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.

Na Zdrowie

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $50 per person ($25 main)

Place: 7/10

Review:

Concurrent to the one from my blog ardipradana.com, this will be my first review originally published in this blog. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.

It is nice to start of the New Year with a part of the world I have never been before. Na Zdrowie is an authentic Polish restaurant with a nice brick and wooden interior design. Their table settings and choice of dishes also reflected this authenticity.

The first dish of the day was quite unique. It was called Smalec – Delicious seasoned lard with apples and onions, served with rye bread & Polish pickles. This was definitely my favourite! The lard was served cold with some crunchy elements to it. The combination of lard, rye bread and pickles was fantastic. I felt like eating the whole jar of Smalec myself.

There was also Serek – Fried crumbed camembert cheese with cranberry sauce – – for entrée. Nice and gooey camembert with cranberry sauce… nothing can go wrong! Zurek – Sour rye broth with potato and polish smoked sausage – was a very interesting soup because it was both sour and smoky. The soup was served in a nice traditional bowl and lid.

On this occasion, we ordered three mains. I almost thought these mains were gigantic, but apparently they were just enough. For the first main we had Kaczka – Duck roasted in apples & served with kopytka. It was a perfectly roasted half duck with nice apple sauce. It was also complemented by kopytka (seared potato dumpling) and shredded carrots. I think the apple sauce was a tad strong since it was literally half an apple.

Then came Schabowy – pork loin (or chicken) schnitzel served with potatoes & mizeria. This one was just schnitzel. The only difference on this dish was the Polish cucumber (Mizeria). For the finale, we ordered Pierogi – Traditional Polish dumplings with delicious fillings (Mushroom, cheese, or meat). This dish was strangely similar to the Chinese dumplings with the exception of their fillings (my friend strenuously denied this). This dish actually gave me an interesting insight on what can be put into dumplings.

For the drinks, we originally just ordered the Polish beer, Zywiec. However, half way through the meal, I saw the waiter brought this drink to the table next to me. The drink was called Kompot (not to be confused with Polish Heroin or the dessert compote). It was a clear fruit drink with an ultra-refreshing taste. I am not quite sure what was in it, but I am sure they tasted really nice. According to Wikipedia.com, kompot is a drink made of fruits boiled in water with sugar and left to cool and infuse.

The final verdict: There was a thick traditional and authentic feeling in Na Zdrowie restaurant. Unfortunately, I think the entrée and the drinks far outperformed the main dish. I strongly suggest you to order Kompot and Pierogi. Both are the authentic Polish dishes.

Did you know?

Na Zdrowie has a meaning of ‘Cheers’ in Polish.

Details:

161 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW 2037

+61 2 9660 1242

http://www.nazdrowie.com.au/

Jan 10, 2012
Loving Hut

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <$12 main course

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week, we are reviewing one of the rarest restaurants in Surabaya, Vegan Cuisine. Loving Hut is the newest restaurant that I discovered out of curiosity. The restaurant is filled with plenty of vegan celebrity pictures and some of its campaigns against meat – which was a bit of a turn-off for me.

Deep fried wonton was our first dish of the day. Six golden brown wontons were laid on a bed of lettuce with a simple sauce of chili and tomato. I was pretty pleased with the likeness to the more meaty wontons. With almost similar components the Fried Enoki was served. The mushrooms were wrapped in seaweed and coated in thin savoury crisp. It was the perfect combination of crispy coating and soft mushroom.

From the vegetable lines, we also ordered Chili Eggplant and Asparagus Soup. Beside the sauce, the eggplants were pretty spot-on. The Asparagus soup was also pretty average. They also served mixed rice dishes, like this Seven Seas Delight with Rice. It has a combination of mock-meat katsu and green veggies. I reckon this would be enough for a simple dinner or big lunch.

For the next one, we ordered Fancy Nut Satay. Although, it was supposed to be fancy nut, I could only taste peanut (which was not considered ‘fancy nut’). This factor aside, the satay was great. It was also grilled like the real deal! Tamie Capcay was our next one and it looked like a massive bird’s nest. It was very thin noodles, deep-fried and served with Chinese-style stir-fried vegetables and seafood.

We also ordered Len Phan Deluxe, I ordered because it was the most expensive dish in the restaurant. When it arrived, we were pleased not only for its size, but also the variety of it. There were six components if you look at the picture. On the right hand corner was what looked like grilled chicken, (then moving clockwise there were) chicken katsu with sweet chili, seafood stick with sauce, calamari and mayonnaise, and bitterballen (meatballs) with chili sauce. Len Phan Deluxe was arguably the most comprehensive and best dish of the night. All of its elements were wonderful.

