Anyone that knows me knows that I am a Kirrbilli markets fan and every month I make my way there to buy whatever takes my fancy. And since November last year, every month I’ve walked past Catalonia, stopped by the menu and wistfully gazed inside. Call it an infrequent OCD ritual. This month, I’ve booked it for a birthday dinner, my second of three.

With a successful pedigree (the two owners are ex Salt Yard in London and Victoria Rooms in Darlinghurst) they serve not your run of the mill Spanish Tapas but a more modern, exotic and sumptuous version with ingredients like Wagyu, Zucchini Flowers and Truffle shavings. It seems that servings are a little bigger than the Tapas I’ve had in Liverpool Street although of course as they’re Tapas they’re not large by any definition.

We’re seated on a Saturday night upstairs in a rather cozy, very dimly lit, warm sunset shaded room with a lovely Pomegranate coloured wallpaper on one wall. Tables are a little small but given that the plates of tapas aren’t that big, it’s not so much of an issue. I wish some restaurants would give bigger tables, indeed a friend of mine always books for 1-2 more people than are coming as she hates being squished. And as the light was so low, I must apologise for the pictures, we did our best but didn’t want to use the flash too much so as to disturb other patrons.

There are 5 vegetarian Tapas meals and a good selection of meats including delectable sounding seafood. Indeed one of the vegetarian meals sounds so lovely that it makes it way onto the meat eaters order: the Zucchini Flowers with blue cheese mousse and honey.

Zucchini Flowers with blue cheese mousse and honey $14.50

Being tapas, the food arrives pretty quickly and in a timely fashion, with waves of 3 dishes so that it doesn’t overcrowd the table. The Zucchini flowers, 4 per plate with batons of deep fried zucchini underneath are as good as they sound. Actually, scratch that, they’re even better. Crunchy with tempura batter on the outside they are fried to perfection with an oozing mousse of blue cheese inside. If any dish could convince someone to turn vegetarian, it’s this.

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I’ll start off with an embarrassing incident. We were walking to the Hong Kong Cake Shop on busy Victoria Avenue Chatswood as I wanted to buy some bread and cakes (what’s new you might say). I saw a sign saying “Come in and try our fish balls”. Not being one to refuse a food invitation I walked in and helped myself to a toothpicked morsel from a plate of several on the counter. There was a loud gasp from the staff. Apparently I had helped myself to a paying customer’s plate that just happened to be sitting on the counter. I apologised profusely. I obviously had no idea and the owner apologised to me for scaring me. In my defence, your Honour, sample plates are usually on the counter with toothpicks and this customer’s order of 20 or so fish balls had a toothpick in every fish ball and of course they were small sample sized I naturally assumed….

I’m babbling of course. I recovered from my embarrassment and bought some goodies. Armed with a tray and tongs, the first thing to catch me eye was a Corrugated loaf ($2)-it was a good 15cms long and indeed corrugated in shape and flexible. It smells sweet and buttery and is interspersed with sultanas. My husband likes this bread sliced, with jam for breakfast.

The next thing I purchased was a lotus seed cake with preserved vegetable $1.80. I adore Lotus seed, it’s my version of chocolate flavour. If I see something lotus seed flavoured, I’ll order it above all other flavours. The pastry is fairly layered and the lotus seed paste thick. What I hadn’t counted on was the preserved vegetable. It had a strong aroma and a firm texture and if I could pinpoint an aroma it would be spicy ginger.

Another flavour that I particularly like is Chestnut (don’t leave me alone with a can of chestnut puree) and at $1.40 for the cake, it’s a steal. It’s a plain but soft vanilla sponge with a thin smearing of that Chinese mock cream that Chinese bakeries often have and then a squiggle of chestnut puree on top of mock cream at the top.

The last item was a red bean jelly ($1.10). They dislodged it from the bowl with a skewer for me to take away. She mentioned that there was rice in it so I thought that there would be sticky rice but it appears that it’s either rice flour in the jelly or something else entirely that I can’t see or taste or something was lost in the translation. In any case, it’s not the most flavoursome of jellies and I give to my husband, a jelly loving fanatic who gobbles it down.

The prices are typical of Chinese bakeries, amazingly good. Just don’t help yourself to the toothpicked balls on the counter!

