Author: Ardi

Kubota Japanese Cuisine

Kubota Japanese Cuisine review:

We were walking down Audley street in Petersham when my son saw this little Japanese restaurant called Kubota Japanese Cuisine. We didn’t go in the first place but promised him we would be back.

After researching about the restaurant, I found out that it has only been recently opened. The price listed on the menu was actually pretty reasonable for a Japanese restaurant.

Age Mochi – $7.5 – Crispy deep fried Mochi in sweetened soya sauce

We were pretty curious when we saw age mochi on the menu. I always thought that mochi is only good for desserts. However, they made sure when they coated that mochi with agedashi it is as tasty as its tofu sibling.

The dish is quickly becoming one of our favourites.

Japanese Sweet Omelette – $1.2 per piece – Sweet Japanese-style omelette

I like a good and simple Japanese omelette. They are pretty light, fluffy and slightly sweet.

Deep-fried Crispy Squid tentacles – $7.5

Geso karaage is another staple snack that we usually ordered in an izakaya. They went pretty well with a pint of beer or sake.

Karaage (main size) – $18.5 – Japanese style deep fried chicken

The karaage at Kubota is pretty old-fashioned. Instead of the usual ‘Western’ style that is slightly sweet. This was plain old crunchy and savoury.

Grilled Salmon in foil – $19.5 – with spicy miso butter sauce and variety mushrooms

Our last dish came from the ‘today’s special’ board. They could work more on the presentation and title. However, the taste was amazing. It wasn’t really spicy as advertised. However, it’s already very different than most Japanese dishes.

The final verdict for Kubota Japanese Cuisine

Kubota is a pretty decent restaurant in Inner West.

Do you think I should go?

We like the restaurant because of the vicinity with our place. However, it is probably not a destination you would specifically go to for a Japanese cuisine.!

Rating:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $20 main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 1 & 2 98-106 Audley St, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9569 7774

Kubota Japanese cuisine on facebook

Jun 17, 2019
Ellenborough Market Cafe

Ellenborough Market Cafe Review:

When I went to Singapore last month, we went to a buffet restaurant called Ellenborough Market Cafe in Swissotel Merchant Court. The dining area was nicely decorated with a little pool of water in the middle. We also could see a couple of chefs hand-rolling our dumplings. It was a very nice first impression to the restaurant.

Before I start talking about the food, I just want to say that the review below did not include every available menu on offer at the restaurant. There were just too many of them!

Bain-Marie

The list was quite extensive in the bain-marie section as it tries to cater to almost every demographics in Singapore. The ones in the slide below are: lobster (however it looked more of a Balmain bug in Sydney), otak-otak ( a traditional dish from the region), and babi pongteh (slow braised pork).

Seafood

The seafood options were very extensive. It is probably even more than some Japanese restaurants in Sydney. You can find 2 different sashimi, 4 sushi, baby octopus, seaweed. There are also cold seafood dishes like prawn, crab, mussels and escargot. In addition to the fresh seafood area, they also provided hot and cooked versions.

Others

There is a dish that I’m not familiar about but sit at a very prominent location. The dish is called Kueh Pie Tee. It was more of a DIY station than a complete set. They also have the roast meat section, cheese and salad.

Desserts

One of the most amazing things about this restaurant is the availability of (not just one, but) two durian dishes! I always thought you could not bring durian into the hotel. But then again, the durian in the restaurant wasn’t exuding that lovely (or horrible, depending on whether you are team durian or not) smell.

One was more on a creamy side and the other, deep fried!

If durian is not your thing, they also have a whole display full of desserts.

The Final Verdict for Ellenborough Market Cafe:

All you can eat lobster and durian? and did you also see that sashimi and fresh snails? I’m sure you know what my verdict is.

Do you think I should go?

When you are ever in Singapore and are in needs of a buffet, Ellenborough Market Cafe will be a good fit for you!

Rating:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: S$68 dinner buffet

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

20 Merchant Road, Level 1 Swissotel Merchant Court 058281

+65 6239 1847

Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel

Jun 3, 2019
Kafeine Balmain

Kafeine Balmain review:

It was a pretty uneventful Sunday and we just happened to be in Balmain. We decided to try a cafe called Kafeine. The cafe itself was quite busy but we managed to get a seat there.

I was actually quite surprised when I browsed through the menu. The menu consists of a few Asian ingredients here and there. When I checked with the people at Kafeine, they mentioned that they were all from Indonesia. Some of the combination was quite interesting and we decided to give it a go.

