Let me start off by saying that I’m not really the person for loud, rowdy restaurants where people are bellowing across the floor at each other, no matter how good naturedly it may be. Witness my discomfort at the Italian Bowl. So when I’m told that Bertoni’s in Balmain is a home style Italian cafe I’m a little nervous at the idea of a repeat Italian Bowl episode. I’m comforted by Bertoni’s being voted Sydney’s Favourite Cafe in the SMH Good Food Guide and NSW’s Best Cafe in Delicious. I also notice that they have a branch at Mosman which I’ve failed to notice completely.

It’s Balmain Rozelle’s Food Week and some establishments are having more luck than other fulfiling their programs. Indeed, I went to Victoire on Friday to be told that everything had sold out except for the pissaladiere and when I went to the church on Sunday for their afternoon tea, there was not a single soul there so we figured they must have called it off. A tad inconvenient for those of us that have traveled for the experience *grumble grumble*.

We walked past Bertoni’s on Friday and it was packed to the rafters with a line and people on milk crates outside and a long communal table balancing a crowd with elbows touching. And on this Sunday there was a huge crowd too. But after a little boutique browsing we walk back past there and the whole communal table has cleared. Ahhh luck! We grab a seat as fast as we can and I go to the counter to order. There is a special deal on for Food Week with a special panini filled with Italian sausage, cheese, caponota and topped with spicy sausage along with a coffee for $10. I order that with Bert or is it Tony? In any case, he’s a very genial and friendly guy who just oozes genuine Italian charm. Not over the top but just sincerely lovely. I ask what else is good and he goes through the pasta selection with me which features beef tortellini with ragu, ravioli with pumpkin and cheese and baby spinach leaves, meatballs and penne. Unfortunately they’re out of the Osso Buco, one of my favourite items and an absolute steal at $10 with a side.

I ask about the sweets and he tells me that they’re bought in as they tried to make them themselves but found that they just weren’t as good as the ones that they bought in from the Italian company who had been making Italian sweets for 50 years and I like his honesty. However all of the sauces and pastas are made in the kitchen in the back by their mother and they also sell their bottled sauces like the Sugo del Giardino made for generations, as well as EVO Olio Di Campagna, Balsamic Del Modeno, pasta, crostini and coffee.

Our coffee arrives and it’s fantastic, strong but well rounded in flavour. My husband particularly likes the coffee. Our special Panini arrives next in a paper boat looking like a hot dog with everything but of course tasting much better. It’s a soft white long panini roll filled with melted cheese at the bottom and 2 Italian sausages fragrant with fennel, garlic and chili. On top of this is the most gorgeously soft caponata, devoid of that vinegary taste that some have, just the softest most delicious eggplant and capsicum and on top of that are small but copious twigs of salami. I sink my teeth in and am instantly rewarded with sunshine and bliss.

We’re waiting for about 10 minutes for our pasta and by now, the girl next to us who entered after we did has hers. I enquire with our friendly waitress (it seems everyone here is uniformly lovely) and we are issued with a replacement at a larger size with bread.

The spaghetti and meatballs arrives in a black plastic takeaway container (we were warned that there were no plates here) and features 6 beef meatballs on top of a tangle of lightly tomato coated spaghetti. I like the meatballs, they’re soft and flavoursome but the spaghetti isn’t as al dente as I’d like and I do like a lot of sauce. My husband doesn’t seem bothered, he finishes it all.

When we leave, there’s still a huge queue waiting for coffee, pasta and our table so we make haste and leave where our spots are instantly snatched up. It’s that popular you see.

Bertoni Casalinga

281 Darling St Balmain 2041
Tel: +61 (02) 9818 5845
Open 7 days
Mon-Fri 6.30am-6.30pm
Sat 6.30am-6.30pm
Sun 7.30am-6.30pm
Cash Only
http://www.bertoni.com.au/

I was reminded of Pie in the Sky by a NQN reader Maria who also has her own great food blog Foodie Wanderings. She spoke of a Pie in the Sky near her in Melbourne which made me recall the one in Sydney, well the outskirts of Sydney, in Cowan. With a gorgeous view, we had driven past it on our way back from the Hunter Valley and various other excursions, always meaning to go in but never quite making it there.

This weekend, we thought we’d take a drive to Cowan for a change of scenery and a sample of some pie and view. It’s a day where the sun interchanges with rain and we hope that when we get there that we’ll have some sun.

