Biota - Bowral

Biota is one of those restaurants I've always wanted to try. Being in the Southern Highlands, it's relatively close to Sydney but after a yummy meal, it seemed more fitting to just stay the night also. Lucky for us, Biota offers a stay and dine package - 5 or 7 course meal with accommodation (twin share).

We opted for the 5 course meal. The food, service and ambiance combined all led to a really pleasant and relaxing experience. Several snacks were offered before the first course. This included a thing pear 'roll-up' with sheeps milk, goose ham, a cute little bowl of tasty fish roe and summer flowers, as well as an acacia seed eclair that you dip into a warm, raw hen's yolk.

Bread was bought to the table is these warm mole skins - toasty warm house baked dark rye bread rolls with really smooth and delicious cultured butter.

First course was an oyster with leek and cucumber. As my father can't eat raw foods, his oyster was substituted with a confit tomato. The oyster in the dish was really fresh and super sweet. Pretty amazing. I also loved the sweetness in the leek.

Course two was a slab of really tender pork belly, hidden underneath some greens and served with a tasty dallop of eel custard.

The next dish was house-milled single origin wheat noodles with a rooster stock and a dehydrated hens yolk. Dad's substitute was this plate of delicious smelling mushroom pasta.

The last savoury course was lamb. The lamb was all covered with pickled carrots and served with a blackberry sauce. My parents and hubby all loved it.

Pre-dessert was a honey-softie - a milk icecream with honeycomb. It was a really good palate cleanser- subtly sweet and quite refreshing.

Dessert was 'mums roses' served in these really intriguing stone bowls. Good use of liquid nitrogen to make the sorbet. It worked well with the peaches and cream.

All up - it was a really good dining and staying experience. The food, service and ambiance were all awesome and the rooms were also really clean, pleasant and comforting.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 32.5/40

Biota 
18 Kangaloon Road
Bowral, NSW 2576
Tel: (02) 4862 2005

Automata - Chippendale

There's several new exciting restaurants opening up, some in the up and coming buzzing area behind Central Park on Kensington Street. Automata - with ex-chef from Momofuku (Clayton Wells) - is one of these new kids on the block setting up shop in the newly refurbished Old Clare Hotel.

The vibe is on-trend. Hipster and slightly industrial with funky looking lights and part of an aircraft engine as it's decor. Several shared long communal tables both down and upstairs which seem good for groups but slightly too close for comfort when eating with strangers. Waiters here also give off  that 'I'm uber cool and chilled' vibe.

Offering a 5 course degustation, Automata sets us off with some tasty snacks. There is the really tender and sweet storm clams with a rosemary dashi and cream, as well as fried fish skin with a yuzu kosho. Both are delicious starts for the evening. I found the combination of rosemary and dashi to be a daring pairing - but it worked surprisingly really really well.

The first course was a plate of asparagus, lots of little stumps of them - all wrapped with sesame leaf and with a umeboshi paste sandwiched between the asparagus and the leaf. It was quite interesting. The flavour of the umeboshi is a tad overpowering, but it's not a taste I disliked. Oh - and there's some wakame on top just to make it more visually interesting.

Bread comes in after the first course. This is really soft and warm house made bread rolls with an absolutely amazing pumpkin seed and anchovy whipped butter. I was not eating bread with butter. I was eating butter with bread. This whipped butter is SOOOOO delicious I want it on everything!!!

Course two is a steamed hapuka - perfectly perfectly steamed - sitting on a bed of really smooth and super flavourful cured roe emulsion and topped with a roasted sheet of seaweed. It may not look like much, but it smelt and tasted amazing! The fish just flaked off and was smooth enough to melt in your mouth. I think that this was my favourite dish of the night.

