Iiza, Newtown

Now. Newtown isnt the usual place i hover for food until recently. Came across a very trendy jap restuarant -Iiza. Iiza is a bustling trendy little restaurant that has newly emerged onto the Newtown scene, branded as an "izakaya" - a drinking establishment which serves food to accompany the drinks.

Personally, i reckon Iiza's food deserves more of the spotlight than that!! and maybe the waitresses running around in their kimono deserves a part of that spotlight - super cute.

Word of warning, this place is quite small and cosy and hence is usually fully booked out. Must book in advance.

Nothing beats fresh genmaicha green tea, and u can really taste the difference! There are so many Jap eateries nowadays that substitute real stuff with tea bag varieties, its just not authentic enough. Iiza's green tea hits the bullseye.



We ordered a myriad of dishes to share. The pictures in the menu and the variety of dishes on offer makes you want to order everything! Not only do they have the usuals, they also have some unique dishes that must be tried.


Wagyu Beef Tataki $9.80

Yummo! The beef were sliced generously and in copious amounts. It was tender, juicy and complemented wonderfully with the citrus ponzu sauce and fragrant sesame seed garnish.


Agedashi Tofu $7.50

The tofu was freshly deep fried with the batter light and crispy served in dashi sauce. The tofu is full of soy bean flavour with super smooth texture that melts into your mouth.

Bread crumbed asparagus $7.80

We absolutely loved it - crumbed asparagus wrapped in savoury pork belly deep fried. Even our companion who is not an asparagus fan found this a nice dish. The textures were wonderful, crunchy skin with a slight salty layer pork belly hugging asparagus spears. the tartare sauce fits well, however the sea salt gave it too much punch than needed, so dip sparingly.

Chef Selection Sushi Platter 12 pcs $29

This was a massive plate of fresh sushi with a wide selection to chose from. When it arrived, we were in awe as it was so beautifully presented. A must for sushi lovers.

Renkon Hasami Age $14

Lotus root chips sandwiched chicken mince served with green tea soba noodles. Interesting combination! All the elements complimented each other and very flavoursome. The crunchy lotus roots coupled with seasoned chicken mince works well with smooth slippery soba.

Assorted Yakitori skewers

Size does matter!

Iiza

184 King Street

Newtown

(02) 8095 9260

http://www.iiza.com.au/

Bilson's Restaurant

Tony Bilson is nicknamed the godfather of modern Australian cuisine. Having such a title really does say a lot about the calibre of this restaurant. Bilsons is a three hatted restaurant serving up french cuisine, nicely tucked inside Radisson hotel on O'Connell Street.

We came here a few months ago and it seems the menu has now changed. Quite refreshing to know that the chef is constantly on his feet, conjuring up ideas to entice his audience.

The decor is simple which is apt, as it does not distract you from the food which is the star of the show. We ordered the 6 course degustation with coffee/tea to prevent us staying up all night, however we did leave at 11.30pm. The service was friendly and not pretentious.



I think Bilson's has definitely tried its hand at molecular gastronomy in its utilisation of foam in many of its dishes.


Amuse bouche

The crab and prawns were delicate and fresh with a burst of sweet vinegar from the black grape. Very well balanced in flavours using top notch ingredients.


Dressed Crab, Verjus Gelee, Pink Radish and Black Grape

After devouring the amuse bouche and crab first dish with much satisfaction, the upcoming risotto was a definite low point of the night. Im not a fan of barley - the risotto base was extremely salty and heavy, coupled with hard grains of rice. It was a miracle i finished my plate, but with much dislike. When we were asked about our dish, i was quite honest with our waiter, but the waiter's response, "personally i love this dish and the entire degustation". Fine. So much for asking opinion.


A Risotto of Organic Pearl Barley with Roquefort and Southern Highland Mushrooms

More foam with the ocean trout! however thetrout was fresh and cooked beautifully with a lovely tomato salad on the side.


Aromatic Confit of Ocean Trout, Haricot Blanc Cream, Iberico Ham and White Tomato Emulsion

Its interesting how many fine dining restaurants serve up sucking pig or pork belly nowadays!
Our suckling pig had a nice crispy skin with juicy well cooked meat. the beans gave the dish some crunch. the jus did not overpower the succulent flavours of the animal, and overal a lovely dish.




Suckling Pig with Black Pudding, Pig's Trotter and Bean Ragout

Time for dessert. this was quite a treat

The basil ice cream was an absolute delight. Not your typcial idea of an ice cream flavour but worked wonderfully. the ice cream sat on a bed of crumbles which gave it the crunch needed to compliment the silky ice cream in your mouth. i think i fell in love with basil ice cream =)


Pettit Sucre - Basil ice cream


Autour Du Chocolat


Pots of tea


Petits Fours

Bilson's Restaurant
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney
Tel - 02 8214 0496
http://www.bilsons.com.au/

Bentley Restaurant and Bar

Whilst i was choosing a place for an anniversary dinner last yr, i stumbled across this 2 hatted restaurant in surry hills. Seemingly one of the cheaper 2 hatted restaurants with an amazing website - have a look at their photo gallery!!! If youre looking for a place which stretches the boundaries, you should definitely try this one.



As you can prolly see, it was heaps difficult taking pics with a normal camera as the lighting was super super dim...a bit unfortunate as you cannot properly see and appreciate the creations on the plates.

We ordered thier signature cocktail - hemmingway popcorn. OMG. If anyone has tried the japanese ice cream (dippin' dots), it has exactly the same texture! This cocktail looks like a witch's cauldron as it arrives 'steaming' from the dried ice....you scoop the cocktail with the spoon to eat it and instantly you're hooked.


Hemmingway popcorn

The food was flavoursome, full of contrasts in texture and surprisingly innovative for modern australian cuisine.


