Author: Ardi

Costa do Sol

Costa do Sol Review:

Everyone should know by now that you are visiting Petersham in Sydney primarily for their Portuguese Charcoal Chicken joint or Portuguese cuisine in general.

Costa do sol is one of the many Portuguese restaurants in Petersham. They offer a more sit down approach to dining. They have a slightly more diverse menu than the charcoal chicken joint.

Misto de Carne A Moda da Casa – $55 – Meat Platter Char-grilled served with salad, rice and fried potatoes (serves 2)

One thing that caught our eyes was the meat platter. I am imagining a massive platter of meat with a few side dishes. The plate came with a few cuts of beef, chicken, lamb, and quail.

I know it said serves 2 in the menu… but that’s if you are ONLY ordering that. The dish was more geared towards four people. It was probably one of the more satisfying meat platters I have ever ordered.

Bacalhau A Minhota – $30 – Salt-preserved Cod Fish Minhota style served with fried potato scallops

Bacalhau is a traditional Portuguese dish that is mainly made from a dried and salted codfish. Bacalhau a Minhota is a variant of the dish from the Northern part of Portugal.

Bacalhau is probably more of an acquired taste as the base taste is quite salty. Funny enough when we reheated the dish (after having it for takeaway), the salty taste, sort of, diminished.

Caramel Pudding

I can’t quite recall my experience eating the caramel pudding/flan. It was just an okay one.

The final verdict for Costa do Sol

Costa do Sol is a pretty decent Portuguese restaurant with a very nice Meat Platter.

Do you think I should go?
There is no denying that you usually go to Petersham for the charcoal chicken. But, if you want a good Portuguese alternative that’s not too busy, then Costa do Sol might be the one for you.

Rating for Costa do Sol:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $25 – $30 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

102 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9569 2319

http://www.costasol.com.au/

Jun 8, 2018
Sixpenny

Sixpenny Review:

Our restaurant this week is listed as one of the top restaurants in Australia located in a very quiet street in Stanmore, Sydney. They have held two hats status for as long as I can remember. Their chef, Daniel Puskas, is the Chef of the year in this year’s good food guide.

Sixpenny only has two degustation menu: 6 courses and 8 courses. They also cater for children with a 2-course menu for $65 on some days – we actually got 3 for our little one as he really wanted our dessert. As usual, the dining starts with warm bread and butter. Halfway through the service, they gave us a different kind of bread (but not pictured here).

Starter

Lightly pickled cucumber with Rose Geranium, Green Tomato & Cheese Gougères, Sweet Potato Scallop

The starter is not part of the degustation set. They are more like a ‘freebie’ during the service. The trio was wonderfully presented and super tasty. They recommended us to eat from the amazing gougère to the super fresh cucumber and onto the more substantive sweet potato.

Main

There are 4 mains served in the 6-course degustation. This month, the fifth main was the Venison tartare.

Ballina Spanner Crab with Clam butter & Yarra Valley Salmon Roe

The main course starts with very fresh and tasty spanner crab. The crab was very rich and full of flavour.

Dutch cream potato with Oyster emulsion, mushroom powder & button mushroom

This was one of the best dishes of the day. I love the creaminess of the potato and combined with the slightly crunchy raw mushroom.

The crispy kale and zucchini flower added an amazing dimension to it.

Swordfish with Buttermilk, Green Chard & Salted Red Cabbage

Unfortunately, the swordfish was our least favourite of the day. It did introduce the sour element to our dining. However, it was a tad too sour to our liking. The foamy look was also a bit scary.

Rangers Valley Chuck Tail with Mushroom & Marsala and smoked onion

Chuck tail cut is a part of beef that you might not hear very often about. Texture-wise it’s like in between ribs and rump. So, you got the best out of both worlds!

Add the sauce and smoked onion into the mix… and you get yourself a fantastic dish!

They also gave us a bowl of salad for the steak.

Kid’s Menu

In addition to the following 2-course meal, they are also given the same snacks as the adult. The kid’s dessert is also one of the degustation desserts.

