Birthday Dinner at District Dining

Ello!! Hope everyone had a great Christmas :D A belated Merry Christmas to you all and a very belated birthday post at District Dining with friends.

Oh and thank you for all the birthday wishes from the previous post! <3333 but since I'm horribly backlogged, my birthday was actually in the beginning of November :P

So it seems that a lot of bloggers have already paid a visit to this newly opened restaurant and the food looked so appetising that I've been looking for an opportunity to go.  I was about to go on my birthday but it was a Monday (they open Tue-Sat) :( and it was raining so I had to wait a week more to go with friends.

Love you guys <3

I have really mixed feelings for District Dining.  Everyone seemed to rave on about it.  True, the food was delicious but the service was slower than a snail! The waiter/ess seems to look through me everytime and it took forever to hail one of them over.  My arm was sore and tired by the time they came.  I told them that I wish to order, the waiter said "Just a sec" and never came back.

The food came out slower than the service and all our stomachs' were grumbling.  The tiny portions seems to be already digested before the next dish came out. 

Will I visit again? Possibly, when I'm not that hungry and have all the time in the world.

Veal Tongue with Pickled Turnip, Salsa Verde and Almonds $16

We ohh'd and ahh'd at the pretty plating and the vibrant colours but we can't stop feeling slightly disappointed by the serving size.  It was tiny and we were starving :( I know that $16 can't get you a huge plate but perhaps a bit bigger please next time? The veal tongue was juicy and meaty and the dish was quickly devoured.

Crispy Quail Eggs with White Anchovy and Tarragon Mayo $14

OMG! Cuteness to the max! Six little quail eggs are sitting in a clear egg carton with a layer of deep fried goodness.  We ate this carefully as it was too easy to eat this in one go.  More please :(

King Crab Sweet Corn Fritters with Basil $14

It was not until I started to process the photos that I realised they made it into a star shape! Or, perhaps a lovely coincidence?  The fritter was crispy and the inside was soft.  The sweetness of the king crab and corn worked very well together creating a very nice dish.

Beef Cheek Springroll with Celeriac and Salsa Verde $20

Sorry but I don't remember much about this dish as I'm not a great fan of beef (I love my piggie meat!). All I remember is that it's ok :P

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower, Raisin and Dukkuh $18

Ohhhhh!! Fat, plump and juicy scallops come to mama! The seared scallops were perfection! The cauliflower puree was as smooth as silk.  No wonder this dish took forever to come out from the kitchen.

Pork Belly with Fennel Salt, Lime and Kimchi $24

Humm...please don't kill me when I say that I didn't like this dish very much.  I know, I know~this is pork belly we are talking about! but the skin wasn't crispy, the fat layer wasn't fatty and the meat was tough.  Oh and the kimchi tasted weird...didn't taste authentic :/

Malborough King Salmon with Miso, Radish Salad and Eggplant $20

See the burn!!!!! I'm disappointed that they didn't even bother to scrape the burnt bits off and served it to us.  The rest of the salmon was ok but the best I've tasted was still at Sean's Kitchen.  Oh but the pickled veggies tasted awesome!

Castricum Lamb Shoulder with Cumin, Honey and Baby Carrots $24

It may look like a lot on the photo but it's just actually two really thin and small slices of lamb :( The lamb itself tasted pretty good though.

So my friends got me cake.  Cupcakes to be exact.  Guess where did they get it from? The Cupcake Bakery!  It seems like the whole world likes to give me cupcakes from The Cupcake Bakery, not that I'm complaining.

Star Shaped Candles!!

Such awesome candles! I'm going to stop celebrating my birthday starting from...NOW! cause the candles that come in a 24 pack is not enough for me anymore :( *weeps*

Squashed Cupcakes LOLOLOL! :D

So...it is obvious that they squished the large cupcake onto the box! Bwahahah! But still~thanks guys :) you guys are awesome!

Cupcakes!!

