Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Heading home from Three Blue Ducks, we drove past Bourke St in Surry Hills and decided to make a pit stop to check out Bourke Street Bakery.

I had planned that when I finally went to Bourke Street Bakery, I’d be purchasing their famous sausage rolls. But seeing as we had just had breakfast, I opted for something sweet. Boyfriend also has a sweet tooth, so thought I’d get something to take home for him.

Walking up, the windows are full of delicious looking tarts and fresh loaves of carb-a-liciousness. All the tables outside were full and so was inside. Though they seemed to be pumping through the orders pretty quick.

Looking at the cabinet inside, I ended up deciding on a slice of the carrot cake and a chocolate mousse and raspberry tart. Breaky Buddy went the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart but also went the strawberry meringue tart.

$5 seemed to be the going rate for all sweet treats in the cabinet.

They also had a fridge full of fresh juices and milks I think it was, to purchase. Breaky Buddy also bought an orange juice.

I didn’t eat these till later in the afternoon. It was SO hot on Saturday. We had the aircon pumping in the car, but I don’t think this stopped our tarts from melting a little in the heat. I put them in the fridge for a while, but I couldn’t wait too long to eat them.

Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart was first to go. The mousse was so soft, I think this definitely had melted. I might need to purchase myself another one to compare..

Chocolate and raspberry is always a winning combo! Mousse was rich, I think I may have preferred just a little more raspberry to cut through the richness of the chocolate a little more.

Carrot cake was left in the fridge till dessert time that night. Big chunks of nuts, (having a mind blank.. think walnuts!), good, thick layer of cream cheese frosting through the middle. I think I preferred this to the usual thick layer on top of the cake.

I caught up with Breaky Buddy the next day and she said her tarts were a little on the melted side too. She said the same as me for the chocolate mousse and said the strawberry meringue tart didn’t have the strongest flavours.

Going to go savoury next time I think! 

Three Blue Ducks

Breaky Buddy and I headed to Three Blue Ducks in Bronte Saturday morning. We arrived around 9:30am and it seemed there was a bit of a wait. I think we were one of the  only ones looking for a table for two, so only about 5 minutes after we put our name down on the list, we got called inside.

The restaurant is split into two buildings next to each other which are separated by a little lane way which leads you down to the toilets and veggie and herb garden.

It didn't take us long to order. Straight away, both our eyes went the orange pancakes with berry compote, yoghurt and fresh berries. 

Feeling it was pointless for both of us to order the same thing, we made a decision to share the pancakes and order something else. We chose the bacon and egg roll with hollandaise for our second dish.

Bevvies, I went the Lavender cream tea by The Rabbit Hole and Breaky Buddy went a latte with a side of honey (her alternative to sugar). Drinks took a bit longer than usual to come out, but they were flat out and it didn’t bother us.

By the way, I LOVED the lavender cream tea and will definitely be making a purchase from the Rabbit Hole shortly.

Food shortly followed and both plates came out basically at the same time. Pancakes came with 3 pancakes on the plate. The pancakes themselves weren’t your usually fluffy, thick pancakes. I don’t know if ‘dense’ is the right word, but whatever they were, they were cooked to perfect golden brown and delicious!

Really nice orange flavor the whole way through and plenty of yoghurt and berries to cover. Full of flavor but not overdone and the yoghurt and berries added a really nice freshness to the plate.

Half way through, we did a swapsies and I took the second half of the bacon and egg roll. Perfectly layered egg, bacon, hollandaise and some sort of salsa maybe on a big roll. Not overly saucy, just enough for the size of the roll.

Bit of sweet, bit of savoury – perfect breakfast. Will definitely be back here. 

Pho 88

Before a gig at the Enmore the other night, Boyfriend and I were looking for a cheap easy eat. We walked past Pho88 which looked busy enough – always a good sign.

We walked in and were given a table straight away. Once we sat down, we were provided with menus. There wasn’t really any need, Boyfriend always ends up with Bun and me, Pho. I went crispy chicken pho that night.

Pho88 is also BYO! If we knew this before walking in, we would have stopped at the bottle-o on the way.

Boyfriend's Bun

Food was really quick to come out. 

Boyfriend was pretty impressed with his Bun, was a pretty big serving. 

A crispy chicken leg with sauce came out on a plate for me, beansprouts and chili on another plate and a big bowl of Pho.

You can get pho in regular or large serves. The regular serve was enough for me.

Pho was as good as any I had had previously and chicken was yummo and crispy, just the way I like it!

My Crispy Chicken

Pho!

Would definitely recommend if you are in the area and looking for a cheap, quick or  BYO night. 

Tokonoma

Tokonoma has been on my ‘To Eat’ list for a while, so as soon as it popped up on Groupon, I snapped it up. The Groupon was for 12 courses and a glass of wine.

We went last Thursday night for dinner, and it was quite a nice night. I love the feel and décor of the place, very calm and quiet. Looking around, it seemed the same food was going to lots of tables, so assuming almost everyone there had a Groupon too.

