Author: Ardi

Toko Contemporary Japanese Izakaya

Toko Japanese Izakaya Review:

Our review this week came from a Japanese izakaya restaurant, called Toko. The restaurant is located in a busy suburb of Surry Hills in Sydney. We were there to celebrate one of our friends’ birthday with a set menu, Matsuri Banquet Menu. There was quite an extensive list of items in the menu.

Edamame – soy beans, maldon sea salt

There is nothing out of the ordinary to talk about here. It was just a regular edamame.

Hiramasa no usuzukuri – sliced kingfish, yuzu, chives

It was another quick munch-and-devour dish that was not memorable enough.

Koushi no tataki – venison carpaccio, nashi pear, yuzu koshu, potato airbags

This venison was the first dish that we took notice. It was quite a spicy dish. The potato airbags gave an added crunch to the dish.

Japanese salad – seasoned leaves, asparagus, cucumber, avocado, light-wafu

Some of our friends thought that Japanese salad was the best dish of the day. Although I am not a big salad eater, I actually quite enjoyed it. It was sad to think that salad was the best dish in a degustation.

Osashimi omakase – assorted fish from chef’s best selection of the day

It was supposed to be the dish that would bring the wow factor. Instead, we were given the usual sashimi: salmon, tuna, kingfish, scallop, and snapper. To make things worse, we didn’t think the tuna and scallop were sashimi fresh.

Toko signature maki – chef’s selection of maki rolls

Again, there were three ‘standard’ maki rolls: california, ebi, and kingfish.

Pirikara dofu to avocado – spicy fried tofu, avocado salsa, barley miso

Despite the word ‘spicy’, the tofu is nothing but spicy. The venison was actually more spicy than this one. The tofu was also quite dense.

Ebi tempura – crispy prawn tempura, dashi broth

It was a very ordinary prawn tempura. Each one of us only got ONE mediocre prawn.

Wafu zucchini – zucchini, waft sauce, sesame

Despite being only one stick of zucchini, this robatayaki was actually quite enjoyable.

Sake no aburi yaki – smoked miso king salmon, house pickled ginger

Personally, I think this dish was the best for the night. Unfortunately, we had to share this salmon amongst the four of us. It was just my luck that I was also the only one getting fish bone in my piece.

Ko-tori hoba oven-yaki – miso marinated spatchcock baby chicken

We wereIt was a deboned spatchcock. The glazing was almost similar to the salmon.

Dessert platter – chef’s selection of toko desserts

The dessert platter was the saving grace for us. There were quite a lot of elements on it – basically it was all of their desserts lumped into one. The desserts on the plate were rhubarb crumble, pannacotta, fondant, three types of ice cream and assortment of fruits.

Drinks

Considering that they are an izakaya place, their drink menu was pretty good.

Yuzu Martini

Lychee and Jasmine Mojito

The final verdict for Toko Japanese Izakaya

It is quite sad that this amazing venue was majorly let down by its subpar degustation selection. The king salmon and dessert platter were the ones that saved our night.

Did you know?

The group has three restaurants in Australia. One of them is also in Sydney, called Tokonoma, and the other is in Melbourne.

Rating for Toko Japanese Izakaya:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $100 with drinks

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

490 Crown Street, Sydney 2010

+61 2 9357 6100

http://www.toko-sydney.com

Apr 16, 2017
Naughty Nuri’s Warung

Naughty Nuri’s Warung Review:

During our visit to Melbourne at the end of last month, we went to eat at an Indonesian restaurant with our friends from Melbourne. Historically speaking, Indonesian restaurants in Melbourne are never on par with Sydney ones. So, I did not put any expectations to this week’s restaurant, Naughty Nuri’s Warung.

A lot of the dishes in Naughty Nuri’s Warung are spicy… like really spicy by non-Indonesian standard (and by my standard). So, please be mindful of the two chilis icon.

Naughty Nuri’s 1995 signature BBQ pork ribs – $29 half rack – Nuri’s signature marinated pork ribs with Balinese spice, grilled to perfection.

BBQ pork ribs is the signature dish for Naughty Nuri’s. The difference with all of the other pork ribs in Australia is that this one was very spicy.

Ikan Bakar Jimbaran – $28 – Grilled barramundi fillet topped with Makassar hot sauce (made from ginger flower, lemongrass, shallot and chilli), served with placing kangkung, sambal hijau teri asin and sambal matah.

The grilled fish was also quite spicy. Somehow I could still eat it. It is wise to order the optional steam rice $2 or Coconut rice $3. Rice lessens the spice level.

Nuri’s Dirty Duck (half duck) – $29 – Nuri’s signature duck marinated then simmered in traditional Balinese spices, then deep fried until crispy.

Along with the BBQ pork ribs, this duck is why people visit Naughty Nuri. Please be mindful that this dish is for half a duck. So, it is quite a big dish!

This dish along with the next two also came with three chilli sauces and a choice of vegetables: plecing kangkung, Balinese lawar and plecing terong goreng.

