Author: Ardi

Marque Restaurant

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Unfortunately, Marque Restaurant has closed its doors in 2016.

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Rating:

9 / 10 Taste: 9/10

10-course Degustation: $160 + $5 non-optional water

Place: 9/10

Review:

Marque Restaurant is currently sitting at number 61 in the Top 50 restaurants in the world. They were the 2011 Restaurant of the year (by Good Food Guide). There were very minimum decorations outside the restaurant, a black slab with their logo on it. You could easily miss it when you walked down Crown Street.

As with most degustation restaurants, they don’t serve a la carte menu. You do have a choice to add Cheese dish in your 10 degustation courses with/without matching wines.

Potato Maxims with Oyster and Wakame

The first dish was potato chips! Quite frankly wasn’t the start I would expect from a three-hat / top restaurant. It did come with sprinkled wakame seaweed and a gastronomically-transformed oyster. Obviously crispy, golden brown chips as one would expect from this restaurant.

Blue Swimmer Crab with Almond Gazpacho, Almond Jelly, Sweet Corn and Avruga

The second dish looked more sophisticated (it was harder to see since the plate was also white). The top layer was some kind of mousse sweet corn, followed by almond gazpacho and blue swimmer crab at the bottom with a side of Avruga caviar. There was a strong seafood taste for this dish and enhanced by the almond gazpacho.

Tiger Prawn with Avocado, Buttermilk, Hazelnut and Sea Urchin

A simple-looking dish was our third course with a pretty complicated taste. You could notice straight away the grilled avocado from the burnt side and the seared tiger prawn. The avocado was drizzled with sea salt. Mix them up with the gooey mixture in the middle and you got yourself a sour, salty, charred and slightly sweet taste in your mouth.

S.A. Calamari with Celery, Apple and Mushroom Broth

For the fourth course, I wasn’t sure why it had to be mentioned as ‘S.A. Calamari’ as opposed to regular calamari. It was brought to our table nice and clean with a pitch black squid ink cube. The waiter/waitress would then pour the mushroom broth into the plate and the cube quickly dissolved. It was an interesting combo of crunchy apple and celery with soft calamari and refreshing mushroom broth.

John Dory with Cabbage, Green Strawberries, Fish Milk and Roe

Our fifth dish began with a question ‘pickled green strawberries???’ According to wiki, it actually exists! The second ingredient foreign to us in the menu was fish milk. I still couldn’t figure out what it was.

Back to the dish, this one was truly worthy three hat status. The fish was incredible, and the additional sour taste of green strawberries and cabbage was perfect.

Sourdough and Rye Bread

Nice and filling bread half way through the meal was just exactly what I needed! A bit burnt on the side, but I managed to get two for my oversized tummy…

Organic Free Range Chicken with Pate, Leek and Shallot

Back to business for sixth course and the dish kept getting better. It is interesting how they grilled a stalk of leek and just present it cleanly on the plate. The highlight for the dish was the perfectly poached chicken with long, deep fried shallots. It was accompanied by a very soft (and yummy) pate.

Mandagery Creek Venison with Smoked Beetroot, Egg Yolk, Cured and Jam

Best dish of the day (according to me) was the seventh course. It was a raw venison meat with some herbs with egg yolk and smoked beetroot. Don’t think about the yucky raw meat you see every day in your butcher. It was nicely prepared and it was kind of similar to the Japanese/Korean Yukke. The smoked beetroot gave an extra sweet and refreshing feeling to the meat and it also cleansed your palate.

Mandagery Creek is an Australian Venison Farm. More details can be seen here.

Apricot, Coffee and Lemongrass

The eighth course looked like a blob of cream. However, one would expect a whole lot more than a blob of cream in a three hat restaurant. As a starter, when we smelled the dish, it was heavenly! Then you tried to dig in and that’s when the fun started. The outer layer was soft lemongrass cream with an apricot jam base. Inside the cream was this exciting ice cold coffee cream.

Cherries, Blood, and Chocolate

It was really hard to describe this ninth course. I only could identify the cherry sorbet on top and the bitter dark chocolate in the middle. However it was a whole lot more in the dish. There was the crackling burnt-caramel sheet, processed fruits (cherry?) around the sheet and salty taste coming from inside the bitter dark chocolate.

It was exciting, even when I am not a big fan of dark chocolate!

Sauternes Custard

For our last dish, we were given what looked like a soft boiled egg. When you scooped it up, you would notice that it was definitely not egg! It was very nice and soft custard with strong flavour of Sauternes wine.

By the way, the outer casing was really an egg shell.

