prepared as you like it. While there are some good date night theatrics to be had across both cocktails and a nitro meringue, I preferred the Templeman signature souffl (I first ate one of these beauties in 2008) and the smartly packaged-for-takeaway box of petit fours. Best wishes on your next adventure, Chef!
13.01.2022 Location is a big part of the lure at Signal Box Newcastle. The former 1936 signal box for Newcastle railway station has been beautifully converted into a light-drenched restaurant. The menu offers up a few interesting breakfast choices like sambal chilli scrambled eggs, and a blue swimmer crab omelette topped with plenty of freshly picked crustacean. Beverages certainly looked the part with chocolate shavings adorning my cappuccino but their selected roast was too weakly flavoured in this beverage, and too strongly flavoured to be enjoyable in a second latte (ordered strong).
12.01.2022 As promised I headed back into the Sharon Kwan Kitchen with my friend Michelle Dick, who has Malay heritage. She was excited about Popiah ($12/2) which eat a bit like a Malay-Chinese retort to the Vietnamese rice paper roll. Michelle’s Mum only made the wafer thin crepes rolled around shredded vegetables on special occasions because they’re delicate to handle so they get draped all over your whole kitchen. Crisp curry puffs ($3/each) and potato prawn fritters ($8/3) rounded ...out the rest of our snacks. Malaysian fried chicken ($32/half + 3 sides) or ayam bakar, was easy to split between us. It’s mild but deadly with Sharon’s hot sambal. Coconut turmeric rice turns out to be a lifesaver, along with a crisp Asian ‘slaw. The surprising win for me was the char kwei teow ($18) with a duck egg ($2) add-on. The oil-free flat fried noodles tangled with bean sprouts and chives kept your palate interested with a good serve of Chinese sausage, fish cakes and prawns. This is a friendly, no-frills setting with a warm owner/chef who is clearly keen to see you enjoy her home-style Malay-Chinese cooking.
12.01.2022 Working from home snacks have seen me turn to dried fruit for an afternoon pick-me-up. This week Im trying Gin Gin & Dry Gourmet Dried Foods from Queensland. It comes in fruit salad, pineapple pieces, berry mix and caramelised mango. As small business is struggling during this pandemic, I have been trying to buy locally grown and made. Whats your favourite work day treat?
12.01.2022 Its a fine day for roasting nuts. These are chilli maple walnuts and pecans made using maple syrup, Olssons Australian Salt and a funky jar of Merken (goat horn chilli, coriander, salt & garlic) we picked up at Theos Cecinas Butchery & Smallgoods.
11.01.2022 The second of my cinema dining adventures last week took me to Cremorne to reacquaint myself with the grandeur of the Art Deco Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. I teamed my cinematic journey with dinner at Restaurant Plage. Im a fan of Chef Tomoyuki Usui, having followed him through two different restaurants. And on this visit nearly two years after my last visithe did not disappoint. Black sesame gnocchi ($29) with fermented pine mushrooms and cauliflower was artfully arran...ged and enjoyable to eat. The last of the seasons Perigord truffles were generously distributed over a winter vegetable Konsai ($22) as a ten-buck add-on. Dragged through saikyo miso, the fungi-adorned vegetables were a pleasure to consume. Macadamia, cassava & kumquat are unusual bedfellows for cured bluefin tuna ($25) presented as a texturally interesting disc that was devoured all too quickly. Tenderness reigned supreme in the 48-hour wagyu beef brisket ($39), its intensity cut by umami seeded mustard. Being savoury-focused, we threw in gooey onsen egg and parmesan custard topped with crisp Brussels sprouts ($17) dusted with truffle powder. While we ate al a carte, Plage also do a well-priced three-course menu ($65/head). This menu gives you three choices in every course, and will take care of all your dining needs. Combining an early dinner with a film across the road was a lovely way to Sunday.
11.01.2022 My friend assembled such an encompassing welcome to Cowra product pack Im almost at a loss with what to do today. Looking forward to trying Muylan hot sauce, La Barre Olives olive oil and Rosnay olive paste! Plus this a wine region, so it would be wrong not to enjoy them with locally grown Borrowed Cuttings piquepoul!
