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.

Chefs Gallery Macquarie Opening Celebration – Part 2

Review:

In this second instalment of the Chefs Gallery Macquarie Opening Celebration, we focus more on the food that they served on the night. If you want to read about the celebration, please go to my Feng Shui Blessing post.

On Arrival – Chefs Gallery Macquarie

The evening started off with the usual canapés and drinks. Unfortunately, my camera went funny when I took the pictures of some of them: prawn and squid shu mai with avocado, and Jumbo prawn dumplings.

Luckily I managed to salvage a picture of the last entry on the ‘On Arrival’ menu: Spicy wonton chips. This dish is one of those ones that you cannot stop eating unless the plate is empty!

Chapas – Chinese Style – Chefs Gallery Macquarie

In line with the usual sharing tradition in Chinese cuisine, the service that they had for the evening was Chapas, presumably Chinese Tapas or some sort.

Macanese style mini burger filled with pork fillet, pork floss, lettuce and a sweet chilli mayo dressing

It was a light and fluffy start to our dinner service. The mini burger was small enough for me to swallow as a whole.

Shredded peking duck with cucumber, hoisin sauce rolled inside a fluffy Chinese roti

Peking duck was my favourite dish of the night. It was anything you could ask for in a Peking duck with the added extra kick of toasted Chinese roti. The Chinese roti tasted a lot closer to a Roti Pratha than the usual Peking duck wrap.

Crispy soft shell crab with fried shallots, garlic and chopped chillies, served with Chinese salad in a sesame soya dressing

Another dish that I have always enjoyed is a soft shell crab. In this dish, the crab was quite obscured by the garnish.

Crispy pork belly and barramundi pieces. Wrap both pork belly and fish in lettuce, topped with fresh basil and mint leaves. Drizzle with a dash of gula Melaka flavoured with cinnamon and mandarin peel

This dish has quite an interesting combination. It is also compounded by exotic flavours of cinnamon, mandarin and sugar (gula Melaka). You eat it similar to Korean BBQ where you wrap the meat inside a lettuce and dip it in the sauce.

For the next three dishes, it was quite a revelation for me that Chefs Gallery put so much pride on their noodles. Not only that they had special Noodle making session on the Opening Ceremony, they also served three noodles dishes (of different colours!) for the Chapas.

Spinach handmade thick noodles, wok fried with prawns, mussels in shell, baby calamari tubes, Chinese shitake mushrooms, dusted with seaweed and sesame powder.

Personally this is the one I liked best after the shredded Peking duck. From the appearance, it looked more of a seafood dish than noodles. It also had quite a strong seafood taste (too strong for Janni the chef). But, who wouldn’t want to try a green-coloured noodles dish?

Fish noodles served with chicken soup

Although it looked quite ordinary, there was nothing ordinary in terms of its taste. It was quite a unique noodles dish with texture I’ve never tasted before!

Knife-sliced sorghum noodles served with a Shanghainese spicy sauce

The sorghum noodles dish was also pretty interesting. It was slightly pink in colour and was cooked with wonton. I kinda like the taste, but unfortunately I wasn’t a big fan of spicy dishes.

Dessert – Chefs Gallery Macquarie

Signature “Piggy Face” sesame bun and “Totoro” marshmallow arranged in an edible garden setting, beautifully presented and served with ice cream.

We would have enjoyed the desserts a lot more if it wasn’t closer to 10 PM on the night and I wasn’t on my 12^th plate for the day. I have always loved the cute-looking ‘piggy face’ buns since the first time I went into the restaurant. It was delightful to see the playful, shared-plate dessert at the end of the banquet.

Details:

Macquarie Shopping Centre Shop 407

197-223 Herring Rd, North Ryde, NSW

+61 2 9267 8877

http://chefsgallery.com/

All About Food Blog was invited by White Works Public Relations to be the guest for the Chefs Gallery Macquarie Opening Celebration dinner.

Dec 8, 2014
Chefs Gallery Store Opening Feng Shui Blessing – Part 1

This will be a two-part chronicle as I think it’s important to tell the story on the actual procession and not just the food.

The second part (the food review) will be available for my next post. I will update you with the link on this page when it is published.

Chefs Gallery Macquarie

I went to the Chefs Gallery Macquarie Celebration Dinner / Feng Shui Blessing because I was invited by Stewart and Leonardo from Whiteworks Public Relations. The event was attended by quite a few notable names in the culinary industry, including chef Janni Kyritsis. Thanks to Chopinand from ChopinandMysaucepan.com, I was spared the blushes of not knowing his achievements!

There were quite a few attractions before the feng shui blesing ceremony started. We were entertained by Master Calligrapher (which I forgot his name – apologies) demonstrating his skills in writing our names using Chinese calligraphy. A friend of mine gave me a Chinese name “??” a long time ago, so I’m getting that calligraphy made.

