Category: City

City of Sydney covers numerous areas. It can mean CBD, Chinatown or any other part of Sydney, except The Rocks

Bórn by Tapavino

It’s been more than 2 years since I last wrote about my experience dining… around the first time the pandemic hit this world 🙁

We are slowly moving back to the new normal and started to eat out again with friends and families… even coming to the office on a more regular basis.

For this edition, I went to Born by Tapavino, for a company lunch. Born by Tapavino is located in Barangaroo, Sydney.

The Menu at Born by Tapavino

Their lunch set menu is priced at $65 pp with an option to add Jamon Croqueta for $6 pp.

They provided a shared-plate set menu that consisted of 1 snack, 4 tapas, and 1 substantial with a side. There was also the dessert of the day: Pavlova 🙂

They also have the a la carte menu available if you’re not really with a big group of people.

Jamon Serrano with Sourdough bread

For the group, they actually served a very generous amount of Jamon Serrano!

The sourdough bread was the one that stole the show for us. They were so very warm and delicious that we actually had to order some extra!

Manchego Churros, Tomato Jam

I believe the churros were the fastest dish devoured by the group on that day!

They were very nice and perfect bite size… it’s a shame we couldn’t have some more extras like the bread 🙂

Galician Octopus, Kipfler Potatoes

I love how they cooked the octopus, Galician style with generous sprinkles of paprika!

They also put substantial amount of potatoes on the plate… which made us struggle towards the end to finish the set menu… good struggle tho 🙂

Gambas al Ajillo, Garlic Prawns

This dish doesn’t need an introduction. Pretty much a staple in most if not all Spanish Tapas.

Did we say we order extra bread? To dip into the garlic sauce!

Char-grilled Chicken + Patatas, Chilli Salt and Sherry Mayo

More potatoes… different kinds but equally good!

The chicken was super juicy with very tasty salsa sauce!

Dessert del Dia – Pavlova

I couldn’t really enjoy this to the fullest because I had to go to another meeting. However, the one scoop I had was very good!

The Final Verdict for Born By Tapavino

It was a very good lunch set menu at Born By Tapavino.

Do you think I should go?

If you do it on a weekday, you might want to clear out the rest of the day for meetings. The set menu was super filling and it might take a while to go through them all.

Rating:

Una’s Darlinghurst

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $65 Lunch Set Menu

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

9A 23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo NSW 2000, Sydney

+61 2 8072 7387

https://www.borntapavino.com.au/

Sep 29, 2022
Silvester’s

At the end of September, we dined in Silvester’s restaurant that is located in Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel.

From the menu design, I’m guessing they have a minor refresh every month. Interestingly, the menu item is separated by types, rather than the usual entree, main, and desserts… actually, desserts is another menu altogether.

Entree at Silvester’s

Rockliff Spanner Crab – $34 – Avocado, grapefruit

The spanner crab was wrapped in a beautiful layer of avocado. The texture of the spanner crab was so smooth with such a rich flavour.

“Signature Oysters – $5 – Coriander, ponzu, finger lime

It’s a nice and simple oyster with ponzu. Just beware, that finger lime is super sour!

Kangaroo Loin Tartare – $24 – Soy, sesame, pear

We actually didn’t manage to eat too much of the tartare as the big one pretty much hogged the plate and helped himself with a generous serving of the dish.

From the small piece that I tried, the tartare was really fresh and delicious.

Silvester’s Main Course

Dry Aged Pinnacle Rib Sirloin – $48 – 300 gram, served with our signature ‘Cafe de Paris’ sauce

I love a nicely aged meat. This rib sirloin was nicely done and the complementing sauce worked wonderfully with the steak.

The waitperson explained to us that the sauce wasn’t technically the real Cafe de Paris sauce but rather their rendition of the original sauce. I have never tried the original sauce, but they said it was very similar to the real one.

50C Tasmanian Ocean Trout – $32 – Aerated hollandaise, celeriac crumbs

Unlike the steak, the ocean trout looked beautifully simple. 50C referred to the temperature that they cooked the salmon, also known as sous-vide.

The smooth-textured salmon got a nice crunchy accent from the celeriac crumbs. It then got a light and acidic hollandaise sauce.

The salmon looked and tasted beautifully.

