Elsja Down Under

101 Countdown December 25, 2010

Only a few more days until my 101 in 1001 comes to a close. I can’t believe it’s been nearly 1001 days since I first created the list. While I may not have achieved them all, there are definitely many that I am really proud of. To wrap up a few of the remaining items, I’m posting my 101 Christmas edition. To be fair, these hardly have much to do with Christmas but since I’m posting on Christmas eve, I have decided it will be a Christmas edition.

#86 - Try 20 new restaurants and blog about them. Well, technically I tried many more than 20 since 2008, but this blog will include my 20th actual review so I can finally cross this item off the list!!

North Bondi Italian (RSL)

We went to this little gem for our work Christmas lunch the other day and I was really pleased. Rather than posting my normal type of review, I’m just going to post the things I liked about this place.

Its got a great indoor/outdoor/bar/restaurant vibe so you can really go there for any occasion. We got there early but since they don’t take bookings, we had to wait about an hour for a table but we just hung out on the patio with some champagne, peanuts and appetizers overlooking the ocean. We ordered refreshing vodka lemon lime and bitters and they went down WAY too easily. We had these amazing deep fried risotto balls and a ricotta basket to start and they were so tasty; TOTALLY overpriced but the risotto balls were to die for. For mains I ordered a ricotta, basil and tomato pasta. It was definitely good but a few of my coworkers had the lasagna and I was having a bit of order envy. Great food, great wine, great views and great company made for a fun afternoon by the beach. It was a perfect way to start the holiday break.

#81 -Learn to make Swedish pancakes from my mom. My mom has been making Swedish pancakes my entire life and never have I taken the opportunity to learn how to make them myself. Well today is the day. I just flew in on Christmas eve and it’s tradition for my mom to make the pancakes today so we can wake up and eat them for breakfast on Chrsistmas morning. She’s just out buying flour but when she returns, Pancakes 101 shall begin.

#28- Donate blood- two weeks ago on the way to work I stopped off at a blood bank to donate. I was a bit scared because the first and only time I ever donated blood was back in college and I had a horrible experience. My blood pressure dropped and I almost passed out and threw up. Luckily, this time I was ok even though they could only get 1/2 of a donation. So I suppose I might save 1.5 lives instead of 3. Still better than nothing!

#29 – Donate to 3 charities per yer. Here are some of the charities I’ve donated to since 2008

• Pancan (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Movember (2008, 2010)
• American Cancer Society (2008, 2009)
• Humane Society (2009)
• Caringbridge (2010)
• Susan Komen (2010)
• Jimmy Walk Fund (2010)

My mom is back with the flour so I’m off to learn techniques in making Swedish pancakes. I wish you all a Merry Merry Christmas!!

Cafe Pacifico November 22, 2010

Since before I even moved to Australia, I’ve been hearing about Cafe Pacifico. For some reason I had never been there the entire 3 years I’ve lived in Sydney. That all changed on Wednesday when I headed there after work with all of my colleagues. I was very excited to discover that this place is only a 5 minute walk from my office, sweet! I was very curious- would it live up to the hype AND would it taste better than Baja Cantina? Let’s find out, shall we?

Decor/Setting: 8: It definitely fits the Mexican theme, that’s for sure. The place is decorated with old boxes of beer and tequila and I was just waiting for some short Mexican guys to come out of the woodwork with whistles and tequila shots and start flipping people upside down. It’s pretty loud as well so it’s definitely not the place for a romantic night out.

Value: 5: The value at any Mexican restaurant in Sydney is pretty crap, but this place seemed even more over priced than the others. A jug of Sangria was almost $30 bucks and didn’t seem that strong. I got a jug at Bungalow 8 last week for $15. Maybe it was bigger than it appeared but $30 just seemed like a lot. The quacamole that was ordered seemed tiny for the price as well. I know avocados are expensive, but seriously- I could make 6 times the amount at home for the same price they paid the other night. I shared fajitas with my boss because I wasn’t starving. They were expensive, as fajitas always are,  but they actually came with enough for us to each have two decent sized fajitas each. I was glad I didn’t get my own.

Service: 7 – It wasn’t anything stellar but it wasn’t horrible either. I’m rating it a bit lower because we struggled to get the server’s attention whenever we wanted more drinks.

Taste: 8- The guacamole was good… maybe not as good as mine, but good. Sangria was pretty good but again, not as good as mine. The Fajitas were great! I actually liked them better than Baja Cantina’s! They only downfall is that they didn’t come with cheese (BC’s do) and they only had pinto beans, not black beans. A co-worker got chicken quesadillas and they looked very appetizing so maybe I’d try those next time.

Overall I thought the food was really good. I can’t knock the cost because Mexican is just expensive here, period.  It’s a great atmosphere for parties or special occasions so I’m definitely looking forward to going back at some point and getting tipsy on some overpriced sangria!

Mad Pizza November 20, 2010

Since I started working in Darlinghurst I’ve had the chance to try a few new restaurants; therefore, I shall blog.

