Sustainable Food Fair in Western Sydney: Go!

Blacktown Council is hosting a sustainable food fair next week 18 April 2010. Go. No really, just go. Please. Help support cool food stuff happening in Western Sydney, so there can be many more events like this in future.

I quote:

The fair will include a Farmers Market where residents can purchase from a range of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, meat and baked goods.

The day will also have activities for the kids, environmental stalls and advice, food plant giveaways, and a free organic barbeque for the first 300 people.

It'll be at Grantham Park Seven Hills, which google maps tells me is here:

View Larger Map
, and there will be a free bus every 30 minutes from 1000 - 1330 hours from the Blacktown Civic Centre if you are a true sustainable public transport hippy, and you catch the train to Blacktown first.

I think you are supposed to book a spot on the shuttle and the number is (02) 9839 6582.

I'll be there, will you?

Local Chinese Food, USA-style

Whilst holidaying along the USA west coast recently, I ate quite a lot in local Chinese restaurants. Mainly because it was the only way to get a decent serve of vegetables when eating out.
I tried a popular one in Berkeley (Shen Hua), one just outside of Vegas, and one in 29-Springs based upon the number of cars in the parking lot.

The cuisine appeared to be mock-Szechuan style, as opposed to the Cantonese style so prevalent in Australia. I know that Szechuan cooking is supposed to be very spicy, very liberal with the chillies, yet when you order Kampung Chicken, there was no chilli. I had this dish in Sydney, and you couldn't move for the number of chillies

Each place offered "Mu-Shu", what it is I'm not entirely sure. At Shen Hua - this involved stir fried cabbage, meat and egg, which you would the wrap up in a pancake with hoi-sin sauce, Peking-duck-style.

The most surprising dish, and my favourite was the spring dragon soup. I had this a few months ago, so I might have the name wrong. The large portion was enormous, and enough to share between five people. The soup had a nice balance of flavours and was very more-ish.

The other Chinese restaurants were your run-of-the- mill suburban style restaurants offering "American" meals like steak, eggs and chips. The portion sizes were huge (this is America, after all), and no-one restaurant had gai-lan (Chinese broccoli) as an option.

Yeah, yeah for the Rotary!

A few months ago I saw a sign: farmers markets, every third Saturday, Blacktown RSL carpark. Sweet! I was so excited. I missed the first market, and made it to the second one, in between a 160km radius dinner (aka 100 mile dinner, but we talk metric here), and moving house.
It was pretty small: a few trinket/craft shops, some fruit and veg, one guy selling only field mushrooms, blue mountains honey, and even a mob selling pot plants and herbs.

I forgot to take pictures then since it was so stinking hot, but they're on again this weekend, so piccies will come.

Thank goodness for the Rotary, bringing civilisation out to the 'burbs.

Blacktown Farmers Markets
8am-1pm
Third Saturday of every month (except January)
Blacktown RSL car park, 2nd Avenue Blacktown
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I promised photos, didn't I?

SIFF Review: Burlington Dining Room does lunch

I went to Burlington dining room on Friday 30 Ocotber, last gasp at the Sydney International food Festival “Let’s do lunch”.

Burlington Dining Room is owned by Matthew Kemp, who started up Restaurant Balzac and Two Rooms in Randwick, two favourite haunts of mine, which I am unfortunately unable to visit as often as I would like.

The “Let’s do lunch” special was King salmon fish cakes with prawns, creme fraiche & baby fennel salad, $35 per person inclusive of a glass of wine, beer or mineral water.

They also had a deal for $45: three course including a rare beef salad, and strawberry sundae The table next to me had that, and the sundaes looked delicious!! You could also order a matching glass of wine with the beef slad for $8 extra.

Anyway, I grabbed the Let's do Lunch special, which worked very well. The slight bitterness of the fennel worked wonders with the rich fish cake and creme fraiche.

