Category: Cities

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

The Colonial Restaurant

Review:

This week we go to an uncharted territory. The Colonial Restaurant becomes the first Indian restaurant for us to review! We were quite intrigued by its concept of British Indian cuisine. I then invited my friends from the UK to join me and gave an opinion on how ‘authentic’ the restaurant was.

Tapas

Interestingly, the Colonial restaurant has a selection of Tapas on their menu. They creatively transform Indian dishes into Tapas-sized delicacies.

We ordered quite a few Tapas, especially the platters:

–          Onion Bhaji ($6) – Fritter of Onions and spring onion (Deep-fry) served with mint and date chutney

–          The Colonial Vegetarian Platter ($10) – Vegetarian samosa, batata bara, onion bhaji and Paneer Tikka, Served with Mint and Date chutney

–          The Colonial Non-Veg Platter ($14) – Meat samosa, lamb lollipop, chicken tikka and Chicken drumstick, served with mint chutney

–          Seafood Platter – Prawns, deep fried fish and calamari, served with tomato chilli chutney

So, unless you have a dish that you really like, I suggest you ordered the platter. I loved how their complementary sauces worked differently depending on the dish.

A La Carte

We ordered quite a few a la carte dishes which were mostly different kinds of curry. However, I didn’t get the chance to try the vegetarian ones.

Straight off the bat, we were quite fixated with the Railway Goat Curry. The description also reinforced our belief: goat meat cooked in yogurt, bay leaf and saffron! However, we felt that the dish was overshadowed by the others. Our next dish, Chicken Tikka Masala, was promoted as Britain’s National Dish! So, we felt we really must get that. It was a well-balanced dish with capsicum, onion and tomato sauce.

We felt that the best dish of the day was the Mango Chicken. Cooked in mango pulp liquor (you can have the non-liquor version), this dish had the perfect recipe to be my favourite: sweet, tasty and flavoursome. To round up the a la carte menu, we had Beef Dhansak, diced beef cooked with lentils and spiced.

Mango Chicken ($17) – Boneless chicken cooked in very mild spices with coco cream and mango pulp liquor (Suntory Mohala)

Beef Dhansak ($17) – Diced beef cooked with lentils and spices

The Rest

Normally, you enjoy Indian food with either bread (naan or paratha) or rice. They have quite a large selection of naan and rice. I think it is better to have the plainest tasting one because the dishes are already very rich.

You should also order Pappadums and mint chutney as they were very nice!

Unfortunately, this time around they ran out of their dessert special: The Colonial Special Creme Brulee. It might have been a great finish for our lunch. We had to settle for part of the dessert, Gulab Jamun.

The verdict for The Colonial – British Indian Cuisine

I was very impressed on how the Colonial restaurant was very well-presented. You can have the option of enjoying the usual Indian dishes or Tapas-style dishes with Indian influence.

Rating for the Colonial:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $35 per person

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

118 Crown Street, Darlinghurst 2010

02 8084 6700

http://www.thecolonialrestaurant.com.au/

Jun 27, 2014
Kazbah Restaurant

Review:

Kazbah restaurant is situated at the heart of Darling Harbour’s Harbourside shopping centre. In that place, there are dozens of restaurants for you to choose. One day, we felt like eating Middle Eastern cuisine and that’s why I am writing this review.

The restaurant has an extravagant atmosphere with dimly-lit, silky smooth vibe to it. Looking at the menu, we decided to go for a three-course meal with a simple entree. Middle Eastern main courses are normally pretty ‘heavy’.

Each of us ordered Char-grilled quail (half a quail) with pomegranate sauce. We also had Rocket and Grilled Haloumi salad. Nice and light entree, as expected.

Char-Grilled Quail, Pomegranate Sauce (each) – $6.00

Rocket and Grilled Haloumi – $10.00

Main Course

If you are new to my blog, I usually look for two things in a restaurant: something unique and a dish that the restaurant is famous for. Obviously our first main course fell in the first category: Camel Kafta. Presented in Shish Kebab style, the Kafta was grilled perfectly and I loved how the date sauce gave an extra taste to the meat. Synonym to the grand theme, the camel kafta was showered with generous serving of lentil and Tunisian ratatouille.

