District Dining - Surry Hills

My second time to District Dining and I wasn't disappointed. The ambiance is still fantastic with that not so fine dinning feeling but casual and relaxing. The menu has changed but has some of the old favourites like the crispy quails eggs.

We tried 2 courses from each of the 3 menus starting with the eggs and pigs ears which were yummy. We then moved onto their zucchini flowers and steak tartare which came with toast and a bottle of Tabasco. Both of these were very morish.

We then moved to the larger menu and had the crispy skin Barramundi with eggplant and lastly the lamb ribs. Oh and a side of broccoli and tofu salad. This was all washed down with bottle of Edward Shiraz from Margaret River.

All in all the experience was excellent with service 9/10 and food 8/10. I will return once more to try some of the other items on the menu.

District Dinning
17 Randle St
Surry Hills
02 92117798

Chef Mavro - Waikiki Beach Hawaii

While we were  in Hawaii we decided to try a fine dinning restaurant and after some considerable research I decided on Chef Mavro. The restaurant is not on the beach but towards the city on a corner block and quite obscure. The back ground on the Chef is that he is a frenchman who used to live in Provonce and moved to Hawaii many years ago.

The restaurant is unlike many in Hawaii being quite small and somewhat romantic, which was good since I was dinning with my wife.

The menu was very flexible in that they had a 3 course, a 4 course and a six course menu and you could choose all six or simply mix and match off the 3 menus. All were designed as a degustation dinner. They also offered a matching wine with each dish however we decided to buy a few good quality glasses of wine. The first dish was a cold mushroom custard with a caramalised top. This was ok but a bit off putting as it was cold.

The second dish was Maitake mushroom with roasted kabocha with onion and bacon shavings with a yuzu dressing. This was delicious with all the flavours coming together well giving it an organic taste with the sweetness of the yuzu dressing.

I had the scallops which were served raw with a kamuela vegetable escabeche, rosemary scented fougas. Absolutely delcious, fresh, light and a great way to start a meal.

The first main course was the daily boat catch - Kabosu which was served with crusted mochi, citris-sansho sauce and jumbo asparagus & veloute. The fish was beautiful but the winner of the dish was the crust which was rice pounded into powder and then lightly baked. wow.

As always I couldn't go pass the duck which was served with a gingered green mango chutney and a sweet kahuku corn fritter with a modern bigarade sauce. The sauce and the fritter were really nice but I found the duck to be a bit tough. However it was worth tasting for the chutney and fritter.

Break time -  to assist our palate they served watermelon encased in champagne jelly. This was great and came at exactly the right time.

The last main was a Vadouvan lamb curry which we both chose. The lamb was from Colorado and was probably the tastiest piece of lamb I have ever eaten. The dish was more of a deconstructed curry with poha rice eggplant fritters, cured olives, fennel and thyme relish.

 My wife chose the Goat cheese - strawberry which was goat cheese filled with strawberry jus, with farm baby greens. She said it was like eating heaven with the jus running out of the centre of the cheese.

For desert I chose the Malasadas which were like round donuts served with guava ice cream. However each of the donuts had a different filling including, mui apple, azuki bean and lilikoi . These may not sound good but they were very moreish and although I was full I would have liked more.

A very satisfying fine dinning experience and maybe the only one in Hawaii. The cost was high when comparing to other restaurants it cost us $380.00. The service was too good and the timing was too quick. The food was excellent without being over the top. I would recommend if you wanted to try fine dinning in Hawaii. I would rate the food 7.5/10 and the service 7/10 because it was all too quick. We were in and out within 2 hours.

Chef Mavro

South King street

Hawaii

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/37/410422/restaurant/Hawaii/Manoa-Makiki-University-District/Chef-Mavro-Honolulu"><img alt="Chef Mavro on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/410422/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>

Hawaiian Holiday

So far all of my blogs have been on restaurants and that's where I am going to stay, however I have had some comments that I do not blog all the restaurants I go to and also about some of the other experiences I have like I have just got back from 5 days in Hawaii. What restaurants did I go to and maybe some other information to help you if you ever decide to go to Hawaii. So here goes.

Hawaii is such a nice place and this is our third visit and we will definitely go back. The temperature is the same every day around 28-30 degrees. The main place to go of course is Waikiki and why not they have a great beach, great restaurants and shopping, did I say shopping.

