Late night dinner at The French Brasserie, Melbourne CBD
Posted by | Categories: Bistro, Degustation/Fine dining, European, Featured, French, Melbourne, Restaurants, Travel
It was the weekend before Christmas and I had flown into Melbourne a day earlier than the Boy in order to attend to some “secret wedding business”. It was for my final dress fitting at Luci Di Bella and despite enduring a terrible flight with crying babies, vomiting toddlers and a delay on the tarmac for nearly an hour I remained hyped with excitement.
My Dad and Stepmum’s apartment is very conveniently located just off Flinders Lane; meaning with a short skip and a jump you can find yourself submerged in one of Melbourne’s hottest spots for restaurants; PM24, MoVida, Chin Chin, Cumulus Inc, Coda, Ezard…need I go on?
Despite their close proximity, I have not had the fortune to visit many of these fine establishments as my family are also star entertainers. They are well known for throwing many fabulous dinner parties that often carry well on until the wee hours of the morning. As a result when I am in Melbourne, I rarely get the chance to check out the local eateries because there is too much good food to eat at home!
Arriving late on a Friday night we were all in agreeance that cooking would prove to be too much of a hassle and headed out to one of their favourites: The French Brasserie. We were greeted by the owner of the restaurant like we were family, which is not an uncommon occurrence when out with these two. They get a similar reception from many of the fresh produce sellers at the Prahran Markets which is something you wouldn’t expect in a big city like Melbourne. We were given some complimentary champagne to celebrate the beginning of the silly season with him and sat out in the alfresco dining area sipping away before being ushered to our table.
Freshly Shucked Pacific and Sydney Rock Oysters
After enjoying some freshly shucked Sydney Rock and Pacific Oysters I started to feel the warmth of the champagne glow through my veins and all my stress from the crazy, hectic week slowly drained out of me. Living in separate cities makes it hard to keep my family up to date with all my wedding plans. As a result there was a lot of catching up for us to do! What made this moment even more special to me was that all my bridal babble was met with excitement and genuine interest. As not all my close family members have been by my side during this precious time, so their love and support has been worth its weight in gold. Or black truffle even 😉
Filet de boeuf
Knowing there was a long weekend of Christmas feasting ahead of us we scanned the menu for something light. My Stepmum and I chose the filet de bouef. My thickly cut tender yearling eye fillet was seared to a firm crust on its surface yet carved smoothly like pate under my knife. An elegant smear of ruby red beetroot purée gave a hint of sweetness to the delicate meat. It was exactly what I felt like. The dish is normally accompanied by a long block of potato salardaise; potatoes cooked in duck fat. I was unfortunately informed that the potato contained gluten or onion, I can’t quite remember, but basically it wasn’t suitable for me. They served us an extra dish of French fries to make up for this.
Paillard de boeuf
Dad ordered the paillard de boeuf, a yearling beef minute steak served with marrow and bordelaise sauce. The decadent flavours of the bone marrow gave a richer and bolder flavour to the beef and if his dish wasn’t laden with onion I would have loved to have given it a try. I cannot remember that last time I tried bone marrow, possibly it was at the family table as a child? What a perfect start to what was to prove an incredible Christmas weekend. Let the eating begin!!
French Brassiere 2 Malthouse Lane, Melbourne CBD VIC 3000 | (03) 9662 1632 | http://www.thefrenchbrasserie.com.au/site/ Price: $$$$ (Entrée $16-20, Mains $34-43) Food: 4.5/5 (ultra-fresh cuts of meat, faultless preparation) Service: 4/5 (I almost felt like family, I love that all the wait staff are French!) Ambience: 4.5/5 (hidden down a little lane way, has a bistro vibe) Drinks: 4/5 (Dad picked the wine, it was something scrumptious from Bordeaux) Total: 17/20 
Brunch with Ma at The Store, North Adelaide
Posted by | Categories: Adelaide, Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Restaurants, Travel
Adelaide holds a close place to my heart. I spent much of my impressionable teenage years there and much of that helped to culture the type of person I am today. The real joy of returning to Adelaide however is largely because it is the home town of my dearest Mother. I am a fiercely independent person much to the annoyance of those close to me; but I cannot deny that it would make my life so much better if I was able to spend more time with my Ma. She is my best friend, my confidant, my comforter and my inspiration. She is one of the best cooks, has a gifted touch in the garden and can always make me laugh until I cry. I love her so much!
Kitchen side at The Store
During my whirlwind trip over to Adelaide in November for Eat Drink Blog 3 Mum and I managed to squeeze in a quick catch up for breakfast at The Store on Melbourne Street, North Adelaide. She already checked that this place had a number of gluten free options available and was keen to revel in some wedding chit-chat. She was still on the hunt for her outfit for the big day and wanted to check out a cute boutique a few doors down from The Store meaning we could kill two birds with one stone.
Poached free range eggs on gluten free toast
Theoretically with the grotesque amount of food I had eaten at the Eat Drink Blog, one would think I would no longer be hungry. But I always find overindulgence has a way of stretching my stomach capacity thus allowing me to continue spiralling into the depths of excess. I was craving some poached egg action and ordered myself some along with their gluten free toast, roasted tomato and mushrooms.
Poached free range eggs on gluten free toast
A big pile of rich earthy mushrooms tumbled across my plate next to some herbed roasted tomatoes and two softly poached eggs. A quick pierce with a knife into my egg’s internals confirmed success as their yellow innards billowed out onto my gluten free toast.
Having also eaten a big meal the night before Mum opted for something very light ordering the fruit salad with the vanilla yoghurt on the side. Being used to the small serves and high prices of Perth I thought this was good value but having not eaten out much in Adelaide recently I have nothing but my hometown to compare with. The fruit was as fresh as summer leaving Mum with a small amount of room to fit in some sweets to share!
Fruit salad
I skipped over to the counter to find out what gluten free cakes were available. My choices included an orange almond cake (the bog standard) and a heavy-looking chocolate mud cake. I am growing quite weary of the orange almond option and knew my Mum would never turn down chocolate. I definitely inherited my chocolate addiction gene from her.
Flourless chocolate mud cake
Within minutes the two of us devoured our succulent treat and hand in hand headed off down Melbourne Street in search of an outfit worthy of the mother-of-the-bride. Alas we were in no luck this time but at least I got to share one of those precious moments with my Mum that many take for granted.
The Store 157 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide SA 5006 | (08) 8361 6999 | www.thestore.com.au Price: $$ ($7-18 Breakfast, $7-18 Entrée, $19-29 Mains) Food: 3/5 (simple, fresh food using local ingredients sourced from Adelaide Central markets) Service: 4/5 (unable to not notice beaming smiles and happy vibe amongst staff) Ambience: 3/5 (reminds me of the décor in Dome cafes in Perth) Drinks: 3/5 (their own blend of coffee from a local South Australian company called Coffee World, it was creamy and light in flavour) Total: 13/20
Blowing the budget at Guy Savoy, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Posted by | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, European, Featured, French, Luxury, Restaurants, Singapore, Travel
After landing in Singapore on the overnight flight from Perth I was accompanied by the Boy and one of my business partners Woki to attend a friend’s wedding at the Fairmont Hotel. Not willing to be discouraged by our lack of sleep we refused to waste our free day and spent most of it exploring the city. We conveniently ended our self-guided tour at Ku De Ta which is situated on the 57th level of one of the three Marina Bay Sands (MBS) towers. Sipping our drinks we watched a blanket of dark ominous clouds slowly envelop the city from our viewpoint on high and by the time the tropical storm reached us we were all seriously hungry. We headed back downstairs in search of some food.
The storm just starting to come in (photo courtesy of Woki)
Back on the ground floor foyer, we were served by a small framed, elegant woman who kindly took great trouble to ring around a few restaurants in the complex in search of a table. She managed to secure us a booking at Guy Savoy, one of the “celebrity restaurants” at the Casino. The only time available was just an hour away yet there we stood all wind-swept, sweaty and in no way presentable for fine dining.
Jumping in a cab the Boy, Woki and I made a mad dash to return to our hotel but as we crawled inch by inch through peak hour traffic I started to feel the tension among us rising. By this point, the monsoonal downpour was in full force and I could barely see the road in front of us. Jumping out of the cab to proceed on foot was completely out of the question!
Upon our return to Fairmont Hotel we quickly raced upstairs dripping wet to our rooms. With my heart pounding in excitement I flurried about spraying my hair with a ton of hair products and my face with a lathering of makeup. After the finishing touch of a smear of bright red lipstick I prayed my transformation into something more elegant was successful.
However, our building anticipation was not to end there. It almost felt like fate was against us as we ended up taking the wrong train, got off on the wrong station and then took a full circle route on foot of the entire MBS complex before we could actually find the restaurant. Let me tell you, it is not well signposted and MBS is huge!
Canapés: Foie gras “club sandwich”
A little flustered and nauseatingly hungry we were seated at our table ready for the fun to begin. Our meal was kick-started by a few adorable bite size canapés.
Canapés: Parmesan “gaufres” with black pepper mignonette
The gluten eaters received a pint-sized foie gras club sandwich and similarly Lilliputian cube of parmesan waffle.
Canapés: Beetroot, black truffle, herb purée
My gluten free canapés included a spoonful of miniature cubes of beetroot sprinkled with black truffle on a herb purée and some finely grated apple with baby celery leaves on an almond crumble.
Canapés: Celery & green apple with almonds
As we allowed these flavours to entertain our palate, our waiter wheels out an old polished wood trolley with a whole leg of Joselito’s Ibérico de Bellota Jamón. Ibérico jamón is a type of ham made from black Iberian pigs that are kept free range on pasture and oak groves where they feast on a diet of acorns, grass, herbs and roots. Joselito’s Ibérico jamón is world famous for being the best ham in world and wholesale prices start at around $600 for a small leg and can get well over $3000-4000 for an aged leg. They pride themselves on raising “happy pigs” and believe this is a major factor in their meat quality.
Spanish Iberico de Bellota Ham (Aged for 3 years from Castill y Leon, Joselito)
The waiter carved in front of us about a dozen slices straight off the bone. Dark purple in colour and with multiple thread-like veins of white fat coursing through the meat; the wafer thin slivers of ham nearly dissolved on contact with my tongue. Eating Joselito jamón is quite an unforgettable foodie’s experience and I highly recommend that you try it yourself if you ever have the chance.
Bread
The unusual pretzel shaped bread was unfortunately not gluten free and as there wasn’t any gluten free bread option I had to satisfy myself by just having a brief sniff of its fresh doughy aroma. I cannot deny it is always a little disappointing when I visit fine dining institutions such as this and a gluten free bread option is overlooked. Not that I really needed bread given the enormous meal we were about to enjoy!
L’amuse bouche
Our Amuse Bouche was a chilled Vichyssoise-styled soup made from leek, potatoes and cream. The addition of fennel gave a slightly sweet and refreshing after-taste. Curiously hidden under the small mug of thick soup contained two little half spheres of fennel and leek “royale”, basically a smooth lime green custard topped with minuscule little micro herbs and pea sized blobs of herb purée. With the subtle sweetness of the fennel in the soup still lingering, this little dollop served to extend and enhance the ambrosial experience with utmost precision.
Crab with multi-coloured beetroot variations.
Both the Boy and Woki ordered the “crab with multi-coloured beetroot variations” for their entrée. The concept of this dish was to “marry land and sea”. The blood red and lemon yellow shavings of roasted beets were curled into cone like flowers. Each little beet “flower” was filled with a foamy light beetroot blancmange followed by delicate portions of the cooked Australian Spanner crab meat. Savoury shortbread crumble and flecks of beetroot crisps sprinkled over the dish to add more complexity.
