Author: Ardi

Kafenes Cafe Restaurant

Rating:

6 / 10

Taste: 6.5 /10

Price (Banquet): $35 – $45

Place: 6/10

Review:

We had a special occasion this week because it was the farewell party for the longest-serving member of our company, Andrew Thomas. We went to one of the better Greek restaurants, Kafenes Cafe Restaurant. He recommended us to take the Banquet menu for ease of arrangement. The Banquet consisted of five dishes that were supposed to feed the whole group. There are three choices that you can get, ranging from $35 to $45. We were also given a time limit from 6 – 8.30 PM.

According to the menu, the first dish that was due out was the Country Salad. Regrettably, until we finished the dish never came and there was no explanation whatsoever from the restaurant.

The dish that came up first was instead Dips Combo. Three dips of taramosalata (salmon roe), meiltzana (eggplant), and scordalia with (two generous plates of) Pita Bread. They were an okay dips, when compared to my previous restaurant review.

The second appetiser that we had was Spanakopita (Spinach Pie). This one was quite ok, although presentation-wise was quite average. It was crunchy on the outside while nice and creamy on the inside.

We had quite a bit of delay of around 30-40 minutes between our last dish and the next one. The dish is called Prawn Saganaki. It was a chilli tomato Prawn with Capsicum on a bed of rice. It was an interesting dish. Different parts of the plate gave us different taste. Some could be really hot and spicy and others were quite bland.

The last dish on the list was Chicken and Lamb Souvlaki. I personally liked the presentation: Huge lamb and chicken pieces in a stick with some vegetables and pita bread. It looked a little bit too cramped for presentation. They were the first nice dish of the night. They were succulent and yummy – grilled perfectly.

Before we had the dessert, we were warned that there was little time left for it. Andrew insisted that we should have it anyway. It was named Bougatsa. This extra crunchy custard pie literally saved our otherwise ‘unlucky’ dining experience – it did come with an extra cost tho. They were wonderful, although we had to finish it lightning quickly.

Unfortunately, the constant nagging of the waiter turned out to be untrue. As we stepped out of the restaurant, the group of 20 was nowhere to be seen. We were taken aback by the treatment, it kind of remind me of typical restaurant where you were given the bill as soon as you finished eating.

The final verdict: This time I need to disagree with most reviews. Although it has nice Souvlaki and great Bougatsa (with an additional fee), the absence of one dish from the banquet, the poor service and bad time management contributed to the bad impression that we all shared. Unfortunately, I need to give a bad rapport and would not recommend this restaurant.

Did you know?

The restaurant is located just a block away from the Enmore Theatre. It was one of Sydney’s major entertainment venues and held major music events. In present days, it usually holds comedy acts and medium-scale music bands.

Location:

149 Enmore Rd, Enmore NSW 2042

Kafenes on facebook

Jan 23, 2011
Chefs Gallery

Chefs Gallery’s rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price per plate: $8 – $22.90

Place: 8/10

Since the dishes have name as long as a train at Chefs Gallery, I am going to list it first and put the numbers as it appears in the menu. It will also make it easier if you want to try these dishes, just mention the numbers to them.

A2 Finely sliced beef shin slow roasted in premium soya sauce, a Shanghainese favourite

D2 Guo Tie Lightly pan fried prawn dumplings

SN2 Chef’s own golden snowflake chicken – lightly crumbed chicken fillet, very crispy, tender and moist served with noodles in a pumkin soup

R3 Wok fried medium grain rice with three types of eggs (chicken egg, salted duck egg and century egg), a must try dish

V5 Wok fried mussels in sweet Chinese rice wine

V6 Chef’s own handmade egg tofu lightly pan fried, topped with preserved vegetables

HD1 Steamed sesame ‘piggy face’ bun, as sumptuous to the eyes as it is to the taste buds – a must-try for adults and children (2 pc)

HD3 Steamed pumpkin pastry dumpling filled with lotus paste, a beautiful piece of art (3 pc)

Review:

We will start the New Year with one of the newest restaurants in town, Chef’s Gallery. One of the main attractions of the restaurant is the restaurant-wide see-thru kitchen. It really gave us a unique dining experience and a sense of security because we know what the chefs are doing to our food.Although there were quite a bit of options in the menu, they made it easy for us since they highlighted their signature dishes with a chef hat.

