Right out the front, as per its UK sisters, you pass by the hand made pasta machine and produce – it’s made fresh daily!

Even in Sydney, the decor is like I stepped back to Canary Wharf – the furniture the same, the tea towel napkins the same – the chain completely consistent and like it was plucked straight out of the UK !

I loved this graffiti wall.  In fact, there are a few spray paintings around the place that create a funky urban uber cool environment.

We were seriously lucky to score the table right next to the open kitchen. Shouts of “yes chef!” and high energy cooking happening in there – the head chef keeping a watchful eye and cleaning dishes as they went out.  He was also so kind to respond to my questions of “Whats that?” “what’s that?” – you know, sneaking a look of what food looked like before I had to committ! haha.

We finally ordered after a final check of the menu. And promptly, out came two little pails of complimentary bread.  Who offers free bread these days?? The sourdough, pita, grissini and house baked foccacia was drizzled with pesto and served with balsamic and olive oil.  Definitely could have wolfed more of this down!

What was a soda?  For $4.10 I had to find out.  It was lemongrass and ginger cordial topped with sparkling water. It certainly did have a kick to it! I couldn’ really taste the lemongrass though, but it was otherwise like a nice refreshing ginger ale.

I had to order the arancini – as I did in London, and again, it could have been air freighted over as it looked exactly the same!  A dreamy dusting of parmesan on top and house made tomato sauce accompanied it.  There were 3 balls – for $9.50.  They were crispy on the outside but I found the balls to be slightly dry in the middle – and I thought that for that price maybe a 4th ball could have been offered instead of putting paper in the bottom – or at least making all 3 balls the same size instead of giving 1 that was smaller than the others (the back one).

These were the Italian nachos – deep fried pillows of ricotta ravioli.  We watched the girls hand make these out the front!

And the calamari with garlic mayo – $12.  It was more a tapas size than an entree size.  Really garlicky and awesome flavour – again, a little more would be better – or charge a bit more and get a bit more?  It wasn’t really enough to share, more like a side dish.

And the meat board for one.  Just like in London served on a wooden plank balanced on tinned tomatoes as a stand, there was mix of meats and some pickles and salad.  Bonus points for allowing single person serves!  At $13, I thought this was good value.1

Being the start of spring swimming costume season, the girls decided that we should go for entree sized pastas instead of having a main sized pasta – all those carbs at night need to be worked off right?    I was happy with the serving size of mine – the slow cooked cuttlefish.  All the pastas are handmade and were so fresh – yet still able to have that al dente texture.  I have to say that I haven’t had cuttlefish before, and it smelled and tasted a little fishy for my liking.  I loved the sauce though – rich with olive oil and stock ($13.50 for entree size).

Next time though, I will definitely definitely be going for the mushroom ravioli.  Don’t feel sorry for vegos here because here they feast!  Even the bread crumbs look meaty!  And great value too.

I have had boar just twice.  Once at the Spitalfields markets and the other time at Spiedo – Alessandro Pavioni’s new digs at Westfield Sydney.  And here is the second place I’ve heard of in Sydney that has it. Wild boar sausage with lentils.  I have to say that at $22, maybe a bit more sausage could have been offered, but what it lacked in size it made up for in flavour.  Very Jamie style!

The sides were very well priced – this crunchy salad was $5.50 and was a beautiful mix of red and yellow beetroot, radish and carrot with lemon and mint dressing. It lacked seasoning a bit so I just added my own and also some of the olive oil/balsamic from the bread.  It’s approximately the size of  a typical rice bowl.

The absolute stand out dish for me that you must must MUST MUST try (get the picture? ) one of – per person that is!!! – is the polenta chips. WOW. Crispy on the outside, well seasoned and soft on the inside.  I’m sure that if I drank beer these would be an awesome snack. The best I’ve ever eaten!!

Well Jamie’s Italian, Sydney certainly did live up to my expectations. It really took me back to my holiday and felt like we were enjoying something that Jamie himself created and would be proud of.  It was so much like the other restaurants – but I don’t say that in a bad chain way – but in a reliably good way.  I certainly will be back.

Here’s another umm… cocktail? hehehe.  Also $16.  Very refreshing and dry as requested I was told.  Cool glasses huh??

The only two food offerings were jaffles:  $7.50 each and served on these gorgeous grandma style plates – vegetarian one with cheese, tomato, basil;

Or a cup of curried nuts – $4.