Smoked golden beetroot tartlet
Alongside the salad was served a warm golden beetroot tartlet containing hints of cardamom and orange. The pastry collapsed in the mouth like fairy floss. It lay on top of a wafer thin square of transparent paper that looked a bit like cellophane. We were informed this was salt paper and was entirely edible. Despite the tart being the accompaniment, both the boy and our companion agreed it was the star of the two components.
Mosaic of poulard, foie gras and artichoke, black truffle vinaigrette (Photo courtesy of Guy Savoy restaurant)
This photo of my entrée is not my own and is courtesy of the restaurant. My mosaic of poulard, foie gras and artichoke was by far and by large the highlight of the evening yet for some strange reason it completely bypassed me to take a photo. Like a bizarre form of savoury layer cake, thick door stop-sized slices of young fattened poulard, wedges of soft foie gras and similar textured artichoke sat relatively unimpressively on my plate. They were accompanied by two precisely equal sized blobs of black truffle vinaigrette. The appearance of this dish does in no way make one’s mouth water; which is perhaps why my photography was overlooked. However just one mouthful of these three simple ingredients with a conservative smear of the vinaigrette and you will change your mind forever. This dish was absolutely mind-blowing; the rich buttery elegance showed true respect for the ingredients with no need for embellishment.
Chestnut Royale
As we waited for our mains to arrive out came a little prequel, some sort of intermission entertainment I guess; named the Chestnut Royale. Now I am quite partial to chestnuts, yet I rarely see them feature on the menus in Australia. They always conjure up memories of walking down the streets of Paris where street vendors roast them everywhere in the winter. This innocent looking dish was quite a taste sensation. A perfectly formed dome of smooth chestnut custard sat swimming in a light bed of chestnut milk. Carefully placed on top a milk glazed chestnut glistened under the dim lighting garnished with tiny little pygmy sized celery leaves and chestnut chips.
Shoulder of Australian wagyu in two preparations, young carrots
Woki thoroughly enjoyed his “Shoulder of Australian Wagyu in two preparations”. By using an oyster blade steak or “paleron” as it is called by the French, the meat contained wondrous marbling and flavour. The first portion was braised in a red wine jus topped with baby carrots and a black pepper mignonette. The second portion of beef was purely just seared and garnished with dollops of wasabi. Both portions of beef sliced like butter at room temperature as good Wagyu should.
Potato Maxim’s
The accompanying side dish of potato Maxim’s and bitter greens was comparatively lacklustre and did not wow Woki at all.
Pan-seared duck breast with eggplant gianduja sauce
I ordered the pan seared duck breast with eggplant “gianduja” sauce and “au poivre”. I was informed by our waiter that in order to achieve the creamy pate-like texture of the meat the duck breast was seared, then cooked sous vide, and then finally seared again. On my plate balanced so carefully like a stack of cards were thin slivers of eggplant served with gianduja chocolate sauce. The sauce tasted a little reminiscent of Nutella due to its high hazelnut content. Tiny little purple delight flowers scattered amongst the eggplant giving a splash of colour and bitter flavour. The duck was richly flavoured and buttery tender and left me wanting more.
Potato “tagliatelle”
My side dish was potato tagliatelle; thin ribbon like curls of deep fried potato. This was the only dish I ate that I felt was a little lacking. Perhaps some seasoning would have improved this element however even if that were the case it felt a little mismatched to the fabulous duck dish.
Saddle, rack and shoulder of lamb “land and sea”
The Boy ordered the “Saddle, rack and shoulder of lamb; Land and Sea”. Unfortunately for him, after being left relatively unimpressed with his entrée choice his main didn’t manage to suitably wow him either. The main part of his dish contained a roasted rack of lamb placed on an almond and hazelnut praline. The saddle of lamb was stuffed with bamboo clams and pan roasted. Next to the lamb I recognised some emerald-green samphire on his plate; something we were introduced to during our beautiful lunch at Millbrook Winery last year where the chef forages it from the banks of the Swan River.
Saddle, rack and shoulder of lamb “land and sea”
The second part to his dish was his favourite. The shoulder of the lamb was braised and wrapped in thinly sliced potatoes and topped with sprinklings of purple potato crisps. I recall the waiter mentioned that this component contained melted onions so I didn’t get to taste it! This dish was apparently seasoned in the bamboo clam jus.
By this point in time in the night I was starting to receive a number of subtly concerned looks from the Boy and knew he was worried as to how much this meal was going to cost us. He is never been one to be a killjoy by any means and during our near fifteen years together we have shared some highly priced memorable meals together. But he is also a sensible man, and he knew all too well that just coming over to Singapore alone was breaking the budget so close to our wedding, so enjoying a four figure fine dining experience was definitely going to break the bank. A smart move from me at this would have been to proclaim total fullness and call it a night.
The cheese trolley! OMG!
And then out came the cheese trolley. And all my sensibility went out the window. My thoughts of finances, savings and budgets temporarily felt incredibly less important. Our dinner companion Woki was no help either. Being a father to two little ones means he rarely gets to experience such incredible culinary excellence and wanted to make the most of our evening. After a long consideration we settled for three cheeses: the curious looking Mimolette, Fourme d’Ambert and most dear to my heart Saint Marcellin; a cheese produced by my late uncle Jeannot’s factory in the Alps of France.
Cheese: Fourme d’Ambert, Mimolette, Saint-Marcellin (clockwise from the front)
The Fourme d’Ambert is a very mild blue cheese that is considered to be one of France’s oldest cheeses dating back to Roman times. It is a semi-hard cheese made with cow’s milk and has a luscious creamy texture and leaves a slightly sweet earthy mushroom after-taste.
Cheese: Saint-Marcellin, Fourme d’Ambert, Mimolette (clockwise from the front)
The Mimolette had such a curious appearance that it was our wild card choice for the evening. The cheese looked like a cross between a rock melon and a dusty cannonball. It was a hard round ball with a pocked dimpled surface. I later learnt that the dimpled appearance is actually due to the activity of surface mites that burrow their way through the surface rind which in turn allows the cheese to breathe and mature. From the heart of this bizarre rock, our waiter scooped out some bright orange brittle cheese. It tasted quite unexpectedly sweet and caramelised, and felt like you were eating a hybrid of fudge and cheese, but in a good way.
Our portion of the Saint Marcellin cheese regrettably wasn’t warmed to room temperature and thus failed to relax into that sexy goo I have enjoyed many times before. I was very disappointed because for a number of years I have been talking up about this cheese to Woki. It is not easy to come by in Australia and this was his first time trying it.
For some reason the next two following pre-dessert dishes managed once again to escape my camera. I think I was a little distracted by my growing concern as the impending bill. Our first pre-dessert was so delectable that Woki jokingly exclaimed to the waiter that it was “no good” and that we all requested another one. His sarcasm was lost on our waitress and with a worried look she scuttled away to get us another serve.
The petit fours trolley
We were too full to order a dessert but were tempted by the trolley of “petit fours”-styled mini-serves of ice cream, sorbet and biscuits and each tried a little portion for ourselves.
Earl Grey Sorbet
Just when we thought the near theatrical dining experience was over, as I sipped on my peppermint tea an Earl Grey Sorbet was delivered to our table for a final palate cleanse. Served on top of a black pepper crème anglaise the subtle flavours of the bergamot from the tea left a very refreshing end to our wondrous meal. Suffice to say, the Boy was right; we are still paying back our share of the meal to Woki!
Guy Savoy The Shoppes, Atrium 2 L2-01, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956 | +65 6688 8513 | www.guysavoy.com Price: $$$$$ Food: 4.7/5 (my choices were nearly faultless but there were some hits & misses at my table) Service: 5/5 (very knowledgeable and attentive with a noticeable lack of any pretension) Ambience: 3.5/5 (a little formal and stuffy but some fabulous views) Drinks: 4/5 (very extensive wine list but a considerable mark up on bottle prices) Total: 17.2/20
Fairmont Hotel, Singapore
Posted by | Categories: Accommodation, Breakfast/Brunch, Hotels, Singapore, Travel
Our last visit to Singapore was during a stopover ten years ago en route to London where we lived for a number of years. We had spent our last few weeks in Perth burning all the candles at every end bidding our friends farewell and by the time we arrived in Singapore we were left feeling like a clump of melted wax. We were young and comparatively naïve and got easily caught up in the flurry of hotel booked tours and commercialised tourist traps.
The view from our room
Fast forward to the present and we are now both savvy travellers; we know what we enjoy and more importantly how to find it. Consequently I was super excited to be returning to Singapore to attend a close friend’s wedding armed with a multitude of eating recommendations from all my fellow blogging friends.
The view from our room
The wedding banquet was to be held at Fairmont Hotel so to simplify things we took opportunity of the discounted group rates and stayed there. The location is very central being walking distance to the harbour, CBD and Marina Bay Sands; and has a subway train station in the shopping complex attached to the hotel. Public transport in Singapore is quick, efficient and easy to use. We actually discovered it to be a quicker way to get around the central city than a taxi.
Fairmont Room
We stayed in the Fairmont Room which is their most basic room; however it was relatively spacious with a lounge chair, extremely comfortable king sized bed, fully equipped working desk and a private balcony overlooking the city.
Lovely Le Labo products
There was a selection of bathroom amenities using Le Labo products scented with their signature Rose 31 fragrance. The thought of rose fragrance conjures up in my mind subtle, underwhelming, floral scents so when I took a waft of the luscious hand cream I wasn’t expecting the complexity of spice and woodiness. Other components of this fragrance include cedar wood, cumin and olbanum giving a sexy, nearly masculine scent. We only stayed for two nights but I ensured to clear away the products each service to ensure getting refreshed with another batch!
The mini-bar was small but had the essential ;)
Another highlight of our room was the addition of a Nespresso machine. Since my Mum gifted to us a Nespresso machine for our engagement last year, I have realised my coffee addiction has been lifted to new heights and I cannot start my day without a decent coffee.
Oh no!
My initial excitement at seeing a Nespresso machine was short-lived when I realised the only pods on offer were in fact the only pods I didn’t like! Thankfully a Nespresso Boutique was not far from our hotel and before long I was back in 7th coffee heaven.
Breakfast buffet
Breakfast is served buffet style downstairs at their Italian restaurant Prego. I always find Asian hotels offer a much great variety of foods for breakfast buffet than our Australian counterparts and this buffet was no exception. Gluten free bread was available on request however unfortunately none of the buffet food was sign posted whether it was gluten free so I was a little nervous in knowing in what I could and couldn’t eat. The non-allergic Boy on the other hand went nuts and piled his plate high of an assortment of curries, pastries and meats topped with a pile of crispy bacon.
Breakfast buffet – the bacon was so crispy
The donut tower
On our second day in Singapore we returned fairly late back to our room after a full day walking around the city. The wedding banquet was to be held that evening so we planned to quickly beautify ourselves ready for a few pre-dinner drinks to set the mood for the occasion. To our dismay, on entering our room we were confronted by the same mess we had left hours earlier that morning. Housekeeping had forgotten to clean our room! I cannot deny this is a major oversight for a premium hotel establishment and I couldn’t help but be annoyed that I had to wait for fresh towels before I could start getting ready for the evening celebrations. Consequently we missed out on the pre-drinks and had to rush straight to the wedding reception.
Despite this frustrating hiccup the Fairmont Hotel in Singapore proved to be a great accommodation option for us during our recent stay. The central location, reasonable room rates and well-appointed room made our whirlwind 2 day stay an enjoyable and comfortable one. Our only complaint (other than our un-made room) was we didn’t have enough time! As a result we have decided to stop over again on our way home from our wedding to finish off our hit list of must-eats!
