Author: Ardi

Kitchen by Mike

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message color=”alert-info”]

Unfortunately, Kitchen by Mike has closed its doors in 2016. Chef Mike opens a new restaurant called No. 1 Bent St.

[/vc_message][vc_column_text]

Rating:

8 / 10 Taste: 8/10

Price: $11 – $54

Place: 7/10

Review:

Kitchen by Mike fantastically transformed a very old warehouse into a rustic, communal-type restaurant. Interestingly enough, they only served breakfast and lunch seven days a week. Their menu is constantly changing depending on the seasonal product available on the market. Instead of the usual table service with menu, Kitchen by Mike displayed all dishes they cooked today in a display table.

On the left most of the table were stacks of sourdough bread and a fattening-looking butter. It was a quite pricey Sourdough slice and butter ($3.5). However since my last sourdough disaster, this one tasted so damn good. To top it off, the butter was delicately soft and tasty.

The only meaty dishes for Kitchen by Mike were the first couple of dishes on the table. It was really hard to miss the Ham, Cumberland sauce and Champ since it was intimidatingly massive. The addition of Cumberland sauce gave it a nice and sweet flavour and champ (mashed potatoes with spring onion) added a smooth complexity of the mashed. At a price point of $11.5, this dish is really worth buying.

For the same price, we could also opt for Roasted chicken, sweet corn, and Harissa. Harissa is a chili (piri piri) sauce originated from Libya or Tunisia.

The bulk of their dishes are salad. They are both cheaper and vary in colour and taste. Although I am not a big fan of it, I still managed to order two dishes. Cabbage and walnut apple salad ($4.5) was the better of them two. It was a crunchy type salad with delectably refreshing. Woodfired butternut squash, pomegranate and coyo was the more expensive one at $5.5 and not the one I particularly liked.

Kitchen by Mike also catered for small eater where you could get a whole range of sandwich, tart and tartine from the next part of the menu.

Finally, dessert time! There were five options for this but our eventual choice went to Olive oil sponge cake with strawberry ($7) since we really couldn’t take that much for a lunch. I remembered my son really loved this dish but I just couldn’t get past our earlier dishes.

Even after tasting that many dishes, there were still a lot more that we didn’t try this time. There was a Chorizo and Chickpea soup in a pot that we could not see. Other salads, including Watermelon Salad, looked oh-so-healthy. There was also a massive looking pizza that was most likely be Margherita Pizza.

The final verdict for Kitchen by Mike

Kitchen by Mike is interestingly different than any other restaurants. Not only they are closed for dinner (with the exception of private functions), they also didn’t have a fixed menu. You can see and choose the dishes you want to eat.

Did you know?

Kitchen by Mike is connected to a furniture show room, Koskela. This joint space created a spacious effect to the restaurant.

Details:

85 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery NSW 2018

+61 2 9045 0910

Oct 26, 2012
2012 Sydney International Food Festival

2012 Sydney International Food Festival, also known as Crave Sydney, is an annual event that is held throughout the month of October.

In 2012, the list of participants and sponsors is already a mile long. If you go to their website, you can search the festival program for any events that you might fancy.

There are six main or feature events for the 2012 Sydney International Food Festival

1. World Chef Showcase

2. Showcase Dinners

3. Breakfast on Bondi

4. Barbecue Madness

5. Night Noodle Markets

6. Shoot the Chef

Website:

http://www.goodfoodmonth.com/

Oct 15, 2012
Tomislav Restaurant

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message color=”alert-info”]

Unfortunately, Tomislav has closed its doors for good.

[/vc_message][vc_column_text]

Rating:

8 / 10 Taste: 8/10

4-course degustation: $94

Place: 8/10

Review:

We went to Tomislav Restaurant for my birthday last week, that’s why this review was expedited instead of the one showing in ‘Next Week’s Menu’ 🙂

You have two options when dining at Tomislav: A four-course dinner or an eight-course dinner. Within the four-course menu, there are four options for each course. However, since there were eight of us, I had to take one of the options off the menu. It was good to see that the menu was specifically catered for us (i.e. only displaying three, instead of four, options).

To start

Luckily I glanced at other reviews before I went to Tomislav. Otherwise, I would’ve missed this delightful entrée. It was simply named Rice Crackers. Before you think about those supermarket brands, rest assured that it wasn’t. They were fine and delicate sheets of rice crackers. For an added sensation to the dining, the sea salt and vinegar option came in a mist spray bottle. We were quite playful with the mist spray and had a very high excitement level!

There were complimentary Bread and Butter before starting the courses. The butter was exceptionally smooth and soft with a hint of coffee! Unfortunately I was only given a tiny piece and that was the only piece I got for the whole night.

