Longrain Sydney

Ever since masterchef series 1, ive been meaning to pay Longrain a visit. Going to a high end Thai restaurant isnt really part of my DNA as you can get quality thai food for cheap, but being a one hatted restaurant must have its reasons.

We were greeted by a long row of communal tables which reminded me of the dining hall scenes from Harry Potter. As it was a weeknight, only a third of the seats were taken, much to our relief as this restaurant does not take bookings (except for groups of 6 or more). Dim lighting reflected off the brown wooden tables. Its simplicity and spaciousness is quite welcoming, especially where there is a friendly buzz from the happily socialising patrons.

Service was impeccable (except when we had to ask for the dessert menu three times) and very attentive. My companion has food allergies and our waitstaff put in more than the usual effort to ask the chef and cater to our needs.



We ordered two cocktails - Virgin Ping Pong and Virgin Chew. I'd order these purely based on their names! haha. Virgin Ping Pong was a lovely concoction of lychees juice, passionfruit and lime with lychee chunks swimming at the base. Virgin Chew which appeared bright red was a blend of lychees, raspberries, rose syrup and pink grapefruit.


Virgin ping pong $9.50


Virgin chew $9.50

Having been told the betal leaf entrees were miniscule, we ordered one each. It was indeed finger food size where you wrapped the ingredients with the betal leaf and ate the whole thing.

One word of warning - beware of the oozing sauce! Texturely these betal leaves were sensational - great thai flavours with fresh herbs and the right amount of chilli.


Betal leaf topped with prawn, peanuts, roasted coconut and ginger $6


Betal leaf topped with trout, chilli, garlic, galangal and trout roe $6

Of course, I had to order the infamous eggnet. It sent a shockwave of 'wows' across the communal table when the dish arrived. There was a very very generous serving of the stuffing which comprised of pork, prawns, peanuts and bean sprouts. It could easily have fed two people with rice!! The coconut caramel sauce was a tad too sweet, but all the flavours were unmistakably good. Crunchy peanuts and bean sprout with tiny pork minced pieces and prawns wrapped in a delicate lacey eggnet was tossed in corriander, mint and kaffir lime leaves.


Eggnet with pork, prawn, peanuts, bean sprouts and sweet vinegar with cucumber relish $31

Our grilled octopus, pork belly with watermelon would have been a fabulous dish if only the chef wasn't so generous with the copious amounts of coriander. A thin slice of pork belly with a crunchy rimmed edge, tender octopus with sweet juicy watermelon were a match from heaven.


Grilled octopus and crisp pork belly with watermelon, roasted chilli and black vinegar $36.50

The dessert menu had the typical coconut, tapioca and sticky rice combinations. Seeing durian on the menu, i was quietly nodding in approval, but We ended up trying the taro and coconut pudding with roasted peanut ice cream. A bit disappointing in many aspects. I did not expect the pudding to be room temperature for one. The ice cream also did not have the intense roasted peanut flavour we expected but was rather bland. What was great was the roasted coconut slithers sitting on top of the ice cream - thin and crispy and lovingly toasted.


Taro and coconut pudding with roasted peanut ice cream $16

Longrain
85 Commonwealth Street
Surry Hills
tel - 02 92802888
http://www.longrain.com.au/

Bodega

Theres a price to pay when you want to eat good food. To even contemplate getting a seat at this Spanish, South American inspired eatery you need to queue up before their 6pm opening and even then you may not get a seat. We were lucky enough to grab the last 4 seater table and squashed ourselves inside the cosy home of Bodega.



Serving tapas to the crowd, it comes in both small and larger servings. Some interesting dishes on the menu such as quail egg muffin with dukkah and oregano, to the more familiar mushroom and garlic.

There were some highlights and some not-so impressive dishes. The classic mushroom and garlic was done to perfection, similarly with the perfectly sealed scallops with morcilla (black sausage). The bland looking pork belly was scrumptious with the grilled onions and sweet apple sauce. However the roasted beetroot with goat gorgonzola (blue cheese) stuggled to get the right balance of flavors.





jamon and mahon cheese croquettes


mushrooms and garlic


Seared scallop with morcilla (black sausage), braised cabbage and pickled cauliflower



roasted beetroot, goats gorgonzola, walnut and mache


steamed pork belly with grilled cabbage and apple sauce



Affogato


The absolute show stopping dish was definitely the banana split deconstruction. I've heard raving reviews about this dessert and it did not disappoint. Fluffy banana mashmallows served with cream flan, dulce de leche ice cream, ginger biscuit and banana puree. The salty nuts, creamy flan, sweet caramel dulce de leche ice cream, flavoursome banana puree with mashmallows were a match from heaven.



