View out of Gordon Ramsay Plane Food

I have some rather awesome friends I must say. Ones that share in my love of food and understand when I whip out a camera during a meal without sighing loudly or complaining. One of these friends is the self named “Carbon Debit”, owing the amount of time she spends in the skies traveling and working towards her pilot’s license. So when she went to Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food restaurant at London’s Heathrow Airport T5 we were all interested to see what she had to say. It’s no secret that Australia is Gordon Ramsay obsessed, which will only be spurred on by his Sydney appearance at the Good Food and Wine Show (where an ebayer sold two tickets and a copy of his book for $350!).

So without further ado, here is what my friend had to say about Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food.

In one word - lovely!!!

I wasn’t really that hungry because I had a rather large plate of salad for lunch before I left for Heathrow, at around 1pm. I got to Plane Food at around 4:15pm. But I had to have something there, or it would have defeated the object of going to Plane Food.

Their menu was displayed well before the entrance (which is down a corridor) so it was easy to decide whether I could find something I wanted to try despite not being hungry, or not, without feeling bad about looking and walking off.

I spotted a crab and miso salad with purple shiso which sounded rather light and lovely. They also offered a starter size and a main size. Ideal to have a starter sized one under the circumstance. The area is quite spacious and airy, and it is sort of on a ‘balcony’. It’s hard to describe exactly what it’s like, but you can see the floor below you, if you sit nearest to the window, as well as the tarmac area and BA hangars. Tables are not too crammed in, although not so sparse either. The lines are ‘clean’ and there is no chintz in sight. It’s a very pleasant andrelaxing but at the same time not excessively casual atmosphere.

So I walked up to the entrance and was greeted by a bright, friendly but not overpowering girl who showed me to the table. She asked me if I wanted to sit near the window, which I said yes. She helped me put my carry on out of the way as well. She told me that the special was duck in orange sauce. Under a normal circumstance I would definitely have that (perhaps as well as the crab miso salad!), but I was just not hungry enough. Dammit. I shouldn’t have had the salad for lunch.

Although I already had a look at the menu, I did have a bit more look out ofcuriosity. It all looked pretty good. A waiter promptly came up to ask me what I wanted to drink, and I asked about juices. He knew what they had (often not the case in restaurants!), and I ordered a glass of cranberry juice which arrived very promptly.

Crab miso salad with soya beans, cucumber and purple shiso was duly ordered (everything was very efficient there) and I only needed to look out of the window onto the passing BA aeroplanes for a very short time before it arrived.

Crab and Miso salad £9.50

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There are some advantages to having a mid-week birthday. Usually I feel lucky if my birthday falls on a Saturday, thus making it easier to plan my birthday. However this only happens once every 7 years. One advantage to having a mid-week birthday is spreading out your birthday dinners to cover two weekends, thus prolonging your “Mememe It’s MY birthday” moment.

I’m not one of those people who hates celebrating my birthday like my mother in law, or one that doesn’t care about my birthday like my husband, an attitude borne out of being given rocks from the back garden for his 10th birthday present from well meaning alternative parents. It’s an unashamed “ME” fest and I am trying to coax the inner kid out of my husband and make him love celebrating his birthday too by giving him a full birthday weekend of activities and surprises and loads of gifts. I think I’m getting him to like Christmas too, he was also traumatised by a Christmas gift box of toilet cleaning supplies from his mum received about 8 years ago so he was similarly unenthusiastic about Christmas. My aim is to have him as enthused about birthdays and Christmas as I am.

So with my friends Teena, Philippe, Gina and Hot Dog, we decide on Balzac. Housed in a lovely sandstone building that has previously housed a Pizza Hut for over 10 years and changed hands many times over, it’s finally settled on Balzac. The 2 hatted restaurant featured in the SBS show Heat in the Kitchen was one that we’ve always been meaning to go to but for some reason never have. The couple Matthew Kemp (ex Banc chef) and Lela Radojkovic were living in their parent’s garage while the restaurant was starting up, giving us a glimpse into the hard life of a restaurateur and we shared their relief when they got their first hat and now they have their second.