Mad Pizza

I went here with some girl friends last week after work. I can happily say “I’d go back” because I actually already did. A few days ago some colleagues were heading there for lunch and I tagged along. So my review is based on both of my visits.

Decor/Setting: 7: I think the place is definitely cute. Not ultra comfortable because they use little benches instead of chairs, but not bad either. I like that you can order at the bar and pay separately before your food comes so that you can just get up and go whenever you’re finished. I also like the paper tablecloths and crayons on each table. Drawing while you chat definitely kills the time while waiting for your food.

Value: 8: The first night I got a pasta which was comparably priced to most Italian places I go to, but the serving size seemed a little bigger than normal. We also ordered REALLY good parmesan bread and we got 4 huge pieces for 8 bucks. I definitely thought it was well worth it. You can order jugs of wine instead of whole bottles which is pretty cool. You don’t really get any sort of discount by doing so but for some reason I felt better ordering one jug rather than 3 glasses.   The second time I went I got an individual pizza and salad for 10 bucks. That was definitely good value considering I paid $9.90 for a crappy pre-made sandwich two days later.

Service: 7 – The first night service was pretty quick, but for lunch I feel like we had to wait forever for our food and then we had to rush to eat it. Both times everyone was pretty nice.

Taste: 8- My pasta was really good and my pizza was decent. I ordered a pasta with cream sauce but I asked for red sauce instead. Rather than replacing the cream sauce, they just added the red to make a pink sauce. Although I was bummed about the fat content, it very really delicious! The pizza was good- SUPER thin crust and not soggy at all, but the chicken on the pizza was VERY bland. The sauce and toppings were good but the bland chicken actually made the deliciousness factor go down. I’d probably get a vegetarian one next time.

So there’s one review for you. I’m sure I’ll have many more in the upcoming months. I feel like I’ve discovered a whole new world of food and bars by making the trek over the harbour for work each day. It’s pretty exciting!

Two New Sydney Restaurant Reviews October 3, 2010

For your reading (and perhaps dining) pleasure, I present you with two new restaurant reviews.

1. Ripples, Chowder Bay

We headed to Ripples a few weeks back to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Ben. I had a great night and really enjoyed the food. Here are my thoughts on the place.

Decor/Setting: 8: I just love the area! It’s not an easy restaurant to find, but that’s what makes it unique. We sat in the outdoor section but it was enclosed in clear plastic and there were heaters to keep us warm which was definitely a nice touch. The seats were comfortable, the lighting set the mood. I think it would be a nice little romantic date place.

Value: 7:  While the food is overpriced, you sort of understand why when you have a look at the view and your surroundings. The food is also really good… well, mine was. Andrew thought his lamb was just ok. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that Ripples is BYO! Who would have guessed that a higher class restaurant would allow you to bring your own wine?? Just that alone made the meal much more affordable. All in all, we got some bread and dips for the table to share, we each got a main AND a dessert and it was $50 bucks each. We actually expected it to be a lot more than that so I suppose it wasn’t bad for a special night out. Don’t get Andrew started on the parking situation though… paying heaps to park for dinner is no bueno.

Service: ?? – I was drinking wine, so I was in no great rush. I don’t really remember the service been bad at all so it must have been decent enough.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I’ve always heard about pumpkin ravioli with burnt butter and sage. I had NO idea if I’d like it but I do like pumpkin and butter… so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was really good and I’m now sold on this well-known flavor combination. We ALL got a dessert and my heavenly coconut macaron tower was rated by some of our friends as the best dessert of the night (I have to agree).

Would I go back? Yes, but only for a special occasion.

2. Lee’s Fortuna Court

A few nights ago, we headed to this little Chinese place in Crows Nest to celebrate Stu’s birthday. How happy am I that all these birthdays give me a perfect reason to try new restaurants?? Here’s what I thought of it.

Decor/Setting: 4 It wasn’t hideous, but it wasn’t nice. The tables are pretty decent with the convenient lazy susan in the middle but the decor mainly consisted of signed photos of sports stars, not really my thing.

Value: 5 – to be honest, this was some pricey Chinese. Granted it wasn’t BYO, but we ended up spending more per person here than we did at Ripples and the two restaurants are worlds apart in terms of class and setting so I definitely wouldn’t have expected this to be more expensive.

Service: 9 – Here’s where they win out!! This is some of the best service I’ve seen in this country. I ordered a bottle of wine and the server poured a tiny bit and asked if I would like to taste it. I was a bit shocked since that’s not the type of service you see often at Chinese. The servers were very attentive with water and drinks and they brought out a free ice cream cake for Stu’s birthday. This was not just a little individual cake for him- no, this was a cake for the whole table! The only reason I didn’t give it a 10 is because they seemed to get confused when taking our order and brought out an extra dish that we did not want (but that was probably our fault anyways).

Taste: 7- The food was good. It is nothing I’d crave (like my Pei Wei cravings from back in CA), but it was good. The best thing was that they actually had a chicken breast dish! I went in there thinking I’d have to order vegetarian because I assumed they would not serve white meat chicken. I was very happy to find out they did and my white meat cashew nut chicken was pretty good!

