Category: Banquet

Ellenborough Market Cafe

Ellenborough Market Cafe Review:

When I went to Singapore last month, we went to a buffet restaurant called Ellenborough Market Cafe in Swissotel Merchant Court. The dining area was nicely decorated with a little pool of water in the middle. We also could see a couple of chefs hand-rolling our dumplings. It was a very nice first impression to the restaurant.

Before I start talking about the food, I just want to say that the review below did not include every available menu on offer at the restaurant. There were just too many of them!

Bain-Marie

The list was quite extensive in the bain-marie section as it tries to cater to almost every demographics in Singapore. The ones in the slide below are: lobster (however it looked more of a Balmain bug in Sydney), otak-otak ( a traditional dish from the region), and babi pongteh (slow braised pork).

Seafood

The seafood options were very extensive. It is probably even more than some Japanese restaurants in Sydney. You can find 2 different sashimi, 4 sushi, baby octopus, seaweed. There are also cold seafood dishes like prawn, crab, mussels and escargot. In addition to the fresh seafood area, they also provided hot and cooked versions.

Others

There is a dish that I’m not familiar about but sit at a very prominent location. The dish is called Kueh Pie Tee. It was more of a DIY station than a complete set. They also have the roast meat section, cheese and salad.

Desserts

One of the most amazing things about this restaurant is the availability of (not just one, but) two durian dishes! I always thought you could not bring durian into the hotel. But then again, the durian in the restaurant wasn’t exuding that lovely (or horrible, depending on whether you are team durian or not) smell.

One was more on a creamy side and the other, deep fried!

If durian is not your thing, they also have a whole display full of desserts.

The Final Verdict for Ellenborough Market Cafe:

All you can eat lobster and durian? and did you also see that sashimi and fresh snails? I’m sure you know what my verdict is.

Do you think I should go?

When you are ever in Singapore and are in needs of a buffet, Ellenborough Market Cafe will be a good fit for you!

Rating:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: S$68 dinner buffet

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

20 Merchant Road, Level 1 Swissotel Merchant Court 058281

+65 6239 1847

Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel

Jun 3, 2019
The Malaya – Signature Menu
We were celebrating our friend’s birthday recently at The Malaya restaurant. The restaurant is located in King Street Wharf, near Darling Harbour Sydney. On this occasion, we chose the Signature Menu, it’s a banquet-style menu that costs $71 per person. Interestingly, this value doesn’t include dessert. You will need to add an extra $10 for 2 desserts.

Entree at The Malaya

Salt and Pepper Prawns – Prawns, battered, deep-fried and tossed in fresh chilli, salt, cracked black pepper and shallots.

Salt and pepper dish is a staple in most Chinese restaurants in Sydney. However, you can tell the Malaya’s dish was a cut above your usual Chinese restaurant. There was also a bit of kick from the sliced chilli.

Spanner Crab San Choy Bow – Spanner crab meat stir-fried with water chestnut, onion and shallots. Served in a lettuce leaf.

San Choy Bow is traditionally a second dish in the 2-course Peking Duck. In Malaya, instead of duck, they use Spanner Crab for the meat. Personally, I couldn’t tell the difference in taste between the two as the water chestnut and onion were pretty dominant.

Satay Beef – Singaporean style marinated pieces of beef, skewered, barbequed and served with a satay sauce made from fresh ground peanuts and chilli.

The satay beef was pretty delicious. If only I could get more skewers…

Otak Otak – White fish minced with chilli and spices, wrapped in a banana leaf and barbequed.

Otak otak is usually made from a fish called Tenggiri (or Spanish Mackerel). The fish wasn’t usually spicy, but instead, they have a spicy sauce on the side. However, this otak otak was blended with the spices and was the spiciest dish of the night. Just in case you are wondering, the banana leaf isn’t meant to be eaten.
Main Course at The Malaya

Coconut Beef Rendang – Indonesian style beef curry with an aromatic dry coconut base.

The Indonesian beef rendang was pretty decent. The beef itself was very tender. I love how they cooked the beef.

Kapitan Chicken – Penang style curry sauce made with fresh chilli and coconut milk served with lightly battered pieces of chicken thigh fillet.

The kapitan chicken was also pretty good. However, I wasn’t too sure about having two curries for main dishes. I’d probably enjoy it more if one of them was something other than coconut-based.