House Made Potato Gnocchi – $28 – Pumpkin, miso, native dukkah

Unfortunately, the gnocchi took out the prize of the most un-glamorous out of the three main. Despite the average look, the gnocchi itself was so soft and chewy. Very nicely done!

Roquette Salad – $12 – Pecorino, balsamic dressing

Northern Beaches Baby Corn – $12 – Chipotle butter

To accompany the main dishes, we had a rocket salad (pretty much the only salad I would ever consider ordering) and the baby corn.

I’m quite curious if they’re talking about Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I don’t recall seeing any farm in Northern Beaches. However, the website stated they are in Ingleside.

The Desserts

Uji Matcha Lava Tart – $15 – Yogurt ice cream, rhubarb coulis

If you like lava cake and matcha, you simply must order this. The yoghurt ice cream, rhubarb coulis and cheese wafer made it that much more lively.

Raspberry & Lychee – $15– Hibiscus gel, meringue

We had to order this twice as our son refused to share.

The interesting bit about this dessert is the icy lychee stuff underneath that gel and meringue. It was simply yum!

At the end of the service, they gave you a cone of lime and mousse and a chocolate truffle.

I’m already pretty happy even without these two.

The final verdict for Silvester’s:

It is very rare that a restaurant can serve great food with great service. Silvester’s did exactly those, and did it admirably.

Do you think I should go?

This is not your typical ‘hotel food’. You should go!

Rating:

Silvester’s

9.0 / 10

Taste: 9.0 / 10

Price: $30 – $40 per person

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel

+61 2 9259 7330

https://silvesters.com.au/

Oct 21, 2019
Kid Kyoto

Kid Kyoto review:

I went to Kid Kyoto with a friend of mine from overseas. You need to venture into the alleyways of Sydney CBD to find this Japanese izakaya.

Since we were not in the mood of choosing dishes, we opted to go for the big set menu of $75 per person. There were 10 dishes for this menu.

Lotus chips, wasabi salt – $6

Red snapper, tiger’s milk, pickled fennel, persimmon – $24

These first two dishes really set the expectations for the night. The chips were really crunchy and nice. The red snapper was very nice and acidic.

Wagyu beef tartare, black sesame dressing, pickled beetroot – $22

Tacoyaki croquette, Katsuobushi mayo, tonkatsu sauce – $17

Grilled King Prawn, lime miso tare – $16

This is when things get really exciting. The image for wagyu beef tartare didn’t really capture the essence of how good it really was.

Creating takoyaki as a croquette brought a different dimension for this Japanese snack.

There was a hint of spicy taste on the prawn but it brought out the smokey flavour of the prawn. The only downside was we only got one each.

The highlight of the night at Kid Kyoto

Corn ribs, smoked chilli miso, rice puff, togarashi – $15

This is the second time I got really excited about eating corn in a degustation. The corn was pretty spicy… but we did not mind that!

It was perfect.

The main

Sake miso chicken, sticky burdock, lotus root – $28

Brussel sprouts, seaweed butter, yuzu – $9

‘Chahan’ Japanese fried rice – $16

While the mains were pretty decent, in my opinion, it failed to lift up the expectation we had during the small dishes.

The miso chicken was nice, but it felt like a regular teriyaki chicken. The Brussel sprouts was a side and fried rice was probably a bit too substantial for being the last three dishes.

Matcha ganache, puff rice chocolate crumb, apple sorbet – $14

Having had a pretty heavy main course, I was glad that the dessert was pretty light and refreshing.

However, it wasn’t spectacular either.

Kunizakari Jousen Jonjozo | Aichi 65% – $45 – Light bodied, crisp and clean finish

Yuzushu | Nara – $45 – Made with fresh yuzu juice & premium sake. Deliciously sweet & sour

We ordered the first sake at the beginning and the yuzu-flavoured one towards the end of the service.

The Final Verdict for Kid Kyoto

The price of the set menu is 75 pp. If we calculate the total cost of individual dishes, it is a saving of $17. Having said that, the dishes that they served were high quality. However the main was a tad underwhelming.

You might want to consider a la carte, if you don’t eat that much (aka drink more) at Kid Kyoto.

Do you think I should go?

If you are looking for an izakaya that is unlike the others, but still served very good dishes, then you should try Kid Kyoto.