Afterwards, I couldn't resist and had a look at the dessert menu: Eton Mess was on the specials board for $12. This item appears to have had a big rennaisance in Sydney recently, I am sure that I have heard of it popping up all over the place.

This one had bits of meringue, cream (double??), berry coulis. Also a toffee ‘sheet’ on top. Very tasty, but too rich for me!! I love cream, but I don't think it loves me back.

Photos to come, once I get this net thingy working.

Burlington Bar & Dining

6 Burlington St,
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Tel: 02 9439 7888

Monday to Friday for lunch from 12.00pm
Monday to Saturday for dinner from 6.00pm
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I mucked up the focus taking the picture of the crabcake, so I have a clear one of the Eton Mess. What a beauty!

Review: SeaBay Restaurant

I made it to Seabay at 4pm. The staff were busy eating their own dinner in preparation for the dinner rush, but were happy to serve.

Based on a recommendation, I got a half portion of the Spring Rolls. Not the deep fried little things you normally associate with the term; it came with a wheat based wrapping pastry the size of a plate. The spring rolls are HUGE. Vermicilli noodles, wood ear fungus, egg, bean curd pastry sheets (foo jook). Delicious and warm.

I had greedy eyes, so I got "handmade noodle soup with dumplings" as well, which came in a light broth (probably chicken) with a bit of herb stuff and some shredded wombok or Chinese Cabbage. The noodles were nice - al dente, but with a slight raw wheat/flour taste. The dumplings were DELICIOUS, and were a highlight. I think I got five or six of them: a tasty pork and vegie and other flavouring dumpling in a thickish wheat pastry (not as fine as the din tai fung dumpling place in world square). I got a bit sick of the herby and plain broth taste. The chilli was ferociously hot, but also very enjoyable.

On a later date I gave the stirfried handmade noodles with lamb a shot, stir fried green vegetables (shang hai buk choy) and revisited a half serving of the Spring Pancakes.

The stirfried noodles were a little oversalty, and both it and the vegetables had were too oily for my taste. Curses - I think it is the Chinese compunction to try and make foodstuffs look "shiny", glossy, and pretty on the plate. The action of cooking the noodles in the wok seems to have removed the slight raw wheat taste that I had noted before. I wonder what would happen if you cooked the noodles with water as the moistening ingredient, rather than the oil? I suspect everything would end up sticking together.

The vegies had a nice mix of garlic and ginger, and I did enjoy the noodles which came with some more wombok, capsicum, and little bits of lamb, like it was sliced thin for sandwiches or steamboot, and then thrown in.

Whilst I enjoyed the second serving of the Spring Pancakes, it didn't seem as novel or as delicious as the first time that I had sampled them.

I've been twice so far, and have yet to sample their panfried dumplings. Pictures to come!

SeaBay Restaurant

Open till 1030pm, everynight

372 Pitt St SydneyNSW Phone (02) 9267 4855

Bacco Pasticceria

Bacco Pasticceria got a lovely review in smh's good living. S0 far, I have managed to visit three times. Already the prices have gone up since my first visit, from $5 per cake to $6 per cake.
So first up, I tried the lemon meringue and the strawberry tart, just because they looked so pretty. The lemon meringue was tastebud shrinkly both sweet and sour at the same time. I tried eating one quarter only, but it was hard going. First time round I nibbled only on a strawberry, but I forgot to eat the rest of it before I went away for work.

