Category: Cities

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

SMH Good Food Guide 2016
We have a new winner in this year’s Good Food Guide 2016. The Bridge Room by Ross Lusted took the prize as well as upgrading their status to a three-hat restaurant!

Other Awards in this year’s Good Food Guide 2016

Best new restaurant of the year is Bennelong. The new restaurant by Peter Gilmore.

Pasi Petanen from Cafe Paci has won the Chef of The Year award. Cafe Paci was upgraded to a two-hat restaurant this year.

Fleet in Brunswick Heads was awarded the Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2016. Its head chef is Josh Lewis.

Janni Kyritsis received the Legend Award. I had the pleasure of dining with Janni on the opening of Chef’s Gallery Macquarie. He is truly inspirational!

Young Chef of the year award was given to Lauren Eldridge from Marque.

Cam Fairbairn (ACME) won the Service Excellence Award.

Food for Good award was given to Rob Caslick from Inside Out Organic Soup Kitchen and Cooking School. This award combined innovation, charity and sustainability.

If you want a good wine, you should go to Bentley Restaurant & Bar as they won this year’s Wine List of the year.

Sommelier of the year went to Sebastian Crowther MS from Rockpool.

Best Bar Food can be found in Rockpool Bar & Grill.

Best Bar is Monopole.

Best cheap eat is Chaco bar.

People’s choice went to Catalina.

List of restaurants with hats in Good Food Guide 2016

Three hats

There are four restaurants awarded with three hats as listed in the Good Food Guide 2016 website:
- The Bridge Room – They gained one hat AND captured the top prize in 2016! Kudos to Chef Ross Lusted!
- Rockpool – The group has several restaurants including two two-hat restaurants, Rockpool Bar and grill and Spice Temple.
- Quay – 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2013 restaurant of the year. Quay is still one of the household names in Sydney’s fine dining… Although, it remained to be seen how Peter Gilmore operate two of the finest restaurants in Circular Quay!
- Sepia – Winner of 2015, 2014 and 2012 Restaurant of the year award.
As listed from the website, the rest of the hats are as follows:

Two hats

ARIA, Bennelong, Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Berowra Waters Inn, Cafe Paci, Cottage Point Inn, est., Ester, The Four in Hand Dining Room, Guillaume, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Lucio’s Italian Restaurant, LuMi Bar & Dining, Marque, Momofuku Seiobo, Mr. Wong, Ormeggio at The Spit, Oscillate Wildly, Pilu at Freshwater, Porteño, Rockpool Bar & Grill, sixpenny, Spice Temple, Tetsuya’s.

One hat

10 William St, ACME, Ajo Italian Restaurant, The Apollo, The Bathers’ Pavilion, Billy Kwong, Bistro Moncur, Bistrode CBD, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, Bodega, Buon Ricordo, Catalina, China Doll, Cho Cho San, Felix, Firedoor, Fratelli Paradiso, Gastro Park, glass brasserie, Izakaya Fujiyama, Jonah’s Restaurant, Kepos Street Kitchen, Longrain, LP’s Quality Meats, Monopole, Moon Park, MoVida, Ms.G’s, Nomad, Osteria Balla, Osteria di Russo & Russo, Otto Ristorante, The Restaurant Pendolino, Sagra, Sake Double Bay, Sean’s, Sokyo, sushi e, Three Blue Ducks, Uccello, Ume Restaurant, Vini, Yellow.

The following restaurants lost their hat status

Black by Ezard, Cafe Sopra, The Devonshire, Flying Fish, Lox Stock and Barrel, Vincent, Sake (The Rocks), 4Fourteen, Aki’s Indian Restaurant, Alpha, Bar H Dining, Farmhouse, Clareville Kiosk and Hartsyard.

The following restaurants closed permanently

Arras, Fish Face

Note: Green is a new entry to the list. Blue is the one who lost a hat
Sep 8, 2015
Minh

Review:

Minh Vietnamese Restaurant is located in Dulwich Hill. We drive past this restaurant almost every day (and night).

There was a warm and homey greeting when we entered the restaurant. There are quite a lot of things on the menu, but one item stood out for me: bonfire.

Cua L?t Rang Mu?i Tiêu (4 pieces) – $14.00 – Salt and pepper soft-shell crab

Let’s look at the fact: 4 soft-shell crabs for the price of $14. That’s a good bargain any ways I see it. It tasted like the salt and pepper dish in a Chinese restaurant, but with soft-shell crab.

Bonfire – Quanh L?a H?ng – $22.00 – Premium beef cooked at your table, the meat are marinated with lemongrass, five spices and sesame seed, served with fresh herbs, salad, cucumber, pickles and rice paper.

The dish started off as a boring plate of raw beef, dry rice papers, and a plate of other condiments.

