Bathers Pavillion does high tea only on weekdays - probably a good move because it is hugely popular among week day diners. So we went, on my parents' anniversary, for a relaxing afternoon tea.

The high tea for 2 comes with three trays - 2 scones with cream and jam, 2 each of raspberry chocolate tart, chocolate eclaire, and strawberry coconut tart, 2 each of smoked salmon sandwich, goat cheese and cucumber sandwich, and prawn and avacado tart. And tea or coffee of your choice. Oh it was such pleasant afternoon tea, home made jam (not simply a scoop of strawberry flavoured jelly), rich chocolate genache under the gold-foiled raspberries, smooth chocolate custard in eclaires, refreshing strawberry coconut tart (no custard, pleasant surprise). The sandwiches were good too but I'm not particularly keen on goat cheese or avacado, otherwise they went down well too.

After the afternoon tea we went off to Crows Nest for some Tapas (Zarzuela Spanish Restaurant). Highly recommend their white bait, sardines a la plancha, roasted capsicum, and my old favourite chorizos. We also had potatoes with aioli, and creamy garlic mushrooms, which were both good but a bit rich. With a hot roll to soak up the flavoursome oils and sauces - ahh. A bit unfortunate that their delicious sangria must have been made with cheap red wine - normally I can handle a glass or two of red, but just one glass of this sangria turned me red and tipsy and gave me palpitation I haven't had for a long time. Otherwise it was a totally pleasant afternoon/evening.

Wishing you all a very happy new year!

Taipei Food Extravaganza

This is a collection of foods I had in Taipei, which I think is excellent in terms of authentic international (well Asian) fares and great variety of the local cuisine. There are a lot so take it easy on reading especially those of you who like reading in the middle of the night!

I had a great lunch at a packed little lunch place for Unagi Don (Japanese eel rice), went to a tight little cafe called Domo for an excellent espresso (which was the last good espresso I had on the trip), had a few quick dinners at night markets, went for a dance shoe shopping frenzy (and this had anything to do with food??) and filled my luggage with more food than clothes.

Ah satisfaction.

And of course I also had time to go to NICE restaurants and cafes and performed the "don't touch the food before I photographed it" ritual - and that's what I'll share in more details. I should describe it as a degustation rather than separate events, just so it flows. Emphasis - the following was not consumed on the same day/meal. If you actually thought I'd consumed all that in one sitting (or one day), I shall declare war on you!!

Lets start with entree - Deep fried tofu stuffed with fish liver - it was fantastic, tofu was crispy on the outside and very silky on the inside, and the flavour of the liver was creamy but not rich. It was supposed to be dipped in a light soy sauce dipping sauce but I didn't bother coz it was just nice enough as it is. It was followed by "rice in soup" - if you often have Japanese noodle soup, you might know the type with sesame and seaweed strips. To have cooked rice in the soup meant the rice soaked up all the nice flavours of the soup and it was satisfying on its own. Then we had a nigiri sushi (with what fish I'd forgotten), fish was tender but not falling apart (like cooked cod does), and the charred bits were fantastic. Char-grilled calamarigreat with just lemon (or nothing at all) - it came with a salt and pepper for dipping, which was finely ground and very fragrant, but again I didn't really need that because the charred bits on the calamari was enough. Salted plain-grilled sanma fish was full of the flavour of the fish, and really char-grilling is the best way to appreciate it. Sanma (or Pacific saury) has heaps of fine bones but the flesh is very tasty. But if you accidentally broke the liver it will leave the flesh very bitter - some people like the bitterness, not me not I.

Hot pot. YUM. I know it was still summer in Taiwan but who cares when air conditioning keeps my cool... A vegetable pot with soy sauce stock, and additional serve of wagyu beef. Oh wagyu beef - thy beauty, texture, high content of saturated fat... not that I care about that last point, of course. The soup base eventually got a bit salty for us though.

BURP. Excuse me!!! Now I move on to desserts. Haagen Dazs ice cream sound Ok with you? Of course. And what's dessert without coffee? Try an iced coffee - literally ICED coffee, because it was made from melting ice dripping over ground coffee, extracted overnight. Apparently this slow and cold extraction does not extract caffeine, but either they used crap coffee, or the lack of pressured steam just doesn't extract the elements that give a good espresso its depth and body. The waffles at the same cafe was incredibly popular and well deserve their fame - hot off the waffle plate, served with fruit and vanilla ice cream. Simplicity is best.

There, that concludes my foodie experience in Taiwan. I certainly enjoyed it... hope you hated me for it too!

