Breath of the Wok

Russian Food Fair, Narrabundah

2008-09-13T22:32:00.000+10:00

Choc Beetroot cake @ Orange Grove Markets

2008-06-28T12:17:00.001+10:00

Can't taste the beetroot, but the moist texture is awesomely yum

Warning! Giant ribs!

2008-06-11T21:21:00.001+10:00

@ Legends Spanish Club, Manuka

Brunswick St discoveries

2008-06-08T23:51:00.004+10:00

Vegiebar, Brunswick St - SOO cheap and huuuuge servings! Not bad for vegetarian food!
380 Brunswick St Fitzroy 3065 VIC

Churros @ San Churro, Brunswick Street, Melbourne

Ohhhh... mouth waters for Mexican hot chocolate - best spicy hot choc I've ever had!

Manly Wharf Pizzas

2008-06-07T21:17:00.001+10:00

Garlic Prawn pizza with lime

Bodega, Surry Hills

2008-06-05T23:31:00.002+10:00

Delicious tapas with some grad girlfriends on a Thursday night after work...what a nice way to catch up with old friends..

Olive Stuffed Calamari with pumpkin puree and squid ink jus

Seared tuna with avocado and sweet soy vinagrette
Bodega Tapas Restaurant
216 Commonwealth Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Ph: 02 9212 7766
Lunch: Thursday & Friday from 12pm
Dinner: Monday - Saturday from 6pm

a meal eaten sideways

2008-05-31T00:00:00.001+10:00

I found this amusing... :o)

Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally ‘a meal eaten sideways’, referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language:

from 13 words not found in the English language

Death by Ramenkan

2008-05-30T23:04:00.004+10:00

(Title courtesy of Gutso#1)

I am collapsing from the weight of my own stomach. That's what you get for slurping a whole bowl of Karage Cheese Ramen. Yes cheese. It's almost like eating ramen fondue, gets thicker the more you dip into it. And no photos, we were too engrossed in the act of eating.

New menu at Ramenkan. Recommended.

Level 1, 90 Hay St map

Haymarket Tel: 02 9211 6677

La Pelican Lunch

2008-05-28T12:07:00.003+10:00

What better way to farewell some favourite colleagues than sneak out to this class establishment and devour the following over some glasses of wine ...

Veal sweatbread and snail caserole, button mushroom, truffle paste jus, $18 Classic Boullabaise, crutons and rouille, $32
Caramelised lamb saddle, grilled cutlet, zucchini gratin $30
Crispy Bangalow Sweet Pork, ratatouille, green peppercorn jus $18
Chocolate fondant with double cream

Sharing some Zumbo delight

2008-05-25T12:24:00.003+10:00

Ahh Zumbo...such a delight to share. The occasion was my bestie's housewarming. A house so conveniently located halfway between me and Balmain, it naturally means I have more excuses to visit both!

After a very well prepared Mexican lunch (Jen, I still need to get the recipe for that divine guacamole off you!), the conversation progressed to dessert, and I jumped to volunteer ducking out to get some! Et voila...

The effect was much "oohing and ahhing", much like a prada bag on show... ;)

Wheely Good Berrylicious (Passionfruit mousse with berry compote, sandwiched between almond dacqiouse filled with white chocolate and almond croccante)

Mandarin, Rose, Lavender Macaroons

Tarte aux fruits de la Passion (Passionfruit tart)

Chocolate Sacher

Cloud 9

Miss Marple (crepe filled with maple sugar marscapone, orange jelly with strawberries tossed in Grand Marnier)

Icebergs

2008-05-24T23:17:00.002+10:00

La Pelican - love at first bite

2008-05-08T18:09:00.004+10:00

Barbounia & Garfish, puree potato, squid ink jus

And the Winner is...ROSELANDS CHINESE RESTAURANT!

2008-05-06T23:35:00.012+10:00

Congratulations mum & dad for picking up MOST OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT title at the 2008 Canterbury Local Business Awards!

I am absolutely thrilled for them and actually a little surprised right now as I google the restaurant and find there are some avid supporters out there. Prior to tonight, I didn't even think they would be listed anywhere as they are small, no frills and out in the 'burbs. I frequently use eatability myself for reviews, but never thought to look our own "Roselands Chinese" up - but yes, some very good reviews of it! And also at menulog - someone has also referenced my mum's abacus use!

This came as totally unexpected for my mother, and admittedly, myself. There were five finalists in the Restaurant category, and even as they announced it, our's was the only one without a photo shown on the slide...

The photographer had visited the restaurant days before, only my parents hadn't arrived yet, so he left! Mum was just happy to be a finalist. We could not believe our ears when our restaurant's name was announced as the winner!

I had accompanied mum to the Awards Night as dad had to work at the restaurant of course. It was actually a big thing for mum to take a night off work, my parents really are the biggest workaholics! Even though I don't have a hand in the restaurant's business, mum insisted that I come up and collect the award with her, we walked up hand in hand. It really was emotional to see my mum collect the award, she was so excited and about to cry at the same time. Her words during the acceptance speech really came from the heart.

