Freak Scene, Farringdon

Chilli crab with avocado wanton bombs

Back in early September Becks and I had a quick after work dinner at Freak Scene in Farringdon. The restaurant is run by Scott Hallsworth who has some serious pedigree having been head chef at both Nobu in London and Melbourne.

Freak Scene was originally being billed as a pop-up but has since become more permanent (I'm pretty sure). When we went, presumably thinking they were only there for a short time, they'd barely done anything to decorate the interior since the previous tenants of the building had left and the seating was canteen style complete with plastic red plates. This isn't meant criticism, Sydney gave me a love of rough around the edges Asian eateries with tasty food and keen prices. Which is exactly what Freak Scene serves up.

Writing this I'm not quite sure why I haven't been back yet...

Black cod tacos (top right) and Seared beef salad with pomegranate, onion-peanut ponzu and garlic crisps

Miso grilled aubergine with caramelised walnuts

Red duck curry with lychees

Freak Scene
91 Cowcross St
Clerkenwell
London
EC1M 6BH

Restaurant Review: Ms G's, Potts Point

I finally made it! I've had Ms G's on my wish list for over a year now and was beginning to feel like one of the few people in Sydney who hadn't been to Dan Hong's popular restaurant. Last Saturday night, dinner with a friend provided the perfect opportunity to visit.

We arrived just after 6pm and the place was already packed. Not having booked we were seated at one of the micro tables just inside the door. The tables are only just big enough and I think could do with a bit of a re-design to make them more practical.

I'm not sure if it was by design or luck, but all of our dishes came out one at a time which helped manage the small table. There wouldn't have been space to fit two dishes on the table simultaneously.

To start I ordered one of the Mini pork belly bánh mì ($6) I've heard so much about. It wasn't the taste sensation I was expecting. I don't remember the pork being particularly crispy or flavoursome. All of the action was in juicy slaw sitting on top of the pork.

After asking the waitress what the mysteriously named Salad of Husband & Wife was, we decided that pigs ears might be a bit full on. Instead we opted for the “Buddha’s Delight” ($14). Described as a 'textural vegetarian salad' this was a highlight of the evening. A mix of crunchy (peanuts, cucumber, carrot) and soft (tofu, herbs) ingredients.

Our third selection was the Grilled beef pancakes, cucumber kimchi, nuoc cham ($28). The cucumber kimchi was fabulous and the sweet and spicy nuoc cham even better. However, the dish didn't work as a pancake for me. The surprisingly regular rectangles of beef were too large for a single mouthful, but not tender enough to easily bite in half. It made for rather inelegant eating.

Some fantastic flavours but a flawed concept for me. Cutting the beef in half, or using some falling apart short ribs (off the bone) might have ruined the presentation, but would make the dish a lot easier to eat.

Our final dish was the Roasted sambal barramundi ($26) and I'm pleased to report that we finished on a high. The barramundi was beautifully cooked, flaking apart and still wonderfully moist. The thick and rich sambal on top of the fish was a builder. It started with a deep tomato flavour as the chilli built in your mouth.

I was expecting to be bowled over by Ms G's after all of the good reviews and was a little disappointed that I wasn't. The sambal barramundi and Buddha's Delight salad were definite highlights, however, the beef and bánh mì disappointed slightly. I also thought that the price of the mains was a little high considering the size of the portions.

Ms G's
155 Victoria St
Potts Point
2011

Restaurant Review: The Meeting Point, China Town, Sydney

Thanks to Ricky Chong from Food Morning for inviting me to check out The Meeting Point in China Town.

Despite having a good Taiwanese friend, I've never been quite sure what Taiwanese food actually is. The beef dish I had at Rice Queen in Melbourne piqued my interest, so I was keen to check out this busy Taiwanese café nestling behind Paddy's Market.

We started with a jumbo mixed fruit green tea. Serving the teas in a large carafe seems to be a signature of the restaurant. I initially thought it was to share, but they brought us two! The tea was good with some real fruit and not too sweet, which I often find a problem with iced tea.

Both Phil and I had a bento box for lunch. I had the Stewed Pork Ribs Bento while Phil went for the Stewed Chicken Leg Bento Box. I'd previously thought bento boxes were Japanese, but a quick check on wikipedia informs me that they are traditionally Taiwanese too.

