Bathers Pavilion (Balmoral)

My last day in Sydney for 2012 - tomorrow, I fly out for a 6 week trip across Europe and Hong Kong. Yay me! Unfortunately, it would be the last chance that I'll get to spend with my closest friend before the New Year - so we went exploring again.

Bathers Pavilion at Balmoral is a place she has wanted to try, and it is a lovely place tucked inside the Pavilion. A bustling restaurant with lovely scenic views of the beach, and quite cute napkins too (see below)!

The menu on offer was quite interesting, so we agreed on trying the following: Cranberry Cocktail (non-alcoholic $7.80), Kingfish crueche (some salad-y thing) and the seared fish-of-the-day on parsley risotto.

I'm sorry for keeping this post rather short - I'm actually on my travels at the moment. Overall it was a mixed response - we loved the fish-of-the-day, and the parsley risotto was delicious. The kingfish was cold, which I was disappointed to sample - but apparently it IS meant to be served cold... so I have much still to learn. Taste was quite nice - but we loved the fish/risotto much more. Cocktail - very small portion for the price.

Overall, that reflects our perspective - for what we paid ($72.50 for an entree, a main, the cocktail and a soft drink), it wasn't good value. However, the experience of enjoying a decent hot meal indoors with seaside views is something to treasure.

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Bathers Pavilion (Balmoral)
4 The Esplanade
Balmoral 2088

How to get there: the 257 bus from Chatswood will take you there eventually, but driving yourself is recommended. Going south-bound along the M10 Spit Rd, turn left into Awaba St and head to Balmoral. If you're coming from the south, Awaba St has a no-right-turn limitation, so turn left away from the beach and do a legal U-ie, before heading down to Balmoral. The Pavilions themselves is impossible to miss - either find a 2P residential parking and walk, or pay for the 3P parking right in front.

Value: Entrees $20++, Mains $30++

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/750210/restaurant/Sydney/Mosman/Bathers-Pavilion-Balmoral"><img alt="Bathers' Pavilion on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/750210/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>

Opera Kitchen: Cloudy Bay Fish Co.

So following on from our delightful lunch at Balmoral, we spent the afternoon mucking around and enjoying life, living in the moment.

Anyways, back to the food: dinner tonight was back in the City, exploring Opera Kitchen. This collection of four eateries combine to handle the pre-drinks/pre-dinner crowd for any performances in the Opera House, or in our case, Friday night after-work drinks. Arriving at 7pm, the place was packed in the 'downstairs' sit-down dining sector, likewise in the 'upstairs' area with many a fist clutching a beer, glass of wine, nibbles, a smoke, or something else.

If you haven't noticed, I'm enjoying this freedom to explore and eat out at different areas of Sydney, and this was an interesting experience in itself. A cross between casual eating with fine food is what I perceive... but isn't what we got.

Selection tonight, after excluding the Japanese and the Vietnamese/Asian eatery, was with the Cloudy Bay Fish Co., with a decent range of Australian food: fish and chips, burgers, etc.

Above is the Duck Pancake from Misschu (the Viet stall). For us Asians, $4 per pancake is pricey, and we've had fresher tasting ones elsewhere. For those who haven't had it, or don't want the associated mess with boning and cleaning up after a roast duck selection, then this is something to try at some point.

What I liked about it: hot and greasy (the duck, that is). A cold duck pancake does not do this dish justice.
Dislike: 'relatively' stale, compared to the fresh-out-of-a-Chinese-kitchen ones I've lived with.

Above is the Cajun Chicken burger, decent for $19.50 and the to-table delivery, but pricey for the portion sizing. I had no expectations, but my friend expected the Cajun to have a bit of a zing with it: this was essentially a simple chicken burger.

Below: the Cloudy Bay Fish Co. Tasting Plate. At $26 it wasn't cheap... And could be a lot better too. Four small mounds of assorted fish, served on an okay salad, with bland potato crisps... There are better dishes to sample.

