There are noble pursuits, the climbing of Mount Everest, the pursuit of an Olympic medal but Your Honour, allow me to share my pursuit. No, not just the pursuit of Happiness, although this would be considered an adjunct of this, but the pursuit of the best Peking Duck in Sydney. It goes alongside my pursuit of the best Xiao Long Bao dumplings (IMHO at Shanghai Night provided the skins are intact followed by Din Tai Fung whose skins are always intact). Just because one is looking after their tastebuds (and I’ve come to realise my pursuit of food is not about feeding my stomach, but more keeping my tastebuds entertained), doesn’t mean that it isn’t as worthwhile a pursuit. And it seems I have a group of people who were happy to join me!
@Gourmetrabbit and I were talking about Peking Duck, as people that are obsessed with food tend to do. If you know me you’ll know that even talking about food makes me incredibly hungry and she suggests that we get some Peking Duck. She starts searching on her phone for some good locations that we both haven’t tried yet and before you know it, we have a little group, all hungry for Peking Duck in two cars on the way to Eastwood where we’ve heard the Peking Duck is rather good. Also along for the ride with @gourmetrabbit and I are Perama chef @davidtsirekas, @pandas4 and her husband.
The queue
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January 10, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
The Mall area
Last month, a bunch of food bloggers and I went on a Meet My Suburb Walking Tour of Kensington and Kingsford where I showed them around the secret local’s favourites in the area. It was so much fun so some other blogger friends and I decided to do the same in Cabramatta. Betty from Betty’s Bites grew up in the area and when she emailed us asking if we’d like to join her on a little eating tour of Cabramatta, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. I’m almost embarrassed to say that as a born and bread Sydney-Sider I’d never been to Cabramatta before. What I didn’t realise that apart from the fact that Cabramatta has great food, the people are what I enjoyed just as much. Cabramatta residents have fun and a lot of laughs and the kids…well they’re priceless and they love a camera. And I should warn you now that this is a long post so please settle in with a cup of coffee or tea (sweetened with sweetened condensed milk to put you in an authentic mood).
Colourful desserts
Trissa and I are driving together for the first time Cabramatta from Balmain and the GPS is guiding us. We get into the wrong lane accidentally misreading the GPS. Trissa winds down the window “Please sir, I need to get into that lane” she pleads with the taxi driver who looks at her like she just told him he has a chicken on his head and it’s about to lay an egg. “WHAT?!” he says and before he can figure out what she means she manoeuvres into the space. We arrive at Cabramatta via the scenic route and spot Betty walking towards the train station, our designated meeting point. “Find a park where-ever you can on this street or the next” she says. Parking is notoriously hard in Cabramatta as crowds of people gather there on the weekends to buy and eat and the 50c car park (yep 50c to park your car, compare that to a city car park at $24 for 2 hours) is an option if we get desperate.
Fruit sold at a store
We’re meeting Ja, Betty and journalist Carla and her photographer boyfriend James at the station. Trish is to join us later. It’s a gorgeous day, we couldn’t have asked for better for a food walking tour and Betty has been charged with showing us the best of Cabramatta.
Stop #1 Kim Thanh Company Hot Bread
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October 21, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I’ve often spoken to my little black book you know the one where I keep my list of “must eat at” restaurants in. One entry that has outlasted this book and the two before was The Dutch Shop in Smithfield. You see we don’t really live close to Smithfield and they have certain opening hours which make it hard to go out there unless you can drive (not I currently, due to a lack of parking prowess). Luckily I have a friend that can drive and wants to go there – the lovely Ellie from Almost Bourdain. “You really do have a black book!” she says seeing my Moleskine with “The Dutch Shop” entry written down many moons ago.