Steak

Cocoa Ice Cream with Chocolate Caramel and Almond Sable

Desserts

Mead Vinegar Custard with frozen Raspberries & Strawberry Consomme

If I heard it correctly, it took ten weeks to make the custard. The dessert might look very simple: part frozen raspberries and part custard with strawberry consomme. The combination of the three created one amazing dessert! It was sweet, a hint of sourness, frozen bites of raspberries, and most importantly… yum!

Feijoa Granita with White Chocolate & Dehydrated Feijoa

The second dessert was a bit more challenging to understand. The white chocolate was nice along with the granita. However, the dessert left a lingering taste of bitterness at the end.

The final verdict for Sixpenny

Sixpenny is the best restaurant we visited this year. They deserve the two-hat status for their awesome dishes… and probably not that far off from three-hat quality dishes.

Do you think I should go?
Definitely!

Rating for Sixpenny:

9.0 / 10

Taste: 9.0 / 10

Price: $125 for 6-course and $155 for 8-course

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

83 Percival Road, Stanmore 2048

+61 2 9572 6666

May 30, 2018
Gojima

Gojima Review:

Gojima is a Japanese ‘fast food’ burger joint located at The Star in Sydney. It was created by Chef Chase Kojima from Sokyo. The unique selling point for this restaurant is that they use rice instead of the usual burger bun!

Their menu is predominantly rice burger, made from Japanese sushi rice and nori… in other words: a gigantic sushi! The difference is that the rice would not fall apart like a normal sushi.

Gojima Stack – $16.90 – cheeseburger and Crispy Katsu Mushroom with tomato, pickles, onions, lettuce and special sauce

When I read the description, cheeseburger and crispy mushroom, I instantly knew I had to try it!

This burger is actually quite big and probably bigger than your usual portion for lunch.

Salmon Miso – 14.90 – Tasmanian Salmon, cheese, lettuce, cucumber, radish, pickles, scallions and Gojima Miso sauce

The second rice burger is more like a ‘normal’ sushi: salmon with miso sauce, except for the crunchy rice and cheese on it.

Size-wise, it is also quite a normal portion for lunch.

Small – 2 Pieces – $8.90 – Japanese-style Southern Fried Chicken

As part of the ‘side’ menu, Gojima offers Japanese fried chicken. You could easily have that for your main if you are not a big fan of sushi. Their chicken was super crunchy and pretty tasty.

Miso Soup – $3.90

Their miso soup was very good and pretty cheap for what they put in it!

Large Fries – $6.90 – Shoestring fries with Umami salt.
+ Japanese Mayo $0.9

If you want the complete experience, you should also order their shoestring fries and Japanese mayo.

Thick Shake – $7.90 – Strawberries & Cream

To close out a nice lunch, strawberries and cream milkshake is the obvious choice.

The final verdict for Gojima

Quite a lot of top chefs open up a burger joint these days with Gojima being one of them. However, their rice burger offering is very nice and exciting.

Do you think I should go?
If burgers and Japanese food are your things, then you must visit this restaurant!

Rating for Gojima:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $11.90 – $16.90 per burger

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Level G, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont 2009

https://www.gojima.com/

May 22, 2018
Frango’s

Frango’s Review:

There is a restaurant in Petersham, Inner West Sydney, that (I think) have achieved the ‘legendary’ status. Frango’s or ‘that Portuguese Chicken place in Petersham’ is probably well-known to most of Sydneysiders. One of the ‘legendary’ issues was that service was pretty horrible in the restaurant. While we have experienced this in the past, their service is quite good now.

Their Petersham restaurant is always packed around dinner time and during the weekend, I would strongly suggest you book in advance. Just like other Portuguese charcoal chicken in Sydney, they also have chilli and mayo sauces. The difference was that their chilli sauce stood out above the rest. You might know that I am not a big fan of hot sauces, but I just can’t get enough off their sauce.

