Kanzo - Parramatta

Lately, the Mrs and I have been dining quite a bit in the western suburbs. In particular, Parramatta as we've rather keen to scope out the area before eventually making the move here. As a requirement for my eventual migration to the west, I needed to be convinced that I had access to all my usual cravings and one of the more important cravings was sushi. Parramatta isn't necessarily lacking in it's options for sushi but trying to find a reasonably priced one is another challenge on it's own.That's why I was pleasantly surprised when the Mrs and I dined at Kanzo.

Kanzo is this quaint, little sushi restaurant located on George St, opposite of the street Paper Planes is on. I've always known of it's existence but had never had a reason to try it till now. Parking is easy enough to find but with Pho Pasteur moving to the same location and a new korean BBQ place opening across the street, I can imagine it'll get a lot harder in the near future.

We were seated rather quickly as the rush hadn't yet started when we arrived but it quickly filled up after. Good thing is that they're rather quick with the service and food so turnover time is quick too. We ordered a large sushi, a plate of aburi salmon and a tempura udon to share. The first to arrive was the large sushi platter. I'm actually quite delighted with the quality of the nigiri here, the shari (sushi rice) was perfectly sized and ratioed when compared to the carefully and delicately prepared fish. The thinly sliced salmon and maguro was fresh and worked perfectly with the rice to make a wonderful little treat. The rolls weren't half bad either (I normally don't appreciate tuna rolls much but it worked really well here)

How wonderfully artistic is that presentation?

Perfectly sized and portioned nigiri.

Next came the aburi and damn, was that good. We didn't have enough pieces to share between us...no literally, it was a 5 piece order so one of us had to lose out. Being the wonderful husband I am (not), I begrudgingly gave the Mrs the extra piece of aburi. She did in turn give me the last piece of salmon nigiri so it wasn't all bad however, next time I believe I'll be ordering a lot more of this.

mmm...aburi.

To finish our meal, as is the usual fashion with my side of the family: we finish with a nice, piping hot bowl of noodles. Now, I believe that Kanzo is run by Koreans (which is no detriment to the place, half my favourite sushi places are run by Koreans) which indicates to me that while the sushi is impeccable, the quality of the udon might vary a bit. Some places do the soup a bit sweeter, Kanzo is more on the savoury side. The dashi is rather heavy on the fishy flavour from the bonito/niboshi dashi and doesn't have as much umami from the soy as other joints but all together, it was an acceptable bowl of noodles.

Soup and noodles to warm a cold, autumn night.

The tempura was fried to a wonderful golden crisp but I have to say I was mildly disappointed with the dipping sauce not being ten-tsuyu but a vinegary dressing reminiscent of what had dressed the salad we received earlier in the meal. Still very much appetising and a treat to eat, just not the sauce that I'm used to accompanying my tempura...that said, still better than not having sauce at all.

So immaculately golden and crunchy.

The more I eat out at Parramatta, the more excited I am at the prospect of building my life with the Mrs in this wonderful town. For someone like myself, being so ingrained in the restaurant and dining scene, being able to discover so much about a suburb is a highlight of my life. I can see myself becoming a regular at Kanzo over the coming years.

Temasek - Parramatta

I think of all the recent trips I've taken overseas, Singapore left he most lasting impact on me. The cleanliness, convenience and modern feel of the city thoroughly impressed me. But what impressed me more was the food which was so mesmerisingly tasty. The family and I gorged on kaya toast, laksa, fish ball noodles and hainanese chicken rice the whole time we were there. Post-Singapore depression really hit me hard....but luckily, I had Temasek to sate my immense hunger for chicken rice.

That's why I was so ecstatic when the Mrs and I (accompanied by the in-laws) went to dinner there after church. Having worked in hospitality for a long time, I normally really don't like waltzing in close to closing time but in the case of Temasek, I can always make an exception because Temasek is normally really busy. All good though, because it meant we ordered and got our food really quickly.

