Saturday, December 31, 2011

FOOD-OUT: Din Tai Fung, World Square, Sydney (NSW)

Of all the gin dumpling joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine Din Tai Fung.

We met another sort-of neighbour (who lives about 10 minutes away) G for an early brunch on a Monday, since we were both in Sydney at the same time. Being dumpling lovers ("oh xiaolongbao, how do I love thee, let me count the ways..."), trying out the self-proclaimed THE WORLD'S TASTIEST DUMPLING was a no-brainer decision. I wasn't holding too high expectations about how it was going to taste, as I remembered my sister(s) not being too impressed with the Din Tai Fung in Malaysia.

Anyway, we made our way to World Square, and got there at about 11.10am, and there were people already waiting for the place to open at 11:30!

The early bird gets the worm dumplings

We did a bit of shopping in World Square and returned to the restaurant at about 11:40am, and were seated quite quickly, though the queue was certainly building up.

We had to tick our orders down on a sheet of paper with the menu on it, and hand it to the wait staff. Dishes arrived fairly quickly, and we kept adding our orders, which were attended to very quickly as well ("uhmm... ONE more of this xxx, ONE more of this yyy and ONE more of this zzz...").

Lychee Mint Juice

Now THIS was something I would never dare to order, just reading it in the menu. Thankfully, The Hungry Excavator had recommended it on his blog, and I'm sure glad he did! Extremely refreshing - I'd love to try replicating this at home!

Xiaomai - steamed pork and prawn dumplings

I thought they looked odd, with the prawn placed on top of the dumpling, and tilting the top part of the dumpling to one side. Tasted nice, but nothing to shout about.


Ja Jiang Mein - Noodles with meat sauce

We decided to order noodles to add some variety to our otherwise dumpling meal. This was rather yummy - not particularly intense in flavour but it was enjoyable. Liked the texture of the noodles too! I also thought that the edamame was a great addition - they added another texture (firmness) and flavour to the dish. Mmm mm!

 Masked dumpling-making superheroes hard at work

Voila! Translucent xiaolongbao

We ordered two different types of xiaolongbao; the limited (and more expensive) crab xiaolongbaos, and the standard pork ones. What I loved most about the dumplings was the skin - so thin that you can see the soup inside the dumpling, but firm and strong enough to pick up without breaking it. Lovely.

I quite liked the crab ones, but the Husband and G didn't think too much of it. G liked the skin and textures of the dumplings, but wondered if somewhere out there there may be dumplings just like these ones with better tasting filling, as she wasn't WOWED by the flavour of the filling. I had no complaints whatsoever, as I continued to stuff my dumpling-shaped face full of dumplings.

Overall, I'd love to have a job travelling the world testing all the xiaolongbaos offered, to prove or disprove DTF's claim to World's Tastiest Dumpling, but until that happens, I'd be more than happy to come back here again on my next trip back to Sydney!  

Din Tai Fung on Urbanspoon

FOOD-OUT: Chat Thai, Haymarket (NSW)

Through the wonders of Facebook, we managed an impromptu get-together with our lovely sort-of neighbours on our last evening in Sydney. Never mind that we live only 3 minutes drive away, but we had to catch up 1000km from home :)

I had been to Chat Thai in March 2010, but was not too terribly impressed that time - the tomyum I felt that time was too spicy - not "hot spicy", but "spice spicy" (HELLO!! I AM LEMONGRASS! YOU SEE ME? YOU HEAR ME? YOU TASTE ME! NO! I AM GALANGAL! TASTE MEEE!!!) for my taste. We decided to give them another try, as friends of ours do like the place.

We opted to have a very early dinner at 6pm, as we had a flight to catch that night. The place opens at 5pm, but we were seated quickly at 5:45pm. Just like the numerous popular eateries, there was a massive queue at the door by the time we left at about quarter past 7. 

Loved the exposed brick walls

I was willing to give Chat Thai another try, but was a bit unwilling to try the tomyum soups. 

 "yum nuea" - char grilled beef salad with tomatoes, cucumber and fresh chilli

The "yum nuea" really was "yum" - pun unfortunately intended. Fresh flavours, plus tender beef = never a bad combo . 

