Category: Uncategorized

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The 7 Best Restaurants in Peru
The 7 Best Restaurants in Peru

The following article is a guest post from AllTheRooms.com.

From the Amazon to the Andes, Peru specializes in dishes that draw on the fresh produce of the country’s distinct areas. Peruvian cuisine is one of the finest in the world, with its incredible ceviche and South American and Asian fusions that are a result of centuries of migration.

Its capital, Lima, is known for its amazing seafood and ceviche, freshly caught from the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, inland in the Andean mountains, the cuisine is known for its variety of potatoes, fresh river trout and quinoa-based dishes. Moving even further into the country’s interior to the Amazon, you can find fish cooked in banana leaves with exotic, Amazonian fruit sauces. We’ve selected the 7 best restaurants in Peru for you to try.
1. Amaz, Lima
Photo by ámaZ Restaurante

For a taste of the Amazon, head to Amaz in Lima. Dishes on the menu include snails, coconut rice and plantains cooked with traditional Amazonian techniques. The restaurant also has succulent fish dishes with fruity and spicy sauces. There’s an exotic cocktail menu to accompany your meal, so be sure to sample a few. And if you need a place to crash after, you can check out all accommodation options in Lima.
1. Huaca Pullana, Lima
Photo by Restaurant Huaca Pullana

If you’ve ever wanted to dine amongst pre-Inca ruins than you should head to Huaca Pullana in Lima, which is on the sight of ruins with the same name. It’s a magical dining experience where you can eat on the restaurant’s terrace and gaze at the ruins. Don’t be shy and go for the roasted guinea pig, which is a traditional Peruvian dish. If you’re not the adventurous type, there are plates such as lobster risotto, seabass or aji de gallina, which is a Peruvian specialty of chicken cooked in a spicy, yellow pepper sauce.
1. La Lucha Sangucheria, Lima and Arequipa
Photo by La Lucha Sangucheria Criolla

No trip to Peru is complete without eating a sandwich in a sangucheria. Peru is known for its excellent sandwich scene, with tons of sandwich shops in the main cities. La Lucha has restaurants in Arequipa and Lima. The bread is perfectly fresh, with a nice crispy outer edge. Meanwhile, there are tons of delicious fillings to try and it’s a great option for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.
1. Pachapapa, Cusco
Photo by Pachapapa cocina cusqueña y más

Pachapapa restaurant is located in the heart of the hipster San Blas district in Cusco. It serves up delicious, traditional Andean dishes, including locally sourced trout, roasted guinea pig and skewers of alpaca meat. The restaurant’s interior features traditional Cuzqueño decor and it feels like you’ve stepped into a local’s house.
1. Salamanto Restaurante, Arequipa
Photo by Salamanto Restaurante

Salamanto Restaurante in Arequipa serves ancestral dishes cooked with a modern twist. It’s an incredible fusion of old and new, as the restaurant uses ancient techniques to prepare the cuisine. Order a seven or ten-course tasting menu, which features plates such as alpaca and trout cooked in quirky sauces that will blow your mind.
1. Jardin Secreto, Cusco
Photo by Jardin Cusqueño

Jardin Secreto is a casual restaurant offering up local cuisine, and if you’re looking for a quick Andean bite, it’s a great option. It serves up Peruvian staples including grilled trout, lomo saltado, which is strips of beef that have been stir-fried with onions, chili and vegetables, and quinoa soups. In the evenings there’s live Andean folk music, to really get you in the mood.
1. La Mar
Photo by La Mar

No trip to Peru would be complete without sampling its national dish: ceviche. La Mar, in the trendy neighborhood of Miraflores in Lima, serves up tasty ceviche in a high-end restaurant atmosphere. The ceviche is to die for. Be sure to pair your meal with a Chilcano or pisco sour cocktail.
Feb 28, 2018
Grilled Beef Tongue Recipe

This week we will be writing about an Indonesian recipe with a little twist, Japanese-style. The recipe is for Grilled Beef Tongue with miso butter sauce.

To be perfectly honest, we weren’t planning to make the Japanese version of it. However, we ran out of the Indonesian ingredients and had to make a little adjustment. Eventually, it worked out brilliantly!

Grilled beef tongue is one of my favourite Indonesian dishes. It takes quite a long time to prepare and very quick to devour.

What do we need to make Grilled Beef Tongue?

1. Whole Beef Tongue – it can be pretty intimidating
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Miso paste – you can get any packaged miso paste from grocery shop
5. Butter – same proportion to the miso paste

I did not put a specific number because you may add or reduce according to your need.

The preparation for making Grilled Beef Tongue

The hardest part in the making of this is waiting. You will need to boil the whole beef tongue with onions and garlic in a stockpot/saucepan for more than 3 hours.

