Aria Restaurant, Circular Quay

I have been slack. Not slack in my eating, as that would be unthinkable. But I have been sitting on posts for way too long.

So I thought I'd make a come back with a bang. And what better way to start than with a post on Aria. Aria is a two hatter which has long been on my 'to eat' list, and I have been suitably excited about my lunch visit.






It was quite a trek to get to Aria, but boy the view was worth every step of the way. You have the Opera House on one side, and the Harbour Bridge on the other; and let's not forget the harbour view and clear blue sky. Need I say more?

The restaurant was surprisingly quiet when we arrived. There were only two tables apart from ours and the Kitchen Table. Not that we mind, as we got to have the whole restaurant to ourselves when the two tables left soon after.



Being the indecisive self that I am, I spent a long time chatting with the rest of the table while deciding on my food choices. After we ordered, a complimentary entree of Kingfish tartare was served. This was a pleasantly refreshing way to start our lunch.

And then out came our entrees. I had the Kurobuta sweet pork belly with pork croquette, paradise pears and pear chutney. With the glistening pork fat and crispy skin staring at me from my plate, I had high expectations and as such was a little disappointed when I tasted the pork belly, which was a bit on the dry side. However, I was blown away with the pork croquette, and not to mention the paradise pear which fruity sweetness went perfectly well with the pork belly.

Moving onto our mains, I opted for the slow cooked Petuna ocean trout, red radish, watercress and a pink grapefruit sabayon. Just one bite and I was in heaven! The fish was literally melt in your mouth. And I can't help but wonder if the crispy fish skin has been strategically placed on the plate to make it reminiscent to a shark.

I also tasted the rabbit tagine, which was the specials for the day. (In my Iron Chef host voice) If my memory serves me correct, I haven't tried rabbit before. The rabbit meat has a similar texture to chicken, and the aromatic spices in the dish made it very flavoursome. I think my standards for rabbit has been set very high by this dish.

We also ordered a few side dishes to share. The truffled potato mash was smooth and creamy, exactly how I like my mash. However I could not taste any truffle in the mash.

The salad of heirloom tomatoes, feta and Spanish onion was lovely, but the real winner was the steamed green beans with pine nuts and raisins. So much so that when I finally got around to photograph the dish, not much of the dish was left.

Two lovely courses and a few bottles of wines later, its time for dessert. This was the moment I have been waiting for; however, while I put my hands up without hesitation, the others were not so keen on joining me. Only Mr A was up for the cheese plate. But I was unstoppable and ordered the passionfruit souffle with passionfruit Eton mess.

My heart leaped when I saw the souffle looking so fluffy and tall! It was very passionfruity and not too sweet, although I would have loved a bit more of the Eton mess. Nonetheless, a nice way to finish an enjoyable meal.

But wait, there's also the petit three's! The nougat was lovely and the mini lemon meringue tarts was cute and tasty. I could not bring myself to try the chocolate truffle because even with my emergency stomach I am full to the brim.

ARIA Restaurant
1 Macquarie Street

East Circular Quay

Sydney NSW 2000

Baja Cantina, Glebe

On a wet and rainy Wednesday night, we arrived the little Baja Cantina at 8 pm, the restaurant was full and filled with laughter from diners. Glad that we have made a booking for the table. The walls were painted in either blue or orange, and some cute skeletons were drawn around the bar. We were sitting at the front corner of the restaurant, and above us on the wall, hang a large candles holder.

Menu, A fork and a knife, "Skeletons playing guitars" on the wall above the bar

Candles holder

The white sangria on the menu caught CCC and Mocha's eyes, but looking through the tables around us, everybody was drinking the red one. So they end up ordered a jug of red sangria to share. As usual, Herby ordered a bottle of Corona and I ordered a mocktail - Virgin Pina Colada. The girls said the sangria was a bit too sweet for their taste, and all they can tasted was the orange juice. My Virgin Pina Colada was icy and delocious. Full of coconut milk, pineapple juice and lime.

Sangria

Corona

Virgin Pina Colada

Tapatio Hot Sauce - the fiery hot and tangy Mexican chili sauce

To stop our tummies rambling, we ordered 1 entree and 4 mains. Our entree quickly arrived at our table. As the description on the menu, it was a"large plate" of corn chips. The corn chips are warm and churchly. They tasted much better than the commercial corn chips sold in supermarket. The guacamole was smooth and creamy, the salsa was spicy and full of lovely tomato pieces and the queso fundido was very cheesy. This entree is very full filling, after we wiped the plate clean, we were already half full.

Mixed Dips - Large tray of corn chips with guacamole, queso fundido and salsa - $ 14

Chicken Mole served with beans rice and tortillas - $ 20

Chicken Mole was one of those dishes I long wanted to try. The chicken was cooked in a "complex" sauce which included over 20 ingredients such as chillies and chocolate. The sauce was thick and full of spices, although I cannot taste any chocolate in it, it made the rice very tasty. One little disappointment was the chicken was slightly too dry .

Tortillas

The Fajitas caught our eyes when it was being delivered to the table next to us. We must have been stirring at this dish for too long, the friendly waiter turned around with a smile and told us the dish is call Fajitas. And of course, we would love to try this sizzling dish. We have ordered the Prawns version. The prawns were sauteed with capsicums and onions in a mild spicy tomato sauce. It was served with flour tortillas and a plate of salad (guacamole, crema, lettuce, onions, cheese, rice and beans). The prawns were sweet and the accompanying capsicums and onions absorbed all the lovely flavour from the sauce. This sizzling dish reminds me of those sizzling dishes you order from a Chinese Restaurant.

Prawns Fajitas - $ 25

Flour Tortillas

The next dish to sample was Tamole - corn masa with a meat and salsa filling of your choice steamed in a banana leaf and served with rice and beans. We ordered the Tamole with shredded beef with chipotle salsa. The corn masa tasted a bit like polenta and was quite plain. The beef was a little hard and try, but the sauces on top was quite nice while the black beans were soft and slightly sweet. This dish was full of carbohydrates, good to consume it with a few drops Tapatio Hot Sauce to cut out some of the richness.

Beef Tamole

The chicken sulza was a perfect dish for a cold night. It was rich and delicious. It was chicken and cheese enchilada, slow baked in a rich cream and fire roasted chili sauce and covered with salsa verde and cheese served with beans and rice. The chicken was tenderly soft and the sauce was so cheesy and creamy. We chose the kidney beans to accompany this dish, it tasted quite similar to the black beans in the Tamole. Again, rice was served in this dish. The long grain rice were cooked with tomato and chillies, made it a good company with all the sauce in the dish.

Chicken Sulza - $ 19

The food was good, different to what I normally has and with the very well priced menu, I will be back to this little Mexican place to experience other dishes.


Baja Cantina

43 - 45 Glebe Point Road
Glebe
NSW 2037

Phone: +6 12 9571 1199

Opening Hours: Mon - Wed, Sun 6 pm - 9.30 pm ; Thur 6 pm - 10 pm ; Sat 11.30 am - 11.30 pm

Sapore Della Vigna, Leichhardt

It has been a while since I have been to the Italian Forum in Leichhardt. So long that when I got there the cafes around there seems to have all changed hands. Not that it will stop me from getting my breakfast at 1pm on a weekend.

We picked Sapore because we have no particular preference and the competitiveness of the cafes around the forum meant that we were enthusiastically greeted by the waitor from Sapore at a distance. We needed little convincing after being assured that they were still serving breakfast.

Once seated, without giving it a second though, I ordered my 'default drink' ... mocha. The glass looks really pretty with the chocolate syrup drizzled across it; however the chocolate taste was lacking. If there were more chocolate I would have been happy, as the coffee itself was nice.

Mocha

My friend ordered a banana smoothies. I took a sip and indeed you could describe its taste in one word - banana.

Banana Smoothies

Then came our breakfast; my friend ordered the Big Breakfast ($14.90) with fried eggs, Roma tomato, mushroom hash brown, bacon served on Italian bread. It most certainly look impressive when the dish landed on our table. The bread was nice and fresh, while the harsh brown was very crunchy.

Big Breakfast ($14.90)

On the other hand, I the French toast with caramelised banana coated with vanilla glaze and ricotta spread caught my eyes.

French toast

Upon taking a forkful of the french toast, I was disappointed. The french toast was deep fried instead of pan fried, and the banana was too soft for my liking. I felt like I was eating the HK-style french toast with some banana ... which made me feel weird even just typing this. However the ricotta spread was yummy and I mopped up every single bit of the spread.

All in all, the food was average but as I was leaving, I spied the people in the cafe next door eating some nice looking pasta. Maybe I will be back at the Italian Forum again after all!

Sapore Della Vigna

The Italian Forum

Norton Street, Leichhardt NSW 2040

Outback Steakhouse, North Strathfield

Outback Steakhouse (North Strathfield)

The Outback Steakhouse at North Strathfield is located inside one of the block from the old Arnott's Biscuit Factory. With it's oldish looking and the high celling, it's perfect for this western cowboy decorated family restaurant. It is truly a family restaurant, on a stormy Sunday night, we were surrounded by kids, lots of kids. The queue was never ending; to make you happy while you were waiting, there was a bar area at the front of the restaurant, where people can enjoy a couple of drinks while they wait. They had a long list of cocktails in their drink menu as well.

It's all wood at Outback, from the floor to the wall, the chairs to the tables

Menus

The NEW 550g cowboy cut ribeye steak on the bone

Coke, Lemon and Lime Bitter, Raspberry Fanta

One of the good thing at Outback is unlimited soft drinks. One you ordered a glass of soft drink, they would refill it as many times as you like. With all the fat you would be getting, you would need the extra fizziness to refresh the stomach. The serving at Outback are quite big, so we ordered 3 entrees and 4 mains to share around the table. A lot of the mains at Outback are come with a soup or a salad, and of course their famous honey wheat loaf. We had the pumpkin soup, Caesar salad and house salad.

The Pumpkin soup was smooth and creamy, but some said it was too creamy and the strong taste of cream actually overpowered the natural sweetness of the pumpkin. The Caesar salad and house salad were nicely dressed, the tanginess of the dressing help us to digest the overloaded chips through out the night.

The oh so good honey wheat loaf was a popular item on the table. It was warm, sweet and slightly chewy. With a slop of butter on top, I am in heaven!

Pumpkin Soup


Caesar Salad

House Salad

The lovely Honey Wheat Loaf

Our entrees arrived next, the bloomin's onion, bushies and campfire riblets. The bloomin's onion was weigh 16 ounces and 4.5 inches wide. It was hand crafted then cooked until golden and served with a spicy dipping sauce. It was crispy and full of the onion sweetness. It is a must for onion lovers.

Bloomin' Onion - $8.95

The bushies was a generous plate of seasoned and deep fried button mushrooms served with a spicy ranch sauce. They were delicious and I love my bushies to be drown into the sauce for a while, so it could absorb as much sauce as it could.

Bushies - $9.95

The campfire riblets was one of the item on the special menu. The riblets was individual smoked and marinated in your choice of campfire sauce or Asian BBQ sauce. We had ours with the campfire sauce, which is the slight spicy version of this dish. The riblets were very tender and saucy, and because it was came in as individual pieces, diners can enjoy their ribs without all the mess.

Campfire Riblets - $12.95

After all the huge serving of entrees, we were quite full already before the mains arrive. For mains, we were sharing the Baby ribs, Sirloin with chips, Ribeye with mash potato and the Big Burger. The Baby ribs were nicely smoked and marinated before it was grilled. The sauce was sweet and sticky, but the rip itself was not as tendered as the riblets we had for entree. Also, on the menu, it said it served with the cinnamon apples, I couldnt' see any nor taste any apples in this dish.

Rip Snorter Ribs - $25.95

The Sirloin and the rib eye steaks were perfectly seared, Both of them were tender and full of the lovely meaty taste. We have also ordered a bowl of pepper sauce for the steaks. The sauce was creamy and peppery, and delicious to be drizzled on the steaks as well as on the chips.

Sirloin - 250g for $22.95, 340g for $25.95

Rib eye - 285g for $26.95, 390g for $29.95

As the name suggested, the Big Burger was big, actually it was HUGE! In between the soft damper roll, you would get a large piece of meat patty, bacon, egg, cheese, beetroot, lettuce, tomato, grilled onion and BBQ sauce, the burger was accomplished with a mountain of chips. For $14.95, it is a real bargain. It can feed 2 hungry people easy.

The Big Burger - $14.95

Despite our over filled stomaches, how can a bunch of sweet tooth leave the restaurant without something sweet. We have ordered the the trio dessert sampler to share around. The sampler included a slide of Key Lime Tart, Chocolate Thunder and Fresh Fruit Pavlova. The Key Lime Tart was sweet and tart at the same time. With the distinctiveness taste from the key lime. it was very refreshing. The Chocolate Thunder was a piece of pecan brownie toped a a scoop of vanilla and drizzled with a warm chocolate sauce. The sensation of warm and cold in the month was very satisfying. The fresh fruit pavlova was my personal favorite in this sampler. The passionfruit sauce was lovely and tangy, while the pavlova was not too sweet, but dreamy and soft as a marshmallow.

Trio Dessert Sampler (Key Lime Tart, Chocolate Thunder, Fresh Fruit Pavlova)- $13.95

What a night, we went into the Outback with a warm sunshine, but as soon as we sat down on our table, it started pouring outside with thunder and lightning, and a strong gust of wind. Although I had my umbrella with me and the car was just 200 m away from the restaurant, I was wet from head to toe just half way to the car. Haven't had such an experiences for a long long time. It was fun !

Outback Steakhouse

Level 1, 3 George Street
North Strathfield
NSW 2137

Phone: +61 (2) 8756 5741

Opening Hours: Monday - Thursday 5 pm - 10 pm , Friday 5 pm - 11 pm , Saturday 12 pm - 11 pm , Sunday 12 pm - 10 pm

Website: www.outbacksteakhouse.com.au

Other locations in NSW: Campbeltown, Parklea & Wollongong