Momofuku Seiobo, Pyrmont

As an extremely belated birthday present from my dearest younger sister, she treated me to a dinner at the Momofuku bar - what a darling :) Dining at the bar is as easy as 1, 2, 3. There is no need to go through the rumoured frustrating online reservation process. Just stroll right in after 6:30 and you could be eating pork buns in as little as 15 minutes without having to fork out for their degustation menu! I have desperately been wanting to try the pork buns here after really enjoying the ones from Ippudo :D

Our eyes were clearly bigger than our stomachs and we managed to order majority of the menu minus the pickled items. Shame because I really am interested to see what a pickled egg is like!

Pork buns, $15.00

The pork buns come as a serving of two and looked ever so inviting with two pieces of pork belly sandwiched in the middle with cucumber and hoisin sauce. Give a little squeeze from the sriracha bottle depending on how spicy you like it and it was perfect. The pork was so tender! The bun was so soft! It felt like biting into a pillow hehe. The flavour profile is completely different to that of Ippudo, so I really wouldn't compare the two at all.

Confit chicken wings, $16.00

Though the menu said wings, it came as a serve of three mini drumsticks and three wings. The chicken was deliciously succulent and coated in a super flavoursome sauce. Tried to keep it classy by eating these with our chopsticks :P

Spanner crab roll, celery salt chip, $22.00

While the crab brioche roll was nice, I wasn't particularly enamoured with it, instead being incredibly wowed by the celery salt chips on the plate! I would not have picked up on the very subtle celery flavour if it wasn't mentioned on the menu. I only paid careful attention because I was aware of it. That aside, I loved the chips! Thin, crispy, delicate. What's not to like?

Roasted rice cakes, xo, lamb, $17.00

I've had this dish twice now, with my friend ordering it when I came back for a revisit. When I first tried it, the ginger completely overpowered the flavour of the lamb. Was the mince beef? Pork? It was hard to tell, despite trying to get past that ginger hit. There was also a tad too much spice however, I still quite enjoyed this dish. It was quite addictive with the crunch of the outside of the rice cakes giving way to a soft, chewy centre. The balance of flavours on the second time around were spot on though! I enjoyed it much more that time. I'm just a bit surprised at the huge inconsistency in flavour at this high end establishment though.

Fried brussel sprouts, fish sauce vinaigrette, $15.00

I used to hate brussel sprouts but these mini cabbage-like vegetables have grown on me over the years. I generally enjoy them with bacon! However, this version won me over all over again. Slightly tart from the vinegar yet there was a strong salty kick from the fish sauce. Not to mention that crunch you get from the popped rice and the vegetable had slightly crispy outer leaves from being fried. I would've been happy with just this and a bowl of rice.

Top to bottom: bread & butter pudding, pear & almond, pecan danish, caramel au buerre sale, pineapple, caramel banana balsamic, salted butter caramel on toast, popcorn, lychee & coconut, fingerbun

And the sister and I could not resist getting a box of macarons from Zumbo right opposite of Momofuku. Special mention goes to the caramel banana balsamic which stole my heart! I was very wary about this one, despite the store assistant raving about it but boy am I glad we decided to get it after all. There was none of that artificial banana flavour crap, and it melded extremely well with the dot of reduced balsamic glaze in the centre of the macaron. Delicious! All of these were gone much too quickly. They were all way too delicious. I had my heart set on trying out the zonut, but apparently they are all gone by 1pm already :( Better luck next time I suppose.

Momofuku Seiobo
The Star, Level G, 80 Pyrmont Street
Pyrmont, NSW, 2009
http://momofuku.com/sydney/seiobo/

Opening Hours

Lunch
Friday + Saturday

Dinner
Monday - Saturday

Bar
Monday - Saturday: 6:30pm – 10:00pm
Friday + Saturday: 12:00noon – 2:00pm

Masterclass With Miguel Meastre At Sydney Seafood School, Pyrmont

The star of the night

I never thought I'd be one to come face to face with any celebrity chef who I've only ever seen on my TV screen in the comforts of my own home, but that was exactly where I found myself being greeted with warmth and kisses on the cheek by the one and only Miguel Meastre! The Sydney Seafood School hosted a masterclass to give us a taste of what to expect at the upcoming Good Food & Wine Show at the end of June.

