Fat Belly Club

Tea for Two at the Tea Parlour, Redfern

2011-06-10T09:54:00.006-04:00

A splendid high tea for two. I can’t think of a better way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon catching up with one of my most dearest friends, Cee.

The Menu

Blink and you could miss the Tea Parlour on grungy Elizabeth Street in Redfern. From the front, it looks like any other non-descript shop on the street. However, step into the Parlour and you’ll soon find yourself in a warm cosy space - like you’re in an eclectic great Aunt’s lounge room.

I don’t have an eclectic great Aunt but, if I did, she would have a lounge room lavishly decorated just like the Tea Parlour. Think floral couches, vintage china, quirky tea pots, candelabras and other knick knacks. There’s a bit of a cool Britannia theme as I spot a Union Jack flag on the wall.

Tea Parlour is busy on this Sunday afternoon and the place is filled with a groups of chatty giggling girls. I do spot a few guys here and there, but they are a bit of an endangered species. There are other species (of the stuffed kind) in the room too. Hanging on the walls is a stuffed deer’s head and perched on a nearby cupboard is a peacock on display.

Cee and I settle for the High Tea at $20 per person. I think this must be the best value High Tea in this city. The High Tea spread is very generous and includes a tier of cakes, scones, mini meringues and tartlets, a plate of cucumber sandwiches and endless pots of tea. The tea list is extensive and interesting. Cee goes for the Monk Pear and I choose Wuyi Rock. I'm intrigued at the pot of Tibetan Ceremonial tea you can purchase for $20. The menu describes it as very relaxing. Hmmm...

Three tiers of high tea treats

The thing that I especially like about the High Tea treats at the Tea Parlour are that they are homemade. None of the usual macaroons and upity tarts made by swanky French pastry chefs. I understand many of the recipes are from the Australian Women’s Weekly – probably just like the cakes and scones that would be whipped up by your nanna or eclectic great aunt (if you have one!).

I mentioned the servings were pretty generous. Despite this, we were still offered refills of tea and, if we wanted, more plates of sandwiches or cakes.

Sweet Treats

The gorgeous surrounds produce a perfect setting for sipping tea and nibbling on delectable sweets and delicate cucumber sandwiches. Importantly, it was a great place to catch up on plenty of girly gossip. I wish there were more places like this in Sydney.

Tea Parlour

569 Elizabeth Street

Redfern

Opening Hours

Thursday - Sunday, 1pm- 8pm

mobile: 0414 335 224

concierge@teaparlour.net

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Newcastle Delights

2011-04-25T05:29:00.003-04:00

Nobbys Head, Newcastle

To many, Newcastle is best known as being the major coal port in NSW and the gateway to the Hunter Valley. To others, Newcastle is remembered for the infamous Pashabolka incident, birthplace of Silverchair and hometown of Jennifer Hawkins. However, did you know Newcastle was named in the top 10 must-see destinations in the world, according to Lonely Planet's 'Best in Travel 2011' book?

Recently, Mr FBC and I spent a weekend in Newcastle visiting our good Novocastrian friends, Frenchie and the PM. It was a fun filled weekend of eating, chatting and relaxing with our friends who showed us around their hometown and their local haunts. Here are a few of the Newcastle delights that we found:

Sprocket Roasters, Newcastle CBD

We started the weekend with a coffee at Sprocket Roasters which is set in an old heritage listed ex-bank building in the heart of the Newcastle CBD. Well, everyone except for Mr FBC who has recently given up coffee. One day he woke up, had a coffee and decided he just didn’t like it anymore.

Our friends hadn’t actually been here before, but were given a recommendation from a couple they met the night before at a Trivia night fundraising for their local Community Garden. Very random. Even more random was bumping into said 'Community Garden Trivia night couple' at the café.

Sprocket is quirky with a bit of a rockabilly feel to it. It serves its award winning Sprocket Roasters Coffee which according to it's website is "brought to you by a rogue collective - engineers, farmers, lawyers, teachers, winemakers and yoga instructors - who have quit our days jobs as we have a consuming passion for all things coffee".

Frenchie tried ordering his new favourite coffee, a cortado. I had no idea what it was and I’m not sure if the barista knew either. According to Wikipedia, a cortado is an expresso cut with a small amount of warm milk to reduce to acidity. The ratio of milk to coffee is between 1:1 – 1:2 and the milk is added after the expresso. On this occasion, I think Frenchie got a piccolo latte which is probably more well known. It’s also meant to be a shot of espresso topped with steamed milk.

Croquembouche Taste Testing

A big drawcard for this particular visit to Newcastle was the invitation to be official ‘Croquenbouche’ taste testers in selecting a wedding cake for Frenchie and the PM's upcoming nuptials.

We had planned to visit a few patisseries in the Newcastle area and naively thought each patisserie would miraculously have profiteroles to taste. Unfortunately, our profiterole miracle didn’t eventuate at our first stop – Snows Patisserie at The Junction - although there was an abundant array of delectable pastries and baked goods available.

In desperation, we thought we could try and estimate the potential quality of a Snow Patisserie profiterole by correlating against tasting quality of a croissant and a blueberry tart. OK - perhaps it's just that we didn't want to leave the place without trying something. Frenchie said the croissant was very flaky and the blueberry tart was tasty. Overall profiterole score: N/A.

Croissant at Snows Patisserie

Blueberry Tart

We were actually in luck at the second patisserie shop - Sweet Poison in Market-town, Newcastle West. The pastry chef was actually preparing a croquembuche for an order and could provide 2 profiteroles to taste test if we were willing to wait for about 10 minutes.

Cakes on display at Sweet Poison

We were actually legitimate with our taste testing quest, but I wonder if people go around to pastry shops pretending to taste test for a potential wedding cake? "Oh, I’d like to try some of the red velvet cake and the..ermmm.. cheese cake… it’s for a ‘wedding’". Don’t get any ideas now!

Profiterole - Ready for the taste test

After idling our time looking at the typical surburban shops in Newcastle West Market-town, it was time to taste our pair of profiteroles.

Profiterole Cross Section

Overall Profiterole Score: Shape = good, Custard = plenty of vanilla creaminess and not too eggy, Toffee= Loved the generous amount of toffee which produced a lovely crunch. (Note: Frenchie and the PM have decided to go with the profiterole tower at Poisson for their wedding cake).

Newcastle Fishermans Coop (Wickham)

We’d been tirelessly driving around Newcastle in search of profiteroles and we needed lunch. Frenchie thought it be great to pick up some fresh seafood from the Newcastle Fishermans Coop in Wickham for a tasty BBQ seafood lunch. There was plenty good selection of seafood and I even found lots of local products, including Myall Lakes Prawns. They have an interesting website where you can view the types of seafood available.

Fresh Fish

Remnants from our tasty seafood lunch

Longworth House – Cocktails and Tapas

Later in the evening, PM had a great idea of trying out a tapas bar in Newcastle CBD at Longworth House, located in one of Newcastle's most significant heritage buildings and built in 1892.
Longworth House contains a number of ballrooms which can be used for functions, but it also has an informal lounge area where you can enjoy cocktails and tapas in elegant surrounds. Picture marble fireplaces, murano glass chandeliers, chaise lounges and velvet curtains. It's pretty dark inside -apologies for the really grainy looking photos.

The issue I have with tapas menus is that there is often too much choice and decision making is difficult. This is usually overcome by making sure you have enough people to order nearly every on the menu.
We started with polenta bites with aoili, which were stacked in a Jenga puzzle like arrangement. They were beautifully crisp and filled with fluffy polenta.

Polenta Bites 10

The stuffed squid with chorizo and fetta was delicious although difficult to share as a tapas item.

Stuffed Squid w/- Chorizo and Fetta 16

A crowd favourite was the mushroom arrancini balls.

Mushroom Arrancini 12

Can you often guess what your husband, wife or partner will order from a menu? I can... Mr FBC likes anything with pork belly in it. Thus, we ordered the confit pork belly.

Confit Pork Belly 16

We ordered sherry mushrooms for good measure. I really love the simplicity of sauteed mushrooms, particularly swiss browns.

Sherry Roasted Mushrooms 10

Mr FBC also has a thing for meatballs. These meatballs morsels were delicious and slathered with a thick flavoursome tomato sauce. To help lap up the sauce, we ordered some grilled flat bread.

Meatballs

Grilled Flat Bread 5

Breakfast at Rolador, Hamilton

For Sunday brunch, we decided to check out Rolador cafe in Hamilton. It's a favourite of Frenchie and the PM with its great coffee, funky character and smattering of retro knicknacks. The breakfast menu is extensive ranging from bacon and egg rolls to breakfast burritos.

Bacon and Egg Roll

Breakfast Burrito

Newcastle really suprised me with it's array of food delights. I think we only scratched the surface of what Newcastle has to offer. Until next time.....

Big thanks to Frenchie and the PM for showing us all the Newcastle Delights :)

Sprocket

68 Hunter Street (corner Watt Street)

Newcastle NSW

Sweet Poison

Market Town Shopping Centre, Shop 15, Parry St

Newcastle West NSW

Snows Patisserie

144 Union St, The Junction NSW

Newcastle Fishermans Coop

97 Hannell Street

Wickham NSW

Longworth House

129 Scott Street,

Newcastle NSW

Wed - Fri 5pm-12pm

Rolador

1 Beaumont Street

Hamilton NSW

Breakfast at Al Aseel, Greenacre

2011-02-20T06:51:00.002-05:00

Mr FBC and I have a lot of things in common. But, there is one significant thing in life that we just don’t agree on. It’s not about religion, having kids or political views – it’s the importance (or unimportance) of eating breakfast. I’m a pro-breakfast person and Mr FBC is not. His first ‘meal’ of the day is his morning coffee. He tells me he generally can’t stomach anything until lunch. He’s trained himself over the years to eat something if we go out for ‘breakfast’ (before 10am), but it’s usually not more than toast or banana bread. On my birthday earlier this year, Mr FBC put aside his issues with breakfast and surprised me by taking me to an early Lebanese breakfast at Al Aseel in Greenacre. Ahh - true love.
We’ve been to Al Aseel, a Lebanese restaurant in Greenacre, many a times for either dinner or lunch. I’ve previously eyed the breakfast section of the menu a coupled of times and have been intrigued ever since. It’s always fascinating to discover the equivalent of vegemite on toast or sultana bran with milk in other cuisines and cultures.

We opted to try a few things from the menu in order to get a good taste of breakfast – Lebanese style. Funnily enough, the waiter tried to reassure us that we could order anything from the menu (including the mixed meat plate etc from the dinner section) but we insisted we were after the breakfast items. I’m not sure if a meaty shish kebab or lamb kofta would sit right with me at that time of the morning.

Just like at dinner time, we were brought out a complimentary dish of tomatoes, olives and picked cucumbers to snack on along with a basket full of fresh Lebanese bread. I always make the mistake of snacking too much on these accompaniments.

Complimentary tomato, olives and pickled cucumber

Copious amounts of Lebanese bread

First dish to try was Foul (pronouced 'ful'), the Lebanese equivalent to baked beans. This is a hearty breakfast dish of cooked and mashed fava beans mixed with olive oil, onion, garlic and lemon juice with quite a thick consistency. We ordered a small portion which was more than enough. The foul was delicious scooped up with pieces of Lebanese bread.

Foul

Next dish to try was Shanglish. This is a dried country style yoghurt served with red onions, diced tomatoes and cucumber. The dried yoghurt pretty much tastes like fetta cheese. It was a lovely combination and worked really well sandwiched between bits of Lebanese bread. We couldn't finish this dish as there was just a bit too much cheese, so we did the remaining portion home. The leftover shanglish worked perfectly for a late afternoon snack with lavosh flatbread.

Shanglish

The last dish to try was a large bowl of Fatteh, which could best be described as the Lebanese equivalent to a bowl of cereal or porridge. This savoury dish, served warm, is a soupy mixture of chick peas, garlic, creamy yoghurt with a layer of crunchy fried pieces of Lebanese bread. It's topped with a sprinkling of toasted almonds and pine nuts, spring onions, paprika and olive oil.

Bowl of Fatteh

I'm not sure if I quite managed to convince Mr FBC to join the breakfast club but even for a non-breakfast man he was reasonably impressed with the offering. The dishes were very tasty and filling. However, some may say too filling. Not being used to having too many legumes for breakfast, Mr FBC and I were really full for the majority of the day and needed to skip lunch. Best not to start the day with a hearty Lebanese breakfast if you're anticipating a reasonably sized lunch. A lesson for next time!

Al Aseel

Shop 4, 173 Waterloo Rd

Greenacre NSW 2190

Phone (02) 9758 6744

Sun-Thurs 9am-9pm; Fri-Sat 9am-10pm

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Fondling the Fondue - Bringing in the New Year with a Fondue Party

2011-01-11T06:18:00.002-05:00

I’m a big fan of cheese, especially melted cheese. So it’s natural that I would be very attracted to the thought of a large pot of melted gooey oozy cheese - a la “fondue”.

Oddly enough, Mr FBC and I once went to a Swiss restaurant in Sydney* which listed cheese fondue on its menu. We tried ordering it but the waiter actually strongly recommended us against ordering it as he didn’t think we (as Fondue virgins) could handle the intensity of the cheese and wine flavour.

