Category: City

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

Izakaya Masuya

Review:

Izakaya Masuya is located at the very heart of Sydney CBD. It is a nice place to wind down after a hectic day at the office. There are quite a lot of varieties at Izakaya Masuya… and quite a few dishes were uncommon in Japanese restaurants in Sydney.

Oden – $1.80 each – Naruto and Chikuwa

Oden was probably the cheapest dishes in the restaurant – depending on how many you actually ordered. On this occasion, we tried Naruto and Chikuwa as those were the two kinds I enjoyed the most.

Izakaya Hot Pot – $48.00 – Snow crab, prawn, scallop, salmon wing, chicken, Gyoza, sausage, seasonal vegetables with Dashi soy soup

By contrast, the hot pot is one of the more expensive dishes in Izakaya Masuya. It came with a few legs of snow crab – justifying the price tag. If I weren’t in a large enough group, I probably wouldn’t have ordered this. It is so much more fun to pick and choose a variety of dishes!

Chicken liver – $6.80 – cooked in ginger soy sauce and mirin

Probably not a lot of you would order this, but we love trying dishes that are pretty uncommon. The chicken liver at Izakaya Masuya was perfectly cooked. I loved how the sauce and mirin kept it from drying up.

Wagyu Robata

It wasn’t the best wagyu I have ever tasted. It was a tad overcooked to my liking.

Salmon Aburi – $14.80 – 8 pcs

Our opinion was a bit divided for this. I liked slightly charred salmon aburi. However, the little one wasn’t a big fan of it – and he usually likes nice salmon.

Roe Rice

Simple sushi rice with fish roe and seaweed flakes. It is perfect if you need to fill your tummy a bit more.

Originally we only ordered the dishes from the list above. However, we were still curious and hungry enough to order some more!

Duck

These duck fillets are not part of the regular menu. We ordered it out of curiosity as duck isn’t a staple in Japanese restaurants.

Karaage Chicken – $6.80 – Japanese style deep fried marinated chicken

Karaage chicken was the ‘substitute’ dish for the little one’s salmon aburi. It is one of those dishes that can’t go wrong in a Japanese restaurant.

Bonito Tataki – $9.80

Picked bonito tataki purely out of interest and the fact that I was still not full.

Desserts

Zenzai – $5.80 and Green Tea Ice Cream – $5.80

It was actually my first time trying a Zenzai. Zenzai is a porridge of azuri beans with mochi.

The final verdict for Izakaya Masuya

If you work in Sydney CBD, Izakaya Masuya is a good place to wind down. They have quite a large selection of Japanese food and drinks.

Did you know?

I must admit that I actually made the wrong booking for this one. I was supposed to go to Masuya Japanese restaurant that are located just next to it. Somehow, I dialled the number for Izakaya Masuya.

Masuya Japanese restaurant is the more upmarket version in the group.

Rating for Izakaya Masuya:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $1.80 – $48

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Ground Floor, 12 O’Connell Street, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9233 8181

http://www.masuyainternational.com.au/en/izakayamasuya/

Mar 30, 2016
The Little Snail

Review:

I have known The Little Snail for quite some time, but I’ve only managed to visit it the other day. The Little Snail restaurant is located in the iconic Darling Harbour, Sydney.

I was actually quite surprised when learning that for 3-course lunch menu, they ‘only’ charge $38. I think it’s quite a decent price given the location of the restaurant. They also have a 2-course kids menu for $18 that comes with a choice of soft drink or juice.

Escargots de Bourgogne – dozens snails marinated in herb-infused court bouillon, oven baked in garlic butter

For my first course, I chose Escargots (aka snails), my go-to dish when I visit a French restaurant. The 12 rather large escargots were not deshelled. It was quite a spectacle!

