Krispy Kreme Milkshakes

Taste

Krispy Kreme advertises their milkshakes as “Old fashioned milkshake just like the way it used to be.”. I guess by that they mean they use flavoured syrup instead of real fruit? There’s nothing wrong with that, when sometimes all you want is some comfort food. My caramel ($3.95) was quite nice, malty and sweet, with a scoop of ice-cream to thicken things up. It actually tastes a bit like their donuts!

Slokky loves that fake strawberry taste, so for him, the strawberry ($3.95) was heavenly. For me, it was just like having a Maccas thickshake, except with better quality ice-cream.

Rating - 5.5

Look

Even the packaging evokes that old-fashioned milkshake. We watched them make it with the sugar syrup in the classic silver shaker.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

Not too bad as you do get a pretty big serving.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 8

Available At

Krispy Kreme
Website

New Zealand Natural Milkshake

Taste

After my disappointment of my last smoothie here, after having such great smoothies on occasions beforehand, I was really hoping that this will be nice, and I’m happy to report they were up to scratch. They can make either milkshake (1 scoop) or thickshake (3 scoops) with any flavour you like.

I couldn’t go past the banana d’lite, but I made sure I had a taste test first before I got it made. I didn’t have to worry though, as it was one of the best banana ice-cream I’ve had.

I decided against my usual picks of nutty cream flavours, and went for the strawberry surprise instead. This one made a smooth fluffy strawberry milkshake, much better than the Krispy Kreme version, with real strawberry flavours!

I’m glad I went for the milkshake as it wasn’t too creamy or overpowering, the ice-cream and milk blended together very well.

Rating - 7.5

Look

In the usual green packaging. The straws you get are a bit weak to slurp this up, but it was nice and fluffy.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

Regular for $4, I think it’s much better value than the smoothies.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10

Available At

New Zealand Natural
Website

Panzerotti Cafe

Taste

I was taken here by the recruiters, and got my usual cappuccino. It was decorated with lots of cocoa on top. In terms of the coffee itself, not too bad, but not too much coffee taste. They use Schibello beans.

Rating - 6.5

Look

It’s definitely a funky spot, with those cubes for you to sit at. The furniture is spread everywhere and it doesn’t really match. It’s actually quite noisy with a lot of people milling about. They have these really funky cups they serve the coffee in, a bit more interesting than the normal stuff. In keeping with the casual theme, there are no

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

$3 for eat in.

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - 9.5

Available At

corner Margaret & York Sts
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9290 1119

Peers & Simpson Organic Pure Food

Taste

I tried the Classic Indian Toor Dal Soup from Peers & Simpson, and I have to say, the taste is very similar to the stuff that my mum used to boil up, except much saltier. While the product is not that bad, it’s a bit too salty for my taste, and dare I say it, I actually prefer mum’s!

Rating - 6

Look

Nice and easy, in a snip and pour pouch. You heat, stir and serve, too easy really. The soup has a nice vibrant colour and has some homemade appearance lumps.

Rating - 2

C-factor

680g for $2 on special at the organic shop.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 9

Ingredients

organic toor, masoor and/or channa dal, organic tomatoes, organic onions, organic dates, biodynamic safflower oil, lemon juice, sea salt ,organic raw sugar, chilli, ginger,

naked naturals fresh risotto

Taste

After recently trying their dips, I was looking forward to trying their risotto range. We picked the Field Mushroom with parsley, parmesan and arborio rice. I command this for having a great mushroom flavour and some juicy mushrooms, although I found it a bit too salty. As far as risotto go though, you just can’t beat the fresh-made stuff. This, when made to instructions, was a little too runny for my liking.

Rating - 6

Look

It was extremely easy to prepare. Pop open the pouch, put in a microwaveable container, add 100ml of water, and heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring in between.

The results actually looked appealing too, with bits of mushrooms and flakes of parsley.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

500g for $2 on special. It’s certainly cheaper than takeaway and I believe better for you too.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 9.5

Ingredients

water, arborio rice (14%), (button mushrooms, field mushrooms, mushroom powder (9%)), onion, parmesan (milk, cultures, rennet, salt) (4%), garlic, butter, olive oil, parsley, yeast extract, black pepper, pure sea salt

Available At

Organic Shops

Tingha Palace Chinese Restaurant

We used to come here a lot because Slokky's mum knows one of the managers and we never have to wait for a table. Well, now that I’ve started working at Parramatta, it was time to revisit.

