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.

Kafe Halaman

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price: Rp. 15,000 – Rp. 55,000 per dish = $2 – $6

Place: 7/10

Review:

For my first review in my home country, I will take you to one of the only few good things in Bandung, Kafe Halaman (translated into ‘backyard café’). This café gave you the feeling of having a meal in a patio on our backyard.

Before you start, you might want to familiarise yourself with the menu, since there are literally 100s of things to choose from. Feel free to explore the variety of menu in the restaurant, as I will only list a fraction of it that we actually ordered.

Our first starter was this funny looking dish called Rambutan Prawn. Derived from the Rambutan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan) image, the noodle-coated prawns were deep fried till they’re golden brown. Enjoyed with condiments of Chilli and Tomato sauce, it was really crunchy. The other starter was Lumpia (Spring Rolls). Another deep-fried menu, but this time was too similar with the regular spring rolls, with the exception of their tiny bite-size.

We also ordered some share plates of Siomay (Chinese Shumai) and Ceker (Chicken Feet). I will pass on the description of the second one since its admirers are so little. The first one is an Indonesian adaptation of Chinese Shumai. They were slightly more sturdy and solid in appearance and usually more flour than meat.

We had two main courses to try with and both of them had the same seasoning. One was Buntut Bakar (Grilled Oxtail). It came with the unique Melinjo crackers and vegetable soup. Again, not anyone will enjoy this kind of treat. The second one was a bit ‘neutral’, Iga Bakar BBQ (BBQ Ribs). Unfortunately, these are not those gigantic Sydney’s Hurricane’s ribs. Quite the opposite, they were pretty tiny. I think it’s fair enough, considering the very low price of it. They did come in a nice old-fashioned hot plate, with sides of fries and veggies + additional yummy BBQ sauce.

The final verdict for Kafe Halaman:

The best thing about Kafe Halaman is its variety. You can choose from Chinese, Western, to traditional Indonesian food and they’re all decent (except maybe the exotic ones – for preference / distaste). It is also one of the few restaurants that open past midnight.

Did you know?

There are at least two Kafe Halaman restaurants I know of. This spot is definitely not better than the main one. In terms of taste, it’s not really different. Getting to the mall, on the other hand, is a mammoth task. Paris Van Java is one of the hottest spot in Bandung and considering traffic generally is already pretty bad in Bandung, it is worse at this spot.

Location:

Paris Van Java, Bandung, West Java

Mar 16, 2011
Sushi Samurai

Rating:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 /10

Price Range: $13 – $20 per plate

Place: 6/10

Review:

This week, we are going to explore one of the restaurants in Pyrmont that was recommended by my friend, Sushi Samurai. The restaurant looked kind of small but it’s full of people. I guess we wouldn’t make it if we hadn’t booked in advance. It’s a nice sizable restaurant but unfortunately my friend failed to tell us that there was a special menu that could be ordered one day in advance. It’s a kind of preset menu with an optional lobster.

Casting our disappointment aside, we ordered several dishes that I am going to write in the order of the timing appropriateness. I dislike the fact that our main Sashimi Platter was the first one to be served. We would have been happier if our Deep-fried Lotus Roots, Agedashi Tofu, and Tofu and Seaweed Salad were the first ones to arrive. The lotus roots were crispy but it’s kind of tasteless and bland, except for a bit of salt. Agedashi Tofu was nice, but unfortunately it’s too little of a portion for the six of us. The salad on the other hand was very fresh with silken smooth tofu. There were a rich variety of vegetables in it and it had a big portion.

On with the Sushi dishes… We ordered two sushi rolls this time, the classical California Roll and my all-time favorite Soft Shell Crab Roll. California roll was o, regular 8 pieces, but lacking in the actual quantity inside the rice. The other roll was much better presented and tasting, but it lacked the number of pieces.

In the grilled department, we ordered Teriyaki Wagyu Beef and Grilled Fish Head. The beef was certainly one of the best dishes of the day. Sizzling wagyu cuts on top of a bed of bean sprouts. Perfectly combined with the sauce! The fish on the other hand was a nightmare. It’s true that you got three gigantic fish heads, but they were really plain. I’d advise you to order additional teriyaki sauce for them.