The peppers used in the paella

Not long after I accepted a glass of red wine upon arrival, I was approached by fellow food blogger Ms Brulee (you have an uncanny ability to spot food bloggers!) Kelly was so friendly and nice and it was great talking and getting to know her before the show and it's always so much fun meeting new people who like food as much as I do :D

Pouring stock after the rice has been cooked with the sofrito

He was introduced to us as a celebrity with a big personality - he definitely had that! Not only did he show us how to cook but he also entertained us with stories. Miguel explains to us that to cool a good paella, one must use the Spanish rice. Why? Well, when cooking Asian fried noodles, you don't go ahead and use fettuccine! Different noodles are used to cook different dishes so why would rice be any different? Because of the hot Spanish sun, the Spanish rice tends to be drier and needs to absorb more stock to be cooked through. To determine portion size, generally one handful of rice is enough for one unless you have a big appetite ;) Another handy tip was a tip I learnt about garlic - normally one bulb per person. But there are people like me who love garlic so you can always add more!

Miguel demonstrating how to break and clean a blue swimmer crab

The food processor had stopped working from an accident earlier in the night where the stock exploded - yep, that happened. Did not even know stock could explode! Turns out, that killed the electricity on the bench but Miguel didn't let his accidents with the appliances deter him the slightest as he laughed it off after one of the lady helpers scolded him about his "touch of death". Instead he broke the news that he is now an official Australian citizen. He passed the exam with flying colours - a top mark of 95%! A huge congratulations are an order I believe :D Looks like we'll definitely be seeing more of him in the food network in Australia!

Look how happy he is in Australia!

After the demonstration sneak peek into what we were cooking for the night, we all just wanted to hot up the kitchens and cook up a storm! The scent of the paella cooking definitely tantalised our tastebuds of what we were to feast on later that night. We were in groups of four to cook that night and I met another lovely food blogger My Hungry Monster all the way from Thailand! Miguel came around during our escapades on the beaches and stovetops to make sure we were alright with everything and to give us tips for how we would cook it in our home kitchens to get a beautiful soccarrada (that crunchy rice crust that I all know we are looking for). The stock must all be evaporated so you don't get gluggy rice, and remember to move the pan around the heat source so you don't get one area that's burnt!

Ingredients for the paella

Cutting limes

Our kingfish ceviche

So proud of our paella!

We couldn't wait to tuck in after our efforts that night, and it was absolutely divine. All the herbs and spices used elevated the dishes and provided a fantastic kick. It was all washed down with some lovely Semillon from First Creek.

I had a wonderful time meeting Miguel who was extremely sociable, warm and friendly. We all left with a goody bag and tickets to the Good Food & Wine Show which I know for sure I will be checking out this year!

Sherrie @ Crystal Noir attended the evening of culinary delights as a guest of Spark Communications and compliments of Citibank.

BLACK by Ezard, Pyrmont

Oh dear I am quite horrible at this blogging thing. I haven't made a post in far too long! In between working, festive AND new year celebrations, I haven't had a chance to make any posts about the yummy food I've been nomming on! I guess I'll start with the wonderful meal I was taken out to today (thank you!) to celebrate recent happiness.

Upon seating, a complimentary loaf of brioche was brought out. I've seen it being blogged everywhere and everyone mentioned how small and cute it was, but I definitely did not expect it to be as small as it was! It was about the size of a softdrink can! It looked so much bigger in photos... And even in mine, you can't tell how small and cute it really is. But onto the brioche loaf itself, it was so soft and buttery like a croissant but not as sweet. Despite the oil sitting on your fingers, you can't help but lather on some more butter and sprinkling on some volcanic sea salt. Yum. Service was extremely friendly and they asked if we wanted an extra loaf of brioche as soon as they noticed we finished ours. Not wanting to fill up on bread, we shook our heads as we anticipated for the dishes to come!