Firstly, to my first love, food. With so many restaurants its hard to say whats best etc but let me tell you about the ones I visited by type. For an informal dinner or just a bit of fun with some good music I found a Margaretaville restaurant which is the country singer Jimmy Buffets chain, great for a burger or steak while enjoying the music. For Japanese  I would not go pass Japengo it was lovely serving up traditional Japanese with a modern twist. By the way there are more Japanese people in Hawaii than in Japan, ha ha. For a more upmarket steak go to Wolfgang's and for Italian don't miss out on dinning atTaormina where I had the best bolognese ever, Spinach Fettuccine with Meat and Foie Gras, simply the best.

For lunch at this wonderful city there is so much to do but we were recommended to go to the Helacalarnie hotel ( on the beach ) and have a crab sandwich. Which we did and it was pretty sensational, loads of Alaskan king crab with avocado and crispy bacon served on wholemeal bread cut into soldiers. We ate this whilst sitting in their outdoor area watching the beach and all that goes with it. heaven.

I could not have left Hawaii without a fine dinning experience so after some research we ended up at Chef Mavro which is not on the beach but located in the city. Chef Mavro is an old french chef from Provence and the food was excellent without being over the top. (See separate Blog for more ).

So apart from food there are many places to stay depending on your economic circumstances however if you can afford it stay on the beach at either The Royal Hawaiian, Helacalarnie, Moana Surfrider or the Sheraton. All are great but my favourite is the surfrider as it has a great outside setting, pool, music and you can go to the beach and use their facilities even if you dont stay there. 5 star so it wont be cheap. There are many other cheaper hotels like the Waikiki Gateway which is about 500m from the beach.

So lastly, shopping wow we spent heaps on shoes in particular as they are so cheap, plus good polos shirts, jeans and I even bought a sports jacket. These are best bought at the shopping factory outlet which you can get there by shuttle bus but beware you will spend.

All in all a great 5 days in one of the worlds best destinations and I could write much more but that would be boring. So hope you liked my short travel blog.

Remember you need to book at most good restaurants otherwise you will be disappointed plus if you would like more information on anything just write a comment and I will respond.

MoMo - Melbourne

In Melbourne for the Grand Prix once again and it is something I look forward to every year as the weekend is full of good food, good wine and good people. What else do you need?.

So firstly, we head to MoMo a Middle Eastern style restaurant which has become a bit of an Icon in Melbourne. Unfortunately, although I am writing about this place you will need to be quick if you want to go as it is closing down, I believe next month as the chef is moving on.

The ambiance is fantastic and our private room is large enough for everyone to be seated comfortably. Tonight we are having a degustation menu with matching wines. my flash on my camera wasn't working so I do not have any photographs.

We start off with Fresh water crayfish with egg, saffron and haloumy batter, sautéed scallops, hummus and crispy zucchini flowers in yeast butter. 


This was followed by crispy pigeon with sukkah salt on a mintled salad. Wow this was good. We then had Bistayeea - Morocco's celebrated duck pie with almonds and sweet spices.

The important thing to note is that with every course the waiter did a great job in explaining the dish and the matching wines in a way which made the dinning experience somewhat theatrical making the whole night quite sensational. The winning dish of the night for me was the suckling pig which they bought out on a massive platter before the cut it up to show us what we were getting.

Deserts included frozen orange Turkish delight parfait, fresh fruit and a Turkish apple tea souffle.

This was washed down with matching wines from Spain, France, Victoria and Tuscany.

What a night and wonderfully arranged and executed without a flaw.

If you can get there before it closes I would as it is a worthwhile dinning experience. My score was 9/10 for food and service with delivery a perfect score of 10/10.


MoMo Restaurant
Lower Plaza Level
123 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Blancharu Restaurant - Elizabeth Bay Sydney

A restaurant I have not yet written about and we have been there several times is Blancharu in Elizabeth Bay. This is situated not too far away from the park in Kings Cross near the fountain. The restaurant is quite small and is placed below the footpath so it is easy to miss.

The chef Harunobu Inukai was trained in the art of cooking at Tsuji Cooking School in Osaka, Japan. Harunobu worked at Bilson’s Restaurant for a year, followed by Ampersand Restaurant for two years, where he was awarded two Chefs Hats. In 2000, Harunobu joined VII Restaurant as Executive Chef, where he was again, awarded two Chefs Hats as well as ‘Best New Restaurant’.

The cuisine is Japanese / french and if that rings a bell it is because the chefs have worked in some of our best known restaurants. The food is fine dinning and the 7 course degustation is well worth trying not only for the dishes but the price is affordable as well around $70.