Food

I actually remembered the yum cha was better before, so either we were having a bad day, or the standard has gone down.

Good

• rice noodle rolls
• dumplings

Bad

• bbq pork
• egg tart
• sticky rice
• congee

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

The place is certainly much calmer on a weekday. On the weekend you find it packed with people, with more people queuing all the way to the Club next door. The décor is your classic Chinese Restaurant, with dragons and phoenix and gold dominating. There are lots of big tables at this restaurant. One thing I do like though is that they don’t squish you in like sardines so at least you (just) have room to breath.

Rating - 1.5

Service

The service in the city has certainly improved but the service in the suburbs have not. These waiters were rude and arrogant, especially because we had non Asians on the table. The trolley ladies were also rude, so maybe they get paid like nothing, that’s why they can’t even smile. It took them ages to deliver the bill too.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

$18 p.p for 5 people, and we had so much food leftover, but that's because some people hardly ate anything.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 9

Info

100 Church St
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Phone (02) 9891 1777

The Loft

The Loft has recently introduced High Tea, so we were off to test drive.

Food

We started off with some tea and coffees. Slokky was tired from an early start so chose to have Cappuccino, which was ok, but not spectacular. I chose the Sencha Quince green tea, a pleasant, subtle tea that was a good palate preparer for the food to come…eventually. The guys chose coffees while the girls tried out the teas.

After a long wait, our platters arrived. I’ll start at the bottom, which is the Savoury Items:

• Smoked Salmon with Salmon Roe Crepe - delicate with beautiful salmon but not much roe
• Chicken and Avocado Bagel
  - simple, the chicken was subtle, the bread soft
• Cucumber and Herb Creme Fraiche Sandwich - these were great. They had a delicate flavour and moist white bread
• Roast Marinated Vegetable Pissaldiere
  - my favourite of the lot. Sweet with vegetables with that bite-sized savoury taste
• Leek and Gruyere Tartlet - the cheese was sensational as always, and the pastry was nice and crisp

I went the traditional way and devoured the savouries before attacking the Sweets on the top two layers:

• Warm Chocolate Fondue with a selection of Fresh Fruit (marshmallows, dried apricot, strawberries, grapes, shortbread) – the chocolate wasn’t dark, but it was good quality, so the various items all tasted divine dipped in it, especially the strawberries. In the end though, I had indulged so much I was happy to eat the fruit without any extra chocolate additions.
• Mini Lemon Tartlet - totally more-ish. Very rich, with a fragrant lemon filling and above average pastry.
• Caramel Kisses – these chocolate and caramel tarts were a little too sweet and too rich as part of the ensemble. If I ate it in a separate setting it would better
• Scones with strawberry jam and cream - I saved these for last, which, in hindsight wasn’t such a good idea as they were no longer warm by the time I got to them. But the scone was light, not too fluffy, but the cream and jam was of good quality

By this time, we’d also ordered our cocktails. Because we ordered single serves, we didn’t get it served in the funky floral teapots, but we did get it in cocktail glasses, which was 2nd best. I had to have Slokky’s as well, so that’s how I tried the Dragon Well – Havana Anejo Blanca with Tuoca stirred into fresh apple and pink grapefruit juice and chilled peppermint tea. All laced with Monin Rose syrup - a bit too bitter and sour, even for my liking. The Oolong Song – Wybarowa Almond vodka with apricot brandy and Tuaca over freshly macerated apricots and lemons and chilled T2 “French Earl Grey” tea was more to my liking, sweet and sour, it really hit the spot.

Needless to say, I was absolutely stuffed, (and slightly tipsy!) by the time I finished, and I couldn’t even finish the food (but Slokky did!)

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

It felt very weird being at The Loft during the day, and I have to say, it is very different. Instead of dark and moody, you get bright and airy. Obviously the idea of High Tea hadn’t caught on there as there were only about 4 or 5 groups of people there.

What they did have though, surprisingly, was a piano player! He belted out some easy listening chilli out tunes, that was perfect for the setting. We felt like we had him to ourselves sometimes, but we had to shout to be heard above the music.

We lounged on the comfy leather couches and ottoman, but had a hard time getting all the cocktails, teas, plates and platters to all fit on the small circular tables that usually only hold some drinks.