LOL! The large cupcake is tilted in a weird angle too!  The candles works like this.  The smaller cupcakes represents tens (so 20) and the large cupcake represent the units (so 4) = 24 years old! I can go suicide now.  So old! :(

Cupcake Making Kit!

They also gave me a cupcake making kit complete with stand :P My life is filled with cupcakes atm.

Lemme wish everyone a Happy New Year before I disappear for another couple of days.  Where is the best place to watch the fireworks? Best if I won't be squished like sardines either.  Help!!


District Dining

Location: 17 Randle Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
Opening Hours: Tue, Wed, Thur and Sat 12pm-3pm, 6pm-11pm and Fri 12pm-11pm
Phone: 02 9211 7798
Website: http://www.districtdining.com.au/

Share

Tweet

Birthday Dinner at Taste of Shanghai

So I had two Birthday Dinners.  One with family and one held a week later with friends.  Since it was raining like crazy during my birthday, we decided to just eat somewhere close to work so Taste of Shanghai in World Square it is (I craved their pan fried pork bun)! Mum said we should go somewhere more fancy but seriously, I'm old now...birthday is just another day for me now.

Oh did I mention that the boy and my mum met for the first time during dinner? God was that awkward.  I think my heart could've stop pumping at any second but luckily no heart attacks happened and I miraculously survived.

Ah...and here comes the cold dishes.

Simmer Bamboo 油焖笋 $8.80

I'm a sucker for simmered bamboo.  This little plate wasn't enough!


Mung Bean Noodles 凉粉

Lychee Frappe 荔枝冰沙 $4.80

Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns (8 Pieces) 上海生煎包 $9.80

I love their pan fried pork buns! The skin is crispy on the outside and filling is soft and juicy on the inside!  I was scared that the boy wouldn't like Chinese food but he seemed to enjoy it which is good.  He ate a couple of these so he must've liked it a lot.

Stir Fried Green Sprout with XO sauce 鲜XO酱生煸豆苗 $14.80

With two carnivores on the table, we ordered a lot of meat dishes and I finally see some green here! The green sprouts are crunchy and full of flavour.  My mum and I finished this off when the boys ate the meat.

Grandma Pork Belly 石锅外婆红烧肉 $18.80

Bad photo here! Sorry.  The braised pork belly skin was oh so soft and fatty<3

Garlic Bamboo Chicken 蒜香竹笼鸡 $18.80

Getting lazy :p The picture should speak for itself.

Shanghai Style Salt and Pepper Pork Chops $16.80

This was an accidental order as you can see it is an extremely similar dish to the garlic bamboo chicken.  Well, not really accidental cause my mum thought the boys would finish this off. As if 4 people can eat 8 dishes mum! The difference is that one is pork and one is chicken and one is with garlic and one is with salt and pepper.

  

Noodle Soup with Shredded Pork and Preserved Vegetables 榨菜肉丝汤面 $8.80

I hate.Hate.HATE egg noodles.  But we ordered this as my 'Long Life' Noodles (长寿面) which means I have to eat it.  I was so full that I just wanted to cry when I saw this.  As you can imagine, this one is left barely touched.

Rose that I got from my bro :)

He also got me a pink notebook, pencil and piggie shaped rubber!!

He knows that I jot down notes from all my eat outs.  Now he's asking me everyday if I finished my old notebook yet so I can start using his haha!

The boy got me cupcakes. :D

He obviously read my blog because he got the same flavours that I bought from previous posts hehe.

Taste of Shanghai -  World Square

Location: Shop 9.07 World Square Shopping Centre, 644 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9261 8832

Website: http://www.tasteofshanghai.com.au/

Share

Tweet

SIFF 2010 Sugar Hit at Shangri-La

Super fast and super late post about SIFF Sugar Hit at Shangri-La which should've been done back in October...oops! :P 

Continued on from my Blogger gathering at the Marie Antoinette High Tea in the afternoon and Subsolo for dinner (which I still haven't blogged about yet), Ayana, Janice, Julie, Rachel, Stephanie and I braved the pouring rain in heels to go to Shangri-La for their Sugar Hit.

