Time Out Taste Test 2013

7 apprentice chefs + one Sydney rooftop restaurant make for a one off extravaganza! It was a chance I couldn't pass up really... An opportunity to try out the food from some of Sydney's youngest talent in our top kitchens. Marque, Momofuku Seiobo, est. and several others are the training grounds of these young guns. Not too shabby. This was the final event, the top 7 whittled down from 2 initial heats. It was a full house on this balmy Monday night at Uccello restaurant, part of the Ivy complex.

The restaurant interior, punctuated with yellow. The (paddle) pool makes for a Hamptons vs. Miami vibe Source: Harry Howard Fine Furniture

Given the opportunity to play food critic, we would try each of the dishes on the night and vote for our favourite(s). The lucky winner would win a trip to Singapore, certainly a bit of a food hub in South East Asia. The stakes were high!

You could feel the anticipation in the air and nervous energy coming from the kitchen. Our table was pretty much smack bang in front of the kitchen for prime viewing of plating. Huzzah. Myffy Rigby, Time Out Sydney's Food & Drink Editor was the night's MC. Apple Thief cider in hand, we were ready to kick off!

Here were some of the culinary highlights:

Sashimi kingfish with avocado mousse, pickled beetroot and rainbow chard. This dish had been prepared will in advance so the fish had pretty much come down to room temperature (eep). The colour and flavours of this dish were tops. Dish by Beau Conduit, a tattoo sleeved apprentice who could only have come from Three Blue Ducks!

Oliver Hua of est.'s grilled quail breast. Accompanied by caramelised plum, toasted almonds, sourdough crumb and eschalot vinaigrette. He had all the right ideas but...the execution was a bit off. My quail was on the overcooked side (i know it was a big ask for 100+ covers of the same dish) + the crumb was swimming in oil.

Australian Sunday roast, Italian style(y) by Stuart Webb of Black by ezard @ the Star. The little medallions of chicken in this dish were cooked well and the Spanish onions were lovely and sweet. On the flipside the pumpkin seed tuile was a touch sweet and the gnocchi a very strange texture (almost squeaky?!). No starchy pillowyness (lol) here. Shame

Sweetie, darling

Seeing green. Ashleigh Jack's (Establishment Pastry) Mint Pash (left) and Lemon Tart by Lauren Eldridge (Marque) (right). Ashleigh's mint dessert was my favourite dessert for sure, the level of complexity was definitely up there. Her aim was to create a dish inspired by a Mint Aero bar. I think she did a really good job. The lemon tart, without any lemon in it. Yeah...huh? The tart was created with lemon verbena and used spinach for colouring. The texture of the tart filling was quite smooth enough for me (nit-picking again!). On top was a clear sugar tuile. I question the quinelle of cream, I wish it was a yoghurt sorbet or ice cream of some description

Some of the dishes were a bit off the mark, many looked pretty as a picture but flavour-wise, didn't live up to expectation. I don't want to be a hard ass but some didn't quite work. But that's okay because I know it isn't easy.

The votes were in and the winners announced on the night. The winning dish was by John Javier of Momofuku Seiobo (Chang's Sydney outpost, a 3 hatted restaurant in its first year of opening). Can I just say, it was completely fabulous. A stand out.

Well done, kid. The roasted squid, eggs and butter. This was only the 2nd dish to come out but it totally stuck with me. The butter emulsion, lain out on top was slightly disconcerting (yikes...butter?!) but the dish wasn't made too rich by it. The tendrils of squid were so delicate and tender, like chewy noodles. The seaweed and broth were a nice medium for the squid but could have done with a bit more seasoning, maybe miso? I'll stop complaining now. Twas amazeballs

The man of the hour! John Javier of Momofuku Seiobo: I think the big boss (David Chang) should be proud Source: Time Out Sydney

I had a really good time, playing food critic is lots of fun! Seven courses down I was really feeling it, but still smiling! John was a deserved winner and I'm glad everyone else voted the same way. What was really great to see was everyone helping each other out in the kitchen, it was a real team effort. Sydney's food scene certainly has a bright future ahead.

