Food Reviews...

Still Here...

2010-09-11T18:08:00.003+10:00

Someone asked me AGES ago for a post on decent seafood eating in Hobart and Bichneo. If that person is reading, please let me know if you still want it!!!
In other news, I have been back in Brisbane visiting my mum (well actually looking after her as she had a bit of surgery) and I ended up staying for her birthday. Also managed to get to the Brisbane Show (aka the Ekka) for the first time in donkeys years. Its changed - ALOT. The craft and food was still there, as were the animals, but alot of the care and pride you used to see in the fruit and vege pavillion just wasnt there. The whole effort felt slightly half hearted for some reason. Am not sure if its the ongoing drought, changing perceptions or I'm getting older - but alot of the displays felt like they were there because they HAD to be, not because they WANTED to be.
The craft displays were as per usual mind blowing, though I was rather pleased with myself to find a pattern mistake on the piece of bobbin lace that got second place!
Food wise I discovered an amazing cupcake shop called Couture Cupcakes. Parking is not so easy, but the cupcakes are made in house with a decadent buttercake recipe. There are different cupcakes each day so you are able to make the excuse to visit regularly. The guy behind the counter is easy on the eyes as well. Cupcakes were about $4.50 each but it was dependent on type. I splurged and bought 8 for mum's b'day - we were supposed to go on a picinic to Redcliffe with her friends from Scrapbooking, but the weather was horrid so we had a Hyacinth Bucket indoor/outdoor picinic. Unfortunately we dont have a Royal Doulton periwinkle tea service so we had to make do with another pattern!
Back in Hobart I am still haunting the farmers markets - last week I got gnocchi, ragu, ravioli, mushrooms, cress and ham. I have yet to need to eat out this week. Tomorrow I'll probably grab some greens and some meat. Tonights dinner is going to be porterhouse with mushrooms - if and when I get hungry.
Sweet Envy has opened in North Hobart - looks good, feels good, still has a few teething problems with regards to drinks etc. Some people are saying its a bit expensive and the quality is not there for the pedigree of the people running it. I'll agree some things do appear to be expensive (the caramel popcorn springs to mind, as do the bar cakes) however the cupcake prices are comparable with the mainland. Quality I think will improve once they are settled into the kitchen and have worked out ovens etc. Even with a kitchen you have specified yourself, learning the idiocincracies of the oven/stove etc takes time.
In other parts of my life I have 81 days before my PhD thesis needs to be handed in....so expect ALOT more blog posts as I procastinate!

Why I love the Farmers market - reason #692

2010-06-27T23:24:00.004+10:00

Yeah well not really reason #692 but you get the idea.
Today for 50 odd dollars I got a whole weeks worth of meals - essentially all already made and all I have to do is reheat.
I have beetroot gnocchi and ragu along with Gluten Free lasagna, goat pie, falafeal and kale. This is enough for at least a week when you consider the lasagna is two meals, as is the gnocchi. The falafeal will be used as a crust on a roast, and the kale will be turned into chips. The pies were a 2 pack for 7 dollars, but I ate the mushroom and goat pie for lunch - it was really good, with big bits of goat, peas and a lovely creamy layer of mushrooms under the top. Talking to the people selling it they admitted that its the one item they find hard to keep in stock as they keep eating them!
The farmers markets are smaller than they are in summer, but you can still get lovely things there. I have noticed as its got colder there are more people selling "meal" type things than fresh fruit and vegies themselves. Last week I got bletted medlars, which are amazing and I wanted more this week but the girl I bought them off wasnt there...I hope she is there next week!

In other cooking adventures I made Potato Potage tonight and wonders never cease it looked like the picture!!! Everything in it except for the stock and thyme I bought at the farmers market in Melville street over the last couple of weeks. I overdid the bacon bones (I used a 500g Ham hock I bought off Matt and Ross a couple of weeks ago along with the bones Ross gave me today), and substituted the celery with white radish from the asian grocers from Campania. Other than that it was the recipe and it was really yummy and filling. Ate it with a couple of bread rolls from Zum while watching Dr Who. Made enough for 2 meals tonight and 3 meals to go into the freezer and minimal washing up as well which is good.

Am heading to The Beachhouse for netball lunch on Friday - should be interesting to say the least. Will report back, am unsure if its a set menu or we just order...I do know there is going to be LOTS of people there!!

In other news, my attempts to get up to Terraces in Lonnie to try the freefall menu may finally be paying off. Tournament of Minds in in Lonnie this year and as I will probably be adjudicating, so will head up a day early and treat myself. Only however if I have a completed first draft of the dratted thesis. I should do as I only have the discussion, intro and conclusion left to write. So all going to plan it will be submitted by november and I will have to be a grownup and get a real job......oh dear. Oh well, it will pay for my cheese and decent dining addiction.

Procastination.

2010-06-14T15:04:00.003+10:00

I should be writing my thesis. I have spent since 10am this morning attempting to re do a chapter which can not decide if it wants to be one chapter or two. This has taken me 2 avocado and brown mustard cress rolls on sour dough and 3 fundraising chocolate bars to do...and its still not done.

An update to the food adventures in my life - been no where spectacular. However the Japanese resturant on Liverpool street is probably my new favourite lunch/early dinner place for cheap eats.
Two large sushi rolls and a drink will set you back less than 10 dollars, and they will make the rolls up fresh if you want something slightly different. Have eaten there twice in the last fortnight - once as a take away and once as an eat in. Both times the food was plentiful and full of flavour.

Am having Monty cravings, so am saving my pennies to treat myself once I get a full draft of the thesis into the supervisors (all going well that will be mid next month). Am still trying to find an excuse to get up to Lonnie to try the free fall menu @ the Terraces. My last two excuses didnt pan out (the meeting ended up be tele confrenced and the post grad thing was cancelled). May have to just go up there one weekend for the heck of it. Am eating alot of porridge at the moment - which is odd as until 6 months ago I HATED the stuff. But now I will gobble it down with golden syrup, nutmeg, vanilla and cinamon. My taste buds are odd.

Farmers market wise I have had some interesting things lately. My latest purchase on Sunday was a Vitabeet (sp?) which is apparently a type of swede/turnip. The leaves can be used in salads and the root cooked like a swede/beetroot. I ate some of the leaves last night, they have a spinich type texture and taste with what tastes like a coriander aftertaste. Definately healthy. Also been eating alot of Kale - Kale chips are amazing and dead simple to make. Am craving oranges but not getting any, but have been devouring limes in my water. I will admit to buying a couple of avocados from Frescos to satify a craving for avocado and cress sandwiches and some bananas for the potassium.

Oh well, better get back to it.

Food things I wish we had in Hobart.....

2010-05-19T14:20:00.002+10:00

1. A shop that sells Koeksisters.
2. Food Connect - my mum subscribes to them and in the week I have been here we have had the most amazing fruit and vegies. The custard apple I ate the other night was something from heaven. Sweet and sugary around the skin, and soft, gooey and gorgeous in the centre. A cross between candied oranges and pineapple we fought over the last bits. For $48 for a week mum yesterday got what was called a gourmet box. In it was potatoes, tomatoes, chinese greens, a MASSIVE bunch of basil, spring onions, manadrins, oranges, lemons, bananas, avocados, lettuce, turnip, beetroot, banana and some other things. All fresh and straight from the farmers. She says that she is eating more fruit and vegies now then ever before. The brocoli last night was so crisp and fresh my mate JJ and I were standing at the serving bar eating it straight out of the microwave container with a bit of butter - and I usually avoid broccoli. $30 gets you a mini mixed box which has slightly less in it, but is made for one person. The other week mum got a whole vanilla pod (fresh and organic) and she has lemons and lemonade fruit coming out her ears.

I know I can get most things @ the farmers market on Sundays (and I always have to lug up Pork Rillettes, terrine, bacon and ham from Ross and Matthew for mum), but I have forgotten how much choice of food we actually get in the sub tropics which we dont get down south. I highly doubt any farmers around Tasmania will be growing dragon fruit any time soon. All of the food connect food is sourced within 5 hours of Brisbane which is pretty damn good if you ask me. Food connect just seems a great way for people who may not have the time or inclination to go to the markets, but want good quality fresh food.

3. Red Rooster - I know legs and Breast is similar but I have a very bad weakness for the Rooster roll of which the L&B equivalent just isn't the same.

But honestly thats about it. I love the fact that in Hobart I CAN easily get to a farmers market without battling for parking (which is the case up here with the Organic market on Sundays). I love that 30 minutes drive out of town are orchards that give me lovely fresh apples and pears. I love the fact I CAN eat predominately local and not have to limit myself. I love the fact I can avoid Coles and Woolies unless I need loo paper or dish washing liquid or stuff like that.
All in all, although I LOVE Brisbane, and it will always be home to me in some way, Tassie (and Hobart especially) is also home. Home by my standards. So as I fly home on Saturday afternoon, I will plan what I want from the markets this week, and get up on Sunday to buy, and taste and LIVE each moment. Then I will come home and FINISH THE DAMN THESIS!

OOPS!

2010-05-01T22:50:00.002+10:00

I believe I owe the blog a review of Remi de Provence in Macquarie Street - so before it fades anymore into the memory I will get down to it. (Yes if you ask I am procastinating on a Chapter on my thesis which is due Monday, but its a revision more than a totally new chapter. Besides the chapter is on iodine, and its deficiency in Tasmania and what has been done, so its VAGUELY food related as iodine is taken up in food. Well thats my excuse anyhow).

The thing I love about the internet is you meet really interesting people. I belong to a travel website, and pipe up in the Australia/NZ forum when people (usually Americans) propose to travel right around Tassie in about 4 days. Dialogue generally ensues in which I ask about what they are interested in, how long they have and what their feeling towards driving looooong distances is. I then make suggestions and generally thats it.

After undergoing the above with someone late last year, I got a message from them asking if they could take me to dinner to say thank you. Now, being a grad student who at that stage was living pay check to pay check I said "YES PLEASE". The proviso was it had to be a Sunday or Monday and not a predominately seafood place due to allergies. I was told to choose somewhere where normally I may not go due to budget, but please remember that they wouldnt have "dressy" clothes. Well the days ruled out Montys, and the seafood restriction ruled out Mures Upper Deck. In a fit of inspiration I remembered that Remi's was open on a Sunday, so booked a table for three.

