Posts tagged Tea

A very important date: The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar

Best in Sydney Review April 13, 2016

The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar, Redfern. Sydney Food Blog Review

Even when I was too young to fully understand it, Alice in Wonderland has been one of my favourite Disney classics. And yes, I know that it’s…uncouth of me to talk about the movie and not the book, but I’ve always been partial to a happy song. You know that. 😉

So when The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar popped up on my “to eat” radar, I just knew I had to make it down there quickly, as if the white rabbit was tapping on his pocket watch impatiently. Cause the only thing I love better than a good schtick, is a theme that is expertly and sophisticatedly carried out.

The Order:

Ginger Snap Latte $5.50
Ginger, cinnamon and honeybush.

Turkish delight, $5
Rose and cacao combo

Tea marbled egg (topped toast) with kimchi, kale and black sesame, $16

Rainbow trout salad with potatoes, leaves, radish, beetroot and salsa verde, $18

Ginger and chocolate cake, $8

The Food:

Okay, full disclosure here: I was actually expecting the food to be fairly crap. I mean, generally, finding a cafe that hits up a fun theme, serves up well executed and presented food, with good service? It’s like discovering a damn unicorn.

It’s THAT rare.

Tea marbled egg (topped toast) with kimchi, kale and black sesame, $16

So you can just imagine my excitement when I found out that the food, was actually pretty awesome. I loved the subtle inclusion of tea in certain dishes, like the Tea Marbled Egg with Kimchi, Kale and Black Sesame, $16. Tea marbled egg isn’t a new thing, by any means – the Chinese have had a similar idea for aaaggeeesss – but I felt like I found a kindred spirit here. Especially when I found out that the egg was marinated in the smoky Lapsang Suchong tea, like how I love to do them at home!

What kept it from being perfect, though, was the subtleness of the tea getting overpowered by the riot of spice and tang from the kimchi, and the grey ring of death that indicates an overcooked yoke.

Small thing, I know, but it’s a really basic quality that I’ve come to expect from otherwise good cafes like this one, and it really ruins the impeccable illusion.

Rainbow trout salad with potatoes, leaves, radish, beetroot and salsa verde, $18

The Rainbow Trout Salad, $18, was also a delight, with oily, luxurious flakes of hot smoked tuna generously flaked through halves of boiled chat potato, fresh slices of radish and sweet beetroot, and green salad leaves. Okay, so they’re not pulling Devon-level creativity with this one, but for something that was executed with finesse AND satisfying?

I REGRET NOTHING.

Ginger and chocolate cake, $8

But my favourite part of the whole meal, was the Ginger and Chocolate Cake, $8. A gargantuan slice of chocolate and ganache layered cake is topped with freeze dried berries, edible flowers and glace ginger gives you a mouthful so rich it’ll turn your teeth black. And I’ve never been so happy to look like I’ve got the oral hygiene of Captain Jack Sparrow. The cake itself toed the precarious line of being rich without being doughy, and the ganache was buttery, without leaving an oily film in your mouth. The ginger pieces just gave it a necessary zing to balance it all out, and float you slowly up to cake heaven. SAH GOOD.

Did I mention that they bake all of the sweet treats in-house? Impressed, I am.

On the tea front, the Ginger Snap Latte was my favourite: the aroma of cinnamon and Christmas surrounding me as soon as it hit the table. Also not as sweet as I thought it would be, so I felt like I was a real adult drinking it. The Turkish Delight wasn’t quite, well, conventional as I was expecting it to be – the cacao nibs provided a strange savoury note, and the rose petals didn’t come across as strongly as you would expect from a Turkish Delight. A bit of a shame: it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t the Turkish Delight that I wanted.

Food: 1/1

The Service:

The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar doesn’t really provide table service. You take note of your table number, and then pop up to the counter to order and pay. The food does get served to you, but this pared-back system means that it leaves weak spots in the experience. For example, the table that we were at took so long to be cleared that we ended up moving the dirty plates and cups to a recently-vacated table ourselves. When it came to the food, we were missing the cake (I thought that they were just taking a while to bring it out) until I went up to the counter to ask about it. Not the best on a quiet afternoon.

However, they were otherwise extremely pleasant to speak to, and showed an intimate knowledge of the food when I wanted to know more about the menu. The mixup with the cake was gracefully sorted – a quick apology and the slice came swiftly out, complete with two forks (they remembered that we were sharing!).

