Surviving Spice I Am

Sorry - no photos - when the food came, it was YUMYUMYUMYUM followed by HOTHOTHOTHOT...

For KT's birthday a whole bunch of us went to Spice I Am at Surry Hills, which was a challenge as no bookings allowed, which meant we were very much dependent on everyone arriving on time to secure tables. So we had to secure 2 tables at a time... and grab another when a couple more people arrived... and grab another table when the table next to us had finished...

That did not detract us from enjoying the fantastic food and efficient service. Here are the few dishes I remember having despite the pain on the tip of my mouth:

Mieng kuay teaw - a fresh spring roll of pork and sprouts in flat rice noodle, with a green sauce that was spicy from fresh garlic, fantastically light and appetising.

Ho Mok - like an omelet wrapped in banana leaf (mild) - i remember it being delicious, except when I was having it my tongue was suffering from the following dish ...

Soft shell crab salad: soft shell crab was the same as any good soft shell crab, but the salad under it - TOP STUFF - spicy, mouthwatering, tangy, fragrant, appetizing, I would have it again.

Chu chee curry (with beef) - extremely delicious, spicy but not burning hot, very rich and aromatic. Much loved by all.

Duck tom yum curry - mild, trangy fragrant tom yum base, gorgeous. Loved it too.

Deep fried sand whiting with spicy sauce - crispy skin, spicy delicious sauce, very good.

Duck with tamarind sauce: tangy juicy duck

Some spicy prawn salad thing - call 000 and ask for fire services.

There were other dishes - can't remember what they were but they were all well received by those who ordered it.

I'll certainly come back, and will arm myself with a pot of cream or chocolate mousse (like I did this time) to douse the fire.....

Ding Tai Fung World Square

The long awaited opening of my favourite restaurant Din Tai Fung in Sydney after a couple of months delay (advertised to open in April but didn't open until June) means I can now have my favourite steamed pork dumplings with crab roe whenever I like without forking out the airfare. A truly exciting event and much to my delight, the place is well received by locals and fellow Taiwanese/Chinese/Cantonese alike, meaning this place should continue to do very well.

Here is my own blurb about Din Tai Fung: I remember this place for as long as I can remember. When I was a youngster I would go with my family and line up for half an hour just to get a seat (you will most likely share a table with strangers by default due to its popularity) in what appears to be a dingy little restaurant, and enjoy what they are most famous for, the steamed pork dumplings. The success of their business as a result of their ever-so-fantastic quality of their signature dish helped the growth and expansion of their business. This place has now transformed to a modern chain restaurant with over 40 stores over 9 countries, but thankfully the quality of the dumplings (and their other delicacies) did not falter, thanks to stringent training to ensure quality and customer satisfaction. Speaking of customer satisfaction - they have their staff so well trained that you will feel very well looked after. They are always there but never there - very polite, attentive and feel genuinely friendly. I once saw a little note on the till that says "from 6pm to 7:45 pm 36 customers complimented on their good service". It must mean a lot to them to see happy customers.

Traveling from the Northern to Southern hemisphere, the essence of Din Tai Fung was not lost. Same good dumplings, same good service, same long queues of patient patrons. A few things I noticed to be critical as an amateur critique: the menu is not as extensive as the ones in Taiwan or Shanghai (seasonal issues as well as supply of certain raw materials - don't blame them really), and the staff appear a little overwhelmed at their popularity, and hence a little frazzled (but they'll get used to it over time). And it is quite a lot more expensive ($8.80 for six little dumplings is a bit dear...). However we have now learned that 1. going there as a group will get you more varieties and 2. ordering a fried rice or noodle soup will help fill your stomach while you enjoy the dumplings.

DEFINITELY worth your while waiting half an hour for their food. And I still think it's worth the money. Though to me it's a bit of nostalgia too :p

Another excellent home dinner

The fact that we live in an apartment with limited entertainment space has become our excuse for not throwing our phenomenal home parties. Although, it's not exactly an excuse, as the limited space makes it hard to cater for more than 8 people comfortably. But when dear friends arrive from overseas, nothing stops them from barging into our door and demand not only to be fed, but to be fed well. And of course, mother obliges.

