Author: Ardi

Sven-san

Sven-san Review:

This week we went to quite a unique restaurant. Sven-san is a marriage between Swedish and Japanese cuisines. You can look at it again, it would still say Swedish and Japanese.

If you are planning to visit, it’s probably better to go there by bus, because the location is right at the end of Paddington and just before the centennial park. On this occasion, we selected the Chef Selection Banquet for $55. They also have the $70 version of the banquet.

Without furder ado (because there are a lot of dishes to cover!), here they are:

Edamame bowl, chilli salt

The first dish was a staple in quite a lot of Japanese restaurants: edamame. It was plain and simple.

Duck Croquettes + Hot sauce

I think croquettes are more of a Japanese dish than Swedish. It was quite a delectable dish.

Agedashi Tofu + Ginger floss

From the name you can guess that it is a Japanese dish. It was another light and easy dish.

Smashed Edamame “Hummus” and prawn crackers

I’m not quite sure why they chose to serve another edamame. If they chose something like Smörgåskaviar for the dipping sauce that would have been an awesome dish!

SFC – Sven’s Fried Chicken, Togarashi seasoning and Mayo

Fried chicken and mayo… I don’t think it’s Swedish.

Duck liver parfait, vodka – lingonberry gelé

I think this is the first dish that has a hint of Swedish with the introduction of vodka and lingonberry jelly. However the main is still heavily influenced by Japanese/French flavour.

Chips, Mix salad

These are the staple food to fill our tummy in.

Mushroom fried rice

The Japanese fried rice was actually the last one to come in.

Tassie Salmon Kombu butter, Spinach, Edamame

Salmon could easily be a Swedish dish. However, once again the Japanese influence was more prominent in this dish.

Grain fed eye fillet steak

I think this is probably the one dish that could represent Swedish dish. The pickled vegetables and mashed potatoes are a nice addition to it.

Salmon fish fingers and chips – $12.90
This is not part of the dish. I included this because it was our little one’s dinner at that time.

The final verdict for Sven-san

There seemed to be a lot more Japanese influence in Sven-san’s banquet dishes than the Swedish dish. It would be interesting if it could be more balanced.

Do you think I should go?
Their regular menu looked pretty interesting and I would suggest you try them.

Rating for Sven-san:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $55 pp – chef selection

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

495 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW, 2021

+61 2 9131 8454

http://svensan.com.au/

Dec 20, 2017
Seed Greek Kouzina

Seed Greek Kouzina Review:

We saw an ad board for Seed Greek Kouzina as we walked down a small road in Petersham towards the main New Canterbury Road. It read ‘6-course for $35 every Tuesday and Wednesday’. If you like eating out, I’m sure you agree with me that a 6-course meal for $35 is a very good bargain… oh I forgot to mention: you also get a glass of wine for that price!

Surely enough, we are at the restaurant this week to try this menu out! They officially called it: Tuesday and Wednesday Mid-Week Banquet – $35 pp. The courses were predominantly seafood with only one exception, the salad.

Warm bread + taramasalata

There is nothing more perfect than starting your dinner at a Greek restaurant with warm bread and taramasalata. FYI, taramasalata is a Greek small dish (called meze) made out of fish roe.

GF Crisp fried baby seafood, lemon aioli

Our second course was a shared plate of deep fried small prawns with lemon aioli. The great thing about crunchy prawns is that you don’t need to spend hours peeling off their shells.

Krokettes – smoked mackerel croquettes

Almost at the same time of the second course, they also served smoked mackerel croquettes. It was a nicely done croquette!

Marinated grilled fish of the day (barbounia or red mullet)

From the display perspective, the main course was a tad underwhelming. You got four red mullets to be shared by three people.

Talking about the taste tho… oh boy, it was very delicious!

Lahanosalata (greek slaw) – cabbage and walnut salad

A salad is usually not my best friend. However, their salad was quite filling and decent.

Rizogalo (rice pudding), mango puree, macadamia nuts, vanilla ice cream

They have quite an interesting dessert by Australian standard. Not many people would think rice as a dessert. Personally, I think the rice pudding was nice, especially with the added crunch of macadamia nuts and the cooling vanilla ice cream.

Calamari and Chips – $12

The restaurant does not mind if children share your meal at no extra cost. However, they also serve kids meal if you wish to do so.

The final verdict for Seed Greek Kouzina

I don’t think anyone would argue that $35 for a 6-course meal was a bargain. Seed Greek Kouzina managed to deliver that with quite a decent quality of food.

Do you think I should go?
The banquet was only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you are able to come to Petersham, it’s a very good option to have for a hump day dinner.