Fairmont Singapore
80 Bras Basah Road, Marina Bay, 189560 Singapore | www.fairmont.com/singapore
Tripadvisor reviews Food: 3.5/5 (based on buffet breakfast at Prego only) Service: 2.5/5 (check out process was slow, housekeeping forgot our room) Rooms: 4/5 (clean, well-appointed and spacious, BTW the bed is the BOMB) Location: 4.5/5 Total: 14.5/20
Eat Drink Blog Conference 2012 Part 3: The Conference and a pop-up lunch
Posted by | Categories: Adelaide, Breakfast/Brunch, Events, Travel
Eat Drink Blog 2012: Part One | Part Two | Part Three
It was an early start the following morning after the Eat Drink Blog conference dinner at the Hilton Adelaide with many of us nursing hangovers from all the excesses of food and drink. The organising committee had planned things well with baristers on the ready handing out freshly brewed coffee to bleary eyed delegates. A massive breakfast spread was provided by Red Door Bakery and The Yoghurt Shop and included a moist gluten free frittata for me to enjoy.
Breakfast from The Yoghurt Shop
Pastries from the Red Door Bakery
The lecture content over the day provided me with many useful take home tips ranging from food photography, food styling, ethics, working with PRs, SEO and some legal advice. As many of my fellow bloggers have already posted extensive wrap ups of the lecture content, in order to prevent saturating the web with repeat content I suggest you head over to the Eat Drink Blog website for the links.
“Home shoot” photography workshop with Peter from Souvlaki for the Soul
Food styling workshop by Fiona Roberts
No food blogging conference is complete without copious amounts of food. Although we may have been fed and watered very well the previous night at the conference dinner and then again that morning; nothing prepared us for the vibrant pop up lunch downstairs in the Adelaide Central Markets.
Paella (by Nicholas Finn)
The markets are closed on Sunday giving us free rein to use the space
All produce on offer was proudly South Australian and included the most enormous pan of aromatic paella, gluten free cured meats, freshly cooked ham, local cheeses and artisan breads.
Cured meats
Woodside Cheese – they remembered gluten free crackers too!
Gluten free Laucke loaf
There was even a freshly baked loaf of gluten free Laucke bread accompanied by its own, non-contaminated cutting board and knife. It was a spongy fluffy loaf with the consistency of real bread!
Cake pops!
Afternoon delights
The onslaught of delectable food continued well into the afternoon. Natasha from Playing House had kindly stayed up all hours the night before busily baking our afternoon tea spread. Cake pops, chocolate mousse and some adorable little mini cakes which surprisingly vanished quickly even though I’m sure most of us were at maximal stomach capacity!
Flourless Orange cake
Flourless Orange cake by The Cupcake Table
The flourless orange cake was moist and zesty and although my expanded belly was starting to give the impression I was with child, I actually had to stop myself from going back for seconds.
Sadly all good things must always come to an end and coming down off my sugar rush my emotions ran high. In an out of character moment I swear I felt a tear prick in my eye as it dawned on me that this fantasy weekend was truly over. Many of the delegates had planes to catch, families to return to and lots of fresh new motivation to blog. After a flurry of farewells, hugs and promises to eat together once again we all departed to return back to our real lives.
Melbourne blogger “I’m so Hungree”
Thanks once again to the Eat Drink Blog 2012 committee:
Amanda, Christina, Alex, Celeste, Erin, Kirsty and Natasha; all your hard work paid off in the end!
Thanks also to all the generous sponsors. Without your help this free conference would never have happened.
Our loot! All proudly South Australian products!
Eat Drink Blog Conference 2012 Part 2: A Mexican Feast at the Hilton Adelaide
Posted by | Categories: Adelaide, Desserts, Events, Featured, Restaurants, Travel
Eat Drink Blog 2012: Part One | Part Two | Part Three
After spending the afternoon with Dianne Jacob at her food writing workshop, I whizzed back to my Mum’s house, whipped on a frock and headed back out to the Eat Drink Blog Conference dinner at the Hilton Adelaide. I was joined by the rest of the WA “Team”; Ai-Ling from Food Endeavours of the Blue Apocalypse, Michelle from Foodie Cravings and Moni from Gastromony along with some interstate blogging friends.
Our home grown Western Australian EDB delegates
So much food!
The Hilton’s Executive Chef Dennis Leslie themed the evening based on a South American fiesta with the idea of making the meal “fun”. It was set out on the terraced pool deck in the open air up high amongst the sky scrapers (well, they are more like just tall buildings in Adelaide!). It was a warm and humid night and the deck was lit up like a Christmas tree with fairy lights.
KIS Ginger Snow Cones
Fiesta time!
Gorgeous views of the Hills
Feeling like superstars, we were ushered out onto the terrace where we watched views of the sun setting sun over the Adelaide Hills. A whole lamb slowly rotated around on a spit and the mouth-watering smell of barbequed meats filled with air. As lamb sliders were passed around and devoured rapidly by all, our waiter informed me that a gluten free option was on its way for me. After what felt like hours, he returned with a massive gluten free bun filled like slippery wedges of freshly carved meat.
Lamb on a spit
Lamb on a Spit Sliders
Gluten free lamb slider: Who would have thought something so juicy was nearly fatal!
In my hunger and eagerness to devour my gluten free adaptation, I shoved a large door stop of lamb into my mouth imagining that it would be easy enough to chew. I seemingly underestimated the size of this chunk of flesh and was unable to open my mouth wide enough to chew it. Not wanting to make a spectacle of myself, I proceeded to try to swallow the piece whole. It plugged my gullet like sock in a drain and I couldn’t breathe. Gasping as discretely as possible, I quickly grappled for my wine and chugged down a couple of mouthfuls but to no avail.
Empanadas
By this point I’m sure I must have been turning a shade of blue and shamefully turned away from the table to dramatically hoik up the elongated piece in a most inelegant manner. Oh my god, how embarrassing. Thank goodness I was surrounded by friends. From then on forth, I was very particular to cut my food into tiny, mouse sized pieces for the remainder of the evening.
Grilled Porterhouse with Chimichurri sauce
Smokey beef ribs with chipotle sauce
Cheese Woodside Wrights Monet (Chevre) Woodside Cheese Wrights Charleston (Jersey Cow’s milk)
Although by this point we did feel a little ripped at the seams, the sight of yet another chocolate fountain had lost some of its original appeal earlier that day and we started to yearn for something a bit more interesting. After receiving a tip off from a local regarding the whereabouts of a late night dessert bar; the four of us were dead set on fitting just one more course in. Everyone can always find room for dessert. We all jumped into a cab and headed across town to Devour Dessert Bar.
Burnt milk pannacotta at Devour Dessert Bar
The burnt milk pannacotta had an exquisite blackberry gel centre that exploded out like goo when I plunged my spoon into its wobbliness. It was served on a bed of peanut butter crunch which gave a wonderful texture contrast to the jiggling pannacotta. I am not normally a fan of peanuts but the crunch reminded me of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes which in my pre-gluten free days I use to adore. I could have eaten of whole bowl of that peanut butter crunch.
Camomile tea at Devour Dessert Bar
The peanut butter and jelly macaron was too chewy and lacked the familiar “poof” sensation when I bit into the outer shell. I presumed they may not have been very fresh or alternatively refrigerated for too long. Although I felt the macaron wasn’t up to scratch, the rest of my dessert was so good that despite being the least keen person to visit Devour, I was one of the only ones who finished everything on my plate! Overloaded, overindulged and very satisfied we all headed home to get some sleep in preparation for a big day of conference the next morning.
Eat Drink Blog Conference 2012 Part 1: Adelaide Central Market Tour & Dianne Jacob workshop
Posted by | Categories: Adelaide, Events, Featured, Markets, Restaurants, Travel
Eat Drink Blog 2012: Part One | Part Two | Part Three
As much as I would love to be spending more of my time eating and blogging like most food bloggers I have a day job. I am a veterinarian who is as passionate about my career as I am about food. In order to stay abreast of this ever evolving field I regularly attend veterinary conferences and congresses. Forever thirsty for new information and ways to better practice medicine, these conferences are often quite intense for me and I have been known to go through a whole biro pen from furiously scribbling down extra notes in the margins of our proceedings.
Sweet nothings including gluten free options at Providore
While I have been a vet for over ten years I have only been blogging for just over a year and my abilities to write and take photos still have a long way to go before I would consider myself “good”. Keen to improve my skills as an amateur I was over the moon to be invited to join 80 fellow bloggers to attend the third annual Eat Drink Blog Conference (EDB) this year. Better still the conference was to be held in Adelaide, the city I grew up in and where my darling mother still lives.
Serving hungry bloggers samples of yoghurt at The Yoghurt Shop
Vets are not unsociable folk by any means; however the extroverts are few and far between meaning at a conference I would be lucky if I managed to network with a small handful of colleagues each time. In stark contrast, the energy and excitement amongst the Eat Drink Blog delegates was infectious. Being more isolated in Perth, there were many bloggers that I had never met. Yet over the past twelve months together we have shared life’s ups and downs via our blogs and social media. Such a warm and welcoming bunch of people filled the room and I sensed a strong sense of community amongst us from the outset.
Mushroom Mans’ Mushroom Shop: I wish we had a mushroom shop in Perth! The variety was incredible. They also stocked black garlic; which was more like fruity vegemite than garlic
This year was to be the first year that the conference spanned over two days and I cannot sing enough praise to the dedicated team of people responsible for making Eat Drink Blog such a successful weekend.
A BIG shout out goes to Amanda, Christina, Alex, Celeste, Erin, Kirsty and Natasha; thanks for all your hard work and dedication. We are all so appreciative!
San Jose at Sevenhill Fine Foods, Chorizo
San Jose at Sevenhill Fine Foods, aged style prosciutto
I spent much of my adolescent years in Adelaide and the Adelaide Central Markets holds a very dear place in my heart. In the early stages of coping with a broken home, my Mum and I always found solace visiting the markets together. Not only did our scant food budget thrive on the cheaper produce, the atmosphere and buzz was always enough for us to temporarily forget our pains and absorb the vitality. Returning to the markets some twenty years later conjured up a mix of emotions as this was one of the highlights of one of the darker times of my younger years.
O’Connell’s Meat Market: It felt kind of weird walking behind the counter!
Barossa Fine Foods: The duck gallantine. Boneless roasted duck filled with a pork and veal base, green peppercorns and garlic. Get some now!
Our tour included visits to a number of South Australian owned businesses and many of these were family run having been in the Central Markets for generations.
Leo’s is a family owned and run business specialising in Australian and imported cheeses
Leo’s Cheese of the Week
After the market tour, delegates had the option of joining a winery tour in the Barossa or McLaren Vale, or to participate in a food writing workshop by acclaimed writer Dianne Jacob. As much as the imagery of a road trip with a bunch of food obsessed bloggers sounded like a dream come true, I genuinely want to improve my writing abilities and thus opted for the workshop.
Kiwifruit crushed ice
Coming over from wet weather and storms in Perth I wasn’t prepared for the stifling hot day in Adelaide and prickled with sweat as I peeled off my layers walking in the sunshine. Killing time before the workshop we fortunately stumbled upon Dessert Story; a Taiwanese dessert restaurant. Desperate for something refreshing I ordered the Kiwifruit crushed ice. To my surprise out came a towering pyramid of syrupy bright green ice with chunks of kiwifruit tumbling down the sides like cartoon lava. I was unable to finish it partly due to its gargantuan size and partly due to its sickening sweetness. 
Essential study fuel: chocolate coated coffee beans and peanuts.
For anyone interested in becoming a food writer, be it a professional journalist or an unschooled blogger, I can highly recommend attending one of Dianne Jacob’s food writing workshops or at least reading her book “Will Write for Food”. She made us all reflect critically on our writing styles and gave us lots of techniques to improve our style and find our “voice”. Throughout her three hour workshop, she made us all participate in exercises which although hard to do on the spot were effective at illustrating her points.
This is my description of eating a sweet potato chip using adjectives, simile and some emotional significance. Bear in mind this had to be written on the spot!