After they finished the preparation bit, the attendant lit up the bottom of the raw beef’s plate. We were already pretty amazed with this surprise. As the fire grew larger, he started stirring the beef – and told us they had already calculated that the fire would die down at precisely the time the meat was perfectly cooked.

He then dipped the rice paper into the water to make it edible and a tad sticky. He also asked us to add any amount of vegetables and meat onto the rice paper. The end result was pretty similar to the rice paper roll that you might find in a Vietnamese restaurant. The difference was of course in the way you made the rice paper roll yourself!

You can see a little video we made about the beef bonfire on YouTube.

I actually did not expect this kind of excitement from a Vietnamese restaurant. This is the dish that you should go to Minh for.

Pho Bo Dac Biet – $15.00 – Combination beef (including Tendon, Tripe, beef balls) noodle soup

The pho at Minh Vietnamese restaurant is actually not bad. However, it was overshadowed by the bonfire theatrical.

Vit Nau Ca ri Do – $16.00 – Roasted duck with curry and pineapple

The red curry duck is pretty similar to a Thai dish. I can’t really find the differences between the two. I originally ordered this dish because the four of us would still be hungry after the three dishes above. As it stands, it was a surplus to our requirements and had to be taken away for our lunch the next day.

Hot Vietnamese Coffee – $4.00 – with condensed milk

The final verdict for Minh

The beef bonfire was a pleasant surprise when dining at Minh. The dishes were also good value for money.

Did you know?

Apparently, Minh is also famous for its Noodle in Tomato Sauce (courtesy of The Hungry FoodTech). We tried it on our second visit to Minh in as many week and loved it!

Vietnamese restaurants are known in Sydney mostly for pork rolls and Pho, especially in the suburbs like Cabramatta, Marrickville and Bankstown.

Rating for Minh:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $18 per main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

506 Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill 2203

02 9560 0465

Sep 1, 2015
Sakae Japanese Kitchen

Review:

One evening, we cannot decide which restaurant to go for dinner. So, we have to ask for a help to our friends, collectively known as Zomato. I saw one restaurant in Marrickville that pretty stood out. It was a Japanese restaurant, named Sakae Japanese Kitchen, which had a rating of 4.3. Marrickville is universally known for its Vietnamese restaurants. So, we were pretty curious about this Japanese restaurant.

The restaurant looked unassuming from the outside and the décor was quite minimalist. The staff was very friendly and we were happy to see that none of the mains cost more than $20 on the menu.

Salmon Nigiri Sushi – $4 and Salmon thin roll – $4.50

Obviously these two are the indicators of a truly great Japanese restaurant. Our little one finished it and we were pretty pleased about their size and taste.

Beef Tataki with Sakae special sauce – $9.80 – Thinly sliced rare beef

$10 for this beauty? We’ll take it anytime! Seriously tho… portion was big and taste was great!

Natto thin roll (6 pcs) – $4.00 – Japanese traditional fermented sticky soy beans

I ordered this out of curiosity. Natto is one of those things that need an acquired taste to enjoy. This was my first exposure to natto and I could understand why a lot of people hate it. Personally, I don’t mind the taste and managed to adjust my palate to accommodate the ‘natto’ taste.

Agedashi Eggplant & Prawn Wonton – $7.50 – Deepfried eggplant and prawn wonton in Agedashi sauce

This dish was on the ‘special’ section. It is the lesser known sibling of Agedashi Tofu and another ‘first try’ for me. I actually liked how they combined the eggplant and prawn wonton. You just need to add rice for the dish to be a ‘complete dish’.

Yakizakana Entrees – $9.80 – Grilled half mackerel lightly salted

We ordered this because of the picture on the menu was pretty inviting! Despite being pretty interesting, the mackerel lost out in the battle to become our favourite dish.

Sakae Special Sashimi – Scampi – $5.80

Scampi sashimi at special price? who wouldn’t want that! What’s the catch? You have to order it with a main meal.

Spider Roll – $7.80 – Soft shell crab and vegetables with mayonnaise

The spider roll was pretty big. They were generously sprinkled with fish roe.

Mixed Katsu Don – $12.80 – Specially cooked fish, prawn and pork cutlet with onion and egg on top of rice

Katsu don is generally the dish that I use to fill up my tummy in a Japanese restaurant, considering that the sushi and sashimi are generally enjoyed in small pieces.
In Sakae Japanese Kitchen, the katsu don was pretty big and the mixed katsu don was even better with a variety of cuts on a plate!

Note: You can swap the tonkatsu with chicken katsu.

Tempura Udon / Soba – $14.80 – Noodle with tempura prawns and veggies.

I did not order the dish and had no capacity to try it either. It looked pretty good tho!