Girly get together. In need of a restaurant that serves good food and has comfortable ambiance so the girls can talk without the need to shout. Pomegranate was actually very much a last minute decision, as none of us have been there and it had good reviews from customers, so a reservation was made before 6 (for dinner at 7) and off we went.

Driving along the buzzing Darling Street, going deeper and deeper into Balmain, we FINALLY found Pomegranate, located away from the main strip of restaurants and shops, and with minimal signage to make it hard for those who didn't remember the street number. As we walked in we wondered why we bothered making the reservation because it was empty at 6:50, not that it mattered much anyway. As we poured through the menu, customers started streaming in and sure enough, by 7:30 every table was filled! Then the girls finally decided on what they wanted, ordered, got told we might have ordered more than we can finish but didn't care, because we wanted to try everything we could possibly fit in our stomach.

Entree came and we were delighted. The violet dumplings with mince and coriander was gorgeous, made into individual flowers and served on spoons. We wondered how we could possibly consume them - they were just so beautiful. And then we bit into it the sweet fragrant filling... and were sent to heaven. We also had a taro roll - thin tofu sheets wrapping taro, water chestnut and cashew nuts, it had such delightful taste to it, great texture and flavour that is gentle but distinct, with a lovely subtle sweet chilli dipping sauce that was nothing like what you get from the usual local Thai. The entrees were so delicious we simply anticipated main for the rest of the time.

Then our main dishes came. We ordered duck Choo Chee, crispy pork belly with fragrant light curry sauce, and fried barramundi in sweet chilli paste. Then of course we piled rice onto our plates ready for attack. The waitress tore the meat off the duck thighs and spread it evenly over the aromatic curry sauce, so I didn't bother taking a photo of the dish. Oh this was heavenly! I'm partial to duck and this was one of the best ducks I've had, the curry was mild, sweet and very aromatic, I could eat it all night. The pork belly was deep fried so the crackle was very crispy, which made it a bit hard to chew, but still delicious. The light curry sauce had lemon grass and lime leaves in it, and was mild, very fragrant and appetising. The fish was more potent because of the chili, but I find myself quite happy consuming through the fish without having to water down the fire because it was bearable for a chili wuss like me. And it came with little flower shaped egg pieces decorating the dish - we were absolutely in love with them and called them the "Hello Kitty Eggs" because they were so cute.

To pick a favourite out of the three was not too easy - it was the contest between the duck and the fish - as I know I'm always partial to a duck and curry, but I really enjoyed the fish too. In the end I gave the duck the "Cindy's favourite dish for the night" crown. Not saying the pork was bad, but it was just not as tantalising as the other dishes.

The waitress was right - we did order too much - we managed to finish the dishes only because they were so delicious, and it would have been a waste. We were so stuffed because the servings were great. Of course we didn't tell the waitress we were stuffed - because she would have said "I told you so" and possibly refuse our dessert orders. Yes we had dessert too..... A baked taro cake with coconut ice cream, and a roasted rice cake with coconut ice cream. I opted out because I didn't think it was possible to have more food pushed into my stomach (which was protesting at being overworked). The desserts had texture and flavour that we all thought "hm... thats interesting... what is it". I guess we are all used to the classic western desserts like creme brulee or chocolate mud cake.

We had such a wonderful time at the restaurant, we ended up leaving after everyone had left - first in, last out. We felt sheepish towards the waitresses because they were waiting for us to finish so they could pack up and leave! But then we were great value for money because we ordered more food than anyone else. Highly recommend this place, I really couldn't find much flaw there, loved the interior (no tacky Thai decorations), waitresses were efficient and polite, food was fabulous, price was right (just under $150 for all the food and bottle of wine we had). We will definitely remember and revisit this place!

Pomegranate Thai Restaurant - 191 Darling Street Balmain

Ice and Slice

We found a fantastic gelateria et pizzeria called Ice and Slice, located at 135 King St (Broadway end), courtesy of the entertainment book. Coming with no expectations, we were overjoyed and delighted to see the many flavours of gelato on display at the entrance, and instantly knew we will have gelato for dessert.

We were led into the back room of the cafe where they had to clear a newly finished table for us because they were busy. We were hungry, therefore quite annoyed that we didn't get any table service. Then Peter realised we've got to order and pay at the counter. So we picked our pizza and gelato flavours (after long deliberation on flavours), and we impatiently waited while salivating at the steaming pizza at the table next to us.