I'm not sure if it's teething problems of if we were just dining (on a Wednesday) at a bad time of the night, but after the fish, service slowed considerably... like really really slowed. Being seated so close to other diners on a communal table meant that it gave you tons of time to eavesdrop (unintentionally) on everyone else's thoughts, feelings and dreams. The first of the meats to come was the slow roasted quail - cooked two ways - served with red witlof, and a burnt apple and caper sauce. The witlof was a pleasant bitter addition to the reasonably well cooked quail. Again - the dish required you to 'unwrap' the parcel.

Again after a really long wait, our last savory course arrived. It smelt AMAZING! It was a slab of inside skirt topped with a variety of mushrooms and embellished with a tamari and brown butter, and a glop of eggplant puree. It was good. It was packed full of flavour. The meat is a little chewy but definitely forgivable because of all the delicious tastes mixing in your mouth.

Last but not least, there is dessert. The couple sitting next to us didn't like it much. I don't think it was sweet enough of their tastes. However, hubby and I loved it! It was a pumpkin seed sorbet (more creamy than a sorbet... it was really just an icecream), with a bitters meringue and dehydrated mandarin. It was a good combo of crunchy and smooth, subtle sweetness and light bitterness. I'm pretty sure we both polished it off.

So all up, this new restaurant lives up to it's hype. Pretty tasty food. Reasonable value for money. Some daring flavours and combinations. Definitely worth a try!

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 30

Automata
5 Kensington Street
Chippendale
Tel: (02) 8338 1708
For online reservations: Click Here

Bishop Sessa - Surry Hills

For hubby's 30th we went to Bishop Sessa - a cosy French restaurant in Surry Hills. Having seen lots of yummy photos on Instagram, I was really quite excited. Luckily, their delicious-sounding degustation menu did not disappoint.

The amuse bouche set a good precedent for the night. I don't remember exactly what it was, just that it was heaps tasty. The cracker was crispy and light, and the sprinklings of seaweed powder on it was awesome! The cream was tasty too... just don't remember what was in the cream... 

 Unfortunately, course 1 did not appeal to my palate as much as the amuse bouche. There was a wobbly mussel creme caramel with calamari, small grapefruit bits and this green slightly bitter fennel sauce. I didn't really get it. It was all a bit sloppy. The creme caramel's flavour was really subtle and and when combined with the green dallop, it was just a bit weird. Guess its frenchie though.

 The second course was heaps yummier. Thin scallop pieces lay under avocado mousse, cucumber and carrot thins, and a lemon & ginger beer sorbet. This worked. The sorbet was really refreshing and went well with the scallop ceviche. The thin rice cracker was also a good addition.

The miso glazed Melanda Park pork came next and was super melt-in-your-mouth. It was super tasty with tons of flavour. There were also these little cubes of deep fried pork fat which just disintegrated once bitten. It was pretty amazing! Definitely not for the faint hearted though. The pork was served with celeriac puree, pickled enoki, and some greens.

The confit duck tortellini was well received by hubby. I agreed that the duck meat was cooked well - really soft and tender. However, the seasoning was a bit heavy. I found it really quite salty. I also felt that the pasta was a bit too thick. The tortellini came with baby carrots, walnuts and a citrus sauce.

The last meat dish was potato wrapped red wine braised organic wagyu. This was like a high-class sausage roll. The potato pastry was super crispy and crunchy and the beef cubes were tender and with good seasoning in the sauce. I loved the cauliflower puree and the wilted silverbeet. A bone marrow sauce finished the dish off.

I also loved the pre-dessert. It was a refreshing sorbet of some sort... parsnip? (I don't remember ... >.<) But it was really good and really delicious!

The actual dessert was the chocolate nemesis. Super rich chocolate ganache was served with slow roasted pear puree, brioche and a yummy ginger icecream.

All up, I think that it was a pretty good meal. The food was tasty and plentiful - definitely value for money. Service was attentive enough.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 30/40

Bishop Sessa
527 Crown Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 8065 7223

Pilu at Freshwater

For our anniversary dinner this year, we decided to go to a restaurant that we'd thought about going to for years and years - ever since we saw Giovanni at a Taste of Sydney festival almost a decade ago. We braved the torrential rains that night and headed to Freshwater to dine at Pilu and was greeted by really nice and friendly waitstaff. Needless to say, the beautiful ocean view was denied for the night.

