Gastro Park

After being away from my computer for so long, I am finally back for a post from awhile ago. That night was actually my birthday, so we went to Gastro Park! I have always been admiring (and drooling in front of) the pictures of different dishes from this restaurant, so it was really nice to see and taste the real thing!

 

I really liked how the restaurant was presented, it felt like I could turn around at any point and find some artistic objects. I've heard about how creative the dishes were like, so I was really looking forward to the 7-course degustation.



Firstly we started off with a selection of snacks:

Mmmm...talking about crunchy things...yum yum. I found it really fascinating that they were placed on a stone rather than an actual plate.

We got a little cheese stick, and I felt like waving it and let the wind blow on it! Somehow it reminded me of those spirits gathering stick thingy from an ancient temple...lol

Sourdough bread

Ofcourse, how can we not have sourdough bread in a degustation? Except this one came in an extraordinary presentation that almost reminded me of a rock, a wave and bits of glittering diamonds floating in the black sea.

Foie gras, cherry, rhubarb, toasted grain.

Ok, I won't lie, when I first saw this, I thought it was some kind of animal lying on a rock plate. First thing came into my mind was "lobster", then some random bug with long legs. It was visually surprising, and definitely challenges your tastebuds.

Spanner crab, carrot, endive, pork pebbles.

By this time of the meal, I already knew that every dish will turn out to be an artwork. I was very pleased at how well they balanced the colours and textures for each dish. This one was a little mischievous, almost like something we usually see in children books, where the plants grow in all sorts of directions. I loved that combination of spanner crab and pork pebbles, it's that perfect almost of saltiness that stimulates your senses.

Roast scallop, cauliflower tofu, leaves & crisp, lobster reduction.

Comparing to the last few dishes, this was a little bit less outstanding in appearance. Yet the satisfactions from its taste did not disappoint us at all. We especially liked the cauliflower tofu, as it was like the softest food on Earth.

Liquid butternut gnocchi, shimeji, mushroom consommé.

When this came, I was like "nooooo! Egg yolks!!" (Yes egg yolk is not one of my favourite), but then I realised what it was suppose to be. Gnocchi, yep, you got it, it was POTATO. I carefully placed one in my mouth, then closing it, and then...BITE. Oh that sudden juicy feeling down the throat, it was somewhere closer than heaven. I loved it, and it was definitely my favourite of the night.

Crispy scaled jewfish, smoked potato puree, calamari crackling, ink sauce.

We got a choice between two main dishes, so I decided to go with the crispy jewfish. Those scales were so crunchy and they make quite a bit of noises as you chew on them. I liked the idea of calamari crackling, as it was a completely refreshing taste. The only thing I didn't quite enjoy was the ink sauce...I found it a little too heavy in the taste for me.

Salted bush baltarra lamb sirloin, cabbages, blood pudding, aged sherry vinegar.

Bun picked this one...just because it's meat...? It was a simple dish, but the combination of the lamb and vinegar was quite a good one.

Chocolate, honeycomb, vanilla sphere, cardamom, saffron, ginger.

We also got to pick a dessert out of the two, so Bun decided to go with this one as he found it amusing to crack eggs. That initial crack took a little while, and then all you see was an explosion of all the sweet goodies, flowing out eagerly into the bowl. It was a little sweet but still a really nice dessert.

Cooked & raw cherries, red wine pear, bolero snow, hibiscus ice cream, sesame sponge.

I actually regret a little about picking this one after I've seen how entertaining Bun's dessert was. Although it was nice, I wished it had something more to it. I think my favourite part of this dish was actually the sesame sponge, and I found the idea pretty interesting mmm...


Overall I really liked this place, particularly its creative dishes! I would highly recommend this restaurant to people, you can order either a 7-course or 10-course tasting menu...mmm I wonder what's the 10-course is like?


Address:
5-9 Roslyn Street, Kingscross NSW

Phone:
02 8068 1017

Opening time:
Lunch
Thu - Sat  from 12 noon
Dinner
Tue - Sat  from 6pm till late

Sepia

It was Bun's birthday, so we have decided to try Sepia for this special occasion. The restaurant was located near Darling Harbour, so it was nice that we could take a walk after dinner.

