A very special meal indeed at nel., a fundraiser for the Lyme Disease Association of Australian, and in honour of one of nel.’s chefs, Kirk Haworth, who has Lyme Disease.
I was lucky to get into this sold-out dinner; I think it was Nel on the phone himself who let me replace a cancellation. With nine chefs and nine dishes, all using lime as one of the elements of the dish, a charity auction and awareness raising, this was quite a night. I’d been to nel. for lunch before (and plan to go back to dinner) but this was special, and nice to share it with my fellow foodie and friend, Lai Heng.
At multi-course dinners, I usually try to take only a few photos these days, so there is just a selection here. But all of the courses were delicious, full of flavour and inventive. How did Kirk shave the squid so finally, it looked like thin rice noodles? Was that lime oil in the test tube of lime mojito, swallowed after a delicate salmon samosa (by Nelly)? The snapper ceviche in a lime (pictured) was delicious but on top of a sort of pork and bread mixture in a jar was even better.
The peas were so delicate, obviously freshly shelled. I looked up gurnard on my phone, that is a strange looking fish. Firm flesh, very tasty, wrapped in caul, which I told folks at the table to look up AFTER we’d eaten.
I think my favourite was a very modern take on San Choy Boy, a really perfectly crisp and tender cumin lamb, with a sort of whipped cashew dip, a homemade hoisin sauce, all the be wrapped up in individual lettuce leaves.
The desserts were light and delicate, a bit of cream, a bit of crunch, though I particularly liked the coconut shard (that would be the big triangles here).
Oh, and there were matching wines and champagne as well! I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to read more about Lyme disease in Australia at their website. There’s not only a lack of awareness and research funding, but there’s a big part of the medical establishment that doesn’t recognise Lyme disease in Australia; they only recognise the American ticks and believe it’s only here when people contract it in the USA and bring it back. We heard from two folks who have Lyme disease, and it sounds terrible indeed. Long and difficult treatment and can be very hard to function day to day. So, well done to nel. and the chefs who volunteered for the night, and the many generous folks their who donated prizes and bought auction items.
If I don’t have any photos of the food at Harajuku Gyoza, it’s because it seems almost besides the point.
But more importantly, sake served by waitresses who loudly cheered as they brought them to the table. Japanese beer. Those crazy Japanese toilet seats/bidets. Cool plastic plates on the wall. Even the cheering birthday party, doing sake and singing and shouting at full voice for at least ten minutes didn’t dampen our cheer.
This place is shiny.
Hilarious.
Tasty.
Many years ago, when I worked in Newtown, before my weekly reiki practice sessions, I would often eat with a colleague, who was vegetarian. This was probably our favourite place. I’m glad to see it’s still around, well-loved by Zomato, and still serving tasty food.
The food is all in bain-marie trays, and that’s part of the fun. What delights are on offer: for they are all vegan, and are often those fantastic Asian substitutes for meat: a version of duck; something tasty with soy, various curries. You can order one, two or three choices on plain rice, fried rice or noodles. I always go for the fried rice.
And while the food might look plain, there’s something really very tasty about it, and it kind of makes me happy to be there and eat there. They often have posters up about meditation classes. They also sell some of their desserts to take home. It feels to me like a very sincere family-run place, with a clear philosophy of serving Sydney’s vegetarians (and others) with tasty, and inexpensive food. In fact, it’s cheap as chips. I think it was $12 for my Sunday night, casual dinner.
After seeing a show at the Hayes Theatre (Side Show, very enjoyable), my better half suggested we eat a schnitzel. Una’s or Maggie’s? I asked. Maggie’s was closer. A venerable institution and not on quite as busy a strip as Una’s, Maggie’s serves up hearty German fare: cabbage rolls, goulash, pork roast and dumplings. But the thing is, either at Una’s or Maggie’s, I can never go past the veal or chicken jager schnitzel.
It is a perfect thing: thin, crispy, meaty, and served with a creamy mushroom sauce, along with some perfectly done rosti potatoes and a light cabbage coleslaw on the side (which is a great contrast). In fact, I think the portions here may be a tiny bit smaller than Una’s, and that’s a good thing, since I’ve felt overstuffed at Una’s in the past.
Kawa is an institution, and I have drunk a lot of coffees from here in my time, though I think I had a phase of chai latte too… The tables outside are, to me, what Surry Hills is all about, or should be about, and it’s always surprised me that there’s not more outdoors seating in the neighbourhood, to watch our diverse community walk by with dogs, shopping bags and briefcases.
As a Chinese-Canadian, I’ve observed how different dishes are transformed from country to country and sometimes emerge as an interesting hybrid. A number of North American Chinese dishes are not known in China. In a similar way, Australia seems to have developed a number of food items that have taken on local identities. My pal, James, who’s been in Sydney about a year reminded me of the Chicken Parmiagiana phenomenon here.
