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

Besser - Surry Hills

Besser is a casual Italian joint settled among the old collection of Besser blocks. It gives off a relaxed vibe and an old-school style. The waiters are heavily accented but quite friendly. Given the concreteness of the restaurant, it gets super noisy as human voices bounce around the room.

As a party of four, we decided to just order dishes to share. We opted for two entree dishes - the meatballs and the pork fingers. The meatballs were reasonably bite sized and packed full of cheesy flavour. There was also quite a delicious tomatoey sauce that covered the meatballs. The pork fingers were lightly crumbed and eaten with an oniony-yoghurt sauce. There was also an intense mustard flavour to the soft pulled-pork innards.

We chose three pastas. Two of the pastas were part of their specials for the day. Due to the noise and the waiter's accent, I don't quite remember exactly what they were, just that one was a creamy risotto with scampi, and the other was a pappardelle with sausage and mushrooms. The risotto was quite tasty - scampi give or take, but the cheesy creaminess and the al-dente rice created pretty awesome rich flavours all round. The pappardelle was not bad either. Slightly creamy, slightly tomatoey and again, perfectly cooked pasta. Whilst both pastas were delicious, what surprised me most was the gnocchi with turkey that we ordered. Not that it was better than the other pastas. Just that I've never liked gnocchi (like EVER) but this gnocchi is beginning to change my mind. The gnocchi was really fluffy and pillowy - not dense or carby like the normal ones, and the turkey meat added the right amount of saltiness to it all.

Other than the pastas, we also ordered the grilled scotch mushroom (sorry about the photo.... I didn't take it...). Having no expectations of what a scotch mushroom was like, it ended up as a plate of thin grilled scotch fillet steaks with juicy mushrooms and wilted greens. The steak was cooked well - tender enough. But I think I would have been happy enough with just tons of the mushrooms (which was really flavourful as it soaked in all the meat juices) and the wilted greens.

Dessert-wise, nothing really appealed. And, Messina was just next door (even the waiter agreed). So... Messina we went.

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

Besser
3/355 Crown Street
Surry Hills
Tel: (02) 9331 1611

QVB Tea Room - Sydney

I normally don't expect much from the food at weddings cos let's face it, it's hard to keep consistency when catering for hundreds of people. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how amazing the dinner reception at QVB Tea Room was at a friend's wedding recently. The stunning environment - high ceilings elegantly painted with amazing chandeliers - simply just adds to the dining experience.

For our friend's wedding, we had the entree options of the prawn tortellini and the pork belly. Pork belly had been promised to me at many-a-weddings before, most failing to deliver being either too dry (but with good crackling) or succulent (but the crackling is a soggy mess). It's hard to get it right. But OMG - this pork belly was superb! Really good crackling AND melt-in-your-mouth meat. And that was what everyone around the table was saying. Definitely good effort from the kitchen! The prawn tortellini was also a standout. Really plump and fully filled with prawn, the squid-inked pasta was cooked just right. It came with creamed corn and a tomato salsa. Yup - I could eat more of this dish too!

The mains were likewise, pretty tasty. The roasted barramundi was perfectly cooked with a bit of crunch (skin) and silky smooth flesh. It was served with royal blue potatoes and a really tasty mustard and parsley sauce. The confit duck leg also had fall-off-the-bone meat and a smooth potato puree. Both mains were well received all round.

They were anything but stingy on the portion sizes with a really big bowl of creme brulee and a big slice of lemon tart for dessert. The creme brulee had a good toffee coating (which I Loved!) and the vanillary custard was smooth and just the right amount of sweet. The lemon tart with clotted cream and raspberry sauce was also good. The base might have been a bit bleh but the citrusy custard was delish!

Definitely one of the tastiest meals we have had at a wedding! Oh - and of course, the bride and groom were absolutely stunning!!!!! :)

QVB Tea Room
Level 3, QVB
455 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9283 7279

Catalina - Rose Bay

I have been intending to dine at Catalina ever since I was given a voucher from some lovely friends for this waterfront restaurant. However, due to one reason or another (atrocious weather, unable to make a booking, etc) its taken us a while to get here. Lucky for us, we had chosen an amazingly sunny fine day to eat here - meaning that we had a spectacular view to accompany our wonderful meal.

We were initially going to share an entree but all those choices sounded soooo delicious that we ended up ordering both the marron and the pork belly (and were disappointed that we couldn't order more entrees).

Just as our view was picturesque, so too was our marron. It looked stunning, being surrounded by seasonal veges and oh so appetising. It was absolutely delicious! Sweet seafoody juices and plentiful orange aioli.

The pork belly was likewise satisfying. Crispy crackling and tender pork meat accompanied with perfectly seared large scallops. Little bits of cuttlefish and chorizo sat amongst the lemon emulsion. Dots of a pretty strong piquillo pepper coulis also added to the layers of flavour.

For the mains, hubby ordered a 'glacier 51' toothfish. We had never had toothfish before. Not only is this fish part of the sustainability hype, the texture and flavour of this fish makes me want to order it again and again. It's complex yet really delicate - the meat kind of flakes off. It's quite sweet and quite clean in flavour. It was served with a horseradish tortellini which really should not have made it on the plate. The tortellini was sub par - super thick almost rubbery shell with not much taste to it's innards. The tomato consomme was packed full of flavour and complemented the fish well.

