Review: Porteño

I’ve accomplished one of my few food-related wishes for the year: I’ve eaten in Porteño. It took a while and was definitely worth it. Gladys and I had the perfect excuse: it was her birthday and she thought an extra celebration (we had dinner with friends on the day) wouldn’t hurt. It was Mardi Gras day and we thought there wouldn’t be much people who day. We still arrived early (5:45 pm), which turned out to be a good idea because the line grew up exponentially within minutes.

Once inside the rustic decor almost makes you feel in one of the many restaurants in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires (people from Buenos Aires are called porteños, “from the port”). Except that you order in English, pay much more, and don’t get limitless amounts of booze with your meal. Oh, well.

Inside Porteño

The restaurant was packed as usual but the staff were not rushing around.

Chefs at work

The classic Argentinian cow cuts (yes, cuts are different in different parts of the world) is on display just in case you’re wondering where your order came from.

Cow cuts

Porteño’s most popular items are the chanchitos and corderos a la cruz, baby pigs and lambs that are “crucified” and cooked next to the fire. That’s the way the gauchos have been cooking for ages.

Chanchitos a la cruz

We wanted to order mollejas (sweetbreads) but they were no longer in the menu, according to the waitress due to a shortage in Sydney. Not to worry, we now have an excuse to come back another day. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share and asked the sommelier to help us choose a good wine match (we had a glass of Alma Negra Malbec each).

We were served chimichurri and salsa. The waitress offered to explain what they were but there was no need.

Chimichurri & salsa

Our first dish was caballa ahumada con palmitos y salsa golf (smoked mackerel, palm heart, avocado & pickled celery). I absolutely love palmitos but don’t eat them that often, mainly because they’re not that easy to find in Sydney. It was a long while since I last had golf sauce; it went well with the rest of the dish. I liked it but it’s not something I’d consider special, since it’s fairly easy to put together in 10 minutes given you have the ingredients at home (most of them come in a package).

Caballa ahumada con palmitos y salsa golf ($22)

To make up for the lack of mollejas we ordered a morcilla (blood sausage with red peppers in garlic). We both love it and have eaten some in Sydney, this one didn’t disappoint.

Morcilla ($12)

We were torn between a few of the salad/vegetable dishes, and finally chose the ensalada de hinojo (shaved fennel salad with apricot, black olives and amontillado dressing), which was delicious and a great fresh accompaniment for the other dishes.

Ensalada de hinojo ($12)

Finally, the star of the night arrived to our table the chanchito a la cruz. They cook it for 8 hours and the result is phenomenal. It was incredibly tasty and tender. The extra crispy skin was a big bonus.

Chanchito a la cruz ($44)

At this point we were officially and absolutely stuffed, so we declined the dessert menu (not that we would have ordered any). Before coming to Porteño I was afraid the food wouldn’t live to my expectations (having been in Argentina quite a few times they were pretty high) but it did. I’ll be back.

Porteño
358 Cleveland Street Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02)8399 1440
www.porteno.com.au

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Review: Wasabi Bistro

My sense of adventure urged me to buy another Spreets voucher for a restaurant I had never heard of. This time it was a Japanese meal for two (entrée and main) plus wine for $49 at Wasabi Bistro. The reason I decided to try this restaurant out was that I liked their website. I know, that didn’t guarantee that the restaurant would be good but what can I say, a clean and consistent design does the trick for me.

Staff members were very young, friendly but still learning. They took our voucher and offered the menu options. I had noticed that sashimi was in a separate section but the deal description stated you could choose any entrée, including sushi, sashimi and cool tuna carpaccio. I double-checked with the waiter, he said no sashimi but I showed him the printout, he asked someone (I guess the manager) and came back saying “ok, you can have sashimi”.

