Sydney restaurants on the downhill

For the past few months I’ve noticed that restaurants are increasing their prices across the board–from the holes-in-the-wall joints to the high-end ones while at the same time portions are getting smaller.

On top of that, many restaurants also seem to be on the downhill when it comes to the quality of their food.

Not a good trend.

Nothing but disappointments at Tetsuya’s

I started this blog (well, this version at least) by writing about the worm on my oyster shell at Tetsuya’s. Well, a year and a few weeks later I was able to make the second visit I mentioned in the earlier entry and do a proper call on the restaurant: Is it worth the hype? Does it truly belong to be the #5 restaurant in the world?

No and no.

I’m not sure just what the hell got up the reviewers’ asses that they would make this Sydney’s #1 fine-dining scene or who in their right mind would make this restaurant the fifth best in the world.

I visited Tetsuya’s with my girlfriend last Friday night after making the booking some four months ago (“I’d like to book a table for two either on a Friday or Saturday night please.” “I have a table at the end of September, sir.” “…” — well, okay, I guess this is what you get when restaurants don’t implement a “No booking earlier than 1 month” rule) and after dressing-up and making ourselves look good we caught a taxi and off we went.

Upon arrival we experienced the vaunted service and attention that high-end restaurants were expected to provide. And in fact I do have to say that service was impeccable throughout our meal. Not once did we call on the waiter for anything–well, except for the bill–and everything simply ran smoothly.

But that alone did not make for a five star experience. While service was great, ambiance was extremely lacking. Enjoying the dinner with three friends as I did last year I didn’t mind. But for a night-out with the girlfriend I was hoping for something more subdued and, oh, I don’t know, romantic? I can’t help but feel like I was at a Chinese restaurant somewhere on Anzac Parade. Granted one with great service. Decor? Oh yes, minimalist.

Again, just like many of the hole-in-the-wall student joints on Anzac Pde.

But okay, none of this has to do with the food so far. How was the food?

1. Pea soup with bitter chocolate sorbet
The pea soup by itself was quite an interesting flavor, but the dark chocolate completely over-powered it. And this dark chocolate lover also want to say that the chocolate was just a tad too dark even for him. But I suppose that’s why it’s called “bitter chocolate” instead of “dark chocolate”. And when mixed together this combination actually tasted like vomit.

*. After the above we were then served a plate of oyster with … some tart sauce. I thought these would be served fresh but I should’ve listened closer to our waiter when he offered the oyster plate. Oh well. Quite good actually.

2. Smoked ocean trout and avruga caviar
Tasted like the smoked salmon in my fridge with some second-rate crap caviar on top of it. Sorry, was I supposed to be impressed just because this has caviar?

3. Leek and crab custard
Fancy name for what is essentially a chawan-mushi with crab and reduction or sauce of some sort. This was actually a dish that we both thought highly of. Subtle flavor upon first taste but a much stronger flavor then coats the inside of our mouths.

4. Scallop carpaccio with red wine vinaigrette
They had only a 100 scallops for the day and had to serve a 1000 people, thus the need to slice thinly what they had. Not impressed.

5. Ocean trout with a generous sprinkling of ajinomoto (signature dish)
Officially this is the Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel with Seasonal Green Salad and I was very impressed with this dish when I first tasted it last year. My friend then commented that it was like “an explosion of flavor inside your mouth”. Eating it again, however, I couldn’t help but think that I was eating ocean trout with a generous sprinkling of ajinomoto.

6. Ravioli of Queensland spanner crab with tomato & basil vinaigrette
Tasted like a bad shiu-mai.

7. Baby abalone and ox-tail
The abalone were sliced just a bit too thick and a tad chewy. The ox-tail was decent but tasted a tad bland. How such a great chef can put together two great items and fuck it up beyond belief is, well, beyond belief.

