Cafe Ish

A quaint corner cafe in Surry Hills serving Japanese Australian cuisine ...WAT? Immediately I think of kangaroo meat and sushi! But I was pleasantly surprised by the super friendly staff and my morning cup of coffee...

Wattle Maccacino

Their signature coffee ~ kind of a cross between a chocolatley, nutty, macadamia-ey, coffee flavour ~ YUM!! Arguably none of the best coffees I've had in Sydney, full of flavour and not too strong (no sugar needed !!)

Three types of Salt

Citrus salt, Volcanic salt and Green Tea salt.

I'm sure to a salt connoiseur, it would have tasted different and delicious, but to me, it just tasted like...salt

Big Ish

The equivalent of a Big Breakfast - fried eggs, crocodile sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans, and fried mochi

and OMG its was yummmmm!!! Havent had such good mochi since I came back from Japan. It was crispy on the outside, soft and gooeey on the inside. Another great thing about this dish was the baked beans. NOT out of a can...they mixed it with good chunks of beef and some special sauce...I could eat it forever!

Deef Fried Soft Shell Crab Omelette Ish

I can't remember what it was called, but that's basically it, with me adding "ish" at the end haha. You can definitely taste the asian influence in this dish with the chili/garlic/xo dressing. A little heavy for brunch, but still a winner with all of us!

And as usual, us girls always have room for desert...especially after looking at the desert menu on the blackboard directly in front of us!!

Cheesecake Brownie Sundae Ish
(just me adding ish again haha)

Rich chunks of cheesecake pieces in a cup full of chocolate fudge...oh my, so rich and so fatty and so bad but sooooooo good

Cafe Ish
Shop 2, 102 Albion Street

Surry Hills

NSW, 2010

Desert @ Top Speed Thai

C'est la vie

On our way to watch the musical West Side Story, we decided to have dinner at The Little Snail since it was close to the Lyric Theatre. Apparently they're very used to people stopping by for dinner, rushing to make it in time for the show, hence service was quick (fastest 3-course meal everrrr!)

It took quite a long debate whether or not we were game enough to try the ultimate french dish: Escargots. We figured where better to try eating snails then at a restaurant called The Little Snails...right?

one dozen marinated in wine, herbs and stock, oven baked in garlic butter.

They were actually...not bad. I always imagined snails to be really slimy and...dirt tasting. But i guess the best way to describe it was kind of like a cross between an oyster and a mussel. Anyway, our waiter was really nice and patient as he tried to teach us how to eat them lol

Next entree... Terrine of smoked salmon

with lemon aioli and vinaigrette dressed baby rocket and toasted baguette

This was YUM! ...then again, I love anything with salmon in it =)

For mains, I chose Magret de canard, which was described as "Duck breast fillet with cassis and raspberries, served with sweet potato puree and silted baby spinach". This was really good too, but maybe is also because I love duck and I love rasberries. Surprisingly, the combination of the two were really good. A true fusion between sweet and savoury!




And of course, we cant miss out on desert... Classic Crème Caramel. The texture was reaaaalllyyyyy smooth, but somehow the taste of the egg was abit too strong. We also tried their Handmade Profiteroles which were really good.

3-course meal for only $55... C'est la vie!

The Little Snail -

50 Murray Street

Pyrmont NSW

On another note, I didnt quite like West Side Story as much as I liked Wicked. Disappointing =(

More Friands?

Haven't been baking much these days, but I think my only success so far are friands ....



So I decided to make a new flavour: Coconut and Banana Friands =)











It was gooooooooooooood!! So says I! lol



Anyway, talking about sweets, everyone is just slightly obsessed over Adriano Zumbo and his cafe / patisserie ever since MasterChef. I begged my boyfriend to take me there....and OMG the deserts look YUMMMMMMM!!!



So hard to decide, there were so many choices and all looking mighty fine! Got some Pokemon looking blueberry tart thing....





and his patisserie has every single quirky flavoured macarons that you can think of! Pumpkin Rissoto?? Pear and fennel? heh, just got a variety of macarons...mmmmmm





There's one light pink one that the guy described as "spiritual" ...and it reallly was! My favourite flavour! =)

Leichardt

After 10 years living in Sydney, I decided it was high time I went to the 'little Italy of Syney" , Leichardt! Well actually, that weekend was meant to have the Italian Festival, but when we arrived...lets just say it wasnt very festive... =(

The Italian Forum

So no festival! Dont ask me why...I have no idea! In fact, stopping at some random restaurant, we asked the waiter about it...and...he didnt know what we were talking about! wtf! but right in the middle of the street was a HUGE banner claiming the festival was meant to be on that weekend! hmmpphh! sorely disappointed!