Sometimes at the start of dinner service (I think if you go with four or more people), they gave out a plate of bread with lurpak butter – our favourite non-artisan butter.

Portuguese Charcoal Chicken – $11 half / $21 whole – The famous marinated chicken

So, this is what most people come to Frango’s for. The sit-down version of the charcoal chicken doesn’t get slathered in chilli nor lemon. It’s in the original recipe. You can apply as much chilli sauce as you want from the bottle they provided. The chicken is so flavoursome.

Home-style chips – $9 S / $14 L – Sliced Cut Potatoes

I usually don’t talk about rice and chips. However, their sliced cut potatoes deserve a mention here because they are awesome! Very addictive! Unfortunately, they are only available for dine-in customers.

Espetada de Bife – $30 – Tender Beef Skewers Marinated served with rice or chips

Espetada de bife, Portuguese for beef steak skewer, is something that I always love to order in a Portuguese restaurant. They always look awesome… Well, in this case, they looked awesome and tasted nice!

The final verdict for Frango’s

The queue for takeaway Portuguese Charcoal Chicken at Frango’s doesn’t lie. They are probably one of the best charcoal chicken restaurants in Sydney.

Do you think I should go?
If you want to taste what many believe to be the closest thing to authentic Portuguese Charcoal Chicken in Sydney, then you must visit Frango’s in Petersham.

Rating for Frango’s:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $20 – $30 per person

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

98 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9560 2369

http://frangos.com.au/

May 16, 2018
Sik Gaek Korean Restaurant

Sik Gaek Korean Restaurant Review:

Our review this week came from a Korean restaurant in Campsie, Sik Gaek Korean. They are actually a BBQ and Hot Pot restaurant. However, it would seem a bit out of place eating them at noon. They don’t really have a ‘lunch menu’, so we ordered some dishes that can be enjoyed at lunchtime (at least by our standards).

They have quite a massive range of kimchi banchan (side dishes). We went there twice already and had 10 different complimentary side dishes.

Jap Chae – $10 – Fried Potato noodles with vegetables

Japchae is a popular Korean dish made of glass noodles. It is a savoury dish that is quite sweet. Our little one could easily munch a large portion of them… even with all of those vegetables.

Bibimbap in hot stone bowl – $13

Bibimbap is a dish that doesn’t need an introduction. Probably if there is a question ‘name a Korean food’ in the Family Feud show, it would score close to 100.

Bibimbap at Sik Gaek was a decent portion.

Bibimbap with raw beef – $15

This is the variant of ‘normal’ bibimbap. Instead of getting the cooked beef, you get raw beef. It is an incredibly risky proposition as raw beef is quite delicate. However, I quite like their bibimbap with raw beef. It was very fresh.

Boneless Fried Chicken – $32 – Soy-glazed whole fried chicken

The fried chicken at Sik Gaek wasn’t as dense nor sticky as the other notable Korean restaurants. Their lightness was actually quite perfect for lunchtime. We ordered the boneless version of the fried chicken.

Last, but definitely not least, there is quite a ‘surprise’ towards the back of the restaurant. They have two gaming machines and a small play area for the kids. It’s a great way to keep them occupied!

The final verdict for Sik Gaek Korean Restaurant

Sik Gaek is a BBQ restaurant. However, we can’t really comment on them because we were only there for their ‘lunch’ menu. We enjoyed our lunch at Sik Gaek. Although, probably ordering just the chicken was more than enough for lunch.

Do you think I should go?
Sik Gaek is quite a nice option for lunch.

Rating for Sik Gaek Korean Restaurant:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $13 – $32 per dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

115 Clissold Parade, Campsie 2194

May 9, 2018
Kobe Wagyu BBQ

Kobe Wagyu BBQ Review:

This week’s review is from one of the newest all-you-can-eat restaurants in Sydney. Kobe Wagyu BBQ is located quite near to World Square in CBD. Being at the centre of the city, unfortunately, also means a very expensive BBQ restaurant. The buffet menu is $79 per person.