Thanks for reading + Happy Easter!
xGourmand

Mr Wong, Mr Wong!

Oh man, this ad cracks me up. Produced before I was born actually, it plays on almost every Chinese cliché there is!

"What kind were they?!"

If you hadn't already guessed it, I'll be reviewing my visit to Mr Wong - the new mega-restaurant opened up by none other than Merivale group (set on world domination one bar/restaurant at a time). This is their third venture in 2012, it was only last month that I posted about the Fish Shop (right here). The 240-seater venue is tucked away in Bridge Lane, in the basement of the Establishment Hotel. The space was previously incarnated as Tank Nightclub and at the snap of his fingers, Justin Hemmes has wrangled the cavernous space into a multi level Chinese yum-cha bonanza. Good for him!

Hemmes, with the help of stylist Sibella Court has done it again fit-out-wise. Reportedly costing $4 mill (loose change, really), the restaurant speaks to the colonial stylings of the 1930s Photo credit: Broadsheet Sydney

Upon stepping inside (no queuing for lunch service today, thank goodness), we were welcomed with the hustle & bustle of the kitchens x2. Not surprisingly, Hemmes has roped in Dan Hong and Jowett Yu (BFF chefs from Ms G's) to run the 36 strong kitchen. Dim sum is taken care of with a little help from Eric Koh from Michelin starred Hakkasan in London. We were shown to our table down yonder, taking the staircase winding around the massive glass elevator shaft of a wine cellar (a massive whiff of modernity there!). It soon became clear how important alcohol is to this business...give me a pot of Chinese tea however and I'm a happy camper. The bar takes up a good spot on the lower floor, the ridiculously-good-looking bar staff (what did you expect :P) doing their job with a hospitality-grade smile.

An interesting departure from tradition was their à la carte menu. Luckily I had already read a thing or two so I knew what dishes looked like. I was pretty keen to order the Dim Sum platter, but sadly that's only available for dinner. It felt slightly odd ordering what was 'apparently good'. It's true what people say, you do eat with your eyes. Call me old-fashioned but I love being able to look at what's available from the trolleys being pushed by the little Asian ladies at yum-cha. And of course 'the requisite' chair legs being crashed into mid meal by out of control trolleys...whoops! And what about the cards that you get stamped with each dish? I'm such a tragic, I know.

Wonder wall: so much effort has been put into the details in this restaurant. For example, the curtain downstairs is hand-strung with beads sourced from Ecuador, yikes. This wall is very Chinese herbalist (all we need is a set of scales). 

Sydney Rock oysters, fried shallots and ginger vinaigrette. These were scrumptious, fresh oysters with minimal interference can't be beat. I managed to snag one before one my dining buddies demolished up the rest!

Mr. Wong's drunken chicken. As a galantine?! I think they Frankenstein-ed that a bit too far. Chicken bones contain so much flavour, it should be cooked as a whole. I know that many people have a thing about bones in food, but seriously!

Chueng Fun (steamed rice roll) with prawn - this was rather yum. I liked the addition of the asparagus slices, which gave it a nice crunch. The garnish here is really not necessary ;)

Abalone chicken shumai: a delicacy in Asian cuisine it was good to see that this was a popular choice. 

Prawn har gau ($9) - plump mouthfuls of prawny goodness. The skins of these dim sum were nice and delicate. Eric Koh's influence is a clear winner on the dim sum front

I distinctly get the impression that Mr Wong is trying to teach an old dog new tricks. The dim sum here are rather refined, slightly smaller sized and done with some delicacy (read: $$$). The garnish is more an afterthought, there's absolutely no need to trick up anything here. Posh yum cha is clearly not my thing. With daily covers of up to 850 (scary) and queues snaking down Bridge Lane come dinner time, the hungry masses beg to differ.

Don't mind the flailing chopsticks, it's the Chinese Roasted Duck (half). A labour of love, this duck takes 3 days to prepare. At a tidy $34, this was surely the highlight of the meal. Crispy skin for days (hah) and beautifully juicy duck meat - so so good with a bit 'o' plum sauce! That 3-tonne custom duck roasting oven was obviously a good investment...