Rating:

9.0 / 10

Taste: 9.0 / 10

Price: $75 per person set menu

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

17 – 19 Bridge St, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9241 1991

https://kidkyoto.com.au/

Jul 8, 2019
The Malaya – Signature Menu
We were celebrating our friend’s birthday recently at The Malaya restaurant. The restaurant is located in King Street Wharf, near Darling Harbour Sydney. On this occasion, we chose the Signature Menu, it’s a banquet-style menu that costs $71 per person. Interestingly, this value doesn’t include dessert. You will need to add an extra $10 for 2 desserts.

Entree at The Malaya

Salt and Pepper Prawns – Prawns, battered, deep-fried and tossed in fresh chilli, salt, cracked black pepper and shallots.

Salt and pepper dish is a staple in most Chinese restaurants in Sydney. However, you can tell the Malaya’s dish was a cut above your usual Chinese restaurant. There was also a bit of kick from the sliced chilli.

Spanner Crab San Choy Bow – Spanner crab meat stir-fried with water chestnut, onion and shallots. Served in a lettuce leaf.

San Choy Bow is traditionally a second dish in the 2-course Peking Duck. In Malaya, instead of duck, they use Spanner Crab for the meat. Personally, I couldn’t tell the difference in taste between the two as the water chestnut and onion were pretty dominant.

Satay Beef – Singaporean style marinated pieces of beef, skewered, barbequed and served with a satay sauce made from fresh ground peanuts and chilli.

The satay beef was pretty delicious. If only I could get more skewers…

Otak Otak – White fish minced with chilli and spices, wrapped in a banana leaf and barbequed.

Otak otak is usually made from a fish called Tenggiri (or Spanish Mackerel). The fish wasn’t usually spicy, but instead, they have a spicy sauce on the side. However, this otak otak was blended with the spices and was the spiciest dish of the night. Just in case you are wondering, the banana leaf isn’t meant to be eaten.
Main Course at The Malaya

Coconut Beef Rendang – Indonesian style beef curry with an aromatic dry coconut base.

The Indonesian beef rendang was pretty decent. The beef itself was very tender. I love how they cooked the beef.

Kapitan Chicken – Penang style curry sauce made with fresh chilli and coconut milk served with lightly battered pieces of chicken thigh fillet.

The kapitan chicken was also pretty good. However, I wasn’t too sure about having two curries for main dishes. I’d probably enjoy it more if one of them was something other than coconut-based.

Szechuan Eggplant – Marinated eggplant stir-fried dry style with shallots, cashew nuts and dry chillies. Served on a bed of Chinese water spinach.

Szechuan eggplant ended up being the dish that I enjoyed the most at the restaurant. There were quite a lot of things going on in one plate and they were all fabulous.

Unlike the entrees, the main courses arrived at the same time and accompanied by a bowl of rice.

Desserts at The Malaya

We were wondering why the desserts were not included in the package. It probably turned out well as most people would already be full after the main courses. For those of us, still wanting desserts, we ordered a couple more to share. But then again, if you see the portioning, you’d probably get better value desserts elsewhere around Darling Harbour.

Assorted Sorbet – $12 – Coconut, Mango and Pineapple.

The three scoops of ice cream were pretty miniscule.

Sago Pudding – $5 – Sago and coconut pudding flavoured with palm sugar and topped with coconut sorbet.

Luckily, this was not the first time seeing sago pudding in a shot glass. The other occasion was in an all-you-can-eat restaurant in Indonesia. The portion of this dish was super tiny.

The final verdict for The Malaya

The signature menu at The Malaya restaurant was a pretty decent set. It must be noted that the desserts were forgettable.

Do you think I should go?

There aren’t many upscale South East Asian / Malaysian restaurants in Sydney. I think they are the only Malaysian restaurant with a harbour view in Sydney.

Rating for The Malaya:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $71 per person

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

39 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9279 1170

https://themalaya.com.au/
Feb 15, 2019
Rashays Darling Harbour

Rashays Darling Harbour Review:

At the end of 2017, we reviewed Rashays Punchbowl. Shortly after, they decided to revamp their menu and removed one of our favourites: loaded fries. There are a few in the menu that they kept, including chicken with their special sauce.

On this occasion, we went to the Darling Harbour restaurant. It is located in a prime spot, but they still face tough competition from the other steak houses around the area. Their biggest differentiation is the fact that their menu is all halal.