Opera Kitchen: Cloudy Bay Fish Co.

Lower Concourse Level, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, 2000

Hours: Evenings

Mains: $15-35 for most items.
Drinks: best purchased separately from the bar

Bay Vista (Brighton-Le-Sands)

Now my friend suggested this place to me... SUGAR HIGH!

Bay Vista is a dessert cafe located opposite the beach at Brighton le Sands in southern Sydney, just south of the Airport. If you're in the mood to share a sticky sweet dessert, then do what we did. For all other desserts... come here anyway!

That last picture sums it all up: the Canadian Crunch ($18). Three scoops of their soft ice cream, served with whipped cream, maple syrup, sliced banana, pecan nuts and choc honeycomb.

I have to say: very sickening sweet. For a sugar lover like me... even this pushed the limits of my sweet tolerance: the caramel fudge ice cream, whipped cream and maple syrup combined to form a cloyingly sticky delight. Unfortunately for my friend, her limit isn't as high.

Verdict: Definitely a location to enjoy the views whilst licking away at an ice cream cone. Or pop inside to share some waffles, dipped chocolate fruits, or some other form of guilty goodness. Prices may seem on the higher side, but you get your money's worth of 'fat' =P


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Bay Vista
83 The Grand Parade

Brighton-Le-Sands 2216

Location: just directly off the Brighton beach, with plenty of 1hr street parking. If you don't mind walking 2+ blocks, then plenty of untimed residential parking within 5-10mins of the shopping sector and beach.

Hours:

Pricing: $8-25, with the majority of decent goodies hovering at $15+.
Portion size: hard pressed to finish one alone - a 'must-share' place.

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/750222/restaurant/St-George/Bay-Vista-Sydney"><img alt="Bay Vista on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/750222/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>

The Grounds of Alexandria (Alexandria)

Another day, another outing. Although I didn't get to visit the Grounds last time, I had a brilliant chance to go today - and made full use of it =)

Finding parking isn't easy, and we walked the long way around the block to get to the Building-7A entrance... but we found our way in the end. And what a sight greeted us: a relaxing shaded garden, a chook shed, organic veggie patch, with a delightful shopfront! In 30 degree heat... any shade was a delight. Being seated required a five minute wait, but into a cool shady interior.

The menu was quite interesting and varied, and pricing was quite reasonable too. Our decision: the chicken confit, and the lamb salad. However, definitely there were other things to select... it wasn't easy.

Verdict: Hmmm... mixed reaction. I loved the chicken confit, with a succulent chicken maryland tenderly cooked, and presume it was grain fed too, judging by its yellow hue. However, it was quite salty - which I liked, my friend didn't. The lamb salad, however, left a little to be desired - there is quite a bit of meat, which is good - but we didn't like the texture (rather lumpy). But I can't quite fault the dish - done reasonably.

Service was attentive, no complaints at all. Definitely a place I would revisit, but try other selections instead.

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The Grounds of Alexandria
Building 7A, 2 Huntley St
Alexandria 2015

How to get there: Huntley St, just near the Bourke Rd intersection. Off-street parking is hard to find, otherwise politely park in the proper guest spots on 4 Huntley St. Entrance is on Huntley St, close to the Bourke Rd intersection. Or... walk the long way behind Building 7B, 7C and 7D.

Hours:
Open daily 8am - 4pm.
Sundays 8am - 3pm.

Pricing: $$
Mains between $12-20.
Specialty and organic drinks available for $$.

Bread & Circus (Alexandria)

My Supplementary exams are over! Finally!

I was forced to re-sit this Clinical exam as a formality - for a low mark acquired back in March this year, when I was (rather) untrained and unpracticed. In any case, I made it through, and now I can relax!

*ear to ear grin*

So what to do with myself? For this first day out (for the rest of my life, as an Optometrist instead of a student), I met up with a friend, enjoying what little time I have in Sydney (before a Europe trip, then starting a job in Queensland in 2013).