After a short wait we got our prawn pizza (called The Queenslander) and Quattro Stagione which has ham salami olives cheese and mushrooms all mixed up. The pizzas, I swear, were up there with Napoli in Bocca standard. Thin, soft but chewy crust that wasn't charred and crispy like Gourmet Pizza Kitchen (which any pizza purist will never go near), and the toppings were fan-tabulous. The Queenslander is an off-putting name unfitting for the delicious pizza - Prawns were big sweet and fresh, quite unlike most of the seafood pizzas elsewhere (even Dolcissimo's seafood pizza used frozen prawns!!), and our Quattro Staggione was equally satisfying and mouth watering. And the cheese that just drags and clings and made our mouths water uncontrollably as we try to cut the stringy mozzarella away from the neighbouring slice (break, damn it, break!)

Made us think maybe we could have had a pizza each. Then again, we wanted to save room for gelato.

The gelato. Oh the gelato. I haven't had these flavours for years and I'd almost forgotten how yummy they tasted. Silky smooth, rich in flavour but not heavy or overly sweet, aromatic hazelnut, rummy rum and raisin, and the pistachio, oh that pistachio, no wonder pistachio is one of THE gelato flavours to have. And it left us wanting more despite feeling rather full already.

Pizzas were about $15 on average and gelato was $6.10 for 3 scoops. They also do sundaes ($7.90) such as banana boat and peach melba and other tantalizing mix of flavours (one of them a "vanilla bean gelato spaghetti"). They also do desserts such as tiramisu and baked cheesecake. The waffle with maple syrup and vanilla gelato looked attractive too but not sure how good the waffle is considering its not freshly made. Only trouble is finding parking, so car pool or try public transport. But it doesn't matter. This place is excellent value, hugely satisfying, and I would definitely come back for more.

Sorry, no photos as we weren't expecting fine dining. Besides, it'll be impossible to photograph a fantastic pizza while you're starving. I'm sure you understand.....

Blue Eye Dragon revisited

Back for a late supper after salsa - and we ordered a scallops stir fried with XO sauce and fried chicken with basil and five spices again, simply because it was light and delicious. The scallops were huge, plump and tender, flavour was light and nothing like the usual XO sauce flavoured dishes that are often too spicy and greasy. This dish was simply cooked to perfection. Although in my opinion the presentation of this dish was too simple, it tasted better than it looked. The chicken was as good as we remembered it. And we couldn't resist the smooth and creamy Movenpick ice cream - fantastic way to end the meal.

Thai Princess

The usual Friday night, post-salsa hunger. Where to tonight? "Lets go to that Thai place next to Cindy's friend's restaurant!" (http://www.thaiprincess.com.au/)

Alright I wasn't particularly hungry thanks to my cuppa soup before leaving uni (ahh the simple pleasures of artificial flavouring in a cup), and neither was Jean, so we only ordered 2 things among the 3 of us. Pad Thai with tofu, and stir fried chicken with chilli and basil.

Fabulous Pad Thai. The tofu is still soft and moist on the inside and crispy and flavoursome on the outside, while the noodles were 'al dante' (eh, in want of a Thai version to describe the perfect noodle texture!!) and flavour not just your usual take-away sweet-tangy Pad Thai. Chilli basil chicken was also more than satisfactory - I would have soaked up all the sauce (spicy but not firey, thank heavens) with more rice if I were starving... And we enjoyed the piles of basil buried under the piles of chicken too. And, although it didn't seem like a lot of food when it first came, we were STUFFED at the end because the portions were deceivingly large! They really packed it onto the plates!

Our friendly waitress was very attentive and chatty (probably because we kept asking her how hot our dishes are) and walked us to the door - very nice! She also reminds me of a dear friend who's soft spoken, petite and very friendly, so we left the restaurant with that "we'll be back" mentality! And they didn't mark the Entertainment card so we get to use the discount again! YAY!

(I promise to return to La Brasserie, which is right next door, I promise... some day....)

Lindt Chocolate Cafe

It was a case of self-induced chocolate overdose last Sunday.

The IMAX pre-movie advertisement was nasty. It started with these huge IMAX sized chocolate desserts floating on the screen, followed by a soothing voice telling us “this is a gentle reminder not to have too much popcorn.”

Seriously, since I started at the gym I’ve been watching my calories (shock horror!) but this ad totally broke any of my inhibitions and self-discipline. “We’re going to Lindt after the movie!”

There were too many choices it makes my head hurt, and too many temptations it makes my waistline tremble. Anything you can imagine about chocolate was there – an assortment of cakes, tortes, gateaux, slabs, biscuits, macaroons, ice cream, hot or iced chocolate drinks, as well as the Lindt chocolate flavours you never see in supermarkets. The moment you lay eyes on these happy creations you toss the hard work at the gym out the window… and you indulge.