"gaeng keaw gai" - green curry of chicken with apple eggplants, kaffir lime leaves and basil

Hmmm... it certainly wasn't bad; the dish was flavourful, but nothing made it stand out and go WOW! maybe I'm just biased because I don't generally fancy my chicken pieces sliced.

 "mhu grob padt prik khing" - Stir fried crisp pork belly and wild ginger in red curry paste

 Now THIS was fantastic. The pork belly was both crisp but sticky. Just lovely. A definite must-try dish.

"padt thai" - stir fried thin rice noodles 
with chicken, dried shrimps, bean sprouts, garlic and chives in a tamarind and palm sugar sauce

To me, Padt Thais are always considered the benchmark dish in a Thai restaurant. Chat Thai did not disappoint - flavours and textures were great. The noodles weren't mushy and the beansprouts were still juicy and had their crunch. Would happily order this again!

Sticky rice w/ Durian

For dessert, we decided to share the Sticky rice w/ Durian and Sticky rice w/ Mango between the four of us. I loved both desserts! I know this is a terribly biased view as I am the #1 fan of glutinous rice, and I love mangoes and durians, but my dining companions were very happy and satisfied with the desserts as well!

Overall, we were very pleased with the meal. This experience did change my view of Chat Thai - if we lived in Sydney,  I'd happily come back again. But if we were to come back to Sydney for another food trip, I'd probably give the other numerous Thai places a go instead, to compare.


Chat Thai Haymarket (Thaitown) on Urbanspoon

After three and a half solid days of solely being together, we were thankful for the company we had, and E and A shouted us dinner in celebration of our 3rd wedding anniversary - so THANKS FOR THE LOVELY DINNER AND COMPANY, E, A and L!

Friday, December 30, 2011

FOOD-OUT: Porteño (and Gardel's Bar), Surry Hills (NSW)


Staff hard at work

When one has a plan, one must be disciplined.
When one has a plan, one must be determined to follow through with what has been planned.

We had a plan to be in Sydney to eat! I hate waiting, so had planned to be at Porteño when it opened at 6:00PM. But NoooOOo- The Husband "didn't feel like it (yet)" and dilly-dallied about in the hotel, that by the time we got there, it was 7:30PM.  By that time, we were informed by the front-of-house staff that:
(i) it was going to be at least an hour and a half's wait (this was a Monday evening), and
(ii) there *may* not be any more 8-hours-cooked lamb and/or pork left by the time.

What?! The horror! The horror! It's like saying Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee travelled all the way from the Shire to Mordor only to be told that Mount Doom *may* or *may not* be open (Note: Lord of the Rings reference).

Anyway, we decided to just wait for a table, since their Gardel's Bar upstairs had a bar menu. The 1930s/40s-themed bar was nice - apparently it was named after the famous Argentinian tango musician and actor Carlos Gardel who died in the 30's.

Gardel's Bar

Being 7:30PM, there was no way we would not order anything. Plus, the bar menu (totally different to the one downstairs) looked awesome. A Sydneysider friend, K, recommended the pork slider (pulled pork mini burger, $4.50 each) which we devoured without even taking any photos. We also ordered the croquettes and the miso-marinated lamb ribs - so so delicious!

Miso-marinated lamb ribs

Croquettes

Gardel's Bar at Porteño on Urbanspoon


About a quarter to nine we were finally seated on a shared table downstairs at Porteño. The problem was - we were already kinda full by then. We refused to let that slight problem deter us:-

Entree: LENGUA EN ESCABECHE - Pickled Veal Tongue ($8)

It had a nice sour-ish tang to it, and the tongue was certainly tender. Quite refreshing, oddly. yumm!

Pig and lamb being cooked for the past 11 hours

Main: CHANCHITO A LA CRUZ - 8 hour Woodfired Pig ($44)

It was so, so soft and tender. The crackling was crispy and had a lovely crunch to it, and the meat had the right amount of fat awesome delicious goodness. The Chinese in me was dying to eat this with some white Jasmine rice :)

Side order: RADICCHIO ASADO CON PANCETTA
- Grilled Radicchio, Root Vegetables, Pancetta and Hazelnuts ($14)

The flavour of this dish was yummy, but perhaps way too rich for two people who "weren't hungry (from eating pork sliders, fried croquettes and lamb ribs) in the first place but yet ordered (a lot of) pork for dinner".