My sister was meeting, mum, my aunty and I for dinner and she was running late. I don’t know if the wait staff were too impressed but hey, what can you do? Traffic isn’t something we can control.

While we were waiting, we ordered a round of Lychee and Jasmine Mojitos, umm… YUM! $17 a pop, pretty standard for a cocktail.

Sister called us and said she was still stuck in a traffic jam, and the wait staff said our table was booked at 8 for another group so we had to start on the food before she arrived.

We didn’t actually get a menu to let us know what was going to be coming to our table and we also weren’t told prior. This didn’t really bother us too much. But each course the wait staff brought out, the provided an explanation of what it was in a whisper. So, a couple of the things I didn’t actually catch what it was, but I will do my best to explain…

First up was a bowl of Edamame. Can’t really go wrong with these, salty and yum. Great to nibble on.

Second I believe was sliced kingfish. Really nice, thin slices with a beautiful fresh dressing.

Third was a beef croquette. This was a nice texture change up from the fish. Beef cooked perfectly inside with a nice crisp crumb. Decent size serve as well.   

Fourth to quickly follow was sashimi of salmon and king fish. This was presented so nice in it’s little box with a big ice cube to keep it cool and decent amount of wasabi on the side. However, in saying that… while the box was sitting there waiting for Sister to arrive, the ice melted through all over the table. Woops!

Two more dishes came next, and I actually can’t really tell you what these were. I know one of them was a king fish nigiri. The others, all I can tell you was they were pretty yum!! One of them was more salmon and I think one was something like a beef tartare? Can’t tell you for sure though, sorry!

I also know the pics aren’t the best, but lighting in there is quite dark.

Seventh plate was grilled scallops with sweet pickled apple. I think pickled apple is my new favourite kind of pickle! YUM! Scallops were grilled perfectly too.. Mmmm…!

Eighth was pork belly with apple wasabi. Apple wasabi is also my new favourite flavor of wasabi, wow! I think this dish was my fav of the night. The pork belly was so tender and juicy and the crackling crunchy. Soft, crunch, sweet, spice… all things nice!

Ninth and Tenth came out in quick succession. A bowl of miso soup and zucchini with sesame. I enjoyed the zucchini but it was still a little bit hard for my taste.

Last savoury course was a plate of lamb cutlets with chili miso. These were really yum and tender and covered in a good amount of sauce.

 Sister arrived somewhere between courses five and seven. So she was a little behind on eating and it was coming close to eight when our table was booked for the next group. The wait staff cleared a table in the bar area where we could stay and eat our dessert, so this was OK.

For dessert we got a little platter of pineapple sorbet, chocolate gelato, crème brulee and some fresh fruit. The sorbet and ice cream had really nice, true flavours. The brulee was silky smooth and had the anticipated ‘crack’ that the top of a brulee should.

Besides the several serves of kingfish and salmon, the food was really fresh, cooked well and enjoyable.

Tokonoma ticked off the list! 

Red Lantern on Crown

For mine and Boyfriend’s anniversary last weekend, we headed to Red Lantern for dinner.

Our reservation was for 8:15pm but we ended up getting there at 8pm. This wasn’t a problem, we were shown to our table and a lovely waiter provided us with our menus and an explanation of what our options to order were. There was a choice of the A la Carte menu or two tasting menus. The second tasting menu (the bigger one, ‘Delicious Dalat’), also comes with the option for matching wines but we decided just to buy a bottle and do the menu without.

Inside the restaurant, it was a lot smaller than what I anticipated. Boyfriend and I were sat at a corner table so were sitting next to each other, this wasn’t a problem except for the fact that the tables and chairs were quite small and I copped Boyfriend’s chopsticks to my face a couple times when I lent over to far. Was a little funny!

After ordering, food was pretty quick to follow. Looking around the restaurant, the tasting menu’s looked like they were quite a popular option.

The three starters arrived at our table at the same time…

Thit Bo Xao Me Cuon Banh Trang (Rice paper rolls with tamarind beef, pickled daikon, perilla, mint, cucumber and vermicelli)

So Diep Nuong (Char grilled scallop with peanut crumble and mint)

Muc Rang Muoi (Chilli salted squid with fresh lemon and white pepper dipping sauce)

Each one of these was just as yum as the last. The rice paper rolls were made really nicely, nice fresh flavours and packed with lots of filling. Scallops were cooked perfectly, peanut crumble was a perfect match flavor match while adding some crunch. The twisties looking plate squid was one of my favourites. I could have eaten this all night. Cooked perfectly, coated perfectly and the sauce that it came with was so full of lemon, YUM!

Two salads were next on the menu, they came to the table together.

Goi Ca Hoi (Chargrilled salmon, banana blossom, heirloom tomato and Vietnamese herb salad)

Goi Du Du (Green papaya salad with tiger prawns, twice cooked pork belly, pickles and herbs)

These were both really nice and fresh. Both bowls had plenty of each ingredient, including the seafood and pork belly. Prawns were nice and fresh, pork belly portions were also a good size. I love pork belly, nom nom nom!