My friend went for a chocolate cake made of 70% cocoa chocolate – it was fabulously dark and intensely chocolatey. I went for the indulgence for one – their chocolate degustation plate with a bit of everything (warm silky chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream, chocolate truffle, chocolate and hazelnut praline slab, chocolate macaroon, and a small piece of St Moritz cake which is layers of white, milk and dark chocolate mousse). First bite into the ice cream – smooth (but sweet). Second bite into the ice cream with a bit of the chocolate sauce – smooth (but sweet). Then came the attack on all fronts – a bit of chocolate slab (yum), a bit of St Moritz (luscious), a bit of my iced dark chocolate drink (which I gulped lustily), and after just one bite of everything I declared myself incapacitated by cocoa and sugar overdose.

The iced chocolate drink was fantastic, it was rich but not thick, very chocolatey and surprisingly not too sweet. Or maybe it was in comparison with the St Moritz, which was divine but sugar loaded. Towards the end I could not really tell the flavours anymore – all my tastebuds were sugar-coated. I’d also felt a slight pressure on my temples and much to my friend’s amusement, I giggled and behaved like I was tipsy (“oh I’m on a chocolate and sugar high… oh no… oh no…”)

I still say this was well worth the trip – who can I blame but myself for not being able to handle the divine sweetness and rich cocoa? After this experience I still love chocolate, though when I should head back for another self-induced overdose, I shall shelf that thought till indefinitely…

Tip for your visit to the café – go with a small group, get yourself a table first, grab a menu and make your decision while you’re in the queue if the café is busy. The degustation plate for 1 is really enough for 2 or more – especially if you’re weak like me. Their coffee is more expensive than the average café coffee ($4.50) so I would recommend trying their specialty chocolate drinks instead. So what if you get a chocolate/sugar overload – you only live once!

Viscardi's

Viscardi's Ristorante is the restaurant by the Event/Convention Center Le Montage (Leichhardt/Lilyfield area), which is the location of my best friend's wedding (NOT of the Julia Roberts variety, thank you very much) later this year. We intended to have brunch there but missed their breakfast venue by 10 minutes! But having steak at 11:40 was way too heavy so we all went for something simple - Pasta.

Orders for our lunch - Penne alla Romanov - penne with salmon in vodka cream sauce - my choice. The other two orders were Linguine al'arrabiata - linguine in tomato based sauce, basil and chilli, and Linguine Cinque Terre - linguine with prawn, pesto, tomato and cream.

Verdicts? YUM. YUM. YUM. Each mouthful drew a "mmm" and I kid you not, it was so satisfying we could not stop saying "mmm" constantly. The creamy pastas were smooth and rich and full of flavour, but not thick and heavy like some other restaurants do, and absolutely delicious to the last bite. Arrabiata was text-book "ripe red tomato aroma", very delicious, and I could eat that forever (or until my stomach explodes). We reckon the Linguine Cinque Terre must be tossed with freshly made pesto - because it tasted so fresh, the pesto tasted almost minty. Not one of us even thought to reach over for the salt and pepper shakers - no need. They were PERFECT pastas. And guess what, they each costed less than $20 - which is not that much more expensive than what most Italian restaurants charge (eg Dolcissimo charges about $15-25 for their pastas), so we agreed unanimously that this place was excellent value for money!!

Then we had coffee. Because my pasta was creamy and filled me up a little, I decided to have an espresso. TOP CHOICE. Excellent coffee, thank you Mr Barista. A badly made espresso or coffee made of mediocre beans leave a bitter after taste. This espresso was actually not bitter to the taste - truly aromatic and full-bodied with a thick layer of rich crema on top, and actually left a somewhat sweet aftertaste! Argh and it was only $3.... compared to the rubbish served by Starbucks, which was more like $3.55 worth of skim milk with no more than a splash of coffee flavour, THIS is what you call coffee!!

As you can see we were incredibly pleased and satisfied with this place, and for the first time in weeks my friends were able to relax and really enjoy and feel their meal... I was so happy for them... and many thanks to their letting me tag along and share this experience.... truly divine!

Blue Eye Dragon

Blue Eye Dragon is one of the many restaurants listed in the Entertainment Book, which I otherwise would not have found, as it is tucked away on the quiet side of Pyrmont. But what a brilliant find! I completely utterly absolutely enjoyed their food, ambiance and service, and would happily come back again even without the discount voucher!

