peek at the kitchen

Today is Malc's birthday!!!

And following tradition, I arranged a surprise dinner for him today. I told Malc we're meeting at 8pm after iaido training in Pyrmont for an 8:30pm dinner which made him think of the possible restaurants where I was going to take him to. And as we walked down Pyrmont Road, the surprise became more apparent . . . we were heading for Sean's Kitchen (Level2, Star City, 80 Pyrmont Road, Pyrmont NSW 2009 ph +61 2 9777 9000). Sean's Kitchen is the more casual, less French, dining venue of Astral chef Sean Connelly.

For entree, Malc ordered cerviche of kingfish with citrus dressing. The dish came on a funky plate with colorful capsicum and tomato bits. Malc enjoyed the presentation and described it as light and refreshing. I tasted a few pieces of fish and thought the dressing overpowered the taste of the fish.

I ordered a serve of Fermin Iberico de Bellota jamon, one of the finest Spanish pata negra hams. The ham were cut paper thin which enhanced the salty-sweet taste of the meat. I tried it just by itself and with bread, both creating pleasant taste and texture in my mouth. The serving size was quite generous too.

For mains, Malc ordered bangers and beans, albeit a bit more upmarket minced wagyu bangers. The sausages were uniformly cooked throughout and retained their juices. Malc ate his dish slowly, and as he would say it in French, it is a dish with "consistence" as the mince was packed quite densely inside the sausage casing.

I ordered crispy skin Petuna ocean trout, and the skin was indeed very very crispy refusing to tear or break even after I had finished half of the serving. The fish was delicately flavoured and the seafood sauce did not overpower it's natural taste. The serving was quite generous too and the presentation was interesting. I discovered that the green stripe on the place was actually pureed basil.

I was getting full after the mains and was having second thoughts about dessert. Malc read through the dessert menu and declared, they have churros . . . and that was it one churros for me please. I haven't had decent churros in Sydney and I was not about to pass on this chance. The bread was so fluffy and light, just perfect. The chocolate sauce however, was a bit sweet, not really the Spanish-style chocolate that goes perfectly with the sugar-powdered churros.

Malc had apple crumble and when the dish arrived it looked like a deconstructed apple crumble. On one side was a stack of sweetened apple and on the other an ice-cream crumble. Malc found it mild and luxurious.


After dinner, I asked Malc if he enjoyed his birthday dinner and he said "very much so".

Happy birthday Dr Malc!

back with the gang

Two weeks ago, Malc & I received an email from Dr Reiko saying that her & Stef will be in Sydney and wanted to know if we were free for dinner. Early last week, we got an email from Dr Miwa saying she will also be in town. What fantastic timing, our old Canberra gang (minus Dr Shogo & Peter-san) were in town . . . and it's definitely a good excuse for a celebration.

Dr Malc consulted his tastebuds and they decided that the venue for dinner will be Viva Goa (2 Scott Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009 ph +61 2-9566 1311). Viva Goa is one of our old favourites in Pyrmont, but we have not been back for awhile because it's not really that exciting to have only 2 people eating because we can't really order more than 2 dishes and we miss out on all the other choices on the menu. So with a big group, we can now sample more dishes.

So after a some catching up, we studied the menu and with a lot of prodding from our waiter, we decided on a banquet meal of 3 appetisers and 4 main meals.

For appetisers, we selected: (1) galinha arambol (herb and spice crusted chicken morsels and sweet and sour yoghurt; (2) parco empregado (roast pork belly in a spiced star anise & shrimp paste; (3) panjim panrolls (semolina crumbed vegetable panrolls with tomato relish, light garlic sour cream and coconut chutney. The picture of the dishes on the right also shows Dr Reiko, Dr Miwa and Stef's fingers making the peace sign especially for Dr Shogo. The plate was cleaned out in record time as we enjoyed the pleasant mixutre of spices and texture of the entree plate.

Then came our main dishes, I'm copying the descriptions off the menu as they were quite spot on.(1)Paneer & peas caldeen (fragrant mild yellow delicate coconut, tomato and tangy kokum curry, tempered with mustard seeds & curry leaves; (2) okra amotik (red, hot & sour, spicy tamarind curry); (3) chicken peri-peri (chilli garlic paste, dervied from the peri-peri chilli; (4)sorpotel (roast, finely-diced port, simmered in a rich chilli, pepper & garlic sauce, with a dash of cashew feni).

And then finally, after several previous visits of ending our meals with the mains because we were too full . . . we made it to dessert. We shared among us 3 fantastic desserts (1) pudim de banana (warm caramelised banana, palm sugar & fresh coconut pudding with vanilla ice cream; (2) ale belle (date & fresh coconut filled, sweet fennel pancake with ginger preserve and vanilla ice cream; and after reminding our waiter (he forgot to put the order in), Dr Miwa's dessert choice of orange & coriander sorbet.

We were all pleasantly full when we left the restaurant and it was great to catch up again with the Canberra gang.

thousand dollars dinner

Tonight, Malc & I spent an evening with the movers and shakers of Sydney for the Fire and Flood Benefit at the Astral Restaurant (Level 17, Star City Casino, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont NSW 2009 ph + 61 2 9777 9000). The dinner was hosted by members of the Australian Football Team: Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer to benefit the bushfire victims in Victoria and the flood victims in Queensland.

