Sydney Part 1

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Well, where to begin. So far this trip has been the biggest eye opener in regards to food. We seriously haven't had a bad meal so far and I'm hoping that I haven't just jinxed myself by saying this. It also goes to say that the coffee has been pretty phenomenal too and I'm sure that its not just because of the jet lag. After all, Australia is the home of the flat white. I thought rather than leaving it all till I get back to the UK it would be best to split the trip into a few posts before I forgot all the finer details. Don't worry I won't be detailing every single meal we ate but purely picking out the highlights from the trip so far. Right now I feel so torn because part of me never wants to leave yet the other cannot wait to get home and get cooking after all this inspiration.

The first day was spent getting to know the area we were staying in, Surry Hills. Whilst having a pit stop coffee in one of the many great cafes in the area we picked up a flyer for a new Mexican restaurant that had opened in the area. Annoyingly I can't for the life of me remember what its called but if you visit its on Randle Street. We decided to share 4 of their soft tacos and we weren't disappointed. Our favourites being the wild mushroom, fennel & marjoram with sour cream & pine nuts and the cumin & anise blackened chicken with avocado & mint. There were lots of other exciting dishes on the menu and a very tasty sounding chocolate olive oil cake with ancho chillies which will have to be tried if we return.

We started off our first full day with breakfast at Single Origin cafe in Surry Hills. Tim went for their 62:45 poached eggs with house cured bacon on sourdough, the 62:45 relating to the temperature and length of time the eggs are cooked for in a sous vide. I decided on their spiced baked beans with Persian feta which went down a treat. The only downside being that the dishes only came with 1 piece of sourdough. Single Origin roast their own beans and since visiting we have spotted a lot of other cafe's using their beans. The coffee at Single Origin is hands down the best coffee I have ever drunk.

After breakfast we headed into the city in search for a department store so I could indulge in my weakness of food halls. What I wasn't expecting was to spend around £6 on 2 figs but my god were they tasty! We headed down through the botanic gardens and ended up eating our figs on the steps of the opera house, you couldn't really of planned it better than that!

For dinner we headed back to Surry Hills and to the newly opened Queenies located upstairs at The Forresters pub. Queenies is dubbed a pan tropical restaurant with lots of Caribbean flavours in the mix, the sides all sounded really exciting so we decided on sharing a bunch of those instead. Queenie's offers  an interesting array of treats on the menu including BBQ jerk corn which was definitely a highlight as well as push cart chicken & curried oxtail patties. The restaurant does feel pretty hip with its mix of kitsch paraphernalia but the food didn't disappoint. Their selection of mains all sounded very tempting but the salads would be on my go to list for next time. 

Now by this point all my days are beginning to muddle together but I can't go without talking about Bourke St Bakery. Quite early on into my Sydney 'food research' this place popped up so we knew we had to pay them a visit. Its one of those places where reviews speak of queues around the corner but I think we picked the perfect time going on a week day just after all the commuters had been past. We pulled up on a bench along the side of the bakery and indulged in a famous ginger brulee tart (which I will be trying to replicate on my return), a praline twist and a pear & rhubarb muffin all washed down with delicious flat whites. Before we left we picked up a sourdough loaf to ear for breakfast the next day.

You can't visit Sydney without heading over to one of Bill Granger's 'Bill's' restaurants. Its a little more expensive than some places so we decided to try out the breakfast menu. Everything on the menu sounded so tempting that I really struggled choosing. Tim went for the full Aussie breakfast which came with the sweetest, creamiest scrambled eggs I've ever tasted. In a bit of a rushed decision I went for the ricotta hotcakes which were served with banana & honeycomb butter. This was to die for but looking back at the menu I am wishing I had tried something else. To be fair though we're here for another week and with things like sweetcorn fritters & brioche rolls with chilli eggs on the menu you can't really blame me.

I have been trying to write this post for about 3 days now. Each day adding another place to the list. Yesterday we headed to a restaurant called The Grounds which really deserves a post of its own so please watch this space.