Hong Kong Cake Shop

Shop B3 Victoria Plaza 369 Victoria Ave, Chatswood
Tel: +61 (02) 9419 2204

We’ve been waiting for months to go to La Mesa in Dee Why. Philippine cuisine is one of those cuisines that you don’t often see a lot of although we’ve heard it’s absolutely delicious so when we discover that there is a restaurant within 15 minute’s drive, dishing up authentic Philippino favourites we thought that our intrepid Hooter’s pals Queen Viv and Miss America would be more than up to the visit so we venture to La Mesa one howling, rainy Saturday night.

The small room is full with customers and warm lighting and numerous paintings and artifacts adorn the walls and counters. We’re shown to our table and I’m glad we booked, to be sent outside again into the howling wind is not something I’d relish.

Calamansi juice $3

We’ve started off with drinks, Calamansi juice ($3) to be exact as I’ve only heard of the name, never tried the drink and of course the well loved young coconut juice. The citrus Calamansi juice is like a cross between pineapple and other tropical juices. It’s light and sweet and unusual.

Young Coconut juice $3.50

The young coconut juice is mildly sweet but not overpowering so, and filled with slices of young coconut, Queen Viv’s favourite which she happily scoops up.

Mixed entree $7.80

Miss America, my husband and I order the mixed entree ($7.80) to share as Queen Viv is detoxing. There is a spring roll, pork/chicken skewer, prawn cake, fried quail egg and beef tapa with a vinegary dipping sauce and a sweeter chili dipping sauce. The spring roll is fresh and crispy; the pork/chicken skewer is tender and smokily flavoured from the grill; the fried quail egg is nice if not wowing as it’s a boiled quail’s egg with a bit of batter; the beef tapa is delicious and richly flavoured. The star is the shrimp cake, made of prawns, sweet potato and pumpkin it is deliciously squeaky and tasty. Next time I’ll order 4 of these and be quite happy.

Chicken Adobo $12.90

We’re waiting about 20 minutes for our mains and when our hosts, the owners I presume, notice that we’re looking around for our food, it appears gratefully a few minutes later. The Adobo chicken ($12.90) is the first to arrive, in a fish shaped bowl which holds the pieces of simmered chicken. The flavours are delicious yet slightly unusual with sugar cane vinegar, soy, garlic and black pepper. It’s everyone’s favourite at the table and every drop of the sauce is eaten once the chicken disappears.

Crispy Pata $17.90

The Crispy Pata ($17.90) is a gigantic dish, a prehistoric looking relic of Flintstonian proportions. There are some huge pork bones and lots of soft, tender pork meat and delicious pork crackling. It’s fall apart good and despite knowing how bad for your health pork crackling is for you to eat, you just do and do and do.

Caldereta $13.90

Rice $2.50 per person unlimited

The Beef Caldereta ($13.90) arrives next, it’s a bright red sauce with smallish chunks of beef, strips of red capcisum and olives. The unusual flavour in it is from most surprisingly, liver pate combined with tomato paste and bay leaves. As we chose hot upon the waiter’s recommendation, it is indeed fairly fiery but never too much so. I have a major, unabating craving for this the next day.

Tinolang Yaman ng Karagatan $19.90

The Tinolang Yaman ng Karagatan ($19.90) is the last main to arrive and it is a huge cavernous bowl on a stand filled with an excellent variety of seafood including half a crab, prawns, mussels, calamari, salmon and white fish in a delicately fragrant broth strong with ginger, garlic and lemongrass. It’s not powerful, but it’s delicately perfumed and the soup is restorative.

We take a bit of a break as we need to rest our stomachs but as your eye tends to do, it wandered over to the dessert menu which showed an interesting range of sweets.

Halo Halo $7.50

The Halo Halo ($7.50) is a milkshake glass full of shaved ice, milk and ice cream with delicious morsels of fruit and beans at the bottom. It’s a little difficult to eat and would have been better served in a bowl where you can scoop up the deliciously sweet morsels of unknown fruit and jellies. It’s like a more delicious version of Ice Kacang and I abandon all loyalty to the Ice Kacang in favour of this new dessert. The little squares of sweetneed exotic fruit are delicious and trying to get to these at the bottom is hard but a rewarding task. Even the vanilla ice cream is delicious with more creaminess than the normal icy generic vanilla ice cream that places will give. I want this waiting for me when I die and go to wherever it is that I will go.