A fortnight or so later, I tried the baked ricotta tart with carmelised chestnuts, again for the prettiness. The poor slumped thing in the corner of the box is what happens to a lemongrass and wild strawberry concorde when you leave it at office temperature for more than six hours. It has a light graduated pink rose petal on top for decorative garnish, which I ate.
I didn't realise when picking these desserts, how similar they would be.
My favourite here was definitely the concorde, the lemongrass flavour was quite subtle, and the richness of the cream was cut through with the lemongrass and strawberry flavours. The ricotta tart - meh, take it or leave it. The baked ricotta was nice, the chestnuts seemed a bit ordinary, and the whole thing seemed a bit plain.
So for my most recent foray, I got the hazelnut truffle, surrounded by meringue sticks, and the strawberry tart once again. The hazelnut truffle was too sweet! It took me three days to eat one third, and after that I couldn't bear the smell anymore. The hazelnut chocolate mousse contained within was nice, but there was a heart of more meringue sticks.
The strawberry tart has been my favourite so far. Such a simple thing! The strawberries are so moreish and very strawberry flavoured (yet still firm), and the light almost-set custard underneath has the little black specks of vanilla pod seeds. Yummo!

Bacco Pasticceria is on the ground floor of Chifley Plaza, Sydney. M-F 9-5. (02) 9223 9552.

Bun bo Hue - Hot & Spicy soup

At 2pm on Monday afternoon, 5 of the 7 customers in the naughty chef ordered "no.7, hot and spicy soup".

Having read the "three of the best" review in good living, I've been ordering this quite a bit recently. I've tried it at Pho Ben in Parramatta, and the new Orange coloured Vietnamese next door to Pasteur in Haymarket. Here, the broth is fish-based, but not overpowering. It's quite tasty. The best salad selection came from the Orange-coloured place, whose name escapes me.

Post-post note: The Orange coloured place next door to Pasteur is called Gia Hoi. I have also just tried the Bun bo Hue at Xic Lo around the corner. I have to say I was a bit disappointed at Xic Loc, because it didn't come with the plate of brightly coloured salad and cabbage, and there was barely any hint of the fish based stock.

Food Cravings: Kaiso Salad

One of my favourite food cravings is the Kaiso salad from Sushisuma< in Surry Hills. I love the crunchy texture of the cabbage and the vinegar/sharp citrus flavours of the ponzu salad mixed with Japanese mayonnaise. Ramen Kan in Bondi Junction has something similar in their "Seaweed" Salad, but it isn't as moreish.

I have tried to find the equivalent ponzu salad dressing from Tokyo mart in Northbridge, but without much success.

Last time I got takeaway from Sushisuma, I got extra salad dressing, which I promptly decanted into a spare bottle.

Just had my first homemade salad, but with the leftover kaiso salad dressing. The cabbage isn't sliced as finely (I don't have a mandolin), and I have no seaweed (subsitituted with coriander, parsley and snow peas), but YUM. oh! and I forgot the mayo! Next time.

Review: Red Lantern Vietnamese, Surry Hills (Closed)

A last minute decision to eat out for dinner instead of cooking at home on the last day of a holiday, I ended up playing phone tag with the staff from Red Lantern. I wouldn't have guessed it, but they were almost fully booked on a Sunday night, and they could only fit in a table for two between 6pm and 8pm. I saw three couples turn up to try and get a table as a "walk in", and they were refused, so we were quite lucky to have grabbed a table.
The mains were $25-$35; the entrees were all just under $20. There was a 10% Sunday surcharge, and quite a few specials on the menu.
The food was really tasty ... I got to try :
1. soft shell crab with a tomato, cucumber, grapefruit (little yellow citrus wedges) and vietnamese herb salad (the dressing was quite sweet, but you needed a little bit more so you could dip the crab into more sauce. Also maybe a touch more salt;
2. beef lemongrass wrapped in betel leaves and on a bed of vermicilli. Very tasty, but with the smells of this dish and the crab one, I found this one almost offensive. When you smelled it on its own, it was okay, and smelled quite nice.
3. Shallow fried snapper with a sweet sour sauce (also a bit of green papaya salad). Yummo. I felt like I ate a lot of crunchy stuff. The sauce was nice, the fish was delicious and I crunched the smaller bones (and fins), the flesh was really tasty and still had some give.
We had a similar dish at our local thai restaurant and it was terrible!! the fish then had been deep fried for too long, and the whole thing was tough (deepfried), and rubbery.
4. Organic choy sum with a preserved (fermented) beencurd sauce. L liked this one and suggested that we buy a jar of the fermented bean curd to try and make it! That's the stuff in the jar that looks like cheese and smells ferocious
5. Green tea.
and yes... I did take a few pictures. I felt like I ate a lot of crunchy stuff - I wish the waiter had commented on that so that I could've had a rethink of the menu choices.