Thus the chicken parmiagiana (or parma, for short) is an Australian pub classic, and even pubs that have relatively modern menus bow to tradition and put chicken parma on the menu. There are blog sites dedicated to finding the best chicken parma in Australia. 
Victoria Street in Darlinghurst is a strange combination of businesses that have been there forever (hello Tropicana) and other storefronts that seem to be constantly changing. There are a few higher-end restaurants, quite a few casual places, and a number of in-between. It’s sensational for people watching.
It’s standard cafe fare, but they do a good enough job. My pal had a green juice and a muffin. I was in the mood for a heartier full breakfast. Eggs: delicious. Bacon: nicely done. Sausage: boring and not so tasty as sausages go. Toast and mushies: fine. I’ve never liked roasted tomatos so am not a fair judge. Crispy hashbrown. Mmm…
When I meet my pal Ben for lunch in the City, we wander up from the top end of Kent Street to this little place at the corner of York and Jamison. It has outside seating, has been quite busy both times, and is charming and casual.
Ben had the salmon teriyaki bento box, and passed no ill comments on it. About $40 for the two of us for lunch, two mains, two drinks. What a nice sunny day it was.
I don’t mind being proved wrong at all. I had cruelly passed by this cafe many times. Why? Well, there are so many options in the neighbourhood, for coffee and lunch, and when it first opened, it was so empty (albeit shiny) that to me, something seemed a bit out of place. It wasn’t homey enough for Surry Hills or Darlinghurst, I thought.
But then, my pal Davy ignored my recommendation to meet him at The Goods, and I saw him sitting there instead. Why not? There was a nice buzzy crowd on a Saturday afternoon including a very cute small Asian girl with cat ears and a cat t-shirt. With people there, it didn’t look sterile at all.
My coffee was perfectly fine, and D seemed fine with his tea. I suppose coffee would be my only strike against the cafe, as the lattes only come in one size (I’d wanted a large) and then to follow my first, I wanted a decaf (as 3pm is too late for me to drink a regular coffee). But no decaf.
And then… the desserts. So, I was obsessed with pastries during my time in Paris, and I made a point of treating myself to them. Even the neighbourhood bakeries had such high quality fare, so beautifully presented. There are no many coffee and pastry outlets in Sydney where the pastries in the display case don’t even look appealing.
Until now. Davy had a beautiful grapefruit mousse concoction, light and airy, a crunchy bit on the bottom, a gel, a beautiful light pink covering. And I had an earl grey tea chocolate concoction, super rich, with different textures, and really, really pretty. Plus, they were only $8 or $9 each; I think the equivalent in Paris would be 1.5 or twice the cost. I was very impressed. They’re advertised as made in-house, and there are a lot more varieties, of which, I will be trying them all…
In fact, I went back about six weeks later, and discovered that the upstairs is a lovely area, open and light, and we particularly liked the passionfruit pastry (though opted again for the rick and delicious earl grey tea chocolate one, see the photo at the top of the post). We had both had a heavy lunch at White Taro though, and should have split one pastry between the two of us. We were that full.
If you’ve stumbled across my post on Muum Maam in Surry Hills, you’d know that I think it’s one of the best Thai restaurants in Sydney, though unsung. It doesn’t get the same attention as a number of other Thai restaurants, but should. Their new location in Barangaroo should help this, as it brings Surry Hills’s favourite dishes and adds some new ones, and hopefully will reach a whole new clientele.
I have to admit that I haven’t explored Barangaroo at all, so didn’t know where the new restaurant precinct was. It’s just north of King Street Wharf and south of the new park. Everything is so shiny and tall, the area feels like an Asian city like Singapore or Hong Kong. Around the restaurants, there was a good buzz, and it seems like people are discovering the area, but will enough people come here to support all of these restaurants?
In any case, if you’re in the area, do go to Muum Maam. We couldn’t go by the mouthfuls of betel leaf, with smoked trout and tamarind and lime and more. Always a favourite. But I hadn’t tried the Barramundi spring rolls, and these were beautiful, light and elegant.
These duck spring pancakes though were our favourite of the entrees; a perfect combo of textures, note there are two layers, a delicate wrapping, a thin fried pancake, and inside fresh herbs and bean sprouts and tender duck.
For mains, a yellow curry with crispy noodles and beef cheeks; and a banana blossom salad, and a new dish, twice cooked pork. As you could expect: very rich, but not too rich to devour.
And then to finish, a dessert we’ve never tried: monkey balls. Pandan and coconut gelato with caramelised cashews, and rolled in toasted coconut and I think maybe more nuts. It was a really beautiful combination, very Asian flavours, the roasted and caramelised notes were almost savoury against the light flavours of the gelato. Really beautiful.
It was opening night, so we were able to BYO (but from now on, they’re licensed and will have a full selection of alcohol).