It won't be mum's phenomenal dinner party without a few novel creations: Stuffed celery with mustard dressing, beautifully presented on a gold rimmed plate, gone before I could say "can I have a taste". Other dishes include pickled spicy cucumbers, spicy tripe, pigs trotters (with the skin tantalizingly bouncy - but I still stay away from this), steamed fish with pickles and pork mince, chicken and mushrooms with sweet-spicy sauce (empty plate in no time). And the piece de resistance - rice with chinese sausages and hams cooked in an earthenware pot, so the fat and juice of the meats would seep through the rice, which crisps up at the bottom of the pot.

A very happy meal with not much of left over. Though there was enough for my lunch box the next day... phew.

Bathurst adventure

The long weekend (courtesy of Her Majesty Queen E) is great time for a short break, though unfortunately for me this weekend was fragmented due to the annual Dragon Boat Festival family feast (Blog coming VERY soon) on Sunday, so any attempt for a weekend away would have been futile. But we don't complain - when it comes to food anything else is secondary... almost.

But we still managed to have a day out to Bathurst/Orange on this bright beautiful mild blue sky day. Why Bathurst? It's where Bathurst 2000 V8 supercar race is held annually, and the race circuit is open to public for a fun drive (with a speed limit of 60kph and constant police monitoring too). The top of the hill also offers a good vista to the entire town, which was a scaled down version of visiting the Centerpoint Tower.

Anyway, just like any other country town, it has it's quirkiness, relaxed country pace, and depending on where you go, quality local produce and culinary fare. We went to a little cafe called Ziegler's, with a lovely courtyard and slightly alternative interior decoration such as a scroll of buddha alongside oil painting of landscape or abstract objects.

We were there for lunch and asked for a lamb with chargrilled eggplant, asparagus and tomato ragu, and an Osso Bucco, but the friendly waitress then came out very apologetically telling us "it won't be ready for another 3 hours". We didn't know whether to feel pleased that they slow cook their osso bucco properly, or to feel annoyed that it's not available but it's on the venue. The osso bucco was then replaced with a steak open sandwich with fries, which had delicious grilled haloumi cheese, salad and cucumber yogurt. The meat was a bit overcooked for my liking - we asked for medium but it was definitely well-done. My lamb had the same problem but a bit worse as I asked for medium rare (pink but not bloody) but it came well-done and therefore a bit tough, but the tomato ragu was VERY flavoursome, not too acid at all. The asparagus was a bit tough too but I think it's not quite asparagus season yet, so I forgave them for that. The chargrilled eggplant at the bottom has a fantastic charred taste and because it had soaked up the tomato ragu flavour it was my favourite part of this dish.

I have also ordered an apple juice, which was freshly pressed from granny smith apples - so the juice was very tart but very refreshing. The macchiato also passed the critique's judgment, with bonus points for being fair trade coffee.

Later in the evening for dinner we visited the Robin Hood Hotel at Orange for their (in)famous HUGE sized pub grub - a full sized pork rib with spicy sweet marinade, and lamb shanks (two shanks from the biggest and fattest lamb you could find) with mash. I ordered pork ribs because I have been warned of their size, and ribs usually have less meat on them, but it had more meat than bones, tender juicy and good sweet-spicy flavour. The lamb shanks were off the bone - one shank would have been enough to feed me, while I could only have half the rib and barely touched the vegetables and chips on the side.

So I was fat and happy at the end of this day trip. To be fair these weren't the best meals I had, but certainly one of the most satisfying due to its generous country portions.

Spanish Club

Of all the Spanish eateries along the Spanish Quarter there's only one I haven't been to - until now. The restaurant upstairs from the Spanish Club is pretty similar to the other Spanish restaurants along the Spanish quarter, but their tapas menu was slightly different. Apart from the standard Calamari, Chorizo, Garlic mushrooms there was also (to fellow taster's delight) Ceviche and stuffed eggplant, which were not seen on other menus if my memory serves me correctly.