We’ve always regretted our decision (and lack of assertiveness) so we were pretty excited when a fondue opportunity arises when our close friends, Doctor J and the Pizza Man, decide to host a Fondue Party to welcome in the New Year. I think I may have contributed to the idea with some subtle coaxing at an earlier dinner party when we were coming up with ideas (he, he!). Ok.. I may have just screamed out. FONDUE PARTY.

Prior to the day, we all scoured the cupboards of our parents and various op shops for fondue party essentials. This arduous search resulted in the following finds:

1. A large 70’s crockpot - the fascade sort looked like lobster shell. Do you see the similarity?

2. Authentic Fondue sticks

3. An original 1970's Fondue Cookbook - 'Fondue Cookery' by Alison Burt

The Fondue Cookery cookbook was an absolute gem and provided all the necessary info on making the perfect fondue and plenty of fondue recipes. I think I saw a Curry Fondue recipe ?

We used the Traditional Fondue Recipe (see below) which used a mixture of Gruyere and Emmenthal cheese, plus some wine, lemon and cornflour. You were also meant to have kirsch, a cherry liqueur, but we didn’t have any to use.

The End Result

As for our dipping weapons of choice? We had a variety of fondue accompaniments ranging from typical, such as cubes of cut up French breadstick and vegetables to the more unusual such as cornichorns and chorizo. For future reference I would recommend using quite hard bread as the soft bread tends to drown in the cheese. And if you were wondering how the chorizo went. Well… it was really a salty cheesy explosion in your mouth!

If you really like your cheese then I’m pretty sure you could dip anything into the fondue. One thing I might try for next time is cooked potato (as recommended by the Fondue Cookbook).

Mr FBC displaying Fondue dipping action

It was so much fun to dip our fondue sticks into the pot of cheesy fondue. Truly a cheese lover’s heaven and I could have continued devouring melted cheese coated items all night. However, be warned – the fondue is quite heavy with an overpowering flavour so it’s not for the light hearted. Most people at the party could only manage a few cheese coated items.

Later in the evening and continuing on the fondue theme, we moved from melted cheese to melted chocolate. Consulting the ever informative ‘Fondue Cookery' cookbook again, we opted for the ‘Milk Chocolate Fondue’ (see recipe below). This fondue was relatively easy to make – milk chocolate and cream. Using our trusty fondue forks, we eagerly dipped an array of marshmallows, strawberries and cherries into the sweet, luscious chocolate.

At one stage, I nearly lost a marshmallow to the depths of the chocolate fondue. Supposedly, I was told that if a girl loses something in the fondue then she has to kiss all the guys in the room? Luckily, a nearby girlfriend helped me rescue my drowning marshmallow with our collective fondue fork – phew!

Chocolate Fondue

This was a wonderful way to bring in the New Year – fondue stick in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other:) Now that Mr FBC and I are fondue connoisseurs, I’m wondering if we should venture back to the Swiss Restaurant* and order Fondue safely in the knowledge that we can absolutely positively handle the CHEESE.

Fondue Neuchatel (Traditional Cheese Fondue Recipe)

From Fondue Cookbook by Alison Burt

This recipe serves 4 (but in reality it could probably serve as many as 10 if people are only have a few fondue bits and pieces)

Ingredients

1 clove garlic1 ½ cups dry white wine

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups grated Emmenthal cheese

2 cups rgated Gruyere cheese

1 tablespoon cornflour

2 tablespsoons kirsch

White pepper, grated nutmeg and paprika to taste

French bread, for serving (or whatever takes your fancy)

Instructions

1. Rub the inside of the fondue pot with a clove of garlic

2. Heat the wine with the lemon juice carefully

3. Add the cheese gradually stirring continuously in a 'figure of eight' motion (I assume this just helps to prevent the cheese from clumping?)

'Figure of Eight' Stirring Action

4. When mixture is bubbling, add the kirsch and cornflour, blended together.

5. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes and then season to taste

6. Serve with French bread cut into 1 inch cubes or whatever takes your fancy

Milk Chocolate Fondue

Also from 'Fondue Cookery' by Alison Burt

Serves 4

Ingredients

230g milk chocolate (we used Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate)

½ Cup cream

2 tablespoons kirsch

Marshmallows, strawberries and cherries. The Fondue Cookery also recommends using cake and biscuits (I like the sound of that!)

Instructions

1.Grate chocolate and place into fondue pot with the cream

2. Stir well and heat gently, stirring until chocolate is melted

3. Add the kirsh and mix in

4. Serve with marshmallows etc

* it was the Eiger Swiss Restaurant if you were wondering. Btw, I had a look at the menu online and they even have a warning about the fondue on their website.

Easy Peasy Cooking - Shortbread Lemon Tarlets

2010-11-07T00:55:00.002-04:00

There are many people in the world who enjoy the art of cooking or baking and find it to be most satisfying to be able to create elaborate dishes. Some people say cooking helps them destress and mentally unwind from the chaos of the day. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. I absolutely adore food and but I'd much rather someone else made the food for me toe eat.
When it comes to cooking, my style could best be described as 'easy peasy'. Recipes with minimal steps and minimal fuss will win me over - every time.
So, when it came to picking a dish to bring along to the recent Sydney Foodbloggers Picnic, I thought my shortbread lemon tartlets would do the trick.

It's a really easy recipe which I found from the Joy of Baking and it feels like your eating mini cheesecakes. You can make the tart shells a few days in advance or you could make a double batch and freeze them. I recommend making the lemon filling a day in advance so that it has time to thicken.

Easy Peasy Shortbread Lemon Tartlets Recipe

Ingredients
Shortbread Tarts:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup pure icing sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling:

250g Philadelphia cream cheese - softened
1 can (395g) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
p.s I always end up with heaps of leftover filling so you can always try halving the filling quantities.
Toppings: Whichever berry takes your fancy...Strawberries, Raspberries or Blueberries.

Easy Peasey Instructions
Makes 36 mini tarts... but I always find I have quite a bit of filling leftover.

For the Shortbread tarts:
• Lightly spray with a nonstick canola spray a 36 miniature muffin tins
• Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
• Beat the butter and sugar together (approximately two minutes) with an eletric mixer. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix just together. It might be a bit sticky to start with but it will firm up.
• Divide the dough mixture into 36 even pieces and place one ball of dough in the centre of each muffin tin. Press the dough up the sides of each muffin tin
• Place muffin tin with the unbaked shells into the freezer for about 10 minutes. This will help to prevent the shells puffing up too much in the oven.
• Take out of freezer and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the shells are lightly browned. At about the 10 minutes into baking, take the shells out and lightly prick each shell to prevent the shell from puffing. Prick the shells again after 5 minutes if they still look like they are puffing up.
• Take out from oven and cool. Once cooled, remove from the pan.

To make the cream cheese filling:
• With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the condensed milk, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla and mix until just until smooth.

• Place filling to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until serving time. For the best results, try and make the filling at least a day in advance to allow it to firm up and to let all the lemony flavours mix together.

To make your easy peasey shortbread tartlet creations:
• Using two tea spoons, fill each of tart shells with the filling and then top with a berry of your choice. I've used strawberries and blueberries before but I find raspberries make the cutest looking tartlets.

I've made these tartlets a few times and found they are perfectly bite sized for a girly afternoon tea and look fabulous placed on a 3 tiered cake stand. Easy peasey!

New In Town, Newtown (Polish Restaurant) (28 August 2010)

2010-10-21T07:48:00.002-04:00

New in town is 'New in Town' in Newtown.

I've been waiting to use that line ever since Mr FBC and I (along with our merry group of Fat Belly Clubbers) visited New In Town, a Polish restaurant located on King Street, Newtown. New in Town replaces the 'Chocolate Dog Cafe' - you may remember this as the 'cafe by day/mexican by night' place on the southern end of King Street.

It's been awhile since a Fat Belly Club outing has been arranged for our friends and it's always great to share the a new culinary adventure with our best buds. To make sure we tasted as much of the menu as possible, I make the executive decision to opt for the $50 set menu. I'm not 100% sure if the set menus are actually listed on the restaurant menu. I just found out about it after enquiring when making my booking and was kindly emailed a copy of the menu for my perusal. I think there is also a $40 menu, but for $10 more you get to have pork knuckle and duck. It's a no brainer really.

WARNING: the set menu contains copius amounts of food. If you dare to try it, make sure to come here on an EMPTY STOMACH. Don't worry... if you can't finish it, they will kindly 'doggy' bag it for you if you ask.

Wedliny - Smoked cold meats served with horseradish and Polish bread (top right)

Smalec - Spiced pork lard with fried sausage, onion and marjoram served with bread and pickles (bottom left), Kompot Fruit Drink (bottom Left)

Our first dishes to arrive are a couple of hearty polish starters, including Wedliny - smoked cold meats with horseradish and polish bread (which I think could be a type of rye bread), as well as Smalec - pork lard spiced with fried sausage. Both were delicious and a great. However, I think we filled up on the bread too quickly. Damn! The pork lard is also not for the faint hearted - it's 100% pure fat but is delectable in small quantities. I'm assuming it would be a great way to efficiently build up stocks of fat if you were heading into a cold Polish winter.
Also brought to the table are jugs of Kompot - a Polish fruit drink which tastes a bit like watered down Ribena. It's refreshing and much need after the pork lard.

Pierogi - Dumplings galore

I wonder if dumplings are the 'spring roll' equivalent for Polish cuisine? Next up were platters of fried dumplings, called Pierogi, filled with an array of fillings including: meat, sauerkraut and mushroom, and white cheese and potato. The dumplings were accompanied by pots of sourcream which worked really well with the dumplings.

Placki ziemniaczane – potato pancakes with mushroom sauce

The potato pancakes were beautifully crisp and went well with the mushroom sauce. There's more vibrantly pink sauerkraut and sour cream, if you need it.

Beef goulash with potatoes dumplings

More hearty food arrives for the table of fat belly clubbers. Next up is beef goulash and potato dumplings. The goulash is rich and filled with tender beef. It's wonderfully accompanied by plump potato dumplings.

Bigos - a hunter stew

A crowd favourite (ok... welll my favourite) is Bigos, a hunter stew made of smoked meats, sauerkraut, red wine and spices. It's hearty and flavoursome.

Golonka w piwie - Pork Knuckle baked in Polish beer

When it comes to pork knuckle (Golonka w Piwie), size does matter. This large chunk of meat is not for the faint hearted. We were given 3 pork knuckles to share between 10 people and we struggled to get through the meat. Many of the Fat Belly Clubbers thought they could take on the pork knuckle and devour it... but alas it was not meant to be. It was just too much meat for of all us. Pork Knuckle -1 , Fat Belly Clubbers - 0.

We're all getting pretty full by now but the food keeps coming. A platter of golabki arrives, which is soft baked cabbage rolls filled with spiced meat and rice and toped with a luscious tomato sauce.

Golabki - soft baked cabbage

The last main dish to arrive is Kaczka - roast duck stuffed with apples, cranberries and glazed with honey. There's plenty of moist delicious duck meat and the sweet glaze is delectable but we're all so full that it's hard to eat too much more. I'm afraid we didn't do the dish justice.

Kaczka - Roast duck stuffed with apples, cranberries, topped with honey

We make an executive decision to give our stomachs a bit of a break before moving onto dessert. The time gives us an opportunity to look around the restaurant. When we first arrived, the place was absolutely packed but our table seems to have out eaten everyone else and there is only one other couple left in the restaurant.
The service tonight is very friendly and accommodating. All the waitresses are kind enough to explain each dish to us. At one point, the chef comes out to ask us what we thought of the food and which dishes were our favourites. It's a lovely gesture.

Pierogi z wisniami - Sour Cherry Dumplings (bottom left), Sernik and Szarlotka -Cheese Cake and Apple pie (top right)

After a rest, we venture onto the Polish desserts. The dessert in the set menu is meant to be a Poppyseed cake. However, we manage to swap this for mixed dessert platters for the table which included slices of Sernik- polish style cheesecake and Szarlotka - apple pie and a plate of Pierogi z wisniami - polish dumplings filled with sour cherries. The dessert dumplings were magical with the filling of juicy sour cherries.

Are you full yet just by looking at all that food. We certainly were and by the end of the night, true to our name, we felt every bit like the Fat Belly Club. Burp!

New In Town

549 King St

ph (02) 95652526

Tues-Sun 8am-3pm, 6pm-10pm.

BYO $3.50 corkage

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Sydney Food Bloggers 'Mad Hatters' Picnic at Centennial Park

2010-10-11T09:04:00.001-04:00

Fantastic 'Sydney Food Bloggers Cake' by Anna from Diary of a Lady Bird

I love food. I love taking photos of food. I AM A FOOD BLOGGER.

Mr FBC and I are getting use to telling people that we're food bloggers. Our close friends know not to start their meals until we've had an opportunity to photograph it. We're also getting use to the unusual looks you get in restaurants when you start taking photos of our food. But every so often, we just wished we knew more people who just understood our passion for food and our excessive need for taking photos of the food we eat. People who just get it.

Last weekend, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet 40 or so likeminded Sydney based food bloggers who gathered at Centennial Park for the ‘Sydney Food Bloggers ‘Mad Hatters’ Spring Picnic’ (organised by the lovely Billy from A Table for Two and Karen from Citrus and Candy).
It was so great to meet all the faces behind the food blogs that I’ve been reading for the past year or so. Even though we were mostly all strangers, everyone was so friendly and the conversation was really easy - food focussed obviously. Oddly enough, you just never know who you'll meet at these things. I even bumped into an old high school friend who I hadn't seen for years - a girl from the blogging crew at yayas yum yums. Small world!

