Christmas day fusion - Aussie, Indonesian, Chinese, Nepalese

Sea weed

Lunch table

Christmas day at my parents in laws is always a big special day, 
both for family gathering and food assembly. Having multiple Asian 
backgrounds in the mix, we always have a fusion lunch and 
dinner menu that traverses from the typical Australian barbecue, 
seafood, desserts to Asian cuisines prepared by various family 
members, of different generations.

Sautéed scallop  

Fried salmon

Luckily, lately my mother in law has relaxed her tight control
over the kitchen, so the rest of the family members can cook
something on their own. Taking advantage of which,
sometimes me and my wife join in to prepare something jointly.

Roasted potato

Fried barramundi

So the barbecue by the pool is the territory of my father in law,
control of which he has not relinquished in twenty five years,
not even to his sons and daughter and wife.
He is the bbq king in the family. So today for the Christmas lunch,
we started off with the seafood prepared by me and my wife,
salmon and barramundi fried in Nepalese herbs and spices,
which turned out to be a hit. Mother in law prepared the
rest - the prawns, Indonesian salad, Gado Gado,
roast potatoes, and other Asian items.

Boiled prawns

Pork satay

Dinner started off with my father in law taking control of the
barbecue as discussed before, my wife and I tried to invade
his territory by trying to work not he ribs, I was pushed out
but my wife stood ground and was able to finish it off.
Lots of delicacies later, the night fell in the pouring rain.

Lamb cutlet

Bbq pork ribs

Our Christmas day dinner turned out into a candle light dinner
where we had to light the mosquito repellent coil to keep the insects out.

Cendol (Indonesian dessert)

Cendol

For three generations bounded by family tradition and the good food,
it was a nicely spend Christmas day.

                   

Indonesian salad

The Tea Room - QVB. Perfect for second wedding anniversary

     

Today for our second wedding anniversary we went for the traditional royal treat at The Tea Room - Queen Victoria Building, our wedding venue. Being Sunday there was no normal order, so it was down to the afternoon Tea menu, by tea I mean tens of choices, from around the world.

We chose to order a couple of Oriental Tea menu, I went for one called 'Roses' for my tea. The lunch comes in a cage of trays that hold the pastries, sandwiches and at the top, desserts.

Sandwiches were fresh out of the kitchen, pastries still hot from the oven, dumplings still soft with the steam, the food in the QVB has not changed since our big day, it is simply exquisite. The royal ambience mixed with similar service makes the afternoon tea at The Tea Room a special experience.

Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10

Value for money: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

Recommend: Yes

Bar Reggio - pizza at its best in Sydney

In one of the most buzzing restaurant scenes in Sydney, 

Darlinghurst, is an unforgettable pizza place, Bar Reggio. It's actually not a bar, it is not licensed to sell alcohol, BYO is allowed.

It's not a big one but has both indoor and outdoor seatings. The first thing you see when you enter through the narrow entrance, is their little kitchen on the right, you can see the action of delicious goods being manufactured. Experienced pizza chefs flaunting their skills by throwing the pizza dough up in the air while performing the manufacturing process.

The night we went, which was this evening,
it was teeming with people celebrating birthdays, early christmas, office parties and so forth. Some were popping up the birthday crackers, christmas bon bon, which made the whole environment feel like being in an adolescent birthday party.

We were there for a family get together.
Pizza however, was classic. We ordered all varieties - chicken, pineapple, meat galore and so forth. None failed to impress us, it was simply delicious. The thin crunchy base, right amount of cheese and tomato sauce, meat and spices made the pizzas simply melt in mouth.

An awesome experience. We also ordered some fettuccine, which was not up to par with the pizzas they made, honestly, my wife could make better.

So if you think of pizza and you happen to be in Sydney,
give Bar Reggio a go you won't be disappointed!

Sadly some of the chefs and service staff look a bit rough, because of their tattoos, silver chains and bracelets, nevertheless are quite helpful and nice. They even helped us take a family pic, so they gotta be nice, hey?

