Kuranda Health Bars

Taste

I picked up these delectable health bars from Kuranda at the Gluten Free Gourmet Expo. The 3 flavours were:Cashews & Almonds, Macadamia & Hazelnut and Pecan & Pistachio. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t really taste the difference between the 3 bars, but that’s not a bad thing as I really like the taste of them. Fresh nuts with great quality grain – and best of all, not too hard and not too sweet, it’s just right really! Why do all the Gluten Free food taste so much better!

Rating - 8

Look

Better than the supermarket variety. There are real pieces of nuts present. All of this presented in different colour wrapping so you can tell the flavours apart.

Rating - 2

C-factor

3 45g bars for $5 as a special for the show. A good price for these good quality bars.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 13

Ingredients

peanuts, sunflower seeds, nuts (type depends on product), sesame seeds, honey, pepitas, puffed rice, rice syrup

Available At

Health food stores

Coast Restaurant

Our last special meal before we finish with the e-book and go on our wedding diet, and I’m glad that Coast didn’t disappoint.

Food

We wanted to try the delicious sounding Chef’s Market Menu, where you get 4 courses designed by the chef for $59, but because we were off to Priscilla at Star City afterwards, we were here for an express meal. We asked for advice on how many courses we can have, and they said 2, so off we went.

True to Italian tradition, a bread basket with olive oil from Lake Como, Italy was delivered. The bread though, was delicious sourdough, paired with an excellent fruity extra virgin olive oil. We asked the waiter and they said that the oil is especially imported and is only available in Australia at Coast. They have a service where they can order the oil for their customers though.

We were still marvelling at the bread when the entrees arrived. My vongole and fregola soup ($17) was luscious. A very shellfish tasting soup with a hint of tomatoes. It was piled high with clams – probably not a good dish to order on a first date but I was fine with it, in fact, I quite enjoy sucking each little morsel of meat out of the shell. The Tagliatelle with white truffle butter and Brussels sprouts ($27) was great too. A creamy cheese sauce coated some finely made tagliatelle, with the bitter Brussels sprouts and the aroma of truffles.

Our mains arrived soon after, giving us plenty of time to pick the bones clean of the Roast whole market fish with brown butter and Sicilian capers ($36), which was a whole silver bream. The butter and tart capers sauce was good, not great, a little too oily for me. The fish was fresh and soft, with a subtle sweet flavour. Slokky’s Slow roast pork shoulder with mustard fruits ($36) reminded me of the pork from Lowenbrau, with a crust that has softened and . The mustard fruit was interesting, it’s like very intense prunes. It went quite well with the pork.

The desserts sound interesting too but we didn’t have time.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

We were the first couple in the restaurant, but everyone else followed swiftly. There were couples and groups of friends, some enjoying drinks on the balcony overlooking Cockle Bay Wharf.

The chairs are covered in pretty wide black and white patterns, you don’t really get much of a view from the inside, you need to walk out to the balcony for that, but you can always watch the action from the long open kitchen that ran along one side of the restaurant.

Rating - 2

Service

We actually booked on the Internet and had absolutely no problems. Their website is really excellent too with the most up to date information. We were greeted warmly, and they handled our request to leave by 7:30pm without even a hitch. The bill did take awhile but I suspect that’s because we were using various discounts.

Our waiter was very efficient and very nice, and everyone served us with a smile. I also like it that they are relaxed and not stuck up.

Rating - 4.5

C-factor

This place is very cheap for a Darling Harbour Eatery that has a hat. The food is great, and you get free parking too! They actually refunded us $12 for parking even though it only cost $5 to park there on weekends, so we made sure we gave the difference back to them in tips.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 15.5

Info

The Roof Terrace, Cockle Bay Wharf,
Darling Harbour
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9267 6700
Website

Coffee Club Rhodes

Food

We decided to pick from their display instead of the menu. I chose the Spinach, pumpkin and feta lasagna with side salad($9.90) It had layers of grilled vegetable. Despite that, the flavours were a bit bland, with some tasteless cheese on top.

Slokky had the Chicken and mushroom filo with chips ($9.90). This was not too bad. The chicken was a bit dry but the chips were thick and crunchy. All this was presented beautifully.

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

Yup, another place in the middle of the shopping centre. Yet it's really not that noisy. The chairs weren’t very comfortable though. The meals look very nice – the high stack effect.

Rating - 1.5

Service

It’s of the casual variety, but they are competent enough. It’s order and pay at the counter and take a number, after which they deliver your meal.

Rating - 3

C-factor

I think their prices are steep as they are more like a takeaway than a real café, considering they actually don’t cook any of the food, just reheat. Then again, if you want a nicer setting than Maccas to meet your friends, this place is the go.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11

Info

Shop 43, Rhodes Waterside Shopping Centre
1 Rider Boulevarde
Rhodes
NSW 2138
Phone (02) 8765 8647
Website

Astral Restaurant

According to the critics, Astral has improved vastly over the years, so it was time to test it out for ourselves.

Food

We opted for a-la carte (3 courses for $105), so here’s what we ate:

pre-amuse bouche

• anchovy toast - lovely and crisp, the thinnest biscuit with a hint of anchovy
• tomato tart - a great start of very very light pastry encased some caramelised tomatoes

amuse bouche proper

• sourdough bread - warmed from the oven but was dense and boring – tasted more like bread roll than any use of any sourdough starters. They brought out some butter and salt(?) for us too
• Cauliflower soup with fried cauliflower velonte and almond oil - no idea how to describe it. The waiter called it something fancy. I can taste the flavour of the cauliflower through the soup. The waiter advised us to sip the soup and then have a bite of the fried cauliflower. I did as I was told, but the fried cauliflower was a bit superfluous in my opinion.

entrée

• Confit of Petuna ocean trout with free-range egg - looked absolutely wonderful, with a whole free-range egg yolk in the middle of a concoction of salad. Taste wise, not as wonderful as Tetsuya’s signature, but you can taste the sashimi grade trout, which surprisingly, pair very well with the still runny egg. The vegetables serve as more for decoration on the plate I feel.
• Crisp smoked pork belly - I’ve had plenty of pork belly in the last few years, and this one uses one of the better quality of pork I have had, with thick slab of fat. However, the sauce was very much like a heavy doze of the hoi-sin sauce and was too overpowering for me. Slokky, who usually prefers a stronger flavour though, loved it.

main

• Medallion of beef with herb butter, bone marrow, watercress salad and watercress mash - This was spectacularly presented yet again, with a whole bone marrow with a spoon in it, the butter resting on the beef, with mash on one side and salad on the other. The beef was quite good – they actually didn’t ask how I wanted it cook, but I was happy to discover that it was medium – just the way I like it. The watercress mash was interesting and good, the salad on the other end, a bit too overpowered by the eshallots.
• Venison with beetroot - was presented as 5 venison medallion with a very complexly made sauce. The medallion was actually not as nice as the stuff we bought ourselves from Gippsland. I like the sauce of this one a little better as it is more subtle. The beetroot complimented the meat quite well.

pre-dessert

• Apple sorbet with apple cider jelly - very lovely, the sorbet was tart and sweet, the apple cider quite subtle.

dessert

• Banana soufflé with mango ice-cream and passionfruit foam - is a little bit too fancy with the foam - again added nothing to the plate, but the soufflé was lovely and light, with a strong banana taste. My favourite was the heavenly mango ice-cream. It was so creamy and tastes so much of mango, but it didn’t have any of that fake mango taste
• Peanut butter and jam sandwich - is not really as interesting as it sounds. Two wafer biscuits are stacked over more more-ish peanut ice-cream. The “jam” is basically a “ball” that encased strawberry sauce. It must’ve taken them a long time to put together, and the taste definitely wasn’t worth it.

In conclusion, I feel that the food is good, but for the amount of effort that has obviously gone in the preparation, not really worth the trouble. Some of the fancy techniques seem to be there to show off rather than to harmonise the dish together, something that Bilsons didn’t make the mistake of doing. That’s why this is only a one-hat place I suppose. After all that, the desserts were my favourite.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Well, there’s great view over the Sydney cityscape. You can see King St Wharf, Darling Harbour and the Harbour Bridge or Wooloomooloo out of the floor to ceiling windows. We were unfortunately seated on the wrong side, but you can always go out to the balcony to admire the views, if you can stand the cold.

