Category: City

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

Chophouse

Review:

I wanted to take a couple of VIPs from overseas to enjoy Australian beef. I have heard that Chophouse was one of the best steakhouse in town. So naturally, Chophouse was our choice for enjoying the beautiful Australian beef.

Looking at the menu, they have cuts that you will most likely not find in your local butcher. So, we were pretty happy with the prospect of having quality food for dinner.

The night started off wonderfully with two beautiful starters:

Crisp Zucchini Flowers with prawn mousse, and Romesco sauce – $21.90

There were three golden zucchini flowers with beautiful prawn fillings.

Flash Fried Prawns & Calamari with Aioli – $17.50

Despite looking like an ordinary salt and pepper calamari, they were nothing but ordinary.

Something Fishy

It is actually one of the names for the kid’s menu. It was a deep fried fish fillet with steamed greens. The fish was way too overcooked. The little guy did not want to finish it (and I didn’t blame him). The good thing about it was that it was FREE of charge!

After quite a long wait, with a few guests that came around the same time as us already paid their bills, our main course arrived. On a side note, the complimentary bread actually managed to keep my tummy busy while waiting for the main course.

The Glazed Beef Short Rib with house made BBQ sauce (350gr) – $36.00

Obviously when you are at one of the best steakhouses, you will want to try the best item (usually the most expensive one?) on their ‘signatures’ range. This short rib was the one. It was the dish I originally ordered (and was subsequently halved and traded with the rump cap below).

The meat was incredibly tender and the BBQ sauce was nice.

Double Double Lamb Chops with mint jelly (2x180gr) – $30.90 – from Amelia Park, WA

I must admit that the double double lamb chops sounded very intriguing! However, my tummy said ‘no’ to the weight listed on the menu.

Wagyu Rump Cap, MB6+ with harissa and jus (200gr) – $39.00 – from FI, AACo, QLD

Wagyu rump cap was the best dish of the night for me. It was the smallest portion for the night and wasn’t the one I ordered (unfortunately!), but the steak was beautiful.

The final verdict for Chophouse

Quality was definitely there when it comes down to the steak they served at Chophouse… as expected from quality meats! However, a very long break between the two courses and the fact that no one told us the steak did not come with any side dishes made our experience somewhat less satisfying.

Did you know?

I was quite interested in their Tomahawks. However considering it weighed in excess of 1.5 kg, none of us dared to order it.

The side dishes cost from $9 to $25. So, in order to have a complete meal, you might need to add that cost into your main dish.

Rating for Chophouse:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $55 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

25 Bligh St, Sydney 2000

1300 246 748

http://chophousesydney.com.au/

Aug 17, 2015
Chat Thai Westfield

Review:

I have been wanting to write about this week’s restaurant for years. It was one of our favourite late night destinations (retired from nocturnal activities four years ago). Chat Thai has a few restaurants in Sydney. On this occasion, we went to Chat Thai Westfield in Sydney CBD for dinner.

One of the interesting thing about Chat Thai is that they have different menu for different time of the day: Lunch, Dinner, and Supper. Supper menu is only available in Chat Thai Haymarket (Thaitown).

Padt Thai Chicken – $14.00 – stir fried thin rice noodles with chicken, dried shrimps, bean sprouts, galic and chives in a tamarind and palm sugar sauce

If you google ‘National dish of Thailand’, Google will tell you that it is Pad Thai. However, it is not something that we normally look for in a Thai restaurant. We ordered this because other people in the party love a good Pad Thai.

Som Dtum – thai-bpu – $14.00 – Green papaya salad with peanuts and dried shrimps with the addition of pickled crab

People generally judged a good Thai restaurant based on its Pad Thai. For us, som dtum is the dish that we’d like to measure how good a Thai restaurant is. Chat Thai Westfield’s som dtum was one of the best we have ever tasted! It was fresh and had a lot of punchy flavours, especially from the pickled crab.

If you are not sure about pickled crab, you can order the normal Som Dtum Thai.

Gai Yaang – $14.00 – Char grilled turmeric and lemongrass marinated chicken with smoked chilli and tamarind relish

Crying Tiger – $14.00 – Char grilled beef tenderloin with smoked chilli and tamarind relish

Gai Yaang and Crying Tiger are the two dishes that my Thai friend always ordered when dining at Chat Thai Westfield. These two are also staple food in Thai restaurants. Both dishes were cooked to perfection. They were juicy and full of flavour!

Gai Yaang

Crying Tiger

Mussamun nuea – $16.00 – Mussamun curry of slowly braised beef shin and potato

This is a curry my partner love to order in a Thai restaurant. You can tell Chat Thai Westfield’s mussamun is great by the quality of its meat. The curry was thicker than other massamun curries we have tried and the meat was so tender that you can actually fork it off!

