RESTAURANT REVIEW: MAHJONG ROOM, SURRY HILLS (THUR 28 JUNE 2012)

Thanks to Dimmi reservations, I managed to score a $50 discount voucher.  Very good value and quite a few selection of restaurants that accept this voucher.  Among them where Chinta Ria, La Boheme and  Mahjong Room.  I picked Mahjong room because of it's reviews and the setting looks great in photos.  To my surprise, it was also listed as 1 of 10 restaurants my old company colleagues listed as a must try five years ago and I still had that list kept from that time.  Mahjong Room has been in existence for 10 years already and this was my first time to try it.  One of the waiters had a good sense of humour so enlightened the night as well to make it an extra "fun" night out.  The food was sensational and you can tell the quality is better than the average chinese restaurants.  The service was always attentive and friendly.  The tables were actually mahjong tables and the restaurant was dimly lit.  There was also an alleyway and a private dining room (called the "Happiness Room") for a bigger crowd.  I highly recommend this place.  My friends were marvelling how it was a great choice for dinner.

Mahjong ambience and setting

We didn't order any entrees, went straight to the mains as we always want to try out desserts.  We chose, a tofu and eggplant dish, crispy duck, san dong chicken, chung pao lamb with beggars rice. The  tofu and eggplant were really soft and really light in taste.  I've had eggplant fried and drenched in oil and it is really tasty but heavy.

Steamed Eggplant and tofu with ginger, shallots and coriander - $16.50

I enjoyed the crispy duck.  I think I prefer asian style crispy duck because it's likely not to be dry and skin is extra crispy better than the duck confit.  The chinese mushroom were soft and tasty with the five spice tofu and crispy snow peas.  The snow peas were not properly cooked though, tasted a bit too raw for my liking.

Roast duck plate - with chinese mushroom, five spice tofu and snow peas - $24

The San dong chicken was the best dish of the night.  The chicken was crispy and the mild ginger and vinegar sauce made the dish divine!!!  You must order this dish if you come here.

San dong chicken in mild ginger and vinegar sauce - $23

The beggars rice was really nice too.  It's essentially fried rice served in a beggar's bowl.  Concept came from beggars collecting anything from outsiders and it means tossing whatever vegetables into the dish with rice - peas, carrots, corn, shredded duck, chicken and chinese sausages.

Beggers rice - $16

After the mains we chose three different desserts to share - all were so beautifully presented.  The banana spring rolls with lychee ice-cream ($12), flourless chilli chocolate cake (special dessert) ($12)  and mango pudding ($10).  The banana spring rolls were crispy and delicious with real chunks of lychee inside the lychee ice-cream.  The flour less chilli chocolate cake is to die for if you're a chocolate lover - it was dark chocolate and not as rich as other cakes.  Then the mango pudding was topped with sago but because mango was not in season, they used mango puree and some sweet syrup and coconut cream so it didn't quite taste right as both T and A complained.  Both of the other desserts were commended though and perhaps need to wait for mango pudding during it's seasonal fruit time ie. summer to come back and try this dessert again.  It's different from the mango pudding at yum cha as it doesn't have the sago and was decorated with raspberries.

Desserts at Mahjong room

Summary Review of Mahjong:


Food Rating: 8/10


Service Rating: 8/10


Ambience Rating: 8/10


Price: $$(Affordable)


Overall rating: 8/10




Mahjong Room
312 Crown Street
Surry Hills  NSW
Ph: (02) 9361 3985
Website: Mahjong room website
Opening Hours
Lunch 12-3pm Friday
Dinner 6-10.30pm Monday to Saturday

RESTAURANT CAFE REVIEW: BATHERS PAVILION, BALMORAL BEACH (SUN 24 JUNE 2012)

Last Sunday, I wanted to have a nice brunch for my birthday with my lovely friends C and CC.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful sunny day, so warm and lovely with crispy fresh air near at Balmoral Beach.  We arrived at 11.15am so was waiting in line to have brunch but unfortunately no bookings at the cafe so it was completely packed with a long line.  So we will come back for brunch another day.  Instead we ended up having lunch at the buzzing cafe.  There were plenty of families with kids and with spectacular views of the beach, it is an impressive way to have breakfast overlooking the water if you're seated next to the window.