The main thing when dining with this particular group of friends is the service. Hot Dog is one of those patrons that loves to make friends with the waiter or waitress but on his terms. He loves to cajole and tease them and try and get them to give him something for free or refer to an item as “Item 24 dollars”, and this is especially true when we visit expensive restaurants . Some waiting staff have been unsure how to deal with him slinking away uncomfortably with a scared expression on their face but some just laugh along with him and tease him right back which he loves. So it’s fortunate tonight that our waitress Yasmin is extremely lovely and seems to be a deft hand at dealing with Hot Dog. She has him eating out of the palm of her hand.

There are 6 mains to choose from and between the 6 of us we manage to sample 4 of them. Hot Dog is the only one to order an entree and I have a quick peek at the dessert menu which looks promising.

Our Amuse Bouche is the first to arrive and it’s a fennel veloute with harissa foam atop served with a salmon croquette. The tiny cup of soup is lovely and creamy and foamy but the harissa, usually a spicy and hot ingredient is very mild with virtually no chili taste to it at all. The salmon croquette is freshly fried and packed with salmon and an instant hit with the table and certainly does it’s job of exciting our tastebuds.

Big man+ small cup - Philippe takes a dainty sip

The accompanying bread is soft and warm, almost like a damper with a slight panini crust to it. It’s delicious and even a confirmed low carber like me takes a roll with the perfect temperature butter.

Smoked Salmon en Papillotes with Vichyssoise Mousse and House Smoked Oyster Vinaigrette $24

Hot Dog’s entree arrives, Smoked Salmon en Papillotes with Vichyssoise Mousse and House Smoked Oyster Vinaigrette. The mousse and potatoes are lighter touches and I expected to taste a more sharp flavour via capers or the usual smoked salmon accompaniments. Nevertheless Hot Dog is a satisfied customer and any grumbles he may have about the size are quickly quietened after his first bite.

Beef Short Rib with Smoked Ox Tongue, White Onion Puree and Mustard Dressing $36

Our mains appear at the same time, starting with Philippe and Gina’s Beef Short Rib with Smoked Ox Tongue, White Onion Puree and Mustard Dressing and it looks impressive. I try some of Gina’s rib and it’s deliciously soft, and prying it from the bone is easy. I wish I had ordered this instantly and the softly textured beef is fragrant and unctuous. The Ox Tongue is very thinly sliced and despite preconceptions of it being chewy, is delicately delicious to eat.

Confit Pork Belly with Shaved Cuttlefish, Chorizo, Chickpeas and Capsicums $35

I try Hot Dog’s Confit Pork Belly with Shaved Cuttlefish, Chorizo, Chickpeas and Capsicums and whilst he isn’t that impressed, Gina and I adore the taste and find it full flavoured and beautifully textured with the slightly crisp on the edge fatty pork belly perfect against the soft capsicums and other flavours. Another dish I wish I had ordered.

Ballontine of Chicken Leg with Pancetta, Potato Fondant, Baby Leeks and Parsley Jus Gras $34

I try some of my husband’s Ballontine of Chicken Leg with Pancetta, Potato Fondant, Baby Leeks and Parsley Jus Gras. It was nice but not as wowing as the other two mains. Granted he only gave me a bit of the actual Ballontine of chicken leg so I didn’t get to try it with the accompaniments which may have been cause for the less favourable comparison.

Barramundi with Duck Confit Rillette, Lentils and Thyme Butter $38

My Barramundi with Duck Confit Rillette, Lentils and Thyme Butter is covered with a foamy thyme butter sauce which is mildly fragrant. The barramundi is beautifully cooked, being slightly undercooked in the centre but not raw so that it is beautifully moist. The piece of fish needs a little more seasoning. The Duck Confit rilette is delicious perfection, soft and stringy in that glorious Duck Confit way and the pebbly lentils provide a textural contrast to the softness of the fish and duck.

Mixed Leaf Salad with Walnut Dressing $7

I try our sides, the Mixed Leaf Salad with Walnut Dressing is full of herbs and mixed leaves but a little light on the dressing.

