The Book Kitchen

To set the scene, it was a work leaving do. There were 14 of us and it was on Friday night, one of those crazily hot days in Sydney at the moment. There is no air conditioning, only a fan pointed at us. Yes, we left it to the last minute to book a table for a dinner in Surry Hills and I wanted to book somewhere that I hadn't been yet. I didn't want it to be too pricey and it needed to be "Modern Australian" (whatever that means?) to make everyone happy. They rang me a few times to ensure that we weren't going to bring any bottles of alcohol (as there's apparently no byo for groups over 8) and there was going to be a 10% surcharge for our group booking. With not many options available, and with The Book Kitchen's good reviews that I had read, we didn't mind these conditions. I figured that they must be really busy.

We got there on time for our 7.30pm booking to find the rest of the place deserted. In the whole time we were there (till quite late) there was only 1 other table of 2, who ate a quick meal. Without our group booking the place would have been empty all night, bar 2 people. I would have thought that rather than place so many conditions on our booking they would have been happy to have us. It ended up being $100 a head. Not quite a cheap meal. Yes, there was wine involved. Which just kept on coming, although I'm not really sure if we asked it to. I didn't fill up my glass once and have no idea how many times it was refilled. Yes, the food was good. Yes, entrees, mains and dessert were included. But $100 a head just seemed like too much. The 10% surcharge is what pushed it over the edge into very pricey territory. We had a good time there, don't get me wrong (despite it being sticky and boiling hot in there). Maybe it's because I was quite excited by the images that I had seen before of diners being surrounded by cooking/ foodie books (which of course I had a look through), which weren't near our table.

The waiter suggested Selection of bread with olives and spiced walnuts ($6) and we agreed. I think 2 of these were placed on our table. Some on the table loved the spiced walnuts, however, I thought they were just a bit strange. Being a non- bread lover at the start of meals (waste of food points quite frankly) I thought that the bread was fine. Next up we had quite a few people order the Slow roasted pork belly, apple, cranberry & sage relish, crumbed feta & walnuts ($17), ravioli and a few other bits and pieces. My ravioli was bit too buttery, with some of the sauce actually tasting like pure butter, however, it was quite tasty.

For the main I shared half of the duck and the Seared farmed Barramundi with vongole, Chinese broccoli & a seafood velouté ($30). I found the duck to be a little dry and the barramundi was a little bland for my liking. Yes, you could tell that all of the ingredients were fresh, thought had gone into the meal, but maybe it was the size of the group? Does the quality of your food decrease withe the size of your group? Although we all know that it shouldn't, I wasn't so convinced. The white asparagus was a nice touch to the barramundi dish and all meals were nicely plated. I've heard people rave abut this place, but maybe it's more of a lazy brunch venue.

For dessert I had the Affogato: vanilla ice cream, coffee and Frangelico or Amaretto ($12), which was a nice way to finish off my meal (and to cool down). It was time for a farewell song to be song and photos and lots of hugs goodbye. We'll all miss you at work Mrs soon to be a mum!

The boy and I decided to stop for a quick drink at Mille Vini's on the way home. I've never been here before and it was a great place for a quick glass of cold wine facing Crown Street at the bar area to do some late night people watching. I like the bottles of wine reaching up to the ceiling, the strange cut out in the wall to expose the raw bricks beneath. It's a cozy place and I'll need to head back here to try out the menu.

 

(All photos to come soon!!)

Dugustation at Tokonoma

We walk through a curtained doorway into the honey coloured curved, sleek wood interior that is Tokonoma, situated next door to Toko. There is soft lighting and Reni Jung's shimmering 11-metre sculpture, Water, featuring 500,000 lentils set in resin. We are seated in an intimate booth beside this artwork (which we're pretty sure kept on making an electronic beeping noise... strange), on the other side of the bar. Architect Matt Darwon has done an an amazing job, which you realise in full on a trip to the bathroom. You can easily forget that there are other diners in the restaurant from our very roomy booth table.

It's only after we're seated that we notice the bottles of liquid lit up from underneath. It's not until after that I realise that these are bottles of Tokonoma's signature house-infused beverages, or “shochu." To be perfectly honest, I didn't realise that Tokonoma Shochu Bar and Lounge is Tokonoma's full name. And the levels of lighting in there are so low, that I couldn't really read the drinks menu to pick up on this. We had a bottle of wine included in the Team Spreets voucher that I had bought for my friend's birthday and we decided to take it easy on the alcohol. But I have heard very good things about the sochu at Tokonoma. I've heard that the gen awa cha (genmaicha-infused shiro shochu, orange flower bubble tea, lychee tea, ($17) in particular, is a must try. It'll have to wait till next time for me.

