Posts in Beauty

Spigolo, Darlinghurst

Review April 8, 2011 1 Comment

For days on end, Sean tells me of this place that he passes everyday on his way to work. Mouthwatering aromas float gently out of every crevice – as if the place was oozing with the promise of good food, its sirens’ song beckoning…beckoning. (Yes that was a Sweeney Todd reference, for those who know.)

So after some persuasion, Sean agreed to bring me there.

First, the food.

As a starter, we ordered the Carpaccio De Carne ($16.90). Fresh, translucent, tender slivers of pure beefy goodness were lovingly coated in a tart dressing. I especially loved the salty hit of parmesean with the tongue-tingling dressing following it. It was quite unassumingly addictive, and Sean – who isn’t a raw meat type of person – absolutely enjoyed every mouthful.

As a main, I had the Gorgonzola Gnocchi, $15. Each home-made (restaurant-made? I think the idea is that it did not come out of a factory) morsel had a pleasant texture to it – it was tender, but there was enough of a spring to the bite to allow the flavours in the sauce to almost expand into your mouth and really hit you with its full-bodied creaminess…almost to the extent that I got the impression that the gnocchi was really just a carrier for the sauce.

A word of warning though – I absolute love Gorgonzola. Or in fact, any strong (or indeed, just any) cheese. I would not recommend this dish for people who are a little bit squeamish about blue cheese – just like most other dishes we ate, flavours are unapologetic and bodacious.

Sean, ever the classic-lover, chose to have the Fettucine Polpette, $14 + $1.50 for homemade(?) fettucine. The pasta again had lovely bite to it, and the sauce was rich and complex. The fettucine more than held its own here, no small feat considering the size of the GIANT MEATBALLS.

Ok, maybe not GIANT per se, but still pretty large. Sean, who will happily wolf down as many as he can stuff into his mouth at a time, had to break them up to eat them. But what a joy it was. Each bite was tender, and had its own flavour that did a lovely tango with the flavour of the sauce. Definitely something that we would order again when we go back.

For dessert, we ordered the Tiramisu, $7 (I think). It was served with two chocolate cigars playfully planted in the creamy mascarpone. The thing is, after the delightful starter and mains, this was rather…normal. It was perfectly good Tiramisu, just that the rich mouthfuls didn’t send me to heaven and back.

In all, I would recommend Spigolo. The food is reasonable, and the staff are lovely. They are prompt and attentive, without being overbearing and breathing down your neck while you eat. We had someone check on us (once) during the meal to make sure everything was going alright, and then were left to eat in peace.

I just have one thing left to say.

GIANT MEATBALLS!!! (Could you imagine meatball Godzilla?)

We ate at:

Spigolo
60 Riley Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9356 3288

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Sea Sweet

Review March 20, 2011 2 Comments

Whenever Sean and I are in the mood for sweets, there is one place that we turn to. We chanced upon it one day after taking an after-dinner stroll, and we are absolutely addicted to it.

Besides the lovely staff who greet you as you come in the door, the inside of the restaurant is impeccably clean (never take that for granted!) and a welcome sight sits at every table – orange blossom and rose syrup. Now I know that desserts with the addition of syrup can end up saccharine-ly sweet, but there’s something about the smell and the sweet coating on my tongue that makes me feel all tingly inside.

Something that we always order is the Knefe, served in a seasame seed bun.

Oozing cheese with a layer of semolina stretch and melts with every bite, tempered by the fragrant, crusty bread. If we’ve had dinner before, Sean and I tend to order this to share – it can get quite rich and if you’ve eaten just before, you might end up feeling jalak.

The mix plate of Beklawa was lovely in its variety. Each mouthful was an absolute delight, and it’s great that the servings are so small – I don’t think that I could have handled large amounts of layers of sweet pastry, nuts and syrup.

And for those who like the more western cakes and pastries, there was the Choux a la Creme Chocolat.

It was a chocolate cream puff really. Good, but nothing really special.

And finally, my new favourite thing to order.

