It was a year of eating, drinking, and yes again… weight gain.

Summer

Fried fish at Spice I Am, KFC at Arisun, Berowra Waters Inn, Movida Aqui

Somehow it just seems right that we started out the year by visiting a couple of old favourites, they’re classic restaurants for a reason and always among the fist few restaurant I recommend to anyone visiting town.

Howard paid the blog’s 3rd visit to Berowra Waters Inn (Teresa’s & Qing’s visits), proving that you can never have too much of a good thing. He also conducted the world’s ugliest study on the Usability of Restaurant Websites, not pretty on the eyes but definitely food for thought.

I popped over to Melbourne for a quick weekend trip and finally experienced the glory that is the Movida restaurants.

Autumn

Ghibli in Japan, Momofuku in New York, Hainan Chicken @ Sinapore Shiok, Epic easter weekend

Squishies made her first visit to the land of the rising sun, taunting us with photos of food and snow while Teresa took things one step further with a pulled pork spectacular in New York’s Momofuku Ssam.

I ate the first of many (many!) Roasted Chicken Rice sets from Singapore Shiok, and confirmed that Howie was right, it is the best Chicken Rice in Sydney. I also baked for the first (and last) time this year with a Double Rainbow cake inspired by Steph.

Of course, it’s not autumn without an epic Easter Feast!

Winter

Dear Kettle Chip Company,

It has come to my attention that you have discontinued the chilli flavourfrom your Kettle Chips product line. Not only that, you have also changed the branding and packaging to what I feel is an inferior design which makes it difficult to differentiate between your closest “deli” style rival, Red Rock.

Could you please explain why chilli, perhaps the greatest Kettle Chip flavour of all time has been discontinued? You were the only brand to have a decent chilli flavour. Even though over time the chilli flavour was turning a bit mild rather than hot, I was still a loyal customer. I find it hard to believe that chilli flavour wasn’t one of your best sellers, it constantly had a shorter shelf life than the other flavours, perhaps going neck and neck with honey baked ham.

Also, could you please explain why you are dabbling into chip flavours which your rivals have covered? Why not stick to the original flavours, flavours which are timeless and which many of your loyal customers have grown up with?

While I’m here, could you also explain why the packaging size has decreased 200g to 185g whilst the price has increased? Lighter packaging or less chips?

In a nutshell, please reconsider the decision to discontinue the chilli flavoured Kettle Chip. It is without doubt the only flavour worth buying and quite frankly, the current new flavour range pales in comparison, no matter how exotic you are heading with the flavours (Peri-peri chicken?)

Regards,

An ex-Kettle Chip customer who will return one day, when Chilli flavour returns.

We kicked off Winter with the most ridiculously viral post in the history of es&t, Howard’s open letter to Kettle about their Chilli flavoured chips. To date, it’s sitting on 124 comments and is undoubtedly the post of the year.

Oysters down south, Kicking up a storm in San Francisco, Do the Dip!, Dessert Tables

It was an all American celebration, with Howard and Teresa on opposite ends of the states. Teresa conquered giant oysters down in The Big Easy while Howard kept things going on the west coast in San Francisco. Don’t worry, they did eventually meet up on the east coast, even if we have no post to prove it *cough Howard*.

The Dip opened up in Sydney, forever cementing itself in my heart with their selection of hotdogs, pulled pork nachos, beer and above all, being open until midnight.

Linda expanded her dessert domain by starting up Dessert tables at weddings, she tormented us with pictures of macarons, cake pops and brownies that we had no access to!

I also popped back down to Melbourne for another weekend of eating and drinking, however this time I squeezed in a terrifying talk in front of 300 people at Nuffnang Blogopolis 2011!

Spring

Honda's Engagement, Wellington, a Crave 2011 experience, Secret Dinners

Guys… LINDA AND HOWARD GOT ENGAGED!

All together now, nawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

There was also a visit to the homeland for our resident kiwi, Howard.

October crept around, bringing with it the annual Crave Sydney International Food Festival (formerly known as Good Food Month!). Squishies went to town with pop-up dinners and lunches, but the best was easily the whimsical Alice in Culinary Land dinner. Linda who was not content with catering wedding dessert tables and her own engagement party, decided to take on 3 Secret Dinners with Fouad at Restaurant Atelier.

I was missing in action for most of October, on an epic road trip in America (posts coming soon I promise!).

Now

Because you’ve got to go out with a BANG, we closed off the year with the award for Most Original Blog Design at the Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards 2011!

It’s amazing to see what we’ve achieved, and the differences from last year. Thanks to all of our friends and readers, 2011 was a great year and let’s make 2012 even better.

I can’t believe I’m saying this already…

Happy New Year y’all. Bring on 2012!

© Minh for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Check out Part one as well.(...)
Read the rest of The next 25 things every Sydney food lover should try: Part 2 (1,767 words)

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Dear Kettle Chip Company,

It has come to my attention that you have discontinued the chilli flavour from your Kettle Chips product line. Not only that, you have also changed the branding and packaging to what I feel is an inferior design which makes it difficult to differentiate between your closest “deli” style rival, Red Rock.

Could you please explain why chilli, perhaps the greatest Kettle Chip flavour of all time has been discontinued? You were the only brand to have a decent chilli flavour. Even though over time the chilli flavour was turning a bit mild rather than hot, I was still a loyal customer. I find it hard to believe that chilli flavour wasn’t one of your best sellers, it constantly had a shorter shelf life than the other flavours, perhaps going neck and neck with honey baked ham.