Coffee and Tea

The Custard was served alongside your choice of coffee or tea.

The final verdict: I can understand why Marque is a three hat restaurant. However, if I compare it against Quay and Tetsuya, I would definitely choose those two. Granted that all of the courses were nice and flawless, but it lacked a dish that could make us say ‘Wow, I couldn’t stop talking about or thinking about it’.

Did you know?

Although one of our guests was pretty late in coming to the restaurant, my wife didn’t appreciate the way head maître d’ (which was apparently Mark Best’s wife) treating her and our son. I think she didn’t really fancy kids in the restaurant and she might have thought kids were troublemakers.

It was a little dent in our otherwise enjoyable culinary experience.

Details:

5/355 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010

+61 2 9332 2225

Jan 15, 2013
The Grounds of Alexandria – Breakfast Review

Rating:

8 / 10 Taste: 8/10

Price: $11 – $19 breakfast main

Place: 8/10

Review:

The Grounds of Alexandria is one of the hottest restaurants in Sydney. When I heard my friends describing it, it was always ‘come before 8 AM or you’ll be forced to wait for at least an hour!’ However, they also said ‘it was worth the wait.’

I finally got a chance to visit this fabled restaurant last week and I must say I am impressed! … and on a side note: No Queue! (I admit I cheated a bit by coming there on my day off Thursday Morning). Before you jump in to your car to visit the restaurant, make sure you turn your GPS on or you might need to make a very far U-turn if you missed it.

The Grounds of Alexandria gave us more than just a place ‘To eat and To drink’, it was a place to experience great coffee in a relaxing environment (you will see more pictures below). The front page of the menu also mentioned it was ‘made with skills and precision.’ There weren’t that many dishes that we tried this time because there were only the two of us.

Coffee was obviously our main focus coming to the restaurant. It reflected on what the waitress asked us to begin our breakfast ‘What coffee would you like to start with? ‘. I ordered my usual Café Latte. In addition to its great coffee, if you paid attention to the green saucer below (there was a small chip on it), it was actually designed like that.

The menu was divided into two, breakfast and lunch. Since we arrived quite early, we only could order from the breakfast menu. We ordered two dishes that caught our eyes the most.

Our first one was House Cured Ocean Trout – $19. It had quite a hi-tech description from the menu: Soft boiled eggs with dill crème fraiche, pickled cucumber, micro herbs and sourdough. I can simply say: one fine dish! The combination of cucumber and crème fraiche was incredibly refreshing and the soft boiled egg was perfect. Enter the trout and you got yourself a really good dish for breakfast.

On the opposite side, Lemon Myrtle Mushrooms ($16) looked dead simple and I loved the selection of mushrooms; Shimeji, enoki, field, baby button and woody mushrooms. These tasty mushrooms were cooked in The Grounds lemon myrtle butter. The lemon toned down the mushrooms’ woody and charred taste to a delectable level. To make it consistent, the fried egg and brioche enhanced the dry look of the dish.

The next two pictures had nothing to do with The Grounds’ food and beverages. I wanted to show you that even if you didn’t get a seat inside, the outdoor area was about the same size. There was no table service for outdoor area.

The final verdict for The Grounds of Alexandria

The Grounds of Alexandria really lived up to my expectations and I was happier as I didn’t need to queue to get a seat! The House Cured Ocean Trout was fabulous and I have tasted nothing like it before.

Did you know?

In the block where The Grounds of Alexandria is located, there are three other shops opened. With very limited parking spaces, finding a parking around the area might be a difficult task.

One of the shops there deserved a special mention: Salt Meats Cheese. They sell some things that I’ve never seen anywhere in Sydney.

Details:

Building 7a, 2 Huntley Street, Alexandria 2015

Phone: +61 2 9699 2225

Dec 26, 2012
Arisun

Rating:

7.5 / 10 Taste: 7.5/10

Price: $25 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

Arisun was the restaurant I always passed by on the way to Darling Harbour, until one day my friend suggested us to go there. Ever since that day, we always go there for a quick fix of fried chicken.

Did I say fried chicken? Yes, but not that kind of chicken joint you see in every suburb. The price seemed to be a bit much for a bowl of fried chickens, listed at $30 a bowl, but you did get a whole lot of chickens. Our favourite was the Sweet Soy sauce deep fried chicken. They were cooked to golden brown perfection and delight-ably crunchy. On the other end, you can get yourself Hot and spicy chicken with cheese: Melted cheese poured in a deep fried chicken with hot and spicy sauce. The cheese one will surely fill your tummy in no time.