The Halawet El Jebn Kashta was just divine. Layers of soft, fluffy, but slightly chewy cheese were covered in syrup and another sort of creamy cheese, and then layered liberally with crushed pistachio. Again, very rich, but refreshing in an odd sort of way. It’s served cold, quite unlike the Knefe, and very good for a warm, balmy night.

We ate at:

Sea Sweet
Shop 4, 354 Church St
Parramatta 2150
1300 90 80 70

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Taste Sydney 2011

Review March 13, 2011 7 Comments

Ah, I love food festivals. And Taste Sydney is an excellent example of that. Not only can you get a huge variety of people showcasing their food-wares, you can also get to sample food from all the top restaurants in the one spot!

After having so much fun last year, I absolutely had to go again this year.

But first, we all know that I love free food, and I certainly got a lot of that this weekend!

Free Food!

Johnny Walker had a tent that held tasting sessions (to full tents) every 20 minutes. I would love to tell you more, but I am, quite unfortunately, allergic to alcohol. But it did look interesting though!

One of the sponsors was Regal Salmon, and there were little cups of awesome given out at various points of the festival.

What else can I say? I love salmon, and when you put fresh, raw, salmon, and salmon roe together, I believe that nothing much can go wrong. Seriously yummy.

Tabasco had a booth again this year, and I had to go again. (I am an absolute Tabasco fiend – I carry a small bottle in my handbag always – you never know when you need that burst of flavour on something!) They had dips made with all the different flavours of Tabasco, and Sean and I had a lot of balancing piles of dips on itty bitty crackers.

The omnipresent Pukara estate (I see them at practically every food festival/fair that I go to) had flavoured oils, vinegars and mayos up for tasting.

Little bits of bread on the end of toothpicks were dipped into every flavour and savoured. Most of the flavours were good, but not particularly outstanding, but the blackcurrant vinegar was definitely a winner. I could definitely see ripe, red, succulent strawberries macerating in it. The caramelized balsamic added a syrupy coating to the little cubes of bread, and it’s something that I can eat all day.

Speaking of little cubes of bread, there was a fantastic selection of yeasty goodness from The Grumpy Baker.

Soft, fluffy sourdough were amongst other offerings, and my absolute favourite was the roasted garlic and olive sourdough. Chunks of smoky roasted garlic and bits of salty olives were threaded through each chewy bite. An om nom nom moment.

Another thing that I love about Taste is the ability to mingle with the chefs!!

Chefs

The crew at Aperitif were a hoot and a half. Miguel Maestre was his charming self as always, and early on in the evening there was quite a bit of friendly banter between Miguel and Manu, who own Aperitif together.

But the thing that makes Taste stand out for me is definitely the Chefs Table. It’s one thing to ask a quick question as you see a chef walk past you, but chances are, they would be busy, and it wouldn’t be nice to disrupt them in the middle of work.

And that’s where the Chefs Table comes in. The chefs take some time out of their busy schedules, and about 20 people get to sit around the table with them and have a chat. You can ask them anything you want, anything, and the answers are fairly candid, but some of the sessions are filled with hilarity.

The very extremely expressive Matt Kemp, who spoke about his start in cooking, working in Balzac…all with wild gestures and a very quick wit.

And this year, the man whom I think is the sexiest chef EVER had been scheduled to speak. He talked about his son, Ready Steady Cook, Aperitif, the best places to eat in London…amongst a myriad of other things.

How sexy is that? And the best part of all is that he has such a wicked sense of humour – every sentence was followed by guffaws of laughter and giddy giggles.

I even managed to get a photo with him!

Other chefs who spoke included Alessandro Pavoni of Ormeggio at the spit and Alex Herbert of Bird Cow Fish.

They both shared insight into the culinary world, and they discussed their experiences in cooking. It was extremely enlightening to hear words of advice from the mouth of experienced chefs. It gave me some ideas and inspiration, which definitely helps with my obsession with food.

The Main Event

The Churros Con Chocolate from Aperitif were fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside, and it was all coated with silky smooth chocolate.

