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Category Archives: Sydney North

Another Year Wiser at Cottage Point Inn

May 20, 2018Restaurant Reviews, Seven Caesars, Sydney North2018, Cottage Point Inn, Expensive, Fine Dining, Food

Berowra Waters Inn | Sydney North

October 28, 2016Eight Caesars, Restaurant Reviews, Sydney North2014, 2016, Alfresco, berowra waters inn, Expensive, Fine Dining, Food, Modern Australian

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I'm Still Hungry - A Food & Travel Blog by Michael Shen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on the work at https://imstillhungry.net

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Man, lockdowns suck. Obviously. At best, an inconv

Man, lockdowns suck. Obviously. At best, an inconvenience; at worst, tragic. Of course, whining about being denied dining is tad tactless all things considered, but while the small violin plays to commiserate the graveyard of cancelled bookings, the impact on the other side of the fence is very real: the revenue crash; staff stand-downs/layoffs; produce wastage; and all the other nasty stuff that we're all now unfortunately too used to hearing whenever a stay-at-home order takes effect. . Momofuku Seiobo got away lucky - Paul Carmichael's temple to Caribbean Creole cuisine was always scheduled to wrap up this week (a sad fact in and of itself). That said, one can't help but feel a special kind of suck when they were denied the opportunity to host their final farewell service on 26 June. No, this didn't affect me personally - my last visit (and the pics in this post) was 3 weeks prior - but I'd still like to pour a figurative one for Carmichael et al (as well as the diners that drew the short straw). After all, the Momofuku team has accomplished the rare feat of persisting an offering at a fine dining level that it’s not cliché for once to say is ‘genuinely different to the mainstream’: something that can’t be placed under the typical fine dining monarchs of Italian, Modern Australian, or (obviously) Japanese. Far, far from it. . When was the last time you've had ducana? A sweet potato dumpling repped by more Caribbean islands than you can shake Johnny Depp at, Momofuku's version is given the fine dining treatment with banana leaf foam, salt cod XO sauce & banana leaf oil. You might think you know what that tastes like, but you probably don't and chances are you'll still like it. Or the Jamaican pattie, with its bright-yellow turmeric-laminated pastry and succulent bone marrow & abalone filling? There’s more, but I’m running out of words. Yeah, the food’s polarising - not everyone likes it – but excitement thrives on the fringe. . Eh, I sure am waffling on about a restaurant that you can’t even visit, so I’ll leave it at that. Sydney’s high-end food scene has now lost some of its vibrance. All the best for what comes next. (visited 9/06/21) #ISH_MomofukuSeiobo

Eyebrows always raise when I tell people my cookin

Eyebrows always raise when I tell people my cooking ability is roughly inversely proportional to my eating prowess. But you can hardly blame me for the lack of effort, when every (probably mediocre) meal cooked at home is one less eaten out - not just at restaurants, but also friends who are passionate home cooks. . A visit to @choik & @tina_aeron's pad yielded up pandan chicken (which I personally had a hand in semi-ruining 😂), huadiao chicken somen, KL style Hokkien mee, Ipoh Hor Fun, Wat Tan Hor & a 'last minute' CKT - lard and all. Yes you could almost call it a noodle omakase: dreams really can come true. Thank you for the homely deliciousness, carbs & wok hei and I can't wait to see what's next! (Visit date 5 June) #ISH_KevinsKitchen

The last of my birthday celebrations for the big t

The last of my birthday celebrations for the big three-oh(dear) was marked by a most incredible surprise: a full-sized version of Tetsuya's famous mirror glaze chocolate entremet. Ordinarily served only as a petit four at Tetsuya Wakuda's eponymous restaurant, this is the sort of cake that - no direspect to the rest of its menu - gets people to say 'if only I could visit the restaurant just for this!' Probably an overreaction, but people typically don't make these remarks about average desserts. . All in all, a rather unexpected collaboration between Tetsuya's & Choji. The petit four version should be available for sale at some point (via Choji or Tetsuya's is TBC), but as usual pls direct your questions appropriately - if I knew and could tell you, I would! Thank you Team Choji & Tetsuya's for capping off my birthday month with such panache - could not have asked for more. (Visit date 4 June 2021) #ISH_Choji