First to arrive was our roti and to be honest, we really weren't expecting much for Temasek. After All, they are more well known for their Hainanese chicken rice. However, we were really surprised by how flakey and buttery the roti was. Crisp, perfectly smoky and charred on the outside...it made for a perfect entree when paired with the immensely flavoursome curry. I (regrettably) demolished my portion almost immediately.

Roti: $2.50 a piece and $3.00 for curry on the side. Well worth it.

The in-law's dishes came next: Nasi Goreng and Fried Chicken rice. According to the father-in-law, it was the BEST Nasi Goreng he's had and I have to admit, it was pretty damn good. My experience with Nasi Goreng is that it's normally rather dry and lacking in flavour but they really pack in the kecap manis here which means the rice grains were nice and saucy and packed with umami. The fried chicken rice was good too though the chicken wasn't nearly as moist and I didn't enjoy the five spice flavour as much.

The highlight of the night had to be the Hainanese chicken rice though, I mean it's what they're known for right? The Mrs and I shared half a chicken and a pot of chicken rice (I wanted to go for two pots...lucky I didn't). The most tender, succulent pieces of boneless Hainanese style chicken paired with the fragrant rice made for an unbeatable meal. I won't deny it, I was mainly there for the rice. The Mrs likes chicken more and isn't nearly as picky as me when it comes to the choice pieces so she ate most of the chicken but I managed to polish off most of that bucket of chicken rice. I wasn't entirely too comfortable afterwards but I can't say I wasn't super satisfied.

After this meal, I can definitely say that my PSD (Post-Singapore Depression) has been staved off...for now. I still miss the delectable foodie treats that country has to offer and I'm most definitely hankering for a nice and affordable Singaporean chilli crab but it's places like Temasek that make it so wonderful to live in Sydney and it definitely makes the Mrs and I anticipate our eventual move to the west.

Sparrow's Mill - Sydney CBD

Sydney LOVES fried chicken...well, I guess fried chicken is a universal thing. But to elaborate on my point, we have a lot of chicken joints: Two-Two, Chicken Institute, Naruone, Red Pepper, Work In Progress and Sydney's most well known (and my most disdained) Arisun. I mean, how can you not love fried chicken? The crispy exterior coating the succulent, juicy meat...I could eat fried chicken all the time if it didn't make me fat.

It's this adoration for deep fried poultry that lead me to Sparrow's Mill. The sister restaurant of Red Pepper in Strathfield, Sparrow's Mill is much more accessible to the general public by being situated right in the middle of the city. This made it a prime location when I decided to treat my mum to lunch (she loves fried chicken equally as much as I do)

We went slightly after the initial lunch rush so despite it being a Saturday, it really wasn't all too busy. One thing I love about Sparrow's Mill is that the service is spectacular. I mean it's all smiles all around and the staff are attentive, welcoming and communicative. We ordered two orders of chicken and a Dolsot Bibimbap (stone-pot rice for the uninitiated) which was the perfect amount of food for two eager diners.

The bibimbap came first along with the banchan (korean complimentary side dishes). It was good but to be honest, nothing to really speak in detail about. Being that it's such a simple dish, it's really hard to differentiate good ones from bad ones (what I mean is that I haven't had one in Sydney which has blown my mind). I mean if a korean restaurant doesn't do Bibimbap decently, I personally don't think it's worth returning. The banchan had a good variety though.

Shy egg yolk...hiding under a leaf.

But let's be honest, we didn't come here for the typical Korean fare. We came for the chicken and on that front, Sparrow's Mill definitely did not disappoint. We ordered the Original Gangjung chicken and the Snow Cheese chicken. The Gangjung was a delicious mix of tangy and salty with the still crispy pieces of chicken coated in a soy based sauce. The garnish of peanuts and sliced chillies gave it a nice kick of heat and really pushed it up a notch. 