If you want ultra-fast service, try one of their hotpots. They will bring it to you as soon as your waitress leaves you (I think they already have them prepared in the kitchen). My most favourite here is the Beef and Enoki Hotpot. It was a massive pot of soup with a generous serving of enoki and bulgogi (Korean beef). It was also filled with glass noodles and all kinds of vegetables. A seriously great options for winter.

The other two that we have tried so far are the Sausage Hotpot and Spicy Rice Cake, Mixed Tempura Hotpot ($24). Both of them were hot and spicy. Personally, I didn’t like either of them since there was a monotonous feel to it. The tempura one for example didn’t remotely look like a tempura. It’s more like fish cakes. The two tone noodles (rice noodles and instant noodles) were questionable at best.

Last but not least, their Seafood Black bean Noodles ($12) are to die for! I think this is THE gem that most food blogs missed out. It looked kinda gross with the dark colour goo, but taste wise, it was fantastic. There was also a vegetarian option for this.

The final verdict for Arisun

Well, there is only one verdict, isn’t there? Chicken! The front page of the menu said it, the first page of the menu showed it… There was one other dish I would recommend: Black bean noodles! I came back to Arisun because of these two.

Did you know?

Like any other Korean restaurants, it can be quite expensive if you eat in with just two people. However, if you are with a group of people, the cost can be significantly lower.

I don’t suggest their Seafood pancakes since they weren’t as good as other seafood pancakes in Sydney.

Details:

1 Dixon Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: +61 2 9264 1588

Dec 21, 2012
Mie Kocok Bandung

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7/10

Price: $7.50-$10.50

Place: 6.5/10

Review:

Started in 2003, Mie Kocok Bandung has served my friends and families well for as long as I can remember. It can be quite busy on Sunday afternoon in the restaurant. Other than that, you will most likely get a table. I know the restaurant name is Mie Kocok Bandung, but I have never ordered their Mie Kocok. Mie kocok if translated literally is ‘Shaken Noodles’.

With the entrée, I always ordered the first one: Pangsit Goreng. They are ten deep fried wontons with chicken fillings. The wontons worked really well with the accompanying sweet and sour sauce. I liked its crunchy texture and on top of that it was the perfect dish to build up your appetite for your noodles. Alternatively, you could also order Siomay Goreng, fried fishcake served with spicy peanut sauce. This was also a sweet dish and was actually considered a main dish in the city of Bandung.

For our first main course, in the menu listing there are a bunch of combinations that might confuse some people. To break it down quite easily, it was an egg noodle with mince chicken and chicken soup called Yamin. You can then choose if you want it sweet or savoury, I chose sweet. Lastly you choose what you want with it, you can have meatballs, wontons, tendons, or combination of them all. I always like the Combination Sweet Yamin (Yamin manis komplit).

Mie Panorama is very famous in Makassar (city where the restaurant owner came from). The description from the menu said it was egg noodle topped with BBQ Pork, steamed chicken, fried and steamed chicken wonton.

I might give you a brief description of the next dish as some people might not appreciate it. It was an Oxtail soup. The dish is very well known, especially in East Java. It was a boiled and seasoned oxtail with vegetables (carrots and potatoes) and melinjo in clear soup. The long boiled oxtail was very tender.

My personal favourite in Mie Kocok Bandung was its Lo Mie. Lo Mie is egg noodle with thick and sweet soup base. It came with the usual add-ons: meatballs, minced beef, mushrooms, bean sprouts and green veggies. This would be one of the most filling (and possibly cheapest – $10 a bowl) noodles you could find in Sydney.

The final verdict for Mie Kocok Bandung

Mie Kocok Bandung is one of the well-known Indonesian restaurants in Sydney. Personally, I love their Lo Mie and Pangsit Goreng.

Did you know?

There used to be three Indonesian restaurants in Maroubra road, however two of them shut down this year with only Mie Kocok Bandung remaining. Recently, a new Indonesian restaurant opened up, but rumour has it that it isn’t that good.

Details:

Shop 1, 108 Maroubra Road, Maroubra 2035

Phone: +61 2 8347 2322

Mie Kocok Bandung on Facebook

Dec 1, 2012
Sizzler

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7/10

Price: $28-$37 per main course
(+ unlimited salad bar)

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Two years ago I reviewed its ‘alleged’ copycat in Surabaya, called American Grill. I finally got the chance to review the self-proclaimed legendary salad bar’s restaurant, Sizzler. We visited Sizzler St George in Kogarah. The venue was incredibly spacious and was perfect for a pretty big group. The only downside is you can’t book in advance.