Course 1

I was over the moon when the first course arrived. It was Scampi Carpaccio with sour cream and pumpkin juice. The juice was poured from a test tube prior to us eating the course. We couldn’t really see the scampi since it was all covered by condiments. All of the elements worked so well together.

I also managed to try Venison Tartare with quail yolk, mint crumbs and crackers. I felt pretty bad in poaching the tartare from my wife as it was already very small to begin with. It was pretty in the presentation.

Course 2

Another pretty-but-small dish arrived for my second course, Poached Hen’s Yolk with foie gras and green peas. I am not quite sure why the Hen’s yolk was the highlight of the dish when the foie gras clearly dominated the plate.

I was a little bit envious with the people who ordered Grilled Blackmore’s tongue with beetroot and malt ice cream. Two perfectly grilled blackmore’s tongue with grilled onion were so good, especially with a touch of beetroot sauce.

Course 3

Roast Lamb Belly with wasabi and grilled pineapple was my next dish. The wasabi in this dish wasn’t hot at all. On the contrary, it was so smooth and there was no hurt-your-nose sensation after you tasted one. It was a generous serving of lamb belly, perfectly roasted so that you could feel its juice mixing with the sauce. It was an overall sweet and savoury dish.

Roast Veal Sweetbread with purple onions and popcorn milk was the other one I tasted. It was also quite a sweet dish, courtesy of the onions and milk.

Course 4

The least appealing of the three, my last course, Caramel Pudding with toasted walnuts and yoghurt sorbet, arrived. I think the burnt caramel taste over-powered the smooth yoghurt sorbet. I wasn’t too happy for it to be my last dish of the day.

The cheesecake in Vanilla Cheesecake with apple ice and roast apple ice cream was presented in two ways: a diced sturdy form and the more emulsified one. It was a nice combination of sour and cold apple with the heavier cheesecake.

Third set

For the last set of degustation, some of our friends ordered them but I didn’t have a chance to taste. Poached Yellow Fin Tuna looked a bit too tiny for me, but the Roast Quail looked pretty apetising.

Similarly, the braised beef short ribs wouldn’t stand a chance against my lamb belly. The milk chocolate cream cake on the other hand looked very interesting and I wish I could’ve ordered that instead of my caramel.

The final verdict for Tomislav Restaurant

Tomislav Restaurant earned the rights to be amongst the elite restaurants in Sydney. We had a mixed review of individual dishes, but the overall feeling was an enjoyable one. I would have loved it even more if I wasn’t still hungry at the end of the service, since they only served the bread once.

Did you know?

Although Tomislav is technically in Darlinghurst, It is actually located on the opposite of the big coca-cola sign in King’s Cross.

Just like any other top restaurants, don’t expect to see the same menu in a different season. They would keep rotating the menu to freshen up.

Details:

2/13 Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

+61 2 9356 4535

http://www.tomislav.com.au/

Oct 7, 2012
Niji Sushi Bar

Rating:

8 / 10 Taste: 8/10

Total Price: $75.5 for two

Place: 8.5/10

Review:

Niji sushi bar is the newest restaurant in kingsford. Being a sushi train restaurant, it was a bit tricky to write the review, especially with the overwhelming number of dishes available. As usual, the plates are colour coded according to their price.

However, as I will share a bit later in the review, Niji sushi bar is not all about sushi. In their menu, they also referred to themselves as Japanese Izakaya. Izakaya is normally a drinking establishment that translates to ‘to stay at a sake shop’.

Sushi

We skipped on the usual suspects, like Salmon or Scallops, and opted for a more adventurous Beef tataki sushi. We also had a trio of easy-to-digest dishes for my son: tamago sushi, seaweed, cooked tuna mini roll. It ticked all boxes for ‘sushi the way it should be’.

Sushi rolls

They had a generous serving of sushi rolls in a plate (four pieces to be exact). We tried quite a number of rolls with different price range. Tofu roll would be the obvious vegetarian dish with its nice and sweet tofu skin. We then have Salmon sesame with avocado and cheese. On the higher end, we had Aburi salmon roll with avocado and cucumber and Prawn and Avocado roll.

Hot dishes

One of the two unusual items in the menu was placed right on the first page. As soon as I saw Scampi Miso on the menu, I knew I had to have it. Its presentation might be a bit intimidating to some people but the miso soup really sure packed a punch. I would rather enjoy fresh scampi on a sushi, since I think I couldn’t differentiate the cooked scampi’s texture. My son wanted to grab the Takoyaki and they were pretty decent.

There were three different kinds of Soft Shell Crab in the menu and we chose the plate menu. The crab was both soft and crispy with additional seaweed flakes. The combination of flakes and wasabi mayonnaise created an extra dimension of taste in the crab. We also enjoyed the Salt and pepper Squid.

