Category: Sydney

All About Food Blog is currently based in Sydney, Australia. It is obviously THE place to be if you want to find food from all over the world.

Blaxland Inn

Blaxland Inn Review:

In our annual trip to the Hunter Valley region, we went to Blaxland Inn restaurant. Since Zomato isn’t exactly a reliable source for this region, we decided to try them out based on their menu offerings.

Blaxland Inn is located in the main road leading to the centre of Pokolbin. When we were there, there was a renovation going on the building next door. The restaurant itself was looking quite vintage.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio – $18 –White truffle oil, parmesan crumb and grissini

Beef carpaccio has always been my favourites for a long time. We loved the carpaccio at Blaxland Inn. The beef was melting in my mouth with quite a strong taste of truffle oil and parmesan.

House made char grilled flat breads – $10 – with warm olives and labna

This entrée is the perfect dish to be shared at the beginning of the dinner. They served a generous serving of olives with a nice blob of labna. There weren’t too much bread tho.

300g Rib Eye – $39 – with mashed potato and creamy brandy mushroom

Rib eye is one of the three steaks that they served in the restaurant. In addition to the steak, you get a complimentary side dish and sauce. There were 5 different sides and 4 sauces to choose from. They were $6 and $2 respectively if you would like a second serving. For the rib eye, my father opted for a more traditional match: mashed potato and mushroom sauce. I was not a big fan of the mushroom sauce.

250g Scotch – $36 – with roast garlic & rosemary butter and roasted cauliflower with za’atar spiced hummus, honey and almonds

Scotch fillet was the dish that I chose. As usual, I liked my steak medium rare. Instead of the sauce, I chose the roast garlic and rosemary butter. They gave three generous pieces. I don’t really want to count that calories!

The roasted cauliflower side that I ordered was so good that we ordered another one to be shared with the whole table!

Wild mushroom papperdelle pasta – $27 – with garlic, sage, lemon, almonds and parmesan cheese.

I didn’t really try the pappardelle but it was quite decent. For an extra $10, you could add 5 garlic prawns into the dish.

Chocolate Tart – $15

I couldn’t remember the exact dish that we ordered for the dessert, but I recalled that the ice cream was pretty good and the tart itself was quite dense. Considering that chocolate wasn’t my favourite thing, I wasn’t a big fan of this.

The final verdict for Blaxland Inn

We enjoyed our dinner at Blaxland Inn, especially the carpaccio and scotch fillet.

Do you think I should go?

There aren’t many restaurants to choose from in Hunter Valley, especially during weekdays. Blaxland Inn is probably one of the few we would visit.

Rating for Blaxland Inn:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $27 – $39 per main dish

Place: 7.5/ 10

Details:

2198 Broke Road, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin 2320

+61 2 4998 7550

Blaxland Inn’s Website

Apr 29, 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
Ippuku

Ippuku Review:

We went to Ippuku just before our new year holidays. Ippuku is a brand new cafe in Rosebery that serves Japanese-style food and drinks. Back then, they were only open for breakfast and lunch. However, they have since expanded their opening hours to dinner service as well.

They don’t have many food options, however I think it could already cater for most of their customers’ need. They also have a selection of dishes from their display cabinet.

Karaage – $8 – Japanese Fried Chicken with Kewpie Mayo

One of the tests of a good Japanese restaurant is their Karaage. The karaage here was pretty decent.

Nippon Poke Bowl – $18 – Atlantic Salmon, Seasoned Sushi Rice, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Kale, Cucumber, Edamame, Pickled Vegetables. Served with Miso Soup

I was quite surprised to see this menu… or at least why it was called this way. The poke bowl was very fresh and the plating was pretty lively.

Tofu Balls – $18 – Poached Egg, Organic Red Quinoa, Crispy Kale, Smashed Avocado, BBQ Grilled Broccolini + Harissa Yoghurt Dressing

One thing on the menu that we were very interested about was the tofu balls. The description that they had was very intriguing.

The tofu balls ended up being the dish that we liked the most. It was a complete dish with crunchy, sweet, savoury elements. It was also pretty filling.

Latte

The final verdict for Ippuku

Ippuku is a decent little cafe at the heart of Rosebery. They are also reasonably priced

Do you think I should go?

There are quite a few cafes at Rosebery. However, this cafe was the only one dedicated to a Japanese cafe menu.

Rating for Ippuku:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $18 per dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

1/1-3 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery 2018

[email protected]

https://www.ippuku.com.au

Jan 30, 2019
Chinese Dumpling Master

Chinese Dumpling Master Review:

If you think you have seen a deja vu with this post, you can be forgiven. We reviewed a very similar Chinese restaurant that championed dumpling and also located in Newtown last month.

Chinese Dumpling Master is located more on the Enmore side. The restaurant itself was quite small. You usually won’t miss it because there is always a queue to dine in at the restaurant.

If you look at some of the menu items below, you will understand why.

Chicken, Onion & Coriander – $12.8 – Pan-fried Dumpling

When you named your restaurant ‘Chinese Dumpling Master’, the odds won’t be too high for people to order dumplings. They have quite a few options for the dumpling. We chose the chicken, onion and coriander on that day. You could also have the dumpling boiled, steamed or pan-fried.

The pan-fried dumpling was a tad too oily. However, the taste was spot on.

If you order a dozen of the dumplings, it would only cost just a little over $1. Even at $7.80 for a half portion, it works out to only be $1.30 a piece… a bargain!

Xinjiang Fried Noodle with Beef – $13.8

Just like the dumpling, the noodle was also pretty oily. The portion was pretty generous, considering it costs less than $15.

Shallot Pancake – $8.8 – 8 pieces

Strangely enough, the one that I would expect to be super oily, turned out to be the least of the dishes that we ordered on the night. The pancake was very nice and crunchy. However, I think I would rather get more dumplings than having these pancakes as the dumpling was actually cheaper than the pancakes.

The final verdict for Chinese Dumpling Master

Chinese Dumpling Master offered good dumplings with very reasonable price. However, you will most likely be forced to wait for a table unless you are eating an early dinner there.

Do you think I should go?
If you can afford to wait, then yes. However, there are a few Chinese options around the area that has a similar offering.

Rating for Chinese Dumpling Master:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $11 – $16 per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 2 /63-71 Enmore Road, Newtown 2042

+61 2 8959 5725

Dec 13, 2018
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.

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/

Nov 29, 2018