Category: Banquet

Kabuki Shoroku

Kabuki Shoroku Review:

We had a special occasion this week and decided to have a nice dinner at Kabuki Shoroku Japanese restaurant in Sydney CBD. Their restaurant had an old feel to it (according to them, they have been around for 25 years!).

They have a degustation menu called Kaiseki – autumn. It was priced at $88 per person. It is predominantly seafood dishes, highlighted by lobsters cooked in two ways.

Chef’s seasonal selection of appetisers
There were four different appetisers: slow cooked tuna, bamboo shoots, cheese and squid with fish paste. They were quite small but full of flavour.

Assortment of various fresh sashimi
Three of the most common kinds of Sashimi for each of us: salmon, tuna, kingfish. The cut was rather thick but it was so fresh.

Lobster tail grilled in two ways – mornay & soy
I usually was not a fan of lobsters. They carried a premium price but less tasty than a tiger prawn. Kabuki Shoroku served their lobsters beautifully. I wouldn’t mind a second serving.

Slow cooked duck and seasonal mushrooms served in clear starchy sauce topped with spinach and yuzu
The duck was probably our favourite for the night, just by a small margin from the lobster. I would also definitely go back to the restaurant for this dish!

Pacific saury seasoned with sweet soy and lightly fried, sansho pepper, lime
Saury is a kind of fish (yes, I had to google it when seeing the menu). It was quite an oily one, especially after being fried. Despite its small look, it was actually pretty heavy.

Sushi chef’s best selection of today’s nigiri sushi
We had three very fresh sushi. I couldn’t quite remember what they were.

Miso soup
Instead of the usual cloudy soup, the colour was actually quite dark. The flavour was pretty intense. It is interesting how they served the soup at the very last.

Chef’s special dessert selection
The dessert of the day was green tea mousse with strawberry and cream. It was quite a thick dessert to end the night.

Additional dishes
The following dishes are not part of the kaiseki menu, but came in as extras for the little one (or mine).

Saute Salmon with soy butter – $28
The soy butter for the salmon was pretty salty. It needs to be enjoyed with a bowl of rice.

Sushi – Scampi and steamed oyster
Scampi is my personal favourite in a Japanese restaurant. I usually order it when they are available. I actually also ordered sea urchin, but they were not available that day.

Tofu Rare Cheesecake with Ice cream – $12
Tofu cheesecake was so interesting that we just had to order it.

The final verdict for Kabuki Shoroku

You know you had a very nice dinner when you left the restaurant feeling nourished and happy. That’s how we felt upon leaving Kabuki Shoroku. Their service was impeccable.

Did you know?

Kabuki Shoroku has a sister restaurant for a more informal dining called Sakuratei. It is located right in front of the restaurant.

Rating for Kabuki Shoroku:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $88 per person

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Ground Floor 31 Market Street Sydney 2000

(202 Clarence St)

+61 2 9267 4552

http://www.kabukishoroku.com.au/

May 2, 2017
Shanghai Stories 1938

Shanghai Stories 1938 Review:

Shanghai Stories 1938 is located in The Concourse, Chatswood. The building is right next to Westfield Chatswood. Their menu is more on the expensive end of the scale. There are the usual expensive Chinese dishes, such as lobster or abalone.

Xiao Long Bao – $ 11.80 – 8 pieces

Xiao Long Bao is one of the most ordered dishes in the restaurant. Since there were quite a few of us, we managed to order two sets of them.

Steamed Shrimp and Chives Dumplings – $13.80 – 8 pieces

We ordered these dumplings for those of us who did not eat pork.

Drunken Chicken – $11.80

Drunken chicken was part of the cold dish in the menu. The steamed chicken was soaked in Chinese liquor and chilled.

Jelly Fish with Cucumber – $14.80

This was another dish from the cold section. You can buy cheaper-version packaged jelly fish from a Chinese store. Obviously, this one was a bit fresher than that.

Sweet and Sour Baramundi – $43.80

Despite being one of the centrepieces, the fish was quite underwhelming.

Whole Peking Duck with pancake – $68.00 – 16 pieces

When we go to a fancy Chinese restaurant, peking duck becomes one of the units of measurement. The peking duck in Shanghai Stories despite being pretty good was pretty expensive. We only received 16 slices of duck with 16 pancakes. So, technically, it’s not even a whole duck.

Second course – Fried Noodles

This dish came at the very end. They probably have forgotten about it if we didn’t ask.

Prawn and Rice Crackers in Tomato Sauce – $24.80

When the dish arrived, it did not remotely look like the one in the menu. Instead of beautiful big prawns like shown in the picture, we received these tiny krills. Ironically, the soup ended up being our favourite for the night.

