Catalina - Rose Bay, NSW

You probably might have gotten the idea by now (what with us being food-bloggers and all) but the Mrs and I really like to dine out. Sadly, we haven't really had the chance to go out and enjoy a really nice meal lately because we've had to save some money for a special event we have coming up. That's why I was so excited when a major milestone of ours came up and I used this opportunity to go and book a restaurant that the Mrs had been wanting to try for a while, Catalina.

A little tip for would-be diners: don't fret too much about needing to beat the traffic and find parking. They have ample parking outside the restaurant and you won't really encounter the typical sydney traffic trying to get there. Upon entering, we were seated at a rather ideal table located right by the water, perfect for setting up a romantic evening. Service was also impeccable from the moment you sit down, but is expected of a dining experience of this calibre....still, major points to the staff.

Despite there being sushi and sashimi available on the menu, the Mrs and I fought our temptations and stuck to the regular entrees and mains. For our entrees, we decided to share an order of the crispy whitebait and duck-egg as well as an order of the pan-seared scallops. When the dishes arrived, we were fascinated by how the dishes were presented and served as the duck egg was cut up and tossed before being placed onto the table. To say that we were impressed by the whitebait dish is an understatement. The crispy texture of the whitebait was complemented by the delightfully moorish duck-egg which made the dish extremely tasty. Despite sounding heavy, there was a slightly citrus-like element in the dish which cut through the flavours making it really appetising.

The scallops were also pretty good but I have to admit that in this case, the Mrs did pick the tastier entree. The scallops themselves were cooked perfectly but I can't say there was any other element of the dish which was memorable. That said, I do have a palate that craves heavy and distinct flavours so that's why when we ate the whitebait and the scallops back to back, the scallops wouldn't have had as much impact as the whitebait did. The dish was good in it's simplicity and the freshness of the ingredients.

Quickly thereafter, our main dishes arrived at our table and boy, were we impressed. The Mrs ordered the pan-seared kingfish from the daily menu which was served in a seafood bouillabaisse. Kingfish is possibly my most favoured type of fish when cooked which is great because this piece of fish was cooked beautifully with crispy thin skin and an almost steak-like texture of the fish being just cooked on the outside but still a bit raw in the centre. Just underneath it was refined and elegant seafood bouillabaisse which was smokey and savoury in all the right ways. The dish also had clams and mussels which made it just so much better. For me, this was definitely a highlight of the night.

The star of the show had to be my dish though, the lobster and fettuccine nero with tomato and chilli-infused lobster oil. The dish was magnificently presented with vibrant colours and a smell which was well indicative of how good this dish was. The pasta was cooked to an al-dente snap and was tossed with an abundant amount of plump and juicy bits of lobster meat. The sauce itself was absolutely moorish but had an acidic tang to it which made it irresistible. It was a shame that halfway through I had to give the pasta to the Mrs...the things I do for love. In addition to all this, we also ordered a side of mash just in case the mains weren't enough.

Normally, we'd end the night there (neither one of us is big on dessert) but since we hadn't been out in a while, we thought it'd be a good idea to order a sweet treat just this once. I naturally gravitated to the most chocolatey dish available and the Mrs obliged. We ordered the caramel-centred dark chocolate mousse with feuilletine crumble and valrhona milk chocolate ice cream to share which was a great decision because the dish was so amazing but so rich and decadent. A must order for any chocolate fan.

In addition to the dessert, the staff also provided us with a little gift for our special occasion which the Mrs and I were very appreciative of and thought was a great gesture. That last bit pretty much adequately describes our experience with Catalina, Perfect. The staff provided some of the best service we've had with their attentiveness and care which only made the food and the night even more spectacular. This has to be one of the most memorable dinners we've had and we're both so glad we chose to celebrate at Catalina.

Spago - Beverly Hills, NSW

We are honestly rather spoilt for choice in the south with our abundant Asian options and various areas where you can get a good feed, but when it comes to contemporary Western cuisine, there's only really one place that stands out to me. When I think about how long it's taken me to write a blog post about this place, it amazes me because anyone who talks to me knows I won't shut up about this place. I am convinced that Spago is the BEST that the south has to offer. Which is why when it came time to celebrate my birthday, the choice was obvious. It was definitely not the first time the Mrs and I have been here so it really didn't take long for us to decide what to order (we were so quick that the waitress was rather surprised).

Our entrees came shortly after we had ordered. I stuck with what I knew was good and ordered the Angus Beef Carpaccio. This dish amazes me in it's flavourful impact and sheer simplicity. The texture and taste of the raw beef meshes so well with the capers and cheese that you just can't help but love it. The hint of Truffle aioli on top really kicks it up a notch for all those who love truffles. The Mrs chose the Octopus salad which based on previous experience, is rather impressive. The octopus was unbelievably tender and rather well seasoned which worked really well in the crisp and fresh setting of the salad of rocket and red onions.

For our mains, I chose the more indulgent experience by ordering the rump steak with cafe de paris butter and hand cut chips. As the butter melts over the seared exterior of that beautiful piece of meat, the flavours of the herbs and spices melds together with the charred. beefy meat to give you a delightfully moorish steak. In particular, the tart and savoury flavour profile of the capers really highlights how well prepared the dish is. 

The Mrs stuck with what she knew was good (and had been craving for a while) and ordered the squid ink spaghetti. In all the times where I've had the pleasure of eating that pasta, I've never once had a bad experience with it. Like always, the pasta is cooked al-dente and coated ever so lightly in a light olive oil sauce. The cherry tomatoes are ever so slightly cooked to accentuate the natural sweetness and the bits of crab is perfectly flavoursome. For good carby measure, we also ordered the fries with truffle aioli...I mean, how could you not? 

