happy, part 2

It's my turn this time . . .

Today is my birthday, thanks to all my family & friends for the birthday greetings!

The day did not start all too well as I was still feeling under the weather (after staying home sick and sleeping all day yesterday). I even skipped the Friday chocolate biscuits at work!

It was a good thing that I was almost 100% by the end of the day, or else I would have missed the wonderful dinner Malc had planned. The chosen restaurant was Astral (Level 17 Star City Casino, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont NSW ph (02) 9657 8767).

The view that greeted us when we entered the restaurant was exceptional, we were so looking forward for the food to match the view. After we were seated and handed the menu, complimentary starters were served, tiny profiteroles and fois gras in between thin wafers . . . delicious!

Malc & I chose the degustation menu (how predictable), however this time Malc passed on the accompanying wine and had a glass of Punt Road pinot noir, instead.

Starting our meal was a small flute of crab veloute to excite our appetite. Then came the tartare of scampi with grapes and hazel nut oil. The sweet taste of the seafood matched well the firm & crunchy texture of this dish.


The next dish was another seafood, seared scallop with baby carrots and carrot cake sauce. The wait staff told us that the sauce was really made of carrot cake batter, but instead of baking, the batter was pan fried. This dish was rather interesting, the scallop by itself was rather bland, and the carrot cake sauce was a bit too sweet, but eaten together, it tasted very good.

Next on the list was my favourite, lobster ravioli. And the ravioli was so stuffed with juicy, sweet lobster meat. After the first bite (and really liking it), I told Malc that is was like a big siu mai! Good thing the restaurant staff did not hear my comment.

Next came the pie floater, an upmarket version of the one sold outside the Adelaide train station. This one was minced duckmeat inside a pastry shell and topped with fois gras, everything on top of pureed pea soup. The serving looks tiny, but it was so rich.

Finally, the last of the savoury dishes, the melt-in-your mouth serving of beef with mashed potato, green and white asparagus and shiraz jus. This dish was the richest and luxurious of the entire menu.


It was time to take a break, and to help our tastebuds relax, we were served lemon sorbet with melon soup.

Then for dessert, we had poached pears, butter and red wine ice cream and vanilla granita. My favourite was the pears as they were not too sweet. Malc liked the granita best.

Lastly, tea (me) and coffee (Malc) and the petit fours with a special birthday touch.

I had a wonderful birthday . . . thanks Malc!




PS. Happy birthday too to my fantastic friends Margaret, Lou & Reiko!

scent of eucalypt

A couple of weekends ago, Malc & I cashed in our free hotel vouchers for Peppers Fairway Resort and Spa (Sublime Point Road, Leura ph 02 4784 4144) in the Blue Mountains. We planned to just relax, catch up on sleep (me) and watch sports on cable (Malc). However, the Blue Mountains is so beautiful, Malc & I took a 1-hour hike that started near the hotel grounds. Apparently, the Blue Mountain is named after the blue mist from the oil emitted by the eucalyptus trees.

Another reason for the Blue Mountain sojourn was to try out Peppers' famous Restaurant, Eucalypt. So, after the hike, we and our excited tummies, trudged down to the restaurant. For entrees, I had the trio of entrees of crab mouse with salsa verdé, seared scallops with grapefruit dressing, sashimi of yellow fin tuna with French shallot confit (photo), and Malc had Muscovite duck breast with traditional Peking duck spring rolls and Java peppercorn sauce. The entrees were superb, the flavours were delicate and well put together. They thoroughly whetted our appetite for the main course.

For our mains I ordered roast atlantic salmon, braised baby cos, vegetable pearl with beetroot and hazelnut sauce. Malc had aged “ Megalong” beef fillet with parmeson crust, garlic galette and red wine jus. The salmon was absolutely heavenly, moist and not too flaky. The presentation was quite clever too. The salmon cut was wrapped around in a way where the fatty part of the fish was in the center so the last bite was the most luxurious.

We were the picture of contentment after our meal. Adding to our satifsaction was the genuine friendliness of the well-trained waitstaff. Malc commented that the menu was not as extensive as most Sydney restaurant, but the dishes were exceptionally well done. And on our way out, we complimented the maitre d' on the fantastic service we received.

somethin' fishy

guest blogger: joanna

Hi Lyms! As promised, my report on the breakfast buffet at Somethin' Fishy at Eastwood City (Pasig, Philippines). Shown in picture, clockwise from the rice: garlic rice, longganisa, hotdogs, pancit malabon, bistek, scrambled eggs (nice, not too dry and not too runny), daing na bangus. (This wasn't my plate btw, I just concentrated on the rice, longganisa, eggs and pancakes :-) Other stuff: plain rice, adobong manok, menudo, beef tapa, small pancakes, palitaw.

How much it cost: Breakfast buffet, P80 (A$2.10). Coffee, P24 (A$0.65). Plus service charge & VAT. Not bad! They're open 24 hrs. probably to cater to the call center crowd. We were there around 7am. A group of call center kids were having beer. Oo nga naman, happy hour nila after work.