Mr Wong's westernised version is basically an entirely different experience to traditional yum cha. The first thing I thought when I sat down was, "Where are the trolleys?". They do actually serve a purpose to keep the bamboo steamers piping hot, so when they get to the table they're not luke warm (like our char sieu bao, damn it)! Whilst the food was very decent, there was something about eating here that I sorely missed. Yum-cha is a cultural institution that has been ingrained in me from a very young age. Half of the experience is that raucous energy that you get from eating in a massive hall that quite literally, seats hundreds. The noise, the heady aromas floating in the air and the authenticity (not quite HK, but you know - we do try).  This version has been sanitized and prices jacked up for the Aussie market. Okay, I'll stop ranting now.

This one is set to be a downright crowd pleaser, particularly to the Western audience who might find Chinatown yum-cha a little intimidating (may I suggest carting your Asian friends along!). It's location also suits the business lunching type down to a T. In case you didn't already know, Mr Wong has been heaped with praise in the press. Time Out Sydney gave it an adoring 5 stars. Even chef David Chang of the Momofuku empire has also given it his stamp of approval - must be a'ight then.

Thanks for reading! x

Three Strikes

And you're out.
Indeed, it was a close call on this one! Read on to find out the goss...I'm writing about my dining at The Fish Shop, on Challis Ave in Potts Point. Another addition to the Hemmes' Merivale group empire that seems to be growing on a weekly basis (no joke) now, with the addition of dim sum nirvana, Mr Wong. I must admit this Friday evening hadn't gotten off to the best start, we had rocked up to The Apollo, new restaurant of chef Jonathan Barthelmess just after 18:15 and had missed out on securing a table. This is becoming a regular occurrence in my life. Why???? Not happy Jan! Not wishing to wait another 2 hours before a morsel was to pass our lips we trundled along through Potts Point like lost souls, wavering in the night. That didn't last long of course, certainly not in this postcode (2011). So we found ourselves at the new local fish & chipper.

The Bar at the Fish Shop. I liked the stripey sailor get-up worn by staff. Source: Time Out Sydney

Formerly Lotus (RIP) restaurant, the site next door to Fratelli Paradiso has been converted into a somewhat posh purveyor of Fish and Chips. Complete with fishing nets strewn from the ceiling, a fantastical display of fishing lures and life buoys strategically placed. You never know, you might have a man/woman down from the bar stools!

The decor: just in case you didn't 'catch it' before. I almost regret typing that. Source: Merivale

We were ushered to a hybrid bar/table, much too narrow by my standards (considering the amount of food we normally get through), and perched ourselves precariously upon bar stools. We were rather suitably seated to directly face the kitchen to watch its goings on e.g. lowly apprentice picking (kilos of) coriander leaves off of stalks (poor sod). Collecting a menu from the holder, we settled in to have a squiz of the evening Reel News a.k.a. le menu. A good selection of seafood dishes, supplemented by The Catch of the Day, a pin board stating simply "Barramundi, Snapper, Eel etc". How intriguing, we wanted to know (order) more.

My photoshopping ability knows bounds, that's for sure. My entree plate and the cover of the menu, posing as the local rag. Sudoku anyone?

Being seafood, we were served our dishes in rather quick succession. That's the name of the game really. This is how we rolled:

'Scuse fingers: South Australian mussels in a white wine sauce with fresh peas, parsley and chunks of garlic. The chorizo was an unusual touch but that also quickly disappeared. The dish was demolished in minutes - the bread was a welcome addition to mop up the last of the sauce but we needed more! Speaking of sauce, be prepared for projectile sauce spray (I fell victim to my own clumsiness). I had half a mind to discretely tuck a napkin under my chin..stayin' classy (San Diego).

Can't go past: a must to order (from a bloomin' fish & chip shop) if ever there was one ($19). The old faithful, battered flathead fillets and a serving of thick cut chips. Not quite as good as the truffled triple cooked offering of chips from Charlie & Co, but you know. I was half expecting the package to come in a newspaper cone! The pot of tartare was nice and chunky with gherkin and capers (fab).