09.01.2022 The resumption of cinemas has made me happy. In the last week Ive visited two classic Sydney cinemas to take in flicks. In Randwick I teamed my visit to the Randwick Ritz with jalapeo margaritas & classic Penicillin cocktails at The Spanish Fly. With hand sanitiser, outdoor tables & hour-and-a-half sittings to maximise guests across the night, theyre doing okay with the pandemic dining paradigm. Jamon & Manchego make the tasting board ($27) a good sharing proposition tha...ts fast to prepare. Chickpea fritters ($19) with corn, zucchini and house made labna felt pricy for serving size and ingredient cost, but ate well. The dish did want for a little chilli bite. The same critique held true for Rodriguez Bros. chorizo served with chickpeas in a super-mild red pepper ragout. While slow to deliver, staff did supply both fresh & dried chilli to improve the situation. I used both on everything, including scorched Angus beef cheek empanadas ($21), to good effect. Garlic mushrooms ($15)a perennial favouriteeat well here, with the less usual inclusion of enoki in the mix. See more
09.01.2022 Stopped in at Milltown Cottage to load up on pesticide-free greens. Mint, shallots, bok choy, not-so-baby spinach and rocketall grown in an abundant Bathurst backyard by one of our friends! Looking forward to eating some tonight with gammon steaks we picked up in Orange from Trunkey Bacon and Pork, I reckon.
07.01.2022 Finally went to Glorias Portuguese Tapas Restaurant for the Francesinha a Casa ($28). Its Croque Madame on steroids: a thick-cut sandwich of beef steak, sausage, chourico, egg, ham covered with melted cheese, thick and spicy tomato sauce with hand-cut fries round potatoes. Be still my defibrillating heart! Rounded out the meal with some tapas - barbecued sardines, calamari stuffed with bread, bacon and pine nuts, and an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink style dish, Porco Alentejana of pork, vongole clams, patatas bravas, olives and other vegetable pickles. This is home-style, authentic Portuguese cooking from a restaurant that has been serving the good people of Petersham since 1988! Good social distancing and increased hygiene measures in place.
07.01.2022 You drop a fair amount of coin ($250/head) to dine at Tetsuyas, but for your spend, you get a whole lot of perfection. For somewhere right in the middle of the CBD, the restaurant manages to be transportive. Its also a gallery space with high end sculptural and painted works to admire, along with a window into a Japanese garden complete with bubbling water feature. Service is impeccable, with masks & hand-sanitising stations added onto the already socially distanced tables.... Space is luxury, after all. Each dish is meticulously balanced, from thinly sliced kingfish folded over itself against shiso and lightly pickled daikon, to NSW-truffle topped Patagonian toothfish with cannellini beans & dashi broth. Its actually the best raw kingfish dish Ive eaten, where accompaniments complement rather than detract from the fish. Theyve been making the truffle butter for twenty years, our waiter explains rather wryly, adding that its the most requested item from guests. Smeared onto kombu snails, it is, once again, the best version of this butter in Sydney. Likewise the famous confit Tasmanian ocean trout with its salt crusted edge. The sommelier is a standout on the floor, responding to clients for whom money is an object with the same care as he does for those who have cash to burn. Kick off with cocktailsI recommend the El Dorado ($25)and move on to the 2017 Powell & Sons Marsanne Roussanne ($135) for a fun adventure at the more affordable end of the comprehensive & interesting list. The only things that didnt satisfy me completely were the lack of innovationwhile often perfecting them, these dishes all used ingredient combinations Id had beforeand the gendered distribution of erotic bathroom art. (That is, erotic art was only situated in the mens bathroom.)
06.01.2022 Friday date night dinner at Walsh Bay Crab House was appropriately socially distanced. The glass box restaurant looking at Walsh Bay was a bit chilly; with cold plates also impacting upon our dining experience. With my dining companion hating picking his own crab, we opted for a hand-picked version that turned out to be deep-fried on noodles in Harrys classic Singapore Chilli Crab ($72) sauce. We asked for (and received) amped chilli, but it was still too sweet for me. Pick...ed Crab Fried Rice ($28) was lacking in presentation and crab. Steamed Broccoli with Crab Meat Sauce ($25) again contained picked, flavourless crustacean. The meals saving graces were a steamed egg custard created in a Sea Urchin ($28), and Pipis in XO ($52). The big, meaty bivalves were briny and savoury against fried noodle cakes. This dish was well balanced and allowed the pipis natural flavour to dominate. See more
06.01.2022 Filo Station in Croydon Park is another restaurant that communicates culture with your meal. Decorated with framed pictures depicting Filipino landscapes, lifestyle & people, it’s a homely space designed to pique your interest about the country behind the cuisine. We kicked off our meal with three BBQ pork skewers ($14) that had tender meat, well-distributed char and a dark soy-heavy flavour. Chicken inasal ($18) comes with a mound of garlic rice. The bird is given a yellow ...hue with a marinade of annatto, lemongrass, pepper, lemon and coconut vinegar that becomes the basting liquid when it’s transferred to the hot coal grill. Tokwa’t baboy ($20) sees a layer of boiled pork belly pieces topped with quite crisp cubes of deep-fried tofu. You dip it in a blend of vinegar, soy and onions, with optional (but necessary) chilli to make it sing. An extra garlic rice ($4) makes the two dishes easier to share. Thematic tropical Calypso juices ($5/each) are sharp and adult, with pink guava limeade currying slightly more favour than pineapple peach limeade. Close off your palate with the Pinoy dessert called puto bungbong ($12). It’s a purple yam (ube) glutinous rice cake that’s steamed in bamboo then served lashings of butter under a dusting of grated coconut and sugar. It eats like late-night comfort foodthink hot buttered cinnamon toastjust with a bit more chewiness.
