Category: Mediterranean

I love the exotic flavour of Mediterranean cuisine.

The Eate, On The Spit and Off The Grill

The Eate Review:

I don’t know what the best description for The Eate. Personally, I think it is as an upmarket charcoal chicken and/or burger joint.

Looking at their menu, they put much emphasis on their spit roast meats. Burgers and Yiros are the next main items in the menu.

Spiced Eggplant Chips – $10 – with pomegranate, mint & parsley

Every once in a a while you find something on the menu that is very unusual and make you wonder how it would taste. Eggplant chips is one of them for me. Seriously, how can you resist deep fried eggplant?

The Fish – $12 – Flathead fillet with herb aioli, chesse, lettuce, guindillas

Before writing this review, I have to google guindillas first. Apparently it is a Spanish word for chili peppers. Don’t be alarmed, the guindillas they used were super mild.

Yiros – $11.5 – Spiced chicken with onion, parsley, guindillas, shallots, garlic sauce, tomato, chips, in fresh made pita

A friend of ours told me that when you visited The Eate you must order their charcoal chicken. Their spiced chicken is actually a derivative of the charcoal chicken, enhanced further with spices for the yiros.

Small salad – $6

They have a few different salad dishes you can choose from over the counter. If you are feeling a bit peckish you might want to order some.

Latte – $3.50

Their coffee is actually not bad when compared to the ones around the area.

The final verdict for The Eate

The Eate is quite a decent burger/yiros joint. You might want to try their charcoal chicken when you are there.

Did you know?

The Eate’s location is a bit out of the way in Dulwich Hill unless you came by light rail. It is just next to the Dulwich Grove station.

Rating for The Eate:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $20 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

555 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill 2203

+61 2 9568 3283

http://www.theeate.com.au/

Sep 18, 2017
Voulez Vous Experience

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Unfortunately, Voulez Vous has closed its doors for good.

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My Voulez Vous Experience:

This week’s review is about a brand new restaurant in Surry Hills named Voulez Vous. Even if it’s technically still Surry Hills, the restaurant is actually located closer to Hyde Park, so parking is not a problem around the area! I dined as a guest for #ZomatoMeetUp event, invited by Nick from Zomato.

There were two sets of three-course dinner for the night. I managed to try the other set from Thang of Noodlies.com.

Meat Entrée

This entrée was not on the menu, but instead was created so that we could taste the range of meat entrées at Voulez Vous. It is a mixture of traditional Serbian and Mediterranean dishes.

It was a balanced mix that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I think I would love to have this kind of entrée permanently on the menu as it showcases what Serbian cuisine is about. Especially for us who are not accustomed to the cuisine.

Fish Entrée

This was the fish (or seafood) entrée that I did not get the chance to taste. The dishes were not designed to be shared.

Lemon and golden quince sorbet

This was a pretty good palate cleanser.

Sesame coated tuna steak with steamed vegetables

To be honest, I am not a big fan of tuna. However, their steak was grilled perfectly. The sesame and red bits added a crunchy texture to the tuna. It was nice and refreshing.

Saach

Saach was the dish that the owner talked about more and was considered as the national dish of Serbia. It was a stew of veal and lamb with vegetables and herbs.

Pear poached in red wine

When the poached pears arrived on our table, we could not hide our delights on how nice it looked. Then we had a taste…

The combination of red wine, chocolate and vanilla ice cream (although it tasted more like aerated vanilla mixture) was amazing.

I did not say this because I was invited to Voulez Vous, but that Pear dessert was awesome! I actually had to come back to the restaurant a few days after to ensure that what I got wasn’t just made especially for us… and it was still awesome!

It was definitely one of the best desserts I have tasted this year!

Nutella Torte

In a way, I was pleased that I did not get the Nutella torte, because I am not a big fan of chocolate. Opinions were divided amongst our group and some of us did enjoy the Nutella Torte.

A few interesting things about Voulez Vous

One thing that got talked about a lot on the night was Quince-flavoured Rakija. Rakija can be considered as a fruit brandy with 40%+ alcohol content. According to the owner, it is best served at 40°. Voulez vous is also a good place for you to try Serbian beer, Jelen Pivo.

Details:

6 Hunt Street, Surry Hills 2010

+61 2 9211 3880

Other pictures of Voulez Vous on the night

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Aug 10, 2015
Kazbah Restaurant

Review:

Kazbah restaurant is situated at the heart of Darling Harbour’s Harbourside shopping centre. In that place, there are dozens of restaurants for you to choose. One day, we felt like eating Middle Eastern cuisine and that’s why I am writing this review.

The restaurant has an extravagant atmosphere with dimly-lit, silky smooth vibe to it. Looking at the menu, we decided to go for a three-course meal with a simple entree. Middle Eastern main courses are normally pretty ‘heavy’.

Each of us ordered Char-grilled quail (half a quail) with pomegranate sauce. We also had Rocket and Grilled Haloumi salad. Nice and light entree, as expected.