We’re in luck today and whilst it’s not gloriously sunny, it’s still pleasant enough outside to sit outdoors and enjoy the view. There is a front kiosk as well as an inside area where you can order more substantial meals (pies with chips, Devonshire teas). There are 18 savoury pie flavours on offer today ranging from Steak & Kidney, Beef, bacon & Cheese, Curried Beef, Chicken & Asparagus, Chicken & Corn, Chicken Satay, Lamb & Pea and Lamb, Chili and Garlic as well as sausage rolls. They appear to be out of vegetable pies although their flyer does include them. The pies are all $4.50 and the sausage rolls $2.30. I choose a Lamb, Honey & Rosemary pie as well as a Beef Burgundy pie.

Behind the counter are fruit pies (all $2.20) in Apple, Apricot, Blueberry and Peach flavours as well as a new flavour, Apple & Rhubarb. I choose a Peach pie and a Blueberry pie.

Lamb, Honey & Rosemary pie $4.50

We bring our precious haul to an outdoor table, and after some careful photo taking in which one of the young staff inquires “Wow, you like the pies that much?” to our photo taking and when we explain he seems pleased and says “Cool thanks!”. I try the Lamb, Honey and Rosemary first. Inside are chunks of tender lamb and a sweetish sauce courtesy of the honey which is not overdone, just right. The Rosemary flavour isn’t particularly strong but the filling is delicious and the pie welcomingly warm.

Beef Burgundy pie $4.50

The Beef Burgundy pie is next and it’s rich and hearty with a deep dark brown and burgundy sauce. The beef is in thick soft chunks and the burgundy wine gives it an extra richness. The base of the pastry for this is very soft, indeed the filling has gone all the way through to the bottom. It’s a change from the harder bases that one can get in pies.

I discover that my husband and I like the exact same part of the pie best-the part of the puff pastry lid where the filling meets the pastry, you know the layer of pastry that is still white and thin but plastered with sauce and deliciously pliable whilst the layers above it are golden. We need a name for this delicious part and we wonder if there is one for this layer.

It’s time for the fruit pies, the small rounds of sugar topped sweetness. The pastry here is thicker sweet shortcrust and it reminds me of pies I had when I was young. There isn’t a great deal of filling in these but the blueberry is particularly good, it’s not too sweet but there is no tartness to the berries at all. Ideal if you don’t like your fruit pies too sweet. The peach pie is a bit of a disappointment for me, it seems like it is made out of tinned peaches which doesn’t bother my husband but I would prefer fresh peaches.

We brush off our pie crumbs and look around-we’ve been too busy eating and attending to our pies to notice our surrounding-yes when I’m around food I tend to get tunnel vision. The view is lovely and the place has filled up with all sorts of motorcycle riders as well as the Rural Bush Fire Service workers enjoying a coffee, pie and the intermittent warmth from the sunshine.

Pie In the Sky

1296 Pacific Hwy, Cowan NSW 2081
Tel: +61 (02) 9985 7018
Fax: + 61 (02) 9985 7018
Open 7 days
Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday to Sunday 8am-5pm
Visa and Mastercard accepted

Sophia Loren once attributed her ever youthful looks to a bowl of pasta a day. As she is a celebrity, it probably also involves a Petrossian caviar masque and a diamond dust exfoliant but I suppose that’s giving away the real secret. If you are in the mood for some anti ageing Sophia Loren style, The Italian Bowl seems a suitable place to start. After a movie one Saturday night at the Dendy Newtown, we walk the three doors down to The Italian Bowl and it’s long line snaking onto the footpath. Luckily most people are getting takeaway and we nab a seat opposite the counter where we are to order and where they cook the pasta in front of you.

Order and paying at the counter, I choose the Beef Tortellini with chicken peppercorns and the Spaghetti Bolognaise, a dish that when done well is a lovely comfort food but is often done badly. I must be blind or the font is hard to read but I miss the best deal, the combo with any choice or pasta and any veal or chicken dish ($18, seafood pasta $2 extra). I also order a Chinotto drink ($3), the Italian version of Coke, made from the bitter citrus Chinotto tree.

We’re in a prime location to watch the pasta being cooked. It’s all cooked furiously fast and fresh to order. The waiters are vocal, it seems that there’s nothing that can be said unless it’s shouted across the restaurant and takeaway customers have their numbers bellowed out and one unfortunate takeaway customer gets an impatient chastising as the waiter calls her number out a few times to collect her order. In the kitchen area itself, there’s much clanging, yelling and high licking flames and within 5 minutes, we’re presented with our pasta dishes.