Because of our indecisive natures, the degustation was the ideal choice for the night. We were initially served with a welcome gift of savoury cookies. These cookies were pretty tasty, slightly cheesy in flavour and definitely served to whet our appetite.

The bread we got for the night was freshly baked, warm, crunchy outsides and soft innards. The butter was nicely whipped and quite tasty.

The first course we got was the Hiramasa kingfish. Thinly sliced really sweet kingfish was accentuated with the mild spice of friggitelli and pine nut pesto, and a really delicious side salad of corn (and singular caper).

 The next course smelt delicious but was rather confusing. Mr Giovanni came out and served the milky, cheesy pecorino consomme himself and poured it atop the tiny hand-rolled fregola, sweet pumpkin cubes and cavolo nero (ie the green stuff). It was so fragrant... but a bit of a let down. But then again, I've never been a fan of soupy rice, whatever flavour it may be.

I found the next pasta dish was much more appetising, even if it initially did look like little green worms on a plate. The parsley flavour in the pasta mixed really well with the orange chilli paint in the bowl. Bits of mussels and chickpeas were mixed in, but the pasta and sauce itself was tasty enough.

Next up was the fish. A perfectly cooked piece of Mulloway sat atop the most sweet and deliciously charred cabbage. Yummy buttery shrooms were good but not necessary on the plate. The black paint was delicious squid ink. The orange mustard sauce was slightly less so.

Next up was Pilu's famous suckling pig. You definitely don't get much of this signature dish but the bits that you do get are wonderfully deliciousness. The skin is crispy and the meat is really nice and tender and flavoursome. You get sides of pickled raddish, cabbage and roast potatoes. All really tasty really.

Dessert-wise was a bit of let down for me. But that's probably cos non-chocolate desserts are not my preference. The more refreshing of the two desserts was the textures of pear. A soft-poached pear with pear sorbet. I think if you like pear, you would like this.

The other dessert, and the finale of the night was a Sardinian fried pastry filled with ricotta and sultanas and drizzled with honey. The pastry was nice and crispy and there was a decent dollop of ricotta in it. The pastry wasn't too sweet and I guess it was OK... still would have preferred something more chocolately :P

 All up, a decent meal at Pilu. Not the best 2 Hat restaurant we've been to, but it was decent - the food was a bit more traditional than other restaurants. I'm sure that if it was a good clear day, it would be a meal with an amazing food.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall -  28/40

Pilu at Freshwater
Moore Road
Freshwater
NSW 2096
Tel: (02) 9938 3331

Cafe Paci - Darlinghurst

I've heard many a good things about Cafe Paci but for some reason or another, it's taken me for ever to come and try their food in their ultra hip industrial-chic restaurant. Many people have told me that this pop-up restaurant offers crazy good and amazingly wow Mod Australian dishes and on a drizzly cold Friday lunch, I got to experience their astounding twists of flavours for myself.

Fridays at Cafe Paci mean the option of a fix prix lunch menu ($45pp) for a four and a half course meal (half course = 'snack'). For this Friday, our "snack" was their cheese sticks. Not just any cheesesticks but 'Omg what on earth is this?!?!?' cheesesticks. These deceivingly simple-looking cheese sticks were uber flakey and crunchy, topped with this fairy-floss texture which was snap frozen honey, and pollen (elderflower?) of some sort. That - and just the aromas of freshly baked goodies. It blew my mind away. Pretty good start to the meal.

We also got a loaf of potato bread. I think the waiter said something about this bread being made of potato and wheat and brushed with molasses on top to give that crunch and sweetness. The butter was also really super soft and creamy and made on the house. It's hard to say no to freshly baked bread. However, this bread was a tad dense and a tad too sweet for me.