The Regal King Salmon carpaccio with orange segments, citrus and chardonnay vinegar dressing, shaved fennel, salmon roe, baby herbs and crispy salmon skin might have been a mouthful to order, but it was a delicious mouthful nonetheless. it was all wonderfully balanced – my only gripe about it was that I felt the salmon skin wasn’t quite as crispy as I had hoped it would be, but in the grand scheme of things it was good.

The Regal King Salmon curado with chilli and star anise tasted good, but personally I couldn’t really taste the chilli nor the star anise. All I could taste was the dill with the firm flesh of the salmon, which, I’m really not complaining about.

To follow my salmon obsession, Balzac’s Seared Regal Salmon with a salad of pomogranate, mint and feta was light and refreshing, with the just amount of tang and sweetness. Very good for a hot and sticky day.

And how can I visit a food fair and not sample one of Manu’s creations. The Slow cooked shoulder of lamb, smoked potato puree and jus had the deep mature flavours that I absolutely love about lamb. Every bite just falls apart in your mouth, and the puree leaves a lingering sense of luxurious creaminess.

Dank Street Depot & Cotton Duck’s Stone fruit roasted with home cured pancetta, verjuice and chilli was glorious in all its succulent, salty, garlicky goodness. Every mouthful was an absolute joy, and Dank Street Depot never disappoints. I’m still dreaming about last year’s Watermelon Smoked Ribs.

Now if you’re in the market for a heart attack, then Balzac’s Saddle of suckling pig with baby garden peas is for you. According to Matthew Kemp, the suckling pig is smothered in duck fat, slow cooked in a vacuum pack, deep fried, then covered in a buttery sauce. Oh, and the peas apparently have bacon bits too. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to coronary failure must be paved with mouthfuls of this delectable, melt-in-your-mouth dish. Definitely something I couldn’t get enough of.

On the lighter side of pork, Four in Hand’s offering of Confit of pork belly with Squid, Chorizo and Chickpea was a hearty dish indeed. It invoked memories of rich winter stews and the aroma of ripe, fresh tomatoes. Not quite as impressive for me as the saddle of suckling pork, but not bad at all!

And there were a couple of desserts that we absolutely had to try.

The Ricotta Fritters with berries and honey were soft sweet balls of lovely. For some reason, they reminded me of very sophisticated jam doughnuts!

On a side note, Sean and I were just having a discussion about how many cultures seemed to have somehow have created a dish involving fried dough sometime through history. There are doughnuts, 油条 you tiao, roti prata, churros…Every culture seems to have come up with a dish that includes flour, moisture and hot oil.

But anyway, back to the food.

The final dish that we had for the day was Otto Ristorante’s Amadei milk chocolate mousse with salted caramel and fresh berries. The mouse was light and lovely, and an excellent foil to the rich, dense salted caramel that it hid within. This was a dessert to share for sure. It was one of those ones where we really felt like we wanted much more, but knew that we absolutely couldn’t have any more of the rich stuff.

As Sean and I waddled slowly out of Taste, patting our satisfied tummies, we made the decision that we absolutely have to go back next year. We had an absolute blast, and can’t wait for the next one!

And to leave you, I will end with this hilarious picture of the sexy Manu.

LOL.

Chinese New Year Part 2!

Review February 21, 2011 2 Comments

There were festivities a-plenty during the Chinese New Year period, and there was also one down the street from my place!

So Sean and I met up with Miss Piggy and her other half to try some tasty food!!

First up was Char Siew (Bbq Pork) Siew Yok from Sun Ming BBQ Restaurant. For $5 we got a takeaway container mixed with Barbecued Pork and Roast Pork.

It was incredibly cheap for a box of meat, but it was good meat. I’m generally happy when I go there to eat usually, and it’s great to see that the mixed meats were so popular that they were constantly replenishing with a freshly chopped supply.

The BBQ pork was sweet and firm and not too dry, but what I really enjoyed was the roast pork. The crackling. The mean might have been a little on the fatty side, but the crackling was absolutely divine.

It was definitely well worth the $5 a box.

