Category: Cities

This is a category for cities. All about food have reviewed restaurants in cities like Sydney, Singapore, Bali Island, Surabaya, and Bandung.

Majestic Harvest

Review:

Majestic Gourmet Grocers is a pretty interesting place. It is located in an old cinema building in Petersham that have been refurbished. The restaurant side of the place is called Majestic Harvest. They also have the grocer/gourmet market next to the restaurant.

Kids Spaghetti – $8

The kids spaghetti is a pretty good-valued meal with quite a big portion. It is not on the dinner menu, but you can request one.

Seared beef fillet carpaccio – $18 – with button mushrooms, a la Greque, rocket, parmesan and truffle oil

This has got to be the most generous serving of beef carpaccio I have ever seen. It is also full of things that I like!

The beef was cut a lot thicker than the usual beef carpaccio.

Zucchini flower – $18 – w/ ricotta, pine nuts, basil, burnt butter muscatel, lemon

It was a stark contrast to the carpaccio in terms of serving. However, the zucchini flower delivered a better-tasting dish.

Roasted Spatchcock peri peri chicken – $24 – with kale, green beans, chickpeas and tomato, lemon & mint yoghurt dressing

I ordered this menu because there seemed to be a confusion whether it was a spatchcock or a chicken. I think it ended up being spatchcock with peri peri sauce.

The spatchcock was surprisingly spicy! It also had the reigning healthiest vegetable in the world, kale.

Braised lamb gnocchi – $21 – with rosemary, olives and preserved lemon & pepper

I think the lamb gnocchi was the hero dish for the night. It was everything I expected it to be!

Rocket salad – $8 – with pear, walnut, snow pea and blue cheese

I quite like this salad. It was quite rich and multi textures.

Roasted fig feuilletine – $15 – with pistachio nut mousse, pomegranate syrup

We ordered the dessert because we had such a lovely dinner. However, the dessert was sort of a letdown. Despite the interesting description, the elements did not go well together. The overall dessert was warm and I think it could be better with a scoop of ice cream.

The final verdict for Majestic Harvest

It is always uplifting when a restaurant gives you a great service. Majestic Harvest also had a pretty good lamb gnocchi.

Did you know?

Midway through the dinner, one of the attendant actually came to our table to excuse himself. It seemed that his shift had ended and we started to have a little chitchat. I’m pretty sure he went to every table he attended before finally departing. It is quite an interesting experience and we were quite appreciative of the gesture.

Rating for Majestic Harvest:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $50 per person

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

49 New Canterbury Road, Petersham NSW 2049

02 8097 2222

Majestic Harvest on Facebook

Nov 4, 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
Sambal

Review:

I rarely eat out North of the bridge. I went to Sambal Malaysian Restaurant in North Ryde because it was a midway compromise amongst our group of friends. It was also rated pretty decently in Zomato.

Chicken Satay – 6 Skewers – $14.80 – Skewers of marinated chicken, grilled and served with spicy peanut sauce and cucumber pieces

There were only four little cuts of cucumber for the six skewers of chicken. The peanut sauce was also not spicy at all.

Hainan Chicken Rice – $22.80 – Boneless chicken steamed to perfection served with rice cooked in aromatic chicken stock

The Hainanese chicken rice was actually pretty decent in terms of both quality and quantity.

Beef Rendang – $21.80 – Bite size pieced of beef cooked in curry spices till dry and topped with fried shredded coconut

The beef rending pieces were slightly bigger than just a ‘bite size’. It was also still quite soupy.

Belachan Kangkong – $15.80 – Fresh water kangkong stir-fried with chilli shrimp paste

It was the only vegetable dish of the day and the portion was rather small.

Assam Prawns – $29.80 – Prawns sautéed in a rich tamarind sauce

It was supposed to be the most expensive dish of the night. However, there was no ‘wow factor’ on the dish and I enjoyed the Hainan chicken rice more than this.

Sago Pudding – $7.50 – Sago pearls served in coconut milk and covered with gula Melaka syrup

I quite liked my sago pudding. It reminded me of the sago I used to have when I was little.

One of my friends was not as lucky; His dessert never came. There was also a dish that I was very keen to try but it was sold out that night. It was Ikan Panggang (or grilled fish). Not just a regular fish, but a skate fish (or stingray).