All in all it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had but it’s definitely good. The prices seem really high but the service was quality enough to match the prices so I guess it all evened out in the end. I probably wouldn’t go back unless it was for an event but that has nothing to do with the restaurant, it’s simply because I like Thai food way better than Chinese.

Eno Pizzeria June 11, 2010

If you weren’t already aware, Neutral Bay has been opening up lots of new snazzy, delicious restaurants lately. First it was Firefly awhile back and lately on Grosvenor Street, more and more cool new spots have been appearing. Last night we tried one of these new places. It’s called Eno Pizzeria. It’s only been open five or six weeks and it was PACKED. We couldn’t even get a reservation until 9pm. Obviously word spreads quickly when a great new restaurant comes to town.

Decor: 7.5- 8:  The atmosphere is great. Blackboards with white chalk, wine bottles on display, marble top tables, romantic mood lighting. It definitely is appealing to the eye. The only reason I gave it a bit lower score is because we had so sit on stools with tiny little seats (ok, fine) but there was no foot rest on the stool or under the high marble bar style table that we sat at. I’m not that tall, so I had to sit on the very edge of the stool to allow my feet to sit flat on the floor. It just made it a tad uncomfortable. If I were any shorter, I would have been suffering. They do have regular tables, so I’d like to get one of those next time.

Value: 6-7:  It was pretty pricy but not too bad when we added it all up. Pizzas range from about 22-28 bucks from memory. Pasta and main dishes were $20+. I think the prices were quite comparable to the Fourth Village place I tried a few months ago. Pizzas were a good size for the price (since they are gourmet), but my pasta was pretty small. Honestly, if I was just eating the pasta (which was about $24 bucks) I would not have been full at all. Luckily I shared some pizza as well. With our meals (including pizza and pasta) and including beers and a bottle of wine, we ended up spending about $35 each.

Service: 8.5-9– The girl who took our order didn’t write the orders down which seemed classy; however, she messed up one of the dishes. She immediately came out and apologized and admitted fault right away. She then asked if we wanted to eat the incorrect pizza that she brought out becuase otherwise it would just go to waste. So we got another pizza for free! Luckily for me, it was the exact pizza I wanted to order if I didn’t get my pasta. Sweet!! The correct order was brought out fairly quickly so we didn’t have to sit waiting for too long.  Things we asked for were brought out promptly and our water was refilled (although probably not as often as I needed with all the chili oil I was eating). Definitely up there holding a spot as a place with some of the best service I’ve seen in Sydney.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I got gnocchi with a basil and tomato sauce with smoked mozzarella. Smoked mozarella has quickly become a favorite ingredient and I find myself wanting to order a dish simply because of that!  The only problem with the pasta is that there wasn’t nearly enough of it!! I wanted more. The pizza I tried was also really good, it was gourmet but not too funky.

I recommend this as a nice date place or for a great night out with friends. It’s probably not somewhere I’d go for a simple Tuesday night dinner. It’s just a little too nice for that. Oh and just FYI- it’s not BYO but it looks like they have a great selection of wines to choose from.

On our way out we spotted another new place called Blue Plate Bar & Grill. I checked out the menu and became very excited when I realized that this was clearly an American style restaurant. I just did a little search and it turns out that the owners of South have opened a new restaurant in Neutral Bay. We definitely want to check that out next!

Okay Neutral Bay… keep the great new restaurants coming!!!

Burnt Orange May 14, 2010

Andrew and I ventured out on Monday morning to enjoy “morning tea.” There is a newish restaurant down at Middle Head called Burnt Orange. Evidently it’s been open since September but we only just discovered it. Middle Head is one of Andrew’s favorite places to hang out when he goes for bike rides and it just so happens it is also where he proposed. So when he suggested that we should walk down there to get some tea, it sounded like a great idea. When we walked up, I immediately fell in love with the place. It was so cute! It’s like an old country home straight out of the Hamptons. The huge wrap around deck is adorned with cute little painted table and chairs. Inside, there is this awesome shop full of SO much adorable stuff. From homemade jams and wines to cook books to sweet homemade sock toys for kids; it is the perfect place to find any gift whether it be for a new baby, a bridal shower or a housewarming . With that said, most of the gifts are ridiculously overpriced, but it’s all very fun to look at. I could spend hours in there browsing around. Luckily for Andrew I only spent about 15 minutes.

So here it is… my first “non-dinner” review:

Decor: 10- With all of the cute little details I already mentioned, paired with a beautiful view of the harbour- how could it get any nicer? It’s one of the cutest cafes I’ve seen in Sydney. It was a nice change from the typical modern metal and plastic furniture you see in most casual cafes around here. The ambiance of the location, decor and overall atmosphere was very pleasant.