Bathers Pavilion surrounds and indoors

We were seated at lunch an hour later by 12.20pm.  The cafe still completely packed with small tables filling the area.  The cafe is like so much cheaper compared to the restaurant so the lines there are crazy whilst the restaurant was so quiet.  With mains that were $48 almost $50 - lunch would be too expensive.  Also, the menu didn't look as impressive so will wait for a change in menu at the restaurant before we decide to dine again.

Busy Balmoral Cafe inside

C and CC ordered a pizza and a risotto since we didn't have breakfast we were starving but didn't want something so heavy.  The pizza was amazingly delicious.  The spanish onions were like caramelised and was sweet and delis!!! The field mushrooms were tasty too.  The pizza dough freshly made and was great as well.  Cannot fault the pizza - it was great for two to share.  A few years back we had a pizza that was tiny and didn't taste special but this was definitely gourmet.

Roast field mushroom and onion pizza with taleggio (Italian cheese) and rocket leaves - $24

C and CC also ordered wedges in case the pizza was not sufficient for two.  The wedges came with a cute plastic tomato with tomato sauce inside.  Needless to say, the wedges don't need commenting.  They taste like what potato wedges should taste like.

Wedges with tomato sauce - $9.50

I felt like eating gnocchi after eating the delicious gnocchi at Tastevin but they didn't have gnocchi on the menu but there were two risotto dishes.  As I'm a lover of duck, I chose the duck risotto.  It was beautifully presented and the colours were outstanding.  Never had a non-creamy risotto base before and this had a red wine sauce.  The risotto was nicely cooked, not too gooey and the duck would have been nice if it was not saturated in salt.  It wasn't too dry with crispy skin, just too salty.  You know a dish is too salty when you need to gulp plenty of water afterwards.  I think they should have tasted the duck before they served it but anyhow, it was a good dish to take photos of but just not a good dish to savour.  Unfortunately the dutch carrots were a bit burnt as well.  Fortunately the sage was not too strong in favour as it brings a earthy, pungent and slightly bitter flavour.

Duck confit in red wine sauce with roasted baby carrots and sage - $33

All three of us had satisfied stomaches at the end of the meals as we didn't try any of the desserts.  They sounded appetising.  The breakfast menu also looks and sounds amazing so will need to get a rain check.

Summary review of Bathers:


Food rating: 7/10


Service rating: 7/10


Ambience rating: 7/10


Price: $$ (affordable at the cafe, expensive at the restaurant)


Overall rating: 7/10



Bathers Pavilion
The Cafe
PH: (02) 9969 5050
Website: Bather Pavilion website
Opening Hours
Breakfast Mon to Sun 7am to midday
Lunch & Dinner Mon to Sun midday til late
Afternoon tea from 3pm to 5pm

RESTAURANT REVIEW: GLASS BRASSERIE, HILTON SYDNEY (SAT 23 JUNE 2012)

The Hilton is a five star hotel so you would expect quality from dining at restaurants there  The Glass Brasserie has a one chef hat and beautiful decor - comfortable chairs and very nice ambience but a little dark but romantic in that sense.  The waiters are polite although generally one is assigned to you so it's hard to get someone else's attention if your waiter is busy.

Glass Brasserie 

Depending on what you select on the menu, the food is either desirable or not.  Simplicity and elegance is what the chef, Luke Mangan prides on.  We didn't try the signature dishes on the night.  These are listed on the Glass Brasserie website.  My friend C ordered these scotch fillet from the off the grill menu and described her steak as RSL quality.  Very concerning when you pay $43 for a Ranges Valley NSW Scotch Fillet with french fries and béarnaise sauce.  Even the béarnaise sauce was a let down because it was too salty.