I arrived to find Sharon and her husband already seated in the upper dining room. I REALLY like what they have done inside. You walk into vestibule which has the hostess stand, a fridge filled with what looked like cheeses etc and some wines. Walking down a few stairs you enter a landing which looks down on their bottle shop and beyond to what seems to be a casual private dining area. The bottle shop also acts as their cellar, so you can buy a bottle and take up upstairs with you. Around a corner and up some more stairs you walk into the main dining room - which although upstairs reminds me in feel of a basment resturant I went to years ago in Paris.

I was seated at a wood and cast iron table in a corner near the pass. Good spot and gave great views over the room. The floor is a sandstone and you would expect echos, but its lovely and intimate while still being open. The staff are attentive, with a cute french boy taking our orders.
I had the terraine to start, followed by the chicken with olives. Sharon had bread and the chicken, while her husbane had the soup and the beef.

Meal sizes were decent, not huge, but filling enough that 3 courses left you pleasently full.
The terraine was a country style, and tasted devine. The texture was rough, but still had that soft silky feel on the tongue that you get with a well made terrine. Rich without being strong.
The chicken and olives were brillant. Well cooked, fall off the bone, delicatly flavoured with a richness to the sauce which made you want to mop it up with bread. The soup was a vegetable soup which was apparently really tasty. It smelt lovely, a mix of green with sweet aroma which I think may have been carrots. The beef cassorole looked rich, and apparently was without being fatty or oily.

I did have a dessert, but can not for the life of me remember what it was. I know it was the tart of the day, I THINK it was berry but really cant remember. I do remember the pastry was glorious and there was a huge quinelle of thick cream on the plate.

As I said, as I was taken to dinner I have no idea how much it cost, however mains seem to run around the $20-25 mark, entrees around 15, and desserts around 10. I will definately be going back. For a sunday it was fairly busy with another 3 tables there while we were there.

So there you go. Remi de Provence - definately worth it for a good quality casual type meal. I know they were going for the French Bistro feel and they have succeeded wildly. Now that I have finished procastinating, back to trying to present very boring data in an interesting way so my supervisors dont fall asleep while reading it.

Remi de Provence

2010-04-17T00:14:00.000+10:00

Went last Sunday. Will write review tomorrow when I need a break...someone remind me why I though telling my supervisors on Monday that I would get them 2 chapters (neither which is anywhere near complete) by the end of the month was a good idea?

Passata

2010-04-11T16:45:00.003+10:00

This weekend has not been so good. I worked yesterday (which IS good), but came home at 2pm feeling light headed, queasy and generally blergh. Slept for 15 hours last night and after SOMETHING went straight through me I feel slightly better.
Well enough infact to make Passata with the last of the tomatos from the 3 bushes I have had growing in pots in the front bed.
Now I know technically you should follow recipes and stuff, but I didnt have that many tomatos left (I didnt weight them, but I suspect there ws about 3/4 of a kg) so couldnt be arsed halving or quartering the quantaties of the recipes I found online - so I winged it.
I cut all the red tigrellas in half, drizzled olive oil on them and sprinkled salt on them. Bunged them into a pre heated 220C oven for about 2o minutes with 4 cloves of garlic. Took the tiny yellow grape tomatoes and dumped them straight into the pot with some olive oil. Heated them up slowly, and then dumped the roasted tomatoes into the pot as well and slowly stirred. Added 2 pinches of castor sugar, 5 bay leaves from the tree outside, and a generous wack of left over ground mustard seeds. Left it to simmer for about 15 minutes then came back and stirred it all again. Left it to simmer for another couple of minutes while I stuck a fairly small jar in the oven to dry. Poured the resultant mixture into a sieve and worked it through to remove skins and seeds etc. Put the bay leaves back in, stirred for a few minutes until desired thickness reached. Poured into small vegeimite jar and a small plastic container. Container went into freezer for when I just need a daub of sauce, jar got a lid and is sitting on the bench cooling before joining the relish and cherries in the food cupboard. It tastes pretty good, but is probably only enough for 1 pizza!

Peppermint Bay Revisited

2010-04-05T17:07:00.002+10:00

Its been awhile since the last not so good meal at Peppermint Bay. Since then they have changed chefs at least once, undergone a bit of a rearrangement of menus and decor and generally being given a kick up the posterior.
I ventured out today with the ex (yes it was a horribly amicable break-up and we are still on talking and enjoying each others company terms) to see what we could find down the Chanel.
Of course we ended up at Peppermint Bay. It was either there or see how much debauchary was happening at a mates shack at Randalls, and my brain was not up for that after a late night thesis inspiration.
Walking in the main doors the first thing you notice is that the providores has been totally re-organised. No longer a discreete enclave, its been reduced to the back wall and the chiller cabinets - which are now behind the till, instead of the till being out the front. Alot of the "Kitsch" stuff has disappeared - the kiddies cooking gear and the bowls etc were the ones I noticed straight away. Much of the stock appears to be locally sourced, though there are still some mainland brands such as Waji.
Menu at the bar is much smaller than it used to be. Essentially a burger, a salad, a pasta and fish. There are a few others such as bread and a taste plate, as well as oysters, but essentially its standard pub grub menu. I chose the smoked trout salad with spinch, kipflers, and orange and the Ex had the Peppermint Bay burger with chips.
The salad was a good size, with a generous serving of smoked trout, lightly dressed with I think balsamic vinegar and lovely crunchy baby spinach leaves. This was offset by the inspired addition of caper berries sprinkled over everything, adding a lovely salty crunch when you bit into a piece of orange. Compared to the Fish pie I had last time this was 110% better, with a great balance of sweet, sour and salty. It was a perfect temperature, not too warm but not crunchy icy cold either.
The Peppermint Bay Burger came out with a generous serving of shoe string fries which were crisp and slightly salty - very morish and nickable. The burger itself was pronounced a success, with the balance of wet and dry being achieved admirably, and it apparently was not to lettucy. the one bite I had was very yummy, though I doubt that I could have eaten the whole thing plus the chips by myself. There was definately a sweet onion something on there, it wasnt fried onion, so may have been onion jam - but it complimented the beef in the burger really well. The burger itself was fairly roughly minced beef, which gave it a good texture in the mouth as well as some bite.
We skipped the very decadent sounding easter dessert taster which involved chocolate jelly as well as 3 or 4 other chocolate things. Mainly as we were both full. Not sure on final cost, as I didnt pay, but I know the burger was about 20 dollars and the salad 18.
Overall, MUCH MUCH MUCH improved from last time, and I will be going back again.

Hot Cross Buns.....

2010-04-04T23:37:00.002+10:00

This is the results of my Hot Cross Bun baking late Thursday night. Hot out the oven with 2 lots of sugar/water/milk glaze on them. They still taste fairly ok today if heated up in the microwave for 30 secs. I think I slightly over kneaded the dough, so next year I will only knead for 6 minutes not 10. Rose really well though, considering how cool it was on Thursday night. However my trick to get things to rise is to turn the oven on early, open the grill compartment and stick whatever needs to rise on the open door. Warm air but it wont bake.

Update on being Domestic

2010-03-31T14:25:00.002+11:00

I mentioned earlier this month that I had been pickling cherries and making tomoato relish. The relish took FOREVER to thicken, but now its been in the jar about a week it seems to be getting goopy as far as I can tell by turning the jar upside down. Had a minor panic with the cherries as I went to rotate them and found juice all over one of the jars. I paniced thinking the jar had split. Turns out I hadnt wiped it down properly and it was just excess juice from the bottling process.

This weekend I am attempting plum relish, along with my traditional Hot Cross Buns which I always make on Easter Thursday. Am watching my Eva rose like a hawk to get the hips to make Rose Hip and Honey Syrup - though I suspect its still a few weeks away and I need 4 pounds worth of rose hips...thats like almost 2 kgs. So it will be a few more weeks before the hips are ripe and I can get to it....until then I keep writing my thesis. Current aim is to have a completed draft by June - then have 2 months to "tweak" it and hand in late August/ early September....but we shall see.

I want to win a Camera Bag!!

2010-03-31T14:18:00.002+11:00

Yes - it is food related!!! Beyond Snapshots is having a competition to win a red epiphanie lola camera bag. I want in. The theme is red - so what better than a picture of lovely fresh raspberry and apple juice made with fruit from the local farmers market?

From raspberry and Apple

For more info head to the blog linked above and join the fun!

Random Thoughts...

2010-03-22T12:51:00.003+11:00

The weather lately has been hinting that winter is just around the corner. This for some reason makes me all domestic and wanting to do STUFF. Seeing I am trying to cut back on the amount of misc food I am cooking that tends to go to waste, I started making tomato relish on the weekend, along with pickling some cherries. If the taste of the pickling liquid is anything to go by they are going to taste AMAZING. But I have to wait a couple of weeks.
Have planted brassicas - purple and green as well as caulis and spinach. I suspect my corn wont ripen before the frosts, but I can live in hope.

Has it really been Over 6 Months?

2010-02-05T00:41:00.002+11:00

My poor neglected blog. I suspect I will have lost ANY readers that I had, but if you are still checking back ocassionally THANKS!
End of last year was not good for me food wise - didnt really go anywhere new - except Kuzina but it was so long ago I cant remember it AT all.
I think the only memorable meal I have had lately was actually at Tarraleah Lodge in December.
Was on a girlie road trip with one of my best mates who had flown out from the UK. While Tarraleah Lodge itself is AMAZING, and has to be seen and experienced to be believed, the food at the resturant was mediocre to say the best. I had high hopes when I got an email asking us for food preferences etc, so I duely sent it back saying the best mate wasnt too keen on seafood (except fish) but I would try anything once.
The soup was amazing - pumpkin, simply done and hot.
The entrees were ok. A seafood/japanese mix, that had a nice salmon and seafood roll, an ok prawn and something else which has totally skipped my memory and I cant find th menu.
Mains were Lobster with stir fried asian greens. The lobster was cooked, but had obviously been sitting for a bit, and the stir fried greens were oily and limp. It was a real let down. The lobster was good quality, with lovely looking flesh, but it was tepid heat, and the greens added NOTHING to the taste except an oily kind of sheen.
I cant for the life of me remember WHAT desert was, but it was vanilla SOMETHING.
The views from the resturant however are amazing....it was definately the redeeming feature. BEfore you ask why didnt I choose something else...it was a set menu, so I couldnt.

The food at Lemonthyme lodge however was brillant. Massive serves, with good hearty mixtures of things, subtly flavoured and cooked to perfection. We both melted over the Wallaby with Cajun spices and salad. Soft, moist and full of flavour.