8. Twice cooked de-boned spatchcock with olive & caper jus
I don’t like hainanese chicken rice because the chicken is served at room temperature (or somewhat cooler) and is steamed/boiled/whatever. We surprised the waiters when I barely touched this dish and my girlfriend ate only a portion of it. While I wasn’t too crazy about it because I don’t generally like boiled/steamed meat/fish, my girlfriend simply just didn’t care much for this dish. The waiter apologized when I told him the reason I barely touched it and said that they could’ve offered an alternative dish–fair enough, and I guess I should’ve asked him what a spatchcock was when he first described the night’s offering. Oh well. Either way, not impressed.

9. Grilled wagyu beef with lime & wasabi
Cold. Slimy. Blah

Girlfriend also says: don’t bother with the wagyu beef if you’re going to slice it up so thinly!

10. Comte with lentils
Mmmmm. Tastes like red-bean.

11. Beetroot & blood orange sorbet, strawberry shortcake
Not a fan of beetroot I really didn’t care much for the sorbet though I did finish it because I didn’t want to “send back” yet another dish. The strawberry shortcake however is an absolute delight and one of my favorites and I was glad to see it still on the menu. It is hardly a shortcake in the traditional sense but a strawberry puree of sorts combined with liquefied/dissolved cream/cake.

12. (Double-cream?) Vanila bean ice cream with white beans & dates
Well, at least he still knows how to serve a good vanilla bean ice cream. I could’ve sworn this was double-cream which made it really smooth but I could be mistaken.

13. Chocolate terrine with mascarpone & cognac anglaise
The chocolate terrine is orgasmic (“Please don’t pull a Meg Ryan on me” said the girlfriend) though the cognac anglaise wasn’t worth writing home about.

Petit Fours
Toooo sweet even with my cappuccino.

Would I come back here again? Doubtful. Would I take visitors to it? If they’re paying.

Tetsuya’s
529 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9267 2900
Website: http://www.tetsuyas.com/

Looking for a dining experience in all the wrong places

I really should sleep but I’ve got to just put this up real quick. I haven’t had a nice night-out with my better half for some times now and when we got the chance I booked a table for two at Times on the Park, a restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel by Hyde Park. The reviews on Eatability were stratospheric and as a plus, it’s considered a romantic spot. So off I go.

My girlfriend chose the goose foie gras entree while I opted for their soup of the day–sorry, soup du jour–lobster bisque. We also split an order of seared scallops. Well, the goose foie gras was nothing special, and while I actually liked the bread that it came with she thought it could have been thinner. As for my lobster bisque, not only was it rather watered down (I miss the lobster bisque as The Palm restaurant in Boston), it was also missing a certain … oh, I don’t know, maybe LOBSTER?! I saw two small pieces of red bell-pepper (capsicum to you Aussie readers) floating in the sea of lobster bisque-flavored heated water and some other green garnishes and that was it!

The seared scallop was also average at best.

So after all these we still haven’t ordered our mains as my companion had felt queasy at the start and wanted to see how things progressed. Seeing how things had turned out it was probably for the best that we left, but we didn’t. In fact, I ordered a Time Fillet (what the hell is that?) along a side of chips (fries to you American readers).

Good lord. The steak I made for dinner tonight was juicier and tastier than what they served. A bit dry, chewy, and … well, again, average at best. I’d rather eat the $5 steak my girlfriend and I would get at this one pub she found. The chips were also just so-so.

Not convinced at just how average this restaurant we each proceeded to order desserts and also a cafe latte for myself. The coffee was decent, the ice cream uninspiring, and my lady had some white chocolate delice that was too sweet.

All in all, barely average food in a quite romantic surrounding. Most definitely not coming back.

Times on the Park
Sheraton on the Park Hotel
Level 1, 161 Elizabeth Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9267 4022
Homepage: http://www.timesrestaurant.com/

Out of this world dining experience

Singapore Air held an exclusive (read: after-hours) cooking demonstration by Matt Moran (head chef at ARIA, and also member of their culinary panel) for their Sydney-based PPS Club members at the Sydney Good Food & Wine show this past Friday and I was fortunate enough to be invited. I brought a friend along to the show and we were both quite entertained and walked away with a new cooking trick or two.

