2 things you need to know about this place before you walk in - 1) it’s expensive, 2) it’s expensive. But we were out to celebrate, so made the most of it =)
Neil Perry set up Rockpool a while back, and this restaurant in The Rocks is very famous for its sophisticated seafood menu. Making a booking wasn’t hard, and they accommodated us with a table for 5. One thing that got on my nerves was the fact that we were served by at least 5 different staff during our dinner. 1 person sent us to our table (that’s acceptable), another got us the menus, the other to take the order, another to send our entree - you see where I’m going with this?
First off, the wine list - it’s impressive. Very impressive. Good selection of French, Australian and Italian wines. Reds, Whites, Sparkling, Champagnes, various other blends and about 2 pages listing just dessert wines. We started with a bottle of white (approx $80 per bottle)… and I then started to stare at the menu.
For those of you who have read my previous post would know that I am not much of a seafood fan (boo hoo, I know)… So my entree was salad with beetroot cooked in 3 different styles - raw, roast and jelly. All this served with roquefort cheese and hazelnuts. The cheese was quite strong, so I had to accompany that with some of the table bread to help weaken the taste. $32 for this entree.
My main course was a confit of suckling pig served with a yam and ginger puree along with some mustard fruits. Again, I’m sure a seafood order would have suited someone with that taste, but I was happy with my pig (I’m referring to my main course). The puree had a nice texture with each bite of pork, but had a slightly over powering ginger flavour. The mustard fruit was nice, but again a little strong. Oh and this main is about $70.
Dessert was Vanilla Panna Cotta topped with Blood Orange Sorbet. This was a perfect dessert for that evening. We had had a couple of glasses of wine already and ending towards a warm night, the sorbet hit the spot. We also ordered a bottle of dessert wine to accompany our last meal. $24 for the dessert.
Now a quick talk about the decor - it’s simple but yet very well lit. The staff were courteous and fairly attentive. The entrance had a good layout and made you feel like you were walking into somewhere elegant. The restaurant seemed to have a few hidden bits, like a floor above (possibly for the celebrities) - and some private tables for your personal quite and romantic experience. There is also a degustation menu at $195 per person (not including wine).
Look if you are a seafood lover, there were dishes there that looked impressive and I’m sure would taste good. And probably also good value for money. However, my confit pork didn’t cut $70 value, and neither did my beetroot salad. But I still loved the overall experience. The company I was surrounded by was what made my night.
Atmosphere - 7/10
Food - 6/10
Wine/Cocktails - 8/10
Staff - 6/10
Value for money - 5.5/10
French food is brilliant, but for a guy like me who doesn’t like snails or seafood, I can be a tough patron to please. Fortunately L’étoile solved that problem.
L’étoile is located in Paddington near the Five Ways. It’s a little hard to find as it’s not overly lit up like Vamps and other restaurants near by. However, the atmosphere is perfect for a quite dinner.
I reserved a table, however based on the crowd I don’t think it was necessary. There were no more than 4 or 5 tables out of 20ish that were full at any given point of the night. They also have an outdoor section at the back of the restaurant, but that looked empty too. I assume it was the Friday summer nights that got most of Sydney in bars and after work drinks. Regardless, we had a nice table next to the window with a view of Glenmore road (OK, not so exciting).
The waiters spoke with a strong French accent and were very courteous throughout our dinner. The minute you sit down you feel like everything is taken care of. The menu is simple yet mouth watering. The wine list has a variety of both Australian and French wines, though not as extensive as Tabou. We had a bottle of chenin blanc, beautifully flavoured wine (approx $65 a bottle). My entree was spinach salad with warm goat’s cheese and sliced pear. The bitterness of the cheese and spinach was perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the pear. At the end however, I had hoped for an extra slice or two to sweeten my taste buds. Maia had a twice cooked Moreton bay bug and gruyere soufflé which looked very soft but was advised of its seafood flavour.
We ordered the sautéed lamb rump with beans and garlic confit. However, the kind waiter advised that they have 2 lamb racks from the previous night’s special if we liked. I was up for it!
What I got back was a perfectly cooked lamb rack of 4 cutlets, served with a side of beans. The 4 cutlet rack lamb was sliced in the middle and presented as 2 pieces. It looked quite rare the middle, however once you start to cut through there is only a fine line of rare meat. It was soft, succulent and very flavoursome. The side of beans again perfectly complimented the meat.
All throughout our meal, there was constant attention to have our wine filled and glasses of sparkling water kept up. Good customer service and attention.