Value: 8- While I will always preface this with “compared to other places in Sydney” – I have to say, this was quite reasonable. I don’t go out for breakfast much since it’s not one of my favorite meals but when we do go for breakfast, we usually head down to Bottom of the Harbour at Balmoral. While Bottom of the Harbour has great views of the ocean, it also has a lot of traffic and pedestrians passing by constantly; plus, the service there isn’t that great. Anyway… my point is that B.O.T.H. charges more for many of the same items we saw at Burnt Orange and Burnt Orange has a great view as well and it’s more quiet and peaceful. With all that said, I didn’t order much at B.O. and the lunch did look at bit more pricey. I’d have to try more food there to see if it’s really as good of a value as I think it is based on my first experience.

Taste: 7- I only ordered a scone, but it was a delicious sun dried tomato and cheese scone with cream cheese on top. Yum. I ordered that with an Earl Grey tea and Andrew got a fruit salad with yogurt and a flat white coffee. For what we ordered, I don’t have too many complaints. I think my scone had great flavor, but could have been a little moister- it was a tad bit hard and dry on the bottom. Andrew liked his fruit but not his coffee. He has since been back and reported that his eggs and toast were good… so we’re pretty much 2 for 2.

Service: 7- They were really nice and didn’t charge Andrew for adding honey to his fruit salad. When I asked for my scone to be heated, they happily obliged.  I wouldn’t say it was the most fantastic service but I personally think it is WAY better than at Bottom of the Harbour.

I definitely look forward to going back. This place actually makes me want to go out for breakfast and I never want to do that! It also makes me want to shop and buy tons of cute things to decorate my house and give as gifts. Oh how I wish I had millions of dollars just lying around to waste.

Italian Kick May 4, 2010

I feel like I’ve been eating so much Italian lately. All my new restaurant reviews in recent weeks have been at Italian places. Last night I made homemade pizzas and this week I will be making homemade stuffed cannelloni. Yes, I’m on an Italian kick.   So here are two more restaurant reviews, Italian style.

Caesar’s Pizza Palace- Lane Cove

Andrew and I ventured out of our comfort zone the other night and ate dinner in Lane Cove. We stopped there on the way home from his dad’s house. We walked up and down the street looking for somewhere to eat. There was a Persian place that looked great but it was a $45 set menu so we quickly passed on that one. We ended up at a little Italian place called Caesar’s. Here’s what I thought about it:

Decor: 3- It was more like a takeaway place, so it wasn’t meant to be fancy- but they could have done a bit more with the place.  I’m not a fan of paper posters put into frames. Just buy some art or paint something.

Value: 7.5- We got a haloumi salad which was a little expensive at $12 but the pasta and pizza we got were a little cheaper than most places we’ve been lately.

Service: 8- I can’t really say anything bad about the service, but it wasn’t phenomenal either.

Taste: 5- My pizza was average. Not good, not horrible, just very average. The base was a bit dry and there was hardly enough sauce or toppings. I definitely make better pizza. The haloumi salad we got was so so. There was some weird lemony gunk on the cheese- it tasted good but we couldn’t figure out what it was. Andrew said his spaghetti and meatballs got better as he ate it.

Da Valentino – Crows Nest

Sunday night we met up with John and Kalee for a nice little dinner catch up. We met in Crows Nest and were debating on a few Italian places until we finally decided to try something new. We ended up at Da Valentino.

Decor: 6- We were outdoors, and the little area we were in was decent, but not the type of place I’d walk by and think “Aww that place is cute, let’s go there.” John so kindly pointed out the fumes from the buses that passed us by and that definitely took away from the ambiance. I didn’t see the inside so I can’t really speak for that decor.

Value: 8.5- Compared to other restaurants we’ve been to lately, I thought the portion sizes were really big for the price we paid.

Service: 6 – I asked if I could add chicken to my pasta and without even hesitating, the waiter said “No!” That’s all, not “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that,” which P.S.- why CAN’T they anyways? So yeah… that was annoying. Also I asked for chili flakes and he brought chili oil and just put it down in front of me with no explanation. I didn’t want oil, but whatever. Then later he came and stated that they don’t have flakes, but that the oil is much better. He then overcharged us for a salad that Andrew ordered, but was quick to fix it when that was pointed out. The waiter wasn’t very good. He was just sort of abrupt and not really friendly- but our food came quickly so it wasn’t too horrible.

Taste: 6 - The garlic bread was crap. Most normal people could make much better garlic bread at home. The 99 cent woolies garlic bread we buy is ten times better than the hard, dry rolls they gave us. My penne arrabiata was really good, the sauce had lots of texture and was very flavorful.  Andrew was impressed with how many prawns came in his chicken and prawn dish. John said his food was good, but he wouldn’t order it again. Honestly, this would have received a higher rating if they had better bread. I think an Italian place should offer decent garlic bread.

Overall… we probably won’t be back to either of these places. They were fine, but there are too many other Italian places around that are much better.

Peter Pan’s Italian April 27, 2010

I’ll get straight to the point… here’s my review of Peter Pan’s in Crows Nest. Just another new (to me) restaurant that we tried last night with our good friends Helen and Hamish.

Decor: 2- The tables were fine, but the decor was pretty plain. White walls, sports posters mixed with small art prints. Pretty hideous actually. It was clean though, I’ll give them that much.

