Cafe Birkenhead, Birkehead Point

It has been a while, dear readers! I have found life is really catching up to me and things have been non-stop busy, busy, busy. In between the midst of working, uni and just trying to get things sorted in general, I managed to catch up with one of my good friends from my old work place I haven't seen for a while. Our weekly chats have been missed sorely! And what better way than to catch up over lunch with a great view and then some shopping?

L to R: energy booster, $6.50 / strawberry daze, $9.00

We started off with some beautifully girly drinks. Are you all digging the lovely hues of pink? We certainly were much too enamoured by the prettiness of it all. The energy booster sounded super fresh with watermelon and mint and tasted exactly so. A question I now pose to you is: when is it not time for a cocktail? When the mocktails sound enticingly zingy of course! Fresh strawberries muddled with lime juice and soda water? Yes, please.

Duck sausage risotto, $22.95

Yep, you guessed it. My eyes zoned in on the truffle oil (and mushrooms!) and I just absolutely had to get this. Whilst lacking in that punch of truffle I was looking for, the flavour of the duck sausage made up for it. Normally I do love my risottos a touch creamy, but this was definitely a bit on the heavy side for me.

Salmon fillet, $29.95

The salmon was the pick of the two, cooked to a beautiful medium rare as ordered. It really didn't need anything extra other than the salt and pepper it was seasoned with. Quinoa is a grain that does do much better with extra sauces and herbs, so it could've been doused lightly with some kind of dressing, but the asparagus, corn, tomato and feta were a welcome addition to the overall dish.

Perhaps I will forgo food next time and instead go for a cup of coffee (or mocktail!) to kick back with in the arvo after shopping gets tiring. And it normally does! Will have to give the coffee a go next time :)

Cafe Birkenhead
46 Roseby St  
Drummoyne, NSW, 2047
 
Crystal Noir and friend dined at Cafe Birkenhead courtesy of Carly Lund. Opinions however, are entirely her own.

Blackbird Cafe 2, Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour is the place to go when you're searching for a good view to impress whilst having your meal. So if the food doesn't impress, at least the waterfront will right? That being said, I enjoyed my meal at Blackbird Cafe significantly more than I thought I would last time - the salad really was a surprise of the good kind. My visit this time however, was of a different sort. The TGIF sort. I was kindly invited by Carly from Blackbird Cafe to sample their new cocktail menu designed by their in house mixologist, Mirko, who has spent ten years mixing drinks all over the place from Italy to Miami and even across North America. Looks like Blackbird has landed quite the Italian catch.

Clockwise from back: Sweet Emotion ; Apple Lychee Martini ; Oreo Crunch, $17.00 each

These cocktails were so incredibly yet dangerously drinkable!

With peach vodka and schnapps, passionfruit passoa, paraiso and lemon sour topped with lift and blue curacao, I really felt like it deserved an umbrella. It's the kind of drink you feel like you ought to be drinking in the Caribbeans whilst getting your tan on.

Introducing paraiso and apple schnapps gives your traditional martini a sweet fruity twist. I say the lychee flavour from the paraiso is a winning addition here.

But my favourite of the trio would have to be the Oreo Crunch. You wouldn't even know it were a cocktail if nobody told you because it really felt like I was having an awesome Oreo thickshake! This concoction of kahlua, baileys, frangelico, oreos, honey, sugar syrup and icecream seriously made us all feel like we were having a liquid dessert. Super delicious.

Onto proper food now, shall we?

Gnocchi, $26.90

Couldn't resist how lovely a simple gnocchi sounded with buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and cherry tomatoes. The tomato based sauce itself needed a bit more of an extra little something but I loved the parts where I managed to get some glorious melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese. And there's always something very addicting about the texture of pan-fried gnocchi.