We didn’t order sashimi. Just kidding! We ordered tuna sashimi and beef tataki to start. First arrived the tuna sashimi, along with a chilled bottle of Hardys Siegersdorf Riesling, on top of julienned daikon and with the typical wasabi and gari on the side. The only downside was that there were 5 pieces of fish, making it difficult for us to share.

Hardys Siegersdorf Riesling (normally $34)

Tuna Sashimi, 5pcs (normally $10.80)

The beef tataki was very disappointing. Instead of delicate slices of quickly seared meat we got what looked like pre-cut stir-fry beef. The serving was quite small, too: again 5 pieces. Alvaro was a true gentleman this time and let me choose between the extra piece of tuna and the extra piece of beef; I chose the fish (it was bigger!).

Beef tataki (normally $11.90)

Next arrived the complimentary miso soup, one of my favourite cheat meals (hey, at least miso is fermented!). The soup was good and piping hot.

Miso soup

For mains we asked for some gluten-free options to try to minimize the damage for the day (the provided soy sauce was not gluten-free and miso can have gluten in it). They said we could have the grilled salmon and the Wagyu steak without sauce, so that’s what we ordered.

Both portions were quite small. The grilled salmon was on the dry side (perhaps because they used sashimi-sized pieces?), and the Wagyu steak was not that fantastic (these days not all Wagyu is created equal) and they forgot to forget about the sauce. At least it was just on one side of the beef.

Grilled salmon (normally $16.50)

Wagyu steak (normally $28.00)

By the end of the meal I didn’t know whether to feel ripped-off because of the portion sizes and average quality of the food or to think it was good enough for the price. I guess I still don’t know.

Wasabi Bistro
Shop 6B-8, 417-431 Bourke Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9357 2076
www.wasabibistro.com.au

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Review: Morena

Peruvian chef Alejandro Saravia has been offering cooking classes, degustation events and gourmet tours (from Sydney to Perú) for years under the brand A Taste of Perú. I had a taste of his work in 2010 after the screening of Cooking Up Dreams, a documentary about Peruvian cuisine, and I wondered “when will he open a restaurant”? Last October, my question got answered.

In most Latin American countries, many people have African blood running through their veins. This doesn’t only affect the way we look (morena means dark-skinned woman) but also the way we (they) dance and, of course, the way we cook.

Surry Hills is the perfect spot for this restaurant. It has a trendy yet relaxed lounge-type vibe. Cool music and nice furniture. Great bilingual service.

We didn’t have cocktails but most of them sounded inviting. I’d dare to say that the drinks list is a bit more international than the food menu, which is mainly Peruvian – that’s a good thing, by the way :)

Our friends Susy and José had already spotted what they wanted to order in the online menu. They just double-checked with us, as none of them had eaten Peruvian food before (she is Venezuelan, he is Uruguayan). She ordered the Peruvian ceviche with pink snapper, served with cancha & caramelised sweet potato to start. He ordered the Andean garden: desirée potato & huacatay gnocchi, poached royal blue potatoes & kestrel potato crisps on lima bean purée with quinoa soil, broad bean & heirloom carrots. Both were delighted with their choices, taste and presentation-wise.

Peruvian ceviche with pink snapper ($20.00)

Andean garden ($18.00)

Gladys, Alvaro and I wanted to try everything. We ended up ordering 4 entrées to share: the Peruvian ceviche, the 8 hours pisco cured king fish tiradito, served with herbal oil & squid ink caviar, the chicharrón de pato, confit duck, coriander mayonnaise with eschalot & sweet potato crisp salad, and camarones a la piedra, pisco flambée Queenland king prawns, ají amarillo & panca sauce with cucumber mint salad.

Where to start? Everything looked amazing! As usual, I started with the cold dishes. The tiradito was great, the flavours were subtly mixed. I couldn’t taste the pisco but I’m sure it added complexity to the dish. The ceviche was great, too, fresher than fresh and nicely seasoned. I found the little sweet potato balls a bit undercooked, and missed the presence of thinly sliced red onions. A bit of fresh chilli kick would have been good, too.

