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.

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.