For dessert, the Mrs let me choose her dessert (which came as a part of the Weekday deal we ordered) and I chose for her the Panna Cotta. The panna cotta is rather seasonal as each time we've ordered it, it came with a different fruit compote. I believe this time it was a berry compote as it had bits of strawberry on top which worked really well in cutting through the smoothly sweet cooked cream.

In continuing the theme of indulgent dining on my birthday, I opted to have the triple chocolate mousse cake as my dessert. Indulgent is a pretty apt description of the dish as it was layered with hazelnut, dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse. This was all set on top of a chocolate and almond cake and covered with a chocolate mirror glaze. This was a chocolate lover's dream (which was great for me cause I don't like anything sweet but chocolate) and despite the heavy sounding description, it really wasn't that filling as I had expected to be bloated after the meal but wasn't.

As I mentioned above, I don't ever really stop talking about this place and they never really give me a reason to stop. With each subsequent visit, I just find more and more to love about the work that they do there. The quality of the service and food really speaks volumes about how much dedication the team there puts into the menu and the food. Pair that with excellent service and an incredibly decent price (the weekday deal is the best value ever), Spago becomes that one gem that you can never pass up.

The Mister's Fantastical Ramen Weekend - Sydney, NSW

Hello everybody! Apologies for the small hiatus, the Mrs and I had a few things which had recently kept us rather pre-occupied so as result, we didn't get much time to blog. But that doesn't mean we didn't have time to eat though...oh no, we ate plenty. I recently had the most wonderful weekend packed with bowl after bowl of my absolute favourite noodles: Ramen.

So the Friday night before last, the Mrs and I headed to Newtown to attend a friend's birthday party. As the festivities were scheduled at a later time, we took this opportunity to go grab a bite to eat. Surprisingly, the Mrs allowed me to choose what to eat so I chose this small ramen shop on King St which looked relatively new. Tokyo Noodle Bar Zu Zu Zu looked exactly like what I was craving so without hesitation, we went in and ordered our noodles. I typically order a Miso ramen (if available) as that was the first flavour I had back in Japan and I use it as a benchmark for how good a place is. Soup wise, this place did the dish right. The soup was thick and held a lot of umami from the miso. The noodles were of the straight white variety and the toppings were rather standard. The disappointing thing was that the Chashu (roast pork) wasn't nearly as thin or tender as it should have been and the eggs weren't marinaded but overall, a great bowl to stave of the winter chill.

The next day, I was lucky enough to be able to grab lunch with my mum and sister where we went to a local favorite: Manmaruya. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of their original store in Campsie but as Hurstville was closer, that's where we decided to go. Mum went for the Spicy Miso Ramen which is typically what I order. The Chashu here is also not as tender as it should be but compared to the bowl I had at Zu zu zu, this has more character. The fresh chillies and ra-yu (japanese chilli oil) give the already flavoursome miso a good heat and kick which makes every slurp of slightly wavy noodles all the more exciting.

I saw a special called the Samurai Ramen and intrigued, I order that as my ramen and I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed. As is the more popular variety now, Manmaruya seems to also have embraced Gyokai fever by adding a spoonful of powdered bonito to their standard tonkotsu ramen. A small difference goes a long way as the flavour of fish really layers the soup and adds a level of complexity to it. I also appreciate how as opposed to their standard ramen, they serve the egg in the Samurai whole.

The sister wasn't all too hungry so she went with a Salmon Sashimi Donburi (which I didn't remember to photograph) and Takoyaki. As a special, they had blue fin tuna available so without hesitation, I ordered a plate of that as sashimi. I didn't get what all the hype was about blue fin tuna before but after eating this, I'm sold. The decadent slices of fresh fish marbled so magnificently makes for a tremendously satisfying treat. For the premium that this dish demand, I can't say I'd be making this a regular purchase (I'll just stick to my Salmon belly) but you definitely can't deny how pretty each slice is.

On the Sunday, the Mrs and I decided to go shopping and upon remembering that Ippudo had also opened up at Macquarie Centre, I demanded that we go there for lunch. Unlike the city branch, the Macquarie Centre branch is much less busy, possibly due to the fact that this place has a diminished menu...sorta like Ippudo express. The Mrs and I both chose to have the lunch set where I chose the Akamaru Shinaji and Gyoza, she chose the Karaka men and Karaage. Ippudo really is famous for a reason: you can't go wrong with their Shinaji. I was a little disappointed that my order of additional egg was missed but it really didn't detriment the bowl of noodles all too much. The combination of spice from the bomb and the hit of garlic from the black garlic oil really works well with the viscous, milky pork bone soup.

The Gyoza was another delight as I had never tried a place which offered Yuzu Kosho as a condiment. When mixed in with the dipping vinegar, the gyoza had a slight but refreshing bitterness and pepperiness which made it really nice to eat. The karaage was....different which is what I believe they were going for. The crunch and flavour was decent but not nearly as good as other places which offer that standard starchy crunch. I think in this case, I ordered the better side. She did order the better ramen though...

Overall, I'd have to say that I had a wonderful weekend (obviously at the expense of the Mrs) but I'd say I earnt it, what with all the brunches I take her to. We'll return to our regular content regularity very soon once we get a few things sorted this month but stay tunes for more coming this week!