Kafeine Balmain – Menu

Breakfast Tasting Plate – $22.90 – Corn fritters, eggs benedict, smoked salmon& black sticky rice porridge

This is the one plate-fits-all approach at Kafeine. You basically don’t need to order anything else. You pretty much get entree, main and dessert in one plate. It is also the fastest way to try a lot of the menu in the store.

I would like to mention that the black sticky rice porridge is actually pretty heavy. Make sure you save some space for that dessert.

Salmon Paradiso – $22.90 – Grilled Atlantic crispy skin salmon, 65-degree Za’atar egg, pickled ginger, asparagus, currants, pecans & brown rice salad

This is another pretty substantial dish that was available at Kafeine. They gave us a bucket load of brown rice. The dish itself reminds me of Hawaiian poke bowl but with grilled salmon.

Volcano Dog – $18.90 – Fried egg, beef sausage, chili con carne, cheddar cheese on a croissant

Chili dog on a croissant? who doesn’t want to try! It was a little bit harder to hold when compared to a hot dog as the croissant is notoriously flaky.

Having said that, I actually quite like the combination. It was very filling but without the ‘stuffed’ feeling.

Ice Chendol Flavour Pancakes – $17.90 – Pandan coconut pancakes, fresh cut fruit, coconut flakes, coconut palm sugar sauce and vanilla ice cream

Ice Chendol is an Indonesian/Malaysian rice flour dessert that was usually served on glass with ice. They deconstructed this and made pancakes instead with vanilla ice cream and a few cuts of fruit. They keep the palm sugar sauce element intact.

Chia Pudding – $15.90 – Soaked chia seed in coconut & strawberry juice, mango puree, toasted coconut & fresh cut fruits

I love the chia seed pudding.

Latte – $3.80

The final verdict for Kafeine Balmain

We went to Kafeine in Balmain out of convenience. But we left the cafe already thinking about when we should go back!

Do you think I should go?

Definitely!

Rating:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $23 main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

260 Darling Street, Balmain 2041

+61 2 9555 1140

http://www.kafeine.com.au/

May 19, 2019
COOH Alexandria

COOH Alexandria Review:

Alexandria, especially the area around The Grounds, has become some sort of hot spot for up-and-coming restaurants in Sydney. COOH Alexandria is situated just across the Grounds. They have a massive dining space with quite a lot of tables. It could get a bit too loud when the restaurant is full.

We went there for lunch. There were quite a lot of vegetarian options on the menu. One of my friends was looking for some kind of steak but the only beef on the menu was burger.

Chicken Burger – $16 / $20 with chips – Free range hormone free marinated chicken breast with free range nitrate free bacon, cheese, smashed avo, rocket & tzatziki served on an organic charcoal bun

There were quite a lot of fancy words in the menu for the chicken burger. The charcoal bun stole the spotlight for the burger.

Moroccan Lamb & Quinoa Salad – $26 – Chermoula marinated free range junne lamb rump served medium, sweet potato, coriander, currants, caramelised onion, cherry tomatoes & mint yoghurt

I have never seen a lamb dish that could look so healthy before. I admire how they could make it into something that looked quite delicate.

Grilled Salmon & Soba Noodle Salad – $28 – Grilled ora king salmon with soba noodles, pickled ginger, avocado, ponzu dressing, coriander & mint

I don’t know how to describe it, but this combination worked. I liked how the lightness of Japanese-style soba was paired up with the grilled salmon and a slice of avocado.

Seared Tuna Salad – $25 – Spice crusted tuna with spiralised salad, jalapeno salsa & avocado puree

Going along with COOH’s team of light and heavy dishes, the seared tuna salad did just that. On one side, you have a mixture of salad and on the other side you had avocado puree topped with seared tuna.

Desserts

Chocolate brownie & jasmine cream – $15 – Fudge macadamia brownie with jasmine infused ganache monte & plant-based peanut butter ice cream

I’m not a big fan of chocolate, but this one was a bit better than our second dish. They chose to pair the brownie with jasmine cream and peanut butter ice cream. The resulting dish was this semi sweet and savoury dessert.

Pineapple & coconut verrine – $15 – Almond cake, coconut-chia cream, poached pineapple & lime sorbet

Unfortunately the second dessert didn’t impress us like the first. It was super sweet.

The final verdict for COOH Alexandria

COOH Alexandria serves quite a balanced dish.

Do you think I should go?

I’ve been to the restaurant twice and both times the food wasn’t too bad. However, the service could probably be improved. In saying that, I couldn’t really blame them either as there was only a handful of them in that massive space.

Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $20 – $28 main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

90 – 96 Bourke Road, Alexandria 2015

+61 2 9002 1333

https://www.cooh.com.au/

May 6, 2019
Blaxland Inn

Blaxland Inn Review:

In our annual trip to the Hunter Valley region, we went to Blaxland Inn restaurant. Since Zomato isn’t exactly a reliable source for this region, we decided to try them out based on their menu offerings.

Blaxland Inn is located in the main road leading to the centre of Pokolbin. When we were there, there was a renovation going on the building next door. The restaurant itself was looking quite vintage.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio – $18 –White truffle oil, parmesan crumb and grissini

Beef carpaccio has always been my favourites for a long time. We loved the carpaccio at Blaxland Inn. The beef was melting in my mouth with quite a strong taste of truffle oil and parmesan.

House made char grilled flat breads – $10 – with warm olives and labna

This entrée is the perfect dish to be shared at the beginning of the dinner. They served a generous serving of olives with a nice blob of labna. There weren’t too much bread tho.

300g Rib Eye – $39 – with mashed potato and creamy brandy mushroom

Rib eye is one of the three steaks that they served in the restaurant. In addition to the steak, you get a complimentary side dish and sauce. There were 5 different sides and 4 sauces to choose from. They were $6 and $2 respectively if you would like a second serving. For the rib eye, my father opted for a more traditional match: mashed potato and mushroom sauce. I was not a big fan of the mushroom sauce.

250g Scotch – $36 – with roast garlic & rosemary butter and roasted cauliflower with za’atar spiced hummus, honey and almonds

Scotch fillet was the dish that I chose. As usual, I liked my steak medium rare. Instead of the sauce, I chose the roast garlic and rosemary butter. They gave three generous pieces. I don’t really want to count that calories!

The roasted cauliflower side that I ordered was so good that we ordered another one to be shared with the whole table!

Wild mushroom papperdelle pasta – $27 – with garlic, sage, lemon, almonds and parmesan cheese.

I didn’t really try the pappardelle but it was quite decent. For an extra $10, you could add 5 garlic prawns into the dish.

Chocolate Tart – $15

I couldn’t remember the exact dish that we ordered for the dessert, but I recalled that the ice cream was pretty good and the tart itself was quite dense. Considering that chocolate wasn’t my favourite thing, I wasn’t a big fan of this.

The final verdict for Blaxland Inn

We enjoyed our dinner at Blaxland Inn, especially the carpaccio and scotch fillet.

Do you think I should go?

There aren’t many restaurants to choose from in Hunter Valley, especially during weekdays. Blaxland Inn is probably one of the few we would visit.

Rating for Blaxland Inn:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $27 – $39 per main dish

Place: 7.5/ 10

Details:

2198 Broke Road, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin 2320

+61 2 4998 7550

Blaxland Inn’s Website

Apr 29, 2019
Indonesian-style Butter Chicken Recipe
For this recipe, we loosely translated the Indonesian-style butter chicken recipe from an Indonesian website, selerasa, because one of my friends are dreaming about it since he tasted one in Bali. Unlike all of our other recipes, this one I did not manage to create.

What do we need to make Indonesian-style Butter Chicken?
1. One whole chicken
2. One lime, squeezed
3. Salt
For its marinade and sauce:
1. 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
2. 4 cloves of garlic, coarsely ground
3. 3 tbsp of margarine
4. 1 segment of ginger, coarsely ground
5. 2 tbsp of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
6. 3 limes, squeezed
7. 1 onion, diced
8. Cooking Oil
9. Salt and Pepper
The preparation for making
Indonesian-style Butter Chicken
1. The most obvious thing is to prepare for the chicken. If you buy a whole chicken, you will need to clean it up and chop it into 16 sections or more, depending on your preference.
2. After cleaned and chopped, put the chicken into a bowl and slather in lime juice and salt. Put aside for around 10 minutes.
How do we make the
Indonesian-style Butter Chicken?
1. After 10 minutes, put in the Worcestershire sauce with the salt and pepper. Mix them up until the chicken pieces are covered evenly. Put aside for at least another 10 minutes to let the marinade seep in.
2. Heat up cooking oil on a pan and stir fry the garlic until it smells fragrance.
3. Put the onion and ginger. Stir fry them further until the fragrance smell of onion pops out.
4. Put the chicken into the pan and stir it until the chicken is dry and change colour into golden brown.
5. Once it changes colour, put in the margarine and mix until the margarine melted.
6. Lastly, pour the sweet soy sauce over and wait until the chicken is dry and cooked evenly.
A little tips to make your perfect Indonesian-style Butter Chicken
1. Indonesian-style butter chicken is meant to be super sticky and dry. If you want it a bit more moist, you might want to shorten the time needed to cook it in sweet soy sauce and margarine.
Mar 20, 2019