The final verdict: If no one tells you that it’s vegetarian, you would think that it’s the real deal, especially Len Phan Deluxe! The overall taste for Loving Hut was nice but nothing really mind-blowing.

Did you know?

Loving hut apparently is also a chain restaurant. Its business model is pretty unique. Each of the restaurants has its own menu, completely different menu. I find it pretty strange since the basic foundation of a chain restaurant is uniformity of menu. Therefore, this review is only relevant to the one in Surabaya, Indonesia.

I know one more restaurant that used to have better vegetarian dishes in Sydney but unfortunately that restaurant was brought down to receivership.

Details:

Jalan Sumbawa 37, Surabaya

+62 31 5012990

http://www.lovinghut.co.id/

Dec 25, 2011
Dome Coffees

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <$15 main course

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

We started off our Indonesian food journey with a stop on Dome coffees. I know this is not strictly Indonesian food – as a matter of fact it’s actually a franchise from Australia. However, Dome coffees in Galaxy Mall presented a unique experience of café with truly edible choices of food (i.e. it’s not just sandwiches and cakes!).

Espreski is Dome’s signature drink. Indonesian-version of espreski is quite different. It is still a blend of espresso, ice cream and crushed ice, but it has different flavours. The most interesting one is Avocado Espreski. The combination of Indonesian avocado and Espreski was truly out of this world. It’s a shame that their Latte(s) are not the normal style (with the coffee on top).

Zuppa soup is probably the most ordered dish in this restaurant. Its massive size (for a soup) and round pastry top should be enough to entice onlookers. You can choose to enjoy the soup and pastry separately or mix the pastry together. I suggest you do the latter one. The combination created reduction for the soup and enhanced the pastry’s taste. Zuppa soup is one of the few soups that I would order in a restaurant (without being given to me freely as a package).

For light snacks, our choice would be the Deep Fried Mushroom since it was crispy and soft with a side of mayonnaise. I don’t really recommend the Cheese Sticks. They were pretty average and didn’t go together with the sauce.

Our first main dish was Peking Duck Pizza, although I’m pretty sure the term ‘Peking’ is used loosely here. It was a pretty unusual topping for pizza, but (upon searching in the all-knowing Google) there were quite a few restaurants serving this dish. Although it looked quite pale, the base was actually quite thin and was supported by additional crispy topping. They also put hoi sin sauce for the topping to enhance and complement the duck flavour (a no-brainer really given the strong taste of duck).

Cordon Bleu has always been one of my favourite dishes, I’d order when there is one. This one was an okay one. It was slightly small, but it has a nice mushroom sauce and crispy coating. The better main dish of the night was John Dory Fish. The fish was surprisingly fresh, considering this is a ‘plaza restaurant’. Then there was the sauce, lemon and capers. It further refreshed the overall taste of the dish.

The final verdict for Dome Coffees

There’s an overall standard to its quality at Dome Coffees. Being a coffee shop, their drinks were fabulous and everything on their Espreski line was nice. Most people ordered Zuppa Soup to accompany their drinks and I think that made the perfect combo.

Did you know?

Dome Coffees Galaxy is (supposed to be) part of an Australian café chain. However, when I looked at the website, ALL of the Indonesian cafes are not listed there. Furthermore,none of the menu listed on the website resembles the menu on these Indonesian ‘branches’, not even its signature drink – Espreski. The only activity I can get from Dome Indonesia is through its twitter @DOME_cafe

This Dome Coffees café also offered free WiFi for its patrons. This service seemed to be the standards for café business in Indonesia these days.

Details:

Galaxy Mall II, 2^nd Floor, No 249 & 296, Surabaya 14240

http://www.domecoffees.com.au/

Dec 17, 2011
Aseana Food Village

Update: Aseana Food Village has closed its doors for good and I haven’t heard about the Chef reopening somewhere else / some time soon.

Southeast Asian Food Cuisine

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: <15 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

Aseana Food Village offered us a ‘casual street side dining’ experience according to their website. They did deliver the experience by its restaurant décor, hospitality, and most importantly authentic Singaporean (+ Malaysian and Burmese) Cuisine.

To illustrate the price range, we didn’t have shared plates like in the usual South East Asian dining but instead we ordered individual rice dishes. In the Mains menu, Beef Rendang is definitely the dish that you should try.

