Despite how it sounds being Tweeted is not a bad thing. Particularly when you’re tweeted things such as “2 Prime rib into the oven for 4 hours. Tonight’s take it slow dinner.” and “bone marrow roasted, mixed with chopped parsley and into sauce” from Chefmumu (aka Craig MacIndoe) who is busy preparing the night’s dinner and whetting our appetites with what he has in store for us. He is also the brains behind a great offer for you readers (read on!).
Polin & Polin Hunter wines
The Lamb Oven
Duck Fat potatoes: worth the applause
When I arrive along with a gaggle of other hungry, excited bloggers, we get another quick impromptu peek into the kitchen, past the furiously hot ovens to reveal the delicious Duck Fat potatoes, the other oven which has slow roasted the Lamb for 13 hours and the display of wines from Polin & Polin wine.
Kumatoes which then become…
Kumato relish
18 month Jamon
After our little tour, we’re ushered into the Tapas Bar where we’re fed delicious, delicately laid sheets of 18 month Jamon Serrano while watching a short documentary featuring a visit to Graham Strong’s Arcadia Saltbush Lamb farm which he runs with his parents and how the drought tolerant plant Saltbush makes such an impact on farming.
Slow Roasted Arcadia Lamb done 2 ways: View 1
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July 12, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I seem to be a spree. A reader recommendation spree in fact. I treasure each and every reader I have and when they take the time out to recommend a place to eat to me I take it seriously. When I was recommended the Himalayan Char Grill from reader Audrey after posting about a particularly good Lamb Shank at Fort Denison, I put it in the moleskine. My trusty, reliable little black book not full of phone numbers of the opposite sex but phone numbers and addresses of restaurants I want to visit.
It’s housed inside a small, brightly lit shopping centre and on this Sunday night we take our seat and peruse the menu with M and the boys. We know the Lamb Shanks are a no brainer – on the menu there are two lots of Lamb Shanks: a single shank with potatoes (Aloo Shank) for $15.90 and a double serve of Lamb Shanks without potatoes for $23.90. Goat curry is also a must have as others haven’t tried it. We also try the Wagyu beef and some chicken wings and order some roti along with rice to help soak up all of that meaty goodness.
Mango Lassi $4
Starting off with mango lassis, they’re thick but not particularly mangoey. They pour these from premade lassi bottles in the fridge into a glass packed with ice.
Entree: Chargrilled Wagyu beef and cumin potatoes (serves 2) $19.90
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June 17, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
The dumplingers
My husband never really gets excited about food. So much so that the idea of dining at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant didn’t thrill him much. He just saw it as a place at which he had to grudgingly wear a suit. However when I read Ffichiban’s review signalling the Northside arrival of Shanghai style dumplings, I knew that this would excite him. We’ve always had to trek all the way to Ashfield to get these little plump morsels of soup and meat but now we’re pleased to discover a closer location in Chatswood. A sister restaurant to New Shanghai in Ashfield, the Chatswood location has been open for 2 months already.
At 2pm there is already a queue and a stand with a sheet of paper you write down your name and tear off a tag with your number and wait. We end up waiting for about 10 minutes while watching the 4 dumpling ladies in matching aprons make each dumpling pleating and pleating until the requisite number of pleats appears on top.
It’s a large rectangular space full of people and the tables are rickety and flimsy despite how new it is. The menu has lots of pictures to make it easy to choose but of course we know what we want. We choose a range of dishes including some Cold dishes, soup and of course dumplings and the level of English here with the waitstaff is very good particularly when compared with Ashfield.
Iced green bean drink $4.20
Our drink arrives quickly and I may have spoken too soon. I asked for red bean and I’m given green bean which I don’t really mind. It’s mostly ice and the thick straw helps a little in sucking up the drink although a long handled teaspoon is needed for the pieces at the bottom.
Pork Ribs $4.80
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June 11, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
Sydney’s mantra is undoubtedly “Location, location, location!” such is our twin obsessions with property and waterviews. I was put onto the Thelma & Louise cafe by loyal reader Caz and when I saw the location was alongside a wharf, it was a no brainer. I checked the weather for the upcoming long weekend Saturday and we were rearing to go.
So it seems was much of Sydney for we were greeted with a line snaking out onto the street when we approached the cafe. Cars stopped and stylish young things craned their necks out to see what sort of queue had formed and drove off when the challenge and wait looked too daunting. Couples came and went after asking about the wait whilst some got takeaway coffees and food. One crowd of four women are apologetic when they tell us they have a booking and go to the head of the queue. We stood our ground (well I did, Mr NQN went to sit down on the bench and take photos). You see I was starving and was determined to nab one of the prized tables out on the balcony perched right above the lapping waves. I didn’t know how I was going to get it – after all the line in front and behind me suggested that I would be lucky to get any table I could.
I watched and I waited. The seated patrons would occasionally glance our way and then look away and drink their wine. I picked up a copy of the paper as I felt too stalkerish staring them down having already checked out the cafe’s interior. It’s full of trinkets and retro items as well as a clock stuck permanently on 6.43. There’s a billy cart filled with flowers suspended from the ceiling and black and white photographs of Jean Harlow and Bette Davis. To the right is a small square shaped kitchen where two women (Thelma and Louise?) tend to the palates of the folks of Neutral Bay. After waiting 30 minutes, a couple on the balcony leave and the waitress ushers us through with a smile. We have finally landed a table on the balcony and breathe a sigh of relief.
View from the table
Breakfast is served until 12 noon but as it’s 2.30pm we’re choosing from the Winter Lunch Menu. Items sound warming and we choose the Seafood Linguine and the Spicy lamb mince with Zaatar Turkish bread as we’re both seeking pure comfort food on this slightly chilly Winter’s day. A coffee is ordered for Mr NQN but a Babycino is ordered for me. I know I’m not a child but Your Honour this one comes with marshmallows and after all fits the theme of comfort food.
Cappuccino in a mug $4.80 on left and Babycino $1.50 on right
Service is said to be pushy, rude and or scatty according to eatability but there’s none of that today. In fact all 3 waitresses that we encounter are absolutely pleasant and full of “Yes madames” and smiles. Perhaps that has been an improvement. We receive our drinks, and the coffee is good but the babycino is mostly foam and is lukewarm which may be in fact the norm for babycinos to avoid burning the mouths of babes. I’m not a connoisseur.
Seafood Linguine $26
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June 9, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
My friend M raved to me about this place. She works in North Sydney and finds herself here, almost every day for lunch with her 2 boys on school holidays and they devour meal after meal. The Mad Greek in question is no doubt the person that merchandised the store, I suspect a graphic designer’s nightmare with multiple fonts and colours all over the window and large tins of SPC tinned tomatoes given pride of place in the front window.
From the outside, it’s posters of everything proclaiming “World Famous” this and that although you’d have to presume that’s a little on the hopeful side. The Mad Greek is also the man that would have scared you as a child, as he does with In, with mock stern and gruff expressions that adults can (for the most part) read but leaves kids wary. All dishes are $10 or under which includes pizzas, pasta and breakfast dishes, most with a Greek or Italian theme. We order with him and we’re not kept waiting long at all for within 5 minutes, our food arrives.
Cappucino $3
The coffee is by Primo. It’s a little bitter.
“World Famous Bacon and Egg Brioche” $4
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June 7, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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