I believe the appropriate term is Money Shot. In a

I believe the appropriate term is Money Shot. In an omakase where almost every course can earnestly (but definitely still awkwardly) be described as a 'mouthgasm', it takes something truly extraordinary to up the ante. For Choji Yakiniku's contribution to the omakase scene, that would be the wagyu katsu sando: A5 Kagoshima Wagyu chateaubriand - the highest grade - is deftly deep-fried, dressed up with just the right amount of mustard & onion relish, then sandwiched between two crustless slices of @azuki.bakery shokupan. And yes, you still get to eat the (underrated) crust. It's the dish that demands absolute silence during its consumption - though the occasional utterance of unadulterated pleasure (or expletive as it may be) is as excused as it is expected. . I've said it before on a previous IG post: Yamamoto Takashi & Tomoyuki Matsuya's yakiniku/sushi franken-hybrid omakase is - at least for meat eaters - one of the best dining experiences money can buy in Sydney. You are talking about a meal that is simultaneously run by two literal head chef-level pros – Takashi’s shindig digging the shins of anything that moos; Matsuya’s years of training as a sushi master (who just also happens to know a thing or two about beef preparation) – coming together to form a sum that is far greater than its parts, and far greater than anything this city has to offer. . If you’ve had the fortune of visiting, you’ll sort of know what I’m talking about: it’s the kind of theatrical, fun-filled experience that defies categorisation (even among omakase offerings in the harbour city), and so while traditionalists may baulk, their palates can’t be curbed by principle nor tradition: everything is just bloody delicious – AF. My personal favourites? Does ‘the entire menu’ count as a valid answer? . What a shame that this post is an obituary: for /reasons/, this omakase as we know it is ending in June. With that said, a glimmer of hope: new concepts are set to emerge in July, tying in with an expansion of the Choji empire to several new stores. Let’s just hope that there are plenty more Money Shots to come. (Visit date 4 June 2021) #ISH_Choji

Japanese-style Wagyu & cheese croquettes (korokke/

Japanese-style Wagyu & cheese croquettes (korokke/コロッケ) ft freshly-shaved @madametruffles on top. Been too long between visits to Juan - there's a truism if there ever was one. . As for the croquettes - like all good things its limited quantities, limited time. Available this Thursday only! Swipe for some サクサク goodness 😋 (Visit date 10 June 2021) #ISH_Juan

Something I forgot to mention in the previous post

Something I forgot to mention in the previous post - Ester's Sunday Roast menu. It's what it sounds like - a roast, on Sundays, of a protein of some description. A caveat is that it's only available as part of a set menu, so pick any other day if you intend to visit for a la carte (which, by and large, is still the best way to experience Ester). Of course, you would be missing out on this masterful, master stock-drenched duck crown, as well as a woodfired incarnation w/muntries (for a crispier bent). . Brace yourselves for something shocking: I don't like to eat soft skin (that isn't crispy/fried). I know what you're thinking: Hainan chicken? Well, then you should eat it with me because you'll get ALL the skin. Ready the hate comments, I'm ready 😂. And so, same here for the duck crown roast - the skin has tenderness akin to the meat itself, so woodfired wins this round. Still, does it matter when the beauty is in getting your pick of both? What more could you ask for? (visit date 6 June 2021) #ISH_Ester