What they serve are popular dishes from Taiwan. Before I describe what we had, it is important to introduce to you a bit of history and geography of Taiwan in relation to China. In 1949 thanks to the unstoppable advancement of the red wave, the Nationalist Party and many of the civilians retreated to Taiwan. They brought with them treasures and artifacts of the Forbidden Palace, people of different cultural backgrounds, and very importantly, their food habits. Many of them didn't know what to do for a living, so they started by selling food from their home town, on street stalls, push carts, and small shop fronts. Eventually these turned into restaurants that serve authentic, traditional Chinese food from all regions of China, north, south, east and west.

And, fortunately for me, this is the kind of food environment I grew up in.

Taiwanese cuisine is not very well-known for two reasons - there are not too many restaurants that specifically focus on Taiwanese cuisine, but more importantly, Taiwanese food is really the essence of all the cuisines from the different provinces and regions of China, so it is difficult to define Taiwanese food. What most Westerners known as Chinese food really are Cantonese food, which only forms one small region of the whole of China. It is a pity, because personally, Cantonese food is no where near as enjoyable as the lighter and more delicate dishes from the Eastern/South Eastern provinces.

When I first heard "Taiwanese cuisine restaurant" I was very skeptical because my knowledge of real Taiwanese local cuisine is not what I consider "fine dining". But Blue Eye Dragon surprised me. Their not-so-long menu (in English, of course) included many dishes I immediately identified as dishes I had as a child, and are a variety of dishes of different origins. Some were even dishes that my mum makes at home – that’s GOT to be good!

So we ordered the crispy chicken with basil, five spice and salt-pepper dip on the side (a more delicate version of the ever-popular street-stall food), and crispy prawn with plum sauce for entrée, followed by tender beef strip stir fried in Taiwanese satay sauce, and san-bei calamari (san-bei meaning three cups, each cup being a condiment).

The crispy chicken was great, deep-fried but it felt surprisingly light, nowhere near the grease of KFC! And although I’m not one who eats much salt, their salt-pepper really added a great touch to the chicken. The prawns were average in my opinion, I think the chicken just stole its glory. The satay sauce for the beef was very authentically Taiwanese, it’s a popular dipping/stir fry accompaniment, though I never liked it that much because of its texture, grease and salt content. But my compliments to the chef – the flavour was there, without the dripping grease and overpowering salt. I still don’t like the texture but that’s just me. The san-bei calamari was delicious – it was rich in flavour but it wasn’t heavy. San-bei, meaning three cups, are sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice wine, and are traditionally cooked with chicken, along with plenty of basil, garlic, ginger, and chilli to taste. It is usually cooked until the liquid has reduced, which means the chicken will have absorbed all the flavour but also became drier. The San-bei calamari at Blue Eye Dragon was still tender and moist, with heaps of sauce in the pot. Delicious, but not quite authentic enough in my purist point of view.

We had room for dessert – Ice cream is not ‘Taiwanese’ but they served a brand of ice cream that created a storm there. Movenpick Ice Cream of Switzerland… Oh my, smooth, creamy, full of flavour, but not heavy with cream… Oh my. I don’t normally like caramel flavoured ice cream but that was one heck of a caramel ice cream… And that chocolate ice cream, dark Swiss chocolate flakes in the chocolatey ice cream… and you can see the vanilla seeds in the ice cream (and I detect a hint of mint??!!)

As we sat and chatted we started eavesdropping to the conversation between the owner and the table next to us. The owner’s mother is the head of this business, apparently she takes her food ingredients very seriously, and would spend more on quality fresh in-season ingredients. Then she would take her time looking through the purchase, pick and choose, and discard whatever that was substandard. I was pleased to hear that they take great care in choosing what they serve us – makes me more comfortable dining there.

The service was great. Their waitress was very friendly and genuine. The atmosphere was pleasant. After La brasserie this is the second restaurant that makes me feel I can just sit here for hours, with my friends or on my own, but this restaurant may be quieter as it’s tucked away in the quiet side of town. Highly recommend it. They are located at Shop 2, 42 Harris Street, Pyrmont (02 9518 9955), but only open for dinner on Wednesday to Saturday.

Sorry, no photos, but I will visit again and make up for it!

Kobe Jones

I love spontaneous get-togethers! On Monday Lisa asked for a girly catch up, and on Thursday Anne Lisa and I met up after our hectic day's activities just like old times. As it was a Thursday night we thought it'd be easy for a restaurant to fit three reasonably skinny girls in, so after 15 minutes of careful menu analyses along King St Wharf, we ended up at Kobe Jones.