The boxes looked great, but were unfortunately a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting the salad to be room temperature, but the rice, chicken and pork were all cold too. Perhaps even worse they were bland as well. The only truly tasty and original item was the thinly shaved pumpkin with a passion fruit dressing. Something I've never eaten before, but would happily have again.

Things picked up with the desserts. The fresh strawberry pudding had an intense strawberry flavour and the pudding was smooth. The Taiwanese traditional shaved ice usually isn't my thing, but I actually enjoyed the taro, pumpkin, green beans, condensed milk and pearls that covered a mound of shaved ice.


Shop R1.01B Hay Street, 
(On the outside of Market city, next to the light rail tracks on the Pyrmont side)
Market City Ground Floor,
Sydney
2000

Restaurant Review: Rice Queen, Fitzroy, Melbourne

On my last visit  to Melbourne I had dinner at the Panama Dining Room which was a very cool Melbourne venue. Just downstairs is the hip younger sister Rice Queen. I had a free evening on my visit to Melbourne last week so decided to go and check it out.

The double height room is funkily decorated. The painted walls look like enlarged floral wallpaper designs. Eclectic furniture fills the rest of the room which can roughly be broken into three areas: a dining section, sofas for hanging out and raised tables near the bar.

Along the front wall there is a stage which has a grand piano sitting on it. The night I was there a jazz trio started playing half way through the evening. A female singer with a smokey voice was accompanied by a double bass and someone tinkering on the grand. They provided a good backdrop to all of the groups that had popped in for dinner. I initially felt a bit conspicuous dining on my own (the perils of travelling for work), but soon relaxed into my surroundings.

The male staff all had buttoned up collars (no ties) and the girls were wearing aprons. I'm not sure what style they were going for, but somehow it all fitted together.

Rice Queen styles itself as an Oriental Diner. I'm not really sure what that means. The menu was pan-Asian with Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian, Taiwanese and Thai dishes on the menu, which I guess is the Oriental. It didn't have a particular 'Diner' feel though.

As a starter I ordered the Taiwanese beef and kimchi served with a star anise soy sauce. Oh wow. Don't be fooled by the dodgy dimly lit photo, this was surprisingly tasty. The thinly shaved beef, crunchy and sour pickles (it didn't taste like any kimchi I've had before) and slightly sweet soy sauce (I think it was more complex than simply soy and star anise) all went perfectly together.

Texturally you had soft beef with the crunchy pickles. On the taste front you had hot, sour, salty and a bit of sweetness. I was a big fan. So big in fact I'm putting it on my top eats page.

Unfortunately the Malaysian Kari Kambing curry that I had as a main course wasn't nearly as exciting. It just tasted a bit generic.

Rice Queen is a good example of a laid back, urban, edgy Melbourne venue. A good place to hang out with friends. I'd be interested to try more of the menu to find out if contained a series of outstanding dishes or sadly some more misses.

Level 2 / 231 Smith Street,
Fitzroy,
Melbourne

Restaurant Review: Satay Delight, UNSW

I hadn't had a laksa before I visited Australia. I don't eat them very often, but it seems to be a minor lunchtime obsession for Sydneysiders.

The first one I tried was a beef laksa from the CBD Noodle Bar in the Wintergarden. Not outstanding, but pretty good.

Next up I decided to try the Malay Chinese on Hunter St that many people tip as Sydney's best. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, I found it pretty one dimensional in flavour. There were no greens, crispy shallots or anything else to add an extra bit of interest. Even though it was already too spicy for me I found myself adding extra chilli sauce to add an extra dimension!

Just before my accident on Monday I decided to visit Satay Delight at the University of New South Wales after a tip from Marlina. The UNSW food court was a lot more impressive than the one I'm used to from my time in Manchester. There was no salad bar in my day and it definitely wouldn't have had the longest queue if there was!

But I wasn't there for a salad, I wanted a laksa. I ordered the mixed soup beef laksa and took my seat amongst the students. I'm not sure if it was because I was wearing lycra or because I was ten years older than everyone else, but I felt like I stuck out!

