Category: Food


Best’s Wines New Releases "Tweet up" Dinner @ Fix St. James

Filed under: Food, Red Wine, White Wine, Wine, Wine Reviews — 1 Comment
September 3, 2010

1st September 2010 – Best’s Wines (http://www.bestswines.com/) held their “Tweet Up” Dinner in celebration of their newly released wines, at Fix St James Wine Bar/Restaurant (http://www.fixstjames.com.au/). People at the dinner, as well as many others who received Best’s wine packs to review on the same night whether they were at the dinner or not, used Twitter to voice their thoughts on the wines and also see what others are thinking. At Fix St James we all could see people’s opinions and reviews about Best’s new release wines through Twitter on a flatscreen in real time, across Australia.

From Best’s wines was Jonathan Mogg, presenting the wines at the dinner - firstly with the fresh releases, then back in time to the older vintages. This event provided a unique opportunity to try some of Best’s exclusive wines from the cellar including 1984 Best’s Great Western Chardonnay, 1992 Great Western Riesling, 2000 Bin 1 Shiraz (the first EVER Bin 1 made), 1997 Bin 0 Shiraz, and 1996 Thomson Family Shiraz. The older vintages were aged well and still had a lot of kick.

   Best’s wines are among the top 50 collected wines in Australia. This is the first time a winery has done an event like this, and it was great to see people’s views and opinions all at the same time. This worked out quite well.

   The matching degustation was delicious and plenty to go around, thanks to Fix St. James’ Stuart Knox, and Chef Sam Bennett who is still celebrating the ‘People’s Choice Award’ at the recent Time Out Sydney Food Awards. Fix St James is at 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney – I recommend a visit. Great wine list, food, service, and everything.

First off we had a Sparkling white - well done yeasty bready characters on the nose, and dry but fresh palate.
New releases (these are personal notes):
   Best’s Riesling – some fruit on the nose (and did find out there is a slightly higher residual sugar than a dry riesling), then zesty with prominent acid on palate and a mineral structure. Elegant and age-worthy. Around $22 rrp.
   Best’s Chardonnay –  Nose is fragrant and has decent amount of fruit such as nectarines. Creamy with acidity for balance, bright and fresh fruit comes in a fraction later, sits very well. Elegant and also age-worthy. Around $25 rrp.
   Best’s Shiraz Bin 1 - deep boquet, black fruit (such as black cherry), some earthiness. Powerful palate but tannin sits smoothly with pepper and spices that add elegance. Yum! Quite a savoury style Shiraz. About $25 rrp.
   Best’s Cabernet Sauvignon - very reserved on the nose (but because it needs some more time), with a hint of herbaceousness, elegant, laced with spice and white pepper. Quite fresh, and at the same time deep and intense, with superb length. Fruit is somewhat receded, with smooth but slightly grippy tannins. Around $25 rrp.

Old/Special releases: All aged perfectly:
   Best’s 1984 Chardonnay – Mellow nose with some stone fruit. Aged very well, leaving a well developed texture.
   Best’s 1992 Riesling – Surprisingly fresh considering the age! Plenty of mouthwatering acidity
   Best’s 2007 Bin 1 Shiraz – Lively and elegant, with juicy mouthwatering fruits and silky, velvety tannins.
   Best’s 2000 Bin 1 Shiraz – Black fruit, savoury and slightly earthy with long length.
   Best’s 1997 Bin 0 Shiraz – Quite fragrant and with a bright palate. Oak well integrated. Perfect drinking now.
   Best’s 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon – Complex with sweeter and more savoury notes, such as fruit and mint and spices throughout the palate in balance.
   Best’s 1996 Thompson Family Shiraz – Shows a powerful palate with dense intense blackberries, cherries, plums, with a little, but very recognisable, liquorice note. Will age for about 12-15 years.

These wines and dinner were memorable and it was well worth having real-time tweets running across Australia with #bestswines. More wineries should do it!   

Cheers.

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Rambutan Thai Restaurant, Darlinghurst

Filed under: Food, Restaurant Reviews — 2 Comments
May 14, 2010

Rambutan: 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Sydney. Tel (02) 9360 7772 http://www.rambutan.com.au/

Have been here numerous times before, and 6 of us last had dinner there on Wednesday. Great Tiki bar downstairs, so is recommended if you have time to have a drink or two down there beforehand – sleek but comfy seating, dim lighting, live tropical fish tank in the wall, stunning, amazing cocktails and other drinks and professional but warm bar service.

