A Feast for the Senses… a befitting name for the bloggers’ dinner at Bistro CBD. Four brave foodblogging warriors Billy, Fouad, Karen and Linda took up their arms and stepped up to the fires and battlefield that is the commercial kitchen. For some it is just a walk through the park but for these brave souls it was a first to serve up to 70 paying guests (At $60 per person this was definitely worth it!) But they did not do it alone, along with chef Simun Dragicevich and a cheer squad: led by head cheerleader Chocolatesuze, a ninja, a penguin, a hungryelf, a fuPhouc’n, a forkgrabber, a foodhearter, a sporksticks, a cannottakeonebitemorewithnoAIR, a piggy, a cupcake, a frenchdude, a hungrygirl, a spicymeatballicecream and a nommynomnom. Here Comes the Food

Some quick words before their chaos breaks out

Each of their dishes had been carefully planned, tested and revised for about 2 months so we knew we were all in for a great treat. While the cheer squad enjoyed a glass of sparkling, chatted happily and general relaxing the four on the other side of the readied with their weapons of choice. There are five main senses and I have to say each of the fish dishes achieved in mastering and manipulating them all to provide a memorable experience.

Simun Dragicevich – Sashimi of kingfish, avocado, wasabi, lime and soft herbs

SIGHT – Aesthetics is at the frontier of the senses. First impressions are usually cast by how one appears and,in this case, the food were all presented beautifully, almost artlike. A good range of contrasting colours and shapes always adds to the appeal of a dish. For our first course silky delicate slivers of kingfish melded with the dabs of avocado and wasabi. I really like the mild atmosphere the wasabi added to the dish although I did find the balance of oil and citrus a bit off.

Fouad – ‘Shish Barak’

HEARING – Not many people would associate hearing with food but it actually plays a big part. People like Heston always coming up ways of incorporating all the senses to create the ultimate dining experience. It may not be a major player but it can completely change how one perceives the experience. As for our second dish of the night, Fouad went back to his childhood memories and presented us Middle-Eastern style dumplings of lamb mince with yogurt sauce and pine nuts. The melodic sounds of ‘crunch’ as we bit through the nicely fried dumplings gave the dish a whole new dimension. The pine nuts were an excellent addition which contrasted nice against the soft and juicy lamb mince. The only thing I would had preferred was the yogurt sauce to be thicker so that it would not make the dumplings soggy and lose that beautiful crispy crunch.

Billy – ‘Pork You’

TASTE – Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Everybody has a personal preference but it is a combination of these different tastes which enhance one or the other of these. Billy has chosen wisely with his weapon of choice in the form of pork. I know he is deadly with any form of pig and this twice cooked pork belly lived up to my expectations. A brilliant ratio of fat to meat gave the pork belly a melt-in-your-mouth attribute but the skin gave it a bit more bite. The skin was not as crispy as I had hoped but considering that he was manning four pans/four slabs of pork belly he did an excellent job. Also loving the presentation of the beetroot smear, beetroot cubes and apple foam. The black pudding crumbs were also a wonderful addition although I hoped that it would arrive in the form of soil rather than just crumbs hee hee.

Karen – Braised beef in PX sherry

SMELL - The other main sense when it comes to food, it combines with taste to form flavour. Oh flavours how I love thee. Closing the eyes to enhance the sense of smell and breathing in deep to get every molecule of deliciousness. It also builds up anticipation for the taste adventure ahead. Karen surprised us all with a savoury dish as she is quite notorious for her sweets. Very pleasantly surprised indeed with this slow braised beef cheek in red wine and PX sherry on a beautiful cauliflower puree. The smooth puree was so good I could eat it by the bowlfuls but the beef cheek were easily the star. Soft, tender and falls apart at the slightest poke. This chunk of cheek was done perfectly although I would had preferred a bit more contrast in textures to break the monotony of soft and soft.