Banana split


fennel ice cream with almond sponge, nectarine and puffed rice


Bodega
216 Commonwealth St
Surry Hills
Tel - o2 9212 7766

Bistro Lilly

One of the daily specials on the OurDeal website was $49 for a 6 course degustation with bottle of wine at Bistro Lilly. A deal like that cannot be missed.

Snuggled under observatory tower, Bistro Lilly is well hidden on Kent street. As we dined on a weeknight there were only two other tables occupied. Our waiter was very friendly and made us feel at ease.

Opting for a bottle of chadonnay, we also ordered the pan seared scallops with corella pear and pork belly for an additional $12 and sides of kipfler potatoes.

If only I was a wine connoisseur....one day i would take up the offer of tasting the wine and giving my nod of approval before the wine is served. But as it stands, chadonnay tastes like chadonnay to me =)



We were served our amuse bouche of curry lentil yogurt. The curry is nicely thickened by the yogurt and lentil and quite mild to avoid shocking the tastebuds in our first dish.



Curry lentil yogurt

On came the bread. Both sourdough portions were small but what i liked was it being served with roasted garlic. They were sweet and not too rich to give you bad garlic breath.


Sourdough bread with whole roasted garlic and truffle butter


Our optional dish of scallops arrived and i must say, this was probably the highlight of the night. Scallops were beautifully seared and sat neatly on top of corella pear puree to highten the scallop's sweetness. A small slice of pork belly was the hero - evenly fatty meat, crisp on the outside.


Pan seared canadian scallops with corella pear, pork belly $12

Cannelloni of king crab and tomato relish arrived, swimming in lobster cream. The lobster cream was to die for, with nice chunks of crab and tomato relish filling the cannelloni.


king crab and brandade cannelloni, tomato relish and lobster cream

When the dish of liver pate made an appearance, i started to worry if I'd get a heart attack if i cleaned off this plate. An extremely generous (and disproportional) serving of duck liver pate served with brioche screams a blocked artery for all those who consume.





Truffled duck liver pate, spiced beetroot, port jelly and brioche

Our main of beef fillet was definitely a melt in your mouth experience. Texturely similar to stewed beef rather than a steak, it was served with rich wine jus and a chunky ravioli. Shamefully i didn't finish my dish as my belly was already quite content at this stage.



120 day aged grain fed beef fillet with foie gras ravioli, fondant carrot, sauteed spinach, bordelaise



side of crisp kipfler potato with shredded parmesan and truffle oil


Dessert of chocolate pudding was served warm with vanilla bean ice cream decorated with a latice of toffee and caramel syrup. A lovely end to a satisfying meal.



Bistro Lilly
168 Kent Street
Sydney 2000
Tel - 02 9252 1116

Est. Restaurant - March into Merivale

March into Merivale is happening until mid April and is offering some great deals across the Merivale group, including restaurants such as Est., Ash St Cellar, Bistrode CBD, Sushi e and Lotus. Being advertised as $33 for lunch or dinner, we ventured to Est Restaurant, a restaurant which has been awarded 3 hats since 2003.

$33 for 1 course, $50 for 2 courses or $65 for 3 courses.

I ordered the grilled scallop, green peas, sorrel, quinoa - lemon vinagrette as entree. The scallops were lightly seared with the centres slightly raw to ensure it is still soft and smooth texturely. First time trying quinoa, which is the pale grain like seed amongst the peas. Apparently very nutritious, it wasn't very flavoursome. The dressing was a little heavy handed and made the dish quite oily. Beautifully presented with attention to detail.



Last time i went to Est was back in 2009 and i vividly rememeber how awesome their chicken breast was - it was the BEST chick breast i have ever had. Hence when i saw chick on the menu, i ordered it without a moments hesitation.