The place to be though, is the private dining room, which juts out on its own, meaning you have 270 degree view of the city. We were in the direct line of view of the room, and watched the people in there all night as entertainment.

The décor is a little 90s, but it’s still tasteful. The first thing you notice is the lighting “feature” in the middle of the room, then you notice the view, then the back-lit wall of wines, then the crisp white tablecloth (we saw the waiters ironing the tablecloth once it was placed on the table) and finally the lounge-style chairs. Great place to take someone you want to impress.

Rating - 2.5

Service

It wasn’t to my taste. Our waiter introduced every course to us, but gave us so much details about the food on the plate, describing EVERY SINGLE ingredient on the plate. We could read that on the menu, and they also explain the function of an amuse-bouche and a pre-dessert. I guess it’s good in some ways, but again, way too much details to digest, especially if you were in the middle of a conversation – they should try something like what Bilsons does for their explanation.

Our waiter was multi-lingual, explaining things to all the Chinese and Japanese customers who haunt the joint. They delivered everything professionally, but when you want attention, it was a bit hard to flag them down.

Oh yeah, they did the fold your napkin thing...if that's your thing. By that I mean they fold up your napkin neatly when you leave your seat.

Rating - 3

C-factor

I think they are quite deceiving. They haven’t updated their website or their advertised menu outside the restaurant. Only upon looking at the menu, we found out that the prices have gone up by $10. This has a direct effect on deciding whether you want to go to that restaurant or not. We also found out that the Pre-theatre menu is only for theatre goers only and you can’t have it even if you dine at exactly the same time as those people. You also cannot have a la carte (only the tasting menu) on a Friday or Saturday. I think they could have told us this when I booked (no excuses as I called them 3 times), instead, they only chose to review these details when we enquired on the day. I am very disappointed actually and probably would not have visited if I had all the information available.

In terms of value, you can do much better – go to Bilsons, it’s around the same price

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 13

Info

Level 17,
80 Pyrmont Street
Pyrmont
NSW 2000
Phone 1800 700 700
Website

Bilsons Restaurant

I believe this is our one (and possibly only) 3-hat restaurant this year. Having been to my share of the fancy places over the years, I was definitely looking forward to this, especially because a few friends have been raving on about it.

Food

We decided to forgo the good looking degustation and have 3-course a-la-carte instead. We started with my favourite bread of all Brasserie Bread spelt loaf paired with some good butter. Simplicity at its best really. I enjoyed this so much we both ate an extra slice.

Before long, we were tempted with our amuse-bouche, Cream of Corn Soup with Basil Oil, the green oil floating on top looked delicious, and tasted the same. The soup did taste of corn, but there was just something extra about it – it probably took about 2 hours to produce this soup, so, at least their efforts were worth it!

Bilsons haven’t updated their website, so the description of these dishes are from memory – they are so complex it’s quite hard to describe, but here goes.

entrée

• Grilled Scallops with Cêpes, Bitter Chocolate Tuile and Mousse of Foie Gras - ordered because I wanted to taste chocolate and foie gras together. I shouldn’t have been surprised that the flavours worked wonderfully together. The scallops were fat and juicy. It was actually a mouthful to try to fit a bit of each ingredient on the fork.
• quenelle of rockfish, crowned by black pearls of Sterling caviar on a citrus beurre blanc - this was very interesting. Basically the rockfish has been made into a mousse and shaped into a ball. It tasted of strong, earthy flavours, with a light foamy texture – definitely different to eating fish.

main

• Lasagne of lobster with Autumn vegetables - I remembered the description did call it a lasagne, but really, it was beautiful lobster meat, scattered around various vegetables, and all covered with a jelly like sheet on top. As far as I could tell, the sheet tasted faintly of shellfish. I really like the lobster, but I’m not sure what the point of the clear sheet was for, except presentation
• Lightly Smoked Rack of Lamb with Ratatouille - I thought the flavour was a bit too strong and the ratatouille a bit too salty, but Slokky, who usually prefers bolder flavour, loved it. The lamb itself was very succulent, but I couldn’t really taste any sort of “smoked” flavour.

dessert

• Bitter Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis - our only hiccup of the night was when they delivered the pre-dessert twice. We didn’t mind when it was top notch dark chocolate made super smooth by thick cream. The raspberry coulis was raspberry coulis, it was a little too sweet for me as the chocolate was not that bitter.
• Tarte aux Saveurs de Provence - this was our dessert proper. I didn’t know what to expect, and as usual, I was surprised. This is no ordinary tart as you can imagine, more like sweet pastry with fruits on top. But what beautiful fruit! I actually don’t know what it was, but it was beautifully sweet. The star anise sauce on the side was sensational.
• Apricot Soufflé, raspberry sauce with Passionfruit Sorbet - Slokky had been raving on about the soufflé for awhile, and I’m quite a fan of soufflé. It was quite dramatic too, they pour the sauce at the table. I actually would have preferred to pour my own sauce, then at least I can control the amount of sauce I add. The soufflé was light and fluffy, but didn’t really have much flavour except from the sauce, which actually overpowered this a little. It didn’t quite measure up to the unforgettable soufflé at Claudes.
• Cappuccino - Slokky was boring and went for a cappuccino. Even for a 3-hat restuarnst, I think the cappuccino was pretty ordinary. I mean, there are so many places specialising in this, it’s hard to beat sometime.
• Lemongrass Tea - I, on the other hand, went for the cool sounding tea. It had a wonderful aroma, and it certainly delivered a hit. I had lots of fun pulling back the lid of the teapot to smell the wonderful fragrant tea.
• Petits Fours – were included as part of tea and coffee, and the selection was worth the price alone. We had chocolate slice (gooey dark chocolate), almond tart(dense almond texture with slight citrus flavour), and orange jelly (intense orange flavour)

Was it worth its 3 hats? I think so. Was it my favourite 3-hat? Not by a long way.

Rating - 8.5

Atmosphere

For a 3-hat restaurant, it’s not very full. The restaurant was about ¾ full on this Friday night. There seems to be more tourists than Sydneysiders visiting though.

The décor is a little bit art décor, and pretty relaxed. The most distinguishing feature is the light fixture, with bits of artwork or collage type things, all clipped together. It was interesting, but I didn’t find it was that aesthetically pleasing. The tables are nicely spaced apart so you can have good conversation. There’s not really any view, except to the offices across the road. The food’s the star here.

Rating - 2

Service

We were greeted by Chris McFerran. How do I know this? His accent. On the web, it tells us that Chris was

…originally hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland and has been working in Restaurants since he was 16 years

After Chris showed us to our table, we were served by two different waiters. Both took the time to explain each dish carefully to us and were quite attentive. I guess there’s no real communications between them though as that’s how we ended up with 2 pre-dessert.

Rating - 4

C-factor

Entrées $30, Main courses $45, Side Dishes $10, Desserts $30 is around the same price as the other 3 hatters. I was a bit less wowed than say at Claudes or Est or Guillame at bennelong (Tetsuya’s is in a class of its own so I won’t compare), so I would say given the choice, I would go to one of the others.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 15

Info

Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 8214 0496
Website

James Squire Brewhouse

After a long day at the Sydney Wildlife Park, I was in the mood for some kangaroo…and beer, and James Squire fits the bill.

Food

We were a bit early for dinner just before 6, so we had to search around for a waiter. However, once we secured menus, they were happy to obliged opening the kitchen a bit earlier for us. I went with the Special meal deal for ($27.50), which was Peppered Kangaroo Loin Fillets (usually $26.50) - Cooked medium rare with roasted sweet potato gratin & jus, accompanied by the James Squire India Pale Ale (5.6% Alcohol). Here is the blurb that accompany the beer

Brewed with all pale and Munich malts, James Squire’s Pale Ale is rich and robust with the earthly floral dry hop character of Fuggles hops. Made for tasting with respect. It compliments the Brewhouse chicken

This meal was much better than I thought. The kangaroo was cooked rare as usual, but instead of small thin fillet, this was a thick and juicy slab of meat. The sweet potato gratin was creamy and sweet, a perfect foil for the kangaroo. As for the beer? I don’t know much about beer pairings but I thought they went very well together. It was cool, slightly bitter with a hint of sweetness.