However, the hour-long show gave me a major craving for fine-dining. Or at least something really decent or something really nice. I called-up Bennelong (aka. Guillaume at Bennelong) and asked if they had a table for two. Given that it was Friday night I figured it was a long shot but it turned out they did have a table for two so I made a booking right away and we made our way to the restaurant.

I’ve been wanting of trying this restaurant ever since I had to cancel a pre-theatre booking (I was attending a performance of Beethoven’s 4th and 7th that night) because my friend was late arriving at the Opera House and here was another chance.

Admittedly, my first reaction after seeing the menu was that this wasn’t just a really nice restaurant, but that it was a reaaaaaaaally nice restaurant. But, since we were already there, we might as well as enjoy it.

To begin with, we both had the duck confit entree. We both thought this would be a tiny serving of duck alongside some duck foie gras, only to be surprised by a serving of three really flavorful and perfectly cooked small chunks of duck meat along with the duck foie gras. Now, I am not a duck person. Every time I eat at a restaurant and someone orders a duck I’d usually give it a taste and nod, agreeing that it’s good (unless it’s really horrible). However, I have to say Bennelong has converted me.

And suddenly we both found we were kinda full at this point. It was such a rich dish that both of us were filled with dread at our main course. My friend had ordered a wagyu steak while I had a … double-cooked wagyu beef cheek of some sort. We wanted to order the wagyu rib-eye steak for two but after hearing our waiter describe the beef cheek dish for a second time I was visibly drooling so I ordered it while my friend opted for the regular steak as she wanted a real steak and not some “melts as you touch it with your fork” kinda meat.

So we waited for our mains and talked and enjoyed the restaurant. It was dimly lit and quiet and every now and then we could hear a large group of table cheering and laughing and so on. Sounded like someone having a birthday party or a team dinner of some sort. Then our main courses came and all our fears of not being able to finish them disappeared when each of us took our first bites.

For my part, the meat really did just melt when I picked-up a chunk of it with my fork. It was tender beyond belief, and if I thought the duck confit was flavorful, I was blown away by what I was eating then. My friend was also quite shocked at just how good her steak was (I was very impressed as well). The meat was perfectly pinkish-red medium-rare, just as she liked her steaks, even though she ordered a medium. Needless to say, I finished my dish very quickly given how soft and tender it was. I ignored the serving of autumn vegetables on it, not wanting to ruin the flavor of the meat and the red wine au jus sauce it came with.

After that I had the nougat glace along with the matching wine while my friend skipped the dessert, opting for just a glass of the dessert wine I ordered. And again, neither of us were disappointed. Most amazing was the cotton candy that came with my dessert. I never thought it could be served as dessert at a fine-dining restaurant and yet, there it was, the best cotton candy I ever had. It was soft and ephemeral, melting effortlessly in my mouth. I then ended the night with a shot of espresso while my friend was content with the nougat glace and the dessert wine.

Looking at the bill I realized it wasn’t all that bad. It amounted to a nice night out for two and gave me the best dining experience I’ve had yet in Sydney.

Strike that. The ambiance, the menu, the architecture and the decor, and the truly world-class service all made it the best dining experience I have had yet. This is now the one dining experience other restaurants I come across will have to try and beat.

Or maybe it was just the company?

(It was only yesterday that I remembered that Friday marked my 3rd year in Sydney. Having intended to celebrate it and forgetting it and then discovering that I did have a nice night out on Friday only made the dinner that much more special.)

Guillaume at Bennelong
Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9241 1999
Homepage: www.guillaumeatbennelong.com.au

Japanese dining across the office

It certainly was not my intention to visit Azuma this past Friday night. My plan was for a quick drink followed by a stop either at a pie-shop or a McDonald’s on the way home before calling it a week. Instead it turned into one quick drink followed by a meal at Azuma.