Value: 8- Definitely much better value than the last Italian place I reviewed. I think my pasta was about 18 bucks but it was really big- I couldn’t eat it all, which says a lot. The garlic pizza bread was $11 for a large basket but there was plenty for us to each have several pieces. It was a refreshing surprise after usually feeling gypped by most restaurants in the area.

Service: 7.5- While they did forget a few things, they were right on top of it when we asked them again. They checked on us frequently and were very friendly.

Taste: 7- I really liked the food. I got a ricotta ravioli in a pink sauce. The sauce was a LITTLE too creamy for me (I would have liked a little more red and a little less white in the blend) but it was still nice. Andrew got a rocket salad which I had a bite of and it was quite enjoyable as well.

I definitely recommend giving Peter Pan’s a try. It wasn’t my all time favorite Italian in the area (I still think Red Zucchini wins for that one) but it was definitely good value with friendly service.

Fourth Village Providore April 23, 2010

Last week I made it out to a new (to me) restaurant with my friend Katie.  FourthVillage Providoreis a restaurant/market in Mosman across from Fitness First. I used to love going to the market there to buy all my veggies for dinner after working out at the gym. They have loads of wonderful fresh produce and a wall full of homemade jams, jellies, oils and sauces. They even have a walk-in fromage room. A whole room full of cheese… it’s like my dream come true. On top of all of this, they have a restaurant in the back. They are only open for dinner from Thursday through Sunday and their menu changes on a regular basis. I had heard that it was really good from a few friends so when I was trying to think of somewhere new to go, it popped into my mind.

So here’s what I thought:

Decor: 7- Nothing stood out as exceptionally cute or tacky. I do like the quaint feel of the restaurant matched with the lively atmosphere that the guests bring. It feels like a restaurant in Italy, many of the servers are Italian and  I love that I’m just right out the back of the produce market. Definitely a cute little place.

Value: 7- For Italian, this was definitely more pricey than other places we’ve been; however, it was probably fresher and more authentic. Pizzas were $22-25 which isn’t CRAZY considering the takeaway pizza shop downstairs costs $22. Plus, the pizza was huge by Australian standards. My pasta was $25 though and while it was a decent sized portion, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten a bigger portion at Macaroni Grill for $8.99. Again, this was fresh and authentic and it totally has that homemade feel and quality. Definitely isn’t cheap- but for a special night out- it’s worth it.

Service: 7- For once in my life, I’m going to say the service was a little TOO over the top. I waited about 15 minutes for my friend to get there and while I was waiting they kept coming over to me to ask if I needed anything or wanted to order drinks. I just wanted to say “come back when you see another person sitting here.” Then when Katie was looking at the menu, they must have come over 4-5 times (every 1-2 minutes) to ask if we were ready (and we weren’t). In their defence, it was a different person each time, but it just was a little overbearing. Additionally, I asked for my salad to come out as an entree and then my pasta after that- but all of the food came together. Lastly, the bill came out VERY quickly. Normally I complain that it’s hard to get the staff to bring the bill, but this time we didn’t have to ask. We just felt a bit rushed. Everyone was REALLY nice and overall the service wasn’t bad, it just was a little overbearing. Even with my minor complaints, I’d still pick this service over most service in Australia.

Taste: 7-8- I got a spinach and ricotta ravioli with smoked ricotta on top and it was great! The smoked ricotta was really interesting but really tasty. It was fresh and light I really enjoyed it. I had a bite of Katie’s pizza and it was really good as well. Her pizza had a white base with mozzarella, rocket, fresh tomatoes, parmesan and balsamic. Wow it was yummy. The only reason I’m giving the food a slightly lower score is because of the salad. I got a green salad with a special homemade dressing. Honestly, it just tasted like a$7 bowl full of greens with balsamic vinegar. I didn’t see anything special in the dressing and there was not one vegetable other than the greens. I was not a fan.

I definitely recommend 4th village for a special night out.  It certainly was yummy enough for me to want to go back. I can’t see going there again on a random night though, simply because I typically don’t like spending $35 on dinners for no reason. I’d love to go back one night to see what other options come up on the menu. They do takeaway pizzas as well so maybe one day I’ll just HAVE to get one of those.

Fat Monk December 23, 2009

We tried a new restaurant this week. It was so good that we had it again, 2 days later.

Fat Monk is a Thai/Asian restaurant in Cremorne. We decided to try it out on Monday with our friends Mike and Hayley and tonight when our other friends felt like Asian food, we suggested that we go back there.

I’ll get straight to the point:

Decor: 10 – Super cool decor. A combination of cow hide ottoman cushions, raw wood walls, funky paintings of Buddha and an awesome wrought iron chandelier with red shades somehowall really goes together. It’s super funky and it has total character. You would think a place like this would be totally overpriced and trendy- but that’s not the case at all! Even the servers wear cute little Asian outfits. Super cool!

Value:  7-8-  It’s not the cheapest Thai we’ve had but it’s not the most expensive either. I’d say the rice is a little overpriced at $3 for a little bowl, but other than that, everything is pretty comparable to other Thai in the area.