Rating - 2.5

Service

The waiters were all pretty, young things, dressed in fashionable black, if that’s your thing. In terms of service? Well, they were organised. They found my booking and showed me to the reserved spot with no problems. They then gave us menu and said to call them over whenever we were ready. Well, calling them became a problem throughout the afternoon, as we had to actually get up a couple of times to get their attention.

When we did get their attention, they were very attentive and friendly, however, the food took a LONG time to arrive, which is probably good for a good chat, but this was supposed to be our lunch, and we were so hungry by the time our tiered platters were presented to us.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

High tea with the goodies and 1 tea or coffee costs $35, High tea with a twist, which we enjoyed, including a teapot cocktail, was $45.

This is on par with the posh Sydney High Tea establishment, and is ok value for a day out.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 13

Info

King Street Wharf
3 Lime St
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9299 4770
Website

Kez's Double Choc Bites

Taste

I would rate these Kez biscuits as about middle in terms of chocolate biscuits go. They were better than the Mother Megs and Home Baked Cookie Co, but certainly not up there with Byron Bay’s. They had a good chocolate hit, with decent chocolate chunks that weren’t too big. I found them a little bit dry, but that’s only a personal preference.

Rating - 6.5

Look

The little bite sized biscuits look very cute and uneven. This one came in a Christmas canvas cover, again, very cute.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

150g for $9.95. It’s not the cheapest, but I think it’s a fair price to pay.

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - 9.5

Ingredients

wheat flour, butter, brown sugar, milk chocolate (11%) [sugar, milk soilds, cocoa powder, cocoa mass, emulsifier, flavours]. sugar, egg, cocoa powder (3%), flavour, salt, raising agents

Available At

Myer
Website

Paddy’s Brewery

Paddy’s beers have won numerous awards over the years and it has been on our radar for yonks. So on this cold and raining Saturday, we thought, what better way to pass the time than beer in hand?

Food

We had lunch at the bistro - Simply Food Bistro - that’s attached to the pub. I was expecting the usual pub grub (and I’m not talking about the fancy pub stuff you get in the Eastern suburbs), but they had quite an extensive Specials menu to compliment the schnitzels and burger offerings. Nothing too out there mind you, but definitely a hearty meal you can enjoy.

Slokky picked the New York steak with king prawns, lemon pepper & shallot ($20). They were very generous with their steak, and it was cooked just slightly longer than the requested medium-rare, but was still pink enough in the middle. The steak itself was ok quality and quite juicy. The sauce was slightly sweetened by tomatoes. I’m not a fan of surf and turf and don’t think the prawns added any value, although they were nice to eat by themselves.

I, on the other hand, picked the Lamb loin with wasabi and black herb sauce ($20). Well, I couldn’t taste any wasabi, but the two generous pieces of lamb was covered in the most alcoholic berry soaked sauce I’ve ever tasted! It was divine though. The sprinkling of shallots and carrots on top was a bit superficial.

Also included in the price is bread (I was surprised they actually had Turkish pide as a choice), a salad bar (with fresh but bland salads), tea or coffee (which I didn’t try).

Of course I couldn’t eat here without trying their beer. I ordered the Chocolate porter ($3.50), a silver medal winning creation. It was dark and malty, with a slightly sweet and bitter taste mixed together. I agree, it’s pretty good stuff, although I don’t drink enough to comment on how good it is.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

An old fashioned pub really, with a salad bar, CRT TVs showing sport (we watched the French Open Men’s semis), with the addition of giant tanks that’s part of the brewery. It has an old school, bygone era, charm, although on the day we visited, we were joined by burly men and workers from the nearby Flemington Markets. It’s a bit intimidating for females.

Rating - 1

Service

Hey, it’s a pub, although everyone was very friendly. You order at the counter, pay and get a buzzer. After that it’s help yourself to cutlery, bread, salad, sauce, coffees.

Rating - 3

C-factor

It’s a little expensive for pub grub, but they are very generous with their servings. The beers are certainly cheap though, and you even get cheese cubes and biscuits as bar snacks!