I’ve always wanted to eat here, but never could find the occasion to do so (it seemed to be one of the more upmarket restaurants in Sydney and I couldn’t justify going in there just to eat a quick dinner). But as I sat at the last free table (we had no bookings) with a friend from work I realized that while their prices might put them in the slightly upmarket section the inside of the restaurant was just pleasantly so-so, almost casual in fact. Elegantly casual.

It took me awhile to decide what I wanted to eat as I flipped back and forth through their menu. Nothing really jumped out at me and in the end I ordered their sushi special (10 piece sushi) along with a spicy tuna & avocado handroll and two pieces of aburi toro–seared tuna belly.

First to come was the handroll and I have to say: awesome nori! It definitely was not soggy as it cracked with each bite and pressure applied to it without being brittle and dry. As a whole, however, I had mixed feelings about the roll. They had sprinkled chili powder on it instead of using the spicy mayo. Looks like I’ll have to be specific next time I order this (the menu only listed a “Tuna & Avocado Handroll” and I had asked if they could make it into a spicy handroll). The saving grace though was the tuna used inside the roll. I wasn’t ready to pass judgments yet at this point but it was fresh, and tasty. Heavenly.

Then came the sushi plate and I realized I was eating the best sushi I’ve ever had ever in Sydney. And fortunately for me, the plate contained the four sashimi I used to judge a sushi restaurant: scampi, tuna, salmon, and scallop. The slices of these four served on top of the rice blocks were fresh and served at just the right temperature. Not warm, and not chilled. The scampi in particular was just right–sweet but not overpowering and chewy but not rubbery. And then the aburi toro finally came and just as I popped the first piece into my mouth I received a work phone call, forcing me to chew and swallow it quickly while excusing myself from the table. After finishing the call I came back to the table and enjoyed the second piece. Absolutely amazing.

It was then that I remarked to my friend that that was the best sushi I’ve ever had in this city.

Then came the dessert: a belgian chocolate mousse for myself and a caramel ice cream affogato for my friend. While not the best they were certainly the best I’ve had in recent memory.

I’m definitely coming back for more.

Azuma
Level 1, Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square
(Cnr. of Phillip & Hunter Street)
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9222 9960
Homepage: www.azuma.com.au

[Eatability entry | SMH Review]

In search of takeaway sushi in Sydney CBD

A conversation with a friend based in our Boston office reminded me of Shino Express Sushi on Newbury St. Good quality sushi at takeaway prices–and on Newbury St. too! How they survive on non-Newbury St. prices is beyond me. Then again, I remember it was almost always packed. Anyway. Thinking of Shino made me realize there’s no similar offering in the Sydney CBD.

(Asagao does not count. A friend and I used to visit either their Chifley location or the one at the corner of Hunter and Bligh until we both realized we were guaranteed to feel sick afterward about 75% of the time.)

Of course, I can walk into Azuma in Chifley or Masuya (a Japanese friend of mine says that out of the few Japanese restaurants she tried this was the one closest to restaurants in Japan!) on O’Connell but they’re pretty far away from “takeaway prices”. Sosumi Sushi Train at Martin Place is also out. I tried it out about a year ago or so and walked out with a $40 or $45 dollar bill. The quality as I remember it was good, decent. Nothing special but definitely decent/good. But $40-$45 for a sushi train? I know it’s No. 1 Martin Place but holy cow, your offering is not worth that much! This is like Shino in Boston pricing their offering as if they were a high-end Newbury St. food joint. In other words, I was pretty much paying for the location with that $40-$45 bill. So, no, out of the list. Not only does it fail on the “takeaway price” qualification, it also fails as a Japanese restaurant. Out!

Craving sushi at takeaway prices, last week I went with a friend in search of Megumi at Wynyard Station (I read about it on the ‘net). Upon finding it I knew I was in trouble because we both thought the slices of fish on display looked dodgy. After pondering it for a moment or two, I also realized that the queue that had built-up contained no Asians, much less Japanese. Trouble. (Anytime I visit an ethnic food establishment I look at the patrons and see if anyone from the region of the food is present. Lack of their presence means a very localized offering.)