“The crown of my tooth nearly shatters like glass under the impact of the snap. I start to salivate as I anticipate a piquant brininess only to be left underwhelmed by the subtlety, wimpy aftermath. I breathe a deep sigh of relief as memories of my recurrent nightmares of rotting teeth fade back to the distant cobwebs of my mind. “
The other big take home point for me was the fact that gushing is boring. It’s easy to write a review about a fantastic meal and a terrible one. But most meals are neither of these and fit into somewhat of a grey area. What distinguishes the more talented writers is their ability to write about these grey areas and still manage to capture their readers.
I have my new challenge. Mark my words; there will be no more “delicious”, “yummy” or “cooked to perfection” on Chompchomp from here forth!
Rock Bar & Kisik, Ayana Resort, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, Beach, Featured, Resorts, Seafood, Travel
It was our last night in Bali and although we had both enjoyed ourselves thoroughly we couldn’t help but feel that we had preferred our recent trips to Thailand. The over commercialised vibe along with the abundance of Australian tourists made our holiday in Bali feel a little bit like we hadn’t actually left Australia. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing, but I do love the experience of being in another country. I guess we shouldn’t really try to compare the two and regardless of their differences I am still looking forward to returning to Bali; perhaps next time we might get a bit off the beaten track.
We set out in a local cab once again and the Boy set my GPS on my phone to record our route. He was determined to prove to me that in order for the driver to justify a larger fare we were about to taken on a more extended journey to our destination. As we got into the cab we requested the driver to set the meter rather than barter with him over a fixed price. We discovered this can be a better way to obtain a more fair charge. On the slow drive south of the island to Rock Bar our driver continued to attempt to convince us of a package price deal where he would wait at the other end and be available to drive us home at the end of the evening. We politely declined his offer and explained we were happy to just hail another cab and use their metered fee also.
By the time we arrived at our destination an hour later he reproached us – obviously being very keen for the return fare and he offered to wait for us for 3000 Rupiah (which is about $3 dollars). At this point we realised we were being stingy mean tourists; the poor man was willing to wait for hours while we ate and drank the evening away for an extra three bucks. Feeling guilty for playing the hard arse we agreed as we pulled up at the busy hotel foyer.
Rock Bar
To get to Rock Bar you must walk through the large Ayana resort to the edge of the cliff face and then board a tiny cable car that takes you about 50 metres down the cliff to the bar. I recommend you arrive with plenty of time before sunset to avoid the queues to get in. We chose one of the lounges facing the water, kicked off our shoes and sunk back to soak up the sun.
Because there is no kitchen at Rock Bar all the food is pre-prepared and I was so disappointed to be told that there are absolutely no gluten free options on their menu at all. We were both hungry so you can imagine my food envy as I watched the Boy tuck into his wedges and curly fries. It was some consolation to me to hear that the wedges were dry, thin and flavourless, and the curly fries tasted like they came out of a frozen packet. To make matters worse, only tiny serves of sauce accompanied the dry potato meaning it didn’t sound like I missed out on much.
Potato wedges, Curly fries and Pita chips with Hummus, Curry Mayonnaise and Ketchup
As I basked in the warmth of the sun like a cat I sipped on my “Rockito” and realised that even without some nibbles to eat life was pretty good. The Boy wasn’t enjoying the sun quite as much as I was and tried to hide behind what little shade he could find cast by my shadow. My first Rockito came out with mostly ice and only about an inch of drink in the bottom meaning it only took me minutes before I had guzzled it down. I ensured to give more explicit directions to our waiter how I wanted my subsequent drinks to be served and from then on they were made to perfection, with just enough of a hint of sugar without being too overpoweringly sweet.
After several rounds of drinks I was beginning to think my stomach had started to digest itself in protest of my hunger. We moved further down the cliff face to the restaurant on the beach called Kisik. A word of advice for the ladies: don’t wear your high heels here as the restaurant is literally on the beach and your stilettos won’t take kindly to sinking into the sand! The location and view are fantastic affording great photo opportunities as the sun slowly sinks into the sea as you are surrounded by glowing bamboo torches.
Kisik restaurant looking over to Rock bar
Kisik offers a variety of fresh seafood displayed on a bed of ice for you to pick and hand to the chef who cooks it for you just how you like it. Lobster, prawn, seasonal fish, oysters and clams you name it; if it’s caught locally it is likely to be available fresh off the boat and nearly moving. In fact the lobsters were still actually alive and I felt pangs of guilt for the poor creatures as we selected which one we were soon to devour.
Gado gado salad
As part of the meal you are served two entrees consisting of an Indonesian Gado gado salad followed by a Jimbaran styled Bouillabaisse. My Gado gado salad was altered slightly to accommodate for my allergies which by the way the chef found to be no problem.
Jimbaran Bouillabaisse
Our soup tasted similar to a Tom Yum style hot and sour soup and was refreshing and light. Perfect to commence our seafood feast that we had selected as in true form we had gone overboard and ordered quite a lot!
Grilled King prawns with garlic
Our first choice was some beautiful looking King prawns and although they were ridiculously priced, nearly more than what we paid at Rottnest last year, they looked so tempting that we just couldn’t resist. It was worth it! They were cooked simply with some garlic butter and lemongrass and were very fresh, crunchy and mouth-wateringly juicy.
Clam soup with lime and coriander in a white wine reduction
For our next course we had selected some local clams which the chef made into a very tasty soup with fresh lime and coriander in a white wine reduction. It reminded me a little of the clam soup we had some time ago at Rockpool and was comparably delicious.
Steamed Rock Lobster Indonesia style with tofu, chili and garlic
Our last course was the one I really was waiting for. Steamed rock lobster cooked Indonesia style with tofu, chilli and garlic. To my extreme disappointment the lobster was overcooked and rubbery tough. What a sad way to end an otherwise wonderful meal!
Upon our return to Seminyak we realised that our poor driver had spent a total of three hours waiting for us and a further two hours driving. Now we really felt like the mean stingy tourists so in order to both appease our guilt and show our appreciation we gave him a generous tip as we alighted at our hotel Villa Air Bali.
Overall both Rock Bar and Kisik are experiences not to be missed on a trip to Bali, expect to pay near Perth prices, but for the location, service and ambience it was totally worth it.
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
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Rock Bar and Kisik @ Ayana Resort Jl. Karang Mas Sejahtera, Jimbaran, Bali 80364, Indonesia | (+62) 361 702222 | Rock Bar | Kisik Price: $$$$$ (Live Rock Lobster AUD$185/kg, King Prawns AUD$145, Oysters AUD$4/piece!!) Includes tax, service charges and two entrees, using current $1=R9166 Food: 3/5 (Rock Bar – needs GF options, Kisik – amazing meal until our overcooked lobster arrived) Service: 5/5 (could not fault them – full of smiles) Ambience: 5/5 (waves lapping on the rocks below you, setting sun, fresh sea air = awesome) Drinks: 3.5/5 (great variety of cocktails) Total: 16.5/20Cullen Winery, Margaret River
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Margaret River, Regional WA, Restaurants, Travel, Winery
With the current Australian dollar being high coupled with overinflated prices in Perth, we have noticed that it is actually quite a bit cheaper to go on overseas holiday to a nearby Asian country than it is to holiday in Western Australia. Consequently of late we have been neglecting our frequent visits “down south” and replacing them with visits to Bali and Thailand.
But despite this fact, nothing beats a quick local getaway for its ease and accessibility. It was our last day of our minibreak in Margaret River and reflecting back on our weekend we were both grateful for our location choice. We hadn’t spent an hour trying to cram everything into our two suitcases nor was our little holiday concluding in a mad dash to the airport to catch a plane. Yes, travelling locally still has its definite perks. The car was chinking loudly due to all my wine purchases and our car eskie was jammed full of gourmet goodies; I was trying my hardest to make the most of having no limit on my baggage allowance!
I had made a booking for us at Cullen Wines for one last final meal before we drove back to the city to return to work. Being Easter Sunday I was glad that I had planned ahead as the restaurant looked busy. Upon arrival there was a little mix up where I got a vague jist from the staff that maybe our booking wasn’t recorded in their book. After a brief hesitation we were shown to our seats which were indoors and away from the picturesque area on the deck overlooking the vineyards. It was a bit of a shame we weren’t out there in the glorious sunshine as I had made the booking weeks prior and would have loved to have had one of these prime positions. I guess it’s not like I requested to be seated outdoors so really who am I to complain?
Cullen garden beetroot, carrot and tomato salad with chick pea cakes and soft goats cheese
The Cullen restaurant follows the same biodynamic philosophy of Cullens’ Winery using only fresh organic produce sourced from their own large kitchen garden and selected local producers. I knew this fact prior to our arrival and I wanted to see for myself if this reputation for amazingly fresh food was true. We grow a lot of our own vegetables at home and nothing beats them in flavour when compared to commercially grown produce. I wasn’t disappointed – my salad was literally beyond fresh and bursting with flavour. Brightly coloured beets, tomatoes and carrots joined with soft leaves from the garden topped with tangy dollops of goat’s cheese. Scattered throughout were tiny little buttons of chickpea cakes giving just enough substance to make this a meal. Such simple yet thoughtfully chosen ingredients made every mouth full a taste sensation.
Crispy duck with mandarin pancakes, new season plum sauce, spring onion and Asian herbs
The Boy ordered the crispy duck with mandarin pancakes. The duck was richly flavoured and the pancakes were soft and light. I couldn’t see any of the crispy part of the duck on his plate but he didn’t seem too bothered about this and enjoyed his meal.
Grilled salmon with finger lime, potato mash and steamed greens
My main dish was described on the menu as grilled salmon with braised octopus, quinoa, Swiss chard and verjuice beurre blanc. After my delightful introduction to quinoa at Xanadu the day before, I wanted to compare and contrast this new discovery with another chef’s interpretation. I was initially told on ordering that this dish would be suitable for me but unfortunately the waiter soon returned to let me know that much of this dishes accompaniment contained onions. This didn’t seem to worry the chef as he offered to make an alternate option especially for me. As a replacement I was served some creamy mash, steamed snow peas and my large serve of salmon was topped with some citrus dressing that looks a little like Pemberton finger lime.
To my complete surprise as I started tucking into my meal, our waiter also brought out a large bowl of salad filled with massive chunks of avocado and a variety of those wonderful gems from the kitchen garden as a complementary extra because my dish had to be altered so much. How thoughtful and kind of the chef – thank you!
Beef sirloin with blue cheese soufflé, baked mushrooms, cauliflower cream, rocket and red wine jus
The boy’s main was a hearty man’s dish with a juicy sirloin beef steak, crunchy blue cheese soufflé, cauliflower cream and a red wine jus. His steak was cooked rare to his liking and was a quality cut of meat.
Gluten free brownie with berry ice cream
This was my first day of really feeling like I had recovered from my stomach bug so I had happily chugged down a far bit of Cullen’s lovely peachy Mangan Vineyard Sauvignon blanc Semillon. This meant we both ordered dessert without me remembering to take a photo of the menu to remind me of the details! My gluten free dessert was described as a brownie of sort with berry ice-cream. But let me tell you, this was no mere brownie. The top layer consisted of a decadent mousse flavoured with a hint of hazelnut praline goodness. The bottom half had more of a cake like texture and stopped the whole thing from being too overwhelmingly rich.
Pecan pie
The Boy’s choice was the pecan pie, an unusual selection for him probably facilitated by the fact it came with ice cream. Obviously I didn’t get to share any of his as it was in no way gluten free so I cannot give you much of a description other than it was good enough for him to finish in entirety.
We really had a fabulous time during our stay down in Margaret River this Easter. Both Xanadu and Cullen were stand outs to us with both their customer service and food quality. Cullen’s exceedingly fresh produce is something worth going back for again and again and I look forward to returning.
