“Run, run, get into the car before they attack us!” we yell at each other. We’re running away fron two very angry guests at Ripples, Chowder Bay and we’ve unwittingly just taken their taxi and they don’t look happy. Just minutes before they were swearing and creating a scene at Ripples and demanding that their food be comped so we are eager to avoid being caught in their ire. Allow me to rewind a few hours.
I was asked by Tourism Australia to dine with Valeria Di Napoli, an Italian screenwriter, book author, journalist and blogger who was visiting Sydney. They had suggested Ripples at Milsons Point but as I’d already blogged it, I suggested the Ripples in Chowder Bay which is another scenic location which also showed off the harbour.
Warm sun dried olives, chilli, orange and basil $7.50
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March 19, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
Memory is a funny thing. There was a restaurant that I visited about a decade ago called Bel Mondo. It was owned by Stefano Manfredi, one of the biggest chefs in Sydney and we had a wonderful meal there. It was hidden in a little lane way up a flight of steps out of the way in The Rocks area, a stairway that you may not know was there as there isn’t much else up there. The foot traffic that passes is often tourists wandering around our fair city. And as a result of this hidden away location, when Manfredi left and the business was sold, people didn’t know that it was still there.
Bel Mondo’s chef Andy Ball is from London, ex Claridges and The Ritz and has been cooking here for about two years. His menu is different from Manfredi’s Italian cuisine, it is more Modern Australian. Today they have opened up Bel Mondo just for Ed and I which feels all rather Hollywood! We are trying the degustation menu which for the modest price of $77 you get five courses of food which has got to be one of the best value degustations going on in Sydney at the moment (and the price is valid even on Friday and Saturday nights).
We start with the bread rolls which are filled with swirls of sun dried tomato pesto and coated in herbs. They’re delicious and warm which is just how I like the bread to be.
Amuse Bouche: Potato and leek soup with creamed leeks and saute scallop
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February 9, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
I’m confused and wandering around the Botanic Gardens. I want to ask someone directions but everyone else looks like a tourist. My phone rings and it is Christie. She too is lost too. Joggers are everywhere with earphones so I am loathe to stop them although I figure they are locals. I stop one that has no earphones and ask him directions. “Oh I’m sorry” he says with a friendly American accent “I’m a tourist”.
“Are you lost?” an English voice chimes in behind me.
“Well…yes I am” I admit.
“What are you looking for?” I tell her the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool and she is amazingly headed in the same direction. Even though I was born and bred here, I am directionally challenged and it takes a friendly visitor from overseas to lead me to the door where I find my fabulous blogging buddy Christie.
We’re about thirty minutes late for our booking and it’s pretty crowded. Downstairs, swimmers are bathing and doing laps . There are families still on holidays with their small kids and tanned gods (yes it’s said to be a popular gay haunt) strutting around in very small swimmers. Upstairs is the cafe and we take a seat on the bright orange seats. We’re hot after our little traipse across the Botanical Gardens and all I want is a cold drink and the lukewarm tap water does little to cool us off.
We take a quick look at the menu but are too busy catching up. It’s been over six months since we last saw each other and the waitress really seems to want to take our order so we have a quick look. We’re both trying to eat healthier so we choose frappes and salads. There is a breakfast menu which we presume is available now as they’re presenting us with it and a lunch menu which is broken up into small plates with items such as Manzanillo olives, artichoke dip with crostini, zucchini flowers and lamb cutlets and then there are the mains which features salads, a prawn spaghetti and battered flathead fish and chips. Prices reach up to the low $20’s for a main.
very good looking men
Lychee, Strawberry and Cloudy Apple Frappe left, Blood Orange and Mango Frappe $6 each
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January 28, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
When M, her boys and I took a walk after our little stint at Bondi FM Cafe we walked all the way up to Notts Avenue at Bondi Beach. For some this is where you go upstairs to Icebergs, the bar and restaurant or those eager for a swim can go downstairs to the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool. Someone had once told me that membership here cost a mint and so being a very incompetent swimmer, I never thought much more about it. Until that day when we go downstairs and have a stickybeak. For just a few dollars you can bathe and play in the famous Icebergs pool along with other Bondi bodies. We make a plan to go back that coming weekend now that we finally have some clement weather.
Somehow we manage upon a miracle park – one on Nott Avenue just outside the entrance and we walk in and pay for entry to the pool ($13 for a family 2 adults and up to 3 kids, $5 adults, $3 seniors and children). There’s so much to see here, from the two pools, one for laps and one for frolicking and then there’s the human scenery. Bronzed gods and goddesses with some refreshingly normal looking people all in a colourful variety of bikinis (and make no mistake, it’s all about the bikini here, no matter what end of the size scale you may sit on). There is a gymnasium, sauna and massage section which appears to be busy.
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January 18, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
I do love a good burger oh yes I do. What is it about a burger that gets people so excited? Is it the juicy bite when you sink your teeth into it? Is it nostalgia as you remember your first burger be it from a chain or a local takeaway? Is it the fact that you’re eating it with your hands or is it the ease of eating a complete meal within a bite? Or is it just the perfect juiciness to starch ratio that good burgers inherently have? When I strolled past Moo Burgers a few days ago I looked up and vowed to come back as soon as possible. This evening when The Second Wife, Gravy Beard, Mr NQN and I were seeking a place to have a quick catchup as the Second Wife was jet-lagged after an African safari, I knew this was the place.
One takes a seat and then orders and pays at the counter. We snag an outside table and watch the view. It’s a little hard to decide as there are burgers all over that are calling our names but we decide on a range of them. Of course we must have chips with the burgers and since we’re going with the whole burger and fries theme we also order some shakes. The shakes feature chocolate bars such as Moo Kat (Kit Kats), Milo Moo (Milo bar), Mad Cow (Oreo), Tammy Moo (Tim Tam) and Moo Teaser (Malteaser).
Berry Ripe Shake $6.50
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January 12, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
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