Getting back to what's important in this posting: the food! So it was about 2pm when we started feeling peckish, and we were around Ikea Tempe... so why not a short hope over to the Cafe district over in Alexandria? We were considering Grounds of Alexandria, but they close at 3pm on Saturdays - a bit rushed. Next on the list: Bread & Circus.

This organic cafe is tucked inside the open warehouse at 21 Fountain St, behind Don Campo's coffee at the front. We managed to get here just in time, placing our order shortly before 3pm. Our waitress told us they were out on quite a number of items... so I'm not surprised that they chose to wrap things up early by 3, instead of their usual 4pm closing time.

Despite having a number of items crossed out, we still liked what we saw on the menu... and the choice wasn't that easy, to be honest. Eventually, we decided on the following:

Smoked Turkey with Agave Blue Cheese dip (Sandwich box, $15). Or, as my friend called it - a deconstructed sandwich.

For the Asians (and non-Asians) out there who have tried Stinky Tofu, you should agree with the old saying "there are 2 types of people in this world: those who love the stink, and those who don't". Applies equally to the Blue cheese in my opinion: it stinks. And I had a cheese platter last night (with Blue cheese), so that didn't make things any better.

Next: the Smoked chicken with Dijon-chive-yoghurt dip ($15, Sandwich box) - much the same as the turkey above.

To wash things down, we tried the berry-banana smoothie, with kefir ($12). Now this seems costly for a glass of 'fruit-milkshake', but that's a premium you pay for decent organic food. And if you don't know what kefir is... look it up like I did. Something about healthy lumps of milk-like things... I'll let you form your own opinion about it. Mixed into a smoothie, it was rather nice overall.

Verdict overall? We loved this place. $42 for a lunch is rather pricey... but I write that off as a social expense.

Breaking it down - she loved the Turkey box, I loved the Chicken. For different reasons too - remember I mentioned 'stink' earlier? She likes Blue cheese - I don't. So that split us up... but likewise, I loved the tang of the Dijon mustard in my yoghurt dip... and she didn't. Oh - and the hint of chives just rounded things off perfectly for me... so it was almost ideal with one lunch box each. Turkey vs Chicken... each to their own - I liked the chicken breast, she didn't... turns out she loves turkey as well.

(Some things are just meant to be... =P)

And the smoothie: yummy. Hints of berry and banana, and the kefir didn't overpower the whole thing. Pricey though. Very pricey.

Definitely worth coming back here... after I save up a bit first. =P

Bread & Circus
21 Fountain St
Alexandria 2015

How to get there: Find street parking if you're lucky, otherwise try the Dan Murphy's carpark directly opposite. If you can't seem to find 21 Fountain, then look for the Don Campo's coffee, and follow it through to the back of the warehouse.

Hours: 8am-4pm daily, a new menu every day
Cost: Mains mostly less than $20. Enjoy the organic food =)

Le Pain Quotidien (Westfield Centrepoint)

So I've been off the blog for a bit: preparing and undertaking my final exams... I'm going to be an Optometrist!!

Well... soon: been recalled for further assessment regarding a placement from back in March. Stupid policy. Oh well... so next week I'll let you know how I went =)

In the meanwhile, I've let myself relax. After all the cramming and stressing and sleepness nights... (not the latter for me, thankfully), there was light at the end of the tunnel - a celebration! Congratulations to Britt and Michael - two wonderful optometrists (a few years above me) who tied the knot today =)
All the best, and blessings, to them both!

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So after the wedding, I caught up with a friend of mine - for an afternoon of catching up, relaxing, and simply while-ling the time away... navigating up and down George St in the Wynyard-Town Hall sector. Lunchtime came around, and she remembered this little place we walked by last time...

