Author: Ardi

Ostro Brasserie

Review:

A little narrative before I get to the review. We arrived in Auckland Sunday afternoon and we only had a couple of nights in Auckland. We faced quite a tough task to find a fine dining restaurant that opened on a Sunday night. Luckily, our friend suggested Ostro Brasserie & Bar. When we dined there, the restaurant was still quite reasonably filled. That alone can be a testament on how good the restaurant is!

Appetisers

Ostro Brasserie menu has a good balance between seafood and meats. They also serve a nice mixture of raw and cooked cuisines. Our night got off to a flying start with the delicately crafted Ostro stecca bread. The bread was very crunchy and it was perfectly served with seaweed butter. It was followed by fresh Cloudy Bay clams from the Marlborough region with lemon and shallot vinegar. I was very impressed with the freshness of my first raw clam!

Ostro stecca bread with seaweed butter – $7

Cloudy bay clams Marlborough – $3 each

Our third appetiser was Miso cured salmon. The name itself intrigued us, but then they also added Granny Smith Apple and basil into the mix! It was heavenly fresh!

Miso cured salmon, Granny Smith apple, shallot and basil – $18

Beef Carpaccio was actually the only dish classified as ‘appetisers’ in the menu. We were interested because of the combination of ingredients put into this dish. It included anchovy mayonnaise, black garlic and parmesan!

Beef Carpaccio, anchovy mayonnaise, black garlic, capers, parmesan, herbs and garlic chips – $19

Mains

Our first main was actually the first one I decided to have, because of the bone marrow. I was actually quite curious about the price because a bone marrow for two was priced at $90. Things got a lot clearer when the dish was served. The bone marrow was only its side dish. The main attraction was humongous 750 gr scotch fillets! The full name is Savannah Bone In Scotch. All of their beef cuts come with red wine jus plus a condiment of your choice: Bearnaise, cafe de Paris, Dijon/English/Whole Grain Mustard or Horseradish. You might actually be able to share this dish with two other people.

Savannah Bone in Scotch (for two), bone marrow, caramelised shallot and PX sherry, grass fed, dry aged, 750g – $90

We then had Roast duck ravioli served with parsnip puree, pickled pear and crackling. Had a small bite of the ravioli (it’s not mine!) and I loved how smooth the ravioli was!

Roast duck ravioli, parsnip puree, pickled pear and crackling – $24

Our last main was Canterbury lamb rump with charred aubergine, spring peas, harissa and yoghurt. It was quite a spicy dish, courtesy of the harissa in the mix. The lamb rump itself was beautifully cooked!

Canterbury lamb rump, charred aubergine, spring peas, harissa and yoghurt – $36

If you are a big eater like me, I suggest you to add a couple of side dishes, including its French Fries, they are pretty good and can get you filled up pretty quick.

French Fries Fresh herbs – $9

Clover Club – a legendary pre-prohibition cocktail. Tanqueray, fresh lemon juice, a touch of sugar, egg white and house-made berry compote – $17

The final verdict for Ostro Brasserie & Bar

Our short visit to Auckland became that much more memorable because of Ostro Brasserie & Bar. They served great food, had great service and provided great view!

Did you know?

At first I thought Britomart is some kind of a mall or shopping centre. It actually refers to the Britomart Transport Centre.

They go by the name of Seafarers for their online presence.

Rating for:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $60- $80 per person

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Tyler Street, Britomart, Auckland

+64 9 302 9888

http://www.seafarers.co.nz/

Nov 17, 2014
El Sizzling Chorizo

Review:

This will be my first review for restaurants in New Zealand. Obviously, the first thing that I look for is meat! There is no better restaurant to test this out than El Sizzling Chorizo. El sizzling chorizo is an Argentinean restaurant that serves grilled meats with Argentinean chimichurri sauce. For the record, I love good chimichurri sauce!

The restaurant is located in an upmarket suburb of Ponsonby in Auckland. My friend in Auckland said that it was almost impossible to get a seat in this area for the weekend without queuing up for hours. They have an interesting open grill kitchen.

Their menu is pretty simple and straight forward: half meats and half booze! Well, you can choose the ‘vegetarian’ cheese option or a selection of side dishes. But the whole idea is to enjoy chorizo and meats! Oh, and prices are in NZ Dollars.

The first meat arriving at the table was the Beef Short Ribs. At $20, the 400 gr short ribs seemed to be a great bargain! It had the perfect balance of fat and meat ratio. Unfortunately, it was a little bit overcooked.

Short Ribs – $20

Our second dish was more of a ‘mixed grill’ called Orejano Platter. There were quite variations in this dish. You got one chorizo, an empanada, a strip of pork belly, one flank steak, one bread, and barbecued potatoes with yummy sauce. It was one of the best empanadas I’ve ever tasted. The barbecued potatoes were nice as well. The best thing is that you got all of those for only $35!

