One Sydneysiders perspective on British (and continental) nosh

Monday, February 08, 2010

Sardine Room

In our third INSEAD reunion in as many weeks, we celebrated Reika's 28th birthday at a totally undiscovered place for me - Sardine Room in Pott's Point. Opposite Lotus, it is a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant (seating 40 at a pinch) that specialises in all things seafood.

And what a gem it was - with grissini and sardines to whet our appetites, the owner of the restaurant outlined the specials of the day making us very hungry! I opted for one of the specials of the day - cod in green curry on a bed of kumara, broccolini and with toasted almonds, and it was spectacular. The whole snapper and sardines across from me looked pretty good too.

It didn't stop there - desserts were also fabulous. The man and I opted to share a passionfruit brulee tart with honeyed icecream and it was swoonworthy.

Didn't get a chance to sample the entrees this time (although the scallops, soft shell crab, tuna tartare and salt and pepper calamari whizzing past us looked great) so will have to come back and explore the menu further!

Sardine Room,
2/31 Challis Ave,
Pott's Point
thesardineroom.com.au

Friday, February 05, 2010

(re)discovering Sydney















Although I've been back for a couple of weeks, it was only today that I was finally able to venture to Petersham aka Little Portugal to give the man a taste of a home away from home. Seeing New Canterbury road close-up for the first time was an experience as I'd never noticed how many Portuguese-chicken-shops-per-square-metre there are there.

We started backwards with dessert, at Sweet Belem after reading numerous posts about the cinnamon custardy goodness and were not disappointed. Crispy, flaky, sweet and just-warm, they were perfect with a latte. We're coming back for more (the palmier rechados were very very tempting!).

Sweet Belem
35B New Canterbury Road, Petersham

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Friday, December 18, 2009

Syd-er-ney

Over the course of an amazing year spent diving deep into the secrets of Asia and Europe, I was asked for advice about home. Sydney is amazing for food - and just so I keep all of it somewhere, here is what I shared ...

http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/
fish markets for lunch – second biggest fish markets in the world, amazingly fresh seafood at super reasonable prices :) there’s a hug building with all the restaurants in it – and a building next door which is smaller (nearer the carpark) which is where I go for uber-fresh salmon sashimi and prawns – grab lots and sit outside in the sun by the water

http://www.bills.com.au/restaurants/surry.htm
bills for brunch – order the ricotta hotcakes, corn fritters and bacon and eggs and rotate amongst you to try everything. Get an amazing coffee there too – a nice way to start a morning and plan a day ahead :)

http://www.toko.com.au/index_surryhills.cfm
toko for japanese dining – it’s a little fancy (you can get cheaper sushi at a myriad of sushi trains which I always did on a Tuesday before going to the movies near town hall :) but it’s nice – you can see the chefs at work

http://www.jimmyliks.com/
jimmy liks for cocktails – dim, excellent place to start with cocktails before a night out in kings cross – probably one of my favourite bars in sydney

http://www.bungalow8sydney.com/, http://www.theloftsydney.com/, http://www.cargobar.com.au/, http://www.operabar.com.au/Home/522/n/3/0/0/
bungalow 8, loft or cargo for lazy afternoon drinking on sunny days – always a Sunday thing for me, but I’m sure it’s also good on a weekday – laze back with a beer or cocktail and chew the fat on life --- actually --- also there is opera bar right near circular quay which has the best views of a bar ever ...

http://www.kuletos.com.au/
kuletos for cocktails before thai dinner, lots of restaurants on king st are good including thai pothong ( http://www.thaipothong.com.au/)

http://www.flyingfish.com.au/
fancy dinner at flying fish in a secluded bay – I love this restaurant. The lights, the setting, the food. It’s a bit on the fancy side (meal may be around $100AUD), so not sure if you’re looking for that kind of thing but if you are, I’d go here. Sri lankan snapper curry rocks the kasbah. You could always start at the casino down the road, and if you lose your money, eat at the heavily-subsidised restaurants in the casino where noodles are < $10 designed to keep you there :)

http://www.goldencentury.com.au/
yumcha at golden century – lots of fun, chaotic and you have to point at what you want to eat (at least on weekend brunchtimes which is when I go). great breakfasts ... get the prawn dumplings, siu mai, chinese broccoli, char siew buns and anything else you fancy – for the adventurous there will be chicken feet and tripe ...

http://www.belgian-beer-cafe.com.au/heritage.html
belgian beer café for mussels and beer – this is near where you’re staying and it looks like they have mussels for half price btw midday and 10pm ...