Big Daddy – $65.90 – Lamb rib rack, short beef ribs, 180gr New York Steak & grilled chicken with smoky sticky BBQ sauce and chips

Big daddy is one of the big attractions at Rashays. They put every (almost) every protein that they have on a plate. While the steak and the ribs were at their usual quality, we felt that the chicken was a little on the dry side.

Wagyu Scotch Fillet – $45 – 300g MSA, 450-day grain-fed black label wagyu marble score 4+ from Darling Downs, QLD. Served with garlic & herb butter, chips, choice of side

The wagyu scotch fillet is $10 more than the sirloin steak. I think it’s worth putting in $10 more for a better quality meat. We also swapped chips with mashed potatoes and add a corn cob as a side.

They also have a few off-the-menu steak cuts in store for those wanting a more premium quality meat.

Prawns – $14 – Crumbed prawns with tartare sauce

The prawn is supposed to be served as an entrée. However, we ordered this extra because we weren’t expecting the big daddy to be pretty small to be shared by 2 people.

Strawberry Bubblegum – $10 – Strawberry bubblegum & fairy floss soda float with vanilla ice cream

This is obviously the one kids would love the most!

The final verdict for Rashays Darling Harbour

The revamped menu probably gave their regulars a much-needed refresher. However, we still think the quality was pretty similar.

Do you think I should go?

If you are looking for an affordable and halal steak, then look no further!

Rating for Rashays Darling Harbour:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $25 – $65 steak

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Harbourside Shopping Centre

Level 2, Shop 430B, 2-10 Darling Drive Sydney NSW 2000

13000 13000

https://www.rashays.com/

Feb 8, 2019
Kiroran Silk Road Uygur

Kiroran Silk Road Uygur Review:

The restaurant we reviewed this week is probably the most iconic uyghur restaurant in Sydney. Kiroran Silk Road Uygur restaurant is located between Chinatown and Chinese Botanical Garden. The restaurant itself looks pretty old fashioned with quite a basic look-and-feel. However, this doesn’t stop people from coming in and enjoying their BBQ lamb skewers or their jumbo chicken dish.

If this is your first foray into the Uyghur cuisine, you might find the menu to be quite challenging. If we can loosely describe the cuisine: it’s like a mixture of Chinese and Central Asian cuisines, such as handmade noodles and kawap (or kebab).

Tohogoshi Narin – $38 – Dapanji Jumbo size chicken dish, stir-fried chicken with Potato in Hot Chili and Garlic sauce. Served with 1 portion Fresh Handmade Noodles

One of the two ‘must order’ dishes in an Uyghur restaurant. It is kind of like szechuan chili, however they put a lot of potatoes and noodles in the chicken dish. However, it is still quite spicy.

They have two sizes: small and large… However, I reckon they should change the sizing to ‘massive’and ‘gigantic’. Our ‘small’ dapanji’s bowl is the same size as the largest bowl in other restaurants.

You can also order the ‘kids’ noodles that are already sliced to bite-sized noodles. It’s also a less spicier version of the noodles.

Borak Kazan Kawap – $15 – Stir-fried Lamb Kidney

This dish is one of my personal favourites, however I understand that it’s quite an acquired taste and not for everyone. It’s a pretty simple stir-fried lamb kidney with special uyghur marinade.

Kawap – $10 – BBQ Lamb Skewers (2 skewers per serve)

Pretty much everyone who went to this restaurant ordered this dish. Some of you might know it as lamb and cumin. It’s a very fragrance skewer of lamb pieces.

Stir-fried Rice with Diced Chicken and Veggies – $15

Just like everything else in this restaurant, even the side dish is pretty massive. You might want to go easy on the carbs and order more BBQ skewers!

The final verdict for Kiroran Silk Road Uygur

Kiroran is pretty much the household name for Uyghur cuisine. Their kawap and chicken dish are on a different level than similar restaurants in Sydney.

Do you think I should go?

If you love Uyghur or Xinjiang cuisine, then this is the place to be. Even if you just want to try Uyghur cuisine, I would suggest you to go to this restaurant.

Rating for Kiroran Silk Road Uygur:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $10 – $38

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

Shop 3, 6 Dixon Street, Chinatown, CBD 2000

+61 2 9283 0998

Nov 15, 2018