Also, could you please explain why you are dabbling into chip flavours which your rivals have covered? Why not stick to the original flavours, flavours which are timeless and which many of your loyal customers have grown up with?

While I’m here, could you also explain why the packaging size has decreased 200g to 185g whilst the price has increased? Lighter packaging or less chips?

In a nutshell, please reconsider the decision to discontinue the chilli flavoured Kettle Chip. It is without doubt the only flavour worth buying and quite frankly, the current new flavour range pales in comparison, no matter how exotic you are heading with the flavours (Peri-peri chicken?)

Regards,

An ex-Kettle Chip customer who will return one day, when Chilli flavour returns.

So that’s my open letter to Kettle Chips Australia aka The Kettle Chip Company based in Victoria. I’m deeply saddened by the sudden disappearance of such an iconic chip flavour. I took the conversation to Twitter and it seems I’m not the only chilli Kettle fan.

So who else was a fan of the Chilli version of Kettle Chips? If you also think the decision to discontinue the flavour was a joke, leave a comment and hopefully they’ll see this blog post and reconsider their decision!

update: There is a thread on Whirlpool Forums with great on going discussion about the changes Kettle has been through over the past two years! http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1311484

Source: http://www.grogonwheels.com.au

Old branding (win)

New branding (fail)

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 125 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Part of what I do at work is to analyse the usability and user experience of web experiences. This involves conducting in-depth usability analysis on not just the aesthetics of a website or user interface, but also the process and flow on how a particular function is performed or how information is retrieved and displayed. Or in normal speak – I look at websites and figure out how to make them work good.

I’ve seen my fair share of good and bad restaurant websites, and I’m sure you have as well. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to find out information about a restaurant, whether it be the address or tonight’s menu only to find it hidden away deep in the menu or in a forced PDF download. I’m perplexed at just how frustrating it is to use restaurant websites.

So it got me thinking, what constitutes a good restaurant website? What are the key things it needs to do? What information should it display? Should a restaurant even care? As long as the food is good who cares? I don’t have time to work on a fancy website, I have great food to make!

Regardless of what the answers are to those questions, I still believe that a good website can be key to a potential customer’s decision-making process. Who knows, it could be the little changes you make to your restaurant website that might turn you from zero to hero on a Friday night when a group of people are looking for a place to wine and dine.

Common restaurant website pain points

I’ve come up with a list of common pain points I’ve noticed on a sample of restaurant websites.

Lack of mobile web compatibility



The biggest culprits are flash-based or image heavy designs. Whilst using Flash may be a win on the eyes, you are alienating a significant amount of phone users (iPhone). Whether you love or hate Stephen Jobs, iPhones count for 25% of the market share, just behind Android on 26% and that’s not even taking into account the number of people on the iPad. While Flash does work on other mobile platforms such as Android and Windows Mobile, loading a Flash animation or movie which is not optimised for a mobile device will be time consuming to load especially on slow 3G networks.

Avoid barriers which contribute to a possible poor customer experience. It’s time to use HTML5, CSS3, jQuery the latest trends in web design to provide content rich web experiences which are platform independent, in other words working on all devices and browsers.

Poor placement of key restaurant information

I’ve lost track at the number of times where I need to click-through multiple website sections and then having to scan through a another section just to find out basic restaurant information. Information such as contact numbers, opening hours and menus shouldn’t require an easter egg hunt to be found.

Outdated menus and the PDF menu

As a potential diner, the menu on a restaurant website is in my top two requirements for a good user experience. I’ve noticed a few times that the menu listed is a ‘Sample’ menu, which is fine as menu’s change on a regular basis in some restaurants. However it’s a bit of poor form if it’s Summer and you are still displaying the Winter menu on the website.

Also, while PDF menus can be easier to generate and print off, they’re an additional click and download between your food and your customers. It doesn’t hurt to provide a nicely formatted menu which people can quickly scan through on the website.

Update: Fair comment from Robert Candelori regarding the costs and difficulty of updating a menu on the website. With this in mind, you can get around these difficulties by having your website built around a web content management system. Examples include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Cushy. The advantage? You can update static content yourself and much more.

The nice to have’s on a good restaurant website

Provide critical information up front

As a consumer I expect the following information to be displayed on the front page of the website:

• Opening days and hours
• Contact numbers
• Email address
• Location of the restaurant with a link to Google Maps
• Links to the restaurant menu, both on the website and to a printable PDF.

Provide all the most common search information upfront, don’t make the user search for the information. The more steps it takes for a user to find information, the more likely they are to give up and leave the website

Be one step ahead

Front page of www.perama.com.au

Anticipate what other information people would like to see, it saves them from phoning up and potentially not getting through to your restaurant because your front of house is busy.

• Menu: Specify which dishes are Vegetarian friendly or might contain ingredients which relate to common allergies. Provide a last updated date, it’s always nice to know that what is shown on a website is what is served at the restaurant. Also when linking the PDF menu, make a note that is a PDF file and have the file size in brackets. State upfront the formation of the menu, if it’s in PDF put (PDF and file size) in brackets. Have all your bases covered, have a simple HTML menu as well.
• Location: Provide a link to Google Maps, also provide parking advice and instructions if parking might be an issue in the area. Public transport information would also be a nice to have.
• Social media: Getting involved in Social Media is not for everyone, but there is no doubt that it has its advantages. Having a Facebook Page or Twitter account to facilitate two-way communication is a great way of interacting with existing and potential customers. It can also be used to drive traffic and attention to a restaurant website.
• Branding: Be consistent with branding. If using a particular font or logo for your branding use it on your website. Allow the customer to make a connection between your site and the restaurant signage. Put a picture of the entrance of your restaurant on the site, make it easier to find.