They also sold really nice peking duck pancakes. They were nice, not as good as the Iron Chef ones, but still above average, especially for a festival like that.

And who can give up the sight of egg tarts!!

Personally I still prefer the Portuguese version, but these were still decent enough to satisfy my love/craving for them. The flaky pastry and the silky custard filling are a sure win for me anytime.

It wasn’t a large festival, but considering that it was down a short stretch of Church St South in Parramatta, it was still enjoyable enough, even with the offerings of gelato, spaghetti bolognese, and music that sounds like it came off a Zumba workout soundtrack.

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And so concludes the final part of my CNY bumper posts! I hope that you’ll have a good year ahead, filled with good food, good company, and good cheer.

So what did you get up to this Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year Part 1!

Review February 17, 2011 2 Comments

Happy Chap Gor Meh!!!! It’s the fifteenth (and last) day of Chinese New Year today, and I thought that I’d do bumper posts highlighting some CNY activities this year!

Usually, I’d be in Singapore for CNY, but with the new job and other stuff, I didn’t manage to make it home this year. No matter though, since Sydney had plenty of stuff going on – much more than I could go to!

An impromptu trip to Cabramatta was rewarded with a Chinese New Year festival!!

There were people playing chess, playing music and there were beautiful decorations everywhere!!

And of course, the food.

After hearing so much about it, I finally get to try Iron Chef‘s Peking Duck Pancakes!

A succulent strip of duck is paired with spring onion and cucumber. The whole lot is encased in a soft floury pancake and drizzled with hoi sin Sauce.

It was so yummy, I really wanted more. The duck was really the shining star, and personally, I prefer my peking duck with plum sauce. I really really really felt like buying a duck home though – it was juicy and not too greasy. Next time…next time.

Sean and I then went to Dong Son, which had menus written in Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese! How’s that for a multilingual restaurant?

I just had to have the Pho. The broth was just so tasty, and the soft rice noodles soaked up all that flavour. The brisket was soft and melt-in-your-mouth, the tripe was springy…and did I mention the broth. That heavenly soup was just bursting with flavour and fragrance. For me, the litmus test for Pho is always the broth. If the first sip of the broth does not seranade you with flavour, then that is not good Pho.

The dish, of course, was served with a plate of raw beansprouts and lemon for you to add as you wish.

Sean, having a Salt and Pepper Calamari addiction, ordered just that.

The dish itself was quite unremarkable – the calamari was relatively fresh, but didn’t taste of the sea – but the sauce that it came with…wow. It had a salty, lemony, tastiness to it that just popped in our mouths.

And so ends Part 1 of my Chinese New Year bumper post. I hope the last 15 days have been good to you, and here’s wishing that the year ahead will bring you good health, and – quite importantly – all sorts of good eats. =)

We ate at:

Dong Son
44 Park Road
Cabramatta 2166
(02) 9724 4551

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Down the Yellow Brick Road of Sin

Review February 10, 2011 2 Comments

The boys at work have introduced me to the weight-loss devil – a lovely little French patisserie across the street that bakes fresh, mouth-watering, buttery bites of heaven that are so addictive, one bite and it’s all down hill from there.

The first thing that greets you is the whiff of sin baking in the oven. When you walk in, golden-brown morsels of every shape and size greet you through a clear glass case.

The sensory overload is enough for me to abandon all sanity like Cassanova casting off an old lover and begin my descent into pure, decadent, food sin.

On recommendation, I’ve decided to try the Sour Cherry Danish and the Almond Croissant.

The Sour Cherry Danish is just tart enough to keep you from sinking into the flaky pastry. I do, on one hand, prefer my pastries with a little more bite, but I definitely can’t fault this danish otherwise.

And the pièce de résistance (for me anyway) has to be the Almond Croissant. The soft, doughy, flaky pastry is topped by a sweet crust on the top, with almond flakes proudly displayed on the top like the crown of the statue of liberty. Each bite is sweet, gooey…all the comforting textures exploding in my mouth all at once.

