Sydney Food Diary

Cochin and Chocolate on a Saturday Night

I've mentioned before that we love Drew Kohing's Cochin Vietnamese restaurant in Surry Hills but even we were surprised by how great the food was on Saturday night.

A special of scallops in the half shell gently enveloped in cream, wine and shallots was so good we had to drink the remaining sauce and a pork hock terrine was freshened with asian herbs. The fish of the day "en pappiotte" was heavenly on it's bed of ginger vodka and palm sugar and lamb stewed in a cinnamon star anise and cardamom was melting in it's tenderness.

The restaurant itself was much busier than on our last visit (it must be catching on) but the service was no worse for the bustle.

Rating: 14/20

Cochin Restaurant 61 Fitzroy St, Surry Hills 93585388

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Chocolate

The chocolate part of this story belongs to Bills 2 which has the most spectacular chocolate pudding which comes with side pitchers of cream and melted semi-sweet chocolate. Drew squeezed our reservation in at Cochin so we had to look to this favorite indulgeance to serve as dessert. No problem at all.

Viva Restaurant Riva

It's a slender sliver of an unassuming space, softly but warmly lit but Restaurant Riva serves up stunning food and superb hospitality. It seems like everyone who arrives is a regular, or at least they are treated as such. And if it weren't for the warm service the food would be reason enough to keep coming back.

An entree special of seared scallops on squid ink risotto cake was a light and lively harmony of flavours. Rich mushroom ravioli with wilted zuccini flowers butter and parmesan is velvety and, well, rich.

Grilled sage scented quail on a bed of shitakes, speck and fresh tomato is refreshing and balanced and perfectly cooked tuna steak in anchovy dressing (pictured above) was perched atop beatifully crisp Kipfler potatoes.

For dessert, we found baked peaches sprinkled with praline and bathed lightly in creme anglaise impossible to resist.

Rating: 13.5/20

Ristorante Riva 379 Liverpool St  Darlinghurst  (02) 9380-5318

Golden Century

You can't fault Golden Century for being a bit of a stereotype. It's predictable decor and clattering choatic atmosphere are part of what make it so fun, so lively.

The menu choices too, are exactly as you would expect but the quality of the food in general and the fresh seafood especially is unmistakably among the city's best.

We've been here twice recently and on both occassions were thrilled with our dishes. Highlights included sinfully rich sharkfin and crab soup, pipis in a lively XO sauce, sumptuous salt and pepper mud crab and the irresistibly succulent lobster.

Mark Jensen @ SSS

Vietnamese is the hottest food in Sydney right now and the hottest place for contemporary Vietnamese is Red Lantern Restaurant in Surry Hills. (Well, Cochin is pretty hot with us too but thats another post)

So naturally, when we saw that chef Mark Jensen was sharing some of his passion and a few of his dishes at the Sydney Seafood School we signed up straight away.

The demonstration part of the class was more interactive than than usual and Mark chatted freely as the dishes came together. It was truly an added bonus to hear about his recent travel experiences in Vietnam and although we didn't learn anything very new in terms of technique the recipes seemed unique and approachable.

Lovely ling fish marinated in turmeric and dill served up on vermicelli with fresh herbs and light and lively crab herb and green mango salad in a tamarind sauce really stood up to our group's amateur technique. They were straightforward, fairly easy, and best of all tasty.

A Wild East Dream

WildEast Dreams is a sleepy cottage which is easily missed amongst the bustling hustle on the theatre end of Norton Street in Leichardt. It's strange to find any asian food amongst the (mostly) mediocre Italian here, let alone interesting and good asian.

On this, our second visit the comfortable space was nearly empty (actually all of Norton St was strangely quiet) but the food and hospitality was more than enough for a great night's feast.

We dug into the combination entree plate of which zesty Otak-Otak was a runaway favorite.

Our mains were ample and elegant. Best of the 3 was Miss Piggy's pork belly which was stewed to melting tenderness in sweet sauce studded with star anise. Black vinegar chicken was a bit disappointing and a touch over-cooked.

The value here, however is unmistakable and the setting and attention to detail makes it a refreshing island of asian in the most Italian slice of the Inner West.

Rating: 13/20

WildEast Dreams Cottage
102, Norton Street, Leichhardt (directly opposite Palace Cinema) 02 - 9560 4131

Opium

We were very excited about Opium. It's a beautiful space, in a stunning location (somewhat less stunning of course if there is a cruise ship in) and the food comes via and all-star team which includes Raita Noda of Japanese restaurant Rise (one of our favorites) as well as Wildfire's chef John Pye, pastry chef Mark Stone and sommelier Ben Moechtar. It has a lot going for it, and a lot of the key elements that make for an exceptional dining experience are here.

Our experience however fell somewhat short of exceptional.

The service was attentive but not as helpful as we would have liked in answering some questions about navigating a long menu. "Everything on the menu is amazing" isn't the sort of opinion we were trying to solicit.

