Sunday, November 10, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
0 footsteps ♠
Sorry guys! Due to my long absence, here's a long post about one of my favourite place to go in 2013!
Another hidden gem right in the middle of the city.
Rabbit Hole Bar & Dining went beyond my expectations.
They have the MOST innovative and creative cocktails.
I'm just speechless.
All their cocktail has that 'wow' factor.
Every time one arrives on the table, I turn into a excited kid and go 'oh my gaaaawd!' :O
I've been to rabbit hole twice & I don't mind going again. It's that good!
Since I went there with a group of friends, we managed to order quite a large range of cocktails.
So the rest of this post will be filled with lots of pictures and a description taken from their website
+ a personal recommendation of what to try! :P
Let's start off with some starters / snacks.
Tiede Wagyu Tartare - $21
Onsen egg & truffle meringue
Seared Scallops - $22 (Recommended)
Almond puree, garlic and lime oil, infused leek and crispy nori
Look. Even their food looks and taste incredible.
Those scallops was just divineeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Yums!!
My hats off to rabbit hole.
Now, onto their cocktails :D (the first two are 'shots')
Jellied G&T - $11
Eben Freeman of NYC created the original recipe for this.
We use Hendricks gin to elevate this recipe and serve it on a
cucumber slice with a rose crystal. Take a bite and let this solid
alcohol fizz on your tongue like its original namesake.
The Big Cheese - $14 (Recommended)
A lot of talk lately has gone into cheese and cocktails. We
mixed this up and made the other components of the cheese
plate alcoholic. Spherified pearls of burnt honey and Russian
Standard Imperia vodka sit adjacent to our brandy and quince
paste with a Manchego cheese tuile to accompany.
XO Zombie – $17 (My all-time favourite cocktail)
Our twist on the original. Mt Gay XO, Cointreau and Joseph Cartron
Cocody are muddled with lime, mint and our house-made passion
fruit caramel. It is shaken with aromatic bitters, pineapple and
orange. Served in a bitter, sugar rimmed glass with a flaming passion fruit.
Shrubberry - $18 (My 2nd favourite cocktail)
This one is for you that LOVE your drinks fruity and playful. Russian Standard
Platinum is mixed with fresh strawberries, our house made raspberry and
strawberry shrubb, Elderflower, lemon, Fee Brother’s Rhubarb bitters and
amaranth. Strawberry powder and sorrel finish this off.
Abbey’s Fruit – $21
The flesh of cucumbers and pears is muddled with Lactart;
the acid of milk and a hint of sugar. No. 3 Gin and Yellow
Chartreuse V.E.P are added and it is shaken with ice. It is
then fine strained into the fruit it came from and served with
Yellow Chartreuse V.E.P pearls.
Burnt Beauty – $19
A sophisticated drink compiled of ingredients of yesteryear put
together in a modern way. Fig infused Mozart Dry is stirred down
with Acid Phosphate, VSOP brandy and burnt honey. Flamed orange
oils rim your glass.
Smoked Apple - $19
Laphroig scotch and Joseph Cartron pomme verte is shaken with house-made Ceylon tea infused cinnamon syrup, Fee Brother’s rhubarb bitters and cloudy apple juice. This cocktail is carbonated with fresh cider and the lightest dusting of smoked salt finishes it off.
Persephone’s Pain and Pleasure – $19
A drink broken into two parts. Spherified pearls of Pama
Pomegranate liqueur float in Jansz NV in a pomegranate dust lined
glass. This is matched with an acid rich mix of Pama and Sesame
fairy floss.
Aerated Caprioska – $17
An entire cocktail of alcoholic foam. A long pour of Russian
Standard Platinum starts then the protein bonds of albumen are
broken with lime, denatured in a siphon and re-stabilized with
house-made lemongrass syrup and coconut flavours. A lime,
lemongrass and coconut caprioska served with a mint crystal.
Holy cray. What an amazing range of cocktails.
Even though I've only wrote several recommendations.
I still think every single item on their menu is worth a try.
I really do want to go back and cover everything else.
Definitely one of my favorite places to go for this year.
10/10 for innovation and execution!
Highly recommended.
