Margan Restaurant, Broke (Hunter Valley)

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)

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)

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?!)

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

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

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Peking Duck at Da Dong Restaurant, Beijing (China)

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