Category: Global Cuisines

All About Food Blog loves trying different cuisines from all around the world. Sometimes food has the same name but completely different look and taste.

El Topo Mexican

Review:

Before I decided to write about it, I have been to El Topo Mexican restaurant twice: The first one was a small lunch with colleague and the second one was a bigger lunch with friends and family. El Topo Mexican is located on the rooftop of The Eastern in Bondi Junction.

Without further ado, lets get on with the food!

Chapulines – Roast Crickets, Chile Garlic & Lime – $7

It is not a typo from carrots nor the name of an Australian sports. It is really a bowl of roast and crispy crickets for you to enjoy. I asked a Mexican friend of mine who happened to have lunch with us that day. He confirmed that it was a genuine dish from Mexico although it might not be as common in Mexico City.

I must say it’s quite challenging for my friends to try these out.

Chapulines

Taco

For lunch time, they have a deal of any 3 tacos for $15. They have several tacos to choose from and individually they are $6 – $8.

The tacos were quite small but they had nice fillings. Most of us chose the cochinita pibil (i.e. roast annatto pork) which apparently was the most famous toppings.

Taco de cochinita pibil

Taco de pollo en mole amarillo, taco de pescado frito

Ensalada de nopales y garbanzos – Cactus, chickpea, corn, tomato & parsley – $10

The second exotic dish of this restaurant is cactus salad. The texture and taste were pretty similar to pickled paprika in a salsa. It was very refreshing even for a non-vegetables eater like me!

Ensalada de nopales y garbanzos

Ceviche de pez real – kingfish ceviche, achiote, watermelon, radish & finger lime – $16

The ceviche had a gorgeous presentation. Unfortunately, I think there were way too many other items but the ceviche on the plate. The squid ink watermelon provided an interesting colour to the dish.

Ceviche de pez real

Barbacoa de costilla de res – 12 hours beef short rib, barbacoa sauce, pickled cabbage & baby onions – $32

This dish was the main reason why I decided to come back. I was very tempted to order this on my first visit but $32 and a giant beef rib would not do well for my after-lunch work.

However, I can tell you that the beef rib was very yummy. You don’t even need to use your knife to cut through the meat!

Barbacoa de costilla de res

Flan roto de coco con chocolate y cajeta – Flan of coconut, single origin Mexican chocolate hazelnut & goats milk caramel – $14

I was interested in ordering the flan because of its glowing review in Jugernauts. I think I was over-expecting it a bit too much. It was a nice dessert, but not for $14.

Flan roto de coco con chocolate y cajeta

Bunuelos con chocolate – Mexican doughnuts & chocolate sauce – $12

I love doughnuts… any shapes and sizes! I love them even more when they were freshly made!

Bunuelos con chocolate

The final verdict for El Topo Mexican

I’m pretty sure El Topo Mexican is the only place in Sydney (or Australia) that has crickets and cactus on the menu.

Did you know?

There are two El Topo in this premise: El Topo Basement and El Topo Mexican (on the top floor).

Rating for El Topo Mexican:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $32 per main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Level 3, 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction 2022

+61 2 9387 7828

https://www.theeastern.com.au/venues/

Mar 6, 2015
Willis Canteen

Review:

One day a friend of mine asked me a question: Do you want to eat gado-gado? At first I admired his courage in offering me something that I don’t eat that often (vegetables) and obviously my subsequent question ensued: What’s so special about this one?

He said “This is the best one in Sydney and you even need to call them up in advance or be prepared to wait for an hour”. I was really tempted to say: are you mad? I’m not going to wait for an hour for my meal!

However, there was that ‘call in advance’ method (I still had my doubts at that time) that we can utilise so that we don’t need to wait for an hour.

We went on a Sunday afternoon and the restaurant was quite packed (good indicator of a nice restaurant!). Willis Canteen is the name of the restaurant. There were no big dramatic sign boards and no fancy decors. It was a plain and simple canteen!

As we were a bit late (because somehow we went to a different location!), my friend was already there with the gado-gado my wife ordered already on the table! She pointed out that this gado-gado was very similar to the ones in her city. Gado-gado literally translates into mishmash or mixes. It is a mixture of boiled vegetables with homemade peanut sauce. This peanut sauce is the very reason the preparation time was long. It wasn’t from that pre-packaged stuff you get from Asian groceries. They were passionately (and freshly) made by the chef.

Gado-gado – $12

I ordered another variant of peanut-based dish, Ketoprak. I will let you read the description in Wikipedia for ketoprak. Ketoprak is slightly different than gado-gado, but if you get the elements wrong it will be called something else. Their ketoprak was fabulous!