Time for dessert, and I went for the apple tatin (see image) and a glass of French dessert wine. A few minutes after we placed our dessert order, we got a glass of what looked liked crushed red ice flakes. The waiter announced them as frozen vanilla vodka and creme de cassis ice which were to help clean our taste buds for dessert. I expected to taste the alcohol within the first teaspoon full, but it tasted like berries. Perfect I thought and my buds were refreshed.
Dessert topped the night off. Nice warm baked slices of apples on top of a pastry that wasn’t fully crisp but still had bite. The syrups and juices were warm enough to just melt the ice cream a little bit. Each spoonful of the tatin reminded me of winter, and each spoon of the ice cream gave a taste of what’s ahead in summer.
Overall, a beautiful night at L’étoile - good service, great food, great wine and a lovely setting. I’m definitely going back!
I have always wanted to do a cooking class of some sort, preferably French - but it was proving difficult to find one (that is reasonably priced).
So Maia and I decided to do an Indian cuisine. Who better than to go to Ajoy Joshi - the man who runs Nilgiris in Crows Nest, North Sydney.
I had heard about Ajoy before we came across Nilgiris. He has several Indian Recipe books under his name as well other restaurants that he opened and sold in Australia.
Classes are held most Saturdays and every month the cuisine is changed. We booked ourselves for the Mughlai style cuisine.
The class started off at 10:30am at the top floor of his restaurant. You get an apron and a couple of pages with a recipe on each page and space for notes.
After we had our name stickers stuck on our apron, Ajoy introduced himself and then pulled out a tray with dry and fresh chillies. He asked to explain the difference (besides the obvious). Now, I’m not going to give away the answer here, because I suggest you go to the class to experience it yourself first hand.
Once we determined the difference, we started off with the cooking. Ajoy clearly stated that no knives would be used - everything was pre-chopped and ready to put into the pan. Saves us from cutting ourselves and suing Ajoy.
We were separated into teams - he also made sure that partners, couples or friends weren’t in the same team. 2 reasons - 1) it’s more productive and 2) as each team does a different dish so that way each person learns a different thing.
Ajoy served us each some Dhal in a cup which was a good start given the the raining morning.
The dishes we were going to learn and prepare (and later eat) were Paneer Makhni, Dahl Makhni, Mughlai Chicken, Lamb Kebabs, Cucumber Relish as well as rice and naan.
During the course of cooking, Ajoy had shown us a couple of quick dishes - like pepper marinated prawns cooked one sided in a wok and then covered to contain the heat and slowly cook to the other side. He also prepared a fish dish in a similar fashion. Unfortunately both being seafood did not appeal to me. Nevertheless, it’s good to know and it was a snack for some during the course of the lesson.
Ajoy explained the concept of each dish - it’s history, why certain ingredients were used and where they come from, the reason and other uses of the various spices and herbs. He also goes on to explain that even though a recipe says “Add 1 teaspoon of chilli” - you don’t just simply follow the recipe, you cook as your taste buds prefer. He said there are 3 rules when cooking -
1) cook for yourself
2) cook for yourself
3) cook for yourself
If you like it, then you know that the people you cook for should like it too. One of Ajoy’s quotes I clearly remember was - “Your eyes eat first, before your mouth”. So, you need to make dishes presentable and appealing for people to want to try it.
One of the things Ajoy doesn’t like - is the over use of oil. In various other cuisines or tv shows you see chefs pour a little olive oil over the prepared dish to add flavour - Ajoy doesn’t think so. He says that oil makes the dish heavier and hides the true flavours of the dishes. If you cook meat, the oil and fat comes out - after you leave it to rest, you scrape off the floating oil and discard it.
Overall this was a truly enjoyable experience. I will definitely be doing it again!
I urge you to try Ajoy’s classes - it’s $110 per person and goes from 10:30am to 3:00pm. You learn, you cook and then you eat. Ajoy as his name says it is a man who is full of joy and has this passion to educate people about Indian style cooking. I rate it 10/10!
This is a review of a Mexican restaurant, Cafe Pacifico, tucked away in Darlinghurst’s Riley Street and which has a different vibe compared to other restaurants around, like Verde.
First off, the setting. You build up your appetite as you climb up a flight of stairs only to the smell of fresh nachos and cooked meat. The restaurant (with an added pub feeling), has a good capacity of seating, and it works well for functions.
You can rock up to the bar to order your drink or get a waiter to do the walking for you.