Complimentary bread

Bentley's tapas menu is very exciting as it is inspired by both western and eastern cuisines. From smoked eel parfait with seaweed salad and soft shell crab with szechuan pepper to crisp potato and chorizo with harissa - be inspired!


White anchovy sticks with pistachio praline $4/stick


Cod and potato crostini $8

Our kingfish entree was topnotch. Fish was smooth on the palate and fresh, balanced with a coconut reduction and mixed fruit to add texture to the dish and a hint of sweetness. The scallop was beatifully seared. It is rare that i get to taste a coconut reduction in a dish, so i was devouring this one like crazy.


Kingfish marinated in squid ink with perfumed fruit and coconut

Up to mains......I am definitely a duck lover and i reckon nothing beats a good beijing style peking duck. Not to be subjective but i think western style of duck dishes just doesnt cut it, as it never seems to be able to bring out the full flavour of the bird. But i adored this main - the roasted duck breast. I love a beautifully textured dish - crunchy pistachio, soft pumpkin, chewy tender duck which did the duck justice by bringing out the full flavour....it was also very exciting looking at cubed pumpkin and logged rhubarb.


Roasted duck breast with lentil puree, pumpkin and rhubarb $35


Lamb rump with jerusaleum artichoke $33


Chickpea chips

Dessert time!! haha...... When my dessert came out, the first thing that came to mind was, how odd....this doesnt look anything like a dessert.....but when u start eating, u realise that it is chocolate parfait cubed in disguise. It is artfully interwined by cubed custard chunks and stabbed by pieces of film-like toffee sheets, sitting on a bed of lychee puree. Such a humble looking dish but worth a standing ovation. What a creation!!!!


Toasted custard with lychee puree and chocolate parfait $16

I was going to visit this place again this friday, only to be disappointed as they are undergoing renovations until 11Feb 2010.... i can boldly admit that Bentley is one of the few fine dines that i will DEFINITELY go again.

Bentley Restaurant & Bar
320 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Tel- 02 9332 2344
http://www.thebentley.com.au/

Miso

Tucked away in the World Square complex in Sydney, Miso is another restuarant in the Masuya Group. I visited this cosy restuarant when it first opened and have seen it undergo changes to its menu and witnessed the queue of people getting longer and longer.

Came here for a small group gathering - this is not the ideal place to sit and linger as the place is quite small, and the waiters eager to maximise the turnover. Veering on the pricier side for jap food of the same calibre, the quality of the food makes up for it somewhat. This joint is great for some tummy filling japanese food as it comes in big servings. Be prepared to wait in the queue though!

Ordered the soya milk with honey dew shake - yummy, just as i remembered it.


honey dew shake


Green tea

I ordered the Nigata Don, which is teriyaki sauced deep fried pork cutlets. The meat was tender, the coating crunchy, served with a generous amount of rice.


Nigata Don $15.80


Unagi (eel) Bento - with eel, sushi roll, egg, tofu, salmon sashimi and eggplants $18.80






Katsu Don - deep fried pork cutlets. $15.80

Miso
Shop 20, World Square
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel- 02 9283-9686
http://www.masuya.com.au/restaurants/miso.html

Question of the day:

Fruits have seeds which you plant to produce more fruit trees. Then do banana's have seeds???

Restaurant Arras

Possibly one of the best one hat fine dining establishments in Sydney and unquestionably deserves another hat. Its one of the few restaurants that i want to pay more for the food, not less!



We came on a Friday night for my birthday and it was quite busy. On arrival, there were a variety of pre dinner lavosh to nibble on including honey flavoured and curry flavoured ones. The menu needs deciphering, however, the waiters were knowledgeable and patient whilst explaining the dishes in great detail.


Complimentary lavosh

There were also 5 different types of freshly baked bread rolls to chose from, we were in awe!! I love eating bread so this was a treat =) I could not resist and went back for second and thirds to try out the other flavours. Dont ask me, i dont remember what the different types were! haha


bread #1


bread #2


bread #3


bred #4


bread #5 !!

Complimentary amuse bouche was fish with a sweet and sour reduction.


Amuse bouche

We ordered 2 entrees, ‘tails from land and sea’ and ‘the raw and the cooked’. The raw and the cooked which comprised of 30+ different types of vegetables was so artistically presented that we contemplated not eating it. It was delicately compiled and very tasty.


Tails from land and sea $26


The raw and the cooked $25.50

We shared 2 mains – ‘Orange Squash’ a vegetarian dish and ‘A plate of duck – beak to tail feather’ which were both impressive, however, not entirely filling.


A plate of duck – beak to tail feather $43.50

...ummm...was expecting a whole duck..maybe?! ....


Orange Squash $30

~ the orange slices were actually pumpkin mash~ ooOOooo

We were provided with complimentary pre-dessert of rhubarb mousse and crumble which was delicious and light, as it should be.


Pre dessert - Rhubarb mousse with crumble

For dessert we ordered the cinematic soufflé and coffee/tea with petit fours.

The waiter came out with a tray of petit fours, at least 10 different types to choose from. I felt like a child at a candy store, definitely a highlight of the meal!!


Petit Fours and coffee/tea $10

The soufflé was served with popcorn flavoured ice cream and a small bag of popcorn to fit the cinematic theme.


Cinematic Souffle $17.50

Spending approx $80pp, it was well worth it. However, the servings were quite small - if it wasnt for my bread craving, i may not have walked out with a full belly.

We will definitely come back again to try the other dishes on the menu.

http://www.restaurant-arras.com.au/pdfs/ALaCarte.pdf
Current A La Carte Menu


Restaurant Arras
24 Hickson Road
Millers Point NSW 2000
Tel - 02 9252 6285
http://www.restaurant-arras.com.au/