FoodieChat

Zilver, previously called Silver Spring, closed down and renovated a few years ago, completely changing its image, and vastly improving its menu, whilst uptiering its target market to a more upmarket offering.  Its “All you can eat for $17.50″ days have long gone and it has transformed completely into a rare gem of Chinese dining – great food AND service to go with it! 

My friends Tracy and Chris got married on the weekend, and apart from being a long awaited marriage, it was also for me a long awaited feast hehehe. And I was not disappointed at all.  First cab off the rank- suckling pig entree platter with shredded cuttlefish.  The pig wasn’t overly fatty although the skin was quite thin so was slightly chewy.  Chewy the jellyfish was not – it was the perfect thickness and appropriately crunchy in texture.  Second course was deep fried seafood balls – minced seafood – predominantly prawns, rolled into balls and covered in almond flakes deep fried and served on a bed of shredded cabbage.

Palate cleansing vegetables came next – perfectly cooked and crisp broccoli and mushrooms covered in a sauce thick with dried scallops – a real chinese delicacy.  And then came the emperor of all soups – sharks fin soup. So expensive is this dish that waiters often use a bread plate to catch any drips off the ladle that dare escape on the way from the tureen to bowl. You can have it with shredded chicken or crab meat as well as dried fish stomach (don’t ask, just drink).

What a treat. Lobster cooked in classic ginger and shallot sauce.  One of my friends told me that when you have lobster at a wedding banquet, it adds an extra $300 per table of 12 (you do the sums!).  So I relished my huge tender chunk of lobster tail and made an attempt at the huge claw.  But didn’t try too hard as once my grandmother stabbed her finger with one of the sharp bits – ew!

Stomach reaching capacity, next came sliced abalone and mushroom in oyster sauce with lettuce, and then steamed live coral trout.  It must be so hard cooking 25 two kg fish to the point of just cooked, and then sending it out to the masses.  Nevertheless, this one was perfect, its meat sweet and succulent.

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You may not believe it but there are places in Sydney that do have civilised lunch for around $10 (that is, not a food court) if you’re after something a bit nicer to catch up with your friends, rather than the usual grab your lunch and stand around stalking a table before you realise half your lunch hour’s gone.

The Forbes Hotel is just off George Street, on the corner of York and King, and was introduced to me by my former colleague as a place she used to take her clients who didn’t give her any business! haha. Anyway, you get the whole table cloth and waiter and glassware experience in their restaurant on the third floor. (more…)

  Exhibit A:  Favoured snack of the New Yorker, the salted pretzel. Wikipedia says it’s invented by German monks for rewarding children who learned their prayers (its knot is in the shape of praying arms), it has now found on every street corner in New York in those metal phone booth sized stands.  My friend in New York tells me that no one gets food poisoning from those stands, because if they do, they can just up and move to another street corner.  It was hilarious too, because these stands often sell hot dogs as well, and on one of my walks down the street, there was an American guy who said “Gee that STINKS. I wish they would kill those vendors!”.  Hilarious grumpy man with a chip on his shoulder obviously! Maybe he’s someone who ate a bad one haha .  Quite good, and a healthy alternative to some other baseball match snacks.

 Exhibit B:  The toffee apple on steroids.  Found in amusement parks, eaten by children who haven’t yet experienced a filling at the dentist perhaps? These are HUGE! And covered with anything from regular toffee, caramel, caramelised popcorn, chocolate and nuts, cinnamon… sink your teeth into those ~ and likely they will stay there

And finally, exhibit C: the American pizza pie.  On Bleeker street, people were eating huge slabs of greasy pizza – meatballs, pepperoni, meatlovers. I thought I would go for a healthier option, it looked quite bready and non greasy, straight from the oven, and uncut.  I learned once again that appearances can be deceiving.  I had no idea that this beast of a pizza had double the amount of cheese inside, and fatty bits of sausage and who knows what else… by the time I got a snap on my camera, the ring of oil had already started from the cheese which was leaking out the side. Starving though, I tried to eat the crust… and gave up, when my plate became compeltely translucent from the oil, and i may as well have been eating straight off the dirty tray! Eww!  So I just drank the rest of my diet snapple, trying not to think about all the fat I had just consumed! 

Oh yummy yum.  New York’s trendy Upper East side is packed with brilliant delis, trendy bars, amazing Italian - and authentic Japanese!  My friend Viv took me to this intimate local restaurant, in the middle of a popular dining strip where you can’t walk two steps without tripping over a cafe or restaurant that you make a mental note to come back and try!   We had the rainbow roll (US$9.50) – delicate tempura prawn sushi rolls done inside out style, and rolled in roe and black sesame.  Unlike most versions of it, the prawns were light and crispy on the outside, and not embalmed in batter that could cover a dagwood dog. 

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