Sushi. I love Sushi. Kobe Jones does sushi. We took out time, and ended up with a "dragon roll" (grilled eel and avacado on top, prawn tempura and nori wrapped in rice, smelt roe and bonito shavings on top), "dynamite roll" (spicy tuna with sesame seed sprinkle) and "salmon skin" (crispy BBQ salmon skin, cucumber, burdock root, with sesame and bonito shavings on top). The menu didn't tell us that the dragon roll contained prawn - just said "tempura" - so unfortunately Lisa couldn't have it, but luckily the eels were sitting on top of the rolls and not in contact with the prawns, so she managed to have a taste of the eel for the first time. I really like anything with eel on it, and this eel sushi was quite different from all the other standard eel-on-rice preparation so I loved it. The dynamite roll was lightly spicy (as we ordered a milder heat level), and was also very delicious, but I thought the chilli actually doesn't quite go with the delicate tuna, and it also robbed me of the pleasure of dabbing it in wasabi. The salmon skin roll was a pleasant surprise because of the crispy texture and just the right saltiness/sweetness without any more wasabi or soy sauce (to me).

After this light but satisfying meal we decided there is room to really appreciate dessert (unlike my previous over-indulgence at Napoli in Bocca) and ended up with Yokan (chocolate sabayon on a hazelnut biscuit with vanilla anglaise) and a Kanpai trifle (sake infused trifle with marinated cherries in jelly). Yum. My trifle was light and fragrant, not too rich so quite a perfect end of the meal. The chocolate sabayon was absolutely divine! It was chocolatey, and yet not too sweet and overly rich.

Highly recommend this place. The price seem a bit high at first for a sushi restaurant, but their sushi was different and delicious, and has a very relaxing atmosphere unlike the usual hectic Japanese restaurant. We also ordered a sauvignon blanc from Orange that went down well with the light meal too. I'd come back one day.....

Overindulgence at Napoli in Bocca

First time I visited Napoli in Bocca I thoroughly enjoyed their pizza and the desserts, and have been hooked on that restaurant since. But the second and third time I went, their famous and ever-so-popular tiramisu was sold out before I could order it. So this time I vowed to myself I WILL have a tiramisu at the end of my meal...

Our resident Italian colleague ordered on behalf of all of us, since he knows whats good, and saves us that decision making process and the possibility of double-up orders. Entree - herb and garlic pizza, and bruschetta pizza. Thin and crusty and very appetising, the bruschetta pizza was topped with piles of juicy ripe roman tomatoes. Then came our second course, two wood fired pizzas (both very simple) and three pastas (spaghetti marinara, gnocchi napolitana, fettucini carbonara). Then came a third course of one more pizza, one more pasta (penne with eggplant and tomatoes), and one that I wanted to try - calamari ripieni (stuffed calamari). All nice. The pizza had anchovy on top so it was a tad salty, but it's hard for me to explain how potent and tasty the salty fish was on the pizza!

Then I ordered the tiramisu I lust after but was unable to finish the creamy dessert simply because I had too much good food before that. Sigh...

I think everyone had a great time there and the food was, as always, up to scratch. But we were lucky to have had excellent attentive service because of our Italian friend (reading other people's reviews the service may not be consistent). The interior is now much more spacious and therefore more comfortable than it used to be before the renovation. I would not think twice about coming back here at all!

Casa di Nico

After a lovely afternoon of painting soup mugs and flower pots for Lisa (our hen's celebration activity) we went to Cockle Bay in POURING rain for our Hen's celebration dinner. Casa di Nico was our ristorante for the night. We ordered a bottle of Preece's cabernet sauvignon for the 5 of us, and an extra LLIT (Long Island Iced Tea) for the bride to be - the aim is to get her drunk so she will comply with the tasks we have for her.

Ordering food was a tough one, as I was tossing up between some of my favourites (Linguine con vongole and risotto al pollo e funghi, for example), but ended up going for the ribeye di rinforza (rib eye steak with creamy garlic potatoes, green bean and black truffle) - felt like munching some meat that night. Other people went for the barramundi, snapper, king prawn pasta, and gnocci (special for the day). Everyone enjoyed their food, which was good. My rib eye must have come from a fat cow - this big ring of fat around my steak was a bit scary, but the meat was juicy and tender (unfortunately it was just a little bloody... i prefer pink and not bloody). The potato on the side was great - creamy and aromatic.

For dessert it was the battle of the creme brulee and "diplomatico" (warm vanilla custard, cherries, blackberries and savoirdi biscuits) - but I opted for my old favourite (creme brulee). Smooth and silky and beautifully presented. The diplomatico looked divine and tasted good too (but I'm glad I had creme brulee). The chocolate and pear tart was top choice of a comfort food but apparently it was not chocolatey enough for our friend. Coffee was good - full bodied and strong (probably made with double shot).