I always loved my dad's food, it's wonderful to know so many people out there do too :)

Oyster love - Sydney Fishmarkets

2008-05-04T21:56:00.004+10:00

Caught up with Suz, Tan and baby Maddy today at the fishmarkets, the oysters were deliciously sweet and fresh...has to be the best oysters anywhere.

Makes me :
Flashback to Char Restaurant, Darwin

20 November 2007

Oyster Tasting Plate: Natural oysters with caramalised lime, lemon butter turkish sandwich (left); Angry oysters, Jalepeno essence, frozen Bloody Mary granita, celery salt (middle in shot glasses); White Miso Marinated Oysters, pickled Japanese seaweed, soybean cream (right).

Delizioso!!

Char Restaurant @ Admiralty, Cnr The Esplanade & Knuckey St Darwin NT
08 8981 4544

Shabu Shabu, Strathfield

2008-05-03T21:56:00.002+10:00

Harbour Kitchen & Bar, Park Hyatt

2008-05-02T21:54:00.001+10:00

Things that cheer me up

2008-05-01T21:57:00.004+10:00

Needed some cheering up today, so went and bought myself a little gift. All happy again :)
M&M also took me down to Chinatown during lunch for additional cheering, and introduced me to mangosteens. So voila: my first mangosteen:
...the flesh was fresh and fragrant, reminding me of mushy lychees. Definitely up there as a favourite! Here are some much nicer and neater photos of Mangosteens, and a great looking sorbet recipe, by none other than M&M herself ;)

Artful Atelier

2008-04-27T23:14:00.007+10:00

22 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, 2037

Ph: 02 9566 2112

Tuesday - Saturday from 6pm

Warm white bean soup, Tasmanian scallop with green olive powder

Wagyu Beef Tartare w Parsnip Ice Cream, Quail Egg & Pickled Mushrooms

Shaved summer Truffle, white onion fondant with Asparagus and Jamon

Roasted Boned and rolled White Rabbit with Kangaroo Island Marron Tail, Parsnip puree & Tarragon sauce

Roasted Queensland Squab Wrapped in Prosciutto, Shiitake Mushrooms, Salsify, Truffled Linguini

Roasted breast of Grimauld Duckling, Pressed Turnips, Prune Puree and Potato Gnocci

Tonka Bean Creme Brulee w Balsamic-Poached Strawberries, Vanilla Ice Cream

Zumbolicious! The Master's Gateaux Secrets Unveiled

2008-04-24T22:51:00.002+10:00

The menacing sky, rain slicing sideways and forbidding one-way streets couldn't stop three girls marching (in their work heels) into Adriano Zumbo's industrial kitchen in suburban Rozelle. This was the night. The night where the pastry god's secrets would be revealed...

Us? make this? right!

I had only initially discovered the tiny wonderland of Zumbo's offerings weeks ago. Since then I've been gushing about the wonderful sweet creations to anyone who dared come in my path.

I literally jumped when I saw the ad for this cooking class in Good Living, and it didn't take much convincing to get M&M and Coco Chanel to come along - they probably heard me talk about it so much that they wanted to see what the fuss was about!

The events of the night are masterfully captured here. I'll only add that this was what we were greeted with:
Charming right. You don't want to know how much of that was left by the end of the night!!

So without further adieu, Tuk Tuk Nothing revealed:

Coconut dacquoise in the making...

...cooling beside the oven...

Sandwiched and coated by Dean ta daa!

Chocolate Modena revealed:

Making the flourless dark chocolate meringue biscuits. From this...

..to this
Raspberry ganache in the making
The magic touch...

...da da daaaaa

et voila!!

And as if we hadn't pigged out enough in Zumbo's kitchen, not letting a morsel of scrap (or ingredient!) escape our path...

...the exhausted trio ventured down to Buchanen Street in Balmain, to sample what is claimed to be the best pizza in Sydney!

Rosso Pomodoro Pizza - tastes better atop a BMW

Yes, what a night!!

Max Brennar Joy

2008-04-21T21:58:00.005+10:00

This is my second trip to the new Max Brennar at the Met Centre, conveniently located minutes away from work! It remains to be seen whether it will serve as a regular bonding experience with some high school friends, tho a fortnightly rendezvous has been scheduled at this point ;)

The White Chocolate Chai ($5.50, centre back) is a new one from the bald man, it is rather sweet and lacks a strong chai flavour, or any chai flavour at all as any trace is overpowered by the white chocolate. The apparatus is a novelty tho - the pot comes separately and at first we couldn't figure out how to strain the tea leaves. We found out that the bottom of the pot sits nicely on the glass, and the glass rim pushes on the bottom of the pot to release the liquid, as shown in the photo. Novelty aside, my friend said she wouldn't order it again, and having tried a sip, I would agree.

On recent trips to Max Brennar CBD locations, I have felt the standard slip, compared to the flagship store in Paddington. The Mexican Chilli Chocolate ($5.50, left) I had this time seemed a little watery and really does not conjure up Mexican chilli hotness. But this won't drive me away (yet) - the joy of being in an all-chocolate environment is too great to ignore, and perhaps the standards would pick up in time...?