Orejano Platter – $35

If you wanted to get the feel of what the restaurant is about, you have to order this dish. However, if you would like to have the all meats option, choose the Parrillada. You get over 600grams of ‘a taste of different meats’ for only $30.

The last dish of the day is supposed to be an entree. However, there was a warning stated on the menu (cooking time approx 20 mins) and the waiter also mentioned a 25-minute wait time. The name is Sweet Breads with lemon and fries. The sweet breads were perfectly grilled and it was well worth the wait!

Sweet Breads with lemon and fries – $25

All of the dishes were also served with Mesclun salad. I must say that we love (with capital LOVE) the chimichurri sauce!

We ordered an organic wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, called Santa Ana Eco. However, the waiter pointed out that the ‘wine of Argentina’ is supposed to be Malbec.

Santa Ana Eco Organic Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon

The final verdict for El Sizzling Chorizo

El Sizzling Chorizo showed glimpses of a great restaurant. If they could stabilise its grilling time without tendency of being overcooked, they could be a really nice restaurant.

Did you know?

There are quite a few restaurants in the area, but the one worth mentioning is probably Burger Burger. Due to time and tummy constraints we cannot try it out this time.

Rating for El Sizzling Chorizo:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $35 for a main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

4 Brown Street, Ponsonby, Auckland

+64 9 378 0119

http://www.elsizzlingchorizo.co.nz/

Nov 12, 2014
Aperitivo

Review:

A few weeks ago, there was a discussion amongst Sydney Food Bloggers about the best pizza restaurant (pizzeria) in Sydney. Some of them mentioned Aperitivo. Aperitivo is a member of AVPN, an organisation that guarantees true Neapolitan pizza. My curiosity surfaced and thought I had to go to the restaurant!

Upon reaching Leichhardt, I realised I went past this restaurant several times on the way to the infamous Bar Italia. My impression was that the restaurant was always buzzing. However, it resembled a bar more than a pizzeria!

As a big fan of nice pate, we ordered the Pate di fegato di pollo e giardiniera. The chicken liver pate was presented with pickled vegetables on a wooden board. The texture was more on the coarse and heavy side.

Pate di fegato di pollo e giardiniera (Chicken Liver pate), $10

Quite a lot of options for the pizza, so you might want to take your time in finding the perfect combination that suit your needs. The interesting thing on this menu is that they have two Margherita pizza. One is the normal Margherita and the other one is Margherita Bufala STG. So, what made it so special and warranted an increase of $7? The footnote gave a little bit of explanation about STG. In 1996, Margherita was recognised as a Specialità Tradizionale Garantita. Technically, you are guaranteed that the pizza you enjoyed is of traditional quality. You also got buffalo mozzarella instead of the normal cow’s milk mozzarella.

Margherita Bufala STG, $24

The other pizza we ordered was Pizza Lampara. This one is the less-traditional seafood pizza. The toppings included sauté calamari and prawns with rocket. I found that this one was tastier than the Margherita one.

Pizza Lampara, $24

We ordered Aperitivo Tiramisu for the dessert. The tiramisu had quite a convincing description: Soft sponge, mascarpone semifreddo, salted caramel, strawberry compote and chocolate crumble. Despite its nice appearance, it fell short in the taste department.

Aperitivo Tiramisu, $12

The final verdict for Aperitivo

There is no mistaking that Aperitivo’s pizza had the nice quality. However it is not enough to dethrone my personal favourite.

Did you know?

There are four members of the prestigious Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (The True Neapolitan Pizza Association) in Sydney. They are Lucio Pizzeria, Gigi Pizzeria, Pizza Mario and Aperitivo. Its main goal is to promote and protect the “true Neapolitan pizza” according to a very strict standard.

As mentioned above, we love going to Bar Italia for its Mascarpone (pictured below).

Rating for Aperitivo:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $14 – $24 per pizza

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

163 Norton St, Leichhardt NSW 2040

+61 2 9564 0003

http://aperitivo.com.au/

Nov 6, 2014
Sel Et Poivre

Review:

I have heard about this restaurant for quite a while and people seem to be singing praise of the cafe, but I just couldn’t bring myself to visit the area (not a big fan of trying to find street parking there!). So, when I finally went to the area, because I also wanted to try Gelato Messina, I couldn’t miss the chance to pay a visit.

The name is Sel Et Poivre (it is the French for salt and pepper) and it is located at the heart of Darlinghurst’s Victoria Street. From the moment we set foot in this restaurant, François (the boss there) showered us with great French hospitality.

