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.

Beijing Impression

Beijing Impression Review:

Beijing Impression is a relatively new restaurant in Ashfield. In the last few months, you wouldn’t be able to get a seat at the restaurant without queuing for hours or booking it a month in advance. They built up a reputation on their Peking duck. They put on a bit of show when serving the duck.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, we did not try their Peking duck as there was only our family dining in. There are quite a lot of unusual items on the menu. They are not your typical Chinese dishes found in Chinese restaurants.

Fried Beef and Crispy Mushroom – $16.80

I am quite pleased with the fried beef and crispy mushroom. It was probably the most ‘normal’ dish on the night.

Special Fried Rice in Honeycomb Briquette Look – $12.80

I thought we ordered fried rice. Apparently, it was a black sticky rice dessert with fruits. They also lit the fried rice up like a bonfire.

At first we thought it was a normal blackened fried rice in honeycomb shape… then we realised they put fresh and dried fruits on it… then they did this 🔥🔥🔥 So many surprises at Beijing Impression, Ashfield #dinner #chinese #ashfield #desserts

A post shared by All About Food Blog (@aaf_blog) on Feb 28, 2018 at 12:26am PST

Three Delicacies (Blood, Palm and Gizzard) of Duck in Hot Chilli Oil – $18.80

Skip this if you don’t eat chilli. This dish was very hot with quite a lot of chilli oil, chilli pieces and Szechuan peppercorns. If the heat doesn’t put you off, then the duck’s inner parts might. They have blood jelly, duck feet (palm) and gizzard.

I actually quite enjoyed it despite the heat.

Peking Style Cheese – $5.80

Again we made a mistake ordering this thinking it was a savoury dish. It turned out to be a sweet cheese with jam. It reminded me of Indonesian tapai (fermented cassava) with slight alcoholic flavour.

Creamy Fried Cake – $9.80

This is the actual dessert that came out as a dessert. Unfortunately, the little one loved it so much that we were only given a tiny portion.

Crispy Prawns – $12.80

Considering that we actually ordered three desserts on this occasion (somebody was really happy about that), we had to order an extra main dish. It was a very nice and crispy prawn with a hint of sweet and spicy sauce.

Steamed pork with rice flour – $12.80

It tasted like the sticky rice in lotus leaf but without the lotus leaf and with a lot more meat. As if you are still lacking carbs, they also throw in a few buns for free. You could technically eat just this and be really full.

The final verdict for Beijing Impression

Despite our inabilities to choose the right dishes, we enjoyed our dinner at the restaurant.

Do you think I should go?

If you do not have to experience the queue at this restaurant, the food is actually pretty decent. Obviously, you should be aiming to get their Peking Duck.

Rating for Beijing Impression:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $90 for 3 people (without the Peking Duck)

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

11-13 Hercules St, Ashfield 2131

+61 2 9798 5288

Apr 10, 2018
Nu Bambu

Nu Bambu Review:

I saw a few pictures of food at Nu Bambu in Sydney Food Bloggers facebook group. Considering that the restaurant is quite close to where I live, we decided to give it a go one day.

The restaurant is located in Canterbury and Hurlstone Park RSL. The menu is quite a fusion of all things Asians, from the Thai salad to Indonesian Nasi Goreng. However, I think it is probably one of the pricier RSL food in Sydney. Is the price justified by the taste?

Beef Tartare – $16 – Cape Grim grass-fed, raw Steak with lemongrass, lime leaf, quail yolk, sesame crackers

It is quite an interesting display of beef tartare. I have never seen it served with sesame crackers and fried shallots. I love the extra crunchy dimension to the dish.

Thai Salmon Ceviche – $15 – Raw salmon, fresh coconut, coriander, mint, red nahm jim

The ceviche’s combo is also something you don’t see very often. This Asian version of ceviche came with fresh coconut and spicy Thai dipping sauce.

From these two dishes, we got a sense that it was going to be quite an exciting dinner.

Beef Short Rib – $24 – Twice-coocked with sweet fish sauce, cucumber relish

I won’t tell you anything but this: You must order the beef short rib.

Grilled Champagne Lobsters – $39 – Cooked over coconut charcoal with confit sambal butter

Due to my lack of knowledge of what ‘Champagne Lobster‘ is, I was kinda surprised when it came out as 2 small-ish lobsters. The lobsters were full of flavour. Don’t worry about the sambal butter, I am sure most people would be able to handle the heat.