We started off the night lightly with the sliced beef shin and guo tie. These two dishes were too ordinary for this wonderful looking restaurant. There was also accompanying vinegar for the dumpling to enhance its flavour.

The next two served were completely the opposite.With its three egg types, the fried rice was rich in flavour and very savoury. However it was pretty expensive for its size. This is where the noodles compensated. It had a decent size and its pumpkin / egg soup filled in the duty of tummy-filler. The noodles came with golden snowflake chicken aka chicken katsu.

The mussels were quite bland and, again, had a very tiny portion. It was nowhere near the Belgian mussels. However, the last dish was a work of art. The egg tofu was so delicate and its unique combination with the vegetables I’ve never tasted before.

The clear winner, however, was the dessert. Nothing will make the ladies squeal like the ‘piggy face’ bun.The other dessert was also comparable to the bun.

The final verdict for Chefs Gallery

The ‘piggy face’ bun was definitely the dish of the day, although it was too cute to be eaten. The other dishes were also nice with few surprises here and there. It was worth coming back to Chef’s Gallery for seconds.

Did you know?

Chef’s Gallery is one of the newest additions to Sydney’s culinary world. With similar concept to Din Tai Fung’s, it wins a contemporary edge over DTF. Taste wise both of them are clear losers when compared to the cheaper and fast Chinese food of Ashfield and Burwood. However, in terms of table service and hygiene, we know whom to pick.

Location:

Shop 12, Ground Floor Regent Place, 501 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.chefsgallery.com/

Jan 9, 2011
Juju’s Restaurant

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Unfortunately, Juju’s has closed its doors for good.

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Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price Range: $15 – $20

Place: 8/10

Review:

There’s nothing better to close off the year with one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in town, Juju’s. This is a really nice place to have dinner with friends and families. They also have karaoke on weekends. There are no chairs in this restaurant. They try to emulate a tatami with a twist. You will still be sitting on wooden floor, but there is legroom under the table.

Getting a decision on which food to order is not a simple task. There are a huge variety of dishes on the menu and we decided to have some that we can compare the taste with. They have quite a few options for beverages, but this time I sticked to the good old Hot Green Tea, Genmaicha. We also ordered Grapefruit Yakult.

For the first dish we had Yukke. It is raw slices of marinade beef with egg yolk. Unfortunately the beef was a bit warm and did not taste fresh, but it wasn’t disappointing. Then came the Sushi Platter. It was the exact opposite of the Yukke. It was a decent-sized platter with nice assortments of Sushi.

The unexpected dish came next, Okonomiyaki. It was massive! Okonomiyaki is kinda like a savoury pancake with some vegetables and any kind of meat, then sprinkled with shredded seaweed and generous pour of Japanese Mayonaise. It might be too big for one person to finish.

The Bentos are definitely value for money as well. Whether it was Chicken or Beef Teriyaki Bento, they come with a big bowl of rice, miso soup, a portion of mashed potatoes, salad, agedashi tofu and Japanese pickles. The teriyaki was really nice. However, apparently we didn’t try the chef’s signature dish, Mentaiko Basa.

Last, but definitely not the least, are the dessert. First one was the all-time favourite, Green Tea Ice Cream. You’d expect that in any good Japanese restaurants, the ice cream and red bean would taste pretty similar. Our next dessert was rather unconventional, Tempura Ice Cream. I’ve never seen a dessert like this before. Green tea and vanilla ice cream covered in tempura batter with a hint of coconut put over raspberry sauce. It was a combination of hot and cold dessert.

The final verdict: It was a really nice place to have a good meal, and possibly go to one of the nice bars nearby afterwards. The dishes were nice and there was a quite innovative in Tempura ice cream, with the exception of Yukke. It was nice, but unfortunately I’ve tasted a much better one in a similar restaurant.

Did you know?