Linda – ‘This and That’

TOUCH – Sensual… From the lightest tease to full on pound, (nothing suss) touch and textures also play a big part in food experience. Although it all gets chewed down to a bolus that initial crunch or silky smooth or meltyness etc sends our senses to overdrive. Linda finished the night with a bang in the form of triple chocolate brulee cake – chocolate brownie, chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache; lemon olive oil ice cream, rhubarb jam, almond crumble and a brandy tuile. A wonderful combination of flavours that had us tasting and guessing and retasting just decipher the different components. A sprinkle of sea salt flakes enhances the chocolate that much extra while the ice cream and tuile contrast beautifully together.

Mark’s Gogogorilla-pod

Billy plating up

Linda hiding while paparazzi hits (didn’t manage to capture the other two especially with my condition I could not go recon)

Battle done and won, a huge congratulations and thanks to the four foodbloggers that made this meal exceptional and left us all wowed and impressed. This has truly got me excited and hoping for more blogger dinners! Also thanks to Yas for whipping out his sanitary iPad for mood lighting!

FFichiban

Nothing beats awesome puns and chunky ice cream. Ben & Jerry have mastered very well in both these areas but I must admit their ice creams are probably a bit better than their puns. Their signature style of ice cream with a brilliant contrast of smooth and creamy ice cream interlaced with big chunks and silky swirls of flavour. They may only have one Scoop Shop in Sydney at the moment but you can buy the ice cream pints of 473ml at selected stores near you! The latest inclusion to the pint group include the popular Phish Food, Triple Caramel Chunk and Half Baked.

Triple Caramel Chunk – Caramel lovers, rejoice! The finest caramel ice cream with a swirl of golden caramel and, as a crowning touch, buttery-soft pieces of chocolatey covered caramel

Phish Food – One of Ben & Jerry’s most iconic flavours and a best seller since it first hit shelves back in the 90’s. Named after the Vermont-based band ‘Phish’, it’s a medley of chocolate ice cream with gooey marshmallow, caramel swirls and schools of chocolatey fish. This flavour rocks!

The smooth ice cream swirled with caramel and chocolate chunks which contain more caramel is definitely for the caramel lovers. I like letting the chocolate melt slowly in the mouth to expose the sweet burst of caramel.

One of the more popular flavours and definitely one of my favourites too. The surprise addition of the ever-so-gooey marshmallow swirls just puts this ice cream that much above the rest. They are also very generous in their swirls and chunks (hard to see in the photo but they really are!). These pints are pretty decent sized as well, big enough so you get a good dose of ice cream but small enough so you don’t have to share with others. Valued at RRP $11.95 check out the stores near you and get your legendairy fix down udder.

Here Comes the Food thanks Sarah at One Green Bean and Ben & Jerry’s for making this post possible

FFichiban

Have a very Merry Disco… I mean Christmas!

There was cause for celebration for Pupu as she had received word that she had passed her exam which was worth 100% of her course (yay!) and so I took her to celebrate the only way I know how… with food ^^! It was also the perfect excuse to try out a nice 3 hatted restaurant like est. which I have been wanting to try for a very long time.

Oohh purdy place

When the elevator doors opened I was in awe of the setting and atmosphere of this place. Felt very prestigious especially when the waiter explained that the owner is very concerned about photography of the place.

Browsing the menu

There were quite a few dishes that we wanted to try on the menu as they all sounded quite fantastic so we decided to go with their lunch tasting menu.

When in Rome….

Might as well get the whole treatment since we are here already hee hee. Of course, first up is the bread! There were 3 different types of sourdough to choose from and the first round produced a cold bread which made it hard to spread the butter. But the second time they came around, the bread was beautifully warm and crusty on the outside with soft and fluffy inside just the way I like it. After munching on the bread Here Comes the Food.

serrano jamon, compressed rock melon, white asparagus, almonds and nasturtium flowers

Our first dish did create a good impression as it packed a punch with its beautiful strong colours and interesting flavour combination. The jamon was smooth and silky and goes well with the soft rock melon and crunch of the almonds. The compressed rock melon was very interesting as it was slightly jelly-like and burst sweet juices with each bite. There was a good harmony between the sweet rock melon and the salty jamon.