Slokky had a hackling for meat, and you don’t really get meatier thanFull rack of Pork Ribs ($30) - with smokey BBQ sauce & steak fries. An enormous slab of meat arrived, with complimentary bib. It wasn’t as meaty or fatty as some others – which suited me fine. The smokey BBQ sauce was fine, but not too exciting. The fries were thin and crispy.

This is certainly above average pub grub.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

We were a bit early so didn’t get the rowdy crowd. We sat outside on the huge wooden tables, and you can watch the walkers and joggers along the wharf. Inside, you can admire the in-house brewery, marvel at their awards or study a history lesson about the brewery. Or you can enjoy a beer and a few games of pool in the very blokey interior. The inside is probably a bit blokey – especially when the footy is showing on the plasma screens, but grab a few tables outside with friends, and you can settle in for the night.

Rating - 1.5

Service

I was very surprised. Our waiter was thoughtful, efficient and charming, not at all what I expected from a pub. He bought our meals, bought us extra water to go with our beers without being asked, refilled our water, gave us extra napkins for the ribs, and cleared our dishes all good-naturedly. He really made our night very special. And all this from a pub. I think some of our upper-class restaurants can learn a thing or two.

Rating - 4.5

C-factor

At these prices for generous serves of above average pub grub, and at King Street Wharf to boot, are amazing. No wonder they are so popular.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 14

Info

22 The Promenade, King Street Wharf
Sydney
NSW 2131
Phone (02) 8270 7901
Website

Bakehouse Garden

Another local I’ve been meaning to try, so we decided to give this the test run on Slokky’s birthday, booking out 30 spots.

Food

I designed my own banquet menu to share, consisting of:

• an assortment of picked and brined condiments, which were really quite bland.
• Goonmandu (8 pcs) ($10) – pan fried crispy dumplings - pleasant with a light egg mixture coating
• Chicken Salad ($11) – garden greens with roast chicken - not much dressing, really just an assortment of mixed leaves, but definitely needed due to all the vegetables to come.
• Namul (Autumn) Bibimbab ($12) – boiled rice, beef and mixed wild leafy greens with chilli sauce - the Koreans on our table showed us how it was done. You dollop a big blob of chilli sauce right on top of the beautiful ingredients, including the whole egg, and mix until everything turns a bright red. The taste – of chilli, but very nice chilli at that.
• Haemul-geongol ($40) – spicy seafood and vegetables hot pot - this was my favourite dish of the night. They certainly didn’t skim on the seafood. We had mussels, prawns, crabs, squid, and an assortment of vegetables and noodles, in a spicy sweet sauce
• The next few BBQ meat came on a big plate – I ate them without knowing which was which, and the flavours all blurred together:
  • Ori-jumulleok ($18) – duck brisket fillet marinated in spicy sauce
  Saeng-deungsim ($18) – scotch fillet
  • Bulgogi ($15) – marinated thin slices of beef
  • Saeng-samgyeopsal ($14) – thick strips of pork belly
  • Jaebichuri ($14) – thin skirt
  It was all good though, and I remembered eating a few roasted veges and garlic in between too.

In conclusion, pretty average Korean food, but that’s not necessary bad, it’s just I’m spoilt with choice around here so unless the places are above average, I probably won’t be going back.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

Part of the new Bakehouse Quarters complex, the décor also used some of the exposed beam warehouse look. There’s a nice water feature, purple walls with some electric blue lighting effects, and wooden tables with big stove dominate. Normally there’s always an air of smoke around Korean BBQ places, but this place was able to diffuse away the smoke. One thing that makes this place stand out though – al fresco BBQ!

Rating - 2

Service

Well, unlike the dingy places at Strathfield, this place accommodated us with ease. It was hard trying to fit all our dishes and pots and portable stoves on the table though!

I don’t know why, but the waiters were extremely clumsy. I’ve walked past a few times and heard them drop stuff, and this time, a waiter broke a stack of plates. It makes you look twice when they change the hotplate of the BBQ by lifting them out with the tongs though, one slip and you’ll have BBQ thighs.

The English levels of these waiters are quite good, so for a novice, I would recommend this place.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Our feast was $924 in total, which worked out to be $35 per person. It’s a bit more expensive than our normal venture out, but then again, we had a feast of seafood and meat.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 12

Info

Shop 4,
9-11 George St
North Strathfield
NSW 2127
Phone (02) 8746 0299

Goshu Ramen Tei Noodle Bar

I’ve visited the hub of Japanese restaurants around 5 York St for years, but I never knew their names. They are always “the Jap restaurants on York”. As well, I can never really tell one apart from the other. Today, Condor was quite packed, so we ventured to Goshu Ramen Tei instead.

Food

I had no idea this place was a noodle bar, ‘cos as far as I can tell, both the restaurants serve very similar things. I didn’t go the noodles however, instead opting for the delicious sounding Sukiyaki Beef Hot Pot Set ($15.50). There was a bit of a wait for the food, but a feast arrived. There were:

• miso soup - a bit salty and one dimensional
• sukiyaki beef hot pot - the bottom contained udon noodles, and there were lots and lots of very thin strips of beef, which were marinated in a little too much soy
• rice - a big bowl, I couldn’t really finish it, but great especially with the sukiyaki sauce
• salad - token vegetables with a tangy mayo dressing
• orange slice - really more a token, to complete the bento box, than anything else

.There was a lot of food, and even I couldn’t finish it. If the sukiyaki wasn’t so salty, it would be so much better.

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

Another place where you don’t come for the décor. The tables are basic, the chairs are hard plastic. You are packed in, you get a lot of traffic noise – but does that make it all the more authentic?

Rating - 1.5

Service

Usually they are pretty good, but they were really really slow today for some reason. In the end we had to actually rush because it took so long before our meals arrived. Service wasn’t as efficient, and for Japanese standards, pretty low. I was disappointed there's no standard Japanese greeting of "Irrashaimases".

Rating - 2

C-factor

Not the cheapest or the nicest Japanese around, but certainly not the worst.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 9.5

Info

5 York Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9290 3745

Bistro CBD

This is a favourite that I’ve been to a few times over the years. I’ve always had a good experience, so was looking forward to going back now that they have earned themselves a hat from SMH.

Food

The food has always been pretty good, but I’m glad to see that it has actually picked up a lot, I’ll say it definitely justifies its one hat status now. We started off with some nice sourdough bread, with a golden crunch, smeared with some wonderful butter.

For mains, we decided on the winter sounding braised beef cheeks with dutch carrots, goat cheese mash and onion rings ($32). The beef cheeks were lovingly gamey. It wasn’t very soft but was rightly firm. The dutch carrots looked lovely but it didn’t look that different. The goat cheese mash was a notch above your normal mash, having that sharp bite to it. The onion rings were very sweet and paired beautifully with the soft cheeks and the complex gravy sauce. The crisp skinned atlantic salmon with potato roesti chestnut mushrooms and sauce bois boudran ($33) had the crispiest skin I’ve ever tasted – I wonder how they do it? It was like biting into some very thick chips! The salmon was great quality and was NOT COOKED THROUGH, unlike some other place. The rich sauce has penetrated the meaty mushrooms and some sundried tomatoes added sweetness. In short, both dishes were winners.

Rating - 8.5

Atmosphere

Definitely business lunch central. More specifically, suit central. Women were few and far between.

People lounged on the banquette and brown suede chairs, drinking wine, doing deals. The middle of the room is dominated by a bar, white columns break up the space and there are some interesting artwork on the wall.

Rating - 2

Service

Besides the food, the service has picked up too. There are a lot of waiters servicing the full room. Drinks, bread, food, bill, they have their hands full. At least they don’t need to ask who has what dish when it’s delivered. They bring the bill without you having to ask, and are pretty nice to deal with. Nothing extraordinary though, but it’s not that kind of place.