Crispy pork belly with rice – $16 – Pork belly steamed and coated in our secret marinade. Served with pork crackling.

One of our friends ordered the pork belly dish. It looked quite small when compared to the ribs, fish and dirty duck.

Ayam betutu gilimanuk – $14 – Whole chicken maryland marinated in traditional Balinese spice, braised till tender and full of flavours.

My friend commented that the chicken in the Australian version was quite large when compared to Indonesian chickens.

Monster Bakso – $8 – Giant beef ball in traditional pepperish clear soup served with a side of sambal tomat terasi.

The monster bakso was my son’s order. Unfortunately they came in last and was probably forgotten until we asked them. It was quite different when compared to our usual Indonesian bakso.

Truffle fries served with sweet chilli mayo – $6

We ordered some fries to appease the little guy because of the monster ball fiasco.

Es Teler – $9 – The classic Indonesian fruit cocktail of avocado, coconut, nata de coco and jackfruit.

Es teler is probably an all-time favourite dessert for Indonesian people. Its literal translation to English is ‘Drunken Ice’.

The final verdict for Naughty Nuri’s Warung

Naughty Nuri’s Warung is one of the best Indonesian restaurants I have every tried in Australia. They could probably be amongst one of the best in my list. Unfortunately, their service is letting them down considerably.

Did you know?

Naughy Nuri’s Warung is originated from a small warung in Ubud, Bali. I have been to its original site, but I ironically I enjoyed the one in Melbourne better. It just lacks the Balinese scenery.

Rating for Naughty Nuri’s Warung:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $14 – $59 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 317, Level 3, Melbourne Central

+61 3 9650 6828

http://www.naughtynuris.com.au/

Apr 10, 2017
Grilled Beef Tongue Recipe

This week we will be writing about an Indonesian recipe with a little twist, Japanese-style. The recipe is for Grilled Beef Tongue with miso butter sauce.

To be perfectly honest, we weren’t planning to make the Japanese version of it. However, we ran out of the Indonesian ingredients and had to make a little adjustment. Eventually, it worked out brilliantly!

Grilled beef tongue is one of my favourite Indonesian dishes. It takes quite a long time to prepare and very quick to devour.

What do we need to make Grilled Beef Tongue?

1. Whole Beef Tongue – it can be pretty intimidating
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Miso paste – you can get any packaged miso paste from grocery shop
5. Butter – same proportion to the miso paste

I did not put a specific number because you may add or reduce according to your need.

The preparation for making Grilled Beef Tongue

The hardest part in the making of this is waiting. You will need to boil the whole beef tongue with onions and garlic in a stockpot/saucepan for more than 3 hours.

After 3 hours of boiling, remove the beef tongue from the stockpot. You will need to peel off the outer layer of the tongue. If you boil the tongue long enough, you will be able to peel it off easily. Otherwise, add an extra hour in the stockpot.

How do we make the Grilled Beef Tongue?

1. After peeling off its outer layer, slice the tongue around 0.5 – 1 cm thick.
2. Melt the butter. 20 seconds in the microwave should be enough.
3. Mix the miso paste with melted butter.
4. Brush the miso butter sauce onto the beef tongue.
5. Grill the beef tongue on both sides.

A little tips to make your perfect Grilled Beef Tongue

1. Like I mentioned earlier, you need to boil the beef tongue long enough so that you can easily peel off the outer layer.
2. Serve the beef tongue over rice!
3. For the Indonesian recipe, we usually use the ‘satay padang‘ paste from Munik. You can also substitute the sauce with your favourite basting sauce.

Apr 3, 2017
Bebek Tepi Sawah

Bebek Tepi Sawah Review:

Our review this week came from a now-franchised restaurant in Indonesia. Bebek tepi sawah is literally translated in English to ‘edge-of-a-rice-field duck’. The first Bebek Tepi Sawah restaurant was opened in Ubud, Bali. On this occasion, we went to one of its branches in Pondok Indah Mall in Jakarta. The menu is quite similar to the one in Bali, but with more emphasise on the Indonesian dishes.

Duck restaurant in Indonesia is usually famous because of its chili sauces. In Bebek tepi sawah, you get three different chilli sauces: red chilli, fried chilli, and Balinese’s special sambal matah. Each and every one of them is above my spicy threshold.

Tepi sawah crispy duck or grilled duck – 109 – Our signature traditional duck with choices of deep fried or grilled served with Balinese vegetable, rice, and three types of sambal (merah, matah, goreng)

Their signature duck came in either grilled with soy sauce or deep fried. The grilled version is more on the sweet side and the deep fried is savoury.

Bebek Betutu – 102k – One of all-time favourite dishes in Bali, the duck is stuffed with banana leaf and traditional balinese spices, then grilled. Served together with lawar, rice, and sambal.

Betutu is the traditional steamed-version of the duck. Betutu spice is notoriously spicy. I wouldn’t recommend you touching it unless you are an avid chilli lover.

Iga bakar tepi sawah – 109k – A set of grilled beef short ribs marinated with soy sauce, served with lawar and rice

This was the dish that I ordered. The ribs portion was quite small when compared to the ones in Sydney.