Camel Kafta, Brown Lentil Moujadara, Tunisian Style Ratatouille, Date Sauce, Crispy Fried Onions – $34.00

We ordered the other main, Lamb Shank, because of our curiosity. The lamb shank was stewed with prunes, carrots and kidney beans. Nevertheless, we are still trying to find a lamb shank dish as good as the one we had in Port Stephens.

Lamb Shank, Prunes, Carrots, Kidney Beans – $33.00

Dessert

Since my wife is a massive fan of Baklava, we must order one everywhere we go. For this one, this one was not too sweet and quite enjoyable. We also had Turkish Delight but it was pretty sweet.

Baklava (each) – $3.50 and Turkish Delight

The second dessert was rather extravagant and very pleasing to see, Date and Walnut Linzer Tart with carob mascarpone. Two tempered chocolates decorated both sides of the tart with little droplets of butterscotch accentuated the plate. However, I would not recommend you if you already had a full tummy. This dessert was incredibly heavy with a rich taste!

Date and walnut linzer tart with carob mascarpone, butterscotch cream – $14.00

The verdict for Kazbah Restaurant

Kazbah Restaurant delivered a nice Middle Eastern feel with well-presented Middle Eastern dishes.

Did you know?

There was one dessert that really stood out when we were there but we did not order. It was called Kazbah Bomb for Two. Flamed with Kurrant Vodka, this dessert should really excite everyone around you.

Also, for some reasons UrbanSpoon’s reviewers think that Kazbah in Balmain is a lot better than the one in Darling Harbour.

Rating for Kazbah Restaurant:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $50 for three courses

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Harbourside Shopping Centre

Shop 284 / 2 – 10 Darling Dr, Sydney 2000

02 9555 7067

http://www.kazbah.com.au/

Jun 20, 2014
Alchemy Restaurant and Bar

Review:

How many times have you seen chef prepare the dish in front of you in a restaurant? Possibly not that many.

How many times have you seen chef use liquid nitrogen in that preparation? Possibly almost none!

Alchemy restaurant did just that and with a pretty high standard! They call it the ‘Nitro Bomb’. For just a fraction of your total bill ($9), you can enjoy liquid nitrogen sweet gastronomic nibbles. The nibbles were also quite varied (but they were strictly adult-only): Honeycomb, vodka meringue, tia maria meringue, and blood orange ice cream.

‘Nitro Bomb’ liquid nitrogen sweet gastronomic nibbles – $9

Alchemy restaurant is located in a nice riverside walk in Brisbane. You can opt to choose from the usual menu or their daily specials that were explained by the waitress.

I had a couple of dishes for the Entree: an oyster and pork belly. It was a pretty simple oyster with some slices of cucumber and a hint of yuzu. The pork belly was originated from Northern Rivers with diced eggplant (aubergine), apple salad and crackling. My pork belly was still pretty hot when served.

Oysters with compressed cucumber and yuzu – $4.5

Northern Rivers Pork Belly with Yoghurt Spiced Aubergine, Apple Salad and Crackling – $28

For the main course, I ordered braised beef cheek. The beef cheek was accompanied by silky smooth mashed potatoes, diced bacon, and mushrooms with red wine reduction sauce. The beef cheek was near perfection! You do not really need to use your knife because the meat was so delicate! It was a beautifully balanced dish. However, this main course was also pretty hot when served.

Braised Beef Cheek – $44

Feeling already a bit full, I pushed myself for a dessert, because the waitress told me that the Nitro Bomb was just nibbles. My choice fell to my personal favourite, Souffle. Their unique rendition of the soufflé involved mixed berry inside and outside the pot. It gave a very rich berry flavour for the souffle. For an even added flavour, you can mix almond crumble into the pot. Depending on how you normally enjoy a soufflé, you can either have the white chocolate ice cream infused or have it on its own.

Mixed Berry Souffle with Almond Crumble and White Chocolate Ice Cream – $17

The verdict for Alchemy Restaurant and Bar

I left Alchemy Restaurant and Bar with a very full stomach and very happy feeling. Obviously, the highlight of the night was its nitro bomb and the beautiful display of craftsmanship.