I liked the laksa, one dimensional it definitely wasn't. Rather being overwhelmingly coconuty, the soup base to the laksa makes it feel lighter. There were two different types of noodle, greens, crispy shallots and tofu. I haven't had beef balls in a laksa before and I can only describe them as tasting like a smoked German sausage. I didn't think they tasted at all Asian, but they were nice. The sliced beef wasn't as good as the tender chunks of braised beef you get at the Wintergarden.  

UNSW Upper Campus Food Court 
Chancellery Walk 
Sydney

 

Restaurant Review: Grape Garden Peking, Willoughby

After the roaring success of my visit to Lao Zhao back in January, I hit up my colleague up for another Chinese restaurant recommendation and he came back with the Grape Garden Peking in Willoughby.

Where Lao Zhao was a cultural experience, Grape Garden was more eccentric. The very friendly chef / owner / waiter runs the show single handedly. You don't really need to look at the menu as he's more than happy to guide you through what to eat. Making suggestions of what would go well together. His friendly and outgoing nature was definitely one of the things that made the evening. He was very happy to talk about the recipes, dishes and different ingredients. Us foodies were lapping it up. The chef was even kind enough to give us a jar of the sugar / molasses that is used to caramelise the skin of the duck after John suggested a recipe for roasting pork with it. (I'm waiting for the dinner invite!)

There were several times when we got told off for talking too much and taking photos, letting the food go cold. In the picture above he got so frustrated with us that he started to roll our duck pancakes!

The main event was our whole roasted duck. It was served in traditional style. A large plate of duck skin (not too much meat) was served with a basket of homemade pancakes, hoisin sauce and shredded spring onions and cucumber. The duck skin could have been crispier, but otherwise it was delicious. The sweet and sticky hoisin sauce got all over my fingers and I couldn't help but lick them clean!

The decor is very stark and the restaurant was worryingly empty on a Friday night, but don't let that put you off. It's a fun experience, the food is good and you'll leave with a new friend in the chef. I liked it.

To start we had a cabbage salad, with tofu and peanuts as an appetiser. The cabbage and tofu had a nice crunch and refreshing quality. The roasted peanuts added a depth to the flavour that was enhanced by sprinkling over some of the smokey chilli dipping sauce.

It was recommended that we ate the steamed fish dumplings naturally without any of the sauces. The fish with garlic chives had a nice subtle flavour.

Next up was a plate of mixed pork and beef fried dumplings. We were instructed that these dumplings should be eaten with the aforementioned chilli sauce and a bowl of vinegar that we were also given.

Our second duck course was handmade noodles with duck bones. I loved the bite in the handmade noodles. I was expecting a bit more duck meat, but it was literally the bones. However, it was fun to suck the meat off the bones and be left with a satisfying small pile of clean bones at the end.

Ordered by Simon purely for the English translation on the menu ants climbing trees, was a plate of vermicelli noodles with minced pork. I was expecting the noodles to be bland, but there was a nice sauce coating them.

I was trying to order a lamb neck dish my colleague had told me about, but we accidently ended up with fried lamb shanks with cumin. What fortuitous mistake! The lamb turned out to be one of the dishes of the night. Two large lamb shanks had been slow cooked before being fried to give them a crispy exterior. The shanks were liberally covered in a cumin and chilli spice mix. Tender meat with spices and fresh coriander. Heaven.

We decided to finish our savoury dishes with spicy eggplant. Not too spicy the peeled eggplant was served with mushrooms.

For dessert we have a sweet sesame pancake. A nice flakey exterior hid a soft, sweet and nutty sesame paste in the middle. A nice sugary hit to finish the meal with, without being too heavy.

This place is a great little secret where you are guaranteed to get a table. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

52 Penshurst Street,
Willoughby,
NSW

Restaurant Review: Singapore Shiok!*, Haymarket

When I was living in Bangkok I visited food courts four or five times a week. A fantastic way to grab a quick, cheap, delicious and varied meal on the go. When I moved into my apartment in Sydney within a stones throw of China Town I thought I might keep the food court habit.

However, after a hard day in the office I've found that I prefer coming home to unwind and cook, so have rarely visited the food courts on my doorstep. However, when I recently returned home late from the Gold Coast I decided to stop off at Singapore Shiok!* in the Eating World Food Court.