Restaurant itself is also dimly lit, creating intimate but casual dining, with simple touches such as flowers and marble, and nice interior with plenty of dark wood. Service is friendly and warm, and always happy to explain anything about their dishes. Food is great. Mains are about $20-$32 per dish, so a little more than many Thai restaurants in Sydney but the food is made well with attention to detail.

Betel leaves are one of my favourite starters and both of their options – Rambutan miang (betel leaf) w peanut & green nahm jim, and Miang (betel leaf) w smoked trout & grilled chilli eggplant relish - were great. We also has Larb gai of chicken, lemongrass & mint in iceberg cup w spicy dressing & roasted rice – good good. Main dishes all came in good serving sizes. Wagyu beef (Braised wagyu beef w flat noodle Vietnamese mint & black vinegar sauce) was one of the favourite main dishes. I also enjoyed the Wok fried King prawns w pong gari coconut cream baby corn & curry leaf - had just a little kick of spice which I liked. The Stir fried wild mushrooms w ginger, tofu, cashew nut & mushroom soy, and Stir fried roasted pumpkin w egg tofu garlic stems & chilli, both made vegies taste really great.

Overall in the Darlinghurst area for Thai Rambutan would be my preference, as well as Yok Yor (cheaper than Rambutan) Thai on Crown St. Thai Nesia on Oxford st is also good for simple good food. Other good Thai joints are:

Spice I Am, Surry Hills (Eat in/Take Away) - however there’s always people waiting and you have to wait a while if you don’t arrive early. Spice I Am in Darlinghurst is good as well. http://www.spiceiam.com/

Longrain, Surry Hills – pricey but great food. Booking would be wise. http://www.longrain.com.au/

Jimmy Liks, Potts Point - Modern Asian, little on the higher end cost wise, but every meal is delicious! http://www.jimmyliks.com/

Doytao Thai, Waterloo/Surry Hills – Just at the end of Crown St South, great little takeaway joint (there is some room to eat there), and often packed even though it’s so small. Great cheap tasty thai!

Thai Princess, East Sydney – tucked away in a street off William st, good basic Thai, nice restaurant, good service. http://www.thaiprincess.com.au/

Arun Thai, Potts Point – $15-$30 a main, but great modern Thai food and restaurant ambience (authentic, peaceful and quiet) and service. http://www.arunthai.com.au/

Thai Pothong, Newtown - good Thai and fun atmosphere, although too noisy sometimes. Reasonably priced, about $15-$25. Really large restaurant, often packed. You get your “Thai Pothong dollars” at the end of your meal to spend at the Thai gift store next door (that sells Thai jewellry, Thai homewares etc). http://www.thaipothong.com.au/

Doytao Thai, Newtown – Quite a large restaurant with a solid “eatery” style to it – big long thick wooden tables. Often packed.

Chedi, Newtown – Medium priced Thai, tasty food with a modern twist, sophisticated restaurant. http://www.chedi.com.au/

Atom Thai, Newtown – Have heard good things, haven’t been myself.

Nu’s, McMahon’s Point – Fine dining, pricey Thai, one of the most expensive in Sydney, but impeccable unforgettable Thai food… http://www.nusrestaurant.com.au/

MOFU (Modern Oriental For U), Neutral Bay – Tucked away from the main road, a nice little modern dim-lit asian restaurant. Nice completely un-pretentious service.

Khacha Thai, Spice Lovers Thai, and Bai Yok, all in Crow’s Nest – Good Thai joints.

Sailor’s Thai, The Rocks – Tasty Thai but highly priced.

We’re lucky in Sydney to have good Thai/Asian fusion available :-) Cheers!

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Efendy Restaurant in Balmain – A Journey To Turkey…

Filed under: Food, Restaurant Reviews — 6 Comments
May 10, 2010

Had dinner at Efendy in Balmain on Friday – Loved it! Somer the owner was very friendly, generous and of course knew his Turkish stuff. Food was fantastic, very interesting and tasty dishes, all with a heartwarming feel to them. The restaurant itself was lovely too, as was the service – warm, professional and attentive. You walk into the spacious courtyard area where you can sit outside on a nice day, and see the Efendy bar on your right, and then walk into the multi-level restaurant with authentic decor all around.

