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.....