Grapefruit mocktail, $13.00

We quickly picked out starters and mains and I was surprised at how the the dishes came out in no time at all! I started off with this grapefruit mocktail which had a zing of lime and elderflower which I found very refreshing. I know grapefruit isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I myself really do love this fruit so this mocktail was right up my alleyway!

Organic farm egg, $25.00

I've heard great things about the organic farm egg and it was a dish I was definitely excited to try. I noticed that they've changed it and it no longer has the shavings of black truffle on top. Shame because I really do love truffle. But excluding that, it was like a fancy breakfast. The soft boiled egg with its runny told was encased by a wonderful crisp pastry. Together with the salty prosciutto, the flavoursome potato cream and iberico jamon, I really enjoyed this dish and it was a great start to our dinner!

Oxtail, $27.00

The other starter we chose was the oxtail which had been caramelised so there was a delightful crunchy skin surrounding the tender meat which fell apart when I prodded it with my fork. The biggest surprise was the sichuan peppered enoki, chive and taro salad which was topped with a mushroom soil. I didn't expect it to have such a depth in flavour, which was mostly from the mushroom soil, and the crunchy taro pieces were a welcome surprise!

Handmade potato gnocchi, $29.00

Gnocchi is something I've actually never tried before despite being curious about it for the longest of times. It was chewier than I expected because I've heard it to be described as soft pillow clouds somewhere. Though I'm not complaining about chewiness because I am a fan of chewy Asian desserts (: I was hoping for a stronger spinach flavour in the spinach cream but the parmesan cheese provided enough flavour. Overall a pleasant dish.

Lamb rack, $48.00

Oh my, look at that pink lamb! This definitely outshone the gnocchi. The lamb was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the mustard, herb and black olive crust and the roasted garlic sauce, it was just divine. It paired very well with the creamy Jerusalem artichokes and watercress salad!

Chocolate, $23.00

We ended the night with a rich chocolate dessert. Our waitress poured on the warm ganache as soon as it hit the table! I was upset I didn't get to capture the perfect sphere that was our dessert before the ganache was poured on and melted the ball :( Oh well. The chocolate sphere encased a peanut butter mousse and dulce leche icecream which was okay on their own BUT tasted amazing when all the elements were combined together. This dessert definitely tipped me over the edge into almost food coma territory.

We were all smiles as we left The Star to nurse our full stomachs. Celebratory dinners definitely make happy days.

BLACK by Ezard
80 Pyrmont St
Sydney, NSW, 2009
9657 9109

Opening Hours
Lunch Wednesday - Friday: 12:00 - 3:00pm
Dinner Tuesday - Sunday: 5:30 - 11:00pm

Zumbaron Day 2012

It's that time of year again! Once called Macaron Day, it has now been given an update and is officially "Zumbaron Day".

Deep-fried macarons, $5.00 each

Left to right: pork pelly, hamburger, duck pancake, fried chicken, custard fritters, fried doughnut

Pork Belly: It was like a char siu bun! Except with a macaron that had a slice of char siu sandwiched in the middle.
Hamburger: This was surprisingly interesting with a piece of "meat" in the middle. I liked it!
Duck Pancake: Oh my god, this was awesome! It had a wrapping of pancake on the outside and there was actual duck meat inside! My sister said she saw ducks hanging up in the Zumbo store for these macarons that were made to order. It tasted exactly like a duck pancake, down to the hoisin sauce!
Fried Chicken: THE BATTER ON THE OUTSIDE WAS SO GOOD AND CRUNCHY. I didn't expect it to taste that great, but it really was!
Custard Fritters: Yum.
Fried Doughnut: Had a dollop of jam in the middle that made it like a deep-fried jam doughnut!

They've upped the anti with their packaging this year! These macarons were $2.50 each.

