Category: Cities

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

Na Zdrowie

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $50 per person ($25 main)

Place: 7/10

Review:

Concurrent to the one from my blog ardipradana.com, this will be my first review originally published in this blog. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.

It is nice to start of the New Year with a part of the world I have never been before. Na Zdrowie is an authentic Polish restaurant with a nice brick and wooden interior design. Their table settings and choice of dishes also reflected this authenticity.

The first dish of the day was quite unique. It was called Smalec – Delicious seasoned lard with apples and onions, served with rye bread & Polish pickles. This was definitely my favourite! The lard was served cold with some crunchy elements to it. The combination of lard, rye bread and pickles was fantastic. I felt like eating the whole jar of Smalec myself.

There was also Serek – Fried crumbed camembert cheese with cranberry sauce – – for entrée. Nice and gooey camembert with cranberry sauce… nothing can go wrong! Zurek – Sour rye broth with potato and polish smoked sausage – was a very interesting soup because it was both sour and smoky. The soup was served in a nice traditional bowl and lid.

On this occasion, we ordered three mains. I almost thought these mains were gigantic, but apparently they were just enough. For the first main we had Kaczka – Duck roasted in apples & served with kopytka. It was a perfectly roasted half duck with nice apple sauce. It was also complemented by kopytka (seared potato dumpling) and shredded carrots. I think the apple sauce was a tad strong since it was literally half an apple.

Then came Schabowy – pork loin (or chicken) schnitzel served with potatoes & mizeria. This one was just schnitzel. The only difference on this dish was the Polish cucumber (Mizeria). For the finale, we ordered Pierogi – Traditional Polish dumplings with delicious fillings (Mushroom, cheese, or meat). This dish was strangely similar to the Chinese dumplings with the exception of their fillings (my friend strenuously denied this). This dish actually gave me an interesting insight on what can be put into dumplings.

For the drinks, we originally just ordered the Polish beer, Zywiec. However, half way through the meal, I saw the waiter brought this drink to the table next to me. The drink was called Kompot (not to be confused with Polish Heroin or the dessert compote). It was a clear fruit drink with an ultra-refreshing taste. I am not quite sure what was in it, but I am sure they tasted really nice. According to Wikipedia.com, kompot is a drink made of fruits boiled in water with sugar and left to cool and infuse.

The final verdict: There was a thick traditional and authentic feeling in Na Zdrowie restaurant. Unfortunately, I think the entrée and the drinks far outperformed the main dish. I strongly suggest you to order Kompot and Pierogi. Both are the authentic Polish dishes.

Did you know?

Na Zdrowie has a meaning of ‘Cheers’ in Polish.

Details:

161 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW 2037

+61 2 9660 1242

http://www.nazdrowie.com.au/

Jan 10, 2012
Loving Hut

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <$12 main course

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week, we are reviewing one of the rarest restaurants in Surabaya, Vegan Cuisine. Loving Hut is the newest restaurant that I discovered out of curiosity. The restaurant is filled with plenty of vegan celebrity pictures and some of its campaigns against meat – which was a bit of a turn-off for me.

Deep fried wonton was our first dish of the day. Six golden brown wontons were laid on a bed of lettuce with a simple sauce of chili and tomato. I was pretty pleased with the likeness to the more meaty wontons. With almost similar components the Fried Enoki was served. The mushrooms were wrapped in seaweed and coated in thin savoury crisp. It was the perfect combination of crispy coating and soft mushroom.

From the vegetable lines, we also ordered Chili Eggplant and Asparagus Soup. Beside the sauce, the eggplants were pretty spot-on. The Asparagus soup was also pretty average. They also served mixed rice dishes, like this Seven Seas Delight with Rice. It has a combination of mock-meat katsu and green veggies. I reckon this would be enough for a simple dinner or big lunch.

For the next one, we ordered Fancy Nut Satay. Although, it was supposed to be fancy nut, I could only taste peanut (which was not considered ‘fancy nut’). This factor aside, the satay was great. It was also grilled like the real deal! Tamie Capcay was our next one and it looked like a massive bird’s nest. It was very thin noodles, deep-fried and served with Chinese-style stir-fried vegetables and seafood.