Roast Sebago Potatoes with Beef Dripping, Thyme and Garlic $8

The Roast Sebago Potatoes with Beef Dripping, Thyme and Garlic sound the most promising and look glisteningly so but the potatoes themselves are awfully starchy and dry inside, they’re like eating roast potatoes that have been sitting under a buffet heat lamp for hours: dry and unappetising.

We take a short break before we’re lured by the dessert menu. Teena and I choose the Chocolate Bombe Alaska with Hazelnuts and Hazelnut Liquer, Gina chooses the Pumpkin pie with pumpkin seed ice cream and Philippe chooses the Rhubarb and Apple Crumble with ginger ice cream and custard, $2 of which will go to the HeartKids NSW for the month of May.

Pre-dessert: pannacotta with sweetened stewed plums and a praline top

Before our desserts arrive, we are given our pre-dessert which Hot Dog mishears for a Free Dessert which makes him rather happy but he was hoping more for ice cream with chocolate sauce. It’s a pannacotta with sweetened stewed plums and a praline top. It’s gorgeously soft with the crunchy praline on top providing the necessary crunch and ending.

Chocolate Bombe Alaska with Hazelnuts and Hazelnut Liquer $17

It’s not long before our desserts arrive and I dig into my Chocolate Bombe Alaska, the outside is nicely singed and spiky like Lisa Simpson’s hair. The inside ice cream is rich with bittersweet chocolate ice cream and it’s surrounded by hazelnut liqeur foam and crushed, roasted hazelnuts.

Our waitress is not happy that my Bombe has arrived sans a birthday candle so she has a word to the kitchen and she brings me out a lit candle with 3 petit fours: a cranberry fudge square, a chocolate fennel fudge square and a Chai truffle. It’s a lovely little touch to make me feel special. The Chai Truffle is very interesting, certainly very heady in scent. The fennel fudge isn’t very strong in fennel and tastes mainly like a rich dark chocolate fudge whereas the cranberry fudge square is lightly flavoured with cranberry resembling a slight cranberry flavoured jersey caramel.

Pumpkin pie with pumpkin seed ice cream $15

I try Gina’s Pumpkin pie with pumpkin seed ice cream. Being Canadian she is very well versed in Pumpkin pie and makes a mean pumpkin pie, draining her pumpkin mix for days to ensure that it’s the right consistency. She finds it too spiced for her liking and indeed it is very heady with nutmeg and cinnamon. The pumpkin seed ice cream is delicious, resembling a pistachio ice cream studded with lots of nubbly nuts.

I don’t get to try Philippe’s dessert, he is a little averse to sharing having grown up in a family of boys where mealtimes are a fend for yourself event but I am assured that it was indeed delicious. I adore the little copper pot serving style and mini jug of custard.

As we’re leaving our waitress wishes us a nice night and a Happy Birthday to me again. Hot Dog proclaims the service to be the best he’s ever received and we can see why it won the Silver Service food award from the SMH. High praise indeed for the service fussy Hot Dog!

Restaurant Balzac

141 Belmore Road Randwick NSW 2031
Tel: + 61 2 9399 9660
Fax: + 61 2 9399 6929
Email: restaurantbalzac@tpg.com.au
Web: www.restaurantbalzac.com.au

Open Tuesday through Saturday
Dinner from 6 pm onwards
Fridays for Lunch 12- 3
Last Sunday of Each Month for the Seasonal Degustation Dinner - 6.30pm onwards

On our visit to Bourke Street Bakery a few weeks back, we drove past The Book Kitchen, a cafe spilling over with patrons inside and out. It looked intriguing and there’s nothing more enticing than a busy cafe so we made a mental note to come back. Looking a their website featuring organic and bio dynamic produce (http://www.thebookkitchen.com.au/) we knew just who we would take here -my husband’s vegetarian, health loving family. So after some tandem bike riding in Centennial Park, appetites well and truly worked up, we descended. In some minor miracle, parking in Surry Hills was not a nightmare and we found two spots right outside The Book Kitchen. Inside we stake out our spot on one side of the large square communal table and order. It appears that everyone likes the sound of the same dishes so we all agree to share dishes, such is our curiosity.