Service: 10- I’m going to make a bold statement and say it’s the best service I’ve had in Australia. They don’t put jugs of water on the table, they actually come around and refill your glasses. You never have to ask for more water either! When the glass is getting empty, they magically appear to fill it for you. They even came around to refill our wine glasses and  the food comes out really quickly too.

Taste: 9- While I still think Thai Intra might be my all time favorite Thai food, I would go as far as saying that this is probably my second favorite so far. It’s not oily like some other places we’ve had. The dishes had tons of fresh veggies and the chicken is super delish. It’s great!! We’ve been twice now in one week, I think that says a lot right there.

As an added bonus, we can walk there from our house. It’s a bit of an uphill trek, but it’s close enough to walk so we can at least burn off 1/18th of what we are eating.

I definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.

Al Mustafa August 22, 2009

Yet another delish restaurant to review! YAY

The other night Andrew and I were meeting a couple of his friends for dinner in Glebe. They said they didn’t want Mexican (Baja Cantina) and asked if we had any other ideas. I quickly suggested Al Mustafa. I had been there once before, but never did a review back then. Even though the first time I went, they took about 20 minutes to bring my chicken kabobs… and by 20 minutes, I mean 20 minutes after everyone else already got their food- it was still so yummy that I’ve always wanted to go back.

This time was even better. We went on a Wednesday so it was a little quieter which was nice. I mean, the atmosphere on a weekend is great because they have music and belly dancers and the who shabang… but on a Wednesday, you don’t really need all that. They didn’t offer alcohol so we had to BYO- and they didn’t even charge us corkage! Woohoo

We ordered the Cushion Lounge banquet and it was sooo damn good. There were only a few little things on the huge banquet menu that I didn’t like, and when I asked to exchange them for chicken, they happily met my request. A HUGE plus for any restaurant in Sydney!!

The food was great. Service was pretty prompt. Overall it was a really good night. My only complaint is that I stuffed myself so much that the next morning I was STILL full and could STILL taste garlic  in my mouth. It was gross and I really felt the need to vomit- but I survived!

So here you go… here’s my super official review…

Decor: 6 – Nothing stands out as being really cute or anything… in fact I can’t even remember the decor much at all but I do  remember these hideous flowery glasses that they put on our table and some of the tablecloths were pretty ugly. So yeah, not the nicest thing I’ve ever seen, but they do have some cool hookahs lying around which add to the atmosphere.

Value:  7- Well, while we did spend $45 each- which is  a lot… we got TONS of food. We could have paid less if we wanted to order less! When we ran out of bread for our dips, they brought us more at no charge. They didn’t charge corkage and they give you free baklava and coffee with the banquet meal. I have to say- for a Sydney restaurant- the value to me was quite good.

Service: 8- There were a few times I would have liked more water, but for the most part, everything came out very quickly and we didn’t need to ask for much. Plus, they let me substitute chicken for lamb- substitutions are pretty unheard of when you order the banquet menus, so I was really appreciative of that!

Taste: 9- This food is pretty damn good. The hummus and tzatziki dips are a little too good which usually leads to filling up on those before the “real” food comes out. They had these coriander/cilantro potatoes that I tried for the first time back in CA- and they are wonderful. The chicken kabobs were great, these interesting green beans were pretty good and I even liked the falafel, which I usually am not a huge fan of. The fact that I woke up the next morning and I was STILL full really says something about how appetizing this place is.

I think we are planning to go back in September for a celebratory engagement dinner with Andrew’s family. I can’t wait!

High Class and Low Class Bars July 12, 2009

Saturday night Andrew, Kris, Tess and I enjoyed a few hours in a cool wine bar near our house- Firefly. I had been wanting to go there for dinner for awhile and we finally made it! So here is a quick little review in case any of you are interested:

The wine was good (also pretty expensive… but I guess it IS a wine bar). We got 3 bottles- a special pinot noir (not on the menu so I can’t remember what it was called), a 2006 Whitebox shiraz/viognier and a Bethany 2006 cab/merlot blend. I have to say the cab/merlot was my favorite. The pinot was a little woody and rough for me.

We ordered the zucchini frites (highly recommended), a mediterranean dip plate that had this wonderful pumpkin and pine nut dip… yum!, chicken chorizo, margherita pizza and lamb skewers. I ate everything except the lamb and it was all really good! It doesn’t seem a like enough food between 4 people but since it’s tapas you can just keep ordering more as the night goes on- plus the 3 bottles of wine really fill you up

Decor: 9 – I really love this decor. The layout, furniture, wall of wine, barrels and lighting is just classy and comfortable and they had nice music playing all night too.

Value: 6 – It was about $270 for the 4 of us. When you think about the fact that we only got some dip, pizza and other little finger foods- that’s pretty excessive. It could be that the wine alone was probably $150 for the 3 bottles though. It’s definitely a “special occasion” place. Not somewhere I could afford to go on a weekly basis!