Pate Maison – Armagnac flavoured duck liver pate with marinated champignons, date chutney and port vinaigrette

The other ‘must have’ dish from a French restaurant was ordered as my wife’s first course. It was quite a generous serving of duck liver pate with curious spots of mushrooms around the plate. The date chutney complemented the pate beautifully.

We had to order extra slices of baguette because we wanted to eat the pate to the last piece! It was very nice!

Crispy Fried Calamari and Chips

This was the first dish for the little kid. The calamari was crunchy on the outside and not chewy! It was pretty good!

Kangaroo Fillet – (recommended rare) on garlic pommes puree with a seasonal greens

Cooking a kangaroo is notoriously hard. You overcook it and it would render the meat inedible. Since the recommendation was rare, that was what I ordered.

The kangaroo was already pre-sliced to a bite size (mind you my bite size might be different than yours). It was perfectly cooked with a nice accompanying sweet sauce!

Citrus marinated Tasmanian Salmon – served on sweet peas risotto and sauce vierge

Another well-balanced dish with perfectly cooked salmon. I had to ask google about sauce vierge, literally translated as ‘the virgin sauce’. It was made from olive oil, lemon juice, chopped tomato and chopped basil.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberry topping

The kid’s menu ice cream (that was actually the same size as the grownups!) was very pleasant to look at – or in my son’s case to dip his hand into. They use sable Breton (aka shortcrust bread) to give that extra kick to the ice cream.

Classic Crème Caramel

It is a very simple and classic crème caramel… as expected.

Chef churned hazelnut and praline ice cream on sable breton and Grand Marnier caramel

It was actually quite similar to the kid’s ice cream in terms of quality. However the adult-version came with liquor content and the sugar ornament at the top.

The final verdict for The Little Snail

Darling Harbour is probably the next best thing in Sydney after Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Having a three-course lunch for $38 at The Little Snail in Darling Harbour is such a steal!

Did you know?

You can get a 25% discount when dining at The Little Snail restaurant if you have the Entertainment Book. Entertainment Book is a book used in fundraising campaigns for fundraising companies like Cancer Council and RSPCA. It contains a lot of discounts for a lot of restaurants!

Upon researching about The Little Snail, I came across an expired Groupon link. It would’ve been nice to get an even bigger discount for the restaurant!

Rating for The Little Snail:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $38 for 3-course lunch

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

50 Murray Street, Pyrmont

+61 2 9212 7512

http://www.thelittlesnail.com.au/

Feb 17, 2016
The Bridge Room

Review:

One of the perks of having a birthday at the end of September is that you get to wait until Good Food Guide is released for the year. You can then book one of the winning restaurants. This year, we went to the ‘double winner’, The Bridge Room. In addition to getting their third hat, they were also crowned Restaurant of the Year in 2016.

We came in for lunch on Friday and the restaurant was decently filled. Without further ado, let’s talk about the food!

Children’s Beef Steak – $25

Well, the fact that they have a kid’s menu still amazes me. On top of that, this has got to be the best kid’s menu dish I have ever seen and tasted in my life. Our little one is also a pretty good ‘reviewer’ – i.e. he wouldn’t hesitate saying ‘yuck’ if it was a crappy dish. In this instance, he devoured everything on the plate.

Fraser Island Spanner crab, pickled and shelled, new season asparagus – $34 – artichoke butter, basil, celery leaf salt

Our first entrée looked so light and simple yet it was elegant and sophisticated! The soft crab meat combined with the delicate seasoning created such a rich dish. When you add artichoke butter and asparagus into the mix, you got yourself a very unique dish!

It is perfect for people who wanted to start their lunch on the lighter side.

Robata grilled raw beef, pickled greens, shiitake mushrooms, puffed jobs tears – $33 – dried mushrooms, miso, roasted peanut oil

I have always known robatayaki to be a cooked beef satay. So, looking at the description of raw robata beef, I was very intrigued. Presented in a dark-themed plate, the raw beef was exquisite!