This time around we are taking some friends who are not necessarily into fine dinning so we were a bit worried about what they were going to think. Well we didn't have to worry at all they loved it. Below are 4 dishes we had and all were excellent.



Crown of crab served with eggplant caviar and green pea mousse



Pork belly galette and ganmodoki with mizore sauce

I love this place for its inventive food which is not too far out to enjoy. The menu is constantly changing and if you give them your email address they will send you updates on the changes.My score for service was 8/10 and for food was 9/10. Grab some friends and try it and I am sure you will return for more.

Bennelong Restaurant - Sydney Opera House

This is a very special place right in the world famous Sydney Opera House looking out onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the boats on the Harbour. I am sure there are not too many locations as good as this around the world. Add to this a master chef in Guilluame Brahimi and you have the recipe for a great restaurant and dinning experience.

It's Friday in December and the place is rocking inside and out with people everywhere taking in the sites of Sydney and great weather to boot. We are seated not too far from the window so we have a great view of the bridge and the Harbour. We don't have a lot of time because we have to be out by 3pm as my guests have a plane to catch.

For entree I have a lobster salad with foie gras which was absolutely delightful, freshly shucked oysters and shallot vinegar, and we washed this down with a lovely savingon blanc from NZ. 


For mains we had crispy barramundi on a bed of pureed cauliflower with a Shiraz jus, Waygu steak with mushrooms and confit of shallot merlo sauce, and Blue Eyed Trevalla with summer vegetables.



Some of the guests had desert which consisted of a chocolate mouse cake, chocolate souffle with white chocolate and cherry ripple ice cream and petit fors. everything was delicious and delivered flawlessly. service was a little slow and they got one of the dishes incorrect which reduced their score.




I would always recommend this restaurant and I scored them a 8/10 for food and 6/10 for service for the reasons above.

Sea Level - Cronulla Sydney

Taking time out to dine in your own area can sometimes prove to be a good decision. So when I had some business colleagues from the UK out I decided to local and show them something other than the city.

One of the best restaurants in the Sutherland Shire has been Sea Level however I have had some poor experiences there but I thought I wold take the chance. The restaurant is located right on the beach at Cronulla and has a terrific outlook and a relaxing ambiance without being too casual. The menu of course is mainly seafood but they have some meat, duck and chicken options. The prices are quite reasonable and best of all their wines are not over priced.

There were 9 of us and many had different dishes for entree like scallops in the shell,
Vitello tonnato; thinly sliced rare veal with beans, anchovies, shaved lemon, baby capers & tuna mayonnaise, Fried zucchini flowers stuffed with four cheeses, tomato ragout & pounded basil dressing.

for mains We had Green lobster tail roasted in cafe de paris butter, creme fraiche herb potatoes, watercress & citrus salad,Baked atlantic salmon fillet with baby beets, persian fetta, quail eggs, crisp pancetta & hazelnut dressing, Char grilled fillet of beef with sweet corn puree, potato fondant, fried shiitake mushrooms & asparagus.

Overall the food was very well presented and cooked just right with excellent service being provided. The restaurant was busy but timing of the dishes was good and all in all an excellent night was had by everyone. The bill was also fair and reasonable.

This is one place you should put on your to do list during summer and have a lazy breakfast on a Sunday, a long lunch or just a romantic dinner as the sun sets over the beach. Great for people watching if you are into that and watch the world go by. I rate them a 7/10 for food and a 9/10 for service.


Sealevel Restaurant + Bar
2 The Kingsway
Cronulla NSW 2230

P. (02) 9523 8888
F. (02) 9523 9518

Trading Hours
Breakfast
Sat & Sun,
8am-10:45am

Lunch
7 days, 12:00pm


Dinner
7 days, 5:30pm

Aria Restaurant

A sunny day and a Friday is a great reason to find some good clients and have a lunch by the harbour. I had planned ahead and booked Aria which is a restaurant I had not been to for at least 18 months, no real reason just so many new ones to try. But I am alwayS impressed with this place which basically has not changed since it opened which must be 15 years ago.

The ambiance is quite special very posh and at the same time very relaxed. this is one place where you can have a romantic dinner date or a corporate lunch. It was also great to see some of the old favorites were still on the menu like the Duck and Pea Pie.

To start all 4 of us had the special entree which was a salmon sashimi with a tea smoked herbs , tapioca and wasabi with a jelly that I can't remember what it was. It was very good but I thought it could have had a little more taste.