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Cullen Wines Lot 4323 Caves Rd, Margaret River, 6284 | (08) 9755 5656 | http://www.cullenwines.com.au/our-restaurant Price: $$$$ (Entrée $19-21, Mains $33-39) Food: 4.7/5 (fresh, succulent – nothing beats garden fresh) Service: 4.7/5 (slight hiccup at the beginning but handled very discreetly) Ambience: 3.2/5 (would get a much higher score if we sat outside in the sunshine) Drinks: 4/5 (only serve Cullen wines – not that that’s a bad thing!) Total: 16.6/20
Villa Air Bali, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Accommodation, Bali, Breakfast/Brunch, Chinese, Japanese, Resorts, Travel
I have to be the worst person in the world at keeping secrets. I don’t know how the Boy does it but consistently for some years now he manages to crack the puzzle on what his Christmas gift is from me. It frustrates the hell out of me! So this year I thought I’d go way outside the box from the usual gift giving we normally do and instead I decided I would get him a holiday …. and I would come along of course!
Now obviously the first place that came to my mind was Thailand as our love affair with this country continues and I really wanted to organise a trip to Bangkok with a detour via Hua Hin for some beachside relaxation. But after some investigation with our travel agent, I soon realised that with a wedding to save for; going to Thailand during its peak season was realistically out of my budget! She suggested we go somewhere a little closer to home such as Bali. Being only three and half hours flight from Perth it seemed like the perfect place to get in a quick amount of much needed R&R.
For nearly half the price of a trip to Thailand she arranged a five night holiday to Bali including flights staying at Villa Air Bali in Seminyak. I laminated some brochures of the villas and pictures of Bali and wrapped it all up in a big gift box with the Flight Centre travel documents. To my exquisite delight the Boy had absolutely NO IDEA what it was until he opened it! Finally success at keeping a secret!
The flight was over before we knew it and we were collected by our pre-organised transfer. We travelled for nearly two hours from the airport bouncing along on potholed streets in the bucketing rain while our transfer tried to sell us guided tours. It was much to our relief when we pulled into the lobby area and were warmly greeted by our hotel receptionist. The lobby was open plan with a large moat pond surrounding it with some beautiful Koi and a symphony of frogs. The locations of the villas are slightly out of the main area of Seminyak so it was generally a taxi ride to get to the restaurants and beach clubs.
We were taken to our villa where our porter showed us every infinite detail of the villa right down to opening the kitchen drawers and showing us the forks and knives. The kitchen had only basic utensils and enough glasses and plates for two people. Although there was a stove top, there weren’t really enough kitchen bits and bobs to make much more than a stir fry. Not that I planned on doing ANY cooking mind you.
The villa was clean and free of any mouldy odours so common to some middle range accommodation during the wet season in the tropics. The only downside of the villa design was that during rainy downpours, water would flood across into the living area and onto much of the tiles. Both of us nearly stacked it a number of times as the floor became very slippery. The pool was so refreshing and inviting; it was invigorating to stumble out of bed each morning and plunge into the pool.
The bedroom was icily air-conditioned much to the Boy’s delight and the bathroom was enormous. In fact it was bigger than the bedroom. There was a large selection of amenities and in addition to the usual suspects there was some insect repellent and some fragrant bath salts.
Despite the brochure for the villa mentioning it has free WIFI, it took us a couple of days before they could actually get it to work properly. The connection was very poor as reception informed us that the internet in Bali is not very fast. The villa comes with a free stocked minibar but this was a little deceiving as it only contained only a couple of beers and some soft drink. I guess I can’t really complain if it’s free!
Breakfast can be served in villa or the restaurant with six options available: American, Healthy, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean and Japanese. We decided on arrival we would try and have a different kind each morning for a bit of fun.
The American breakfast
The first (and worst) breakfast we had was The American. It was bland and very simple but I suppose it was acceptable enough. The scrambled eggs were light and fluffy albeit a little tepid. The black rice bread was gluten free and had a distinct nutty flavour which I really enjoyed. The yogurt was watery and fairly inedible.
The Chinese breakfast: Rice Porridge (congee) with 8 kinds of accompaniments, fried egg, mantou & Chinese tea
The Chinese breakfast consisted of some congee (rice porridge) with a myriad of accompaniments not all of which I recognised and could identify. It was served with some mantou (steamed buns). I carefully selected a number of the accompaniments and placed a sprinkling of them into my congee.
The Boy’s congee with “the lot”
The Boy on the other hand piled all of his on top of his congee and mixed it all through. The end result looked at little scary and was not very pleasant apparently! I quite enjoyed mine but I was a lot more conservative with what I put in it.
The Indonesian breakfast
The Indo breakfast option gave an option of either Nasi goreng (fried rice with shrimp, chicken and vegetables) or Mie goreng (fried noodles with egg, chicken and vegetables). I ordered the rice and the Boy ordered the noodles. My nasi goreng was fairly run of the mill and was nothing I couldn’t have recreated better at home. Unfortunately I spotted some onion contained in this one and ended up spending a fair amount of time having to sift carefully to pick the pieces out which was annoying. As with our American breakfast, our meals were served a little on the cold side.
The Japanese breakfast
The Japanese breakfast was by far and by large my favourite – I actually ordered this one twice I loved it so much! It came with some bean paste soup (miso), steamed rice, a couple of pieces of marinated grilled fish and some steamed white and orange sweet potato. There were also some green beans in peanut sauce. On the side was some dessert containing sweet jelly, red beans and fruit which made a refreshing end to the filling meal. I did make the mistake of tasting the side dish of natto. What the hell!! I always thought I was good with eating weird tasting things but this stuff is definitely an acquired taste – we both thought it was pretty gross. Is there a better way to eat this stuff?
Overall if we return to Seminyak we will probably stay somewhere more centrally located, but if you don’t mind being a little off the beaten track Air Bali was good value, peaceful and clean.
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Villa Air Bali, Seminyak | (+62) 361 737378 | www.villa-airbali.com Price: $$ Package deal with Flight Centre: $1014 per person for return flights with Virgin Blue from Perth, airport transfers, 5 nights accommodation in a pool villa with breakfast included, two massages in villa, free minibar Food: 2/5 (in villa breakfasts should be served promptly after making to avoid being cold) Service: 3.5/5 (reception went out of their way to notify restaurants in advance of my allergies) Ambience: 4/5 (relaxing, clean and modern style villas) Drinks: 2/5 (minibar was scant and was refilled only intermittently) Total: 11.5/20Xanadu Wines and some Chocolate, Margaret River
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Margaret River, Regional WA, Restaurants, Travel, Winery
It was our first morning at Chandeliers on Abbey and we woke up to nothing but the soft twitter of birds. The peace and quiet of the country coupled with an amazingly comfortable bed had allowed both of us to get the first uninterrupted night’s sleep since my evil gastro hit nearly a week ago. Although I still wasn’t quite 100%, I definitely felt much more revived, refreshed and ready to eat again. What perfect timing.
Our chalet had a fridge stocked with some fresh orange juice, milk, eggs and butter and a pantry stocked with tea and coffee. I had presumed there would be nothing for us to eat in the chalet for breakfast, so I brought some gluten-free bread, avocado and tomatoes from our fridge at home. These fresh provisions were combined for a quick and satisfying cooked breakfast and feeling energised off we set on a self-guided tour. I planned to stop in at a few old favourites mixed in with a couple of places we hadn’t visited before.
Our favourites included the picturesque Clairault Wines where I was delighted to see they had a special on their cases of Chardonnay – obviously I had to take advantage of this offer! The Boy was so sweet and without complaint was my skipper for the day. He knew what a horrid week I had and wanted me to enjoy myself too. So that he didn’t bore too much from winery upon winery, we stopped in at the Bootleg Brewery where he grabbed a mixed six-pack and some Pilsner to enjoy back at the chalet later.
Assorted truffles at the Margaret River Chocolate Company
No visit to Margaret River is complete without a stop at the Margaret River Chocolate Company. I get so excited at their tubs of free choc buds – they contain white, dark and milk buds. Kids line up at the tubs scooping out handfuls at a time (thankfully using the spoon not their bare hands!)
We bought a sample of their truffles to enjoy for the drive down to Xanadu for lunch but as we journeyed further south we drove past another much newer chocolatey venue called Gabriel Chocolate. I recall reading a review of this place on Food Endeavours of the Blue Apocalypse and was intrigued to see how they compared to the mainstream MRCF.
Gabriel’s sources of cocoa beans
Gabriel chocolate differs from many fine chocolatiers in that they import the actual cocoa beans (rather than chocolate) to make all their lovely treats. This basically means that they can make chocolate from beans that have been obtained from only one part of the world or even just one plantation. Just like wine made from the same grapes but grown in different regions, the flavour from cocoa beans can vary depending on the climate they are grown in and we both found it fascinating comparing different textures, aromas and taste that each region imparted to its beans.
Being the Easter weekend, Xanadu Wines was fully booked and as we arrived a number of less organised people were being turned away due to a lack of a reservation. All the staff were all so bubbly and welcoming, and within minutes of us being seated at our table the manager came over to acknowledge us and advised me he was fully aware of my allergy requirements. I was advised that most items off the menu could be easily adapted and we were introduced to our waiter for the afternoon.
Wild mushroom with quinoa, butternut pumpkin, salted ricotta, sage (no onion)
Of course I ordered the mushroom entrée. My obsession with this vegetable continues. Served with soft butternut pumpkin and quinoa I felt like I was being so good to my body while still enjoying such wonderful flavours. This was my first time trying quinoa at a restaurant and I enjoyed the nutty texture. Prior to my gluten-free days I was a big fan of couscous and it is one of the things I miss (along with buttery croissants). I can see how this ancient grain could serve as a replacement to couscous in many of my old recipes!
Masala prawns, curried lentils, carrot & yoghurt puree, coconut dressing
The Boy ordered the Marsala prawns with curried lentils, carrot and yoghurt purée topped with a coconut dressing. A good indicator of the quality of his meal can always be measured by how quickly he devours it and trust me those prawns didn’t linger long on the plate!
Grilled gold band snapper fillet, sweet corn and pickled mushrooms, pancetta, olive and green bean salad
As my stomach was still undersized from its usual capacity I stuck with ordering light meals and chose the fish of the day. It was a Gold band snapper fillet and the chef kindly adapted the sides to accommodate for my allergies. The fish flaked away gently under my fork and I was surprised at the size of the portion.
Confit duck leg, smoked duck breast & fig salad, orange braised witlof, quince vinaigrette
The Boy ordered the duck which came with zesty orange braised witlof and a fig salad. It was drizzled in sweet, sticky quince vinaigrette. The duck was tender and not overcooked or dry.
Mandarin and almond cake, almond praline and olive oil ice cream
Despite feeling pretty full I was determined to have dessert. There were a number of gluten-free options available which was quite exciting. I chose the mandarin and almond cake with olive oil ice cream. It was so moist and was warmed slightly. As I scooped a mouthful of ice cream and cake simultaneously onto my spoon I delighted that the ice cream melted perfectly into my mouth and not on my plate.
Poached pear, smoked vanilla cream, oat cookie, caramel ice cream
The Boy wasn’t going to have any dessert as he was also feeling near capacity but I coaxed him into trying the poached pear on the fact that it came also with ice cream. His addiction to ice cream parallels mine for mushrooms. The caramel ice cream was nothing short of amazing and mixed in with the vanilla cream I had to stop myself from stealing all his dessert. I will definitely be back!