On a otally different note, had a really good toasted sandwhich at the cafe in front of the Hospital today. Only cost a fiver as well. They also do proper milkshakes with ice cream in them.

Not sure how often I will be updating this, as my thesis is eating my brain, I am working 2 jobs to try to pay my mortgage and I have an absolute deadline of Nov 2010 to submit. Add to this I have broken up with my boyfriend (who bankrolled my expensive resturant habit) and you can see why I aint gonna be posting much. However if I taste something spectacular I will let you know!

Peppermint Bay - Sunday Lunch.

2009-07-07T02:14:00.003+10:00

Having got out of the habit of a Sunday drive sometime late last year, it was with a happy heart that S and myself piled into the car on Sunday to head towards Peppermint Bay. Hopefully to find a fire, good food and stunning views. Unfortunately only two of the three were to be found.

The last time I was at Peppermint Bay was around Christmas last year, when Mum, Dad, the dog and I took a drive for lunch and an exploration of the Woodbridge Markets. As I remember the food was fresh, tasted good and serving sizes were reasonable for the amount paid. I dont know whats happened in the intervening six months, but this time the two of us left feeling disappointed.

We arrived just before what looked to be a large and lateish lunch rush at around 12:45. The set out has changed at fair amount in 6 months. Where there used to be seats in the bar area and outside, with a few down the ramp for bar overflow, most of what used to be the more formal dining resturant is now also casual dining. The moveable wall of the function room is gone, and this space has been converted into the more formal dining area. I am not sure if this is a permanent change, or a temporary one to accomadate the fact that sitting outside was not adviseable due to the wet seats and very very soggy grassed areas. Either way, it makes the space feel alot more open and relaxed.

I ordered the scallop & salmon pie, potato puree and broccolini, while S had shaved garlic roasted lamb, kofte sauce, dressed rocket and minted yoghurt pizza. The wait for the meals was not that long, considering what we had ordered. The disappointment started when the meals arrived.
Now I dont mind pot pies. In fact I quite enjoy them. The scallop and salmon pie came presented in a very cute little cauldron about 12cm in diameter and about 8cm deep. There was a layer of what looked like lovely fluffy pastery on top, nicely glazed in a grid pattern. GREAT I thought, lots of fish and scallop in this! Oh the joys of ignorance. I carefully peeled off the what was actually very thin pastry layer to be confronted by the potato puree. HMM I thought, maybe this should have been a fishy shepards pie. I stuck my fork in, questing for the fabled salmon and scallops. I pulled out, potato puree. No fish. I dug in again, right at the bottom, covering about the last 2cm of the bottom of the pot was a gelatious mass that was the salmon and scallop filling. Now granted the 4 scallops I could find were lovely - soft and but with a nice bite to them. The salmon did not really have any taste at all, and the gravy was literally a jelly type concotion with a texture and taste that I could not quite place. Overall it was very bland, except for the extremely salty bit at one edge, which tasted like someone had forgotten to flavour the broth and dumped salt into it and not stirred it. The broccolini was tepid, so I didnt even attempt to eat it. It was however a lovely colour. I ate about 2/3rds of it before having to give up. This dish had so much potential, but the execution was sadly lacking. Its a pity as the type of weather really was suited for a lovely hearty pie with a good filling.

S's pizza was not much better. The base was well made, but not seasoned at all. There was a distinct lack of garlic taste in either the lamb or the base. The lamb was cut finely, but for some reason still had quite a greasy texture on the tongue. In fact for what should have been a very tasty pizza it had very little taste at all. The presentation was good, but the actual execution of the dish was once again lacking. It was obvious no one had tasted the seasonings in either of our dishes. Now S is one who very rarely leaves anything on his plate, but he gave up after 2/3rds of a pizza saying it was a bit like eating greasy cardboard.

While disappointed in our mains, we thought that desert may redeem the kitchen. S had the warm chocolate & orange pudding with vanilla ice cream and I went for 2 scones with jam and cream. The chocolate and orange pudding by all accounts was ok, but more cake like than pudding like, with what apparently had the texture of a crust on the outside. There were nice bits of distinct orange zest in the pudding, and the chocolate sauce was good but not spectacular. The ice cream however got the thumbs up. My scones were from the display case, but were not heated up prior to serving. I know this is a small niggle but warm scones go so much better with jam and cream. The scones overall were lovely and fluffy, and coupled with raspberry jam and thick cream actually tasted quite good. However I was rapidly getting full so S finished the last half of the 2nd scone for me.

Not sure how much we paid all up including drinks, but looking at prices on the online menu the pie was definately NOT worth $22 and the pizza was pushing to be $12 worth of value. However the fire and the view outside were lovely. I hope this was just an abirition in what is usually a good solid bet for a nice lunch after a drive. However next time I go, it wont be with such high expectations.

I hopefully will become more regular in my blogging habits again. The last couple of months has been very difficult for me due to family reasons, and the last year in generally has been physically and emotionally very taxing. Consequently I have suspended my PhD enrollment for three months to try to sort my life out. While my money is very tight, I will still hopefully be able to make comments on places when friends take me out for dinner/lunch/coffee.

I am in London for a week from the 15th to the 21st of July, so expect some blogging on trying to find cheap eats in the the capital. A friend has promised to take me for Dim Sum at a place he knows, and another friend and I intend to be ladies who lunch and do the chocolate High tea at Mandeville hotel behind Selfridges. Expect blog posts on both. Until then...eat well.

Update..

2009-05-25T16:07:00.003+10:00

I seem to be posting here about once a month. All food reviews are off due to my being in Brisbane for the last three weeks. The best I could give is a review about the condolence tea we had after my Dad's funeral last Thursday....amazing chocolate cake, and thats all I managed to get due to having to socialise with everyone. The sandwiches were apparently good as well, and the carrot cake got rave reviews, but as I didnt taste em I cant say.
Will be back in Tassie sometime next month I suspect. Then off to London for a week in July. Will do my best to post regularly when I get home.

Seen Around Town and musings.

2009-04-23T10:24:00.003+10:00

Sometime soon I really must write my review of the degustation at Montys the other night.
AS usual it was amazing, EXCEPT for the behaviour of certain industry types at a table near us. The saying "If you cant say anything nice dont say anything at all" springs to mind. Also, dont take out you own insecurities on the host...its really NOT that polite!

But anyhow, things that I have seen/noticed around town lately.

There is now a Jean Pascales in Moonah. It is in the space where the cafe used to be next to Woolworths. They opened last Friday, and have breads/sweet things and a few shelves of jams/chutneys etc. There are also a few tables and they will be serving coffees etc. I hope it lasts! The Jean Pascalces take away in New Town still fails to impress. While we had a lovely girl serve us the other morning (I was running late for rehearsal and dived in to grab Breakfast to go) the selection of patisseries etc is still not as extensive as it used to be. However JP makes an amazing Croquembouche which I tasted on Saturday night at a party.

An organic grocer has appeared at the old Manna Bakery site in New Town. Have yet to go in, but it looks new and fresh.

Jay and Emma from Pigeon Hole are back after a week off. Have yet to get back there, but intend to get my granola fix soon.

Criterion Cafe appears to have had a paint job/rearrangement of furniture.

Villaneo in Criterion Street does the best Chocolate milkshakes this side of the river. Lovely thick fluffy things that your straw stands upright in. Their coffee aint half bad either.

Reviews upcoming-
The Ethiopian Resturant in Liverpool Street
Monty Degustation
Crescent Hotel

Shout out for Good service...

2009-03-26T01:30:00.003+11:00

Just wanted to say that I had absolutely wonderful service from the boys at Vermeys butcher in Sandy Bay today. WEnt in and very vaguely asked for 2kg of chicken pieces with bone. Neal came out and asked me what I was cooking, how was it being cooked and how long for, and devised a plan that involved Chicken marylands, a cleaver and chopping, along with a discussion about how chicken is used differently in different dishes. I learnt something, bought the meat I needed, and ended up enjoying a lovely meal of sherry infused roast chicken this evening which looked almost EXACTLY like the picture in the magazine. So THANK YOU!

Ebb, Taste and Kawasemi.

2009-03-19T15:31:00.000+11:00

The eating out has been curbed a bit due to the demise of my main income source (DAMN time limits on scholarships! ;-) ). However I have been taken out a couple of times and decided I had better write about them, just so that everyone knows I am still alive.
Firstly thanks to everyone who posted on my previous review, it appears I am in the minority with my opinion about Orizuru. I'm willing to go back and give it another try, we may have just caught it on a bad day - but first impressions do last.

First up is Ebb in Swansea. This was a group of four of us for my birthday in early Feb. Its not the first time I had been to Ebb - stopping in twice in December on my way too and from a writing retreat. Both those times were wonderful - delicious smoky filling chowder on one visit, and an amazing oyster taste selection on the way home.

However this time was not as good as those too. I am not sure why - if it was the menu - or the day we went, or the fact I was depressed as it was my 31st birthday but it just did not seem as polished as it did previously.

I dont drink, but the boys did whinge a bit about the cost of a bottle of bubbles, they ended up ordering a white as it was a tad cheaper (but apparently not by much). I have no idea what the prices were, as I was being treated as it was my birthday. The other big gripe was on being asked would we like water, on replying to the affirmative it was assumed we wanted bottled, instead of tap. (well that wasnt my gripe because if I recall correctly Swansea is on a boil water alert still).

I ordered the Oysters to start, with sour cream and fish eggs - which were lovely, plump, fresh and juicy. I personally would have loved the oyster taster which I had last time, but for some reason it wasn't on the menu we were given. My main was the cured salmon stack with crispy wontons, nashi pear salad & wasabi aioli, which was nice, but the wasabi aoli totally overpowered any of the other flavours which had the potential to be there. The salad which did not have the wasabi aioli on it had a lovely crispy light texture to it, with the sweet pears really complimenting the salmon.

The others had Tempura battered Fish and chips,oven baked fish with crispy potatoes, lime & ginger salad & wasabi aioli and seafood marinara with scallops, salmon, trevalla , mussels & linguini pasta. *thanks to Rita whose posted menu jogged my memory*

Verdicts were mixed, with the oven baked fish and the tempura battered fish both being "good but nothing special" and the seafood marinara being voted best value and best tasting of the day. It had a good half dozen mussls in it, along with everything else you would expect in a marinara in massive quantities - leading to a filling and tasty meal. (We all got fed bits as the person who ordered it, despite being a competitive swimmer found the serving a little too big!). We skipped dessert and headed out into the wild yonder of Swansea, where Stephen bought a large hat, I bought Indian Ribbon and the other boys had a discussion about rings.

