@! (At Restaurant) - Crows Nest

On recommendation from a close friend who said that they had the best sushi in Sydney at a little restaurant in Crows Nest, we absolutely just had to try.  The restaurant is on one of the main streets of Crows Nest and is called @! Restaurant. Restaurant with symbols as names? Yup - I'm intrigued.

Stepping in, is small and neat. Run by seemingly authentic Japanese people (which is always a good sign). Looking around the other tables and looking at the menu, there were way too many things we wanted to try. After much deliberation, we settled for a Wagyu Potato Nest, Grilled Kingfish head, and the Sushi Omakase.

The Wagyu Potato Nest comprised of super delicious, flavoursome, melt-in-your mouth wagyu beef cubes, soaked in some really awesome slightly sweet sauce. This came with a mound of super crispy thin potato fries. Because the fries were super thin and crisp, it didn't get too soggy, even when it fell in to the sauce. Was quite a yummy dish!

Wagyu Potato Nest

 The Kingfish head came out next. At this time, I was super puzzled as to why our sushi came out last (cos authentically, shouldn't sushi and sashimi come out first so that our palates weren't tainted??). Anyway, the Kingfish Head was really well cooked. The meat was succulent and juicy and whilst it possibly just had salt and pepper on it, it was really good - esp with a hint of lemon on it :)

Grilled Kingfish Head

 Lastly, the omakase sushi set turned heads around the restaurant. It looked absolutely gorgeous and the people on the next table were quite envious. There was a huge variety of fish - all really fresh and good. Not quite tokyo standard, but my friend was right, one of the best sushis in Sydney. The tuna was good. The salmon was good. The lightly flamed scallop with sea-urchin was AMAZING. The scampi was super sweet. Hubby loved the sea eel. All up - LOVED IT!

Omakase Sushi Set - $55

@! Restaurant is definitely a restaurant to return to in the super near future!

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40

@! Restaurant
417 Pacific Highway
Crows Nest, NSW 2065
Tel: (02) 9437 5285

New Orleans Cafe - Crows Nest

New Orleans Cafe

I feel like I hadn't eaten at a cafe in AGES and so when the opportunity to eat a leisurely Sunday cafe lunch, I jumped to it. On this occasion, we landed at New Orleans Cafe in Crows Nest.

Given the name, I was expecting some huge servings of some food or the other - and I was not disappointed. The only slight disappointment was my iced mocha. I requested for no cream (I hate the taste of cream), only to see the drink-making dude squeeze a huge dallop of cream on it, then realise his mistake, then take it all off again. So yes - hence, the bad appearance of my drink. Luckily, it tasted alright.

Iced mocha

Foodwise, my partner decided on the Peri Peri Chicken Po'boy ($20) - which essentially means, a big garlic French baguette sub type thing. In this huge bread sub, there was grilled chicken marinated peri peri style, guacamole, cheese, tomato and lettuce with aioli. The chicken was tender and tasty but not overpowering. The bread was crispy and fresh. It seemed to me like the right combination of everything. Not bad at all.

Peri peri chicken Po'boy - $20

I decided on the Wagyu Beef burger ($16). This was a super super thick patty of organic soft wagyu beef with onions, yummy melted cheese, tomato, lettuce and aioli, again served with fries. The patty was a little burnt on either side but because it was soooo thick, it was really really juicy (and probably really really unhealthy). It was interesting because the burnt bits added extra texture to the soft juiciness of the whole burger. The frieds were also amazingly good. Crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. It was extremely extremely yum :)

Wagyu beef burger - $16

So all up, New Orleans Cafe gets my tick of approval. It looks like a dirty American diner (and probably is), but as long as you don't look into the kitchen, the food is rather decent. They also had quite a big Sunday crowd which just kept coming and coming.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28/40

New Orleans Cafe
6 Willoughby Rd
Crows Nest
NSW 2065
Tel: (02) 9436 2596

Waqu - Crows Nest

Waqu

My partner chose to go to Waqu for dinner. We had been to Waqu before, before they moved up the road into a bigger and classier looking store. I remember that the old place was a bit cosier, but this new place bought along a very calm and peaceful ambiance - candlelit romantic and all.

Choice of food is limited - you either have a 6 course set menu ($60) or a 6 course set menu with extra entree ($75) so whilst they said that they are more than happy to accommodate for allergies and stuff, I highly recommend that you check out their menu before going to the restaurant (just incase!). One of three options are available for entree and for main. Other courses are pretty much set in stone.