We also ordered Len Phan Deluxe, I ordered because it was the most expensive dish in the restaurant. When it arrived, we were pleased not only for its size, but also the variety of it. There were six components if you look at the picture. On the right hand corner was what looked like grilled chicken, (then moving clockwise there were) chicken katsu with sweet chili, seafood stick with sauce, calamari and mayonnaise, and bitterballen (meatballs) with chili sauce. Len Phan Deluxe was arguably the most comprehensive and best dish of the night. All of its elements were wonderful.

The final verdict: If no one tells you that it’s vegetarian, you would think that it’s the real deal, especially Len Phan Deluxe! The overall taste for Loving Hut was nice but nothing really mind-blowing.

Did you know?

Loving hut apparently is also a chain restaurant. Its business model is pretty unique. Each of the restaurants has its own menu, completely different menu. I find it pretty strange since the basic foundation of a chain restaurant is uniformity of menu. Therefore, this review is only relevant to the one in Surabaya, Indonesia.

I know one more restaurant that used to have better vegetarian dishes in Sydney but unfortunately that restaurant was brought down to receivership.

Details:

Jalan Sumbawa 37, Surabaya

+62 31 5012990

http://www.lovinghut.co.id/

Dec 25, 2011
Dome Coffees

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <$15 main course

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

We started off our Indonesian food journey with a stop on Dome coffees. I know this is not strictly Indonesian food – as a matter of fact it’s actually a franchise from Australia. However, Dome coffees in Galaxy Mall presented a unique experience of café with truly edible choices of food (i.e. it’s not just sandwiches and cakes!).

Espreski is Dome’s signature drink. Indonesian-version of espreski is quite different. It is still a blend of espresso, ice cream and crushed ice, but it has different flavours. The most interesting one is Avocado Espreski. The combination of Indonesian avocado and Espreski was truly out of this world. It’s a shame that their Latte(s) are not the normal style (with the coffee on top).

Zuppa soup is probably the most ordered dish in this restaurant. Its massive size (for a soup) and round pastry top should be enough to entice onlookers. You can choose to enjoy the soup and pastry separately or mix the pastry together. I suggest you do the latter one. The combination created reduction for the soup and enhanced the pastry’s taste. Zuppa soup is one of the few soups that I would order in a restaurant (without being given to me freely as a package).

For light snacks, our choice would be the Deep Fried Mushroom since it was crispy and soft with a side of mayonnaise. I don’t really recommend the Cheese Sticks. They were pretty average and didn’t go together with the sauce.

Our first main dish was Peking Duck Pizza, although I’m pretty sure the term ‘Peking’ is used loosely here. It was a pretty unusual topping for pizza, but (upon searching in the all-knowing Google) there were quite a few restaurants serving this dish. Although it looked quite pale, the base was actually quite thin and was supported by additional crispy topping. They also put hoi sin sauce for the topping to enhance and complement the duck flavour (a no-brainer really given the strong taste of duck).

Cordon Bleu has always been one of my favourite dishes, I’d order when there is one. This one was an okay one. It was slightly small, but it has a nice mushroom sauce and crispy coating. The better main dish of the night was John Dory Fish. The fish was surprisingly fresh, considering this is a ‘plaza restaurant’. Then there was the sauce, lemon and capers. It further refreshed the overall taste of the dish.

The final verdict for Dome Coffees

There’s an overall standard to its quality at Dome Coffees. Being a coffee shop, their drinks were fabulous and everything on their Espreski line was nice. Most people ordered Zuppa Soup to accompany their drinks and I think that made the perfect combo.

Did you know?

Dome Coffees Galaxy is (supposed to be) part of an Australian café chain. However, when I looked at the website, ALL of the Indonesian cafes are not listed there. Furthermore,none of the menu listed on the website resembles the menu on these Indonesian ‘branches’, not even its signature drink – Espreski. The only activity I can get from Dome Indonesia is through its twitter @DOME_cafe

This Dome Coffees café also offered free WiFi for its patrons. This service seemed to be the standards for café business in Indonesia these days.