The final verdict for Sambal

Sambal is a decent Malaysian restaurant if you happened to live around the area. It commanded a slightly more premium price.

Did you know?

Sambal is a Malaysian/Indonesian word for chilli. However, none of the dishes we ordered that night was particularly spicy.

Rating for Sambal:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $29 for main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

285 – 297 Lane Cove Road, North Ryde NSW 2113

02 9889 7977

http://sambal.com.au/

Oct 26, 2015
Pho phd

Review:

PHD in Marrickville is named one of the best pho restaurants in Sydney by Noodlies.com and chopinandmysaucepan.com. This time we didn’t go to PHD, but rather its spinoff that is located just a few blocks away, called Pho phd restaurant. As the name stated, the restaurant specialises more on its pho.

Milk and Soda with egg yolk – $4.50

I must say that this drink is not for everyone… especially when thinking about egg yolk was dunked into your milk and soda! It is really an acquired taste.

There is a drink in Indonesia that is pretty similar to this called STMJ with milk, egg yolk, and honey and substituting soda for ginger.

Thai-style Fish Cake – $10 – Tasty marinated grilled fish paste on prawn crackers, served with sweet chilli sauce

I think $10 for four fish cakes and crackers is a bit steep. It tasted just like any other fish cakes.

Crispy Skin Chicken with Tomato Rice – $13 – Crispy skin chicken Maryland fired to crispy golden brown served with our special dipping fish sauce

Despite being the dish that I ordered, I failed to remember how it tasted. It wasn’t particularly bad and wasn’t particularly memorable either.

Pho with Medium rare beef and combination (Extra Large) – $19 – Pho dish served with tender medium rare thinly sliced premium beef in beef broth and combination of beef brisket, beef balls and beef tripe.

The regular-sized pho is actually the cheapest amongst other pho restaurants I have reviewed in this blog. However, I was more interested in the extra-large pho. It was seriously large!

The final verdict for Pho phd Restaurant

Despity being the younger sibling for the famous PHD, Pho phd restaurant failed to live up to our expectations. The exciting novelty of extra-large pho was quickly subdued by indifference.

Rating for Pho phd Restaurant:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $12 – $19 for the pho

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

260 Marrickville Road, Marrickville NSW 2204

02 9090 2869

http://phophd.com.au/

Oct 20, 2015
The Bridge Room

Review:

One of the perks of having a birthday at the end of September is that you get to wait until Good Food Guide is released for the year. You can then book one of the winning restaurants. This year, we went to the ‘double winner’, The Bridge Room. In addition to getting their third hat, they were also crowned Restaurant of the Year in 2016.

We came in for lunch on Friday and the restaurant was decently filled. Without further ado, let’s talk about the food!

Children’s Beef Steak – $25

Well, the fact that they have a kid’s menu still amazes me. On top of that, this has got to be the best kid’s menu dish I have ever seen and tasted in my life. Our little one is also a pretty good ‘reviewer’ – i.e. he wouldn’t hesitate saying ‘yuck’ if it was a crappy dish. In this instance, he devoured everything on the plate.

Fraser Island Spanner crab, pickled and shelled, new season asparagus – $34 – artichoke butter, basil, celery leaf salt

Our first entrée looked so light and simple yet it was elegant and sophisticated! The soft crab meat combined with the delicate seasoning created such a rich dish. When you add artichoke butter and asparagus into the mix, you got yourself a very unique dish!

It is perfect for people who wanted to start their lunch on the lighter side.

Robata grilled raw beef, pickled greens, shiitake mushrooms, puffed jobs tears – $33 – dried mushrooms, miso, roasted peanut oil

I have always known robatayaki to be a cooked beef satay. So, looking at the description of raw robata beef, I was very intrigued. Presented in a dark-themed plate, the raw beef was exquisite!

The beef was rather obscured by the dried mushrooms and was perfectly complemented by shiitake mushrooms and miso!

Wild caught Snapper, burnt celeriac, celeriac softened in butter – $48 – Cipollini onions, sticky chicken sauce

Our first main course was a snapper. The fish was cooked perfectly with crispy skin. It was enhanced by crunchy celeriac and sweetness of onion. The black sauce was the icing on the cake. It bound the dish into a perfect experience!

