Jones The Grocer 2, Sydney CBD

Don't think that I had begun neglecting my blog did we, dear readers? But the end of assessments mean I can finally update again (more like catch up on what I've been eating during my absence!). After loving Jones the Grocer so much the last time I dined there (that sticky date pudding gives me all sorts of heart palpatations every time I think about it), I was ecstatic at the opportunity to try out their new winter menu thanks to Ashley Hucker from Jones The Grocer.

L to R: Blood orange & cardamon cordial; pear & blueberry cordial, $5.50 each

We may have been given the same drink as they both looked at tasted of blueberry to me. Regardless, a wonderfully sweet and refreshing start to our meal.

Lamb cutlets, $28.00

The lamb cutlets were a beautiful blushing pink when cut. Though a tad underseasoned by itself, the eggplant relish provided a wonderful acidity that gave it that extra punch when eaten together.

Mushroom conchiglie, $17.00

You'll see me running when I hear the word mushroom, cream and pasta all in one sentence. So it was a given that we ordered the mushroom conchiglie. Creamy pasta with plenty of meaty mushroom pieces hidden beneath all that sauce is what you call a perfect pasta to sauce ratio. A sprinkling of young celery leaves and both my sister and I were all smiles.

Wedges, $8.00

These wedges were by far the crispiest wedges I've ever had. They must have been triple fried to achieve that level of crispiness!

Panna cotta, $10.00

And who ever says no to dessert? We couldn't help but giggle at the wobbliness of the panna cotta. But that's what a perfect panna cotta does, isn't it? I was glad the lemon verbena wasn't overpowering but it was strong enough to give the panna cotta that wow factor. The strawberries were doused ever so lightly in a rose syrup as well so the entire dessert was super fragrant and reminded me of flowers and spring time.

Creme brulee, $10.00

Boy am I glad I had the panna cotta first. Whilst I loved the first dessert, this one blew me away. We held our breaths before the first moment the spoon touched the blow torched sugar on top and were very satisfied with the solid crack we heard. The custard underneath was utterly beautiful and the rhubarb added an extra tang that made it almost reminiscent of yogurt - which we absolutely adored.

Our waitress, Maisy, for the evening was absolutely darling. You can't help but love her friendliness and bubbliness - it's contagious! Whilst I was very happy with the dinner menu, it's the breakfast menu I'm dying to try out. Breakfast risotto anyone?

Crystal Noir dined as a guest of Jones The Grocer courtesy of Ashley Hucker. Opinions however, are completely her own.

Jones The Grocer
Cnr Castlereagh & Market Streets
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Level 5 Westfield Sydney

Opening Hours
Monday - Saturday: 8:00am - late
Sunday: 8:00am - 7:00pm

Uccello, Wynyard

Sorry for the silence lately, dear readers. From starting my masters and getting used to working at an actual architect firm, I've neglected things on the blogging front! But after finishing one of my assessment presentations and graduating from my bachelor degree, I decided to celebrate in the way I love best. Of course my friends and I were going to eat :P I'm so thankful for Casanova, McMini and Chef Meathead for coming out to my graduation - I know the ceremonies may not be the most fun of things but from the sincere bottom of my heart, I really appreciate your presence!

We headed over to Uccello afterwards for dinner with hungry stomachs to try the newly introduced "First In Best Dressed" menu by head chef, David Lovett, which draws upon his favourite rustic Italian dishes. Who can say no to Italian food? :D

Complimentary bread

The First In Best Dressed is only on weeknights and you must be seated between 6-7pm but it's insanely good value. $45 for two courses or $55 for three. $10 extra for another course? You bet we are all going to pick that option.

Cured meats, soft cheese, sourdough

We started our antipasti with a selection of cured meats, cheese and sourdough - always a winner. The board we were presented with came with both  chorizo, nduja, prosciutto, salami and goats cheese! It was my first time eating nduja and boy was that good.

Raw red prawns, parsley, lemon, olive oil

Casanova wanted a big entree the size of Chef Meathead's cured meats board so you can imagine his disappointment when this serving size came out haha! Normally I'm not a fan of prawn so I was especially apprehensive about raw prawn but this really surprised me! The prawns were so soft and the the flavour and it was just an incredibly delicate dish.

Kingfish crudo, marjoram, pink pepper, lemon

I love how light the cured kingfish was - it's always so refreshing on the palette.