Post post note: Red Lantern Surry Hills has closed. However there is an alternative location in Darlinghurst 
street: 60 Riley Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010. 
phone: +61-2-9698-4355

Review: Cafe Sopra

I finally made an effort to visit Cafe Sopra at Fratelli Fresh waterloo. Last time being a few years ago, and was well into the weekend lunchtime rush.

As I got there pretty late, quite a few of the mains were already gone. I wanted risotto, but was hungry for something for immediate. Polenta with oyster mushroom and gorgonzola sauce. It was nice, although very creamy, got very same taste after a while. I wish I had got one of the salad leaves: raddichio or witlof with a vinegarette to break the cream.
I finished up with the banoffe pie. My sister had tried this a few weeks ago and raved about it. A rich caramel tart with a thick crispy biscuit base, a layer of sliced banana and a thin layer of cream on top sprinkled with flaked chocolate. Indeed, it was nice. But coupled with the creamy sauce of my earlier dish meant that I could only eat half the slice before conceeding defeat, and asking for the remainder takeaway.
I enjoyed the food ... but did feel somewhat unwanted, having turned up near the end of the lunch session.

The local thai restaurant

I have just found out that the local thai restaurant normally cooks "to aussie tastes" when preparing dishes. So the first green curry I had from there had a slight chilli 'spice', and was mostly flavoured milk. So much so, that I didn't want to go there again. Having this discovered this now, last night we ordered the Penang curry 'cooked thai style', it was a lot more edible, with a decent curry paste background..

Gamely enough .. I even ordered Som tum (Green papaya salad), which generally knocks my head off with the 'one chilli' specification. It was oh-kay... with iceberg lettuce, green beans and peanuts. i couldn't detect any dried shrimp in the sauce.. and very little fish sauce. Probably geared to Aussie tastes again. Next time... I will specify it to 'thai style'.... but only one chilli!

At least now, I won't be so adverse to visiting the local thai to encourage 'thai-style' thai food, and sample the other dishes.

15 hours of food: The afternoon tea

Adriano Zumbo's chocolate patisserie in Balmain got a rave review in good living a few months back. My sister asked me: "Have you heard of Adriano Zumbo's patissierie? Sooooo good. "
Thus we sauntered into Balmain for an inspection. First up: the patissierie. I was amazed at the creations, too shy to take a picture, and ended up with two macarons - one blue cheese flavour, and the other mango.
We headed to the actual chocolate cafe, and ordered a dark hot chocolate, a salty caramel macaron and an earl grey tea macaroon. The macaron range was different in the cafe than to that of the patisserie, but everything was most definitely chocolate based.
The dark hot chocolate was wonderful: rated higher than the lindt version. Very dark and rich, but not sickly sweet or overly creamy. The salty caramel was yummo... I wanted another one. I forget how salt can bring out other flavours, such that the caramel wasn't sickly sweet. The earl grey macaron was also lovely: scattering of tea leaves on top, and a delicate tea flavour. I couldn't swear that it was that of earl grey, but it was very moreish and tasty. I would head there again... and "settle" for the lindt if I only I was in town. :-)