The staff are extremely competent, the service is efficient and fast and we always have at least 1 item of food on our table at all times. Within minutes of being seated we had two glasses of lovely cold white wine (perfect to combat the scorching temperatures of this week) and warm, salty edamame in front of us.

edamame

gyu niku no tataki seared beef, pickled onions, mizuna, garlic chips

Rare on the outside, melt in your mouth on this inside. The picked onions and crunch from the garlic chips complimented the seared beef extremely well. Although slightly difficult to eat (we kind of rolled in over with our chop sticks. Although my photo does not do it justice at all, this was a beautifully plated meal.

watari-gani kara-age crispy soft-shell crab, wasabi mayonnaise

Tokonoma's version of soft- shell crab was served with an amazing wasabi mayonnaise, with I personally think should be served with most meals, rather than just boring mayonnaise. There was a light batter and a lot of crab meat. Perfect. We could have eaten a lot more of this.

assorted selection of nigiri

I enjoyed each new vessel our meals were plated on, almost as much as the food. The nigiri was fresh and melted in your mouth. The tofu was delicate, yet layered in flavours and the the shreds of dehydrated chilli were a nice subtle touch. The grilled prok melted in your mouth and had a delicious grilled flavour (even though I don't normally order pork).

tofu with misu paste

grilled pork

lamb cutlets with purple eggplant and misu (above)  

zucchini no wafu yaki : zucchini, wafu sauce, sesame sauce (below)

Both the lamb and zuccini were simple, but the combination of their sauces and being grilled made them both amazingly delicious and were quickly eaten by my friend and I. The lamb in particular, melted in your mouth, we managed to lick the bones clean.

(more photos to come)...

We finished it all off with a palate cleansing misu and some more of our bottle of wine. We thought we were all done, but then the dessert came out. The icecream was served on ice, which was nice touch and the mango in particular was very tasty. The creme brulee had some mystery items at the bottom of it and was unlike any other creme brulee I've had before. This was accompanied with some tropical fruits: strawberry, kiwi fruit, lychee and dragon fruit: yum.

The ambience, food and beverages, service and the design of Tokonoma all combined to make our visit a memorable one. It's contemporary Japanese food (a fusion perhaps) was spot on. We had a great time having a look at all of the bottles of Sochu on the way out, as we re-entered the ridiculously hot summer night.

Drinking & Eating at The Commons

I've been meaning to take a visit to The Commons since it was that pop - up bar The Pond. Luckily, they have a much wider selection of drinks, including a great bottle of Sangoivese that we tried out, as well as some great food now.

I love the feeling that you're at someone's house amongst friends at The Commons. In the warmer months, I would recommend sitting in the front outside section, on what feels like a front porch, and downstairs in the darker, moodier section in the colder months. It's one of those fantastic old buildings in Sydney that has a lot of character, including giant stone bricks that you can tell have been chipped away by convict labour. There are lots of hanging plants in the front section, including some herbs on the sides. There are cute wooden tables and stools. However, after waiting a while for your food, your tiny little stool will become somewhat of an enemy to your behind.

We both decide to go for the Farmhouse Menu, a four course degustation. On their website, The Commons states that they are "inspired by skilled, traditional cooking that uses regional produce and ingredients that 'taste of what they are.'" This is evident straight away. The first courses are a Charcuterie board and a Seasonal Produce Plate. There is some amazing pâté, gerkins, rocket, wholemeal bread, cured meat and other bits and pieces on these boards. 

For our entrees we had Ana’s ravioli w/ brown butter & sage and a Carpaccio of organic wagyu topside w/ shaved radish. The carpaccio was delicious, but was a little bit too oily. The raviolo however, was amazing, with two giant raviolis for us to share, and the butter and sage sauce was simple, but delicious. They disappeared very quickly. 

Now, what I haven't mentioned so far, is the fact that we had also been given some bread with oil to share and had already drunk half a bottle of wine and a glass of sparkling white. I was starting to get full. This is because after sitting there for over an hour, my dining and drinking companion was starting to get extremely hungry. I had just been to a work Christmas party, so I had already had some nibbleys and some vino. When I inquired as to how our food was coming along, we got a bit of a blank look. "Oh, I think I misunderstood your order" was the waiter's reply. "Huh?" We wondered? I stopped myself from a smart ass reply of "well, just bring us whatever it was that you thought we ordered." The waiters and kitchen then went into overdrive. We had a free plate of bread with oil and olives, our glasses of sparkling on the house, and all of our plates of food came shooting out of the kitchen at lightening speed. We could barely keep up. You could tell that they felt terrible about forgetting our order.

