As seen on Sydney Morning Herald on the 2012 Good Food Guide Awards, We would like to congratulate Sepia as the new top restaurant for the year 2012. Hopefully, we can secure a seat to give you an in-depth look for the new champions 🙂 Stay tune…
Author: Ardi
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Charing Cross Pizza
Rating:6.5 / 10Taste: 6/10Price: $31.5 per personPlace: 7/10Review:
When I first got invited to Charing Cross Pizza, my initial reaction was ‘Isn’t that a small pizza joint (that doesn’t even have a place to sit)?’ I drive past the place every day and that’s what I am seeing. Apparently, I was wrong. There was a bigger room right next to it with a complete set of table service. It’s a decent-sized Italian restaurant.
We ordered Herb and Garlic Bread and Calamari Rings for entrée. Since there were only 2 slices per portion, we decided to get 2 for the 4 of us. However, it ended up being 2 massive slices of bread. It was really yummy and crunchy so I didn’t really mind. The calamari was even better. They gave us 2 condiments, Aioli and Tartar, for the rings. The Aioli was very salty but tartar was excellent. It was the perfect sauce for the Calamari Rings.
Our next dish was King Prawns Avocado Pizza. The toppings were actually yummy but the base was too thick (later on, the waiter told me that we could order a thin pizza even if it’s not on the menu). Then, there was Steak Dianne. I like the simple presentation of the steak and the beef looked mouth-watery. When I tasted the sauce, it was really nice. The steak itself wasn’t as nice when I tasted.It was dry and hard – imagine if I ordered more than medium rare. It also came with a bowl of salad.
Lastly, it was the pasta. We ordered Fettuccini Boscaiola and Gnocchi Melanezze. The best trait of these pastas was the price, $12.50! They also came in a big pasta plate, so nothing can go wrong. Boscaiola was very creamy with lots of toppings. For the Gnocchi Melanezze, I thought it was okay, although we could do with a little bit more cooking time for the Gnocchi to soften them up. It was also a bit salty.
The final verdict for Charing Cross Pizza:
We were really surprised to learn that the pasta was mostly $12.50 a dish – and the dish was massive! We also thought that the calamari rings had a very nice tartar sauce, although the aioli was pretty salty. The pizza was too thick (although the waiter told us we could’ve ordered the thin one and it wasn’t on the menu) to my taste. We love the steak’s Dianne sauce, but unfortunately not the steak.
Did you know?
Charing Cross is located on the suburb of Waverley. It’s one of the smaller, and mostly residential, suburbs in Sydney.
Details:
268 Bronte Road, Waverley, NSW 2024
02 9389 7126
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Velero Spanish Restaurant
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Unfortunately, Velero Spanish Restaurant has closed its doors.
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Rating:8 / 10Taste: 8.5/10Price: $36 per personPlace: 8/10
Review:
Velero Spanish Restaurant is one of the many restaurants reside in Woolloomooloo’s picturesque wharf. There was an atmosphere of nice fine dining and the waiters behaved in a professional manner. Since we’re in a nicer restaurant, we might as well go for the unusual tapas (it meant we skipped the Chorizos, or the other usual suspects) in Spanish Restaurant.
For our first tapas, we had Murcia al Vino. It’s a slice of goat cheese that was complemented by bread, dates, olive oil, and jam. The sweet and savoury combination was a good start to our evening. Our next tapas were the tummy-filler of the night, Patatas Bravas. Basically, it was diced potatoes with sauces of cream and tomato. It was one of the nicest patatas I’ve ever tasted.
Then, there was Pulpo. Lightly grilled octopus on a bed of tomato salsa topped with watercress sprouts and fried onion! The fried onion was a curious addition to the dish and it actually gave a crunchy accent to otherwise a soft dish. Next was Carne Carrillera. It was a beef cheek wrapped in grilled capsicum with a side of onion paste and fried onion. The cheek was incredibly tender. Lastly, we have Entrana. Medium rare wagyu beef served with olives, pimento, and (possibly onion) at the bottom. You must use the bottom sauce bit or it would be quite a sour dish.