Robatayaki

Wagyu beef robatayaki was the second item that caught my eyes. Seriously, wagyu beef for $6.50, who wouldn’t want that? I was even happier when the plate was finally delivered: there were two skewers of wagyu! The beef was perfectly grilled and seriously mouth-watering. I actually had to order a second plate because they were just too good (and good value for money too!). They were delightfully tender and incredibly yummy.

Dessert

I must admit I was surprised when the waitress suggested us Crème Brulee. It was very well presented and had the correct elements. I felt that it was just lacking a bit of the red bean filling.

The final verdict for Niji Sushi Bar

Niji Sushi Bar was the one thing Kingsford has been missing all this time, a nice sushi bar. Niji has a large assortment of dishes on its arsenal and still managed to deliver quality sushi. You should seriously consider ordering Scampi Miso or Wagyu Beef Robatayaki.

Details:

333 Anzac Parade, Kingsford

+61 2 8068 4849

http://www.nijisushi.com.au/

Sep 19, 2012
Good Food Guide 2013 Winners

A list of Good Food Guide 2013 winners was announced two days ago in SMH.

Quay restaurant is the Good Food Guide 2013 Winners

All About Food would like to congratulate Quay for reclaiming the top spot. It marked the fifth time in the last ten years that Quay has won the awards. They won it in the year 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2013.

Our date with the restaurant was written in the Quay restaurant review in November 2010. We were drawn to it by the appearance of Snow Egg in Masterchef.

Other Good Food Guide 2013 winners as seen in All About Food Blog

We have also visited the diner’s choice award recipient, Tetsuya’s , more recently.

Later on this month – to be published next month – we will bring you another restaurant from the list, Tomislav .

For a full list of winners in 2013, please visit SMH’s Good Food Guide.

Sep 5, 2012
Moroccan Feast

Rating:

7.5 / 10 Taste: 7.5/10

Total Price: $86 before discount

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Our first journey to the African cuisine started in a restaurant called Moroccan Feast. We went to the restaurant out of pure coincidence. We wanted to taste something different, yet still available at decent price, with the help of Entertainment book’s discount.

Moroccan Feast’s interior design was dominated by clay, from the tables to the main dishes’ tagines. This exotic design coupled with the hospitality, we knew we were prepped for a treat. I tried their drink Hot Apple Cider with Cinnamon Stick – $3.50 – and it was a really nice and soothing drink. Incredibly to begin with, especially with its glass and not a mug, but once you got rid of the steam, you would find a sweet cinnamon and sour apple drink – perfect for winter!

The night didn’t start so well with the average-looking dish, Duck Pate served on a crunchy pita base (5 pieces $11). It was an orange dish of five grey blobs with a bowl of sauce in the middle. It quickly turned 180° when the waiter gave us a shot of honey. It interacted with the duck pate really well and added an extra sweetness to the bitter and savoury pate.

Our next entrée had quite a bit of explanation, Agadir Feast (small – $18). It was a combination of 4 salads and/or dips with pita bread. There were nine different items, but here were the four we got: Casablanca Carrot (Moroccan herbs and chilled), Fez Matbuh (marinade of tomato, capsicum, chilli garlic), Eggplant Dip (farlic lemon salt), Cabbage salad with coriander and fresh herbs. I have always been a sucker for eggplant dip, so I am really subjective in this part!

We were wowed by the main dishes since they came in full tagines (plus the waiter used mitts to deliver it to us!). For the first one we chose Marrakesh Chicken (on the bone) – $23 – the menu stated that the dish was cooked with paprika, tomato and Moroccan spices and served with cooked olives on the side. All of the main dishes came with couscous. I think it’s the perfect combination to the dish.

The best dish came in last: Lamb Tajine ($27) with caramelised onion, slow cooked prunes, sultanas, almonds and cinnamon. It was one of the most amazing lamb dishes I’ve ever had. The lamb was so perfectly cooked it came off the bone rather easily. The combination of sultanas, caramelised onion, cinnamon and prunes created an exotic sweetness to the dish. Super soft lamb, not smelly, in a rather big portion… what’s not to love about it?

The final verdict for Moroccan Feast

Moroccan Feast restaurant delivered a great culinary experience. Excellent customer service with nice food also created an evening to remember. I can still remember how nice their Lamb Tajine was.

Did you know?

This is officially our first review of African cuisine. I had a brief look in Wikipedia for Moroccan cuisine and saw that the names of dishes in Moroccan Feast restaurant represented a vast range of important names in Moroccan food history. One thing that I didn’t order was the traditional Moroccan mint tea.

Details:

127 Avoca Street, Randwick

+61 2 9399 9882

Moroccan Feast on facebook

Sep 4, 2012