Tucked away on 4/F Westfield Sydney (or the skybridge via 2/F Myer), this quaint little cafe has a homely feel to it. Atmosphere - a lovely place to have a coffee or tea.

<Sorry for the lack of a location photo: today was more a catch-up rather than a food-exploration expedition - my fault>

Deciding to share was the easiest decision to make... but share what? We debated a bit, eventually opting for the Soup of the Day and a Tartine.

Soup of the Day: today's specials was either the Carrot (above) or the Cauliflower soup. In either a 'Cup' portion ($7.95) or 'Bowl' size ($9.95), we chose the latter to share - and you'd get about two small bowlfuls in the 'big' bowl above.

Although this place boasts about its bread... I have to admit I found nothing special about it. So it was a miss for that. Soup itself was rather nice - definitely would consider a second bowlful or more =P

Tartine - this is the Grilled Chicken and smoked Mozzarella with rocket and basil pesto. In order: ?,  ?,  'rabbit food' and 'tasty garnish...wish there was more'. It's hard to fault grilled chicken, but it didn't have any 'wow factor' about it - and either did the cheese. I need not say more about the salad, though the pesto dressing did redeem this dish. Presentation ... was better than the food. =(

Overall... it's an experience. Service was good, fast and attentive, nothing to fault there. For me, however, I miss :(

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Le Pain Quotidien (Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney CBD)
86-100 Market Street, Westfield Sydney, Level 4
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Location: via Myer Skybridge from 2/F, or the Pitt St side of Centrepoint, 4/F

Food: Mains up to $20. Desserts ~$7-10ish (didn't try - we picked up a few macarons from Laduree, then headed over to Hyde Park).

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/1564034/restaurant/CBD/Le-Pain-Quotidien-Sydney"><img alt="Le Pain Quotidien on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1564034/minilink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:130px;height:36px" /></a>

Fusion Cafe, Eastwood

"It's not worth the effort to cook tonight."

That was my mother's decision to take a night off, so we headed off to a cafe I've tried once before - and enjoyed!

Fusion Cafe in Eastwood is tucked away within the arcade, on the western (busy) side of Eastwood Station. Reminiscent of a "Hong Kong Cha-chaang-tang" (Western-style cafe serving Asian dishes), this place has a wide range of Asian selections to enjoy.

I did mention a vast menu, right? I exaggerate a little - there's at least 30 different choices there to enjoy, and some come in a "set menu" - the 6 favourite dishes served with a drink (coffee, tea, lemon and honey tea, cold drinks a surcharge).

You could always choose to bump up the dinner set to include soup of the day as well, a slice of dessert cake, or both. We were thinking of trying the dessert cake... unfortunately, the waiter mucked up the order, and put us both down for the standard set menu (it's only cake, right).

I don't much more to say, to be honest: it's a simple, homely place for a good Asian feed. We ordered the baked spaghetti of fish in cream sauce (top) and Baked Portuguese chicken rice - two dishes worth of creamy, filling (to the point of bloating), fattening goodness that delighted my tastebuds.

Fusion Cafe, Eastwood
127 Rowe St,
Eastwood 2122

Location: western side of Eastwood station - between the Station and the massive council car-park. Entry through the pedestrian-only arcade on Rowe St.

Hours:

Verdict: Wow factor? Not really - as I said, things are rather simple. But it's a cheap alternative for those evenings where you don't want to cook.

Price: $11-$15 for a set meal.

Laduree Paris (Macarons), Westfield Centrepoint, Sydney

Slightly unusual, but this will be a post written in three parts: one part of shopping, one part photo decorating, and one part devouring!

So it's been a week since Laduree expanded to Down Under, opening up their first Australian franchise in the heart of Sydney inside Centrepoint Westfield. After hearing the raves last week, this is definitely a place I had to go visit at some point... and hopefully avoiding all those queues they reportedly had!