The initial impression that Sepia gave me was that the staffs had great manners, and the decorations somewhat combined the Japanese and Western styles. The seats and tables were in dark colours, with merely a small amount of dim lights above our heads and a candle light on our table. I spotted a tree near the back wall, it reminded me of cherry blossom. We were given the beverage menu, and slowly anticipated the upcoming degustation menu for a Saturday night.


(Menu as of Saturday 3rd August 2013)


House made chevre, rye, smoked roe, pickled seaweed

Here was our Amuse bouche, numerous of round roe sat comfortably on the chevre (goat cheese), along with the sprinkle of rye and pickled seaweed hanging around. There's something I love about goat cheese, the creaminess and the freshness of roe seemed to go well together in a funny way.




Sashimi of Southern Blue Fin tuna, steamed Japanese omelette, white soy jelly dashi onion cream, puffed buckwheat, green apple and wasabi

This was such a refreshing little dish, and I love it when sashimi combines with any kind of jelly textures. The slippery soy jelly dashi has gone down the throat with the cooling tuna, together with the spongy omelette, in which they have created such a fulfilling moment. This dish made me feel like I was at the bottom of a deep ocean, searching for that scene where fish and other sea creatures swimming wildly.




Sashimi of bonito, flavours of roasted chicken, umeboshi, upland cress, green tea, nori

This was quite an unique dish where crispy chicken skin was combined to the seafood flavours. I found the taste was a little complex, especially with the addition of green tea powder. But Bun seemed to love it as he crunch down the chicken like the sound of those Kettle chips.




Yabby, seaweed puree, ginger, shellfish and blood orange emulsion, sorrel

LOL I totally didn't expected this but here we are, a cute little yabby snuggling on the plate. That first bite was totally satisfying along with the great sensations of blood orange emulsion. Although...I personally don't like ginger very much, so when I tasted that subtle hint of ginger, it made me shiver a little.




Sea scallop, sudachi, grain mustard and ox cheek dashi mousse, potato and garlic crumb

This has got to be my 2nd favourite dish for the night, as I loved every single bit of it. It was mushy and creamy, with a beautiful aroma coming from the crumbs. The textures contrasted with each other, making that mouthful more exciting than usual.




Charcoal grilled wagyu rump, sea urchin and wasabi butter, garlic chive mustard leaves, ponzu

TA-DA! My favourite dish of the night, Wagyu beef!!!! Oh god, I can never resist the meat dishes can I? But what I want to say here was...I couldn't believe how perfect the wagyu was cooked. I usually eat median rare, and I found the meat were often not juicy enough. When my teeth sank into this one here, I was really about to cry in tears. Not to mention the sauce made it even better! I think I can just have this for the rest of the night...




Seared Mandagery Creek venison, boudin noir, chocolate crumb, macadamia nut yoghurt blackcurrant, shichimi pepper

Comparing to the Wagyu, the next dish definitely didn't seem as outstanding. I wonder if it was because of the type of meat itself, the venison seemed rather harder to chew off. In general, we didn't have too much memories of this dish, as I think it was because all our attentions have been absorbed with the previous one...

Frozen strawberry, sheep yoghurt sorbet, Champagne cream wild strawberry sherbet

When this dish arrived, we stared at each other and questioned how this was made. I found it very fascinating and I loved the bright colour it came in. When I cracked it open, we found the heaven of creaminess inside. This definitely created a little highlight of the meal, and it has put a smile on both of our faces.




Soft poached meringue, truffle ice cream, hazelnut praline, malt

For some weird reason, I always found the texture of meringue a bit odd. Not surprised that this pre-dessert gave me the same feeling. Although I liked the little pieces of hazelnut praline spread around the meringue, they were quite amusing to chew on.