06.01.2022 Putting out a unique menu of Sri Lankan dishes and cafe standardssometimes in the same dish The Fold. Sri Lankan Inspired have injected some excitement into Dulwich Hill lunches. Simply furnished in natural hues, the wood-heavy space is decorated with woven baskets with floating shelves of chutneys, roast curry powder & Lankan milk toffee ($5). The latter has a set fudge-like texture where caramelised milk sits over a rumble of spice. The tables, set slightly too close to ...feel CovidSafe, and the exotic dishes, help to inspire conversations with other diners. We opt for appa appaa curry and hopper plate in free-range chicken ($24.50) and beef and potato curry ($24.50). Heat is provided by luni miris, a little pot of shallots, crushed chilli, lime and tomato, and offset by a gentler onion-based seeni sambol. While we knife & fork the egg hopper, we eat the plain hoppers in the traditional waytorn with a pinch of curry. To drink, faluda ($6.50) is a pleasantly pink milky drink with rose water, basil seeds and vanilla ice cream. Or there are beverages made by the maker of my favourite mango chutneyMDlike coconut water ($4.50). Now that we have built trust, I will return to try their wilder fusion dishes, like hopper Benedict or hopper shakshuka.
06.01.2022 With wind & rain lashing the windows of this two-storey restaurant, it wasn’t quite the night for admiring epic views. However, with Silica Restaurant and Bar perched on the edge of Kiama Surf Beach, the window tables certainly would have a good view on a clearer night. Served by a green but enthusiastic floor team, we were quickly set up with recently shucked Wallis Lake oysters ($4/each) dressed with ginger and shallots. We accompanied them with the 2019 Amato Vino Chardonn...ay ($52) that had enough likeable characteristics and a comparatively low mark-up to make it drink like a very good buy. Two courses ($49/person) for me kicked off with kingfish crudo, adorned with an unusual topping of cucumber, sour cream and parsnip, dotted shiny black roe. Quirky, but it worked to showcase the firm-fleshed fish. Barbequed pork neckslow cooked and served with red cabbage and nectarine with a scattering of pumpkin seedseats well and is more generously proportioned than my photo implies. Salt baked gnocchi was the standoutcrisp green snow peas and a creamy quenelle kept it from being too salty, and the tiny pillows of potato were perfectly cooked. It edged out the duck breast served under nicely wilted greens. The farm-fresh vegetables were a highlight across the meal, particularly in a mixed leaf salad ($10), lightly dressed in honey mustard, but remarkable because of the quality of the assorted leaves. This kitchen team stood out for the speed and consistency with which they served a busy two-storey restaurant. Notching up the knowledge on the floor to match their skill, would be my only suggestion.
05.01.2022 Glebe Point Diner is in my local area, so a visit has been on the cards for a long time. Theyre currently doing Three Courses ($75/head) plumped up with optional add-ons from Brickfields Bread ($2.50/person) with fancy Truffle & Reggiano Butter ($6) to Sparkling Water ($6.50/head). Luckily, from the blackboard, the 2015 De Salis Winery Mt. Lofty Pinot Noir ($99) delivered good bang for our buck. Merimbula oysters lacked liquor. With reduced dining capacity, and oysters only... going out in sixes, it seems churlish not to shuck to order. Vongole clams proved briny and tiny, against salty pancetta, chickpeas, chilli, garlic and watercress. Toothsome, raw kingfish came topped with a fingerlime, horseradish and grapefruit dressing that was curd-like in texture and intensity. Rangers Valley Wagyu eats well enough, if slightly well-cooked for medium rare. Its contrasted against agrodolce salsa, mustard butter and a curly mop of fried onions. Ricotta gnocchi needed more nduja to see it move away from being cheesentomato winter stodge. Best thing I ate in this theatrical black box dining room decked out with oversized lamp shades, was a sharp and well-executed lemon tart.