Service: 0.5/1

Value for money:

At first glance, it would be easy to label The Rabbit Hole as ‘overpriced’ – $16 for a hard boiled egg with pickles and toast? Amirite? – BUT when you consider the classy surroundings, inner-west location, passionate staff, and thoughtful menu…I’d say it’s well within reason for what they’re asking.

Value for money: 0.5/1

The Vibe:

GUYS. IT’S AN ALICE IN WONDERLAND THEMED CAFE.

…seriously, though. It’s executed with such sophistication that I felt both like a child AND an adult coming here! From the rabbit tail coffee cups, to the tarnished gold cutlery, to the playing cards that double as table numbers, this is a place that knows its identity, and expresses it with more class and anointed with a hint of whimsy.

If Alice was the cafe type, I’m sure she’d come here too.

Vibe: 1/1

And finally,

The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar definitely runs on the strength of its ensemble, rather than one particular schtick. The food didn’t hit the same creative concept as, say, Edition Coffee Roasters, and the surroundings didn’t transport you in the same way as the Alice in Wonderland high tea that I went to at The Waiting Room, but it does present a sanctuary from everyday life, albeit one with a foot still firmly in reality.

Definitely somewhere I’d pop by again if I were in the area, but I wouldn’t make a special trip out otherwise.

Bonus points: 1/1

This meal was independently paid for.

The Rabbit Hold Organic Tea Bar
146 Abercrombie St
Redfern NSW 2016
Phone: +61 2 9310 2207
Website: https://www.therabbithole.com.au

The Rice Den, St Leonard’s

Review November 27, 2015

What’s going on with the North Sydney area? It wasn’t until I started looking through my calendar did I realise how many trips I was making into the St. Leonard’s/Crows Nest to eat. Thai Food, Mexican, Burgers…and now, Modern Cantonese.

The Rice Den in St. Leonards takes traditional Cantonese cuisine and gives it a new spin with fresh Australian ingredients. When we first step in, the dark wood furnishings convey a sense of old world charm, while the efficient wait staff bring it all back into the modern day. They knew the menu like the back of their hand, and could make personal recommendations based on solid food knowledge.

So far, so good.

Handmade Cheong Fun, Peanut sesame, hoisin sauce $8

We started with the Handmade Cheong Fun with Peanut Sesame and Hoisin Sauce, $8. Because nostalgia. When I was a kid, Cheong Fun was a daily breakfast. My mum would take me to this hawker stall, downstairs from the kindergarten I went to. A large, rotund man in a thin white wife beater stood, amongst steaming pots, selling rice cakes with radish condiments and rice noodle rolls with hoisin sauce to long queues of dreary-eyed office workers in the building.

The noodles here were soft, tender, but not quite as silky as I wanted them to be. As for the sauce, I could do without the peanut element, but it really did bring childhood memories flooding back for me.

Mixed wild mushroom pancake, $10

But because you can’t live on rice noodles alone – well, you can, but I don’t think you’re meant to – we also got the Mixed Wild Mushroom Pancake ($10) and Rice Wine Cured Ocean Trout with pickled fennel, ginger and soy sauce ($16).

Rice Wine Cured Ocean Trout, Pickled Fennel, Ginger and Soy Sauce $16

The Rice Wine Cured Ocean Trout was seriously kickass, but we all know that I’ve got a bit of a thing for cured fish. Or fresh fish. Or any fish. Doesn’t have to be fish, as long as it comes from the sea. In this case, the rice wine flavour wasn’t particularly obvious, but it really worked as a dish, for me.

Tea smoked chicken salad, rice sheets, peanut sesame and soy dressing, chinkiang vinegar, $16

Crispy soft shell crab, with spicy spanner crab mung bean noodle ($24)

Of the larger bites, we ordered the Tea smoked chicken salad, rice sheets, peanut sesame and soy dressing, chinking vinegar ($16), and the Crispy soft shell crab, with spicy spanner crab mung bean noodle ($24).

Maybe it was the crazy heat, but I was really really feeling the chicken salad, and I’m not even a chicken fan! The smoke really came through without being too overpowering, and the black vinegar dressing kept it refreshing and moreish. A big fat yes.