Catch of the Day #1: Smoked eel. More salad than main, I thought that the serving size here was extremely meagre (but one measly fillet!). Here's hoping that slither of eel was exceptional. I am glad to note here a perfectly soft boiled egg. Eggs, are the ultimate cooking yard stick.

Catch of the Day #2: The Barramundi. A whopping great fillet, as opposed to the last. Deliciously simple, the fish was beautifully cooked, flaky and soft inside with a crunchy, crispy skin. Boo yah! The tomato sauce had a hint of spice that was very reminiscent of Moroccan flavours. P.S. a little garnish wouldn't have gone astray here!

The best thing about the Fish Shop is that it's not pretending to be something that it's not. It's a pretty basic formula: the freshest fish cooked well and occasionally "well". I like to order dishes that I'm probably not capable of producing myself...and this is one such example. My barramundi was swell thanks very much. But there was a bit to say on the contrary...

Disclaimer: the following may discourage the (future) hoards from calling (we certainly left feeling a bit miffed)...I did warn you!

Catch of the Day #3: SNAPPER failings.

To spare your delicate nerves, I have omitted the images of this dish. This is also a good cover because they were actually as blurred as anything. See, it was on not one but two occasions that M had to send her dish back to the kitchen. We are loathe to do it I tell you, but when you get RAW fish served to you (and you're not eating Japanese) there's something wrong. It's rather embarrassing when the head waiter takes the dish back to the kitchen in a huff, yelling "Bloody HELL!" and shoving the plate towards the head chef (which we presumed because he was the tallest haha). Chef then proceeded to hold the plate very close to his face to get a good look at the incriminating snapper and shook his head in disappointment. Apprentice was now tearing coriander voraciously with renewed nervousness/fright. This sequence of events we were all privy to with the kitchen in plain view.

Where was executive chef Jeremy Strode at a time like this?! We needed him (Cap'n)! Or should I say they needed him. This was not a good night for snapper man. On take 3, the snapper fillet was cut in half, with good reason too - to make damn well sure that fish was done right i.e. done. Lucky! We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. In recompense the meal was on the house, with all that fish in the bin, probably equating to a loss of at least 90 bucks. Dang. Not wanting to get carried away on this wave of criticism (however constructive), the accompanying tomato based sauce with a good whack of coriander was great! *smiley face*

A little sweetener at the end:

Presenting the Fish Shop's nostalgic ice cream 'wich: reminded me very much of a violet crumble in ice cream form. YUM! Now I know why restaurant critics go for lunch service, it's not so dark! Even with forced flash, bells and whistles etc I am still struggling ;)

I managed to swing a few bites of the above but I ordered a serve of the day's ices - coconut sorbet, to be exact. It was so so good, the flavour was bang on i.e. bona fide. This is all positive reinforcement for me to buy an ice cream maker...One. Day. Friends. One. Day. And one day I will also be the size of a house! So all in all it was a bit of a mixed bag: smashing fush & chups (in true Kiwi style), a chef having an off day and a little ice cream to make it all better. I'm okay with that.

Thanks for reading! x

Asian Pride (monosodium glutamate)

Good morning sunshine. Who knew that a Sydney winter could be so accommodating during my uni holiday. The sun, is actually warm here - a rather sad fact since I spend 90% of my time in the nation's capital (ice box). I'm currently sitting in my pyjamas, munching on a slice of brioche (homemade I might add and a smashing first attempt - see the recipe here) accompanied by a soy latte. Simple pleasures people.


Good things. That's what I've heard, or read rather, about the new joint set up by Dan Hong and Jowett Yu of Lotus fame (or maybe not?). Sometimes you need a casual dining setting once in a while. Fine dining is golden, don't get me wrong but I still find I have these awkward moments when wait staff come to set cutlery/pour wine etc and I feel compelled to abruptly stop conversation. I'm not sure why I do this, I'm not ripping apart the restaurant or anything (usually). But then again, I don't really want to share my bitching. And so, we sit in silence in that time, and then mutter a near inaudible "Thank you". Only to continue the raucous laughter/D&M as soon as they leave our vicinity! Anyway, back to the matter.

