We’re getting to the serious end of the meal now, starting with an awesome sushi and sashimi platter. Very fresh and very tasty indeed.
Tag Archives: seafood
Beach Wedding – Food
The spread for this wedding was much more casual that the last wedding I went to. We shared platters of seafood and antipasti for entree and fruit, cheese and mini tarts for dessert. In the middle was a choice of chicken, steak or fish mains. I chose the fish, which didn’t turn out to be a good idea. Not enough sauce, although I had no complaints about the portion size.
Wedding Banquet – Mains
Of course, it’s inevitable that I post photos of the food.
Let’s just forget about the entrees because I forgot to take photos of them. For the record, I had the duck, which was done Peking style and nicely cooked.
But it’s the mains that I was hanging out for.
As the menu states, this is Chicken Ballontine with Apple, Fennel, Celery, Shallot and Green Olive Salsa. I didn’t have it but my neighbour commented that it was cooked nicely, and the salsa was especially good.
This is what I had.
Barramundi fillet, potato dauphine, broad bean and crab bisque. The fish was cooked to perfection. The potato dauphine was kind of like a posh pomme noisette to me, but I loved the flavour of the bisque. Delicious.
Spring Dinner – Part 2
The second course was some lovely Sydney Rock oysters, au naturelle of course, sprinkled liberally with lemon juice.
Yum Cha – Part 3
I’m not really one for fried items at yum cha, but I liked the fried squid here. The squid’s nicely cooked and not too rubbery, and the coating is crisp and more-ish.
Yum Cha – Part 2
The cousin to the har gow is this little baby: prawns wrapped in rice noodle sheets (don’t know what the Cantonese name is, if someone would care to enlighten me). It’s a slipperly thing, frequently posing a chopstick challenge, but the slipperiness is part of its charm as the it goes down oh so nicely.
Yum Cha – Part 1
Haven’t been to yum cha in ages, so I was quite excited to go to Zilver for my fix. Yum cha, the Cantonese art of taking tea and assorted morsels, has really been embraced by Sydneysiders of all backgrounds. I was really surprised by the variety of clientele – Western and Asian families, couples, girly catch-ups, even what looked like the beginnings of an Aussie boys bucks day out.
This dish, har gow, is a staple. It’s a steamed dumpling of prawn wrapped in rice paper. Simplicity itself.
Garlic and prawns – a match made in heaven
It’s pretty standard fare. The prawns were lovely and crisp, but Om nom nom nom thinks the garlic isn’t strong enough. I think it’s nice but doesn’t really shine next to the chicken rice and satay.
The Joys of Hainan Chicken Rice
I’ve obviously been watching Poh too much on Masterchef because last week I had a huge craving for Malaysian food. During the week I sought out some murtabak, nasi lemak, and harmee, but what I really wanted was a nice, comforting meal of Hainan Chicken Rice. Yes, this was the dish that Poh made in the finals, and on the weekend I visited a tiny eatery around the corner from me, Satay Inn, that makes it extremely well.
The chicken was perfectly steamed. The rice delicious and very more-rish. The condiments balanced, although it could have had more ginger. The soup flavoursome. Lots of sesame oil all around to make it taste damn good.
There was also an order of Sizzling Satay King Prawns on the table, but we were all so full from the chicken rice that we could only pick at the prawns.
Dry Season Dining
Well, we’re at the start of a very long journey through the Northern Territory, folks, although in reality the whole trip was only a fortnight. I must say that it’s the most invigorating as well as enlightening holiday I’ve had since Japan.
I began in Darwin, where I touched down after a long 4.5 hour flight. God, Australia is big! After crashing on the hotel bed, the next thought I had was of food. I’d heard about Char, and since it was only 2 blocks from my hotel wandered down on a balmy Darwin evening.
Now this is what al fresco dining is all about! It was good to defrost after the chilly Sydney winter weather. It was also good to taste the pork belly and scallops, served with an apple peanut salad and chilli caramel sauce. I was tempted to try this after watching George cook up a pork belly/scallop dish on Masterchef. The skin of the pork was nicely crisp and the scallops were cooked perfectly. The salad and nutty sauce (along with a glass of Riesling), and it was a lovely dish for a tropical climate.
I followed it up with a Mango Panna Cotta with passionfruit cream. The panna cotta was lovely and light, but I think they went too far with the passionfruit here, which was too bitter for my taste.
The restaurant seemed to be popular with locals and visitors alike and got very full, even for a midweek dinner. I’m just impressed that Darwin has such a sophisticated dining option.
Static and Silence 