Rating for Seed Greek Kouzina:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $35 for 6-course meal + one glass of wine/beer/softdrinks

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

88 Audley Street, Petersham 2049

+61 2 95607798

http://seedgreekrestaurant.com.au/

Dec 5, 2017
O!Momo | OMomo Nepali Cafe

O!Momo – OMomo Nepali Cafe Review:

This review was probably 6 years overdue. I promised a friend of mine to visit his momo stall in a Saturday market (yes… such a bad friend!). However, that stall has now evolved into a full-blown Nepali restaurant/cafe in Kogarah, called O!Momo.

Their menu was quite simple: Momo of all kinds and a few other Nepali snacks.

When you order a plate of momo, you can choose any 2 sauces from 5 of their chutneys: Yellow chutney, Green chutney, Tomato Chatney, Red Chutnew, and Badam Chutney. By default, they are all quite spicy except for the yellow chutney.

Monkey Platter – $18 – A sample plate of the following: aloo dum, Sadeko wai wai, Choila, Chicken Lollipop

If you don’t know what to order for entree, they give you an option to try a bit of all of them… and that’s exactly what we did on our first visit. In short, they are: spicy potato, crispy noodles salad, chicken salad, and deep fried chicken lollipop.

Chicken Sadeko Wai Wai – $7 – Noodle salad with chickpeas and puff rice, crispy, tangy spicy

Since we enjoyed the sadeko wai wai so much on our first visit, we ordered just that in our second visit. According to the chef, this dish was not 100% Nepali as he has drawn inspiration from Indonesian’s crispy shallots and noodles.

Momo platter – $20 – 4 pcs of steamed, pan fry, chili and sadeko

Similar to the entree, this should be your choice if you did not know what to order. In total, you will get 16 momos. $20 for 16 momos? That’s not bad, eh?

Tareko (Deep Fried) – $11 – 8 Delicious handmade Nepali dumplings

Instead of 4 dumplings, you actually get 8 dumplings for the individual ones. So if you like a particular style of cooking, you might as well order that instead of the momo platter.

Chilli (Stir Fried) – $12 – 8 Delicious handmade Nepali dumplings

For our second visit, we tried the buffalo chilli momo. They charge $2 extra for buffalo momo. That chilli momo got us hooked from the first time we tried them! The chef explained it to us that they actually triple-cooked this momo. First they steamed it, then deep fried, before stir-frying it with their chili sauce.

Drinks

They have a few drink options, including a Nepali beer. However, on this occasion we chose the watermelon juice.

The final verdict for O!Momo – OMomo Nepali Cafe

I’m not saying this because I know the guy who runs the show… but their momo were very nice! That triple-cooked momo got us hooked from the very first minute… and did I mention we visited them 2 more times after our initial visit?

Do you think I should go?

Definitely! If you are interested in trying Nepali dumplings, O!momo is the place to be.

Details:

126 Railway Parade, Kogarah 2217

+61 2 7900 5603

http://omomo.com.au/

Nov 27, 2017
Righetto Osteria Romana

Righetto Osteria Romana Review:

We have been going to Haberfield a lot in recent months exploring culinary options they have to offer. This week, it’s from one of the Italian restaurants (there seemed to be a million of them in Haberfield!), called Righetto Osteria Romana.

We went there because our friends from Three Arrows Coffee recommended this restaurant. It seems like their special menu on the wall is actually longer than their actual menu.

Complimentary Bread and Antipasto

They gave out complimentary warm bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a starter. In addition to that, the waiter actually gave us a small plate of complimentary antipasto. Their antipasto was actually very good!

Zucchini Flower

We ordered the zucchini flowers before they gave us the complimentary antipasto. They were a bit more expensive than the other antipasto. However, they tasted so good!

Linguine allo scoglio – $27 – Long size pasta with calamari, prawns, clams, blue crab in white or red sauce

If you look at the picture below, that phone was a Galaxy S6. It was barely half the size of the plate! For $27, the linguine was an absolute bargain! I’ll just let these pictures do the talking for me. If you like seafood, this is a must order!

Napoletana – $18 – Tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, olives and capers

Their pizza ranked probably just below the top pizzeria in Sydney. We still enjoyed it tho.

Ice cream

Ice cream + strawberry… it’s a no-brainer for the kid.

Affogato

I love how they served the affogato. It was appetising!

We were very impressed with the service and food at Righetto Osteria Romana in Haberfield Also one of the most elaborate affogato ever! ☕☕ #affogato #foodblogger #gelato #righetto #sydney #italian #pizzeria . . . . . #sweet #instalove #instafood #yummy #healthy #dessert #instapic #instagram #foodporn #instagood #foodie #igers #instadaily #picoftheday #photooftheday #food #love #allaboutfood

A post shared by All About Food Blog (@aaf_blog) on Sep 19, 2017 at 8:43pm PDT

The final verdict for Righetto Osteria Romana

What we like the most from Righetto Osteria Romana was their hospitality. We enjoyed every minute of us eating there. Their ginormous plate of seafood pasta was just the icing on the cake.

Do you think I should go?