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Xanadu Wines Boodjidup Road, Margaret River 6285 | (08) 9758 9500 | www.xanaduwines.com Price: $$$$ Accepts Entertainment Card (Entrees $18, Mains $36, 2 course special $49, 3 course special $65) Food: 4.8/5 (wonderful fresh, clean and locally sourced food)) Service: 5/5 (discreetly attentive, friendly, oozed great teamwork and positivity) Ambience: 3.5/5 (would have been better with a bit of a view) Drinks: 4/5 (we shared a bottle of the lively fruity Xanadu Sauvignon blanc Semillion 2011) Total: 17.3/20
Chez Gado Gado, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, French, Restaurants, Travel
Bearing in mind that our mini-break to Bali was a spontaneous and relatively unplanned trip the holiday’s budget was a little tighter than I am normally accustomed to. It was our fourth night and we had already eaten at some very impressive restaurants such as Ku De Ta and La Lucciola. These were wonderful meals but they came at prices that are comparable to those back in Perth. To add to the situation it is only a year before our wedding date (WOOT!) and the boy was getting justifiably concerned about our spending habits knowing full well that we still had our Sydney trip the following week!
Once again by recommendation, this time from one of our travelling companions who came with us last year in Phuket, we made the journey in the torrential monsoon rain to the more built up southern part of Seminyak to Chez Gado Gado. On entry into this opulent venue I started to worry that I had inadvertently chosen another pricy restaurant. Thankfully after scanning the menu I was relieved to see that things were all very reasonably priced despite the external appearance of the restaurant being quite fancy.
We were greeted promptly by the maître D who had been kindly informed in advance by our hotel reception of my dietary requirements. She explained she would get the chef to come to our table so I could discuss the menu directly with him. The executive chef is Quirijn Rademaker, a Dutchman who has been working at Gado Gado for the past 4 years having previously come from Shy restaurant in Jakarta. He was keen and energetic and offered to adapt a number of options off his menu for me. I was eyeing off the terrine of smoked and cured salmon with crab, pomelo and sour cream vinaigrette. He said although the terrine is not suitable, he could make me a salmon carpaccio and accompany it with a dill mustard cream, fresh fennel and the pomelo. I haven’t tried salmon with citrus before – it sounds like a pretty weird thing to combine, but surprisingly it really worked and I was suitably impressed.
Butter poached slipper lobster with crab ravioli, spinach and kaffir beurre blanc
The boy ordered the lobster ravioli which I obviously couldn’t taste but looked really flavoursome. Having eaten out for a number of nights in a row, he was starting to get a little weary of my repeated and incessant questions regarding the taste of his meals so I didn’t get much of a description from him other than “delicious”.
Roasted duck breast with terrine of the leg, sweet and sour beetroot, potato gratin and Sichuan jus
After such fresh and saporous entrees, unfortunately our main meals were lacklustre by comparison. The potato gratin was served lukewarm and tasted like it had been re-heated. The jus contained onion so the chef made an alternate sauce for me that was too peppery and didn’t balance well with the sweetness of the beetroot and duck. None of the dish was unpleasant by any stretch of the imagination, just mismatched and poorly combined.
We had also ordered some sides of sautéed mushrooms and zucchini with mint and garlic. These sides were seemingly forgotten and I had to remind the waiter that we ordered them. They didn’t come out until we had finished our mains completely. The sautéed mushrooms were juicy and tasty but the zucchini was soggy with excessive oil and was intensely overloaded with garlic. After overdosing on our garlic we had no room left for dessert and tried to make the most of the break in the rain and head back to the villa. As soon as we had paid the bill and were heading out the front door to hail ourselves a cab – the heavens opened up again and the tropical downpour continued! We got thoroughly soaked!
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
Like Me on Facebook! Chez Gado Gado Jalan Camplung Tanduk, (Dhyanapura) 99, Seminyak, Bali, 80361 INDONESIA | (+62) 361 736966 | www.gadogadorestaurant.com Price: $$ (Entrees 88-164K Rp/$9-17 AUD, Mains 146-295K Rp/$15-30 AU) (incl. tax & service charges) Food: 3/5 (has potential – overall not bad) Service: 3/5 (slow on drinks service and forgot side dishes) Ambience: 3/5 (would be awesome to watch the sunset on the deck weather permitting) Drinks: 2.5/5 (cocktails were fairly average) Total: 11.5/20Gnarabar Bar and Bistro, Margaret River
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Margaret River, Pub, Regional WA, Restaurants, Travel
What a horrific week it’s been for me! This persistent stomach bug has put me out of action for the whole week!. It started brewing on my wedding dress shopping day with my bestie and then developed more dramatically into a further two days at home in bed. I always get racked with guilt whenever I take a sick day as everyone else’s work load increases to compensate for my absence. So when I woke up on the fourth day and managed to hold a piece of toast down I figured surely I must be good to go. I was wrong and a few hours later my manager sent me home ashen-faced and dizzy.
Being our first Easter off together in several years, I had booked a weekend getaway with the Boy down in Margaret River which also happened to coincide with our 14th anniversary celebration. Prior to falling sick I was so excited about this little minibreak and was looking forward to a few days of eating, drinking and romantic fun. As I sat unusually quietly in the car on the drive down, I accepted that although I am not feeling at my best I was not going to let it ruin our holiday.
We didn’t arrive until the late afternoon on Good Friday by which I was too tired to consider the notion that I may want to blog about our accommodation so dear readers please forgive me for the lack of any photos. We stayed at Chandeliers on Abbey in Yallingup and were quite impressed with the quality of the chalet – it had a fabulous sound system with speakers throughout the chalet, warmed bathroom tiles, and a fridge stocked with fresh milk, OJ, eggs and butter. The kitchen was well equipped and there were candles all about the chalet to help give more atmosphere.
After relaxing on the deck for some time, we headed out to Gnarabar Bar and Bistro which was seemingly one of the only places I could find open on a Good Friday. Situated just out of Margaret River Township near the Gnarabup beach, the bar was humming with life and nearly full capacity. The staff seemed a little run off their feet and perhaps also a tad disorganised.
Chilli salted calamari, lime
Seeing a menu clearly marked with gluten-free options always instills hope for an easy ordering experience. If gluten-free dishes are regular menu items then this indicates to me that the kitchen must be familiar with correct food preparation for us more challenging customers. I ordered the gluten-free option of chilli salted calamari with Thai chilli jam and lime. I just wanted a light snack for entrée as my stomach had shrunk from my lack of food intake during the week as a result of being so unwell.
When my dish arrived, it was coated in batter and for some reason I thought there was a chance it wasn’t actually gluten-free. I asked the waiter who assured me this was gluten-free batter and I was totally fine to eat it. Fortunately my usual ritual of photo taking delayed me starting to eat this dish as a few minutes later the same waiter came out of the kitchen looking a little flustered exclaiming I can’t eat it and that it WASN’T gluten free. I couldn’t believe my ears! If I hadn’t double checked with the waiter, and then paused to take photos, I would be back to square one with my stomach ills and our romantic weekend would have been ruined. It astounded me that the kitchen allowed this error to occur!
Pan fried gnocchi, confit rabbit, shitake mushrooms, fondant leeks, parmesan and porcini butter, fresh herbs
The Boy order the pan-fried gnocchi with rabbit and shiitake mushrooms. I told him not to wait for my replacement meal to arrive before commencing so he could enjoy his while it was still hot. The gnocchi was soft and not too doughy and he said the rabbit was tender and sweet. My dish didn’t end up being brought out to the table until well after he had polished off his gnocchi.
It didn’t actually look a grand deal different from the previous dish but the Boy had snuck a taste of the one with gluten and said it tasted different. Seeing as my appetite wasn’t the best I was happy to share some of my calamari with him rather than have him stare hungrily at me while I ate. I’m not sure what happened to my “chilli jam” as my calamari was served with some aioli…maybe I read the menu wrong. The calamari was fairly bland and not seasoned very well, and although most pieces were tender there were a few chewy ones in there.
Moroccan quail, spiced pumpkin puree, olive, feta & parsley salad
There was only one main dish on the menu that was able to be prepared both gluten and onion free and unfortunately it was a fairly unexciting looking chicken breast dish. Thankfully I was informed by our waitress that it wasn’t a problem for the chef to make any of the entrée dishes into a full main meal size for an extra ten bucks. I was impressed with the size of the meal that was to follow. Juicy meaty Moroccan spiced quail served on a creamy pumpkin purée with an olive, feta and parsley salad. The spices were not too overpowering for my delicate gut and the quail were super-sized and succulent.
10 hour braised beef cheek, parmesan polenta, tomato, beans, green olive & parsley sauce, gremolata
The boy ordered the 10 hour braised beef cheek with parmesan polenta for his main meal. He was quite disappointed in his choice as the meat was unexpectedly dry and chewy; not tender or flavoursome as he imagined.
There was no way I was going to fit in a third course until I had given myself another day or two for my stomach size to re-expand to its previous size so we skipped dessert – an unusual occurrence for me indeed! We returned to our cosy chalet and flaked out for what was to be one of the best night’s sleep either one of us has had in over a week. Bliss.
For what it is, a casual beach pub, the Gnarabar fits the bill. However despite us using our Entertainment Book discount, we both felt we could get better quality food at better value at many of the beautiful wineries we visited over the following few days. Additionally the oversight of serving me gluten accidentally is of considerable concern not just for me but for other gluten intolerants out there. If I hadn’t asked, I would have found out the hard way a few hours later.
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Gnarabar Bar and Bistro Margarets Beach Resort, 1 Resort Place, Gnarabup Beach, Margaret River, WA 6285 | (08) 9757 1583 | www.gnarabar.com.au Price: $$$ (Entrees $14-17, Mains $28-35, accepts Entertainment Card) Food: 2/5 (dodged a gluten bullet!) Service: 2.5/5 (friendly but haphazard and disorganized) Ambience: 2.5/5 (bubbling pub vibe, needs more dim lighting too bright in restaurant area) Drinks: 3/5 (some great MR choices, need more by the glass options) Total: 10/20 
La Lucciola, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, Featured, Italian, Restaurants, Travel
After our decadent meal at Ku De Ta there was some discussion amongst our friends on Facebook which lead to a number of alternate dining recommendations being given. We decided to follow their advice and booked a table at La Lucciola which was conveniently in Seminyak where we were staying. To the Boy’s satisfaction we also managed to book the hotel car in advance and dodge being over charged by local taxis. He is not the biggest fan of the whole rorting system of taxis in Bali and this was cause of many complaints from him.
The restaurant is located right up on the beach but unfortunately we arrived just after sunset so we missed the view as the golden sun had already plunged into the sea. Despite this, I was still amazed at what a stunning setting; the restaurant is surrounded by lush gardens and Koi ponds facing out directly onto the beach. It faces towards an area of beach on the northern end of Seminyak beach which is much quieter and more peaceful than the main area.
We were greeted with beaming smiles from all the staff and found a distinct lack of pretention that we saw when at Ku De Ta. Upon arrival I handed the waiter my allergy eating card and off it went to make its obligatory journey around the kitchen to be returned back some time later with the waiter who offered some recommendations off the menu. I was also informed that although normal bread is complementary, they do have gluten-free bread available for a small extra charge. Being the only place in Bali that offered me gluten-free bread, I was already feeling quite positive about our evening.
The bread had great texture and was not crumbly or stodgy and I was quite impressed as I haven’t had a lot of good gluten-free bread experiences when travelling in Asian countries. It was served with freshly whipped butter and olive oil.
Vitello tonnato: poached veal, tuna aioli, Sicilian capers, wild rocket, black olives, Parmigiano Reggiano
I had recently been reading a review on My Kitchen Stories on Café Sopra in Sydney where she tried their vitello tonnato. So when I saw it on the menu I was keen to try this classic and elegant Italian summer dish for the first time. It truly was a taste sensation. The veal was tender and subtly sweet and was topped with big dollops of creamy almost pungent tuna flavoured sauce which contained an astringent hint of capers. The sauce was definitely the key to this dish’s success.