8 hours pisco cured king fish tiradito ($20.00)

Next I tried the chicharrón. Wow. The best dish of the meal, in my opinion. The duck was perfectly cooked and bursting with flavour. The sweet crispy threads of sweet potato on top were a great complement. The camarones a la piedra were delicious, too. Plump juicy king prawns with a Peruvian seasoning, topped with a fresh salad, what else could I ask for?

Chicharrón de pato ($20.00)

Camarones a la piedra ($24.00)

We weren’t very creative when choosing mains: we chose two of the same two dishes. José had the escabeche de pato, duck breast marinated in annatto seeds & ají mirasol pepper, served with caramelised sweet potato & orange purée, and Susy had the seco de alpaca, seared alpaca backstrap with traditional coriander & beer sauce, celeriac purée & Peruvian style carapulcra. Gladys, Alvaro and I shared the same two mains.

The escabeche was a remake of a traditional dish with Spanish influences. Normally, escabeches are served with a vinegar, chilli and onion sauce. This one was quite dry, and the onion layers were served pickled and on the side. The duck was tasty but for me the highlight of the dish was the sweet potato & orange purée.

Escabeche de pato ($30.00)

The seco de alpaca wasn’t as saucy as the original version, either. Saucy or not, it was excellent. The alpaca backstrap (the square piece of meat; I can’t remember what cut were the cylindrical bits) had been slow cooked to an unbelievable tenderness, and the celeriac purée was a welcome innovation. Seco is not typically accompanied by carapulcra (a dried potato stew), but the flavours didn’t clash at all.

Seco de alpaca ($34.00)

We were stuffed but the boys had to satisfy their sweet tooth. José ordered chocolate y naranja, Ecuadorian chocolate & cheese dumplings served with candied blood orange & blood orange consommé. Apparently the dessert was as delicious as it looked.

Chocolate y naranja ($15.00)

Alvaro ordered the clásico de arroz con leche y maíz morado, caramelised Limeño style rice pudding, purple corn jelly & semidried berries. This “classic” wasn’t that classic, but rather a modern “gourmet” interpretation of the humble dessert mix. The rice pudding was rather thick, and served as a slice. The mazamorra morada (purple corn pudding) was served as a sauce on the bottom on the plate and as jelly squares. Alvaro says he likes the original version better but I guess someone who hasn’t had it would enjoy this take on the dessert.

Clásico de arroz con leche y maíz morado ($15.00)

Morena

15/425 Bourke Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 0405 902 896
www.morena.com.au

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Review: El Capo

Last Saturday my sister invited me lunch at El Capo. The restaurant is smaller and more casual than what I was anticipating. Most of the tables are very small two-seaters, which makes it difficult to have more than two plates on it at once.

For an almost takeaway looking place, the beverage menu is impressive; it features Latin American beers, wines and spirits mixed with a few Australian and Kiwi wines and “key” Latino cocktails (pisco sour, mojitos). Gladys was keen on trying a Mexican beer and ordered a Tecate. Unfortunately, she found it a bit tasteless. On the other hand, I had a glass of excellent Tomero Rose 2010 from Mendoza, Argentina. Hard to go wrong with Argentinian wines.

Tomero Rose 2010 Mendoza, Argentina ($10.50), Tecate beer ($6.00)

We shared a salad and two mains. The Popeye’s salad sounded like a boring plate of spinach, but was way more than that. Apart from the ingredients mentioned in the menu (a delicious mix of cabbage, raisins, tomato, quinoa and leaves tossed in aioli) it had hazelnuts, my favourite nuts *happy face*.