True Turkish cuisine and atmosphere – delicious cold mezes, hot mezes, main meals and dessert platters, all very unique to the Australian food scene. Fantastic Lamb, Beef, Touches of yoghurt and spices, Aromatic Nutty rice, and accompaniments that stood out, such as the Ahirdagi Salata (pictured) - Finely chopped salad of tomato, cucumber, red onion, walnuts, pomegranate…

At the “Mey” Efendy bar you can enjoy cocktails with a Turkish touch, aperitifs, digestives, cigars and a variety of boutique European and Australian wines by the glass before or after your dinner at the lower floor.

Efendy Restaurant http://www.efendy.com.au/
Corner Elliott St (no. 79) and Darling St, Balmain. Strongly recomended if you’re in Sydney, check this place out and get a real taste of Turkey – you won’t be disappointed :-)  Fantastic vegetarian selections as well :-) Also open for Lunch and Breakfast. Tel: (02) 9810 5466. Also another Efendy review by a friend http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com/search/label/Efendy
First up on Friday was Turkish bread, Olive Oil and Dukkah, along with Saksuka – Traditional sauteed potato, zucchini, eggplant with mint yoghurt. Turkish bread was excellent texture, moist and tasty. Saksuka was delicious combination, great starter especially when drinking. Also had some Beef medallions sprinkled with Spring Onions on something really nice containing egg, mayo and onion.

Main dishs: Kuzu Tandir - 7 hour brasied Bultarra Saltbush Lamb shoulder, aromatic baldo rice, currant and pinenuts pilaf, pickled winter vegetables. Everything yum, aromatic rice was lovely, lamb cooked well but not overdone or dry at all. And another meat dish (couldn’t remember the name), but equally delicious with yoghurt, potato and spices underneath. Accompanied by Ahirdagi Salata (pictured) – Finely chopped salad of tomato, herbs, cucumber, red onion, walnuts, pomegranate… Quite refreshing, but also brought out the flavours of the main meals. Pomegranate was a lovely addition, giving astringency from the fruit with a subtle hint of sweetness - Perfect with meat.

Dessert (picture courtesy of SimonLeongDesign) - consisted of Burnt Cinnamon Mastic Pudding, Nut Ice cream and Turkish Fairy Floss, which is slightly thicker and heavier than normal machine-at-a-fair fairy floss – really nice! Ice cream was Delish! Nutty and delicate (not pictured). Mastic Pudding was very interesting, thick, gum-like texture, that just dissolved in the mouth, really enjoyed it. Also accompanying was Strawberry Pomegranate tea – I was slightly skeptical at first thinking it would be sweet and sugary, but it wasn’t. Really delicate astringency with the strawberry flavour. Will be back for sure!
Cheers!

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Rockpool Bar and Grill, Sydney

Filed under: Food, Restaurant Reviews, Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 4 Comments
April 17, 2010

4 of us had Dinner @ Rockpool Bar and Grill (Sydney) last weekend (http://rockpoolbarandgrill.com/). Service was great, attentive, warm and knowledgeable. High ceilings and architecture were a major plus. Food was Good, up to expectations of a Neil Perry restaurant, and really liked the Extensive and Clear menu with Plenty of Interesting Options. Also genorously received more than enough complimentary dishes/meals which filled us way more than we were expecting. Would also like to come here next time just for dessert…

Started w Drinks in the bar – really enjoyed the ambience and dark decor, although took a little while to receive drinks we ordered.
The bottle of red wine we ordered for Dinner was 2005 Drouhin-Laroze ‘Les Craipillot’ (Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru), $194 a bottle, apparantly one of the least marked-up-in-price wines in the restaurant, and was a spectacular wine. I thoroughly enjoyed it, for it’s length and elegant, very refined, but not tight (due to some age of 5 years?) structure. Some fruit and a touch of spice although mainly oak driven on palette. Although, in the end, the bold blousiness of Australian Red wine from South Australia is always going to have a stronger place in my heart - But of course every country has it’s great unique style of winemaking.
To start, a mixed platter of cold meats such as Prosciutto, Wagyu and Chorizo- tried a few unique things, and quite liked it. Came with Pickled vegies (carrot, cauliflower etc) which I loved – Tasty and very crunchy.
Had the Blue Eye fish for my main. Came with a lovely herb/red onion salad that complimented perfectly. Was a very small serving but I have a big appetite and there was plenty of food overall. Also this small serving surprisingly had some filling capacity as it was a thick, fleshy meat.

Barramundi Fillet. Also came with Herb Salad. 
Mushy Peas with slow cooked egg – I enjoyed this combination, and it has a noticeable amount of spice.
Warm Salad of Wood Fire Grilled Quail with Smoked Tomato and Black Olive – Stunning. Loved it.