Labels: cocktail, dinner, food, rabbit hole
Thursday, October 10, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
1 footsteps ♠
There's a few Japanese Jazz restaurants in Sydney. Jazushi is one of them.
Was keen to try this one out since I've never been to a jazz cafe before!
However, the experience was just so-so.
Jazushi is made of two floors.
The top level is a 'bamboo' themed garden, with no music.
Whereas the bottom level is just a general setting, but with music. Hmm.
We ended up sitting downstairs.
Their music was strange.
I was expecting like real 'jazz' jazz music, and someone to whip out their bad ass saxophone (lol).
But instead they played like random oldies on their piano.
It also looked like their piano player was high on drugs (LOL).
As for their food, there are highs and lows.
Lets see how they fare.
Salmon & Kingfish Carpaccio w/ sea salt and basil oil
This was interesting, but not a highlight.
The textures weren't delicate and fresh enough.
So it just tasted like normal salmon and kingfish with good dressing.
But it did looked pretty!
Camembert Tempura - Camembert cheese fingers with creme teriyaki sauce
Surprisingly a highlight!
Whoah!
What this is, is basically fried cheese tempura, that's dipped in this creamy cheese tasting sauce o.O
Super interesting if you ask me.
The cheese flavour was not overpowering, and it was just really tasty. Yummos!
Jazushi Fried Chicken w/ yuzu citrus sauce on a bed of home-made tartar sauce
Rahhh I'm on the fence on this one.
Hmm..
Okay I'll say it's pretty good if you compare this to other dishes.
I'd recommend you to order this if you plan to visit Jazushi.
Grilled Silver Cod w/ seasonal vegetables and saikyo sauce
Dissapointing.
Not the best cod i've eaten.
Hitsumabushi - Grilled Anago Conger Eel on caramel rice served with dashi
I think this is Jasushi's signature dish.
It certainly looks very nice and pretty :D
Although it's not amazing. It's definitely a must order.
Duck Teriyaki - Sliced duck breast on a bed of broccoli with truffle oil
Oh god.
Avoid this at all cost :/
What is this Jazushi?
They did amp up their presentation, but taste wise, the duck was tough and their flavours were off :/
Dessert Platter (3 Choices of Dessert)
Souffle Cheese Cake
Gateau Chocolate
Green Tea Creme Brulee
Also another disappointment.
This dessert platter is below average.
Their cheese 'souffle' is not actually a souffle, its a cake instead.
Brulee was average & even the ice cream sucked.
(Shocked)
Jazushi tries to be creative with their dishes.
But not all of their dishes are executed well.
Their prices are not on the cheap side either.
However, I would definitely recommend ordering their hitsumabushi and cheese tempura.
Their portions are actually quite small for their price tag,
So I would say it's better to go to Jazushi for a drink and order those dishes as snacks :) (instead of dinner)
Bum bum bum.
Labels: dinner, food, japanese, jazushi, jazz
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
0 footsteps ♠
N2 Gelato, where have you been all my life?!
I can't believe I still haven't tried N2 gelato (after 4 years being in Sydney).
Even my friends were shocked :O
But yeah.
FINALLY.
A gelato store in Sydney that I can truly praise.
I absolutely love it when food stores or restaurants go beyond the norm and produce something creative and innovative.
N2 is like this gelato 'laboratory' where they constantly run 'experiments' to create new flavours.
(Just saying it in a fancy way :P)
They make their gelato on the spot, which is incredible IMO.
Whoa whoa.
How cool is that?
They basically make a mixture according to the flavour we order,
And they pour N2 gas into the mixture to freeze it.
There's little holes around the glass window for you to have a feel of the freezing N2 gas :D
Deconstructed Apple Strudel Gelato
(Apple Gelato crowned with a mini Palmier and stabbed with a syringe filled with T2’s Just Lavender infused Mascarpone)
They're trying to be fancy with the syringe and the biscuit.
But really, they don't need all these stuff!
It's like an added bonus really.
The gelato just by itself is already so incredible.
It's nothing like I've ever tasted before.
It really did taste like an apple strudel, but in gelato form! O_O
How they've managed to infuse these flavours and textures into the gelato just blows my mind.
I've also tried their truffled popcorn.
It also really impressed me.