For our mains we had Hunters Chicken braised w/ rosemary, lemon and cannellini beans and Best of farm vegetables. The chicken was cooked extremely well, however was a tad on the bland side overall, and the farm vegetables had some oven baked beetroot in it that was to die for.

For dessert (by which time I was so full, a nap on the table was looking like a good idea) we had Baked lemon & ricotta cheesecake. I could only fit a mouth-full in. It was good. Really good. And was served with a small bowl of fresh cherries. I love cherries, so I managed to fit some in. I'm not sure where I fit them in, but I did somehow. By this point I felt an explosion in my stomach was imminent, and we decided to leave. The food was good, the wine was good, but my bottom was very sore (as we had been there all night). It was quite late, and I knew I was going to sleep well.

Rambutan, Shady Pines Saloon and The Flinders

Being the silly season in Sydney at the moment, we had to wait forever to get our table (which was booked) and had to line up at every bar. Despite this, Rambutan, Shady Pines Saloon and the Flinders are all worth recommending.

First up, Rambutan. Whilst waiting for our table, we decided to order my two favourite cocktails at Rambutan in the Tiki Lounge downstairs. The reason for this, is the drinking vessel that they are served in. Although on previous visits, I remember being impressed with their other cocktails, such as Thai me up, Thai me down Sangria, which is a refreshing white sangria served in a jug, I can never go past a drink served in a giant Tiki glass or cocktail. The Flaming Lemon & Ginger Pina Colada is served in a cocktail and has a generous serving of Appleton VX in it. Dr Phil's Famous Flaming Rum Punch also has Appleton VX and is a rum based drinks that makes you instantly feel like you're on holidays. Especially when it's sitting next to another cocktail that's in a coconut. Anther reason to order these two cocktails is the fact that they both get set on fire! What's not to love about that?!

The downstairs Tiki Lounge is my favourite section of Rambutan. It's got funky lamps, a lit up aquarium and apparently the mint green stools are designed by Philippe Starck. By the time our cocktails were almost empty, it was time to eat. We skipped entrees in favour of our mains coming earlier and ordered the Blue swimmer crab Lon with yellow bean & green mango and wok fried King Prawns with pong gari and coconut cream, baby corn & curry leaf. In hindsight, I wouldn't recommend going for a giant coconut based cocktail followed by meals with coconut cream in them. I ended up feeling like I could have exploded, despite the food and cocktails being amazing!

The prawns were cooked perfectly and the curry sauce that they were sitting in was just spicy enough to be tasty, but without causing explosions in your mouth. The crab was also delicious, but by this point, I just couldn't eat/drink much more coconut milk or cream. You could eat it in one of the betal leaves or other leaves served with it. The sprouts and cucumbert were refreshing to eat in between spoonfuls of it, to counter out the saltiness. I'm not sure if I would recommend this dish however, if you're on a first date, because if you eat it from one of hte leaves, you will be guaranteed to get it all over you. I've had a banquet at Rambutan before, so I can safely say that the vast majority of their menu is amazing, including the desserts!

Next up, we were off to have a drink at Shady Pines Saloon. I'm always a sucker for a lane-way entrance. As soon as the door swings open, we're greeted by a pioneer-style bar with crazy stuff everywhere. I love bars like this! There's carved American Indians around the room, the stuffed heads of animals, and other random bits and pieces everywhere. There's lots of small round tables in the room, and a good buzzing crowd. They have the most random, banjo style music playing, that's such a nice change from the usual bar and club music in Sydney. It makes me want to get up and do some line dancing, or at least jump up on a bale of hay wearing cowboy boots and shouting "yeeeee haaawww!"

Everyone is Sydney who is sick of the usual same-same bars, has to come have a drink here. Although I feel like I'm meant to be drinking  straight up whiskey or something similar here, we decide to order tow Salty Dog cocktails. Not a cocktail that you can drink fast, or the salt with get you, followed by the pieces of fresh pineapple. But these cocktails were nice and refreshing for a hot Sydney night in Summer.

We decided it was time for one more drink, and thought what better place than The Flinders? Although greeted by the "Boobs for Bubbly" sign as well as noticing that the drink of the week was a Mel Gibson: Gin + Pickled Onion + Dry Sherry, I thought I would decline both offers, and go for a beer instead.

The Flinders is the sort of pub that would be great on a week night, to catch up with some friends to grab a drink or two. By the time we got there on a Friday night, it was jam-packed with people and had obnoxious bouncers out the front. I did love the random bits and pieces hanging from the ceiling and the great selection of music. Talking Heads in a pub anyone? Again, like Shady Pines Saloon, any place in Sydney playing music that's a bit different to everything else is always a good thing.

By this time it was time to call it a night. Until next time...