If this was my first impression of Ebb I am not sure if I would rave about it. But know what they are capable of made this visit a little disappointing. I honestly suspect it is dependent on who is around, as although we had the same staff who served me in December, Jamie was not on hand, and the lack of polish was obvious.

I was going to write a long diatrabe on Taste, however the moment has past. Suffice to say I still dont like it and until they sort out the whole seating/queueing/crowd control thing I will be avoiding it, despite the fact the food appeared better this year than last.

I have been to Pigeon Hole on average once a week, generally devouring either a panini or the granola - I love everything at the cafe, and now knowing Jays background a little better can appreciate what he is trying to achieve. I also heard of his plans for the future, which are brillant, and I hope that they turn out.

Kawasemi the week before last was lovely. Its still impossible to get a table on a Friday night unless you book, but I actually had thought ahead and booked on Wed for Friday night at 7. Had a lovely bento box with tempura, sushi, sashimi and all the other yummy things you expect. The tempura with lovely and crisp, the sushi fresh and the sashimi tasty. The other half had chicken misoyaki which was delicately flavoured and generously served with japanese potato salad and rice. This little resturant is phenomonal and I hope it continues for many years to come.

Am off to the Monty's seafood Degustation next weekend, the menu looks amazing and I am looking forward to it.

Orizuru Sushi Bar

2009-01-09T09:43:00.002+11:00

Being unable to procure a table at Kawasamei at short notice - booked out on a WEDNESDAY - the other half and I went in search of sit down Japanese.
Now you would think that Orizuru sharing space with Mures would have GOOD seafood at its disposal. Unfortunately not.

Booked a table for 7:15 - arrived and was shown table and handed hot towels - nice touch.
We examined the menu for what we felt like - I was craving sushi and/or shashimi, the other half wanted similar. So we decided on the dinner platter for 2, complimented with some yakini beef entree for him, and oysters for me.

The beef was tough - and difficult to eat with chopsticks, the pieces were too large to be a polite mouth size. The oysters, while fresh, did not have that lovely sea salt taste to them you would expect with truely fresh oysters.

As for the main course - oh dear, oh dear oh dear. A large platter was presented to us, including about 9 small pieces of sashmi, 2 oysters, 4 maki and about twenty smallish pieces of sushi (6 nigiri, 3 californian, 3 vegtarian (letteuce and mayo), 3 salmon, 3 tuna and 2 other pieces).
Firstly, the oysters were not that good - definately not fresh, as they were not plump and juicy.
The sashimi was dry and shrivelled looking. The tuna in the shashimi was a dark maroon colour as oppose to a lovely dark pink colour you would expect. The salmon was ok, but the white fish (not sure what it was) looked like it had either being frozen and defrosted, or dried and rehydrated. It was stringy and chewy. This applied to the nigiri as well. The prawns on that were wrinkled - obviously prepared earlier and left to sit out. The tamagoti (rolled egg) had no flavour or texture what so ever. The sushi itself had quite dry rice, and the nori around the rolls had no discerable seaweed flavour. We actually left some of it, as it was so unappetising.

The service was patchy at best. My second requested solo never arrived, and the other half had to go and ASK for another set of chopsticks when his first pair was taken away with the entree plate.

Total cost (including 1 beer, 1 solo and 1 green tea) - $82.50. DEFINATELY not worth it. 2.5/5 and thats being generous. I'm going back to Kawasemi and never darkening any other Japanese in Hobart again....

Mee Wah Take away and look for advice.

2008-11-20T23:59:00.004+11:00

I was at Uni late the other night, trying desperately to get my desk resembling something useful, as opposed to a large pile of misc. I left around 6, mentally going through the fridge and the myriad of leftovers trying to decide what I wanted. Nothing took my fancy, so I went Chinese.
Now Mee Wah as a resturant is lovely - as a takeaway - EXPENSIVE. However the food comes from the same kitchen and tastes just as good.
I ordered a large fried rice and the Imperial Lamb which was $29. For me its the little things that make the difference - such as the fact they packaged the pancakes and the lamb for the Imperial serperately so that they didnt get soggy.
The Imperial Lamb was gorgeous - though I am not sure if it was worth $20. Four mandarin pancakes, and a large chinese container worth of spiced lamb with a thick sauce. The sauce had definate hints of oyster and soy in it, as well as garlic and something else which I could not quite put my finger on.
The fried rice was the standard rice with prawns, shallots and I THINK it was chicken in it. Very filling and yummy - I am still eating the left overs of this as the lamb filled me up. I drove from Sandy Bay to West Moonah and the meal was still hot when I got home.
Would I go back for just that as takeaway? Probably not unless I was working late at Uni and had to head back - however I suspect with a little judicious choice you could get quite good value out of the Mee Wah takeaway menu.

I'm off up the East coast next week for a writing retreat to break either my brain or my thesis. Am staying near St Marys - want some good recommendations for places for lunch as its going to be my main meal and break of the day.

Montys for dinner on Saturday - stay tuned!

Onba - Oh dear!

2008-11-16T16:55:00.002+11:00

Just back from a coffee/tea finding mission to try to dissolve a large case of writers block - ended up at Onba with the other half. Lets just say - you started so well, what happened?

Its about 6 months since I last went to Onba - and I distinctly remember then that there was still a large tapas menu, with a few large meals and the whole tapas menu was always available.
Now, not so much.

Between the two of us we had a pot of green tea, 2 hot chocolates (1 cup, 1 mug), a serve of the cheese and mushroom enpandillas, a serve of the duck liver pate with something sherry Jelly on top with cornbread and Patas Bravas. The cost - $40.

Lets start with the drinks. The first hot chocolate was warm - not hot and apparently ok but not spectacular. The second was lots of froth not much drink, and still not HOT. My green tea came in one of those nifty glass teapots and was the classic grass green tea colour. Now I generally LIKE the green tea they serve at Onba - I buy it from the shop next door to make at home. Its idiot proof - 2 teaspoons or so of tea, add hot water to pot, let it sit for 5 minutes, pour and drink. This had the colour but absolutely NONE of the flavour I associate with the genmachi they normally serve. I shrugged and drank it, thinking I had not let it steep enough. Mind you I had to ask for honey, as opposed to the sugar sachets I was served with it. Am not upset by this, as honey with green tea is not something most ppl expect. However, the 2nd cup of tea still didn't have much flavour at all, so I investigated the strainer. I think they must have been scrapping the bottom of the container. The strainer was around 70% roasted rice and 30% tea, when normally the mixture is the opposite proportions. Once again, not necessarily their problem, except for maybe not refilling and mixing their storage containers. Also my cup was not clean - there was a smear of dirt on the outside of it, which I did not notice until after I finished.

Now onto the food. Onba used to do lovely servings of tapas and I could (and have) quite happily spent 2 or so hours on a couch upstairs with friends sharing food and working our way through the menu. This really isn't possible now. They now have distinct breakfast/lunch/dinner menus and what used to be 3-5 pages of always available tapas has now be whittled down to about 5 items along with cookies, sushi, pide and cake. The serving sizes are not predictable - our enpandillas were 2, but the pate and patas could have been meals into themselves.

Enpandillas - Last time I had these at Onba they were slight greasy but drained well and filled to the brim with a mixture of cheese and mushrooms in a lovely flaky pastry. This time I think I found one piece of mushroom in my serve and the cheese was also non existent. The pastry was greasy and oil and had no lightness or subtly of flavour which I used to associate with this serving. So strike one. I wanted to leave it at that, but the other half said I should try some of the other offerings to give a non biased view - which meant we then tried....

Duck Liver Pate with P? Sherry Jelly on top served with toasted cornbread - I love pate. Am a pate fiend and can eat it till the cows come home - this however was pate Jim, just not as we know it. The cornbread was nice - if a little hard on the crusts once toasted. The pate, nice texture and colour but absolutely NO taste except for what you got out of the Jelly on top. No slight bite, no explosion of gentle flavours over the tongue, hate to say it but the pate I bought at Augusta Road the other day which was mass produced had more flavour than this. This is the poor third cousin to Jean Pasquales pate which he occasionally sells.
This serving was huge - there would have been about 9 pieces of toast (3 slices cut into thirds I suspect), and a good 100g pot of pate in the middle. As a sharing dish it was large, for an individual it was way too big.

Patas Bravas - Fancy name for spiced potato wedges. Last time I had this the potatoes were cut into 8th or so, lightly sprinkled with spice, baked/roasted and then served with a lovely spicy tomato salsa dip. I did not try them this time but the other half reported that they were large quarters with a cheap tasting sprinkle that you couldn't taste until after you swallowed and the dip was watery and had no flavour of its own besides what the sprinkle on the potatoes gave it.

Neither of us finished the second plates. On paying I was asked how everything was - so mentioned my disappointment at the enpandillas, as well as the fact the tapas menu was now so limited outside of dinner hours.

I got told the reason was the they had to keep a chef on otherwise and it was too expensive to do. Also the two ppl there on a Sunday had to run the floor as well as serve and somehow this prevented a larger menu....I understand the fact that times are tight and to survive in the hospitality industry you have to cut costs etc - however if you market yourself as a tapas/supper club - its logical to say that you would expect a large range of Tapas to be available most of the time. Looking at the menu even during dinner the selection of tapas is quite small compared to what I remember it being previously - and there does not appear to be the whole moving with the seasons concept which I vaguely remember them talking about when they opened.

Overall I was very disappointed, and I don't think I will be back anytime soon - except maybe to try the paella on a Tuesday night.

2.5 out of 5.

Sorry to disappoint...