Boiled Bean Curd Slices Yangzhou style – $26.80

Personally, I think it was just tofu and greens. It should be noted that the tofu was very fine.

Salt and Pepper Squid – $28.80

It was quite an uneventful salt and pepper squid.

Chinese Milk Dough – $8.80

This perfect pairing for a mud crab dish was transformed into quite a sweet dish with condensed milk.

The final verdict for Shanghai Stories 1938

The high price point at Shanghai Stories 1938 was not met with high standards in service and food.

Did you know?

Shanghai Stories 1938 is part of a restaurant chain with the likes of Taste of Shanghai.

Rating for Shanghai Stories 1938:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 / 10

Price: $45 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 4 & 6, The Concourse
405 – 409 Victoria Ave, Chatswood 2067

+61 2 9412 3880

http://tasteofshanghai.com.au/brands/shanghai-stories-1938/

Apr 20, 2017
Catalina Rose Bay Wedding
Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

This is probably one of my most memorable reviews of the year. We went to Catalina Rose Bay to celebrate my ex-work/gaming/foodie mate’s wedding. Catalina has been a Good Food Guide’s one-hat restaurant for a few years.

Catalina was also voted as the people’s award winner for 2015 by Australian Financial Review. The restaurant overlooked a beautiful bay with yachts and sunset view.

So, having a wedding venue that is a combination of great food and great view isn’t that bad, is it?

Travelling Entrée (or some might say roaming canapé) – Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

According to the Assistant Manager, the travelling entrée is not part of the regular menu at the restaurant. We get 10 (yes, TEN!) different travelling entrée. Being a travelling entrée, it was quite hard to get a picture of all of them although they were eventually put on display for the bridal party.

They were all quite simple but yummy entrée. Here they are in no particular order with my best guess of ingredients:
- Smoked salmon with cream cheese and caviar on crostini
- Fresh oysters with lemon and Catalina’s vinaigrette
- Fresh tuna with vinaigrette and peas puree
- Zucchini flower with goat cheese
- Beef with pastry
- Eggplant
- Sausage rolls with tomato sauce
- Mozarella arancini balls
- Battered prawns
- I am not quite sure what the last one was!
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Main Course – Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

What separate Catalina from wedding venues I attended before was its main course. Instead of having alternate main course for the table, they actually asked which of the two you prefer!

Roasted lamb rack with minted pea puree, baby beetroots & tomato jus

I sort of ‘cheated’ and asked the groom whether I should order the barramundi. He told me that I would love the lamb rack… Great advice! The dish came with TWO racks of lamb!

No surprise it was quite a sweet dish considering that it was complemented by beetroot, tomato and minted pea. It was a decent portion for main.

Roasted lamb rack with minted pea puree, baby beetroots & tomato jus

Roasted lamb rack with minted pea puree, baby beetroots & tomato jus

Crispy skin Cone Bay barramundi with spanner crab ravioli, enoki mushroom, avruga, sage & eschalot cream

Being on the main table, I could not find someone that I could pinch the barramundi from. It did look very pretty and (without a doubt) grilled perfectly!

The complements further enhanced the seafood character of the dish.

Crispy skin Cone Bay barramundi with spanner crab ravioli, enoki mushroom, avruga, sage & eschalot cream

Dessert – Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

For the dessert, it was a no-brainer for me. I do not like dark chocolate and I tried hard to find someone who wanted to swap if I did get the dark chocolate… surely I did get the dark chocolate (which I quickly swapped with the other groomsman!)

Unlike the main course, the dessert was served alternately between guests.

Strawberry pavlova with lime curd & strawberry coulis

The two-tone pavlova looked elegantly simple.

Unfortunately when I got to the table, the ice cream was completely melted – we took way too many pictures! I was also quite full from the 10-course travelling entrees.

I did finish the pavlova to the last scoop and I think it was up to the one-hat standard.

Strawberry pavlova with lime curd & strawberry coulis

Dark chocolate mousse with wattleseed ice cream & cocoa tuile

As I am not a big fan of the dark chocolate, I had to ask my friend how it tasted and he said ‘it was nice’.

The technical aspects were quite apparent on the dish.

Dark chocolate mousse with wattleseed ice cream & cocoa tuile

Petit Fours at Catalina

Sommelier Adam and Port

Catalina Rose Bay Wedding

Details:

Lyne Park, Rose Bay, NSW 2029

+61 2 9371 0555

http://catalinarosebay.com.au/
Feb 9, 2016
El Bulli Surry Hills

Review:

11 courses dinner, $60 price tag, for two people… I will let that sink in for a minute… To put it into perspective, each tapas at the restaurant ranges between $8.50 and $26.50.