Beef Tortellini with chicken peppercorn sauce $12

The beef tortellini with chicken peppercorn sauce has a good amount of tender chicken breast scattered throughout it. Even as a garlic lover, I find the sauce a tad too heavy on the garlic and whilst it’s creamy there aren’t enough peppercorns in it to balance out the other flavours. When you do come across a green peppercorn and it explodes in your mouth, suddenly you think “Ahhh this is nice, if only there were more peppercorns.” Perhaps in the frenzy of cooking to order so many dishes, balance is haphazardly applied.

Spaghetti Bolognaise $10

The Spaghetti Bolognaise is next, we can see straight away that it is very watery and with a small amount of mince and only mince. I prefer a thicker tomato sauce and some bacon or carrot in the bolognaise sauce and I find this disappointing. Trying to thicken or flavour it up with parmesan improves it a little but not enough. The pasta itself is a little overcooked too which is something I cannot stand. It has to be al dente or nothing. I leave most of this behind and my husband reluctantly finishes this.

We spied a tiramisu at another table, a large sundae glass filled with creamy mascarpone and sponge ($8). Unfortunately there isn’t enough stomach space to fit this in. We might be back for the Combo deal at a later stage but will steer clear of the Spaghetti Bolognaise.

The Italian Bowl

255 King Street Newtown
Tel: +61 (02) 9516 0857
Open 7 days from 10:30am-10:30pm
Except weekends 10:30am- 11:30pm

I don’t often land in Bankstown, in fact this was my first visit, so when a friend had a 40th birthday party nearby I wanted to make sure that I managed to sneak a food blog post in. That’s me, obsessed with my blog. I’m the one who measures a place by its blog worthy status and cannot go anywhere twice much to my husband’s annoyance. We had intended to visit The Taste of Egypt on Greenfield Parade as we had never tried Egyptian food before but as we arrived at 10.30pm on a Saturday night, all of the Egyptian goodies were gone. We exited and found ourselves faced with the bright lights of My Canh, a large Vietnamese restaurant which was thankfully still open and serving.

Before we knew it we were seated and examining the huge and varied menu for goodies with over 220 items to choose from. Warm tea arrives in a cute little metal teapot and two small plastic tumblers. I see items such as Chicken’s Feet salad and Beef Fondue (I ask about this later and it’s not cheese but vinegar) but I wanted to try Special Beef Phở ($9) as the evening has a slight chill to it and I know my husband likes noodle soups. I peruse the menu for another less soupy offering and am a little stumped due to the myriad of options. My eyes rest on the Bun with spring rolls and BBQ Pork ($10), something through culinary kismet was featured on an episode of Food Safari just a few days ago. We order this and as for something to drink, the Avocado shake is just begging to be ordered by me and my husband sees the Durian shake and orders this ($4 each). Our waiter is friendly and efficient.

We’re not waiting long at all, within a couple of minutes, the bean sprouts and basil arrive along with plum and chili sauces for the Phở and the Vietnamese dipping sauce arrives for the Bun. In the Food Safari episode they explained that a girl’s marriage worthy status was based on her ability to make this dipping sauce and a prospective mother in law would be served this so she could inspect how well her potential daughter in law could make it. If the seeds and chili float, then it’s good. If not, well I guess you end up in dating Siberia. My Canh’s sauce of course floats.

Avocado and Durian Shake $4 each

Our Shakes arrive and the avocado is a lovely light sweet and frosty shake. It’s also incredibly rich yet still manages to be refreshing so a little goes a long way. I dislike Durian but for the sake of trying it, I sample my husband’s Durian shake. Yes, it’s that smell again. I quickly pass this back to him. I’m convinced my husband only orders Durian due to its reputation and like boys tend to do, he likes to order the most hideous sounding thing and live to tell the tale. He was seduced by the folklore and legend of the Durian being banned from the streets and my description of gagging and running away when my mother first opened one up in our home. He admits that he doesn’t like it and admits it may have been the idea of a stinky fruit that made him order it.

Our Bun and Phở arrives. I try the Bun first - it has nothing to do with an actual bread bun, its a noodle dish with the opaque thin vermicelli noodles underneath a tumble of salad, mint leaves, spring rolls and BBQ pork. I spoon the dipping sauce over the noodles and it’s perfect. I love the crunch of the vegetables and mint and the very fresh crispy spring rolls cut in thirds. The BBQ pork is delicious too and oops I may have found that I ate a bit more than my alloted half.