Wood Fire Grilled Pork Sausages with Grilled Peppers and Soft White Polenta.
Seared King Prawns with Goats Cheese Tortellini, Burnt Butter, Pine Nuts and Raisins.
House Chopped Salad – Good basic salad. Sweet style dressing.
Potato and Cabbage Gratin – Looked attractive for a potato/cabbage dish. Tasty cheese layer.
Pavlova was good, but could do with some more fresh fruit as I found it too sweet and needed more refreshment after a large meal, although perhaps they steered away from this so as not to be ‘typical’.. After dessert, came encrusted nuts and some fancy marshmallows.
In the end, was pleased with the restaurant - extensive wine list, food, attentive service, and the knowlegde of the waitpersons and sommeliers was impressive. But as I said I would like to come here just for a dessert session next time, you can do that :)
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Nostos Greek Restaurant, Leichhardt

Filed under: Food, Restaurant Reviews — 5 Comments
April 16, 2010
Had dinner @ Nostos last night in Norton St, Leichhardt (http://www.nostos.com.au/) due to reviews I heard, and was thoroughly impressed! Great Greek Food, Great but not annoying service, Pleasantly Surprising Enough Complimentary Dishes, and Fantastic Value.

The place itself looks small but nice at first with a little corner for Greek bands to play at certain nights (which I’m glad not to have last night as I was seated close enough to it, and enjoyed being able to chat) but there was much more Space upstairs and out the back with a courtyard too. I like the place in that it has a lot of smaller, more intimate, segments.

I had the Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir by the glass which was good and not too young, but you can byo too.
First up we had complimentary Olives, Sundried Tomatoes/Chillies, Olive Paste, Olive Oil/Balsamic Vinegar, with lightly toasted bread. Olive Oil was good quality, and it all tasted nice and fresh.

Then we had another complimentary dish from the restaurant owner, Haloumi and  Grilled Mushrooms – Haloumi was fantastic, not very salty and great texture, and the caramelized Balsamic vinegar and a bit of oil on the plate was perfect w the Haloumi.

Then our entree came out, BBQ Octopus in Lemon, Olive Oil and Oregano. Stunning! Luscious and chewy texture with enough crispyness on the edges of the tentacles :-) And really tasty shredded cooked onion (I think) tossed through the octopus.
For mains, the Peeled Prawns in Garlic & Lemon Sauce w hint of chilli, on top of a small amount of rice cooked tender ans soaked up the remaining garlic lemon sauce. Again, luscious, good flavour, and great texture. And the Moussaka w Eggplant, Beef mince, Potato and Bechamel Sauce - good hearty flavour and mouthfeel, good size too. Perhaps a little too much potato. Always accompanying the mains were the Lemon Garlic Potatoes and Green Beans with Dill (potatoes could have been a bit more on the crispy side instead of soft, to contrast w the flavoursome and sometimes oily food, but hey I aint complaining!).
Then we had Dessert – Photo is already messed up by me already starting to eat it, but it was delicious!! Ice Cream, Glace Cherries in Dark Chocolate Sauce, Black Nuts and Turkish Delight prisms. Ice Cream was Unique Flavour, Fig and something else with nuts and other crunchy bits. Glace Cherries and Dark Choc Sauce was beautiful and went perfectly with the unique fig ice cream. Black nuts were good, couldn’t figure out what it was at first. And Turkish Delight I just love.
When the Bill came out I was pleasantly surprised while having a very full and happy belly! The people of the restaurant were really lovely, attentive and warm – along with fresh wholesome quality Greek food and great value. Definitely coming back here. Everyone else’s meals looked good too… Cheers.
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Fix St. James Wine Dinner

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April 2, 2010
A Wine Dinner last night was organized by www.winewithoutbs.com.au/ , at Fix St. James Restaurant/Wine bar (111 Elizabeth St, Sydney http://www.fixstjames.com.au/) - lovely restaurant, not large in scale but definitely sleek with good ambience, good food, and fantastic service and knowledge from the staff there (but not overly imposing). About 24 winos/foodos gathered for this dinner. For $69 a head, everyone I spoke to felt it was great value – Food Stuffed the Stomachs with some left over, and Plenty of Wine, which even somehow wasn’t quite finished (after more than full glasses of each “tasting”, it does get a little hard).
Also present was Brendan Hilferty, who provides great value wines in “cleanskins”, choosing wines that reflect their terroir most so, eg. Shiraz from McLaren Vale, straight Grenache from Barossa etc. Winewithoutbs led the blind tastings, and by the end the wines (except the final Muscat) were revealed to be Brendan Hilferty’s “TheWinePoint” wine range – all above-average cleanskin wines at a fantastic price http://www.thewinepoint.com.au/ Brendan’s wine store is located in Birkenhead Point – The Wine Point gets straight to the Point with personalised service and wine specialists.