The final verdict for Sakae Japanese Kitchen

Sakae Japanese Kitchen was a pretty small restaurant with incredibly friendly staff! The food was cheap, the portion was pretty big and ,most importantly, the taste was surprisingly good.

Did you know?

Sakae has two other restaurants in Eastwood with a slightly different concept: as a Yakiniku House and Japanese Dining Bar.

Rating for Sakae Japanese Kitchen:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $18 per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

303 Illawarra Road, Marrickville 2204

02 9559 7873

http://www.sakae.com.au/

Aug 25, 2015
Chophouse

Review:

I wanted to take a couple of VIPs from overseas to enjoy Australian beef. I have heard that Chophouse was one of the best steakhouse in town. So naturally, Chophouse was our choice for enjoying the beautiful Australian beef.

Looking at the menu, they have cuts that you will most likely not find in your local butcher. So, we were pretty happy with the prospect of having quality food for dinner.

The night started off wonderfully with two beautiful starters:

Crisp Zucchini Flowers with prawn mousse, and Romesco sauce – $21.90

There were three golden zucchini flowers with beautiful prawn fillings.

Flash Fried Prawns & Calamari with Aioli – $17.50

Despite looking like an ordinary salt and pepper calamari, they were nothing but ordinary.

Something Fishy

It is actually one of the names for the kid’s menu. It was a deep fried fish fillet with steamed greens. The fish was way too overcooked. The little guy did not want to finish it (and I didn’t blame him). The good thing about it was that it was FREE of charge!

After quite a long wait, with a few guests that came around the same time as us already paid their bills, our main course arrived. On a side note, the complimentary bread actually managed to keep my tummy busy while waiting for the main course.

The Glazed Beef Short Rib with house made BBQ sauce (350gr) – $36.00

Obviously when you are at one of the best steakhouses, you will want to try the best item (usually the most expensive one?) on their ‘signatures’ range. This short rib was the one. It was the dish I originally ordered (and was subsequently halved and traded with the rump cap below).

The meat was incredibly tender and the BBQ sauce was nice.

Double Double Lamb Chops with mint jelly (2x180gr) – $30.90 – from Amelia Park, WA

I must admit that the double double lamb chops sounded very intriguing! However, my tummy said ‘no’ to the weight listed on the menu.

Wagyu Rump Cap, MB6+ with harissa and jus (200gr) – $39.00 – from FI, AACo, QLD

Wagyu rump cap was the best dish of the night for me. It was the smallest portion for the night and wasn’t the one I ordered (unfortunately!), but the steak was beautiful.

The final verdict for Chophouse

Quality was definitely there when it comes down to the steak they served at Chophouse… as expected from quality meats! However, a very long break between the two courses and the fact that no one told us the steak did not come with any side dishes made our experience somewhat less satisfying.

Did you know?

I was quite interested in their Tomahawks. However considering it weighed in excess of 1.5 kg, none of us dared to order it.

The side dishes cost from $9 to $25. So, in order to have a complete meal, you might need to add that cost into your main dish.

Rating for Chophouse:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $55 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

25 Bligh St, Sydney 2000

1300 246 748

http://chophousesydney.com.au/

Aug 17, 2015
Voulez Vous Experience

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Unfortunately, Voulez Vous has closed its doors for good.

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My Voulez Vous Experience:

This week’s review is about a brand new restaurant in Surry Hills named Voulez Vous. Even if it’s technically still Surry Hills, the restaurant is actually located closer to Hyde Park, so parking is not a problem around the area! I dined as a guest for #ZomatoMeetUp event, invited by Nick from Zomato.

There were two sets of three-course dinner for the night. I managed to try the other set from Thang of Noodlies.com.

Meat Entrée

This entrée was not on the menu, but instead was created so that we could taste the range of meat entrées at Voulez Vous. It is a mixture of traditional Serbian and Mediterranean dishes.

It was a balanced mix that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I think I would love to have this kind of entrée permanently on the menu as it showcases what Serbian cuisine is about. Especially for us who are not accustomed to the cuisine.

Fish Entrée

This was the fish (or seafood) entrée that I did not get the chance to taste. The dishes were not designed to be shared.

Lemon and golden quince sorbet

This was a pretty good palate cleanser.

Sesame coated tuna steak with steamed vegetables

To be honest, I am not a big fan of tuna. However, their steak was grilled perfectly. The sesame and red bits added a crunchy texture to the tuna. It was nice and refreshing.

Saach

Saach was the dish that the owner talked about more and was considered as the national dish of Serbia. It was a stew of veal and lamb with vegetables and herbs.

Pear poached in red wine

When the poached pears arrived on our table, we could not hide our delights on how nice it looked. Then we had a taste…

The combination of red wine, chocolate and vanilla ice cream (although it tasted more like aerated vanilla mixture) was amazing.