JuJu is located in Sydney’s red-light district, Kings Cross. The restaurant is located at the same block as the big Coca-Cola sign (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_Cola_Billboard,_Kings_Cross), one of Sydney’s infamous landmarks.

This restaurant is also pretty famous for a waiter who looked like Brad Pitt (seriously!), although when we were there the last time, he wasn’t there.

Location:

82-94 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross NSW 2011

Website:

http://www.jujus.com.au/ (it doesn’t seem to work tho!)

Dec 30, 2010
Red Chilli Sichuan Restaurant

Rating:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6 /10

Price Range: $15 – $30

Place: 7/10

Review:

First of all, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This week we will have a double review. This is the first instalment of the review.

For the first one, I take you to the world of chili, or in this case, Red Chilli Sichuan (or Szechuan). Located at the heart of Chinatown, this restaurant was recommended by our friend. Upon glancing the menu, we knew that there were not many non-chili dishes.As with any other Chinese restaurants, the dishes’ names are loosely translated or just a list of what was in them.

Without further ado we start with the appetiser, Sliced beef, beef tongue, tripe and chilli sauce. Pre-boiled-then-chilled meat was immersed in chilli sauce. It was a nice intro to the chilli night and this one was not too spicy.

The next two dishes had the same attributes, except for the main ingredient. One was Hot pot beef with hot and spicy sauce and Chinese cabbage and the other one was Hot pot fish fillets. Although the pictures can’t really show, these two dishes were gigantic. For chilli lovers, I think they’ll be in heaven with this dish. The soup was literally a chilli pot. In my opinion, it was just too much: too much chilli and too big of a portion.

The next dish I couldn’t taste because there was an element of pork in it, although we specifically said to the waiter that we didn’t eat pork. I guess the poor underpaid girl didn’t really care anyway. It was Stir fried green beans with pork mince.

Two of the better dishes of the night came in last, westernised Kung Pao Chicken and Crispy Ducks. The chicken was an ok dish with some element of chilli in it. The crispy ducks on the other hand were great. They were fried to golden brown with extra crunchy skin. It was served with a nice brown sauce.

The final verdict: Another restaurant that I wasn’t fancy because of the super hot dishes. In addition to that, the service that we received was too similar to any cheap Chinese restaurants in Sydney, even when it charged a premium pricing. The only exception to it was the duck. It was very clean and crispy. It reminded me of how ducks are cooked in Indonesia.

Did you know?

When trying to find the website for this restaurant, I found out that it was part of a restaurant chain around Sydney.

Location:

Shop 3, 51-53 Dixon Street, Haymarket NSW 2000

Website:

http://www.redchilligroup.com.au/

Dec 27, 2010
Eiger Swiss Restaurant

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Unfortunately, Eiger has closed its doors for good.

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Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7.5 /10

Price Range: $35

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week, we will be taking you to the elusive dish from one of the best place in the world, Raclette of the Swiss Alps. Originated from the French word ‘racler’, which means to scrape, this dish was ‘found’ when farmers decided to scrape the melting cheese off a rock so that it won’t go to waste (http://www.raclette.com.au/raclette_info/what_is_raclette.html). It turned out that the type of cheese tasted better when melted.

Raclette is the national dish from Switzerland. I have never heard about this type of cheese-eating mechanism before my friend, Andrea, suggested me to this Eiger Swiss Restaurant. Apparently, Eiger is the only restaurant in Sydney to serve the Raclette. In order to enjoy this fantastic dish, you have to book two days in advance.

Before we go to the menu, I’ll show you what to do with the utensils on the table (it can be pretty intimidating for first time eater). You get a wooden scraper and a scoop-like metal. This is where you need to put your cheese in. Then there was a big double-decked griller in the middle of the table for maximum of eight people. The top is for sausages and the bottom one is for your scoop.

The Raclette came in a set menu for your total enjoyment. The set menu was simple. You will get 200 grams of Raclette Cheese (don’t worry it’s A LOT!!), A selection of Sausages, Pickles (Gherkins and Onions), and Potatoes.