Details:

Galaxy Mall II, 2^nd Floor, No 249 & 296, Surabaya 14240

http://www.domecoffees.com.au/

Dec 17, 2011
Hogs Breath Cafe

Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5/10

Price: <$35 main course

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

My experience with Hogs Breath Cafe was a long and turbulent one. I have tried a lot of Hog’s Breath locations, including Hobart, Tasmania and some were less nice than the rest. For this particular review, we went to Cronulla. This one was a nice beach-side venue with your familiar Hog’s Breath interior design.

For the starters, we always ordered its Finger Food Combo. I think it has got the most value for your money. It consisted of calamari, potato skins, spring rolls, chicken tenders and two mouth-watering dipping sauces (honey sweet chili and honey mustard).

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When it comes to the main course, I would strongly recommend Prime Rib. This is Hog’s Breath signature dish and it was slow cooked for 18 hours. They recommended (and I do too!) to take the medium rare one as it was the most ideal serving condition. I’ve tried the longer cooking ones and it tasted nowhere near the medium rare one.It also came in 3 cuts with Mega Cuts being the biggest one.

The one I chose was Garlic Prawn Prime Rib. The steak came with a choice of Hog Tail fries or mashed and veggies. I particularly liked the garlic taste on this succulent prime rib.The prawns further accentuated the steak with a fresh ocean taste.

For those who wished to have a lite meal, I would suggest their burger range. This time, we tried Boss Hogg Double Burger. It was the perfect bite-sized burger with a nice touch of blackened seasoning. There was also the Chicken & Rib Combo, but I wouldn’t recommend ordering it.

The final verdict for Hogs Breath Cafe

Just one simple conclusion: Prime Rib.

Did you know?

Hog’s Breath is an Australian chain steak restaurant. Unfortunately, they are not available in two of the biggest Australian cities.The closest to Sydney is this Cronulla branch or Parramatta.

However, there are some items in the menu I’d suggest you not to try, primarily the Tex-Mex Combo. Secondly, I wasn’t sure whether it’s because of the cooking level, but some restaurants were not as tasty as others.

Details:

Lot 1, 8-18 The Kingsway, Cronulla NSW 2230

02 9544 0644

http://www.hogsbreath.com.au/

Nov 29, 2011
Aseana Food Village

Update: Aseana Food Village has closed its doors for good and I haven’t heard about the Chef reopening somewhere else / some time soon.

Southeast Asian Food Cuisine

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <15 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

Aseana Food Village offered us a ‘casual street side dining’ experience according to their website. They did deliver the experience by its restaurant décor, hospitality, and most importantly authentic Singaporean (+ Malaysian and Burmese) Cuisine.

To illustrate the price range, we didn’t have shared plates like in the usual South East Asian dining but instead we ordered individual rice dishes. In the Mains menu, Beef Rendang is definitely the dish that you should try.

Also available as a main menu, our first dish of the day was Lee’s Stewed Duck. This was the only dish that has a person’s name on the menu, so I guess it must mean something to them – I couldn’t find it in Google. The duck was served on a bed of green veggies. It was incredibly tender and came off the bone easily. It also had a very unique taste to it.

Then, Nasi Lemak was brought in a wonderful leaf-like green plate. This is a traditional Malaysian dish with coconut rice and a mixture of condiments (pickles, anchovies, sambal, and egg). You could also have a choice of three add-ons to it. Nasi Goreng Kampong came up next. It was fried rice with anchovies, prawn crackers and a fried egg. Both dishes were just spot-on. They delivered a combination of complementary tastes in each of its elements.

For the dessert, I had the Aseana Toast Set. I absolutely love this set, although it was supposed to be enjoyed as breakfast. It was a set of traditional toast (with a choice of three toppings – Butterkaya for this occasion), soft boiled eggs and kopitiam drinks (I chose hot Teh Tarik). They provided you with a full guideline on how to enjoy the set and condiments to enhance the taste to suit yours. There was also Es Bandung (no affiliation to the city in Indonesia!) that was made of Rose syrup and condensed milk.