Also available as a main menu, our first dish of the day was Lee’s Stewed Duck. This was the only dish that has a person’s name on the menu, so I guess it must mean something to them – I couldn’t find it in Google. The duck was served on a bed of green veggies. It was incredibly tender and came off the bone easily. It also had a very unique taste to it.

Then, Nasi Lemak was brought in a wonderful leaf-like green plate. This is a traditional Malaysian dish with coconut rice and a mixture of condiments (pickles, anchovies, sambal, and egg). You could also have a choice of three add-ons to it. Nasi Goreng Kampong came up next. It was fried rice with anchovies, prawn crackers and a fried egg. Both dishes were just spot-on. They delivered a combination of complementary tastes in each of its elements.

For the dessert, I had the Aseana Toast Set. I absolutely love this set, although it was supposed to be enjoyed as breakfast. It was a set of traditional toast (with a choice of three toppings – Butterkaya for this occasion), soft boiled eggs and kopitiam drinks (I chose hot Teh Tarik). They provided you with a full guideline on how to enjoy the set and condiments to enhance the taste to suit yours. There was also Es Bandung (no affiliation to the city in Indonesia!) that was made of Rose syrup and condensed milk.

The final verdict: Aseana Food Villageis a perfect place to savour wonderful and authentic Singaporean dishes. All of my dishes (and some that I have also tried but excluded on this occasion) were really nice. My most favourite would have to be the Aseana Toast Set.

Did you know?

As a point of reference, my Singaporean friend has made Aseana’s Bak Chor Mee his personal favourite in Sydney. He said that this was as close as he can get to the original taste in Singapore.

Details:

Shop 1/149 Alison Road, Randwick NSW 2031

02 9399 7010

http://www.aseanafoodvillage.com/

Nov 2, 2011
Sushi Tei Restaurant

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $150 for 4 people

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Sushi Tei Restaurant is one of the few success stories in Japanese chain restaurants. To be honest, when the Sydney branch opened I did not give the credit they deserved because I felt the Indonesian branches were an average and with the slightly more expensive price tag in Sydney, I thought the fee was not justifiable. Luckily, compared to my first visit, this one was so much better Japanese Cuisine.

In this place, you can order boxed sets or Donburi-style plates. However, the best feature of this restaurant is its diversity of choices. You literally choose from more than 100 types of dishes here. It ranges from fresh Sashimi, grilled gyuniku, to soup-based ramen. To illustrate this, we ordered 10 different dishes from (almost) each of its menu pages.

We started off with a simple Chawan Mushi, soft boiled white eggs with a chockfull of fillings, including the ever-present Naruto (fyi, it’s not a manga title!). Next was Salmon Maki, six mini rolls of Salmon Sushi wrapped in nori. These first two were staple dishes in a lot of Sushi places around town. Unfortunately, my knowledge of good Sushi rice is limited, thus I can only say it was rightly vinegared.

Our next two dishes were Chuka Kurage and Chuka Iidako. It is a little bit difficult to explain, but essentially they were Jellyfish and baby octopus. However, some people might not like the slimy and squishiness of these dishes. Shortly after came Wakame Salad. It was a sea of greens.

Our first main attraction of the day was Shiretoko. 6 kinds of Sashimi Moriawase were beautifully arranged in a shell-themed plate. The main attraction of it was the Swordfish and Sea Urchin. There was no better compliment that a Sashimi could get except by saying they were incredibly fresh.

If you think that last one looked nice, you will be evenhappier with the next one. Aso Sushi was one hell of a Sushi Moriawase. 19 slice of Sushi (granted that 6 of them were the same kind) in pleasingly pretty colours. It was the most comprehensive sushi moriawase on the menu but unfortunately sea urchin was excluded from it. I would also really love to have scampi on the menu.

We also ordered, the always in good standard, Unagi Yanagawa. It was essentially, eel and eggs with burdock roots. It’s great when accompanied by rice. Meanwhile, there was another dare-to-be-different dish of Zaru Chasoba. It was an ice-cold, green tea soba with its clear soup. I liked the freshness that it brought to the mixture.

We saved the best for last, Gyuniku. Three lightly-grilled beef slices wrapped up generous serving of Golden Mushrooms combined in perfectly yummy teriyaki sauce. These elements gave us a crunchy mushroom texture and soft, tender beef. They were so good we actually ordered a second plate, enough said!

