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.

Niji Sushi Bar

Rating:

8 / 10 Taste: 8/10

Total Price: $75.5 for two

Place: 8.5/10

Review:

Niji sushi bar is the newest restaurant in kingsford. Being a sushi train restaurant, it was a bit tricky to write the review, especially with the overwhelming number of dishes available. As usual, the plates are colour coded according to their price.

However, as I will share a bit later in the review, Niji sushi bar is not all about sushi. In their menu, they also referred to themselves as Japanese Izakaya. Izakaya is normally a drinking establishment that translates to ‘to stay at a sake shop’.

Sushi

We skipped on the usual suspects, like Salmon or Scallops, and opted for a more adventurous Beef tataki sushi. We also had a trio of easy-to-digest dishes for my son: tamago sushi, seaweed, cooked tuna mini roll. It ticked all boxes for ‘sushi the way it should be’.

Sushi rolls

They had a generous serving of sushi rolls in a plate (four pieces to be exact). We tried quite a number of rolls with different price range. Tofu roll would be the obvious vegetarian dish with its nice and sweet tofu skin. We then have Salmon sesame with avocado and cheese. On the higher end, we had Aburi salmon roll with avocado and cucumber and Prawn and Avocado roll.

Hot dishes

One of the two unusual items in the menu was placed right on the first page. As soon as I saw Scampi Miso on the menu, I knew I had to have it. Its presentation might be a bit intimidating to some people but the miso soup really sure packed a punch. I would rather enjoy fresh scampi on a sushi, since I think I couldn’t differentiate the cooked scampi’s texture. My son wanted to grab the Takoyaki and they were pretty decent.

There were three different kinds of Soft Shell Crab in the menu and we chose the plate menu. The crab was both soft and crispy with additional seaweed flakes. The combination of flakes and wasabi mayonnaise created an extra dimension of taste in the crab. We also enjoyed the Salt and pepper Squid.

Robatayaki

Wagyu beef robatayaki was the second item that caught my eyes. Seriously, wagyu beef for $6.50, who wouldn’t want that? I was even happier when the plate was finally delivered: there were two skewers of wagyu! The beef was perfectly grilled and seriously mouth-watering. I actually had to order a second plate because they were just too good (and good value for money too!). They were delightfully tender and incredibly yummy.

Dessert

I must admit I was surprised when the waitress suggested us Crème Brulee. It was very well presented and had the correct elements. I felt that it was just lacking a bit of the red bean filling.

The final verdict for Niji Sushi Bar

Niji Sushi Bar was the one thing Kingsford has been missing all this time, a nice sushi bar. Niji has a large assortment of dishes on its arsenal and still managed to deliver quality sushi. You should seriously consider ordering Scampi Miso or Wagyu Beef Robatayaki.

Details:

333 Anzac Parade, Kingsford

+61 2 8068 4849

http://www.nijisushi.com.au/

Sep 19, 2012
Good Food Guide 2013 Winners

A list of Good Food Guide 2013 winners was announced two days ago in SMH.

Quay restaurant is the Good Food Guide 2013 Winners

All About Food would like to congratulate Quay for reclaiming the top spot. It marked the fifth time in the last ten years that Quay has won the awards. They won it in the year 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2013.

Our date with the restaurant was written in the Quay restaurant review in November 2010. We were drawn to it by the appearance of Snow Egg in Masterchef.

Other Good Food Guide 2013 winners as seen in All About Food Blog

We have also visited the diner’s choice award recipient, Tetsuya’s , more recently.

Later on this month – to be published next month – we will bring you another restaurant from the list, Tomislav .

For a full list of winners in 2013, please visit SMH’s Good Food Guide.

Sep 5, 2012
Moroccan Feast

Rating:

7.5 / 10 Taste: 7.5/10

Total Price: $86 before discount

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Our first journey to the African cuisine started in a restaurant called Moroccan Feast. We went to the restaurant out of pure coincidence. We wanted to taste something different, yet still available at decent price, with the help of Entertainment book’s discount.

Moroccan Feast’s interior design was dominated by clay, from the tables to the main dishes’ tagines. This exotic design coupled with the hospitality, we knew we were prepped for a treat. I tried their drink Hot Apple Cider with Cinnamon Stick – $3.50 – and it was a really nice and soothing drink. Incredibly to begin with, especially with its glass and not a mug, but once you got rid of the steam, you would find a sweet cinnamon and sour apple drink – perfect for winter!

The night didn’t start so well with the average-looking dish, Duck Pate served on a crunchy pita base (5 pieces $11). It was an orange dish of five grey blobs with a bowl of sauce in the middle. It quickly turned 180° when the waiter gave us a shot of honey. It interacted with the duck pate really well and added an extra sweetness to the bitter and savoury pate.