That was the Groupon winter special at El Bulli Surry Hills. Instead of the full recommended retail price of $153, we get all of these tapas below for just $60!

Chickpea & Chorizo – a tasty broth of chickpeas, coriander and chorizo served hot

The usual plate of tapas with chickpeas and chorizos on tomato broth.

Pan con Queso y Jamon – toasted ciabatta served with a wedge of manchego cheese and slice of jamon on the side

Aceitunas Mezcladas – a selection of black, green & stuffed olives spiced up El Bulli style, wait for the kick!

These two were served together with the bread on the side. Jamon and cheese were the perfect pair for the bread. Also, loads of different olives in a bowl… love it!

Croquetas de Jamon – croquettes filled with white sauce & ham rolled in breadcrumbs, lightly fried & topped with alioli

Salt & Peppered Chipiones – lightly seasoned salt and pepper crispy squid served with lemon and alioli

Another jamon dish, but this time it was made into little croquettes. It was paired with salt and pepper squid and alioli (pay attention to the word ‘alioli’, it’s not a typo).

Patatas El Bulli – deep fried chat potatoes served with an emulsion of fritas & bravas dressing – house favourite

Patatas bravas is one of the most common dish in a Spanish tapas restaurant. It was also one of the first tapas dishes I’ve ever tried, made by a Spanish friend a long time ago! El Bulli spiced it up a bit and called it Patatas El Bulli.

BBQ Alitas – bbq hot and spicy chicken wings marinated in chimichurri & peri peri sauce

I usually liked chicken wings. However, I was not a big fan of this. Probably overshadowed by the other ten dishes on the night.

Medallon del Rey – eye fillet medallion on a bed of caramelised onions topped with a creamy blue cheese butter

Pinchitos de Gambas – grilled prawns skewered and infused with a Mediterranean saffron and cinnamon sauce!

It was interesting to see that they decided to bunch up two of (what I thought to be) the highlights for the night in one dish. Both the eye fillet and prawns were nicely done.

Mejillones en Salsa Picante – Giant pot of chilli mussels cooked in a traditional Spanish salsa, pumped up with shallots, basil, chilli & garlic

It took a while before the last two dishes arrived.The first want was rather spicy with quite thick salsa.

Almejas Tallarinas con Jamon – South Australian Pipis pan fried with jamon served in a white wine and lemon sauce with a dash of cream

The pipis was a little light on the cream.

The final verdict for El Bulli

Would we pay a full price for these tapas at El Bulli? Possibly No! However, $60 for 11 tapas is a hell of a deal!

Did you know?

To our surprise, El Bulli Surry Hills is actually a pretty big restaurant. The interior was very dimmed with virtually no sunlight in the venue.

Rating for El Bulli Surry Hills:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $60 for 2 people

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

504 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills 2010

02 9319 5199

http://elbulli.com.au/

Nov 10, 2015
Boilerhouse

Dining Experience:

A pretty unusual dinner invite arrived in my inbox from esPoiR Communications. It was a themed dinner titled ‘Rich Man, Poor Man: Food Through the Classes´. The dinner is based on the food offerings served to the different classes of passengers that stayed at the Quarantine Station back in the late 1800s/1900s.

Having seen Heston Blumenthal’s themed dinner on TV, I was pretty psyched in going to my very first themed dinner! The dinner was prepared by Chef Matt Kemp who has worked in and owned some of the best restaurants in Sydney.

There was an MC dresses as a crooked captain guiding us through the dinner with a story of disease spreading in the dining room. He then tried to pinpoint which class was infected.

Canapes – Oysters Rich Man Poor Man Style – Oyster with Caviar & Leek and Potato Oyster Shooters

Drinks of Class – Beer, G&T, Bubbles

The canapes were actually served on the other side of the restaurant near the wharf. The three different drinks represented the three typical classes of passengers arriving at the quarantine station: Bubbles for first class, G&T for second class and Beer for the third class.

There were only two types of oysters: The upper class with Caviar and the lower one as shooters. I prefer the shooters than the ones with caviar as the latter was too dry and pretty warm for oysters.

Poached Smoked Haddock Fish Cakes with Wild Weeds with matching Bella Riva Pinot Grigio

The first course was the dish historically served for first class passengers. It had all of the elements of expensive entrée with sophisticated name and salmon roe at the top of the fish cakes.

Beef Braised in Ale with Cabbage, Carrots & Suet Dumplings with matching De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Shiraz

It was meant to be a third class dish. However, I’m pretty sure back then it was served and presented nowhere near this dish. The ingredients actually illustrated the difference in class. They used ale-based sauce and suet, or some might know it as beef or mutton fat.

