C’mon. This place is the bomb.
Famous around the world (apparently); they’ve figured out how to meld cool Japan with hip Sydney. Their branch at Westfield CBD is effortlessly hip.
The Argentinean host called out to the rest of the wait staff in Japanese as we entered the restaurant, whereupon they all greeted us in that Welcome-To-A-Japanese-Restaurant way. It’s lovely and raucous.
When I’ve been here before (and now there are a few branches in Sydney), I’ve been unable to resist ordering extra food: the pork belly buns perhaps, or any of the other yummy looking smaller dishes. But one bowl of ramen is usually enough for me, lunch or dinner.
In January 2016, my better half and I dropped by for a meal. I ordered a summer special with a clear, light and tasty chicken broth, rather than the usual ridiculously rich and thick tonkatsu broth. It was perfect. My better half, who ordered the traditional ramen, was pleased with his.
Then in February 2017, I came for lunch. I had a craving. And so pleased was I was the oyster special ramen of a few months ago, I decided I had to try the daily special. And I’d even go against my better judgement and have some eel and rice with it.
I mean: this was really crazy and delicious. Cheese in the soup! Grano padano! Check the official description:
A creamy concoction of a ramen made by blending our signature tonkotsu broth with special spicy sesame paste. Topped with original Tan Tan pork mince miso, coriander, Grana Padano cheese, roasted cashew, diced red onions, IPPUDO chilli oil, and a slice of tender pork belly chashu.
And here it is:
A big ball of spicy pork in the middle. The soup was rich and slightly thick. The slice of lemon was perfect to add some light zesty citrus. I’m surprised I also managed the side dish, a perfect little bit of sushi rice with bits of eel, not too generous a serve, but fine, and some cucumber pickles:
Best was at the end, as recommended, dumping the last bits of soup and leftover bits onto the last of the rice and mixing it up.
I met a ramen fanatic a while ago and I understand what he was saying: Ippudo is pretty expensive (this was $17 for the ramen and $3 for the rice/eel). And it sounds like you can hunt for other interesting ramen in town. But for now, for me, Ippudo really is the tops!
Ah, what would the world be without new tasty treats. A world pretty damn short of new tasty treats, I’d say. So, spotting this pop-up counter in the basement of World Square: I mean, we had to try it, right? Though I knew nothing about them.
And then in the middle, a very soft custard, with a quality of a mousse, rather than the egg centre of a Cantonese egg tart, or a Portuguese tart. Definitely something different. Not super sweet, but sweet. I found these pretty delectable. At four bucks a tart, they’re pricy, but if I’m passing by a counter, I would rate my chances of buying one rather high.
I like the feel of the food court at Bondi Westfield lately. I liked the last version too, but it’s good for a change. We usually go for something fried and Japanese, but Schnitz caught our eye. I like a good chicken parmiagiana.
Funnily enough, this was not what we got. They gave us this before we figured out that my better half had ordered a wrap. However, he said he was expecting more, and that there was something missing. He just can’t put his finger on it, but it wasn’t tasty enough.
Mine on the other hand was a plain chicken parmiagana with fries. The fries were covered in chicken salt and perfectly crisp. Very tasty. And the parmiagana had a nice covering of moist tomato sauce, just enough cheese and was very crisp. Not a huge portion, and for lunch, that’s just fine. The average of our scores… well, I liked mine. I’d day that drags his 2 stars up to a 3.
So, it would seem like you have until the end of July 2017 to get to the pop-up restaurant Good Luck Pinbone, which took over from a Japanese takeaway, and whose building will be demolished at a certain point.
I’m not sure whether this makes the food better or worse (and am also reminded of being invited over to a Jewish friend’s for dinner in my university years, and he cooked me a Chinese meal far better than I could have made at the time). In the case of Good Luck Pinbone, the food is fantastic! It’s a mix of some very authentic Chinese flavours, with some interesting additions (like above, kingfish belly toast with bacon)
The four of us opted for the set menu. Also in the old days (I know, I know: I talk about the old days a lot): at Asian restaurants when you ordered the set menu, it was usually because no one could make a decision. You got the easiest dishes for the kitchen to make, and they’d charge you more for it. But here, almost everything on the set menu was on the regular menu; it just made sense to order it.
Where are the photos? Oops. I was too busy eating (and enjoying myself). Suffice to say, I thought mostly everything was terrific. Along with our BYO, it was a great night. They even gave us a complementary serve of the Scorpion Fish (if you’ve not seen one live, google it). It was a bit bony, but tasty, and when do you get to eat Scorpion Fish?
Good old Sydney went from absolutely swelteringly hot to a torrential downpour on early Tuesday evening.
Next effort: the Customs House Bar is listed in the Entertainment Guide. I thought that was an option for an easy and quick meal. But why would the Customs House Bar be so far away from Customs House. I couldn’t find it, not knowing that it was all the way over near the Basement Bar.
I came back with my better half, and he had a very good matcha latte (slightly savoury as it should be and I had a delicious taro latte. It was sweet and reminded me of marshmallows. I liked it.
I don’t often have two reviews up for the same restaurant but this recent meal was much different than the first, which was a special Entertainment dinner with Penfolds, matching food with wine.
What was slightly strange about this meal is that some of the dishes were so thrilling that when they were just OK, they stood out. Oh well. The price you pay for greatness. We thought that the fish, with a simple salad and green condiment was a bit plain.
On the other hand I was wondering how they would elevate gnocchi to fine dining, and well, this is the answer. Beautiful, delicate pieces of gnocchi, in (again) a perfectly composed dish with a stuffed zucchini flower and various other yummy ingredients.
But I didn’t find the cauliflower as interesting at all.
Just a block or two up from Circular Quay, this is a great location for a drink or light dinner, on your way to or from the Quay, or as a destination on its own. The Bar has a fun Ye Olde World feel, kind of a combo of a businessman’s club in the 50s or an old pub in England. It’s clientele is laid-back, guests of the hotel, and groups of friends relaxing after work, or before going out.
Sit back and listen to some music in an intimate setting with a good selection of wine, craft beers and cocktails, and the bar menu covers all the bases with some Argentinean grilled skewers, Asian dishes or standards like a garlicky spaghetti or a somewhat expensive looking burger. I had a beautifully done Cambodian curried barramundi on one night, and last night we split some starters: grilled mushrooms, very tasty lamb riblets, and some very tender skewers of beef. But now, I basically tried most of the menu, and everything’s is pretty good.
If you are travelling from Sydney to Latin America, it seems that the routes divide between your frequent flyer plan. If you are with One World, you go through Santiago (and from there to anywhere else) and if you are with Star Alliance, you go through Buenos Aires.