Malc receive the invitation to this event through work and we found out later that the tickets were $1,000 per head, I was so glad we were not paying. However, Sean Connolly is a world famous chef, and we were very excited to see and taste a $1,000 dinner.

When we got to Star City, we were herded into the Astral Bar for pre-dinner drinks where guests could mingle and make small talk. I found myself standing next to National Coach Pim Verbeek, and then across from me was was Harry Kewell . . . the football fan in me was surely having a good time.

Then on to dinner. Looking at the menu, I was a little bit disappointed, there were only 4 courses and they were not really extra special. Malc had to remind me, the $1,000 is really for the benefit and not for the meal . . . oh well.

The meal started with an amuse bouche of gold leaf quail egg with oscietra caviar. The quail egg was perfectly gooey inside and heightened the salty-savoury taste of the caviar.

Next came the entree of lobster raviolo with ginger & treacle beurre blanc. This was the highlight the meal, the dumpling held tender big chunks of sweet lobster and the butter sauce permeated the raviolo.

In between entree and main were some entertainment numbers and speeches from politicians and from an emergency service office who witnessed the flooding in Queensland firsthand. The guests also used it as an opportunity to meet, chat and take photos of the high profile sports persons who were at benefit. Malc went up to Ian Thorpe for an autograph for my cousin who is a big fan.

Then the main meal of slow roasted Angus beef tenderloin was served. This was one of the best roasts I have ever had. The meat was perfectly aged and each bite melted in the mouth.



After the mains, more entertainment, mingling and speeches followed. I went and searched for Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer and Tim Cahill for photos and autographs. They were really nice and gracious with their time.

Then came the dessert of chocolate and orange tart. I was so excited with the dessert I forgot to take a photo of it. It tasted like a cheese cake-like chocolate tart.

After dessert was a spirited auction of sports memorabilia and experiences. With the auction starting at $5,000, Malc & I were happy to just be observers to the bidding

The Benefit raised $250,000 (and counting), congratulations to Lucas, Mark & Tim.

el bulli

Dr Malc & I attended the public lecture of Ferran Adria, the best chef in the world. His talk was part of the promotional tour for his book "A Day at ElBulli" and he shared some of the creative processes that happen behind the scenes at his world famous restaurant.

The book lists recipes for dishes such as cold hazelnut foam, ponzu sauce air base, etc. They all look simple on paper, but would need a chemistry lab to prepare.

Now, I fervently pray that Dr Shogo's book gets translated into Chinese & Japanese so I will win a dinner at ElBulli.

quiet time

My dad passed away yesterday . . .

happiness & texts

Yesterday was my birthday, and from 6:30am the text messages started arriving . . . thank you to my family & friends for the birthday greetings . . . especially my mom who, as usual, woke me up on my birthday.

And as per tradition, Malc planned and plotted a surprise dinner. The chosen restaurant was actually the restaurant that started the birthday tradtion, I surprised Malc to this restaurant several years go. Without further ado, I present my birthday dinner . . . at Yoshii Restaurant (115 Harrington street, Sydney 2000, ph +61) 02 9247 2566).

Appetiser: Cuttlefish marinated with white miso, Deep fried Japanese taro & chicken mince, Daily fish Nanbanzuke wrapped with potato mousse and Duck foie gras and kelp seaweed tsukudani



Zucchini flower tempura filled with cuttlefish mousse with cuttlefish ink salt



Milk fed veal sashimi served with forest mushroom dressing


Spanner crab mousse wrapped with long net mushroom in edamame bonino



Slowly braised wagyu beef cheek in red miso and red wine



Sushi



Dessert (mine): Mascapone



Dessert (Dr Malc): Smoked ice cream

no rice

Today, Malc & I made a special trip to Canberra to say au revoir to our good friend Dr Miwa, who is off to take up a post at Nottingham University. It was good timing too, as the Floriade flower show was on in the nation's capital, so we joined Miwa's friends for a picnic at the Floriade grounds.

We were supposed to drive up and drive down, but a few days ago, Malc told me that I need to pack some clothes . . . he had a surprise up his sleeve. The first one was a reservation at Crowne Hotel Canberra, how he managed to get a room during Floriade is indeed incredible. Then, for dinner, we headed off to another surprise location . . . Lanterne Rooms (3 Blamey Place Campbell ACT 2612 ph 61 2 6249 6889).

The restaurant had a nice ambiance, with high ceilings and toned down Asian-inspired decor. The waitstaff were also friendly and attentive. After admiring the surrounds, Malc & I checked up the menu and here were our choices:

I had grilled chicken marinated in galangal and lemongrass with okra. The chicken was nice an moist and the skin nicely grilled. I would have enjoyed this dish even more if there was rice! I was a bit surprised when my order arrived and it was just the chicken and vegetables . . . no rice. So Malc asked the waiter for some rice and he said "we don't have rice in this restaurant." My heart sank, but credit to the waiter, he did check the kitchen to see if they had prepared rice for the banquet menu . . . they did not.

Malc, for his part, thoroughly enjoyed his order of rice noodles in dark soya and ginger sauce with seafood (scallops, octopus, prawns and ikan bilis). The noodles were circular and as the waiter said, they were a bit chewy like gnocchi. The amount of seafood was quite generous and Malc reckoned it was top-notch hawker food and the dried fish was the ingredient that made the dish.

We hurriedly ate our dessert, I had strawberry shortcake and Malc had kulfi ice cream with peppered pineapple then headed back to the hotel in time for Iron Chef.