Rating - 3

C-factor

The prices are on par with one hat restaurants.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14

Info

Level 1,
52 King Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 8297 7010
Website

Kobe Jones Sydney

I’ve always been curious about Kobe Jones. The critics seem to be divided, some praising its innovative workings of Japanese and Western ingredients, some dismissing it as destroying what’s good about both. Well, I decided to test it out myself once and for all.

Food

As soon as I walked into the place, I knew why the critics were divided. There were seas and seas of black hair, made up of Japanese tourists and Honkies. Kobe Jones was simply catering to their clientele, who would want weirdo interesting food.

We went with the flow, and ordered two of their famous rolls:

• Salmon Skin Roll (8) ($13) - Crispy BBQ'd salmon skin, cucumber, burdock root, sprinkled with sesame seeds and thin bonito shavings - beautiful juxtaposition of sweet and salty, the crunchy salmon skin paired with the sweet vegetable soft rice. No need for the soy sauce really.
• Dragon Roll (8) ($21) - Our crunchy roll with unagi and avocado layered on top with nori, tempura flakes and smelt roe sprinkle - another winner. This one is really more like a well-made sushi, but with the ingredients on the outside! The roe added a salty crunch.

As well as the rolls, there are cold entrees and hot entrees that offer typical Japanese eats, but what caught my eye was the “Signature Menu”, offering the innovative mix of East and West, with some weird ingredients combination. The Seafood Papaya Motoyaki ($18) - A baked Papaya filled with seafood and vegetables with a motoyaki sauce was a good example of this. I would describe the flavour as more interesting than fantastic. The papaya was sweet and juicy, and beautiful on its own. The seafood mixture was quite generous, with the sweet capsicum and mushrooms complementing the sauce quite sell. But the two together? I don’t really get it…

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

Strange – this place is geared more for the curious and the tourist than the foodie. It kinda feels like you’re dining in another country! We were seated on the balcony, which had quite nice views onto the tall ships of King Street Wharf. Unfortunately, we were seated right between two seaters, so it got progressively colder, meaning I didn’t really want to stay for long.

I like the décor, best described as modern Asian luxe. There are these weird orange lattices around the place and an open kitchen.

Rating - 2

Service

It was really weird! First of all, they have a dedicated person who would show you to your seats. It seems no one else can do it besides this guy. We had a booking but it didn’t seem to matter at all. We had to wait at the front bar for the guy to show the 2 couples before us their seats before we could go to ours.

Our dedicated waiter basically came around straight away to take our drinks order. She was servicing the whole balcony so she was pretty busy. They have a computing system that links to the kitchen, so she could place the order and bring us the bill, just by using that. Her English skills were pretty poor, and when we asked her if 3 dishes was enough for us, she couldn’t answer. She also couldn’t recommend a wine for the lady at the next table to go with her dinner. Nice to look at, but useless.

Rating - 2

C-factor

I want to applaud them for trying something new instead of delivering the same old. Plus, they now have branches in Melbourne, Bangkok and London, so they must be doing something right.

Price wise, it’s about on par with the “top” Japanese. For a tourist destination and the view, the prices are fair, but for great food, you can find better.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11

Info

29 Lime Street
King Street Wharf,
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9299 5290
Website

La Tartine

Taste

After Brasserie Bread, La Tartine is my second favourite bakery. Some of my favourites include Fruit ($5.95) 650g and Rye & Caraway ($5.35) 700g. This time we needed white bread, so picked up the White Campagne ($4.95). "campagne" actually means not a block loaf, and tastes pretty much like white bread, only more airy and slightly more dense. White bread is my least favourite bread, so I wasn’t overly excited, but it was still good nevertheless.

Ok, our next try was Wholemeal Tin ($4.95)

Rating - 7.5

Look

The White Campagne was a pretty oval loaf with white flour dusting, while the tin looks like it's from a tin!

Rating - 2

C-factor

830g for $4.95. Excellent value as far as boutique breads go.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

wheat leaven, unbleached wheat flour (BFA), wholemeal wheat flour (BFA), rye flour (BFA), filtered water, unrefined atlantic sea salt.

Available At

Organic food store and farmer markets

Café Bello

A nice suburban café for lunch before the movies.

Food

Their food is Italian café fare, and includes your pasta, pizzas, salads, grills and burgers. I chose the Fettuccine con Pollo ($18.90) – marinated chicken strips, roasted capsicum, mushrooms, flamed and tossed in pesto sauce. It was pretty good. The pasta was al-dente, the pesto sauce was subtle, but gave the pasta the required oil it needed. There was a nice ratio of chicken, capsicum and mushrooms to pasta, all cooked nicely.

Slokky ordered from their specials menu. The Braised lamb shanks ($18.90) served on creamy mash potato with a tomato and root vegetable reduction was recommended by one of the waiters, and it was not bad at all. The lamb wasn’t quite as tender as we have it at home, it was soft but still held its shape. The sauce was wonderful and has obviously been reduced. The mash was also well done.

They had a range of very funky shakes and mocktails to try, but Slokky was having a Thailand moment, so ordered the rockmelon smoothie ($5.50). It was made with real smoothie and had ice-cream in it too. It was beautiful, well balanced, and frothy. Surprising what a difference using real fruit makes!

There are some wonderful cakes from Noga's Cuisine on display too! We were too full to try, but this is definitely a place I would come to for coffee and dessert…or breakfast…or Devonshire tea…

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

The café was buzzing on a Saturday lunchtimes. There were families around the big tables, couples and friends around the booths, having a catch up or a reprieve from the shopping.

Yup, they are technically situated in Westfields, but this is different in that the shop front is on Burwood Rd, which means it’s more like another café on the street rather than one in a shopping centre. The full-length window on the street side, allowing the light in and letting you people watch, capture the plus points from al fresco dining, while not giving you the fumes and the noise.

Décor wise, beige timber walls and beige banquette seatings make up the café. They’ve actually packed the tables in a bit, but because of the high ceiling, it doesn’t feel as crowded. There are some colourful prints on the wall to liven up the place, and the display of the magnificent cakes helped too!

Rating - 2

Service

I was so surprised by the service. I guess it’s because you kinda don’t expect good service in Sydney, so when you get it, you’re surprised!

The waiters here are young, but they are attentive. They come to take your order at the right time, brings you water and cutlery without you having to ask. They come and ask if things are ok, and bring sauces as extra. Basically, unobtrusive and attentive, which is a surprise for a casual, non family run café.

Rating - 4

C-factor

It’s probably on the higher end for Burwood, but it’s the norm in the Eastern suburbs and the city. I think it’s worth the money.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

Shop 172, Westfield Burwood
100 Burwood Road
Burwood
NSW 2134
Phone (02) 9745 1545

Xic Lo Parramatta

I wanted to go somewhere else for lunch, as there are loads of Vietnamese restaurants around Parramatta, some of them very good. I wasn’t really keen on trying a "Westernised" Asian place – where you get fancy décor but pay twice the normal price for a main. However, some in our party wanted somewhere "nice" to have lunch, so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Food

I was hoping to be proved wrong but I was very disappointed. The menu was basically a pared-down version of the typical Vietnamese. It seems like they only kept the safe and "Westernised" dishes, so the more interesting things were off the menu. I wanted to try something I thought might be special to this place since it’s not your “typical” Viet, but alas, there was nothing.

And so I ordered the spicy beef and pork noodle soup ($10), which came in a very nice designer looking bowl. The soup – the all important ingredient to judge Vietnamese food, was so so. There was certainly no complexity to it – basically tasted salty and had a very very slight hint of chilli only, maybe a 1 on the radar.

The noodles were actually rounded rice noodles, and were nice and slippery, the beef was cooked to very well done and the pork was unremarkable. I actually wished there were more vegetables.

Rating - 4

Atmosphere

Well, the place was dead this Friday lunchtime, unlike Bamboodle a couple of doors down, and I can probably guess why. It was an overcast and windy day, but the restaurant was very dark and cold – they could’ve made it a bit brighter!

Décor wise, it’s very hip and modern, red, black and white being the theme. Now if only their food matches up with the décor…

Rating - 2

Service

Well, since we were the only customers, there weren’t anyone else to serve. They pretty much delivered our meals and left us alone.

