“There’s no such thing as too much pork” Yas says with authority and I know he’s right. We’re ensconced in a leather booth in Tokonoma Surry Hills which is the bar and restaurant right next to Toko next door (Noma means “small space” although this is not really a small space). Having walked in in possession of a booking (yes thankfully they take them here unlike Toko next door) we’re deciding what to order from the menu when Benito the bartender comes up to us and explains the tasting we’ll be having this evening.
For those unfamiliar with Shochu, it is is a Japanese distilled beverage made from rice, barley or sweet potato and there are two types of Shochus fermented with the yeast Koji.. There are the mass produced Shochus that need some infusing for flavour and then there are the artisan style Shochus that feature on the menus by name, the base ingredient used and the area it comes from. Each glass of shochu is between $8-$10. Benito shows us the big jars of the homemade shochus in the display at the entrance. Fruit bobs within them and there are combinations like nashi pear and pistachio, buckwheat, goji berries and green papaya, and peach and lemon and each one takes about 3 months.
A drink I recall seeing a lot when I lived in Japan is Chuhai which is Shochu mixed with a fizzy drink and is more palatable for those (like me) that don’t like bitter alcohols and strong alcohols. A selling point is that there are 15-20 calories per serve for Shochu (up to one quarter of other alcohols) and that is is said to leave the body quicker meaning it’s less likely for hangover. Benito says that he likes recommending the sweet potato shochu for the entree as it’s a nice smooth, introductory shochu, the barley shochu for a main as it’s more robust and the sugarplum for dessert as it’s similar to a dessert wine.
Edamame $6.30
“Is that the Awamori?” Yas says with excitement and a touch of trepidation. The Awamori is one type of Shochu from the Okinawa region and is said to be known for its strength. Benito confirms it is indeed and that they have a lot of trouble getting the Awamori and Torikai shochus. He starts us off with two chuhais without alcohol while we are waiting on our food and they are agave and pink grapefruit soda (my favourite) while Yas’s favourite is the aloe vera, peach and citrus soda. We nibble on the salty but moreish edamame beans while we peruse the menu.
Watari-gani no kara-age $16.90
The deep fried soft shell crab is crunchily good when dipped with the mild wasabi mayonnaise and the salad is dressed in a wafu dressing.
Dengaku Nasu $12.80
“Oh. My. God. I want to marry this” I say. I’m not prone to declarations of marriage. Well I am already married and having two husbands seems like a foolhardy existence but this innocent looking eggplant is so soft and delicious and definitely marrying material. There are two kinds of miso on top, a red miso and a black miso and scooping the softer than soft flesh out is pure pleasure. I prefer the red miso a bit more than the black miso which is reminiscent of hoi sin sauce. Read More
I may have mentioned it once or twice before but a while back Mr NQN had a DNA test done to try and trace his ancestry. He’s rather dark haired and olive skinned for a half Finn so we just assumed that his father’s side had some Aboriginal blood in it. We had somehow, blindingly, completely dismissed the fact that when he has long hair he looks just like Rafael Nadal and when we got the results back, we found out that he has a significant amount of Basque heritage in him. It made sense of course and we were literally laughing at how silly we’d been. His father’s mother had always told him that they were of German royal blood and oddly enough there was very little German heritage. I guess the genes don’t lie and neither do the looks.
When Myriam invited Mr NQN and I over for dinner she told us that she and her fiance Jean would be making a Basque themed dinner as Jean is also from Basque. I volunteered to make dessert and I searched for a typical Basque style dessert. Gateau Basque came up repeatedly and you can’t really deny the validity of a cake named after the region. I had to make it. It was a cake that was made with a thick tart dough filled with creme patissiere and cherries and it had a lot of history and pride attached to it.