What would a food bloggers picnic be without ‘food’ for people to photograph. There was a beautiful array of delicous looking food to share.

Above is just a snap shot of the spread of food. I think there were two more picnic blankets

worth of food. And, here are some close up shots....

Cute Tea-ramisu in Chocolate teacups (by Tammi from Insatiable Munchies)

Lemon ricotta cheesecake (by Table Nosh)

Smoky Bacon and Chilli Caramel Slice (by Helen from Grab Your Fork

I didn't try as many things as I would have liked. I think I had too much food to gawk at. I was just overwhelmed by it all and oddly lost my appetite. I did try a slice of the Smoky Bacon and Chilli Caramel Slice. The combination sounds so wrong, but it tastes so right. Yum.

The event was sponsored by a range of generous sponsors, including Nuffnang. There were lots of prizes to be won, including prizes for the best mad hat, the best sweet dish, the best savoury dish and the best 'blue' dish. You will notice a bit of the 'blue' theme in the next few photos. Someone even brought in a huge bucket of 'blue' sangria (sorry - don't have a photo of that one).

Cute 'mad hatter' themed cupcakes (from yayas yum yums)

Cookie Monster Cupcakes by nommy nom nom

Cutesy Pie Cake Popsicles by Sugarlace

Close up of the Cake Popsicle

Mr FBC and I were racking our brains all week trying to decide what to make. We finally chose two dishes (one sweet and savoury) which were cute and bite size - Mini Burgers and Shortbread Tartlets. Perfect picnic food. We'll post recipes soon - they are super easy to make. I even managed to make little cardboard signs for us using the new 'alphabet' stamps I recently bought.

Mini Burgers (by Mr FBC)

Shortbread Tartlets (made by Mrs FBC)

It was great to just meet all the food bloggers and share their gorgeous food. However, our day was topped off by winning one of the prizes. Our Shortbread Tartlets won second prize in the Sweet dish category. Yay! It was a total shock as there were sooooo many beautiful and tasty sweet dishes. Our prize was fantastic - it was a $150 voucher to Chophouse at Bligh Street, Sydney. Mr FBC and I have already perused the menu and we're looking forward to our meaty extravaganza.

Lovely to meet you all and hope to see you soon - Mr and Mrs FBC xx

Second Prize - $150 voucher to Chophouse

Food, glorious food

Jimmy's Recipe Malaysia - Galleries Victoria Sydney CBD

2010-10-03T02:11:00.001-04:00

MR FBC EATS: A quick lunch report from Sydney CBD lunch hotspots

Murtabak ($6.50) topped with a Curry Puff ($1.80)

One of my favourite lunch spots is Jimmy's Recipe Malaysia located at the Galleries Victoria on George Street. For lunch the other day I had the Murtabak, essentially a filled roti canai with curry sauce. The curry puff was my own addition.

It looked small, but it turned out to be packed full of meat. In the end it was a real protein hit. I definitely didn't need the curry puff. You live and learn!

The Galeries Victoria

Ground Floor, Shop RC16, 500 George St

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph (02) 9267 2288

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Buppa's Bakehouse, Newtown

2010-09-28T08:20:00.002-04:00

Mr FBC and I tend to hang out in the north side of Newtown (north of Newtown Station) – just because it’s close to where we live. Ok – we’re just lazy. So, it’s always interesting when, every so often, we decide to venture south of Newtown Station and continue down King Street all the way to St Peters. It’s amazing to see the everchaning nature of the retail strip with new shops popping up all the time. That’s how we found Buppa's Bakehouse one sunny Saturday afternoon back in February. Buppas Bakehouse isn’t that new anymore. It’s been open for about a year now and seems to be doing a roaring trade.

Buppas Bakehouse specializes in American cakes and desserts. I’d sum up American desserts as being generous, not necessarily pretty like delicate petite French pastries, but definitely deeeeelicious in all it’s size and glory. There are plenty of authentic Americana desserts available.

I chose to have a slice of good ol’ American Pecan Pie. Buppas take on the American classic is a Black Bottom Pecan pie ($6 a slice back in Feb 2010) - a choclate pecan pie with a hint of bourbon and a butter crust. It was rich, caramel and nutty.

Black Bottom Pecan Pie

Mr FBC had a slice of the Coco Lopez. I suspect he chose it due to the fantasitc sounding name. In actual fact, Coco Lopez was really banoffie pie in disguise. But I think I like the exotic sounding Coco Lopez. This take on the banoffie pie came with a coffee cookie crumble crust, dulce de leche, banana, coffee flavoured whipped cream and fresh ground coffee.

Coco Lopez

I’ve been meaning to make my own banoffie pie. Did you know it's meant to be short for Banana - Toffee? Am I the only one in the world that didn’t know that? I suspect I am :( I’ve bookmarked a banoffie pie recipe from grab your fork to try sometime soon, but the requirement to boil cans of condensed milk sounds a bit ominous to me.

As a bit of an afterthought, Mr FBC and I decided to takeaway a red velvet cupcake ($4) to share later. The colour of the cake is a dramatic and deep blood red colour. I’ve never tried one before but read about it on various blogs. The cake has a hint of a chocolate and is super crumbly, but the winner for this cupcake is probably the super creamy and soft cream cheese icing.

As you may have guessed from the photo (and the huge bite from the cupcake)... we were too impatient to get home before tasting the cupcake and feverishly gobbled it up in the car.

Red Velvet Cupcake

Buppa's Bakehouse

482 King Street, Newtown, 8065 0681.

Wed-Fri, 11am-6pm; Sat-Sun, 9.30am-6pm.

http://www.buppas.com.au/

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Breakfast Degustation at Le Monde Cafe, Surry Hills

2010-09-12T09:06:00.006-04:00

Unlike me, Mr FBC isn’t very demanding. He’s a very easy going guy and is one who's happy to 'go with the flow' - generally flowing in my direction! However, I know he really wants to do something if he mentions it at least 3 times. There are two things he has recently mentioned more than three times:

1. He said he’s keen on getting an IPAD. I’ve argued that it’s not quite a computer and not quite a phone so I don’t see the point. He disagrees. He’s yet to buy one though.

2. He said he’d be interested in trying the breakfast degustation at Le Monde in Surry Hills. My eyes lit up upon hearing him tell me about it the first time. A degustation meal… but at breakfast? ‘Wow’, I said. By the time he mentioned it the third time, I’ve already thoroughly researched the place (well… checked out the great post by

the unbearable lightness of being hungry) and I'm ready to dial the number and make a booking.

When I called up and booked, I’m told that the breakfast degustation is available on Fridays and Saturdays and costs $35 per person. I think there are 3 or 4 sittings (starting at 9am), with a maximum of 5 people at each sitting. I did ask if we could get a table of 6 but was firmly told that there was definitely 5. I was a bit perplexed at this but I think it must have something to do with the capacity of the kitchen.

Our partners in crime on this Fat Belly Club adventure to Le Monde on this Saturday morning are good friends, Mr Ziwawi and Ms Cris. Our waitress arrives and gives a quick run down on the breakfast degustation menu. There are three courses and two types of coffee to try.

Le Monde Breakfast Degustation Menu (as of 2 Sept 2010)

The first dish to try is the Granola and watermelon with black olives, frozen grapes, vanilla bean yoghurt and mint. This dish is the prettiest thing I have ever eaten at breakfast. It feels too refined for breakfast. The cool watermelon and flash frozen grapes are a nice wake up call on this grey and slightly overcast Saturday morning. The creamy dollop of vanilla bean yoghurt is rich and goes well with the granola and the crumbly black olive 'soil'.

Granola and Watermelon

Our first coffee for the day is a filtered coffee made by the Clover. Mr FBC and I do like our coffees (Campos Coffee is up the road from us, so our standards are high). However, we wouldn’t profess to know too much about the ins and outs of coffee making. I've always thought filtered coffee was what you had if you're in the US (where you can only seem to find half decent coffee at the ubiquitous Starbucks!) or if you're in McDonalds desperate for coffee and there isn't a McCafe.

Filtered Coffee and THE Clover Coffee Machine

At Le Monde, they make the coffee with the latest and greatest of coffee machines, the 'Clover' - which costs $11,000 and allows the user to control water temperature, water dose and extraction time. The machine allows baristas to tailor each brew and bring out the different 'floral' qualities of the coffee. Le Monde's barista arrives at our table to bring a carafe of filtered coffee for us to taste. There's also a little bowl of coffee grounds for us to smell. The barista explains the way it was brewed - the use of a siphon, piston, steam, filters. Apologies for the lack of detail - it was a bit too technical for my brain on this Saturday morning.

The coffee is meant to be quite an earthy flavour with overtones of capsicum. The barista leaves us to taste the coffee with a final recommendation to sip the coffee slowly over 10 minutes, but warns that it may get very bitter if it gets too cold. The colour, a muddy brown, tricks you into thinking you're about to drink a very strong tea. The taste isn't of tea - but perhaps a very weak coffee. There are defintely floral qualities. Ms Cris and Mr FBC thought the coffee tasted like very weak tomato soup. I tasted a bit of spice... but perhaps I'm just thinking about it too much. I've never analysed coffee to this much detail. It’s definitely interesting to try, but I’m not sure if I’ll be swapping it for my regular skim latte.

The main course is the ‘B L A T’… or what we’ve been told is the deconstructed BLT (bacon lettuce tomato) comprising of confit pork, soy linseed toast, tomato paper, avocado mousse, dehydrated kale, plus horseradish. This dish looks incredible and taste sensational.

'The B L A T' - deconstructed BLT

The 6hr cooked confit pork was beautiful, tender and easily pulled apart. We’re intrigued with the tomato paper and dehydrated kale. I can only guess that the tomato paper would be something you’d give to astronauts in space in lieu of tomato sauce. It’s odd… but it works - it just melts in your mouth. The kale is adds a nice crunch. The avocado mousse is light and fluffy and the lemon jelly is a interesting addition. A bit of zing. The waitress tells us that the chef recommends tasting a little of each component, and then just eating the rest of it as normal sandwich. Makes sense. We try it that way – and it works. Yum.

The constructed version of the 'deconstructed BLAT'

To finish our main 'breafast' course, we are offered our second coffee. However, this time the choice is ours. It's the usual lattes and cappucinos all round.

Our last dish, the breakfast dessert (iced coffee, blue berries, salted pumpkin seeds and chocolate), comes out in individual glasses. We’re told the chef will come out to put on the finishing touches. Sure enough, the chef comes out and pipes the iced coffee cream on top and sprinkles the dessert with grated chocolate. It’s a lovely way to end our meal. We all love the light and creamy iced coffee which contrasts beautifully with the juicy blueberries and salty pumpkin seeds.

Iced coffee, blue berries, salted pumpkin seeds and chocolate

I’m pleased to say we were suitably satiated from our degustation meal but not stuffed. I’m sort of glad though as it’s always really unnecessary to get so full from degustation. full (but not stuffed).

The chef, Chris Merrick, is ex Oscillate Wildly (in Newtown) which helps explain the creativity and explosion of flavours behind the breakfast. This is the only place that I know of in Sydney that does a breakfast degustation. Having said that, the normal breakfast menu looked equally salivating and different. Try it - you won't regret it.

Is there anywhere that you've been recently where the breakfast was different and a bit off the beaten track??

Le Monde Cafe

83 Foveaux St, Surry Hills

(02) 9211 3568

Open Weekdays 6:30am-4pm; Sat 7am-2pm

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Margan Restaurant, Broke (Hunter Valley)

2010-08-23T07:12:00.001-04:00

Being inner city Sydneysiders, Mr FBC and I consider anything more than a 15 minute drive away to be far, far away (it's all relative!). So, considering our evening drive for dinner in the Hunter Valley this weekend will take 30-40 minutes sure makes our destination, Margan Restaurant in Broke, feel very distant.

Margan Restaurant is part of the Margan Winery in Broke Fordwich. I'm instantly attracted to the restaurant from the blurb I read on their website and how committed these guys are to using fresh produce and reducing their overall carbon footprint.

"Being farmers, we are committed to looking after the land so that it is able to look after us for generations to come. As such, we are determined to ensure our carbon footprint is as small as possible. Our one acre fruit and vegetable garden is a labour of love as well as a sustainable way we can reduce our food miles. We base our menus around the seasons and in particular, what we are harvesting from the garden right now. What is not used in the kitchen goes to the chickens who very kindly supply us with eggs for the menu and compost for the garden (the chicken or the egg?). The water falls from the sky, so we offer you fresh rainwater, filtered and free. The wine comes from the grapes grown on our vineyards right here in Broke Fordwich and made in the winery behind where you sit. We freshly prepare most menu items from scratch in our kitchen, including our signature gelati, pasta, smallgoods, pastries, etc"

Ahh...warm and fuzzies. I already feel like I'm being a good samaritan just by choosing to eat here.

After what seems like forever along dark country roads, we arrive at Margan and it's pitch black all around except for the glimmer of light (and hope) emanating from the restaurant.

Arriving inside the restaurant, we are warmly greeted by our waitress for the evening. I'm immediately wowed at the interior design of this place. There's a warm log fire burning, textured concrete walls and there's lots of dark moody lighting. Even though this is meant to be a nice romantic dinner for Mr FBC and I, being the nerdy foodbloggers, we are relieved when we are led to a table in a reasonably well lit corner. It's all for the sake of getting the good food porn shots!