Be useful and convenient

Remove things from the front page which don’t add value or distract the experience. As mentioned previously I goto a restaurant website usually for a few things; opening hours/location/contact number/menu. Having a video on the front page or music playing in the background is distracting and consumes unnecessary space on the front page.

Less is more

It all comes down to providing only the most critical information on the front page and then having a structured information hierarchy to direct users to other parts of the site. Things like a restaurant blog and restaurant history should have their own sections on the site and not take up space on the front page, first impressions count.

I’m not an expert

These are just general observations of mine and what I think would make a great restaurant website. It’s all about making information easily accessible, everyone just seems so ‘busy’ these days and we want information right away, if not “yesterday”.

Quite happy to see what you guys think about this topic, leave a comment with your thoughts. Also, what restaurant websites have you seen lately which provide a good user experience?

Good website designs

• Perama – http://perama.com.au
• Barley’s – http://www.barleysgville.com/food-menu
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/09/02/showcase-of-appetizing-restaurant-websites/

I also think this comic by The Oatmeal sums up the context of my post: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/restaurant_website

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2011. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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For the last year we’ve been eating and photographing our way around Sydney and the world and while a lot of things changed for us, in some ways things never change.

Without a doubt it’s been great fun for me this year writing on the blog, I ate at a hell of a lot, met some pretty awesome people, and got to see a lot of cool stuff.

Summer

Summer - El Jannah, Daring Bakers, Hong Kong and Japan

We started the year with a bang, with of course a full suckling pig. Little did we know that this was merely the first many BBQs of the year and we took full advantage of the fantastic weather to eat well and eat often.

I had my first ever taste of El Jannah, it took me only one bite of smokey charcoal chicken smothered in garlic sauce to fall in love and I’m proud to say our relationship is still going strong.

Linda’s baking took on a new level of insanity as she took on the Daring Bakers with her creations becoming increasingly weird and wonderful.

Howard and Linda decided to jump ship and head over to Hong Kong and Japan where they proceeded to eat meals that made my mouth water and I may have been a little green with envy.

Autumn

Autumn - A hotpot feast for Teresa, the adorable Max, Linda's Royal Battle entry, Homemade Suckling Pig Crackling

The tears began falling as Teresa prepared to leave us for the Big Apple, but we weren’t about to let her go without a feast! (sob I miss you my +1). The tears didn’t last long however, as Max made his triumphant debut on the blog.

Not content with conquering the baking world, Linda decided to join forces with Billy and Ellie to organise the first Food Bloggers Battle Royale Cook off.

Howard decided to start cooking the manly way and invested in a spit to start making his own Suckling Pig at home.

Winter

Winter - Malaysia Mondays, Masterchef, Hello from NYC and Berowra Waters

I decided to abandon Sydney’s shores to run away from Winter and began my epic Malaysia Mondays series and soon began to dread Sunday nights.

Back home Lina was getting her groove on with Masterchef and Linda decided to tackle the intensely vanilla V8 Cake. Not content until they’ve tackled the restaurant world, she, Billy, Karen and Fouad took over Bistro CBD for a night for a crowd of 70.

As though it wasn’t bad enough that she’d left us, Teresa began to torment us post by post by teasing us with the places she’d been feasting at in NYC. Not to be beaten, Squshies responded by eating at pretty much every single restaurant in Sydney.

Spring

Spring - DFC, Melbourne, Vietnam and Hong Kong

We started things off closer to home when Spring rolled around and indulged in Spring BBQs to celebrate the beautiful weather and I ate my favourite dish of the year – Linda’s DFC (Duck Fried Chicken).

But then we all decided that the grass was greener on the other side and all promptly flew out of Sydney for holidays.

Squishies decided to take a quick trip down to Melbourne and ate her heart out at Vue De Monde much to my envy. Howard and Linda upped the ante by hopping back over to the motherland (Vietnam) and soon after I found myself in Hong Kong just in time for Halloween!

Oh yeah, and a little event known as SIFF also happened.

Now

They say that all good things have to come to an end, and so we’re saying goodbye to 2010. It’s been a year of laughter, loss and tears and even worse… weight gain.

And so we’re ending out the year the way we began it, feasting it up at a BBQ!

Happy New Year y’all. Bring on 2011!

Cheers,
The es&t team

© Minh for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Having grown up in South Western Sydney but also a regular diner in other parts of Sydney, I thought I’d put together my list of things every Sydney food lover should try. I tried doing 50 but gave up, maybe I’ll post another 25 down the track.

Photo thanks to Leon : http://www.flickr.com/photos/nopunintended

This list is in no particular order and has only places which we have visited and eaten at before. It is our opinion so we will no doubt miss out on a lot of places as well. What I encourage you as a reader to do though is to leave a comment with your own favourite restaurant or meal which you think is a must try for any Sydney sider. Now, after spending a few hours on this list I’ll admit that there is a slight bias towards South West Sydney, so if you combine both Terry’s list and mine you’ll get the best of both worlds!

Coming up with a list of 50 is actually quite a hard task, we’ll start with 25 and go from there.