Special Biko $3.80

I try the Special Biko ($3.80) with young coconut and jackfruit. Unfortunately I can’t actually see any jackfruit on tonight’s version, only young coconut. It’s a warmed rice cake made of black sticky rice enriched with coconut milk. It’s good and comforting if not spectacular but then nothing can really follow the Halo Halo.

Turon $4.50

Lastly we try the Turon ($4.50), a fried banana ladyfinger with the appearance of a spring roll. We asked for ice cream with this ($1 extra) which it really needs as the ladyfinger is starchy and floury. I should think that regular bananas would be better in this if the lady fingers are as starchy as these were. It would have been lovely otherwise with the super crackly pastry and ice cream.

We exit, our stomachs full, into the howling cold night. But for once we don’t notice, as we’re too busy talking about the food we just ate.

La Mesa Phillipine Cuisine

Shop 2, 874 Pittwater Road (corner of Oaks Avenue) Dee Why Sydney
Tel +61 (02) 9972-9877
Lunch: 11:00-3:00pm
Dinner: Sun-Thurs 5:00-9:00pm; Fri-Sat 5:00-10:00pm
Surcharge for credit cards 2.5%. Corkage $2

I thought that the Crispy Pata deserved another close up food pornographic look don’t you?

Opposite the Manly Ferry wharves is a restaurant that we’ve passed many times but never noticed. It’s only when A books a table here for her birthday that we discover this restaurant, a Spanish Moorish restaurant and tapas bar.

The staff are patient, and for us they need to be as half of the party is more than half an hour late, some 45 minutes late which can send a restaurateur round the bend with precious table space being wasted. When three quarters of the people arrive at the table, the owner recommends that we order some tapas to start and then our mains before the rest of the table arrive as the wait for our mains might be long as we’ve hit the 8-8.30pm crowd. We’re rushed into choosing a little but we assume it’s all in the name of making sure that our orders are served in a timely manner. Vegetarian dishes are plentiful and clearly marked which makes ordering easier.

Bissara broadbean dip $13

We order a mix of tapas which comes out within 5-10 minutes. The first to arrive is the Bissara Dip $13.00 described as “A rich puree of baby broad beans cooked gently in olive oil, garlic and cumin served with flat bread”. I scoop some up on the bread and it’s not particularly flavoursome and appears very watery if anything. Not a promising start I must admit.

Potato Aioli $9

The second tapas dish to arrive is the Potato Alioli $9.00, described as “Crispy fried potatoes with homemade garlic and parsley mayonnaise”. The small potato chunks look delectable and holding back on eating them while taking photos is an exercise in patience. We are rewarded with crispy, delicious potato chunks with an aromatic garlic aioli which makes us for the Bissara Dip nicely. This gets much contented murmuring from the table. In the middle of eating these, curiously my main arrives. The owner apologises for this and removes it and tells me that it is for the wrong table and that a fresh one will be made for me once I finish my entree.

Moorish Meat Balls $11.00

Our third tapas dish is the Moorish Meat Balls $11.00, “Minced beef balls simmered in a spicy tomato, red wine and coriander sauce”. There are 4 1/2 small sizzling balls to this plate and they are made of very finely ground beef, if anything the texture is much like that of a felafel without being bright green. They’re something that I wanted to try as I haven’t experienced Moorish cuisine before but I don’t think I’d order these again. My husband comments that the four-and-a-bit small balls hardly represent good value. It seems the only thing I can recall about the Moors is of course a Seinfeld reference of the Bubble Boy episode where George calls them “The Moops”. See, Seinfeld is really relevant to everything.

Cheese & Spinach Balls $13.00

We next try the Cheese & Spinach Balls $13.00, described as “Homemade deep fried, crispy cheese and spinach balls with a spicy dressing”. These are very green and spinachey inside with just enough cheese to bind and give it taste. They’re much more preferable to the Moorish meatballs and I find myself really enjoying the crispy outside and spinach and cheese inner.

