Lotus Asian Restaurant

This is the first time I've been to Marrickville since primary school but I was happy to venture off and dine at Lotus Asian Restaurant. The restaurant could be found with a large red sign and inside, it is decorated with a warm orange palate.

Jasmine Tea

2008 Freycinet Louis Chardonnay

The restaurant is BYO so the lovely Simon brought over some Chardonnay.

2006 Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir

And Becca brought some Pinot Noir :D

We were a group of 10 and I think the biggest advantage of dining in a large group is that we get to order many different dishes to try. If u have a couple of boys, they can also polish off whatever it is you can't finish (although that is a different case when it comes to desserts).

Char Grilled Lemongrass Prawn on Skewers (3) $8.50

The lemongrass prawn was char grilled to perfection and you can detect a faint smokey flavour which I like. I would suggest to use the sauce dipping cups as tea cups though :P

Malaysian Style Grilled Satay Chicken (3) $7.50

The chicken was tender and moist but I found that the sauce lacked a bit of 'Oompft' and a bit mild.

Braised Pork Belly with Green Papaya Salad $12

Now this is what I'm talking about! Super duper crunchy pork belly amongst crisp and refreshing green papaya salad, basil, coriander and red onion then drizzled with zesty dressing. This salad have flavour and texture. One of the must haves at Lotus.

Roast Duck and Lychee Salad $15

Another great salad to order. Yummy roast duck with basil, lychee, coriander and red onion.  The salad was flavoursome but I failed in spotting more than 3 lychees in the dish...and I didn't get to have one! :(

Salt and Pepper Squid $17

The golden yellow batter looks very appetising but sadly, the squid was a let down with its chewiness.

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab with Nam Jin $18.50

One of the best soft shell crabs I've eaten! The outside is covered in a light, crunchy batter and on the inside, the crab is filled with juicy meat. At most places, they offer crabs that are, well, anorexic but this one is fatty and screams EAT ME!

Malaysian Rendang Chicken $14.50

I forgot who ordered this but I have to thank you for doing so. Loved this curry so much with the creamy, coconuty curry and pull apart chicken.

M. B. S. (Mushroom, Bean Curd and Snow Peas) $12

It had awesomely big, fat mushrooms in this dish. Period. OK, there's also silken tofu and crispy snowpeas but I'm overlooking all of that because it have mushrooms. I like mushrooms.

Malaysian Style Chili Sambal Prawns $18.50

I quite liked the prawn with the chili sambal sauce. It is a little sweet and sour with a chili flavour that kicks in a couple of seconds after. You know, the deadly ones that leaves you vulnerable to attack when you think you're safe. It is also coupled with cooked yet still crispy beans and baby corn.

 

 Braised Prawns with Chili, Pumpkin, Lemongrass and Coconut Milk $18.50

Really liked this dish due to the mix of my favourite flavours in one. The sweetness from the pumpkin, zesty sourness from the lemongrass, creaminess and fragrant from the coconut milk with a touch of chili.

 

Lotus Dessert Plate for Two $15

The platter consists of: mango sorbet, lychee sorbet, dark chocolate truffle with raspberry sauce and black sticky rice pudding with coconut sauce.

The lovely Kim Nguyen has informed us that the dessert platter is fairly large and it is usually shared amongst 2-4 people. Large platter indeed but she has no idea how much stomach capacity food bloggers has stored for dessert!

I totally loved the refreshing mango and lychee sorbet. They were also full of fruity flavour and this totally made up for the lack of lychee in the duck salad.

 Black Sticky Rice Pudding with Coconut Sauce 

The black sticky rice was still warm when served and was topped with a dollop of coconut sauce :D I wish I could hog the whole bowl to myself.

The dark chocolate truffle with raspberry sauce was also nice however, it was a very dense piece of truffle that overpowered the mild sweetness from the black sticky rice pudding. I also found that it didn't 'belong' in the Asian styled desserts on either ends of the platter.

Fried Coconut Ice Cream with Passionfruit Sauce $6.50

I am always very sceptical of getting fried icecream. Usually, I find a rock hard piece of icecream in an overly oily batter but this one has changed my perception of fried icecreams. It was a glorious ball of gold with a hidden smooth, creamy icecream inside. I had no trouble eating the whole thing and also ended up scooping out from Simon's glass when he walked to the kitchen to fetch the chef. Shhhhh!

 

Chef/Owner Danh Cao

You can tell that the lovely Danh Cao is a very shy person and would rather stayed inside but he made the effort to come out from the kitchen to greet us. He was also pretty nervous when 10 massive cameras all pointed his way and started to do paparazzi shots!

Lotus, I would say is a nice and cosy restaurant that is pretty value for money and great for a casual night out if you are living in the area. One important flaw is there is only one chef working in the kitchen and the service does tend to get a little slow. Maybe in the future, this will improve.

In the end, I have to thank Charlotte Foot PR, owners Danh Cao and Kim Nguyen for inviting me to dine as a guest of Lotus Asian Restaurant and Simon Leong for being a wonderful host.