Suprisingly, the restaurant wasn't full on a Saturday night. Our first course for the night was the japanese salt n pepper squid and chicken served with dashi mayo, and the tiger prawn escabeche on miso paint with crusted rosemary. I have to say - WOW. The salt and pepper squid and chicken was served in a shot-glass looking thing and was absolutely exquisite. Just the right amount of batter, the right amount of saltiness and pepperiness and absolutely tantilisingly tender. Eaten with a big dallop of dashi mayo - simply gorgeous! After being wowed by this skewer, the tiger prawn escabeche was a little plain - but still nice. The miso paint with crusted rosemary was delicious and crumby-like and the prawns were fresh but I'm not sure if the baby corn thingi went well with it.

Jap salt and pepper squid & chicken; tiger prawn escabeche

The soup for the night was the spring vegetable soup which features the humble pea. It was a cold soup - not too thick and not too watery. Extremely pea-flavoured, it bought along an interesting taste. However, cold soups are not for everyone.

spring vegetable soup

Included in the set menu is three kinds of sashimi. There was the trout, the tuna and... a white fish (I don't remember what it is! >.< - it wasn't king fish... I think maybe it was the sea bream). The trout was extremely good and in general, all were fresh. Delicately presented and the right thickness to it and all served with little beds of veges and seaweed.

sashimi

In terms of Entrees, my partner chose the salad and crab mousse. The white sakura infused scallop and mousse was smooth but slightly thicker and denser than expected. However, it didn't have the intensity of flavour and was slightly bland. I don't think it went too well with the pink beetroot foam, but it was extremely yummy with the cauliflower puree which was very very rich and very very tasty which was hiding underneath the foam. On top of the mousse was the scallop (cooked perfectly) and the avocado which was also quite nice. Overall, I found this dish to be very delicate ... slightly too delicate and subtle. The textures were interesting... but maybe not entirely my cup of tea.

scallop and crab mousse

I opted for the roast duck and smoked oyster salad. This was three yummy clumps of thinly sliced succulent and awesomely marinated duck mixed with tiny cut cubes of japanese-tea smoked oysters, little bits of grapefruit and a "chlorophyll puree" - which I guess just means a puree made from green leafy things. It was tasty and yummy. The duck went well with the salad, which added an element of freshness. The chlorophyll paint was just for looks though - didn't add too much to the dish :)

roasted duck and smoked oyster salad

In terms of mains my partner chose the shoga Kurubuta pork loin and rib. As the pork was slow-cooked at 65 degrees celcius, the waitress kindly informed us that "it is not very hot". Interesting because from eavesdropping a little, "it is not very hot" seems to turn people off from ordering this dish. The pork itself is nice, it's tender and succulent, but unfortunately, by itself, it doesn't taste too amazing. A little bit bland even. However, taste improved dramatically when eaten with the ginger jus or apple puree (though not both together LOL). There is also a small roasted rib of pork next to it and this is the most amazing, fall off the bone experience. I only wish the proportions were switched around. The rib is very very tender and flavoursome. YUM. The prok is accompanied by little pineapple-shaped bamboo shoots, zucchini and sauteed shiitake mushrooms.

shoga kurobuta pork loin and rib

I opted for the white fish for my main. The yellowish sauce underneath was Yuzu emulsion. The fish was cooked well, though the skin was not as crispy as I would have liked it to be. The squiggle of paint was nori (seaweed) and it was SOOOO seaweedy it was kind of scary. Seaweed and fish do work well though :) I got tricked by the chamame mash potato. I was expecting a heap of mash - only to be met with tiny blobs the size of a pea. It did look kind of nice though - blobz of mash with tiny peas and home-made chips.

panfried white fish

Dessert for the night was strawberry mousse. This came with two tiny little cute macaroons, strawberry jelly circles, pink pepper puree and cheese ice-cream. I was very impressed by the mousse. Super strawberry infused and when mixed with the strawberry shortcakey biscuity crumbs, it was deliciousness!!! The macaroons were light and sweet but not overpoweringly so. And I was definately impressed by the cheese icecream. A bit dense, but intense cheese flavour. Also, because it's cheesey icecream, it wasn't one to melt easy - bringing ice cold goodness to your mouth. The thing I didn't appreciate was the pepper puree. Ugh - sooooo peppery, don't know why anyone would need it in a dessert LOL.

strawberry mousse, macaroon, pink pepper puree, strawberry jelly, cheese ice cream

Overall, Waqu's standard did not go down even after moving premises. Here, it is delightlyfully dim - good for a romantic rendezvous, the food is good (providing you eat everything on the menu), and the staff are authentically jap (or atleast some are - which is good or bad depending on if you want authenticity, or if you want understandability). Not a bad feed though :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10