Definitely! Especially if you like seafood pasta.

Rating for Righetto Osteria Romana:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $70 for two

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

103 Ramsay St, Haberfield 2045

+61 2 9799 5500

http://www.darighettoosteria.com.au/

Nov 20, 2017
Doughbox Diner

Doughbox Diner Review:

Halloween is usually one of the most celebrated holidays in the United States. Our visit to an American Restaurant, Doughbox Diner, on Halloween’s day was no different. They had a tombstone at the entrance and a few halloween-inspired dishes.

Burgers, crepes and lots of desserts dominated their menu. They also had a few hot dogs and starters.

As a starter, they gave out complimentary bowl of popcorn.

Buffalo Wings (10 pieces) – $18.99 – Fried Chicken Wings tossed in our Spicy Buffalo Sauce served with Celery Sticks and Ranch Dressing

The first dish to arrive on the day was buffalo wings. They warned us about how spicy the wings was with three chilis symbol right next to the list. However, it was not hotter than our usual chili sauce. The wings were nice and super saucy.

Onion Rings – $12.99 – Crispy Battered Rings served with our Zesty Dipping Sauce

Their onion rings were quite thin and super crispy. The dipping sauce really made it zesty!

Johnny B Goode – $17.99 – 2 Beef Patties, 3 Slices of Cheddar, House Relish, Red Onion, Lettuce, American Mustard, Sweet BBQ Sauce

Our original order was a burger called Sloppy Joe. However, they said it was not available on that day. We then focused our attention to Johnny B Goode (named after a song by Chuck Berry). It has all the hallmarks of something American with stacks of burgers and cheese. It is the second largest burger in the menu.

Avocado Bite – $14.99 – Chicken, Bacon, Mushrooms, Spring Onion, Fresh Tomato, Avocado & Sour Cream, Cheese

Avocado bite is part of their crepe cone range. They claimed their crepe cone to be highly addictive…. and we did not blame them. I used to eat a savoury crepe when I was a child with a lot less fillings in them. So, a massive cone with lots of fillings is like a dream come true!

We had to ask for a takeaway box as we were quite full and we knew the dessert would come next.

Scream Sundae – $12.99

The only halloween-themed item on the menu that we ordered on the day. The sundae came in a skull goblet with LOTS of halloween candies. It was not probably our best move, considering it’s only Tuesday!

The final verdict for Doughbox Diner

Doughbox diner was definitely a fun restaurant to visit. They had quite a reasonable price and we were super nourished!

Do you think I should go?
If you enjoy themed restaurant that will make you full and happy… Of course!

Rating for Doughbox Diner:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $22 burgers

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

137 Enmore Rd, Enmore 2042

+61 2 9565 1995

http://doughboxdiner.com.au/doughbox/

Nov 6, 2017
Feast – a world of flavours | Sheraton on The Park

Feast – a world of flavours Review:

This week we will talk about one of the most well-known all you can eat restaurants in Sydney, Feast – a world of flavours. You might know it simply as ‘that all you can eat place in Sheraton, Hyde Park’.

Being in a five-star hotel, the price is obviously quite different than your normal restaurant. Their price depends on whether you eat at lunch time or dinner and also whether you are having it on weekdays vs weekend. Weekdays lunch is the cheapest, at $79 and weekend dinner is $99.

They have four big food stations, I simply refer to them as seafood, cold cuts, chef and sophisticated meals and desserts.

Seafood

When you step into the restaurant, you are greeted by the seafood station where you can see this overwhelming selection of seafood. I’m a tad disappointed that there are no Alaskan king crab legs there. However, they still have an assortment of seafood to make me happy. The seafood here is more on the ‘fresh’ side as it is cooked minimally so that you can taste their original flavour.

Cold cuts and the usuals
This is probably the station that I visited the least. They have all the staple all you can eat food, like cold cuts, salad, and bread.

Chef Station
I call this the chef station because there is an actual chef in this place. The chef would help you cut the roast or make you congee and noodles. They also have pizza here if you want to eat it for whatever reason.

Sophisticated meals and Desserts
I choose the word ‘sophisticated’ because unlike in the seafood station, this one is more for dishes that have been seasoned really well. The other side of this station is the desserts.

The one thing that I love so much from this station was its fish with (I presume) bernaise sauce.

… and the desserts. I think I don’t need to talk about it that much, except that they also serve ice creams!

More pictures of the food

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The final verdict for Feast – a world of flavours

The choices of food at Feast is unreal. There were only very few misses, but generally everything was pretty good.

Do you think I should go?
If it’s a special occasion and/or you have a spare $100, then go ahead… However, most places that do All You Can Eat usually charges up to half of it.

Rating for Feast – a world of flavours:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $79 – $99

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

Level 1, Sheraton on the Park
161 Elizabeth Street, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9286 6000

http://www.feastsydney.com.au/

Oct 26, 2017