Soft chocolate, hazelnut and almond, orange and thyme cream, sour cherry sorbet cocoa brandy jellies, green tea, licorice, chocolate twigs

So this was the legendary "Winter chocolate forest" that Sepia is famous for, as depicted to be one of the top 10 dessert in Sydney from Good Food Guide. We are not really sure what words and phrases to use here for its description, but it was "different" to what we had pictured. I loved the presentation of it, and they really did remind me of a forest. However, I found a million of different texture, taste and temperature pieces exploding simultaneously in my mouth, in which made me no longer understand what was I suppose to taste? On the other hand, it could be that we were so bloated by the time we reached this last dish, thus the flavours just didn't seem very appealing to us as expected.


PS. The waiter congratulated us for finishing the dishes (YEEEHAAA!)


Address:
201 Sussex St, Sydney NSW

Phone number:
02 9283 1990

Opening time:
Tue - Sat  Dinner from 6pm
Fri and Sat Lunch from 12pm
Note: For Fri dinner and Sat lunch and dinner, Sepia offer degustation menu only.


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Kobe Jones

Kobe Jones is located at King Street Wharf, looking out to The Star. The view there was magnificent, especially at sunset time.



As soon as we walked in, we noticed the design of this spacious restaurant. It was very tidy, with a sense of romance. Somehow I adore the contrast of red and black colours, as it's like the contrast of sugar and spice, very different but mixed together to form the essential elements for a good meal.

The atmosphere here was definitely excellent, and we just couldn't wait to see what the nightfall will bring to us behind the huge windows.


Now onto the food...

They had lots of deals on so we managed to grab some vouchers from Spreets, for the spring menu at $69pp with 13 dishes served over 7 courses.


Kobe Jones' signature crab salad with avocado

Avocado and seafood is just the most perfect combination I can ever imagine, it's so fresh to start off. It only took one bite to enjoy that blob of awesomeness.



Tantalising tasting plate (clockwise from top): Freshly shucked akuma oyster, calamari panko, seafood poke, lollipop sushi, saffron spider roll

If you ask us which dish was the most appealing one, we would point out the lollipop sushi. It was such a creative presentation where all the seafood just get wrapped by a thinly peeled cucumber to form a circular shape, that just makes you want to pick it up and eat it like a little kid. This one is definitely the winner out of all! Others weren't too bad, but rather abit too ordinary.



Chilli Wagyu tenderloin tataki

Tataki was always a nice little cold dish for entree, and we were quite pleased with the addition of chilli sauce. The onions served also add a bonus flavour where you won't get too much meaty flavours in the mouth.



Flamed scallop carpaccio

The tiny pieces of Hokkaido scallops with the drizzles of wasabi came at the perfect time to clear away any residual flavours in our mouths :)



Agedashi Tofu

From all the previous dishes, we could tell that Kobe Jones was very generous with the portion of their dishes, but we had no idea the Agedashi Tofu would be this GIGANTIC!!! While this may be good for some, it was abit overwhelming for us. Mainly because we had the image of a small portion of soft and wobbly fried tofu...This one certainly wasn't wobbly, and it wasn't that soft either. The core was actually abit dry and it just seems impossible to finish this. So as you can imagine, we only managed to eat half way until we totally gave up ><



Bondi roll

This dish was my favourite out of all! Whatever that spicy secret sauce is, they certainly worked absolutely well! Maybe the presentation was a bit messy but the taste totally made us forget that point. It was very hot, the prawns were totally immersed into the chilli sauce and every bite burns like a volcano eruption.



Slipper lobster tobanyaki

I remember reading the menu beforehand saying that this dish was "Western Australia slipper LOBSTER meat on a bed of rice with mushroom and Kobe Jones' seaweed butter, BAKED in a special CREAM sauce", see where the highlights was? Although, I admit it was quite a creamy dish...and it can make you feel quite full if indulged too much.

Wagyu hot rock

We were so excited as it was a DIY dish, and it was WAGYU beef! Mmmmm....so when this hot rock arrived, the waitress gave us a piece of fat so spread evenly (god that delicious aroma just rose into the air and gone straight into our nostrils). Then we put all our meats on the rock and watch it sizzle happily next to eachother. After a few minutes of waiting, flipping, staring and squeezing our chopsticks, they were finally ready! Look at them, those juicy meats were smiling at us...so satisfying!