I've previously had the chicken rice from Shiok!* (excellent rice and chicken, disappointing sauces) so decided to go for the Har Mee this time.

It was really good. The soup had a nice fish stock flavour and a decent amount of chilli without being too much for a weakling like me. There were good amounts of prawn, crispy shallots, two types of pork, some greens and half a boiled egg. There were lots of noodles buried underneath to fill you up too.

Eating World Harbour Plaza Food Court
Shop 213,
25-29 Dixon Street,
Haymarket
NSW 2000

Restaurant Review: Lotus, Marrickville

On Sunday night I was invited to have dinner at Lotus Restaurant in Marrickville with a group of food bloggers. Thank you to Simon for organising and Chartlotte Foot for the invite! It was great to catch up with some faces I haven't seen in a while and meet other bloggers for the first time.

With it's bold and minimalist interior Lotus is trying to do something a bit different in Marrickville. Standing out from the crowd of rustic Vietnamese restaurants known for serving up bowls of pho.

When I've been describing Lotus to friends during the week I've found myself almost apologetically describing the restaurant as pan-Asian. Cooking a mix of Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Chinese food is usually a recipe for mediocrity. However, Lotus is good! Perhaps they need a tag line?

All of the food is cooked fresh. It's lovely to see all of the fresh herbs, homemade curries and attention to detail in the food. Just check out the presentation in the salt and pepper squid above and in some of the dishes below. Unfortunately the painstaking attention to detail comes at a price, which is the slightly slow service. A trade off needs to be found without compromising on the food. Perhaps shortening the menu? Or getting an extra pair of hands in the kitchen?

Having recently bemoaned how expensive restaurants are becoming in Sydney and that it is unusual to see mains under $20-$25 on dinner menus, I was pleased to see everything under $18. The steady stream of people coming in for take-away orders during the night obviously agree.

If you go, order some Jasmine tea just for the comically large mugs that it gets served in, rather than the dainty little cups I'm used to.

Char grilled lemongrass prawn on skewers

I enjoyed the subtle lemongrass flavours, but unfortunately my prawn was slightly overcooked and a little bit tough.

Malaysian-style grilled satay chicken

The chicken was beautifully moist and soft. However, the satay sauce lacked the punch of flavour that I was expecting.

Braised pork belly with green papaya salad

Roast duck & lychee salad

The two salads were quite similar with lots of freshly picked herbs and generous amounts of pork and duck respectively (although not much lychee). I preferred the the duck salad for it's more lively dressing. Whenever I see papaya in a salad I think of the mighty Thai som dtam and the pork belly salad was a bit too timid for me.

Malaysian Rendang chicken

This was one of my two favourite dishes of the night. It's unusual to have a chicken rendang, but the chichen thighs were lovely and tender. The homemade curry paste had a great flavour full of spices and heat.

M. B. S. (mushroom, bean curd & snow peas)

This was one of my choices for the evening. Definitely not bad, but it was outshone by the other dishes of the night for me. However, it was some people's favourite!

Malaysian-style chili sambal prawns

Don't be fooled by the innocuous looking small shreds of chilli, this dish was pretty hot! The prawns were de-veined and well cooked.

Braised prawns with red curry paste, pumpkin & kaffir lime leaves

This was my second choice of dish for the evening and it was a definite winner! There was heat from the chilli, sour from tamarind and lots of flavour from the spices. I really liked how the pumpkin was very soft and tender. If I was to go back I'd definitely order this dish again.

Lotus dessert plate for 2: Dark chocolate truffle with raspberry sauce, Black sticky rice pudding with coconut sauce, Lychee sorbet, mango sorbet

I'm a sucker for sticky rice and really enjoyed the black sticky rice. The mango sorbet was particularly good too.

Fried coconut ice cream with passionfruit sauce

The ice cream was very popular round the table, although I have to admit I'm not a big fan of fried ice-cream.

The other lovely food bloggers at dinner:
Simon Food Favourites
Leona from Pigged Out
Simon from The Heart of Food
Phouc 'n Delicious
Jennifer from Jenius
Betty from Sugarpuffi
Sara from Belly Rumbles
Denea from Gourmet Rabbit
Becca from The Bon Vivant

Lotus Restaurant
393 Illawarra Road
Marrickville, 2204