When my chicken breast arrived, it was flawless. Just as i remembered, the breast was slightly tinged pink and so succulent, it could not be recognisable as chicken breast. Tender chicken with a thin crispy skin, served with a generous serving of caramelised mushrooms and spinach. Not a very creative dish but execution was impeccable.


crisp skin breast of corn fed chicken, lentils, spinach, portobello mushrooms, pan jus




crisp skin palmer island mulloway, grilled belgian endive agro dolce

For dessert i ordered the vanilla bavois with strawberry crumble and spiced syrup. The bavois was creamy and sweet but not over-the-top indulgent. I quite enjoyed the stawberry crumbs as it added a dry sour touch to an otherwise creamy dish.



Est Restaurant
252 George Street Sydney 2000

Bo Innovation

As part of my Hong Kong food safari, Bo Innovation was on top of my list of go-to's. Not only is Alvin Leung the creator of the infamous molecular gastronomical "xiao long bao", but he is labelled the Demon Chef and fuses molecular gastronomy with chinese cuisine which is a rarity in itself. oooo. With a name like this, his claim of "Xtreme Chinese Cuisine" and a One Michelin Star behind his belt, you know you are in for a treat.

This restaurant is hidden in Wan Chai in a narrow street on the 2nd floor. Alvin's tattooed arm greets you even before you enter the door. Dont be afraid to witness the tattoo artist at work =D





I ordered the set menu. for $228 (+ 10% surcharge) you chose 2 Dim Sims or Bo dishes, plus a main course, starch (rice) and dessert du jour.

Unfortunately the set lunch did not include the "xiao long bao" and so i ordered this separately.

For a tiny little ball for HKD$80, this is what it looks like:





Arriving on a spoon, this sphere of flavour bursted on impact - a lava of "xiao long bao" flavours (think pork, shallots, ginger) runs out of the thin membrane. The thin strip of pickled ginger gives it that final touch. It is literally a "xiao long bao" in liquid form without the flour dough. Clever and amazingly executed, it may be one of the best molecular gastronmy creation i have tasted. Do i think its worth $80? maybe not, but i would rather pay than regret never having ordered it.



For my first small dish, i chose the Black truffle 'cheung fun', which is a modification of the traditional chinese rice noodles. This 'cheung fun' has been coated in soy sauce and generously wrapped truffle pieces, then pan fried. It was not only extremely fragrant with truffles but the texture was smooth, delicate and not overly oily. A great suggestion by the attending staff.



My next small dish was the "har gao" black truffle XO. Yes, more truffle!

It had the traditional makings of a prawn dumpling layered on top with black truffle, dried japanese ebi (prawn) shavings and finely diced shallots. The truffle was not as prominent in this dish as the ebi flavour was quite strong and slightly marred by the chunky prawn from the dumpling. A wonderfully executed dish though lacks some wow factor.





The main chosen was the french qual "begger style" with chinese lentil and wolfberry chutney. I adored this dish!

The quail was juicy soft and moist, sitting on a bed of slightly grainy lentil mash. What i loved about this dish was the puree. I have never tried wolfberry puree accompanying a main meal as it is quite a traditional chinese ingredient. It worked perfectly to provide that concentrated sweetness. There were also swirls of chinese vegetable juice which i could not really taste. When i asked the waiting staff what these were, she kindly showed me the dried vegetable in a bag (although i don't know the english name for it). 10/10 for service!







To provide some sustenance to the lunch, a bowl of rice came and sat quietly at my table. When you look at the grains with copious amounts of tiny caviar clinging to it, you can just imagine how this would be on the palate. The caviar popped as you ate the rice, to the very last grain. It goes to show how much thought has been placed on each dish to make sure not only that the right balance in textures and flavours are achieved, but it is immaculately presented.





Onto dessert! A plate with coconut sorbet on a bed of red bean was accompanied by a rather chinese dessert of coconut pudding with red bean pieces. The sorbet was refreshing and oozed in coconut flavour, whilst the pudding was not overly sweet and was more bland to give the dish its contrast.





Bo Innovation has definitely impressed and earned its one Michelin star- They think outside the box and redefines chinese cuisine. In my opinion, this restaurant matched (if not exceed) those of the top Sydney hatted restaurants in terms of innovation, quality and perfection.

Bo Innovation
60 Johnston Road
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
Tel - 852 2850 8371