The beef was rather obscured by the dried mushrooms and was perfectly complemented by shiitake mushrooms and miso!

Wild caught Snapper, burnt celeriac, celeriac softened in butter – $48 – Cipollini onions, sticky chicken sauce

Our first main course was a snapper. The fish was cooked perfectly with crispy skin. It was enhanced by crunchy celeriac and sweetness of onion. The black sauce was the icing on the cake. It bound the dish into a perfect experience!

Ocean Trout, crisp skin, silken eggplant, roasted tea broth – $45 – sesame, puffed rice, organic soy sauce, grilled rock kelp.

This is not a dish that I would normally order in a fine dining restaurant as I would really hate my fish to be overcooked. When the dish came, it looked perfect. The taste? The meat was beautifully cooked and the skin was extra crispy.

There was also another surprise in this dish. They put hot and spicy stuff (I’d guess something like chili seeds!) on the silken eggplant! It added a whole level of complexity to the ocean trout. It was an exciting surprise!

Steamed broccolini, smoked onion puree, sweet pickled onions – $11

Steamed broccolini was the side dish that accompanied our main courses. There was actually quite a lot of them on the plate! I actually loved mixing the smoked onion puree with my ocean trout. It gave that extra sweet taste to the fish.

Burnt caramel cream, candied Packham pear salad – $18 – pistachio crumb, mint, basil, raisins, pedro ximenez

The burnt caramel cream looked a bit more like a savoury dish with all of those edible flowers and ‘salad’.

It was a rather bitter dessert with enhanced crunch from the pistachio crumb. The pear salad and mint balanced the bitter flavour really nicely.

It is suited for people who like complex dish to end the service.

Aerated passionfruit, roasted nougatine, passionfruit ice cream – $18 – passionfruit seed powder, glass biscuit

On the other hand, the passionfruit ice cream gave us a very refreshing end to our lunch.

There are quite a lot of elements on the plate, including tiny meringue-looking aerated passionfruit.

A word of advice: Just try to cut the glass biscuit in small pieces … It was quite difficult to digest in a big chunk!

The final verdict for The Bridge Room

There is no doubt that The Bridge Room deserved the three hats and title of Sydney’s best! Everything was spotless when we dined there!

Did you know?

This is only the second restaurant that we have ever given a score of 9.5, the other one was Tetsuya’s.

You should also order their Berry cocktail with Yuzu. If I don’t need to work after lunch, I would order a second!

Rating for The Bridge Room:

9.5 / 10

Taste: 9.5 / 10

Price: $250 for two excl. wine.

Place: 9.5 / 10

Details:

44 Bridge Street, Sydney 2000

02 9247 7000

http://www.thebridgeroom.com.au/

Oct 12, 2015
Hurricane’s Darling Harbour

Review:

The original Hurricane’s Grill in Bondi was the second review I wrote back in 2010. Back then, the Darling Harbour’s branch had been opened, but people were still queuing in the Bondi Beach Venue. In 2015, they have 4 Hurricane’s Grill and 2 Hurricane’s Express restaurants.

The Hurricane’s Darling Harbour venue is probably the one I go to the most for convenience purpose. It is still a very popular venue, so go early or expect a queue!

Rocket and Parmigiano Salad – $19.00 – with cherry tomatoes, green olives and red onion with vinaigrette dressing

Rocket is one of only few vegetables that I actually love. Nothing can go wrong with rocket and parmigiano cheese!

Rocket and Parmigiano Salad – $19.00

Op Prime Rib (500gm) – $48.00 – grain fed, prime rib on the bone; one of our finest cuts

As we had quite a large group, I got the chance to try a ‘non-standard’ dish. On this occasion I ordered Hurricane’s Prime Rib… for myself!

It was a pretty good steak… However, considering that it was more expensive than full rack of beef or lamb ribs, I think I’ll choose those two anytime!