Suki Chicken Soup – $14.00 – braised chicken and glass noodles with water spinach

This is a dish that is rarely seen in a Thai restaurant. It resembles Chinese hot pot dish.

You can opt for a soup or dry suki.

Padt Si-ew – $14.00

The little one always orders Padt Si-ew when we go to a Thai restaurant. This dish is probably the most generic out of all Thai dish and the little-known brother of Padt Thai. It was a simple dish of rice noodles, chicken, vegetables and sweet soy sauce.

Bpla Dtom Som – $24.00 – steamed blue eye cod in caramelized palm sugar, turmeric and tamarind sauce.

I ordered this dish because of the picture in the menu. Being the most expensive dish of the night (and the last to be served) definitely put some pressure on this dish to deliver. All I can say is that it did not disappoint. Despite looking a bit overcooked, the fish was still perfect. The combination of sweet and sour sauce (a different kind!) was also very good!

The final verdict for Chat Thai Westfield

Chat Thai is one of my favourite Thai restaurants in Sydney! Should I really say more?

Did you know?

Unfortunately we had to skip on the desserts as we were pretty full at the end of the dinner.

With that said, I can create a whole post for Chat Thai dedicated solely for its desserts. They have a nice range of desserts. My personal favourite is Pa Tong Go – deep fried donuts with pandan sauce. I glanced at the dessert menu in Chat Thai Westfield and could not find it there, but they are definitely available in Chat Thai Haymarket.

Rating for Chat Thai Westfield:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $14 – $24 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 6002, level 6, Westfield Centre Point, 188 Pitt St, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9221 0600

http://www.chatthai.com.au/

Aug 4, 2015
Jamie’s Italian Sydney

Review:

Jamie’s Italian restaurant is probably one of the most reviewed restaurants in Sydney. It has been almost four years since they opened their doors in Sydney (2011), but we just got the chance to visit it last weekend. As we arrived at Jamie’s Italian Sydney quite early (around 5.30pm), we got the table straight away.

When you walked into the restaurant, you were welcomed by a wall filled with different pasta (and Jamie’s books of course!). From this ‘hint’, we know that we should order some pasta.

Italian Bread Selection – $2.25 – Homemade rosemary focaccia, Italian grissini, crispy music bread & ciabatta from our bakery. All served with Rylstone extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic.

I was going to say that this dish might probably be the best-valued item in the menu, however when I read old reviews they used to give this for free. Since quite a lot of items on the menu is carbs-heavy, you might want to think about adding some more into your system.

Crispy Squid – $12.90 – Fried squid, garlicky mayo & lemon

Despite its tiny portion, everything else was perfect for this dish. The squid was crispy on the outside and easily chewable on the inside. The mayo was also incredibly smooth and really punchy.

Potato and Truffle Tortellini – $24.95 – Delicate pasta parcels stuffed with ricotta & potato, tossed with butter, truffle & parmesan

This is the best dish of the day for me. I love the sauce… better yet, I can still imagine how good it tasted! The dish was both filling and yummy!

Prawn Linguine – $16.25 – Juicy pan-fried garlicy prawns served with tomatoes, chilli, rocket & fennel

The little guy ordered this dish (entrée size). The waiter actually warned us that there were chilli inside the dish. At first, he was reluctant to eat it, but we explained that the chilli here was nowhere near as spicy.

Fish in a bag – $29.50 – Baked sustainable fish, clams, mussels, chilli with Sicilian cracked wheat & pine nuts topped with our fiery arrabiatta sauce

Now, this dish’s fiery taste was real (although still not as spicy as some dishes I’ve tried in my life). They actually served it still wrapped in aluminium foil and baking paper. However, the fish was cooked perfectly!

Ice Creams – $9.00 – Three delicious scoops of Serendipity ice cream (vanilla and salted pistachio) served with smashed honeycomb and seasonal fruits.

Despite not having their own ice cream, they managed to combine this delicious ice cream with smashed honeycomb and fruit compote perfectly!

The final verdict for Jamie’s Italian Sydney

It was definitely a nice experience dining at Jamie’s Italian Sydney restaurant. Despite its busy environment, the people are still very friendly and the food was very nice!

Did you know?

Jamie’s Italian got its name from Jamie Oliver (that famous chef from the UK, but not the pissy one) but you might never see him at ‘his’ (practically owned by a different entity) restaurant in Sydney.

I am actually not a big fan of al dente pasta and prefer one that has been cooked thoroughly.

Rating for Jamie’s Italian Sydney:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $48 for main dishes

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

107 Pitt Street, Sydney 2000

+61 2 8240 9000

Jamie’s Italian Sydney

Jul 7, 2015
Cafe Sydney

Review:

Cafe Sydney is probably one of only a few restaurants in Sydney with the best view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Since we came to the restaurant with a rather large group, we opted to have shared entrees and skipped desserts altogether.