Obviously when you are in a French restaurant there are a couple of dishes that you have to order. Escargots are one of them. To be exact, they were called Escargots gratinés au beurre d’ail or Gratinated snails with parsley and garlic butter. It is advised to order the dish with baguette. In addition to filling your tummy quite quickly, the baguette also enhanced the flavours of your escargots.

Escargots gratinés au beurre d’ail – $16.90

The second entree was more on the pretty side, called Galette de crabe au poireau braisé, à l’américaine (Crispy galette of fresh swimmer crab, leeks and sauce a l’americaine). It was beautifully presented and got quite a strong lobster sauce that complemented the crispy galette.

Galette de crabe au poireau braisé, à l’américaine – $17.50

Two of the mains that we ordered might not be your ‘usual’ types of dish. For the first main, it was steak tartare aller-retour avec sauce Béarnaise,frites et salade (Sel & Poivre steak tartare, seared or non seared with frites, salad and bearnaise sauce). Steak tartare is a raw minced beef that you enjoyed with tartare sauce and egg yolk. The sheer size of the steak might be quite intimidating to some and it was quite a heavy dish!

steak tartare aller-retour avec sauce Béarnaise,frites et salade – $26.90

Sel & Poivre steak tartare, seared or non seared with frites, salad and bearnaise sauce

The last dish of the day was foie de veau poêlé à l’échalotte et pommes-frites (Seared veal liver with a French shallot sauce and frites). It is suggested that you ordered the veal liver medium rare. This way you can actually taste the liver’s texture without being too rubbery. It’s perfectly fine if you love this part of the meat. However, it can be quite pungent for those not accustomed to it. Just like steak tartare, enjoying a liver dish also requires an acquired taste.

Foie de veau poêlé à l’échalotte et pommes-frites – $34.50

The two main dishes came with quite a large bowl of salad and fries.

If both mains are a bit too ‘adventurous’ for you, they also have quite a few range in their menu. Sel et poivre can also cook a special kids menu for your little one(s). We chose chicken with chips. They also gave a scoop of ice cream at the end. It was actually quite a big portion for a kid’s meal.

Special Kids Menu – $14.90

At the end of the day, we felt that we ordered a bit too much, but we just had to finish them all! The only regret was that we didn’t come to Sel Et Poivre a lot sooner!

The final verdict for Sel Et Poivre

Sel et Poivre has everything you could have asked for! They served great food and complimented that with great hospitality and service!

Did you know?

Victoria Street in Darlinghurst is the home of one of the best gelato joints in Australia, Gelato Messina.

Rating for Ester Restaurant and Bar:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $25 – $35 main dishes

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

263 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

+61 2 9361 6530

http://www.seletpoivre.com.au/

Oct 29, 2014
Choco Corner

My Choco Corner Experience:

Located in Mal Artha Gading (North East Jakarta), I must admit that I would not normally visit the area as I tend to stick to Central or South Jakarta (due to the traffic). However if you are around the area, I can say that Choco Corner truly worth your visit.

Established in 2010, Choco Corner have quite a large variety of food on their menu, from classical Indonesian, Indonesian fusion, Spanish, and other – what Indonesians called – the ‘Western’ food.

Beef Nachos Grande might not be as ‘grande’ (large in Spanish) as one would expect. However, it was actually big for Indonesian standards. When you order Nachos in Indonesia, you usually get a few pieces of tortilla with half-heartedly put tiny pieces of meat. So looking at this serving made me quite happy.

Beef Nachos Grande – 43.9k

Our next entree is a hidden gem. It is also appropriately named as the Exotic Delight! The image might not do justice as it only showed French fries and capsicums. However, I can tell you that they are not your usual French fries.

Exotic Delight – 34.9k

I ordered Nasi Goreng Kambing (lamb fried rice) because I wanted to make a comparison (that might sound a little bit unfair) to the legendary Nasi Goreng Kambing Kebon Sirih. In terms of aesthetic, there was no doubt that their fried rice fared a lot better than the legendary site. It was still a good alternative if you didn’t want to travel to Central Jakarta.

Nasi Goreng Kambing – 35.9k

They also have decent-sized ribs, such as Iga bakar balado or Rib original barbecue. Iga bakar balado had quite a unique taste to it as it was meant to be hot and spicy (not your typical ribs, eh?). Rib (notice that it is only one rib) original barbecue on the other hand resembled your typical ribs with slightly juicy twist, Indonesian-style.

Iga bakar balado – 78.9k

Rib original barbecue – 78.9k

The dish that I actually ordered myself was smoked chicken with creamy mushroom sauce. You get nearly half a chicken with a hint of salsa and green veggies at the top. The chicken was perfectly cooked (well, in this case, smoked) and I was impressed with the combination of mushroom sauce and sweet and sour. They also have other flavours for the smoked chicken you are welcomed to try!