Lamb and champagne risotto, $28.90

Risotto always holds a special place in my heart and this one sounded very alluring with its inclusion of enoki mushrooms and pumpkin. It didn't quite hit the mark seasoning wise though. It could've packed a great punch if the flavours were infused into the risotto itself. Overall, a pleasant dish, but the wow risottos would have to go to Uccello and Jones The Grocer who've definitely set high benchmarks.

We were also rewarded with front row seats to a giant fireworks extravaganza from Blackbird's balcony. So do keep that in mind whether you find fireworks too loud or are looking to impress - it goes either way! Plus there is a lot of options on the cocktail menu for everyone to have a great Friday night :P

Crystal Noir sampled cocktails courtesy of Carly Lund of Blackbird Cafe, but opinions are entirely her own. The meal was independently paid for.

Blackbird Cafe
Harbour St, Balcony Level of Cockle Bay Wharf
Sydney, NSW, 2000

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

Jones The Grocer, Sydney CBD

The following day after I came back from my trip to Korea, I caught up with one of my friends at Jones the Grocer inside Westfield Sydney, which currently resides where Justin North's Becasse used to be. I've always walked past this restaurant that sits in the corner of the food court, but have never ventured inside until now.

Pear & blueberry cordial, $5.00

For drinks to start off with, our super friendly waitress recommended the pear and blueberry cordial as a personal favourite, and I decided to take it with sparkling water. The bubbles made it taste like a softdrink! It was sweet and really quite lovely.

Mixed board for sharing, $45.00

Our eyes zoned in on this as soon as we read it on the menu. We were warned that it really was quite huge and is normally shared between two people as an entire meal! That didn't deter us though because cured meats and cheese is a combination that's just meant to be. It really was spectacular when it hit the table simply because of the sheer size. There was proscuitto, fennel and garlic salami, wagyu bresaola, mild chorizo on the meat platter and I really loved it together with the marinated goat's cheese and bread which is all house-baked. The marinated mushrooms were also surprisingly tasty and mildly sweet to counteract the saltiness of the meats.

Soft herb risotto with fresh asparagus, taleggio & black truffle oil, $19.00

I'm a huge risotto fan when it's done well and I loved, loved, loved this one! It took me on a rollercoaster of flavours from the hit of truffle when you first take a spoonful of the rice, which slowly dissolves into something wonderfully creamy and cheesy. Yet it didn't feel heavy at all because the final flavour which lingers on the palette is the freshness of the herbs and asparagus. Definitely could not get enough of this one!

Angel hair pasta with blue swimmer crab, chilli, rocket, garlic & grand padano, $22.00

The angel hair pasta pales in comparison to the risotto. Get this if you're a fan of crab! I personally kept going back for the risotto because the flavour intensity was much stronger ;)

Warm sticky date pudding with salted caramel sauce & vanilla bean ice-cream, $12.00

At this point, both of us were stuffed. And guiltily staring out the window at the gym across Pitt St Mall right in our line of sights. But we were encouraged to get dessert because the sticky date pudding is apparently to die for! And boy were they right. Just look at the pool of salted caramel it's sitting in! It was so rich and moist and amazing of all sorts... We polished it all off despite mentioning we were full beyond relief just 10 minutes prior hehe.

Young coconut rice pudding with mango & almond crunch, $12.00

The other dessert we ordered was the young coconut rice pudding which was nowhere near as rich as I expected it to be because young coconut juice is used instead of the heavier version of coconut milk. The rice still retained a bit of bite - thank goodness it wasn't overcooked like the mushes some rice puddings turn out to be. I very much felt like I was eating a Thai dessert!

They nicely offered to pack away our antipasti boards to takeaway as we could not finish it no matter how hard we tried - there's only so much two Asian girls can eat! But I know I will be back to try the dinner menu as the beef rib is tempting me :P Along with many other things! And situated so conveniently in the city, how can you not make a stop by?

Crystal Noir and friend dined as a guest of Jones The Grocer thanks to Jessie Hargreaves of Cav Con

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