In front of the master calligrapher, there was a Guzheng zither played.

After a few rounds of finger food and light refreshments, the procession was opened by the usual ribbon cutting ceremony by the owners.

The table was already pre-arranged and I was sitting next to Chopinand and the guy who sponsored the drinks for the night. On our table, we had three distinguished chefs, including Janni, the MC (Claudia Chan Shaw) and a news reporter. The table was beautifully presented and each of us received a token resembling ancient Chinese gold ingot in gold envelope.

Chefs Gallery Macquarie restaurant was decorated with Chinese Calligraphy all around the restaurant and there was a lot of hanging brushes for Feng Shui purposes.

More information about Chefs Gallery Macquarie centre can be found on their website and this media release.

Feng Shui Blessing

So what is Feng Shui blessing? Feng Shui House Blessing website offers quite an extensive article about the practise.

Claudia Chan Shaw (our host of the night) explained that Feng Shui literally meant wind and water. It is generally used to create a balanced chi for your establishments. It involved several steps including the cleansing rituals and appeasing the Gods (in this instance it included the God of kitchen).

The Cleansing Rituals

Appeasing Kitchen God

Appeasing Gods

Noodle Master Pei Lin Jai demonstrating his skills

The last ‘attraction’ of the night was Noodle making session by Noodle master Pei Lin Jai (aka Chef Panda). Just like in the video above, chef Pei Lin Jai masterfully demonstrated how he created four different types of noodles on the night.

The first was ‘regular’ noodles.

Noodle Making Session by Pei Lin Jai (LJP)

He then made a finer type of noodles.

Up to the point where the noodles were extra fine! They then lit up the noodles that we thought was almost borderline smoke hazard that would set off the smoke detectors.

Noodle Making Session by Pei Lin Jai (LJP)

In addition to those ‘regular’ noodles above, he also created specialty noodles: spinach thick noodles, fish noodles and sorghum noodles. Unfortunately I only had the sorghum noodles pictured below.

Noodle Making Session by Pei Lin Jai (LJP)

With this, I conclude my first part of the review. It is truly an amazing experience watching Feng Shui blessing.

Details:

Macquarie Shopping Centre Shop 407

197-223 Herring Rd, North Ryde, NSW

+61 2 9267 8877

http://chefsgallery.com/

Nov 25, 2014
Ostro Brasserie

Review:

A little narrative before I get to the review. We arrived in Auckland Sunday afternoon and we only had a couple of nights in Auckland. We faced quite a tough task to find a fine dining restaurant that opened on a Sunday night. Luckily, our friend suggested Ostro Brasserie & Bar. When we dined there, the restaurant was still quite reasonably filled. That alone can be a testament on how good the restaurant is!

Appetisers

Ostro Brasserie menu has a good balance between seafood and meats. They also serve a nice mixture of raw and cooked cuisines. Our night got off to a flying start with the delicately crafted Ostro stecca bread. The bread was very crunchy and it was perfectly served with seaweed butter. It was followed by fresh Cloudy Bay clams from the Marlborough region with lemon and shallot vinegar. I was very impressed with the freshness of my first raw clam!

Ostro stecca bread with seaweed butter – $7

Cloudy bay clams Marlborough – $3 each

Our third appetiser was Miso cured salmon. The name itself intrigued us, but then they also added Granny Smith Apple and basil into the mix! It was heavenly fresh!

Miso cured salmon, Granny Smith apple, shallot and basil – $18

Beef Carpaccio was actually the only dish classified as ‘appetisers’ in the menu. We were interested because of the combination of ingredients put into this dish. It included anchovy mayonnaise, black garlic and parmesan!

Beef Carpaccio, anchovy mayonnaise, black garlic, capers, parmesan, herbs and garlic chips – $19

Mains

Our first main was actually the first one I decided to have, because of the bone marrow. I was actually quite curious about the price because a bone marrow for two was priced at $90. Things got a lot clearer when the dish was served. The bone marrow was only its side dish. The main attraction was humongous 750 gr scotch fillets! The full name is Savannah Bone In Scotch. All of their beef cuts come with red wine jus plus a condiment of your choice: Bearnaise, cafe de Paris, Dijon/English/Whole Grain Mustard or Horseradish. You might actually be able to share this dish with two other people.

Savannah Bone in Scotch (for two), bone marrow, caramelised shallot and PX sherry, grass fed, dry aged, 750g – $90

We then had Roast duck ravioli served with parsnip puree, pickled pear and crackling. Had a small bite of the ravioli (it’s not mine!) and I loved how smooth the ravioli was!

Roast duck ravioli, parsnip puree, pickled pear and crackling – $24

Our last main was Canterbury lamb rump with charred aubergine, spring peas, harissa and yoghurt. It was quite a spicy dish, courtesy of the harissa in the mix. The lamb rump itself was beautifully cooked!