Fermented potato bread, cultured kefir cream, dash

Fermented potato bread, cultured kefir cream, dashi jelly & salmon roe. Chances are, you didn't need that description to recognise the cover photo. Nor should the second pic of a blood sausage sanga - made from minced pork belly, rice, nuts & pig's blood on warm white bread - raise any eyebrows. . After all, these are signatures served by Ester: a restaurant that perhaps gets closer than any other to that fabled ‘universally acclaimed’ status – represented by the so-very rare case of near-unanimous agreement between both the food media apparatus as well as the foodies hoi polloi on social media. That they've been around since 2013 is a boastworthy achievement - both the restaurant and dishes. . Don't get me wrong – true unanimity is a unicorn, even for Mat Lindsay's superfluous creation. Case in point: yours truly. Somehow, I was cursed with being the exception that proved the rule. Having visited three times between 2015-18, I never saw a restaurant that deserved its reputation, as ‘acceptable’ as it was. Expectations management of course hugely factors into this, but even lowering them for subsequent visits resulted in flops. Maybe I was in the wrong (if there exists such a thing in food). . Something changed with this latest - fourth - visit, the first in 2.5 years. Every dish did something right in making it memorable - the tart freshness of cured bonito with the earthy nuttiness from a macadamia puree; the one-bite flavour bombs of roasted rock oyster (cooked being in and itself a rare serving method) cleverly amped with chicken jus; and the soothing, umami-laden bowl of supreme noodle soup that has no right being as good as it was. And of course, the aforementioned potato bread & blood sausage, which surely requires no further elaboration. . Four (visits) is unlucky in my culture. But I've now got plenty more reasons to increase that number. Not that any existing fan should care what I think! Carry on. (visit date 6 June 2021) #ISH_Ester

Biannual visit to Kuon Omakase. At least, I say bi

Biannual visit to Kuon Omakase. At least, I say biannual because reservations don't come any more often for me (thanks @2lawyers_eatingfood for the invite!). . While Fukada san splitting his time with Tempura Kuon is unfortunate (can never seem to catch the guy these days!), the reality is our cloning technology just isn't there yet (wake me up when Dolly can make sushi). Nonetheless, nitpicking aside, I didn't notice any perceptible quality drop with Miyauchi san at the helm, so looks like things are in good hands. Thank god the deep fried uni in shiso is still there. . One thing I've always liked about Kuon is that no two visits are even remotely similar, and there's always something that I won't have had any any other sushi ya. For this visit, that'd be the deep-fried ebi shinju and roast duck, with an almost kecap-like sauce - so sweet, so good. . In any case, judging by how reservations for entire months are still filling out within mere minutes, it's clear that whatever you think of Kuon - the Chad of sushi or its GOAT - is powering its cash printing, sushi pressing machine just like its early days. (visit date 23 May 2021) #ISH_KuonOmakase

A few weeks ago I did something I don't normally d

A few weeks ago I did something I don't normally do: I visited a bar. But at least you immediately know what that means: the food here's worth writing about, and it's pretty much all positive vibes here. Or maybe that's just the buzz of the whisky? . Nodaya's run by Hiro Noda, former manager of Crescent, a gentleman's club which used to be something of an institution in the CBD - so the experience is there. Hiro san also happens to be the older brother of @raitanoda - which is why I can assert that Nodaya's food is 'best in class' - what other whisky bar features the designs of one of Sydney's longest-running omakase chefs? Dishes like Raita's famous soft-shell crab tacos, a ridiculously ASMR-crunchy wagyu beef curry bread, deep-fried kushiage (it's a bar, after all) are all obvious drinking buddies. But there's enough variety to build a full-blown dinner if you so choose. While Sydney's got its fair share of wine bars that do good food, I've never really been anywhere that combines all the necessary elements in the way Nodaya has. . The only downside is getting there - while it's not inconvenient by any stretch, the Bunn Street location in the backstreets of Pyrmont means foot traffic is a non-thing. You're going to have to specifically seek out Nodaya's riches, but you'll be suitably impressed should you make the trek. (visit date 18 May 2021) #ISH_Nodaya

The stats probably don't bear this out, but I can'