The main attraction for the night was Paella de Mariscos. It was really a delightful sight – a choked full of seafood in such a ‘tiny’ plate. There was only 2 halves of scampi, so you’d better hurry for them! We could also taste the saffron in the paella, which can only mean a good thing. Btw, we ordered paella for two, even though there were four of us.
We also ordered 2 desserts for the night. The first one was Arroz al Horno, which was a rice pudding with caramelized almond, soft cream, and rhubarb. I really love the cream and the almond. It was the right thickness and it blended in nicely with the rice pudding. The size might be too small to be shared by four people. The second one was the always famous Churros. Unfortunately on this instance, it wasn’t that great. The chocolate was too bitter and runny and the churros had too much cinnamon sprinkles.
The final verdict: We were actually surprised that the evening turned out to be a memorable one. The food they served was amazing. Two dishes that stood out were the Patatas Bravas and Paella de Mariscos. I also advised you to try the first dessert. With the scenery, great table service, and nice food, I think this restaurant was my new favourite Spanish Restaurant.
Did you know?
In the same wharf, there are plenty of nice restaurants to try. Some of them were also featured in the TV show, Masterchef.The total bill for this restaurant can be reduced by up to 25% (or $40) when you used the Entertainment Book. You can get this book from participating Cancer Council or any other non-profit organisations. I strongly recommend you to get this book because in addition to donation for good cause, you also enjoy thousands of discounts.Details:
2 / 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, NSW 2011
02 9356 2222www.velero.com.au (This website is no longer available)
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Zen Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar
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Unfortunately, Zen Japanese Restaurant has closed its doors.
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Rating:6.5 / 10Taste: 6.5/10Price: $13 – $29Place: 7/10Review:
We decided to try this restaurant because we’ve always been impressed with its layout when we passed by. Zen Japanese restaurant looked very sophisticated, yet at a glance, the price was modest.
Our first menu of the day was supposed (at least that’s what I remembered my friend ordering) to be Nabeyaki Udon. However, when the dish arrived, it didn’t look like the usual nabeyaki udon. It looked kinda like a beef soup with Udon and fully-boiled half an egg.
Moving on, there was also Tempura Udon. This time, it looked like the usual tempura udon that we find anywhere, clear soup udon with four pieces of Tempura. Nevertheless, it was an ok dish.
Chirashi Don was definitely the better dish of the day. It looked jam-packed with nice goodies. The serving of the slices was also quite generous. Strangely, the slices looked fresher than the main dish of the day.
There’s no denying that Sashimi & Sushi Boat was both massive and incredibly eye-catching. They were the usual assortments of Salmon, Kingfish, Tuna Sashimi, Sushi and Rolls. However, taste wise, I think the Chirashi outdid it.
The final verdict: The good thing about this place is its layout and interior design. It is not your average under $20 restaurant. The presentation of the dishes was also nice. However, in terms of taste, unfortunately it’s just an average Japanese restaurant.
Did you know?
Zen is located at the heart of Randwick’s infamous The Spot. There’s a cinema that’s much loved by the students because of its price called Ritz. It was an art deco cinema, built in 1937, and is considered one of Sydney’s heritage buildings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spot,_New_South_Wales).
Next to Zen there’s a beautiful cake shop called The Sweet Spots. You should try their Vanilla Slice and Raspberry Mousse. Yummy!
Details:
20 Perouse Road, Randwick, NSW 2031
(02) 9326 3855
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Corner 75
Rating:7 / 10Taste: 7/10Price: $20 – $25 main dishPlace: 7/10
Review:Our review this week was based on a recommendation from our reader. It was a Hungarian restaurant, named Corner 75. The restaurant looks like a traditional Central European restaurant, with its table cloth and overabundance wall decors.
We ordered two servings of Langos and Lecho (Lecso) Frankfurter. The Langos was massive and it was accompanied by garlic oil. Towards the end of consuming it, we remembered that we didn’t get the sour cream and should’ve ordered one. However, if the langos was crispier it would’ve been perfect. For the frankfurter, we were only served two pieces with a lot of lecho salsa.
For the next three, I couldn’t really give you the whole picture since I only tried a small portion of it. They were Veal Brassoi, Veal Fillet with ‘Lecho Salsa’, and Fishpaprikash. Brassoi was the nicer option of them three, and the lecho in veal fillet tasted exactly like the frankfurter starter.