I get sucked into all things squid ink. If squid ink is on the menu, I'm ordering it! This squid in fettuccine was pretty damn awesome! Cooked perfectly and tossed with tomato and chilli lobster oil. YUM! There were also lots of rather large chunks of lobster - but really, I just want more lobster oil :)

We were so full by the end of the mains but I really wanted something sweet to finish off the meal. It was hard to say no to the caramel-centred dark chocolate mousse with valrhona milk chocolate icecream. The feuilletine crumble was also excellent. It was gooey, not overly sweet, smooth but with crunchy bits. The only thing that didn't need to be there is the gold foil. When will we learn that we don't need to eat gold?

All up, it was a great experience. Really relaxing location with yummy food. It is a tad on the expensive side though (and really easy to be carried away with ordering just about everything on the menu).

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 9.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 32.5/40

Catalina
Lyne Park
Rose Bay
Tel: (02) 9371 0555

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

400 Gradi - Brunswick (Melbourne)

World's best pizza and I don't have to fly half way around the world for it? That's right! The amazing pizza maker at 400 Gradi recently won the title of 'world's best pizza' for their Margherita pizza. As we were in Melbourne for the F1, we thought that we'd take the opportunity to check out just how good this pizza is. Situated on Lygon Street (and also another branch at the Crown), I was a little worried about the potential for it being a tourist trap type place. Luckily, the restaurant was far far away from the tourist bit of Lygon.

We had to order the Margherita - but we added anchovies to it. The pizza base was pretty amazing. It was thin and soft on the middle of the pizza, doughy and chewy on the edges and just that tiny bit of crispiness. The tomato base was rich and the cheese was really tasty and stretchy. When you eat it the traditional way (ie. you roll it all up), it was the perfect bite every time. The anchovies gave the whole pizza an extra dimension.

We also got a pasta - the tagliatelle con prosciutto crudo croccante. In English, it means pasta with crispy prosciutto, rocket and shaved parmesan. What's not to love about it? The pasta was cooked al-dente. There was a ton of salty prosciutto to it, and we got extra cheese to add to it if we wanted. It was pretty tasty. I wish we got a bit more rocket though~

We couldn't look past dessert. We ordered the tiramisu and the chocolate fondant. The tiramisu was really smooth and creamy. Good amount of coffee flavour in it. Quite liked it. The chocolate fondant came with vanilla bean ice-cream and a sprinkle of white chocolate shavings. The fondant was oozy on the inside... but not oozy enough for my liking. It was nice and chocolately and dense, and the ice-cream was yum. I was expecting a bit more from this dish but I guess it was OK.

So all up, pretty delicious pizza. Tasty pasta. Good desserts. Be sure to book if you are planning to come here - just in case!

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

400 Gradi 
99 Lygon Street
Brunswick
VIC, 3055
Tel: (03) 9380 2320

Balla - Pyrmont

I'm so behind on my blogging this year. Things have just been so hectic - just with the day to day stuff, and before you know it, it's Februrary! Hubby and I visited Balla at the Star for my birthday this year. I was looking for simple, delicious Italian food and was hoping to find it here. Being from a whole month ago, my memory of this place is quite hazy... so it probably wasn't as memorable as I wished, but I do think it was an enjoyable enough experience.

The restaurant on the night was busy busy busy. And extremely noisy. The packed environment stressed me a bit but I guess rowdiness is part of the Italian experience? Their wine list comes on an i-pad and the connoisseur basically told us to just flick through as he rushed from table to table.

Food-wise, we decided on an antipasto and an entree to share. We got 50g of Proscuitto San Daniele and 50g of the Finochietta Balla. The proscuitto was really delicious, as expected. Shaved really thin and full of flavour. The finochietta require more chewing action but rather tasty nonetheless. They were a bit stingy on the bread sticks and if there wasn't the bread (which comes normally) we would be asking for way more bread sticks.

The duck ravioli we ordered to share was reasonably tasty. Pasta cooked al-dente, but the filling was slightly uneventful. It came with crispy sage and a creamy potato and garlic sauce. I'm not used to having potato sauces... cos really, it's just a creamy creamy mash. Mash with pasta? Mmm.... a bit thick and gluggy, but atleast it was tasty mash :)

For the mains, hubby had the line caught snapper. Now this I remember as the fish was cooked perfectly. The fish was falling off the bone, still really juicy and came with delicious pesto. I think I liked the walnut pesto a tad better than the salsa verde - but really, both were good. So if you don't mind eating a whole fish - head and bones and all (which, being asian, we have no problems with), this is a good dish to order.

I had their pork special. I don't remember much about it. I think it was roasted well, with a good glaze. A good mix of fat and meat that made it just the right tenderness and juiciness. And it came with onion and a mustard??? sauce.... maybe? Hahaha! Other than - 'the meat was good' , the dish escapes my mind.

We also had a side of asparagus with reggiano which came really late. But the asparagus was good, especially with the slightly melted cheese. Can't fault it really.

By then, we were both really full. Nothing on their dessert menu excited me so we decided to skip that.

All up - not a bad evening of food. Didn't like the hustle and bustle within the restaurant very much... so, don't think I'll be in a hurry to return any time soon~

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 5.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27/40

Balla 
Level G, Harbourside 
The Star 
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, NSW 2009
Tel: (02) 9657 9129