Canterbury lamb rump, charred aubergine, spring peas, harissa and yoghurt – $36

If you are a big eater like me, I suggest you to add a couple of side dishes, including its French Fries, they are pretty good and can get you filled up pretty quick.

French Fries Fresh herbs – $9

Clover Club – a legendary pre-prohibition cocktail. Tanqueray, fresh lemon juice, a touch of sugar, egg white and house-made berry compote – $17

The final verdict for Ostro Brasserie & Bar

Our short visit to Auckland became that much more memorable because of Ostro Brasserie & Bar. They served great food, had great service and provided great view!

Did you know?

At first I thought Britomart is some kind of a mall or shopping centre. It actually refers to the Britomart Transport Centre.

They go by the name of Seafarers for their online presence.

Rating for:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $60- $80 per person

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Tyler Street, Britomart, Auckland

+64 9 302 9888

http://www.seafarers.co.nz/

Nov 17, 2014
El Sizzling Chorizo

Review:

This will be my first review for restaurants in New Zealand. Obviously, the first thing that I look for is meat! There is no better restaurant to test this out than El Sizzling Chorizo. El sizzling chorizo is an Argentinean restaurant that serves grilled meats with Argentinean chimichurri sauce. For the record, I love good chimichurri sauce!

The restaurant is located in an upmarket suburb of Ponsonby in Auckland. My friend in Auckland said that it was almost impossible to get a seat in this area for the weekend without queuing up for hours. They have an interesting open grill kitchen.

Their menu is pretty simple and straight forward: half meats and half booze! Well, you can choose the ‘vegetarian’ cheese option or a selection of side dishes. But the whole idea is to enjoy chorizo and meats! Oh, and prices are in NZ Dollars.

The first meat arriving at the table was the Beef Short Ribs. At $20, the 400 gr short ribs seemed to be a great bargain! It had the perfect balance of fat and meat ratio. Unfortunately, it was a little bit overcooked.

Short Ribs – $20

Our second dish was more of a ‘mixed grill’ called Orejano Platter. There were quite variations in this dish. You got one chorizo, an empanada, a strip of pork belly, one flank steak, one bread, and barbecued potatoes with yummy sauce. It was one of the best empanadas I’ve ever tasted. The barbecued potatoes were nice as well. The best thing is that you got all of those for only $35!

Orejano Platter – $35

If you wanted to get the feel of what the restaurant is about, you have to order this dish. However, if you would like to have the all meats option, choose the Parrillada. You get over 600grams of ‘a taste of different meats’ for only $30.

The last dish of the day is supposed to be an entree. However, there was a warning stated on the menu (cooking time approx 20 mins) and the waiter also mentioned a 25-minute wait time. The name is Sweet Breads with lemon and fries. The sweet breads were perfectly grilled and it was well worth the wait!

Sweet Breads with lemon and fries – $25

All of the dishes were also served with Mesclun salad. I must say that we love (with capital LOVE) the chimichurri sauce!

We ordered an organic wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, called Santa Ana Eco. However, the waiter pointed out that the ‘wine of Argentina’ is supposed to be Malbec.

Santa Ana Eco Organic Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon

The final verdict for El Sizzling Chorizo

El Sizzling Chorizo showed glimpses of a great restaurant. If they could stabilise its grilling time without tendency of being overcooked, they could be a really nice restaurant.

Did you know?

There are quite a few restaurants in the area, but the one worth mentioning is probably Burger Burger. Due to time and tummy constraints we cannot try it out this time.

Rating for El Sizzling Chorizo:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $35 for a main dish

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

4 Brown Street, Ponsonby, Auckland

+64 9 378 0119

http://www.elsizzlingchorizo.co.nz/

Nov 12, 2014
Aperitivo

Review:

A few weeks ago, there was a discussion amongst Sydney Food Bloggers about the best pizza restaurant (pizzeria) in Sydney. Some of them mentioned Aperitivo. Aperitivo is a member of AVPN, an organisation that guarantees true Neapolitan pizza. My curiosity surfaced and thought I had to go to the restaurant!

Upon reaching Leichhardt, I realised I went past this restaurant several times on the way to the infamous Bar Italia. My impression was that the restaurant was always buzzing. However, it resembled a bar more than a pizzeria!

As a big fan of nice pate, we ordered the Pate di fegato di pollo e giardiniera. The chicken liver pate was presented with pickled vegetables on a wooden board. The texture was more on the coarse and heavy side.