grilled prawns and octopus, pimentos de pardon, chorizo, goats cheese feta, chilli and green olives

If I had to choose a favourite dish (out of the savoury ones) this one would have to be it. Beautifully presented with a smear of squid ink, some surprisingly large prawns and cute little green pimentos with a nice charred skin. All of the individual ingredients worked together in this dish with the feta creamy and melty and the chorizo salty and nudge of spiciness while the soft and tender prawns and octopus chunks soaked up all those beautiful flavours and burst them throughout the mouth.

steamed fillet of snapper on shaved abalone, snow peas, oyster mushroom, ginger – shallot vinaigrette

This fish was a fail for a restaurant of this caliber as we found a total of 4 scales between our 2 pieces of fish. Tsk tsk to whoever scaled these fishies, however the taste was still undeniably good. There was also an Asian fusion feel to this dish with the vinaigrette and the abalone (which was dried abalone tsk tsk). The fish was cooked perfectly to a good soft and flaky condition while the julienned snow peas were very moreish especially in the sauce.

honey glazed grilled duck breast, grilled nectarine, pak choy, black vinegar sauce

This dish also had some Asian fusion going on and to be honest I had expected something epic but was slightly disappointed. I am not saying it was bad, it was still very tasty and delicious but not as good as I had expected it to be. The duck was juicy but did not have that honey sweetness I wanted and the skin was not crispy to my liking. The nectarine was well done and gave a slight sourness which would go perfectly with some sweeter duck meat. There was also a chunk of fried polenta(?) which was crunchy on the outside and smooth on the inside.

passion fruit souffle

Whhheeeee dessert time ^^! There were two choices in the tasting menu so we had to get one of each hee hee and OMG this souffle was sooooo good! It was so light and fluffy it was like eating a passionfruit cloud. There was a good hint of passionfruit flavour which packed some sourness but the sorbet and cream balanced it out nicely. We attacked this souffle with the utmost ferocity, the poor thing did not stand a chance hee hee.

mango and pineapple, banana cake, star anise ice cream, jasmin

Our other dessert was also very spectacular with some of the sweetest mango cubes I have had so far. The banana cake was soft and fluffy and worked well with the fresh fruits and ice creams. We were not sure which one was the star anise ice cream as they did taste of other flavours as well but a bit of everything for each bite meant a beautiful melody in our mouths.

We were feeling quite chuffed at this stage

mignardises

A great way to finish off the meal with these bite-sized desserts. Each with its own unique flavour and texture. After our 2 hour lunch (longest lunch I’ve had) we waddled away content and happy with our experience at est. There were some bumps in the meal, like the fish scales, but overall it was a memorable dining experience.

est.

252 George St

Sydney, 2000

Ph: (02) 9240 3000

Head Chef: Peter Doyle

FFichiban

What better way to welcome fellow food blogger Ladyironchef from Singapore than a lunchtime food crawl in the heart of Sydney? Along with the Ninja, we thought that one of the best places to meet up and try first was the cute little wagyu beef burgers of Plan B where will we continue pondering over a nice burger. Meeting someone in real life that you have only communicated through blogs is a exciting experience as the moment of truth arrives with the unveiling of our ‘weapons of choice’. The unspoken bond of the foodblogger is truly universal and fills me with a sense of awe.

Here Comes the Food

Wagyu Beef Burger ($10)

Doesn’t that look like one sexy bun?

Since we wanted to maximize locations to hit up so we ended ordering one burger to share among the three hungry men (they either sold out of the sandwich or were not selling it that day *sad face*). The soft and fluffy brioche bun mixed with the juicy and tender minced wagyu was still a worthy burger for the cheap price of 10 dora but I did feel that it was not as good as my previous visits. Maybe it was because I only had a third of a burger? Methinks I shall have to try again before I can make my decision hee hee.

The weather was hot and all I could think of was a nice cool stein of bier and onwards to Bavarian Bier Cafe we waddled!