Char-Grilled Quail, Pomegranate Sauce (each) – $6.00

Rocket and Grilled Haloumi – $10.00

Main Course

If you are new to my blog, I usually look for two things in a restaurant: something unique and a dish that the restaurant is famous for. Obviously our first main course fell in the first category: Camel Kafta. Presented in Shish Kebab style, the Kafta was grilled perfectly and I loved how the date sauce gave an extra taste to the meat. Synonym to the grand theme, the camel kafta was showered with generous serving of lentil and Tunisian ratatouille.

Camel Kafta, Brown Lentil Moujadara, Tunisian Style Ratatouille, Date Sauce, Crispy Fried Onions – $34.00

We ordered the other main, Lamb Shank, because of our curiosity. The lamb shank was stewed with prunes, carrots and kidney beans. Nevertheless, we are still trying to find a lamb shank dish as good as the one we had in Port Stephens.

Lamb Shank, Prunes, Carrots, Kidney Beans – $33.00

Dessert

Since my wife is a massive fan of Baklava, we must order one everywhere we go. For this one, this one was not too sweet and quite enjoyable. We also had Turkish Delight but it was pretty sweet.

Baklava (each) – $3.50 and Turkish Delight

The second dessert was rather extravagant and very pleasing to see, Date and Walnut Linzer Tart with carob mascarpone. Two tempered chocolates decorated both sides of the tart with little droplets of butterscotch accentuated the plate. However, I would not recommend you if you already had a full tummy. This dessert was incredibly heavy with a rich taste!

Date and walnut linzer tart with carob mascarpone, butterscotch cream – $14.00

The verdict for Kazbah Restaurant

Kazbah Restaurant delivered a nice Middle Eastern feel with well-presented Middle Eastern dishes.

Did you know?

There was one dessert that really stood out when we were there but we did not order. It was called Kazbah Bomb for Two. Flamed with Kurrant Vodka, this dessert should really excite everyone around you.

Also, for some reasons UrbanSpoon’s reviewers think that Kazbah in Balmain is a lot better than the one in Darling Harbour.

Rating for Kazbah Restaurant:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $50 for three courses

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Harbourside Shopping Centre

Shop 284 / 2 – 10 Darling Dr, Sydney 2000

02 9555 7067

http://www.kazbah.com.au/

Jun 20, 2014
Grandma’s Little Bakery

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Grandma’s Little Bakery has moved out of this location.

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Rating:

7.5 / 10 Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $10 – $20

Place: 7.5 / 10

Review:

I’m not quite sure when this restaurant was opened however its facebook page suggested that it was created in 2012 (Confirmed by them: they’ve been in Sydney for a year and a half). Grandma’s Little Bakery is a nice little café in Alexandria with quiet cheerful polka dot table cloths. They have shiny iPads for its menu (although you can’t really order from it). You can also have a buffet bar lunch and even vegetarian buffet bar (if you wish).

Let’s start off with something easy and always delightful: scones. The mistake we made was thinking that it was light! Quite the opposite, the scone was actually filling. The home-made butter and jam added the smooth and sweet dimensions.

We also had Celery and Lamb with grandma’s turmeric rice. The lamb and celery stew had a well-balanced flavour and went really well with the rice. Beef and mushrooms Vol-au-vent was also good (and best priced at $10) with over-flowing fillings! Even for a big guy like me, the dish was enough for lunch.

If you think you can handle a big breakfast or lunch, maybe you can try their Shakshuka Bolognaise. According to Wikipedia, shakshuka was originated from Tunisia. It’s quite an interesting dish (and large!) as it was served in a pan! Two eggs poached in bolognaise sauce would be enough to entice meat-lovers to enjoy this dish. There were also a side of organic bread slices if you must eat your carbs.

The unexpected came in last: Malabi. ’Delicious rose cream dressed with fragrant rose syrup, pistachio nut and coconut. A must try!’ – That was the menu description and we did try! It was a very rich and sweet dessert. I love the way the coconut and pistachio balanced its richness. Enter the pistachio biscotti and you got yourself a treat!

The final verdict for Grandma’s Little Bakery

You know it is a good restaurant, when at the end of the meal you had a dessert you can remember for a long time. Grandma’s Little Bakery did just that. I still cannot forget about its Malabi!

Did you know?

If you still think the dishes we reviewed were too small, you still can order its buffet bar for under $20 (I think it was $25 for Saturday)! There are quite decent healthy selections.

Details:

42 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria 2015

02 9690 0069

http://www.grandmas.com.au/

Oct 9, 2013
Kafenes Cafe Restaurant

Rating:

6 / 10

Taste: 6.5 /10

Price (Banquet): $35 – $45

Place: 6/10

Review:

We had a special occasion this week because it was the farewell party for the longest-serving member of our company, Andrew Thomas. We went to one of the better Greek restaurants, Kafenes Cafe Restaurant. He recommended us to take the Banquet menu for ease of arrangement. The Banquet consisted of five dishes that were supposed to feed the whole group. There are three choices that you can get, ranging from $35 to $45. We were also given a time limit from 6 – 8.30 PM.