Entrees and Side Dishes

When I see Pepe Saya butter, I tend to want to order them. At $3, the sourdough roll with Pepe Saya butter is a pretty good deal. However, the ones that we could not get enough off were the garlic naan and spiced caramelised onion naan.

garlic naan and spiced caramelised onion naan

Our first entree was unanimously voted to be ordered: Carpaccio of wagyu beef, truffle dressing, caper, aioli, baby rocket. It was a light and refreshing entree.

Carpaccio of wagyu beef, truffle dressing, caper, aioli, baby rocket – $27

Our second entree was Tathra rock oyster with Vietnamese-style dressing and salmon roe. According to the menu, the oyster was unique to Nelson’s lake in NSW.

Tathra rock oyster, Vietnamese style dressing, salmon roe, cucumber – $5.5 each

We also ordered Dutch cream potato Lyonnais, caramelised onion, béchamel. It is a pretty good addition to your main dish, considering that the main dishes did not include any carbohydrates.

Dutch cream potato Lyonnais, caramelised onion, béchamel – $15

Main Dish

There were quite a few main dishes ordered on the night. Due to proximity issues, I could only take pictures of four of them.

Our first dish was Crisp Berkshire pork belly. However my friend said it was lacking the crisp.

Crisp Berkshire pork belly, morcilla sausage, pork confit croquette, celeriac, cherry, pecan, watercress – $39

The award for prettiest and most exciting dish went to the Blue eye trevalla. It was served with pumpkin gnocchi, peas, pipis and tapenade butter.

Blue eye trevalla, pumpkin gnocchi, peas, pipis, tapenade butter – $44

I was interested with the Tandoori roasted Tasmanian ocean trout with saffron cucumber, coconut, onion bhaji, and raita. They were golden on the outside and a pink inside!

Tandoori roasted Tasmanian ocean trout, saffron cucumber, coconut, onion bhaji, raita – $39

The dish that I ordered that evening was the Beef tenderloin with roasted oyster mushroom, cavalo nero and creamed spinach. I liked the combination of creamed spinach and roasted mushroom for my steak!

Beef tenderloin, roasted oyster mushroom, cavalo nero, creamed spinach – $39

The final verdict for Cafe Sydney

Restaurants tend to overcharge when they are on premium sites. Cafe Sydney balanced that with decent quality food! However, I do not recommend you to come in for early dinner.

Did you know?

We went to the Cortile at the Intercontinental Hotel for desserts as Cafe Sydney used time limits on their tables.

Our group likes to unwind there for a few desserts and drinks.

Macarons

Creme Brulee

Pavlova

Rating for:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $35 – $48 for main dish

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

5^th floor, Customs House, Alfred St, Circular Quay

02 9251 8683

http://www.cafesydney.com/

Cafe Sydney:

The Cortile:

Jan 29, 2015
Est

Review for lunch menu:

Our rare moment without the little guy was spent for lunch at Est. Restaurant. They have quite a flexible lunch arrangement of two, three and four-course lunch. You can also request for degustation menu, but I think it’s a bit too much for a lunch period. In this occasion, we had the three-course lunch with an extra plate of oysters to start the lunch with.

I am pretty sure I don’t need to describe the menu in full details as the name of every ingredients is already listed.

To start

Six freshly shucked rock oysters, ponzu dressing ($5 each)

As six oysters would have been an overkill (especially for my wife), we decided to share this dish. Presentation was simplicity at its best and the ponzu dressing was pretty good!

In addition to the oysters, we also got the usual bread and butter. However the bread and butter was too ordinary to remember.

Course 1

Moreton Bay Bug, orange, green shallot, fennel, watercress puree, puffed quinoa.

The bug was presented very nicely. I love how all of the flavours worked well together. For Your Information, Moreton Bay bug is known as flathead lobster outside Australia.

Lamb consommé, slow cooked lamb belly, green peas, pickled radish, mint oil

When I saw it, I knew immediately that this dish was the one I should have ordered. The lamb belly was presented like a roast pork belly. I have never seen lamb cooked this way and I was even more impressed with how it tasted! It was presented beautifully and the consommé was fabulous.

For the first course, the slow cooked lamb belly beat my Moreton Bay bug anytime!

Course 2

Slow cooked rangers valley wagyu beef tri tip, spinach puree, salsify, spring onion, rye crumb, red elk.

My first impression was that the steak was actually quite small (I blame my tummy!). As soon as I tried everything on that plate, I was actually very impressed with the taste of the beef and the charred taste of the onion and rye crumb. The spinach puree gave an extra dimension of freshness to the plate.