Popeye’s salad ($7.00)

Our first main was a duck mole: twice cooked duck, black Oaxacan mole sauce served with steamed tortillas. The duck was good, well cooked and nicely seasoned. The almost crispy fat on the side was a little bit too greasy for my taste. The raisins, chopped shallots and pickled red onion brought freshness and flavour balance to the dish. But the sauce, the soul of the dish, was… well, awful. It tasted like burnt plastic. It wouldn’t be fair to compare it to the mole poblano I had in Mexico because it may be difficult to get the same ingredients here. But I’ve tasted an awesome mole-style sauce in the pato con chocolate dish that I had in La Bodeguita Del Medio, so there’s no excuse.

Duck mole ($15.00)

The duck sat atop plain white rice and came with a side of steamed tortillas. White rice is the least evil of grains, so I eat it once in a while as part of a cheat meal. Thankfully I normally avoid corn, because Gladys told me the tortillas were not nice at all. She only had one.

Steamed tortillas

The other main was the sweet pork neck: braised pork neck, sweet potato and guajillo sauce. The pork and sweet potato were tasty and generous in size, once again the pickled red onion brought freshness (not sure about the pumpkin seeds, though), but the sauce was bad. Our conclusion is that both sauces came out of a jar, and probably from a not very good brand. I’d rather eat freshly made sauces, even if some ingredient substitutions are required.

Sweet pork neck ($15.00)

It always makes me a bit sad to eat not-so-good Latin American food in Sydney, because people who haven’t been there get the wrong impression. On the bright side, someone who travels there will find local food exponentially better than what they’ve experienced over here, and may, hopefully, spread the word.

El Capo
52 Waterloo Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 96992518
www.elcapo.com.au

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Review: Al Aseel

When you’re out of action because of an injured limb all you wanna do is go out and have a good time. That’s what happened to my friend Vicky, who fell while doing indoor rock climbing and hurt her foot. Four weeks after, she was ready to get some fresh air and a nice dinner.

The four of us were seated right next to the special celebration table, that night hosting a hen party.

Celebration table

All tables are greeted with complimentary olives, pickles and Lebanese bread kept in a plastic bag to prevent them from getting dry.

Olives, pickles and Lebanese bread

Since we were celebrating the recovery of our dear friend we all had drinks that night: a cosmopolitan for Vicky, a vodka rocks with lime for Bonnie, a glass of shiraz/cabernet/merlot for me and a Lebanese tea for Neil (I didn’t say all drinks were alcoholic). Interestingly, Neil said the tea had no distinctive flavour and was in fact weak.

We ordered a bowl of hommos & pine nuts to put the bread to good use (yes, I ate bread, it was a cheat meal after all). The hommos was awesome, super smooth and tasty, and the pine nuts gave it extra flavour points. We wiped the bowl clean.

Hommos & pine nuts ($12.00)

For main, Bonnie ordered the Al Aseel lemon garlic chicken, described as “marinated BBQ chicken breast tossed in our special garlic sauce served with capsicum bread, parsley, onion, tomato & garlic dip”. She received a plate full of chicken morsels “drowning in garlic sauce” (her words) with a wedge of lemon and half a cherry tomato on top. Her first concern was the sauce, because she has problems with dairy. When she asked the waiter what was on the sauce, he said “garlic”. What a genius. Bonnie asked if there was any dairy in it, he said no, she asked what made the sauce white, he went to ask to the manager and came back saying “no dairy”. It had yogurt. Waiters of Australia please take note: yogurt is a dairy product. Bonnie decided to be cool about it and just not eat all the sauce that would have not seem excessive if the capsicum bread in the menu wasn’t missing (the dip was missing too but with all the sauce it really wasn’t necessary). By the end of the meal, Bonnie asked the manager about the capsicum bread and the dip. Without any apologies or sign of concern he said it was just fried bread and they didn’t have any. Managers and restaurateurs of Australia, take note: customers like to know when their meals won’t arrive as described in the menu because you’ve ran out of something. Luckily, the chicken was way better than the service. The sauce had a strong flavour but very very tasty. I reckon this dish is better to share instead of having all that protein on your own.