While we tried to settle down and wipe the dripping water off ourselves, the waitress arrived for drink requests.  Most people chose the Brown Brothers Cienna but it can be swapped for juice or Hennesy V.S Cognac.  Learning from the previous experience at the Sugar Hit at Azuma, we have learnt that it was not wise to choose the Cognac.

Brown Brothers Cienna with a sweet and fruity palate

The dessert has started to arrive and we are presented with a Black Forest Cocktail served in a martini glass and topped with a shiny metallic gold and silver umbrella. Fancy.

Black Forest Cocktail: vanilla panna cotta, cherries in kirsch, chocolate bonbon, cocoa sponge and chocolate cream

It looks so Retro!

After a photo taking frenzy, we finally started to grab our spoons to eat the dessert but didn't know where to or how to eat it.  Most of the dessert is encased in a hard chocolate shell which was quite hard to break open since the insides were all soft and mushy so one hard force would mean it would splatter everywhere.

I deconstructed my dessert by yanking out the chocolate 'tentacles', then the chocolate bonbon, scooped out the cherries underneath then lifted the chocolate 'nest' which had a nice and yummy chocolate cream centre.  Finally, I have got to the vanilla panna cotta where I cracked the chocolate layer open.  

There are many elements in this dessert but sadly not many of them were tasty.  Putting the plating aside, the cherries in kirsch was described by many as tasting like cough syrup.  The vanilla panna cotta had a really weird texture and it was more custard than anything else.  It also tasted quite 'plastic' which made the whole thing feel cheap and this was a terrible shame considering that Shangri-La is quite a reputable place and we all had high expectations.

Julie's version of deconstruction

Julie has given up on how to eat this in a sensible manner which I think it could not be achieved so she just mushed everything up.  Simple, easy and not to mention a very good way to vent your anger :) 

Oh and here is a picture I stole from Janice teehee!! :3

Oh yeah! I'm a cam whore and wearing the paper umbrella on my ear :p

Lobby Lounge - Shangri-La

Location: 176 Cumberland Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: 7am - Late Mon - Sat, 8:30am - Late Sun

Phone: 02 9250 6000

Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/sydney/shangrila/dining/restaurant/lobbylounge

Share

Tweet

Made in Italy Trattoria and 100th Blog Post

Aweeee so I didn't win the Nuffnang Christmas Challenge from the previous post *sad puffi face* but I did fill my stomach with a lot of yummy food to combat the loss.  I heard that Made in Italy is a pretty authentic Italian restaurant so I made no hesitation to pay it a visit.

Located between the quiet residential area of Pyrmont, Made in Italy is a not so quiet restaurant that is busy and bustling with people flocking in for its authentic Italian food.

The menu has definitely grabbed my attention.  It has pictures of the owner's son on the front and back side of the menu and you can just tell from the menu that the owner is quite a family man.

Adorable Menu :3

Apart from the menu, the restaurant also have a lot of blackboard specials. The waiter was very helpful and didn't mind explaining each of them and was also telling us how it's made and where the ingredients were from.

Momo Sauvignon Blanc 2009

The owner Sergio complimented us with a bottle of Momo Sauvignon Blanc 2009 which was very nice of him ^-^

Black Mussels with Tomato, Garlic and Chili $20

The mussels was cooked perfectly and we ended up scraping to the bottom of the bowl with the bread to soak up all of the left over sauce.

Snapper in Crazy Water $25

Crazy water?! I had no idea what it was until today.  In reality, it is no where near as crazy as the name.  To my understanding, it is reduced pasta cooking water with cherry tomato juice.  Nevermind how it was made, the fish was just absolutely wonderful.  The skin was crisp, inside was juicy and the seasoning was full of flavour.  I would order it again if it is still on the blackboard the next time I visit.

