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.

Mancora Peruvian Restaurant

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Unfortunately, Mancora has closed its doors for good.

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Review:

There was a discussion in the Sydney Food Bloggers facebook page about restaurants in Marrickville. The details were a bit sketchy but it ended up with Gaby from Lateral Eating suggesting that this week’s restaurant in review, Mancora Peruvian Restaurant, was one of the better Peruvian restaurants in Sydney.

We went there for lunch the weekend after the New Year. The streets were so very quiet and lots of restaurants were closed. I have been to a Peruvian restaurant before, so I know what I wanted to order. Having said that, the first two dishes were recommended by the chef as both of them were the ‘must have’s in Peruvian cuisines.

Peruvian sarsa criolla cassava

Our first dish is deep fried cassava with salsa criolla (that purple thingy), grated cheese and that yummy yellow sauce that I guess it was some kind of cheese sauce. I usually am not the biggest fan of cassava, especially when it’s hard to chew. However this cassava was so crunchy and delectable! This is technically a side dish, but I guess it looked more presentable as an entree.

Ceviche Clasico – $23

Diced blue eye fish marinated in key lemon juice with a blend of garlic, chilli, cilantro, Spanish onion & crushed white pepper. Served with caramelized sweet potato, corn & cancha

The chef told us that Ceviche was THE Peruvian dish. Apparently, it even has its own National Day of Ceviche in Peru on the 28^th of June!

We were amazed by the ceviche and it metaphorically begged to be eaten! What’s more enjoyable was that the taste met the delicate presentation.

Arroz D’Mariscos – $28

Marine cocktail mixture with crushed white pepper, Spanish onion & scampi (small lobster). Topped with parsley, lemon & parmesan cheese.

For our first main, the scampi obviously stood out! In addition to the scampi, they also put some seafood into the mix.

Arroz D’ mariscos is probably equivalent of Spanish’s paella. The distinction is that they don’t use Arborio rice.

Jalea Puerto Bravo – $26

Marine mixture of fried calamari rings, baby octopus, fish, prawns, mussel & black crushed pepper. Served with small portion of Peruvian sarsa criolla cassava, cancha, salted slices of dried banana & tartar cream.

Jalea Puerto Bravo is the Peruvian version of the seafood mix you found in fish shops. They have quite a distinct batter. It was soft, but not soggy and had quite a bit of crunch about it.

Oh, and what about that salted banana & tartar cream as your dipping sauce?

The final verdict for Mancora Peruvian Restaurant

It was a very enjoyable afternoon at Mancora Peruvian Restaurant. We love everything served on that day.

Did you know?

I am in love with a Peruvian / South American drink called Chicha Morada (or Purple Corn). If you see it on the menu, ORDER IT!

It is quite interesting how Mancora differentiate weekend and weekday menu. I am actually quite interested in their weekday menu as it has more exotic items in the menu! Usually restaurants divide made the distinction between lunch and dinner menu.

Rating for:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $30 per main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

107 Addison Road, Marrickville 2204

+61 2 8065 6337

Jan 13, 2015
Nine Fine Food

Review:

One evening, I was walking around with a couple of friends in Northbridge in Perth. We couldn’t decide where to eat and had to ask for advice from our faithful friend, Urbanspoon. We decided to dine in Nine Fine Food, because 90% out of 1,200 patrons liked it!

Our first impression was the restaurant was quite pricey for a casual dining. Little did we know that they were ranked in the top 20 in the Australian Good Food & Travel Guide list. Since I was only in Perth for a short period, we decided to have their most comprehensive menu: Chef’s Selected 5 Course Tasting Menu.

Everyone has the same dish for the first two courses and a choice of two dishes for the last three courses.

1^st Course

Spicy Tuna Sashimi – Spicy Miso Marinated Fresh Sashimi Tuna, Mixed Beans, Herbed Salad

The first course was quite a simple Tuna sashimi that had quite a bit of punch in the miso sauce.

I was just unsure about the red hair-strand lookalike at the top that’s actually quite hard to chew.

2^nd Course

Kinoco Caviar Pasta – Angel Hair Pasta, Mushrooms, Tobico Caviar, Onion, Creamy Rice Wine Sauce (Additional Soft Shell Crab 6.5 each)

The Kinoco Caviar pasta was quite a unique dish. It was presented in a small cup with a cracker. The top bit was covered with colourful tobiko (fish roe). The pasta was, expectedly, al dente. This was the dish that I loved the most for the night. It was pleasing to see and fun to eat!

3^rd Course

Salmon & Scallop – Roasted Salmon, Grilled Scallop, Yuzu Mascarpone, Orange Miso

This course was by far the messiest of them all. The sauce (possibly the yuzu mascarpone) was everywhere. The fish itself was beautifully cooked with the occasional burst of flavour from the salmon roe (ikura). I’m not quite sure why the tiny grilled scallop was even included there.

Pork Belly – Roasted Pork Belly, Tempura Bacon, Apple Mango Sauce!

None of us picked the pork belly on that day. However, the dish looked to have quite the perfect combination in the description.

4^th Course

Barramundi – Steamed Saltwater Barramundi, Herbed Salad, Plum and Chilli Miso

I chose the dish to be the cover because it looked the prettiest. I had a small bite of the barramundi and it was also cooked perfectly.

Lamb Duo – Braised Lamb Shoulder, Grilled Back Strap Fillet, Mash Potato, Balsamic Soy

The lamb looked quite dry in the picture but it didn’t really do justice. The grilled lamb was cooked nicely and complemented by the mashed potato. The braised lamb was more of a melt-in-your-mouth experience.