15 hours of food: The lunching

After spending a few hours grazing, sampling, nibbling at the markets, we were hungry for something more substantial.
I had only ever tried Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Crispy Pancake) at Pho Le a few years ago, whilst it was still with the previous owners. So when good living did a special on the three best places in sydney to find them, I wrote it down in my little black book.
We went to Thuy Huy Coffee Lounge, and ordered (1) Banh Xeo, (2) a small bowl of broth, (3) Congee, vietnamese style. "Are you sure you want that? It's very different to chinese congee. You add bean sprouts and lemon, and there are animal bits." asked the waitress. I can't remember her exact wording.
So here it is: the banh xeo. Very crisp and tasty, loaded up with bean sprouts and prawns and also very messy to eat! Lurking up the back is the Vietnamese style "pork" congee.
Both were very tasty. I managed to finish the pancake, but the congee was a bit of a struggle, and we had to pay an additional 30c for a takeaway container to take the remainder of the congee with us. It was quite interesting, lemony (added to your taste, like pho) and basily, and a very strong blood/liver type flavour throughout. It was also a little bit salty.

15 hours of food: The markets

We met up at 9am, and went straight to break new ground at the Eveleigh Farmers Markets. These markets are about 5mins from the station, and undercover. What a blessing to get away from the sun (and the rain).
There were growers from Mangrove Mountain, Kemps Creek; olive oil producers from the central tablelands and as far as Victoria. I saw at least four places from which to buy free range eggs.
There were a lot of people with kids and dogs, which was not so amusing when they started lunging and barking at each other. The cutest thing ever - a toddler in a baby carrier enjoying a sample of goat's milk fetta.
So - I tried a brioche roll with smoked salmon and dill, a cherry danish (toasted up and eaten about a week later), Capparis Goat's Milk Brie (from Gloucester), iggy's delicious bagels (mixed seed - I now have a craving), as well as some free range eggs from Sommersby. I found the yolks very yellow in colour, compared with the free range ones from the supermarket.
Next up - decision time! We had left it too late to go to the smh pyrmont growers markets, but we still had a clear shot at the Kings Cross ones. So off we went!
My sister wanted me to try the quinoa and brown rice congee (porridge) from the markets, which we did; as well as a Vegetarian take on the Vietnamese rice paper roll: This one contained bean sprouts, tofu, carrot, mint and "chia seeds". The seeds were beautiful: like little pearlised glossy eggs; and they had a nice crunch and added omph to the rice paper rolls.
The porridge contained mung bean sprouts, bean sprouts, tofu crisps, and a little pink pickled onion. It was had a very tasty broth, but I found the slight sourness from the onion pickle and the mung bean taste almost overpowering.

Random musings

I've been so busy, I haven't had time to post as usual.
I tried to visit the degas exhibit in canberra, but we were so put off by the queue to both buy the ticket and to enter, we couldn't be bothered, & just saw the normal exhibits instead.
Last week, one of the supermarket chains had ainsley harriot packet soups on special, so i bought some to have as emergenfy food rations at work. So far have tried the carrot and the lentil flavours, & both taste intensely of .... cornflour. Not what I was after.

Planning a foodie weekend

Coming up! I am spending the Saturday with my sister, and we plan to have a very food oriented weekend. I can't wait.. but this is going to need careful planning.

1. Visit some farmers' markets. Orange Grove is the stalwart, but on every weekend (yay). The smh Pyrmont ones are on this weekend, and they're a once a month affair. Alternatively, there are the ones in Redfern - Eveleigh, which is undercover, and AG's review, had me drooling over all the pictures. A lot of the producers are similar between Pyrmont and Eveleigh, though. Also! A Bacon and Egg roll is mandatory consumption.
2. Head somewhere to get Vietnamese. I want a good pho, and also a Vietnamese Pancake (Banh Xeo). I've only tried Vietnamese pancake from Pho Le in Randwick (owners previous to the current mob), and I need to try more. Cabramatta is the 'real' vietnamese deal, but it's a long drive from the city, for foodies who are trying to cram a lot in. Bankstown is an alternative (but also a hike), and there was a place in good living listed that had a good pancake in Marrickville. Does good pancake equal good pho?
3. Adrian Zumbo's chocolate shop in Balmain. Chocolate Desserts. Duh.
4. Restaurant Sojourn, in Balmain. I believe the chef here is ex-Banc. I think I've tried almost every 'Ex-Banc' chef's solo enterprise. Anyway. The order of the day is degustation.