Service: 9 – I’d say nothing was lacking with the service. They were quick and friendly and gave good recommendations on food and wine. I’m not giving a 10 because I had to wait a LITTLE too long to get some chili flakes

Taste: 7 – it was really good, but not the most spectacular food I’ve ever eaten. Although those zucchini frites do tempt me to give a higher score

***

After a nice dinner we went to a super ghetto, creepy bar in Neutral Bay. The median age of the crowd was about 55-60 years old. I particularly liked the 60-65 year old woman with long bleach blond hair and True Religion jeans.

The bartenders scoop ice out of a cooler/esky and there are no fountains for the soda… it comes out of 2 liter bottles. SO sketchy!! But they had karaoke which made it pretty fun. The song choices were limited (mostly geared towards the 50-60 year old crowds) but I decided to sing a song. I chose “Son of a Preacher Man” pretty much because it was the only song I could find that I’ve done karaoke to in the past. Usually it was always as backup for Shannon (who CAN actually sing). Well, they were taking forever so I decided to go tell the guy that we were leaving and he could cancel my song. I walked up there and first decided to just ask how much longer it would be (I knew it would be awhile because I put in the request about 15 minutes after Tess and she JUST had her turn).

Sooo annnyways… When I asked how much longer the guy just looked at me and said “Do you want to go next?” I was a little caught off guard, but said sure. I was NOT prepared to go right at that moment… I just figured I’d miss out that night since we were about to leave. About 2 seconds later the music started and I just gave it my all.

Evidently Andrew said to Kris “this girl is good” and Kris had to tell him it was me- Andrew had no clue!!  So I guess that means I wasn’t half bad. That was the first time in my life I’ve ever sang a solo karaoke song- I’ve ALWAYS done it with friends…. so I was pretty proud of myself that I got up there and went for it

Missing Australia June 22, 2009

I’m definitely happy to be home, and I’m loving spending time with my friends and family- but there a a few things I am missing.

1. Andrew. Feels like I haven’t seen him in forever and it’s only been 5 days! I still have almost 2 weeks before I see him again.

2. TV that doesn’t include the Tru TV station. Don’t get me wrong- I truly enjoy the vast variety of stations here and I’ve been excited to flip through them all over the last few weeks- but why is it that everyone here (i.e. my dad and brother-in-law) ONLY want to watch Tru TV??? I just would like to say that is the worst TV station EVER! “Tru TV, not reality, Actuality.” I’d like to change the slogan to “Tru TV, not reality, just plain SHIT.” Operation Repo is satan’s latest crap contribution to cable TV and I do NOT understand how ANY civilized human being can enjoy that show. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed my fair share of reality shows and pointless TV in the past- but this show has to take the top prize for the worst thing on air. I cannot believe those fat, ghetto, painted-eyebrow scum are probably making WAY more money than me. Why did I go to school again?

For those of you who may not have been blessed enough to see this show yet… here is one of the cast members:

 

I think I liked her better in her first movie, The Little mermaid:

 

3. Yoga. I haven’t been in weeks!! Oooh how I miss it. Sure I could go here, but that would involve paying money- and I don’t like paying money for classes. I’d rather vacuum and wash mirrors for free classes! Then I can spend money on other non-essential items like Ugg boots, giant packs of orbitz gum, grape vodka and a pocket pie maker.

That’s all really. I’m happy with everything else here… the weather (finally), the comfy guest bed I’m sleeping in, they gym (for some unknown reason I find the gym here MUCH more tolerable than the one at home), Pei Wei, Panera, cheap brewed ice tea at every restaurant I go to, free refills!!! I just want Andrew back here. Either that or I want bring 3 months worth of Strawberry Poppy seed salad home with me and then just fast forward a few months so I can skip the Sydney winter all together. Oh and if they could open a Pei Wei or Panera in Sydney, that would be awesome. It’s not a far fetched dream- they did after all open up a Counter Burger.

A Taste of India May 24, 2009

Andrew and I joined a few of his friends on Friday night at an Indian restaurant in Crows Nest called Cumin. I was very skeptical to try this place since most of my experiences with Indian food had been quite bad. I’d go as far as saying that before I came to this place, I just flat out did not like Indian food. Well, that has changed. This place made me realize that not all Indian HAS to taste the same and be super oily and heavy. In fact, it reminded me more of Radio Cairo, which I blogged about previously. Our table got an array of things from the Beef Vindaloo and Chicken Murg Madrass to the vegetarian Cholay Masala and Palek Paneer.  I only ate the vegetarian dishes, and they were definitely tasty. The Cholay Masala was a typical chickpea curry thing but it was better than some I’ve had because it wasn’t super oily and runny. The Palek Paneer looked gross (think mushy green baby food), but was super delish! If you like spinach, you must try this. If you don’t like spinach, steer clear because it is pretty much made of a pureed spinach sauce with these little “cottage cheese” type squares. Both of these went extremely well with the light, fluffy rice. Oh and the garlic naan bread… you really can never go wrong with that delectable treat! It’s all pretty new to me, but I’m just happy that this restaurant restored my faith in Indian food!