Whole Crispy Fried Fish – $30 – Green mango, coriander, sweet chilli, tamarind

This dish might look a little bit challenging. It was a whole fish after all. The sweet, spicy and sour taste was in line with a mild Thai green salad. I love whole fish as I could eat pretty much everything but the bones.

Asian Greens – $8

You know they make a good bowl of vegetables when your kids couldn’t stop eating it. That’s exactly what happened with this Asian Greens dish.

Thai Tea Fondant – $15 – Ginger & cacao sorbet

Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake for this dish: I did not take a picture when the yummy, gooey Thai tea seeped out of the cake. It was also interesting to know that the ginger sorbet worked perfectly with the cake.

Crispy Choux (4) – $14 – served with pandan custard or lychee lemongrass

Again another rookie mistake… no gooey pictures… but this time it’s because I wasn’t fast enough to stop people from devouring them!

Sorbet – $12 – charcoal coconut, mango lychee, yuzu passionfruit, strawberry & raspberry

There were four different choices for the sorbet, but since the majority would want to try mango lychee, we had two scoops of them. The other one was yuzu passionfruit.

Trung Nguyen Cold Drip Coffee – $6 – condensed milk over ice

Considering that Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk was usually super sweet, that giant ice sphere actually dumbed down the sweetness considerably.

The final verdict for Nu Bambu

Nu Bambu might be one of the most expensive RSL restaurants in Sydney. However, the price was justified by the quality of food they served.

Do you think I should go?
Definitely! However, please be prepared that if you expect your usual Asian dishes, you will be disappointed.

Rating for Nu Bambu:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $200 with drinks for four people

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL
20-26 Canterbury Road, Hurlstone Park 2193

+61 2 9559 0088

https://nubambu.com.au/

Apr 4, 2018
Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde

Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde Review:

We were walking around in Top Ryde Shopping Centre when I saw a signboard with my biggest weakness written on it: All-you-can-eat. That’s when we decided we should give Lone Star Rib House a try.

Upon arrival, you were given a bucket of free peanuts. Not a bad start, we thought.

Big Spring Beer Battered Onion Ring Tower – $16.95 – Feed the whole dang posse with a Tall Tower of Onion Rings

The onion ring tower was quite massive. They were also super crunchy with very nice sauce.

Unfortunately, it also turned out to be the best dish of the day.

All You Can Eat Ribs & Wings – $29.95

With the all you can eat ribs&wings, you are required to finish everything that they gave you before you move on to the next plate. It’s quite challenging as the ribs also came with wings and chips.

The wings have quite a few different sauces that you can try: BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Satay, Coriander Ginger & Lime, Hot, “Hot Ass” sauce. Despite the sauce, they were super dry. The chips were also chunky and a bit much. I guess it’s much cheaper to serve a bucket of chips than risking people ordering the second plate.

Little Kids’ Beef Ribs – $8.95 – with chips and all you can eat ice cream.

Interestingly, our little one could not eat the beef ribs as it was super dry and hard. It was very different than our ones.

Brownie Blast – $12.50 – Homemade Brownie Fudge Sundae, Crowned with Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream, Hot Chocolate Fudge, Whipped Cream and a Maraschino Cherry

The brownie was pretty decent. However, the rest was just stock standard.

Long Island Ice Tea – $12.95 – Tequila, Rum, Gin, Vodka, Triple Sec, Lemon Juice, Topped with Cola

I reckon this has got to be the cheapest long island ice tea I have ever seen. Either way, you get what you paid for.

The final verdict for Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde

I guess Lone Star would be worth it if you could finish at least two plates of all-you-can-eat ribs, wings, and chips. However, given it’s a fixed set menu, I think most people would be reluctant to order a second serving.

Do you think I should go?
If you can eat a whole bunch of ribs, wings and chips… then yes. However, quality-wise, there are a lot of better rib houses out there.