Well, on this fine Tuesday morning, I joined the queue at 9.40am, with around 15 people ahead of me. It took around 10 minutes to move towards the front, then 5 minutes for selections, then I was out of the sector by 10am - not too bad, with all's said and done. There was still a short queue after I left - so the crowd's going strong.

The first thing I noticed after heading up the northern escalators in Westfield Centrepoint is the sector they've carved for themselves - long elegant glass displays showing off their selection, then the (rather out-of-place) queue-marking tape they have in banks and airports. Tucked behind the front counter is the cafe zone, shiny place-sets all laid out in a quiet spot, away from the hustle and bustle of pedestrian shoppers.

I'm going to have to come back here for the cafe experience... maybe as a second surprise for my friend (read on for more!)

Well, of course I would be productive - 10 minutes in a queue is quite a bore, you know! Pulling out my SLR, snappy away at a few objects that caught my eye...

Next thing I knew, folks to either side of me had their iPhones out, snapping away too (I started a trend!). Although... I did spot a Samsung amongst the lot...
Also, I struck up a short chat with the chap in front of me - and learnt that a teenage girl will be getting a sugary birthday treat from Daddy - lucky child!

Now if only someone could spoil me too... anyone?? =)

My turn came... and what to choose! Yikes!

The Eternal Dilemma of the Macaron Minded =(

Well... I somehow (with a bit of assistance) got my selection down pat - and ordered three sets of 8:
One for the Clinic Staff (hello UNSW Optometry Clinic!)
One for a close friend as a surprise, and
One for MEEEE! I'm not walking away from this empty handed with an empty stomach!

Pricing: $3.20 apiece makes these one of the most expensive macarons I've had in Sydney. It is worth it? See below to find out ;)

If you want them in a box, you'll have to order a minimum of 6, else you get the unfortunate paper bag.
The premium gift box (I've seen similar from La Belle Miette, Melbourne CBD) will set you back a pretty $2.40 extra - but it's worth it if you're going that extra mile for someone extra special. My friend and I have an understanding - quality and quantity will make up for the superficialities of life. So I saved the $2.40, and went for long-box of 8 - no surcharges but still setting me back at $25.60 per box.

Here's a side-view of them sitting prettily:

*Salted Caramel: Salted? Really? Hehehe... I did like this one for the caramel flavour - sweet and sticky =)
*Strawberry Marshmellow - I had this one much later than the almond marshmellow, and I changed my mind: certain flavours work better having the plain marshmellow core, and this is one of these.
*Ghana Chocolate (dark) - I had this one first before the normal chocolate... but it didn't amaze me.
*Vanilla - light and simple. Not much in terms of flavour, though.
*Pistachio - nuts! That's all I will say about this one =)
*Orange Blossom - VERY similar to the Vanilla - it was hard for me to distinguish between two white macarons with similar (but subtly different) fillings. A slight floral hint came through on this one... but not by much. Still, liked it for what it is.
*Chocolate - less entertaining than the dark chocolate. Both had a nice texture and taste to the shell, but the ganache was dense and chewy. Not what I was expecting for a chocolate macaron - I'm more into one that melts into chocolatey goodness.
*Almond Marshmellow - well, the nutty flavour definitely came through on this one. Not a ganache in this one though - the filling is actually a plain marshmellow, enhancing the nutty-ness. Enjoyable, but not a favourite - marshmellow in a macaron... what is the world coming to!

Laduree Paris (Cafe and take-away macarons)

Level 3, Westfield Centrepoint
Town Hall, Sydney, 2000

Location: take the northern entry along Pitt St, or enter via any of the Market St entries and walk to the other end. Up the escalator to Level 3, and it's on your immediate left.

Hours: open 9.30am daily Monday to Saturday, 10am Sundays.
Closes as per Westfield hours (5.30pm standard, 9pm on Thursdays).

Verdict: A fraction overpriced for their value, but definitely one sweet cookie to enjoy in your own sweet time.
(Aside: I'm still composing this post while nibbling away at one of them =P)