Rating - 3

C-factor

I think this is definitely style over substance. Now, I am never partial to paying good money for my meal, in this case, it definitely didn’t justify the cause.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 9

Info

Shop 2185A, Westfild Parramatta
Argyle Street (opposite station)
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Phone (02) 9687 5669

Macro Cafe

Taste

One thing I have come across, is that these specialty and organic blends do taste somewhat different. The Macro blend uses an organic house blend created by one of Sydney's most respected roasting coffee maestros, Tony Papas at Allpress.

Never mind that, the cappuccino ($3) and latte ($3) were extra smooth and not too hot either!

Rating - 7.5

Look

Well, keeping with the "organic" theme, our cups are biodegradable, our milk was organic and biodynamic, our coffee wsa fair-trade, so this is the least guilty you can feel about drinking coffee. The café is light and airy, with lots of organic information for you to read. There are lots of attractive cakes and muffins on display should you desire to indulge.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

Not bad – and you can always watch out for specials, like the buy one get one free or coffee and cake promotions they have.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11

Available At

Macro Cafes
Website

Cafe Kouzina

Taste

I had a cappuccino ($3.50) which was not too bad. It seems lately I’ve actually been getting decent coffees. This one was smooth and not burnt, with a very frothy crema. It was a bit hotter than I like though.

Rating - 6.5

Look

This café is right on the Australia Square courtyard, so you get the hustle and bustle of the fountain and Ryans, as well as traffic noise, so if it's a quiet conversation you want, it's not the best place, but if you want to be seen, then it's the place to go. You can also eat inside by the heater if you so choose to fight with the music.

Rating - 1

C-factor

$3.50 for the coffees, Martin Place prices afterall...

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 7.5

Available At

Shop 16, Australia Square
264 George Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9247 5698

Mayan Coffee Cappuccino

Taste

There was a stall set up selling Mayan Coffee and Chocolate products. We had the "organic", which is a mild blend. This is how it’s described:

The warmest of all of the seven coffee-growing regions, San Marcos also has the highest rainfall, the most intense rainy season, and the earliest flowering.

It's supposed to taste smooth and creamy. It smelt great in the packet, but I'm afraid the taste was a bit ruined with the making. It could be the inexperienced skills of the "barista"... the result would still be described as smooth and creamy, but it was pulled just a touch too long.

Rating - 6.5

Look

Extremely pretty as it was made by the hippies who run this market stall. They made one side of it chocolate and the other side cinnamon. This made it a bit too sweet but certainly looked beautiful. Their staff is also very hippy like, and I can’t pass up on the chance to taste chocolate any day!

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

To buy the coffee beans, it’s $13.00/250g or $45.00/1kg, so $3.20 for this special organic brand is quite ok considering we were in Newcastle afterall…

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10

Available At

Honeysuckle Market
McDonalds Road
Pokolbin
NSW 2131
Phone (02) 4998 6800
Website

Binnorie Dairy

Taste

We picked up two cheeses from this diary, although we had the opportunity to taste test their whole collection. These were our 2 favourites, with the marinated feta coming a close third:

• Duetto ($12.50) - creamy with a strong, but not overpowering hit of blue.
• Labna - a hit of sour yoghurt followed by a very smooth and tangy cheese, all held together by one of the best tasting oil I’ve had.

Rating - 8

Look

Absolutely fabulous. I love their packaging. Both are easy to carry and use, but they won’t last for very long.

Rating - 2

C-factor

The Duetto 135g for $12.50. We got the 1.6kg Labna for around $23 I think…

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 11.5

Ingredients

Duetto

cream, gorgonzola, salt, acid

Labna

yoghurt,olive oil blend, herbs, salt

Available At

Corner Hermitage Rd and Mistletoe Lane
Pokolbin
NSW 2320
Phone (02) 4998 6660
Website

Broun Espresso Bar

Taste

This is a new chain of Espresso Bar that has just started out in Australia, but I have no idea where the other chains are. My Cappuccino ($3) was very middle of the road. It wasn't bad, no not at all in any sense of the word. The temperature was not too hot and the coffee was pretty smooth. Somehow there is still something missing, maybe it's the blend of coffee they use, which they don’t seem to advertise.

On the next occasion, we tried the caramel cheesecake ($4.50), which was surprisingly very good. Not as good as the home-made variety, but it certainly tasted great. Not too sweet, nice texture, the biscuit crust was nice too. I paired it with a moccacchino ($3.50), which was not as good as a cap, but I blame myself for ordering that! The hit of chocolate was way too sweet instead of being subtle.

The third try was latte ($3), which again, was very middle of the road, but not burnt or anything.

Rating - 6

Look

I was really surprised when I walked into the space, the shop was full of Asian baristas! I know this is multi-cultural Sydney, but one thing that I haven’t seen before is an Asian barista!

The shop itself is spacious, with a front counter displaying all manners of cakes. There is a distinct lack of mags, so I guess they don’t really want you to linger. It’s not really an eating place, more a coffee and accompaniment place.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

Average Town Hall end of town prices, certainly cheaper than Martin Place.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points -8.5

Available At

Shop 1/215-217 Clarence St
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9262 6063

Orchid Hill Bakery Cafe Cherry Tart

Taste

Slokky received a cherry tart for his b’day party. It looked spectacular, golden yellow with red studded cherries throughout. The pastry was thick and soft, encasing an almond filling, and those slightly tart cherries. Yum! This is not too sweet as a dessert, and doesn’t give you that really full feeling afterwards.

Rating - 8

Look

I love the look, pieces of tarts are studded with gooey red cherries, it looked spectacular cut or whole!

Rating - 3

C-factor

We got it for free, but I dunno how much this would cost in the shop.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 12

Available At

Shop 248, Castle Towers
6-14 Castle Street
Castle Hill
NSW 2154
Phone (02) 9659 3900

Lurpak Butter

Taste

This has a much milder taste than the supermarket variety of butter. I can definitely taste the difference, being "purer" if I can put it that way, but it’s not as good as the home-made stuff we guy from the Good Living Growers Market. Well, Lurpak butter is the preferred butter for TV chefs (especially Jamie Oliver, who is routinely seen cutting huge chunks of the stuff).

Rating - 6.5

Look

Well, it’s a status symbol to buy this. And it does look good in its packaging. The butter itself is creamy soft too.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

250g for $3.75. Would a pay more than twice the amount for this? No.

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 9

Ingredients

pasteurised cream from cow’s milk, fat min 82%, moisture max 16%

Available At

Specialty stores and some supermarkets

Ballotins Belgian Chocolate

Taste

There are 2 different chocolates. The dark chocolate cherry was absolutely beautiful. A thin coating of dark, more-ish chocolate, encased a slightly sweet and alcoholic :) centre, that has the fragrant of cherries. The milk chocolate toffee’s chocolate was also first rate. The centre is caramel and not that sweet. These are excellent!

Rating - 8

Look

Each is individually wrapped in red and gold foil, which sits in its own tissue box, which is contained in a gold box – so you can use them as table setting or bonbonnieres.

Rating - 3

C-factor

6 x 29g boxes for $9.99, excellent value really!

Rating - 2

Swiss Points - 13

Ingredients

sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, vegetable fat, hydrogenated vegetable fat, glucose syrup, hazelnuts, skimmed milk powder, cocoa powder, milk fat, alcohol (0.5%), emulsifier, coffee, flavours, concentrated cherry puree, preservative, colour

Available At

Specialty stores and some supermarkets

Ferrero Kusschen

Taste

"Kusschen" means kiss. These are chocolate praline with hazelnut filling. The filling actually tastes just like the Ferrero Rocher inside, except these are surrounded by milk chocolate of course. I prefer Rochers, but these are much much cheaper and tastes pretty good too!

Rating - 7.5

Look

Individually wrapped pieces stored in an easy to get to box. The wrapping follows the white and orange theme of Ferrero products.