Btw, super-late-night dining i.e. at 1/2am in the morning only has three possibilities in sydney – harrys café de wheels in woolloomoolloo (great meat pies!), barbeque king (chinatown goodness) and pancakes in the rocks (exactly what it says)






Sunday, April 13, 2008

El Bulli

El Bulli
Where: Cala Montjoi, Roses, Spain
Website: http://www.elbulli.com/

A few months ago I said that some religious restaurant experiences were months in the making, and El Bulli was definitely one of these. Something like your first formal which you talk about obsessively months before and after the actual event.

Ferran Adria's marketing machine is genius as the reservation process itself inspires fervour months before the actual event. You have a 3 day window in October every year to apply for a sitting in the following year. The restaurant is only open for 6 months between April and October (as the other 6 months is where they come up with culinary genius at a lab in Barcelona). This means that there are only 8,000 covers a season. With 800,000 hopefuls vying for those spots. The odds are tiny, but nonetheless, 10 of us sent in a letter and prayed. One by one we received polite but regretful letters informing us that we would not be dining there this year ... until ... we had a yes! Anthony won the equivalent of a Willy Wonka golden ticket and kindly chose me, Trish, Chau and Matt to be one of the lucky 5 to dine with him on April 3, 2008.

The location itself is stunning - set in Costa Brava, near Barcelona. Even in early April the sun was out and it felt like summer. The road from Roses to the restaurant had amazing views (and no barriers between you and the bottom of a cliff as a warning to those who are tempted to drive rather than take a taxi - for 25€ I know which option I'd take)

Now for the meal (drumrolls please)

Aperitifs

1. Gin fizz ["gin fizz frozen caliente"]. Described as a welcoming cocktail. The waitress added a layer to a cool gin drink from a silver canister that turned out to be an unexpectedly warm lemon foam. We were given apt advice to drink quickly, and the contrast in temperature (as well as the gin) were absolutely delicious.

2. Spherical olives ["acetunas verdes sfericas"]. These looked exactly like olives, but were in fact spherical balls with an olive skin texture surrounding olive oil that exploded into your mouth.

Snacks

3. LYO fruits ["frutas LYO"]. The texture of this dried pineapple was like Malaysian jackfruit but more aerated. It had a very intense sherbetty pineapple taste with aniseed on one side.

4. Salty catanias ["catanias salatas"]. These looked like chocolate, so we saved them for the end of our "snacks" which had all arrived at once. We were surprised to find that the walnut tasted unexpectedly salty and was surrounded by bitter cocoa.

5. Beetroot and yoghurt meringue ["merenge/profiterol de remolacha y yogur"]. This was akin to a macaroon, with sweet and sour and tart flavours. It was unexpectedly light, and had to be eaten all at once, crumbling instantly in our mouths.

6. Parmesan soufle ["soufle de parmesano"]. This will sound very un-foodie-like, but this tasted a lot like an aerated cheese twist (or Cheezel), albeit with a very intense parmesan flavour.

7. Crunchy rabbit ear ["oreja de conejo frita con hierbas secas aromaticas"]. Psychologically, and even though I've eaten rabbit before, I found this one tough. Nonetheless, it was surprisingly good - crispy and crunchy at the top of the ear, with herby rabbit meat at the bottom. Akin to a "lazy wonton" but so much more.

Mains

8. Peanut and curry bombons ["bombones de cacahuete y curri"]. These were frozen on the outside with a sprinkling of sea salt and curry powder on top, and peanut butter inside. Very smooth, but slightly overpowering.

9. Pistachios sponge cake with acid milk mousse ["bizcocho de pistachos con mousse de leche acida"]. For me, one of the low points of the meal. The pistachio was crumbly with a styrofoam-like texture. Together with the acid milk which was similar to a very light yoghurt, it made for messy eating.