After 3 hours of boiling, remove the beef tongue from the stockpot. You will need to peel off the outer layer of the tongue. If you boil the tongue long enough, you will be able to peel it off easily. Otherwise, add an extra hour in the stockpot.

How do we make the Grilled Beef Tongue?

1. After peeling off its outer layer, slice the tongue around 0.5 – 1 cm thick.
2. Melt the butter. 20 seconds in the microwave should be enough.
3. Mix the miso paste with melted butter.
4. Brush the miso butter sauce onto the beef tongue.
5. Grill the beef tongue on both sides.

A little tips to make your perfect Grilled Beef Tongue

1. Like I mentioned earlier, you need to boil the beef tongue long enough so that you can easily peel off the outer layer.
2. Serve the beef tongue over rice!
3. For the Indonesian recipe, we usually use the ‘satay padang‘ paste from Munik. You can also substitute the sauce with your favourite basting sauce.

Apr 3, 2017
SMH Good Food Guide 2017
Peter Gilmore’s flagship restaurant has done it again in Good Food Guide 2017! For the umpteenth time, Quay is the restaurant of the year.

Other Awards in this year’s Good Food Guide 2017

Best new restaurant of the year is Restaurant Hubert by Dan Pepperell. They are coming in to the list as a two-hat restaurant.

Federico Zanellato from LuMi Bar & Dining has won the Chef of The Year award. LuMi Bar & Dining is a two-hat restaurant.

Paper Daisy in Cabarita Beach was awarded the Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2017. Its head chef is Ben Devlin.

Leon Fink received the Legend Award.

Young Chef of the year award was given to Noel Jelfs from Eleven Bridge.

Astrid McCormack (Fleet) won the Service Excellence Award.

Food for Good award was given to Ravi and Della Prasad from Parliament on King. This award combined innovation, charity and sustainability.

If you want a good wine, you should go to Monopole as they won this year’s Wine List of the year.

Sommelier of the year went to Tim Watkins from Automata.

Best Bar Food can be found in Bar Brosé.

Best Bar is Continental Deli Bar & Bistro.

Best cheap eat is Bovine & Swine Barbecue Co.

People’s choice went to Dead Ringer.

List of restaurants with hats in Good Food Guide 2017

Three hats

There are only three restaurants awarded with three hats as listed in the Good Food Guide 2017 website:
- The Bridge Room – They captured the top prize in 2016.
- Quay – 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013 and this year’s restaurant of the year. Quay has once again reclaimed the top spot!
- Sepia – Winner of 2015, 2014 and 2012 Restaurant of the year award.
As listed from the website, the rest of the hats are as follows:

Two hats

ARIA, Automata, Bennelong, Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Est., Ester, Guillaume, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Lucio’s Italian Restaurant, LuMi Bar & Dining, Momofuku Seiobo, Monopole, Mr. Wong, Ormeggio at The Spit, Oscillate Wildly, Pilu at Freshwater, Restaurant Hubert, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sixpenny, Spice Temple, Tetsuya’s

One hat

10 William St, ACME, Ajo, Aki’s Indian Restaurant, The Apollo, Baccomatto Osteria, Bar Brose, The Bathers’ Pavilion, The Bellevue, Berowra Waters Inn, Billy Kwong, Bistrode CBD, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, Bodega, Buon Ricordo, Catalina, China Doll, Cho Cho San, Continental Deli Bar & Bistro, Cottage Point Inn, Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta, The Dolphin Hotel Dining Room, Felix, Firedoor, Fratelli Paradiso, The Gantry, Gastro Park, glass brasserie, Hartsyard, Izakaya Fujiyama, Jonah’s, Kepos & Co, Kepos Street Kitchen, LP’s Quality Meats, Master, Mercado, Ms.G’s, Nomad, One Ford Street, Otto Ristorante, The Paddington, Porteño, The Restaurant Pendolino, Sagra, Sean’s Panaroma, Sokyo, Stanbuli, Sushi-e, Uccello, Vini, Yellow

The following restaurants lost their hat status

The Four in Hand Dining Room, Bistro Moncur, Longrain, MoVida, Osteria Balla, Osteria di Russo & Russo, Sake Double Bay, Three Blue Ducks, Ume Restaurant.

The following restaurants closed permanently

Rockpool (3-hat), Marque (2-hat), Cafe Paci (2-hat), Moon Park

Note: Green is a new entry to the list. Orange is the one who lost a hat
Sep 7, 2016
Singapore Airlines Business Class Menu

Experience:

When we traveled to Indonesia at the end of last year, we had the opportunity to try Singapore Airlines’ business class on our way back home. It was named by Skytrax as the World’s Best Business Class in 2015.

Obviously being a food blog, we are not going to talk about the seats and amenities or how the seat can transform into a flatbed. You can easily find that in google. We are here to talk about Singapore Airlines Business Class Menu!