Ranges Valley Scotch Fillet with french fries and béarnaise sauce

Fortunately for me and L, we both chose the beef fillet, braised wagyu brisket, parsley puree, mustard leaf, honey roasted garlic ($52).  The beef fillet was really tender and juicy and the honey roasted garlic so fragrant with a hint of sweetness.  I loved the mustard leaf sauce and parsley puree it was nice and flavoursome.

Beef fillet, braised wagyu brisket, parsley puree, mustard leaf, honey roasted garlic

W chose the jewfish for the main because we saw that truffle was on the dish.  However, you can't even smell or even taste the truffle.  The jewfish was so soft, creamy and delicious.  I loved this dish also but it won't fill you up as the serving is pretty small that you'll need dessert or entree to fulfil your stomach.

Truffle poached Jewfish, warm cucumber, garlic flower, onion, peas, white asparagus, shimeji ($43)

Two of the mains chosen were a hit but what about desserts? I've been so into soufflé and both C and W chose the toffee soufflé. I didn't quite like the soufflé because of the bitter aftertaste and the texture was a bit too gooey compared to what I make at home.  However the side pecan butter ice-cream was divine.

Toffee soufflé with pecan butter icecream - $21

I chose the apple crumble since that looked good at Tastevin.  However, my apple tart dessert was so tiny and apparently C described the apple tart tastes like baby food you get from the supermarket.  I should have ordered the signature dish, liquorice parfait instead.  Oh well, let that be a lesson to read reviews about what you should chose from now on.

Apple tart with crumble and vanilla bean ice-cream - $19

L chose a beautifully decorated dessert that was dome shaped coated in chocolate and nuts and topped with gold shavings and peanuts.  It was the milk chocolate bavarios, tonka bean cream brûlée that gives it the vanilla flavour, caramel sorbet and salted peanuts (which is popular to give a crunch and salty caramel taste is so popular).  L, is a chocolate lover so was disappointed that the dessert was not layered with chocolate and it wasn't as gooey as the bavarios I had at Catalina's.  I quite like the dessert because I'm not a complete chocolate lover.

Milk chocolate bavarios, tonk a bean creme brûlée, caramel sorbet and salted peanuts

Having a entertainment card is really handy when dining at this restaurant.  The bill was $280 for four people but because there was 2 entertainment cards we ended up paying $50 p/p including tips.  L is a lot pickier than me when it comes to dining at restaurants and she scored this place lower than I did so we met half way but I am comparing my experience and my ratings are different to hers. So what's the verdict?

Summary Review of Glass Brasserie:


Food rating: 7.5/10


Service rating: 7/10


Ambience rating: 8/10


Price: $$$ (expensive)


Overall rating: 7.5/10


Glass Brasserie, Hilton
Level 2, 488 George Street
Sydney   NSW  2000
Opening Hours:
Breakfast - Monday to Friday 6am to 10am
Saturday to Sunday 7am to 11am
Lunch - Monday to Friday 12 to 3pm
Saturday to Sunday closed
Dinner - Monday to Sunday 6pm to late

RESTAURANT REVIEW:  SPICY PANDA, CHINATOWN (FRI 22 JUNE 2012)

Food at Spicy Panda

Thanks to 'Grab your fork' food blog, I decided to dine at Spicy Panda on Dixon Street for one of my birthday celebrations.  The restaurant is fairly modern and clean - new blue royal chairs, nice wooden tables with matching bowls, plates and cups.  Spicy Panda exuberates an oriental flair given the nice wooden frames and lanterns surrounding the restaurant.  The service was pretty good for an asian restaurant but the food was pretty cheap and average as a result.  I was with nine other friends and majority of us cannot take spicy food so we ordered dishes that had no chilli or were pretty mild.  I suggest if you go to a chinese restaurant like this one, you should go with a big group as you get to try out many dishes.  We started off with some light dishes such as the Sichuan Mung Bean Noodle in Spicy and Sour Sauce ($8.80) and we quite like the tangy and spicy sauce.  The noodles were quite nice too.