They back up their pricing with amazing BBQ burner where the smoke actually got sucked back down. This actually creates a non-smokey environment with no giant overhead exhausts in sight. They also use touch screen ordering system where you can just click your orders. They did impose limitations on the number of plates you can order in one serving.

Japanese BBQ place usually has only two different soy sauces. Kobe Wagyu BBQ has three: yakiniku, ponzu and soy.

BBQ – Brisket Navel End (Karubi), Outside Skirt (Harami), Chuck Eye Roll, Flap Meat, Oyster Blade, Rib Eye Cap, Rib Finger, Short Rib, Tri-tip, Beef Tongue
Chicken Soft Bone, Chicken Thigh, Pork Loin, Pork Neck, Pork Belly, Pork Sausage

The first part of the menu (and probably the most often you will visit) is the BBQ. They have quite a few different cuts of meat, as seen above. They also have an extra option to either marinade it in sauce or salt.

Seafood – Baby Octopus, Calamari, King Prawn, Callops, Garlic Chilli Prawn, Scallop with Roe

If grilled seafood is your thing, you might be looking to order from one of these options. Unfortunately, fish is not part of it. But you can technically use the sashimi cuts and just grilled them.

Sashimi and Sushi – Salmon, Tuna, Snapper, Kingfish, Scallop, Salmon Carpaccio, California Roll, Lobster Salad Roll, Salmon Avocado roll, asparagus hand roll, eel hand roll, wagyu beef hand roll, tobiko hand roll, salmon hand roll

As a group, this is the place where we went the most. We love all you can eat sashimi! We could order plates upon plates of Sashimi.

Vegetables, Salad, and Side Dish – Asparagus, cabbage, capsicum, onions, shiitake mushrooms, corn with butter, sweet potato, zucchini, pumpkin, button mushroom, king brown mushroom, crab salad, sashimi salad, potato salad, seaweed salad, wrap lettuce, Japanese radish pickles, kimchee, radish kimchi, onsen tamago, asparagus with sesame sauce, spinach with soy, tofu

On the contrary, I hardly go to the vegetables and salad area. It’s not worth my time in all you can eat BBQ.

Bites – Crab claw, prawn croquette, chawanmushi, mentaiko cuttlefish, pork dumpling, vege spring roll, sesame oil & salt, garlic slice, agedashi tofu, bite-size tempura prawn, burdock chips, takoyaki, chicken karaage, yukke, curry croquette, shrimp karaage, chicken wing dumpling, deep fry lotus root, deep fry chicken soft bone, edamame

Bites are a good starting point if you want something to eat while waiting for your meat to cook. I love eating yukke (raw beef with egg yolk) and chicken soft bone to start my dinner.

Soup, Rice and Noodles – rice, eel rice, rice ball, salmon flake rice, soba, hot udon, green tea soba, egg soup, miso soup, seaweed soup, vongole miso soup

This is the tummy stuffer. People usually leave this out when eating at an all-you-can-eat restaurant. You can get full really quickly if you eat too much of this.

Desserts – black sesame, green tea, mango ice cream, rice cake

There are not a lot of options in the desserts area. It is basically just three kinds of ice cream and a rice cake. The rice cake is pretty interesting as you need to grill them before you can enjoy them with the condensed milk. A little tip: please change the grill before you start grilling the rice cake.

Optional Extras

You have to be careful that not everything is included as part of the buffet. Some items in the touch screen menu have a price tag attached to it. You will need to fork out extra dollars for those items.

The final verdict for Kobe Wagyu BBQ

Kobe Wagyu BBQ is one of the pricier all-you-can-eat restaurants in Sydney. The big plus is the almost-smoke-free environment. They also have quite a number of meat cuts and seafood.

Do you think I should go?
If all-you-can-eat and sashimi are your things, definitely!

Rating for Kobe Wagyu BBQ:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $79 buffet menu

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Level 1, 605 George Street, CBD, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9283 2268

http://www.kobewagyubbq.com.au/

May 2, 2018