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

268 Parramatta Road
Flemington
NSW 2129
Phone (02) 9764 3500
Website

Tamil Civic Centre Fundraising

We were driving pass Homebush Public School when we noticed the sign declaring "Sri-Lankan and Indian Food Festival", so of course we had to stop. We found a group of about 30 men and women, in a very organised production line, cooking up all manner of goodies. We joined the line and chose from a printed menu(!) of various delights. I of course wanted to go for stuff that I haven’t tried before, so we ordered:

• kottu rotty lamb ($7) - which was tappanyaki style fried noodles with lamb, except with Sri-Lankan spicing. We watched the chefs make it fresh on the spot and it was wonderfully spicy and flavoursome.
• masala thosai ($3) - I thought this was something new, but it was just a dosai spelt differently. In saying that, I love dosais, and this one was well made. The soupy accompaniment was hotter than I’m used to and has whole vegetables. I really like the coconut raita that came with it, it’s even better than Janani’s!
• lamb roll ($1.10) - like a chikko roll only with lamb. The lamb has a strong taste, but I don’t think I’ll get this one again

We paid, got given a receipt, and browsed the market. It was actually quite a long wait, especially when you are standing there watching and smelling the food. We leapt up when our number was called, and carried our well-packaged parcels home for a feast! Good food and a good cause at the same time? I like it!

Primo Italiano 2007

I’d never been able to go to this before as I’d always had to work on Sundays. So, this being the only chance I had, I decided there was no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Well, it turned out that half of Sydney also thought so. When we arrived, Sydney’s Little Italy, Stanley St and Yurong St were both closed to traffic, with bands, roaming performers and a fountain filled with vegetables! I noticed that Café Sasa, the restaurant I visited not that long ago had closed down. Being 2pm though, we were desperate for food so had to fight with the rest of the crowd around the various food stalls.

Our first criteria was actually not the most appealing food, but the shortest line, so that’s how we ended up paying $5 for a very very small tub of Mushroom & truffle risotto. In terms of taste, it was pretty good for restaurant risotto, but nothing on what I could make myself.

Filling only a little fuller, we didn’t want to walk too far or deliberate too much, so decided to get some North Italian flatbread, well, big mistake. I’d miscalculated how long it takes to make one flatbread (and I’d obviously forgotten about the Italian way of doing thing…) and because the line was so long, everybody ordered lots and lots when it was their turn. After about half hour, we made it to the front, but by that time I wasn’t hungry anymore, so we only got 4 flatbreads to share. These flatbreads were a pizza-style dough, very thin, wrapped in the following fillings. The Prosciutto, bocconcini ($10) was a favourite, salty prosciutto with creamy cheese, yum! The Butternut pumpkin ($9) is a good vegetarian option, with sweet pumpkin chunks. The Porcini & ricotta ($11) was extremely sparse in filling (probably because they realised the crowd was huge and the food had to last the whole day), but what little we got of it was very nice indeed.

The flatbreads certainly went down nicely with a beer. That’s right, we made our way to the Lord Roberts Hotel, and actually managed to grab a table (no chairs though), and listened to the DJ and watched the drunk old people muck around. The waiter was quite rude and told us off for brining our own food, even though the bouncer had let us through. It’s a festival, lighten up! It’s not as if you’re not getting enough business!

After some merry hours were wined away and lost forever, we picked ourselves up, picked up some fresh flowers and cheese from Formaggi Ocello: goats, cinnamon and “dessert wine” flavour, and made our way to Pat’s place for her housewarming.

For a supposed cook on training wheels, Pat put on a very commendable feast. Chicken and sweet corn soup, Malaysian chicken curry, steamed chicken, stir-fried veges and rice. Dessert was apple crumble and ice-cream, and some more of that fabulous cheese and grapes. I went home satisfied and with a very full belly.

Byron Bay Cookie Company Christmas Shortbread Assortment

Taste

I was really excited about these as I love their shortbread and really want to taste what they can do with their lemon shortbread. Well, it was still really good shortbread, but it didn’t really blow me away with anything extra special. The traditional shortbread was still excellent, I guess maybe I have such high expectation from Byron Bay Cookie Company. Oh these were nice all right, just not the best out of the range I guess.

Rating - 7.5

Look

This came in a longer than usual tin, being long and thin instead of wider and shorter, with delectable drawings on the outside. Inside are two individually wrapped biscuit packs, all lemony yellow from the shortbread.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

200g tin for $15.95. I’ve said many times before, they are totally worth the money!

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

Traditional Shortbread

wheat flour, butter, sugar, wheaten cornflour, rice flour, salt

Lemon and Macadamia Nut Shortbread

wheat flour, butter, wheaten cornflour, sugar, macadamia nuts (8%), salt, lemon oil

Available At

David Jones Foodhall
Website

Mother Meg's Biscuits

Taste

Another offering of biscuits I picked up, this time from Mother Meg’s.