Buffalo mozzarella, peach, San Daniele prosciutto

Oops forgot to take a photo of this one! Luckily one of my friends did :) Since peaches are out of season, they told me that they would replace the fruit with figs which was fine by me. Creaminess from the mozzarella, saltiness form the prosciutto, and sweetness from the figs all make for an example of letting good produce shine on their own.

Char grilled sardines, lemon, chilli, parsley

The flavour they managed to pack into the sardines blew my mind. I loved the saltiness of the dish which really contrasted with the delicate ceviche style dishes earlier. I know you can eat the bones in the sardine but I would've much rathered not as it wasn't entirely soft. But that was a minor dent in what was a pretty damn tasty sardine.

'Risotto Milanese’ saffron and bone marrow risotto

Kicking on to our primi course, how could I resist the classic risotto Milanese? Mixing in the bone marrow added that extra dimension of richness that really tied everything together. There was just a tad graininess left to the rice so if the risotto was cooked just a tiny bit longer, it would've been perfection.

Rigatoni, pork sausage, broccoli, ricotta

The rigatoni was also something I didn't expect to be as good as it was. If all broccoli tasted this good, I would have no qualms eating it on a daily basis! When I took a bite of the broccoli, there was a real hit of basil and we all know how much I love my fresh herbs :D

Pappardelle, wild rabbit, pancetta, rosemary, parmesan

The parppardelle was made much wider than I'm used to but that really doesn't affect anything. Rabbit is only something I've had once before and I can happily say that the game meat was scattered in wonderful tender chunks in a tomato based pasta sauce.

‘Stinco di maiale’ roast pork shin, fennel, bay, potato

I expected the dishes of the second piatti to the be the smallest but I was definitely wrong! The waiter brings this out to me and laughs a little.

"I hope you're hungry!" he says.

My eyes popped out at how large the serving was. It was the entire pork shin! At this stage I was beyond full. But power on for the food! What I absolutely adored was the fennel. It was so soft and was just holding its form together. Just the way I like my fennel cooked! I'm glad the pork was left on the bone - the flavour is always better that way!

Roast blue eye, fennel, orange, olive, strega

When fish is cooked this well, I really want to clap my hands in glee. It was so moist! With a a simple squeeze of lemon atop the fish, it was all thumbs up.

Trippa alla Romana, beef tripe, guanciale, tomato, mint, oregano, pecorino

A lot of people aren't into offal, but for those of you who are - get this dish! There was plenty of awesome sauce left over to be wiped up with the bread on offer :P

Spring lamb shoulder, caponata, pine nuts, mint

Lamb shoulder is such a gorgeous cut of meat because of all the fat on it so it's barely a dish where you go "Oh dear, the meat is far too dry". Tender to the point of falling apart, there was little to fault with how it was cooked. Eaten with the caponata, it really made this dish sing.

I don't think we could have fitted in dessert no matter how hard we tried. Despite it being a Friday night and located next to the Pool Club, it was surprisingly not too loud. But that may have possibly been because it was raining that night :P For only $55, the meal was very good value especially with the large serving sizes. Uccello provided both quality and quantity tonight and left us rolling out the door in a food coma-esque state!

Uccello
Level 4, 320 George St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours

Lunch
Monday - Friday: 12:00 – 3:00pm

Dinner
Monday to Saturday 6:00 – 10:30pm

Felix Bistro & Bar, Wynyard

Merivale currently has meal deals for $33 as part of their March into Merivale celebration so yes to cheaper meal deals :D McMini, M and I were seated outside for our girls date so thank goodness there weren't big gushes of wind that night! We ended up ordering from the normal menu and not the meal deal menu.

Complimentary bread and butter

Slather on that butter! Choice of sourdough, multigrain or rye with butter - how can you go wrong? The pick of the three had to be the sourdough with the lovely crust.

Twice baked Gruyere soufflé with onion puree, rocket and walnut, $20.00

Souffle is not something I've had before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was so fluffy! The souffle by itself was nice, but it was lacking a little something which I found the onion puree made up for. The two together really gave us a delicious start.

Slow cooked, herb crusted lamb shoulder with  slow roast tomatoes and rosemary jus, $33.00 (for one)

The flavour that was encrusted in just the herb crust itself was delicious. The lamb shoulder itself was beautifully soft and tender as all soft-cooked lamb should be. Just a tad underseasoned but overall, incredibly tasty.

Confit duck leg, frisee, lentil and green bean salad, lyonnaise sauce, $33.00

How can I ever say no to confit duck? M offered us both to try some of her confit duck and it was divine. Just as good as the one I had at Le Pub :) I loved the subtle sweetness from the lyonnaise sauce.