There were the White Hunter Semillon and Yarra Valley Premier Brut Chardonnay/ Pinot Noir wines to start with, and the rest were Red Wines followed by a Seppeltsfield Grand Muscat (provided by Fix St. James’ Stuart Knox) with dessert. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the “Coal River Valley” Pinot Noir (from Tasmania, 2009), “Dry Grown” Tempranillo (McLaren Vale, 2006), and a straight Grenache (Barossa) which many people hadn’t tried before. The Shiraz (Barossa) was a little too much for some, but it was a big boy and I just thought it needed a little more age before drinking – I found it was good, just a wee little young and suitable for ageing at least 3 more years. In fact, I think all the wines on the tasting can age well. The final Muscat was beautiful deep colour and everyone enjoys a sticky! My personal favourite was the Tempranillo – on the nose, had berry beautiful fruity notes but very earthy at the same time, and based on cool climate oaky tones. On the palate, beautiful balanced flavour and neat structure, with a touch of black pepper cool-climate spice and some other warmer spices. Strongly recommended as a big bold flavour, smooth wine. And it’s $12 a bot!!

Now for food! First of two things that came out were Pork Belly Salad – was great, not a big fan of salads but the Pork belly and crisp thin shreds of salad made it everything, and a Thinly Sliced Radish Salad – refreshing, cleansed the palate excellently with the red wines coming out (Pinot Noir and Tempranillo, as well as the white wine starter).
There also came out was a dish of Marinated Capsicum (Peppers), Tomato, Red Onion, Buffalo Mozzarella drizzled with something based on olive oil – a little too oily, but the vegies were marinated.
Ocean Trout Tartare in some sort of Dill based marinade w lemon – Loved it!
Beef Carpaccio w Pickled Radish - Beautiful and Tender.
Whole Rainbow Trout w Fennel and Egg Salad – soft cooked egg yolk went well with the Trout. It wouldn’t have gone well with a white-fleshed fish.
Cape Grim Scotch Fillet Tagliata – covered in salad leaves with crisp potatoes accompanying. Cooked Medium rare, which is good.
For dessert we all got chocolates from the WineWithoutBullShit Bunny, as well as the restaurant’s Macchiato Granita w Hazelnut accompanied by Seppeltsfield Muscat – really deep honey tone with stunning orange blossom flavour. Mmm Mm!
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SumBar Wine Dinner with Michael Datta and his New Wines

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March 26, 2010

   Michael Datta, winemaker (MDV wines, http://michaeldatta.com/) was keen to crack open some of his new wines with a few of his friends, so I joined in after a meeting w him on a wine dinner last night at SumBar, Randwick, Tapas/Wine bar(http://www.sumbar.com.au/). I hadn’t been to this little gem before – this bar looks neat and narrow at first, with a funky warm friendly feel, but actually has a lot of sections such as a courtyard and an upstairs area with good quality old fashioned furniture. Mark the owner of SumBar was a nice chap, and sources his own wines that the restaurant provides, and aims to find wines that people probably haven’t tried yet, as opposed to just getting commercial wines that are available everywhere. The list still includes a few great Aussie wines that are more well known. I didn’t know many wines on the list but they did look good – good variety of vintages and different wines from many different regions such as Australia/Tasmania, Spain, Italy and France…

Michael prefers to support small wineries and small wine businesses, which is great. He appears to have a good network of people interested in the business side of wine, and especially also always open to new businesses looking for “what’s next”. Mich has just brought NZ wines into his range – Two Sisters Pinot Noir, and an unlabelled Sauv Blanc which was typical Sauv Blanc style that’s popular in Australia. He aims to pack a lot of fruit across all his wines.

MDV Grenache – good spice and plenty of fruit on the nose. On the palate, if the bottle was just opened, the alcohol could definitely be felt going down the throat but as it was left to “air” it changed a lot, over an hour especially. A bit young, but has good cellaring potential, and therefore needed more time. – you could tell on the taste it was all there but just needed age. Could age well, 4-6 years.