Rating for Alchemy Restaurant and Bar:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $90 for three-course meal

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

175 Eagle Street, Brisbane 4000

07 3229 3175

http://www.alchemyrestaurant.com.au/

Jun 10, 2014
Mr Wong

Review:

Mr Wong is located in a hidden back alley of Bridge Lane just near the corner of George and Bridge Streets. Although it can seat 240 people and is considered a pretty expensive place to eat Chinese, Mr Wong is always pretty busy.

They put a lot of efforts on the decoration of their two-level restaurant and they have quite a number of dishes in their menu. You have a choice between having small dishes of dim sum or a big dinner.

Small dishes (Dim Sum and Entree)

We ordered quite a few dishes in this department (as it should in a Yum Cha place):

Scallop and prawn shumai (3 pieces) – $9.8

Prawn har gau – $9.8

Chinese mushroom dumpling (3 pieces) – $9.8

Xiao long bao (4 pieces) – $12

Prawn toast with foie gras and almonds (4 pieces) – $12

Prawn and crispy dough rice roll (8 pieces) – $15

They made each dish as we ordered them. As a result, it took quite a while to get what we wanted. However, you can actually taste that freshly-made dim sums beat trolley ones any time! The dish of note was the scallop and prawn shumai. Even my son wanted to order more of this! The prawn rice roll was a bit tricky as they cut 2 long rolls into eight small pieces.

We also ordered a couple of entree: Drunken chicken and Peking duck pancakes. The addition of goji berries in this dish accentuated the taste. I found that the duck pancakes were just okay.

Drunken chicken – $18

Peking duck pancakes (half – 8 pancakes) – $45

Big Dishes (Roast Meats, Meat, Live Seafood, Tofu and Veggies, Rice and Noodles)

Since we were mainly concentrating on the dim sum and small dishes part, we only ordered a couple of dishes from this department. The first dish, “Mr Fong’s” stir fried chicken, was my least favourite of the day.

“Mr Fong’s” stir fried chicken, water chestnuts, shiitake, lotus root and Chinese sausage – $27

However, the large King crab and sweetcorn fried rice was pretty amazing. I think this was the most posh fried rice ever! A tip: If you are a rice eater like us, please make sure that you ask the dish to be made first because rice and noodles usually come last!

King crab and sweetcorn fried rice, trout roe and crispy conpoy – $29

Dessert

When I looked at the menu and saw deep fried ice cream and butter scotch, I was sold! Mr. Wong’s deep fried vanilla ice cream was a dessert to die for. How can you handle crunchy, hot and cold, sweet, salty and tasty all in one spoon?

Mr. Wong’s deep fried vanilla ice cream served with butter scotch sauce – $14

Shamefully, I forgot to take picture of the last dessert, Mango pudding, passionfruit granita, pomelo and pearls – $14. Instead of the heavy tasting pudding you usually get from a Chinese yum cha restaurant, you got this refreshingly-balanced mango pudding.

The verdict for Mr Wong

Yes, Mr Wong is expensive… but if you are thinking about going, you should already know that. It took quite a while for each dish to come out, but every one of them was executed perfectly. I would certainly come back for its shumai and deep fried ice cream!

Did you know?

Mr. Wong is part of a large hospitality group, known as Merivale. They have several hats restaurants. Mr Wong received the 2014 Good Food Guide award for new restaurant of the year.

You can only reserve a table for dinner if you have six or more people. For lunch time, you can book it with any number of people. They also serve banquet-style menu and mud crab.

Rating for Mr. Wong:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $300 for five people

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

3 Bridge Lane

02 9240 3000

http://merivale.com.au/mrwong

May 28, 2014
PappaRich Malaysian Delights – Broadway

Review:

“PappaRich Malaysian Delights” was the name mentioned when I asked my circle of friends to name a good Malaysian restaurant in Sydney. However, we were kind of lazy to cross the bridge to Chatswood for a Malaysian cuisine. So, when we went to Broadway and saw the sign ‘PappaRich’, I could not be more delighted. We were also just in time to avoid the queue!