Roll on, weekend!!

Sometimes you just have to ask

After scanning the wares at gelatomassi twice in one week, and not spying any "peanut butter" gelato, tonight I asked for it before making my decision. They had some out the back. Score!! I guess sometimes you do have to be a bit of a pushy customer, and ask directly.
It seems Dolce and Gelato have also joined the craze for peanut butter flavoured items (I spotted some last week).

Regressing Tastebuds

Perhaps it is a symptom of moving out from the city, and not being able to go out as much as I would like to, but it appears that the tastes that I like on my tastebuds have 'regressed' from my umami seeking delicate sensibilities.
When a small child, peppermint choc-chip ice-cream was the bees knees. Then I 'grew up', didn't like it. Now? When approaching a magnum icecream, my two favourite flavours are now the chocolate almond with the nuts on the outside (only if sharing), and the peppermint.
I am also in favour of the sharp punchy flavour of salt & vinegar chippies, the saltiness of twisties and the artificial high from cheetos cheese & bacon balls. I appear to have lost the appetite for the latter though - quick consumption of 2 packets in rapid succession may have had something to do with it!

Review: Chilli Cha Cha, Haymarket

I have a new fave thai restaurant! There are no queues to get in, there are seven kinds of som tum (classic, fermented fish, fermented crab, fermented crab&fish, vermicilli rice noodles & crab, grilled pork neck and crispy fish), they don't stint on the chilli, and the food is good!

So Shh - don't tell anyone.*

So far, I have tried (numbers correspond to the takeaway menu):
21 - Yum Woon Seen (vermicilli salad). This is my new favourite signature dish. Vermicilli, squid and pork mince tossed in mint, coriander and thai dressing. Chilli/sour taste, balanced by the sweetness of spanish onion. Or are the eschallots?
26 - Som Tum (green papaya salad) 'classic'. Very hot and spicy, but the sauce is well balanced.
34 - Choo Chee with white fish. Steamed fish smothered in a creamy coconut red curry sauce, and sprinkled with finely sliced kaffir lime leaf. I wanted more.
39 - Panang curry with tofu & vegies. Kaffir lime leaf again, carrot, zuccini, and big chunky tofu pieces.
Thai red (iced) tea. Yum. yum. yum. yum. I love this drink. I love the strong tea flavour, I love the sugar.

Highly, highly recommended; stacks of dishes to try out, and not too pricey.
Chilli Cha Cha Thai Restaurant
Shop 462, 40-50 Campbell Street, Chinatown
(02)9211-2025

* - Hmm. Looks like I may be too late. They've already got a mention in the smh.

Review: Ramen Kan, Haymarket

I raved about Ramen Kan in Bondi Junction in an earlier post. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for their Haymarket branch.

So I had a craving *again* for soft shell crab. In Bondi Junction, you get four segments of a soft shell crab, with a dipping sauce on the side. The whole crab. In Haymarket, it is "soft shell crab salad", and you get two segments of crab, shredded cabbage, indifferent tomato, and a decorative butter lettuce leaf speckled with ice. The whole lot was covered by a brownish vinegar-type sauce, that looked a bit like Satay, but wasn't.

I had originally ordered the "seaweed salad", craving the Kaiso Salad that I had enjoyed so much at Sushisuma, but the waitress suggested that I was getting a lot of salad. So Agedashi tofu instead - four cubes of tofu, in the light soy sauce and shaved bonito flakes on top.

I did alternate between genmaichai, the tofu, and the 'salad', but it was a struggle to finish. Too many 'samey' tastes, and the vinegar was a bit harsh.

Kudos for letting me know that I had way too much salad (I don't think I could have eaten much if it had had the same brown vinegar sauce). But for value for money soft shell crab - I would go to Bondi Junction instead.