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Mother’s Days can be tricky. You want to find somewhere good that will please your mother but often, especially if you are paired up, you might have two Mothers to keep in mind. And if you are anything like Mr NQN and I and you have mums that are polar opposites. My mum: conservative, wears pearls, loves butter and expensive presents. Mr NQN’s mum: vegetarian, artistic and wears purple flowing clothes with scarves and never celebrates birthdays. So in my research, when I came across a place conservative enough for my mum yet artistic enough for his, I picked up the phone to book straight away. And got the answering machine of course since it was 8pm.
We arrive at 12 noon having dismissed the idea of the Afternoon Tea (said by some to be not as good as lunch). Tuulikki (Mr NQN’s mum) was waiting outside and we headed towards the restaurant on the ground floor. Underneath is the cafe (where we later peek and see a lot of exhausted people sprawled on chairs) and to the right they hold a children’s art class (a good idea to park your kids while you lunch although I think you have to collect them afterwards 
).
There are floor to ceiling windows and the whole room is like a glass cube perched on the side of Woolloomooloo Bay. The pick of the tables (and one that you can request when booking) are the ones facing the Harbour. Service is all male, smooth and efficient and comes in all sorts of soft accents. When there are exhibitions, the restaurant features set menus of 2 or 3 courses with an entry ticket and currently there is an Archibald Prize Set menu with 2 courses plus ticket for $59.50 and 3 courses plus ticket for $70. We go a la carte and share the food whilst Tuulikki as the only vegetarian picks her own.
Confit prawn, crisp pork belly, pickled cucumber $22
This is good, with a huge single prawn cooked well although the confit of prawn here doesn’t taste particularly different from other methods of cooking it unlike confit of duck which has quite a different texture. There is a soft pork belly and a vinegary pickled cucumber with flecks of chilli. It’s for those who might want a bit of seafood with meat (and no I didn’t mention surf and turf did I? )
Baked eggplant, fatoush, sheep’s milk yoghurt, mint $19
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It was late one night – my danger time is around 10pm. I know I should brush my teeth before then and not be tempted by things but it’s always around then that I get very peckish. After quite some years I’ve figured out that I like something to crunch on a bit late at night just before bed (I’ve always feared going to bed hungry, I don’t think I ever have, much the opposite given my late night snacking activities). That night it was cold and I was nursing a hot chocolate and all I wanted was a cookie to dunk in it.
See you can be truly lazy and stir it with the same knife that you used to get the peanut butter out of the jar!
I’ve always been the obsessive type. My shoe collection is a case in point – who really needs over 100 pairs of shoes when you really don’t out that much? My obsessiveness extended to these cookies. I used up more than half a jar of peanut butter trying to get these just right. I first started with trying to make a white chocolate, oatmeal and cranberry cookie (inspired by the Donna Hay cookie mix) but found that oatmeal was a hard ingredient to microwave dry in order to get the correct texture. Four attempts were made and then suitably humiliated, I regrouped and came back with a sugar cookie.
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The parade of dogs and their owners is the first give away. Then comes the parade of Clydesdale horses, vintage cars with white wall tyres and their owners with the wives waving gloves hands like the Queen. These were followed by a tractor who was then followed by a vintage tractor. The Narooma Oyster Festival had come to town! It was all so utterly country and Queen Viv and I just loved it.
There is a long queue that has formed out front. Entry to the Narooma Oyster festival is $5 and the show starts at 9am where the largest street parade on the South Coast winds it way around the riverside area and onto the streets. Queen Viv and do scout out the various stalls on offer. It’s surprisingly large with three rows of stalls covering crafts and food including a 12 metre oyster marquee plus a range of stalls.
Knitted bears (I purchased the one on the right lying down)
The craft stalls are manned and made by grandmothers and there are some absolutely gorgeous items at completely bargain prices. I nabbed myself a brand new knitted bear for $3 (stick a little scarf on him and a label and I can totally picture in a Woollahra shop window for $30!).
The trend here seems to be Dammit Dolls which are dolls that you can whack in times of frustration – kind of a more actionable figure than a voodoo doll I suppose!
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