The only other dish that’s worth mentioning is the Sashimi Platter. It was pretty, it had great assortments, and they were fresh! If it was the only dish we ordered, our judgment could’ve been slightly better.

The final verdict: There was nothing that made me want to return to the restaurant. Everything was a disappointment, except for the Sashimi platter. However, I am curious about the special menu that they offer.

Did you know?

Sushi Samurai is part of a restaurant chain, called Excellent Group, and there are several restaurants owned by this group all over Sydney. I had a glimpse of the one in Neutral Bay and it looked so much better and more spacious than the Pyrmont one.

Location:

Shop 1/16-30 Bunn St Pyrmont 2009

Website:

Feb 22, 2011
Cafe Gundel

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price: $35 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week I am going to take you to a journey half way round the world. Similar in name to the original Cafe Gundel, this Hungarian restaurant is well known for its authenticity in home-cooked meals. They also provided nice Hungarian Beer, Dreher. Considering that the portion is humongous, my friend advised us to order one appetiser, a main, and a dessert per couple. I didn’t really obey this rule and opted for two mains instead (although one was small size).

Before we start, the owner suggested us to taste Hungary’s original Langos. Bear resemblance to Chinese’s yóutiáo(Cakwe),this dish was unfortunately one of the better ones of the night. The extra sour cream and garlic oil created a fantastic combination to the bread’s puffy and crispy taste. For the appetiser, our friend ordered Duck Liver. I understand that the dish might sound a little bit exotic, since it was duck’s liver cooked with onions and spice.

Our two dishes of the night were Veal Knuckle and Veal Goulash. Our friend was right; the dishes were massive! We got two slowly roasted – but not crispy – veal knuckles atop sautéed red cabbage and onion potatoes. The knuckles were very soft and juicy. The Goulash on the other hand, was served with nockerl (Hungarian noodles) and cucumber salad. It certainly had the aura of home-cooked meal. Possibly best served during wintertime.

Our friends ordered Oven roasted Crispy Duck with braised red cabbage & onion potatoes and Hungarian Cabbage Roll with mashed potatoes. We were told that the preparation of this cabbage roll took around 5 hours. The soup in the plate was actually the juice coming out of the meat that was slowly roasted in layers of cabbage. This dish was noteworthy because of the rice element. It was put with the meat inside the cabbage. This was evidently the only traditional Hungarian dish with rice.

We tried to order Apple and Rhubarb Crumble, but they were sold out. We had to settle for the second best in Apple Strudel. Luckily the strudel was great. Nice, warm, crispy slice of Apple strudel served with Vanilla Ice Cream. We were also fortunate to be able to taste the Cherry Strudel as well. This one was sourer than the apple but was compensated with the sweet taste of (possibly) walnut.

The final verdict: It might not be the infamous Cafe Gundel, but it’s a very good place to taste authentic Hungarian home-cooked meals. Don’t forget to order Langos since it’s not on the menu. Taste wise? It was nice, but lacks the wow factor to make it great.

Did you know?

Unfortunately Rose Bay is not a culinary place and more like a residential area.

Location:

U5/698 Old South Head Road, Rose Bay NSW 2029

Feb 6, 2011
Blue Ginger, South East Asian Cuisine

Rating:

8 / 10

Taste: 8.5 /10

Price: $35 – $50 per person

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Blue Ginger has everything that I wanted in what South East Asian restaurant should be: Nice ambience, table setting that won’t let u kick your neighbour, and most importantly GREAT service – no grumpy old lady throwing plates on your table!

There are choices of Banquet menu that we chose not to have because we weren’t too sure about some of the selection. We ordered 1 appetiser, 5 main dishes, and 2 desserts. For the appetiser, it was Salt & pepper squid. Definitely not the best one Sydney has to offer and quite frankly quickly abolished my hope of having a great night.

We were made to wait for quite a while until the main course arrived but in the end all of them came at once – which was the most important feature of South East Asian dining experience. It didn’t take long before dim expectation turned into great experience.The slow braised black Angus beef short ribs (boneless) literally blew my mind away! Cut into bite sizes, the ribs were cooked to dry, glazed with special sauce and an optional cucumber relish and tamarind for an extra taste.

The next one I tasted was Crispy skin chicken Maryland. Equally yummy with its unique trait, really really crispy skin! The black vinegar dressing complemented the chicken really well.Then, the stir fried eggplant & pumpkin was made special with the addition of chilli black beans and young corns.