The street front signage. There's also another neon sign with "six two one" on it - the additive number of MSG. Photo from Concrete Playground

Ms G's - a clever (maybe too clever *shifty eyes*) use of Asian cookings' frenemy MSG. First thing, the walk to the restaurant takes about 10 minutes tops (that's more a leisurely stroll) which is awesome. Any place that I can walk to within a reasonable amount of time (30 minutes is my upper limit) has potential from my point of view. Once you step through the front door you are hit by a wave of decibels. The soundtrack may have something to do with that as well. It's a blend of old-school funk and soul with a but (in a kiwi accent) of modern stuff. For example Islands by the XX and For the Love of Money by the O'Jays. I always find music choices interesting... but they've done well to feed an atmosphere which is abuzz.

The faces. Jowett (left) and Dan (right) run the show at Ms G's. P.S. I like their wall, and birkies. Photo by Daniel Boud, published in Time Out Sydney

Being situated in a terrace house in Potts Point, there isn't a lot of wiggle room. But they've tried to squeeze in as much seating on the three 'levels' be it bench, booth or stool by the bar. You can tell that Merivale (read: Mr Hemmes) has invested a lot in the fit out although you can't tell. I think they were going for the "oh, this was just something we threw together" look without really succeeding. It's a bit contrived, but that's not to say I don't like it. Our table was a perfect vantage point to see in the kitchen. Excellent!


The point of deliberation: our usual rule is to order a dish each minus one if sharing mains but we may have underestimated the portions of each so we ended up adding dishes to our order. I'm sure they weren't complaining either! 
Anywho, this was it:
1. Egg noodles with XO sauce, braised duck, soft poached egg - more duck please!!
2. Wok fried cultivated mushrooms, baby corn, sugar snaps, jerusalem artichoke - delicious sauce and nice variety of mushrooms (pretty!) 
3. Queensland spanner crab, broccolini, silken tofu, shellfish dashi - okay, the tofu was a little firm but crab is always a treat
4. Jow's sweet and sour lamb ribs - OMG (in a good way), the only way to eat these is with your hands - just so you can lick the glaze off your fingers haha. Definitely my favourite dish of the night

Cuties. Maybe for next time, mini bánh mì - chicken katsu and crisp pork belly. Photo from Spicy Ice Cream

Other popular choices of the night (I was definitely peeking at what was coming out of the kitchen) were peking duck pancakes (the night's special), buddha's delight (extremely healthy looking salad), ceviche (a random latin american menu addition), the mini bánh mì (the vietnamese version of a pork/chicken slider) and the stoner's delight dessert (an American inspired sugar smorgasbord). There was also the Pandan chiffon cake, strawberries and coconut sorbet - featured in a pressure test on Masterchef. Temptation was resisted because...


At home there was a homemade Japanese cheesecake awaiting!

Why, hello.

The beauty of these cakes is that they're so light. Even though we were heartily stuffed with dinner and only walked about 500m back home - there's always space for an incey slice of cake. I first tried this baby from Savoy cake shop in china town YEARS ago - and they really can't go wrong. Recently, my dad found a recipe for this and we haven't looked back! The results are heavenly...

Heavenly, I tell you! It looks fluffy cos it is ;) The dessicated coconut and sultanas make a world of difference too.

Japanese cheesecake recipe (adapted from Diana's Desserts)


Ingredients
140g granulated sugar
6 eggs, separated
1/4 tspn cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100mL milk
1 tbspn lemon juice
60g cake flour
20g corn flour


Method
1. Lightly grease and line a round cake pan with greaseproof paper 
2. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture (in the fridge if necessary)
3. Preheat oven to 160°C
4. To the cheese, fold in flour, corn flour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well
5. Whisk eggs whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar and whisk until soft peaks form
6. Add cheese mixture to the egg whites and mix. Pour mixture into cake pan
7. Bake in a bain marie (water bath) for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown
8. After baking, let cake cool completely. Again, in the fridge if necessary (this may take several hours). Patience is a virtue and totally worth it! xo