Rating - 2

C-factor

267g, which is 30 pieces, for $10.99. It’s pretty good for good quality chocolates.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

milk chocolate (31%) [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, anhydrous milk fat, emulsifier, soy lecithin, flavouring], hazelnuts (27%), dark chocolate (15%) [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, emulsifier, flavouring], vegetable fats, sugar, whey powder, fat-reduced cocoa powder, flavouring

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Ivyhome Dairy Organic Skim Milk

Taste

We accidentally bought the skim milk instead of the full fat. Normally drinking skim milk is like drinking water, but I was really surprised as this one from Ivyhome, as it really has taste! The consistency is still very funny but at least it didn’t taste like water!

Rating - 6.5

Look

This must be what the rich people stock their fridge with – designer milk! It comes in a 1L clear glass bottle that won’t look out of place on the kitchen bench.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

1L for $4.50. Very exy, but you’ve got to pay for that bottle from somewhere.

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 9

Ingredients

pasteurised non homogenised

Available At

organic stores

Sonoma Bread

Taste

Well, the last time I had Sonoma, I didn’t enjoy the bread, so I had been reluctant to give it another go. In this case, I am glad I gave it another chance. The Rye Spelt was absolutely beautiful. A strong and golden crust encased some beautifully textured bread.

Rating - 8

Look

Golden outside with a dusting of flour, this was a light creamy brown colour on the inside.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

$6.50 for 600g. It’s on the expensive side in terms of boutique bread.

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

40% organic spelt flour ,60% organic rye flour, leaven (fermented organic spelt & rye flour & water), filtered water, sea salt

Available At

organic stores

Luken & May Butterbursts

Taste

I picked up these Luken & May goodies after Christmas. The Basil & Parmesan savoury sticks were absolutely scrumptious. The biscuits were top quality and the parmesan very addictive. There was just enough basil to give it a kick along but not to overpower.

The Orange & Cardamom were on the other end of the scale. Sweet shortbread biscuits fragranced by orange. It’s only after you eat it that you get the hit of cardamom as an aftertaste. It’s very very addictive too…

These are certainly better than the , a par above Mother Meg’s and dare a say it, even better than Byron Bay!

Rating - 8.5

Look

These don’t only taste good, but they look good too! The savoury sticks were long, not too thick and not too thin, and look very sexy in their silver tin. The orange and cardamom were in little yellow star shapes and come in a beautiful red tin that will look great on any kitchen bench or office drawer.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

175g for $13.95, 175g for $15.95

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 13

Ingredients

Basil & Parmesan savoury

wheat flour, butter (28%), cornflour, parmesan cheese (8%)) [milk, starch, cultures, rennet, salt], spices, garlic, salt basil (0.3%)

Orange & Cardamom

wheat flour, butter (28%), sugar, cardamon (1%), orange oil, salt

Available At

Myer
Website
David Jones Foodhall
Website

Woolworths Freefrom Gluten Free Biscuits

Taste

From the range of Gluten Free products, I was expecting these to be not as good as the “real thing”, and by that I mean flour, but I was pleasantly surprised. The Orange and Poppyseed Choc Coated Biscuits were a bit more cakey than biscuity, but it actually suits quite well. The biscuit is dense, making the chocolate a very good foil for the biscuits. I love the poppy seeds, and chocolate and orange is such a classic pairing.

The Choc Coated Biscuits were great too, but I have to rank them below the orange and poppyseed. These have a much more chocolate hit, but otherwise the biscuits are pretty plain.

Rating - 7

Look

Maybe because they are gluten free, but more care seems to have gone into the packaging. Plastic trays separate the biscuits ensuring they don’t all stick together – good in theory but didn’t quite work in practice, my pack of biscuits all rolled to one side.

Appearance wise, they are very pretty, with chocolate decorations and in the case of the orange, beautiful specks of poppyseed.

Rating - 2

C-factor

I got my 200g packs as a sample from the Gluten Free Expo. They normally cost around $3.50 for 12 cookies inside.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 10.5

Ingredients

Orange and Poppyseed Choc Coated

compound chocolate (35%) [sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa, emulsifiers, salt], sugar, margarine [vegetable oils, water, salt total milk solids non fat, emulsifiers, flavour, acidity regulator, antioxidants, colour],potato flour, rice flour, maize flour, soya flour, hazelnut paste, sweetened condensed milk [sugar, milk solids], invert syrup, poppyseed (1%), golden syrup, whey powder, flavour [orange oil (0.2%)], raising agents, salt

Choc Coated Biscuits

compound chocolate (50%) [sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa, emulsifiers, salt], sugar, potato flour, rice flour, maize flour, margarine [vegetable oils, water, salt total milk solids non fat, emulsifiers, flavour, acidity regulator, antioxidants, colour], soya flour, hazelnut paste, sweetened condensed milk [sugar, milk solids], invert syrup, whey powder, raising agents, salt, flavour

Available At

Woolworths
Website

Chupa Chups

Taste

Ahhh, good old Chupa Chups. They seem to be a staple of childhood, and I’m glad to see them carry on for so long. They haven’t gone on without innovation though, as the rainbow of new flavours attest to. I tried the Apple, which was very nice. It captured that crisp, tarty sweetness of a green apple perfectly.

Rating - 6

Look

It’s always run to eat, recapture your long lost childhood. That pesky covering doesn’t come off any easier with age though.

Rating - 2

C-factor

One 13g stick has now gone up in price to about 50 cents… considering kids these days get about $50 pocket money a week, this is still extremely affordable.

Rating - 2

Swiss Points - 10

Ingredients

sugar, glucose syrup, food acid, concentrated fruit puree, apple

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Bavarian Bier Cafe York

Well, well, when I heard about their GET SCHNITFACED challenge:

Every Tuesday, pig-out and finish our Giant Schnitzel and the Schnapps is on us!

I knew I just had to go.

Food

For those unfamiliar, the Bavarian Bier Café is like the other European beer houses around, and serves Bavarian food and beer. In fact, their menu is very similar to The Lowenbrau, including the beer they serve.

We were only here for one thing though, the Löwenschnitzel ($23) - Giant Pork Schnitzel Served with French Fries. We ordered this at The Lowenbrau too, but I have to say, this one is much better! The batter was crisp and not too thick, the meat was tender and cooked well, pounded thinly but not too thin. Surprisingly, on one corner of our plate was a small but perfectly dressed rocket and radish salad! The accompanying tartare sauce was scrumptious, I wish there was more of it though, to dip with the delectable golden and crunchy chips. Regular readers will know that I am not a big fan of schnitzel, so this has really impressed me!

But did I finish my challenge? Let’s just say that there was nothing left on my plate at the end of it. Actually, it needn’t matter, as everybody gets a Schnapps anyway! For the challenge, they had 4 of their flavours available as part of the challenge, so it must be a sign, so we ordered one of each:

• studmeister – we couldn’t figure not the flavour, but Chinese medicine, licorice and aniseed come to mind
• butterscotch – smooth and just like butterscotch pudding, my favourite
• pfirsich (peach) – smells divine, has a strong kick and tastes like peach lollies
• sour apple – a refreshing taste that’s sweet and sour

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Well, it was Tuesday lunch so the place was about half full. It was half full only because of the schnitzel challenge, as the sound of the cow bell was reverberating all around each time the schnapps are bought out on those meter long pallets. This made the atmosphere a bit more relaxed. Otherwise, this place seems very slick and formal, even with their booths, giant wooden benches and plasma TVs… maybe it’s the serious attitude of the staff or those glasses hanging above the bar?

Rating - 2

Service

It could certainly be better, especially from a half full restaurant. No one showed us to a table so we plonked ourselves down. We had to wave around for a waiter to take our order – and then we were told that only certain waiters could take order, it seems some are just supposed to be the drinks girl. After ages, one of them finally came around to take our order. We got some sautéed vegetables to go with our schnitzels but that order never came. In hindsight it was probably just as well, but shame to the waiters for forgetting.

Rating - 2

C-factor

This was certainly a fun experience, and for $15 for a schnitzel and schnapp, it’s definitely a fun time out.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 13.5

Info

24 York Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 8297 4111
Website

Coles Caesar Salad

Taste

Well, the bacons were a bit small, the croûtons really hard, but the lettuce and the dressing was nice enough for a salad that comes out of a packet. Of course, making it fresh and with some home-made dressing is much better, but this is a good backup.

