All About Food

Category: Chippendale

  • Holy Duck

    Holy Duck

    Holy Duck Review:

    Personally, I have never been a big fan of going to Kensington Street. Finding a parking can be quite challenging. Public transport is probably the best option. So, when a friend suggested us to have dinner at Holy Duck, I was actually quite intrigued at the prospect of coming to Kensington Street. It was the end of winter and it was raining that day.

    Holy Duck Restaurant

    The menu had quite a few ducks on but they also served some of the usual Chinese dishes with a twist.

    Crispy Rice Balls – $12 – with seasonal salad & Shanghainese sweet & sour sauce (4 pcs)

    The crispy rice balls were a decent dish to start the night. They put a generous serving of salad. The rice balls were crunchy and soft at the same time. It was delightful.

    Signature Crispy Duck – $68 – whole duck served with steamed pancakes, hoisin sauce, cucumber & shallots

    Signature crispy duck is probably the dish you would want to try in a restaurant called Holy Duck. The duck came with the usual sides: steam pancakes, hoisin sauce, cucumber and shallots. However, unlike your usual Chinese restaurant, the crispy duck was very crispy with very tender meat.

    If you are not in a big group, you might want to try the quarter or half a duck instead.

    Seafood Ee-fu Noodles – $29 – cooked in lobster bisque garnished with butter, ginger & shallots

    The seafood ee-fu noodles was meant to be ordered for our little one. However, after reading the ingredients and looking at the actual plate on the table, I think we also want to try it!

    It was quite a big plate of noodles with quite a lot of seafood on it… and did I mention it was cooked in lobster bisque?

    Steamed Chinese Greens – $17 – with oyster sauce.

    Steamed Chinese greens is a dish that we always tried to order for our ‘green’ plate. Just like the other plates, the portion was quite generous.

    Handmade Pink Salt & Black Sesame Egg & Spinach Tofu – $19

    The egg and spinach tofu came up last and by that time we were already quite full. I think we ordered a tad too much. The dish itself was pretty good.

    The final verdict for Holy Duck

    Holy Duck’s signature crispy duck is the thing that made our trip to Kensington Street worthwhile.

    Do you think I should go?

    If you like duck, I’m sure you are going to enjoy their Signature Crispy Duck.

    Rating for Holy Duck:

     

    7.5 / 10

    Taste: 8.0 / 10

    Price: $40 – $50 per person

    Place: 7.5 / 10

     

    Details:

    The Old Rum Store, 2-10 Kensington Street, Chippendale

    +61 2 9281 0080

    http://www.holyduck.com.au/

    Holy Duck Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
     

  • Ester Restaurant and Bar

    Ester Restaurant and Bar

    Review:

    Mat Lindsay from Ester
    Mat Lindsay, Ester Restaurant and Bar Chef

    Ester was named new restaurant of the year in this year’s Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2015, so we are obviously here to put the claim to the test! Thanks to Miss Piggy on her review about Ester, we already have pre-defined list of what we want to eat there.

    What we were not aware of was the fact that the food in the menu is meant to be shared for the whole table! They have the option of a la carte or a banquet menu of seven dishes for $65 pp. The six of us decided to have the a la carte option that ended up costing us $60 pp including drinks. We had four entrees, four main dishes and two desserts.

    Ester Restaurant and Bar Menu

    Entrees

    Order the house baked bread if you do not plan to order chicken liver pate, because the chicken liver pate came with the house baked bread. I encouraged you to order this dish as the liver pate was smooth and tasty. They provided sliced beetroot to balance the strong pate taste.

    House baked bread
    house baked bread 3 p.p.
    Chicken Liver Pate
    chicken liver pate 17

    I had a mix feeling for the next two entrees. We had a massive expectation for the roasted oysters (you can order one, half or dozen). However, I think my expectation was a bit too high when comparing it to Tetsuya’s Oyster Vinaigrette. It’s still a nice oyster with quite a lot of garlic.

    roasted oysters
    roasted oysters 4/22/40

    The lobster sausage sanga on the other hand was awesome! Served on top of warm white bread, the sausage was incredibly juicy and obviously sharing one plate was not enough!

    Lobster Sausage Sanga 9 each
    lobster sausage sanga 9 each

    Our last entree was ricotta gnudi with lobster sauce. Gnudi is a variant of gnocchi with ricotta as its filling. I love the fluffy texture of the gnudi and they mixed really well with the strong tasting of lobster sauce. For the complete experience, I suggest you to order this dish with the next one on the main dishes part.

    Ricotta gnudi with lobster sauce
    ricotta gnudi / lobster sauce 16

    Main Dishes

    King prawns, with brown butter and capers, is the name of the dish. They gave you three gigantic prawns per dish and you can also opt for an additional prawn depending on the number of guests on your table. The prawns were grilled to perfection and I think the dish was perfectly priced.

    Prawns with brown butter and capers
    prawns / brown butter / capers 26

    The only vegetables dish of the day came in the shape of cauliflower with almond and mint. The cauliflower was grilled maybe a bit too much but the mint sauce and almond worked quite well. It was actually quite refreshing!

    cauliflower with almond and mint
    cauliflower / almond / mint 16

    As there were quite a few of us, we decided to order the whole snapper rather than the fillet. The snapper came with saltbush and vinegar. Luckily we have a skilled debone person in house, so we had no problem eating the fish.

    snapper came with saltbush and vinegar
    whole snapper / saltbush / vinegar 45

    The last main dish of the day was a special, off-the-menu item: Crispy Roast Duck with burnt honey and fennel seeds. I wonder why he doesn’t make this the mainstay on the menu because it was incredibly tasty! The duck was perfectly cooked with very crispy skin and very juicy meat. I really couldn’t get enough off it! I think this is the best value for your money!

    Crispy Roast Duck with burnt honey and fennel seeds
    Crispy Roast Duck / burnt honey / fennel seeds 39

    Desserts

    I hope you save your tummy for desserts as the two that we ordered were excellent. First we had three milks. I know the name sounded really lame and unappealing with a little hint of curiosity. “What is ‘three milks’?” might probably be the most frequently asked question at the restaurant. Three milks is a combination of dulce de leche (aka caramel), panna cotta and sheep’s milk foam. You get the crunchy caramel and crumbs, nice and sweet panna cotta and sour and airy sheep’s milk foam. If you love desserts, you would NOT want to share this!

    Three Milks
    three milks 11

    Last, but definitely not least, is the salted caramel semi-freddo. I thought when they talked about freddo, it’s that frog from Cadbury. Semifreddo is an Italian word for half cold or semi-frozen. The salted caramel was quite sweet and flavoursome.

    salted caramel semi-freddo
    salted caramel semi-freddo 4

     

    The final verdict for Ester Restaurant and Bar

    There is no mistake that Ester Restaurant and Bar was crowned the 2014 Best New Restaurant in Sydney by Sydney Morning Herald. Everything we had there was terrific! Three milks is the one that you must order when you are there!

    Mat Lindsay

    Did you know?

    Ester changes their menu depending on the seasonal availability. Keep an eye on Bone marrow dish if it’s available at the restaurant when you dine there. We were unlucky as the dish was not on the menu when we were there.

    Rating for Ester Restaurant and Bar:


    8.5 / 10

     

    Taste: 8.5 / 10

    Price: $50-60 per person or $65 banquet menu

    Place: 8.0 / 10

     

    Details:

    46 – 52 Meagher Street, Chippendale

    +61 2 8068 8279

    http://ester-restaurant.com.au/

    Ester on Urbanspoon