Mango Weissbier, Fraz Dunkel, Lemon Weissbier; Bavarian Tasting Platter ($25)

3 beers were ordered and a tasting platter full of all their specialties to match. The chicken schnitzel were juicy and tender with each bite and was matched beautifully with the mayonnaise with small bits of crunchy batter. The crackling pork belly was, once again, the star of the dish with the rich and resounding crackle accompanying each bite and the apple compote and red cabbage all worked together so very well. The array of sausages, mash, crispy onion strings and sauerkraut were also wonderful tasty and it was sort of fun trying to guess the sausage types. However, the three manly men devoured this sausagefest meatfest very quickly and onwards to the next conquest we marched.

Bavarian Tasting Platter ($25)

We were walking along when suddenly inspiration, in the form of a Helen, struck me. and I raised the question,”Do you guys want to try deep fried sushi ?” (Yes, I somehow managed to say )

Deep Fried Sushi ($2.50)

Dare he take the plunge? The fried sushi of Kana Express was quite different to my previous and first experience, this time round. The batter seemed a bit ‘fresher’ along with the sushi overall. More enjoyable this time but it is still the same that the chilli sauce does pack most of the flavour. And of course Brad had to do it, he was the guest after all ^^!

Looks like he is totally enjoying it

At this moment I think we pushed into the dessert zone. So a conveniently located Passionflower meant ice cream for us ^^!

I had to take a photo of the Final Fantasy

Burnt Caramel and White Chocolate with pecans

It has been a long while since my last visit to Passionflower, but this visit has revived my passion for it (and ice cream in general!). The burnt caramel did have a slight burnt taste which meant the wonderful combination of sweet and ever-so-lightly bitter. Both scoops were creamy and hit the spot in the heat of the day. We then continued down George St and came across another must-try for Sydney visitors.

Harry’s de Wheels

The famous hot dog and pies of Harry’s have opened up a 2nd branch in Chinatown, although some say it is nothing compared to the original, I say it is still reasonable and tasty fare. I ordered my favourite combination dog of chilli con carne and mash with BBQ and cheese sauces and a tiger pie to share. I still like their hot dogs more than their pies because of the soft and fluffy bun with creamy mash, mince and bean and a sausage of mysterious origins smothered in sweet bbq sauce and cheeesssseeeee sauce. Although their pies are also very tasty with peppery chunks of beef and a healthy dose of mashed peas, gravy and mash. After this we knew the food crawl was coming to an end and decided on a final dessert place. We had decided on Max Brenner even though they have them in Singapore but the thought of an tall, cool PB and chockieshake was too alluring.

On the way we had to snack in the true foodie way ^^!

Emperor’s Puffs (bag of

These cute little cream puffs are very very moreish and each of us could have easily devoured tens to hundreds of them. It was a slight pity that the ones we got were not as fresh as I hoped and were only just warm.

What a intriguing… thing on the cake? Reminds me of a Deku plant thingy from Zelda

On our way to Max Brenner, however, we spied this little cafe with amazing photos of cakes and decided to try it out. Only after checking out their menu that I noticed that this was a branch of the Le Patissier in Neutral Bay. We each decided on a tasty dessert

[Slightly green] Mixed Berry Tart ($3.80); Creme Brulee ($3.80); Lemon Ganache ($4.90)

The mixed berry tart was tasty with a good crumbly and buttery base and slightly sour berries to balance with the sugaryness of the rest of the tart. The creme brulee made a huge fail when the top was not properly caramelized but the rest of the brulee was reasonable with a creamy and eggy flavour. The lemon ganache was slightly dry but did have some good layers and tang of lemon an the top.

The fail crackling of the creme brulee

It was great to finally meet Brad and find out more about the man behind the drool-inducing photos and descriptions. Good times talking about all things food and some things non-food (not much though ). 3 sleepy but content men parted ways but shall definitely meet up again somehow to partake on another foodie adventure of limitless awesomeness.

FFichiban

I think one of the hardest decisions to make during this period of SIFF is which Sugar Hit to hit up. Unless you are the ES&T crew who have been to every single one of then hee hee For me, reading other blogs and reading the descriptions over and over is how I choose…. But me being me and having a huge weakness for chocolate meant trying Sheraton on the Park.