Spaghetti Vongole with Broccoli $26

An Italian classic dish with vongole (clams) and broccoli.  The spirit of this dish is to retain as much of the natural flavours of the clams and broccoli as possible.  I strongly support this idea as I believe a good dish is when the ingredients has kept it's natural taste.  This goes especially for seafood and this dish has done just that which makes it simple but very tasty.

Seared Tuna in Eggplant Compote $26

I can never go past seared tuna and decided that I'm going to order this dish as soon as I saw it.  The dish was not as raw as I hoped it would be as the middle was more medium rare than seared but it was still quite nice.  The eggplant has definitely made up for the tuna as it was just perfectly seasoned and cooked.  It was so soft that it kind of just melted in my mouth. 

Americana (Large) $24

After all these dishes, you'd think we forgot about pizza? Never! No Italian experience is complete without it.  We ordered a large thin pizza to share between 4 people.  Although full to the brim, we still gobbled it up.  The base was super crispy and the topping was just right.  I must say, it was good pizza. 

After a big meal there always comes dessert.  The desserts here are all made from scratch on premises by the owner's sister in law!

Millefoglie $12

Millefoglie, Mille-Feullie, Napoleon, Vanilla Slice or whatever you call it is a layered puff pastry filled with cream or jam.  My memory kinda fails me but I think it had a sponge cake layer, puff pastry layer and a whipped cream layer.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Mixed Berries $12

Oh. My. God.  It was the most jiggly panna cotta I've ever seen.  I was so intrigued by it that I couldn't stop jiggling it until everyone got annoyed with me since they just want it eat it.  I should've taken a video! Oh and it tasted amazing as well. :p

Sergio's Tiramisu $12

A nice generous serve of tiramisu served in a pretty glass bowl.  I found the tiramisu a little subtle in flavour.  Personally I think it lacked the espresso taste but I think it would be great for non coffee drinking people.

Roman Chocolate Profiterols $12

This dessert was a little confusing for me as I imagined profiterols to be little balls of choux pastry but instead it came in a glass.  It seemed that only the choux paste was brought out but hey! I'm not really complaining about it since it tastes great anyway.  From memory, the texture was somewhere between a chocolate pasty cream and chocolate mousse.

Limoncello

Sergio's homemade Limoncello! Oh boy it was good.  Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur served chilled after dinner as a digestivo.  The liqueur has a strong lemony flavour but sweet in taste and also without the lemon's bitterness.  It was the first time I've tried it and was surprised at how it wasn't sour or bitter but sweet!  It was another complimentary drink and thank you Sergio for sharing it!

Buon Appetitio!

Made in Italy

Location: G01/55 Miller Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 12pm - 2:30pm, Mon - Sun 5pm - 10:30pm
Phone: 02 9518 7555
Website: http://www.madeinitaly.com.au/



100th Blog Post

Oh did I mention that this is also my 100th Blog Post? I've always wanted to spell something out from Alphaghetti and he is my chance! 

Heinz Alphaghetti

I looked high and low for this and I finally found it at the Coles in Pyrmont.  They didn't have it at Rhodes (they had numberghetti!) or at World Square :( 

Anyway~ I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to find all of my letters in a tiny 220g tin of alphaghetti but I just made it!

I swirled my spoon in the alphaghetti trying to look for letters then picked them out carefully with my chopsticks and placing it on a plate.  Soon, I found myself getting anxious because I couldn't find all the letters!  So then I decided to eat the unwanted letters one by one so I could find it more easily.

A puddle of red orangy sauce is now flowing everywhere in the plate so I had to get a new plate...oh god.  Now I kinda regret spelling such a long line.  So after looking for letters, I arranged them neatly and cleaned off all the excess sauce with tissue paper. 

So here it is!

Oh yeah! Success!

Sugarpuffi: Sugar's Sweet Blog 100th Post

People that look carefully enough will see that the letter 'G' on the word 'BLOG' is replaced with the letter 'C'.  I just couldn't find any more Gs :(

Oh and the 'I' and '1' didn't exist in the tin so I chewed the letter 'H' to make 2 I and 1s hehe.

Share

Tweet