The Ethicurean, Barley Wood Walled Garden

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Sometimes you have a meal you enjoy so much that all you want to do is shout about it from the rooftops. For around 2 years I have been following one of the chefs from The Ethicurean on Instagram and drooling at every photo they posted. With it being near to Bristol I knew that at the first given oportunity I would have to go there. Finally, after spending last week in Dartmoor we decided to take a detour on our way home and go and try it our for ourselves.

Last year The Ethicurean won the Observer Food Monthly Best Ethical Restaurant award and 2013 will see the release of their cookbook They will be in good company as it it being published by Ebury who have published both Yotam Ottolenghi & Moro's cookbooks. The whole menu looked so good that it took a while for us to decide on what to order. The staff were all so friendly and knowlegable on everything they served. It really felt like you were sitting in your friends dining room with the stunning views over the Walled Garden (built in 1901) and the Mendip hills an added bonus.

To start, Tim had the clear ham hock with swiss chard and a poached egg which he thoroughly enjoyed with some delicious sourdough bread that is collected from a little bakery in Bristol every day.

I opted for the cured & smoked roe deer which was unbelievably tender and just melted in my mouth. Even Tim, who is about iffy about trying new things tasted it and absolutely loved it. This was served with a carrot & cardamom sauce, walnuts, wood sorrel & land cress.

We were then treated to a little taster of another one of their starters which was the soused mackerel with fennel, carrot, rock samphire & gooseberry ice. Needless to say it was very well received and disappeared in seconds.

Then it was time for our mains. Tim went for the Merguez Sausages with sante mashed potato, seasonal greens & mushroom sauce, he very kindly let me try a bit before finishing it off in 10 seconds flat.

I liked the sound of the Confit leg of creedy carver duck which was served with a quince jelly, a beautiful salad and their own homegrown salad. The duck literally fell off the bone and was the best I've eaten. Tim also tried it despite previously saying he didn't like duck and it completely changed his opinion on it.

By this point we were bursting at the seams but couldn't leave without pudding. When we saw the West Country Cider ice with the '99 cheddar flake we knew we had to try it. The punchy cider ice balanced so well with the cheese and it was the perfect ending to a superb meal.

To top it all off, they make their own apple juice from the apples from their orchard, it was so delicious that we had to take a bottle home with us. Luckily Tim drove the next leg of the journey which meant that I could lay back and recover from the epic meal. We are already trying to make plans to head back to the west country so we can come for another meal. If you're in the area, its not to be missed!

The Ethicurean
Barley Wood Walled Garden
Somerset
BS40 5SA
01934 863713
To find out more about The Ethicurean visit their website- www.theethicurean.wordpress.com

Review- La Tasca, Cambridge

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Last week I was invited by the manager of La Tasca in Cambridge to come and sample their new menu. The last time I had been to La Tasca must have been at least 3, if not 4 years ago. The last time I had felt like everything seemed to taste the same, all in a tomato sauce and reheated rather than cooked from fresh. Well I have to say, it looks like La Tasca has completely changed their game. Kevin, the manager informed my that they have changed 80% of the menu and updated many of their other dishes. As well as this they have gone from just a handful of suppliers to around 45 in an attempt to source the best ingredients. I noticed on the menu that their paellas are cooked to order and they ask that you allow a minimum of 20 minutes when ordering them which gave me hope that they had made a big effort to make things better.
I also noticed that they have made a huge effort with gluten free dishes. They even serve a gluten free beer. A couple of my family members are wheat intolerant so its something I always keep my eye on with new places that I go to.
We started off the meal with a jug of of their traditional sangria and one of their sharing platters. My previous experiences of sangria have been of a very sickly and sweet drink that gives you an instant headache but I was very happy to discover a lovely light and refreshing drink which I could of happily drunk all night. Out of 1 jug we managed to get about 6 glasses and didn't end up stumbling out of the restaurant afterwards.
The sharing platter Tabla Espanola consisted of sliced chorizo, salchicohn, serrano ham, mixed olives, Manchego cheese & Spanish ciabatta which was a bit of a cross between ciabatta and a baguette. It was a nice start to the meal with good quality ingredients although it did fill me up quite a lot before the tapas so perhaps next time I would share this between more people or just choose a couple of items from the nibbles menu.