Roast duck breast, beetroot, watercress, pear crostata
The boy ordered the duck for his entrée which consisted of a moist, juicy duck breast on top of a crisp pear pastry. It was accompanied with some crunchy peppery watercress, fresh pear and some sweet beetroot. He was suitably very impressed with his choice.
Pan roasted barramundi with Prosciutto, celeriac puree, snow peas, red wine reduction
My main was not nearly as tasty as the veal. The barramundi was slightly over cooked and lacked that flaky softness I passionately love about this fish. I also felt that wrapping such a delicate fish in prosciutto overpowered the flavours somewhat. The celeriac purée helped to lift some of this heaviness making the dish still overall quite enjoyable.
Seafood stew: scampi, prawns, snapper, calamari, chilli, sourdough bruschetta
According to the Boy this was a very filling dish. It was heartily seasoned and all the seafood was cooked to his liking. We also ordered some sides: the wild rocket salad with Pecorino Toscano and some roasted golden pumpkin with sliced almonds and balsamic. The rocket was crisp and fresh with generous shavings of the salty almost nutty flavoured cheese. The pumpkin had the skin removed prior to roasting which is a shame as I think that caramelised chewy part is the best bit!
Berry pannacotta
The berry pannacotta held good shape despite the heat and didn’t collapse on my plate. It was delightfully light and silky and it filled the last little spot left in my stomach perfectly. The Boy ordered the gelato which he felt was fairly standard and nothing to get too excited about.
Gelato: coconut, vanilla bean, strawberry
La Lucciola was our second favourite meal during this Bali trip (compared to Ku De Ta) but if you take into consideration the venue, the price and the service I would say this meal was actually the best.
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
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La Lucciola Jl. Kayu Aya, Seminyak, Bali 80361, Indonesia | (+62) 361 730 838 Price: $$$ (Entrée 107-145K Rp, $11-15 AUD, Mains 215-325K Rp, $22-33 incl tax) Food: 4.5/5 (they have gluten-free bread!) Service: 5/5 (faultless, attentive, not obtrusive) Ambience: 4.5/5 (beautiful beachside setting) Drinks: 3/5 (cocktails could be improved) Total: 17/20
Ku De Ta, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, European, Featured, Restaurants, Travel
It was our first night in Bali and our refreshing welcome drink served at our villa was a much needed treat. It had taken us no less than an hour and a half to travel a mere twelve kilometres through bumper to bumper traffic from the airport to Seminyak. Once we had checked into our villa and discovered the free minibar wasn’t very well stocked, we decided to head out into the town in search of something to eat and drink. I had been given a long list of eating venues from friends back home so I started at the top of the list and chose Ku De Ta.
I tried to not to compare my first impressions of Bali with our recent times in Thailand but this was a difficult task to do. Having been to a few locations on a couple of trips to Thailand, there is definitely something about the people and their country that makes me smile. I guess that is why they call it the “Land of Smiles”! Bali just didn’t give me that same overwhelming feeling of happiness but at this early stage of the trip I hadn’t recognised this fully nor even now do I completely understand why.
Ku De Ta is an impressive venue day or night and I regret not going back there during the day to get a better look at their beach club in the sunlight. The venue is spacious with several different areas to either relax for drinks or sit down for something a bit more formal. The bar opens directly out onto the beach with sun beds and parasols all set up for those who want to enjoy a sun downer. The crowd was predominately Australian and had an air of pretention about it, which I think was the first distinct difference to equivalent venues in Thailand. I started to feel like I may as well have come to a beach club in my own country. In contrast to the patrons, the service was very welcoming and they were more than happy to take my eating card back to the kitchen to determine what I could have off their menu. The waiter returned with two entrée options and four main dish options that would be possible.
Eagle Rock and Otter Cove oysters
As you may know, I love my oysters. More specifically, I like trying new types of oysters that we haven’t tried before. Sydney Rock Oysters are a particular favourite of mine – they are smaller and have a more intense and distinct flavour than Pacific Oysters and they take apparently take 2-3 times longer to reach maturity. Ku De Ta offered two types of oyster but unfortunately they were not Sydney Rock. One type was from Eagle Rock and the other was from Otter Cove and both are Pacific oysters grown in Washington’s Puget Sound in the US. We ordered half a dozen of each type. The Eagle Rock were delicately flavoured, sweet and very creamy. The Otter Cove oysters were also quite sweet but were a little brinier than the Eagle Rock. Both were very fresh and left me with that lingering salty aftertaste of the sea.
Tuna and lobster tartare, wasabi, flying fish roe, crème fraiche, sesame seeds
My entrée of tuna and lobster tartare was visually very appealing and almost looked too pretty to eat. It was served on paper thin slices of cucumber placed crisscrossed against each other to make a decorative pattern on my plate. There was just enough wasabi to give the dish a kick making every mouthful a burst of freshness and the dressing had just a hint of sweetness ending the orchestra of flavours perfectly.
The Boy had crispy soft-shelled crab salad which was served with pork belly. He let me have a little taste of the pork belly and it was cooked perfectly with a succulent layer of meat covered with a very crunchy and crispy layer of crackling. The soft-shelled crab was battered so I didn’t get to try any but according to him it was again cooked to perfection although it wasn’t very meaty. He said the salad was an explosion of flavour with the sweet Borneo honey, tangy citrusy pomelo, cucumber and salty cashews.
Sweet Alaskan black “miso” cod, picked daikon, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, shiso dressing, flying fish roe
My main dish was similarly mind blowing. The cod was the texture of butter and fell apart under my fork purely melting in mouth. It was marinated in a shiso dressing which has a similar taste to basil but much more subtle. The salad contained mushrooms which you may know are pretty much my favourite vegetable of all time and this was also dressed with the syrupy shiso.
Grilled seafood a la plancha, barramundi, scallop, scampi, soffrito, fregola, aioli, almond picada
The Boy ordered the grilled seafood a la plancha. It was served on a bed of fregola (small ball shaped pasta resembling Israeli couscous) and a soffrito sauce (basically tomato, onion and garlic). His fish was not as delicate and buttery as mine as they used barramundi which is a slightly more firm fish. The remainder of his seafood was juicy and tender particularly the scallops.
Pleasantly impressed with the quality of the food and the service, we both were too full for dessert and decided to get the bill before returning to our villa. To our complete surprise the bill came to nearly $300 Australian dollars! In Bali! The Boy was in shock! When you consider the local’s average income this meal was extremely overpriced from what it was. It was however the best one we had in our whole time in Bali and I will return next time I’m in Seminyak.
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
Ku De Ta Jalan Laksmana, 9, Seminyak, Bali 80361, Indonesia | +62 361 736969 | www.kudeta.net Price: $$$$ (142K-220K Rp/ $15-23 AUD entrée, 300K-370K Rp / $32-40 AUD mains) Food: 4.5/5 (wonderful layers of flavours) Service: 4.5/5 (accommodating and friendly) Ambience: 3.5/5 (gorgeous setting but lots of pretentious Australian tourists) Drinks: 4.5/5 (cocktails were delicio!) Total: 17/20
Hotel Rottnest and our day trip over to Rottnest Island
Posted by | Categories: Beach, Featured, Perth, Pub, Restaurants, Travel
In January every year, the Boy’s family organise a joint holiday for all of us somewhere north of Perth. It is a big endeavour to get all eight of us able to coincide this time together so in order to simplify things for everyone they decided to change the tradition and take us over to Rottnest Island for a day trip instead. Rottnest Island is located about 18 kilometres off the coast of Perth and is only about 11 km long and 4 ½ km wide. Despite being a popular tourist destination since the early 1900s, the island itself is not overly developed having just a modest number of fairly basic beach shacks and villas, a YHA backpacker’s hostel and a camping ground. There is also some accommodation at the only pub on the island which now called Hotel Rottnest (it used to be called the “Quokka Arms Hotel”).
One of the most popular ways to get to the island is via one of two ferry companies. We travelled with Rottnest fast ferries. Ticket prices for day trippers are $82 for an adult, $43 for a child or you can purchase a family pass for $210. The ferry that we boarded was slightly old and run down. With Perth currently being in the thick of a heat wave; the ferry’s air conditioners struggled to cope leaving a stale almost mouldy smell in the cabin. Not pleasant.
Our journey over was pretty rough going which I am told can be quite a common occurrence. If you are one of those unfortunates who are prone to getting seasick, I strongly recommend dosing yourself prior to departure with some travel sickness tablets. Thankfully neither the boy nor I suffer from this but it was a completely different story for the poor children. Shortly after embarking from Hillarys, I noticed each child gradually turning from white to green and becoming unusually quiet. It wasn’t long before our niece admitted defeat and was headfirst in a sick bag, tears streaming down her pale face. Our nephew tried his hardest to tough it out at first, repeatedly saying to us that he felt absolutely fine and stubbornly refusing to take a bag. The Boy loves to stir the pot at any opportunity so he started to show our nephew photos on his phone of delicious greasy hamburgers and barbequed pig’s intestines! This didn’t go down very well and before long he was grabbing for a bag and joining his sister. Already surrounded by the thick stale air, the smell quickly diffused throughout the cabin and even I started to feel a little nauseous! I certainly didn’t need a bag though.
On arrival to the island the Boy’s parents wanted to catch the bus around the island in order to see the sights. On such a glorious day, the last thing I wanted to do was be stuck on a bus with a bunch of tourists, so I suggested to the Boy that we hire some bikes and explore on our own. Rottnest Island Bike Hire is the largest facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere with over 1,300 bikes available. They provide helmets, locks and each bike has a luggage rack for you to store your beach towel or other belongings. Hire prices are very reasonable; we paid $27 each for the full day (plus a refundable $25 bond per bike).
The boy and I used to do a lot of outdoor exercise together in years gone by. We once walked 34 km on a round trip from our chalet in Margaret River to Clairault Winery in order to enjoy their five course degustation. However over recent years, my keen running obsession combined with his devotion to strength training with weights has meant our exercise regimes have drifted apart. Treadling around the island with him was so much fun that I might consider diversifying my exercise a little so we can enjoy our endorphin highs together.
After working up a bit of a sweat coursing up and down the hills, we stopped off at The Basin for a well-earned dip in the cool ocean. The water was so refreshingly good that after drying myself off in the glorious sunshine, I felt rejuvenated and ready for more exploring. The boy had a different idea and I have to admit it took minimal persuasion for him to convince me to join him at the pub while we waited for his parents to return with the kids form their bus ride.
The Hotel Rottnest is located at Thompson Bay in the main settlement area on the island. The historic building dates all the way back to the late 1800’s where it was originally the Governor’s residence. In 2007 the building underwent a major restoration which took over two years to complete. It has a spacious outdoor dining area facing directly onto the beach and its presence injects a bit of a much needed modernisation to the otherwise out-dated architecture on the island.
Grazing plate: prosciutto, bresaola, lombo, gremolata fremantle sardines, olives, danish fetta, fresh bread ($36)
The hotel was well prepared to cater for gluten-free customers with a ready prepared list of suitable items from their menu. The boy and I chose to share the grazing plate, a bucket of Exmouth prawns and some chips. The grazing plate wasn’t the best value nor did it’s ingredients show any flair or talent of the kitchen. The prosciutto was delicately flavoured with the perfect balance of slightly salty and fragrant sweetness. The bresaola was not as good quality, it was sliced a little too thickly making it a bit chewy in texture and must have been sliced a considerable time before serving as it had dried out and gone a little hard.
The menu mentioned the tasting plate featuring a third meat, some lombo (meaning pork) however this wasn’t on the platter and was replaced by three dolmades. We were not advised of this at any point by the staff. The dolmades tasted like they were from a can. The fetta and olives weren’t really anything special either. The platter also had some fresh Fremantle sardine fillets topped with gremolata. Thankfully I came prepared with some gluten-free crackers, and topped with the sardines they were a treat.