1. Pappardelle of biodynamic hens egg with wild French chanterelles, black trompettes and Tasmanian black truffle from Bistro Ortolan, Leichardt

This dish only comes onto the menu when truffles are in season, but it’s worth the wait. The aroma of the truffles, chanterelles and trompettes is something which needs to be experienced first hand.

2. Lebanese charcoal chicken with garlic sauce, lebanese bread, hot chips and pickles from El Jannah Charcoal Chicken in Granville

Probably one of the best bang for buck meals in Sydney. After you try El Jannah, there is no turning back to Woolies bbq chickens. Smokey charcoal chicken with a salty crisp skin is served with their legendary garlic sauce, pickles and soft fresh Lebanese bread. It’s the perfect combination of salt, sour and textures.

3. Hu Tieu Nan Vang from Battambang in Cabramatta

Tucked away in a small alley is a Cambodian/Chinese restaurant called Battambang. They are famous for one dish called Hu Tieu Nam Vang which is translated as Phnom Penh noodles. Ingredients wise there is nothing outstanding ; noodles, prawns, pork, shallots, fried garlic. It’s the soup base and combination of all the flavours which makes this dish a winner.

4. Almond croissant from Croquembouche Patisserie, Botany

Buttery, soft and a delicate crunch from the crisp burnt edges make this a regular feed of mine when I’m in the area. Situated down the road from Brasserie Bread, it’s worth a visit

5. Com tam dac biet from Pho Quoc in Cabramatta

Grilled marinated pork chops on a bed of broken rice with sides of pickles, shredded pork, steamed pork and egg custard and topped with a runny fried egg. You drown it all with a bowl of fish sauce and you are in heaven. What makes this one special ? The pork chops are made like no other, their marinade is unique.

6. Vietnamese iced coffee from Cabramatta

Make a trip to Cabramatta and look for the coffee shops with copious amounts of Vietnamese men sitting out the front having a yarn or smoke, just like Vietnam. Order a cafe sua da (ice coffee with milk) or a cafe da (ice coffee no milk) and you’ll feel like you’ve just stepped into a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City.

7. Ca Kho from Hau Au, Canley Vale.

There is something about the sweet, sticky and salty caramalised sauce which really is the x factor of the dish. The fish is served in the clay pot which it is traditionally cooked in.

8. Turkish ice cream from Mado’s Cafe, Auburn

The ice cream here is amazing, it’s a bit tougher and stickier than normal ice cream and is the perfect accompaniment to the house made Baklava.

9. Nam Khao from Lao Village in Fairfield

Half fried rice and half ‘salad’, this is a dish made of crisp fried rice balls, pieces of fermented pork sausage , coconut, chopped peanuts, shallots, mint, coriander, lime juice, fish sauce and other ingredients. Wrap a spoonful of this in lettuce or cabbage leaves and dip into the accompanied fish sauce.

10. Pho dac biet, Pho Tau Bay in Cabramatta

The best pho is a topic which can divide a nation. Having tried pho at places such as Pho An and Pho Pasteur, nothing beats Pho Tau Bay for me. The daily house made fresh with fresh noodles and herbs wins me over every time.

11. Spicy chicken with handmade noodles, Dumpling Noodle Plus in Ashfield

Dish is the photo on top right

This is one of those dishes which doesn’t look too attractive when seen on a menu, but take my word for it that it is a bloody fantastic dish. Chicken pieces are cooked in a stew with potatoes and various herbs and spices resulting in a slightly thick sauce. You mop up the sauce with a giant plate of hand made noodles which are cooked al dente.

12. Mango and Vanilla Weiss Bar from Sepia Restaurant, Sydney CBD

One of the many great creations of the Sepia Pastry Chefs, this is a take on the traditional mango weiss bar ice cream.

13. Baklava ice cream from Perama, Petersham.

The fragrant caramel ice cream combined with the simple but smooth vanilla ice cream worked well together in offsetting the robust flavours of the pistachio nuts.

14. Hainan chicken rice from Shiok Singapore in Eating World Foodcourt, Chinatown Haymarket

This is the real deal. Fragrant rice cooked in chicken broth and silky smooth and tender boneless chicken.

15. Special spiced lambchops from Iron Chef Chinese Restaurant, Cabramatta

This dish is on the house special section on the menu. Lambchops are deepfried with a mix of Chinese spices including cumin and chilli, topped with copious amounts of fried shallots and chillis.

16. Bananarama from Universal Restaurant, Darlinghurst.

Banana Marshmallow, SaltedPeanut Caramel, Passionfruit cream, Passionfruit Banana Sorbet. There were so many textures to experience and the flavour combinations were so spot on with none of the components overpowering another.

17. Falafel roll with hommus, tabbouleh and pickles from Jasmins in Lakemba.

You know what, I’d turn vegetarian if I could eat this all the time. It’s the perfect mix of textures and flavours, one of the best and most consistent tasting falafel balls too.

18. Banh Mi Thit from KK Bakery in Cabramatta

Pork rolls are available everywhere but this one is up there with the best. The secret? Their bread rolls are always warm and fresh which means the pate and the ‘secret’ butter melt into the bread. The queues here are always long, and is apparently Luke Nguyen’s favourite too. I don’t know the exact address, if I told you I’d have to kill you. Just kidding, it’s the second last alley before Red Lea Chicken on John street.

19. Fried chicken from Red Lea in Cabramatta

Moist and tender chicken with a crisp and salty skin, not to mention their special paprika. This gives KFC original recipe and hot n spicy a run for it’s money. Red Lea is a franchise, but I’ve yet to taste a better chicken at another sister store.