Op Prime Rib (500gm) – $48.00

Full rack of Beef Ribs – $47.00 – basted in Hurricane’s rib basting then grilled until tender served with either chips or baked potato with sour cream and chives.

Hurricane’s ribs are the main reason why people visit Hurricane’s Darling Harbour. When I wrote the review 5 years ago, they didn’t have the beef ribs on the menu. So, this is for those of you who are not a big fan of either lamb or pork ribs.

Full rack of Beef Ribs – $47.00

Rump (750gm) – $48.00 – the original “BIG KAHUNA”, aged for a minimum of 28 days and basted in Hurricane’s steak basting.

Rump steak is my father’s favourite cut. 750 gr of rump steak is huge… no joke!

Depending on how big the group is, you can also opt for 350 gr or (an even bigger) 1 kg of rump steak. You can also order extra sauce (e.g. mushroom) for $2.50.

Rump (750gm) – $48.00

Onion Rings

I am not sure why they did not put this in the menu. However, you can order onion rings in Hurricane’s Darling Harbour.

Junior Fish and Chips

It was a simple fish and chips with tartare sauce and lemon for kids. Suffice to say that the little guy enjoyed the main dish that we ordered better than his.

The final verdict for Hurricane’s Darling Harbour

Hurricane’s Darling Harbour is a lot more convenient meeting place than the one in Bondi Beach with the same quality that you would expect from Hurricane’s.

Did you know?

I was going to review Hurricane’s Express in Waterloo, before I found out at the last minute that they closed down a week after my visit to the restaurant!

Rating for Hurricane’s Darling Harbour:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $35 for main and pasta

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Shops 433-436, Level 2, Harbourside Shopping Centre, 2 – 10 Darling Drive, Darling Harbour, Sydney 2000

02 9211 2210

https://darlingharbour.hurricanesgrill.com.au/

Oct 6, 2015
Golden Century Seafood Restaurant

Review:

This week we are writing about one of the more famous Chinese restaurants in the city: Golden Century Seafood Restaurant. Despite being in Chinatown, there is usually no shortage of people queuing to dine at the restaurant. Early dinner is your best bet to avoid the queue.

You can see a few tanks filled with live lobsters, mud crabs, abalones and many different fishes. The price for these live seafood is driven by the market, so on a good day, you might actually snap up a bargain!

We were there in a big group of eight and had quite a number of dishes ordered. Unfortunately, as with any other Chinese restaurants in the area, service is not their forte.

Crab Meat and Sweet Corn Soup – $7.00

I thought it would be a small bowl of soup as the big bowl costs 10 times as much. I ordered three of these and three of the next one. It became apparent that we had ordered way more than what we needed.

Fish Head Bean Curd Vegetable in Soup – $7.00

This soup was a bit more ‘challenging’ to the previous one because of the head element in the menu. I actually enjoyed this one more. However, one must be careful of the sharp teeth that the fish has.

Marinated Duck Chin – $10.00

Another exotic dish of the night came in the form of duck chin. It was the lower half of duck beaks with tongues. Despite its appearance, it was actually quite a tasty dish.

Marinated Beef Shank – $11.00

This was the less ‘offensive’ version of the entrée. The same kind of marinate but using the less exotic ingredient: beef shank.

Salt and Pepper Squid – $25.00

The first glimpse of quality at Golden Century was the salt and pepper squid. Presentation was as simple as ever, but it tasted amazing!

Deep fried duck with plum sauce – $28.00

This dish further established that Golden Century’s quality was a cut above the rest. It was definitely the tastiest dish we had that night. It was also possibly one of the best ducks I have ever had.

Beef Brisket and Tendon with Turnip Hot Pot – $23.00

For those of you who need tasty (read: fatty) stuff in your system, this is the dish for you! The sauce was thick and rich but the dish had such a balanced flavour.

‘I don’t even know what this is’ dish

I definitely did not order this dish but the waiter convinced me that I had. It’s some sort of tofu with vegetables. On the other hand, my eggplant order never arrived.