I’ll definitely definitely be back for more – I’m trying the Ratatouille quiche today. =)

I ate at:

La Banette
18 Glebe Point Road
Glebe, 2037

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Chinese New Year Festival

Review January 29, 2011 3 Comments

Chinese New Year is coming!! For me, this time of year hails good food, visits with family, and general festivities. Going home for Chinese New Year this year isn’t really an option for me, so Sean and I decided to check out what Sydney had to offer.

There were Chinese New Year markets at the park at Eddy Avenue, and man, was it bustling with people.

Besides the main stage, there were food stalls, souvenir stores, and even various people dressed up to usher in the Year of the Rabbit!

There was even a very eco-friendly sculpture – a giant rabbit made out of plastic PET bottles!

There was also a store by Hubei artists, and they were giving away free artwork.

But on to the most important bit – the food!!! Sean and I ordered a little something each, Kway Teow Goreng for me, and Beef Rendang for him.

The Kway Teow Goreng (Fried flat noodles – $8 for small, $10 for large) was decent, but nothing to scream about. But what it did lack in flavour, the sambal made up for it!

This spicy mouthful of flavours made me miss home. I’d already piled it on, but by the end of the meal, I wished that I’d taken more.

It’s so hard to find good chilli nowadays.

Sean’s beef rendang also had good flavour. It was milder than I’m used to, but I’m pretty sure that authenticity wasn’t the goal here. It’s still better than I expected, and it was still a very good night.

If you’re keen, there’s still one more day to catch it! The park’s on the Eddy Avenue side of Central Station, and the last day of the Chinese New Year Markets is today (31st Jan ’11) from 11am to 10pm.

Let me know what you think!

Cheap eats.

Review January 19, 2011 5 Comments

Sometimes you’re so hungry, you need something cheap and quick. And especially when you’re in a place like Ikea – I never want to leave! – cheap food is an absolute find!

I had the smaller breakfast option ($2.95). Baked beans, poached tomato, bacon, sausage, hash brown and scrambled eggs all piled unceremoniously onto a plate. Hey, I never said it was gourmet, but it is cheap and the food is very decent.

Sean went for the option that included meatballs ($5.95).

In all, Ikea food is pretty much like its furniture – nothing flash, very minimalistic, but very good value. Especially if you want to spend the first half of the day at Ikea – get in early and get the breakfast!

1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 Tequila, 4!

Review January 14, 2011 3 Comments

While on a Mexican food bend, Sean and I decided to head over to Tequila’s On Main at Rouse Hill for dinner. We decided that we would order an entrée and a main course to share, as we were already eyeing Baskin Robbins nearby for dessert as we were ordering dinner. hehe.

Our entrée was the Mexican Potatoe Skins ($16.50) (pictured above) with chilli con carne. The potatoes were soft and fluffly, and the whole combination was a very appetizing one. It seemed a little odd that the potatoes really only filled half the plate, and a very large lettuce leaf was spread out over the other half, but Sean and I realizes that there was a decent amount of potatoes, just that they were piled over each other!

For our main, we ordered the Fajita ($22.50 per head). You have a choice of beef, chicken, lamb or pork as your main meat, and Sean and I chose beef and pork. The pork was absolutely delightful – tender, juicy morsels sent a burst of flavour with every bite. The chilli, carrot and mushroom did not go awry either – they were just gently warmed through to release their flavour, and diligently soaked up all the juices the meat left in its wake.

To go with the Fajitas, they served a platter of sides. There were lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, guacamola, salsa, and not to forget, the wraps. To be honest, while the sides went really well with the main and made us feel like we’ve got our money’s worth, it really wasn’t needed, since the sizzling hotplate had its own bountiful mounds for us to plough through.

It’s all good though – you’d never hear me complaining that there’s too much food given!

And to sooth our tingling palates, Sean ordered up some Sangria. Now this is the only time that Sean will drink wine, so I’m guessing that it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, I’m allergic to alcohol, and can’t really go past one sip. Hence…

I would like to present you with a recipe for Virgin Sangria!