My personal favorite though was the Snow Cheese chicken. It tasted like fried chicken...covered in the cheese packets that came with kraft easy mac with crumbs of chicken flavoured twisties. I fricken LOVED it. Every bite of chicken lead to an explosion of flavour, juice and crunch all compounded by my favourite childhood junk foods. I reckon if I came with mates, I'd down a full plate of this by myself.

If you know me and you've dined with me regularly, you'll know that I'm not normally the biggest fan of Korean food. But it is absolutely undeniable that they do amazing things with fried chicken. If you put amazing chicken, superb service and reasonable prices together, you end up with a place that even I wouldn't mind coming back to again and again.

Haven Specialty Coffee - Surry Hills

Brunch isn't exactly my thing...we've established that, right?

Well, it just became my thing....but only if we're going to Haven Specialty Coffee. No seriously, it's that good. I've eyeing off this place for weeks now since I'm able to catch a glimpse of it every morning when I get off the train and every night when I go home. It really is that convenient (located right outside of Central station Surry Hills side)

That's why when the Mrs and I went out for sunday brunch, although we didn't have a place in mind yet, I was already secretly leading her towards Haven. For a brunch place in Surry Hills, we were still able to find a table rather easily (by rather I mean immediately, they have a lot of tables so don't worry about waiting around). Another thing I love about Haven was the fact that they have a proper kitchen fitout which meant no excessive wait times for your food. The staff at Haven are also extremely friendly, attentive and seem to know a lot about their craft (one particular staff member the Mrs couldn't stop ogling cause "she's just so pretty")

As with all brunch places, you would tend to order coffee with your food (for some coffee is the star of the show, not the food). At Haven, ordering coffee is a MUST, mainly because one of their biggest selling points is how you can tailor your coffee to your specifications and tastes. What that means is that you can choose to have your coffee extra nutty, sweet, aromatic, acidic or an otherwise endless combination of specifications. I opted to go for my usual (a cappuccino...I know, boring) but the Mrs ordered the Mocha...I mean, how could she not? 73% Madagascan Dark chocolate in and around the whole thing...simply indulgence defined.

The food came shortly after which was great! (less time starving, more time enjoying). The Mrs ordered the G'morning Haven Big Breakfast which was made up of two poached eggs, avocado, balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes, broad bean pesto and crispy bacon on a piece of soy and linseed toast. Altogether it was a delightful package, particularly the broad bean pesto which was such a refreshing element with new flavour profiles I'd never tasted before. 

Normally, I'm not braggy about my selection but this time I just had to gloat a little because my dish (the Pork Belly Kimcheese Burger) was that good. Haven's signature five spice pork belly (traditional taiwanese style I believe) on a soft burger bun with kale, apple slaw, sesame omelette, kimchi, boccocini cheese and shaved radish. This dish turned me into a fan, if all the brunch dishes I've previously had were this fulfilling, I would never have a problem going to brunch. The pork was ridiculously soft and tender, falling apart with every bite. Then add in the kick from the kimchi, the creamy mellow from the cheese and the crisp sweetness of the kale, apple and radishes....oh my gee, it was good. 

Normally, we'd end the post right here but as we had enjoyed ourselves so much at Haven, we went out on a limb and did something we don't normally do: order dessert. For dessert, we chose to have the Masfogato which was a 73% madagascan brownie, frozen mascarpone, walnuts and a shot of their house espresso in a lovely cup. We demolished it...I mean it would have been lovely if the mascarpone was easier to dig at but I blame our espresso pouring skills for that. The combination of sweet and creamy mascarpone, fudgy brownie and nutty, smooth espresso made for a delectable party in your mouth. 

I honestly cannot praise Haven enough for the wonderful time they showed us while we were there. The food was spectacular, service was top-notch and coffee really is taken care of to the finest detail. If Haven was able to convert a firm anti-bruncher like me, I'm positive that you'd have a great time as well.

Eat Grk - Beverly Hills

For as long as I remember, Beverly Hills has always been a bit of a hub for food, especially in the south. That said though, most of your options were Asian so if you didn't feel very oriental that day, you wouldn't have had a very good time.