20. Chilli mud crab from Sinma Laksa House, Kingsford

Kingsford is the home of many fantastic Asian restaurant’s, especially along Anzac Parade. One of my favourites is Sinma Laksa House which has one of the best Singapore chilli mud crabs I’ve tasted. My advice is to bring your favourite crusty bread to lap up all the fantastic sauce., yes BYO bread is allowed.

21. Soft shell crab omellete and Wattle Macaccino from Cafe Ish, Surry Hills

The soft shell crab encoated with a light batter and seasoning, unlike most places actually look like a crab as opposed to the usual fried crispy bits. The crab was large enough, so that you can actually taste each strand of it’s sweet pearly white meat. Accompanied by the piquant japanese inspired soy sauce, making the Japanese/Australian fusion theme blatanly obvious.

As for the coffee, the Wattleseed’s roasty flavour and macadamia’s sweet mellow flavours are all in a cup of coffee, fantastic. It’s their signature coffee too.

22. Petit fours platter from Restaurant Arras, Millers Point

These petit fours are nothing I have ever seen in Sydney, it’s like walking into a lollie shop as a kid and not knowing what to buy. The only difference here is that you can pick whatever and as much as you want. Off the top of my head there were chocolates, caramel chews, jellies, coconut balls, honeycomb and maybe even a shortbread somewhere.

23. Home made pies from Megalong Tea Rooms, Blue Mountains

Steak and onion pie

The puffy, crispy and buttery pastry encased all the different pie flavours. My favourite was probably the non meat version of creamy cheese, onion and garden sage. The aroma let out by the onion and sage engulfed the table, making me have seconds thought about not ordering a pie. Each pie comes with a side of chutney, a nice home style alternative to tomato sauce.

24. Sushi omakase from Koi, Woolwich

This is the closest sushi and sashimi experience I’ve had since the Tokyo fish markets in Tokyo. Only available on Wed and Thurs (set menu degustation on other nights), ask for the sushi omakase and let the Chef do his thing with the freshest seafood from the counter in front of him. Try get a booking at the sushi counter so you can see him ply his trade.

25. Chacarero from La Paula, Fairfield

Tucked away in Fairfield is a South American cafe known for their burgers, sweets and empanadas. They have a burger called chacarero which is filled with churrasco style steak pieces, avocado, mayo, green beans and served with a side of crispy fries.

THE END, for now. There might be a few controversial additions and omissions but this is what my stomach has experienced to date. Now that this is done, I should probably have my cholesterol checked.

© Howard for eatshowandtell, 2010. | Permalink | 45 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: favourites

Also, having a bit of a competitive streak, I wanted to see who could make better-looking sushi (despite knowing fairly well who’s the more adept cook).

It took a while to get into gear to book in the class, as there was always something cropping up, but every time I tried, the class was always booked out! Finally, I managed to secure a date… way out in August.

Waiting for class to begin

(...)
Read the rest of Sushi Class, Surry Hills (935 words)

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People often ask us what restaurants do we recommend, usually I can’t give them a straight answer. “But you run a food blog ? ” they say, yeah I do, but that doesn’t make me more knowledgeable about food than them. Now to put that question to rest and in no particular order here are our top 5 restaurants of 2009. There is no rating, no formal criteria. We like these places because they give us a sense of satisfaction, a sense of ” now this is the shit !!! “.

Etch, Sydney

Caramelised Pork Belly, Roasted Queensland Scallops, Sherry Gel and Sweet Corn Puree

Etch is a great mix of classic comfort food (mac and cheese and wagyu burgers) with a bit of European thrown in for good measure. Squishies loves this place, it’s an all round winner because of a menu which is not intimidating and fantastic service. One thing to note is the wagyu burger is gone, but can be found at their sister store Plan B.

Bistro Ortolan, Leichardt

I’ve been back 4 times this year, I love this place so much. It’s a good example of how modern French should be done and what makes it stand out is the use of excellent local produce. Presentation is top-notch, the food has excellent flavour and the service is attentive but not intrusive. Go for the degustation, it’s better value but look out for the mushroom papardelle it is a winner.

Jaan par Andre, Singapore

I’ve eaten at a few hatted places but none of them have come made me go “wow” like Jaan Paar Andre did. It’s the most beautiful looking food I’ve seen on a plate and he pays homage to some classics with his own versions of macaroni and cheese and the snickers bar. If you goto Singapore, do yourself a favour and give this place a go. The value was excellent as well.

Nin’s Bin, Kaikoura

There is something about eating fresh lobster, in what looks like the middle of no where near the ocean. But Nin’s Bin is no secret, it’s been around since the 70′s and they whip up fresh mussels and lobster like no other.

Minh had the most mouth-watering lobster and mussels here, and the whitebait patty looked like comfort food at it’s best.

Longrain, Surry Hills

My first visit here was good, but it was the subsequent visits which were great. The flavours in all the dishes jump right at you, and the cocktails are top notch with so many refreshing variations. Add to that a nice bar to hang out at and a lounge area which makes waiting for a table never a dull moment. My favourite dish is the pork hok but make sure you get the dessert platter as well, if you have the stomach space left.

It’s hard making a top 5, but to ease into the new year we figured it was nice to think back what nice stuff made it’s way into our stomachs. There are countless other places we’ve blogged about which deserve a mention, and even more places which we regularly eat at which we can’t be bothered blogging about. There is something about rocking up to your local favourite, not looking at the menu because you already know what to order and kicking back to enjoy the meal while everything that is wrong in the world is all the sudden a distant memory, for now.