Sup Iga Garang Asam – 99k – Braised short ribs beef soup with special sour herbs and served with our special chili

Sate Bangli – 65k – Marinated chicken skewers with soy sauce, grilled, and served with sambal pelalah

The final verdict for Bebek Tepi Sawah

When your restaurant is called ‘edge-of-a-rice-field duck’, eating in a giant mall in Jakarta somewhat diminished its value. The duck itself did not manage to beat my favourite duck restaurant in Indonesia. I quite enjoyed the beef ribs I ordered.

Did you know?

Bebek Tepi Sawah has four outlets in Jakarta – the same number of outlets they have in Bali!

Rating for Bebek Tepi Sawah:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: Rp. 100k+ per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Pondok Indah Mall 2, Lantai 3, Jl Metro Pondok Indah, Jakarta Selatan

+62 21 7592 0667

http://www.bebektepisawahrestaurant.com/

Mar 29, 2017
The Holy Crab

The Holy Crab Review:

Seafood in Indonesia is in abundance and is usually quite reasonably-priced. That’s why for this week’s review we went to a nice seafood place in Jakarta called The Holy Crab. The Holy Crab borrowed its seafood concept from Louisiana seafood boil.

However, we actually did not pay close attention to the price in the menu and missed the ‘little’ detail of price per 100 gr for the first 8 items (not just the top 4) in the menu. As a consequence, those 2 mud crabs were costing us more than half of the total bill!

Their menu can be divided into two: fried or boiled. Obviously their main attraction was the boiled one. You can select from the two sauces: Original Cajun or Garlic Pepper. There are four different hotness levels: Mild, Medium, Spicy, and Holy Moly!

Cajun Fries – 28k

Cajun fries is the staples that you need to order. You would get corn in some of the dishes below, but it’s not chips!

Onion Rings – 35k

Onion rings is one of my favourite dishes and I will always try to order them whenever I see one.

Mud Crab – 48k / 100gr

I love a good mud crab. However at $48 / kg, their price is almost on par with Sydney’s Mud Crab.

Shrimps – 40k / 100gr

We ordered the shrimps, that’s how the Americans said it, in garlic pepper sauce. It also came with corn cobs.

Crawfish – 48k / 100gr

I like crawfish, or what we call yabbies here in Australia, a lot more than lobster.

Hooks Telescope – 30k

The Hooks Telescope is the name they gave for a hot dog. It is part of the kids menu. The hot dog was quite plain and you had to put in the sauce separately. This is a big no-no for kids (my son especially). It wasn’t as exciting as the rest of the dishes.

The final verdict for The Holy Crab

Outside the little pricing ‘surprise’, we actually quite enjoyed our dinner at The Holy Crab.

Did you know?

The Holy Crab group has a few different restaurants in its group, Ersons Group. One of the more notable restaurants is the Holy Smokes.

Rating for The Holy Crab:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: ~ $200 for 3 adults + 1 kid

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Jl Gunawarman no. 55, Jakarta Selatan 12110

+62 21 2923 6155

http://theholycrab.co.id/

Mar 21, 2017
Nikuzo

Nikuzo Review:

For our review this week, we We went to Nikuzo Japanese restaurant in Bondi Junction, Sydney. Nikuzo is an all you can eat restaurant with three different buffet menu. The standard buffet is quite cheap and has your basic all-you-can-eat needs, including beef tongue. For $10 extra, you get the wagyu and seafood buffet. There are quite a lot of seafood options, including scallops and soft shell crab.

The premium buffet has more wagyu, but its true value is in the fresh oyster, salmon sashimi and sushi, and beef yukke. If you don’t eat raw stuff, the middle option would be the best for you.

Wagyu

Wagyu is obviously the biggest selling point in the menu. They have 10 different wagyu beef cuts (7 for the middle option and 3 for premium one). Choose whichever cuts you love!

Seafood

I was also quite impressed with the seafood lineup that they served. They have two different kinds of oysters: deep fried and fresh. You can only get 1 oyster per person in the premium buffet. They have unlimited salmon sashimi and sushi. You can also have salmon with butter for the cooked version.

I couldn’t get enough off their deep fried soft shell crab! If seafood is really your thing, you can also order different kinds of prawns and scallops.

Desserts

They have three different desserts: vanilla ice cream, fruits, and Japanese pancakes (Taiyaki). Taiyaki is only available if you choose the premium menu. They have different kinds of toppings for the vanilla ice cream. The premium menu gave you the kinako powder and liqueur topping options.

Everything else

There are quite a lot of other dishes that I could not specify individually.

The final verdict for Nikuzo

It was quite unfortunate that Nikuzo’s setting wasn’t that great. The food that they served was very good. It was also a good value for money.

Did you know?

Let’s just put more pictures here!

Rating for Nikuzo:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $30 / $40 / $50 buffet

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

1 Newland St, Bondi Junction 2022

+61 2 9369 3328

Nikuzo in Zomato

Mar 15, 2017