Sichuan Mung Bean Noodle in Spicy and Sour sauce $8.80

The jellyfish didn't have any spice at all and is a cold delicacy that came with strips of cucumber and carrots.  It's kind of mushy and dipped in sauce that wasn't too overpowering.

Jellyfish with cucumber in garlic sauce ($10.80)

My favourite dish was the Sichuan duck which is tea smoked.  The skin was really crispy and duck wasn't too dry.  The duck came with some seaweed to add texture and colour to the dish and dipping plum sauce.

Sichuan smoked duck ($19.80/half)

The other favourite dish on the night was the stir fried eggplant with green beans.  Eggplant was so soft when stir-fried and was bursting with colours and flavours when served with green beans and chilli.

Stir fried eggplant with green beans - $16.80

The Kung Pow Chicken was quite nice too with green and red capsicum.  The chicken was tender.  We were just surprised how all the dishes came with peanuts though including this one.  This dish was not spicy at all so great for those who doesn't like chilli food.

Kung Pow Chicken 

The scallops were leaning towards sashimi style as they are semi-raw.  I didn't quite like it with cauliflower and brocolli.  This dish was fairly average as it tasted a bit bland even with the added cashews.  I wouldn't recommend this dish.

Stir-fried scallops with cashew nuts - $24.80

We ordered a pure vegetable dish - fried spinach.  It was nice and light but nothing special.

Stir fried spinach $12.80

Our last main dish, the live barramundi dish was a true let down.  Having tried fresh fish from Golden Century, you cannot compare the two.  The sauce was a bit light on taste and the fish wasn't cooked well as it didn't fall off the bone when served.

Steamed Barramundi

If you want a place that can serve spicy food, is very cheap and food can come out quickly then this Spicy Panda is good place to dine.  If you're more often authentic and tasty food then I suggest you go elsewhere but you'll have to pay more.  If you're game, you should order the diced rabbit with cucumbers as that is their signature dish.

Summary Review of Spicy Panda:




Food rating: 6.5/10


Service rating: 6/10


Ambience rating: 7/10


Price: $ (Cheap)


Overall rating: 6.5/10


Spicy Panda
Level 1, 2-8 Dixon Street
Sydney NSW 2000
PH: (02) 9262 7007

Opening Hours
Open 7 days for lunch and dinner.

APPLE CHICKEN ON A BED OF FRIED CRUNCHY FENNEL GARNISHED WITH MINT AND CORIANDER RECIPE: HOME INSPIRED

Apple Chicken on bed of fried crunchy fennel garnished with mint and coriander

Another home inspired recipe from my mother.  I don't know where my mother got this recipe from but this is really delicious.  I just threw the fennel bed myself into the recipe it was only $1.50 at the shops and the other day I tried fennel and it's quite nice and goes well with apple.  The apple we used was Granny smiths as they are not too sweet and is more suitable.  We mixed the apples with some truss tomatoes as well and everything tasted really good especially a hint of chili and curry leaves.

Recipe for Apple Chicken on bed of fried crunchy fennel garnished with mint and coriander.

Ingredients:
2 Granny smith apples
5 drumsticks
2 cloves of garlic
2 small chilies (more if you prefer to make it hotter)
5 small truss tomatoes
1/2 onion
1stem of curry leaves
Olive oil

Diced fennel

Mint and Coriander to garnish


Chicken marinate
Salt and pepper
1 tspn of Garlic and ginger powder
1 tspn of Light soy sauce
1 tspn of fish sauce

Method:


1) Marinade the chicken using salt and pepper, garlic and ginger powder, light soy sauce and fish sauce.  Let it sit so that the flavours sink in otherwise do it the night before.