So, how does it work? When you enter the restaurant, the menu pages are printed on the wall for easy viewing. When you ordered one of the main courses, you are entitled to unlimited and free access to their ‘legendary’ salad bar. You can choose to have the salad bar only for $24.50. I will explain about it towards the end of the review. You can also order refillable drink for $3.95. You are entitled for either hot drinks (coffee and tea) or soft drinks (including water).

Since I am a big fan of rump steak, my obvious choice was Steak & Big BBQ Garlic Prawns combo ($37). It was a smallish (200 gr) rump steak grilled to your liking with a side of mashed potato with (luckily) three big grilled prawns and mushroom sauce. I was quite content with the steak despite of the size. Alternatively, you could also order Steak with Salt & Pepper Calamari ($31). Instead of the prawns, you were served with a handful of calamari. It is a nice alternative if you dislike crustaceans.

The heaviest dish on the menu is the T-Bone Steak. It was listed on the menu as 500 gr, although part of it is the weight of the bone. It also came with complimentary sides and sauce.

There is also a rather special menu (more expensive than regular rump, at $34 ^_^): Royal Blue Rib Eye. The description stated grass-fed MSA royal blue rib eye. I wasn’t really sure what the difference with the rump steak was. It, did, however came with sweet potato fries, steamed broccolini and a choice of sauce.

Now, let’s talk about the legendary salad bar. You will be offered cheese toast as soon as you’re comfortable on your seat. There is one giant table full of food in the main salad bar. In this part of the bar, you can get fruits, salads, condiments, and, my personal favourite, jacket potatoes. If you need more carbs, there is also the pasta and soup area on the salad bar.

The dessert bar isn’t as big as the main salad bar, but it sure is pretty famous amongst ladies and kids. In addition to the desserts in the picture, you could also get soft ice cream and all kinds of jelly beans, marshmallows, chocolates to go with your ice cream. You can be as creative as you can be with the dessert.

The final verdict for Sizzler

Sizzler is definitely one of the more cost effective all you can eat restaurants in Sydney, although technically the all you can eat portion is only the salad bar.

Details:

Cnr Princes Highway & Jubilee Avenue, Kogarah

Phone: +61 2 9553 8657

http://www.sizzler.com.au/

Nov 18, 2012
Khing Thai

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7/10

Price: $40-$60

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Before you go nuts on the total price here, I must say that we ordered way too much for our tummy’s capacity. The whole fish was so big that we didn’t even finish a quarter of it! Let’s just rewind a bit, and I’ll explain in more details…

We went to Khing Thai restaurant because we were told by our friend that this restaurant was worth a visit. We were very impressed with the place. It had a nice and cosy feeling about it. They had a nice open kitchen setting (like any modern Thai places these days) and comfy table (and sofa) seating arrangements.

Soft Shell Crab – $9.90 – Deep-fried and crispy salt and peppered soft shell crab served with mixed salad and pickled ginger

The first dish got me thinking ‘I was right to order four dishes’ since it was a solitary crab. It was nice and crunchy with the usual optional sweet chili sauce.

Thai Fried Rice – $10.90 – Traditional Thai fried rice with egg, onion, cherry tomato and Chinese broccoli sprinkle with ground white pepper

The thought began to shift when I saw the fried rice’s portion. The picture didn’t really do justice since it was only compared to the size of plate. We could have just ordered two plates of fried rice and still left with a full tummy!

BBQ Chicken – $14.90 – Sliced chicken breast, grilled and marinated in turmeric powder and traditional Thai herbs served with mixed salad and sweet chilli sauce

Our next dish was a generous serving of BBQ chicken. They were perfectly grilled slices of chicken breast. You had a choice of making it sweeter with the sweet chili sauce or saltier with the soy chili sauce. If you ordered Thai Fried Rice like me, I suggest you leave both sauces and just enjoy it as is. The chicken itself already had a char-grill sweetness to it.

Whole Fish Khing Soy Sauce – $24.90 – Khing Thai’s homemade soy sauce made with young ginger strips, crushed garlic, soy bean, onions and shallots

We were in awe when the fish was brought out. It was one gigantic fish on a plate! They said we were lucky that the fishes in the market that day were all big. The fish’s size didn’t compromise its taste. It was perfectly steamed and very rich in flavour.

The final verdict for Khing Thai

Although it might be just above university students’ price range, Khing Thai delivered larger-than-usual dishes to make up for it. Coupled this with nice seating arrangements and you got yourself a decent place to eat in Kensington.

Details:

1/240-268 Anzac Parade, Kensington

Phone: +61 2 9662 0900

http://khingthai.com/

Nov 4, 2012