Log Fire

Margan's menu offers quite an extensive list of tasting plates. You can get 3 tasting courses for $60, 4 tasting courses for $75 or 5 tasting courses for $90. We're told that the tasting plates are a tad smaller than an entree size so Mr FBC and I decide to get 4 courses each. And, since we have an unspoken rule about going half/half with all the dishes, we effectively get to try 8 dishes in total. It's a win-win. The next big decision is what to order....

It takes a while, but finally we decide.

Mr FBC chose these four dishes -

Broth of poached chicken, risoni and free range egg finished with shaved bottarga
Slow braised lamb shoulder, beluga lentils, pumpkin, smoked eggplant and goats curd
Twice cooked pork belly, red cabbage, cavolo nero and caramelised apple puree
Chocolate fondant with caramel ice cream and salted vanilla hazelnuts

And I chose the these four -

Seared pepper crusted kingfish, crispy silverbeet and anchovy mayonnaise
Saute of white beans with spanish morcilla, scallops and picada
Confit duck parcel and seared breast on celeriac puree with leek, wild honey and verjuice.
Cheese cigar with Tarago Shadows of Blue and quince

To start with, we're provided with these delicious canapes - cute little crumbed pork balls bursting with flavour.

Complimentary Canape - Crumbed Pork Balls

Our first tasting plates arrive. Mr FBC's broth of poached chicken and risoni is topped with a bright yellow yolk. Mixing the yolk in with the broth produces a beautifully creamy texture.

Broth of poached chicken, risoni and free range egg finished with shaved bottarga

My first course, seared pepper crusted kingfish, silverbeet and anchovy mayonnaise was delightful. The kingfish was light and fresh and I loved the crunch of the the fried silverbeet and the salty tang of the mayonnaise.

Seared pepper crusted kingfish, crispy silverbeet and anchovy mayonnaise

Slow braised lamb shoulder, beluga lentils, pumpkin, smoked eggplant and goats curd

Taste plate no. 2 arrives shorty. My FBC's lamb beautiful and just falls apart in the mouth. The goats curd adds a nice creamy saltiness and the sprinkling of pomegrantes adds a lovely sweetness to the dish.

Saute of white beans with spanish morcilla, scallops and picada

My scallops were very delicate and plump morsels. I wasn't sure what a 'spanish morcilla' was but it tasted like a very rich and dense sausage. (Note: I just 'googled' it and found out it's a spanish blood sausage - interesting. I'm glad I didn't know as I might not have picked it!).

Twice cooked pork belly, red cabbage, cavolo nero and caramelised apple puree

Mr FBC's pork belly was really delicious - the meat was tender and sweet with a lovely crunchy crackling. Neither Mr FBC and I knew what cavolo nero was but we figured it was the vegetable that looked a bit like spinach? That was a pretty good guess - another 'google' search reveals that cavolo nero is an Italian black cabbage or kale.

Confit duck parcel and seared breast on celeriac puree with leek, wild honey and verjuice

I chose the duck dish because it had verjuice which reminded me of Maggie Beer and a documentary I watched about her quest to introduce Australia to verjuice - the juice of unfermented grapes. Anyway, it was a good choice. The confit duck parcel was a bit like a duck meatball. The seared duck breasts were very succulent and the sweet sauce worked well with the duck.

We have a bit of a break to rest our stomachs before tasting plate 4 (aka dessert) arrives. We take this time to have a look at the interiors again. There's a beautiful cellar room that our table overlooks. I think they must have functions there - I could picture this restaurant being a wonderfully romantic place for a wedding. We also have time to do a bit of eavesdropping on what other tables are ordering. A group of 8 people near us decide to order 3 courses. I want to say - "go for at least 4 course people!"... but I only manage to say it loudly in my head.

Chocolate fondant with caramel ice cream and salted vanilla hazelnuts

Desserts arrive and we realise that our night is nearly coming to an end (sigh:( ). There's a bit of a drumroll before Mr FBC cracks open his chocolate fondant. Will it or won't it be gooey on the inside?? The suspense.... it's gooey, chocolately and very decadent.

Cheese cigar with Tarago Shadows of Blue and quince

I'm really impressed when my dessert arrives. I think I was just expecting a bit of cheese and crackers. The cheese cigar is filled with 'Tarago Shadows of Blue' which is a rich double cream blue vein cheese which has been rolled in pastry and deep fried. The sweetness of the quince sauce works really well with the cheese. Mr FBC finds it a bit too rich but I love it - being the 'cheese fiend' that I am.

It's been a wonderful night of decadent eating. Mr FBC and I were really impressed with Margan - it has both an original menu and the chefs also seem to use fresh and local produce. It was defintely worth the trek there (and back).

Margan Restaurant

1238 Milbrodale Road,Broke NSW 2330

ph: 6579 1317

http://www.margan.com.au/

Open for Lunch - Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Dinner - Friday and Saturday

Breakfast - Sunday

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Sonido! Fitzroy (Melbourne)

2010-08-12T09:07:00.000-04:00

For me there are two types of great dining experiences. The first is where you go somewhere expecting great things and it achieves or exceeds your expectations. The second is when you go somewhere with no expectation, often for the sake of just having something to eat, but are completely blown away by the experience. Sonido, located in Melbourne’s funky but grungy suburb of Fitzroy, was one such place.

Mrs FBC and I were recently on a gastronomical holiday in Melbourne sampling some of the great food the city had to offer (look out for future blogs). Having arrived on Friday and eaten our way through to Sunday we decided it was time to give our stomachs a rest and instead do some visual eating at Melbourne’s Queen Vic Markets. On our last trip to Melbourne a friend of ours introduced us to Fitzroy and Mrs FBC and I immediately felt at home. So naturally this is where we stayed this time round. Come Sunday morning, and finding ourselves a little over indulged, we decided to walk to Queen Vic markets in an attempt to re-build our appetites. Of course, being a Sunday, we were in serious need of a good source of coffee and, having noted a few good venues on Gertrude St, we chose this as our route.

One thing you need to note about Melbourne is that Sundays can be little slow, and as it turned out most of the cafes we saw on Gertrude St were closed. Desperate for coffee, and of course a small amount of food, we happened upon a little unimposing café called Sonido. Sonido has the sort of grungy haphazard décor that only arts students or Europeans can pull off. Or in this case South Americans (and still possibly arts students).

Sonido's unimposing entrance.

After waiting for table service for several minutes we decided that ordering at the counter was probably the way to go and helped ourselves to some menus. It was here that the pleasant surprises began. Rather than the typical collection of toast, scrambled eggs and, for the more adventurous cafes, eggs Benedict, we were intrigued to find a menu consisting mainly of Arepas and Empanadas. Now I know what you are saying, “I know what an empanada is, but what are arepas?” To quote directly from the menu,

“Considered the most typical food of northern South America, AREPAS are a daily ritual that has been practised for centuries. Maiz (corn) is one of the most beautiful gifts of the Americas (North, Central and South) to the world. The indigenous inhabitants of South America mastered the art of transforming maiz into simple, loyal and very healthy round goodies called Arepas!”

Having read this we both agreed that we wanted to try the daily ritual of South America. I ordered the Arepa de Choclo (no, it’s not chocolate) while Mrs FBC ordered the Arepa de Queso.

Arepa de Queso ($7.50)

The Arepa de Queso, or cheese arepa, had a recommendation to eat it with a “buttered knife in one hand and a salt shaker in the other”. This dish consisted of two cheese arepas served with fresh salsa, guacamole and a chunk of butter. Delicious and light, they were a great start to the morning (at least that’s what I thought from the small bite Mrs FBC allowed me to have) and were well accompanied by the salt and butter.

Arepa de Choclo ($7.50)

The arepa de choclo on the other hand was a heavier arepa made from gringo corn with a generous slice of Fresco cheese. And as it turns out this is exactly how I like my arepas.

Mrs FBC and I both thoroughly enjoyed our arepas and to top it off the coffee was great. Our only regret was that we didn’t get to try any more of the menu. However, hopefully next time we return to Melbourne this little café will still be running strong and we can try the rest of the menu.

Sonido!

69 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

http://www.sonido.com.au/

Cafe Enzo, Polkolbin (Hunter Valley)

2010-08-06T08:53:00.001-04:00

Mr FBC told me the other day that he thinks my iphone is my second brain!

We went away recently for a nice weekend of wine tasting in the Hunter Valley and were keen to start our Saturday with a good coffee - just to kickstart our brains so we could really savour the complexities of the wine we were about to taste. Nah, not really, we just needed coffee. I wanted to do a bit of researching before heading off in search of coffee in unchartered territory. I was worried that we would get a really bad cup that I would need to pour down the nearest stormwater drain in digust. Yes - I've done that before and will do it again, if warranted. So, in my hour of need, I turned to my trusty 'second brain' - my beloved iphone.

Mr FBC and I are regulars at Campos Coffee. We're pretty luckily as it's practically our local coffee shop so our coffee standards are understandably high. I recently downloaded an iphone application from the Campos Coffee website which finds the nearest cafe selling Campos Coffee - it's very nifty indeed. I didn't think my chances of finding Campos Coffee in the Hunter were particularly high. However, with a quick flick and scroll on the second brain, I had found a cafe that had MY coffee and it was only 1km away.

Our destination.... CAFE ENZO. I was so excited. Not only did this place have MY coffee, it was actually on my list of places to try in the Hunter. Yay!

I'm happy to say the coffee was great, with the Mr FBC's cappuccino coming in the trademark 'Campos' glossy brown coffee cup.

We weren't up for a terribly big breakfast, so we got a couple of light dishes. Mr FBC ordered some cinnamon toast. It wasn't too exciting but you can't do that much with toast and cinnamon. It was a bit pricey at $8.50... but perhaps we were paying 'Hunter Valley' toast prices.

I was looking for something 'relatively' healthy so ordered the toasted muesli with yoghurt and fruit salad. I was pleasantly suprised with this breakfast meal with its relatively simple yet effective presentation. The dish was served in three bowls placed on a rustic wooden chopping board. I really loved the Brookfarm toasted muesli which had a nice crunch from bits of puffed rice. The yoghurt was rich and creamy. I'm guessing it was definitely not 'low fat'. Ahh well, I suppose we got some redemption with the fruit salad which was a lovely mix of strawberries, rockmelon and honey dew.

Brookfarm Toasted Muesli, Yoghurt and Fruit Salad ($15.00)

We sat at a table outside which was a perfect choice for this Saturday morning. I think Cafe Enzo would be a great place to have a lazy long lunch. Unfortunately, Mr FBC and I had organised a jam packed day full of wine tastings so we had to dash. However, we will definitely try and return to this place sometime soon.

Cafe Enzo

At Peppers Creek Winery

Cnr of Broke and Ekerts Road

Polkolbin NSW 2320

ph (02) 49987233

http://www.pepperscreek.com.au/

Settlers Arms Inn, St Albans (and a folk festival?!)

2010-07-26T08:46:00.002-04:00

I really love a leisurely weekend drive, where you drive just far and long enough that you feel like you've left the hustle and bustle of Sydney. It's often a bit traumatic getting out of Sydney. You need to drive through all the traffic jams..... past the endless 'burbs'...past the McMansions of the outer 'burbs'... until you hit what this inner-city slicker would term - 'the Country'.

St Albans has been a place that I've wanting to visit for a while because, firstly, it's far away. Well, it required a car ferry at Wisemans Ferry to get across the Hawkesbury River. And, secondly, I was attracted to the town's pub - the Settlers Arms Inn.

Established in 1836 and built from sandstone, the Settlers Arms looked so quaint and pretty on the website. So, one fine weekend (actually over the the Anzac day weekend!), Mr FBC and I took the plunge and drove to St Albans - a little village located in the heart of Macdonald Valley. The village is about 105km north west of Sydney and it takes about 90 minutes using the super fast M2 motorway.

Mr FBC and I were expecting a sleepy little village with a quaint little pub. Instead, we found a very busy little village, with a bustling little pub and a reasonably sized FOLK FESTIVAL. It was, in fact, the annual St Albans Folk Festival.

Mr FBC and I don't profess to have a knowledge of 'folk music' but we were happy to soak up the folky atmosphere.

Perhaps the first thing that caught our attention was the sound of jingling bells and oddly dressed people dancing in front the pub waving sticks and ribbons. Ladies were dressed in black sack like dresses and the guys wore what could only be described as lederhosen and straw hats adorned with flowers. Hmmmm.. After doing a bit of internet searching after getting home, Mr FBC and I worked out that we'd been watching 'Morris Dancing' and I think (?) these dancers were from the Australian Morris Ring

Morris Dancing

We had a quick look the actual festival area, but realised that it was a $30 entry to get into the 'folk festival'. We quickly decided we were happy to just walk around the village and soak up the 'free' folky vibe.

I think you would need to really like folk music to pay the $30 entry fee

After wondering around the periphery of the folk festival and watching the unique Morris Dancing, it was now time to find out what the Settlers Arms had to offer.

Stepping into the Settlers Arms is like stepping back in time. I'm guessing the pub hasn't changed that much over time, but that is probably the appeal. It reminded me of the old pubs that you find dotted across the English countryside in the UK.