As a result, we aren't sure that we made the best choices for our food. What we did order was tasty and well presented but fell a bit below our expectations.

To start, we opted for the "plate of dumplings and spring rolls" to maximise the different tastes we were able to sample. Everything on the plate was proficient and enjoyable, the stand out were the Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls which had a blend of herbs that was alive with anise flavour.

Our mains consisted of pipis in XO sauce and tea-smoked duck. The pipis were fresh and cooked just right but the XO sauce lacked some depth and spice. The smokiness of the duck was too subtle for our tastes but the five-spice plum sauce was a nice accompaniment.

Dessert on the other had was truly a highlight. Chocolate bunyols (little donuts filled with rich melted semi-sweet chocolate) and delicate coconut five spiced panna cotta were the standouts.

So why did Opium fall short when so many of the ingredients are right? We'll have to point our fingers to the "X factor." That elusive quality that brings a unique style or character to a restaurant, to a meal, to each course. The food felt just a touch uncomfortable just as the service felt somewhat distant in it's professionalism and the warm red paper lanterns hung soft contrast to the cold modern space.

Rating: 12/20

Opium - Ground Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks

Cooking classes at Nilgiri's

We are very excited at the prospect of learning to cook some of the uniquely wonderful Indian food which we ate at Nilgiri's.

There are lots of different courses on offer and the classes are carried out right in the back of their new St. Leonard's restaurant. We hope to take one soon and review it here so watch this space.

There is no online booking but the form is available for download here.

Nilgiri's

We really like Indian food. It's warm spice blends and comforting curries always hit the spot. It is however uncommon to find Indian food that is extraordinary, exciting and new. The food at Nilgiri's is all three.

Even better, and very luckily for us, we discovered that Sundays at Nilgiri's are special too. They do a custom menu (Thalis - meaning platter) which functions as a sort of guided tour to the food they love so much and promote with such passion.

The tour comes in the form of an eight dish feast. For 2 of the dishes, you must choose between a specially constructed menu of 2 meats (in our case a lamb dish and chicken), 2 seafoods (ours was prawn and a beautiful peppered fish) or 2 vegitarian offerings. The remaining 6 dishes are the same no matter which road you go down and are mostly vegetarian but also include a delicious desert. Naturally fragrant rice and useful dosais are on hand as well.

nilgiri’s, winner of the SMH 2004 Good Food Guide Award for “Best Indian” has moved to a new location at
81-83 Christie Street, St Leonards 02 9966 0636

An Aria for Valentine's Day

We aren't always at ease with fine dining, but everything at Aria seems so right, so comfortable.

There's the location of course, which has both immense appeal to any Sydneysider and is a natural draw for tourists intent on dining within view of the opera house and the harbour bridge. There is the sensibly lit room, the fine linens, attentive service, the faultless winelist. (even a complimentary glass of bubbly tonight)

And then there is the food, on this occasion, a set price menu teeming with value.

Our entrees were simply stunning. A double-cooked Bangalow sweet pork belly (pictured above) sat succulently encased in crisp crackle with carmelised apple and a stunning smudge of balsamic. Soft and rich but showing sophisticated restraint a Balmain bug boudin blanc (the best dish of the night) was kissed with lime and salmon roe.

The mains too did not disappoint. Decadent seared fois gras and carmelised peaches were at ease beside the baked South Australian chicken breast and an aged beef filet with a bordelaise sauce and mushroom and potato rosti was all the more elegant in is simplicity.

A peach parfait made with creamy mango ice cream and sensory overload in the form of a Valrhona chocolate and caramel delice are our deserts of choice. Great finish.

Wonderful food. Infalable service. Location, location, location (some fireworks off the harbour bridge didn't hurt either) Aria hit just the right note for our Valentine's Day and my birthday ;)

**Note: As this was a one time menu, we will have to return and eat from the regular menu to assign a rating score.

Aria Restaurant - 1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay, Sydney 02 9252 2555

Chilli Crabby

Since Michelle is in Singapore eating fantastic chilli crab at places like No Signboard Seafood, I decided to venture down to the Sydney Seafood School at the Sydney Fish Market and take the chilli crab cooking class.

The class was structured (as most are at SSS) in two parts. The first part was a demonstration in a classroom setting which taught us how to work with the fresh crab, construct the sauce and of course how to cook it. The demo sent delicious aromas flying around the room and got my appetitite going.

The second part we split into groups and got down, dirty and hands on. Cleaning and portioning all 12 of our blue-swimmers was a snap and after a hot bath in some delicious sauce and herbs they came out a bold, fiery orange.

My group found it very difficult to decide which of the 2 types was our favorite: shallot and ginger with lively white peppercorns or the original chilli crab. On that issue, the jury is still out eating but the class overall was definately a winner.

If you haven't already taken a class at Sydney Seafood School, I whole heartedly recommend taking this one. We also greatly enjoyed our Tapas class and a class on Chinese seafood with Tam Wing Chung from Ying's Restaurant.