According to the menu, the first dish that was due out was the Country Salad. Regrettably, until we finished the dish never came and there was no explanation whatsoever from the restaurant.

The dish that came up first was instead Dips Combo. Three dips of taramosalata (salmon roe), meiltzana (eggplant), and scordalia with (two generous plates of) Pita Bread. They were an okay dips, when compared to my previous restaurant review.

The second appetiser that we had was Spanakopita (Spinach Pie). This one was quite ok, although presentation-wise was quite average. It was crunchy on the outside while nice and creamy on the inside.

We had quite a bit of delay of around 30-40 minutes between our last dish and the next one. The dish is called Prawn Saganaki. It was a chilli tomato Prawn with Capsicum on a bed of rice. It was an interesting dish. Different parts of the plate gave us different taste. Some could be really hot and spicy and others were quite bland.

The last dish on the list was Chicken and Lamb Souvlaki. I personally liked the presentation: Huge lamb and chicken pieces in a stick with some vegetables and pita bread. It looked a little bit too cramped for presentation. They were the first nice dish of the night. They were succulent and yummy – grilled perfectly.

Before we had the dessert, we were warned that there was little time left for it. Andrew insisted that we should have it anyway. It was named Bougatsa. This extra crunchy custard pie literally saved our otherwise ‘unlucky’ dining experience – it did come with an extra cost tho. They were wonderful, although we had to finish it lightning quickly.

Unfortunately, the constant nagging of the waiter turned out to be untrue. As we stepped out of the restaurant, the group of 20 was nowhere to be seen. We were taken aback by the treatment, it kind of remind me of typical restaurant where you were given the bill as soon as you finished eating.

The final verdict: This time I need to disagree with most reviews. Although it has nice Souvlaki and great Bougatsa (with an additional fee), the absence of one dish from the banquet, the poor service and bad time management contributed to the bad impression that we all shared. Unfortunately, I need to give a bad rapport and would not recommend this restaurant.

Did you know?

The restaurant is located just a block away from the Enmore Theatre. It was one of Sydney’s major entertainment venues and held major music events. In present days, it usually holds comedy acts and medium-scale music bands.

Location:

149 Enmore Rd, Enmore NSW 2042

Kafenes on facebook

Jan 23, 2011
Palm Breeze Cafe

Rating:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5/10

Price Range: $18 – $33

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

I had a very good first impression when we first stepped into Palm Breeze Cafe. It had a very nice and cosy ambience, friendly staffs, and our table was prepared within seconds. Upon glancing the menu, I was impressed with the wide arrays of cuisines they offered. They have pretty much everything from the Mediterranean to Western dishes.

After looking around for a few minutes, I decided to taste their Scotch Fillet and Ribs combo. I was fully aware that by doing this, I was ready to directly compare the café with household names like Kelly’s and Hurricane’s. I pictured the combo would be of similar size of Hurricane’s because other steaks that went past me were huge. However when it came, the steak and ribs were tiny. I only got a rack of lamb ribs and a very tiny slice of Scotch Fillet. The fillet was cooked nicely but the ribs were quite bland. The other main that I tasted was Vitello Oscar. It is grilled veal with creamy garlic prawns on top. It had the best presentation for the night. The cheese would melt right through the prawns and veal. The prawns were really nice but the veal was a bit overcooked.

The next two that we ordered from the menu, I did not really taste as my friends ordered them. The first one was Moroccan Chicken Salad. It was a quite colourful salad and had a quite big portion. In addition to the usual salad, they also put in onions, cucumbers, cashew nuts, and Moroccan-style grilled chicken. The other one was Schnitzel Parmigiana. It was the least interesting plate of the night. It was practically a chicken schnitzel with a little bit of cheese and sauce on a bed of chips and salad.

For desserts, the five of us picked two of our most favourite desserts: Crème Brulee and Tiramisu. Again, presentation wise, the two desserts were above average. They really stimulated our curiosity. However, upon tasting, we found that the crème brulee’s caramelised top was too thick and the layer of cream was also too thick. We had similar experience with the Tiramisu lacking the ‘memorable’ taste.

The final verdict: It was a nice place to spend the night. The food presentation was really nice. In terms of flavour, it lacked the wow factor that made me want to return to try other stuffs on the menu and was kind of par rating.

Did you know?

This café is located in the Sydney’s suburb, Burwood. It is one of the first suburbs that I am familiar with due to the fact that my game store is located there. It is also home of the last destination of Sydney’s longest bus service route 400 (In my opinion). The bus goes from Bondi Junction – Randwick – Maroubra – Eastgardens – Airport (Domestic & Int’l) – Rockdale – Campsie – Burwood. Six times (or more) the travelling time of trains or cars!

Location:

128 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

http://www.palmbreezecafe.com.au/ (The website is currently inactive)

Sep 19, 2010