If you went there for the first time, the menu can be quite intimidating. It feels like an endless list of food with big pictures! So, on this occasion, I’ll try to let you know the different dishes you can expect to find at PappaRich Malaysian Delights.

From the first part of the menu, we had Roti Canai with Tandoori Chicken ($14.90). It was quite a simple arrangement of a quarter tandoori chicken, a pretty big piece of roti and two kinds of sauce (spicy sambal and yogurt mint). We then picked 6 sticks of Satay Beef ($13.90), alternatively you can choose to have satay chicken.

The rice department has quite a few choices to offer. At the top of the list, the Pappa Chicken Rice with Steamed Chicken ($13.50) was too hard to miss. A Malaysian favourite that comes complete with tender boiled chicken, fragrant chicken rice, chicken soup, bean sprouts and a combination of chilli, ginger and dark soya sauce for dipping. You can also have a variety of Biryani or jasmine rice with two choices from the following: red chicken, sambal eggplant, sambal prawns and beef rendang. The costs vary between $13.00 to $16.90.

There were also a handful of choices from the Noodles department, unfortunately we only got the chance to try Crispy Egg Noodle ($13.50) – wok-fried egg noodles with egg gravy, prawns, chicken slices and fish cakes. My Malaysian friend told me that a good Malaysian restaurant was judged on the way they created their Laksa. She also said that PappaRich’s was very nice. This last dish was my personal favourite, Pappa Deep Fried Chicken Skin ($6.90).

They serve a lot of traditional Malaysian drinks, such as Ice Blended Bandung (Rose Syrup with Soya Milk) with Grass Jelly ($4.90).

The verdict for PappaRich Malaysian Delights – Broadway

I love a good serve of deep fried chicken skin and PappaRich gave us a great serve of them! In line with the buzz, PappaRich lived up to the expectation. The price tag was justifiable by the big portions they served.

Did you know?

Looking at PappaRich’s main Malaysian website, I was actually quite surprised that they already opened restaurants in six countries!

Rating for PappaRich Malaysian Delights:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $20 – $25 per person

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Shop 5, 185 Broadway, Ultimo 2007

02 9281 3228

http://papparich.net.au/

May 20, 2014
Sushi Tengoku

Review:

Back in 2011, I reviewed Sushi Tengoku with one major issue: wait time. So, what’s so different this time around?

Sushi and Sashimi

Sushi was the thing I love the most at Sushi Tengoku. They are nice, extra large, and served pretty fast! We never miss ordering aburi salmon and aburi scallops. Some people said that the sea urchin sushi was nice, but we always have difficulties in trying to find which one to cut from our order.

If you want variety, we suggest you to order sushi or sashimi moriawase.

Sushi rolls and small dishes

Whenever we are in Sushi Tengoku, we always ordered tamago roll and spider roll. Sushi tengoku’s sushi rolls were humongous as always! Trying to finish them was quite a task.

If you can stand fish head, I suggest you to try teriyaki salmon fish head. For only $5, it is by far the best value for money dish.

Specials

Specials are the one place that was problematic last time around. This time, we upped the ante and ordered two specials: Baked Scallops and Volcano Roll.

We were pretty pleased that the baked scallops were served reasonably fast and they were actually bigger. Baked scallops consisted of scallops, salmon, fish roe, and mayonnaise.

The volcano roll was pretty interesting. There were eight sushi maki with charred (aburi) crab meat.

The new verdict for Sushi Tengoku

We’re pretty impressed with the changes that happened at Sushi Tengoku! Still the same gigantic sushi and baked scallops, but now without the ridiculously long wait time!

Did you know?

My Japanese friend once told me that a good sushi was not judged by the quality of meat, but was actually the intricate process to produce its rice!

Sushi Tengoku is the second restaurant that All About Food blog revisited (Churrasco being the other one).

Why do we revisit?

Some restaurants we visit regularly. If we think that the restaurant has improved significantly, we’ll try to get a new post for that restaurant.

Sushi Tengoku’s Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $30 per person

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

121 Anzac Parade, Kensington NSW 2033

02 9663 3388

They don’t have a website, but they do have Sushi Tengoku facebook page.

May 12, 2014