Now for my review on a scale of 1 to 10 stars

Decor: 7 – nothing fancy but it was definitely nice, clean and comfortable. To be honest, the place was PACKED full of people so I really can’t even remember what it looked like other than the billions of people in there. We couldn’t even get a booking until 8:15 because it was so crowded (and a bit loud). I was told that it’s less crowded (and quieter) during the week.

Value: 8 - As always, I base this off of other restaurants in Sydney. We got 6 dishes, 2 things of rice, several orders of naan and pappadums and we all had corkage fees and it probably cost us about $30 bucks each if I remember correctly. While it’s not a super cheap night out, I’d say for what we got, it was good value!

Service: 9 – I really don’t have anything to complain about here. Servers were attentive and quick  and we didn’t have to wait too long for our food. I suppose they could have filled out water more often

Taste: 8- Yum. While I’m still not going to say that Indian is my favorite cuisine, I will say that this food was very enjoyable… to the point where I’ve already started having dilemmas on which vegetarian option I’d order of the two I tried if Andrew and I were to go there on our own.

We’ll definitely be going back.

To continue with the Indian theme, Andrew and I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire on Saturday. I had heard so much about this movie and how great it was but I had a limited knowledge of the movie (which is the way I like it) so I really only knew it was about a poor Indian guy who goes on “Who wants to be a millionaire” and wins. I didn’t really see how it could be that great based on that plot, but now I understand.

I thought it was a really good movie that I would definitely watch again. The actors were great (I love the little kid above), the script was funny at times and definitely kept my interest, the music was awesome and it was such a touching story which really makes you appreciate living in an advanced country with access to  food, money, good jobs and good governments (and toilets) .  I also thought it was a really interesting idea for a movie in the way that they show how people come to have knowledge based on life experiences, not just from books and education alone.

If you haven’t seen it… see it. If you are in the area and you haven’t been to Cumin…go!

More reviews and the short but funny tale of revenge are coming tomorrow!

Baja Cantina May 18, 2009

Mexican food is certainly hard to come by in Australia. Wait… I take that back. GOOD Mexican is hard to come by. We’ve tried many places and some have been decent. Luckily we’ve stayed away from all the really bad ones thanks to reviews by other American Expats warning us of the crap quality. So it was a very pleasant surprise when Andrew took me to a yummy Mexican restaurant on Valentines day. Yes, Valentines day… I know this blog is 3 months too late. But I’m in restaurant review mode so take what you can get, ok?Â

Baja Cantina is a little restaurant in Glebe and it’s really good if you like California/Baja style Mexican food. I’m not going to say this is REALLY authentic Mexican, because I really don’t think it is. But it tastes a lot like authentic California Mexican which makes me very happy. The first time we went we went we ordered way too much food. 2 things of chips and salsa, nachos and fajitas. The fajitas are really good! They come with all the necessary sides including cheese and guacamole which are usually only offered if you are willing to pay for it. The nachos were super bad for us but super yummy in our tummies! They even have black beans which are hard to find here. I asked for a side of limes and they brought me 6 slices… practically a whole lime. I was in heaven! Oh, and did I mention the delish Sangria and cheap coronas? Of course those made the experience even better!

So we went again a few weeks ago with a couple of Andrew’s friends and the food and service was just as good. Wait, did I say the service was good? Why yes, yes I did. Amazing considering this is an Australian restaurant I’m writing about. Does it sound bad if I say the great service is probably due to the fact that 90% of the servers are American?? It probably does sound a bit bad to the Aussies, but even Andrew agrees with that one.

I still think it’s funny when we go to Mexican with Australians and they pronounce quesadillas the way they are actually spelled (quay so dilas) and tortilllla.  I don’t think I’d be able to work there. I’d constantly be correcting people and/or laughing when they butcher the Spanish language. You really can’t blame the Aussies though… they weren’t brought up with an abundance of everything Spanish like we were in California.

Another thing I find interesting when dining with Aussies at a Mexican restaurant is trying to explain the difference between fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, chimichangas and burritos. Go ahead, think about it. If you had to explain the difference, how would you do it? “Well this one is folded up in a tortilla with stuff inside but there is no sauce,  this one is  folded up in a tortilla with cheese and sauce on top, and this one you eat like tacos but the stuff comes on a sizzling plate.” Really, it is hard to try to explain the difference to someone. It’s one of those things you either just know and understand or you dont.

Now for my expert review on a scale of 1-10 stars

Decor: 7 – it was cute but nothing really stands out for me as being extra special

Value: 7 –  I’m basing this on the cost of most Mexican food in Australia. Compared to other places, Baja Cantina is fairly cheap (especially the coronas).

Service: 8.5 – this place probably has some of the best service I’ve seen in Australia

Taste: 8.5 – I really have minimal complaints. Everything from the tortillas to the beans to the sangria is great. But they do lose 1.5 stars for having mediocre guacamole and bland rice.

We’ll definitely be heading to Baja Cantina any time we need our fix of Mexican food!!

**While I’m on the topic, I also suggest Flying Fajita Sisters in Glebe for Taco Tuesday. They have great 2 dollar tacos and their Sangria (in my opinion) is even better than Baja Cantina… especially the white wine Sangria. Yum!**