The stats probably don't bear this out, but I can't help but feel a certain sense of irony where the spotlight on all that's hip with food these days - the pasta & wine bars, the sushi restaurants, the fusion specialists, 'ethnic' (read: not white) food, the share plates and the seemingly endless collabs - has meant that traditional fine diners with old school, white-glove service and food to match has actually become the endangered species. Not that this is new - the decline of fine dining as we used to think of it has been happening for some time. . Now Metisse isn't quite that antiquated - there are no white tableclothes, pretentious staff and most of all, with a full degustation menu set at $145 (the marron course is cost+) - no stratospheric price points associated with the quintissential French fine diner. What it does have are the important bits: highly commendable (and quite literally white glove) service - think along the lines of the now-closed Est. and you'll know what I mean - and seriously impressive food which wows with almost every course. . Just some of the standout dishes: the amuse bouche of tomato served five ways - an umami weapon of mass destruction that instantly sets the palate into 'give me more' mode. The 'mosaic' of three types of fresh fish w/fresh olive oil (first pic), as artistic as it is delicious, which also complements the restaurant's own artsy fitout (that central chandelier)! And of course, there's both the meat courses showcasing French cooking's domination of protein - a beautiful duck a l'orange that's the best I've had, and beef tournedos with a demi glace deeper than Voltaire's Candid. . I don't really visit any western fine dining restaurants more than once a year, but Metisse may very well be the first rule breaker. If there were any criticism I would offer, it's that there's no bread course. At a French restaurant? Sacrebleu! (Visit date 19 May 2021) #ISH_Metisse

Korean is a bloody hard cuisine to modernise. The

Korean is a bloody hard cuisine to modernise. The very few world famous exceptions essentially prove the rule - pretty much every other 'Contemporary Korean' experience has been a series of disappointing lessons on what not to do. . As with all attempts to contemporise cuisines steeped in tradition, Jung Sung has the incredible challenge of trying to create something that' pushes the boundaries without it being a vanity exercise - it still has taste good. Somehow, this fell through on both counts - the food presented and ate, for the most part, like a standard Western set menu, with Korean influences relegated to the borderlands of sauces & garnishes that were hardly representative of the flavours & sheer impact this cuisine is known for. It's somewhat problematic when the most Korean aspect of the meal was the banchan, which is exclusive to literally every Korean restaurant. . So not so sure on the 'modernisation' front. Then there's the question of taste - other than the Riverina lamb dish and the second dessert of jersey milk ice cream, which were genuinely very enjoyable and excellently executed, the rest of the menu featured a lot of headscratching. Flavour combos that didn't make sense, hero ingredients relegated to the level of a garnish - even the instagrammable sweetcorn dessert was unfortunately a tepid letdown of custard with about as much balance as my high school diet. . When I posted my stories (expired now, sorry), I was only trying to make a cheap pun in comparing it to Jungsik, one of the aforementioned rule-breakers that genuinely advances the cuisine. But even then, it was unfortunate I put the two into the same sentence - this was a meal that checked all the spaces in between the boxes. Perhaps the boxes were even on another page. . To end the post on a positive note - the menu is reasonably good value for money (6 courses for $105), the service was exceptionally attentive (even when the restaurant was packed), and well, I guess there's plenty of room for things to get better. But what do I know? (Visit date 21 May 2021) #ISH_JungSung

Another superlative private dinner @rons_kitchen.

Another superlative private dinner @rons_kitchen. While there are always the signature performers of Sydney's apogee vegan theatre - the pie, that umami-laden corn soup, and of course the tarts - every dinner showcases Uncle Ron's mastery of something new (though of course he'll never admit as such). This time? Glorious, egg-yolk free pasta. As usual, details in story highlights. #ISH_RonsKitchen

Lobster & truffle ramen at Gaku 🍜🦞 Gosh, it'

Lobster & truffle ramen at Gaku 🍜🦞 Gosh, it's a pricey one, but you wouldn't have known from the length of the queue out the door. That might have to do with the fact that there's only a handful of these bad boys, but also the fact that price aside, it's a bowl of pure, unadulterated lobstery-ness. Haru Inukai squeezes - quite literally - every last drop of flavour out of the crustaceons into a bisque-like alchemical creation, the result of which is perhaps the most prominent case of You're Dead To Me If You Don't Finish The Broth [or just let me polish yours off pls]. . Probably not even available any more so really, entirely pointless to ask 'but is it worth it tho?' (Visit date 24 April 2021) #ISH_Gaku