Marinated chicken drumsticks

2) Dice the grannie smith apples into slices.  I diced them into 8 pieces for one apple.

Diced apples

3) Place the apples in a saucepan with hot water and bring it to boil so that it becomes soft and mushy.  Remove the skin once it becomes really soft and mushy.

Bring apple slices to boil and simmer until mushy

4) Heat a pan over high heat and add oil.  Place the chicken drumsticks on the pan and turn over 3-5 minutes on each side.  Add diced onions into the pan.

Chicken drumsticks in pan

5) Dice some tomatoes and add them to the chicken drumsticks.

Tomatoes added to pan

6) Add the mushy apple and mix with the tomatoes one they are soft and mushy too.  Stir well so they are mixed well.  Then add curry leave stems and chilies.

Add caption

7) Heat up another small pan with oil.  Add garlic and crunchy diced fennel to fry. Add a pinch of salt to the fennel when frying too.

8) Serve the dish on a plate with rice and garnish with coriander and mint.

Served apple chicken with rice

There you have it.  A delicious and succulent meal.  The chicken is really tasty because of the curry leaves and it's not dry because its in stewed in the tomato and apple sauce :).  Goes really well with the crunchy fennel with only salt and olive oil dressing.  Great for another winter night.  Happy Cooking xoxo!

RESTAURANT REVIEW: TASTEVIN BISTRO & WINE BAR, DARLINGHURST

Tastevin and surroundings

For some reason, I picked another French restaurant to celebrate a milestone birthday this year.  Last year, I celebrated at L'etoile restaurant in Paddington.  The chef is Manu Feildel who you see sometimes on Masterchef.  I didn't even know it was awarded a one chef hat in 2010.  The  reviews invited me to book this restaurant.  This year, I wanted to try Four in Hand being a two chef hat restaurant but it couldn't take 12 invites and Bistro Papillon on Clarence Street Sydney wanted a $250 deposit for the booking.

So on a rainy Saturday night, we were at Tastevin in Darlinghurst.  Tastevin in French means "taste wine".  Indeed, it had a wine bar at the back of the restaurant but only 2 of us had a glass of wine.  This place didn't have any chef hats but I booked it because the reviews on eatability and urbanspoon were exceptionally high - 8.5 to 9/10.  Great food, service and ambience - basically it had all three elements.  However, I thought the food was nice but not the best I've had or it didn't wow me enough so that I will definitely remember this culinary experience.

The ambience of this restaurant was remarkable.  You walk upstairs to be welcomed by a set of comfortable couches and the tables were professionally laid with table clothes, wine glasses, plates and cutlery.  Mirrors, lovely shade lamps, romantically lit candles and funky wall frames surround the restaurant.  I think it may be the french style because Le'toile is very similiar in settings as well.  Tables were so closely aligned to each other.

Selection of Food - from entrees, mains to desserts

Having a party with 12 people was great because you get to try almost everything on the menu.  For starters, we had bread although they mistaken thought that we wanted french fries over bread rather than both but we didn't follow that up with the restaurant.  They didn't charge us for both so all is good.  The bread didn't taste as good as I'd hope to find at other restaurants.  It wasn't as crunchy and the butter was really salty.  The coriander oil was another complement with the bread and was better than the butter.  We also had gherkin and salami with the bread.  Some of the others ordered to share freshly shucked oysters with champagne and cracked pepper dressing - $3.50.  While two of my friends tried the Gnocchi a la parisenne with sauteed mushrooms and white truffle mornay ($19 entree size).  This is Tastevin's signature dish and I have to say it was the best dish for the night.  The gnocchi was very soft and I heart the truffle and mornay sauce too.

