Smoked mussels in thai marinade served on cos lettuce leaf

Chilled Blue Swimmer Crab & Crystal Bay Prawn Remoulade with Pickled Cucumber

Greenwell Point Rock Oysters natural

Seagrass Kilpatrick with Fresh Lemon

Special of the day: Ocean trout

Grainfed Eye Fillet with Lyonnaise Potatoes and bernaise sauce

Rocket, Reggiano Parmesan Salad

Jaffa Affogatto

Wicked Nutty Belgian Chocolate Terrine with Chocolate Ice Cream

• 13 Currambene St
  Huskisson 2540 NSW
• Phone: (02) 4441 6124
  
• Show street map

Alain Ducasse’s Culinary Encyclopedia – from Acacia to Cardoon, to Fois gras, Patridge to Spider crab and all the way to Zucchini… it’s the A to Z of everything we love.
Notice how I left the “Crispy Fois Gras Rissoles” page open – let’s make it some time! (drool…)

どうもありがとう!

Where’s Wally? Barry MacDonald on the very right. Go Bazza.

We started off with our favorite aperitivo – Campari. I honestly cannot find another place in Sydney who serves $8.50 Negroni’s! I fell in love right away.

The tuna carparccio with shaved fennel and tapenade ($22) was absolutely divine. This was made with just one whole slice of fresh, raw tuna. The fennel were thin, delicate ribbons dressed with just the right amount of citrus and baby chives, and the tapenade gave the flavours an interesting italian character.

Cod Pate, poached egg, brioche, mussel dressing (S18) was very special as I haven’t tasted anything similar to this before. The cod pate had the same consistency of hummous, and against the sweet brioche it was an absolutely divine combination of sweet and savoury. The mussels added the extra layer of texture with thinly sliced spanish onion.

Farfalle with smoked chicken, leek and grain mustard ($18) was very creamy and heavy. It tasted sensational for the first few mouthfuls – the grain mustard really making the cream sauce. After a quarter of the way through, it became too rich for my palate.

Pork Belly with water spinach - oh need I say more. You should try the crackling on this (I know, bad cholesterol – I only had two bites of Chris’ plate, I promise!) – just heavenly. A must try!

Funnily enough, my favorite dish of the night was the side of rocket and parmesean ($6). Not a lot of restaurants toss the shaved parmesean right through, and the balsamic vinegar used was top quality from Modena. Every mouthful had the right amout of flavour – the sharpness of the parmesean, the acid sweetness of the balsamic, and such fresh baby rocket, straight from the markets. Yum.

The prices for each dish (and drinks!) were so reasonable – a very filling two course meal with alcohol for two people ended up less than $110. I will definitely make a repeat visit on another stormy night.

This is where they get you, after each meal, I cannot resist the temptations at the store… and I walked out with $37 worth of groceries. Yes, I resisted the $47 packets of Iberian Ham.

Most dishes are available in two sizes and virtually all the wines are available by the glass and in very European-style carafes at different sizes – the prices directly proportional to the bottle price, which means extraordinary value for money in a relaxed, yet refined, setting. A table of six with 500ml of wine gave us a bill totalled at $301, and we were all well and truly satiated.

Cauliflower veloute with confit chicken wing and white truffle oil (Beautiful Flavours)

Croquettes of salt cod and pimento

Terrine of smoked ham hock and pork cheek, ear beignets and remoulade
(Online Australian Gourmet Pages Dish of the Month for February 2008)

Spaghetti with clams, serrano, parsley and chilli

Bream with a potato and rosemary ‘pizza’

Fillet of ocean trout on spiced caponata with toasted almonds (My FAVORITE)

Roasted spatchcock with green olives, lemon and thyme

Braised lamb shank with a ragout of beans

Bitter chocolate marquis with pistachios

Eton mess with rhubarb and strawberries (So Amazing!)

‘Catalan’ Bread and Butter Pudding

Burlington Bar and Dining is located at 6 Burlington St, Crows Nest NSW 2065. Book far ahead to ensure a table! (02) 9439 7888

Tue, Mar 4

From:

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (SYD)

Departs:

10:20pm Tues Mar 4

Sun, Mar 16

From:		HONG KONG, HONG KONG S A R (HKG)	Departs:		11:55pm Sun, Mar 16
To:		SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (SYD)	Arrives:		12:10pm Mon, Mar 17

I just bought the Michelin Guide 2008 Tokyo: Restaurants & Hotels (Michelin Guide Tokyo)
but I would really love some personal recommendations. I want to try food in Tokyo that I cannot try anywhere else in the world…

Oh yes, if the opportunity arises, I am most definitely up for eating Whale. There, I admitted it.

I booked a 2 bedroom apartment for my friends at Tonic Hotel which is in Lovedale. It is ultra modern, the fridge is fully stocked with goodies (most of them complementry, such as bacon and eggs, fruit juices, cereals, milk, fruit salads etc), there is a fireplace, a large outdoor entertaining area, BBQ, two GIANT bathrooms with showers and Aesop products. Even the latest chillout music CD’s are provided by the strereo.

We began our day having lunch at Esca Restaurant @ Bimbagen. There were “wine tasting plates” on offer where you have an assiette of three dishes that are matched with 3 small glasses of wine. The view from the restaurant overlooking the vineyards is also amazing.

[left] Sumac spiced prawns with a watermelon, marinated fetta and mint salad
Caramelised onion, olive and duetto tart
Poached asparagus with a smoked salmon terrine and soft boiled egg

Matched with three Bimbadgen Estate White Wines  

[right] Wood spit-roasted duck with sauteed Ya pears
Wood char-grilled cumin lamb fillets
Wood char-grilled beef with parmesan polenta

Matched with three Bimbadgen Estate Red Wines 

 

This is followed by a visit to one of my favorite places – Piggs Peake Winery

Girls love the “I Swine”, which is a cute name they use for their popular Icewine – where my guyfriends bought multiple bottles, as “chicks totally dig it”, they say. You only need to take one look at the happiness on our faces.

Another favorite is the Scarborough, which are famous for their Chardonnays. I’m not a big fan of the Chardy, but if there is one winery that does it right, it is Scarborough. Very highly regarded by a lot of chefs I know, and they provide a very comprehensive tasting with free cheese!

Dinner was at Mojo’s Restaurant, where they only use the freshest local ingredients, and the menu changes seasonally. The atmosphere is casual and cosy.

 

On the way back to the hotel we caught a baby frog… it’s sooo cute! (No, I didn’t eat it)

So the water was FREEZING, but that didn’t stop us from jumping in… who could resist?

Warm your stomach up with a “Camp Cove Sunset” – something we spontaneaously came up with.

60ml Belvedere vodka

Shake with Pear Nectar

Layer with Aranciata Rossa

Garnish with an orange slice for extra tacky-ness

And finally – Edible glitter!!! Happy Birthday to my two darling cousins Jaclyn & Roslyn