Rating - 6

Look

Really easy to do. Everything is contained in its own plastic bag. All you do is find a big bowl, (or fish and chips container in our case), empty, mix and serve. It’s definitely convenient, you don’t even need to wash or cut anything, but the ingredients do look a bit lifeless and limp.

Rating - 2

C-factor

145g for $4.99, again very exy considering you can buy a whole lettuce for much cheaper, but then the cost is in the effort.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 9

Ingredients

cos lettuce (68%), Caesar dressing (14%) [water, soybean oil, vinegar, sugar, egg yolk, salt, flavour, vegetable gum, mustard, lemon juice concentrate, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, food acid, parmesan cheese (7%), bacon (6%), croutons (5%)

Available At

Coles
Website

Coles Couscous Salad

Taste

I was surprised at how wonderful this tastes. The couscous was fluffy and had been soaked with the wonderful juices from the variety of roast vegetables. The vegs themselves were actually plump and juicy. They also managed to get the balance between vegetables and couscous right.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Packed in an easy to eat container. The colours were deep and attractive. No matter how you pack it though, couscous is always hard to eat.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

125g for $4.99. It’s quite expensive but I guess you get a lot for your money.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10

Ingredients

couscous (45%), roasted vegetables (36%) [eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, onion, canola oil, white vinegar, salt, garlic, mixed herbs, brown sugar], basil pesto dressing (11%), semi dried tomato

Available At

Coles
Website

Fosterton Farm Bakery Bread

Taste

Fosterton Farm's bio-dynamic and organic breads only sells at selected stores and markets around Northern NSW, so we felt it was our duty to try it out. There wasn't much bread available, but they were doing a roaring trade. We picked up a Linseed sourdough ($4.80), corn sourdough ($4.80) and farmhouse sourdough ($4.80). They actually taste the same, the only difference being the texture. The linseed is crunchy, the farmhouse traditional, the cornbread was my favourite in terms of texture, being a coarser grain. Certainly not as good as the usual stuff I'm used to, but better than the supermarket variety. A nice sourdough aroma and nice crust. They actually got better and better with age.

Also on offer were some sweet and savory offerings. We picked up the pumpkin, feta and rice parcel ($3) - which I am sure is very good for you. For something very hippy-like, it tasted alright. It's a little bland and the pastry not that great, but it's not altogether bad.

Rating - 7.5

Look

The breads were beautifully presented and the colour was fabulous. The same for their small offerings too. It's a small family run business who do all the baking, packaging and selling, so I was all in for that.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

It's not outrageous but not cheap either. For Newcastle, the price is great as there is no one else selling these, but in Sydney you get so much more choice.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

corn

Freshly milled organic maize meal and biodynamic wholewheat flour, rainwater, celtic sea salt and natural yeast ferment.

Available At

792 Fosterton Road
Dungog
NSW 2420
Phone (02) 4992 3408

Australian Regional Food Store & Cafe Coffee

Taste

I didn’t feel like eating anything heavy after too much wine and taste testing, but I was extremely tired from a restless night, so I really needed a coffee. The latte ($3.80) was terrible, it was very bitter and watery, and not complex at all. The cappuccino ($3.50) was pulled for a shorter time, but was also sweetened with cocoa, so it wasn’t bitter, but alas, it was still watery.

Rating - 5

Look

The shop is quite inviting, looking out to the stream and bush outside. Inside are some comfy chairs and magazines. We needed them too as it took over 10 minutes to make 2 coffees, even though we were the only customers. At least we could also look at the produce and books on display, as well as taste test some offerings.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

I couldn’t believe they were charging $3.80 for a coffee, that’s getting on par with hotel prices! Lucky we had a buy one get one free voucher, but still, that’s nearly $2 for some mediocre coffees.

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 6.5

Available At

McDonalds Road
Pokolbin
NSW 2131
Phone (02) 4998 6800

Bliss Coffee Roasters Cappuccino

Taste

They are special bean roasters. Our cappuccino ($3.50) was absolutely wonderful. It was pulled just right, has an excellent crema, and was not bitter or overpowering.

Rating - 8

Look

The shop is very inviting. The décor is themed towards coffee, including the coffee clock which I have seen a couple of times at other places. The back wall displays coffee and tea products you can buy, while the front glass counter of cakes and pastries distracts from their gigantic shiny coffee machine. You can also buy the beans whole or grounded at the shop, or order online.

And the coffee itself? They did a lovely coffee art leave :)

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

$3.50 is around average price around the Hunter and the CBD. It’s expensive but it’s good coffee…

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11.5

Available At

Hunter Valley Garden Village
Broke Rd
Pokolbin
NSW 2131
Phone (02) 4998 6700
Website

Hunter Valley Gold Washed Rind Cheese

Taste

Very much like the smelly washed rinds from France, except less expensive :). This one is a bit less complex in flavour, the texture is very smooth and the flavour very deep. It's an in your face cheese, not to mention, in your smell!

This has won a ASCA Gold Medal for 2005.

Rating - 7.5

Look

All gooey and golden yellow on the inside with a mouldy orange inside. It's called washed rind because the rind has to be wiped continuously throughout the maturing process.

Rating - 3

C-factor

$52.40/kg from the factory shop.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11.5

Ingredients

100% cow's milk, vegetable rennet, salt & cultures

Available At

McDonalds Road
Pokolbin
NSW 2131
Phone (02) 4998 7744
Website

Twist Cafe & Bar

Since our first choice of Restaurant II, the only reputable restaurant in Newcastle, wasn't available, this was our choice out of those from Honeysuckle Wharf.

Food

Before I start to comment on the food, let me point out that all spelling were taken from their menu, and the spelling mistakes are not my own.

Anyway, after a long wait (which is the norm according to sis), our meals arrived:

• seared blue eye cod fillet in South Indian aubergine and potato curry topped with seared scallops and riata ($26) - is my pick of the bunch. The fish was moist and the vegetable accompaniment was well cooked and the sauce – not too complex but binded it all together.
• pan fried yellow fin tuna served on sauteed kiper potato, asparagus and sundried tomatoes with wild roquette, basil oil and essence of balsamic ($26) - after the waiter promised "sashimi grade" tuna, I asked for it to be cooked medium rare. When my fish arrived and I saw that the thin piece of fillet was on the well-done side of medium well, I already had comprehensions. One taste of the too dried flesh confirmed my suspicions. The delicate sweetness of the flesh and the melt in your mouth creaminess of "sashimi grade" tuna was non existent. Unfortunately, the accompanied essence of balsamic was more like sweetened sugar – missing all of the caramel tones of real, or even medium balsamic. At least the potatoes were cooked correctly … if it wasn’t, well, there wasn’t very much left on the dish.
• roasted whole spatchcock with french lentils, currents, speck and merlot glaze ($24) - I didn’t try the spatchcock, but the French lentils were on the charred side, but it imparted that lovely “burnt” flavour to the lentils.
• chargrilled bangalow pork cutlet with roasted parsnip and thyme mash, sauteed baby spinach and caramelised apple jus ($26) - at least the skin was nice and crispy, and there was a big layer of fat rimmed around the cutlet. The meat was sweet and flavourful. I found the apple sauce a little too sweet for my liking, but the parsnip and thyme mash was heavenly.
• seared atlantics salmon with beurre blanc, asparagus spear and potato rosti ($26) - a only had a taste of the salmon, which was actually cooked medium rare as requested, meaning it’s actually juicy. If only my tuna was the same…sigh…

A bit of an up and down experience. Unfortunately, even the up is only average. I really hope this isn’t the normal standard for Newcastle.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

Since we had to leave by 8pm, all the people dining there were of the older set and people with young kids. Otherwise, the décor is supposedly to be for the "cool crowd", by that I mean, dim lighting, booths, candles, pink glow and funky lamps. It’s an ok hangout, but what atmosphere there was, was wrecked by mum’s constant complaints about how dark the place is, how loud everything was, and how the plates were so big and the servings so small, and so on and so forth…not a place to bring your parents no doubt.

Rating - 1

Service

They were booked out for the night, but I gave them credit for accommodating us, if we were going to be out by 8pm. With the parents in tow, I’m sure that won’t be a problem at all. Our waiter gave us the menus, and then said each of the specials were "really really good". She then went on to explain what "sashimi grade" was and "bangalow pork" is. I really hate waiters who say everything is really really good.