2008-10-26T01:47:00.002+11:00

But there will be no review of Monty degustation which happened tonight. Mainly as I am STILL in Brisbane - hopefully coming home Monday. Everyone is now either sort of healthy or has a plan to GET healthy (gotta love oncology!) so I have finished sittng in doctors offices/hospitals/emergency rooms and can come home to real food and decent prices.
Have eaten out a few times but have come to the conclusion that hobart does suburban cafes SO much better than Brisbane.
Had what was supposed to be breakfast with a very dear friend last sunday at the local cafe. Its supposedly got quite a good rep - and I used to fence with the owner when he was younger - heck I still do now ocassionally. It was a sunday morning, about 10am. A large table of about 20 was getting served as we arrived. We plopped overselves down and waited, and waited some more. About 10 mintues later we got menus. Ordered fairly quickly. (poached eggs on toast with a side of hash browns for me, big breakfast for JJ) And started waiting for our food. More people come in and order. Its jumping. Its obvious they are slightly short staffed.
I see Tony (the owner) rush in looking slightly hung over and harried. And still we wait. 20 minutes later after 2 tables who I think arrived after us get thier meals, I got up to the counter. Tony sees me says hello and asks what he can do. I ask for my B'fast. They look it up, and go check. Its going to be a few more minutes apparently. So we keep waiting. Thankfully its been awhile since JJ and I sat down and talked, so we chatted away. Our food arrives. I look at my watch - by my reckoning its 3/4 hour since we ordered. We eat - my toast was pre buttered which made it soggy and the eggs were poached in slightly vinegared water, which made them taste odd. The hash browns were nice. JJ's big breaky was adequate but uninspiring apparently.
When we went to pay I was asked how I enjoyed my meal - I made the comment that it was ok, but 3/4 of an hour was a slightly exessive wait. The waitress overheard and claimed it was 25 minutes. I just raised an eyebrow, mentioned that if FELT alot longer, paid and left. The intention was good, the execution was lacking. Though apparently others rave about it, its not on my list of places to revisit in a hurry.

ARGH!

2008-10-10T22:42:00.003+11:00

Due to family emergency I am now in Brisbane. Will be here till Thursday. Leave for East coast adventure (ie thesis writing) Friday next week. Hope to be trying Ebb sometime next weekend. This blog will be even more sporadic than normal due to said family emergency. I will however post reviews that are due soon.

National recognition

2008-10-04T15:07:00.002+10:00

Just wanted to say well done to the crew at Montys for a very favourable review in the Australian this weekend. A few secrets coming out (ie they are going to expand upstairs) but otherwise a good review that they justly deserve.

Very quick update.

2008-10-03T21:21:00.002+10:00

Firstly HI! to the girls in S's office who put two and two together and got me!

Secondly - I swear I haven't forgotten the Me Wah review - I'm currently drowning under 2nd year assignments which need to be marked - should not be a problem but there are a 100 or so at 2000 words each and its an area which is only tangentially related to my own.

Thirdly - Jay at Pigeon Hole rocks my world. I have been bugging him for ages to start selling the granola so I have a ready supply at home - today out of the blue he offered me a jar with a "bring it back when its empty and I'll re fill it" type comment and he wouldnt take any money for it. THATS the way to get people coming back. So now I have Jay granola!! YAH! Just need to stew the ruhbarb and all will be right with the world.

Fourthly - As far as I know the next Montys degustation is on the 25th of this month and will involve showcased wines from Nat and Matts busmans holiday.

BURP!

2008-09-21T15:16:00.002+10:00

Me Wah last night was GOOD - much amusement from the table next to us....Grub at Newtown for lunch....yummy. Longer review to follow - currently VERY content.

Upcoming Reviews...

2008-09-19T11:09:00.002+10:00

Am off to Mee Wah on Saturday night so sometime next week there will be a review on that. I think we are going driving next weekend, so expect something from down the Channel way (or maybe up the East Coast - depends on my mood I guess). Had lunch at Zum on Wed so need to post about that....other than that my ear is slowly getting better - still have to see the ENT next month though.

Just about coherent.....

2008-09-12T15:35:00.003+10:00

Just to let everyone know, I am still around, just ill and thus not eating out much. I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of my eating out time at Pigeon hole devouring granola and apple puree and talking with Jay and the rest of the staff. Must admit I got more reading done for work there today then I have for AGES at either my desk at Uni or at home.
The salad today (eaten on Jays reccommendation) was lovely. Greens, honey walnuts, goats curd, warm grilled mushrooms and a light dressing. For 10 dollars it was JUST right for how I was feeling.
Other than that I have had a few bento boxes at Yume in town - consistantly yummy and good value, and been subjected to catered lunches at Uni - generally sandwiches etc, but the pizza slice was quite nice.
Am in week 7 of the ear infection from Hades, so now have to get the timings right re food and the new antibacterial drug we are trying (drug attempt number 4 on this particular infection). off to hte ENT next month to try to work out WHY its not going way. Why is this relevent? Well its stuffed my tastebuds to a certain extent. I am getting the stronger tastes but suspect I an missing some of the nuances and delicacy that I generally enjoy in food.
Anyhow, will be back soon with more reviews....I suspect as thesis submission date gets closer, yu will get more and more random food reviews as I procastinate.

A Weekend of Eating.....

2008-08-12T13:49:00.006+10:00

Thats all I seemed to do this weekend, Eat. I had friends visiting from the mainland and we did alot of the tourist stuff, but of course we had to to eat as well. So here is the run down on where we ate...
Friday Night - Kawasemi - Warning...if you want to eat in BOOK! The last 3 times I have tried to walk in off the street on a Friday night they have been totally full. Had a lovely Chicken Katsudon takeaway, and the bento box got the double thumbs up from my mates girlfriend who had lived in Japan for 2 years. This place has firmly established itself as a good solid reliable source of food in the Northern Suburbs. To be booked out on Friday in the middle of winter suggests that they are definately doing something right. I still believe their bento box is one of the best value meals in town.

Saturday - Brunch at Pigeon Hole. I think the comment of "Beans on toast is now ruined" sums up the reaction. Apparently tinned beans on toast will never be enough again! I had a lovely cherry and almond scroll which was still warm from the oven. The brioche was lovely and flakey. Just right for how I was feeling. I truely wish they could be a bit bigger, but they are only allowed 20 seats, and I suspect that as the weather warms up its going to be harder and harder to find a seat unless you get there early. The other half still has to try the beans on toast, and has promised to get up early with me on Saturday so that he can get some...

Dinner at Magic Curry in Battery Point. This was a little bit disappointing. Last time I was here the food had a quite nice flavour, and was not spectacular but it was good. This time the four of us ordered the banquet, which while lots of food really did not have the kick that I was expecting from Indian food. They were very busy though, and cramming them in. There was about 15cm between our table of 4 in a corner and a table of 2 placed slap bang in the middle of the walkway near the fire. The best bits were the fish curry - the fish was firm and moist, with a lovely light curry taste. The butter chicken had no kick what so ever, and the lamb rogan josh was very very bland. The Dahl was nice - not as blended as some, the chick peas were still obvious and added needed texture. Though there appeared to be a lack of spice.

My view on the food may however be coloured by the fact I lived on the same floor in college as a group of Indian girls who used to have huge cooking parties in the buttery and invite everyone along for a meal. I have very fond memories of cooking roti on electric hot plates and smearing them with butter and gobbling them down.

Sunday - Lunch at Red Velvet Lounge. After reading reviews of RVL I was looking forward to eating here. I must say I was a little bit disappointed. I wasn't very hungry so ordered the potato cakes with paprika mayo. The intention was good but the execution fell short. Potato slices, dipped in a batter and deep fried. Has to potential to be a really good meal, unfortunately they were very oily (one slice's oil soaked through my napkin) and not really as crispy as I was expecting. When they were finished there was an obvious puddle of oil at the bottom of the bowl. The mayo was lovely though. I ended up swapping with Stephen for a few bites of his beef pot pie with mash and peas - which was lovely - although the opinion was we needed bread to mop up the sauce as the mash was a side dish.

My BIGGEST complaint however was that the room was COLD!!! I'm sorry but a place with ceilings that high can not just rely on a fireplace to warm everyone up. The staff also seemed to be slightly unconcerned about service. They talked happily to people who were obviously regulars, but I sometimes felt a bit like an intruder and that I was imposing.

We split 2 deserts between the four of us - Stephen and I shared something that was a bit like a cream catalina type thing, but was not that nice - the best bit was the sugared orange peel on top. Crunchy, sweet and sour all at once. E and L shared a slice of Banoff cake - apparently very nice.

Verdict? I'll go back as I suspect this bad visit was a combination of things - including the fact I was having a very odd reaction to the antibiotics I was taking.

Here goes.....

2008-08-05T20:00:00.000+10:00

Righto this is from memory - Nat is waaay to organised and has taken down the menu already.

1st Course was Snails 2 ways - one in the shell with garlic butter, and one in a lovely filo pastry with I think it was Tongola goats cheese. I love snails so gobbled them down - I prefered the one in garlic butter, but the other half liked the tiny pastry. Either way it was a good way to start.

2nd course - Quail kiev with quail rissotto held together with pancetta. This was early running to be my favourite dish of the evening. The rissotto was amazing, I seriously could have gobbled a huge big bowl of it and not eaten anything else. Perfectly plump rice with a lovely subtle flavour from the quail and a slight saltyness from the pancetta. The kiev was interesting, it was a boned quail with the tiniest amount of cheese in it, just enough to give it flavour. This is on their August menu and rightfully so - its a lovely mixture of textures and flavours, without any one being overpowering.

3rd course - was Pork. Lovely yummy scrumptious Lee Christmas pork belly, with crackling and BLACK SAUSAGE! Though it was under some fancy name. I'll admit, this is the first time I have eaten black sausage and it was really yummy. It looked very dry, but was quite moist when you cut into it.

4th course - was duck 2 ways. A lovely flavoursome duck liver parfait served with pinot noir jelly and duck rillette. We both found the rillette a little oily, but the parfait and jelly was an inspired combination on crispy bits of toast. I wanted more - both on parfait and the toast. The other half, who doesnt particularly like pate type textures refused to share, so I suspect that means he liked it.

Then was the long break to reset the tables and let everyone stretch their legs etc. We ended up in the bar with our backs to the open fire geting lovely and warm while having a long convaluted chat with a group of four people about family at Christmas, laser eye surgery and something else which escapes my memory at this point in time.

The 5th course was slow cooked Navarin of ‘Rivendale’ Boer Goat with root veggies and barrel aged fetta cheese. This was a lovely rich meaty stew type dish, and the cheese added a lovely salty tang to the sauce. It was served in a cassarole type dish, which was nice, but made getting the yummy juice out very hard!

6th Course was the wallaby tortellini with wallaby consumme, truffle oil and reggiano snow (also on the Aug menu). This was THE dish of the night for me. The edge of the tortellini was a little dry but other than that the mixture of textures and tastes was amazing. I actually asked for a spoon to get all the consumme out it was soooo good. Lovely soft meat, the bite of the pasta and the enhancement of the taste through the consumme made for the most amazing meal. I could have quite happily finished here and gone home content.

7th Course - mini roast of Nichols rivulet organic porterhouse with a beef cheek jus + yorkshire pudding. This was nice, though the beef was a tiny bit pink for me, but any less pink and it wouldn't have melted in the mouth. The jus was lovely and the yorkshire pudding, while not hot proved a perfect sop for the juices.