I made the mistake of ordering a couple of cocktails at the bar. I was told to wait back at my table for 5 minutes and to then return back. I returned after 5 minutes and the bar lady smacked her palm on her forehead. Great! “Another 5 minutes!” she said as she rushed to make them - this time I waited at the bar. Strike 1!
Back at the table, and it took pretty much 20 mins before we got the waiter’s attention to order our meal. When he turned up, it seemed like it was his last day in his job, because he just looked at each of us as to what we wanted, looked back at his pad - scribbled and looked at the next person - barely uttered a word. Strike 2!
We ordered a plate of nachos to share and I ordered a meal plate which included 2 chicken enchiladas served with Mexican rice and a sort of a lamb curry.
The nachos turned up and it was alright - nothing amazing about it. Second cocktail turned up and still no mains. It took at least 25-30 mins after we finished our nachos before we could get our mains.
When I had the mains put in front of me - my first thought was - “Damn this is big!”, it explains the time taken to prepare it. The enchiladas were great - but the lamb curry was pretty damn spicy. I like hot food - but this needed a glass of water after chewing a dice of lamb.
I’m not sure if the staff were deaf and blind, but getting their attention for more water and clean cutlery was impossible!
Overall, this place is great of a big occasion or when you have a big group - because you get so caught up in the time with other people around you that you almost forget the time taken for your food or the service you get overall.
Taste of the food is good, but not so much in terms of value for money. My Mojito cocktail was probably the highlight of the night - even though it took 10 mins!
Atmosphere - 7/10
Food - 7/10
Wine/Cocktails - 7/10
Staff - 5/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
http://www.cafepacifico.com.au/
P.S. They only have 1 testimonial - http://www.cafepacifico.com.au/index.php?s=testimonials
This review is based on my third visit to Verde - a fantastic restaurant that we tumbled upon earlier this year.
This Italian restaurant is perfectly situated on the corner or Riley and Stanley streets in Darlinghurst, Sydney. While there are other restaurants around, they don’t seem to come close to the quality of Verde.
Inside, you have a split level setup with a bar and lounge on top with a good, but not too busy, seating capacity below.
The staff are very friendly and given the size of the restaurant have a good eye for detail to make sure you’re comfortable and well attended to.
We had been to their cocktail bar in both our previous visits, and their selection is well worthy to have a night for just drinks itself. Get friendly with the cocktail maker, and ask if he can treat you to a special taste that you have in mind.
The wine list at the restaurant is exceptional too. What I love was that the waitress actually asked if we needed help. Based on what we were planning to eat or felt like drinking, she could make a good suggestion. I decided to ask for help - I felt like a sweet wine, and she suggested an Italian variety - it was just what I needed. The lady knew her wine.
You get served a bread roll each while you wait for your food to turn up - but its not a bread worth talking about, so I’ll skip this part.
To start off with, I had the Truffle Infused Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with Sage butter. Each bite had so much flavour of the cheese and sage butter with the right al dante cooked tortellini. The cheese wasn’t too strong or overpowering, and neither was the truffle oil. There were a few fried sage leaves which added some crispiness to the tortellini.
Mains was a challenge - a Sweet Bungalow Pork Loin, Soft Polenta and Honey Glazed Pear. The presentation was perfect. The pork sat on a bed of mashed polenta with the pear on the side, and a strip of a pork crackling lay on top over the pork and pear. That wasn’t what I was expecting and hence, a surprise to the dish. After munching on my pork crackling, I picked up my cutlery and it was time to tear into the pork. This has to be one of the best pork loins I have ever had. You have a contrast of tasting a bite of meat with either a savoury side with the polenta or the sweet side with the pear. We also ordered a side of their mixed salad that took the edge of the meaty dish when you wanted to bite on some leaves - but my attention span couldn’t deviate me from the pork.
With a good amount of effort and a appetite to match, I was able to complete my main. However, this left no room for dessert.
Bear in mind, in my past experiences at Verde, the desserts haven’t blown me away compared to the entree and mains. But I was half tempted by the special cheese & fruit plate.
On the money side of things, Verde isn’t your cheap meal. Be prepared to fork out up to $20 for entree and unto $35 for mains. Alternatively, you can request a degustation menu for $110 or $160 with wine.
What you do pay for is quality of food, good ambience, great staff and an overall experience. Verde is one restaurant, that I will always return to for a special occasion.
Oh, and I recommend you make a booking in advance. But on the plus side, if you just turn up you could be waiting in their upstairs cocktail lounge until your table is ready. It’s a win win situation.