Basically you’ll get a constant supply of these things. First thing to do is to heat up the cheese. Then you mash up the potatoes (or any other way you like). Pour the cheese all over the potatoes. You can add salt, pepper, and – ideally – paprika for your enjoyment. It’s wonderful to see the cheese slides thru the scoop to your potatoes. IMHO, the cheese does taste BETTER when heated up as opposed to eating it straight up.

At the same time, the sausages can be put on the top griller. Since sausages don’t take long to cook, make sure you keep an eye on them. The combination of this food created a (literally) warm feeling on the tummy. You will also get bread for starters, but I strongly suggest you avoid it, unless if you’re a massive eater.

In addition to the Raclette, this restaurant serves full course menu all native to Switzerland. Since my wife couldn’t eat too much cheese at this stage, she ordered Zurich Geschnatzeltes (Shredded veal in wine – mushroom –cream sauce). My friend told me that dish was also one of the national dishes of Switzerland.

The final verdict: I know that for Swiss people this is as close as it gets from home. And for Australian, it’s a great way to experience what the food is like on top of the Alps. However on this hot summer day, it’s a tad inappropriate to have this much carbs intake. Overall, it’s a nice food in a nice atmosphere.

Did you know?

This week’s Andrea is not the same as last week’s! Although this restaurant is only a couple of blocks away from Gioia.

Location:

552 Parramatta Rd, Petersham, NSW 2049

Website:

http://www.eigerswissrestaurant.com.au/eiger_001.htm

Dec 13, 2010
Café Gioia

Rating:

7.5 / 10

8.0 for Andrea’s effort!

Taste: 7.5 /10

Price Range: $20 – $30

Place: 7/10

Review:

Our friend, Tim, introduced us to this restaurant before I started this blog and we had a good impression of it. This time around, we decided to explore a bit more on the variety of menu they have. There were eight of us and we decided to get a four-person Antipasto, 2 large pizzas, a salad, Gnocchi, and Cannelloni. At the end of the day, they were more than enough to feed all of us.

Interestingly, the pizzas came in first, Lungomare, to be exact. This gourmet-range pizza had the freshest of ingredients with Salmon as the main attraction. The next one was Leichhardt Special. This one was very similar to one of the famous Pizza chains, Super Supreme. All of their pizzas are cooked in wood-fire pizza oven but somehow the Lungomare was much better than Leichhardt Special.

The next four dishes came at almost the same time, but luckily they were in the correct order. Salmon & Avocado Salad gave us a fresh and healthy salad with a hint of olives. What I like about it was the fact that there was a lot less ‘greens’ on the plate. The only salad in it was my all time favourite, Rockets!

The Antipasto was a little bit different. They had a fixed price for the first one, but there was a far less incremental fee for more than one portion. Technically speaking, Antipasto is the Italian starter for a dinner. It should have been the first dish that hit the table. It’s an assortment of cured meats, variety of cheese, and veggies. The combination of it creates an excellent and fresh antipasto.

The last two dishes were also great. First was Cannelloni. Two rectangular pastas filled with ricotta cheese (and possibly spinach and minced beef). It would be a good dish if the next one were not considerably better. Gnocchi Prawns and Asparagus was the pinnacle for the night. The combination of ultra-soft gnocchi and juicy prawns, served in orange-looking tomato sauce, was exquisite.

By now you might be wondering who this Andrea is. He is our waiter for the night. Claimed to be from both side of Italy, this Interisti truly entertained us with his energy, enthusiasm, and humour. With his efforts, this restaurant deserves an 8.0!

The final verdict: Everything that we ordered was great! From the perfect crust pizza, the invigorating Antipasto to the admirable Gnocchi! To top it off, the waiter gave us the perfect night with his positive personality.

Did you know?

Leichhardt is also known as the Little Italy in Sydney. It is famous for its Italian Quarter. Gioia is located on Leichhardt’s main street, Norton. They also have few private parking spaces, so if you’re early, you might be lucky!

Location:

126A Norton St, Leichhardt, NSW 2040

Website:

http://www.gioiacafe.com/

Dec 6, 2010