I did not say this because I was invited to Voulez Vous, but that Pear dessert was awesome! I actually had to come back to the restaurant a few days after to ensure that what I got wasn’t just made especially for us… and it was still awesome!

It was definitely one of the best desserts I have tasted this year!

Nutella Torte

In a way, I was pleased that I did not get the Nutella torte, because I am not a big fan of chocolate. Opinions were divided amongst our group and some of us did enjoy the Nutella Torte.

A few interesting things about Voulez Vous

One thing that got talked about a lot on the night was Quince-flavoured Rakija. Rakija can be considered as a fruit brandy with 40%+ alcohol content. According to the owner, it is best served at 40°. Voulez vous is also a good place for you to try Serbian beer, Jelen Pivo.

Details:

6 Hunt Street, Surry Hills 2010

+61 2 9211 3880

Other pictures of Voulez Vous on the night

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Aug 10, 2015
Chat Thai Westfield

Review:

I have been wanting to write about this week’s restaurant for years. It was one of our favourite late night destinations (retired from nocturnal activities four years ago). Chat Thai has a few restaurants in Sydney. On this occasion, we went to Chat Thai Westfield in Sydney CBD for dinner.

One of the interesting thing about Chat Thai is that they have different menu for different time of the day: Lunch, Dinner, and Supper. Supper menu is only available in Chat Thai Haymarket (Thaitown).

Padt Thai Chicken – $14.00 – stir fried thin rice noodles with chicken, dried shrimps, bean sprouts, galic and chives in a tamarind and palm sugar sauce

If you google ‘National dish of Thailand’, Google will tell you that it is Pad Thai. However, it is not something that we normally look for in a Thai restaurant. We ordered this because other people in the party love a good Pad Thai.

Som Dtum – thai-bpu – $14.00 – Green papaya salad with peanuts and dried shrimps with the addition of pickled crab

People generally judged a good Thai restaurant based on its Pad Thai. For us, som dtum is the dish that we’d like to measure how good a Thai restaurant is. Chat Thai Westfield’s som dtum was one of the best we have ever tasted! It was fresh and had a lot of punchy flavours, especially from the pickled crab.

If you are not sure about pickled crab, you can order the normal Som Dtum Thai.

Gai Yaang – $14.00 – Char grilled turmeric and lemongrass marinated chicken with smoked chilli and tamarind relish

Crying Tiger – $14.00 – Char grilled beef tenderloin with smoked chilli and tamarind relish

Gai Yaang and Crying Tiger are the two dishes that my Thai friend always ordered when dining at Chat Thai Westfield. These two are also staple food in Thai restaurants. Both dishes were cooked to perfection. They were juicy and full of flavour!

Gai Yaang

Crying Tiger

Mussamun nuea – $16.00 – Mussamun curry of slowly braised beef shin and potato

This is a curry my partner love to order in a Thai restaurant. You can tell Chat Thai Westfield’s mussamun is great by the quality of its meat. The curry was thicker than other massamun curries we have tried and the meat was so tender that you can actually fork it off!

Suki Chicken Soup – $14.00 – braised chicken and glass noodles with water spinach

This is a dish that is rarely seen in a Thai restaurant. It resembles Chinese hot pot dish.

You can opt for a soup or dry suki.

Padt Si-ew – $14.00

The little one always orders Padt Si-ew when we go to a Thai restaurant. This dish is probably the most generic out of all Thai dish and the little-known brother of Padt Thai. It was a simple dish of rice noodles, chicken, vegetables and sweet soy sauce.

Bpla Dtom Som – $24.00 – steamed blue eye cod in caramelized palm sugar, turmeric and tamarind sauce.

I ordered this dish because of the picture in the menu. Being the most expensive dish of the night (and the last to be served) definitely put some pressure on this dish to deliver. All I can say is that it did not disappoint. Despite looking a bit overcooked, the fish was still perfect. The combination of sweet and sour sauce (a different kind!) was also very good!

The final verdict for Chat Thai Westfield

Chat Thai is one of my favourite Thai restaurants in Sydney! Should I really say more?

Did you know?

Unfortunately we had to skip on the desserts as we were pretty full at the end of the dinner.

With that said, I can create a whole post for Chat Thai dedicated solely for its desserts. They have a nice range of desserts. My personal favourite is Pa Tong Go – deep fried donuts with pandan sauce. I glanced at the dessert menu in Chat Thai Westfield and could not find it there, but they are definitely available in Chat Thai Haymarket.

Rating for Chat Thai Westfield:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $14 – $24 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 6002, level 6, Westfield Centre Point, 188 Pitt St, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9221 0600

http://www.chatthai.com.au/

Aug 4, 2015