Lemon garlic chicken ($23.00)

Neil ordered the combo version of the same dish. It’s called “all chicken lemon garlic mixed plate” and has a smaller serving (but still plentiful) serving of the chicken in sauce, plus hommos, baba ghanouj, tabouli, falafel, and garlic dip. Just as I write this post I realise he didn’t get the hommos. Still the meal was huge for one person. The baba ghanouj and garlic dip were both excellent.

All chicken lemon garlic mixed plate ($25.00)

Vicky and I shared two dishes, the lamb shawarma and the grilled mixed seafood & salad. The lamb (pan-grilled marinated shredded lamb served with capsicum bread, parsley, onion, tomato & garlic dip) did come with the dip but no capsicum bread. The taste of both the lamb and the dip was alright but nothing special. Even I can cook tastier lamb.

Lamb shawarma ($17.00)

The grilled mixed seafood & salad was huge, the seafood (calamari, baby octopus and prawns) was well seasoned and perfectly cooked, but I found the salad (lots of lettuce, some onion and cucumber) a bit boring. The restaurant’s special seafood dressing wasn’t that special for me, I’d prefer a simple vinaigrette perhaps seasoned with Lebanese spices.

Grilled mixed seafood & salad ($25.00)

Dinner was multimedia-enhanced by a brief belly dancing show. Luckily, she didn’t pick any of us to attempt moving the belly like her.

Belly dancer

Al Aseel
529 Elizabeth Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9690 1099

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Review: Pizza e Birra

Before going to this restaurant its made me think of a greasy takeaway slice and a zero-character mainstream beer. Luckily, I was completely wrong.

My sister Gladys has got a new job (well, it’s not that new now) and she wanted to celebrate with us. A few options had crossed her mind but in the end she decided to satisfy her craving for traditional-style pizzas. According to the Everyday Eats guide (which lists good, relatively cheap restaurants), Pizza e Birra seemed to be a good option.

We arrived there well past lunch time but the place was still packed. After a brief wait we were assigned a table in the busy dining room. Service was prompt and attentive, and as other reviewers have noted, authentically Italian. Our waiter asked where we came from and we had an ice-breaker chat about our city.

It was clear we were there for the pizza but the delicious sounding ingredient combinations made it difficult for us to choose. Finally, we settled on an Inverno and a Sicilia pizza, plus a Caprese salad to share.

To drink, Gladys wanted a glass of Pinot Grigio but they didn’t have it. The waiter suggested one of the wines in the specials list, the Bombino Bianco Telero, which was very nice.

Specials blackboard

I had a bottle of birra. My Italian beer knowledge is extremely limited (Peroni and that’s it), so I asked the waiter for suggestions. The Ichnusa, a Sicilian low-alcohol beer was crisp and refreshing. Not a bad thing when the room’s temperature is fairly high from human warmth and hot pizzas.

Italian beer ($8)

All food came at once. Caprese salad may be one of the simplest salads in the world but it’s a delight when good ingredients are used. This was definitely the case. The Italian buffalo mozzarella was amazingly creamy and delicate, a pleasure to eat..

Caprese salad ($15)

Both of the pizzas we ordered had tomato sauce base. They were not piping hot when we got to eat them (after the photos and the salad), so the super thin and nicely toasted crust was a bit of a challenge to cut. The toppings were not piled up on top, which is the way a good pizza should be. I didn’t take note of the ingredients because I relied on the online menu but sadly it hasn’t been updated. If memory serves, the Inverno pizza had mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto and basil.

Inverno pizza ($23)

The Sicilia pizza, with mozzarella, fried eggplant, fresh ricotta and smoked provola, was my favourite of the two. Gladys and Alvaro liked the Inverno pizza better, but we all agreed they were both really good.

Sicilia pizza ($23)

Dessert time had arrived. We were almost full at this stage but couldn’t resist our sweet tooth. The pear and chocolate tartlet in the specials menu got our attention, as well as the panna cotta in the regular menu.