Stopped for some lunch of smoked samon salad, pasta, pizza and wine...

Considering we were dining in 'little italy', we decided to order the only wine that actually came from Italy...and I think I can safely conclude that AUSTRALIAN WINES ARE SO MUCH BETTERRRRRRR!!!!

BABYCAKES!!

so small, easy to eat, looks delicious

BUT

is super oily and fattening!! The paperbag was soaked after only a few hours! Gross!

Good Food and Wine Show Sydney 2009

Last week I attended the Good Food and Wine Show in the Convention Centre at Darling Harbour. It is the one event where thousands of chefs and awesome food exhibits get together and create hype about...well...food! and wine, of course!

Eventhough throughout the day, after laying my hands on every free sample that I could stuff myself with, I still couldnt resist when I saw...

The Lindeman's Early Harvest Restaurant!

What?? A restaurant in the middle of a market of food?
.

NOT only any restaurant, but one of a kind, because never in any other place will you find Matt Moran, Gordon Ramsay, Alastair McLeod and Tobie Puttock cooking in four stalls, side by side

We had to purchase food 'coupons' first before entering the restaurant area to order our food, so that it was easier and faster to get our food. Each celebrity chef had set three course meal (entree, main and desert) and you get to choose either just one course, two or all three! We were contemplating going the full ride but....to be honest, I started this meal on a full stomach!! So, a three course meal was definitely impossible!! so...we settled on two courses...!!!!

I chose Gordon Ramsay's entree and main course: Blue-eyed cod broth (I think?) and Ocean trout on a bed of radish and baby spinach.

I chose Gordon Ramsay because there has been so much hype about him and since I couldnt get a ticket to his show, I thought this would be the next best thing. Personally, I dont really like him, only because he is a little bit vulgar (from what I see on TV, of course). Both entree and main was really good because it wasnt overwhelming with flavour. It was nice and light. The ocean trout was GOOD! =)

We also chose the entree and main from Alastair McLeod's food stall: a selection of Antipasto plate and a sort of beef salad thingy...

Both were good, but they felt more like eating snacks, and I wouldnt really pay for this in a real restaurant =(

Both meals were $16 for entree and $24 for main, including a glass of accompanying wine for each course. Reasonable, considering the meals were made by reputable chefs.

Missing out on the Gordon Ramsay show, we settled for the Masters of MasterChef Australia, Gary and George. Which is hardly 'settling for' considering I'm super obsessed with MasterChef right now (Go CHRIS!!!)...the only reality TV show that I'm absolutely hooked on!

Surprise appearances: Matt Preston - the food critic who cant cook, and Justine - contestant of MasterChef. The prettiest of all the contestants, but I found her abit boring which was disappointing. Matt, on the other hand, was very entertaining and humorous; very different from his harsh persona on the show!

Couldnt see them quite so well, so I took pictures of the screen instead! XD

Both Gary and George cooked their separate dishes in the 30min show, with Matt tasting (of course!) and when Garry made his deep-fried jam filled doughnuts, I screamed and screamed, along with the many audience sitting on the left side of the stage...and he came to our side AND I ATE HIS DEEP FRIED JAM DOUGHNUTS AND THEY WERE AWESOME!!! omg so fresh and hot it melted in my mouth!!!

After watching all of them on TV for the past 9 weeks, it was so surreal to see them in real life!!!

NOT only that, after the show, we caught sight of Matt on some far off site....and I ran up to ask for a photo!!!

*Matt Preston*

He even shook my hand and I told him "I love you on Masterchef!!!"!!!!

Well, there wasnt much time to say much else, there literally was a line leading up to him, to talk, take a photo, book signing etc.

Yes, I really did say that!

SO cliched! haha I dont even "love him" on Masterchef lol I dont know what came over me! Just psyched that I saw him I suppose XD and you know, he really is HUGE in real life! Like MASSIVE! and he poses like that on purpose!! wtf! Looks as if I'm standing in front of a poster of him and taking a photo (what a loser!) because of the flash...but, no, really, I SAW HIM!!

