This restaurant had been on our try list for some time and finally we manage to go there, also trying out their season degustation menu.

Vol au vent of Champagne Poached Oyster, Leeks and Avruga

Cauliflower Bavarois, Quail Jelly and Truffled Eggs

Cured Kangaroo with Caramelised Baby Carrots, Salted Pistachio and Chocolate Jus Gras

Mahi Mahi with Israeli Cous Cous, Clam and Mousseron Emulsion

Silver Dory with Wagyu Cheek Ravioli, Wild Asparagus and Asparagus Veloute

Roast Pork with a Croustillant of Shoulder and Prune, Apple and Celeriac

Brie d Meux with Onion Brioche, Truffle and Honey

Gin and Tonic Granita and Elderflower Foam

Terrine of Poached Pears with Rice Ice Cream and French Walnuts

Allpress Espresso and Pine Teas with Petit Fours

The menu is quite creative in one way but unfortunately it is rather common. However the cooking skill and the presentation definitely make up for the commonness. I was particularly impressed by the entrées.

The best part is the price is not that expensive compared to the city counterpart, and the menu is seasonal. This means next time the visit will definitely have some surprise element.

Situated in Mosman along military road, it is an unpolished gem for the locals. This was recommended to me by a colleague and the specialty is the set menu. The best part is it is half price due Tues to Thurs!

I would rank the place as normal but the value really lies in the mid week half price set dinner, as the dinner set has a range of selection and it is definitely a value meal.

A nice Sunday out and relax near Pyrmont, the perfect finish is have a nice brunch. Milk and two is the perfect place near Jackson’s landing waterfront. The menu is just a normal café menu with the usual but we fall in love with the life style here.

These days many restaurants started to imitate the high class degustation menu. However these menus don’t offer any new ideas or creativity, and it becomes a selection menu of the a la carte menu the restaurants normally offer. This degrades the degustation menu to just a showcase and attract business, rather than using it as a display or show off of the chef’s talent.

Waqu’s tasting menu is very similar to their a la carte menu. However the tasting menu’s quality is quite exceptional and therefore if this is just a show case of the a la carte menu then Waqu is really an exceptional mid-class restaurant in Crows Nest.

Entree: 2 of the 3 choices

Mains: 2 of the 3 choices

Dessert: 1 of the 2 choices

These days dining out is not cheap and if you want a nice place with some quality food the price is usually above $50 per person. However we have a 6 course menu for just $45 and the food is still at the high end of the quality of casual dining.

Although the dishes are normal the techniques used to prepare them are definitely usual in casual dining, or I should say not normally used. For $45 the value is excellent. Also you have a choice in the mains so you don't have to have the same thing when you are dining out with friends.

A surprise call from Rosy gets us to Balmoral beach for the Easter Saturday. Since Belinda and I never been to there and never try Bathers, so we welcome the call.

The surprise we had so by far the greatest. Last time Pier really sinks our confidence on the chef head rating and this time I must say we confirmed that. Bathers should definitely worth more than 1 chef head.

The first course is free. The crab meat corn cream soup is so nice I want to ask for second.

You can choose from the 3 menus: A la Carte, Degustation and the market menu. Degustation menu has 7 courses, with 4 entrees, 2 mains and 1 dessert item. The interesting part is the market menu. It is the mini degustation menu (5 courses) that is not on the normal menu as the chef use the ingredients from the market of today. If you ask me, the market menu has the most value for your money.

If you want to try out the full spectrum of Bathers’ offering then degustation is worth the try. However I think the menu is not balancing entrée and mains. The 2 mains are the trout (similar to tetsuya’s signature dish) and rabbit. I highly recommend the rabbit as the whole rabbit is used. You will experience the crown, legs, kidneys, livers, and also a stew. Of the entrees I was impressed by the duck, also employ the same theme that the whole duck is used (duck breast meat, duck meat mince, and duck liver mousse).

However if you had already been to Bather’s before then the market menu will provide more excitement and surprise element. Also the market menu definitely provides more value and insight into the chef’s great skills and creativity.

When it comes to dessert, however, the degustation menu offers the best dessert after all. In the degustation menu the dessert is a selection of the great desserts that are offered in the a la carte menu.

The dessert in the market menu is just a single dish but not offer in the a la carte menu.

 If you are a first time visitor the degustation menu will be a logical choice, however the market menu is definitely worth the visit.

I think I hit the jackpot of finding good Japanese noodles place lately. The 2^nd place I would recommend for going for a bowl of hot Japanese style noodle to cure the winter’s blue is Ramen Tei at Chatswood.

This is a fairly new place as I think it only open about 2 to 3 weeks ago. It is located on Victoria Road Opposite to Chatswood Chase (exactly opposite to the chinese grocery shop).

The noodles were not as great as Ramen Kan but the soup is better in my humble opinion. I also tried the miso soup base and this time it is as strong as Ramen Kan’s but still you can taste it is a genuine Japanese miso soup based. The noodles is not as al dante as you would have in Ramen Kan but at least it is not the soggy type.

Do try it yourself and make the comparison, rather than just believing everything I said. 

Since my brother and some other friends invited me to FaceBook I had been hooked. FaceBook is a much better version of Friendster as there are more things you can do in FaceBook. Besides the basic functions of friendster, which is networking and finding your long lost friends, there are other application to enhance your online experience. These free applications ranged from stupid communication enhancement, to little fun online games with interaction with friends, to more complex interactive games like share trading games.

By the time I figure out if FaceBook can do blogging, I think I will start migrating myself to there permanently.  

A lot of so-called Japanese noodle restaurants are really of the lowest quality I would rank. The soup is either have salty taste and they don’t even bother to use genuine miso. The real crime is the noodles. Ramen is not al dante and soggy, and soba is like jelly.