Overall, I'd HIGHLY recommend this place, but the experience would be far more positive in a larger group. No more than 7, as dinner guests must then go on the set menu. Reservations for 5 guests or more. I'd still recommend a visit even if it isn't a large party.

But come at 6pm!

Porteño on Urbanspoon

FOOD-OUT: Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills (NSW)

Oh when I think about the food from the Bourke Street Bakery, it makes me want to do a little hop, skip and a jig.

We made our way on foot to the Bourke Street Bakery, on er... Bourke Street, Surry Hills, and got there just before 10:30am, which was RIGHT ON TIME, because there was a sign inside saying that pies and sausage rolls are only served from 10:30am onwards. Although when we got there the bakery was busy, it certainly wasn't PACKED, and we managed to order without much waiting at all.

Mind you, we were here for pre-lunch 'brunch' (we decked off immediately to the fish market right after), but could not resist ordering a pie, a sausage roll, a tart, and two iced-coffees.

Beef Brisket Pie 

Doesn't look fancy or sophisticated in any way, but it was so good! The brisket was tender and juicy, there was so much gravy; very flavoursome but not overly rich in taste. There was so much filling and gravy just spilling out upon the first bite, calling out to you "eat me, eat me!"

I do have a really bad photo of the inside of the beef brisket pie, but it didn't focus well at all:

Within the beef brisket pie

Can't see the sh*tty photo clearly, but you can certainly see the juicy goodness spilling out.

 Pork and Fennel Sausage Roll

I don't normally eat sausage rolls. I only ever eat them when they are homemade - nothankyoufourntwentypie!! What I like about good sausage rolls (like this one is) is that you can taste the ingredients of the sausage and it's never too salty.

The pastry of both the pie and sausage roll (I will regret not being able to say pieS and sausage rollS until our next visit) was so buttery but not at all greasy!! Quite often I'd feel sick of eating a pie or sausage roll by the end of it, but these ones were the exception.

 Dark chocolate tart with marshmallow and raspberry

This was really yummy! The pastry of this tart was very very unique to me - it was like a shortcrust pastry marrying a filo pastry and this was their offspring. It was crumbly like a shortcrust, but yet you could see and taste that there were layers to it. Very nice, and not at all, overly rich or sweet. I could have easily downed a few more of these babies! So easy to eat!

Because of our planned departure to the Fish Market right after our visit here, we HAD to use our willpower to pull ourselves away from the counter and not order more. Actually, it was our willpower and the super-long line that had built up by the time we finished eating.

Only PART of the line outside queuing to order some yummy goodness

Overall, this place makes me happy and sits quite comfortably on my Sydney to-do/to-eat/to-conquer list! It's cheap, it's good, and next time, I'm ordering a stack of pies and sausage rolls to take home to Melbourne!

633 Bourke St, Surry Hills, NSW
Ph: (02) 9699 1011

Bourke Street Bakery on Urbanspoon

Thursday, December 29, 2011

FOOD-OUT & Dog-Friendly: Alfresco - Le Chien cafe, Seddon, VIC

We came by with Angus a couple of months ago but was told we had to wait up to 30 minutes for a table outside. We decided not to wait that time as they would not take our mobile number and telephone us when a table was ready.

So this time, we decided to try our luck again to get an outdoor table, and only waited for about 5-10 minutes, before we were seated. The Husband ordered an iced-coffee, but didn't fancy it at all - to him, it was way too milky and tasted more like a milkshake. Whatever happened to cold milk on espresso with ice, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream? My cafe latte was fine though - no complaints.

Upon recommendations from a couple of friends we bumped into who LOVE Le Chien (which by the way, is "Dog" in French), we decided to order the Homemade Baked Beans and the Promite Special

Homemade Baked Beans
w/ additional side order of sausages

Promite Special- poached eggs, avocado, tomato on
sourdough bread spread with promite (kind of a sweeter, lighter version of vegemite)

The baked beans didn't impress us too much, but the Promite Special is certainly worth going back for - very very flavoursome! 

Disclaimer: we live in the west of Melbourne, so Seddon is a stone's throw from us. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that someone all the way from Springvale make the trek JUST for the Promite Special!