We didn’t really have a problem with the service, but did watch a table get their mains mistakenly delivered to them, in the middle of their entrees. The waiters weren’t really at a spot where you can see them, so it’s hard to get their attention. For those prices, you still have to do everything yourself.

Also, one of the waiter was my sis’s uni friend, who was apparently very bitchy to her patients. She didn’t serve us so I’ll let her be the judge of that.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

Crap spelling, gushing waiter, long wait, not delivering to my order and having to listen to my mum yak does not an enjoyable dinner make.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 8.5

Info

N3 The Boardwalk
Honeysuckle Drive
Newcastle
NSW 2300
Phone (02) 4926 1766
Website

Saigon Pho Vietnamese Restaurant

And so I continue on my quest to try all the restaurants in Flemington. Having stuck on my favourite, Ta Fong, for ages, I recently ventured to Can Thang without much success. Saigon Pho always seem to be quite popular with the diners, so I went in with great expectations.

Food

The first dish is our gauge, used to compare the quality of other restaurants. Beef Noodle Soup (pho) ($7). Well, the soup as certainly very hot because the beef was very very well cooked. There wasn't a lot of bean sprouts, onions or shallots. The only thing that was kinda generous was the noodles. The accompanying plate of basil was small and looked dead, the lemon slice was really dry, and there were no chillies or nuoc chu sauce to be seen. The real test for good pho is of course in the stock. This one was ok, if a bit one-dimensional. They probably skim on the ingredients that's why.

I ordered the special fish with rice hot pot ($8.70) just so I can compare it with Ta Fong, the fish being one of my favourite dishes there. This one was not too bad. The sauce was more complex and flavoured with chilli. I would like it to be slightly hotter, but it went with the broken rice very well. The soup that came with it was pretty tasty.

seafood combination in fried noodles ($9) was typical, nothing to get excited about. The noodles didn't really have the wok's breath (I wonder if they just microwave?), but there was a good amount of seafood (not a lot mind you, but enough to justify it as "seafood" noodles.

All in all, this one is not as good as Ta Fong, but is miles ahead of Can Thang.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

Certainly on different to any other restaurants there - laminated table, a tray with utensils, condiments and a box of tissues, the pour yourself teapot at the ready, specials stuck on the wall...This place is actually a bit less frantic than the usual, and there were quite a few Westerners there (enjoying spring rolls and crispy skinned chicken no less).

Rating - 1

Service

They came around straight away to take our order, but we'd only just sat down. I can actually understand, most people have a favourite which they order without having to look at the menu. We on the other hand, only had one thing we knew we wanted, so we needed more time. Once we had decided though, they came around quickly to take our order. Again, before we could even settle down, the beef noodle soup arrived.

Service is your typical Asian aloofness. They asked us if we wanted small bowls, and bought out and cleared away our dishes quickly. The only hiccup of the night came when they tried to deliver us another noodle, immediately after the first one was delivered...

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

The prices are about the same as the other restaurants in Flemington. The quality of the products are not as good, but it's not too bad at all for a quick feed.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 11

Info

8/90 The Crescent
Flemington
NSW 2131
Phone (02) 9746 1692

Can Thang BBQ Restaurant

In my quest to broaden my range around Flemington, I decided to give the favourite, Ta Fong a rest, and try out the rest of the offerings. There have been quite a few new openings lately, but we decided to try an old stayer. Can Thang was recently reviewed by SMH, so we decided we would compare notes.

Food

As the name says, this is a BBQ restaurant, but they also do Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and even some Malaysian. We decided not to go with the BBQ because everyone always line up at the BBQ place down the road, and we decided not to try the Vietnamese as they don't seem to specialise in it, so went with the Chinese Beef bisket noodle soup ($8) and Satay chicken fried noodle ($9). I don't know if we ordered right or wrong, but with what we tasted, we won't be back.

The bisket was in the tomato based sauce, the bisket was soft and gluggy, just he way biskets should be, but the tomato sauce was underwhelming, very oily and sour. The satay chicken was in even more oil, and the satay based sauce doesn't even taste like it contained any peanuts at all. I felt pretty sick as I finished my meal...

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

We were there for brunch, so really had the place to ourselves, except for one table having a family gathering, and a fat Western couple, who were eating around 4 dishes between the two of them. The antics of these 2 tables kept us occupied, as well as the ladies preparing vegetables and dumplings at another of the tables.

Decor wise, it's the typical restaurant style, except this one is actually quite spacious. There's also the added advantage of their BBQ counter, where you can watch dried animals being slaughtered.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Typical Asian nonchalance. If they want repeat business, they really should learn to smile, as I certainly won't be coming back for the food!

Rating - 2

C-factor

Prices aren't outrageous but I've had much better food elsewhere.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 10

Info

97 The Crescent
Homebush West
NSW 2131
Phone(02) 9764 5400

Heaven Ganache Macadamia

Taste

I’m a fan of magnums but I didn’t really like Heaven , but I wanted to give this a try. The results? Better than I thought, but still not as good as magnum. Let me elaborate. The ice-cream is a bit too sweet, but the addition of macadamia is most welcomed. The chocolate is not as thick and morish as magnums, it being a bit soft and sweet too.

Rating - 6

Look

Beautifully packaged, the chocolate is glossy, and the ice-cream is just the right size for an individual indulgence.

Rating - 2

C-factor

385ml for $3.99 on special. It’s about the same price as a magnum so I would have to say it’s worst value then.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 9

Ingredients

cream, water, sugar, cocoa mass, macadamia nut pieces, vegetable fat, milk solids, skim milk concentrate, glucose syrup, invert sugar, mattodextrin, emulsifier, cocoa butter, flavours, vegetable gum, salt

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

King Island Diary Yoghurt

Taste

Definitely better than the usual supermarket stuff. This was much creamier. I got the "normal"Vanilla. I enjoyed it because we wasn’t too sweet and doesn’t taste like fake vanilla. The yoghurt was creamy (and fatty I'm sure) and very smooth.

Rating - 7

Look

Very classy. White tub with a blue lid, it really feels like you’re eating luxury. And of course the price tag helped too…

Rating - 2

C-factor

300g for $3.79. Very exy indeed for a “supermarket” brand.

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - 9.5

Ingredients

whole milk, cream, sugar, milk solids non fat, live cultures

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Penguin Market Cakes

Taste

We bought this off this lovely old lady, who’s been baking for years and has lots of awards to show. There were lots of varieties of old style cakes to choose from. Our pack contained:

• jellycake - just like lamington, except without the chocolates.
• lamington - a very soft cake and one of the best I’ve tasted.
• sultana cake - soft and sweet, just like the old fashioned cakes.
• chocolate slice with sprinkles - not very chocolaty, a bit too sweet.
• date slice - has a very gooey filling, the crumble topping is not buttery enough.
• fruit mix slice - pleasant, but I didn’t enjoy the sweet carrot glaze and sweetened fruit in the mix.

Rating - 6

Look

The Penguin Market’s claim to fame is being "The largest undercover Antique, Secondhand & Collectibles market in Tasmania". I don’t know their claim for large, but it’s a pretty way to meander away a morning. We didn’t find the stalls too exciting, but it’s more a country town kinda market than big city markets.

The cakes were lovingly made, with their homemade labels and all.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

$3.50 for our 6 pack of little cakes. Not too bad, especially if you are on holidays and want that country feel.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 9

Available At

Arnold Street
Penguin
TAS 7316
Phone (03) 6437 2935
Website

Betta Milk

Taste

Ever since I tasted this wonderful milk on holidays in Tassie in 2003, I’ve been searching everywhere for a similar experience. Alas, this didn’t deliver. This milk from Betta, a Tasmanian based company, was basically the same as the milk in NSW and VIC. What do they do to these milk to make them taste worst than its original form?

Rating - 5

Look

Pretty ugly. It’s milk I suppose.

Rating - 0.5

C-factor

300ml

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 6.5

Ingredients

100% Tasmanian milk

Available At

supermarkets in Tasmania