Smoked chicken with creamy mushroom sauce – 69.9k

I didn’t get to try the next two dishes. Its Spaghetti Bolognaise was nicely presented with two edible curiously-looking things sticking out of the noodles. If you look at its Lasagna alforno you have to admire its juicy and messy feel to it! Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty in it!

Spaghetti Bolognaise – 36.9k

Lasagna alforno – 36.9k

The final verdict for Choco Corner

All of the dishes were beautifully presented and done at Choco Corner Mal Artha Gading. Our favourites of the day were the Exotic Delight and Smoked Chicken. They were exotically different than other dishes I’ve eaten in Indonesia.

Did you know?

Choco Corner was a brainchild in 2009 of a reunion of classmates from Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB – Bogor Agricultural University) that wanted to promote cacao commodity. From a simple coffee corner, they expanded to full-blown restaurant service without leaving their core cocoa values!

Details:

Mal Artha Gading – Ground Floor

+62 21 458 641 99

Oct 24, 2014
Java Restaurant

Review:

I have wanted to go to this week’s restaurant for as long as I could remember, but we just kept delaying it… until now. Located in Randwick, Java Restaurant (the name is quite easy to remember, isn’t it?) is quite unassuming and you can easily miss it because of the old decor.

We were quite optimistic about the place because as we went for an early dinner, there were people already dined there. Sometimes good restaurants can simply be seen by the number of patrons eating there at odd hours of the day.

While we were there, we skipped all the regulars that we could find in other Indonesian restaurants around Sydney, with the exception of fried kwetiau. There were still quite a bit to choose from and we tried to order as much as we could eat them!

First off is Nasi Goreng Babat. It was Indonesian specialty fried rice with beef tripe (cow’s tummy). This dish came with traditional Indonesian crackers (melinjo), egg and sliced tomatoes. I have this guilty pleasure of enjoying quite about everything even when they are not the healthy option, because that’s where most of the great taste comes from!

Nasi Goreng Babat – $11.90 – Indonesian style fried rice with beef tripe and tomato slices

For the second dish, Semur Kepiting Sokak, I do not think the name reflects the description given. Traditionally speaking, semur is a rich, soup-based dish. Whereas this dish is deep fried soft shell crabs with sweet soy sauce and lots of onions and capsicums. It is still a great dish, but I think it should be named Kepiting Soka bumbu kecap (Soft shell crab with sweet soy sauce) instead of semur.

Semur Kepiting Sokak (Soft Shell Crab) – $20.90 – Lightly battered fried soft shell crab pieces topped with shallots, onions, and capsicum slices in butter sweet soya sauce

At the end of last month when we went to Ester, I was quite disappointed that they did not serve bone marrow. So I quickly made up my mind at the first sight of the word “bone marrow” in this restaurant. Better yet, it’s salt and pepper bone marrow with chopped chilli! They called the dish Sum sum Goreng.The Indonesian word for bone marrow is supposedly sumsum.

Sumsum Goreng – $14.90 – Salt and peppered lightly battered fried beef bone marrow pieces with cut chilli

Sumsum Goreng – $14.90 – Salt and peppered lightly battered fried beef bone marrow pieces with cut chilli

Kwetiau Goreng was our last dish of the day. It is quite a well balanced dish with good amount of chicken, fish cakes and prawns atop the thick rice noodles.

Kwetiau Goreng – $11.90 – Stir-fried thick rice noodles with chicken, egg, vegetables, fishcakes and small prawn pieces

Last, but definitely not least, Indonesians love to have avocado for desserts and/or drinks. Es Alpukat is a shaved ice (the menu said ‘crushed ice’) dessert with fresh avocado, coffe and condensed milk.

Es Alpukat – $5.80 – Fresh avocado pieces in coffee and condensed milk with crushed ice

The final verdict for Java Restaurant

There are quite a few ‘interesting’ descriptions in the menu at Java Restaurant. However in terms of taste, I must say they were up to my expectations!

Did you know?

A couple of months ago, my Dutch colleague asked me a question that he assumed every Indonesian should know: Where can I get a Rijst Tafel in Sydney?

Very clueless, I replied “What is Rijst Tafel? “. Apparently rijst tafel is a kind of extravagant, old-fashioned Indonesian meal that they have in the Netherlands that people spends countless hours preparing to impress their guests. They cook several Indonesian dishes and prepare them as a banquet-style meal where people share and enjoy the dishes together.

I knew NOTHING about it.

Amazingly, Java restaurant managed to actually have rijst tafel in their menu. So, I am even more impressed with them!

Rijst Tafel menu

Rating for Java Restaurant:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $10-20 for main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

151 Avoca Street, Randwick

+61 2 9398 6990

www.javarestaurant.com.au

Oct 14, 2014