Two Sisters Pinot Noir, Central Otago NZ -plenty of fruit on the nose and nice smooth silky tannins, could have done with another year. Oak was good and lasted long after wine left the mouth. Could age well, 5+ years.
MDV Riesling – Upon hearing about this wine beforehand, I was pleased on trying it. Still could do with another year of age, but the refined structure with fruit and acidity was good.
Unlabelled Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough – Typical passionfruit on the nose and stone fruit flavours with crisp acidity on taste.

Now onto Tapas! Stewart from http://www.winewithoutbs.com.au/ basically ordered all the tapas on the menu, and every one of the tapas dishes were really good, at a normal upmarket tapas price from about $9-$13 per dish. Some of what I enjoyed (and recommend) were:

Haloumi Cherry Tomatoes and Red Onion -Delicious! The Haloumi came out really hot but almost crispy on the outside for a cheese, and the cherry tomatoes tasted caramelised, it all mixed very well in the mouth;

Moorish Moroccan Inspired Lamb with mint yoghurt, on crisp baby spinach salad – Lamb cooked nicely, savoury yoghurt and baby spinach with it’s dressing was good and meshed well together. This was my favourite (as pictured);

Chorizo – Thick slices. Was scrumptious;

Tender beef chunks in some creamy sauce and garlic – was lovely and warming, reminded me of a stroganoff. Beef could have been a little more tender but perhaps that’s what it’s meant to be like. It wasn’t any tougher than meat in a stroganoff;
Spanish “Poor Man’s Potatoes” with Aoli. Potato chunks cooked well with crisp skin, Aoli with it was creamy and divine;

Grilled Chicken with Black bean, capsicum etc salsa, and white wine – Chicken was very moist, I just had it by itself and the salsa after, both were good on their own…

Overall dinner was fun, starting from 7pm until quite late. Everyone launched into Mich Datta’s wines to the point of constant laughing. And the good food complemented the oaky wines well. I also remember Mich mixed two of his red wines together in a jug, and by his face I thought it was a joke, but it turned out good! Will return to SumBar for drinks sometime…

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Duck Fest 2010 Dinner @ Mumu Grill

Filed under: Food, Restaurant Reviews, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 4 Comments
March 25, 2010

Well well, I love Duck, and MuMu Grill in St Leonards held a 7-course Dinner last night (Wed, 24th March), all of Duck, including the dessert. 160 people, all there for the same reason, the love of food!
Wines were paired with each course of Duck, starting with Pinot Noirs then Cab Sauvignons, and a Pink Muscato with dessert.
Duck Consomme – The first thing up when we were seated after the Pate on arrival. Smelt beautifully of Duck! And the taste was of a good meaty consomme.
After finishing that we started with our first wine, Little Yering Pinot Noir, 2008. Lovely wine, not too young to drink, lots of aroma and fruit on the nose. With a delicate light spice on the palate which just twinkled your tongue a little!
Soon to be eaten with the wine we were served the Duck Breast w Deconstructed XO – Although small, this was one of my favourites, and packed a powerful mouthful of crispy duck, duck belly (I think) and scallop, with a mellow chilli sauce and garlic. Honestly it reminded me of some fast food crispy chicken because it was moreish, but really really good!
Next up, the Duck Sang Choi Bow “Flash Fried Duck Leg w Kim Chi and Oyster in Lettuce Leaf” I really enjoyed and the Sang Choi Bow of duck was very moist. Honestly I would have been happy without the chilli-tang, mushroom and orange sauce, but it did go well with the oysters.
With this stage we had the Bass Straight Pinot Noir, 2008, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. It was slightly darker in colour than the previous Pinot, and more deep especially in cedary/wood tones. Surprisingly fruity on the palate, as I couldn’t smell much fruit on the nose, along with good spice and a thinner clear edge on the rim to the previous.
Next up, Twice Cooked Duck w Bok Choy and Cooked Pear. This was my favourite, as it was simply big solid chunks of duck that fell apart at the touch of a feather – perfectly cooked, and at first I thought the Pear wasn’t that great with the duck but as soon as the Bok Choy came in it suddenly pulled it together. These Baby Pears were nice though.

Le Wine with this was the Parker Estate 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a big guy, packing oak and lots of herbal notes but mainly mint on the nose, a little raspberry, and plush plums. On the tongue, a cooler palate, black pepper and refined structure at 7 years old, Fruit very first on the palate, then quickly oaky tones took over, then you could feel the heat of the alcohol, then some silky smooth tannin, and finally a slight acidity that lingers at the back of the tongue. I loved this wine!