Luckily for us, there's been a recent resurgence of other great food vendors, in particular Greek restaurants. One of these is Eat Grk which the Mrs and I decided to visit on Friday night. Being so close to the cinema, it made for a perfect pre-movie dinner option and parking wasn't bad either. They are regularly very busy however the staff there never seem to lose their smiles despite the frantic pace, something that always makes a dining experience so much better.

The first of our dishes to arrive was the Souvlaki. We decided it would be best to order one of each type of meat (Chicken, Pork and Lamb) so that we could try a little of each. While the chicken was juicy, tender and flavoured well...the other meats were a little bit tougher. That said, this is only in comparison to the other meat dish we ordered, the Souvla.

The Souvla was meat that has been charcoal grilled on the rotisserie and cut to order. We decided to order lamb which was rare for us as neither one of us likes lamb all too much, however this place really does it well. It's perfectly charred on the outside yet so deliciously tender, you'd almost think this was stewed meat.

With the platter that we ordered, we also got a whole lot of pita bread, dips and Greek sausages AND haloumi! The sausages were amazing in texture and surprising in flavour, it isn't something I've ever had the opportunity of eating so it was a really wonderful experience for me. The Tzatziki had to be one of the BEST we've had, the Mrs could have just had that and pita bread all night.

After finishing half of our food, we had come to the realisation that we may have ordered too much food. Which was disappointing because I really wanted to polish off the feta chips. We've had feta chips before from other Greek places in the area but Eat Grk definitely does it best. Those dry, crumbly bits of feta paired with the well seasoned chips made for a wonderful accompaniment to the abundant amounts of meat we had.

I always loved eating out at Beverly Hills but now that Eat Grk has opened, I've gotten so much more reason to love the place even more. Lets hope that this trend continues and more delectable options open up.

Mister's test kitchen - Mothers Day

To cook for someone is to show them you love them, that I firmly believe in. My mother and father fostered my absolute obsession for food by cooking delicious and irresistible dishes for me and in turn I've picked up their way of expressing affection. I fondly remember a time when I was first dating the Mrs, I had cooked vegetarian lasagna for her. I remember this because I believe this is what won her over, not because the lasagna was good (at least I don't remember it being good but she seemed to love it) but because she watched me carefully assemble it and present it to her.

That's why almost every mothers day, I roll up my sleeves and cook a feast for dear mother chopstick (though I have to admit I'm just as excited to cook as it's an excuse for me to test out my ideas). This year I decided to do a four course meal: Prawn Bisque, Seared scallops w/ kombu butter, Braised octopus w/ spiced carrot puree and finally, steak with red wine jus.

I started really early (much earlier than I probably needed to but I prefer being ready to being flustered) and decided the first thing I would make was the soup.

I'm rather proud of my bisque as it's one of the dishes I've gained my father's professional approval on. If a chef you respect says your soup is good, it probably is. It really wasn't hard to make: Peel the prawns and retain the shells so you can fry them up with celery, onions and carrots. Make sure you fry them up real good, then it's just adding a cup of dry white wine, lots of vege/fish stock, sweet paprika, a can of peeled tomatoes and then reduce. Once you're about to serve then add the cream.

Yes....bubble away, my pretty.

Added puff pastry for good measure. For HK people, it just kicks it up a notch.

Look at all the goodness.

You know you want it

The scallops were a bit more difficult in that I needed to prepare the kombu butter ahead of time. For that I followed Dan Hong's recipe: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/grilled-king-prawns-kombu-butter. After you make the kombu butter, just keep it cold until you need it.

When it comes time to serve, just sear the scallops in hot oil. Easiest was is 2 min on one side and a minute on the other. Finish with the melted kombu butter and garnish with aonori.

Dish I was most proud of that night.

