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.