Left to right: 2 x toasted marshmallow, salted butter popcorn, rice pudding, pecan danish, pear pistachio & fennel, peanut caramel, palm sugar & coconut, olive oil & salted truffle, cola, choc marshmallow pop, carrot cake

Vanilla vavoom, $2.50

Very vanilla-y.

Choc marshmallow pop, $2.50

It's a macaron on a stick! Ah, so entertained by novelty objects.

Well these macarons are going to last me through the weekend so that I can survive the allnighters I'm going to have to pull to get my studio project finished by Monday when I have my presentation that is worth FIFTY PERCENT.

Time for a sugar high! Go ahead and Zumbaron your day :D

Happy weekend everyone xx

Menya Oiden, CBD

After a gruelling day after work and then uni, I met up with the boy for some dinner. To be honest, my appetite still wasn't feeling its best after my hayfever attack yesterday but I decided I ought to eat anyway. And Menya Oiden seemed the best idea for that as they have the choice for some small portions! I love the cafeteria feel of the joint where you order your dish, decide whether you want to add on any side dishes and move along to the end where you pay for everything. We got there very early at 5 and so dinner queues hadn't started yet, thank god!

Mini Oiden Curry, $2.90 with extra ontama (half boiled egg) $1.00

This tasted great! And I actually thought the serving size was perfect. It was enough so that I wouldn't feel hungry but left me with stomach space to eat dessert if I wanted to! Which is, lets face it, quite often ;) And so cheap! The egg was also boiled to a perfect googiness which I really enjoyed as well.

Mini teriyaki chicken salad, $3.60

The boy got a salad as a snack as he had just eaten before he left uni to meet up with me. The chicken was good but I thought it would've been nicer if it was served warm.

Seaweed salad, $0.90

And Japanese seaweed salad is always good. And for 90c, why not?

Clockwise from left to right to bottom: Creme brulee, Coconut and swiss chocolate, Maple walnut all for $6.95!

I had a coupon for Movenpick icecream where I could get 3 scoops of icecream for the price of 2 scoops! I really loved all the flavours we got. The coconut and swiss chocolate had crispy coconut flakes scattered throughout, adding that lovely extra crunch. And they didn't skimp on the walnuts in the maple walnut either! There was even the crunch of toffee in the creme brulee. Yum.

Left to right: Salted butter popcorn, salted butter caramel, custard crunch, chocolate donut

And since we were in Darling Harbour anyway, why not make that extra little trip to The Star for some macarons? The chocolate donut was a real surprise I did not expect to like as much as I did! It had a delicious cinnamon ganache sandwiched between the chocolate shells that were scattered with cinnamon sugar. And the salted butter popcorn is a flavour I go back for again and again. So good.

High tea, Zumborons & Batman!

Today was my first experience of high tea! With me, I had my wonderful workmates A, D and J and it was the last time we could talk to J before she leaves for the USA for exchange this semester - how exciting! I am incredibly jealous because she gets to go to America. What a lucky ducky.

J confirmed our booking and we were lead inside to our table with comfy plush seats! I was instantly wowed by the decor in the Tea Room on the Northern side of QVB. The high ceilings, chandeliers and flora wallpaper created such a sophisticated atmosphere. We had all decided on traditional high tea ($39 per person during weekdays) with pots of Vanilla, Milma Gold and Green Dragon tea. D said she was going to be an hour late as she had to run a few errands for her mum and encouraged us to order first.

I love the classic floral chinaware! Our tea had arrived first and we all tried each other's orders. The Milma Gold was described to be spicily fruity but we all agreed that it lacked any aroma at all and didn't have any of these elements at all! We were quite disappointed that it tasted like the black teas you can buy in bags at the supermarket. The vanilla tea however, but wonderfully aromatic. The Green Dragon was also a favourite as it was a light and refreshing green tea.

Our high tea stand!

Scones, spinach & cheese pastries

The scones were served on a separate plate and arrived warm. We started with the spinach and cheese pastries which were really good with nice, flaky, buttery pastry! The absolute real winner here were the scones though. The outside was nice and crispy with a deliciously fluffy inside. Of course, we topped them with lots of cream and jam ;) Check out the monster scone in the background!

