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Tag Archives: NSW

Gateway to the Hunter | A Weekend in Maitland

September 15, 2019Regional NSW, Travel2019, Maitland, NSW, Sponsored

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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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It's pretty crazy that I still haven't found a tru

It's pretty crazy that I still haven't found a true-to-form kaiseki restaurant in Sydney. In this respect, Melbourne truly knows me. A rather odd method of entry - through an apartment building and then down an escalator to what would ordinarily be its basement - transports you away from Melbourne's alleys and your daily worries, to Ishizuka, a bona fide temple of Japan's highest gastronomic art. . I'm not going to bother explaining kaiseki because it requires a standalone article - which actually exists by the way, just search up 'kaiseki' on the blog - but suffice it to say Ishizuka does little to stray from the formula. While this is usually interpreted as a negative in the restaurant world, the dearth of /actual/ kaiseki in Australia means that the introduction of a proper baseline is hugely valuable. And it is a very, very good baseline. $235 is nothing to be sneezed at, but make a booking and tell me to my face that you regretted it - I dare you. It was great to see so many other diners situated around the sanded wooden communal table experiencing their first kaiseki - the start of what I believe will be a lifelong love. For me? An unchallenged continuation. . If you're serious about Japanese cuisine, you're making a booking here. Non-negotiable. #ISH_Ishizuka #ISH_Melbourne

Where's the best high tea? It's not to be found at

Where's the best high tea? It's not to be found at your typical vine-encrusted Baroque mansion with elaborate courtyards which almost imposes - if in spirit rather than law - a Gatsby-esque dress code. Those experiences have their place, but the best high tea, insofar as defined by the sheer technical excellence of the products 𝑜𝓃 the stand are found in a very suburban, seemingly non-descript cake shop in Melbourne's Windsor. . You may have heard of Christy Tania, a pastry chef whiz who trained at the Ducasse Institute Ecole Nationale Superieure de la Patisserie and has had stints at the Ritz Paris, Vue de Monde, and Jacques Reymond to name a few. She really stepped into the limelight with the founding of Om Nom Dessert Bar and subsequent appearances on Masterchef Australia serving up devlishly difficuly pastry challenges for the contestants. . Glacé Dessert is her current venture, and there is no better introduction to a bevy of her best work - choux, gateux, macarons and of course the simple scone - than the high tea set. With a much higher sweet-to-savoury ratio, it's definitely one for the sweet tooths, and don't be surprised if you're off sugar for at least a good month afterwards. Hey, that's balance. But damn, there's some serious textbook perfection here - a spot aspiring pastry chefs and enthusiasts must have on their hit list. #ISH_Glace #ISH_Melbourne

Writing about restaurants is hard. There's so much

Writing about restaurants is hard. There's so much more to talk about than the food, even as this is the most important bit. Have you ever tried writing about a restaurant's 'vision concept'? This is why journalists get paid and all I do is goddamn eat. . I showcased my favourite restaurants of 2019 last week; I think it's time that the real stars of the show - the dishes themselves - get their moment in the limelight. Plus, so much easier to write :P . Blog post is up at all the usual places. You know what to do.

The #cookforthebush brunch (see yesterday's post)

The #cookforthebush brunch (see yesterday's post) sold out so fast, most that wanted to get in on a piece of the action and contribute to bushfire relief missed out. Thankfully, more than a baker's dozen of, well, Sydney's best bakers all chipped in, taking over the space at Chin Chin's Gogo bar in what's probably the biggest charity bake sale I've ever come across. . Needless to say, plenty of carbs for the rest of the week! Particularly big points to Sonoma - a bakery I've clearly been underestimating all this time. Really buttery, fluffy-style croissants when toaster oven-baked. So good.

I haven't posted much about the unprecedented bush

I haven't posted much about the unprecedented bushfires that's been suffocating much of the Australian East Coast and Victoria: if this is the first time you're hearing of it then congratulations, seems like cryogenic sleep really does work! It's 2020, by the way! . But in all seriousness, we should all be doing what we can for what is likely the worst ecological disaster the country has faced, even if that simply means being a little more educated and aware than yesterday, since not everyone's in a position to actually assist or donate. Like most people, I've been donating to the recovery effort behind the scenes - as a citizen and human being, not an IG foodie - but the collaboration and unity in the food & hospo industry I witnessed this past weekend was on another level and I can't help but say a few words on the matter. . Thanks to the efforts of @nomad.au's @jacqui_challinor, what started out as a simple call for chefs to volunteer their time (already incredibly generous, given a chef's hours) to serve up a collaboration brunch turned into an event far greater than the sum of its parts. Some thirty chefs came together and created a brunch menu that - even completely discounting the cause which it was for - was probably the best I've ever eaten in either Sydney OR Melbourne. I mean it makes sense: these are all the OGs themselves doing the cooking, and each concentrated on their signature dish of the day: the quality could not have been higher. I don't know how much was raised (I'm sure they're crunching the numbers as we speak) but golly, it should be a doozy. . While we certainly don't need to be purchasing goods & services as an excuse to assist in bushfire relief - direct donations to well-researched charities with direct reach to those affected still work best - the fact that you can have your cake and eat it too is a testament to the generosity of the hundreds of people who volunteered their time for one of the most trying events of our times. #cookforthebush