Rating for Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde:

6.0 / 10

Taste: 5.5 / 10

Price: $29.95 all-you-can-eat ribs, wings and chips

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Top Ryde Shopping Centre
Devlin St & Blaxland Rd, Ryde 2112

+61 2 9808 2939

http://lonestarribhouse.com.au/

Apr 1, 2018
Dapur Ibu Alya

Dapur Ibu Alya Review:

We went to Dapur Ibu Alya the first time on the 30th December 2017, one week after their grand opening. They were so new that they had not even put down the signboard from the previous restaurant. Dapur Ibu Alya is located on the main street of Lakemba, Haldon.

Dapur Ibu Alya is an Indonesian restaurant that serves food primarily from the Western part of Indonesia, specifically from the city of Padang. Their main dishes were mostly spicy, except probably their fried rice and noodles.

3 Choice – $11 – Rice + 2 meat + 1 vegetables

The hot bar deal is one of the main features of the restaurant. Basically, you choose three things from the bain-marie and have a quick lunch or dinner meal. The menu might differ from time to time but generally speaking, you will find a few curry options, some vegetables and some fried stuff.

Iga Bakar Komplit – $12 – Grilled ribs with rice

The grilled ribs are actually not spicy (unless you choose to add the chilli sauce in the small container that comes with it). The portion was actually not too bad, given that it was only $12.

Gulai Limpa – $12 – Spleen Curry

This is why we visited the restaurant in the first place. We have heard through the grapevine that they have a very nice spleen curry. Spleen is a part of the internal organ of a cow, obviously not everyone’s cup of tea. Unfortunately, this curry is usually the first one to sell out. If you come to the restaurant just for this, I would advise you to call first to avoid disappointment.

Sate Padang – $11 – Beef Skewer with rice cake

Sate Padang is quite an intereting satay from the city of Padang. Instead of the usual peanut sauce, they have the very distinct-looking thick yellow sauce.

Mie Ayam Bakso – $11 – Meatball noodle soup with Chicken

Mie ayam bakso is usually a favourite of the little one.

Mie Goreng Ayam – $10 – Chicken Noodles Stir-fry

An alternative, if you like the noodles stir-fried instead of just boiled.

Es Campur – $5 – Mixed Fruit Punch

Es campur is a traditional Indonesian drink that is pretty refreshing. Especially during a hot day.

Es Duren – $6 – Durian juice

I don’t think it needs an introduction. You either love it or hate it. We are from the ‘love durian’ side.

The final verdict for Dapur Ibu Alya

I have been here quite a few times after that first visit. It is a pretty good option for an Indonesian restaurant around the area. However, don’t expect fine dining quality and service in this restaurant.

Do you think I should go?
I think Indonesians would appreciate this restaurant more as the taste was pretty authentic. It could be a bit challenging for the others (unless if you are familiar with Indonesian cuisine).

Rating for Dapur Ibu Alya:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $15 main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

41 Haldon Street, Lakemba 2195

+61 404 910 060

Dapur Ibu Alya on Facebook

Mar 27, 2018
Sokyo

Sokyo Review:

Our review this week is for a special occasion and the venue of choice was Sokyo. Sokyo is a one-hat restaurant (based on Good Food Guide) with great reputation for its quality and Omakase. However, some of my friends also told me how the experience was somewhat ruined by patrons of ‘questionable personalities’.

On this occasion, we went there for quite a big lunch and tried a few different options for the two of us.

Sashimi Platter – 60 – Chef’s choice 24 pieces of mixed traditional sashimi

When you are in one of the best Japanese restaurants in Sydney, you just have got to order sashimi platter. On this occasion, we have the three regulars (salmon, tuna, kingfish), scallops, snapper, and aburi salmon.

They put a little theatrics for the Sashimi platter. It sure made a lot of people looked. The interesting thing about this was the four condiments included on the plate. I’m not really sure what they are, but I’d call them soy sauce, ‘yum’, ‘super yum’ and ‘omg yum’.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgkaMauFgMD/?taken-by=aaf_blog

Alfonsino Kinmedai – 6 – Sushi

The last time I had Alfonsino was so memorable that I was always on the lookout for the fish in a restaurant. I know it looked like just a regular sushi in the picture. However, it tasted so much better and the pickled ginger was strong and aromatic.

Octopus Salad – 16 – Confit potato, Wakame, Avocado Wasabi, watermelon, smoked bbq sauce

Can I just say ‘the octopus salad is yum’? It is hard to describe the complex nature of its elements.