• Pecan Shortbread - These morsels were YUM. The shortbread was suitably crumbly and sweet, with a light coating of icing sugar on top.
• Shortbread Stars - very buttery and has a great texture
• Chocolate Chip Cookies - tastes like your supermarket variety, too dry and boring, with the only difference being, MUCH better quality chocolates, but not enough to lift it out of the average.

Rating - 6

Look

The special Christmas packaging is cute but not practical, in a little box with a too tiny carry handle, and a little silver ribbon that’s almost impossible to remove.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

150g for $9.95. Too expensive to pay, even for the great ingredients. If you’re going to spend the money, get Luken & May or Byron Bay instead!

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 7.5

Ingredients

Pecan Shortbread

organic cake flour, pure unsalted butter, pure icing sugar, Australian natural
diced pecans (14%), natural vanilla extract, salt

Shortbread Stars

organic cake flour, pure unsalted butter, caster sugar, organic rice flour, pure icing sugar, natural vanilla extract, salt

Choc Chip

organic cake flour, pure unsalted butter, chocolate chip (15%) [sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa, milk solids, emulsifiers, salt flavour], caster sugar, brown sugar, free range organic eggs, baking powder, natural vanilla extract, salt

Available At

Myer
Website

The Home Baked Cookie Co

Taste

I picked up a few of these varieties from The Home Baked Cookie Co:

• 80g cranberry and white chocolate (gluten free) - has a jammy sweet flavour but is very buttery and not too sweet
• 80g triple chocolate dream (gluten free) - very dry and not much chocolate taste, and certainly not of dark chocolate
• Macadamia & White Chocolate - not bad for white chocolate biscuits, there wasn’t too much macadamia though
• Zesty lemon shortbread - my pick of the bunch. Sweet with a subtle link of lemon, very buttery

All in all, except for the disappointing chocolate, they’re very yummy.

Rating - 6.5

Look

I got this as part of a Christmas Gift Set, that came with a set of latte mugs with a different biscuit in each. The biscuits look like the rough and ready variety, but the Robert Gordon mugs were pretty cute, in different colours, with a nice ribbon to tie the box up too!

The cannister set came with another Robert Gordon mug with a lid this time.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

The Triple Chocolate Dream 50g + brown cannister was $9.95. The Latte Set, consisting of 4 bags of 80g Gourmet Cookie and four mugs for$29.95. Not bad considering normal gourmet cookies cost about the same.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10

Ingredients

rice flour, brown sugar, dark and white chocolate, Australian Macadamias,
cranberries, unsalted butter, whole eggs, coconut, flour, white sugar,
self-raising flour, rolled oats, pure corn flour, pure cocoa powder, xantham
gum, lemon oil, cream of tartar, raising agent

Available At

Myer
Website

Lindt Chocolat Berne Bittersweet Swiss Dark Chocolate

Taste

This bar had been imported from overseas, and true to form, tastes so much better. In fact, it managed to taste better than the other dark chocolate offerings from Lindt, especially the 70% Excellence chocolate, available here in Australia. I don’t know what it is, but the flavour is much more balanced and the taste smoother.

Rating - 7.5

Look

This one has the retro look. A silvery white wrapper, with writing reminiscent of the olden day packaging. It looks different to the usual stuff.

Rating - 2

C-factor

100g for $2.99. It’s about the same price as the Excellence range, so I would definitely try and seek it out especially.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10.5

Ingredients

sugar, cocoas mass, cocoa butter, emulsifier, vanilla

Available At

Harris Farm Market
Website

David Jones Dark & White Chocolate Mousse Cake

Taste

This was an absolutely gorgeous cake, even I the impartial to white chocolate thought so! The white chocolate was a bit sweet, but at least it didn’t have that fake sugar taste. The sponge was light and the mousse gorgeous too. The dark chocolate wasn’t too bitter so it’s for everyone.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Brown and white layers on the outside, with brown and white alternate chocolate curls on top. There were many oohs and aahhs and many pictures snapped.

Rating - 3

C-factor

$39.95 for a 9 inch cake. It’s expensive but the ingredients are top rate and there’s a lot of handiwork that went into it.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11.5

Available At

David Jones Foodhall
Website

New Zealand Natural Smoothie

Taste

I mentioned before that NZ Natural makes the best smoothie around, so you can imagine why I was so disappointed at this particular offering. Maybe it’s because I got this from Star City, where ripping off is the norm, but the two smoothies we got, Paradise Pash ($5.90) - passionfruit and Bananarama ($5.90) - banana were both extremely icy and lacking in taste. As well, they tasted pretty similar probably because of the iciness and had none of that real fruit taste I remember so well.