The panna cotta was excellent. Not over-set, which seems to be a common mistake in restaurants, and with an incredible flavour that can only be achieved with good quality vanilla. The poached quince was a nice complement, and quite rare as most restaurants prefer to use the paste.

Panna cotta w/poached quince ($12)

Unfortunately, the tartlet wasn’t that good. The crust was extremely hard and on the thick side, which made it really difficult to share. The filling was a dark chocolate ganache with poached pear slices on top. I’d have preferred a firmer, more moussey filling.

Tartalleta con pere e cioccolato ($12)

There were a couple of small incidents with the service but I attribute them to the fact that the restaurant was packed. When I got my beer, the waiter asked if I wanted a glass and I said yes. He forgot, so I got a glass from the bar. He noticed and apologised. Then when the food arrived we realised we didn’t have cutlery. I walked towards him and before I opened my mouth he asked if I needed something, apologised again and sorted things out.

Pizza e Birra
500 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9332 2510
pizzabirra.com.au

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Review: Townhouse @ The Sebel, Surry Hills

Last Friday I met my friends Andrey and Bonnie for lunch at The Sebel’s restaurant Townhouse. Andrey works not too far away so sometimes he has the $10 lunch special there. A meal plus a soft drink in a good looking hotel restaurant doesn’t sound bad at all, does it?

The options were steak sandwich, vegetarian quiche (spinach & sundried tomato) and stir fried chicken and veggies. Andrey and Bonnie chose the steak sandwich and I the vegetarian quiche. Andrey had a couple of beers (at lunchtime they have the “happy hour” price: $3).

We sat down at one of the tables with comfortable red leather chairs until our order was ready. Both dishes had potato chips and a salad made with old mixed leaves (some of them were already black and soggy) and a few halves of cherry tomatoes.

It was clear that the steak sandwich was the best deal of all. On one hand, all the other customers in the restaurant were having sandwiches, too. On the other, my slice of quiche was really small and the quiche was bland and only had a thin slice of sundried tomato and a 1 cm cube of cheese inside (which I treasured as my last bite).

Thankfully they decided to fill the plate (and my belly) up with chips. Otherwise I would have starved.

The Sebel Surry Hills
28 Albion Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9289 0000

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Review: Yullis Bar

Confession: I undo all my weekday healthy eating on weekends. I know that’s pretty obvious by now but acknowledging it in a public space like this one may be the first step towards rehabilitation (as it is in AA). Actually I think that the knee pain that I get most Sundays night may be a more useful reminder to keep on track.

Anyways, last Saturday, after eating pasta in The Falconer we walked for 10 or 15 minutes and made a pit stop in The Local Taphouse. Nothing screams “beer” more than a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon. We asked the girl at the bar for the sweetest brew for Alvaro (he doesn’t like alcohol and only drinks it if it’s sweet). She gave us a couple to try and Alvaro chose the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier (friendly name: number fifteen). I had a Holgate Choc Temptress. Both beers were really nice, full bodied and sweet. Alvaro couldn’t finish his, so I had to help him.

Then we continued our route, which included the much awaited dessert pit stop. I decided to try Yullis Bar, which despite of having an all-vegetarian menu gets great reviews from meat and non-meat eaters. I let Alvaro pick the dessert (I wanted a bite but not the whole half of it) and I had another dark beer, this time a Red Oak Chocolate Stout ($9.80 a bottle).

The chosen dessert was Mango Tapioca Pudding with Coconut Ice Cream ($9.50). I don’t like coconut ice cream (I used to hate all things coconuty until not so long ago) but Alvaro got a call from his mom when the dessert arrived so I decided to give it a shot before it melted down completely. The dessert was genius. Tapioca pudding is easy to make but the mango sauce on top was delicious (full of taste, hard to believe considering that fruit in Oz is kinda bland) and the ice cream was heaven (even for a non-believer like me). The waitress told us that it wasn’t actually ice cream, but a sorbet, and indeed it tasted as clean as sweetened coconut milk chilled in an ice cream machine.