Entree - bread

Entree - salami and gherkin

Entree - freshly shucked oysters with champagne and cracked pepper dressing

We had all five main dishes on the night.  I only got to try two of the dishes so can only comment on them both.  The others are just pictures to show and tell but no sense of taste description.  I do know that the beef eye fillet is meant to be one of their best dishes because it tastes so good and tender.

Chargrilled beef eye fillet with pomme fondante, mushroom fricassée & red wine jus - $35

The two dishes I tried were the pork neck which was recommended by the waiter and the duck.  The duck was high spoken off from other blog and urbanspoon reviews.  Both my friend and I were disappointed by the mains we chose but only because the pork neck was really dry and the duck was a little dry too.  My other friend who also had the duck didn't know any better or had the better duck as he didn't experience the same dry pain.  I don't know what else this restaurant puts in their food either because by the end of the night, I was so thirsty, I drank almost drank a whole bottle of water in this freezing weather. I was thinking, French restaurants shouldn't be using MSG flavourings? That's found in asian cooking.  Either that or the food was so dry it left that dryness feeling in my throat so that I needed some liquid urgently!

The pork neck was slow cooked but maybe it was overcooked because it was dry and flaky.  The fennel was nice and crunchy and goes well with rosemary while the apple and onion tart was thankfully moist, sweet and soft.

Slow cooked pork neck, apple & onion tart Tatin with rosemary & fennel salad

The duck leg was a little dry but the red cabbage choucroute (French for dressed sauerkraut) was deliciously sweet and perfect with the parsnip puree.  I liked the duck sausage as it didn't have a strong duck smell and was quite tasty.

Confit duck leg with parsnip purée, red cabbage choucroute, duck sausage & jus gras 

The other two mains were the barramundi fillet and duo lamb.  The friends who ordered these dishes were impressed although the fish fillet wasn't as filling but had a ratatouille wrapped in a mini pancake as shown below (The french call it aumoniere).  Ratatouille are vegetables such as fried eggplant, zucchini, red capsicum, onions, thyme, garlic and tomatoes in baked tomato juice.

Pan seared barramundi fillet à la provençale with ratatouille aumonière & chorizo- $34

Duo of lamb; roast rump & braised shoulder with autumn vegetables, chestnut & lardon

Now for my favourite part of the meal, dessert.  However nothing I ate tasted as good as it sounded.  The special dessert of the day was a chestnut mini-cake that tasted so much like asian desserts and it was kind of mushy and claylike.  I didn't like it at all and neither did I like the chocolate cake because it was so rich and the alcohol from the cherry coulis was too overpowering.

Chestnut mini cake with meringue and coffee plus vanilla sorbet

Dark chocolate pavé with grillottes ice cream & cherry coulis (rectangle shape chocolate slice cake) - $15

I should have dipped my fork on the rhubarb and apple crumble because I really like rhubarb.  My friends who will be getting married in September this year loved their dessert.

Rhubarb and apple crumble with ice cream - $15

The last dessert was the crepes.  I'm glad this dish was ordered because we saw a bit of "magic".  The crepes were engulfed in flames and I think it's from the Grand Marnier that gave that exploding effect.  I prefer Kahlua or Baileys as I'm not particularly fond of Grand Marnier or Cointreau.  My friends didn't like the taste of the Grand Marnier either so couldn't finish all the crepes.

Flambéed Grand Marnier crêpes Suzette with vanilla ice cream - $14

So there you have it.  A lovely night with great company and decent food.  Overall I think Tastevin is good but not exceptional.  Not all chef hat restaurants are commendable either.

Summary Review of Tastevin

Food rating: 7/10


Service rating: 8/10


Ambience rating: 8/10


Price: $$ (affordable)


Overall rating: 7.7/10


Tastevin Bistro & Wine Bar (next to Spice I Am)
Level 1, 292-294 Victoria Road
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
PH: (02) 9356 3429
Website: Tastevin Website
Opening Hours:
Mon - Thurs (except Tues closed) - 5pm to late
Fri - Sun - 12pm to late