Ketoprak – $11

We also ordered Iga Penyet and Rendang. Iga penyet was a lot simpler in presentation. It was beef ribs with just a couple of vegetables and a small stone mortar with spicy sambal (chilli). In Indonesia the term ‘penyet’ is actually used for smashing the sambal with the main (usually soybean cake, eggplant, or chicken). The beef rendang was the icing on the cake on the already nice lunch.

Iga Penyet – $12.50

Rendang – $12.50

The final verdict for Willis Canteen on facebook

Willis Canteen surprised me in many good ways! I can feel the owners’ passion for food in every dish they served.

Did you know?

Seriously, if you are told that you will be waiting for a long time for your gado-gado, it means you WILL be waiting for a long time. If you want to order the peanut-based stuff, please call them in advance!

Rating for Willis Canteen:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $15 per dish

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

197/392 Jones Street, Ultimo

+61 2 8040 8372

Willis Canteen on facebook

Feb 26, 2015
Jazushi

Review:

Before I visited Jazushi, I had always had a doubt about this restaurant, mainly because of its name. Furthermore, Surry Hills isn’t the easiest place to reach by car on a weekend. So, when my friend planned his birthday there, I knew I would not miss the opportunity!

We opted for the degustation menu and I am also posting pictures of the Vegetarian option as some of us ordered it. The Jazushi set menu is priced at $55, whilst its vegetarian counterpart is $7 cheaper. Unlike other restaurants, Jazushi presented their degustation as shared plates.

Salmon and Kingfish Carpaccio – Asparagus with Saikyo sauce

You know you will have a great night when your first dish is already impressive. The carpaccio was very fresh and perfectly complemented with the basil oil.

Asparagus with Saikyo Sauce

Green Tea Noodle Salad

Both set menu was the same for the second dish. It was another light and refreshing dish for the night. The noodles were al dente and perfectly matched with the salad.

Grilled Silver Cod – Lotus Root ‘Kinpira’

Despite the size, the grilled silver cod was excellent. It was very tasty! If only I could have the whole plate!

Lotus Root ‘Kinpira’

Camembert Tempura

I could not get enough off the Camembert Tempura. It is so finger-licking good! Do I really need to say more about it?

Vegetarian option also got the same stuff.

Sushi – Vegetarian Nori Rolls

To be honest, the Sushi was the most standard-looking dish of the night. The quality was still there tho. The vegetarian rolls looked slightly livelier.

Vegetarian Nori Rolls

JFC – Breaded Mushroom

JFC is probably one of their signature dishes. Jazushi’s fried chicken came with homemade tartar sauce and yuzu citrus sauce. They were pretty good but other dishes were a lot more awesome!

Breaded Mushroom

Kakuni ‘Kurobuta’ Pork Belly – Tofu Steak with Teriyaki Sauce

When you slow-cooked (especially over night) pork belly, you will get this melt-in-your-mouth sensation. That’s what you get with Jazushi’s Kakuni.

In terms of presentation, the tofu steak was definitely more inferior to the pork belly.

Tofu Steak with Teriyaki Sauce

Wagyu Sirloin Steak – Nasu Grilled

Wagyu sirloin steak is only available for the degustation menu. It was a bit too small to my liking, but it was a nice steak.

I wasn’t fast enough to take the picture of Nasu Grilled.

Dessert

The dessert for the night was Green tea crème brulee. It had a nice caramelised top with smooth green tea cream.

The final verdict for Jazushi

I think Jazushi has become my newest favourite. Everything was spot on and the degustation has a really good value for money!

Did you know?

We ordered several a la carte menu, and we particularly enjoyed the seared sushi.

Rating for:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $55 for Jazushi Set Menu ($48 for Vegetarian option)

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

145 Devonshire St, Surry Hills 2010

+61 2 9699 8977

http://jazushi.squarespace.com/

Feb 18, 2015
Chao Praya Thai

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Review:

Chao Praya Thai at The Spot, Randwick is probably one of the first restaurants in Sydney I have ever visited. However, I rarely go to Randwick for a meal these days. On this occasion, I went with quite a large group of friends. Some of us are vegetarian, so I include a little vegetarian section towards the end of this article.

The first dish of the day was Salt and Pepper Calamari Rings. My son thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it. We have other entrees in the vegetarian section.

Salt and Pepper Calamari Rings

Our next dish was Larb Bhet. Larb is a spicy minced meat salad that mainly uses mint leaves, lemon juice and chilli. Bhet (or bped) is duck. Pad See Ew Chicken was sort of a ‘safe bet’ when we ordered because the dish was so simple and kids would usually eat them.

Larb Bhet – Minced baked boneless duck sprinkled with lemon juice and just a touch of chilli, garnished with mint leaves – $16.90

Pad See Ew Chicken – Stir fried rice noodle, egg and Chinese broccoli with black soy sauce Thai style – $13.90

The most unique and best dish of the day was the Green Curry Salmon. It was the first time I had curry with salmon, and it was beautiful! The fact that it was priced at under $20 made us felt a lot happier! Our last main course of the day was Masamun Beef Curry. We usually try to find this dish when we go to Thai restaurant because it is possibly the mildest curry of them all.

