Merivale, as far as I can see, always has its finger on the pulse. I totally buy into however they’ve fitted out a place as it somehow feels both cool and exciting to be there. Stumbling upon their new collaboration with Sydney coffee roasters Will & Co (who, as of March, had a pop-up location in Bondi on Saturdays only), I could barely figure out the name of the place, but I loved the signage. I mean: obviously, you know what you’re getting.
The cashier told me that they’d been open a few months and even with the construction of light rail on George Street just outside their doorstep, as it was part of the Merivale empire, people from all the other stores and shops in the area came by for their coffee, so business was just fine already.
The coffee was superb, as I’d guessed it would be; my latte tasted rich and creamy without being too milky; well-integrated, a nice hit of caffeine. Yum.
Each review that I saw of the Burman Kitchen made me even more curious to try it, but I couldn’t make it to join friends when they went to dine there in Granville and hadn’t managed to organise to get there otherwise… and then suddenly, they’ve moved into my neighbourhood, taking over from a Nepalese restaurant that I never managed to try!
The front door is completely glass, and it was nice to see that lots of people were curious about the place. Comically, everyone trying to get into the restaurant (myself included) heads to the ‘come in, we’re open’ sign’, but you get in by sliding the door at the other side of the entrance! Hmm, maybe they should fix that.
What I found great, nay, thrilling, was that I couldn’t quite recognise the flavours. Sure, it tasted Asian, of some sort. There was a hit of spice, particularly in one of the salads. The flavour was often of a grill; there was often a nice crunch in the textures. But it didn’t really taste like Thai food, or Vietnamese food, or Indian food, or Chinese food. It’s something else. I loved everything on the plate!
One of our party thought that the meat skewers were nothing special, but I appreciated the chargrill flavour, and hey, goat is always going to be a little dry. I am definitely coming back here to try more dishes!
So, tasty and elegant and a nice atmosphere. I think it would be a fun place to come with a group of friends and order as many different tapas (and types of wine!) as you can and share them all around.
There’s a little cluster of restaurants on Crown Street with some cool stores in the mix too (the fabulous Mud ceramics has opened a Surry Hills outpost here). Skully on Crown is very new, with a big hipster sign, and comfy looking wooden seats. I think it would be hard to compete with Four Ate Five who have been so consistent for so many years, the Organic cafe (O Cafe) which obviously has its fans, and Mad Spuds, which, while I’m not a fan of their marketing and cartoon potato, obviously know how to create a local clientele (including through serving very good food: I had a great lunch here).
Our dinner at Il Flauto di Pan in Ravello reminded me strangely of our dinner at Le Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The view and surroundings are so beautiful. It’s not that the food becomes irrelevant but the beauty of the place is what I remember.
We didn’t expect to eat at another Michelin-starred restaurant on our trip through southern Italy, but my husband decided it would be a good pre-birthday treat, and also a way to make up for the fact that while our B&B had a spectacular view, but the 260 steep stairs down to it and up to the road (and at least the same amount of stairs to get to the town) were unexpected and arduous.
We only managed to have a short time to tour the grounds of the magnificent Villa Cimbrone before dinner, so if you go, my recommendation is to give yourself more time. It’s amazing. Apparently, there are different seating areas, and that night, we were outside in an area with arches and a view. Absolutely stunning (you can see the dome shaped arches where we were in this photo).
We loved that when you are seated, you are asked to put your watches into this chest, so that you lose track of time. A nice idea that doesn’t really work in this age of smartphones. I kept mine out to take photos (though as you can see, the lighting was not good).
The meal itself was good, perhaps very good, but didn’t quite match the setting. We’ve had the privilege to eat at a few Michelin restaurants: the three-star ones are still etched in my mind as flawless. Once or twice at the one-star ones, like this one, I remember a few issues, and I suppose I was surprised by them.
I really didn’t like their version of tartare: the meat wasn’t ground but was in chunks, little raw chunks of meat, with a strange savoury meringue. One of husband’s pasta courses had a great filling, but weirdly, the casing had a weird texture to it, a bit crude, and not quite right.
And yet, the appetizers (above) were beautiful and engaging, and my god, check out the plating on this dessert (below). We particularly liked the elegant risottos, which are sure not like the sloppy but tasty risotto that I make at home.
I also loved that we could choose from different tasting menus: I did gluten-free because it looked so interesting, not because I was avoiding gluten! And then we could share more plates. I can’t find the menus online to jog my memory of what we had, though it seems that the chef does change the menu regularly.
I remember going to this, the original Sabbaba, over ten years ago. It seemed to me that they’d expanded broadly over the years, but it turns out that they expanded only to places where I go (the Westfield CBD food court, the Bondi Junction Westfield food court, and Newtown). And now Newtown is closed.