There's something appealing - almost viscerally so

There's something appealing - almost viscerally so - about overly-stuffed sandwich cross-sections. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do if you want a sandwich to be a full meal, even if it means taking bread's structural integrity further than it should ever go. . You probably won't be surprised at my assessment: these are indeed quite tasty - it's kind of hard to screw up a sandwich once you get the hang of it - which comes at the cost of a big sloppy mess that's proportional to sandwich size. Funnily enough, my favourite was the simplest: the bulgogi bun burger (2nd pic). Just really nice soft & sweet beef crammed into a milk bun with sesame & mustard mayo, with little chance of the whole thing falling apart. The other two (Mama's Toast & K-Street Toast) were both commendable and certainly nice, but man, were they difficult to eat. In the case of the K-Street toast, too much sauce was its undoing. Halve that and we'd be onto a winner. . Apparently Dari Korean Cafe does serve stuff other than these ridiculously-instagrammable sandwiches, but I clearly had an aneurysm because I couldn't for the life of me remember a single one. Forever Dari Korean Sandwich Bar. #ISH_Melbourne #ISH_DariKoreanCafe #actuallysandwichbar

The Best restaurants of 2019. . Looking at this li

The Best restaurants of 2019. . Looking at this list, I can't say the picks were too surprising - though Bali's strong showing was certainly eyebrow-raising. There's about as much diversity in there as you'd expect from someone that has an almost unhealthy obsession with Japanese cuisine; it helped that I didn't visit the Americas nor Europe. . All I can say is 2020 has its work cut out for it, and you can read all about the list on my latest blog post! #linkinbio

I don't visit Melbourne for food as often as I use

I don't visit Melbourne for food as often as I used to, but I really need to keep an eye on what Scott Pickett's doing whenever I happen to be down. Matilda at the Domain - Pickett's latest restaurant and probably his best - was a top ten meal of 2019 for me. . Think of it as Melbourne's equivalent of Firedoor: flame touches everything, though nothing's burnt. The heat emanating from the open kitchens and the controlled chaos of the kitchen's open fires will leave you with little doubt as to the kind of place this is: you order the goddamn steak. Preferably the 1.5kg Sher Wagyu tomahawk that's hands-down the best piece of meat on the bone I've had in the last year. But no, this is hardly rustic dining: the ochre wood ceiling, plush seats and lengthy leather banquette seating evoke the image of a luxury hunter's lodge, except you don't have to do the hunting or cooking. You'll just have to do some forking - of your wallet.Of course, it's not just the steak that's good to warrant such praise: from the ostensibly clichéd but hells yummy prawn butter w/spanner crab to the refreshingly tart snapper w/leche de tigre, almost everything - some weaker desserts aside - was On. Damn. Point. #ISH_Matilda #ish_melbourne

Pop quiz: do you know when @oetoshihiko started se

Pop quiz: do you know when @oetoshihiko started serving his now almost-impossible-to-book signature 30-piece sushi omakase at Masuya? The answer is 20 July 2018, when it was specifically requested by yours truly. I hate to admit it, but there's definitely a visual allure, seeing a 5x6 grid of sushi hitting the IG feed. Can't blame y'all for crowding me out. 🤷‍♂️ . I only managed to sneak in one visit this /entire/ year, and while I have myself partly to blame for this, I think we can all agree that it's 99% Oe-san's fault; he's earned it - his sushi isn't just for show, it's the real deal and definitely one of Sydney's top three. Word has it that he's sitting on some new ideas for the new year, so here's to what's coming in 2020. Happy New Year to you all. 2019 you were okay, but thank you, next! #ISH_Masuya

Me posting a flatlay these days? About as rare as

Me posting a flatlay these days? About as rare as a bad time at @juan.redfern. Sheer good eating aside, uniqueness is an undeniably attractive trait for a restaurant to have and Juan has it by the (rice)bagful. What other restaurant in Sydney is even remotely like this? Exactly. #ISH_Juan