Warm Chocolate Pudding sprinkled with Golden Almond Splinter, Honeycomb Ice Cream and a drop of Chantilly Cream & Brown Brothers dessert wine

The presentation was picture perfect with the melted chocolate flowing down the side of the beautiful brown pudding mountain while almond splinter dotted along the chocolate waterfall like golden rocks and a touch of sugar snow at the peak. The scoop of honeycomb ice cream is nestled comfortably in its waffle shell and the dollop of cream formed a sort of fluffy cloud.

Chocolate pr0n

When the first spoon sunk into the pudding I myself had a small sinking feeling as I was not greeted by a gooey, chocolatey centered which I oh-so-wished they had. However, the soft spongy pudding when matched with the ice cream and cream created a wonderful harmony of flavours and textures. I do wish there had been more melted chocolate but the ice cream and cream did very well as a substitute. I have to agree with Squishies that it can get a little bit dry when just the pudding but totally disagree on the too much chocolate part as I somehow finished off two of them…

We also spied the cool fish eye mirror and I couldn’t resist a mirror-me shot hee hee

I also enjoyed the atmosphere here which was very relaxed yet sophisticated. Nice cushiony seats and warm lightning made a very pleasant dessert experience. I did hit my head on the lamp as I stood up though haha -_____-

Spotted! Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera

SO SEXYYY ^^!

Overall I found this Sugar Hit worth trying out although I am still longing for that gooey, oozy center.

Sheraton on the Park

161 Elizabeth Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9286 6000

http://www.siff.com.au/_webapp_276264/Sheraton_On_The_Park

FFichiban

A pianist has their hands, a singer their vocal chords but to a foodus bloggerus it is our mouths that are our most valuable asset. So when one of us needs to delve into the world of pain and agony i.e. only soups and liquid meals, we feast it up hard beforehand and we feast it up good. There is no better way to send Yas into a food coma before his teeth extractions than a meaty meat fest that is Suminoya followed by post-buffet Mamak.

Ahh nothing better than the smoky sight of BBQing meat ^^!

A little party of Betty, Helen, Karen, Minh, Simon and Yas congregated outside in preparation for a belly bursting event. It was also noted that when it was a foodblogger gathering everybody came early unlike with other friends who would leave the rest of us waiting and starving outside.

As a group of Suminoya pros, the food soon flowed like an avalanche so Here Comes the Food.

Naturally starting off with some beef tongue mmmm ^^!

To balance out all the meaty goodness we also got some of their salads. The seafood salad and the spinach and almond salads are my greens of choice. Also Yukke is a must order! The creamy yolk of the egg melds and coats the salty, sweet slivers of meat. It doesn’t actually taste like raw meat so if you think it is unapproachable please do try.

Karens’ pro mixing skillz

One of many many many meat plates hee hee

I didn’t get more photos after as it meant less eating time!

Cooking some beef tongue, pork neck and cooked meat

A sexy pile of cooked meat with scallops as well!

Time for dessert!

I usually order 5 green tea ice creams because I know they give you hollow scoops. The rich creamy matcha flavor is definitely the best dessert they give here so make sure you order a good amount.

Lemon Sorbet

Refreshing scoops of sour sorbet contrasts nicely against the sweetness of the green tea ice cream. It might be a good idea to eat these before the ice cream though unless you like the sour punch.

Being the group that we are, even after a buffet a second dessert must be had so off to Mamak we waddled! Being so full and with all of my blood supply rushing to my stomach I did not get any photos of the food here but check out the other blogs for some roti and condensed milk action!

Sad Yas pre-roti; Betty’s weapon of choice and Minh doing her thang

Super happy Yas and Simon after getting their roti hee hee thanks to Karen for photo

Dentist visits may not be fun but the mass eating before and after sure makes up for it!