But you know, it was such a walk and trouble to find it that I shrugged away any hesitation and got their salmon sushi offering. Upon eating it back at the office I realized that it wasn’t that bad at all but most definitely not worth the walk. So Megumi is out. (Last time I trust stupid anonymous internet commentators.)

On a whim, last Friday I decided to try Ton-Ton’s sushi offering.

Ton-Ton, for the record, is the food hall shop that’s owned by Azuma and has been an absolute hit with the Japanese community (the critical part) and everyone else. Walk into the Chifley food hall during lunch time and the number of people crowding at Ton-Ton speaks volumes about the place. That said, I remember the first (and last) time I tried their sushi offering shortly after they opened. I didn’t find it all that remarkable and until this past Friday I always remembered it as “the Azuma sushi leftover from the previous night”.

But when I tried it again last Friday I thought it wasn’t bad at all. However, it is a bit pricey and the selection is very limited.

And so, the search continues.

(If you were reading this hoping I had found it, sorry! But if I do find anything, I will definitely post it here!)

The (ramen) king is dead! Long live the (ramen) king!

Found out earlier today that the father of the instant ramen noodles, Momofuku Ando, died two days ago of a heart failure.

In celebration of his life and invention tomorrow I will have a cup of instant noodle for dinner.

God bless his soul.

(Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry linked above seems to indicate he was of Taiwanese descent. I wonder if that’s true.)

Fresh made pasta for lunch

The food options at the Deutsche Place building courtyard over at 126 Phillip St. has finally maxed itself out with one owner giving us a choice of a sandwhich shop, a coffee shop, and an Italian restaurant. Yay!

(That was sarcasm if you didn’t figure it out.)

I wasn’t too crazy about the sandwhich shop the few times I tried it out and I have not returned since. As for coffee, I prefer the coffee shop at the Colonial Centre food hall, the one run by the Greek family. Surprisingly, I’m quite impressed with the Italian restaurant that opened-up a few months ago, replacing a bare, unfinished spot with a nice little restaurant.

Despite its proximity to my workplace I have not had a chance to try this out as my lunch buddy always requests Japanese and refuses to eat carbs for lunch, much less pasta. So it wasn’t until about two weeks ago that I got to try out this place and I was pleasantly surprised

On my first visit I had the lobster ravioli with bisque sauce and upon its arrival onto my table, my first reaction was how small the portion looked for A$25. “This better be good” I thought to myself when I first took a sip of the bisque sauce.

Amazing.

The rich flavor took me back instantly to the Lobster Bisque served at the Palm Restaurant back in the Westin Hotel in Back Bay, Boston. Probably one of the pricier destinations for lunch but was always well worth it.

The ravioli did not have that cookie-cutter look and I wondered if it were freshly made, especially given the flavor and texture (yes, they’re freshly made).

But the portion was definitely on the small side as I left still somewhat hungry. I also think A$25 for it is a bit pricey. If I were to have it again, I’d definitely have something else to go along with it.

And just last week I visited the place again with a colleague and this time I wanted something simple so I chose their lasagna with beef while my lunch companion chose the spinach gnocchi.

Again the size looked a tad small to my eyes but I was more than full by the time I had finished my lasagna. Freshly-made pasta with flavorful beef and sauce … or, as I put it to my lunch companion, “You really have to work hard to fuck-up lasagna.”

I had a taste of the spinach gnocchi and while I found the gnocchi to be very tasty, as much as I loved spinach it was at the end too spinachy for me.

No wonder they’re often packed during lunch hours. Will definitely return again and again. Would like to try their pizzas next time.

Word of caution though: I tried their take-away option and found it to be highly unappetizing. The Penne arrabbiata was about as bad as it could get with bland flavor, under-cooked pasta, and way, way watered down sauce. For A$10, it came-off more like some A$3 pasta take-away. Not at all recommended.