Roast cauliflower, spring onion, mint and marinated goat's cheese, $10.00

We also got a side of roast cauliflower because you know, veggies! I do love cauliflower though - the insides were so soft. And with pomegranates and marinated goat's cheese, it's hard to dislike the sweet, tangy, salty and herby flavours. Always a fan of the addition of spring onion.

Looking back, we ordered some solid winter comfort food in the dead midst of summer... Didn't regret ordering any of those, because they were all delicious! Who says you have to eat according to the weather? :P

Felix Bistro and Bar
2 Ash St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours 
Lunch
Monday to Friday: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Dinner
Monday to Saturday: 5:30pm – 10:30pm
Sunday: 5:30pm - 9.30pm

Janus, Sydney CBD

One of Westfield Sydney's positive attributes would have to be their choice of eats in their food court. There's so much more than your standard fast food joints on offer. For those of you who don't like the hustle and bustle environment of food courts, you can even venture up to level 6 where they have Xanthi Restaurant, Chat Thai, Chinta Ria, Sky Phoenix, Max Brenner, and Janus, where I made a particular visit this time around with Miss Dentist-In-Training and my other friend E.

Thornclarke pinot gris, $38.00

This was an occassion of celebration, so we decided to order a bottle of wine. Hailing from South Australia, with its flavours of Nashi pears and apple puree, this white wine finished on a clean and crisp note. Can't say I know too much about wines, but this one wasn't bad.

Spicy chorizo, $20.00

Couldn't resist ordering a pizza with chorizo on it. They were quite generous with the chorizo pieces, and bits of fennel, rocket and capsicum added a punch of flavour that made this pizza quite delicious.

Pumpkin, haloumi & pinenut salad, $15.00

I was looking forward to the lemon and oregano vinaigrette that would dress this salad but unfortunately we didn't get any of that. Instead, we got a very oily dressing that didn't have much flavour and only added grease to the palette. Much like when you forget to shake those Praise salad dressings you can buy at the supermarket before you drizzle it onto your salad. The saving grace of the plate was the roasted vegetables themselves - butternut pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, eggplant and zucchini. I quite enjoyed eating them with the saltiness of the grilled haloumi.

Pappardelle al ragu di agnello e pecorino sardo, $18.00 for entree size

It sounded so promising with its slow cooked lamb shoulder ragu and pecorino sardo. When I see slow cooked lamb on the menu, I'm expecting a meat that's extremely tender, with the flavours infused right in from all that time that's spent cooking. What we got instead was quite a bland pasta dish, where the pasta was a tad slimy and the lamb itself was quite stringy. And where, may I ask, is the pecorino?

Choc-nut fudge brownie, $5.80

We decided we needed a little bit of a pick me up after that mediocre-at-best lunch, so we headed next door to indulge in a piece of intensely rich fudgey brownie. That chocolate sauce cheered us right up!

So do let me know, do you try to save the day after a not so awesome meal by treating yourself to a little something extra afterwards?

Janus
L6 Westfield Sydney
188 Pitt Street
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 11:00am - 9:00pm (closed from 3:00 - 5:00pm)
Saturday - Sunday: 11:00am - 9:00pm

Christmas Day Menu @ Watsons Bay Hotel, Watsons Bay

Happy New Year, dear readers! Sorry I haven't been blogging as of late - I've been busy, busy during this festive season! I hope you've managed to keep your resolutions now that we are just a tad under a week into 2014 :) I would like to start off the year with my biggest meal at the end of 2013 and probably most expensive at a whopping $250 per person so I would really like to thank my oldest friend M for bringing me as a guest. We were offered Moet champagne upon arrival so here's to us and over ten years of friendship!

Seeded bread with butter

Seafood platter

When our initial seafood platter arrived, I was already thinking about how the hell was I going to have enough stomach space for mains, dessert and post-dessert? Was it even going to be physically possible? Just look at all those prawns, oysters, mud crab and Moreton Bay bugs along with thousand island style dipping sauce. Fresh seafood always goes down well.

Whiskey a& honey glazed Kurabuta organic ham with cinnamon roasted peaches

And now the real meal starts. When I looked at the menu, I thought to myself: "how good could ham possibly be?" But damn this was good ham. Especially paired with those peaches. I've always had pork and apple together but peaches were completely out of the equation until now. It actually worked together!