According to the menu booklet, the lunch was created by International Culinary panel that was inspired by tastes from all around the world. Australia was represented by celebrity chef Matthew Moran (that’s how it was actually written in the booklet, instead of his usual name ‘Matt’).

Denpasar to Singapore – Light Lunch

For our first leg of the journey, we traveled from Denpasar to Singapore. We departed Denpasar at 1 pm. They only serve ‘light lunch’ for this leg (I can’t imagine what’s the not-so-light lunch is like).

There was no option for appetiser, it was only Tian of Colossal Crab-Mango with mesclun and black sesame seeds (unless you stated in advance that you were a vegetarian or you were allergic to seafood). It was also served with the dessert, Strawberry mousse cake with strawberry coulis, and two herb and garlic breads.

As you can see from the picture below, it was much better presented than the meal in economy. You also got the tray cloth and proper cutlery.

After your appetiser, there was three different main courses to choose from: one Indonesian lamb, one Singaporean chicken, and one seafood. I chose the last one. It was Seared Barramundi Fillet in Tomato Sauce with green olives with basil, celery and fingerling potatoes. The dish was exclusively created by Carlo Cracco of Ristorante Cracco, two Michelin stars in Milan. Carlo Cracco is a jury in Masterchef Italia.

Singapore to Sydney – Sleeper service

For our Singapore – Sydney leg, we flew out of Singapore past midnight. So, Singapore Airlines gave us a choice of whether to have our meal soon after take-off or two hours before arrival… or if you really want, you can have at both times! Considering that you might be really full from eating in the lounge prior to departing, I think most people would choose two hours before arrival.

The entrée was much simpler this time around. It was a bowl of fruits and a croissant.

You get five different choices of main course: noodles, beef, nasi lemak, American and Continental breakfast.

This time around, I chose Braised Ee Fu Noodles with prawn, fish, scallops and leafy greens. It was a very big portion for a breakfast! However, it was actually the right size for an Indonesian (or Asian) breakfast. When I was younger, I was used to eating nasi goreng, congee, or noodles for breakfast.

There are also endless supply of alcohol (and not just the generic ones!) if you choose to drink, including Singapore’s national alcoholic beverage, Singapore Sling.

Did you know?

One thing that we actually missed out when flying Singapore Airlines Business Class was the opportunity to book the cook! There are a few dozen high-end dishes that you can pre-order for your flight… and they are all part of the service!

So, at the end of the day, your possibilities are endless!

Details:

Singapore Airlines Business Class Menu from Denpasar to Sydney

http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/flying-with-us/business-listing/

Mar 11, 2016
SMH Good Food Guide 2016
We have a new winner in this year’s Good Food Guide 2016. The Bridge Room by Ross Lusted took the prize as well as upgrading their status to a three-hat restaurant!

Other Awards in this year’s Good Food Guide 2016

Best new restaurant of the year is Bennelong. The new restaurant by Peter Gilmore.

Pasi Petanen from Cafe Paci has won the Chef of The Year award. Cafe Paci was upgraded to a two-hat restaurant this year.

Fleet in Brunswick Heads was awarded the Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2016. Its head chef is Josh Lewis.

Janni Kyritsis received the Legend Award. I had the pleasure of dining with Janni on the opening of Chef’s Gallery Macquarie. He is truly inspirational!

Young Chef of the year award was given to Lauren Eldridge from Marque.

Cam Fairbairn (ACME) won the Service Excellence Award.

Food for Good award was given to Rob Caslick from Inside Out Organic Soup Kitchen and Cooking School. This award combined innovation, charity and sustainability.

If you want a good wine, you should go to Bentley Restaurant & Bar as they won this year’s Wine List of the year.

Sommelier of the year went to Sebastian Crowther MS from Rockpool.

Best Bar Food can be found in Rockpool Bar & Grill.

Best Bar is Monopole.

Best cheap eat is Chaco bar.

People’s choice went to Catalina.

List of restaurants with hats in Good Food Guide 2016

Three hats

There are four restaurants awarded with three hats as listed in the Good Food Guide 2016 website:
- The Bridge Room – They gained one hat AND captured the top prize in 2016! Kudos to Chef Ross Lusted!
- Rockpool – The group has several restaurants including two two-hat restaurants, Rockpool Bar and grill and Spice Temple.
- Quay – 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2013 restaurant of the year. Quay is still one of the household names in Sydney’s fine dining… Although, it remained to be seen how Peter Gilmore operate two of the finest restaurants in Circular Quay!
- Sepia – Winner of 2015, 2014 and 2012 Restaurant of the year award.
As listed from the website, the rest of the hats are as follows:

Two hats

ARIA, Bennelong, Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Berowra Waters Inn, Cafe Paci, Cottage Point Inn, est., Ester, The Four in Hand Dining Room, Guillaume, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Lucio’s Italian Restaurant, LuMi Bar & Dining, Marque, Momofuku Seiobo, Mr. Wong, Ormeggio at The Spit, Oscillate Wildly, Pilu at Freshwater, Porteño, Rockpool Bar & Grill, sixpenny, Spice Temple, Tetsuya’s.