For our main I could not go past the duck and pea pie which was better than I remember, great pastry a little sweet which I loved. Lots of shreded duck and peas in a moist pie. one had the pork belly which was an entree but had it as a main. The pork looked crispy and juicy and my guest commented on how well it was cooked. The other person had grilled Barramundi which was Also cooked to perfection. There was a good choice and something to please everyone.

I was not going to have desert but my guest wanted one so I had to take a bullet for him and have one myself. We both chose the passionfruit souffle which was to die for, literally. we finished off with coffee and petit fors which consisted of a co nut rough, raspberry jelly and a chocolate truffle.

This was an excellent lunch choice not only for the food but also for the view and for those who don't know where the restaurant is it is next door to the Opera house on Circular Quay, looking out at the best harbour in the world and the Harbour Bridge. What a way to spend Lunch on a sunny Friday.


May I surest you grab a friend, customer or anyone and head down to Aria for a magnificant experience. My score for both food and service, which by the way could not be faulted is 8/10.



ARIA Restaurant Sydney •
1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay, Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: +61 2 9252 2555

Baroque Bar - Bistro - Patisserie

This has been on my list for some time and I thought let's go and try it out. this I am sure used to be a bar maybe even a pub in the rocks area of Sydney. It is right on the corner of George St as it begins to wind up into the rocks area. Just across the road is the Quay restaurant . This was a Saturday night and a nice night not too hot and not too cold, so finding a car park is nearly impossible, however we found one under the Harbour bridge which is not too far away. I had eaten at Felix bistro on Friday and was looking forward to comparing the two.

We turned up and I was somewhat surprised that it was so casual and a patisserie to boot. However we were shown to our table ( no tablecloths) of course. The menu is not exhaustive and they were already out of most of their specials. But we were able to choose some excellent dishes. I started off with a scallop dish which I had never seen before. the scallops were joined together to make it look like one large scallop and it was served up with mushrooms and pea. The other entree was fresh asparagus with a poached egg, not very inventive but was cooked to perfection.

Because there were no specials left and neither of us felt like fish so we both had the beef cheeks which were very good and served with mash, again nothing out of the ordinary but what they did they did well.

The deserts were more exciting than the rest of the menu and you could ether choose something from the menu or what was in the patisserie we chose a couple of macaroons and a white chocolate berry Mouse cake.

The service was good and friendly, the food cooked very well, the menu was unexciting and ordinary as was the wine list. I would rate this a 5/10 only because there were limited items on the menu for us to try. would I go back, probably for lunch.

SpiceTemple -Sydney

This is a place I hadn't been before and many people have given it a great wrap, so I decided to try for myself. I have only in the last few years begun to love chili and this was going to be a hot experience. Accompanying me was a very good friend and work colleague. Firstly, when you arrive the front door is a video screen with curtains giving you the impression you are entering somewhere mysterious. A great start. Once you enter you go down three flights of stairs remembering you enter at street level.

At the bottom of the stairs it is dark with each table with their own small downlight, dark wood and an ambiance which tells you this is going to be special. We are shown to our table and immediately start reading the menu which is chinese /asian based.

There are many options to choose from all of which sound great. The waitress advises that we should share each dish and that for two people we should look at two entrees and one main as the entrees are quite large. There are dishes in red writing which signify that it is a very hot dish. We decide to stay with the normal dishes.

We started with squid in five spices, Chilli, and other spices with a dark Chilli sauce. This was very tasty and quite hot for me. We then had the scallop dish with flat noodle and peppers. Again this saucy dish was not as hot but the scallops were cooked just right.

For our main we chose the hot prawns which came with some Chinese vegetables, this was reasonably hot but we decided we would go for a second main and one written in red, so we went for the chicken with Chilli done 3 ways. The chicken itself was not hot but the Chilli was bringing tears to the eyes of my lunch companion, a seasoned Chilli lover. This was washed down with a Grosset riesling.

After lots of water we decided to have desert to cleanse the pallet. We had a cherry jelly and peanut chocolate dish and a chocolate, peanut, caramel ice-cream, which was like a giant snickers bar for you chocoholics.

It turned out to be a wonderful experience and we have already booked to go back again to try some of the other dishes. The service was excellent, the menu was creative and well written, the lighting was fine even though it was very dark it added to the experience. I would rate this 9/10 for service and 8/10 for food.

My suggestion is try this Neil Perry establishment and you won't be disappointed.

Spice Temple
Bligh St Sydney 2000