Bucket of Exmouth prawns, seafood sauce, crusty bread
The Bucket of Prawns contained about a dozen juicy and fresh prawns. We felt they were quite overpriced at $42 considering most of the bucket contained ice. This is when compared to other touristy places in Australia such as On The Inlet in the beautiful Port Douglas marina where they cost less than half the price at $18.
Overall our experience was relaxing and pleasant however there is a lot of room for improvement with the food and the prices. Being the only pub on the island has allowed them to overinflate their prices because customers don’t really have anywhere else to go!
Hotel Rottnest 1 Bedford Avenue, Rottnest 6161 | (08) 9292 5011 | hotelrottnest.com.au Price: $$$$ ($25-42 entrée, $26-42 Mains) Food: 2.5/5 (boring and overpriced) Service: 3/5 (didn’t inform us of menu alterations) Ambience: 3.5/5 (great scenery and relaxing vibe on the terrace on the beach) Drinks: 2.5/5 (again overpriced, limited wine selection, at least they had fresh limes this time!) Total: 11.5/20
Andara Resort & Villas, Phuket & choosing our Wedding Venue
Posted by | Categories: Accommodation, Featured, Hotels, Luxury, Resorts, Restaurants, Thai, Thailand, Travel, Wedding
I cannot believe we are back in Thailand already! It was only about three months ago we arrived in Phuket for the first time to celebrate our dear friend’s wedding and yet here we are again. But better still this time we are here to start planning our own wedding! So exciting! We were both so amped to start the hunt for our venue and after our interesting culinary experiences at the Patong night markets last night we were also pretty keen to enjoy some more traditional Thai food!
I am a bit of an organisational freak – I gain great pleasure in planning things down to the finite detail. So in my preparation for our wedding venue search I had spent hour upon hour back home in Perth trawling over the internet to ensuring we would to check out every perceivable suitable wedding location in Phuket. After numerous emails I managed to whittle my ridiculously long list down to a much more manageable eight resorts.
Our first stop was Andara Resort in Kamala. I was really attracted to the idea of staying in Kamala as there are a lot of little restaurants and bars all within walking distance from each other. A full spectrum of accommodation options can be found ranging from the exquisite Andara Resort and Villas to the much more economical and family orientated Courtyard Marriott Resort that we were staying in this time round. In addition to this it is much more family friendly than the madness of Patong and a fair bit cleaner as well!
Andara Resort sits up on the hillside towards the southern end of Kamala beach overlooking the blue expanse of the Andaman Sea. Immediately upon entering their luxurious lobby we both felt a really good vibe and looking about the place it just felt very “us” which was very good start. We were promptly greeted by the resort wedding planner Mod. She initially sat us down to show us some photos of a few weddings set up around the resort pool and also in their spectacular villas. Having seen many of these stunning photos previously in her emails I was impatient to view the property and was hoping that it wasn’t going to disappoint.
In some ways, it was kind of shame that we both fell in love with the very first venue that we looked at as over the course of the next week we found the majority of other locations we visited just simply didn’t compare. Not even close! There were only two other locations we saw that could begin to match up to Andara’s beauty – Trisara in the far north of the island, and the very expensive Amanpuri.
Andata Resort and Villas – photo courtesy of Mod at Andara
The villa that Mod recommended as her favourite for us to have our wedding ceremony sits high on the edge of the cliff and is built over three levels giving every room incredible views of the sea. No detail is left untouched throughout the villa with exquisitely appointed interior design using natural dark wood and warm Thai silks to create a beautiful wow factor throughout. She said they could arrange a platform to be placed in the infinity pool allowing us to say our vows with uninterrupted views of the bay as our backdrop! Imagine that! Saying our vows with views like this will be breathtaking!
Mod’s beaming pride as she watched us appreciate the beauty of the resort shone through as she took us on a detailed tour of the whole resort, showing us their world class, icy cool air-conditioned gym (which rivals my university gym back at home) and the enormous and elegantly appointed spa which included a whole level of rooms for the bridal party to beautify. We then ended the tour in their popular restaurant Silk overlooking their spacious pool deck.
Tasting plate: fish cakes, prawns in noodle, chicken in pandanus leaves and fresh spring roll
After our detailed tour, we were then treated to a complimentary four course Thai lunch where the chef’s had carefully prepared Thai dishes taking into consideration both my fructose malabsorption and gluten intolerance. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of this lovely meal as Mod, the boy and I were busy engaged in lengthy conversation talking about further details in which Andara could provide us with an amazing wedding. Highlights of our lunch included Goong cinnamon (Cinnamon prawn – to die for!), Tom yam soup and absolutely huge Tiger prawns cooked in garlic and pepper and presented gorgeously.
To help us to make our decision we headed back to Andara for dinner on one of our final nights in Phuket. I thought seeing as I’m actually able to punish myself with gluten while on the prescribed gluten challenge I wouldn’t be quite so restrictive and let loose a little on the menu. For entrée we ordered a started platter which had some fish cakes, chicken wrapped Pandanus leaves and prawns. The chicken was soft and fell apart in the mouth and was sweetly scented with the Pandanus. The prawns were wrapped in noodles – similar to what we ate at Old Cathay, but less oily and easier to eat. After memories of our enjoyable meal at Old Cathay returning to my mind, I also ordered some satay tofu. This was not silky smooth this time round and definitely didn’t excite either of us.
Tamarind duck, soft shelled crab and stir-fried morning glory
To keep the boy happy for mains we ordered some soft shelled crab, one of his favourites, which were deliciously meaty and crispy, some tamarind duck and stir fried Morning Glory. Morning Glory is considered a weed in Australia however is very popular in a lot of parts of South-east Asia where it is often called “water spinach”. It is quite sweet in flavour, not bitter at all, and was cooked very simply with oyster sauce and garlic.
After all this delicious Thai food, I can’t help but wonder….I do hope all our wedding guests are happy to eat Thai at our reception? I just don’t feel right going to a country that has such wonderful culinary culture and eating “Western food”.
For more about our trips to Thailand click here
Patong night markets, Phuket
Posted by | Categories: Markets, Thai, Thailand, Travel, Wedding
We were so lucky to be part of a friend’s wedding in Phuket earlier this year as it has sparked the beginning of our love affair with Thailand. After a week of wedding celebrations in Phuket, we then flew over to the Eastern coast of Thailand to stay for another week on the island of Koh Samui. It was during this memorable and fun filled holiday that my love proposed to me. He dropped the question during the most amazing private dining experience at Six Sense’s Dining on the Rocks which he had all pre-arranged before we left Australia. A single stunning table was decorated lavishly with roses and orchids and placed romantically isolated on a wide expanse of wooden decking on the cliff face overlooking the distant neighbouring islands and fishing boats. We had our own two butlers serve us a seven course degustation while we sipped our way through bottles of Verve. It was an experience I will never forget.
Subsequently it was a bit of a no-brainer that we both envisioned returning to Thailand for our wedding vows. Choosing a venue for such an occasion wasn’t really a decision we wanted to make via photos and email so this provided us with a great excuse for an impromptu holiday. I planned a busy week for us sashaying around Phuket touring resorts and dining on their food.
To get ourselves in the mood, our first night we decided to brave it into the bedlam of Patong to go the night markets. The boy has a strange and burning desire to eat unusual foods; this is actually something we used to share in common before all my allergies came to light and I starting being more wary of ingredients. Uninhibited and giddy on the street vendors rocket fuelled cocktails (80 Baht/$2.50) AUD), we dived into one of the many night markets and found ourselves surrounded by interesting smells. There was a lot of familiar fare, such as roast pork, chicken and duck but lo and behold we found the piece de la resistance……intestines?? Now you must be thinking we have gone a little mad, but there it was all snake like and coiled neatly in its mesenteric fat like a distorted grotesque fan.
Before I knew it the boy had ordered us a dish and was eagerly watching them dice it up for us into smaller more bite size pieces. I cautiously ate one, and to be honest with all the soy and chargrilling it didn’t taste too bad. There was none of the unpleasant smells you would have expected. However after a few morsels I began to remember my public health lectures at University and stopped myself before I worked myself into a nauseous state. I fell asleep that night dreaming of hydatid cysts in my brain and vowed not to be swayed to such a dark side again!
For more about our trips to Thailand click here
Travelling to Thailand? Be sure to checkout the Lonely Planet Thailand Travel Guide before you go!
Opus at The Richardson Hotel
Posted by | Categories: French, Hotels, Luxury, Perth, Restaurants, Travel
As a surprise birthday present for the boy I organised for us a relaxing two nights stay at The Richardson with their Autumn Escape package which included degustation for two in their restaurant Opus. The rooms were well appointed, they were certainly not as new and fancy as some other five star locations we have stayed at however we didn’t seem notice or care as their customer service was beyond impeccable. The minibar was very well stocked and quite fairly priced. Even the freezer was filled full of food for purchase. The Nespresso machine was a great hit with me and thankfully the room came with free selection of pods to use! We stayed in one of their deluxe rooms and despite not getting the room upgrade to one of the suites that I was wishing for, there was an adequately equipped kitchen for the stay complete with microwave oven, plates, cutlery – all the things that are often quite annoying left out of rooms and only put into the suites. Our room had glimpses of Kings Park and overlooked leafy Richardson St. Overall the hotel experience was highlighted by unfaultable excellence in customer service – something that can be a little uncommon in Perth.
The restaurant Opus replicated the hotel’s high standard of customer service and once again we were very impressed with the level of personal attention from all the staff. I emailed the restaurant in advance to notify them of my food intolerances and despite the fact restaurant was full to capacity, the head chef made an effort to come out and speak with me personally to ensure my dining experience was enjoyable. The restaurant itself has a very cosy and romantic atmosphere which was accentuated by the storm brewing outside.
The first dish was a terrine of tomatoes, with morels and a goat’s milk pudding. This dish was surprisingly one of the best of the night, the sharp acidic tomato flavours blending with the creamy tang of the sweet goat’s milk pudding was a taste sensation.
The second dish was a roast butternut pumpkin soup with lemongrass and crab. The heartiness of the thick pumpkin with a delicate background of lemongrass complimented the crab wonderfully. The first main was my least favourite dish of the night – it was a pan-fried fillet of rainbow trout served with wilted baby cos, peas and mint. Although the fish was cooked perfectly, it was very heavily seasoned and the saltiness took away from the subtle flavour of the trout. The wilted cos lacked the imagination and presentation shown in the previous dishes. Some orange and Campari sorbet was served prior to the second main it was nothing special but cleansed the palate nicely.
The second main dish was beef tenderloin served with sweetbreads. Now I actually had no idea what sweetbreads were up until this night. To calm my initial fears of all things gluten, my love tried to suggest to me that sweet breads are actually just offal and not some potential gluten containing carbohydrate! I simply couldn’t believe him as they certainly didn’t look like any kidney or liver I have ate in the past. Thank goodness for Google and iPhones! He set the record straight quickly to clarify that we were actually eating pancreas. They were very tasty. The cut of beef was of high quality and melted in the mouth like a fillet should. We both really enjoyed this dish.
Finally the night ended with Bitter Chocolate Cream and Vanilla Marshmallows with Raspberry Gel and Liquorice. Unfortunately for me this dish was unable to be served gluten free as there was a very thin sponge base on the bottom so I just scooped off the top layer and left the rest for the boy. It was wonderfully rich and not too sweet – I wished I could have had more! Despite being at the full end of a dego the boy managed to polish off both our serves so I’m presuming it was delicious! The birthday candle on his dessert was a thoughtful touch. We are already wishing when we can stay at the Richardson and eat at Opus again!
Score 9/10
Opus at The Richardson | 32 Richardson Street, Perth ,6005 | (08) 9217 8888 | www.opusrestaurant.com.au