8th Course - Desert!! twice cooked blue cheese soufflé with double chocolate ice cream. The ice cream was absolutely decadent. Rich, creamy and oh so chocolatey. The souffle was yummy too - though I think it could have been slightly more cheesy. Its interesting to note that my taste buds/tongue can do the flavours this way around but CANT do the blue cheese ice cream chocolate pudding way.

Anyhow I unfortunately was battling the edge of a migraine for some reason by this time, so we skipped out very quickly after coffees. The surprise dish was the apple jellies they served as after desert snacks. VERY yummy.

So thats that. Next one is October, which I will probably go to with Dad as Stephen dont like Seafood that much.
Sorry its taken so long to post, I;ve been in Perth and stuff.

Another Montys Degustation.....

2008-07-30T09:30:00.003+10:00

And once again a resounding success. I accidently left my menu on the table, so will dig up the complete menu from my files in the next day or two. However the highlights for me were definately the wallaby tortellini in wallaby consumme with truffle oil and reggiano, and the duck liver parfait with pinot noir jelly.
Full report to come after I have been to see the careers counsellor and remarked some exam papers...

Pigeon Hole

2008-07-05T17:39:00.003+10:00

Had a late b'fast/early lunch by myself at Pigeon Hole this morning. I'm with Rita - it's great. A small chalk board menu, nothing particularly breakfasty but all yummy looking non the less. I am on a gryuere kick at the moment after having a lovely croque monsiuer at Jean Pascal New Town on Thursday (but that's a totally different blog entry). So the twice baked gryuere souffle caught my eye immediately. As did the really delicious looking rubarb crostini on wire racks by the cofffee machine. I gave in to gluttony and ordered one of those as well with a lovely dollop of rich heavy cream.
The souffle was gorgeous. Light, slightly eggy, with a great cheesey taste with crunch bits on top. Served in a lovely ramiken on a wooden board with green leaves and grated gruyere on the side. I ate it with a spoon and it really was delicious. As for the hot chocolate and crostini, YUM YUM and more YUM. The crostini was saucer sized, warmed with a lovely dollop of what I am fairly sure was elgars cream in the middle of it. Stewed rhubarb in the middle with currents. Perfectly sweet but not over sugared the pastry was still crisp underneath (a pet hate of mine - soggy pastry) and it was suitably rustic. The hot chocolate didn't need extra sugar - only the 2nd place in hobart where I have found this.
The spoons/tongs and saucers are very obviously from Luke and Katrina ex Pecora, but the feel is totally Jay from 373 - relaxed and confident - which is what, in retrospect was missing from my last visit to 373. The crowd was varied, from families, to couples, to singles and friends meeting up for coffee and a chat. There are obviously already regulars, and at 11:30 I think all of the bread was already sold. My only real gripe is that it is not obvious when you walk in if there are any large tables free as they are all down a narrowish corridor towards the back.
The variety of cakes and nibbles is small but varied, I spied 2 different cakes with rhubarbs and a very decedent looking chocolate muffin. There was also a few other varieties of muffin and some savoury crostinis.
Talking to Katrina when I was paying (they accept EFTPOS) she was saying they don't really do traditional breakfasts, but will do toast and honey on request. They don't have a full compliment of condiments apparently. Two drinks, a souffle and a crostini set me back about 23 dollars, which considering I was hungry when I arrived and left plesantly full was good value for money.
In conclusion, I will definately be back, and dragging friends along for the adventure.
PS please excuse the spelling in this post, my brain is on strike due to emotional turmoil.

Random Lunch Review.....

2008-06-27T16:16:00.002+10:00

Isnt it COLD? Was in town yesterday and remember around 2pm that I hadnt eaten all day. So contemplated my options. Ended up at the tiny Thai place near Cafe Toulse - the name escapes me just now, but its tiny, 6 tables and a counter and thats about it.
I wanted soup, but didnt feel like something spice hot so choose the non spice option (13) at the bottom of the menu. Coupled with a serving of Satay I thought that it could be a nice hot filling meal. At 13 dollars it had better be!
Out came a large skewer of chicken with satay dipping sauce which was lovely and a massive bowl of soup. I want to learn how to make this soup. It was gorgeous. Bits of squid and prawn, with scallops and rice noodle along with egg in a lovely thick broth. Filling, warm and really yummy.

Delayed 373 Review and other food matters...(raincheck b/fast review and Mures lower deck)

2008-06-22T15:50:00.005+10:00

Its a week since I went to 373 with the other half and I am still not 100% sure what to make of it. One thing I am sure of, its definately not the same place it was 18months or even 12 months ago. It feels alot more "corporate".

The wait staff have changed. We had a youngish lad, who was a little Basil Faultesque in his manner - later proved when he somehow managed to knock the water jug off the table which is at the front as you enter. I guess he was trying for silver service formality but falling a little bit short.

The food was good but uninspiring really. Stephen had the Pork Belly and fennel roulaude for entrees and the proscuttio wrapped eye fillet for mains - the eye fillet tasted really nice, but when its all said and done its just steak.

I had the soft shell crab omelette for entrees, and one of the entree specials - twice cooked beef cheek for mains. The omlette was a tad salty and you really couldnt taste teh crab - which was a pity as soft shell crab is apparently considered a delicacy. The beef cheek was quite nice, very soft and a fair bit of flavour, but at the same time there was something missing. I'm not sure what it was, but the meal just didnt feel "complete".

Now its a well known fact to most people that I am a cheese fiend. No meal at a good resturant is complete without cheese of some sort - so we ordered some. Keep in mind we ordered the cheese when we placed our meal orders, so there was a good hours lee way between ordering and eating. We ordered 2 french (a Comte and a Roquefort) and 1 English (a chedder). Now if you order cheese at somewhere like Terraces in Launceston, or Monty in Hobart they will be served at room temperature, and you will be told which cheese is which. These were still slightly cold (the comte was still fairly solid near the rind) and we didnt get told which cheese was which. I had to ask for the menu back and work it out from the descriptions. The Roquefort was horrid..its supposedly one of the last family made ones in France, but personally it tasted like disinfectant and the texture was almost slimy.

I didnt have dessert but Stephen had the Brulee which while nice and crunchy on top apparently had an odd texture in the middle (he is the brulee freak not me, so I am taking his word for it). Another question - how hard is it to actually serve coffee WITH the dessert and not after? This isnt just a 373 quirk, quite a few places I have been lately have done the same thing...its kinda annoying.

One there 373 are known for are thier amuse bouche, which once again were lovely. The popcorn and olives, followed by a lovely soup - I cant remember what it was but it had garlic in it and I think sweet potato. The lemon sorbet was good.

Overall I would really only give 373 about 3.5/5 - the atmosphere isnt really there anymore, and the staff need to stop trying so hard. The food is good, but not as spectacular as it used to be, and the buzz which you used to get going there seems to have disappeared a bit.

Went to Raincheck for breakfast last Tuesday with a friend. The Eggs Benidict on GF bread was REALLY REALLY good. The Hollandaise tasted good and everything was nice and fresh. The hot chocolates were really really good as well. Good value for money as well.

Went to Mures Lower Deck last night with a friend before heading off to a wonderful TSO concert at the Federation Concert Hall. I still believe their soup of the day for 6.50 is some of the best value in town. Last night it was smokey fish chowder with lovely big chunks of fish and a great smoked taste. Coupled with a bread roll and good company its a lovely cheap night out.

Finally went down to Kettering today to Lee's pork sale - 90 dollars later and a quick lesson in butchery from Lee on how to get spare ribs from Pork belly I came home very content. Stopped at the Fruit and Veggie market just outside Snug (the big one near the cross roads) and bought veggies - unfortunately got stuck behind a busload of ppl buying veggies before heading off to do touristy things, so what SHOULD have been a 5 minute in and out become a 20 minute waiting game.

Had Lee's pork sausages in bread rolls from Mondos with grilled apple and mustard for lunch. I dont need dinner.

So thats me up to date. Next food adventure is yet to be determined.

Chocolate is a food group right?

2008-06-14T16:46:00.003+10:00

Had a meeting at Salamanca today about the thesis that never seems to end. Was originally going to meet my supervisor at the Quarry, but we both realised that there is nothing really GF free about their snack menu so we continued up towards Salamanca Square in search of food.
I will admit to not having being very good with my allergy diet lately, and I suspect its partially why my PMS has been so bad this month - so I am back on the GF band wagon for a couple of months to let the body have time to heal.

So what relavence does this have to a food blog you may ask? Well we ended up at Say Cheese, which I havent been to in Donkeys, but had a lovely list of very lucious looking sundaes.
My supervisor was paying (bless his cotton socks) and I had not eaten anything yet and it was after 12, so I ordered the Chocolate Sundae. Lets just say for 13.50 its DEFINATELY worth it.
Large glass parfait glass, mass of chocolate icecream in the bottom, then a layer of marshmallows and hot chocolate fudge sauce, then a layer of vanilla and another of chocolate. Toppped with cream, more sauce, chocolate squares around the edge and some biscotti (which I took off and didnt eat). Comfort food of the HIGHEST calibre - made what had the potential to be a fraught meeting (my lack of writing progress is scaring me, but my supervisor seems to think that I'm gonna be ok) good.

Tonight I am being taken out to 373 for adinner as Mee Wah was fully booked.

Totally as an aside, if you want good discounts at many of the good eating places in Tassie, may I suggest getting your mitts on one of the Entertainment guides? Lots of resturants offering 2 for one main meals, or 25% off the total bill. Places both in the North or the South of the state, as well a the East Coast. Ebb is there, as is Banc and Fee and Me. In Hobart the range is from places like Vanidols to Alexanders, Picalily, Kellys, Fransico's, Mee Wah, 373. Also entertainment options such as bowling, Par Avion discounts etc. Avaliable from the St Davids Cathedral office at the Church house at the back of the Cathedral. $50 - which you get back VERY quickly as I found out using the 25% discount voucher at Onba - we got about 20 dollars off our bill the other day -which essentially meant we got the 3 pots of tea and the coffees we had for free.

Anyhow I better go find something vaguely dressy to wear tonight.
Review in the next couple of days when I need a break from marking exam papers.

Eating in Places other than Tassie.....