Szechuan Eggplant – Marinated eggplant stir-fried dry style with shallots, cashew nuts and dry chillies. Served on a bed of Chinese water spinach.

Szechuan eggplant ended up being the dish that I enjoyed the most at the restaurant. There were quite a lot of things going on in one plate and they were all fabulous.

Unlike the entrees, the main courses arrived at the same time and accompanied by a bowl of rice.

Desserts at The Malaya

We were wondering why the desserts were not included in the package. It probably turned out well as most people would already be full after the main courses. For those of us, still wanting desserts, we ordered a couple more to share. But then again, if you see the portioning, you’d probably get better value desserts elsewhere around Darling Harbour.

Assorted Sorbet – $12 – Coconut, Mango and Pineapple.

The three scoops of ice cream were pretty miniscule.

Sago Pudding – $5 – Sago and coconut pudding flavoured with palm sugar and topped with coconut sorbet.

Luckily, this was not the first time seeing sago pudding in a shot glass. The other occasion was in an all-you-can-eat restaurant in Indonesia. The portion of this dish was super tiny.

The final verdict for The Malaya

The signature menu at The Malaya restaurant was a pretty decent set. It must be noted that the desserts were forgettable.

Do you think I should go?

There aren’t many upscale South East Asian / Malaysian restaurants in Sydney. I think they are the only Malaysian restaurant with a harbour view in Sydney.

Rating for The Malaya:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $71 per person

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

39 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9279 1170

https://themalaya.com.au/
Feb 15, 2019
Gunners Barracks Wedding

Gunners Barracks Wedding Reception:

This is the second time that we went to Gunners Barracks for a wedding celebration. They used to be called ‘The Tea Room at Gunners Barracks‘. Gunners Barracks is located on a waterfront in Mosman. I’m sure there are a lot of websites that talked about ‘Gunners Barracks Wedding‘, but we are here to talk about the food.

There were two sets of entree, main course and desserts for this occasion. Of course, a handful of canapes and free-flowing refreshments were also on the menu.

Entree

Tuna Sashimi, Avocado, White Soy, Nori

Rather than the normal sashimi, the first set of entree was actually a lightly seared tuna with a few cuts of avocado and sprinkled with seeds and some Asian greens. It was quite a simplistic start to the lunch service for those having the tuna.

Crispy Pork Belly, Pineapple Jam, Asian Leaves

On the contrary, the second set of entree was quite on the heavy side, crispy pork belly. Instead of the usual Apple jam, they used pineapple jam.

Main

Roasted Fillet of Beef, Potato Gratin, Broccolini, Pepper & Thyme Jus

I would call the first main Steak… I’m not sure why they called it ‘fillet of beef’ as it kinda looked like grilled meat. They chose to cook the steak more in the medium-to-medium-well range, which unfortunately wasn’t my cup of tea.

Pan Fried Tasmanian Salmon, Calamari, Crushed Peas, Sauce Vierge

The Tasmanian salmon, on the other hand, was exquisite. It was quite a delightful dish! The addition of calamari and sauce vierge further enhanced its taste.

Dessert

Dark Chocolate Fondant, Cornflake Ice Cream, Crumbs

Considering that I’m not a big fan of chocolate (yep, I’m weird…), the decision on who would pick the fondant was quite straightforward.

The presentation of lava cake was more on the dry side… akin to the sashimi entree.

Sticky Date Pudding, Vanilla Ice Cream, Butterscotch Sauce

The sticky date pudding, on the other hand, was drenched in butterscotch sauce and super creamy vanilla ice cream. It was pretty heavy and I felt guilty after finishing it… but it was very good.

What do we think about Gunners Barracks Wedding Reception?

Gunners Barracks is probably one of the best venues in Sydney (or Australia) to hold a wedding reception.