Inside the Settlers Arms

Quaint fireplace and some lethal saws

Lunch Menu

Lunch at the Settlers Arms is served between 12pm - 3pm and there is a reasonable variety. I love how the menu is written on the chalkboard at the front of the pub.

There are lots of wooden benches outside the pub where you can sit and enjoy your lunch or you can eat inside. However, it was nice and sunny on this day so we chose to eat on a bench outside.

I've got a bit of a soft spot for ordering a Ploughmans Lunch when I'm in a Country Pub. It just feels so right. So - that's what I do. The Ploughmans Lunch is plentiful and there is a large smattering of things provided including lots of cold meats, huge chunks of brie and cheddar cheese, pickles, olives, lovely tomato chutneys and a pickled relish. This is accompanied by a nice warm bread roll. It hit the spot.

Ploughmans Lunch ($19)

Mr FBC on the other hand can't go past a nice big meat pie... especially if it's a homemade 'Guinness Meat Pie'. Actually, Mr FBC has a bit of a soft spot for any type of meal which is made with Guinness. I'm guessing it's because he's half Irish? The Settlers Arm meat pie comes with a generous serving of potato mash, juicy green peas and has splashings of rich gravy. It's such a simple combination but it really works. When I was younger I use to love peeling the crust of the meat pie and then squeeze lots of tomato sauce into the meat gravy. Unfortunately, Mr FBC guarded his pie too well and wouldn't let me or the tomato sauce near it :(

Homemade Guiness Meat Pie ($14)

I really enjoyed the Settlers Inn and love how it probably hasn't changed that much over time. It's definitely somewhere that Mr FBC and I would go back to again - especially if we were looking to escape the city and get a dose of fresh air and great homestyle country cooking.

To get a feel for St Albans, try and imagine this photo without all the cars?

Settlers Arms Inn

1 Wharf Street

St Albans NSW

Australia

Phone: 02 4568 2111

http://www.settlersarms.com.au/

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The Big Rig Diner, Darlinghurst

2010-07-11T03:22:00.044-04:00

One of my 'great' aims in life was to eat a hot dog in the USA. Yes, it really was. And, I'm glad to say that I managed to fulfil my simple little dream when I was backpacking around the US with my good friend Fi back in my uni days.

All my life I've always been drooling at the thought of American junk food. It all started with watching all the American TV sitcoms jam packed with lots of references to junk food such as Roseanne, Happy Days and Seinfeld to name a few. They seem to always be in a diner munching on things like burgers, fries, soda pop, donuts and pecan pie.

One night Mr FBC and I were looking for a late night snack along Oxford Street, which is mostly limited to kebabs and pizza. However, I remembered reading on a couple of trusty foodblogs about a very authentic Americana style eatery called 'The Big Rig Diner'. So, with a quick search on my trusty iphone, off we went in search for greasy American Diner food.

Cool Booths and Juke Box

The Big Rig Diner feels very authentic. You feel like you're stepping into a dark and divey 'all American' late night diner and expect to see the placed filled with American truckies. It's great! There are wooden booths and lots of American paraphenalia hanging on the wall. There's even a jukebox in the corner playing lots of great music. When Marvin Gaye's "I heard it through the grapevine'' starts playing, you just feel like you should get up and start boogying around the booths. Mr FBC and I dance on the 'inside', but it's fun watching the cook and the waitress have a little boogey.

The menu is full of typical 'American diner' food. There are burgers, macaroni and cheese, fajitas, and hot dogs. Mr FBC and I have hankerings for Hot Dogs and Fries - so that's what we order.

Baja Hot Dog ($13.50)

The hot dogs are huge - so huge that there's difficulty eating them with your hands. Mr FBC ordered the Baja Hot Dog, which was overflowing and oozing with tex-mex inspired fillings (including a spicy sausage, homemade chilli, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cheese and chopped haberneros). I was a bit more conservative and ordered the less well endowed, but super tasty, Big Rig Hot Dog which came with a pork and fennel sausage, caramelised onion and topped with melted brie and tomato chili jam. I found the tomato chilli jam a bit too spicy... but I think that's just me and my wussy tastebuds.

Big Rig Hot Dog ($9.50)

People who know me well will be aware of my deep addiction to french fries and hot chips. Fries would be more appropriate at this place, but alas, they only have hot thick and chunky chips. This is not a problem for this addict who prefers thick cut chips over fries anyway. The chips are well cooked, with a great crunchy outside and fluffy potato on the inside. Make sure to smother them with ketchup.

Hot Chips ($4)

As we were only after a late night snack, my Mr FBC and I are pretty full and need to pass on dessert. However, I do note for future reference that there's a great variety of desserts available including the all American Pecan Pie, complete with chantilly cream. Will definitely have that next time.

The Big Rig Diner

231 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst NSW
Phone (02) 9332 3197

Opening Hours: Tue to Thu 6pm - 3am; Fri to Sat 6pm - 6am

View Larger Map

Peking Duck at Da Dong Restaurant, Beijing (China)

2010-06-28T08:51:00.024-04:00

This is a blog from our trip to China in February...

After finishing a family holiday on tropical Hainan Island in China, Mr FBC and I (along with my brother, sister and brother-in-law) quickly acclimatised to the freezing Beijing temperatures. It was minus 10 degrees (ahhh!).

One thing that we all wanted to do was try Peking Duck! Just in case you weren't aware, Peking was the old term used by colonialists for Beijing, supposedly it was what the old farts thought Beijing sounded like (not!). Anyway, I suppose Peking duck has sort of stuck and Beijing duck just doesn't have the same ring.

As we only had 3 nights in Beijing, I thought I would do some online research on recommended Peking duck restauarants. There was one criteria: I wanted GOOD Peking Duck.

I came across a place called Da Dong which had great reviews. Bookings are recommended. Fortunately, my brother was able to get a mandarin chinese speaking friend to make a reservation for us.

My sister booked our accommodation and I picked the restuarant. I'm not sure if it was coincidence or just fate, however, when we got to Beijing and looked up the address of Da Dong, we found out it was located ACROSS the road from where we were staying!

When we arrive, we are quickly shown to our table. Da Dong is very swanky and uber chic. Da Dong is named after Chef Dong. His face is even on the business card!

The waitress does not speak English and unfortunately none of us speak Mandarin (except for the Mandarin Phrase book I have in my hand). Mum: why didn't you make us go to Chinese Saturday school when we were little - I know we all begged to not go, but why did you listen to us - what would we know?! Thank god the menu is also written in English and has pictures. It's going to be a 'pick, point and eat' night.

First dish of the night is venison with pineapple. I suppose we chose it as a bit of a homage to 'sweet and sour pork'. The venison was very tender.

Sauteed Venison with Pineapple

Next dish was the diced chicken and peanut with spicy sauce. Again... I suppose we were paying our respects to 'chicken and cashew' nut. This dish was laced with lots of chilli and was very spicy.. but delicious.

Chicken, peanut and spicy sauce

The next dish, stirfriend scallops with xo sauce, really made an impression with its presentation. It was amazing to see the hoops of deep fried noodles delicately balanced on the plate and juicy plump scallops covered in the salty xo sauce happily frolicking around the plate.

Stirfriend Scallops with XO sauce

My younger brother really enjoys tofu so we decided to try the braised beancurd broccoli. This is definitely the best looking beancurd that I've enjoyed, with each spoon containing a mouthful of tofu topped with a salty fish paste.

Braised Bean Curd with Broccoli

Finally, it's time for Peking Duck. Or should I say, a man with a large duck comes along and starts cutting up the poultry with lots of super quick and swift moves. We each get a side dish filled with condiments including soy sauce, slivers of shallots, ginger, cucumber, radish, sugar and black beans. We also get platters of pancakes and little sesame bread rolls.

A plate of condiments

Duck action! Chop chop!

Beautiful duck with crispy skin

We've all eaten duck pancakes but we're not sure what to do with all the condiments and bread. Fortunately, the waitress senses our distress and, due to our lack of mandarin skills, utilisies the 'watch and learn' approach to explain how we should eat our duck.For the crispy duck skin, she shows us dip the skin in the dish of sugar. We mimic - yum! The sugar crystals really offset the fat crispy skin. The skin is thin and brown and super crisp. It's not chewy at all.

Next the waitress shows us how we should wrap our pancake. Spread the pancake, then take a bit of cucumber, then a bit of plum sauce, then a bit of shallot. Wrap the pancake in half and then in quarters, so that it forms a bit of a cone. Voila! Peking Duck pancake. Sorry - don't have photos of the pancake :( However, I do have a photo of what I'd call the 'duck bread roll'. There really isn't too much too it. Just wack some duck into the cute sesame encrused roll with some sauce and shallots. It was beautiful and so difference

Duck Bread Roll

We're pretty stuffed by now, but to make ourselves feel better, we order some Chinese Spinach.

Sauteed Chinese Spinach

Finally, to end our meal we receive a platter of fruit which comes on some dry ice so it looks a bit 'space age'.

Complimentary Fruit Platter

We really enjoyed our meal here and it was great to have Chinese food which is so well presented. If you're ever in the neighbourhood, you should definitely try Da Dong Duck.

Da Dong Jinbao Jie branch 11-10 pm. 5/F Jinbao Place, 88 Jinbao Jie, Dongcheng district. 8522-1234

Over the top?... moi?

2010-06-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Ages ago...... like in March... I received an 'Over The Top' food award from the the lovely Foodwink. Have a look at her food blog. It's definitely FOOD ...PORN at its best. I'm sure the award should be taken away from me as it's been awhile since I was awarded and I've been extremely tardy on the blog front lately.

Anyhoo...in winning the award, I have to answer 35 questions with one word (sorry... I'm always too wordy so some answers are two words!) I always find these lists quite interesting and I think you can tell a lot about a person, even if each answer is very short. I wonder what you think of me (aka Mrs FBC). To make life interesting... I've made Mr FBC answer the questions too. I wonder what you think of Mr FBC too??

Mrs FBC's answers
1.Where is your cell phone? Charging

2.Your hair? Straight

3.Your mother? Chatty

4.Your father? Quiet

5.Your favourite food? Lobster

6.Your dream last night? None!

7.Your favourite drink? Passiona

8.Your dream/goal? Happiness

9.What room are you in? Dining Room

10.Your hobby? Food

11.Your fear? Failure

12.Where do you want to be in six years? Contentment

13.Where were you last night? Bundanoon

14.Something that you aren’t? Skinny
15.Muffins? Yum!
16.Wish list item? Audi TT Roadster

17.Where did you grow up? Sydney

18.Last thing you did? Dinner
19.What are you wearing? Trackies

20.Your TV? Masterchef!!!!

21.Your pets? Handbags!

22.Friends? Buying couches!

23.Your life? Searching

24.Your mood? Edgy

25.Missing someone? No

26.Vehicle? VW Polo

27.Something you’re not wearing? scarf

28.Your favourite store? Pentimento

29.Your favourite colour? Red

30.When was the last time you laughed? Today

31.Last time you cried? TV

32.Your best friend? Mr FBC

33.One place that I go to over and over? Work!

34.One person who emails me regularly? TwoThousand

35.Favourite place to eat? Yum Cha

Mr FBC's Answers
1.Where is your cell phone? Pocket

2.Your hair? Short

3.Your mother? Mary

4.Your father? Graham

5.Your favourite food? Pasta

6.Your dream last night? Work

7.Your favourite drink? Coke

8.Your dream/goal? Writer

9.What room are you in? Living Room

10.Your hobby? Foodporn

11.Your fear? Disappointment

12.Where do you want to be in six years? Overseas

13.Where were you last night? Bundanoon

14.Something that you aren’t? Organised

15.Muffins? Banana

16.Wish list item? IPAD

17.Where did you grow up? Sydney

18.Last thing you did? Ate

19.What are you wearing? Trackies

20.Your TV? Masterchef

21.Your pets? None

22.Friends? Old!

23.Your life? Philosophical

24.Your mood? Upbeat

25.Missing someone? No

26.Vehicle? VW

27.Something you’re not wearing? socks

28.Your favourite store? Pentimento (Newtown)

29.Your favourite colour? Red

30.When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday

31.Last time you cried? 1992

32.Your best friend? Mrs FBC

33.One place that I go to over and over? Campos

34.One person who emails me regularly? Mrs FBC

35.Favourite place to eat?Home

Promise to share some more Food Porn soon!

see you,
Mrs FBC
xo

Say no to Ham and Pineapple Pizza! - Rosso Pomodoro Pizzeria, Balmain

2010-05-23T08:30:00.001-04:00

Hello again. It’s been a while between posts. Oops :( Don't worry... Mr FBC and I aren't on diets (as much as we should be) and we've been busily eating and taking lots of photos. This post is dedicated to our dear friend Mr Don who reminded us last weekend that we hadn't blogged in awhile. Thanks for the inspiration Mr Don :)

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The Rules

I'm not a fan of Ham and Pineapple pizza - it just tastes wrong to me. I just don't like it when pineapple turns up in my savoury foods... like pineapple in sweet n sour pork (wrong!!!) or pineapple chunks in fried rice (wrong!!!). When I was a kid, my family use to order pizza from Pizza Hut (this was in the 80's when pizza meant 'Pizza Hut' or alternatively frozen 'McCain' pizzas). I always remember being horrified when my mum returned with a Ham and Pineapple pizza.