Aylesbury Duck Breast – 40 – Goma ponzu, brussel sprouts & baby cos, wafu dressing

The duck has got to be one of the best we have had in a Japanese restaurant. The skin was so crunchy and the meat was so tender.

The wafu dressing is quite interesting for us. It reminded us of an Indonesian sauce for Pecel, but much more subtle. It worked really well with the brussel sprouts and baby cos.

We were super happy eating this dish.

Japanese Barbeque – 24 – Karubi short rib, umami shiitake sauce, cucumber

If the karubi short rib came before the duck, we probably would have appreciated it more. Unfortunately, it was massively overshadowed by the duck.

“Not Tuna Sashimi” – 12 – Compressed watermelon, coconut sorbet & aomomo

If you look at the picture below, I wouldn’t blame you if you really think it was tuna sashimi. I am not a big fan of not-fresh coconut and after this dish, I am still not a big fan.

Sokyo “Mochi Ice Cream” – 9 – Yatsuhashi kyoto mochi, frozen strawberry milk shake

This is the next level of mochi. Lucky there were 2 mochis for the two of us. Otherwise, we would have to fight for them.

Sayuri “Little Lilly” – 30 – 300ml Unfiltered Nigori sake. Slightly cloudy, lychee and coconuts

It is probably the cheapest sake in the menu. But I like the sweet and refreshing taste of it.

The final verdict for Sokyo

We had such an amazing lunch at Sokyo. It is definitely better than some of the one hat restaurants we have ever been to.

Do you think I should go?
Without a doubt! It was quite rare that we enjoyed every single one of our meals.
.

Rating for Sokyo:

9.0 / 10

Taste: 9.0 / 10

Price: $250 for two people

Place: 9.5 / 10

Details:

Level G, The Darling, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont 2009

Sokyo at The Star Website

Mar 22, 2018
Fratelli Fresh Entertainment Quarter

Fratelli Fresh Review:

Fratelli Fresh is part of the restaurant empire with Rockpool and Bavarian Bier Cafe amongst its ranks. We have heard great things about it.

We went to Entertainment Quarter to see the movie at the cinema there. Since there was one Fratelli Fresh, we couldn’t wait to try it out.

Penne – Lamb Ragu – Rosemary – $26

We quite enjoyed the lamb ragu. There was heaps of meat and penne pasta on the plate.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara – Pancetta – Guanciale – Parmesan – Yolk – $23

The spaghetti carbonara looked like the unhappy brother of lamb ragu. It was pretty dry and quite sub-standard.

Chicken Parmigiana – Fresh Basil – Sugo – Fior Di Latte – Parmesan – Fratelli Slaw – $29

My chicken parmigiana was way too saucy. The sugo sauce overpowered everything else and the chicken was a tad overcooked.

As you can see from the picture below, the dish doesn’t have any chips on it. You will have to pay an extra $9.5 for chips and aioli or $11 for twice-cooked potatoes.

Fennel Sausage – Red Sauce – Shaved Garlic – Chilli Flakes – Red Onions – Salumi Australia Italian Sausage – Parmesan Cheese – EVOO – $23

Our pizza wasn’t actually too bad. However, they were not generous with the sauce and toppings. It looked very bready. If only the treatment was switched with Chicken parma, we would have been much happier.

Chicken Scallopini Strips with Fries – Aioli – Lemon – $12

I think I might enjoy my son’s chicken strips more than my own dish. It had the whole thing: chicken, chips, and sauce.

Fat Johnny – Apple Cider – $12

The beer and cider might look expensive (in excess of $10). However, it does come in the 500ml glass.

The final verdict for Fratelli Fresh

Fratelli Fresh has a price point of high-end Italian restaurants in Sydney. However, the dishes in Fratelli Fresh Entertainment Quarter did not justify this.

Do you think I should go?
Fratelli Fresh restaurants seem to have quite a good rating in Zomato, except for the one in Entertainment Quarter. I haven’t been to the other ones, but from what we experienced in Entertainment Quarter, they do need to lift up their game considerably.

Rating for Fratelli Fresh:

6.0 / 10

Taste: 6.0 / 10

Price: $20 – $33 main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

211 Bent Street, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney

+61 2 8099 7069

http://www.fratellifresh.com.au

Mar 16, 2018