Ellie’s well versed in Dutch food as her husband is Dutch and when I was invited to a lunch at her house a couple of weeks ago she fed us a smorgasbord of delicious Dutch and Malaysian dishes. When I asked her where she had purchased them from, she mentioned the Dutch Shop and my eyes lit up. “Oh I’ve been meaning to got there for the longest time!” and instantly a date was made to go. She needed to stock up on Frikkadelle sausages and I needed help negotiating my way through the Dutch only labels as my Dutch is limited to words like “Clog”.
I know we’re in for a treat when we pull up outside. It’s in the middle of an Industrial type area so you’d never know it existed and the outside is so quaint and kitsch I suppress a squeal. The front of the shop is the grocery store where there are all manner of Dutch goodies which Ellie shows me. There’s Stroopwaffels, those firm round waffles that are filled with molasses type of filling sandwiched together. She explains the best way to eat these is by placing them on top of a cup of tea or coffee and allowing the steam to heat them them up.
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September 11, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
First of all I need to start this story off with an apology to the people at Galley Foods. Mainly because up until my husband booked this last time I was sure I had been blacklisted from there. Long time readers probably know that I am on my Learner’s License. Our first attempt was aborted when my husband saw the windy, narrow road that I had to drive and said that it would scare the boots off me. He knows my driving limits and I deferred to him. The second and third times were with friends who got sick and then my husband got sick and I had to cancel each and every booking. So on my fourth attempt, I asked my husband to call them and book using his phone number. I’m sure if they heard the name “Lorraine” and my phone number they’d hang up on me after a long, derisive laugh.
So one sunny Saturday afternoon Rose, Ronald, Nr NQN and I piled into the car and took the 1.5 hour drive out to the Kuringai Chase National Park. After the Pacific Highway, the route turns into Bobbin Head Road which is a picturesque drive and we get to the National Parks entrance and pay $11 entry fee (per car). After that Mr NQN and I swapped roles and he drove the rest of the way. For normal people, the road would probably be fine but for a nervous driver like me, the narrowness of the roads and lack of lane demarcation was too much.
Once inside the Kuringai National Park, the drive is pretty with lots of trees and a small rainforest area and within a few minutes we make it to the Empire Marina. There are signs for Boat Hire and a sign that says “No Fishing” and looking down from the wharf we see lots of fish snacking on bread pieces. We take a seat and have a look at the menu which is reasonably priced and features a lot of cafe style and Modern Australian dishes. It’s a little chillier here as it’s by the water and many fellow diners take advantage of the red, blue and black blankets that they provide for warmth but when the sun is out, it’s gorgeous and hits the water just so. Service is very friendly and casual and everything conspires to make you feel like you’re on holiday.
The Menu
Cappucino $3.50
The Toby’s Estate cappucino is fantastically creamy and smooth and almost hot chocolatey. Rose and Ronald order one after tasting ours.
Salt and pepper Squid $18.50
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August 11, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
A couple readers of mine (Carolyn and angevb) recommended Sakae to me and as I always do, I write all restaurant recommendations in my black moleskine notebook. This evening, Mr NQN, The Assman and I are in search for good food after an afternoon geo caching (geo caching for them, reading cookbooks in the car for me – yes I am not an outdoorsey person). As a student, the Assman’s criteria was that it needed to be less than $20 per person and it had to have some vegetarian options. Realising quickly that we might have to travel a bit for our meal given these conditions, we decide that Sakae it is!
Complimentary noodles
A small rectangular shaped room it’s busy with diners. We’re given our complimentary appetiser, a little bowl of noodles. These are not too bad although a little sweet and a bit bland. But it’s free and we’re hungry so we aren’t complaining.
Ramune (Lemonade) $3
My husband tries the Ramune – that is Japanese for Lemonade if you sound it out and he and the Assman are both intrigued by Katakana and how the Japanese pronounce western words for which they don’t have a sound (eg the “Le” in Lemonade is “Ra” here). They’re also a bit intrigued by the bottle where you take the top off and push down the glass ball to break the seal and are rewarded with sweet, bubbly lemonade.
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May 2, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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