I'm glad to say I'm not the only one with this opinion on this evil topping combination. After following a tip for a good authentic Italian pizza joint from a friend, Mr FBC and I find ourselves at Rosso Pomodoro in 'White Bay' precinct of Balmain. Hidden amongst the very bland cream coloured medium density housing backdrop of White Bay, the restuarant is located at the ground floor of a block of flats. The first thing I spot when I walk into the restaurant is a sign on the wall which indicates "The Rules" of the place. Rule number 2 is "No Ham and Pineapple". Here, here!

Rosso Pomodoro is buzzing with people and the place is filled with happy familys (many Italian families too - always a good sign of authenticity) enjoying their pizzas.

Mr FBC and I start with an Antipasti Plate which is very generous pile of tidbits and a bit of a Jenga puzzle to unravel. There are cured meats layered on the bottom, blobs of mozzarella cheese, artichokes, olives. The dish is topped with long,warm and fresh for the oven breadsticks which criss cross the plate.

Antipasto Della Casa $23.50

The Antipasto was a huge serving and Mr FBC and I pretty full by the time we finished. However, we're here for the legendary pizza and so, like troopers, we give our stomachs a bit of a rest before continuing on our pizza devouring journey.

There are two types of pizzas available: Pizze Rose (tomato base) or Pizze Bianche (no tomato base). Back in my 'Pizza Hut' days I'm sure I thought a pizza was not a pizza without tomoto paste. However, these days I think tomato bases often make a pizza quite heavy.
Today, we decide to order one of the special pizze biache of the day: Pizza Ai Fiori di Zucca (buffallo mozzarella, ham, zucchini flower stuffed with ricotta and parmesan)
Our pizza arrives and is placed on a steel stand, elevating all its delicious glory to eye level (as well as making more room on the table). The zucchini flowers were wonderfully soft and overflowed with the melted ricotta. The mix of subtle buffalo mozzarella and parmesan worked well with the thin shavings of ham. The pizza base is thin with a scorched base and is a good companion to the perfect balance of toppings.

Pizza Ai Fiori di Zucca ($23)

Mr FBC and I order salad in hope that it will be our 'healthy' component to the meal. The Insalate Verde (Rocket and Parmasen salad) is simple but good. The rocket is plentiful and has a light drizzling of balsalmic and extra virgin olive oil, topped with shavings of parmesan.

Insalate Verda ($9.50)

Rosso Pomodoro is very much the 'local' pizza joint to many of the diners and it's pretty obvious that many people that come here are regulars. It's great to see the staff welcome diners like old friends. It makes Mr FBC and I a bit envious. The only downside is that the place is loud and it's very hard to hear your conversation but I suppose you're here for the food. Mr FBC and I certainly didn't really have time to chat... we were too busy stuffing our faces with pizza. And good pizza too!

Rosso Pomodoro

Tuesday to Sunday (6pm -10pm)

Shop 90-91, 24 Buchanan St, Balmain (White Bay)

(02) 9555 5924

http://www.rossopomodoro.com.au/

Ouzemezedakia at Perama Greek Restaurant, Petersham

2010-03-08T06:02:00.003-05:00

I have a dream. A dream to go out for dinner and just order lots of entrées so I could just taste more things. At Perama Greek Restauarant… I was able to do just that! Do you ever find the main dishes at restaurants a tad boring compared to entrees? I’ve been told that the Entrees at a restauarant are often where the chef is able to really shine. The Mains are just stomach fillers! The menu at Perama Greek Restaurant contains a selection of entrees, a selection of mains, desserts and….. what caught the eyes of both Mr FBC and I…. a selection of ouzemezedakia. These were little dishes, sort of like Greek Tapas. I’m always one for variety and selection when it comes to food – especially as I’m a chronic sufferer of the dreaded condition ‘Food-envy-it is’!

To start, we are given a basket of fresh bread which we drizzle olive oil all over and devour. Mr FBC orders a bottle of Greek 'A' beer.

Complimentary Bread

Greek Beer

In order to try more things, we decided to order about 5 ouzomezedakias (ranging from $5 to $7 each), 2 entrees and a dessert. We were absolutely(!!!) stuffed by the end of the meal and truly lived up to being Mr and Mrs FAT BELLY club. The mains costs about $26-34 so I thought it was pretty good value to just pick 5 ouzomezedakias (let’s call them OMDs for short!).

The first OMD to arrive was the Imambaldi - a stuffed roasted eggplant topped with diced tomotoes, shallots and a dollop of a rich creamy chilli yoghurt. Delicious flavours.

Imambaldi (stuffed roasted eggplant) $6

Next was the Sheftalies (Cypriot Sausages). These were cute, fat, football shaped meatballs sprinkled with oregano.

Sheftalies (Cypriot Sausage) $6.50

The menu states that it would take 20 minutes to prepare our next OMD, the Handrolled Macedonian Filo Spinach pie. However, we're so busy savouring all the other dishes that 20 minutes whizzes by and we are none the wiser that there was actually a wait for the pie. I have visions of a Greek Ya-Ya handrolling the pie out the back. The pie has layers upon layer of filo, a good portion of spinach and ricotta and is topped with more crispy filo.

Handrolled Macedonian Filo Spinach Pie $6.50

The next dish was the Pork Loukanika, which were juicy BBQ'd pork sausages. These were flavoursome and a squeeze of lemon really brought out the flavour.

Pork Loukankia $7.00

Ok.. Are chips particularly Greek? Who knows… but I do like the thought of my chips being ‘rustic’ and made by a Ya-Ya. It reminds me of the hot chips that my Grandma use to make for my sister and I after school. No kidding..she really did! Hand crinkle cut and all!

The 'Rustic Grandma's Chips' at Peramas do taste home made. They are beautifully fried and all different shapes and sizes, sprinkled with some salt and finely chopped parsley.

Rustic Grandma's Chips $5.00

That was the end of the OMDS. But it's not over yet. We moved onto the Entrees. The first dish we tried was the Smyrna scallops. According to the menu, 'Smyrna' was an ancient greek city on the Turkish coast which was known for its abundant seafood. This dish was made of BBQ scallops served with a crispy sliced spicy turkish sausage (souzouk) and beetroot puree. The puree was pink and sweet... but eventually mixed too much with the other ingredients, making it a bit too pink for my liking.

Smyrna Scallops $18.50

The second entree we tried was the Pork Belly Baklava ($17.80). This dish was made up of layers of flaky filo pastry, pork belly meat, date and pistachios, topped with crispy crackling and drizzled with a date and mastic sauce.

Pork Belly Baklava

I naively thought baklava was a dessert, which was meant to be at the end of the meal. Not at Peramas, where you can get the Pork Belly Baklava as an entree. I thought this would just be a savoury filo pastry. However, the date jam and sprinkling of pistachios provided a very sweet contrast to the pork belly. It’s different…it feels like you’re combining your mains and desserts… but it’s good. Try it.

We really were bursting after the all the OMDs and Entrees. Luckily, I was able to convince Mr FBC to share a dessert with me. Mr FBC thought the Olive Oil ice cream sounded nice (two scoops of Olympia extra virgin olive oil, pistachio and dried fig ice cream). I thought that sounded like two types of fat for the price of one! Meanwhile, I thought I wanted to try the Caramel Baklava Ice Cream (sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce and baklava – there’s a picture on the Perama website). In the end, we went for a relatively healthy (that’s a very loose ‘relatively healthy’) dessert – Melon Thiples Stack ($13.50). This was made of a stack of fried pastry dipped in honey and crushed walnuts with a some lemon curd yoghurt and a chilled salad of rockmelon and honeydew. It was a very refreshing dessert and not to heavy.

Melon Thiples Stack ($13.50)

Mr FBC and I were really impressed with Perama. They appear to show you authentic Greek Cuisine (ie it’s more than just moussaka and soulvaki) and the service is fast and friendly.

Perama Greek Restuarant

88 Audley Street

Petersham 2049

ph: 95697534

perama@iprimus.com.au

A Chinese New Year's Eve Family Feast - Crown Dragon Restaurant, St George Leagues Club (13 Feb 2010)

2010-03-01T07:17:00.003-05:00

Oops - Sorry..this post is a bit late. Here's a belated 'Happy Chinese New Year' to you and your family (Kung Hei Fat Choy!).
As a child, growing up as an ABC ('Australian born Chinese') in the south western suburbs of Sydney, I don't really recall 'celebrating' Chinese New Year that much. I'm not sure why... perhaps it was because there weren't that many Chinese families in my neighbourhood. I remember there were only 2 Chinese kids in my primary school class! What I do remember is getting 'red packets' filled with extra pocket money, my mum cleaning the house furiously on Chinese New Year's eve, AND being told not to wash my hair on Chinese New Year day as I would wash away my good luck. It's so funny as I still try not to wash my hair on Chinese New Year day. It's always a problem if I happen to want to go to the gym.
My mum and grandma used to cook for the family for Chinese New Year when I was a kid. But, as my siblings and I grew up, mum and dad decided it was easier to just go out for dinner at a Chinese Restauarant. As much as I'd like to say that I prefer home cooking, I think the food at the Chinese Restaurants we go to are much better (sorry Mum!).

Diners mezmerised by the Lion Dancing

This Chinese New Year's eve, Mr FBC and I had dinner with my family (plus extended family) at the Crown Dragon Restaurant at the St George Leagues Club in Kogarah. It's a relatively new kid on the block. I must admit I was taken aback when I was first told about going to a Chinese restauarant in a Leagues Club. Was I going to get Ching-lish or something (a la 'spring rolls' and 'honey king prawns')? However, this place is great and is overflowing with lots of Chinese people (which is always sign of a reasonable Chinese restaurant). For the Chinese New Year eve dinner, we ordered a set banquet meal.

Yee Sang Salad

We started the evening with Yee Sang Salad, which is made of strips of raw salmon, mixed with shredded carrot, radish, spring onion and some picked ginger. It's a dish that my family hardly ever orders (primarily because my dad doesn't like raw fish), but I quite like it's refreshing taste. Like many Chinese New Year dishes, Yee Sang translates to 'abundance' so the dish is meant to symbolise abundance and prosperity. The fun bit about this dish is that everyone gets their chopsticks and tosses the ingredients around. The higher you toss, the more good luck you'll get.

Mixed Cold Meat Platter

The cold meat platter is next. Today's platter has a mixture of char sui (bbq pork), roast pork, BBQ duck, sliced beef and jellyfish. It's best to try a little bit of everything (and so I do). Often Chinese Banquets start with this dish so I always know I'm in for a feast when see a cold meat platter.

Shark Fin Soup

We next each receive a bowl of steaming Shark Fin soup. I know many shun the thought of eating shark fin... but... well.... it really does taste nice! I love the thin strips of fin (think of them as noodles) and shreds of chicken and egg floating around the thick chicken soup.

Black Moss Seaweed (Fat Choi) with Mushrooms and Scallops

I'm not a fan of the black moss seaweed dish, known as 'fat choi', as it reminds me of wet hair! Nevertheless, 'fat choi' also means 'prosperity' so I suppose that's why it's a very popular Chinese New Year dish.

BBQ Quail

The next dish we have is BBQ quail, which is delicious. Quail meat is dark, like duck, but has the meatiness of chicken. The glaze on the quail gives it's a nice crispy skin which is lovely when you dip it into the condiment of salt and soy.

Lobster with Ginger and Shallots

My favourite type of seafood is Lobster (yes - I know it's extremely decadent of me). So, my eyes always light up when I see Lobster (with Ginger and Shallots) coming my way. Normally the lobster is served on a large platter but tonight's lobster gets dished out on separate dishes. You need to throw your manners aside when eating lobster. You need to get in there with your fingers to get the juicy sweet lobster flesh out of the shells.

We all hear the sounds of the familiar drums and take a quick break from our sumptuous meal to enjoy the Lion Dancing on offer. I was terrified of watching the Lion Dance as a child. I use to cower in between my parents, covering my ears and eyes. However, I suppose you can't scare away bad luck and shoo out the old year with a wimper. My friend recently told me about someone they knew who did Lion Dancing, but was unfortunately only the 'bum end' of the Lion and always got touched on the bum. I suppose it is meant to be good luck to touch the Lion right... regardless of which part?!

Broccoli and Bean Curd with a dried scallop sauce

Back to the food. The next course was a broccoli and bean curd dish. The steamed broccoli and the soft bean curd complemented well with the saltiness of the dried scallop sauce.

Steamed Barramundi with ginger, shallot and soy sauce

Our second last dish for the evening is a whole steamed barramundi. The fish is fresh, tender and flavoursome. I love placing big pieces of fish into my bowl and drowing it in the soy/shallot sauce.

Fish in Chinese is pronounced as 'yu', which is similar to the cantonese word for wish. Fish is often served as one of the last courses. So, I suppose you can end your meal with a wish. Not sure - I'm making that one up!

Bowl of Fried Rice

I've been told rice symbolises well being and good fortune and with that in mind, we all finish off our meals with a bowl of rice (of the fried variety).

Hope you all had a wonderful 'food filled' Chinese New Year!

Crown Dragon Restaurant

St George Leagues Club

124 Princes Highway Kogarah NSW

(02) 9587 1022

http://stgeorgeleagues.com

Manoeuvring around the madness at 'March into Merivale' (16 Feb 2010)

2010-02-21T06:37:00.002-05:00

Madness and Mayhem at 'March into Merivale'

Whether or not you’re a fan of Justin Hemmes’ Merivale empire you do have to admit (as a foodie) that he’s put a hell of a lot of effort into setting up a good selection of restaurants to cater to his more discerning customers. “March into Merivale”, which is an annual event, provides an excellent opportunity to try food from across the Merivale gastronomical empire. Did I also mention that this was a free event? Despite my naïve belief that this would be an intimate and exclusive evening, it turns out that half of Sydney was not only invited but also decided to show up. And who could blame them, after all, not only was there free food but also a seemingly endless supply of free drinks.