Couscous $6

We’re expecting to wait a while as the owner had warned us that the kitchen would need time to prepare our 8 mains but it scarcely 15 minutes later before our mains arrive. I had visions of being in a “The Chopping Block” or “Kitchen Nightmares” episode, you know where the food critic/customer waits for an hour for their main. Thankfully not tonight.

The first B’stilla served $28

My B’Stilla $28.00 gets the most attention. Indeed with the sprinkling of cinnamon and powdered sugar and strawberry on top it looks like a dessert. Everyone wonders if I’ve accidentally ordered myself a dessert and for a second I do too. It is described on the menu as “One of the truly great medieval dishes of the Moors, it is richly spiced, highly flavoured mixture of chicken, almonds and orange blossom water, sparked with cinnamon and saffron, sweetened with pounded sugar and encased in layers of thin crispy warka pastry”.

The second B’stilla served $28

Thankfully I can tell that it is a different one from the one that landed on the table before (phew) and it certainly resembles a strudel pastry with an orange syrup and flaked almonds surrounding it. Cutting into the pie and tasting it is an almost surreal experience. My taste buds and brain fights with itself, one saying “Yes!” and the other saying “No!”. One part of me thinks that I am having a sweet cinnamon strudel and then I am delivered a taste of savoury curry spiced chicken and almonds. Everyone else that tries it likes it but I have to admit, it confused my tastebuds a little too much.

Zarzuila Marinara (serves 2 $50.00)

I try Snugglepot & Cuddlepie’s Zarzuila Marinara (serves 2 $50.00) served in a paella pan. Described as “Mussels, crabs, prawns, ling, baby clams and calamari in a white wine, tomato, garlic and herb sauce” it resembles paella without the rice. It’s filled with crab, fish, mussels and prawns and the seafood is juicy, fresh and tender whilst the sauce is richly flavoured and glistening. Perfect to have with the saffron rice. They’ve ordered couscous to go with it which is nice but the saffron rice gives the bountiful seafood catch a more paella like feel to it.

Saffron rice $5

Vegetarian Couscous $24.00

Sisko and Tuulikki both have the Vegetarian Couscous $24.00 which are beautifully presented on gorgeous Moroccan themed plates which I am coveting for my kitchen. It’s described as “A mound of fluffy moist couscous topped with chickpeas, sliced eggplant, caramelised onion and sultanas. Rounded with chunks of four different vegetables” and it is indeed tasty with the eggplant, caramelised onion and sultanas sitting atop the mound of couscous flanked by the simmered chunks of potato, pumpkin, carrot and zucchini. The eggplant, caramelised onion and sultanas are the most flavoursome part of the dish whilst the thick chunks of vegetables are tender and lightly flavoured.

Vegetarian Tajine $23.00

I try A’s Vegetarian Tajine $23.00 after they lift off the Tagine lid to reveal an assortment of vegetables. It is described as “A casserole of zucchini, carrots, sweet peas, and artichokes in a fresh herb and tomato concasse”. Whilst a vegetarian would probably think this is wonderful, it’s just not as flavoursome as the B’Stilla or Zarzuila Marinara and I have meat dishes to attend to so I try a bit and move on.

Lamb M’choui $28.00

I then try Figaro’s Lamb M’choui $28.00. Described as “Flame grilled marinated lamb fillets over moist fluffy couscous tossed with fresh herbs, almonds and raisins topped with a dollop of minted yoghurt”,the lamb is delicious and perfectly cooked. Slightly crispy on the outside and lovely and tender inside and great alongside the couscous which is doused in a tomato concasse and minted yogurt.

Chicken and Preserved Lemon Tajine $27.00

Lastly I try my husband’s Chicken and Preserved Lemon Tajine $27.00, “Marinated chicken pieces smothered with confits of preserved lemon, tomato, saffron, and onions. Garnished with potatoes and olives”. I have this with the saffron rice ($5 extra) and it’s very good, the chicken on the bone falls away easily and the salty preserved lemons lend an extra element to the dish. I do a lemon pucker face when I do eat some of the preserved lemon as I find it too salty.

After dinner the music starts and a trio of Flamenco dancers start dancing. It’s a great show full of skirt swirling and foot stamping and Snugglepot being a huge fan of dance is urged to dance onstage by one of the dancers.