10. Black sesame brioche with miso ["bizcocho de sesamo negro y miso"]. One of my two favourite dishes. Very light and fluffy, sweet with a slightly nutty taste and fascinating texture. Miso paste as the first bite made an interesting transition.

11. Flower paper ["papel de flores"]. Trish's favourite. This was really reminiscent of childhood as it was so similar to fairy floss - but the most interesting part was that each flower had a very unique flavour, some surprisingly strong. The yellow flower was like a dried pressed fruit; the orange like coriander with a lingering szechuan pepper aftertaste; the stalky red was slightly spicy; another red was tart and citrus-like and the purple one was gingery.

12. Pine tree dacqoise ["dacquoise de pino"]. Somewhat theatrical as the waiter brought a large meringue like disc to our table to carve for us. The meringue was light and pineapply and passionfruity, melting in your mouth to reveal a creamy and smooth pinenut paste.

13. Horchata truffle ["horchata / trufa"]. Our first real cutlery (with some elaborate and subtle carvings)! Horchata is a new vegetable, with a texture similar to a raw and fibrous nut. It tasted sweet, nutty and earthy and had a velvety texture which perfectly complemented the black truffle.


14. Steamed brioche with mozarella and roses perfume ["brioche al vapor de mozzarella ai perfume de rosas"]. One of my favourites. Melting mozarella inside a cheesy brioche with rosy foam on top, which Trish described as eating a bun inside a bubble bath. Absolutely delicious.

15. Haricot bean with Joselito's iberian pork fat ["judion con panceta joselito y ajo negro"]. The caramelised black garlic was very mild, and the "beans" had a glutinous texture and were surrounded by a translucent slice of ham in a broth which evoked the essence of pure bean. Our waiter recommended we eat in sequence : garlic - bean - garlic - bean - garlic . Another favourite - the milimetre-thin slice of ham was intense.

16. Caju of polenta with fermented yoghurt ["polenta de caju con yogur fermentado"]. This was an unexpected combination of a roast cashew, yoghurt, limey basil and powdered frozen cashews with a couscous-like consistency. Initially the frozen cashews didn't taste of much, but once you juxtaposed them against the actual cashew nut, you could see how similar they were.

17. Oysters yoghurt with px in tempura ["yogur de ostras con px en tempura"]. The oyster soup that tasted like "sucking juices from an oyster" but with a light and creamy finish. It was served in a very cool Riedel coffee cup with cherry wine tempura that exploded in the mouth.

18. Thai pink grapefruit risotto with coconut and white sesame ["risotto de pomelo rosa thai con coco y sesamo bianco"]. A lovely tribute to Thai flavours with a deconstructed curry and touches of cumin.

19. Tomato cous-cous with oil-olives, basil and parmesan cheese "cous-cous de domate con aceite-aceitunas a la albahac". In contrast, this was an intense tribute to Italy. The tomato cous-cous and basil ice cream were gaspingly intense, "like a bruschetta without the bread" but the most amazing part was the "water" served alongside that tasted and smelled exactly like parmesan cheese.

20. Asparagus in different cooking times ["esparragos en diferents cocciones"]. Reminiscent of poached eggs on asparagus, this was served with miniscule frozen pellets of egg yolk that melted on our plate to look surprisingly like the real thing. Each piece of asparagus had been cooked for a different length of time and matched perfectly to lemony, egg yolk, peanut sauce, white cauliflower and tuna flavours.

21. Begonia leaf with peas and almond oil ["hojas de begonia con guisantes y aceite de almendra"]. The peas were absolutely delicious on the begonia leaf. We found the artichoke chewy, and weren't overly keen on its combination with the salmon roe floss.

22. Gnocchi of polenta with coffee and safran yuba ["noquis de polenta con cafe y yuba al azafran"]. My absolute favourite dish of the evening. As it was plated, the smell of coffee hit us. Each "gnocchi" was creamy polenta surrounded by a skin and perfectly matched with 3 capers, and a saffron-covered lightly-fried egg. Absolutely *amazing*.

23. Razor clam with seaweed ["navaja con alga"]. My least favourite dish of the evening. Very ocean-briny. The different seaweeds looked just like miniature beach flotsam, the razor clams were peeled impeccably and from a presentation point of view, this was perfect. The tastes though, were too strong, and tasted just like "being dumped in the surf".