Ramen in an omakase? There are no rules. Omakase,

I hope you like sprouts - and plenty of raw vegeta

I hope you like sprouts - and plenty of raw vegetables in general - because it's served by the truckload at not-Vietnamese Hello Auntie. The signature dish is the bánh xèo, which is a savoury turmeric pancake stuffed w/pork, shrimp and other vegetables. Here, 'other vegetables' was pretty much a terrace's worth of raw sprouts. Given how 'raw vs cooked' can be quite divisive when it comes to sprouts, I think this is useful information - especially at the quantities served here. . The bánh xèo was part of a greater set menu feast which included highlights such as the netted crab spring roll (my favourite dish of the meal) and fried tofu (which is far more Chinese than it is Vietnamese), to lowlights such as the fried rice (light on flavour & wok hei). There are also interesting, 'fusion-y' dishes such as a beef tartare that could have been at home in a French restaurant, to a fried egg noodle that could have been mistaken for a pasta, given how much olive oil was used in its creation. . All in all, a somewhat confusing experience punctuated with deliciousness and eyebrow-raisers. I guess it comes with the territory when putting a new spin on the traditional. #ISH_HelloAuntie

No surprises that when a new Japanese-accented caf

No surprises that when a new Japanese-accented cafe opens up, I'm there. Okay, that's a bit of a lie: Kurumac (yes, brought to you by the guys from @coolmaccafe and yes, the two mean the same thing in Japanese/English respectively) isn't just Japanese-inflected, it goes all in. How else do you justify being able to order A5 wagyu udon for breakfast? Overkill? Quite possibly, but noodles and soup for breakfast is the Weetbix & Milo of the East, so I'm right at home. It helps that it's a killer udon, as good as it would be straight out of an udon-ya. However, some points deducted for the onion & prawn tempura, which was a not-so-appetising agglomeration of batter that's oleaginous at best. I had a chat and apparently, the cafe kitchen's limitations prevents the tempura from being fried-to-order, which exacerbates the issue. Now you know. . The curried scrambled eggs w/prawn tempura on toast is comfort food on steroids. I mean, just look at it! Please believe that few dishes will be better than this in helping you get over that hangover/breakup/blues/you name it. . Last but not least, a genuinely creative article - a spicy mentaiko cheese 'toastie ' - where a super-generous slathering of spicy (and salty!) cod roe is slathered on top of a, well, cheese sandwich. Delicious, but best shared - unless you like to chase your breakfast with a litre of water. Coffee beans are Campos, which will do for anyone that's not a snob; happy to come back. #ISH_Kurumac

Dishes we ate at Sydney's newest HK drop-in, Kowlo

Dishes we ate at Sydney's newest HK drop-in, Kowloon Cafe, ordered from most to least favourite. No surprises that the char siu scrambled eggs are right up at the very top, with the uninteresting and almost tasteless curry fishballs (bonus points for tasting no better than store-bought) heading up the rear. In terms of dishes I'd order again, the triple-sauce (soy, sesame & sweet) cheong fun and tomato & pork chop rice and charsiu rice (obviously) are all up there. If I had to sum things up? An okay but not 'holy sh*t you've gotta try this' experience. Credit where credit's due though - the decor was amazing, and I'm sure at least a Hongkie or two will get a nostalgia kick even at the same time as they'd be complaining about how it doesn't taste like home. The heart wants what it wants 🤷‍♂️ #ISH_KowloonCafe

Last Sokyo Omakase of 2019, here's to many more. I

Last Sokyo Omakase of 2019, here's to many more. If you have the fortune to be able to book, you know just how lucky we are (and how cruel supply & demand can be). . Thank you so much @sano3sushi for your hard work throughout the years. Sydney's sushi scene would otherwise be far less. Can't wait to see what next year has in store! #ISH_Sokyo

I've already given up hope that we'll ever get a M

I've already given up hope that we'll ever get a Mister Donut in Sydney, but if the likes of Demochi takes off, we won't need it. These are the best mochi donuts I've had outside Japan, and arguably just as good. There's sufficient chew and tack that are unmistakable hallmarks of mochi, but certainly not taken to the extreme: it's still a doughnut, not gum. . The flavour selection is quite limited (an original honey glaze plus a flavour of the week) which is a real weak point, and it's only a small pop-up operation next to burger truck Dirty Bird, so Demochi's certainly got a long way to go before establishing harbour city dominance. But it's a first, solid (or rather, sticky) step. If you buy it, I strongly recommend eating it on the day, or failing that, give it a quick blitz in the microwave or toaster oven to soften it up again. I'm dead serious about that, lest you want to eat a limp, rubbery doughnut and blame the creators for something that's out of their control. #ISH_Demochi

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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