2008-06-11T23:43:00.003+10:00

I have a confession to make...I ate out all of TWICE while I was at home and in Adelaide (not counting the 2 excursions to the Coffee Club).
The only time I ventured out into the big bad world of mainland resturants at night I went to the pub. Yes thats right, I had a pub meal with my mum, dad, a good friend from the UK and her mother.
Mind you the Gap Tavern isnt ANY old pub. Its a quite nice tavern built into an old quarry about 20 minutes from mum and dads place and it does do a half way decent meal. Four people, four mains (2 steaks, a chicken and a fish) $200. I had a Wagyu steak with mushroom sauce, and although the sauce was a litte bit salty, the steak was actually cooked PERFECTLY medium rare. Although I am still trying to work out WHAT the appeal of Wagyu actually is..(I suspect it ws psuedo-wagyu) Mrs G's steak was a perfect medium well so the kitchen got something right.
Decent sized serves, no load music and get your own drinks - overall a decent meal.

The only meal I had out during the day was at the Kuta Cafe at the top of Mt Cootha. I'll say it now...MASSIVE MASSIVE tourist trap. The meals however were massive. The BLT was advertised as being on inch thick bread - I ordered it thinking it was hyperbole - nope - each still was literally a doorstopper. Lucy's burger was a good hand high, complete with beetroot, fried onion and salad, which made her very happy. The two chicken burgers were not QUITE so big, but coupled with the fries had both Mum and Mrs G struggling to finish. The meal however was expensive - something like 90 dollars for the 4 meals, and drinks (no alcohol). Hence the tourist trap warning. I suspect we may have been better off heading to the resturant which was offering a 2 course set menu for 32 a person.

In Adelaide the sum total of my eating was 2 nights of Taj on Raj takeaway which had NOTHING on ANY of the indians down here, and a late Sunday breakfast at Billy Baxters - whose french toast was bland and nothing on Steve and Becs.

It was definately nice to get home to the promise of good fresh food and decent comfy non commercialised resturants. This weekend its either Mee Wah or 373 - undecided as yet...I'm pushing for Mee Wah as I need some fried rice. Will let you know!

Yet Another Monty's Post

2008-06-11T15:31:00.002+10:00

Just had an email from Nat at Montys with the menu for the next degustation on the 26th of July. Suffice to say I am there with Bells on. It looks amazing as per usual. My friends who didnt want to come are going to miss out.
Am finalising plans to go out to dinner this weekend, not 100% sure where yet, but somewhere nice.

Travelling Tassie.....

2008-06-10T10:26:00.002+10:00

Its over a month since I posted here, and I need to apologise to you all dear readers (all two of you)for not being as prolific as I should be. Life has been hetic lately, and the chances to go out and eat few and far between. Add into that a trip to visit my parents in Brisbane and coming home VIA Adelaide, you can see why there hasnt been much movement on the blog.
I will however post a review of a resturant I went to in Brissy, just for the hell of it, as well as comments about take away in Adelaide in the next day or two. I am currently on a roll for thesis writing so am working on that. Will be backsoon I promise!

Presenting.....

2008-05-01T00:00:00.000+10:00

Tassie_gal's review of Montys Blessed are the Cheeses Degustation Dinner from the 26th April 2008.

Before I start, I need to preface this with I LOVE Montys. Nat and Matt have a wonderful wonderful wonderful place that serves gorgeous food and has wonderful amazing staff. Kirby the bartender rocks my socks with his non alcoholic concotions - the latest being elderflower, pineapple juice and grenadine which was amazing.

So lets start - I wont use the usual format as my brain cant remember it and I cant be arsed poking back through previous posts.

First Course:
Barilla Bay oysters done 2 ways:
1. a classic mornay with Pyengana cheddar
2. filo wrapped with house made proscuito + buffalo mozzarella
A really lovely way to start. Small, light and flavoursome. I am not a big fan of cooked oysters, but both of these were lovely. Of the two I prefered the filo, as the textures really worked well together with the flaky pastry, the meaty oyster, the spicy proscuito and the soft cheese. Stephen, who isnt keen on oysters at all actually tried to pinch mine, so I suspect he liked them.

Second Course:
“Saint Monty”
crumbed + pan-fried Bruny Island Saint,
with a spiced pear paste + fresh strawberries
This is a standard on the menu, and was essentially what you get on the menu but a smaller serve. Two small wedges of the Bruny Saint, with a lovely pear paste and fresh strawberries. It works, has done for ages and probably will continue to do so. There is something very decadent about melted soft cheese and pear paste...its all sort of rich and creamy and gooey and yum.

Third Course:
pan-fried potato gnocchi with a 3 cheese sauce of gruyere, fontina + raclette
I think this was my favourite dish of the night. Approximately a dozen hand made gnocchi, browned and slightly crunchy on the outside but lovely and fluffy in the middle served with a drizzle of this amazing sauce. The gruyere dominated, but the fontina and raclette left an amazing aftertaste. I cant work out who had the pepper undertones, but it was SO good - I chased the last remaining bits of sauce around my plate with my fork to be able to savour them, and then I did the same to Stephens plate.

Fourth Course:
open fish pie with house smoked blue eye + prawns
over fondant potato, gratinated with Quickes smoked cheddar
This was probably my second favourite dish of the night. A lovely piece of smoked blue eye, all flakey and good, with a large banana prawn, nestled in a tartlet case and covered in a gently melted cheese sauce. By virute of the fact the tartlet case was sitting on the fondant potato there was NO SOGGY PASTRY! (a pet hate of mine). The smokiness of the fish really complimented the gratined smoked chedder, but not the the extent it was over powering, the fish shone through without being fishy. The textures in this worked really well as well. The fish was flakey but firm, complimented by the meaty prawn and the softness of the sauce - it really was like silk and the pastry added the depth by retaining the flavours that it held. I REALLY hope this becomes a menu item (HINT HINT NATALIE IF YOU ARE READING THIS!!!). THis was Stephen favourite despite the fact he isnt a big seafood fan!

Fifth Course:
'Bistecca Gorgonzola'
char-grilled Longford beef fillet over a sour-dough croûte
with wilted spinach, melted Gorgonzola and a cabernet sauvignon juts
Heres where it falls down a bit. The longford beef fillet is a standard on their menu in some way shape or form - but this for me just didnt work as well as it could have done. The spinach was good, the jus was lovely, the croute crunchy, but the gorgonzola and beef just didnt work for me. The beef was cooked quite rare almost tartare like, which generallyI dont mind, but the melted gorgonzola needed a heavier cut of meat rather than the Longford fillet - which generally has a quite delicate flavour which was totally overpowered by the cheese in this case. This was also quite a large serving, and evn though it was served after a considerable break it was probably a bit too large considerin there was still two courses to come.

Sixth Course:
Roquefort Panna-Cotta with a port jelly centre + pistachio wafers
I LIKE blue cheese I really do, BUT my brain and tongue have an ongoing arguement about the right texture. The panna-cotta was a lovely texture but my brain was going "BLUE CHEESE CRUMBLES" at me the whole time - not that it was very blue cheesy. I have the same trouble with Matts blue cheese ice cream, as a concept its great but my brain just doesnt DO it... A straw poll of those sitting around us came to the conclusion that 4/7 wanted more blue taste and 5 wanted less. The port jelly in its intent I think was meant to provide the counter foil to the blue - in the same way grapes etc do on a cheese plate - however it didnt really work. The pistachio wafers were nice, but a bit "heavy" for the dish in their texture...it needed light and fluffy, not shortbread like. I think this was the divisor dish of the night- you either loved it or were ambivilant. I dont like I liked it....but then again I dont know.

Seventh Course:
Baked Tongola goats cheese cake with a ginger biscotti base + roasted strawberries
As a final dish, this was lovely, though once again the serving was quite large. The cheese cake was creamer than usual and the ginger biscotti base provided a nice counter point in texture and taste. The roasted strawberries were amazing, sweet, lucious and firm all at once.

Additional Course:
I cant rememeber where this came in, I think it was just before the beef, but it was a truffle infused sheeps cheese which was GORGEOUS. Earthy and rich and just YUM!

Now we come to the not so nice part...For those of you who have been to Montys you know there are essentially 3 rooms - the cellar for private dining, the main room and the library. We were situated in the back corner of the library - in fact exactly where I was for Christmas with mum and dad. The library has 4 tables in it and is seperated from the rest of the resturant by the entrace hallway. Generally its a lovely oasis with books to browse etc, however this time not so much so. There were 4 tables of 2 including myself and Stephen. Unfortunately the two of the other tables of two talked talked to each other through much of the meal. Not that that was a bad thing, but one of the tables contained one of those people who really wants to be noticed. Phrases such as "I made this LOVELY dish..." and "I make something similar.." and "My daughter and I did this is in the kitchen together.." came over at regular intervals. The couple they were talking to had just completed an amazing sounding foodie tour of Italy and this woman (the I did one) was squawking about how she had been overseas and done this and that and the other....I seriously just wanted to SHAKE her. Her voice echoing around the round made us so restless by the end of the night we didnt stay for coffee, but escaped into the night.

My only other gripe, and the only one that really that Montys could have done anything about, was the speed of the service. The invite was 7 for 7:30. I think we got our first course at around 7:45, and our last was served I think around 11:15pm. There was alot of waiting between courses, and unfortunately when you have the whole resturant on the same menu you loose some of the atmosphere of hustle and bustle. It was a long night, and as much as I love Montys, I am not sure about doing another degustation because of the two factors above - nothing to do with the food.

Tonight!

2008-04-30T20:16:00.000+10:00

Its partially written, but marking and my glasses flipping getting fractured (and NEW ones at that) along with a pilates session, a fencing demo and a netball game that starts in err 45 minutes that I still have to get changed and drive to, is holding up the actually publishing. I PROMISE it will be up before midnight.....
To keep you going and something to ponder....what is it with landlords and cafes lately???

Okay okay!

2008-04-29T17:15:00.000+10:00

After being properly prodded by Rita, I PROMISE to post my review of the Montys Cheese degustation tonight. I've had 2 nights to cogitate on it, and work it out in my brain. So review tonight...as a teaser, it was definately a meal of two halves and its amazing how the surrounding people can influence how you percieve a meal....

Ponderings....(or random drug induced thoughts about food)

2008-04-01T15:12:00.000+11:00

Not so much places I have eaten but places I would LIKE to eat.....
Mee Wah - STILL havent made it there, despite driving past it nearly every day
The new Cafe Rita was talking about in South Hobart
Kuzina at the old Casablanca site.
I want to go back to Smolt - the couple of times I have eaten there (once for dinner once for Breakky) it was GOOOD!.