Special Beef Phở $9

I then try the Phở and the broth is richly flavoured yet light and sustaining. I add some bean sprouts which still remain crunchy and some lemon to give it flavour and its delicious. The fatty beef pieces I dip in the chili sauce which is very spicy especially given the presence of freshly chopped chilis. There is also tripe and meatballs as well as another thinly sliced leaner beef. For me however, adding the basil is overkill and I find it overpowers the Phở broth. My husband likes the basil in it but I pick out the leaves.

As much as I don’t want to move out of my safe, and what some may say is boring North Shore enclave, I do wish we had a late night haunt like this.

My Canh Vietnamese restaurant

29-31 Greenfield Parade Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9796-7586
Open 7 days
11am-11pm
Surcharge for Credit card/add 50c per takeaway container

Sometimes, when you’re having the laziest of a lazy 4 day weekend, all you can manage to travel is Chinatown for a loadup of Chinese dumplings. Shanghai Night in Ashfield is my husband’s favourite place to eat, probably in the whole of Sydney but we just couldn’t muster up the energy to drive there so it was to Chinese Noodle Restaurant in Chinatown, half an hour closer, that we went. Its an unusual setup, all geared to get maximum table turnover in a tiny but crowded space. There are plenty of people outside waiting for a table and you order from the menu while waiting outside and when your table is ready, so is your meal, or at least most of the dishes you have ordered. None of this wasting 10 minutes precious table space umming and ahhing over what you want. Its strictly eat and go but unlike Shanghai Night, the service is pretty friendly.

We order the Juicy pork buns (like the Shanghai night mini pork buns) $8 for 10; a half serve of 5 pan fried pork buns $4; Pork and seafood steamed dumplings, 16 for $8; Fragrant Spiced noodles $8; Braised Eggplant and Potato $9.80 and Mushroom and chinese vegetables $8.80. Prices are a dollar or two higher than Shanghai Night which is understandable given that its in the city. Like Uighur and Northern Chinese restaurants, there are grapevines stretching out across the ceilings and wall tapestries.

I have to duck off to the ladies while my husband and the Assman wait for our table outside. I have to be escorted there-they don’t give you the keys, they take you there. When I return a few minutes later, they’re already seated and we already have two dishes on the table.

Braised eggplant and potato $9.80

The braised eggplant and potato is full and flavoursome-the eggplant is crispy on the outside and soft inside and coated in a delicious spicy garlic sauce. The potato is similar to roast potato chunks in a chinese sauce.

Mushrooms and chinese vegetables $8.80

The mushrooms with chinese vegetables by comparison is more low key. Not bad by any means but following such a full flavoured dish does not do the mildly flavoured dish any good.

Juicy pork buns, 10 for $8

Our Juicy pork buns come in two steamer baskets with 5 dumplings in each-which is one serving we are told. They’re juicy and very full of liquid but they’re not particularly gingery like Shanghai night’s ones which we prefer. Still its a generous serve of 10 for our $8

Pork and seafood steamed dumplings, 16 for $8

My husband loves the pork and seafood steamed dumplings, the less glamorous, dumpy cousin to the showy mini pork buns. The dumplings are a little bigger than Shanghai night’s and the filling has a distinctly different taste although I wouldn’t have necessarily proclaimed it to be seafood. It doesn’t matter what I think of these though, my husband is fiercely loyal to these and devours every one except for the one I try. Yes luvvies, that’s 15 dumplings as well as his share in other dishes.

Pan fried pork buns, 5 for $4

I try the mini fried pork buns, 5 large upturned golden bottomed wheat flour dumplings with thick chewy skins and pork inside. They’re decent but I admit here that I prefer Shanghai Night’s version better.

Fragrant spiced noodles $8

Lastly I try the fragrant spiced noodles. These are a huge disappointment flavour wise and are not really fragrant, unless you count the scent of oil, soy sauce and chili flakes abundantly scattered on top. The thick, endlessly long noodles are rather fun to play with though and hooking them with your chopsticks and trying to get them into your small bowl is quite a challenge. When Assman tries to hook his in from a great height, we see the staff watching him to see whether he will make it in and of course he doesn’t as they break halfway and they laugh good naturedly. There is no meat in this dish, just a lot of chinese greens so he makes a quick meal of it and all that is left is a soup with 1/2cms of oil floating at the top and a lot of chili flakes.

We watch the noodles being made from the square window into the frantically ordered kitchen and watch them rhythmically loop the handmade noodles into a bundle before plunging them into the boiling water. Dinner and a show indeed!

Chinese Noodle Restaurant

Shop TG7, 8 Quay Street Haymarket NSW 2000
(Entrance from Thomas Street, next to Burlington Centre)