Our next entrée had quite a bit of explanation, Agadir Feast (small – $18). It was a combination of 4 salads and/or dips with pita bread. There were nine different items, but here were the four we got: Casablanca Carrot (Moroccan herbs and chilled), Fez Matbuh (marinade of tomato, capsicum, chilli garlic), Eggplant Dip (farlic lemon salt), Cabbage salad with coriander and fresh herbs. I have always been a sucker for eggplant dip, so I am really subjective in this part!

We were wowed by the main dishes since they came in full tagines (plus the waiter used mitts to deliver it to us!). For the first one we chose Marrakesh Chicken (on the bone) – $23 – the menu stated that the dish was cooked with paprika, tomato and Moroccan spices and served with cooked olives on the side. All of the main dishes came with couscous. I think it’s the perfect combination to the dish.

The best dish came in last: Lamb Tajine ($27) with caramelised onion, slow cooked prunes, sultanas, almonds and cinnamon. It was one of the most amazing lamb dishes I’ve ever had. The lamb was so perfectly cooked it came off the bone rather easily. The combination of sultanas, caramelised onion, cinnamon and prunes created an exotic sweetness to the dish. Super soft lamb, not smelly, in a rather big portion… what’s not to love about it?

The final verdict for Moroccan Feast

Moroccan Feast restaurant delivered a great culinary experience. Excellent customer service with nice food also created an evening to remember. I can still remember how nice their Lamb Tajine was.

Did you know?

This is officially our first review of African cuisine. I had a brief look in Wikipedia for Moroccan cuisine and saw that the names of dishes in Moroccan Feast restaurant represented a vast range of important names in Moroccan food history. One thing that I didn’t order was the traditional Moroccan mint tea.

Details:

127 Avoca Street, Randwick

+61 2 9399 9882

Moroccan Feast on facebook

Sep 4, 2012
Churrasco Restaurant

Rating:

7.5 / 10 Taste: 7.5/10

Price: $44 per person

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

If you are familiar with the name Churrasco, that is because I did the review about this restaurant more than two years ago. Churrasco review was one of my first ones. Back in those days, Churrasco had just one vegetarian dish in their all-you-can-eat arsenal. They even charged us extra for a bowl of vegetables.

Since then, they have opened in two other locations, increased their quality, services, ambience, and last – but not least- they have also included vegetables! So, despite the unavoidable increase in price, the value was pretty much justified, considering that other high-end Brazilian restaurants also charges between these regions. Waitresses still go around the restaurant offering slices of meat to your plate.

Let’s now start with the new menu, vegetables. I am still not a big fan of them, but at least they have my favourite, Rocket Salad with balsamic vinegar. They also added french fries, tomato and capsicum salad, eggplant and capsicum antipasto-style (not shown in picture). You can still get Zucchini and cheese. I will introduce other new stuff according to their classification.

To get the real feeling of Churrasco, the next couple of pictures were from its skewers. Only Churrasco’s chicken range utilises this method. Their common chicken range is the Brazilian Chicken. They also have a new Sweet Soy Chicken that was really yummy when grilled to perfection. Other chicken range includes: sausages, wings, and -the one I can never get enough of- chicken hearts.

Special to Wednesday-only, Churrasco’s Beef Ribs are worth fighting for! The beef range has lots of staple food like Rump Steak and new Pepper Beef. They also have a couple more new beef in Chilli Beef and Mushroom beef. I didn’t get the pictures of their already-extensive beef range: Sirloin steak, scotch fillet, eye fillet amongst other things. Their condiments also got a little face-lift in the addition of Chilli sauce. Farofa is now strictly by request. They also trialled polenta, before they pulled it out of the menu.

Lastly, the following dishes could be considered rarities since they were served once in like half an hour. Their newest range, Banana Fritter, was my instant favourite. The banana was both crunchy and sweet. My previous favourites, cheese bread and grilled cheese were still served and tasted as good. Grilled pineapple is kind of a cat in the bag. You can sometimes get a really sweet one but other times it would be really sour.

The final verdict for Churrasco – revisited

I would like to give more score for this restaurant, but its occasional inconsistencies in the way the dishes are cooked prevented me from doing so. The new additions to the menu gave us an increased experience to the dining in Churrasco. Although it is still predominated by meat dishes, I now leave the restaurant with much happier feeling and not stuffed.