Cheap eats discovery: Bagan Burmese!

2008-04-15T22:12:00.005+10:00

Shop 4, 41 The Boulevarde, Strathfield
Phone: (02) 8746 0666

What a gem discovery of a local cheap eats! Never noticed this before despite its flashing neon signs - think I previously dismissed it as another Indian restaurant, and the bright lights probably turned me off. But intrigued after reading a review of this Burmese restaurant, I followed the address and to my surprise found a bustling place, at least for a Tuesday night!

The first thing we noticed when we opened the menu was the prices - CHEAP as! Entrees were priced around $5, mains $10-$15!

The dish on the left is my favourite - fried pork intestines! It wasn't obvious from the menu. There were pictures for every dish, but most dishes had Burmese names, and descriptions were rare. When I asked the waitress what it was, she asked if I spoke Chinese - I said I did - and she told me what it was in Mandarin. I wasn't 100% sure I really understood, but decided to go for it anyway, and am I glad I did! (Aside - I used to order this everytime I went to Golden Century with my family for 宵夜 "siu yeh" - Canto term for post-midnight snack - tho it looked different to Bagan's. The skin of the fried pork intestines "juu dai cheung" from Golden Century is coloured a bright red, and doesn't look as deep fried as the above photo. Delicious!)

Oh, the dish on the left is grapefruit salad, which was also nice - different and refreshing.

Below was our mains. Must say I wasn't as enamoured with the Burmese curries - we ordered Pork and Mango curry (back, in bowl) - not anything special and couldn't taste the mango. Probably won't order curry next time. The spinach (front left) however was great! And I think it was something like $7?!

Not surprisingly, because it was so affordable, we ordered more food than we could eat, despite promising that we would save room for dessert. There was none. Dessert for next time!

Rocksalt - my fave Canberra restaurant!

2008-04-12T22:55:00.007+10:00

Shop 4 ,78 Hawker Pl, Hawker 2614 ACT
Phone: (02) 6254 7865
If there's one thing I miss about Canberra, it's this restaurant. It is hands down the best restaurant in Canberra! This was my third time, and I really wanted to go for the 8-course degustation ($88/$120 with wine) which is just excellent value in comparison to some degustation menus in Sydney! Alas, no one on the table wanted one, and it was not possible to get a degustation for one, so I settled on ordering 3 courses...

First up the Half-shell QLD scallops with blue-cheese butter, saffron and pea risotto. The scallops were fresh and risotto delicious, tho I couldn't taste the blue-cheese butter. All up enjoyed it tho!

Now I never do this, but I couldn't help it. I ordered the same main dish here that I have on both previous occasions. Last time I had promised myself that I would try something new, but craved it so much that I said "next time". This time, I justified ordering it again as I hadn't been back to Canberra for six months. Et voila:

Rocksalt's double roasted duck on sweet potato bolongierre with duck sausage and rich duck jus. Need I say more.

The other highlight of this restaurant is it's delightful desserts board, which the waiter carries out to your table come time for this heavenly course, and explains the desserts of the day. It is always the hardest to choose which one, as all sound so unique and wonderful.

We settled on the Sticky date pudding with brandy icecream, to share, as we were all so stuffed (I don't know why I thought I could fit 8 courses, especially after having a lunch degustation that day).

Couldn't resist also ordering some of their home-made icecream - also do this everytime, as they always have new flavours to sample. They didn't have the blue cheese icecream this time, so we tried 3 new flavours - the brown sugar, cinnamon and choc-chip cookies. We also got to try their poppy seed icecream, which we didn't end up ordering, as it had more texture than taste.

Ah, heaven in Canberra - would you believe it's possible?

Delightful Cafe discovery @ Chifley Shops, Canberra

2008-04-12T15:48:00.005+10:00

details coming soon!

Axis @ National Museum

2008-04-12T12:42:00.004+10:00

Signature lunch (5 course mini-degustation, $36)
(description Coming soon!)

Bourke St Bakery & The Book Kitchen

2008-04-05T23:31:00.005+11:00

My first visit to Bourke St Bakery - found the expected lines, but these did go quickly and I found out why when I stepped into the store and was immediately pressured to choose my pastry! Here tis: Ricotta, plum and almond tart ($4). Not anything amazing, but I did like the crisp pastry, just like that of a Portuguese tart!Thought I'd save it for after dinner, but look what mum brought home. Selection of cakes from 85 degrees - a Japanese cake shop near the George Street Cinemas. Now how was I meant to choose? Well of course I didn't - choose that is - I had a bit of each! :)
Oh and just for the sake of documenting it on my "food journal", and to remind myself to go back for the yummy-looking muffins - Y and I also went for some juice at Book Kitchen - if we weren't so full from Orange Grove markets, I would have ordered the ricotta pancakes also! I was happy with my "sunshine juice" ($5) - OJ with honey is quite a good combination. They took ages making it tho!