Murray cod fillet, shaved abalone, snow peas, black fungi, ginger – green shallot vinaigrette

The vinaigrette was a high-end version of the usual Chinese restaurant’s steamed fish with ginger and shallot. However, the Murray cod fillet was beautiful… like really beautiful!

Both dishes were on par in terms of quality and taste, but I guess I am leaning towards the Murray cod fillet as it was slightly bigger than the wagyu beef!

Sides of spring asparagus, ricotta salata, marjoram, extra virgin olive oil ($11)

You can choose a selection of sides to accompany your main(s). We chose spring asparagus for this and was pretty pleased with it. They actually gave a near perfect amount of asparagus for us to enjoy.

Course 3

Strawberries, rhubarb granita, ginger cream, sorrel sorbet, hibiscus wafer

I thought granita was the highlight for the dish, but I think the two sorbets stood out more. It was a highly refreshing dish with the curious addition of ginger cream.

Peach, fresh peach juice, pistachio, summer berries, lemon verbena sorbet

I am not a big fan of peach, therefore I cannot make a fair judgement of what to like between the two. However, I am willing to try the mango with goat’s milk yoghurt the next time we visit Est.

Drinks and Petit Fours

At the start of the service, there was a trolley full of champagne. I guess it made sense as most people were here for a special occasion (except for a few people who looked like big bosses of big companies having normal work lunch).

There were still a plate of petit fours and a small birthday cake to end the day, but I am not a big fan of chocolate.

The final verdict for Est. Restaurant

Est. restaurant thoroughly deserved the two hats status for their lunch menu. Service was fabulous and food certainly did not disappoint. The best dish of the day was the slow cooked lamb belly.

Did you know?

Est. restaurant is Merivale’s flagship restaurant. The group owns several top market, high-rating restaurants in Sydney including Mr Wong that we reviewed earlier this year.

Rating for Est. Restaurant:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5/10

3-course lunch: $95

Place: 9/10

Details:

Level 1, Establishment, 252 George Street NSW 2000

+61 2 9240 3000

http://merivale.com.au/est

Jan 1, 2015
Wagaya Sydney Experience

My Wagaya Sydney Experience

Wagaya Sydney has been on on my radar for quite a while but they were always pretty busy on weekends. When opportunity knocked (courtesy of SD Marketing Global) to review the restaurant, I wouldn’t want to miss it!

Wagaya Sydney is an izakaya restaurant, which technically means they are more of a drinking establishment than a restaurant. The food serves in an izakaya is meant to accompany the drinks. However, it is quite a posh izakaya restaurant!

Wagaya Menu

The first dish of the day was actually chosen by my son: Japanese Style Scallops Spaghetti. I am not a big fan of Spaghetti, but I really don’t mind eating this one (after being granted the permission to try his food)!

Japanese-Style Scallops Spaghetti – $10.90

From the ‘quick nibbles’ section, we ordered Lotus Root Chips and Crispy Salmon Skin. The lotus root chips was probably the best suited dish for izakaya. You can never get enough off it! I always liked deep fried crispy salmon skins and they are actually pretty good to fill up the tummy.

Lotus Root Chips – $7

Crispy Salmon Skin – $5.80

If you are after a rather ‘heavy’ food, then you can choose one of the Sukiyaki options. Beef Sukiyaki was our choice of the night.

Beef Sukiyaki – $13

They also have an assortment of Sushi rolls and you can either order half roll or a full roll. Given my love to scampi, we chose Fried Scampi Roll. It turned out that fried scampi didn’t have the same appeal as fresh scampi. The sushi itself was quite delectable.

Fried Scampi Roll – Full – $12.50

The one thing that made our visit to Wagaya Sydney worthwhile was its Sashimi. It was arguably one of the freshest Scallops Sashimi I have ever tasted! It actually ‘provoked’ me to order another sashimi dish, Crystal Bay Prawn Sashimi.

Scallops Sashimi – $9

Crystal Bay Prawn Sashimi – $7.90

A couple of dishes that we also ordered on the night were Chicken Gristle and Lamb Chop. The chicken gristle are great bite-sized nibbles! The lamb chop was more of a curious purchase and we were glad we ordered it!

Chicken Gristle – $8.20

Lamb Chop – $12

A few interesting things about Wagaya Sydney

– Wagaya Sydney’s membership card has quite a few perks and it works just like the Credit Card point system: $1 for 1 point. The prizes range from a discount voucher to iPhone!

– Wagaya is part of a Japanese group of restaurants, including Sushi Hotaru.

Details:

1/78 Harbour Street, Haymarket NSW 2000

+61 2 9212 6068

http://www.wagaya.com.au

Dec 25, 2014