We order our drinks and settle back to choose from the amazing variety of books-mostly food related with some design books thrown in for good measure. I feel like I’ve come home to my dream library and I’m picking up book after book. I’ve got Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, my husband has a design book on Industrial Interiors, A&D have a book solely devoted to potatoes including some incredible and bizzare looking Peruvian ones and Anneli is looking for her favourite cookbook -the I Hate to Cook Book.

Mixed berry frappe $5

Our drinks arrive first and the Mixed berry frappe ($5) with Berries, apple juice and lemon sorbet is refreshingly good, especially for a sweltering day like this. Its not too sweet courtesy of the lemon sorbet but still resonant with antioxidant berries.

Sunshine shake $5

The dairy free Sunshine shake ($5) with rockmelon, honey, orange juice is delicious-its very creamy and fruity so should sate any lactose intolerant people and fool their food demons! We barely notice the time that it takes for our food to arrive, from reading reviews, its reported to be very slow but the food arrives before we know it thanks to our reading entertainment-a clever trick to keep the hungry boys occupied.

Avocado, sour toast, Persian feta, poached egg, rocket, and lemon infused olive oil 14

I try the Avocado, sour toast, Persian feta, poached egg, rocket, and lemon infused olive oil ($14) and I am in raptures. The sourdough toast is lacey and the lemon infused olive oil gives it a piquant lift. The persian feta (surely stuff that food fantasies are made of) is gorgeously rich with the crusty lemon scented sourdough and the dreamily soft poached egg and avocado. Even though I’m not even remotely qualified to be a vegetarian, I could happily order this again without feeling as if I’m missing out.

Homemade brioche, Bio dynamic scrambled eggs, salmon gravlax $16

On a high, next I try the Homemade brioche, Bio dynamic scrambled eggs, salmon gravlax ($16). The Salmon gravlax is almost like it has been left out in the heat for too long. I try a little but not too much as it doesn’t smell quite right to me. I usually love gravlax so I can only put it down to this. The biodynamic scrambled eggs need a smattering of the fine pink salt flakes provided and are fairly buttery although any goodness in these is offset against the home made broiche which is bizarrely like rice bread not resembling in the remotest way the sweet pillowy brioche loaves that one is used to at all. I find this a tad disappointing and the crumbly rice bread texture does not do it any favours.

Crispy duck salad, roast peaches, pink peppercorn, and a red wine vinaigrette $16

What is much better is the Crispy duck salad, roast peaches, pink peppercorn, and a red wine vinaigrette ($16) which has a duck confit drumstick and several smaller pieces of duck torn throughout the salad. The baby salad leaves, roast peaches and mild red wine vinaigrette are lovely background players for the delicious crispy duck.

Poached Petuna ocean trout, baby tatsoi, kipfler potatoes, olives, poached egg, herbs, olive oil $16

As a Petuna trout lover, I didn’t realise that Poached Petuna ocean trout, baby tatsoi, kipfler potatoes, olives, poached egg, herbs, olive oil ($16) was actually a salad so when it arrives, the trout in small pieces atop baby spinach leaves, crushed kipflers and a poached egg I’m a little disappointed that I don’t have an elegant fillet of trout. I am consoled in the taste however where the delicate poached fish pieces are never overwhelmed by the other ingredients with the delicious poached egg yolk bursting free and giving the salad an unctuous, creamy dressing.

Pork and fennel sausages $4.50

We ordered a side order of Pork and fennel sausages ($4.50) as this seems to be the popular sausage combination and whilst we get two rather long impressive sausages, the filling only had the faintest trace of fennel with it mostly being a rather plain pork inner. There were also large lumps of fat inside which I wanted to spit out but couldn’t do so decorously so gulp, I reluctantly swallowed them.