Egg, cucumber & beef sandwiches, savoury custard tarts

I don't know what it is, but there's just something decadent about eating sandwiches with the crusts cut off for you! I enjoyed all the sandwiches but the beef one had to be my favourite. Egg sandwiches are always good and it's pretty hard to mess one up haha. I couldn't particularly tell what the tarts were made of - they were creamy, yet slightly eggy at the same time. A bit hard to discern, but it tasted nice and was gone in a bite! The base goes soggy quite quickly so I would suggest eating these first.

Fruit tarts, opera cakes

I really enjoyed the opera cake! It tasted like a creamy tiramisu and was gone much too quickly. The fruit tart was also nice, the sweet fruit and cream giving way to a buttery shell.

Raspberry macarons, passionfruit melting moments, lemon meringue tarts, mini lemon cupcakes

A favourite on this stand would have to be the mini lemon cupcakes! The cake itself was really flavoursome and moist.

Service was a tad slow, but we had several refills in our pots throughout the afternoon without having to ask. The company however, made up for this and it ended up being a lovely afternoon which went by much too quickly. As we were leaving, we realised we had been sitting and chatting for 4 hours! Oh how time flies by when you are enjoying so many lovely sweets with delightful company ;)

I met up with the boy after I said my goodbyes to the girls and he had a late lunch/extremely early dinner at Pepper Lunch (happy hour from 2-6pm!) before we headed off to The Star. I had some macarons to buy!

I was very disappointed with service there. The girl that served me looked like she didn't want to be there and was blatantly very rude. My sister had wanted some popcorn macarons so I asked whether they had any as I saw some on the storage shelves next to the counter. She cut me off saying they had nothing except for what was in the counter. So I picked out from what was there and left.

From left to right: 2 salted butter caramel, custard crunch, malted milk, peach ice tea, mandarin & yogurt

The first one I tried had been the mandarin and yogurt one and it had gone extremely soggy. To the point that it had almost falled apart when I tried picking it up. And it didn't taste absolutely stunning either as all I could taste was tangerine and absolutely nothing from the yogurt - no tang whatsoever. So I would not recommend getting this one. I've gotten salted caramel and peach ice tea before, so they are always winners. The unexpected surprise was the custard crunch! It had a wonderful creaminess and a little piece of crunchy biscuit in the middle. The malted milk one was nice, but nothing spectacular.

Charlotte, $9.00

INNARDS!! From bottom up: coconut sable, soft coconut sponge, pineapple compote, pineapple cremeaux, toasted white chocolate & pepper mousse, toasted white chocolate

I enjoyed this cake and I could actually taste the pepper! At first, I was like hm what's the flavour that seems so familiar yet I can't place? And then I figured that it was pepper!! Don't worry, it's not like eating a spoonful of pepper, it only gives a slight kick. The cake was pretty yummy overall, though the V8 and coconut mille fuille still holds a higher place in my heart.

Number 2, salted caramel & white chocolate, $5.50 for 2 scoops

We also made a pit stop at Gelato Messina with their tempting gelato displays! It was raining and we did not want to venture outside into the wind and cold and decided to buy some gelato instead. At first I was like why is it called Number 2? But I decided to question it not after I tasted it. Peanut butter gelato, chocolate brownie bits and dulce de leche all in one scoop? I died in a little pool of deliciousness. It was so good. And salted caramel was good, but it couldn't hold a flame next to Mr Number 2. I must go back to eat more of you!

Even after we finished our gelato, it was still dismal outside. But we had to go out to catch our bus as we had a movie date with several other friends at Burwood to watch Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. The cinemas were pretty packed despite being quite a late session. I had my doubts about Anne Hathaway being Catwoman but she was actually really good! I really enjoyed the movie, it was incredibly epic. I shall not write about any more in fear of spoiling it for everyone else!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

xx