Empty bowls were collected with our plates and our table was cleaned (we’re messy eaters!). We were given new plates and bowls for courses to follow. 
The next two to come out together were clams and swordfish.

Mien Xao So Sot XO (Shellfish wok tossed with glass noodles, witlof and snake beans in Red Lantern XO sauce.

Ca Thu Nuong (Chargrilled swordfish with caramelized fish sauce and black pepper)

I haven’t actually eaten too much swordfish myself, but a lot of people have told me that when they have, it hasn’t been that great. The swordfish we got was cooked really nice, soft, evenly cooked through. Big pieces as well… by this time, we are starting to get a little full!

The clams were nice, but a lot of them had fallen out of the shell, so we were trying to find them among the noodles. Flavour wise, still really nice!

Almost there… 3 more plates and dessert to go!

The three plates left came to our table together, we take a some deep breaths and dig in!

Vit Quay (Oven roasted lemon grass, chilli and garlic marinated duck with orange and fennel salad)

Bo Luc Lac (Black angus strip loin wok-tossed in oyster and sesame served with green papaya and shrimp salad)

Ray Muong Xao Chao (Water spinach wok tossed in beancurd, ginger and garlic).

The duck was cooked perfectly, still tender and the orange gave good little flavor burst and was quite refreshing. 

Actually, looking back at this menu now, with the angus strip, I don’t recall the salad including shrimp (I could be mistaken, my memory isn’t all that great). 

The spinach and beans were a good side to have at this point, I was getting a bit meated/proteined out!

At some point in the night, we did let slip to the waiter it was our anniversary. So it was a really sweet touch when they brought out our dessert with a sparkler!

There were three desserts on our platter and I didn't quite catch the explanations of what each was from the waiter. They looked delicious which is enough for us, so we didn't ask him to repeat himself.

First one was some sort of sticky rice ball with sweet corn and peanuts maybe? I have never had sweet corn with dessert before and I had it for the first time just the night before at a little Thai place just down the road from here. I don’t mind the flavor combo, Boyfriend isn’t a fan but each to their own.

Next was a sort of panacotta – delicious!! Could have had three of these on their own, yum! Not sure what flavor exactly, but it was a fruity flavor. Mmmm…

Third was a sesame ball with ice cream, yum! This had a really nice texture and flavor.

And then we were done! YUM!! Pretty happy overall and for $80 each, it was heaps of food! I think if I did it again, I’d do the same without the wines and just buy my own bottle.

Next stop, Red Lantern on Riley…

Barrafina Tapas Bar

Boyfriend and I headed to Barrafina last Friday after work. We had a Groupon to use, was pretty good value. Eight course tapas degustation for two for $49.

For the $49 we got to share:

Chorizo Pamplona

Jamon serrano and manchego croquetas served with Salsa Tomate

Soft shell crab slider served with avocado creme and harissa mayo

Pintxos, wagyu steak tartar, micro herbs

Chili coated buttermilk chicken with harissa mayo and lemon

Yamba prawns with artichoke and jamon puree amd micro herbs

Veal and ricotta meatballs

Roasted mushrooms with garlic cream, eschallots and migas

Choriza Pamplona

This was pretty simple, some sliced chorizo on a plate with little pickles. As go the words of the Little Rascals, 'I loooove pickles' and chorizo, so it was a win for me. 

Jamon serrano and manchego croquetas served with Salsa Tomate

One each of these - really nice and soft. Not overly flavorsome but had a nice texture and enjoyable.

Soft shell crab slider served with avocado creme and harissa mayo

 Soft shell crab? Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! These were delicious and a good size too! Bun nice and soft and crab just as it should be, yummm! We had one each of these. 

Pintxos, wagyu steak tartar, micro herbs

I'm not tartar's biggest fan but Boyfriend loves it. Saying that though, I did enjoy it but I only ate half and that was enough to fill my tartar quota for the night. Boyfriend happily finished mine off. We had one each of these.

Chili coated buttermilk chicken with harissa mayo and lemon

Yum! This came as a plate of  6 or 7? These were a good little size each, cooked perfectly. Nice and tender. The mayo that it came with was a little bland for me, a squirt of lemon was enough for these scrumptious little things. 

Yamba prawns with artichoke and jamon puree amd micro herbs

 We had two of these each. They were flavoured nicely but perhaps a little bit overcooked. That didnt take away from the taste though, still really nice. 

Veal and ricotta meatballs

By this time, I was SO full! The sauce of the meatballs also had potatos in it (can't have tapas without some patatas bravas!).  Sauce was rich with tomatoey goodness. Mmmm! The meatballs weren't small at all, and I think I got through one before I had to throw in the towel.

Roasted mushrooms with garlic cream, eschallots and migas

These were yummy! Such a good accompaniment to have on the side. Creamy and cooked perfectly. 

I think this place would be perfect for after work drinks if you work in the area. The bar was absolutely packed when I was there but the dining area had plenty of seats free if you're looking to eat there as well.