04.01.2022 Date night Nigeria was much anticipated, as neither of us had eaten Nigerian food before. While that makes it impossible to rate Little Lagos in comparison to other Nigerian restaurants, I do have some thoughts and observations to share. When we arrived, strict COVIDSafe procedures were in place. After our temperatures were duly noted & we’d signed ourselves in, we were informed by way of table signagethat we’d only have 60 minutes to eat, so other people could eat here to...o. Ordering both drinks and dinner was hampered by a list of things we couldn’t have. From a very short wine list (eight choices) our first two picks being unavailable saw me drinking beerThe Grifter Pilsner ($9). It was a similar situation with the food menu, eased somewhat by the smile of our impossibly beautiful waitress. No Nigerian fried rice saw us opting for jollof rice ($20) cooked with tomatoes, red capsicum and habaneros. It arrived first, followed by a stew, ayamase ($32) that was the tastiest thing I tried. It’s pretty much a Nigerian kitchen sink with fish bits, cow leg bokoto, tripe shaki and cow skin ponmo cooked in locust beans, red capsicum, green bullhorn and habanero chilli. The gravy is thick and glossy from well-sweated onions, and it eats well on rice. Looking somewhat like Spam, a lewd pink mould of moin moin ($15) is actually vegetarian, made from blended black eyed beans. It eats better than it looks. Asun ($25) is very dry and chewy marinated goat pieces, moistened up with an onion herb and chilli topping. My dining companion liked them, but he eats jerky for a treat. Asaro ($30) is described like a yam curry but eats like a mild, potato salad. It’s horrendously over-priced when you consider the serving size and what it’s made of. What I liked about Little Lagos was the music. Nigeria is the home of Fela Kuti, the pioneer of Afrobeat, and he’s celebrated mural-style on the wall. We also appreciated the kind Rawandan women at the next table, busily eating plantain fritters, who took the time to explain their chosen meal, and that their East African cuisine is much closer to Ethiopian than Nigerian. While I always like trying something new, I didn’t find enough at Little Lagos to lure me back, especially at the inflated prices.
04.01.2022 If you find yourself in Temora, look up the Temora Deli & Sandwich Bar. With Art Deco features both inside & out, it’s a tried & true favourite of the local crowd. They pull up for golden potato scallops ($1.10/each), clearly made on site. Served inside a flat toasted bun, the Steak Burger ($9.80) takes its cue from the Philly cheesesteak. It teams gravy, well-pounded fillet steak, fried onions, cheese, mushrooms, bacon and pickled jalapeños together for a very cohesive & fi...lling burger that is quite unlike any I’ve tried before. After eating it, I’d stop here again to try their whackier items like banana, walnut, cream cheese and sultana sandwiches, or the we we French stuffed spud with chicken, asparagus, Hollandaise sauce, melted cheese & sour cream. Marching to the sound of their own beat clearly pays off for this cute old-time deli. See more
03.01.2022 Continuing the theme of holidaying in your own city, we took a drive out to West Fairfield Shopping Centre yesterday. While the facade may be faded, Theos Cecinas Butchery & Smallgoods shines brightly. This fourth generation family business services our South American community. Despite only visiting for morcilla, we took home some bright yellow Colombian chorizo too (look for them hanging in one of my photos). Great service & explanations saw us buy lots of extras from the shelves and deli counter,
03.01.2022 Like many Sydney suburbs, Mortdale is making the transition from a sleepy two-sided shopping strip leading to the station, to something more befitting of a modern, multicultural suburb. Along with some hip cafes, youll find Lankan Railway Cafe in this updating strip. Operating largely from a well-stocked Bain Marie theyre putting out Sri Lankan & Nepalese favourites. Snack on mutton & chicken rolls to start. If you eat in, try the string hoppers and the chopped up egg kott...u roti with their coconut crab curry. For a selection from the dishes on display, the golden spuds eat nicely against the rich bone-in Jaffna goat curry. Flavoured with anchovies, the stir-fried cabbage mallung is pungent and ups the vegetable content of your meal nicely. However its the coconut-based Lankan fish curry that pleases me most, with turmeric, fresh curry leaves and lively spicing. Would return to try the eat-in options based upon the meal I took away.
03.01.2022 The Exotik Latin Cafe in Newtown had a lively vibe last Friday evening when I descended, with a gaggle of girlfriends, for cocktails & Latin eats. My minty frozen caipiroska ($13.50) and a (tequila) sunrise skull ($14.95) helped pave the way for tequenos ($9.50) crumbed batons of cheese dipped in chipotle sauce. My main meal, mazorcada ($17.95), was a bit of a hot mess with corn kernels, chicken and Spanish chorizo stir-fried and then mixed with a creamy sauce and cheese over lettuce leaves and potato straws. It lacked the chilli bite necessary to make it compelling. On a Friday night there was a steady stream of walk-up patrons, so they were on the very edge of COVIDSafe capacity, but with the windows open to King Street, it felt reasonably okay.
02.01.2022 Good value Bah Mee Kiew Moo Dang ($10.90) lunch at De Lanna Thai Street Cuisine in Marrickville. Relishing the opportunity to dine in the sunshine at an outdoor table before the weekends predicted rain. Amped this popular Thai street food noodle dish with some ballistic red chilli. Nose running as a result, so now I look like I have the Rona. Got some Saioua ($12.90) to take home. This spicy, herbal Northern Thai pork sausage is a De Lanna speciality, attracting many Thai people to visit the tucked away suburban restaurant just to buy it.