Alhambra Tapas bar & Moorish Cuisine

1/54 West Esplanade Manly
Tel: (02) 9976 2975
Website

Winter hours
Lunch
Wed-Sun: 12.00pm - 3.00pm
Dinner
Tue-Sun: 6.00pm - 10.30pm
Cash, Bankcard, Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Diners Club
BYO (bottled wine only) $3.00 per person 10% surcharge on public holidays

I don’t get any late night cravings for Sourdough but should you be struck with insatiable Sourdough lust later in the night, take note of this bakery: St Honore on Miller Street in  North Sydney is open until 8pm every night. I’m visiting at lunch time so that I can try some of their filled sourdough rolls as well as various pastries and of course, cakes.

It’s a small but well stocked bakery with many varieties of bread, filled baguettes (smoked salmon, chicken and vegetarian) pies, pastries and a displayful of cakes with plenty of the old favourites such as sour cherry tarts, apple tarts, french pudding and creme brulee as well as more stunning “couture looking” options such as a white and dark chocolate mousse. After much umming and aahhing, particularly over the cakes, I purchase my selection and bring them home.

Smoked Salmon baguette $5

The pastries aren’t warm so I need to heat them up before eating them so I start with the smoked salmon baguette ($5). It is spread with cream cheese, a thin slice of smoked salmon, alfalfa and dotted with capers. Although the smoked salmon at first does not look like enough, it’s quite perfectly proportioned. The crunchy sourdough goes well with the ingredients and I find myself craving this after it’s long gone.

Sourdough pizza $2.50

I try the slice of sourdough pizza ($2.50) next - unfortunately the pizza dough doesn’t seem to be particularly sourdough-ish at all, it looks and tastes just like regular pizza dough. The topping is alright but nothing particularly blissful. If I can be blunt the topping is similar to what you’d find at Coles in the bakery section. For $2.50 for a 10×10cms slice it’s not bad value though.

Quiche Lorraine $3.80

I’m hoping for better when I try my namesake Quiche - Quiche Lorraine ($3.80). It’s smallish and very eggy and the bacon/ham flavour is very strong throughout with some thinly sliced mushrooms. The ham is very finely diced throughout it and the crust is good.

Sourdough dinner roll $1.20 each

I have also bought 2 small sourdough dinner rolls ($1.20 each). They’re good and crunchy although not as “sour” as I like it. They would be great alongside a soup although I confess that I think they’re a touch on the pricey side given their size. The Luneburger 90c Champion roll is much better value and a lot bigger.

Ham & Cheese croissant $3.50

The last of the savouries that I try (and I shared these with my husband so I didn’t just eat 4 of them hehe) is the Ham and Cheese croissant $3.50). This croissant is buttery and flakey, just the way I like it and if it were freshly warmed and baked, it would be superb. With some judicious reheating it’s very good, juicy, crunchy, crispy and creamy (the creamy being the cheese spread inside).

White and dark chocolate mousse $4.80

We’re onto the cakes last. The first cake, I had tried before and enjoyed it a great deal. It’s the white and dark chocolate mousse ($4.80). It’s a chicly presented chocolate globe which is lightly dusted in cocoa then given the white chocolate stripe treatment. Inside, the mystery is unveiled. It’s a thin disc of chocolate sponge, a layer of sweet white chocolate mousse and on top of that, a layer of bittersweet dark chocolate. It’s then enrobed in a thin layer of dark chocolate with white chocolate zigzag lines. The sweet white and bitter dark chocolate work beautifully together and are as light as air or the fluffiest cloud.

Opera cake $4.20

The Opera ($4.20), one of the more difficult cakes to make due to the ultra thin layers seems like a fitting conclusion to the gastronomy-fest. Its lovely with the almond sponge alternating with ganache, coffee and cream (although the texture of the whipped cream is almond mock creamish) with a splash of alcohol.

In a weird way I feel comforted knowing that if I have any late night pastry or bread cravings, a delicious solution is close at hand.

St Honore Sourdough bakery

50 Miller Street North Sydney (opposite Greenwood Plaza)
Tel: +61 (02) 9929-4388
Open 7 days