Anyway, was walking around abit more...and spotted...

CUTE!! haha this little dwarf thing is some mascot for Smith's Chips..? Dont ask me why! But its literally half my size!

Yeap, and I still had room for Movenpick Ice Cream!

Such an eventful day! I cant wait for next year!! Roughly $30 pp, extra for celebrity chef shows!

more info: www.goodfoodshow.com.au/

Birthday Trip to Hunter Valley

This is what I did on the 26th May 2009: Drive down to Hunter Valley in BMW z4 for lunch!

Yeah~ no picture of the car ~ but I can safely tell you it was SO awesome I couldnt even think about my camera! So there we were driving down to Hunter Valley with the top down and the wind in my hair (more like slapping the shits out of my face)

*On the way ...we had to stop to look for directions lol*

So my friend found this awesome restaurant called The Cellar, located right in the Hunter Valley Gardens Village, best known for "contemporary Australian fine dining"

The Chapel located in Hunter Valley Gardens Village...so picturesque...

Entrance to the restaurant

and inside.....

Quaint and darling interior!

So on to the food...

We chose the Degustation Menu, which is a set menu of 5 courses for two. AUD$85 pp without wine and AUD$130 pp with wine. We chose one with and one without wine, which was great because the staff actually 'split' the wine of one person into two glassses so we both got to drink, just...less! Awesome because #1 Although I can appreciate wine, I'm not the biggest wine drinker, #2 because obviously one of us had to drive the awesome z4!

Course 1
Seared Scallops with Pork Hock Terrine, Crackling and Sticky Mustard Dressing
Wine - Pannier Brut Champagne

The pork was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!! no...seriously! or maybe I was just hungry XD but the scallops were just a tad overdone. The champagne was good...nice and light for a starter

Course 2
Crystal Bay Prawns with Crab Zucchini & Pinenut Tortelinis, Safron Butter and Tomato Broth
Wine - Scarborough Chardonnay

This was OK. While the prawns were nice, the tortellinis were a bit bland. The broth was really intense with flavour (though you really couldnt tell by looking at it). This course had my favourite white: Scarborough Chardonnay! Good flavour, not too strong which is why I like it.

Course 3

Confit Duck & Fois Gras Terrine with Crispy Soft Poached Egg and Toasted Brioche

Wine - Allandale Pinot Noir

This was my favourite dish by far! The duck confit was so flavoursome and the fois gras was just intense! LOVE! and the egg was awesome!! The external and internal were completely different textures, but it worked really well together. And take a look at that yolk! ...so orgasmic!

Course 4
Wagyu Rump with Porcini Polenta, Creamed Spinach, Speck and King Mushrooms

Wine - Tullochs Pokolbin Dry Red Shiraz

This course only gets a small picture...because it was...crap! hmmm that may be abit harsh, and maybe its because I was really full by the time this dish came out...but to be honest, it really wasnt great at all! The wagyu was abit tough (I got tired just from cutting and chewing), and the serving of the polenta/spinach/murshroom was abit much.


Course 5

Desert Tasting Plate of: Chocolate Creme Brulee with a Little Strawberry Tart & Hazelnut cream AND French Crepes with Rhubarb, Orange and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Wine - Scarborough Late Harvest Semillon

Desert was OK. I wouldnt say it was bad, but not mouth watering either. And because I'm not a big fan of super sweet desert wines, I didnt enjoy the accompanying wine either.

To finish off, we adjourned outside to enjoy coffee and tea and complimentary brownies!

*outside*

*very rich brownies!*

Unfortunately, the timing was so bad, we didnt have enough time to stick around to buy wine and smelly cheeses...which is what everyone does at Hunter Valley. Such a shame to make the 3hr trip only to have lunch, but having said that, lunch at The Cellar is superb! Service was great, but that might be due to the fact that there was no one else in the restaurant. I wish I could say that my boyfriend was so romantic and thoughtful, he hired out the whole restaurant so we could have an intimate lunch for two, but unfortunately..I dont have a boyfriend, and if I did I doubt he would be so romantic (or rich) to do that!

The drive on the way home was much much shorter (about 1.5 hrs) ...and 5pm is such a great time to be heading home because the weather is just right