See you in 2010, thanks for reading.

es&t crew.

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Let’s hope 2010 is another year of great food and great people. Our next post will be our top 5 restaurants of 2009.

Mind you, this is a pretty random list. I asked each one of the crew for their favourite dish and this is what we came up with.

Chilli mud crab

We use to goto a restaurant for this when we had a craving, but then realised that making it at home is actually quite easy. The key is a decent fish monger who’ll give you a fresh crab and a decent wok which can get very hot. There is nothing better than ripping into piping hot chilli mud crab with crusty bread and a beer. Recipe here. - Minh.

Pappardelle at Bistro Ortolan, Leichardt

Pappardelle of biodynamic hens egg with wild French chanterelles, black trompettes and Tasmanian black truffle

I actually visited Bistro Ortolan again in December for my birthday but was sad to see this dish off the menu because truffles are out of season! Here is a simple dish but paired with different ingredients successfully, turning such a simple pasta dish to something so exquisite. The aroma of the truffles, chanterelles and trompettes is something which needs to be experienced first hand. Oh and that burnt butter just tops it off, who doesn’t love burnt butter ? - Howard

Sperm from sacs of a cod fish

I didn’t let the name put me off, in fact I deliberately chose this because of the name. Who would give up the chance to tell all your friends you have eaten the sperm from the sack of a cod ? I tried this with Teresa at Sushi Dai at the tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan. - Teresa

Crispy skin braised pork

By rolling the piece of pork up during the cooking process it has preserved the natural juice of the pork, while the exterior absorbed the fragrant broth. The 2 hours or so of braising has helped us achieved tender melt in the mouth pieces of meat. Paired with the creamy potato puree, this what comfort food at its best. Recipe here. - Linda

Chocolate marquis, Ash St Cellar

We had this at the March into Merivale Gala Dinner. The best way to describe it is is a deconstucted ferroro rocher. It had all the right elements of quality chocolate marquis and ganache, crunchy and smokey roasted hazelnuts and a gorgeous cinnamon cream which was not sweet at all. When I bumped into Lauren Murdoch at the World Chef Showcase, she said it sometimes comes back on the menu as a special dessert. It’s a dessert of epic awesome proportions. - squishies.

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Photo courtesy of Sugartown

When I mentioned briefly about Homer Hudson Ice Cream in my Se Joung post, I didn’t acticipate so many closet fans of the brand. In fact, I think I received more comments about the Ice cream than the actual post itself! Naturally, I went out and bought all the flavours which were stocked at my local Woolies so I could see what else the fuss was about. I have only tried the cookies and cream version and it is pretty hard to beat. How do the rest stack up Homer ? 

Hoboken Crunch, Vanilla Nirvana, Chocolate Rock

To give you a little background, Homer Hudson is an Ice Cream which is made in Austalia and started off back in the 80′s. Like alot of the good stuff (eg. Monaco Bars and Ice Cream sandwich) it was discontinued but later relaunched in 2004. Despite this, it still seems a relatively unknown brand for most ice cream eaters.

For $6.99, you get 500ml of some pretty damn good ice cream. The difference between Homer and the rest ? Homer just tastes like a premium ice cream after the first scoop.  It’s rich, thick and not overly sweet. The chocolate tastes like chocolate, vanilla like vanilla, you get the drift. 

Cheap Ice cream doesn’t do ice cream justice, maybe with the exclusion of Macca’s  30 cent cones. I remember as a kid, Mum and Dad use to buy home brand ice cream and to this day the taste still haunts me. At times it does the job and with respect to the price it actually isn’t too bad. But other times, it just tastes too watered down much like the ice cream I had recently at French Riviera. The novelty of eating a giant ice cream was great, but the taste was nothing to savour. 

Vanilla Nirvana

Out of all the flavours this is probably my favourite, along with cookies and cream. Sometimes, a clean tasting vanilla ice cream is all that is needed for an ice cream fix. Homer’s version is unbelievably strong tasting, almost as if the vanilla beans are still in the tub. 

This is old school vanilla at it’s best. I can imagine Vanilla Nirvana served with some warm sticky date pudding. Like almost all the flavours, it is tempting to eat this all in one go straight out of the tub.

Hoboken Crunch

The Hoboken Crunch seems like the favourite of most Homer fans. Crunchy pieces of toffee are mixed in vanilla ice cream. I’ve got a strange like for things with a balance of crunchiness and ‘smoothness’. I love the crunch of the toffee and how I can balance it with the ice cream. I’ve got a similiar love for fried chicken and coleslaw. Opposite ends of the taste scale I know.

Check out those toffee pieces! It also looks like the Haboken crunch can be used in cocktails called the Haboken Crunch Float and “is a mix of Mount Gay rum, vanilla liqueur, Homer Hudson Hoboken Crunch and ginger beer, served in a high ball or pilsner glass and garnished with a maraschino cherry”.

Chocolate Rock

I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate ice cream, mainly because it doesn’t taste like good chocolate. I find that alot of chocolate ice creams taste like a frozen version of Nesquik, which is not neccesarily a bad thing as I grew up on that stuff (bananna flavour rocks). It’s simliliar to alot of the so called Milkshakes you get at restaurants who just use the powdered stuff and doesn’t do justice to how a real milkshake is supposed to taste like.