It's getting more and more difficult to get excite

It's getting more and more difficult to get excited about new restaurant openings these days - the more things change, the more they stay the same. Of course, it could just be me getting old(er) and with reliable travel still off the table, it's hard not to feel a certain ennui that permeats the psyche. . Weird ramblings aside, Haco is one of the recent exceptions that prove the rule. You've probably seen it marketed as a tempura restaurant, and while it is mostly acurate - the giant vat of special-blend pressed sesame oil is a dead giveaway - there's more going for it that defies such lazy summation. . To get technical, Keita Abe's (of Chaco Bar fame) newest restaurant opening in the space that used to belong to Sasaki (RIP) specialises not just in tempura - which features ingredients battered with flour - but also kushiage, in which the batter is panko-based (specially prepared breadcrumbs), with courses typically served on skewers. In short, you can think of it as an 'agemono' (fried things) restaurant, though I'm not sure they'd like me calling it that 😝 . You'd be wondering how one can gobble down 16-18 courses of the stuff, but Japanese deep frying is really about using oil to achieve a crispy-on-the-outside, steamed-on-the-inside result with minimal unctuousness, which comes about due to both the skill of the fryer and the oil used. Coupled with the clever interjection of non-fried dishes (think sashimi, chawanmushi, and so on), the result should leave you not needing to adjust your belt. . It's only been a couple of months, but head chef Kensuke Yada's already finessed the menu a great deal, and if reliable reports are to go by, a number of early teething issues have been ironed out. Due to the unique menu offering - they're breaking new ground here as far as Sydney's concerned - there's still plenty to be worked out in relation to dish & menu balance, but it's pretty darn easy for me to say that this is one of the more exciting openings of 2021. Chuck in a fit-out & ambience that reminds me of a low-key moody, anaba-style underground diner in Roppongi and that's a check, check check. (Visit date 9 April 2021) #ISH_Haco

You'd think we've reached peak sushi omakase hype

You'd think we've reached peak sushi omakase hype when even kaitenzushi joints are beginning to cash in on the trend. Now, while there are more red flags here than at a MAGA rally, what can't be disputed is that they're making the most of being unencumbered by tradition. . Case in point here is Gou Sushi, run by chef Rio Lau Chun Man. Ok so depending on your perspective, that's probably already a red flag - but his years working with none other than @oetoshihiko back in the Masuya days do go a way towards beefing up his pedigree. That said, what really matters is his omakase offering, which unambiguously showcases elements of his heritage, such as the 'zongzi' style eel sushi - steamed & wrapped in a banana/reed leaf (aka chimaki) - or a Canto-style steamed miso toothfish (skin on!). He also takes a lot of liberties with other pieces - garlic butter & mayo w/paradise prawns, cuttlefish with mint, and a turban shell 'shabu shabu' to name a few. . It's seriously interesting stuff, but as almost no piece is 'traditional' per se, it's definitely not for purists, or even enthusiasts. There's also no getting around the fact that there were a bunch of pieces that straight up missed the hoop (the strongk scampi head being a prime example). But for those wanting something a little sacriligeous, and at what is undoubtedly the sharpest price point of any sushi omakase in Sydney - $90 (+$10 for BYO) - Rio san has this market cornered. . The omakase is only available on certain days and is usually just something offered to sushi train regulars, as well as a case of 'if you know, you know.' Well, now you know! (Visit date 27 March 2021) #ISH_GouSushi

Seems to be a trend of Lotus Biscoff-themed treats

Seems to be a trend of Lotus Biscoff-themed treats making the rounds recently. I have almost no experience with these (clearly my childhood's very different to you lot...did you know I only had my first biscuit in the last year?), so the trend made no sense to me (I should really get on TikTok). . At least, that was until I tried Moon & Back Cafe's limited ed Lotus Biscoff croffle (croissant waffle...yeah) which is...really good, trends or not. I guess I won't be scoffing at Biscoff! . Side note: matcha brownies are also a pick. Yes. #ISH_MoonandBack

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I'm Still Hungry - A Food & Travel Blog by Michael Shen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on the work at https://imstillhungry.net