Hobart really has a dearth of good middle priced places to eat. They are either resonable price and not so good food, or slightly more expensive and decent food. I am a student on a budget here (most of the time!). The exceptions to this is Split Cafe in Moonah and Kawasemi Tea House - also in Moonah. Chain places dont really do it for me.

Is there anywhere in Hobart that does a good takeaway fried rice? If so please tell me, I am desperate here for something that has a nice mix of meat and vegies in it but is not greasy or oily or horribly expensive (yes I am looking at YOU Shanghai Bund and Royal Thai).

Had a late breakfast at Express Cafe this morning with a friend of mine. You know you go to a place too often when you dont have to order your coffee, the barasita just asks you do you want the usual. Mind you I didnt have coffee this morning but went for the Hot Lemon to try to tame this cold - which while not yet in my ears has taken a liking to my sinuses. Had GF toast and bacon, which once I nicked A.G.'s maple Syrup from her french toast was really good. I just wish that GF bread would TOAST properly. It stays untoasted for so long and then promptly burns in the 2 seconds that you turn your back. I do like Express, they are quite happy to keep me supplied with coffee while I sit at a table editing chapters of the thesis that never seems to end.

Am off to Montys on the 26th for the cheese degustation - I hope I have my taste buds back before then. Why cant we have a deli like the Mill down here? Wursthaus just isnt the same....

Can someone please explain coco nibs to me? I dont GET them. Bought some the other day on the ravings of a friend, but they do absolutely NOTHING for me, and I LIKE my chocolate.

Had a bowl of wedges at the Casino the other night before the David Campbell concert. Nice, but boring. The "snack" menu at Pier One is bad - chips, wedges, tasting plate and I think thats about it. We were supposed to go to Onba for cocktails before hand but due to a wardrobe crisis on my part went straight to the Casino....NEVER again.

Ok, thats probably scared BOTH of my regular readers off......so I'll go back to staring at my computer trying to work out the refence list from hades.

Apology and review.

2008-03-30T17:06:00.000+11:00

First of all - sorry I havent posted, life caught up with me. However I have a review from today to keep you all happy.
Farm Gate Cafe - Kettering
This is the second time we have visited Lee's lovely little cafe just before you hit Kettering proper. I am currently suffering what we think is my 5th ear infection in about the last 8 months so my sense of taste is not the best at the moment as the infection has migrated to my throat - hence this review will be more on the atmosphere and what I could taste then my usual format.
Last time I was here I had a lovely lamb salad with pine nuts, grilled hamolui and greens and Stephen had bangers and mash.
This time I went for the small serve of rissotto balls with thyme and mushrooms, formed around a marinated goats curd with a zuchinni salsa. The salsa was lovely. Sweet with a lovely bite in the aftertaste. The zucchini was crunchy but not raw. The rissotto cakes were a lovely texture but I really couldnt taste anything...even though they were supposed to be mushroom and thyme.
Stephen once again had the bangers and mash and it was lovely. The mashed potatos were so lovely and creamy, and the pickle type sauce and sausages were wonderful.

Rhubarb Cordial/Syrup

2008-02-19T22:32:00.001+11:00

I have a very active rhubarb patch that was planted earlier this year. So to stop the rhubarb taking over the dead bed at the front of the house I cut it back. What do you do with 575g of VERY fresh organic rhubarb? Why make cordial of course.

so 575g of Rhubarb washed and cut into chunks. 300g of sugar and 1.25L of water into a nice big pot. Bring to a boil and then very slowly simmer, stirring ocassionally for 15 minutes. Strain through muslin into a bowl to cool. Once cool pour into sports bottle with ladle and store in fridge. Makes about 750ml of thickish soft pink liquid that is really nice in cold water.

Still here....

2008-02-19T22:16:00.000+11:00

Hey everyone,
Just to let you know I am still here, but having computer problems (am writing this on the OLD laptop - new laptop is still not being trusted). I dont know if I can really do justice now to a review of Divinage in the normal form as its an age since we went there. Since then have dined at the Henry Jones Hotel (REALLY REALLY good considering what hotel restaurant are usually like), Monty's and 373. I will probably end up posting a short Montys and a 373 review at some stage as they have only been this month.
So yeah - still here, just not blogging due to piles of reasons.
Thought to ponder though - if I love artisan cheese so much how come i have kraft slices in my fridge? answers on a postcard please! ;-)

Pecora - 13th Jan 2007

2008-01-23T15:20:00.000+11:00

Number of People: 2
Cost: $114 including 2 alcoholic beverages.
Rating: 4/5 on the lunch scale.
Pros: Lovely simple menu, the view
Cons: Dust from the wind, serving sizes, beer selection

What we ate:
yours truely: The risotto balls (Arancini alla ragu), New season garlic soup with smoked eel and summer savory and a cherry, sheep's curd and pistachio praline sponge along with 2 cordials and a hot chocolate.
The other half: arancini alla ragu, the carne (pork belly with something), chocolates, cappacino, a beer and a glass of the house wine.

We both had the Arancini alla ragu which came out on silver platters with a small piece of baking paper under them to catch any excess oil. Three good sized risotto balls, covered in crunchy crumbs and topped with a small amount of veal ragu (which I would have quite easily eaten as a meal by itself). This was quite large and if I had known this I would have only order this and desert.
My garlic soup was lovely - I didn't however realise it was a cold soup, so got a little bit of a surprise on the first spoon! It was not overly garlicky but had a lovely texture and taste to it. The smoked eel really added to the flavour. It was however VERY rich, so I only managed about 2/3rds of the serving.
The desert was massive and I ended up taking most of it home for a snack the next day. Lovely mixture of tastes and textures however, and I hope they keep it on the menu.
I am still not enamoured with their hot chocolates, large bowls, never really hot and not that chocolatey. The home made cordials on the the other hand - OMG! I really wish they would sell these, they are so flavoursome. I had a choice of three, Plum, clove and brown sugar, elderflower (I think) and another one that had rhubarb in. I had the plum and the rhubarb and both were very refreshing.
SO's meal was nice, though his pork belly apparently wasnt as nice as it could have been (the ratio of meat to fat was a little off).

Verdict: I love Pecora, and think its a pity so many people stop at Peppermint Bay and do not go any further. My only BIG gripe is that when its windy you get all the fine dust from the car park and fields blowing up, and landing on your glasses etc. However we were there on a very breezy day and the actual verandah wasnt drafty at all thanks to some well placed glass slides. Pecora seems to be the "money" spot at the moment - car cost estimate when we were there approx 1/2 a mill (a porsche 4WD, a merc, a new BMW, an Alfa Romeo and a convertible of some sort).

Next review: Divinge at Cygnet

Quick Note

2008-01-16T21:59:00.000+11:00

Went to Pecora on the weekend - brillant meal - will write a proper review once I am not so drugged out. Unfortunately have had a reoccurance of the pre Christmas ear infection so am dosed up on Augmentin for that and anti immflamatories for my shoulder and intend to stay very close to home over the next few days so I am not falling over like a drunk woman.

Quick Review of Piccalilly while I wait for Abstract inspiration to hit.

2008-01-11T14:59:00.000+11:00

NYE at Piccalilly.
Cost: $345 for 3 including drinks.
Rating: 4/5
Pros: Great Staff, Great Food
Cons: Lack of airconditioning/air flow, the fact theywere not offering the matched wine or 4 course menus, ability to cope with many patrons at once.

What we ate: (well what I ate anyhow, can not remember all what mum and dad had).

The Amuse bouche was a lovely teeny tiny hamburger that asked to be eaten with the fingers and was only as tall as my thumb but still had a gorgeous meat patty with tomato and picalilly in it.

yazu-cured yellow-tail king fish with green apple and cucumber jelly
This was a lovely way to start the meal, small pieces of king fish, served shashmi style. The green apple added crunch and the cucumber jelly an interesting texture.

Seared scallops with toasted sesame seeds, spec foam and green bean slaw
This is definately one of my favourite dishes here. The tastes and textures are wonderfully complimentary, even down to the foam. My only problem is there is not enough of it!

whole-roasted quail with red currants, green peas and Pimms #1Cup glaze
This is quite a heavy meal, and I personally would have preferred it AFTER the chicken. Out of all of them I probably liked this the least. The quail, while nice, was quite large and there is NO way to eat a whole quail delicately with a fork and knife that I know of. The glaze is overwhelmed by the quail itself which the red currents and green pea flavours are not really apparent.

pressed terrine of confit chicken with mustard seed vinaigrette and mushroom ice cream
This is nice, but I still (even after trying twice) CANNOT reconcile myself to mushroom ice cream. The taste/texture makes me gag for some reason. I love ice cream and I LOVE mushrooms but never the twain shall meet according to my tastebuds. (I do however suspect it was something in this that made me feel naseous later that night)

House made cola spyder with pop rocks (now known as Vanilla bubbles after comments by diners that pop rocks sounds childish!)
The first time I had this the sensations in my mouth were amazing. This time not so much so. I suspect it has something to do with how cold it comes out of the kitchen.

Verdict: The young well trained staff make Piccalilly. While the food is generally excellent there are still a few things which are not 'quite' right.(Heating/cooling issues in the dining rooms primarily and the ability to cope with lots of patrons all at similar stages of thier meal). Dad (who has done silver service waiting in his time) was impressed with the fact everything was served correctly and the staff were unobtrusive but attentive. I still miss Gondwana, and probably always will, but this is a jolly good substitute.

Procasintation....

2008-01-11T12:45:00.000+11:00

Righto - I'm finally getting off my arse and doing something about this blog while I wait for my virus scanner to play nice and the 15 page paper I just finished writing to format properly before I submit it to my supervisor and then the big bad world of Academic publishing.

I owe this blog decent reviews on
Montys Orphans Christmas lunch - suffice to say it was one of the BEST christmas meals I have had ever since my parents and I started going out to lunch for Christmas in errr 1982 when I was about 4.
NYE at Picalilly
As usual VERY yummy.

Off to Pecora on Sunday for a latish lunch, and I believe we are going to 373 next week for dinner (not sure about that yet as Stephen is booking it).
Valentines Day next month is on a Thursday we am debating dinner either the Wednesday or the Friday....I'm pushing for Wed as it will be easier to get a table. Thursday is a no go as I am teaching from 6ish.

Test

2007-12-18T19:38:00.000+11:00

Ok, this is a test to see that I can post to blogger. This will essentially be for me to keep track of which resturants I have been to and what I thought of em.