We had a good night - food was good, company was excellent. Though to be honest, for a 'fine dining restaurant' like this, they could do better than just 'good food'. Service was swift but impersonal, which was a disappointment. Maybe I am just expecting service like that of Post Restaurant (at GPO, Westin Hotel Sydney), where the warm and professional staff was always there when you need them, efficient and quiet and never in your face. Here the wait staff would pretty much deliver our food and leave, and almost always seem to be in a hurry. I wouldn't recommend against this restaurant just because I had a 'flat' experience myself, though I won't come back in a hurry. Apologies for the slightly blurry photos - didn't have time to do my usual habit of "one is great, ten is better"!

Home dinner - pastry, pastry, pastry!

One of my favourite dishes is a kind of Chinese pastry that is somewhat likened to puff pastry, but less fluffy, the layers are thicker, and coated with white sesame. Different varieties are used in different dishes, for example, the pastry with mince uses just oil to separate the layers, made into a longer rectangle and cut into half, while the pastry with beef slices used sesame paste (kind of like tahini but fried) to separate the layers, and made into individual round pockets. Its best served hot off the pan, and reheated pastries are 100 times less flavoursome than the freshly made pastries. Not only that the texture is completely lost (turns hard). I prefer having less filling because I love the pastry, but I kept being told off for not stuffing the pockets!!!!

Another great summery dish is cold prawns with thick mung bean noodles and cucumber, drizzled with garlicky sesame paste dressing. Appetising and refreshing, I can have stacks of this stuff and never get sick of it (well maybe after 2 platefuls I may get a little ill...)

D'foreigner

Yup, after the big meal I had at La Brasserie I was also expected to join a family dinner... and they've picked a local Franco-Italian style restaurant called D'Foreigner, which is run by the daughter of a family friend. Bizarre that I was eating at restaurants where I know the owner all day yesterday.

Apart from the restaurant name that bothered me, they do make reasonably honest and unpretentious food. Their pasta are made fresh on the venue which they're actually quite proud of it themselves. And because no one was in the mood for overindulgence we went for entree sizes only.

We had a Spaghetti vongoles, a squid ink pasta in seafood bisque sauce, capsicum pasta with grilled scampi, wild porcini risotto and grilled garlic and chilli prawns on a bed of mixed greens (me). For the side I picked the ensalatas caprese and a rocket and tomato salad. My prawns were butterflied and grilled, juicy sweet and JUST the right portion for my still packed belly (3 king prawns for dinner...). The spaghetti vongoles (in white wine sauce) went down well for the man with the most traditional tastebuds, while the seafood bisque sauce on squid ink pasta was fully appreciated by the other very traditional tastebud. I think I have managed to totally change their perception of Italian pasta - they only knew of the bolognese sauce so this was a pleasant surprise to them. The capsicum pasta with grilled scampi was lightly creamy and quite appetising. Risotto was tops - always love a mushroom risotto (a tad salty though).

We brought a bottle of Chivas Regal to the restaurant ($2pp corkage) and that helped settle my stomach and calm me down a bit and I settled back into that "smily but quiet' mood....

Loved the meal. What a memorable gourmet day.

La Brasserie

Went to dine at a brand-spanking-new French restaurant at Darlinghurst - La Brasserie (www.LaBrasserie.com.au) and had a truly enjoyable meal, with the only slight problem of having ordered way more than my stomach could, well, stomach.
Anyway, the lunch menu was short but definitely got enough varieties to satisfy most customers. Knowing I haven't had escargot before he threw in 2 for me to taste - kinda liked it, garlicky and enjoyed the texture, but not rushing back for more. I ordered a cheese souffle for starters. YUM I say. Rich and cheesy and creamy and a little fluffy - and the grapes and walnuts added great contrasting texture and flavour to the soft souffle. Lionel (co-owner, what a great friend to have.... one who owns a restaurant and willing to treat me lunch! Hohoho) ordered the onion soup which tasted great, but he later confessed that he made a complaint to his friend/co-owner (Phillippe) that it doesn't have enough soup in it (they conversed in French - nice to listen to). I had a sip and thought it was quite delicious - and started to wonder maybe I should have had the soup instead of souffle.

For main I went for the seared steak tartare open sandwich (with a stack of shoestring chips on the side that I could only watch), which was juicy grilled, with 'forest mushrooms' that were slightly caramelised and very aromatic. Blue cheese scatterred on the side. I enjoyed it except... it was too salty for my tastebuds - Me not a salty person. The serving was big - none of those stereotypical "huge plate tiny mouthful" perception of the French restaurant. Problem was I should really have just ordered the main... or had the soup instead of the souffle... too much protein...