Le Chien on Urbanspoon

Dog-Friendly: Melton Christmas Tree Farm, Plumpton

After much year-round convincing from my work colleague, we finally decided to get a real tree this Christmas. We've uhmmed and aahed for ages about getting a real tree, as we often discussed the pros and cons of both real vs fake trees. You can generally argue both ways; about.com has an article on it, and earth911.com certainly advocates for real trees, but certainly there are others who can vouch for artificial trees. But the brief research of randomly clicking websites generated from the search terms "real vs fake christmas tree" on Google seem to indicate that most environmentalists advocate for the real thing.

ANYWHO, we decided to get the real thing, from Melton Christmas Tree Farm. My colleague wasn't too sure if we could bring Angus along, so I thought I'd give them a call to ask. I was so pleased to hear that dogs were not merely "allowed" but Angus was "more than welcomed" to come along and that they also have their dog roaming around the warehouse.

Plumpton is about a 40-minute drive from Melbourne; quite an easy drive. When we got there, there were a wide selection of trees in the warehouse ready to be taken home, but for the FULL experience, we decided that we had to find our own tree.

Eenie-meenie-minie-moe! Rows of Christmas trees!

Any tree with a price tag on is for sale. A tree about 5 ft tall will cost approximately $30-35. Angus had a fun time exploring and helping choose a tree.

Christmas tree elf?

After some debating between which tree to get (tall but skinny, or short and fat?), we finally settled on a tree, and the Husband showed off his lumberjack skills and cut the tree with the saw we picked up from the warehouse. Actually, turns out the trunk was very easy to saw (I sarcastically remarked to the Husband as he was sawing, "what are you doing? Filing my nails?") and was very light to carry. 

Tree tucked into the car boot, and ready to go!

Without much difficulty at all, we loaded our 5 ft tree into the boot of the car, with the back seats pulled down. 

We took it home, along with a $40 base that holds the tree upright, as well as a gaudy Christmas tree ornament to remember our first real Christmas tree experience. We slowly dressed it up over the course of a week, shopping for Christmas tree trim the week before Christmas (hurray for 50% discounts!). We had a star, but it kept falling off the top of our tree, so we settled for reindeer antlers. I kinda like the look of it actually!

Pretty tree!

The tree will probably remain where it is for as long as it stays green! Fingers crossed for a Chinese New Year tree!!!

Melton Christmas Tree Farm
319 Leakes Rd, Plumpton VIC
Ph: (03) 9747 1078

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, December 19, 2011

FOOD-OUT: Marque, Sydney

Mark Best himself opened the door and welcomed us into Marque, when we peeked through the glass door to see if the restaurant was already open, just before 6pm on Saturday. In an era when chefs are lifted to celebrity-status, I was pretty darn chuffed!

We were seated next to the window, right in the corner, which was as 'private' and 'secluded' one could get at Marque. The restaurant is smaller than I expected it to be; decor is somewhat minimalistic AKA the New York style.
Service was wonderful, with the wait staff being very helpful and friendly. I would've preferred if we had the same wait staff attend to us throughout the night, but I didn't have any complaints about the service.

Just a quick gripe about the bread - we both opted for the rye and beer bread; the flavour was interesting; I liked the butter, but our crust was burnt! We didn't bother telling the wait staff to request new bread, as we really weren't that hungry for dinner in the first place. The Hungry Excavator had raved and raved about the bread on his visit; so we will just consider that night as an off-day for bread.

It took us 3 courses to realise that our degustation was going to be mostly different to the one listed on their website. When we brought it up with our waiter, we were informed that at the end of the meal, we would be given a menu of tonight's courses to take home. It was actually quite exciting to not know what was going to be next; almost like opening up Christmas presents :)

Amuse Bouche- Goat's Curd with Beetroot and Pink Lady

This was a little nice light refreshing dish until I got a taste of the goat's curd right in the middle - then the flavour hits you! A delish starter, although I could not help but wonder how the Bonito with foie gras and olive truffle (the amuse bouche listed on the Marque website) would've tasted...

Almond Jelly with Blue Swimmer Crab, Almond Gazpacho, Sweet Corn & Avruga

Now THIS was in the tasting menu listed on their website, and one they should certainly keep on their menu! I have never tasted Blue Swimmer Crab as wonderful as that - cooked perfectly and so so sweet! The sweet corn really does smell and taste like crumbed/powdered popcorn, but I loved how everything was so light, so fresh-  so enjoyable!!
 