Food: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Recommend : Yes

Weekend Food review - Mitzu, Max Brenner, Pappa Rich

Mitzu
Japanese, Macquarie Centre, Macquarie Park, Sydney


We took our niece and nephew to Mitzu for a treat, niece's coming a the top of her class. The Sushi train was well served with quality
Sushi and service. However lack of variety and flair left us wanting for more. Ambience and food was okay but nothing more than that.
Most stinging was the price, we felt a bit ripped off in the end. It is recommended for a taste of Sushi as it is found outside of Japan, but not
the best even in Sydney.





Food: 6/10
Service: 6/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
Recommend : Yes
















Max Brenner, 
Chocolates, Macquarie Centre, Macquarie Park, Sydney


Waiting for the Strike bowling to be free of a bowling lane, we opted to go for a dessert at Max Brenner. We ordered following :

- The Hot mug hot chocolate  $ 5.90
- Praline Meringue Puff Extravaganza $ 14.00
(Giant praline meringue stuffed with vanilla ice cream,
topped with strawberries & caramelised pecans)
- Chocolate Strawberry Dip $ 8.70
(Dip fresh strawberries in pure melted chocolate)

The Quality was not dismal but not too great either.
The hot mug chocolate was not a realone and tasted not
better than my Milo at home.

The other 'extravaganza' left us wondering is that it? The American chocolate eatery has plenty of ambience and makes you feel good to be there, but the food itself did not meet our expectation, which is kinda sad as we really expected much better from the International chain.

Food: 4/10
Service: 6/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value for money: 3/10
Overall: 5/10
Recommend : No








Pappa Rich
Malaysian - Chinese, India fusion, Chatswood

We had been to Pappa Rich at Broadway near the city once, it was a good experience.
Today we had a chance to go to their another opening at Chatswood, meeting friends.
The ambience of the place is quite nice with Asian design and aroma filling the crowded
hall. You can see the chefs at work with the trademark open kitchen configuration.

We were seated inside a separate room with two tables due to the kids of our friends.
We ordered a couple of spicy curry Laksa and some set menus.
Food tasted good and  of right potion, but not enough to satisfy if you are
really hungry. It is a bit pricey for budget. Wide choice of Indian and Chinese
cuisine makes it a very good choice if you want to taste Malaysian.

However, we did not feel that oomph and did not feel anything special.

Food: 6/10
Service: 6/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 6/10
Recommend : Yes

Korean Air Macademiagate: Ultimate lesson in branding

This week making headlines was Heather Cho, the
vice president of Korean Air firing the head of the
cabin crew of the flight she boarded enroute to the US
from Seoul. She happened to be the daughter of the
airlines owner as well, but I am sure it was just a
coincidence, as you will see, she deserves an ultimate
award, in the lesson of branding.

When the incident became public, the outcry as
expected was about this woman drunk with power.
Hapless head of the cabin crew was kicked out of the
plane, after it had already left the gate and on tarmac.

To understand what she delivered by the incident,
you have to understand that she was in a First class seat.
People who can afford that do not think about money,
they are there because of the service, comfort and
obliviously to most of us, class. Yes class. That is
what makes First class 'First class', its not the thousands
of dollars more you pay than cattle class. By serving the
nuts in a bag, like you do in the cattle class, instead of
serving it properly as required by the rules of the class,
in the Korean porcelain bowl, the cabin crew had
totally disregarded the merit of the brand that Korean
Air First class was supposed to possess.
You could fly any other First class, they could tolerate this
kind of minor mistakes by staffs, but this won't
go off the radar in the Korean, that is for sure.
Simple acts of service are magnified many more times
in those rows of seats and makes all the sense about
why it becomes the choice of the top end of the food chain.

Kudos to Heather Cho.
She has not only make known to the world what it means
to be in the Korean Air First class, but provided a top
notch example of an executive following what she promotes.