However, I think Homer Hudson is actually the first Supermarket chocolate ice cream which I actually like. In fact, I think it is even too rich for my taste buds. It literally tastes like dark chocolate and reminds me of the chocolate I had at the Pierre Hermé store in Tokyo in terms of richness. I can only have a few spoons at a time, something which is usually unheard of when it comes to ice cream. If your a chocolate fan (I’m looking at you Chocolatesuze) then this is pretty hard to beat.

Here is another way you can use Chocolate Rock. The Chocolate Rock Star is a “mix of vodka, chambord, vanilla liqueur, Homer Hudson Chocolate Rock ice cream and crushed ice, served in a martini glass and garnished with crushed chocolate on the rim”.

Yes, I did go a little overboard by buying all the flavours I could see. Apparently there a few other flavours which are available but havn’t made their way to my Woolies. There is a flavour called the ‘Digger’ which has Anzac biscuits in it, I’d be keen to try that.

Homer Hudson

Find them at your local Woolies for around $6.99 / 500ml tub.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Hudson

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If you noticed the banner on the right hand side of the site, you may have realised that I (and Teresa) have been in Japan for the past few weeks. I never intended to visit Japan so soon, considering I have been there four years ago. But when I found out that the Australian Socceroos team were due to play a World Cup qualifier match Tokyo in February, I had to get myself to Japan to be part of the experience. Fortunately, Jetstar also had a sale during that time and I managed to snap up a return ticket for $600 ish. Despite the shocking exchange rate, we still had a fantastic time and the trip just re-inforced my love for all things Japan.

What I love about Japan is the abundance of randomness in the country that is intertwined with a culture that is full of respect and tradition. They are leaps and bounds ahead of us in terms of technology that benefits all citizens (vending machines, a reliable train system!) , yet all this hasn’t changed the way they treat people and each other. 

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about what I ate throughout Osaka, Tokyo, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Iya Valley, Nozawa Onsen, Hirayu Onsen and Kanazawa. In the mean time, here is my list of five things I loved about Japan over the last few weeks.

Oh and one more thing I noticed. Only in Japan can you find Beer vending machines in a burger joint (Mos Burger) without having to worry about bogans starting fights because of drunken shenanigans.

Sleeping in public

They love their sleeping, especially on trains. They also love having a snooze on the train after a few too many Sake’s even on a week night. What amazed me even more was that alot of these people were still in their Office attire. After a few long nights having a few too many drinks, we found ourselves seeking refuge in a 24 hour McDonalds. There are actually more people sleeping in the restaurant than eating once everyone misses their last train home. Here are a few sleepy heads catching up on some shut eye while waiting for the trains to start again at 5am.

This girl was goneski's

Her friends had to come back and get her. They were walking together when they realised she had fallen asleep behind them on the foot path.

McDonalds (24 hr) in Shibuya at 4am

Snacks

Japan possibly have the best snack availability I have encountered anywhere. The humble vending machine is everywhere in Japan. You cannot walk a few metres without seeing one, it is amazing. Japanese convenience stores also put Australian one’s to shame, their sandwhiches are so fresh and tasty. Food stalls on the side of the road are also widely available, the takoyaki balls give our beef kebabs a run for their money as a midnight snack.

Takoyaki balls

McPork (120 yen)

 Not only did they have McPork, they had an Ebi burger (prawn) and they serve fillet o fish for breakfast!

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Corn soup from a vending machine

 This warm can of corn soup was a life saver at the snow where it was bloody cold.

French fries

Sandwhich from 7-11 (Chicken + Mayo and egg)

Fashion

Taken at Tsukiji fish market

 I have no idea why this guy was wearing his number plate on his head. Judging by his facial expression,  he was about as confused as I was.

Ayoyama

Only in Japan can you find Chanel and Dior stores on one side, and guys wearing random outfits in 5 degrees celcius weather on the other. 

Small bars

Beat Cafe in Shibuya (http://www.beatcafe.info)

Due to reduced liquor licensing costs and ‘red tape’ in the liquor license process, Sydney recently has jumped onto the small bar scene. They should take a look at how the Jap’s do it because they do it very well. I can only speak for Shibuya and it’s surrounding suburbs, but there is no shortage of small bars which fit around 10 people in it. Staffed with only 1 bar tender (usually), there is a great intimate chilled out feel when you enter one of these bars. Most bars I frequent are just way too packed and you lose the sense of being able to relax in your own zone with a few mates over a few drinks.

Most small bars in Japan also serve basic food such as fries, curries and pasta. Beat Cafe was one which we randomly found on the 5th floor of a building. They also played some cool music, predominately punk and indy type bands.

Izakaya

Izakaya’s are similiar to tapas bars, where small portions of food can be ordered along with copious amounts of drinks. It is a communal dining experience, where food is meant to be shared. We spent most our time in Tokyo eating at various Izakaya’s, with Doma Doma as one of my favourites despite being a franchise. Most Izakaya have booths which allow a more intimate dining experience with your mates. I loved being able to order dish after dish, with the food often coming to our table in a matter of minutes. Wagaya in Sydney (Haymarket) has a similiar experience to the Izakayas which I frequented in Tokyo.

Grilled rice balls

Beef patties with egg yolk

These were delish once you mixed the egg and beef with the sauce, beeflicious.  

Fried tofy with bonito flakes

So there you have it, a handful of things which I loved about my recent trip of Japan. Stay tuned during the next couple of weeks as we’ll be posting about all the food we ate during our 17 day trip.