5^th Course

Tiramisu – Creamy Tiramisu, Bitter Espresso

Unfortunately none of us picked the Tiramisu either, so I could not comment on it.

Mattcha Brulee – Green Tea Custard Brulee

I love Creme Brulee and I will never miss a chance to order creme brulee when available. This green tea-flavoured brulee was enjoyable and had the right amount of green tea.

The final verdict for Nine Fine Food

We were very pleased with the service and quality of food delivered by Nine Fine Food!

Did you know?

The restaurant is actually located on the outskirt of Northbridge. Northbridge is well-known as the main nightlife district of Perth and has quite a vast array of cuisines.

Rating for:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $77 per person

Place: 9.0 / 10

Details:

227 Bulwer St, HighGate WA 6003

08 9227 9999

http://www.ninefinefood.com.au

Jan 8, 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
Baked Potatoes with Parmesan and Cheddar
One day, a friend of mine shared several images on his facebook page. One of the images shared captured my attention and suddenly I had the urge to try making them! It is baked potatoes with parmesan and cheddar.

Before long, I bought all of the ingredients (the ones I haven’t got in the fridge/pantry) needed to make the baked potatoes and we are ready to go!

There were quite a bit of items to prepare, but the cooking itself was quite fast and painless.

What do we need to make Baked Potatoes with Parmesan and Cheddar?
1. Australian Brushed Potatoes
2. Parmesan Cheese – the one that came as a block of cheese
3. Cheddar Cheese – also the one that came as a block of cheese. In the picture, you will see different cheddar, but you can use the normal cheddar cheese.
4. Sour Cream
5. Spring Onion
6. Salt and Pepper
All of the ingredients above can be found quite easily in your local supermarket. I did not put any measurements in the list of ingredients as you could freely use as much or as little of them as you want!

The Preparation for Baked Potatoes with Parmesan and Cheddar
1. When you bought the same potatoes as mine, you would want to clean them up off any soils on their skin.
2. Put them in a cooking pot, but make sure they are immersed in water and add some salt as needed.
3. Boil them in high heat. I add six minutes AFTER the water boiled in the pot before taking the potatoes out.
4. Chop Onion Spring, as needed
5. Sliced parmesan cheese thinly. In the picture I did not cut it thin enough and it didn’t look nice when slipped into the potatoes.
6. Cut the potato into several sections (the more the better), but not deep enough so that you keep the whole figure intact.
7. Slipped the parmesan slices into each compartment (i.e. the sliced part) of the potato.
8. Grate the cheddar cheese on top of the potato.
How do we make Baked Potatoes with Parmesan and Cheddar?
1. Pre-heat oven to 200^o The term pre-heat means you leave it on for around 5 minutes in that temperature before you put in your potato.
2. Put the potato on the baking tray. Make sure you cover the baking tray with aluminium foil.
3. Put the baking tray into the oven for around 15 minutes.
4. After taking it out of the oven, add a blob of sour cream and garnish with spring onion.
A little tips to make your perfect Baked Potatoes with Parmesan and Cheddar
1. You don’t need to peel the skin off the potatoes.
2. Boil it a little bit longer if you want to make a softer potato.
3. Don’t grate the cheddar cheese beforehand. They are quite sticky!
Baked Potatoes with Parmesan and Cheddar
Dec 17, 2014
Sushi of Masuya

Review:

There was a recent (16 June 2014) change of management to the restaurant we are reviewing this week. Sushi of Masuya was formerly known as Musashi Dining Bar. The new management preserves the former restaurant’s concept of Japanese Izakaya.

The first plate coming to our table was the Sashimi Deluxe Platter. It is only befitting that the first test for a Sushi establishment was the freshness of the fish! The types of Sashimi presented in their Sashimi deluxe platter did not disappoint. The presence of Scampi and beef tataki was a gigantic plus in my good book. They also had the ‘usual’ suspects, such as Tamago (egg), Salmon, Tuna and Kingfish. They also include a little side of tsukemono (Japanese pickles), scallops and squid with fish roe.

Sashimi Deluxe Platter – $58

For our second dish, Deep fried salmon belly, I don’t think it requires a big introduction. The formula is quite simple: Salmon + its belly section + deep fried = happy face.

Deep fried Salmon Belly – $9.80

Wagyu Skewer was a little bit flat and looked a bit uninteresting when compared to the previous dish. It was also a little too well done to my liking.

Wagyu Skewer – $14.80

Our third salmon dish of the day was Spicy Salmon Fin. The salmon wasn’t exactly spicy by our standards but there was still a decent amount of spice.

Spicy Salmon Fin – $9.80

Just when you think you had enough of salmon, we had Salmon Sushi. This one was actually my son’s dinner (he loves salmon so much!).

Salmon Sushi – $8.80

The last dish of the day, Karaage Chicken, was quite a ‘standard’ one.

Karaage Chicken – $8.80

The final verdict for Sushi of Masuya

You should definitely stick to the Sushi and Sashimi in Sushi of Masuya.

Did you know?

At the time of publication (16 December 2014), Sydney was mourning because of the death of Two Sydneysiders (Tori and Katrina) caused by a gunman at Lindt Cafe Martin Place. Our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families and friends.

Rating for:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $20 per plate

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

447 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9280 0377

Facebook page for Sushi of Masuya

Dec 16, 2014