Scallops with Asparagus, Yoghurt Whey and Togarashi

This, to me, unfortunately, was the let-down course of the night. It wasn't in any way awful, but I didn't feel it was too special, and it didn't look impressive ("Hey, who gave me an empty, dirty plate?!"). I liked the texture and the freshness of the hotate (scallop), but it was a wee bit too salty for me. I suppose I just didn't 'get' the dish - all it tasted to me, really were - thinly sliced raw asparagus, salty scallop sashimi, sprinkled with 'Furikake' (Japanese sprinkles) which you can buy from Asian Supermarkets. The yoghurt whey  (or ?milk chip?) was an interesting addition, but it didn't particularly enhance or brought the whole dish together.

Dutch Cream Potato with Bone Marrow, Sea Urchin and Coffee

Eating this was the equivalent to sky-diving for my tastebuds. Thou shalt not look down upon eating a mere humble potato. The flavours of this dish had such intensity it is seriously making me salivate thinking about it. The flavour of the marrow just hits you, and the hint of sea urchin and coffee really added such depth to it. And potatoes can never do wrong.

Bar Cod with Polenta, Buddha's Hands, Witlof and Vadouvan
 
We both enjoyed this course, but we really could not shake of the memory of Malay aunties in the Malaysian pasar (market) frying fish coated and marinated in curry powder. We both felt that the only thing that really contributed to the fish was the Buddha's Hands (some lemon-like citrus fruit) paste. But I am probably biased as I am not exactly the biggest fan of witlof.

 Muscovy Duck with Green Strawberries, Beer and Fennel

The duck was delicious! I really liked the texture of the meat - so moist and tender!! I was initially a bit puzzled by the green strawberries, but they did add another texture (somewhat crunchy) and flavour (sourness) to the duck.

Blackmore Grain-Fed Wagyu Sirloin with Beef Tendon, Wasabi and Fermented Vegetables

This was a dish found in the menu listed on their website, albeit with a small variation. Instead of 'spring peas', this night's wagyu was served with fermented vegetables. Honestly I don't recall eating anything that tasted fermented so it must have been pretty subtle. The wagyu - oh the wagyu - was delightful! The meat was sliced very thinly and placed raw on a warmed plate and placed under heating lamps, so it'd cook only so slightly. I liked how the oh-so-soft meat and crunchy veggies went together, with a hint of wasabi. Lovely, lovely dish. If I were a judge on Super-Iron-Masterchef and Marque was pitted against Quay and the core ingredient for the episode challenge was Wagyu beef, I'd award the challenge to Marque.

Pre-dessert - Sauternes Custard

This was like creme caramel for adults! The Sauternes, a french sweet wine, really added an amazing kick to this pre-dessert course!

 Chocolate with Malt, Banana, Coffee and Parsley

This was an O-M-G dish. When I first tasted it, it was like being reunited with a first love, who has grown up, travelled the world, and is now very classy and sophisticated. Malt always reminds me of Horlicks, a childhood novelty of mine, but this was coupled with (what I *think* is liquid nitrogen-fied) drops of banana, coffee, and parsley! Who would've thought parsley would taste so awesome in a dessert! I would've stood up, clapped and cheered "bravo! bravo!" if this had been a stage performance.

Petit Fours - Salted Caramel Chocolates, Lemon Drops and Bitter Bon Bons

When the petit fours were served, we were informed that they were meant to be eaten from one end of the plate to the other; each highlighting one of the four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter - where's umami?!). The little birthday greeting was for the Husband's 30th.

Autographed menu - Hmm... would this be worth anything on eBay?

The waiter who attended to us most, managed to get Mark Best to sign a birthday greeting on the menu for us to take home at the end of the night, which we thought was pretty special.

But now we don't quite know what to do with it.


Overall, to me, there were some inconsistencies, when it came to the food- some parts of dinner were unimpressive to me (read: bread, scallops, cod) but the WOW parts certainly made up for it. I don't know when or IF our next visit may be, but we were certainly happy and satisfied with our experience at Marque - a great place to spend the evening celebrating a special birthday.

4/5 355 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW
Ph: (+61) 2 9332 2225

Monday to Saturday from 6.30pm | Friday Lunch from 12pm
 
Marque on Urbanspoon