Green Curry Salmon – Grilled salmon top with green curry sauce and mixed vegetables – $18.90

Masamun Beef Curry – Chunky tender beef slowly cooked in thick but mild tasty curry with peanut – $14.90

Since there were already too many dishes ordered, we only tried two desserts. The first one was Mango and Ice Cream. It was literally half a mango and a scoop of ice cream with a bit of whipped cream and caramel. The Deep fried Ice Cream was a bit more sophisticated.

Mango and Ice Cream

Deep fried Ice Cream

Vegetarian

They have quite a selection of vegetarian entrees. On this occasion, we ordered three of them: Satay Tofu, Curry Puffs, and Spring Rolls.

I did not try the main dishes, but they are the variation of Panang Curry and a choose-your-own noodles dish. The noodles dish was a choice of vegetables/meat, noodles, and sauce.

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The final verdict for Chao Praya Thai Restaurant

Chao Praya Thai restaurant is perfect for your everyday Thai fix. They also cater for vegetarian diners. One of their interesting items on the menu was their green curry salmon.

Did you know?

I wrote about another ChaoPraya Thai restaurant in Gold Coast. However, they are not connected to each other.

Rating for:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $12 – $19 per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

33 Perouse Road, The Spot, Randwick 2031

+61 2 9399 5509

http://www.chaopraya.com.au/

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Feb 4, 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
Balthazar

Review:

You might be wondering why I put a picture of the bread and butter as the main picture that represents Balthazar Restaurant. It was because they were the most spectacular out of the whole night.

The bread was presented in a heavy duty black pouch, which we first found quite strange. Upon taking the bread, we found a bed of hot stones to keep the bread warm. It was perfectly paired with the black garlic salt butter! It was up there in the list of best butter I’ve ever tasted.

Wood fired bread, butter, black garlic salt – $3

However, our supposedly main dinner night in Perth turned out to be a not-so-spectacular one. Granted they might fill in the checks for being a fine dining restaurant with their nice looking and well-presented dishes.

Entree

My first choice of entree was its crab (fried soft shell crab and crab meat). The watermelon was featured prominently in the dish, but the crab meat was more of a side attraction. It was quite a confusing combination of sweet, salty, savoury, and spicy with a hint of crispy soft shell crab. I love each individual items (and that’s why I ordered it), but I think they were not meant for each other.

Crab, watermelon, jalapeno, shallot, watercress – $23

My colleague told me that the Kangaroo fillet was okay with the mushroom ketchup (or sauce). He also added that the kangaroo would benefit more with a couple of authentic Australian herbs to match the taste.

Kangaroo, peas, radish, mushroom ketchup – $22

In-Betweens and Side Dish

Between the entree and main course they gave us a Palate Cleanser. I guess it really did cleanse your palate as that small icy dish was very sour and quite bitter.

I am also giving a special acknowledgement to the side dish that we ordered: Duck Fat potatoes with rosemary and garlic. They were so tasty and fragrant!

Duck fat potatoes, rosemary, garlic – $12 – and Palate Cleanser

Main Course

The first main course, pork loin and ham hock, had the cool effect: they poured a purple substance into the dish shortly before serving. It also had mouth watering description: Pork loin, ham hock, crackle, mustard, cabbage, maple.

Pork loin, ham hock, crackle, mustard, cabbage, maple – $42

However, once again it fell a bit short in the taste department.

Our other main course was duck. It was probably the nicest out of the four courses.

Duck, carrot, lemon, bok choy, ginger – $46

Dessert

I did not try the Goats Cheese Peach as I am not a big fan of peach.

Goats Cheese Peach – $18

The Banana Mousse looked like a big scary yellow thing in the middle of pretty edible decorations. It was probably one of the biggest desserts ever served in a fine dining restaurant.

Banana Mousse – $18

It is amazing how the cheaper ones constantly outperformed the main dishes in Balthazar restaurant. Our other desserts (the exploding jelly pop and the caramel) were only costing us $4 a piece!

Caramel and Jelly Pop – $4 each

The final verdict for Balthazar Restaurant

When the best dishes of the night were the bread and side dish in a fine dining restaurant, I say it merits a call for concerns for Balthazar restaurant. Service was also quite sub-par.

Did you know?

Balthazar restaurant might have quite the reputation of being one of the best restaurants in Perth back in the days. However, they seemed to have fallen off a few spots from the AGFG list.

Rating for Balthazar Restaurant:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $30 – $47 per main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

6 The Esplanade, Perth 6000

+61 8 9421 1206

http://balthazar.com.au/

Jan 21, 2015