At least Ramen Kan is one of the good standard Japanese noodle restaurant that the Ramen is what I would expected to be true Japanese standard. I won’t consider it is one of the best as I haven’t tried any noodles in Japan yet. However with what I expect as a good Japanese style noodle soup this place definitely provide the passing standards of what I expected. I can assure you that there is no soggy ramen ever again!

The place is a bit hard to find. It is just opposite to Entertainment Centre on the outside of ChinaTown. If you follow the light rail to Paddy’s Market and reach the McDonald’s at Entertainment Centre, it is just opposite of there. However you still need to find the elevator to get to the first floor.

Happy hunting! 

A returning visit to Marque was always on my mind. However it is sooner than I thought as Marque has this special even with Gourmet Traveller.

The menu for the night is specially designed and only for the night, making it extra special:

Chaud-froid Free Range Egg

Soupe Aux Oignons Gratines

Jambon Persillade

Coq Au Vin

Beef Bourguignon

Pot De Crème Caramel

Tarte Aux Pommes

With the matching I personally like the Carte Turquoise and the Gewurztraminer.

I don’t think I need to add any special comments for this, as the menu already speaks of itself for the high quality and creativity. Unfortunately this is only for the night and therefore don’t think I will be able to try any of this again.

It is a rare place to dine in with the cook took all the time to select the greatest ingredients, armed with the skill comparable to the Iron Chefs and with thinking cap on, and after some struggling a great dining experience is fit for a candle night dinner.

After working hard for a financial year the beginning is here. I haven’t written any blog entry for nearly a year. With the recent Sydney UK-like weather and much needed rain, I finally need to stand back at the side line to allow my body to rest so that I can regain my strength for more battles ahead.

Look back and forward during this ‘bench time’ I realised that I have walked a long way but still a long way to go. The more I think about what I should do next the more things I am adding to my list to do.

I guess greed is part of any man in some way, and all I need to do now is to actually learn to control it rather than let it control me. There are always more things in life that one wants to do, but definitely only a couple of them are within reach by one’s hand.

I do hope that I will be back on track soon.

RISE is under new management for 2 years and offered a 2 year anniversary special degustation menu for just $36. With this value you won’t expect there is much exciting stuff but the menu is filled with management’s sincerity.

The menu is extremely simple and plain.

Chicken spring roll with "gochujang " & "hoisin" sauce

Clear soup with prawn tempura & tofu

Assorted today's sashimi

Spicy tuna tartare in wonton cup, Cured salmon with spiced mayo, Soft shell crab sushi roll

Grilled scallop & bucatini pasta with coconut cream sauce

Duck confit, mushroom spring rolls & chinese vegetables with "zahsai" sauce

Panncacotta with persimmon granita

Although it is not luxurious, it is still a scrumptious menu. However I particularly not fancy any restaurants that is close to Darlinghurst or King Cross area, as finding parking is extremely difficult.

Cine is an Italian café style restaurant located in the Fox Studio complex. The menu is really quite general. I was quite impressed by the pasta section where the selection covers quite a wide range. One of mains that caught my attention was the veal backstrap with beetroot puree and sweet potato chips.

It is a very common menu but it is definitely worth the visit.

Suminoya is quite hard to find. It is in Martin Place but you just can’t get there, as the only way is through a little side alley and walk down the lane.

It is a very nice place for Korean/Japanese style BBQ, especially in a rainy cold winter day.

It’s the Italian festival time and therefore we decided to have fun with the Italians as well. Of course with celebrations you never ended up with an empty stomach and a chilling winter night is best warmed up by a wood-fire pizza.

Ventuno is one of the participating restaurants of the Italian festival and has this $25 pizza and drinks deal (one pizza and one wine/beer). I must say the pizzas are not as creative as I thought. However it is still a nice hot pizza in a winter night. Luckily the company I had compensated most of my disappointment.

I guess next time I would rather have the pasta.

Bugalo has a ‘all you can eat’ mussels lunch under $25 on Tuesday. It is similar to the Belgium Café with a big Belgium pot filled with mussels cooked in the style of your choice. You can reorder as many as you can but you need to finish a whole pot before order the next one. We went there for a team lunch and all of us can only finished 2 pots. However the record is nine. Try to beat that yourself.

Claude’s is a little hide-away restaurant in the trendy suburb of Wollahra. I always want to try this place and finally the chance comes.

The pre dinner snack of shoe pastry deep fry balls are a nice start for a winter evening but it’s a bit too heavy as starters.

The entrée of lamb sausages are quite nice. However entrée with meat is really starting the evening with a heavy tone.

The mini lobster is definitely a nice dish and should be the formal entrée. I can’t remember what is exactly in the white sauce but it matches the prawn so well I really lost myself.

The abalone soup with winter melon cubes is a very traditional Chinese style soup. I definitely can taste the rich flavour for the sea but the dish really lacks the creativity

The barramundi fillet is a very nice one and I really impress by the sauce that goes with it.

The duck meat is another winner of the evening that I really enjoy the rich red wine sauce that goes with it.

The last dish of the sirloin is also nice, but I definitely recognise the cooking technique similar to the braising methods in Chinese cooking. I must say the dish is enjoyable but there isn’t much originality in the dish.

The dessert is definitely more appealing. The melon sorbet and the soufflé are definitely one of the best that I ever tasted.

 It is a good restaurant for special occasion afterall and I did have a very enjoyable evening. I am sure I will be back, but not too soon though. I am sure some of the restaurants that I had tried before has more originality in their dishes that Claude’s. However it is still worth a try.