Rating - 4

Look

It was huge but I am not really a fan of the NZ Natural packaging or labels, although they updated it all recently for a more funky and relaxed look.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

$5.90 is definitely on the expensive end of the smoothie scale.

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 5.5

Available At

New Zealand Natural
Website

Monkey Drum @ The Roxy

The Roxy is THE happening place at Parramatta, and I must admit, they have really done a great job with the restoration. I was a bit dubious about this restaurant as it is located in a bar, and a very hip one at that, but a workmate had been raving about it for ages, so I was glad to try this out.

Food

The lunch menu was quite enticing, with curries, salads, stir-fries. I chose the make your own combination with roast duck, tom yum, green noodle ($15.50). It arrived in a big bowl with filled to the brim with the above ingredient as well as broccoli, snow pea & bean sprout, the soup fragranced with lemongrass and galangal.

The duck was very meaty and not that fatty, and they were quite generous with it. The green noodles were definitely slurpable. The broth was sour, but I did wish for a bit more of a chilli kick, even though I had requested the “medium” heat already. Everyone else seemed to be very happy with their meals.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

It was a nice day so we set in the open area just outside the classic Roxy theatre. It was great, if a bit uncomfortable, as it is canteen style seating. When the weather is bad, head inside the bar – I didn’t go inside but I heard it’s cool.

A word of warning to those that actually DON’T like the party scene, stay away after 5pm, as the place really starts swirling up then.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Hey, it’s a pub. You go to the counter and order, and they give you a buzzer to pick up the food when finished. Although they were actually quite nice and offered to carry some of our meals for us as we’d ordered so much stuff we couldn’t carry it all!

Rating - 3

C-factor

The servings are huge and the food is pretty authentic. It’s probably a bit more expensive, but the setting and the quality of the food means that this is top rate!

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 13

Info

69 George Street
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Phone (02) 9633 3790
Website

Park Hyatt Sydney

I know, not strictly a restaurant visit, but I wanted to describe the beautiful setting I was in while I ate this dish.

Food

This is from the pool menu, but I notice it’s also on the restaurant menu. The jannei goats curd tart $23, roasted vegetables and eggplant caviar had little carrot and asparagus with a balsamic reduction. The vegetable were very pretty but wasn’t really that full of flavours. The pastry was pleasantly crunchy but it wasn't that buttery.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

Well, what can I say, I was seated by the pool, watching the ships sail by on Darling Harbour and the tourists milling around the Opera House, and was totally pampered. Mind you I had to pay for it, but boy, was it fun!

Rating - 2.5

Service

They brought my meal on a silver tray, with napkin and silverware, cups of steaming hot herbal tea to order, and gave me a bunch of magazines for me to pass my time. Top class service, but you have to expect that from a five-star hotel.

Rating - 4.5

C-factor

It was expensive!! I got a facial, massage and mud wrap and lunch for $355. However, you are absolutely pampered, and it’s worth it for the experience.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 14

Info

7 Hickson Road
The Rocks
NSW
2000
Phone (02) 9241 1234
Website

Boost Juice Hottie

Taste

It’s winter, so that means the Hotties are back. This year there are some new offerings. I tried the oats so good ($3.50) - a hot and creamy low-fat blend of oats, apple, banana, cinnamon and honey. It wasn’t bad, a thick and creamy drink, with taste of fruit. My only gripe was that it wasn’t mixed properly so all the honey settled at the bottom so when I got there, it was sickly sweet. I guess if the honey had been mixed in, the whole drink would be too sweet too.

I also tried the choc mint mania ($3.50) - an indulgent hot chocolate with a hint of fresh mint. Hmmm, chocolate a bit thin on the ground, but a nice hit of cinnamon.

Rating - 6

Look

This one comes in the signature Boost cup, but it’s branded "hottie" and the colour is purple. You can sip straight from the cup.

Rating - 2

C-factor

$3.50 for a 350ml cup. Cheaper than a typical breakfast but you should probably just buy some Uncle Tobys Oats or a chocolate bar...