Now, finally in the savoury department we had the “Turducken!”, looked a little wierd,
Turkey Stuffed with a Duck Stuffed with a Guinea Fowl. Thick layers of Duck and Turkey, and smaller meaty bits of Guinea Fowl. To be honest I couldn’t tell what was the Guinea Fowl and what was the duck, but it tasted scrumptious especially with the addition of pesto that was great. Turkey was cooked well, but just a tad bland compared to the dense flavour of the Duck/Guinea Fowl. Went well with Rocket lettuce, Figs and Potatoes.
Wine with this, was the Ada River 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. Had a little less fruit on the nose, but equally as powerful, with a distinctive clear rim and great body/length on the palate. Loved the age and smooth oak.
Finally Dessert! Was Duck Egg Caramel w Pineapple, Mint and Papaya. The caramel was intensely sweet. I preferred the fruit part separately, and had it first to freshen my palate, before sipping the rest of the custard. I thought the caramel syrup on top of the creme caramel part was too much especially compared with the soft papaya, but all in all not bad. The Innocent Bystander Pink Muscato came along with dessert – lightly sparkling, sweet, and got better with the caramel – the fizz with the sweet wine just went really nicely with the super dense, heavy caramel. I couldn’t have tasted that the egg used in it was Duck, but it was delicious.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this dinner at MuMu, and thought it was good value for a set dinner night. One of the chefs from Melbourne who put on this dinner with Craig, Ben Cooper, came to our table to chat and was an interesting person to meet – he’s continuing Duck Fest in Melbourne (I think). Craig, the head chef at MuMu (http://www.mumugrill.com.au/), also came up and seemed quite calm for just cooking up 7 meals for 160 people! Tim Elwin, the managing director from Urban Food Market (http://www.urbanfoodmarket.com.au/) also came up and we chatted about his work – he provided all the fresh Duck for this event, and will for the upcoming ones too. All his meat is of exceptional quality, including grassfed wagyu and biodynamic meats, at a good price too! So, Next up is Lamb Fest @ Coast Restaurant, Darling Harbour, and by the feel from this one, I’m definitely grabbing myself a ticket!
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Wine and Food Pairing

Filed under: Food, White Wine, Wine, Wine Red — 7 Comments
March 21, 2010

Wine and Food Matching causes many debates among certain people – different people have different opinions, Chefs believe their opinion is the Best and Only, Wine People think they Know what’s Really going on, Restaurateurs (or RestauranNteurs to some) are influenced by Their Chefs, Wine/Food critics get a general Idea from everyone around them, and Some people don’t care what’s what with the specifics as long as they enjoy their wine and food… The Last group of people are correct – It’s just Your opinion that counts…

Always stick with what you like, But here are some general Food/Wine Matching tips that I like, from my Opinion, that allow both the food and wine to Enhance each other’s flavours.

When thinking about what food goes best with what wine, think in terms of the WEIGHT of the wine, from light bodied, medium bodied, and full bodied – in both reds and whites. Considering weight, I believe, is more important than just thinking about the flavours of a wine, if you had to consider one over the other.

First – Hearty Food needs a Hearty Wine – such as Shiraz, Cab Sauv, Shiraz Cab Merlot. These go well with hearty foods such as Steak, Braised Pork Belly, Ribs, Lasagne, Bolognese, Beef Stroganoff, etc…
I find these foods with a Pinot Noir or Sangiovese for example would make the wine taste insipid and floppy.

Lighter wines such as Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, straight Grenache, Dolcetto, Cabernet Franc etc, will balance nicely with lighter foods such as grilled Chicken, Mushroom Risotto, or even a slow cooked lamb or venison sometimes. I think Light to Heavier Whites (eg Sauvignon Blanc) may also go with Chicken. In my opinion, a Light-Medium bodied Red (eg. Grenache) may also go with Chicken, especially if it has cheese or heavy butter sauce, and even with red wine, the cheese/butter (combined w the Chicken) won’t be overridden on the palate – I find they both play nicely.