The next two dishes were my wife’s favourite. First one was Panang curry chicken. The curry was really smooth without any overpowering taste of the element. The second one was Stir fried Singaporean chilli prawns with snow peas. It was perfect for me due to the mild hotness of the chilli.

Considering none of the dishes were disappointing, we were tempted to try out their desserts. Our choices fell to two of the following:

–Panacotta with Palm Sugar and Pineapple Ice Cream

–Kaffir Lime Crème Brulee

In overall they were not mind blowing but more similar to Chat Thai with a Fusion to western desserts, with special credit to the Pineapple Ice cream.

The final verdict: Blue Ginger charged quite a premium price but it was by far the best (South East) Asian restaurant in Sydney! Even the desserts are much better than one-hat restaurant we went to. The short ribs were the highlight of the day, shockingly excluded from the Banquet menu! They were just simply beautiful…

Did you know?

There are some nice spots in Balmain to relax and unwind, all in walking distance. Some of the nicer ones: Great coffee in Bertoni, Adriano Zumbo’s infamous Croquembouche and Macaroons.

Location:

241 Darling St, Balmain NSW 2041

Website:

http://www.blueginger.com.au/

Jan 26, 2011
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
Chefs Gallery

Chefs Gallery’s rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price per plate: $8 – $22.90

Place: 8/10

Since the dishes have name as long as a train at Chefs Gallery, I am going to list it first and put the numbers as it appears in the menu. It will also make it easier if you want to try these dishes, just mention the numbers to them.

A2 Finely sliced beef shin slow roasted in premium soya sauce, a Shanghainese favourite

D2 Guo Tie Lightly pan fried prawn dumplings

SN2 Chef’s own golden snowflake chicken – lightly crumbed chicken fillet, very crispy, tender and moist served with noodles in a pumkin soup

R3 Wok fried medium grain rice with three types of eggs (chicken egg, salted duck egg and century egg), a must try dish

V5 Wok fried mussels in sweet Chinese rice wine

V6 Chef’s own handmade egg tofu lightly pan fried, topped with preserved vegetables

HD1 Steamed sesame ‘piggy face’ bun, as sumptuous to the eyes as it is to the taste buds – a must-try for adults and children (2 pc)

HD3 Steamed pumpkin pastry dumpling filled with lotus paste, a beautiful piece of art (3 pc)

Review:

We will start the New Year with one of the newest restaurants in town, Chef’s Gallery. One of the main attractions of the restaurant is the restaurant-wide see-thru kitchen. It really gave us a unique dining experience and a sense of security because we know what the chefs are doing to our food.Although there were quite a bit of options in the menu, they made it easy for us since they highlighted their signature dishes with a chef hat.

We started off the night lightly with the sliced beef shin and guo tie. These two dishes were too ordinary for this wonderful looking restaurant. There was also accompanying vinegar for the dumpling to enhance its flavour.

The next two served were completely the opposite.With its three egg types, the fried rice was rich in flavour and very savoury. However it was pretty expensive for its size. This is where the noodles compensated. It had a decent size and its pumpkin / egg soup filled in the duty of tummy-filler. The noodles came with golden snowflake chicken aka chicken katsu.

The mussels were quite bland and, again, had a very tiny portion. It was nowhere near the Belgian mussels. However, the last dish was a work of art. The egg tofu was so delicate and its unique combination with the vegetables I’ve never tasted before.

The clear winner, however, was the dessert. Nothing will make the ladies squeal like the ‘piggy face’ bun.The other dessert was also comparable to the bun.

The final verdict for Chefs Gallery

The ‘piggy face’ bun was definitely the dish of the day, although it was too cute to be eaten. The other dishes were also nice with few surprises here and there. It was worth coming back to Chef’s Gallery for seconds.

Did you know?

Chef’s Gallery is one of the newest additions to Sydney’s culinary world. With similar concept to Din Tai Fung’s, it wins a contemporary edge over DTF. Taste wise both of them are clear losers when compared to the cheaper and fast Chinese food of Ashfield and Burwood. However, in terms of table service and hygiene, we know whom to pick.

Location:

Shop 12, Ground Floor Regent Place, 501 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.chefsgallery.com/

Jan 9, 2011