The Crispy soft shell crab, with spicy spanner crab mung bean noodle ($24) reminded me a little of the Thai claypot crab with glass noodles, mixed a little with chilli crab. There was something really comforting about it, and it was very well made, but somehow wasn’t quite as punchy as the tart chicken salad on a steaming hot day.

French Toast, Dulce de Leche, Peanut Crumble, Mascarpone with matcha green tea, $14

And to finish, French Toast, Dulce de Leche, Peanut Crumble, Mascarpone with matcha green tea ($14). It was crazy rich, with only the green tea mascarpone to cut it. It didn’t quite have the pudding quality that I like in a french toast – My french toasts border on bread pudding – but it was fantastically crispy, and oozing with Dulce de Leche.

I really like what The Rice Den does with bringing old school favourites into the modern day. There’s a whole lot of respect for the cuisine, without taking itself too seriously, which is really what casual dining (to me) is all about. Because not everyone has to spend 10,000hrs perfecting Cantonese techniques.

No, I think we’ll leave that to the old masters.

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of The Rice Den.

The Rice Den
30-32 Chandos Street
St Leonards, Sydney
Phone: 02 9438 3612
Website: http://thericeden.com.au

What to do in the Hunter Valley if you don’t drink!

Entertainment Review Travel May 22, 2015 3 Comments

It’s hard being a non-drinker. You get constant shocked looks every time you tell someone that you don’t drink, and entire destinations like the Hunter Valley – which plays host to beautiful vineyards and wineries – always seem just out of reach. Cause what are you going to do if you don’t drink wine, amirite?

Well, not exactly.

Christine and I – both “fuddy duddy” non drinkers – went on a girls’ weekend out to the Hunter, and had a TON of non-alcoholic fun along the way.

Shiitake Mushroom Ramen Recipe

Food Recipe April 22, 2015 4 Comments

An aerial shot of the vegetarian shiitake mushroom ramen, with pickles and gyozas on the side.

I am an absolute ramen fiend – nothing beats a hot bowl of noodles and soup in the middle of a freezing winter. But most ramen broths are based in bone and meat for that intense flavour, and it does mean that my vegetarian friends often miss out on this awesome meal. But bone does add a depth of flavour that is hard to replace, so I thought to use Lapsang Suchong – a smoky black tea – and konbu – a dried seaweed – to add body to the soup.

The result is this Shiitake Mushroom Ramen that I can share with ALL my friends, and if I swapped out the egg and egg noodles, my vegan friends too!

I like Coffee, I love Tea.. Pu’er, Waterloo

Review March 1, 2015

Wagyu Beef Tacos from Pu'er in Waterloo, $16

…I love the wagyu beef tacos and it loves me.

Really, though. I’m an absolute tea addict. And yes, I’m one of those people who will go to fancy tea places and spend all of my money on tea and tea paraphernalia (there are a lot!). But nothing quite beats the experience of a tea service, and unless your cupboards are filled with warmers and teapots of every kind, this is an experience that’s best left to the experts.

Premium Jasmine, $9

At Pu’er, they serve you premium teas with a full explanation of how best to enjoy them. We tried a Premium Jasmine and Osmanthus Phoenix tea. Each one comes in each own tea set. It was explained to us that a 1-2 minute steeping time is optimum, and with these teas, the third or fourth steep is the best. I loved the detail and care that went into the tea service – not once was I left wondering what to do when I reached the bottom of my cup.

The Osmanthus Phoenix presented a surprise to me – I’m not usually a fan of Osmanthus teas in general, but this finished on the palate with such tropical fruity notes that it brightened up my day like a bouquet of flowers brightens up a room. Very nice.

And if tea is not quite your thing, they also do killer cocktails.

Cocktails from left: Berry, and Coconut Dream

The Coconut Dream was an absolute standout for me. Young coconut juice is mixed with Absolut’s Wild Tea Vodka and dried apple pieces, creating a cocktail so beautiful I couldn’t even taste the acrid burn of alcohol on the palate after. And that’s pretty impressive considering that I don’t drink for that very reason.

Shanghai, $7

And now that I’m appropriately boozed up, on to the food! We begin with a selection of small bites: The Shanghai, $7, and Mushroom Pot Stickers, $7.

Mushroom Pot Stickers, $7

The Mushroom Pot Stickers were filled with a fragrant, savoury filling, and I absolutely loved how the chewy mochi-like exterior gave way to the piping hot insides. The Shanghai was not as fragile or soupy quite as I was expecting, but it’s got fantastic flavour in each bite.