24. Sea cucumber with mentaiko and rhubarb ["espardenyes con mentaiko y ruibarbo"]. For sea cucumber, this tasted very fresh and unfishy. Similar to shellfish, with the rhubarb neutralising the sea cumcumber taste.


25. Capuchina leaf with eel and veal marrow ["noja de capuchina con anguila y tuetano de ternera"]. This had to be eaten from right to left - starting with very meaty eel with veal marrow on top, to a very minty almondy flower and finally a cucumber that somehow tasted heartburn.

26. Hare juice with apple jelly-cru with black currant marinated ["jugo de liebre con gele-cru manzana al casis"]. The leaf "looked like a leaf, smelled like a leaf, is a leaf but tasted like an oyster". I liked the play on theme here - where fruits are usually an accompaniment to meat (eg apple sauce), here the substance was an apple jelly with a meat sauce. The jelly was really interesting - you didn't expect the centre to be clear with a bright red outer layer - both had different textures. The warm hare jus was truffley and better than eating meat - very willy wonka.

Sweet

27. Hot canarejal with raspberry and kirsch ["canarejal caliente con frambuesa y kirsh"]. The foam was really bitter like "chinese medicine", but luckily, the raspberries were perfectly ripe. Tiny wasabi-like flecks tasted like licorice, and the cheese in the middle was injected onto the plate. Interesting.

28. Gorgonzola shell ["cascara de gorgonzola"]. A nice twist on the waldorf salad concept with an outer layer of frozen blue cheese that sounded like a heartbeat when you tapped it. Inside, there were celery, apple and walnuts.

29. Strawberry ["fresca"]. What a divine finish. The tomato cous-cous felt a little misplaced, but did provide a nice segue through the meal. A strawberry had been split in two, with strawberry sorbet on one side, and strawberry jelly on the other. A small mint sprig replaced the leaf - Adria really evoked the feeling of summer and a perfect strawberry with this one! The combination with an almond amaretto brioche and yoghurt cream was inspired.

30+. Coffees and petit fours. The petit fours were very nice - "raspberry ripe" chocolate, a square marshmallow chocolate on cake and caramelised ginger. But the piece de resistance was Anthony's tea. He asked if they had peppermint, and the waiter replied that he would have to check what they had. We expected them to come back with a box full of tea bags, or perhaps even loose leaf teas, but instead they came back with a box of freshly growing herbs in earth!! These were then cut fresh into boiling water to make an amazing herbal infusion. Wow.

What about the other aspects?

Decor was simple - understated but elegant. I respect that. This is a place to pay homage to food and nothing else. Despite being so unusual, the plates were not distracting and we were surprised to learn that the staff had designed the cutlery themselves! - Every detail counts.

Service was outstanding. At every sitting there are more people working than sitting there. From the very warm welcomes, detailed brochures when we enquired about the cutlery, the personal introduction to Ferran Adria - it was close impeccable (apart from one waitress who kept knocking Matt's shoulder). "

Highlights

- Being able to take before and after photos in the kitchen where you met the chef who showed you the menu, and signed it in front of you.

- Finding out that ferran was in fact a humble person.

- Having water and wine at a constant level throughout the meal.

- Being able to choose between red, green and blue/brown towels in the bathroom.

- Amazing plates and cutlery.

- Excellent service from the beginning with warm welcomes and to the end where we became autograph-hungry.

- The gorgeous coastal windy drive to get there.

- Having a fantastic table with a little window box.

- Seeing the "el bulli" sign for the first time.

- Getting a book signed by ferran adria as well as the maitre d's.

- Being one of the first there and one of the last to leave.

- Sharing all this with friends.