There are many things in the menu that have caught my eye, so I’ll be dragging Alvaro for lunch or dinner soonish.

Yullis Bar
417 Crown St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9319 6609
yullis.com.au

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Review: The Smokehouse

I love seafood. I don’t prepare it too often because I don’t have where to buy it fresh close to home, but I try to do so. My attention is often drawn to seafood plates when reading menus, or better yet, to seafood restaurants when choosing places to dine on special occasions.

This particular restaurant, The Smokehouse, has been in my radar for a long time, perhaps a year, but I didn’t find the perfect excuse to eat there until last Friday. My sister, Alvaro and I went there to celebrate his birthday (which was on Saturday), and it turned out to be quite an adventure.

On Fridays, Alvaro usually gets home from work at 7 or 7:15, so I booked a table for 8. Gladys went to my apartment, and we drank some beer and nibbled on crackers and olives while I finished preparing the birthday cake. It was getting late and there were no signs of the birthday boy. He called me around 7:30 telling me that he would finish working at 8. I called the restaurant and changed the reservation for 9, luckily with no problems. We waited until 8:30, and again, no signs of Alvaro. We left to catch the train and I sent him a message to tell him that we were on our way.

We arrived at 9 o’clock, and our table was being reset. We had plenty of time to check the restaurant’s decor, with old magazines, paintings and a piano, perfectly matching the dim lights (great for ambience, bad for shooting) and attentive service. We liked the vibe of the place, and started to check the menu. Alvaro called and told me he was leaving work. That meant he would be really late, so we began considering ordering an entrée but we didn’t want to spoil our appetite. After a few minutes of trying to avoid direct eye contact with the waitress, we ordered two glasses of the house rosé. They were huge, the wine was nice (tasted like a Jacob’s Creek), and lasted long after Alvaro arrived, at 9:40, after riding his bike back home in half the time he usually does, taking a shower, running to the station, getting on the train and running from Central station to the restaurant.

Gladys and I had already picked our plates but when we were ready to order, they were sold out. Gladys was not sure about what to order because she related smoked fish with raw fish, which she doesn’t like, but she followed the waitress advice and had the smoked salmon, cod and leek pie. I ordered a salad with smoked trout, endives, watercress and mandarins, which was in the specials menu. Alvaro ordered the ling fillet traditionally smoked with onion parsley sauce and a side of hand cut chips.

We waited a bit for the food to come (we were warned that the pie took 15 minutes to cook), so when it finally arrived we were absolutely starving and ate quite fast.

Gladys’ pie was delicious, the pastry was flaky and crunchy, and the filling had a wonderful taste and was perfectly seasoned.

Alvaro’s ling fillet also tasted wonderful, it had a side of mashed potatoes but the size of the dish wouldn’t have had been enough for the hungry hard worker that day, so ordering the chips (which were very nice, too) was a really wise move.

My salad was really good, too. Maybe lacked a bit of the “wow” factor of the other two dishes (it’s more predictable in a way) but the mix of flavours (crunchiness of the endive, slight bitterness of the watercress, sweetness of the mandarin wedges and the dressing, plus the smokiness of the fish) worked really well between them and with my second glass of house rosé.

We were ready for dessert and asked for the menu. It came printed in paper, rolled and tied with thin rope. After a quick look the three of us ordered the dessert tasting plate, ignoring our tacit agreement of ordering different desserts to share. We were given little antique spoons of different sizes and shapes. Each long plate had a cream cheese blueberry tartlet, a smoked macadamia baklava, a tapioca pudding with toffee and waffle discs and a chili vodka chocolate coated profiterole.