Service - 7.5/10

Ambiance - 7.5/10

Value for money - 7.5/10

Overall - 31/40

Waqu

308 Pacific Highway

Crows Nest

NSW 2065

tel: (02) 9906 7736

Ryo's Noodles (2) - Crows Nest

This blog started with a post at Ryo's Noodles. Since then, my partner and I have been trying really hard to get back for a yummy bowl of noodles only to be met with multiple doorknob seeking experiences. But at long last, on a cold ish Sunday night - we found it open! Not only was it open, there was a long line of people waiting outside. The thing about the people waiting in this line is that ... they all spoke Japanese! Love it. If Jap people are willing to wait here for a measly bowl of noodles, it must be authentically worth it :)

My craving for the night was for yummy thick, but not too thick, tonkotsu pork soup. I ordered the soy sauce flavoured tonkotsu soup with 2 slices of tender soft roast pork, a HUGE piece of nori seaweed (YUM), egg, naruto fish cakes and shallots ($11.50). It was deliciousness! The noodles were al dente and soaked up all the richness of the pork soup. The egg encapsulated a runny yolk - yet, slightly a tiny bit too salty. Sesame seeds galore on this. This was seriously awesome! Compared to Gumshara, the soup is not as thick. This soup is more balanced. The noodles here are nicer and all the condiments (apart from the egg) is more delicious I think.

soy sauce flavour tonkotsu - $11.50

My partner opted for "the special". This is not on the menu. It is a mix of my noodle soup with the chilli spicy hot flavour soup, again served with roast pork, egg, bamboo shoots and shallots. This soup is not chilli. Rather, it is thick, gooey, flavoursome with just a hint of chilliness. My partner gulped this down - but not as quickly as the two people sitting on the next table. They downed it in less than 5 minutes. It must have been that deliciousness :)

the "special" - $11.50

We also ordered some sides. My pick was the soft shell crab ($5). Sooooo juicy and sweet and battered and deep fried to pretty much perfection. It was crispy on the outside and soft juiciness inside. I reckon I could eat multiple of these!

soft shell crab - $5

My partner's pick was the karaage chicken ($5.50). This was really really tender and juicy. Crispy deep fried batter and with some clumps of fat sticking to the tender meat. Super hot and fresh and when eaten with the mayo - YUM :)

karaage chicken - $5.50

Food at Ryo's is awesomely deliciousness. Ambiance is that of a cozy jap noodle joint. I guess everytime you come here, the question is not whether or not there will be a line - but rather, how long will the line be? But, line or no line, the food here is enough to draw me back!

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8.5/10
Value for money - 9/10
Overall - 35/40

Ryo's Noodles:
125 Falcon St
Crows Nest
Tel: (02) 9955 0225

Grill'd (5) - Crows Nest

I am a HUGE fan of Grill'd burgers. I usually have nothing but good things to say about Grill'd. However, my last experience at Grill'd in Crows Nest has led to decide that I never ever will visit Grill'd in Crows Nest again.

Why?

I LOVE Grill'd chips with herbed mayo - I think that they are possibly the best chips on earth. BUT - Crows Nest Grill'd managed to screw them up for me soooooo badly that I didn't even want to eat them.

Let me explain.
For an early dinner before a movie, my partner and I decided to share a burger and a regular chips with herbed mayo at Grill'd. I chose the Tuscan Delight ($11.50). This had grilled chicken, roasted peppers, pesto, salad, tasty cheese and herbed mayo - and was delicious, tasty, succulent and juicy. It was pretty awesome.

Tuscan Delight - $11.50

When it came to the chips - this is how I rememeber them. And this is how they come out pretty much every single time in Melbourne - golden brown, crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Sprinkled with tasty salt and herbs and almost uncannily thick, flat and rectangular looking. Super duper deliciously hot hot yummy chips.

my memory of how Grill'd chips ought to be - in Melbourne

However, this is how they turned out on the day. It looked like potato ends filled my batch of regular chips ($4.50) with herbed mayo ($0.50). Not only were they not awesomely flat and rectangular looking, they were also very un-golden brown. Most of them look as though they were deep fried for a bit, left for a while so that the chips all soak in the oil to become a deep dark brown colour, then deep fried again in not-hot-enough oil to make them soggy, uncrispy and super unappetising. This is the quality of chips I expect to get at ... I don't even know where. Even corner-shop chips and chips from dicey asian places tend to look more appetising than this.

So truly dissappointing. It's just not good enough.

Dismal appalling chips - $4.50 (reg) + $0.50 (herbed mayo)

So. My conclusion is. I still love Grill'd. But I don't think I will go back to Crows Nest for Grill'd. My next Grill'd visit will probably be in Melbourne where my chips come out perfect every time.

Ratings:
Food - 6/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 25/40

Grill'd
57 Willoughby Road
Crows Nest
NSW 2065
Tel : (02) 9436 0699

Ju-Rin - Crows Nest

Taking a brief break from our overseas eats...