Domo arigato!

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Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a great NYE, and more importantly a fantastic 2008 with a view to an even better 2009. So what’s your NY resolution ? Our’s is probably to eat out in the Suburbs more as there is alot of good ethnic food out there. However, we also want to maintain this blog as something we just do for fun. There will be times where we won’t post for a few days, but we’ll do our best to keep the blog fresh as most hobbies are only useful if you are active with it. One of the positives of joining the food blogging community is to discover new places to eat reviewed by other bloggers, we are loving it so far!

Anyway, since we started posting on EST ‘properly’ , there have been a few highlight eats which we had some great times and great food. Kang from londoneater actually inspired me to collate this list, so kudos to him. As a result, I’ve collated some of the less recent posts which cover some great restaurants around Sydney. 

1. If you feel like authentic French : La Gerbe d’Or

Assiette de Pates et cornichons

Suburb : Paddington

La Gerbe d’Or was my first forray into authentic French food. I’ve returned here a few times since our first review, I feel like I’m in France whenever I hear Francois’s (Chef and Owner) explanation of each dish in his heavy French accent. The must try foods here are the hot chocolate, Assiette de Pates et cornichons and the bacon which Francois cures himself. Located in Paddington, it makes an ideal destination for breakfast and/or lunch before you head out for an afternoon of shopping. 

2. If you feel like authentic Thai : goto Canley Heights & Cabramatta

Suburb : Cabramatta & Canley Heights

Most people I know have only experienced Thai food in the City, Surry Hills and Newtown. While the food does taste good, it’s nothing like what I experienced on the streets of Bangkok. I’m not saying the Thai food in Canley Heights and Cabramatta is as authentic as Thailand, but it’s pretty damn close and alot less tame than what you can find in ‘modern’ Thai restaurants.  

If your in Cabramatta, try Phoungen. Their fried rice and salads are amazing, watch the chilli though. In Canley Heights, give 12 Spices a try first and then Three Hippo’s. The food at Three Hippo’s is more like what you will find in the City, Surry Hills and Newtown but they still have dishes which use more authentic ingredients. 

3. If you feel like bread & pastry: Bourke St Bakery

Suburb : Surry Hills

Bourke St Bakery does everything so well. From bread, pastry to desserts they never cease to amaze me with their consistant taste and quality of ingredients. Tucked away on the corner of Devonshire and Bourke St in Surry Hills, you can find it by looking for the long queues stretching down the road. 

4. If you have that special occasion: Tetsuya’s

Tetsuya's signature dish, Confit of Tasmanian Ocean Trout

Suburb : Sydney City

They say you must visit Tetsuya’s at least once, just to enjoy the experience. Before you go, perhaps have a look at our thoughts to see if it’s right for you. For us, the experience was one of a kind and I’m glad we had the privelege of trying the creative genius of Tetsuya Wakuda who is perhaps one of Japan’s finest ex-pat’s to call Australia home. 

(...)
Read the rest of EST interesting eats of 2008 (558 words)

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• Degustation at Assiette
• We tried basically everything on the menu from Shu Shin Bou
• 2009 Restaurant of the year Berowra Waters Inn
• Suga Hit at The Westin

Anyway, Thanks to the very kind Lorraine @ NotQuiteNigella, we’ve been TAGGED!
“Tagged? whaaaa?” you say. Well… The theme of this tag is to write SIX random things about yourself (or should I say.. OURSELVES). So, first up is… *drum roll* ME aka Teresa.

6 random things about Teresa

1. Most of my friends call me “Bruce”. It’s a nickname I’ve had for many years. So if you’ve met a chick called Bruce, there’s a high possibility that its me.
2. I have a secret (well not so secret anymore) obsession paper. I LOVE pretty, colourful, different texture paper. People don’t/won’t ever understand my love for it. *sob*
3. I have a large collection of fonts. I LOVE fonts and typography. I think letters can just be as creative as pictures.
4. I DESPISE anyone (even myself) poking/touching/doing anything with my BELLY BUTTON. I have this phobia that I think my guts will fall out if my belly button cut open or something…
5. I hate smelling of food. I HAVE to go home afterwards or at least change into something different if my clothes smell of food.
6. I have a dog called Randy. Her real name is Brandy but we all decided it was easier to call her Randy.

Say hi Randy! *waves*

That’s all about Teresa… NEXT!

We couldn’t get the others to write in time, so Howard will do.

6 random things about Howard

1. People usually end up calling me Howie
2. I am addicted to sport, I can watch and analyse it all day. I love West Ham!
3. Recently, I always seem to get told to stop taking photos at Restaurants
4. I would happily spend $300 every year on a pair of new soccer boots
5. When I visited China last year I got interviewed for a Chinese Travel show when I was walking the streets and I had no idea what they were asking me!
6. Every year that I have travelled overseas, I have always bumped into someone I know in that Country …. very spooky indeed. 

Ok. So we’ve chosen to tag a few regular readers of ours as well as a few we regularly read: 

• Suze @ Chocolate Suze – wonderful foodie and baker
• The great bloggers @ Eat like a cow – awesome blog on food in different parts of the world. Great international collaboration! 
• K & G from Two-KG
• Kang’s excellent blog about food in general and from London : LondonEater 
• Fantastic cooking at thewayitcrumbles
• new comer  Hoglet K

The Golden Rules of Tagging.

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Post the rules on the blog
• Write six random things about yourself
• Tag six people at the end of your post
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Your turn!

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