Dolce Ristorante
Shop 1 – Deutsche Bank Place
126 Phillip St.
Sydney NSW 2001
Tel: +61 2 9232 1306
www.dolce.com.au

JiRaffe in Santa Monica

We were trying to get to a Mexican restaurant for dinner during my extended layover in LA when my friend drove past JiRaffe. At my request we skipped the Mexican and visited JiRaffe instead. Considering it was Friday night we weren’t sure if we’d be able to get a table but to our luck they had one open and we were quickly whisked upstairs to our table.

After looking through the menu and listening to our waiter’s heavily accented English for the day’s specials we made our order and then we waited.

Turned out we had made good decisions on the entrées. I had one of the specials of the day, foie gras served with chopped nuts and mango and this or other while my friend picked a selection from their regular menu and had their dungeness crab salad–light and refreshing, a perfect accompaniment to my selection which was much richer in flavor. Then we split an order of another entrée which I can’t remember. I think it was another special of the day. Ooops. (This is what I get for writing about it seven days later almost to the dot, minus a few hours!)

For her main she had their roasted rabbit entrée while I selected an actual main course: the caramelized pork chop.

The pork chop, aside from being too dry, was a shocking reminder of the portions served in American restaurants. After going through two entrées (well, we shared the second one, whatever it was), I was in no shape to take on this course. I ate bits and pieces of it and that was about it. I also tried my friend’s roasted rabbit and, to my surprise, I discovered I wasn’t crazy about rabbit meat. It was like chicken except with a smoother texture, which was kinda strange to my mouth. I definitely will give it a try again sometimes in the future but at the time, I really can’t say I enjoyed it all that much.

That being said, I do have a second stomach for dessert and I had their chocholate truffle cake with vanilla ice cream along with a café latte while my friend went for a black coffee. Again I found the offering to be a bit dry and I really needed that ice cream to get the cake down my throat.

Given the chance I would like to try out the restaurant again. What we had were enjoyable but I’d need a second visit to make a firm call on the restaurant.

JiRaffe
501 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Tel: +1 310 917 6671
www.jirafferestaurant.com

Also of note is that they list the 1998 Chateau Lafite Rothschild in their wine list. I would have loved to try it if it wasn’t for the USD 390 price tag. Ouch.

An appalling Nepalese dining experience

I was out for a drink with a friend last night before we found ourselves wandering up and down the streets of Surry Hills looking for dinner. After a while we ended up in the cramped quarters of The Nepalese Kitchen with their mouth-watering menu. Shortly after ordering I popped-out quickly to the bottle shop next door when we discovered the restaurant was BYO.

This turned out to be a good decision.

After the ling fish entrée (which I thought was probably catfish) we were quite excited and had already added the restaurant to the “We’ll have to come back again soon”, until we got the rest of our order. What came afterward were way too salty and I barely touched my goat curry. Likewise my friend barely touched her chicken curry and as the night continued, we also found the dal to be quite salty as well. Trying to make-up for all this by simply eating the paratha and rice also didn’t quite work out as one of the waiters knocked my friend’s wine glass into her plate, causing us to throw away about half the paratha.

What did we get out of this?

A clueless “Sorry” delivered with one of the most helpless faces I had ever seen. It was as if there was nothing he could do and that we had to just suck it up. We tried ordering another paratha but he simply got us a new plate, and when I checked if it was coming we discovered that they had run out of it, and that they were just going to strike-out the paratha out of our bills.

After the over-salted food we had downgraded the restaurant to “We’ll be back, but not anytime soon” but this was quickly downgraded to “Not coming back anytime soon” aka “Never coming back” after the shit service and the nasty toilet.

Yeeesh. Good riddance.

Thank goodness I lucked-out with the wine.

The Nepalese Kitchen
481 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Tel: +61 2 9319 4264

[Eatability Review | SMH Review]