Ocean Trout, crisp skin, silken eggplant, roasted tea broth – $45 – sesame, puffed rice, organic soy sauce, grilled rock kelp.

This is not a dish that I would normally order in a fine dining restaurant as I would really hate my fish to be overcooked. When the dish came, it looked perfect. The taste? The meat was beautifully cooked and the skin was extra crispy.

There was also another surprise in this dish. They put hot and spicy stuff (I’d guess something like chili seeds!) on the silken eggplant! It added a whole level of complexity to the ocean trout. It was an exciting surprise!

Steamed broccolini, smoked onion puree, sweet pickled onions – $11

Steamed broccolini was the side dish that accompanied our main courses. There was actually quite a lot of them on the plate! I actually loved mixing the smoked onion puree with my ocean trout. It gave that extra sweet taste to the fish.

Burnt caramel cream, candied Packham pear salad – $18 – pistachio crumb, mint, basil, raisins, pedro ximenez

The burnt caramel cream looked a bit more like a savoury dish with all of those edible flowers and ‘salad’.

It was a rather bitter dessert with enhanced crunch from the pistachio crumb. The pear salad and mint balanced the bitter flavour really nicely.

It is suited for people who like complex dish to end the service.

Aerated passionfruit, roasted nougatine, passionfruit ice cream – $18 – passionfruit seed powder, glass biscuit

On the other hand, the passionfruit ice cream gave us a very refreshing end to our lunch.

There are quite a lot of elements on the plate, including tiny meringue-looking aerated passionfruit.

A word of advice: Just try to cut the glass biscuit in small pieces … It was quite difficult to digest in a big chunk!

The final verdict for The Bridge Room

There is no doubt that The Bridge Room deserved the three hats and title of Sydney’s best! Everything was spotless when we dined there!

Did you know?

This is only the second restaurant that we have ever given a score of 9.5, the other one was Tetsuya’s.

You should also order their Berry cocktail with Yuzu. If I don’t need to work after lunch, I would order a second!

Rating for The Bridge Room:

9.5 / 10

Taste: 9.5 / 10

Price: $250 for two excl. wine.

Place: 9.5 / 10

Details:

44 Bridge Street, Sydney 2000

02 9247 7000

http://www.thebridgeroom.com.au/

Oct 12, 2015
Ryo’s Noodles Bondi Junction

Review:

I have heard about the reputation of Ryo’s Noodles in Crows Nest for quite a while. However, travelling across the bridge just to enjoy a bowl of ramen isn’t exactly at the top of my list.

Fortunately, they open an outlet a lot closer to home. Ryo’s Noodles just (literally) opened yesterday, 8 October 2015, in Bondi Junction! There were no big fanfares that accompanied the opening. Just a simple, business as usual with a few flyers being handed out.

Most of the stuff on their menu is ramen. They have a choice of pork soup, chicken soup, cold noodles and vegetarian noodles. Other dishes include a couple of curry rice and rice balls. But, you should be coming in for Ryo’s Ramen.

Ramen in spicy hot flavoured soup with roast pork, egg and shallots – $13.50

The ramen’s portion was quite big and they use the wriggly noodles instead of the straight ones. As the name stated, the ramen was actually quite hot! There were decent amount of toppings with quite generous serving of soup.

Ramen noodles in pork and fish stock with eggs, roast pork, fried shallots – $15.00

There were more elements in this ramen than the last one. The layers of fish stock was very visible (and possibly quite fattening! ^_^). The soup was also a bit thicker than the previous ramen. I quite liked the extra fried shallots that gave a crunchier taste to the ramen.

Cod roe rice ball – $5.00

I decided to order the cod roe rice ball because I am actually quite a big fan of rice balls. It looked a bit pricey, but the rice ball was actually pretty big!

The final verdict for Ryo’s Noodles Bondi Junction

I can understand why people lined up in Crows Nest. The ramen at Ryo’s Noodles Bondi Junction was very nice!

Did you know?

This address is the most reviewed in my blog. Three restaurants have occupied this spot for the last five years. The previous two restaurants have all been great-tasting Japanese restaurants that disappeared quite mysteriously.

Rating for Ryo’s Noodles Bondi Junction:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $12 – $16 per ramen or main

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

106 Ebley Street, Bondi Junction NSW 2022

02 9387 8858

Ryo’s Noodles’ facebook page

Oct 9, 2015