My favourite Greek chef David Tsirekas tends to the Halloumi
Food is sizzling on the BBQ, a whole lamb is roasting on the spit and suddenly there’s a frisson, people are whispering and eyes are widened as the gossip passes through the crowd “He’s here!! He’s here!” they say. “Who is here” I ask Reem. “George Colambaris” she says smiling knowingly. “Oh” I say knowing of George’s dislike for bloggers and quotes such as “The biggest comment we get now is from girls who go to the toilet and love the moisturiser. You could put a dog turd on the plate and they’d still talk about the hand cream.” Meh, I say staying put. My favourite Greek chef is right at the BBQ, Perama’s David Tsirekas and Adriano Zumbo has just walked in. No need to get excited about a man who thinks he can serve me a dog turd and I’d be happy.
Adriano Zumbo
Click here to read the full story
|
November 3, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I don’t really consider myself a gossip (ok celebrity gossip not included) but I suppose I tend to indulge in food gossip and if someone tells me about a great place and then tells me that I can’t blog about it, I doubt that I could resist blogging about it. Reader Phoebe told me about Dumpling King in Newtown and asked me not to blog about it, but that is like asking Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt to not seek publicity.
So one night, when our first choice was fully booked, Miss America (and yes Miss America is a he, he was a little hurt by the comments about his arms), Queen Viv, Mr NQN and I headed for a dumpling meal at Dumpling King on King Street, Newtown. As they are fellow Dumpling fiends, I knew I was in good company. We were all raring to go except when we got there, we saw that despite the name, there were only a few dumplings available: vegetarian, prawn or pork. These could be either pan fried or steamed which made for about 8 variations but all in all, not the dumpling fest we had envisaged given the name. No Xiao Long Baos or those puffy doughy pan fried dumplings. We settle on a few dumplings and some other dishes.
Shallot pancake $6
The Shallot Pancake comes first. It’s a deep fried and crispy buttery dough reminiscent of a buttery thicker roti.
Pan fried Northern Style Dumplings $8.80 for 12
Click here to read the full story
|
September 19, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
You may think that I am trolling around Sydney going to each and every patisserie and you’d probably be right. My latest stop was Black Star Pastry, tucked away in Australia Street Newtown, right next to Oscillate Wildy and opposite Newtown Police Station. Who knew that in this little street, there would be so much foodie goodness? And what is Black Star Pastry? It’s Christopher Thé’s newish patissserie, he of Claudes and Quay fame.
Mel and I are an ambitious pair-we’ve just ingested an enormous lunch and yet we’re still looking for sweets not 20 minutes later. Our eyes, and ambitions are definitely bigger than our stomachs. We walk past the crowd sitting outside on stools nursing their coffees (beans from The Little Marionette) and cakes resting on the Philippe Starck Gnome tables. There’s a young boy who wanders in with his mouth covered with chocolate-a satisfied customer in need of more sustenance no doubt. It’s a small space with seating in the bay window as well as small stools and tables outside. We quickly nab a window seat while I decide on what we’re having.
Quirky Philippe Starck Gnome Tables
Plum, Fig & Orange cake
Strawberry, Rose and Watermelon cake
Click here to read the full story
|
August 13, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
Queen Viv models the pan fried dumplings
As a food blogger, I find it difficult to go to the same place twice. However my husband is a creature of habit and loves going somewhere reliable and ordering the same thing every single time. He good naturedly puts up with the constantly revolving door of restaurant adventures whilst still pining for his favourite restaurant Shanghai Night. He loves the dumplings there and we often joke that somewhere under that Finnish/Anglo exterior beats the heart of a Northern Chinese man. I promised him that as a treat for getting out of hospital, we could go to Shanghai Night and my ever loyal friends and fellow dumpling lovers Queen Viv and Miss America immediately piped up to come along for the ride – after all Winter is dumpling season. The song I am hearing in my head is my own version of Deck The Halls: “Tis the season to eat dumplings! Fa la la la la la la la la!”.
The queue is long, as witnessed by the crowd gathered outside. We have a booking for 7pm but here a booking is not quite a booking. It just means that they apologise several times while you wait. While we wait (we’re seated at 7.25pm), we see a framed award at the front that says that Shanghai Night was a Nominee for “Best Shopfront Presentation” from the Ashfield Mayor. I love the food, but I can’t say that the window is anything spectacular. Queen Viv loves the ceramic fish on the counter which she tries to lift up to take a closer look at only to find that it is glued down.
The crowd gathers
Prices have gone up since our last visit by about 70c-$1 per dish. As we’re here to partake of a Dumplingalooza fest, we order dumplings a plenty. The wall specials tell us that there are two types of new dumplings (a fish and a lamb & onion dumpling) and with the 18 portion size being only $2 more than the 12 portion size, we figure we’ll go the whole way. And when I look up from studying the new menu, who do I see sitting next to me at an adjoining table but one of my favourite food bloggers – the lovely Yas from Hungry Digital Elf!
Tofu and chicken mince on rice $7.50
There’s no sense of order with entrees or mains here. When it comes out is when it comes out. Our tofu with chicken mince on rice arrives first. It’s a purely comforting dish with the soft tofu and small chicken pieces coated in a delicious sauce. Sometimes we find that there is more flavour than other times. Tonight it’s good although the carrots are way too crunchy. It’s a huge plate too and more than one person could eat.
Pork and mushroom steamed dumplings $7.50 for 16
My husband’s favourite dish arrives next: the huge serving of 16 thick skinned pork and mushroom filled dumplings. Not as delicate as the Xiao Long Bao they’re nevertheless sustaining and filling and when paired with chili sauce and vinegar they’re delicious.
Miss America presents! Xiao Long Bao $6.50 for 8. Can you spot what’s wrong with this picture?
Click here to read the full story
|
July 24, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
Fresh lemon juice with soda water and sugar $3.50
I’ve always thought that you can always tell how much fun you’re having at dinner by the number of times a waiter has to come back for your order. Going out with The Second Wife and Gravy Beard is a good example of this. There are always funny stories to catch up on and our poor waiter comes back several times to get our order but we are busy catching up on things to decide what to order. It doesn’t help that everything sounds delicious on the menu.
We’ve been coming to Bay Tinh for years – my parents love it so there’s always a trip with them and now that it has been bought by Harry Hoang and renovated, it has been spruced up. Gone are the High School essay plastic folders for menus which were not without their charm – there’s now a proper menu.
Young Coconut Juice $3.50
We start off with drinks, young coconut drinks for some and a fresh lemon juice with soda water and sugar for me. The Young Coconut drink is refreshing and sweet (although a long spoon would have helped in the quest to eat the deliciously slippery young coconut). The lemon drink is very tart with more emphasis on lemon than lemonade.
Crab Pate 6 for $7
Click here to read the full story
|
June 28, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