“March into Merivale” was held in the Ivy room at the Ivy, and featured small bites from across the Merivale empire including Mad Cow, Est., Lotus and Bistro CBD. Arriving just before 6pm Mrs FBC and I joined the not insignificant queue which, thankfully, was fast moving and unhindered by the normally ubiquitous clip board girls (Mrs FBC and I both pre-registered but this seemed unnecessary on the day).

We made our way into the Ivy room where we were immediately offered a free drink (beer, wine, champagne or cocktail) by the eager, and at this point un-fazed, staff. In the centre of the room was what at first appeared to be a makeshift stockade erected by desperate chefs fending off ravenous hordes. However, on closer inspection this was really just a collection of kitchen stations manned by still equally desperate chefs rushing to serve up morsels of food to hungry Sydneyites. Quickly dismissing the food tables at the front of the room we made our way to the back where the masses were somewhat more subdued. Despite this it still took considerable effort to fight our way through the crowds to our first sampling.

Help... get these hungry people food before they eat me!

Chefs - making sushi as FAST AS THEY CAN!

I’m not sure if it was the free alcohol.... or desperation brought on by fasting all day.... or simply a mob mentality, but at times the crowd seemly truly desperate to partake in the free samples.

Is this what Sydney has come to? A bunch of freeloaders??

Many a plate was emptied before it had barely touched the table, with worried kitchen staff scrambling to bring more and more food out lest the crowd be angered. Plates of finely seared beef served with a mustard garnish nearly caused a riot, with only bloodied plates left behind as a reminder of the once delicious food on offer. Small boxes containing light and tender Farafelle pasta with delicious bolognese sauce were well worth the fight, as were the mini hamburgers which were snatched up a handful at a time and only attainable by those willing to brave the worst of the crowd.

Unfortunately, our photos aren't that great as there were just too many hungry people around that got in the way... but we gave it a go in true food blogger style :( Check out Simon Food Favourites for much better photos from the event!

Many delectable morsels of food on offer... but get in quick !

Seared beef served with a mustard garnish - nearly caused a riot with the iron deficient crowd

Having been defeated by the frenzy we retreated to the back of the room from where we could watch the crowds continue to press the increasingly desperate staff. However, this move proved to our advantage as new waves of kitchen staff began to circle the room bearing plates of further food including my favourite, a tasty (and cute) mini steak pie with peas on top.

Mini steak pies with mashed pies

Mr Justin Hemmes surrounded by a gaggle of women. He's the guy behind the blurry lady

The Hungry Hordes at 'March into Merivale' Launch Party

There are a stack of events on as part of 'March into Merivale'. Check out details here.

The world's cheapest Michelin starred restaurant - Tim Ho Wan, Mongkok (Hong Kong)

2010-02-18T08:09:00.004-05:00

Yum Cha enthusiasts await their turn

Where in the world can you have a meal in a Michelin starred restaurant for under AUS$15. Yes ... you heard right... not $1500 or $150... but 15 bucks!

The place is Tim Ho Wan (meaning 'add good luck') - a pokey little dumpling restaurant/cafe in downtown Mongkok in Hong Kong AND also the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world. Our ultimate goal is to fill our bellies with dumplings and still have enough money to hit the shops in Hong Kong.

Mr FBC and I were excited about the opportunity to have our first 'Michelin star' dining experience since reading about it in the SMH. We are 'food obsessed'. So, like all good food bloggers, we made sure we arranged one of our only 2 days in Hong Kong around the pursuit of food.

As we soon discovered, to achieve this feat we required 3 important things:
1. Strategy
2. Patience
3. Snacks (!)

Strategy

We arrived at 10.30am using the 'strategy' of getting there well before lunchtime to have yum cha brunch. The place only opens at 10am but there was already a mass of people waiting outside. Through essential observation I realised there was a ticket system. Mr FBC and I got our ticket from the lady at the counter and our number was no. 67. "Do they start their numbers at 60?", I asked Mr FBC hopefully. "Number 5, number 5", the ticket lady yells out in Cantonese. Thank god that I understand basic cantonese numbers (thanks mum!)... but whaaaaat??.... we're number 67??? At this moment in time, Mr FBC and I are wondering if we would be eating yum cha today. We figured we would go exploring Mongkok instead of waiting around the restaurant. This leads me to our next critical skill....

The Winning Ticket (after a few hours) is No. 67

Patience

Our anticipated wait meant Mr FBC and I had plenty of time to explore Mongkok, which has the highest population density in Hong Kong. Mongkok is a super busy place and walking the streets around the restauarant can leave you with sensory overload. There's the 'Ladies Market' on Tung Choi Street which sells lots of clothes, handbags (plus the odd fake handbag or two), watches (plus the odd fake watch or two). Then there's Fa Yuen Street, also known as 'Sneaker Street', which is lined with shoe shop after shoe shop. Mr FBC bought a new macro lens for his Olympus DSLR camera at Sai Yeung Choi Street South, which as you would expect is known as 'Electronic Street'.

Mr FBC and I decided to head back to Tim Wan Ho every hour to check on the numbers - which was a good strategy. Here's a tip if you ever go to this place. Make sure you either wait patiently for your table or you are very good at estimating when you're ticket number will be called. There are signs in both Chinese and English on the doors which indicate that if your waiting ticket number is over 5 numbers it will no longer be valid (e.g if you're ticket is 45 and they're up to 51). You will need to register for a new ticket again. We saw it happen to a few people while we were waiting and you really feel their misery. But as the saying goes, "You snooze, you loose!". Be aware - the ticket lady will make no exceptions.

While you are waiting you can also studiously review your ticket which also happens to be the menu (don't worry - there are English menus). You need to tick the dishes that you'd like to order and you give the ticket to a waitress on the way in.

Snacks!
Waiting, waiting...
Fast forward two hours later....Mr FBC and I are getting a bit peckish and we're still not sure when we would eat. We didn't want to eat too much and wanted room for dim sum. So, we settled on a coffee from starbucks and some waffles from ubiquitous food booths in Mongkok. The waffles were sweet and crisp... a bit like think ice cream waffle cones. A good choice to abate our hunger for awhile.

Waffles from a food booth in Mongkok

More waiting.....

Yum Cha goers clamouring for tickets from the 'ticket lady'

After a total of three loooong hours, but with plenty of shopping in Mongkok to fill in the time, Mr FBC and I finally get into Tim Wan Ho with our ticket. Phew!

The owner of the restaurant is Mak Pui Gor, a former dim sum chef from at the three Michelin-starred restaurant Lung King Heen located in Hong Kong's Four Seasons Hotel. Suppose he wanted to branch out and cook for the 'real people'.
The Michelin Star Experience?

Once in the restauarant, there was definitely a frenetic vibe in the place. Or it could just be the ravenous stomachs of all the diners who would have had to wait an average 3 hours like Mr FBC and I. We ordered 7 dishes and made a strategic decision not to order 'rice dishes' so we wouldn't get too full. In hindsight, we probably could have ordered more but... ah well..you 'live and learn'.
There really isn't too much to see once you are inside. Everyone is packed in and the place only fits around 20 people. So, I think the experience is primarily about the food as opposed to the decor.

Inside Tim Ho Wan

The first dish to arrive was the Fung Zao (otherwise called Phoenix Talons). The chicken's feet were very moist and tender, with the skin falling easily off the bones. The combination of chilli and black bean sauce were perfect. Definitely good chicken's feet.

Fung Jao - steamed chicken's feet with black bean sauce

Next was the steamed dumplings in 'chow' style. These plump parcels were filled with a mixture of garlic, chives, pork, dried shrimp and mushrooms.

Steamed Dumplings in 'Chow' style

We also got some spare ribs. The meat was very tender and melted in your mouth.

Steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce

Yum cha is never really yum cha if you don't order sui mai. Often I use this dish as a standard to compare restauarants. These siu mai's were perfectly steamed with a good ratio of pork to prawn wrapped inside a thin wheat flour wrapper.

Siu Mai - steamed pork dumpling with shrimp

The next steamed bamboo basket was filled with har gow (steamed prawn dumplings)... another good yum cha staple. These were perfect. The rice paper wrappers were perfectly steamed and translucent, revealing pump juicy prawns. Yum!

Har Gow - Steamed prawn dumplings

Another dish that we ordered was the rice paper rolls stuffed with prawns. The rice noodle was beautifully steamed making it light and soft, containing plenty of plump fresh prawns to dip into the pond of soy/oil sauce.

Cheung Fun -Rice noodle rolls stuffed with prawns

Our final dish that we had to complete our dining experience was the 'char sui bau'. I believe this is the signature dish of the restaurant and I've read that they make up to 750 a day. They definitely didn't look or taste like any other char sui bau that I've had - but they were great. I could have had more. I usually expect the shell of the bun to be made of the white fluffly dough. However, this bun actually looked more like a 'bo lo bau' (chinese pineapple bun) with the shell being sweet and slightly cake-like in texture. The insides were filled with a delicate char sui (BBQ pork) filling. Anyway, these little babies were very popular for diners. Looking around the room, every table ordered them and we saw at least 4 tables ordering extra and taking them home in a container.

Here's another tip - make sure you order extra of your favourite thing and take it back to the hotel with you. The char sui baau probably travels really well and would make for a delicious afternoon snack.

Char Siu Bau - baked bun with BBQ sauce

Char siu bau - side profile

The final cost for all that: HK$96 which is equivalent to just under AUS$15 - bargain! The cheapest dish we got was the steamed dumplings at a measely HK$10 (about $1.40).

None of the dishes were drastically different to other yum cha that I've had around the world AND I'm not sure how many times I would want to wait 3 hours for my lunch. However, it does have that famous 'michelin star' and I think that the quality of the food was well above other yum cha places. I suppose the key to the food at Tim Ho Wan is to keep is simple but to cook it extraordinarily well!

The final bill at HK$96 (equiv to AUS$14)

Paper place mat which depicts the food on offer.

Our final tip: Try and get there well before10am and hopefully the queue isn't that long. If you get there after 10.30am then you are looking at around a 3 hour wait (unless the novelty has worn off for the Hong Kong-ers). Don't bother going there after 1.00pm in hope of getting a ticket as they stop handing out tickets around that time and will ask you to return at 3pm.

Tim Ho Wan

Open 10am -10pm

2-8 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon

Guangzhou...home of Yum Cha (Li Wan Restaurant)

2010-02-06T08:21:00.004-05:00

This visit to China is a particularly special one for Mr FBC and I. For me, it's an opportunity to join my family (there's 16 of us in total on this trip - including my aunt/uncle/cousins, plus some second cousins) to go back to the province and Chinese villages where my mum, dad and uncle spent their childhoood - on the island of Hainan (more on the 'island' and the 'village' to come in future posts!).

As there were no direct flights to Hainan, my family decided to fly from Sydney to Hong Kong and then catch a train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou and stay for a 2 days before going to Hainan.

I was a bit sceptical about why we needed to stay in Guangzhou. I hadn't heard much about it and it frankly didn't interest me. Some basic geography to give some context - the city of Guangzhou is located in the Guangdong province on the southern end of the coast of China. It's pretty close to Hong Kong and is where the Cantonese dialect and cuisine comes from.
My disinterest was soon allayed after reading the following facts from the Lonely Planet guide that Mr FBC kindly downloaded for pre-departure reading:

"Eavesdrop on an average conservation in Guangdong and it always comes back to one thing: FOOD" ;

"The city boasts the largest number of restauarants per capita in China"; and

"Guangdong is home to the ever popular dim sum"

Food.... dim sum...I was sold! 'Dim Sum' also known as 'Yum Cha' to Sydney-siders is probably one of my favourite meals. Yum Cha literally means ' to drink tea' but in reality it means getting to taste lots of morsels of food and ensuring that you can never get food envy.

I'd like to say that we had Yum Cha for every meal... but alas... we only had Yum Cha twice AND in the same place (in our hotel). It's too hard organising 16 people. Fortunately... it was great. We were staying at the Garden Hotel and the yum cha restaurant, 'Li Wan Market', is located on level 2.

A very cute feature of the restauarant is that you get to eat your Yum Cha in a Chinese Sampan (aka a cantonese style 'boat' - check out the story on wikipedia). The restaurant has about 10 Chinese Sampans and my family were lucky enough to have yum cha in 3 of them.

Yum Cha in cute little Chinese Sampan Boats

Yum Cha in Guangzhou is not like Sydney - you don't get trolley ladies who cart the food around. Instead, you tick what you want on an order sheet (which was all in Chinese). Thank god my mum and dad knew how to read Chinese! I do like trolley ladies but I suppose your food is then fresher as it's cooked to order.

We ordered the relevant 'Yum Cha' staples for my family which included:

1. Har Gow - steamed prawn dumplings. These were spot on which plump prawns wrapped in yummy translucent dumpling skin.

Har Gow

2. Sui Mai - steamed pork and prawn dumplings. These had juicy fillings held in a wonton wrapper.

Sui Mai

3. Fong Jao - chicken feet. Mr FBC is not a fan of these but I love them. The chicken feet are steamed in a soy and chilli sauce. It's very fatty but delicious. Get over your fear of 'eating feet' and give them a call. There's an art form to eating chicken feet. You need to learn to suck the fat of the bones and subtely spit the bones out.