The final verdict: Aseana Food Villageis a perfect place to savour wonderful and authentic Singaporean dishes. All of my dishes (and some that I have also tried but excluded on this occasion) were really nice. My most favourite would have to be the Aseana Toast Set.

Did you know?

As a point of reference, my Singaporean friend has made Aseana’s Bak Chor Mee his personal favourite in Sydney. He said that this was as close as he can get to the original taste in Singapore.

Details:

Shop 1/149 Alison Road, Randwick NSW 2031

02 9399 7010

http://www.aseanafoodvillage.com/

Nov 2, 2011
Sushi Tei Restaurant

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $150 for 4 people

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Sushi Tei Restaurant is one of the few success stories in Japanese chain restaurants. To be honest, when the Sydney branch opened I did not give the credit they deserved because I felt the Indonesian branches were an average and with the slightly more expensive price tag in Sydney, I thought the fee was not justifiable. Luckily, compared to my first visit, this one was so much better Japanese Cuisine.

In this place, you can order boxed sets or Donburi-style plates. However, the best feature of this restaurant is its diversity of choices. You literally choose from more than 100 types of dishes here. It ranges from fresh Sashimi, grilled gyuniku, to soup-based ramen. To illustrate this, we ordered 10 different dishes from (almost) each of its menu pages.

We started off with a simple Chawan Mushi, soft boiled white eggs with a chockfull of fillings, including the ever-present Naruto (fyi, it’s not a manga title!). Next was Salmon Maki, six mini rolls of Salmon Sushi wrapped in nori. These first two were staple dishes in a lot of Sushi places around town. Unfortunately, my knowledge of good Sushi rice is limited, thus I can only say it was rightly vinegared.

Our next two dishes were Chuka Kurage and Chuka Iidako. It is a little bit difficult to explain, but essentially they were Jellyfish and baby octopus. However, some people might not like the slimy and squishiness of these dishes. Shortly after came Wakame Salad. It was a sea of greens.

Our first main attraction of the day was Shiretoko. 6 kinds of Sashimi Moriawase were beautifully arranged in a shell-themed plate. The main attraction of it was the Swordfish and Sea Urchin. There was no better compliment that a Sashimi could get except by saying they were incredibly fresh.

If you think that last one looked nice, you will be evenhappier with the next one. Aso Sushi was one hell of a Sushi Moriawase. 19 slice of Sushi (granted that 6 of them were the same kind) in pleasingly pretty colours. It was the most comprehensive sushi moriawase on the menu but unfortunately sea urchin was excluded from it. I would also really love to have scampi on the menu.

We also ordered, the always in good standard, Unagi Yanagawa. It was essentially, eel and eggs with burdock roots. It’s great when accompanied by rice. Meanwhile, there was another dare-to-be-different dish of Zaru Chasoba. It was an ice-cold, green tea soba with its clear soup. I liked the freshness that it brought to the mixture.

We saved the best for last, Gyuniku. Three lightly-grilled beef slices wrapped up generous serving of Golden Mushrooms combined in perfectly yummy teriyaki sauce. These elements gave us a crunchy mushroom texture and soft, tender beef. They were so good we actually ordered a second plate, enough said!

The final verdict: There are hardly any Japanese restaurants in Sydney as comprehensive as SushiTei. They could cater to just about everyone. In addition to that, the taste also did not disappoint, they were actually surprisingly better than Ithought. It could be a little bit expensive if you are not careful with what you order. Lastly, the one dish that you should always order is Gyuniku.

Did you know?

Sushi Tei originated from Singapore and is one of the most well-known restaurants in Indonesia. They provide nice and fresh seafood in a country where the products are notoriously hard to get.

Details:

1 Chifley Square, Cnr of Elizabeth St and Hunter St, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9232 7288

http://www.sushitei.com.au/

Oct 20, 2011