All in all, this was one of the most amazing eating experiences I have ever had in my life. Thanks have to go out to Anthony for writing the winning application, Trish for finding us the amazing Hotel Terazza and Matt and Chau for taking brilliant food photos which I have used on this blog.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Big Love from Down Under

Having just spent five weeks in Sydney (bliss), I have a few new places that rate a mention :)

Rambutan - Oxford St - this tiki bar has plenty going for it with atmosphere that would make it great as a first date - we ate the restaurant food downstairs and the Thai was absolutely yummy. It did get a bit quieter later on in the night, but the Gaff is not too far away :)

Cafe Bon Ton - Leura High St - a stop on the way back from Bathurst, Chai and Alyssa discovered this cafe which smelled amazing ... and I'd highly recommend their coffee (how good is it in Australia!) as well as the rigatoni

Bathers Pavilion - 4 The Esplanade, Balmoral - that's on the left as you're facing the ocean as I discovered today :) It has a picture-perfect setting over the beach, with some excellent food - we loved the corn soup with organic rice "rilettes" - and the gingermint virgin mocktail was excellent! A great place to catch up with someone over lunch/brunch, especially on a sunny summers day.

Universal - Palmer St btw Liverpool and Burton - wow! I've walked past this place a ton of times over the last few weeks and always wondered what it is - and on the recommendation of Anna Wong (head chef at Neila), we tried it tonight. Christine Manfield is genius - I *loved* the venison on soba and the squid! Basil icecream with peaches and brioche were an innovative and delicious dessert - service was impeccable as well!

Not long left here but I am looking forward to Toko tomorrow night!!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Mmm a taste of Paris!

I have to say, the last two trips I've had to Paris, I've loved the city but not so much its food (with a couple of notable exceptions). This time around, we hit the mark every single time ..

Starting with Chez Clement on Champs Elysees on Friday night. Serving food til 1am, it was a winner for 7 weary travellers who arrived on the Eurostar at 11pm. It may be a chain, but the food is damn fine - yummm for its duck a l'orange, and anywhere that has serving of profiteroles described as "as many as you can eat" is just plain dangerous!

Even the food at Disneyland wasn't bad (how cute is a mickey mouse shaped brioche!) but the shining star on Sat was World Place. Just off the Champs Elysees on Rue Beaujon. I don't understand why Johnny Depp renamed it from Mandalay Ray, which is a far cooler name, but the food was divine .. at least the tuna tartare and trio of seafood were great (I did hear from my friends that the lamb should never be ordered there again!) The setting is oh-so-sexy and the restaurant transforms into a club after hours, we had DJ Laurent C and he managed to keep us on the dancefloor til 3am despite having walked around Eurodisney for a solid 9 hours that day!

Laduree was a fab start to Sunday for brunch (aka hot chocolate and macaroons .. mm for their seasonal rouge diva!) before wandering around the streets with a crepe in hand trying to get to the Pompidou but failing due to all the stores along the way (and the massively ridiculous queue to get in bc museums are free on the first Sunday in Paris). Sunday dinner was ear-marked for pho, we'd heard that Viet food was good, and it certainly isn't a lie. A bit difficult to get to at Porte D'Ivry, but the place we found at 34 Rue Nationale did some decent pho which was a lovely end to an awesome trip (I am not sure it is as good as Song Que on Old Street, but it's still good :)

PS This is not food related, but anyone who has stayed as a Sotifel will have to agree with me that the beds are the best in the world. Ever.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wahaca : Tapas Mexicano-style

Pam and Matt reminded me tonight that it's been criminally long since I last wrote ... so here is the latest place visited :-)

Where : 66 Chandos Place WC2N 4HG
Website : www.wahaca.co.uk

Another gem fron Pammie, and right around the corner from my office! This place is seriously cool, a great beginning to a night out or just to catch up with old friends ...

First impressions are great. You walk downstairs into a warehousy type open plan space with warm, vibrant Mexican colours. The mood is buzzy, everyone is chatting away happily and the food looks great.

It also tastes great! Being tapas style, we orderd 7 dishes to share - the taquitos (pork especially) just melted in your mouth, tostadas were gooey and cheesy like I like them, and the frijoles were so good we re-orderd them. Drinks matched the food - we sampled the mojito, day of the dead cocktail and tamarind margharita and all were excellent!

As part of the day of the dead festival, we were given a free shot of tequila with a sagrita chaser - kind of like a spicy (with chilli) tomato juice - fantastic combination .... we're going to use that one again I think :)

That's all folks ... I promise my next post won't be so far away ... :)