Tammi’s Virgin Sangria (an original recipe)

2L grape juice
2 navel oranges
2 tart apples
1.5 lemons

Firstly, pour yourself a good cup of grape juice – you need the space in the bottle to place the fruit in. Chop up the fruit – I cut them into wedges before slicing them, the smaller you go, the faster the flavours meld.

Chuck the fruit into the bottle in this order – apples, oranges, lemons. The reason for this is that the apples are 25% air, and will float. By forcing them to the bottom, it’ll allow the flavours of the apple to mix in with everything else, rather than just floating at the top.

Give the bottle a good shake, and leave at room temperature for 2 nights. (You can leave it in the fridge, but then you’ll have to leave it a little longer.) Give the bottle a good shake every so often.

And tada! Virgin Sangria! It’s quite a bit sweeter than the real thing, but you’ll find that as you get to the bottom of the bottle, the rinds in the citrus fruit give a slightly bitter aftertaste that mimicks wine. To me, at least. =)

We ate at:

Tequila’s On Main
Shop GR082 Main Street,
Rouse Hill Town Centre
Rouse Hill 2155
Tel: 9629 5055

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Tea time!

Review January 9, 2011 4 Comments

Sean and I decided to start a new tradition this year. We love going to Yum Cha (or “drink tea” if literally translated) and thought that it’d be nice to go for Yum Cha for lunch on the first of every year!

For this first gorge we decided to go to Tingha Palace in Parramatta. It was bustling with families of all nationalities, and we were quietly directed to a spot on a shaded balcony. Now let the ordering begin!

We ordered Fried Spring Rolls to start off with. Crispy on the outside and steaming hot on the inside, the spring rolls were good, but nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, I felt like the pastry to filling ratio was a little bit skewed, and that it should have just a little more (better seasoned) filling.

And what’s a Yum Cha session without dumplings?

We ordered Chive and Prawn Dumplings (pictured above), and Har Gow (which literally translates to Prawn Dumplings). They were both good, flavour-wise, but I personally found the texture rather lacking. There is something about the translucent, fragile skin that gently encases crunchy, fresh prawns, that has a comforting chewiness about it. I love biting into a prawn dumpling and feeling that token bit of resistance before it gives way to my determined appetite. These ones, however, were just a little too placid and limp for my taste. But they were good dumplings otherwise!

Sean also had to have his favourite – Char Siew Pao.

It was sort of…average. It had the lovely fluffy buns around sweet, barbecued pork. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely nothing to complain about.

Now on to my Yum Cha must-haves…

Cheong Fun!!! I love the silky sheets clinging delicately around tasty fillings, smothered in a magically sweet and salty dark sauce. Again, similar to the pork buns, it’s good, but not inspiring. If anything, we found that the sheets of rice noodles were a little too thick in some places where they’ve clumped together.

And last but not least (of the savouries)…

The Phoenix’s Claw (or braised chicken feet) are lovely and well stewed, with the strategic hits of chilli rounding up a medley of exciting flavours. Kudos to the restaurant for getting this right, as chicken feet are quite hard to cook correctly, and has to be stewed enough to allow all the flavours to meld. It also has to be tender enough to fall apart in your mouth, but not fall apart around your chopsticks. Full marks for this dish.

And now, on to the desserts!!

We ordered the Mango Pancakes and the Mango Pudding. As with the other dishes, these were thoroughly average. In fact, the pancakes were a little too clumpy and not silky enough, and there was entirely too much pancake to filling. We were left craving more desserts at the end of this meal, and it didn’t help that the dessert cart took forever to arrive at our table. For some reason, our table had been cleared and we were waiting for a good 20min before the dessert cart was called to the us.

All in all, it was an average experience. The prices were regular Yum Cha prices, and not fantastic value for money, since the dishes were so…regular. If nothing else, it’s really convenient for when we want a Yum Cha hit, but otherwise, nothing really worth traveling for.

Of course, when you go to a Chinese restaurant, you gotta spend some time looking into the giant fish tanks that line the walls!!