The next two dishes could easily be shared by four people due to their sheer size. First, it was Crispy Roast Duckling with the additional Cherry Sauce. It was half a duck with two scoops of mashed potato and red cabbage. The duck was crispy and very tender. The sauce complemented the savoury taste of the dish. It was slightly too sweet.
The one I ordered was Veal Knuckle. It was one gigantic knuckle of veal. It has the same sides as the duck, but the veal had a different seasoning. Despite of the size, it was actually thoroughly seasoned and incredibly tender. If I were given only a fork, I could easily rip the meat off easily without the help of a knife. You might consider sharing this dish, since I think only a few people can actually finish this on his/her own.
We then moved on to dessert. Our first option was Cherry Strudel. The strudel was very well-presented. It looked appetising and the pastry was crispy. The second one was Gundel Pancake, two walnut-filled crepes with chocolate sauce. The sauce was packed with booze, but the crepes were pretty standard.
The final verdict: Their duck and veal knuckle were the best dishes of the day and I strongly recommend those two. They were incredibly yummy and big. However, I was pretty content with the rest of the dishes. My Hungarian friend pointed out that those two are not ‘Authentic’ Hungarian. The brassoi and lecho were as close as you can get from the ‘real Hungarian cuisine.Did you know?
This is the second Hungarian restaurant that I reviewed. Both presented ‘home-cooked’ style dishes and had pretty good standards. However, there was an authentic dish missing from this restaurant, Stuffed Cabbage.There are a lot of exotic restaurants to try in Randwick, from Indonesian to Nepalese. There is one two-hat restaurant in the suburb.Details:
75 Frenchmans Road, Randwick, NSW 2031
(02) 9399 5712http://www.corner75.com.au/ (this website is no longer operational)
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Bondi Pizza Bar and Grill
Rating:7 / 10Taste: 7/10Price: $24 per pizzaPlace: 8/10Review:
At first, we didn’t have much confidence for this place since some restaurants have resided here and none succeed. However, there was a beacon of hope when I saw that the restaurants were actually almost full of patrons. As an added bonus, we happened to know the waitress, thus she took care of us beautifully. The restaurant itself was quite family-friendly and spacious.
Without further ado, our first dish of the day was Trio of Dips (Hommus, Eggplants Salsa, and Beetroot). Everyone loved the bread. It was in nice cuts, slightly crunchy. I personally liked the beetroot between the three dips. Shortly after, our second dish arrived, Stuffed Grilled Mushrooms. It was stuffed with Goat cheese and coated with parmesan and balsamic glaze. The issue with this dish was, there was only ONE mushroom. Other than that, the combination of flavours was really nice on this one.
Our salad for the day was Rocket, Pear & Parmesan Salad. Although I’m not a big salad fans, rocket is one of the few vegetables I consider nice. The combination of the three was refreshingly nice. Chilli Prawn Linguini was the only ‘average’ dish of the night. There was hardly anything to remember on the dish.
For the pizzas, we ordered Grilled Atlantic Salmon and Chargrilled Eye Fillet Steak. I assure you, this is not your average Domino’s Pizza. The pizza base was nice and there was an abundance of toppings. I like the steak one better because of the nicely grilled red meat.
Since we enjoyed a decent dinner, we decided to sit around a little longer for the desserts. For the first one, we aimed high and ordered Warm Belgian Waffles, knowing that across the restaurant was chocolate place famous for its waffles. It looked pretty appetising, but the waffle just fell short of my liking. The chocolate was quite good tho. The second one was Our Famous Chocolate Brownie Oven-baked Swirls (or Mini Swirls). It came in three flavours, but we chose banana swirls. It came with vanilla ice cream and melted chocolate. These bite-sized swirls were the best dish of the night.
The final verdict: Except for the pasta, everything else seemed to be alright. The restaurant was reasonably priced – considering it’s in one of the nicest malls in Sydney. I also recommend you to try the mini swirls.Did you know?
Up till now, I’ve written four out of the five restaurants located on this floor at Westfield Bondi Junction.Location:Shop 6009 Level 6, Westfield Centre, Bondi Junction, NSW 2022Website:
