Seems like it has been a month of degustation on my part; with an earlier visit to Waqu, this time we decided to venture to the outskirts of the Sydney CBD to Rise. With two set-sitting times for their 7 course omakase which is discounted to $45 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sundays and full priced at $60 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday; we took advantage of the former.

Rise stands out amongst the terrorist-residential surroundings with its almost eerie-blue colour and cavern-type look so it’s not hard to miss. As we enter and are seated, the first thing which strikes me is that menu is different to the one posted on the website; however when writing this review now (just after a week of visiting Rise) the menu online has been changed to the one we were served; so perhaps we were lucky enough to try the new season on it’s first night?

Nothing like chiselled love hearts in a candle feature to set the mood for the special occasion or dates with your other half.

Plum Wine: Refreshing and with enough sourness to get the palette ready for some fine dining.

Appetizer: Salad of ocean trout tataki with mango coconut salsa; strips of ripe mango are scattered with an almost stingy proportion. I’m highly unhappy as I just want more pieces of the flagrantly sweet mango flesh. The coconut is subtle and has the effect of leaving a nice aftertaste. Unfortunately, aside from the mango, the salad is a to-say-the-least plain.

Soup: Potato cream soup with oyster tempura and tofu; one plump oyster sits triumphantly upon a silken tofu that is an island amongst the thick and creamy flavoursome potato soup. The soup itself is full of starchy goodness and has a welcoming wholesome warmth. The membrane of the tofu is sticky and forms an outer-shell for the soft texture of the tofu encapsulated by it.

Sashimi of assorted today’s fresh market fish: Oyster, Kingfish and Salmon.

The oyster can only be described as having a harsher than normal briny-taste that without an accompanying lemon slice in sight, made it very hard to eat.

Give me unagi, tomago or salmon anyday as I’m not usually a fan of kingfish, however the freshness and kick of the mustard sauce that accompanies with kingfish breakdowns my pretences as its simply divine. Props to the chef!

Following my usual motto: saving the best till last; if I knew the kingfish would be that good I would have definitely eaten the salmon before it. It’s plain, lacks any fattiness and is dwarfed by the size of the kingfish portion.

Seasonal plate: steamed chicken and ‘daibo’ salad, tuna tartare on gari sushi roll and duck and bamboo shoot with hoisin sauce in wonton cup. There was nothing entirely special about this part of the course: the steamed chicken had a distinct tom yum flagrance and lemon grass flavour amongst it, the downfall of the tuna tartare on the gari sushi roll was the pre-prepared sushi roll which had become dry when it was served to us and the rice hard; also the single lotus slice that rested between the tuna and sushi rice had lost texture and crispiness as it was no doubt pre-prepared. The wonton cup was oily to the point that a visit to the bathroom was required to clean your hands if you happened to pick it up as I did.

Pasta Dish: Steamed Scallop, noodles and ginger shallot sauce. Nothing special about this dish either: something strikingly chinese about this and perhaps should be renamed as simply “steamed scallop”. There’s also an absurb amount of chilli topped off onto the average-sized scallop.

Main: Ocean perch tempura, stuffed zucchini flower and “wakame” tomato salsa; In short, the flaky white morsels of the ocean perch head together by the lovely batter of the tempura was the most enjoyable dish of this omakase for C and I.

The flesh was soft, tender and flagrantly addictive. However, the salsa on its own had an overpowering vinaigrette-base that was close to searing your throat. The vinegar was pungent and one of the downfalls of this dish with the ocean perch aside.

Dessert: Passionfruit custard with coconut milk granita; refreshing with the shaved ice topping that had trickles of condensed milk and grated coconut essence. The custard had perhaps been taken out of the fridge too early as it had already begun to liquidise. Chunky pieces of passionfruit were sunken on the bottom.

Japanese Toilets!!

Rise Restaurant

This post is about a week or so late but like every other food blogger, so many posts and too little time. Clearly my mouth is much bigger and faster than my posting abilities

But onto the Good Food Affare, as you may have read on other sites this Saturday was unfortunately windier than normal but it did not deter the mobs of foodies squishing into the tents and browsing all the goods. Since it was so windy and dust was everywhere D, C and I just ran into the closet possible for shelter and that was when I just started going trigger happy with camera so please excuse the disorganization of my photo order.

So much foodie dedication
This explains the hectic traffic in Caste Hill. After searching through the tents it is always good to see a familiar face

Noods and Suze
The wonderful Suze and Noods were tending their Biscuit Tree stall and we were lucky we got there when we did because they nearly sold out of stock! I am addicted to her Cranberry and Pistachio thick biscotti mmmmm. As you can see on Citrus and Candy, the before shot of our visit. Here is the after shot haha ^^!

What a lonely bag of biscotti… I should have given it a home too!
After a nice chat we continued on our exploration.

Fudge Lady

Mmmmm chocolate!

Kimberley Chocolates

Byron Bay Truffles

Chilli (left) and Strawberry (right)
Yummy truffles even though the chilli could have had a stronger kick to it.

This was a disappointing sight as we were all quite hungry from lack of breakfast and it was just clocking past noon.

But what a beautiful set up they had.

Chilli jams from Ayo’s Fiery Food Works
More for seasoning and very tasty but not really hot.

Chhheeeeeeeeeesseeee

Certified Australian Angus Beef
Too bad we didn’t get any samples cos it looked really tasty.

Now that is my kinda fridge

Mirrool Creek Lamb

Hot Xocolat with chilli and cinnamon.
The ancient Mayan recipe causes a nice warm feeling to well up inside you with each sip. It is on the strong side but that was how chocolate started ^^!

Beautiful crafts and homeware in the Real Living tent
After wondering hungrily around some more we were finally informed by ChocolateSuze about the cafe.

The Hidden part past the carpark

Amour Coffee House
More interesting and stylish furniture but looking at the menu we were up for something much more solid and filling.

These lights were awesome and fluffy
The Good Food Affare was interesting and worth the look around at all the different goods on sale. We were disappointed that there weren’t more of food food stalls like at markets and other festivals but still good fun to peruse.

Part 2 by D coming soon

Good Food Affare 21-23/11/2008
Castle Hill Showground, Castle Hill

FFichiban

Now for an intermission from the Japanese restaurants. Macchiato Pasta and Wood Fire Pizza is a sight that cannot be missed by any passer-byers due to the great big windows and brightly lit atmosphere. Positioned at a busy intersection in the city, it seemed pretty popular so we had to try it out.

Specials board that I took a photo of but forgot about until after our meal
First impressions are a very important thing and I must say, this place gave me one of the worst. We had a party of 7 but Pupu and I got there a little bit earlier than the others. It might have been because it was reasonably busy but their service aloof and quite unorganized. We were asked 3 times by 3 different people if we had a reservation and for how many people. The last time was after Pupu and I have sat down in our tiny corner table. That probably annoyed me the most.

Named after a style of coffee but instead of a shot of espresso with a touch of milk, the food here is modern Australian with a touch of classic Italian cuisine
After sitting and calming down, this place seemed alright. The atmosphere was bright and warm (would have been better with a better table) and the menu seemed fairish for city prices .

Harooo everyone!
We were a bit skeptical about the food after the service being so meh but when the food came out we were met with a pleasant surprise. Their portion sizes were reasonable but the taste of proper wood fire pizza is unbeatable.

Here Comes the Food

Iced Chocolate
These were a bit disappointing as they were lukewarm for some reason :S and only with a mediocre flavour.

Garlic & Cheese Pizza ($13)
Shared amongst the table, this was a great start to the meal. There could have been more cheese haha (I think I say that about everything) but the crispy crust and garlic infusion had me craving for more than one slice.

Penne Boscaiola ($17.90)
A creamy sauce with well-cooked pasta. A great combination of flavours which does not get too much/rich even after the whole plate.

Angelo ‘Agnelo’ ($24.90)
Tender slivers of lamb fillets with caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella. The lamb was really good and they were generously topped on top. The other ingredients all added up to create a well balanced and tasty pizza.

Texas ($20.90)
My personal favourite of all the savoury pizzas and not because I ordered it Most likely because I am a carnivore and this one had the most meaty goodness on it. A combination of chicken, cabanossi, chorizo, ham, mozzarella and bbq sauce created a sweet and meaty sensation. Stringy cheese perfectly melted on top and a few sprinkled basil leaves for extra herby flavour

Margherita ($16.90)
For the vegetarian of the group, there was a selection between 2 pizzas and he went with this one. Fragrant Roma tomatoes and mozzarella always make for a simple yet delicious meal. I thought it could have donw with a few more basil leaves but we still have the beautiful flavour in some of the bites.

BBQ Chicken ($18.90)
Chicken tenderloin, grilled onions, tomatoes, mozzarella and a drizzle of bbq sauce can’t go wrong unless the chef is really really incompetent. The chicken pieces were soft and tender and the sweetness of the ingedients were enhanced by the bbq sauce.

Bombay ($19.90)
Tandoori chicken, onions, mint yogurt chutney and more mozzarella goodness. The sweet red onions work well with the tandoori chicken. The yogurt was refreshing and overall another great choice.

My ultimate pizza (missing a slice)
Nom nom nom but now for some dessert!

Apple and Custard Pizza Pie ($11.90)
Another highlight in the meal was this pizza pie. The soft french dough was fluffy, thick and created the perfect base for this dessert. The apple and cinnamon fusion is one of my favourite ones and mixed with ice cream and custard it was irresistible. I did find that the custard left a dry sensation in my mouth afterward.

Quality pizza oven wood haha

I found the art on the roof really interesting and added some pizazz to this place.

Wood fire oven
Hmmm deciding whether to come here again was the tricky part because the service is a major part of the dining experience. Service = bad but food = good :S I think it is worth it to try again as that could have been a one off.

After being full and content we took a stroll around and came across this amusing little place and I must have a little bit of Japanese in this post

With a cool advertising poster:

Hee hee do you guys think that this sounds more legit and hence more likely to try it out?

Macchiato Pasta and Wood Fire Pizza
338 Pitt St
Sydney

FFichiban