Wagyu Tacos, $16

And then came the first touchdown: the Wagyu Tacos came out on a pretty dish looking like gua baos, but really, I stopped caring what they looked like the moment I realised how delicious these things were. The beef was rich and unbelievably tender, and the salty glaze just the right foil for the sweet, fluffy buns. This is the bit that made me regret that there were four of us, because I really could’ve gone for more than one.

Hong Kong Mini Burger, $15

The Hong Kong Mini Burgers were no slouch either. Sweet milk buns are decadently deep fried to create that golden exterior, giving way to a savoury hoisin sauce and panko crusted pork, the macdaddy of breading. It was all crunch and lusciousness, and it made me feel all tingly inside. It’s something that you can’t really create in a larger form: the ratios were so delicately balanced, and it’s hard to get the same kind of juiciness if you were to go for a substantially larger piece of pork. No, this was quite amazing the way it is, and every bite was thoroughly delicious.

Stir Fried Green Beans, $18

Three Cup Drunken Duck, $26

For the mains, we were recommended – and rightly so – the Stir Fried Green Beans and the Three Cup Drunken Duck. The green beans were crisp and al dente, and covered in a chilli spiced pork mince “sauce” (topping?) that left us fighting for the last spoonful on the plate. The duck was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and fell apart on the bone the moment our forks pierced the flesh. The savoury umami notes from the mushrooms made the sauce rich, and made for a very satisfying mouthful when mixed in with rice. The only critique? NEEDS MORE SAUCE.

Tea Smoked Watermelon with Kafir Panna Cotta

And of course, the sweet stuff. Pu’er is all about their teas, and it shows with the impressively dished Tea Smoked Watermelon with Kafir Panna Cotta. The cubes of watermelon sat under a cloche, surrounded by swirling smoke, while the panna cotta jiggled seductively on the side. Smooth and creamy mixed in with crisp and juicy mixed in with sweet and smoky…All watermelon should be smoked from now on.

Coconut and Lime Sorbet with Black Glutinous Rice and Coconut Water

The Coconut and Lime Sorbet with Black Glutinous Rice struck a chord with me, with its Southeast Asian influence. It reminded me strongly of pulut hitam – a warm dessert made with salted black glutinous rice and served with thick coconut cream. This version has been augmented with a coconut and lime sorbet, which created bright citrus notes that cut through the comfortingly stodgy texture of the black glutinous rice.

The food was consistently exquisite throughout the lunch, but what impressed me the most, was that the owner, Siev, is actually at the helm, cooking in his own restaurant. Born to Cambodian parents, Siev sees his mother as his inspiration, and what started out as a dream for a teahouse has become a full fledged restaurant with thoroughly deliberate food that is matched only by its detailed and knowledgeable service. And despite the comprehensive background of information that influences his food, Siev is no snob either. When asked about what he chooses to eat, he admits – with some embarrassment – that there have been harrowed moments that consuming fast food has had to be an option, but it only makes me respect him more as a person. The pressures that he faces running a restaurant and keeping a business afloat in these tough times are very real and very human, and I think that he is executing his vision deliciously.

It kinda makes me ashamed that I had not ventured down to this side of Danks St sooner. From their tiny teacups to their beautifully blue and white porcelain-topped tables, Pu’er is a gem of an experience just waiting to be discovered.

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Pu’er.

Pu’er
20a Danks St
Waterloo, NSW 2017
Phone:02 8399 1331
Website: http://www.puer.com.au/

Homemade Chai Latte

Recipe July 4, 2014 7 Comments

Two glasses of soy chai latte, with a glass tea pot to serve

One of my favourite things in winter is a hot, steaming cup of tea. Now I’m the type of person to wear a tank top right until it’s absolutely freezing, so there’s only a small window of cold where I can truly enjoy a hot cuppa.

So in celebration of the cold, I decided to make a steaming, creamy pot of chai.
Read More

Pomegranate Iced Tea

Recipe December 20, 2013 1 Comment

Like an ominous feeling creeping up the back of your neck, I can just feel the stale heat of summer creeping in through the end of the spring breezes. And because I’m an absolute wuss about the heat, I’ve got a recipe for a rosy pink fruity iced tea that will chase the sticky heat away.
Read More