One hat

10 William St, ACME, Ajo Italian Restaurant, The Apollo, The Bathers’ Pavilion, Billy Kwong, Bistro Moncur, Bistrode CBD, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, Bodega, Buon Ricordo, Catalina, China Doll, Cho Cho San, Felix, Firedoor, Fratelli Paradiso, Gastro Park, glass brasserie, Izakaya Fujiyama, Jonah’s Restaurant, Kepos Street Kitchen, Longrain, LP’s Quality Meats, Monopole, Moon Park, MoVida, Ms.G’s, Nomad, Osteria Balla, Osteria di Russo & Russo, Otto Ristorante, The Restaurant Pendolino, Sagra, Sake Double Bay, Sean’s, Sokyo, sushi e, Three Blue Ducks, Uccello, Ume Restaurant, Vini, Yellow.

The following restaurants lost their hat status

Black by Ezard, Cafe Sopra, The Devonshire, Flying Fish, Lox Stock and Barrel, Vincent, Sake (The Rocks), 4Fourteen, Aki’s Indian Restaurant, Alpha, Bar H Dining, Farmhouse, Clareville Kiosk and Hartsyard.

The following restaurants closed permanently

Arras, Fish Face

Note: Green is a new entry to the list. Blue is the one who lost a hat
Sep 8, 2015
Japanese ChaShu Recipe

Traditionally speaking, Japanese uses pork belly that are rolled into a log to create the perfect Chashu. We are now trying to make Japanese Chashu beef! You can also make chashu chicken using this recipe, but make sure you use its thigh.

I will also write how to cook Chashu beef using conventional oven (this is the recipe I got) and using Slow Cooker (my ‘cheat’ mode).

What do we need to make Chashu Beef?

1. 2 Kg Beef Chuck Steak or you can also use beef brisket
2. 1/2 cup soy sauce
3. 1 cup cooking sake
4. 1 cup mirin
5. 1/2 cup sugar
6. 6 Spring onions, roughly chopped
7. 1 1/2 tbsp of garlic (or 6 whole garlic cloves)
8. 1 1/2 tbsp of ginger (or 5 cm knob ginger, roughly sliced)
9. 1 whole shallot (or you can substitute it with half Spanish onion)

The preparation for making Chashu Beef

Nothing! Just get all of the ingredients and follow the steps below.

Mixture for making Japanese Chashu Beef

How do we make the Chashu Beef using conventional oven?

1. Preheat oven to 135 °C.
2. Heat 1 cup water, soy sauce, cooking sake, mirin, sugar, spring onions, garlic, ginger, and shallot in a medium saucepan over high heat until boiling.
3. Add beef chuck steak. Cover with a lid left slightly ajar. Transfer to oven and cook, turning beef occasionally, until beef is fully tender and a cake tester or thin knife inserted into its center meets little resistance, 3 to 4 hours. Transfer contents to a sealed container and refrigerate until completely cool.
4. When ready to serve, remove beef and strain broth. Reserve broth for another use (like making ajitsuke tamago). Slice beef into thin slices (it might help to cut it in half lengthwise first).
5. Reheat beef slices in soup broth with noodles and other garnishes. Alternatively, heat a small amount of reserved broth in a skillet and heat beef slices in broth until hot or reheat with a blowtorch, charring its surface. Serve.

Refrigerated Japanese-Style Chashu Beef

How do we make the Chashu Beef using slow cooker? – My Personal Take

1. Add all of the ingredients above into the slow cooker.
2. Set the slow cooker to cook on ‘high’ for two hours.
3. Set the slow cooker to cook on ‘low’ for three hours.
4. Put chashu beef into a sealed container and refrigerate until completely cooled.
5. When you are about to serve it, carve up your desired amount, put some of the broth in and reheat the chashu beef in microwave.

A little tips to make your perfect Chashu Beef

1. For the cup measurement, I use the standard kitchen cup (possibly something around 237 ml).
2. You can mix the beef and all of the ingredients a day in advance to marinade it.
3. The chashu beef is obviously best served with Ramen. However, we like to eat them just with a warm jasmine rice.

What is the difference between Chashu and Char Siu?

According to Wikipedia, Japanese Chashu is prepared by rolling the meat into a log and then braising it at a low temperature. It is also cooked without using the red food colouring and five-spice powder.

Apr 9, 2015