I ate them in that order, all of them were good but I liked the baklava more. Gladys liked the profiterole and the tapioca pudding more and found the baklava too sweet. We all agreed that the tartlet was the least “special”, but enjoyed the end of our meal.

We are definitely going back as soon as possible to order our first-choice dishes (we will arrive early this time).

PS: Only the last two pics were shot with the flash on because there were no many people left in the restaurant at that time.

The Smokehouse
204 Devonshire Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9699 1155
www.thesmokehouse.com.au

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Review: La Mint

Eating out is unavoidable. Even when you promise yourself you’re going to cook every single day of your life (or eat leftovers), you cannot escape birthday dinners and farewells BBQs. That’s what’s been happening lately, as you could tell if you saw my waist. I’ve eaten out 6 times* in the last 5 days and I’ve already gained a big chunk of fat.

The first of those meals was my sister’s friend Marcelo’s birthday dinner (not that he’s not my friend, but Gladys introduced us). He chose La Mint, a Vietnamese/French restaurant in Surry Hills, based on online reviews and after having a look at the place.

Alvaro and I were the first to arrive. We were offered tap water, which was served in a jug with mint leaves and ice. Nice. We waited for the others while browsing the menu. I had already checked it online and because it was a Vietnamese restaurant with French influence, I thought it’d be better to choose Viet dishes. With that in mind, I had brought a South Australian Riesling.

We chatted in Spanish and English (there were Aussies, Chileans, Peruvians and Venezuelans at the table), while we waited until almost everybody was there. We didn’t wait for Sergio, who was stuck in traffic.

Most people chose Vietnamese food, except for Jose Miguel who ordered Papillotes aux deux Fromages (“Crispy wontons filled with Camembert & cream cheese”) as entree and Gladys who had Oxtail à la Bourguignonne (“Tender & spicy oxtail à la Bourguignonne with zucchini, mushrooms & carrots”) . Alvaro and I ordered the Vietnamese Campfire Beef (“Finely sliced beef cooked in a hot wok right on your table served with rice paper & a basket of fresh herbs”), Halong Bay Style Grilled Prawns (“Crystal Bay U8 size prawns grilled with Asian spices & served with green mango salad”) and steamed rice to share. Other dishes ordered in the group were Pavé de Porc (“A mouth watering dish of tender pork belly, slowly cooked until caramelised”) and Dalal Lemongrass Chicken (“Grilled chicken with Vietnamese spices, lemongrass, chili & fresh herbs”).

The campfire beef came in a wok that looked more like a bowl standing on a plate with some flammable liquid. The waiter lighted the fire so that the meat got warm (I’m not sure if there was enough fire to cook it, I think it came cooked from the kitchen). We tried our best to roll the herbs and beef in the rice paper after wetting it with the provided water in a bowl, but our rolls didn’t look as professional as Marcelo’s, who had ordered the same dish. The beef came with a tasty red sweet dipping sauce.

The grilled prawns were ok, Australian seafood is a bit bland for our taste, and the salad was very tasty. However for the quantity and quality of the food I think it was a bit overpriced.

The people who ate the pork and the chicken said they liked their dishes a lot. But the general feeling of the group was that the food was tasty but not spectacular, mainly because it was not traditional food, but perhaps an adaptation for Western palates. If that is the case, they should note that our Western palates crave authentic Asian food!

We didn’t ordered desserts from the menu because the birthday boy had received quite a few cupcakes and cake slices from his workmates. We sang happy birthday in different languages and versions and ate the cakes, which left me hoping we had ordered the restaurant’s desserts instead.

After we said goodbye to the ones who went home and the ones who went partying, we walked towards the Museum station. I couldn’t restrain myself and bought a “proper” dessert in Gloria Jeans. The dessert, named Mortal Sin, is a cheesecake, chocolate mousse and meringue/cream layered heap of nutritionally-empty calories. But it took the cheap cake taste away.

* Dinner and dessert count as 2 eating out events.