Ricotta hot cakes, caramelized banana, roast rhubarb and honey $14

We’ve saved the most interesting til last, the Ricotta hot cakes, caramelized banana, roast rhubarb and honey ($14). I’ve had Bill’s hotcakes, both in his cafe as well as made at home and they’re good. What I’m interested in is whether they are using the same recipe here. I dig in and the hot cakes (two of them) are quite different, not as light or fluffy as Bill’s but very good. The ricotta is actually on top and I presume also in the hotcakes but I would guess inside to a lesser extent than at Bill’s. It also has a slight doughnutty taste here, of which I am in Homer Simpson fashion, very enamoured of. The caramelised banana, sticky sweet rhubarb, honey and ricotta combined with the thick hot cakes are delectable. Even though I am full, I want more. Comparing this to Bill’s, I would definitely prefer these although at Bill’s you do get three hot cakes (for $16.60).

We’re in no hurry to leave with our stomach’s full and the shelves of books to read. We’re not hurried with the bill, our waitress being the very friendly and lovely sort so we’re just happy to relax and read more and feed our minds now that our stomaches have been well fed. The boys are for once happy to linger and eager to come back at another time which just shows, the way to a man’s heart is not just through his stomach, but also through his mind.

The Book Kitchen

255 Devonshire Street Surry Hills Sydney 2010 (between Crown St and Bourke St)
Tel: +61 (02) 9310 1003
Fax: +61 (02) 9310 1085
Open 7 days until late
http://www.thebookkitchen.com.au/

Don’t get me wrong, I love the restaurant Shanghai Night, but my husband loves it even more than me and possibly more than most of their customers. Every time I suggest going to a new restaurant, he always pipes up with “What about Shanghai Night?” with a plaintive puppy dog eyed look. He even asked to be taken here for his birthday in favour of other, more “special occasion” restaurants.

What is quite so loveable about this decor challenged, brightly lit busy shanghai eatery? The Dumplings of course! Luckily our friends Miss America & Queen Viv are also dumpling lovers. We are so enamoured of these little beasties that we order 4 different lots (that’s an official count of 44 dumplings in total!) plus other dishes.

There’s a man in the left back corner of the restaurant that sits in a panelled section laboriously making the dumplings, if you watch him, he takes his time crafting each one and there is no rushing.

The specials are printed in English and Chinese (sometimes only Chinese) on bright scarlet cardboard on each wall and a look at the well-worn laminated 10 page menu (see full menu at end of story) in front of us shows us a dizzying array of tempting dishes. There are a number of choices for vegetarians too.

Shanghai dumplings are different from the Cantonese Yum Cha variety of dumplings. There is no smooth semi transcluent delicate skin on these. These are sturdier more robust dumplings made for the cold northern temperature. The stars of the show and the first to arrive are definitely the Mini Pork Buns or Xiǎolóngbāo ($5.80 for 8 dumplings). They’re not exactly bun like, forget visions of Char Sieu bows. They’re relatively thin skinned dumplings filled with soup and minced pork and when you bite into them, you get a squirt of hot gingery pork soup. Absolute heaven (or hell if you bite into one without waiting and scald your mouth). If you have a look at the picture you can see the sides and bottoms of the skins are slightly rose tinted and full of the deliciously gingery pork soup waiting to burst out.

A huge plate of 18 steamed pork and mushroom dumplings arrives ($6.60). This dish would have to define “value for money”. The skin is thick, floury and firm and the pork & mushroom filling is comfortingly good and flavoursome. The mushroom flavour is subtle but if you try the other 3 flavours (pork & coriander, pork & aniseed or pork & garlic chive) the flavour is distinct. Nothing fancy here, just very tasty fill-er-up food and yes you read correctly, you get 18 of these for $6.60!

The pan fried pork buns with shallots ($7.80 for 10 dumplings) arrive and they’re wonderfully crispy on the bottom and cushioney soft and chewy on the top. The filling is the same as the steamed pork and mushroom dumplings. The texture is very moresish and I find myself eating more of these than the others dipping the crispy bottoms into the oyster sauce from the chinese broccoli.

The last dumplings are the Shanghai Shao Mai sticky rice dumplings ($6 for 8 dumplings). I am a big sticky rice fan and I also love chinese pork sausage (Lup Cheong: chopped pork, pork fat, salt, honey or sugar, soy sauce and Chinese five-spice powder) and these dumplings are aromatic and flavoursome with the lup cheong, shiitake mushroom and smoky sesame oil with absolutely perfectly cooked sticky rice. Read More