(By the way, it's Bun at the bottom corner. Guess he will be popping out sometimes on my pictures...)



Kobe Jones tiramisu (the other choice was Flaming anko)

Ok, here comes our regret for the night. It wasn't bad, but just normal...so when we saw the waitress brought out the brulee inside that pot full of blue-orange flame, we wish we could've just swapped our one immediately. Even though we didn't know how that dessert tasted like, but the visual effect certainly amazed us!!


This deal was absolutely worth it! We don't think we have been to a lot places where the portion of the dishes were much more than we expected, but Kobe Jones is definitely one of them! Their dishes were also very creative, that fusion of Japanese cuisine and Californian twist was outstanding.



Address:
29 Lime St, King Street Wharf
Sydney

Phone number:
02 9299 5290

Opening time:
Lunch:
Mon - Fri 12pm to 3pm (open for lunch Christmas Day and Mother's day and closed on other public holidays)

Dinner:
7 days from 6pm


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Red Lantern on Crown

The first thing you will notice are the elegant red lanterns hanging down from the ceiling, waiting for its customers to immerse into the special mood.

We were greeted by the waiter and got allocated an outdoor table, and funny how the red lighting made my heart beat a little faster as the passionate atmosphere built up. One other thing we realised was that there were a couple sitting downstairs away from the heaters, and it was freezing! Almost instantly, the waiter brought them some warm blanket. How thoughtful!? It was these types of services that make you definitely want to remember the restaurant.















Muc Rang Muoi $23.00
Lightly battered chilli salted squid with fresh lemon and white pepper dipping sauce

The bite-size squid were coated in fabulous golden crust, along with the dip of the sauce that leaves your tongue tangy. We felt it was served in a generous portion, and it was good enough to keep us chewing for quite awhile.














Bo Kho $35.00
Pasture fed Wagyu beef braised with Vietnamese spices, tomato paste and chilli

We thought we made a mistake to order the beef and the duck together, why? Because they both had a thick base and left you the feeling that you have consumed too much fats. Nevertheless, the beef chunks were very tender, just that it made me very full just after about 3 pieces!!































Cari Vit $36.00

Burrawong duck cooked in a fragrant coconut milk and red curry sauce with banana blossom

Served Vietnamese style, on the bone

Now here is the duck, each piece was half sunken into the mushy curry. As we imagined, the curry actually went perfectly with the rice, you soak the rice in them and this then intensifies the taste of the curry.



















 Dessert platter for two $22.00

Finally it was dessert time! After all the oily dishes, we were desperate for something to take the greasy flavour away.















Com Nep La Chuoi
Red sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf and char grilled
Served with jackfruit and coconut ice cream

The ice cream was melting pretty fast, thus we had to dig our spoons into this in lightning speed. I believe you will enjoy this, it had a subtle coconut taste and a contrast of the temperatures.

Banh Cam Mang Cau
Sesame and rice flour dumplings filled with sour sop and served with black sesame ice cream

This dish reminded me of what I ate when I was a kid, the sesame ball inevitably will become your favourite if you prefer less sweet desserts. I love the way that the crust was formed with sesames sticking on firmly.




Kem Flan
Coconut Crème Caramel made with free range eggs and coconut milk

 

I still remember the waiter advised us to eat the crème last, luckily we followed the advice. This dessert was unbelievably sweet, so we'd probably be drunk with sugar if we started off with this dessert.

 

 

It was a pleasant experience to dine at Red Lantern, and we probably would like to return there one day to try out the tasting menu. Oh, just becareful with parking around the area, we definitely saw some tickets gluing onto the cars infront of our table!! 

 

 

 

Address:

545 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW

 

Phone number:

(02) 9698 4355

 

Opening hours:

Lunch:

Tuesday to Friday 12pm - 3pm

Dinner:

Monday to Sunday 6pm - 10pm

 



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