Chicken Feet wrapped in Tofu

4. Chueng Fun - rice noodle rolls drizzled with soy sauce and hot oil. These rolls are usually filled with either prawn, beef or pork. This place had rolls filled with what I would describe as deep fried dough sticks which were also filled with a prawn and mushroom filling.

Rice Noodle Rolls

Cross Section of my Rice Noodle Roll

5. Daan Tart - egg custard tarts. A Yum Cha meal with my family never feels right if you don't get your 'Daan Tarts'. The custard was hot and sweet and the pastry was super flaky. Yum, yum.

Egg Custard Tarts

6. A random bamboo basket of things - Despite having my staples, I do like to try other things. This time we picked beef balls. These were made of steamed beef mince with corriander and shallots - very moist and flavoursome.

There were lots of things to see in Guangzhou so it was great to fill your stomach and start the day with delicious dumplings at yum cha.

Fresh Vegetables on Display

I assume this says 'Li Wan Market' Restaurant in Chinese

Li Wan Market Restaurant

Garden Hotel - Guangzhou

368 Huanshi Dong Lu, Guangzhou, China

http://www.gardenhotelguangzhou.com/

Mr and Mrs FBC's eating escapades around China

2010-02-02T06:13:00.002-05:00

Hi all,
Apologies for the lack of post over the last few weeks. We've spent the last few weeks having a fantastic but whirlwind holiday in China (Guangzhou, Hainan Island, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong).
Importantly, we've had COPIOUS amounts of culinary delights which will hopefully make for interesting reading.
Here's a tasting plate of our stories to come:

Guangzhou - yum cha capital of the world
Tropical paradise and village feasts in Hainan Island
The supposed 'best Peking Duck' in Beijing
Snacking - Shanghai Style
The worlds cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world - a dumpling house in Hong Kong

Btw... we stayed in some fantastic hotels and had a drink or two at a couple of unique bars which were not technically 'food related' but definitely worth spreading the word to FBC readers. Hey - you might as well have a nice drink to accompany delicious food and have a nice place to rest before going on the next culinary journey.

Stay tuned!
Mr and Mrs FBC
xxoo

Bringing in the New Year with Pancakes (on the Rocks)

2010-01-02T07:43:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year to one an all! Can't belive a another decade has flown by. You know how we called the 2000's - the Noughties. Well, what are we calling the 2010's?? The 'tweenies'? The 'tens'? Who knows.... just bring it on!

What did you all do to see the end of 2009 and bring in 2010? Mr FBC and I spent an intimate evening with two of our closest friends in their lovely apartment in Kirribilli. They have an absolutely awesome view of the Sydney Harbour bridge and it was great to see in the New Year with fantastic friends - thanks "Menai" for having us over :)

We celebrated the 9pm Sydney fireworks from the comfort of their lounge room - avoiding the crowds. However, we thought we'd mingle with the masses (and all the drunks) for the 12am fireworks at the Kirribilli Ferry Wharf. Hmmm... thinking I like the loungeroom view instead.. but we had our important bottle of champers (Piper Hiedsieck) so it didn't matter too much.

9pm Fireworks - View from Menai's apartment in Kirribilli

12am Fireworks - View from Beulah Street Wharf, Kirribilli. Yes - we only saw half of the bridge, but I'm sure it was the better half ;p

Our friends are getting used to Mr FBC and I taking photos of all the food we eat - they even try and arrange the food for us and try and remind us to take photos. How sweet :)

I brought along some Ricotta, Chive and Tomato Mini tartlets which I made using a recipe I found on Not Quite Nigella. They were really simple and quick to make. Will definitely make them again.

Ricotta, Chive and Tomato Tarlets made by Mrs FBC

Mr FBC and I were enjoying the company so much, that we did forgot to take a photo of the mains. Just picture nice juicy lamb steaks, grilled aspargus and tomato, plus a wonderful salad of rocket, caramelised walnuts, parmesan cheese, pieces of orange, baked baby beetroot drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

For dessert, I made a cake from the frankie magazine 'afternoon tea' recipe book that I got for Xmas from Mr FBC. It's a great book filled with lots of simple old school afternoon tea recipes from caramel slice to choc chip cookies. I was after something that was simple so I chose the aptly titled 'Simplicity Chocolate Cake' recipe. It really was easey peasy - pretty much wacking all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing. The cake wasn't the most chocolately tasting cake I've had... but it was still passable. The generous dollop of thickened cream was much needed. Without it the cake may have been a bit too dry. The recipe isn't that exciting... but I'll put it at the end of the post if you're interested.

A slice of the 'Simplicity Chocolate Cake'

Frankie Magazine Afternoon Tea Book

(source: http://www.frankie.com.au)

Most people would continue the New Year's eve drinking or dancing the night away or at least until they passed out. Not Mr FBC and I. We're too exciting for that (not!). After leaving Menai's place at 2am, we thought we'd make the long trek over the bridge to get some good ol' fashioned pancakes at Pancakes on the Rocks - one of the only 24 hour establishments in Sydney. We thought we might as well 'walk off' the pancakes (and many, many calories) we were about to devour - that makes sense right?

Pancakes at the Rocks at 3am - notice the person on the right who looks like they've had enough of the New Year's eve celebrations and is slumped in chair. Partaaay!

Do you think it's crazy to have a regular stack of pancakes with whipped butte, ice cream and maple syrup at 3am in the morning? Hell no! Is it even crazier to have a stack of pancakes with bacon, a hashbrown, a fried egg, whipped butter AND maple syrup at 3am in the morning? I highly doubt it :p Especially, if you looooove food as much as Mr FBC and I.

Not many would be a fan of the sweet and savoury pancake combo. Mr FBC likes his pancakes in the traditional style - regular stack accompanied with whipped butter, ice cream and maple syrup. Personally, I really love mixing it up a bit and am happy to share my sweet foods with my savoury. I found the saltiness of bacon and fried egg really offset and worked well with the almost sickly, gooey, sweetness of the maple syrup. One of the best things in the world is to slowly pour the maple syrup over the pancakes and watch the syrup run down the stack and soak into each pancake. Heavenly!

Regular Stack of Pancakes $7.95

Pancake Egg 'n' Hash (with some bacon) $14.70

'Pancakes on the Rocks' is a bit of an institution in the Rocks area. It's been there forever. I'm sure there use to be more 'Pancake' places in Sydney. But, alas, they have all seemed to disappeared over the years :(

As for the quality of the actual pancakes? They were not too light and not too dense, slightly fluffy and perfectly golden on both sides. Most importantly, they had an excellent 'maple syrup' absorbancy rating. Soaked up the syrup like a sponge. Yum!

Unfortunately, Mr FBC and I were defeated by our pancakes and couldn't finish the meal. Pancakes 1, Mr & Mrs FBC 0. Being true to our blog name, we left with extremely 'fat bellies' and walked a large distance of the way home (we only live in the inner, inner west).

Defeated by the Pancakes 'n' Hash

Mr FBC and I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. We hope this year brings lots of love, happiness and copius amounts of delicious food!

Pancakes on the Rocks
4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney

Opening Hours: 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK

Ph: 02 9247 6371

http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au/

Other locations include: Darling Harbour, Northmead and Campbelltown

Simplicity Chocolate Cake Recipe (from Frankie Magazine - Afternoon Tea book, p. 51)
125g butter
1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. Place butter in a saucepan and melt over heat.

3. Sift flour, cocoa together into a mxing bowl. Add sugar and the lightly beaten eggs, milk, vanilla essence and melted butter. Stir to combine.

4. Using an electrc mixer, beat for three minutes until cake batter changes colour slightly.

5. Grease and line the bottom of cake tin. Pour mixture into tin. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

6. Serve with a dollop of thickened cream.

Le Grand Cafe - A touch of Paris in Sydney (Nov 09)

2009-12-29T06:47:00.006-05:00

Want to experience the French culture, but can't afford the plane ticket to Paris? Well.. lunch at the Le Grand Cafe on Clarence Street near Town Hall (in Sydney) could be the answer for you.

Artwork in Le Grand Cafe

Finding a decent, relatively relaxing and cheap(ish) lunch in the Sydney CBD (near Town Hall) on a Saturday is difficult. There are a prolific number of food courts in the CBD area, but they are usually filled with lots of non-inspiring sandwich bars and greasy stuff. However on this Saturday, Mr FBC and I find ourselves at Le Grand Cafe, a French cafe, on Clarence Street. It's opposite Becasse and Plan B (which has been blogged a lot by other foodbloggers) and is owned and run by the same people. The Cafe is located on the ground floor of the Alliance Francaise building which was designed by the late Harry Seidler.

Artisanal Charcuterie Plate ($12)

The Cafe is really a nice and quiet place to hang out for a leisurely Saturday lunch. It wasn't particularly busy when Mr FBC and I were there on a Saturday and the service is relatively quick. To add to the French ambience and authenticity of the place, the waitstaff are all French speaking. I assume there are even kids French classes occuring on Saturday as there is a table of kids with their teacher having their morning break in the Cafe area. It's cute watching a bunch of 6/7 year olds speaking French (albeit broken French for some!) and drinking hot chocolate - how very French (I assume?!).

We ordered two dishes, the Artisanal Charcuterie Plate and the Beof Bourguignon (the Plat du Jour). The Charcuterie Plate was a substantial meat-fest with lovely flavoursome salamis and proscuitto, accompanied by slices on soft white bread drizzled with olive oil.

Plate Du Jour - Beef Bourguignon ($12)

The Beef Bourguignon was absolutely delicious. There was an abundance of meat, which was very tender and the sauce had a rich red wine flavour. This dish was also accompanied by white soft bread which Mr FBC and I used to wipe up the last remnants of the lovely sauce. The prices for both dishes were very affordable - especially considering the quality of the food. To accompany our lunch, we had a glass of rose ($7) and some perrier ($3).

Despite being full from lunch, neither Mr FBC or I could say no to dessert. To compromise, we decided to share a dessert and opted for a pot of Honeycomb and chocolate mousse. It was a small dessert but it was more than enough to satisfy our sweet tooths with its rich decadent chocolate flavour and crunchy honeycomb. Yummo!

Petit Pot au Chocolate - Honeycomb Mousse and Caramel ($8)

I don't think there are many cafes in the Sydney CBD area where you can enjoy a quiet lunch, with good food and wine, and still be well priced. Tres Bien - we will be back!

Rustic French Cuisine in the Heart of Sydney

Alliance Francaise

257 Clarence St, Sydney
Telephone: 02 9264 7164
http://www.alliancefrancaise.com.au/

Opening Times
Weekdays 9am-3pm, Sat 8:30am-2pm

Merry Eating! Merry Xmas!

2009-12-26T05:21:00.007-05:00

Merry Xmas to you all :)

Don't you just love Xmas time? To Mr FBC and I, Xmas is basically a three day binge eating marathon (we're not particularly religious so it's about two things for us - Family and FOOD!). First there's Xmas Eve dinner with my family followed by an Xmas Day breakfast. Xmas day is spent with Mr FBC's family and then Boxing day comprises a day of nibbling/snacking on leftovers.

Here are some highlights from my family's Xmas Eve dinner. It was a bit of a 'fusion' xmas dinner - a bit of ye olde English, some Chinese and a touch of Spanish (!).

'Fusion' Xmas Eve Dinner

A view of the other end of the table

For dinner, we had the traditional turkey and roast vegetables, steamed broccolini and beans (sprinkled with some butter & garlic breadcrumbs), a mixture of salads (including pumpkin & cous cous, market salad and marinated vegetable), a huge seafood paella (made by Mr FBC), and Chinese style Lobster with ginger, shallots & noodles.

I had already decided back in November that I wanted my family to experience Adriano Zumbo's Macarons for Xmas. I think I was inspired by Adriano Zumbo's Macaron Day (as blogged by numerous people in the foodie blogosphere including: Grab Your Fork, Chocolatesuze & A Table For Two). So, on the morning of Xmas Eve I made the trek to Balmain to get my hands on 40 macarons. They were a bit pricey at $2 a pop - but well.. it's Xmas!

A colourful array of macarons for Dessert

I made sure I got a mixture of all the macaron flavours available at the Adriano Zumbo Patisserie shop. I'm not 100% sure of all the flavours but I think it included: Banana and Cherry, Black Sesame; Sticky Rice and Jasmine;Blood Orange; Fig and something? (p.s I wrote them down.. but I've lost the list - will need to update this blog if I find that piece of paper).

All the flavours were interesting... but I think I liked the Banana and Cherry flavour the most with Sticky Rice coming a close second. Unfortunately, my family weren't as excited by the macarons as Mr FBC and I. Perhaps because they hadn't really heard of Adriano Zumbo (of Masterchef Croquembouche fame!). I think my little macarons were gazumped by my sister's pavlovas. Ah well.

The Dessert Spread (including mini pavlovas, fruit platters and cute macarons on a tier)

So that was Xmas for another year. Hoping you are all having a wonderful and well earned Xmas break :)

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie

296 Darling St

Balmain NSW 2041

(02) 9810 7318

http://adrianozumbo.com/