Heavenly Braised Four Vegetables – $20.50

Any dish that start with the word ‘heavenly’ will almost certainly attract people to order! As usual, I am not a keen vegetable eater and this was more of a dish to make a ‘complete’ meal.

Live Perch with Ginger and Shallot – Market Price

It was supposed to be the ‘main attraction’ of the day. Unfortunately the fish was overcooked. The redeeming factor was its delicious ginger and shallot sauce!

Complimentary Desserts

Despite their service (or lack thereof), Chinese restaurants’ best feature was usually their complimentary (it must be costed somewhere!) desserts. Golden Century restaurants actually gave us quite a few (rice bubbles, cake and watermelon).

The final verdict for Golden Century

Golden Century served great food (and possibly one of the best!). However, service is just as poor as any other Chinese restaurants in the vicinity. Unfortunately, the exorbitant price tag and service considerably damaged its rating.

Did you know?

Golden Century used to be a one-hat restaurant. I don’t think it’s a surprise why they lost their one-hat status.

Rating for Golden Century:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $20 – Market Price

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

393 – 399 Sussex Street, Sydney 2000

02 9212 3901

http://www.goldencentury.com.au/

Sep 25, 2015
Hawker Sydney

Review:

We were interested to go to Hawker Sydney because of the pictures uploaded by Simon Food Favourites and Jugernaut in facebook. One of them was Goreng Durian (more about it later). Hawker Sydney offers Malaysian street food and is located in the busy Sussex Street.

In addition to goreng durian, there were also quite a few unusual dishes in the restaurant.

Hainanese Chicken – $16 – Poached white chicken served boneless at room temperature for a moist and succulent texture. Served with chilli ginger sauce.

Although it is one of Singapore’s national dishes, Hainan Chicken rice is also a staple in many Malaysian restaurants. It was a pretty generous serving of Hainan Chicken in Hawker and was quite flavoursome.

Okra Belacan – $14 – Stir-fried okra with chillies and shrimp paste.

It is an interesting alternative to the usual ‘kangkung belacan’. I actually quite like this substitution as okra had a bit more crunch than kangkung.

Ikan Bakar – $16 – A local favourite. Grilled stingray with a tangy and spicy dipping sauce (Allow 15 mins).

The next dish can be found in the ‘snack’ section although it took 15 minutes to make. I think it can be more considered as part of the main course. The name ‘Ikan Bakar’ (or grilled fish) gave very little detail of what it really was. We got pretty excited when reading that stingray was the fish they use.

It was more of a nostalgic dish for me as I occasionally ate them when I was growing up in Indonesia.

Apam Balik – $6 – Crispy ‘turnover’ pancake with crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn. Served with ice-cream.

I am always curious to try apam balik (more commonly known in Indonesia as ‘martabak manis’ – one of my favourite dishes in the world)! Hawker Sydney’s apam balik was quite different and pretty thin and crispy. It is a pretty good dish but did not have the ‘meat’ to make me full.

Apam balik has been declared a heritage food in Malaysian.

Goreng Durian – $8 – Crispy battered Musang King Durian. Served with ice-cream.

This dish is the main reason why we were here. Whilst the durian itself was nice and sweet, we felt that the batter was pretty bland and could use a bit more sweetness.

The final verdict for Hawker Sydney

If you like grilled stingray, Hawker Sydney might be one of only a few restaurants in Sydney that you could get it from.

Did you know?

According to Jugernaut, Hawker is owned by the same people who owned Mamak restaurant.

According to one of the people in Sydney food bloggers community, if you dined at Mamak the receipt can be used as a 10% voucher to dine at Hawker Sydney.

Rating for Hawker Sydney:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $18 per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop G.02. 345B-353 Sussex Street, Sydney 2000

02 9264 9315

http://hawker.com.au/

Sep 9, 2015