For the 4 hungry souls we opted for tapas and paella. Of course the old favourites such as chorizos and garlic mushrooms were ordered. The chorizos were not quite the same as the standard chorizos I remember - different texture and flavour. Garlic mushrooms were ordinary - I had a much better garlic mushroom at Don Quixote (which is now unfortunately closed!!). The calamari was flavoured sweet and sour which was a bit odd (what's this, Oriental tapas?!). Lamb skewers were also average and I found the meat a bit on the dry side. The fish pieces in ceviche (salad of cold fish marinated in tangy citrus) was flavoursome and tender, but the pickles were not quite doing the ceviche justice. Stuffed eggplant was good, soft and juicy and rich and hearty. Overall the tapas dishes were not lighting fireworks for our tastebuds.

Then comes the paella. This has got to be the best paella I have had in ages. Full of seafood, the rice was cooked al dente. For those who had a lighter palate skimming the rice on top helped avoid the rice at the bottom, which was saturated in a rich aromatic stock (and was favoured by those with a heavier palate). It was also quite a pleasure to wash it all down with a refreshing spicy sangria.

We said we'd gauge how full we are before we order dessert... but of course we always manage to fit more in (indigestion to follow but we don't care do we). A test for all Spanish restaurant would be how good their churros is (if they have it). The churros passed the test by the most strict Spanish food fiend at the table. The dessert tasting plate for two contained three pieces of desserts from their dessert menu (orange and almond cake, vanilla rice pudding, flourless chocolate and walnut cake). Orange and almond cake was sweet and moist (touch of tang), vanilla rice pudding was ordinary (for a great rice pudding try Bather's Pavillion), chocolate and walnut cake was well received by others, but I personally found it a bit dry. Though I could be biased - my stomach was crying "stop stop" by the time I got to dessert.

In the evening the flamenco dancers came out for a performance - great entertainment especially when they started pulling restaurant guests up on stage - especially fantastic when they got to our table and dragged one of the girls up, and of course she wouldn't go up unless if we all went, so what did we do... gulp down our sangria and strut our stuff on the stage, of course.

Great fun night, highly recommend the paella, dessert selection and the sangria, though for tapas I would recommend one of the others across the road.

ps apologies for the poor photos - had to quickly shoot or risk the wrath of the hungry dinner party

S&I Thai

A get-together and pre-farewell party for one of my potter friends was held at our most frequented Thai in North Sydney. To save us the trouble of ordering, we simply opted for the banquet menu ($30pp plus corkage). This included entree of a curry puff, a spring roll, and a fish cake. It was followed with satay chicken, a prawn stir fry, a fried fish, chicken cashew, massamum beef curry, stir fried veges with tofu. For the $30 price tag, the quality of food, and the quantity of food, was phenomenal. Personal favourite was the prawn, and I hear from others that the mushrooms in the sauce soaked up all the flavours and was absolutely delicious. Stir fried veges + tofu and the beef curry come a close second ... and I didn't get to have the fish because I was already stuffed. The satay chicken wasn't a plateful of mixed cuts, but strips of chicken breast fillet - brownie points there. After dinner we chose from a selection of tea (from T2) or coffee, which was part of the banquet, to help settle the overfilled stomach.

Definitely worthy of repeat visits - Corner of Ridge and Miller Street, North Sydney.

Epi d'Or

Fancy a French breakfast around lower North Shore? This is a great gem we have discovered at Kirribilli. This tiny cafe does not make its own breads, croissants and pastries, but they source what the owner considers 'the best' from other bakeries.

It is a tiny cafe and because they only have a limited number of each of the menu items (except coffee), you must be there early to be able to choose from the full menu. Both of my visits happened after 10:30am on a weekday and I was lucky enough to have the last two croissants of the day. The croissant was toasted crispy hot and came with cream and jam - but the plain croissant was good enough for me and my tastebuds. The rye bread with ricotta and raspberry jam was refreshing though the raspberry wasn't fresh, so it didn't quite provide the sharp tart flavour I was expecting. They serve Toby's Estate coffee - ask for a cafe au lait in a bowl for breakfast, the way the French have their coffee in the morning.

Overall this cafe is worthwhile visiting - great breads and pastries, consistently good coffee and friendly service - makes it a good mini-French-esque escape.