Details:

240 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee

+61 2 9665 6535

http://www.churrasco.com.au/

Aug 21, 2012
Outback Steakhouse

Rating:

7 / 10
Taste: 7/10

Price: $40 per person

Place: 8/10

Review:

When you step into an Outback Steakhouse, you will experience a Wild West saloon. Outback provided us with a nice hint to their specials in their menu: just look at the highlighted item on the list.

The first dish of the day was Bloomin’ Onion ($9.95). It was a ginormous onion with dipping sauce in the middle. I wasn’t expecting a dish this big for a microscopic price. It was like ordering 5 plates of onion rings but tasted so much better than any rings I’ve ever had. It also gave a true meaning to ‘share plate’; you really MUST share this dish! The next one was No Rules Burger ($17.95). The name said it all! You can customise your burger according to the items on the list, 13 in total. The burger was quite small when compared to the bloomin’ onion that came in just before this one. Otherwise, it was just a simple burger.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take picture of the next dish: it was Original Slow-roasted Prime Rib ($28.95 for medium). There was only a tiny difference in pricing for its sizes, ergo buy the largest. As usual, the steak came in a variety of cooking, with medium-rare being my favourite choice. It also came with complimentary soup or salad of the day and freshly made side dishes. You could also order a mini main course for a fraction of the price. In this instance, we ordered Half Lobster Tail ($15.95). I think the lobster was so much better than the steak. It was cook perfectly and off its shell easily. The lobster was accompanied by butter sauce. It really accentuated the lobster’s taste whilst lessened its seafood flavour.

Lastly, we had the BBQ Beef Ribs ($33.95). With this dish, you can just forget about pretty dish presentation. It is a meat-lover dish and it should be presented the way it should: gloriously barbaric. It was a slab of smoky, chargrilled ribs with a serving of fries. The ribs was nice and juicy.

The final verdict: I dare not think calories when eating Bloomin’ Onion from Outback Steakhouse. It was unbelievable and unfortunately the cheapest dish of the night.

Did you know?

Although it’s called Outback Steakhouse, this restaurant chain was actually started in America in 1988. It didn’t reach Australia until much later when the first Parklea restaurant was opened in 2001.

When I read Wikipedia, they mentioned that Outback’s Cheese chips dish was one of the unhealthiest dishes in America – and I missed it!

Details:

Level 1, 3 George Street, North Strathfield, NSW 2137

+61 2 8756 5741

http://www.outbacksteakhouse.com.au/

May 27, 2012
Suminoya

Rating:

8 / 10

Taste: 8.5/10

Price: $55 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

I have always loved Suminoya for as long as I can remember. I’ve wanted to write about it, but I always had a problem putting together writing and pictures that represent Suminoya. My apology since there is a discrepancy between picture and real life condition. The price has now increased by $5.

If you see the menu, there are plenty of dishes to choose from. You have a choice between gourmet and premium buffet. With premium buffet, you can order as much Sashimi as you want with other fantastic additional dishes along the way. It’s no brainer that I would choose the premium buffet, considering that you only pay $8 more for it. There is also an option to get as much Calpis drink as you want for an extra $5.

I will start off with the Sashimi. They have a range of Salmon, Kingfish, Tuna, Beef, and Squid. Even if you eat just the Sashimi for the whole night, you’ll get a massive value for your money! In line with the Sashimi, they also have Yukke. It’s a marinated raw beef with egg yolk. I know some people might stay away from it, but if you are really adventurous you really must order this. This is the best Yukke I have ever tasted.

With premium buffet, you can order unlimited number of plates for Beef Tongue and Beef Ribs Finger. You get one plate each for the gourmet one. The good news is, they have upgraded their beef to Wagyu for the new menu! There is also Chicken Gristles for bone-crushers. This dish requires a good understanding on how to cook chicken and you really must not eat it raw.

From the seafood department, you can always order Scallops, pre-chilled Unagi, and Garlic Prawns. Like its Sashimi, this seafood was incredibly fresh. It is highly recommended that you cook them through to avoid any food poisoning.

For those of you who don’t really like to cook your food, Suminoya also provided you with a small range of cooked dishes. On this occasion, I tried to order Beef Komutan which is a soup-based dish. There is also a range of salad like Seafood Salad and the always tasty dried seaweed.

The final verdict: Suminoya is one of my favourite restaurants in Sydney. Their Yukke and Sashimi are to die for!

Did you know?

I am really ecstatic to see that Suminoya is now part of the Entertainment Book. Since this is the restaurant that I will always go to, 25% off doesn’t sound so bad!

Do me a favour and buy this book… You won’t regret it and I guarantee you’ll save a lot more than what you pay for the book!

PS: I wasn’t paid to say all these!!

Details:

1 Hosking Place, Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9231 2177

http://yakiniku.com.au/suminoya/

May 9, 2012