Ju-Rin

SMH Favourite Asian Restaurant - Ju-Rin was the destination for our group of six. Needing to book a few days in advance and even then, ending up with a booking at 6pm (kicking us out by 8pm) - we were expecting good things from this place.

We decided to order a few things to share. For starters, there was the Green Salad with Wakame. This was amazingly fresh and the dressing was mixed just right - seemed almost tailored to our taste buds. Not too vinegary, not too sweet, not too salty, it was just right - complementing the fresh greens and delish wakame really really well.

Wakame and greens salad

We also ordered the Torched Salmon with Avocado Sauce. Instead of a "sauce", it was actually avocado pieces. The salmon pieces to flamed so that the outers were lightly charred and the insides were nice and rare. The seasoning (subtly sweet) and the avocado made for perfect match. The only qualm is that the slices were limited. Definately not enough of this yummy fish.

Torched Salmon and avocado sauce

The Premium Wagyu Karubi Box Sushi came out as 8 pieces. The beef was super tasty, teriyaki-like taste and beefy texture. As they were little pieces, the rice:beef proportion was done quite well.

Premium Wagyu box sushi

Next up were the Squid and Scallop Steamed dumplings. Three of these made a serving. This was interesting but I'm not entirely sure how much I liked it. The texture was mushy and "siu mai" like with a wierd wrinkled mushy skin. The innards were subtle. Very very subtly scallopy - almost too subtle. AND - you could chomp it in one bite - mmm... not enough.

Squid and Scallop Dumplings

The Tonkatsu (crumbed deep fried pork cutlet), on the other hand, was larger proportional-wise. Crunchy crumbed juicy tasty pork dipped in awesome mayo. YUM.

Tonkatsu

The Special Jumbo Roll was a blackboard special. It was really really jumbo. Even my partner needed 2 bites to swallow. Whilst awesomely huge, the sushi filling wasn't too exciting. Egg, avocado, marinated bamboo shoots and shitake, and bits of... eel? and flying fish roe. Tasty combination, large... but I much rather my awesome salmon and avocado :)

Special Jumbo Roll

We also ordered noodles with pork bits. The soup was slightly subtly chilli and tasty but not msg-like. The noodles were good - not too mush and not too undercooked. However, sharing one little bowl of noodles between the 6 of us were hard. Not a very sharable dish LOL

Pork Noodles

Last on our list were Salmon and Cream Spring Rolls. These were surprisingly awesome. Super tongue-burning hot, the creamy white paste mixed with bits of salmon oozed out of a crispy spring roll pastry which was deep fried til golden. Good inovation from the normal pork or vege based spring rolls.

Salmon and Cream Spring Rolls

Overall, the staff were friendly. They gave us room to chat and be loud. But were also attentive when we needed to add dishes. The proportions weren't overly large so for the price, you could probably get more food elsewhere. However, the quality of the eats was high - most dishes came out really yummy and appetising. Not a bad restaurant to return to, but not if we're trying to budget :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Ju-Rin
316 Pacific Hwy
Crows Nest
NSW 2065
Tel: (02) 9966 5811

Grill'd (4) - Crows Nest

Grill'd Crows Nest

I've been craving for Grill'd super yummy herb-crusted herb mayo chippies for several months now and was almost elated when we stepped into Grill'd (in Crows Nest) before attending a wedding nearby. However, my mood dampened as my partner's burger came... and was finished... and chippies were being delivered on takeaway orders and other tables... whereas our chippies were always coming "in two minutes".

My partner ordered the "Hot Mama" ($11.50) on panini bread. This was a pattie of grilled lean beef with roasted peppers, dill pickle, tasty cheese, tzatziki, salad and harissa paste. Compared to the burgers in Melbourne, this one came out slightly cold. Nonetheless, my partner seemed to think it was very very tasty and yummy anyway.

Hot Mama - $11.50

When my chips finally arrived, it came without herbed mayo... *sighz* we had to remind them to give us this crucial ingredient. Honestly, these chips satisfied my craving - but probably gave me sodium imbalance at the same time. Much more salty than the ones you get in Melbourne, and... according to my partner... these came under cooked. The potato on the inside wasn't as fluffy as usual and the outside was not crispy. But I still liked them :P

Reg Chips with herbed mayo -$4.30

So, what's my opinion on Grill'd in Crows Nest? There's definately room for improvement. The service was... ummm... I don't think waiting for chips for more than 20mins is really acceptable... (especially when we were kinda in a hurry) LOL

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Grill'd
57 Willoughby Road
Crows Nest
NSW 2065
Tel: (02) 9436 0699