Suminoya

1 Hosking Place, Sydney

(Small alley between Castlereagh St and Pitt St)

Ph: (02) 9231 2177

Lunch Monday to Friday 12pm-3pm

Lunch menu

Dinner 7 days 6pm-10.30pm

Gourmet buffet $41 adult / $16 children

Premium buffet $49 adult / $19 children

Add $2 charge per bbq mesh (including first one)

All-you-can eat for 90 minutes only (last order at 60 minute mark)

Dinner menu

Mamak

Lunch: 11:30am to 2:30pm

Dinner: 5:30pm to 9:30pm

Supper: Open till 2am Friday & Saturday

15 Goulburn St, Haymarket, Sydney

Ph: (02) 9211 1668

No reservations

FFichiban

Now come oonnn.. Giant Bald Head Chockie? Who cannot associate bald man with chocoalte now ?

Do you get a chocolate craving whenever you see a bald man? If that is the case, then welcome to my world! There is nothing specifically about bald men that arouses a chocolate craving from within but it is because who cannot think of Max Brenner each time they see one? Max Brenner was one of the first if not the first of the chocolate cafe trend that has been sprouting up with places like Lindt Cafe, Guylian Cafe, Boon, San Churros, The Chocolate Room, Cocoa…. and on and on. It was a big part of my growing chocolate addiction as it used to be so close (in Chatswood) but nowadays have to go up north or to the city to get their creamy, rich hot chocolates, cool refreshing PB Iced Chockie and their molten, moan-inducing souffle.

Soo if I drank the Dark Cinnamon I would turn into a beefcake pumping a chocolate bar, half covered in foam? …I’ll take 10 please!

Since Cupcake (yes, she is still alive yayyyyy ^^!) is out of Sydney we don’t have much time to catch up with her but when we do it is usually over food and especially if they insigate some sort of chocolate-induced coma. It was a bright and sunny winter day so we decided on Manly so we could also take a nice stroll on the beach haha (I also like classical music and candle lit dinners ) I actually haven’t been to Max in a while so I was surprised to see the new colourful cakes on display in the first photo and they also had some Limited Edition winter drinks and tasting platter.

The chocolate and strawberries are such a magical combination but we required something that was a bit more substantial

Chocolate Souffle ($9.50)

The warm little mound of heavenly chocolate comes with a pretty drizzle of milk chocolate but the best part is breaking it open to reveal the molten gooey centre and just watch as it lavas its way down onto the plate. The soft cakey exterior contrasts beautifully with the oozy inside of darker chocoalte but spotted with white chocolate bits. For $9.50 a pop it is not that cheap considering how small it is but it is worth every bite mmmmm ^^!

And it’s all gone… Pupu and I savoring every last bit hee hee Scraping skill +10!

Peanut Butter Iced Chockie ($7)

Oh how I fell once again to your irresistable charms… The combination of PB and chocolate is just genius and the flavours seep into every corner of the mouth to tantalize the tastebuds as much as possible! The usual Alice cup makes me so happy hee hee and talking about Alice, I can’t wait for the new Tim Burton version!! Much <3 for Johnny Depp hee hee

Cupcake chose the Dark Chocolate with Crunchy Waffle Balls ($5.50)!

A great contrast between the smooth and silky dark chocolate and the crunch crunch of the small waffle balls. Always a delight to have something to munch on while drinking hot chocolate

En.elle and Potato Pie also shared a souffle but with a scoop of ice cream for a little bit extra! Knowing me I would plop the creamy vanilla ice cream into the middle of the souffle and let it melt all over it mmm ^^! Potato Pie got a coffee related drink as it was served in the Kangaroo Cup but there was a drizzle of chocolate on top so I was okay with it unlike this guy….

En.elle got pure coffee at a chocolate cafe what a nOOb haha jkjk

Maybe I should shave my head bald… nahhh that way I’ll crave chocolate everytime I look in the mirror haha but is that a bad thing?

Balded Goodness:

Max Brenner – St Ives, Sydney

Max Brenner

Shop 11, East Esplanade, Manly Wharf

Manly, 2095

Ph: (02) 99774931

Opening Hours:

Mon – Thurs 0645- 2200

Fri 0645-2230

Sat 0830-0000

Sun 0830-2230

FFichiban