Our first real course was Pig Tail. I've never eaten pig tail and by choice, I probably wouldn't order pig tail. However, this came out looking pretty picture perfect. The pig tail was lovely and caramelised giving a good crunch (kind of like when you eat pork crackling when you dig into some pork belly), it was super duper tender and the fat-meat ratio made this cut of meat super juicy and melt-in-your-mouth. Don't forget the awesomely sticky and delicious sauce and the thinly sliced celeriac to balance it all out. They also had some dehydrated cumquats on top to give that citrousy zing to it (kind of like when you add orange to beef cheeks). Pretty tasty introduction to pig tail I think.

Next up was a NZ snapper. Perfectly cooked fish with crispy skin. This fish sat in a pool of vadouvan (or as the waiter nicely explained - an Indian curry spice which goes well in French-inspired cooking because it blends well with garlic and shallots). There was also a lemon sauce, a super tasty spinach puree and some wilted and fresh spinach leaves. On top, there were these thin brown crispy slices of mustard. Very interesting and visually appealing dish.

With the fish came a side of potatoes. This was potatoes with a creamy potato sauce. Yes - we are talking potato puree with loads of butter and loads of cream and ZOMG let me lick the bowl clean now!

Our next dish was a palate cleanser or pre-dessert of cucumber sorbet and yoghurt mousse. This cucumber sorbet was sooooooo refreshing! I don't know how to describe it properly... You know how cucumber is 'crunchy water'? Well, cucumber sorbet is cold, smooth, tasty, refreshing water? The light yoghurt foam, which had just the right balance of sweetness, complimented the cucumber sorbet nicely.

Last course of the day was a milk sorbet with rhubarb, molasses syrup and meringue. The milk sorbet was a bit tasteless... kind of just cold texture. The thin meringue pieces were sugary goodness and the rhubarb was cooked nicely.

 All up, for $45, it was a pretty damn impressive lunch. Super delicious and really satisfying. Definitely in need of a visit if you haven't already.

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 32.5/40

Cafe Paci
Level 1, 95 Riley Street
Darlinghurst
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9368 7000

LuMi Bar & Dining- Pyrmont

One of my friends who is very well eaten raved on about how amazingly awesome her lunch was at LuMi the other day (4 course - $45) and so, I was sorely tempted to try. As, unlike my friend, hubby and I work Mon-Fri, we opted to try their 8 course dinner option instead ($95). I tried my best to lower my expectations before walking into the restaurant but it proved a difficult task due to my friend's exceptional experience here, and because of the head chef's pedigree (we are talking a chef with training at Ryugin, Ormeggio, Noma and Attica). Yes - I was ready for an awesome feast!

Stepping into the glass box on the wharf, we were greeted with the view of boats and expensive apartments. What's not to like about that? Quiet and serene was the outside - also quiet and calm was the open kitchen.

With much anticipation, the plethora of amuse bouches placed a huge grin on my face. Super thin rice wafers with salt and vinegar flavouring - my favourite! We've had it at several other places, it tastes roughly the same at each place, but I would always want more of this thin, crispy, moorish snack. There was also churros served with this brilliant french onion savoury dip. The churros were perfected - super crunchy yet not too oily on the outside, and soft and fluffy donuty feel on the inside. Its the first time I've had savoury churros and I have to say - it was amazing!!! This onion dip thing was to die for! It took a lot of self control to stop myself from licking this smooth and creamy dip clean.

Other starters included a potato and rosemary foccacia, a small tartlet with creamed corn and a pile of cheese, a pistachio, horseradish 'sanchobao' (cos lettuce), and a chawanmushi with basil, chilli and tomato water. The focaccia took me back to my uni days where I would have a toasted foccacia for lunch every second day. It was fluffy and soft, and the crusted potato/rosemary top was pretty tasty. The tartlet pastry was a tad too thick - but the creamed corn and cheese was a good combo. The 'sanchobao' had a really distinct creamy pistachio flavour to it, quite interesting. And the steamed egg custard was super super smooth with just the right flavour combinations. YUM. I have to say - by now, I was actually already satisfied - the meal could have ended here and I would have been happy.