Rating - 0.5

Swiss Points - 8.5

Ingredients

oats so good

Rolled oats, milk, apple, banana, honey, cinnamon sugar, evaporated milk

choc mint mania

chocolate, low-fat milk or soy, evaporated milk, fresh mint

Available At

Boost Juice
Website

Fortnum & Mason Fruit & Nut English Thin biscuits

Taste

I was looking forward to tasting these but they weren’t really to my taste. I guess this is quintessential English biscuits, from that very English of companies, Fortnum & Mason. The biscuits were of the dry and bland variety, with only a small amount of fruit breaking the monotony.

Rating - 5

Look

They certainly look fancy, coming in that signature circular tin. The biscuits are lined on a plastic tray then wrapped in foil. The biscuits certainly will look great on a platter when you serve your afternoon tea.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

200g for $13.95. Considering these are imported from the UK, where everything costs more, the price is actually not too bad! But, why buy imports when you have excellent locally produced products!

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 8.5

Ingredients

wheat flour, butter (20.3%), sugar, oatmeal, mixed nuts (4.6%), whey powder,
salt, raising agent

Available At

David Jones Foodhall
Website

Sumo Salad

Taste

One of the better fast food joints, although I don’t visit often because their prices are quite high. They aren’t that many things on their menu, we’re actually tried almost all their offerings, and they are always very yummy. Sometimes they do have some seasonal specials and one or two new salads.

Thai Beef is described on the website as

Tender beef strips marinated in a traditional chilli lime dressing & tossed with fresh vermicelli, juicy red capsicum, cucumber & snow peas; all resting on a bed of mixed leaf lettuce, sprouts and slivers of red onion and a garnish of crushed peanuts. This light and zesty salad will transport you to any secluded beach in Thailand.

I thought this was quite nice. The beef was a bit harder than tender, but the salad was tangy, with a nice crunch from the sprouts and peanuts. It wasn’t very hot though for a Thai salad.

On the other hand, the Spicy BBQ Prawn was actually much hotter. This is one of my favourite on the menu, with juicy prawns and a sweet spicy sauce. I love the combination of the capsicum and tomatoes, although they were certainly not skimping on the red onions… it almost overpowered the other lovely ingredients. This is their website description:

With succulent BBQ prawns, marinated in fresh lemon juice and coated with sweetened chilli and tomatoes, this salad is a true-blue classic. Rich red tomatoes, fresh basil and the sun-dried warmth of roasted capsicums keep the accent Aussie and the taste dinky di.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Lovely colours, plenty of dressing, and they come in funky Chinese takeaway boxes that surprisingly holds a pretty large amount of salad. However, it does make it a bit hard to eat. The solution? Use chopsticks!

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

$8.95 for a “regular” size is ok, however, why would anyone pay $7.95 for a small size? It’s still very expensive. I won’t really call this fast food either, as they make your salad on the spot and takes about 10 minutes.

Rating - 0

Swiss Points - 9

Sumo Salad
Website

Pretzel World

Taste

Flavours I’ve tried previously include:

• Jamaican Almond - A taste of Jamaica. A true taste sensation. This low fat pretzel is coated with Almonds & nuts. It will make you go completely ... nuts
• Moscow Glaze - Hot, dripping sweet glaze sauce is the perfect recipe to warm you up. A true winner and a favourite among customers
• French Onion & Sour Cream - Bonjour. Pretzel Worlds taste of Paris. A savoury temptation that will tantalise your tastebuds

This time, I went for something different this time. The Italian Pizza ($3.80) is really like those pizza rolls you get from bakeries, except paired with the freshly baked pretzel, it’s quite nice. The slightly sweet and salty tomato based with some bacon bits and lots of crunchy melted cheese…hmmmm. The Columbian Cookie ($3.80) - One of our most popular pretzels topped with delicious crushed biscuits. As they say in Columbia "to die for" is a bit less successful. They basically take a plain pretzel, coat it in a vanilla glaze and then sprinkle it with a large portion of chocolate bits. The chocolate was too sweet and combined with the vanilla glaze, was sugar overload! I think in this case a simpler topping would’ve been better, but that’s my fault for wanting to try everything!

Rating - 5.5

Look

The pretzels are all handmade, and it’s certainly interesting to watch them roll the dough, carefully measure them and then bake them. The pretzels look very interesting too, and are packaged up nicely in a box. The pretzel world advertising is pretty cheerful and distinctive.

Rating - 2

C-factor

In terms of fast food chains, they are not too bad. Of course, it’s only flour and water as their main ingredients, but freshly baked flour tastes that much nicer!

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 8.5

Available At

Pretzel World
Website

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