View this post on Instagram

Tuna sashimi from one of the best wedding venues in Sydney, Gunners Barracks #sashimi #tuna #wedding #lunch #celebration #celebrate #sydney #weekend #AllAboutFoodBlog

A post shared by All About Food Blog (@aaf_blog) on Sep 28, 2018 at 8:51pm PDT

Details:

End of Suakin Drive, Mosman 2088

+61 2 8962 5900

https://gunnersbarracks.com.au/

Oct 12, 2018
Kebab Abu Ali

Kebab Abu Ali Review:

One day we went to Fairfield to try the famous Kebab Abu Ali. According to our Iraqi friend, it is one of the best Iraqi restaurants in Sydney. We were so impressed the first time we went there that we called the cavalry so that we could try a more diverse range. Unfortunately, the second time we were there it wasn’t as glittering because we were made to wait for more than an hour for most food to come. The waitpersons were sometimes clueless about what to do. Also, don’t forget to BYO water as they will only give you a small glass of it and nothing more.

The one dish that made me want to try Kebab Abu Ali in the first place was the Pacha. We were then interested in trying the fish. More about those dishes below.

Abu Ali’s Appetiser Plate – $17.50 – Includes Baba Ghanouj, Hummus, Tabouli, and Garlic sauce. Served with fresh Iraqi bread. Add on Sesame Bread – $3.50

When we ordered the appetiser plate with sesame bread, the bread came quite early, but the dips came out towards the end of the dinner. Apart from that, their baba ghanouj was very beautiful. The tabouli and garlic sauce were also pretty good.

Free Salad

They gave away a massive plate of free salad to share with the table.

Kubba Mosul – $12 – Kubba Mosul is a traditional lamb minced meat stuffed inside a burghul (crushed wheat) pancake that’s baked and fried to give it a crunchy texture.

Kubba mosul is quite a filling and massive entree. If there weren’t eight of us, I don’t think we would be able to finish it.

Okra Stew – $6.50

The Iraqi okra stew was pretty interesting. Instead of the usual South East Asian crunchy texture. This one had a very soft texture with strong tomato flavour.

Parda Plaw – $20 – Parda Plaw looks like a giant pudding wrapped in a golden brown pastry. Cut your way through and you’ll find an aromatic pilaf inside, super long grains of basmati rice mixed with chunks of lamb, fried vermicelli noodles, toasted almonds and walnuts… Optional meat available.

The description in the menu above said it all. It was a very nice combo of rice and pastry dish.

Pacha – $17.50 – A rigorously prepared bowl of sheep’s head parts. People in Iraq eat that every day for no other reason than that it’s delicious. The meat is a fun-park of textures – some bits tender, others more gelatinous – all scooped up with comforting layers of soup-soaked bread.

This is why we wanted to go to Kebab Abu Ali in the first place. I know it’s not for everyone but we LOVE sheep’s head soup. It is not something that you can find very easily in Australia. The great thing about their soup is that you were spared from actually eating with the bone in (yep, some countries do serve WHOLE sheep’s head).

It was one of my guilty pleasures.

Iraqi Mix Grill – $18.50 – One char-grilled Iraqi Kebab, Chicken Tikka and Lamb Tikka, delivered with a liberal sprinkling of sumac. Served with grilled tomatoes, Iraqi bread and salad.

They have a few different mixes, but basically you choose between beef kebab, chicken tikka or lamb tikka. Their skewers were pretty good.

Grilled Fish – $85

When we ordered it, they said it would take 40 minutes. It ended up being 1.5 hours. They had three different sizes and we chose the biggest one. The fish tasted wonderful, but probably not worth waiting 1.5 hours for.

The final verdict for Kebab Abu Ali

If it was only judging from our first visit to Kebab Abu Ali, then they might score a bit higher. Unfortunately, the 1.5 hours wait was really testing our patience.

Do you think I should go?
They probably could not handle a big group, so if you want to try, maybe come with a smaller group. If you love pacha (sheep’s head soup), then you must try their version!

Rating for Kebab Abu Ali:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $30 – $35 per person

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 1, 41 Spenser Street, Fairfield 2165

+61 2 9723 3644

Kebab Abu Ali on facebook

Jul 24, 2018
Sven-san

Sven-san Review:

This week we went to quite a unique restaurant. Sven-san is a marriage between Swedish and Japanese cuisines. You can look at it again, it would still say Swedish and Japanese.

If you are planning to visit, it’s probably better to go there by bus, because the location is right at the end of Paddington and just before the centennial park. On this occasion, we selected the Chef Selection Banquet for $55. They also have the $70 version of the banquet.

Without furder ado (because there are a lot of dishes to cover!), here they are:

Edamame bowl, chilli salt

The first dish was a staple in quite a lot of Japanese restaurants: edamame. It was plain and simple.