The first real course was a plate full of discs of white cucumber, white radish and an apple sour dressing. Globs of sour cream rounded off this dish nicely. It gave off a very fresh vibe and tasted really clean. Edible flowers for decoration - but I don't really like edible flowers.

Next was the veal tartare. This came on a MASSIVE plate - tons of negative space. The veal tartare was smooth and soft, the chargrilled capsicum gave it this pleasurable smokey flavour. It sat on a thick, flavourful tarragon emulsion. I tasted the emulsion on its own and was slightly repulsed - but when you eat it as a package (i.e. with the veal, and the popped crunchy buckwheat), it was pretty damn tasty.

The spelt ravioli was my hubby's favourite dish of the night. Four perfectly shaped raviolis filled plumply with this super smooth pumpkin mixture, swimming in a pool of absolutely delicious burnt butter sauce with really tasty roasted pumpkin seeds and a greenery of chopped chives... O. M. G. Soooooo good. The caviar on top made it more impressive to look at, but I felt like it didn't add much to the taste or texture. Instead, if they really wanted some black stuff on top, truffle shavings might have added another element and depth to the dish. Not that I'm complaining about the dish .... it was pretty deliciousness already, even for me (a person who would not go out of her way for pumpkin).

I really liked the next pasta dish, but my hubby was less amazed by it. Squid ink pasta with a small pile of scampi, a creamy orange guerre blanc sauce, and bottarga powder. I rate it! I loved it! I could eat it all day because I love creamy sauced pasta, especially when it's squid ink pasta, especially  when there's a pile of super sweet raw scampi meat on top.

We got upsold into getting an extra dish. The waitress described their snapper dish as something to die for. She said that it was going to be perfectly cooked with a super delicious potato consomme and all these fancy onions. So we ordered one to share ($15) and the chef nicely spit the dish onto two plates for us. Yes the consomme was super clear, tons of flavour, and pretty delicious, but the hero of the dish - the snapper, was kind of average. Nothing too exciting.

The beef cheeks was my favourite of the night. I wish it was more photogenic as it tasted so so so so sooooo much better than it looks on my photo. I am talking, super melt-in-your-mouth beef cheeks that's crazily packed full of flavour. A splash of bonito and anchovy gravy on top and I am in beef cheek heaven. And - I love cauliflower. This fried cauliflower with its mix of different spices... YUM. Top that off with a spinach and lettuce puree that is just absolutely gorgeous? Yup - dish of the day. We can go home now. My stomach is fully satisfied.

The pre-dessert cleansed out palates quite well. The waiter named it the 'evergreen'. It was very very green. The sorbet, the frozen crumbs, leaves on top, and these beautifully done little mint meringues left wonderfully clean flavours of sorrel, lemon basil, mint and parsley dancing in your mouth. The meatiness of the previous course is forgotten and cleansed, all ready for the real dessert.

I expected myself to not like this dessert. I'm not a fan of white chocolate. I don't really like passion fruit. Ginger is not my top pick of an ice-cream flavour. And I dislike yoghurt. So how can I possibly like a ginger ice-cream with white chocolate and passionfruit sauce and yoghurt crumble? I have no idea - but somehow, I loved it!!! LuMi has done the unimaginable and made me eat yoghurt that is not in the form of yakault. I was seriously this close to licking the plate.

So can you tell that I loved this restaurant? I loved the food - the presentation and flavour combinations. The staff were friendly enough. The views were tranquil and serene. And $95 for a 8 course meal sounds pretty reasonable. I suspect that hats are coming this way real soon... so I suggest that you try out this place before the price hikes to become less reasonable.

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 8.5/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 34/40

LuMi Bar & Dining
56 Pirrama Road 
Pyrmont, NSW 2009
Tel: (02) 9571 1999