The final verdict: There are hardly any Japanese restaurants in Sydney as comprehensive as SushiTei. They could cater to just about everyone. In addition to that, the taste also did not disappoint, they were actually surprisingly better than Ithought. It could be a little bit expensive if you are not careful with what you order. Lastly, the one dish that you should always order is Gyuniku.

Did you know?

Sushi Tei originated from Singapore and is one of the most well-known restaurants in Indonesia. They provide nice and fresh seafood in a country where the products are notoriously hard to get.

Details:

1 Chifley Square, Cnr of Elizabeth St and Hunter St, Sydney 2000

+61 2 9232 7288

http://www.sushitei.com.au/

Oct 20, 2011
Assiette

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Unfortunately, Assiette Restaurant has closed its doors in January 2013.

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Rating:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5/10

8-course Degustation: $105

Place: 8.5/10

Review:

After last week’s record low, I will take you to one of the best restaurants there is in town. Opened in 2005, Restaurant Assiette has never missed a hatted status within the Australian culinary world. They serve 8 courses of French Cuisine.

Seasonal Oyster with Vietnamese dressing and baby coriander

It was a simplistic dish to start off the night. The crispy, fried shallot gave a different accentuation, but the dressings failed to present a notable taste. They also gave the option to use lime if you needed more sourness, although I would not advise you to.

Kataifi Quail Egg with mushrooms, duck consommé and crispy pig ears

The dish might look tiny but it packed a few punches. First sip of the consommé already blew my mind, so delicate and lovely. The quail egg was perfectly soft-boiled and blanketed with the crispy kataifi. The additionof brown mushroom paste made the overall dish to be more savoury with a hint of sweetness.

Sashimi Tuna with crustacea cream, pickled octopus, hibiscus and almonds

It was a straight-forward sashimi Tuna with a dried nori.There was a funny combination in the pickled octopus. I think it threw the balance off a little bit. The crustacean cream made the overall taste to be a bit too fishy. I reckon this one was the oddball. The sweet hibiscus and almonds actually saved the dish from the octopus.

Seared Mackerel with avruga, cucumber, cauliflower puree and dill emulsion

In contrast to the last one, a perfectly seared mackerel set our mood back in place (and further!). Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside, the mackerel tasted delightfully refreshing with the cauliflower puree, cucumber and dill emulsion. To top it off, avruga and crumbs introduced the savoury taste into the dish. It was simply fantastic.

Ballotine of quailand foie gras with croustillant of confit leg, braised salsify, walnuts and date puree

This scrumptious dish also had a great combination of taste.The combination of tasty outer ring of the ballotine with quail and foie gras was incredibly soft and smooth. Confit leg was cooked to perfection with a layer of golden brown croustillant. Walnut and date puree complemented the overall taste.

Roasted Denver leg ofvenison with boudin noir, dauphinoise potato and heirloom carrots

This was the final savoury dish of the day. The taste of medium-rare venison leg was wonderfully enhanced by the sweetness of beetroot puree. The softness of dauphinoise potato and sweetness of heirloom carrots complemented the strong taste of boudin noir. The addition of roasted rice gave an accentuation and an extra complexity for the dish.

Pre dessert of Lychee and Pineapple

Presented in a small cup, highly refreshing lychee combined with sweet pineapple gave such a clean feeling to the palate after series of savoury dishes. An extra hint of freshness was delivered by the sweet-sour lemon sprinkles, balanced by a nice serving of cream on top.

Strawberry and raspberry salad with yoghurt sorbet, vanilla doughnut and mint emulsion

This dessert closed what turned out to be a fantastic night.Yoghurt sorbet provided the sourness and refreshing taste of the dish with. It was made better with fresh strawberries and raspberries. The vanilla doughnut gave us the warm and soft feeling to the plate. There were also some delicious home-made marshmallows. The overall combination with the mint emulsion created a nice mixture of taste.

The final verdict for Restaurant Assiette

Assiette certainly delivered one of the best dining experiences for us. The degustation worked wonderfully, since they gradually gave us dishes that were getting better and better through the course of the night. The last meal of the day was fantastic and the dessert was noticeably big and delivered quite a range of fantastic taste.

Did you know?

Assiette is a French word forplate.

Unfortunately, Assiette lost its 2-hat status for the 2012 Good Food Guide. They were downgraded to 1-hat. Personally, I think they are equal to or better than some of the 2-hat restaurants in this year’s list, in terms of the food taste.

Details:

48 Albion Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010

+61 2 9212 7979

Oct 12, 2011