We then went on to choose our tapas dishes. We were recommended 3 each but everything on the menu sounded great and we found it really tricky choosing. We decided on Empanadas which were filled with spicy mince beef & regato cheese. These were devoured first and definitely something we want to have again.

We also chose the chorizo to see if whether the quality of the sausage had improved. With it being just grilled there was no hiding. The chorizo was lovely and tender and a really nice flavour, and thankfully not swimming in oil or a sauce.

Another favourite was the 3 bean and mint salad. Lovely and refreshing along with some of the slightly heavier choices. This is something I will be attempting to make at home. It is a mixture of kidney, borlotti & cannellini beans with chickpeas in a mint dressing. Another thing I would definitely order again.

For our 4th option we chose the slow cooked pork belly, another new item on the menu. This was lovely and tender and fell apart. It was a good quality piece of meat with not too much fat on. This was served on a tomato & bean sauce which accompanied it very nicely. Even Tim, who is a bit picky when it comes to meat loved it.

The lemon chicken was our 5th choice. It's a mixture of chicken breasts and Mediterranean vegetables that have been pan fried with lemon and served with a sticky lemon glaze. This was another lovely refreshing dish although probably my least favourite, although Tim really liked it, I'm just not a huge fan of chicken breast.

The calamares were our last choice but because Tim doesn't eat fish they were all mine. They were perfectly cooked, no rubber bands in sight and in a nice light batter. Unfortunately I couldn't quite finish this dish all on my own.

For pudding I had been planning on trying their churros but by this point we were so full we went for the lighter option of the strawberry & lemon sorbet which was a great end to the meal.

I really was pleasantly surprised by this meal as I had written off La Tasca a few years ago. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and are already planning a trip back to try some of the other tasty sounding dishes. I am already kicking myself for not trying some of the other things on the menu.

The food is very reasonably priced with tapas dishes ranging between £2.95 and £5.95 and Paella between £8.95 and £11.95.

Review- Bibimbap House, Cambridge

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Beef Bibimbap

 Last night we went and ate a Korean restaurant on Mill Road after finding out about it on twitter (thanks Nora) I had never eaten Korean before so I didn't have anything to compare it to but I have to say that if that is the benchmark then I am really excited about trying more! The owner is a nutritionalist and focuses on different types of bibimbap with the menu consisting of only around 10 dishes. This is right up my street as I can't stand restaurants that have page upon page of dishes often suggesting that the majority of what you eat is frozen. Bibimbap translates to mixed meal and consists of various vegetables, strips of meat and rice. The whole thing comes in a big stone bowl which is heated up and continues to cook everything slightly whilst you eat. This means that you end up with lovely crispy bits on the bottom of the bowl. When you receive the bowl of food you are meant to mix everything up together before digging in. I ended up going for the Bulgogi with Japchae noodles after being recommended it by Nora. This is a bowl of marinated strips of beef, sweet potato noodles, mixed vegetables and rice. 


To accompany the main dish you also get a couple of side dishes. We had kimchi & a cold mashed potato dish and also a bowl of miso soup. They were the perfect accompaniment to the hot bibimbap.


The other mention I have to make is about the accompanying sauces, they have their own home made soy sauce which is so much better than others I have tried before. Then there are the two chilli sauces, one hot and one sweet which were out of this world (I have a slight chilli sauce addiction at the moment)


I do also have to say that the staff and owner of the restaurant were so friendly and welcoming even down to little things like offering us tap water where most restaurants frown upon it a little when you ask and also the free green tea refills which weren't mentioned on the menu.


The restaurant is also really well priced working out at just over £10 p/head. Its safe to say that I am already planning my next visit!

Bulgogi with Japchae noodles

Bibimbap House
60 Mill Road
Cambridge