Duck Croquettes + Hot sauce

I think croquettes are more of a Japanese dish than Swedish. It was quite a delectable dish.

Agedashi Tofu + Ginger floss

From the name you can guess that it is a Japanese dish. It was another light and easy dish.

Smashed Edamame “Hummus” and prawn crackers

I’m not quite sure why they chose to serve another edamame. If they chose something like Smörgåskaviar for the dipping sauce that would have been an awesome dish!

SFC – Sven’s Fried Chicken, Togarashi seasoning and Mayo

Fried chicken and mayo… I don’t think it’s Swedish.

Duck liver parfait, vodka – lingonberry gelé

I think this is the first dish that has a hint of Swedish with the introduction of vodka and lingonberry jelly. However the main is still heavily influenced by Japanese/French flavour.

Chips, Mix salad

These are the staple food to fill our tummy in.

Mushroom fried rice

The Japanese fried rice was actually the last one to come in.

Tassie Salmon Kombu butter, Spinach, Edamame

Salmon could easily be a Swedish dish. However, once again the Japanese influence was more prominent in this dish.

Grain fed eye fillet steak

I think this is probably the one dish that could represent Swedish dish. The pickled vegetables and mashed potatoes are a nice addition to it.

Salmon fish fingers and chips – $12.90
This is not part of the dish. I included this because it was our little one’s dinner at that time.

The final verdict for Sven-san

There seemed to be a lot more Japanese influence in Sven-san’s banquet dishes than the Swedish dish. It would be interesting if it could be more balanced.

Do you think I should go?
Their regular menu looked pretty interesting and I would suggest you try them.

Rating for Sven-san:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $55 pp – chef selection

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

495 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW, 2021

+61 2 9131 8454

http://svensan.com.au/

Dec 20, 2017
Seed Greek Kouzina

Seed Greek Kouzina Review:

We saw an ad board for Seed Greek Kouzina as we walked down a small road in Petersham towards the main New Canterbury Road. It read ‘6-course for $35 every Tuesday and Wednesday’. If you like eating out, I’m sure you agree with me that a 6-course meal for $35 is a very good bargain… oh I forgot to mention: you also get a glass of wine for that price!

Surely enough, we are at the restaurant this week to try this menu out! They officially called it: Tuesday and Wednesday Mid-Week Banquet – $35 pp. The courses were predominantly seafood with only one exception, the salad.

Warm bread + taramasalata

There is nothing more perfect than starting your dinner at a Greek restaurant with warm bread and taramasalata. FYI, taramasalata is a Greek small dish (called meze) made out of fish roe.

GF Crisp fried baby seafood, lemon aioli

Our second course was a shared plate of deep fried small prawns with lemon aioli. The great thing about crunchy prawns is that you don’t need to spend hours peeling off their shells.

Krokettes – smoked mackerel croquettes

Almost at the same time of the second course, they also served smoked mackerel croquettes. It was a nicely done croquette!

Marinated grilled fish of the day (barbounia or red mullet)

From the display perspective, the main course was a tad underwhelming. You got four red mullets to be shared by three people.

Talking about the taste tho… oh boy, it was very delicious!

Lahanosalata (greek slaw) – cabbage and walnut salad

A salad is usually not my best friend. However, their salad was quite filling and decent.

Rizogalo (rice pudding), mango puree, macadamia nuts, vanilla ice cream

They have quite an interesting dessert by Australian standard. Not many people would think rice as a dessert. Personally, I think the rice pudding was nice, especially with the added crunch of macadamia nuts and the cooling vanilla ice cream.

Calamari and Chips – $12

The restaurant does not mind if children share your meal at no extra cost. However, they also serve kids meal if you wish to do so.

The final verdict for Seed Greek Kouzina

I don’t think anyone would argue that $35 for a 6-course meal was a bargain. Seed Greek Kouzina managed to deliver that with quite a decent quality of food.

Do you think I should go?
The banquet was only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you are able to come to Petersham, it’s a very good option to have for a hump day dinner.

Rating for Seed Greek Kouzina:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $35 for 6-course meal + one glass of wine/beer/softdrinks

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

88 Audley Street, Petersham 2049

+61 2 95607798

http://seedgreekrestaurant.com.au/

Dec 5, 2017