Don't know what red wine he ordered for us, but it was a light red that was fragrant and so easy to drink, I had it without going red in my face, but felt my system start to slow down soon after, so imagine me being quiet, trying very hard to finish my food as much as possible, listening intently and attempting to comprehend someone talking in a lovely French accent while the wine and excess food has totally taken over......
Interior was classy and non-pretentious. Beautiful mahogany coloured floor and tiled around the bar and entrance - classy French bistro-esque style. The floor would have been PERFECT for a dance party - put on some swing/jazzy music and I could just start dancing there! It was just really nice.... I really loved the ambiance. Kinda reminds me of that bistro Dianne Keaton went to in the movie "Somethings gotta give" ... if thats how French really live and eat, well they've won me over!! The only thing was, being on Crown Street (near William Street) it was noisy sitting on the sidewalk. I love people watching but it would have been perfect if it was located in a little alley way with cobble stone pavement and an occasional scooter or bicycle riding by...

Sorry, no photos this time - thought it would have been rude but if i went again with my closer friends I would definitely have taken pictures!

Biggest morning tea

Mum helped prepare morning tea finger food for 120 ppl! Not an ordinary morning tea, it's actually a gathering of the wives of international diplomats... big thing really!

It was a very tiring day for her, making 150 portions of 4 different things (savoury and sweet), but she came back beaming saying it was such a success, that all her food was consumed (or taken away because they were so popular)! But of course, we expect that from mum....

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese new year, the equivalent to Xmas of the western world, is a time for family gatherings, and more importantly - FEASTING. Without a public holiday to celebrate the traditional event in Australia, we make it up with a fantastic feast (and over-indulgence for some).

This year is the first time we hung up some spring scrolls, Chinese calligraphy on long scrolls of red paper, writing about the arrival of spring, the new year, happiness, prosperity, good harvest and anything of good fortune. Dad's calligraphy teacher kindly presented us with a beautiful scroll this year, adding that festive ambiance in our little apartment.

Every year we prepare dishes specially for the new year celebration. Some are always made (like the cured meats, assorted sticky rice cake, and a vegetarian dish made of ten different vegetables), as well as dishes we have for special occasions (such as the steamed pork spare rib in pumpkin, giant pork ball stewed with cabbage). Fish is a must as it symbolises "excess" (well, in terms of accounting, a positive balance at the end of the year), just that we have different methods of preparation to jazz it up every year. The steamed rice pudding ("rice mound with 8 jewels") decorated with dried fruits and lotus seeds are also a must, it symbolises prosperity, and is a favourite with almost everyone. This year we also brought back a very simple yet absolutely divine dessert called "happiness round", made of puffed brown rice and black sesame stuck together with maltose. It is consumed as a "broth" - hot water poured over the rice to melt the maltose. We really wish this lovely dessert with a fantastic festive name can be revived - as we can't find this anywhere in the shops anymore. Happy new years everyone! May the year of the golden pig be a prosperous and joyful

恭喜發財 紅包拿來~~~~~ 農曆新年 每年最吃喝玩樂的日子 在澳洲當然沒假期 也沒有年節的氣氛但是年還是要過 所以 沒有長假 就用美食來補償 今年我們第一次掛春聯爹的書法老師大筆一揮屋子裡就喜氣洋洋啦 年菜 每年有差不多的幾樣 如醃肉 什錦菜 年糕也有不同菜色換換口味 如今年的獅子頭和粉蒸排骨年年要有餘 所以年年有魚 只是年年不同口味色彩繽紛的八寶飯 也是不能缺的 我們還做了簡單 但是寓意美好的歡喜團爆開的米 炒香的黑芝麻 和麥芽糖黏成圓球吃時用滾水沖開 簡單但是口齒留香 這樣點心 以前台北鍋巴大王有賣 但現在已經找不到了 十分可惜 有點希望我的部落格能將歡喜團推廣開來 以後就不用自己做啦～

Another home cooked dinner

I should stop this daily report of what I have for dinner, but I can'thelp it because today's meal was so special, my dad had to call me to see where I was (and in fact I was just at the door....) Two dishes I'm reporting - one is a sweet baby pea with chicken strips, might not look or sound like much, but it's a very delicate

kind of dish because the chicken is finely sliced into thin strips, the peas were peeledfrom pods of sweet peas, so its tender and sweet. And, soft shell crabs. Lightly coated in flour, fried and flavoured with salt and pepper. Simple but yum. So stuffed too.....