Pate di fegato di pollo e giardiniera (Chicken Liver pate), $10

Quite a lot of options for the pizza, so you might want to take your time in finding the perfect combination that suit your needs. The interesting thing on this menu is that they have two Margherita pizza. One is the normal Margherita and the other one is Margherita Bufala STG. So, what made it so special and warranted an increase of $7? The footnote gave a little bit of explanation about STG. In 1996, Margherita was recognised as a Specialità Tradizionale Garantita. Technically, you are guaranteed that the pizza you enjoyed is of traditional quality. You also got buffalo mozzarella instead of the normal cow’s milk mozzarella.

Margherita Bufala STG, $24

The other pizza we ordered was Pizza Lampara. This one is the less-traditional seafood pizza. The toppings included sauté calamari and prawns with rocket. I found that this one was tastier than the Margherita one.

Pizza Lampara, $24

We ordered Aperitivo Tiramisu for the dessert. The tiramisu had quite a convincing description: Soft sponge, mascarpone semifreddo, salted caramel, strawberry compote and chocolate crumble. Despite its nice appearance, it fell short in the taste department.

Aperitivo Tiramisu, $12

The final verdict for Aperitivo

There is no mistaking that Aperitivo’s pizza had the nice quality. However it is not enough to dethrone my personal favourite.

Did you know?

There are four members of the prestigious Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (The True Neapolitan Pizza Association) in Sydney. They are Lucio Pizzeria, Gigi Pizzeria, Pizza Mario and Aperitivo. Its main goal is to promote and protect the “true Neapolitan pizza” according to a very strict standard.

As mentioned above, we love going to Bar Italia for its Mascarpone (pictured below).

Rating for Aperitivo:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $14 – $24 per pizza

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

163 Norton St, Leichhardt NSW 2040

+61 2 9564 0003

http://aperitivo.com.au/

Nov 6, 2014
Sel Et Poivre

Review:

I have heard about this restaurant for quite a while and people seem to be singing praise of the cafe, but I just couldn’t bring myself to visit the area (not a big fan of trying to find street parking there!). So, when I finally went to the area, because I also wanted to try Gelato Messina, I couldn’t miss the chance to pay a visit.

The name is Sel Et Poivre (it is the French for salt and pepper) and it is located at the heart of Darlinghurst’s Victoria Street. From the moment we set foot in this restaurant, François (the boss there) showered us with great French hospitality.

Obviously when you are in a French restaurant there are a couple of dishes that you have to order. Escargots are one of them. To be exact, they were called Escargots gratinés au beurre d’ail or Gratinated snails with parsley and garlic butter. It is advised to order the dish with baguette. In addition to filling your tummy quite quickly, the baguette also enhanced the flavours of your escargots.

Escargots gratinés au beurre d’ail – $16.90

The second entree was more on the pretty side, called Galette de crabe au poireau braisé, à l’américaine (Crispy galette of fresh swimmer crab, leeks and sauce a l’americaine). It was beautifully presented and got quite a strong lobster sauce that complemented the crispy galette.

Galette de crabe au poireau braisé, à l’américaine – $17.50

Two of the mains that we ordered might not be your ‘usual’ types of dish. For the first main, it was steak tartare aller-retour avec sauce Béarnaise,frites et salade (Sel & Poivre steak tartare, seared or non seared with frites, salad and bearnaise sauce). Steak tartare is a raw minced beef that you enjoyed with tartare sauce and egg yolk. The sheer size of the steak might be quite intimidating to some and it was quite a heavy dish!

steak tartare aller-retour avec sauce Béarnaise,frites et salade – $26.90

Sel & Poivre steak tartare, seared or non seared with frites, salad and bearnaise sauce

The last dish of the day was foie de veau poêlé à l’échalotte et pommes-frites (Seared veal liver with a French shallot sauce and frites). It is suggested that you ordered the veal liver medium rare. This way you can actually taste the liver’s texture without being too rubbery. It’s perfectly fine if you love this part of the meat. However, it can be quite pungent for those not accustomed to it. Just like steak tartare, enjoying a liver dish also requires an acquired taste.

Foie de veau poêlé à l’échalotte et pommes-frites – $34.50

The two main dishes came with quite a large bowl of salad and fries.

If both mains are a bit too ‘adventurous’ for you, they also have quite a few range in their menu. Sel et poivre can also cook a special kids menu for your little one(s). We chose chicken with chips. They also gave a scoop of ice cream at the end. It was actually quite a big portion for a kid’s meal.

Special Kids Menu – $14.90

At the end of the day, we felt that we ordered a bit too much, but we just had to finish them all! The only regret was that we didn’t come to Sel Et Poivre a lot sooner!

The final verdict for Sel Et Poivre

Sel et Poivre has everything you could have asked for! They served great food and complimented that with great hospitality and service!

Did you know?

Victoria Street in Darlinghurst is the home of one of the best gelato joints in Australia, Gelato Messina.

Rating for Ester Restaurant and Bar:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $25 – $35 main dishes

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

263 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

+61 2 9361 6530

http://www.seletpoivre.com.au/

Oct 29, 2014