Never tried anything like it.
It was so yummmmmmmmmms!
This is my one and only favourite gelato store in Sydney.
Nothing else compares. Seriously. Not even messina.
I can't wait to return and try more flavours!! :D
Labels: dessert, food, gelato, n2 gelato
Oh noes.
Another overrated ramen shop in city that has dissapointed me :( - Gumshara Ramen.
Gumshara is located in the underground Chinatown food court along Dixon St.
They have this huge banner at their shop, so it's pretty hard to miss.
Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen Noodles ($12.5) + One Egg ($1)
I found it weird that they are serving bowls of ramen WITHOUT an egg.
What?!
I had to pay an extra dollar for it.
I always thought things like pork, seaweed, bamboo shoots, shallots and an egg are like the main ingredients of a ramen bowl.
:/
Nevertheless, it was a yummy egg
The ramen was O.K.
Pork was thinly sliced, which was nice!
As for the broth, it was quite flavorful, but it was slightly too heavy.
Why are all these ramen shops getting rave reviews?
These bowls of ramen are seriously average at best.
(Confused)
My advice would be to avoid Ikkyu and Gumshara.
Your best joint for a ramen fix in city would still be Ippudo.
Or if you drive, go to Ryo's Noodles at Crows Nest.
Labels: dinner, food, gumshara, ramen
Wednesday, September 25, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
0 footsteps ♠
Yet another new cafe popped up in Surry Hills - Brooklyn Hide.
& It's a bagel shop! Oooooooooooh.
I've never tried bagels before, so this was pretty exciting :D
They have several types of bagels on their menu (Sourdough Rye, Poppy Seed, Blueberrye etc.)
You could spread it, or you could go further with adding a meat of your choice! (like chicken or pork)
'Brooklyn Hide is as New York as it gets'
Brooklyn Hide - Braised pork, fresh cucumber & apple jam w/ poppy seed bagel ($10)
I went for the braised pork!
I've tasted some amazing braised/pulled pork in sydney, and I was expecting the same with this choice.
Unfortunately it was dissapointing.
Sighpies :(
The pork was quite tough and dry.
The whole thing could have seriously been amazing if the pork was tender and soft.
Cause the idea is there!
I tried the bagel just by itself, and it actually tasted nice!
It had this fragrance to the bread that just leaves you wanting more.
Brooklyn Breakfast - Fresh corn, prosciutto, tomato & capsicum w/ oregano bagel ($?)
I thought this was SO cute.
Smallest breakfast pan I've ever seen.
Though, I didn't actually order this, my friend did :P
Midtown - Corned beef, gruyere, sauerkraut, mustard mayonnaise w/ 'abit of everyhing' bagel ($10)
A few of my friends also ordered this, and they seem to like it!
Overall, the Brooklyn Hide 'experience' was pretty good.
I really really like their bagels.
I might actually go back just to have a snack - a simple bagel w/ spread.
But their lunch bagels are nothing to rave about.
I can't believe bagels are not a common thing here.
Come on Sydney! More!
Labels: bagel, brunch, food
Sunday, September 22, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
0 footsteps ♠
I've heard about Cow & Moon just this year.
I thought it was a really strange and funny name for a gelato store.
& I was just never really keen on trying it.
But on that very day we went dessert hunting.
So yeah, why not give it a try!
Chamption Gelato 2011 Sydney Royal
Impressive!
They serve quite a large range of flavours (30+).
Cow & Moon doesn't have too many crazy, wacky flavours.
But they do have some flavours that go beyond the norm.
Like um.. Elderberry, and fig & walnut o.O
My friends told me that this was their best (and most interesting) flavour.
So, yup, we ordered 3 scoops of it LOL.
And one scoop of banana gelato :P
Strawberry & Balsamic Vinegar
It was.... Good!
I wasn't like omfg holy freak its amazing.
But it's good.
The gelato itself was actually quite smooth.
I've had tasters of their other flavours and I can say that this is one of their better gelato.
Tbh I can't really tell a large difference between the all the gelato stores in sydney :/
I only go crazy if there's a very interesting flavour of gelato that's created.
Still, Cow & Moon is definitely worth trying :)
Labels: dessert, food, ice cream