Vera Cruz... could be better

Seeking a restaurant to fill up the grumbling belly, we took a walk along Military Rd, all the time thinking "mmm pub grub" or "mmm noodles". Who would have thought, we walked pass a fancy looking Mexican restaurant with a SMH Good Food Guide review that gave it 14/20. It didn't serve your usual bean burritos or nachos, but had a list of interesting and/or unfamiliar dishes, so we thought we'd give them a try.

The restaurant was virtually booked out but (I think he was) the manager took us to the bar, where other customers were having a pre-dinner drink (but soon cleared out), and sat us down along the couch. It turned out to be rather comfortable and relaxing as it was away from the main restaurant crowd, so it was much quieter. Many of the entree and side dishes drew our attention so we ended up having a more tapas style dinner with all our orders arriving at once.

I'm going to have to double check the names of these dishes. We started with what looks like a "Mexican dim sum" - duck in deep-fried corn pastry, which was unfortunately a bit dry and bland. I was half expecting a tortilla wrap with duck (like Peking Duck). It wasn't offensive but it wasn't impressive either. Then we moved on to the pork ribs in a sweet and lightly spicy tomato salsa. We both agreed that it was very delicious and appetising - very refreshing, highly recommended. The quesedillas were authentic according to dinner buddy but I found it a bit dry and bland, which I guess would go well with a spicy saucy main dish. Roasted pumpkin was just marvelous - hearty sweet and juicy, sprinkled with pumpkin seed kernels and feta cubes for extra flavour and texture. We left the ceviche with tomato and avacado salsa to last - dinner buddy was comparing this to a previous ceviche experience (which was a cold fish soup with citrus flavour) which was quite different from what was presented to us. This was beautifully presented as a stack, topped with corn chips (which were hard and salt). The fish was light and tangy, the combination was gently spicy with cracked pepper mixed in, and although it was different from what was expected, I still really enjoyed it (I even accepted the avacado bits in there!)

We had room for dessert. Churros were OK but it felt undercooked - the center still felt like batter. And I was very disappointed with the Kahlua brulee because it was curdled. A curdled creme brulee means the chef was not skilled. VERY disappointed. The sangria was quite delicious - probably worth getting a jug if you're in a big group.

Overall we enjoyed the ambiance and the service was generally OK, but with mixed feelings about food. I guess without the desserts I would still recommend (and possibly come back) this place. 314 Military Rd Cremorne.

D'ough boycott

On a bright sunny day I decided to head over to D'ough Espresso at Bondi Junction Westfield. They serve fantastic cakes and the coffee is usually of a great standard, while the Harbour Room food court offers fantastic views to the city. It was down to the choice between a citrus tart and a cookies and cream cheese cake, and the winner was the cheese cake as we could have citrus tart almost everywhere.

The slice of cookies and cream cheese cake came and we were surprised to find 50% base (chocolate sponge) and 50% cheesecake, and we thought if we noticed that we wouldn't have ordered it! So we took a closer look at the slice and found something disappointing.

The cheesecake was made in a way that the outside of the cake was coated with a very thin layer of the cheesecake to cover up the bulk of the base, so it appears from the outside that there is 80% cheese and 20% base. The thin layer was very obviously there to deceive the customer.

We were exceedingly disappointed with that and I have decided now (sadly) to boycott D'ough. I know they did not bake the cake on the premises but it was just such a shameless way to deceive customers who were craving something luscious and decadent.

I will lift the boycott if/when the problem is resolved. Until then, I guess I will return to Laurent Boulangerie, or maybe visit Sweet Belem for my sugar fix......

PS
After the disappointment as mentioned above, I emailed the manager to express my experience and asked that something be done about it. Since then I had a few subsequent visits to spy on their progress. On last visit I was pleased (not delighted) that the veneer on the cookies and cream cheese cake had gone, and also they altered the name of the cake to cookies and cream on sponge cake (or something like that). I have then sent an email acknowledging their progress, thus my mini-boycott is now lifted. Not delighted that the cake is still only half-filled with the cookies and cream cheese but at least they're not being deceptive.....