L to R: BBQ split Yamba prawns with garlic, chilli & lemon / Roasted whole snapper with heirloom cherry tomatoes, olives & basil

The snapper was also a sight to behold. Steamed whole with olives on top, the juices of the olives flowed into the knife scores along the fish and really was beautiful. Whilst I am normally not a fan of olives, I found the flavour cooked into the fish wasn't quite as strong and it was actually very enjoyable to eat. There was some some acidic balance from our side of shaved fennel, radish and orange salad.

Slow cooked lamb shoulder with quinoa, pumpkin & pomegranates

However, this was the star of the mains. The whole lamb shoulder was cooked to tender perfection and the yogurt dressing with pomegranate pieces completed the dish. We had a side of maple roasted sweet potato and candied pecans. I kept coming back for the candied pecans - so sweetly addictive! And the sweet potatoes too because I'm a sucker for roasted sweet potatoes.

Mango and berries pavlova with mascarpone cream

And if all that food wasn't enough. There was still dessert. I love a good pavlova and I loved this tropical rendition with mango, passionfruit and mascarpone cream. I do wish the pavlova was less dry and more fluffy inside - though that didn't stop us from finishing it all!

Chef's selection of cheeses

I thought the pavlova was the final course but I completely forgot about crackers and cheese. Oh dear. Stomach space please grow so I can fit more food inside you. We tried a miniscule amount of the blue vein cheese before deciding that our tastebuds still haven't quite grown accustomed to the strong flavour and so we stuck with the brie and cheddar. Amazing cheeses! And to eat with the cheese, we had some sweet, juicy grapes.

We were much too full to even contemplate trying to squeeze in a coffee. It did smell amazing though! I don't think there were even any crevices left for the liquid to seep through within our stomachs. But I was already so pleased with my meal I couldn't even complain about not fitting in coffee!

I hope all of you had equally as large feasts on Christmas Day along with beautiful company just like who I had.

Watsons Bay Hotel
1 Military Rd
Sydney, NSW, 2030

Opening Hours
Monday – Saturday: 10:00am – 12:00am
Sunday: 10:00am – 10:00pm

Breakfast
Monday – Sunday: 7:00am – 10:00am

Lunch & Dinner
Monday – Friday: 11:30am – late
Saturday & Sunday: 11:00am – 4:00pm / 5:00pm – late

Le Pub, Wynyard

Despite all the restaurants that I've been to on my adventures in finding delicious food, a cuisine that I hadn't tried yet was French. Ooh la la! Definitely excited to eat some snails. My friends and I were meeting for dinner to say goodbye to Ms Dentist-In-Training for 6 months as she flies back to Queensland for her teeth studies. I had just come back to Sydney from a road trip on the Central Coast, so it was a big blurring rush of dumping my luggage, showering, and running out of the house! Somehow, I still managed to get there first :P

Escargots de Bourgogne, $15.00

Snails!! I remember when I was younger and we were in China, it was the first time I had ever seen snails eaten as food. I looked at him with wide eyes and shook my head adamantly when my dad asked me whether I wanted to try it. Ten years later, I'd like to think I've matured and am generally open to trying new things. So here's to escargot! It really reminded me of mushrooms in terms of taste actually. The sauce was really good especially when dipped with the crusty bread. Could've gone for a more intense garlic hit, but I really love love love my garlic strong :P

Collet D'Agneau, $26.00

Ms Dentist-In-Training went for the lamb neck with a quinoa and herb crumb, cauliflower puree, shaved cauliflower and pea salad. The lamb was cooked to a perfectly medium rare and everything worked wonderfully together. And despite hating cauliflower, Ms Dentist-In-Training really loved the cauliflower puree to her surprise! Those peas have been freeze-dried I think.

Confit de Canard, $26.00

I couldn't go past the confit duck! I'm a sucker for roasted beetroot and I love carrots so this definitely caught my eye as soon as I saw it on the menu. The duck was incredibly soft from the confit process and fell off the bone with just a soft prod of my fork. Paired with the carrot puree, it gave the game meat that subtle sweetness and I was one happy duck eating this indeed.

Say hello to my friends who happily ate their coq au vin and steaks! Le Pub also gives fancy water with a slice of lemon in it :)

I found the meal to be extremely good value for the quality of food that we received and would happily go back to sample more items from their menu! Very happy first French dining experience :)

Le Pub
Basement, 66 King St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Stair entrances from both King St & York St
www.lepub.com.au

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 10:00am - 12:00am
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00am - 3:00am