Sugarpuffi dined as a guest of Lotus Asian Restaurant courtesy of Charlotte Foot PR, Danh Cao and Kim Nguyen.

Lotus Asian Restaurant

Location: 393 Illawarra Road, Marrickville NSW 2204

Opening Hours: Dinner Monday - Sunday, Lunch Sunday

Phone: 02 9559 8895

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

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The Devonshire

After reading about Porteno and their open spit, we arranged a dinner plan on a Saturday but it was fully booked out ageeesssss ago :( We thought we could test our luck and see if there are any last minute cancellations but by the time we got there, there was already a massive line waiting outside...

So! Seeing that we are at Surry Hills, we thought it would be easy to just find another restaurant to dine in. Oh how wrong could we be. Alio has tweeted about a 15 people cancellation 1hr ago so we shuffled out butts to Alio only to discover that it was booked out, again. Great.

We grabbed our handy dandy iphones and started to shake it vigorously... You guessed it, we were using the shake feature on the Urbanspoon application, where it will randomly select a restaurant in your set preference. After shaking and calling for 45 minutes or so, we finally landed at The Devonshire.

 The Devonshire

We were the first to arrive and was greeted by the most friendly staff I've ever encountered. The place is nice and cosy with elegant mirrors artistically hanged along the walls of the restaurant.

The restaurant's chef is Jeremy Bentley and Matthew Kemp whom both are brilliant chefs.  Miss. V only met Matthew a week ago for the UNSW Sustainable Cooking launch which makes me feel that after so many hurdles and ending up here, this dinner is an act of fate.

I squealed in excitement when I saw that their Degustation is only $80pp so I persuaded everyone to get it.  They were happy with exchanging the rabbit dish for gnocchi for the less gamey eaters.  It is the little things that makes patrons feel special.

 

Degustation Menu

Salt Fish Brandade with House Made Grissini

The brandade is made from salted cod, potato puree, parsley, lemon and extra virgin olive oil.  It was rich and creamy and perfect with the crispy grissini.

 

Beurre Noisette and Échiré Butter with Bread

We were presented with super fluffy bread and two types of butter; one being the Beurre Noisette (honey butter) and the other Échiré (French butter).  The Échiré was smooth with a rich buttery taste whilst the Beurre Noisette was air light and sweet of honey.  I was hooked on both butters and we wouldn't let the staff take it away from us. (Please sell the butter in the future, please :D).

Confit Pear and Onion Tarte Fine, Gorgonzola and Wild Rocket

The confit pear with gorgonzola (and I think also with caramelised onions) was really nice with its sweet, gooey, sticky and slightly salty taste.

 

Onion Tarte Fine

A thin strip of onion tart with a soft pastry and glazed caramelised onions on a bed of rocket was amazing and complimented the confit pear perfectly.

Scallops, Squid, Celeriac, Pomegranate and Golden Raisins

This was my favourite dish of the night! Yes, it even beat pork belly and dessert.  The scallop is imported all the way from Nova Scotia for its super size, plumpness and also for its juicy, succulent texture.

A cute crumbed squid ring sits ontop of the massive scallop and on the bottom lays a mix of pomegranate and golden raisins which was oh so good when eaten together with the scallop. The celeriac puree is mixed with squid ink which made the otherwise white celeriac black.

Bonito, Katchumba Salad, Pakoras, Curry Sauce and Rice Foam

This dish is the 'odd one out' from the menu as it is very Indian with the katchumba salad, pakoras, curry sauce and the bonito screams Japanese.  I guess the European twist is turning rice to foam.

The bonito is very succulent and the katchumba salad was good to even out the heavy dish.  The curry sauce is way too strong for my liking and rice foam was pretty tasteless on its own but I later discovered that it wasn't a bad combination when eaten with the curry as it makes the curry less intense and more creamy.

I would say the pakoras was the only let down as it was quite hard on the outside and a tad dry :( 

 

Macleay Valley Rabbit Raviolo, Pine Mushrooms, Spinach and Liver Cream

By this time, I was already stuff to the brim.  The bonito was a very generous serving and would've passed as a main. I struggled to finish this and felt really bad because they might think I didn't like it. But I did! I was just too full :(

The rabbit was oh so moist and juicy topped with pine mushroom foam and shreds of bacon (was it bacon?). 

Potato Gnocchi with Pine Mushrooms, Parmesan, and Peas Kipfler Potatoes

  

The alternative to the rabbit raviolo.  Miss. J have an issue with rabbit and Miss. K can't bear the thought of eating a cute little bunnie so they get a vegetarian option. :P

Bangalow Pork Loin, Belly and Shoulder, Pumpkin, Prunes and Apple

Finally! The big gun in the degustation.  Everyone was so looking forward to this dish except me as my belly was about to burst open.  Wish this came earlier when I still had room in my stomach :(

The pork loin was so awesome and tender, the meat on the pork shoulder just pulls apart with the tiniest jab with a fork and don't get me started on the crackling...It was the crispiest piece of crackling I've ever eaten and I want more More MORE!!!