Whole Saddle of Mutton, Neeps & Tatties, Garden Mint Sauce with matching Bella Riva Sangiovese

The third dish was designed as a share plate (I am wondering why it is not being done for the third class) for second-class passengers.

This dish was my personal favourite for the night. The fatty and crackle-like edge was so good when enjoyed with the garden mint sauce!

The chef asked us to plate our own dish… so here it is!

Pimms Jelly with Cream & Fruit – Middle Class Sweets

Again, it might not reflect a true ‘middle class’ back in the days with its presentation and edible flower. However, you would see how simple it was when compared to the desserts for the upper class passengers.

High Tea – Selection of Traditional & New Idea Sweets – with matching wines Deen De Bortoli Vat 5 Botrytis

High tea is the custom observed by the wealthy classes in England in the 1800s. It represented the upper class delicacies perfectly with the matching Botrytis.

The final verdict for Boilerhouse Harbourside Restaurant

Although it was not in the same stratosphere as Heston Blumenthal’s themed dinner, Boilerhouse’s was pretty amazing!

Did you know?

Boilerhouse Harbourside Restaurant is part of Q Station Sydney Harbour National Park in Manly. This place

There are a whole range of activities that you can do at Q Station, including Ghost Tours for every age… and for your bravery level!

Details:

Q Station, North Head Scenic Drive, Manly 2095

02 9466 1511

http://www.qstation.com.au/boilerhouse-restaurant–bar.html

Oct 28, 2015
El Topo Mexican

Review:

Before I decided to write about it, I have been to El Topo Mexican restaurant twice: The first one was a small lunch with colleague and the second one was a bigger lunch with friends and family. El Topo Mexican is located on the rooftop of The Eastern in Bondi Junction.

Without further ado, lets get on with the food!

Chapulines – Roast Crickets, Chile Garlic & Lime – $7

It is not a typo from carrots nor the name of an Australian sports. It is really a bowl of roast and crispy crickets for you to enjoy. I asked a Mexican friend of mine who happened to have lunch with us that day. He confirmed that it was a genuine dish from Mexico although it might not be as common in Mexico City.

I must say it’s quite challenging for my friends to try these out.

Chapulines

Taco

For lunch time, they have a deal of any 3 tacos for $15. They have several tacos to choose from and individually they are $6 – $8.

The tacos were quite small but they had nice fillings. Most of us chose the cochinita pibil (i.e. roast annatto pork) which apparently was the most famous toppings.

Taco de cochinita pibil

Taco de pollo en mole amarillo, taco de pescado frito

Ensalada de nopales y garbanzos – Cactus, chickpea, corn, tomato & parsley – $10

The second exotic dish of this restaurant is cactus salad. The texture and taste were pretty similar to pickled paprika in a salsa. It was very refreshing even for a non-vegetables eater like me!

Ensalada de nopales y garbanzos

Ceviche de pez real – kingfish ceviche, achiote, watermelon, radish & finger lime – $16

The ceviche had a gorgeous presentation. Unfortunately, I think there were way too many other items but the ceviche on the plate. The squid ink watermelon provided an interesting colour to the dish.

Ceviche de pez real

Barbacoa de costilla de res – 12 hours beef short rib, barbacoa sauce, pickled cabbage & baby onions – $32

This dish was the main reason why I decided to come back. I was very tempted to order this on my first visit but $32 and a giant beef rib would not do well for my after-lunch work.

However, I can tell you that the beef rib was very yummy. You don’t even need to use your knife to cut through the meat!

Barbacoa de costilla de res

Flan roto de coco con chocolate y cajeta – Flan of coconut, single origin Mexican chocolate hazelnut & goats milk caramel – $14

I was interested in ordering the flan because of its glowing review in Jugernauts. I think I was over-expecting it a bit too much. It was a nice dessert, but not for $14.

Flan roto de coco con chocolate y cajeta

Bunuelos con chocolate – Mexican doughnuts & chocolate sauce – $12

I love doughnuts… any shapes and sizes! I love them even more when they were freshly made!

Bunuelos con chocolate

The final verdict for El Topo Mexican

I’m pretty sure El Topo Mexican is the only place in Sydney (or Australia) that has crickets and cactus on the menu.

Did you know?

There are two El Topo in this premise: El Topo Basement and El Topo Mexican (on the top floor).

Rating for El Topo Mexican:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $32 per main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Level 3, 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction 2022

+61 2 9387 7828

https://www.theeastern.com.au/venues/

Mar 6, 2015