The octopus is where I believe I made major errors. Firstly, I tried to braise it in a pressure cooker. Learn from my mistakes: do NOT pressure cook it. Octopus will get heaps rubbery under pressure. It's one of those things that will take a really slow simmer to get right. Second error: I didn't add the right ingredients to my braising liquid. My liquid consisted of red wine, thyme, garlic cloves, bay leaves and honey...and that was it. This meant the end result was rubbery octopus that was too intense in the red wine flavor. Next time I'll add some fruits (limes/lemons & oranges) as well as a lot of water to thin out the braising liquid. Puree was fine though.

The final course of the night was the steak which I cooked in my stainless steel frying pan. The reason I used this pan instead of the griddle pan was because I wanted to get a pan sauce going. After you sear the steaks and get them to your desired done-ness, take them out and rest them on a plate (Absolutely crucial to rest steaks). As they're resting, soak up some oil out of the pan if you have too much and then add dry red wine to flambe it. This will deglaze the bottom of the pan and allow you to scrap off all the fond. Add a couple of cloves of garlic with the skin on and some thyme. As the sauce reduces, you'll be left with this amazing sauce to cover your steaks in. If the sauce is a bit too intense, try thinning it out with beef stock.

Look at that wonderful steak.

Overall, I would say my night was a success. I'm still a little devo I didn't do more research into the octopus before I attempted it (thereby wasting all those naturally delicious octopi...sorry guys!) but as everyone's been telling me, 3 out of 4 dishes is pretty good.

Mamak - Chatswood

The Mrs and I have been on a bit of a Malaysian food binge lately. I stand by my theory that my wife must have been a Malaysian in her past life because no matter how much we have it, she can never get enough. That is how we ended up at Mamak on Saturday night. As it was a Saturday night and we left for Chatswood quite late, the drive wasn't too bad. Parking though was horrendous....with the recent opening of Tim Ho Wan and all these other foodie joints, Chatswood really has become the hub of the North Shore.

After managing to find parking (all credit to the Mrs' keen senses and attention to detail) we headed over to Mamak and lined up in the cold. Although not nearly as ridiculous as it's other branch in the heart of the city, it was still impressive that they were pulling in a crowd at the hour that we arrived. We were seated almost simultaneously as another couple and although we were seated ever so slightly after them, we were the first to order because we already knew what we craved. Not gonna deny that we felt a bit pro.

The first things to arrive were our standard refreshments: Teh ice and Milo ice. The recipe is identical to the one they serve at Hawker (duh) and although it wasn't piled high with Milo powder, it was still creamy and refreshing. The Teh was as expected, absolutely delicious. Honestly wish they had an option to super jumbo size the drinks....I always polish my drink off in the first 5 minutes.

Next to arrive was the Kari Ayam (Curry Chicken). The curry itself was more viscous and spicy than we're used to but that's not to say it wasn't impressive. If I had an endless supply of that curry sauce and roti, I would be a very satisfied man. That said though, I personally wasn't a very big fan of the bony chunks of chicken, I prefer mine boneless.

When the next order came, we realised we may have overloaded on the chicken. We still gobbled up the Ayam Goreng (Malaysian fried chicken) all the same but it meant we neglected our curry quite a bit and had to take it home. This was my personal favorite meat dish of the night: the crispy exterior coated that juicy, succulent flesh perfectly with the delicious batter.

We each had an order of roti to ourselves (which was perfect because one dish of one type of curry as opposed to the other, no fighting over curry) and we ordered enough satay skewers to had 3 types of meat each. I still ended up having most of it though, not because the Mrs couldn't finish her portion but because she couldn't stand me constantly eyeing her food.

After dinner, we had thought about topping it all off at the choc pot. The Mrs fought hard to find the room for chocolate but couldn't do it. When we ascended the escalators though, our attention was immediately drawn to Miss Dipity. Ice cream was far too hard to deny. Good choice too as the Hojicha and Toasted Marsh mellow flavours were AMAZING.

I've very fond memories of Chatswood being that my father worked there for most of my life and I've had the opportunity to see it change again and again over the years. I'm happy to say I haven't lost any reason to visit. If anything, I've gained so much more reason to come back.