White wines with good acidity generally go well with seafood, especially oily fish such as Salmon or Mackerel. Pinot Gris or even Grigio (Italian) are lovely with oysters, as they are both delicate but have a certain weight about the same. White Wines generally go with Pasta and Risottos, particuarly Seafood, Creamy Mushroom or Vegetable Pasta/Risotto – A light Red can also go with pasta/risotto, depending on the ingredients, for example Duck/Red meat Pasta/Risotto can team with a Sangiovese.
Rose actually seems to go with a lot of food, in my opinion, most of the time, neither enhancing or interrupting the food. In particular I see Rose to most complement smoked foods, Thai and other mixed Asian cuisine, Frittatas, Quiches, and pale pink meat – Hams and Pork…

Both Light-Medium-Full Bodied Red and White wines can go well with Cheeses and other Dairy products, eg. Sauvignon Blanc with Goats Cheese, Pinot Noir with Camembert (semi soft cheese w a soft but bit tannic red wine), or a Merlot with Brie (soft cheese w tannins and spice from the Merlot). And most White wines can complement Fruit, or Sweet wines with fruit also. A full flavoured White (eg. Chardonnay) can go w Cheescake. A fruit driven Shiraz goes decadently with a dense Chocolate flourless cake and Raspberries, as well as Chocolate on it’s own. Most reds such as Pinot Noir, Cab Sauv or Merlot go with Chocolate too… :)
Now, regarding Flavour of wines/foods, simply put: Red Wine with Red Meat, White Wine with White Meat, More Fatty food with more Tannic (in Red wine) or Acidic (in White wine) wines, Raw foods such as Sushi, Caviar or Oysters with Off-Dry, Semi-Sweet White Wine (eg. Riesling), Sour or Salty foods with Acidic wine, Sweet Wine with sweet-toned Entree or Dessert – or Dense Red with Dense Dessert…
There are differing opinions to what food goes with what wine, and some are quite particular about it. I’ve also seen some useless sites on the net about this, and they don’t explain enough with their “rules”. But this post is just very general, easy, And It’s Good to Experiment with Slight Deviations of the rules of the purists. After all, everyone’s palate is different and it’s all about what you personally like. I still enjoy a Tannic Red with butter-soaked Lobster Mornay…

Here I found a good simple site:
http://wine.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Food_Wine_Pairing_Chart
Cheers!

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Emmilou Tapas

Filed under: Food, Restaurants — 2 Comments
March 13, 2010

<–Wagyu Beef w Almond Cream and Salsa Verde.

Dined last night at Emmilou tapas restaurant/bar, 413 Bourke st, Surry Hills. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Service was good and staff were attentive but not in your face. Ambience was good too with dim lighting, and inside and outside sheltered dining with cushions. They also have a couple of old fashioned couch/chairs to just have drinks up at the back. Here’s what I ate – 3 larger tapas dishes and a side between two ppl, filled us both up and every bite was delicious…:

Goat Sausage w Red Cabbage Jam… Lovely and tender. Meshed very well with the Red Cabbage jam and some special glaze they had (forgot to take a photo as I hopped into it).

Antipasto… Salami, Roasted Tomatoes, Sheeps milk feta, Marinated Eggplant, with toasted bread. Nice, fresh, all components went well with the feta.

Wagyu Beef w Almond cream and Green Salsa… Looked a little funky but I really enjoyed this. The wagyu beef wasn’t as fatty as I was expecting, but still very tender, and melded very well with the almond cream and green spinach salsa. The almond cream was delicate, but had even more flavour when eaten with the beef. This dish was the most moreish!

Side – Spinach Salad with Shaved Fennel and Orange Vinaigrette… I was surprised how good this simple side dish was, and I really enjoyed it with the Wagyu beef for the leftover sauce or to mop up any extra!

Wine list is good (though hard to read with the fancy pearly paper, but they’re changing it). Could do with a couple more by the glass such as a Shiraz Grenache, or a GSM Barossa blend by the glass, since GSM does have that delicate (although still medium bodied and full tannin) nature that would go with a lot of tapas dishes, and as an increasingly popular Aus wine should therefore be offered by the glass for someone to “try” if they’re not sure about GSMs. Although they did have a lot of overseas wines, which was good, and some equate to the GSM or Shiraz Grenache. And they had some very nice wines by the bottle. Waitress was helpful in her knowledge of the winelist. I tried an Italian red from overseas, somewhat similar to a Tempranillo but with more open fruit and body, and my partner had a 2004 Spanish Tempranillo which I liked too, with a more cooler climate type of palate, good silk tannin and tight mulberry type flavour.
Overall I rate this restaurant well! At about $15-$30 per larger tapas dish, it could be a little expensive, depending on what you order, but it’s a good restaurant and you taste why…

http://www.emmilou.com.au/

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