If you are ever visiting The Devonshire, this is the IT dish to order. Definitely. Must! ...unless you're a Muslim then that's a whole different story :P

 

Pork Belly Food Porn Shot!

Another shot because it deserved it.

Pineapple Caramelised, Pudding, Ice Cream and Soup

Did I say that I was full? Well, as quoted by Miss. K 'dessert belongs to a different compartment' and she was right.  No matter how full I am, there is always room for dessert.

This dish is pineapple, pineapple, pineapple.  Caramelised pineapple with pineapple pudding topped with pineapple ice cream and pineapple soup.  The sweet, sour taste of the fruit really cleansed our palate to prepare us for the chocolate dessert we are about to have next.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pave, Chocolate Sorbet and Chocolate Ice Cream

We were presented with more ice cream. YAY! On the left we have a dark chocolate sorbet, middle sits a chocolate pave and the right a milk chocolate ice cream.  The sorbet was refreshing and the ice cream creamy.  The chocolate pave is a dense chocolate cake with a fat slab of chocolate mousse on top.

The crumbs on the side of the sorbet and ice cream are actually dried and powdered left over cake to ensure minimum wastage and to prevent the cool babies from creating a chocolate puddle when it melts. Ingenious. 

 

 The Bill

Cutest bill presentation ever! It makes the dreaded bill paying time a little bit more enjoyable haha!

I see that every other table ordered the Devonshire tea crème brulee, scone ice cream, cherry jam and whipped cream which also comes in a tea cup! Cute! I'm so going to order that the next time I come.

The staff there is very friendly and attentive, food is great and the menu changes every 3 months according to season; I just love restaurants that does that. I definitely had a great experience here and will visit again :)

The Devonshire

Location: 204 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone: 02 9698 9427

Opening Hours: 12pm - 2:30pm Fri, 6pm - 10pm Tues - Sat

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

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Bistro 80

News just in! I am currently ranked 21st in Jenius' "Top 100 Australian Food Twitterers You Should Follow" list. Whooh! Now isn't that another awesome reason to >>Follow Me<< on twitter? Cause I'm just awesome like that :D

I've been more and more lazy in blogging but you can stalk follow my life; my daily food consumption, crazy amount of bargains I find, overdose of online shopping I do and all my rage and procrastination on twitter.

Enough about twitter.  It's food blogging time.  So...Sean's Kitchen has Sean Connolly no more so a name change is inevitable.  The restaurant is now called Bistro 80 with some changes in menu and the head chef being Paul Gaspa.  Not quite as well known as Sean but still have a nice profile such as cooking for Al Mahara Restaurant in Dubai.

My first visit was straight from Taste of Sydney where I enjoyed a full on day just eating non stop...now I'm here for more. The main restaurant is full so we are seated in the Winebar area which has a less extensive menu.

Wine Bar Menu

Bistro 80 Iced Tea $7 (Mocktail)

Vanilla, raspberry and lemon juice mixed with traditional iced tea.

Picasso's Pick $7 (Mocktail)

Lychee mixed with lavender syrup and cloudy apple, topped with soda water.

Oysters with Eschallot and Caramelized Cabernet Vinegar $3.50 ea

Yes, yes you see oysters in almost every blog post I have. So? I love them and love it even more when they are freshly shucked and coupled with mignonette.

Flavours of Jamon $40

A selection of the three finest jamon, wild olives and ‘ficelle’ baguette.  I am so happy they kept jamon on the menu otherwise I think, I'll burst into tears.

Charcuterie Board $14

Wagyu beef bresola, serrano ham with wild olives (+pickles +cocktail onions :D) and ‘ficelle’ baguette.

The wagyu beef bresola was super salty! I only ate a slice before I gave up but luckily my brother have a thing with salty food so that wasn't a problem. And you see where this is going? I love my jamon, prosciutto and salami...in that order :)

Fish and Chips $22

Two earth shattering crispy fish fillets on a pile of equally crunchy fries sided by 'French Style' baby peas and tartare sauce. I'm sorry Britain, but the French beats your peas.

 Lemon and Passionfruit Delicious $12

The lemon and passionfruit delicious was well...delicious! The pudding was moist and soft with the custard on top very light and creamy. Just heavenly.  The lemon curd icecream was also amazing but the downside to this dessert was the citrus compote which was wayyyy too sour even for me; the crazy b*tch that drinks vinegar.

Live Entertainment

They had some nice jazz entertainment with a pianist, cellist and vocalist when the sun setted.

Bistro 80

Location: Lv 2, Star City, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Opening Hours:  

Breakfast 6am-10.30am Mon-Fri, 7am-11am Sat-Sun

Lunch 12 noon-3pm, 7 days
Dinner 5.30pm-10pm Sun-Thur, 5.30pm-11pm Fri-Sat

*The Wine Bar only opens on Friday and Saturday.

Phone: 02 9657 9264

Website: http://www.starcity.com.au/Dining__Top_Level-Bistro_80.htm

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