Compulsory deco – the deer head on your way down! hehehe

See you every Friday at Grandma’s!

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/sepia-dominates-year-of-dining-simplicity-and-maturity-20110905-1jttt.html

Start planning your dining now!

Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Living once put out a list of fine dining features that make a nice restaurant more welcoming. Those added touches that make you feel at home without looking for every opportunity to make a few more dollars.  Xanthi scored immeditely on two of these as you sit down – tap water offered (most fine diners offer you sparkling or still ie not free); and soon after – crusty bread and olive oil for dipping as you peruse the carefully planned menu.

All the dishes were beautiful earthenware tapas style plates.  I would love some of these at home!

The waiter suggested we order something from each section of the menu to share.  Dips/mezze, flat breads, mains and desserts.  Well with just two of us we thought we would order it Aussie style and treat it like one entree one main each.  We tried firstly the eggplant – two baby chargrilled lebanese eggplants (whole) and served with tomato sauce and some tzatziki.

When I went to Greece a year and half ago, there was one restaurant in Oia, Santorini that we kept going back to – fond memories – and one thing we tried there were zucchini fritters.  So for nostalgic reasons, this is what I had to order.   The pattie was great, but the oil wasn’t hot enough, so they were very very oily.  Three fritters came on top of a chickpea dip.  Yum though, but not good on the waistline!

Next, our selection from the Apo tin plastira – which means ‘From the wooden board’.  Xanthi’s site notes:

A plastira is the board that the women of the village use to stretch and roll out filo. The wood is made from pine trees and its properties make it the best surface to stop the pastry from sticking and tearing as it’s carefully stretched and thinned.

Our pastry is handrolled and made fresh. Baked fresh and served straight from the oven. Please be patient. Waits can be up to 30 minutes depending on demand.

Luckily, we didn’t have to wait so long, but intrigued we were by the rabbit stifatho – rabbit braised in tomato, honey, cinnammon, clove and red wine sauce and then shredded.  Hmmm….. eat bugs bunny?? Never tried it!  But gosh, they sure harped on it enough on Masterchef for me to be curious!  What came on our plate did not resemble bugs at all – but in fact looked like slow cooked chicken, or indeed pulled pork.  The pastry wasn’t light like the filo we get in the supermarkets – but it was definitely savoury and substantial.  As for bugs…. I would describe it like eating fishy chicken.   Maybe my palate is unsophisticated but it was definitely a bit seafoody.  Not in a delightful way, but interesting way.  I think I will leave elmer fud to eat dat wabbit!    I thought it was extremely pretty and good value for $16 though!  I did like it more than i like escargot though.

Now the REAL reason why I was desperate to try Xanthi was the pork belly baklava!  When excitedly telling my colleagues about it, the reaction was generally “Ew”. I think they associated baklava with dessert.  Pig dessert? Hmm.  But for me, I knew it had something to do with slow cooking, and something to do with savoury flaky pastry.  And it was also pretty.  It was two squares of pork belly, topped with two pieces of perfect crackling, with some prune sauce which added a sweet edge to the rich pork.  For my liking, I would have preferred the pork to be braised first – twice cooked. It wasn’t, which meant the fat could have been rendered down a bit more.   Perhaps a bit more stalk should be cut off the microherbs too – if I were to be really fussy.  But again, at $18, there really isn’t much to fault.

All in all, these 4 dishes plus a coke cost a tiny $55.   I’ll have to come back again for the baklava ice cream.  There are so many interesting things to try, and although there could have been a few things to be done to make it perfect ,hey it was opening week, it did well and I will be back!      Being next to Chat Thai and the food court, it was noisy though, so don’t go expecting a quiet intimate meal.  But do indeed go for the ouzo cart

And next time – the whole spit roasted beast! Yuuuummmm!!!!

Cappuccino – indeed, not bad I’m told.

And the latte.  These come in small and large. Syrup or non syrup. Quite reasonably priced.

Okay, having gained a bit of a spare tyre aka muffin top over winter, I tried to go for something healthy (ie no sausage or bacon).  For me this came in the form of the mushroom, ham and pesto omelette with no cheese.  With a slice of sourdough and some mange-tout as salad, it was very satisfying, and not over cooked at all. Baby Lucas adored it too and helped me polish off a third of it!  The filling was generous but did not overcome the eggs.

Salmon benedict – perfect chubby ooozy eggs and a generous amount of salmon.  But what puzzled me was why it wasn’t served on english muffins, and instead only one piece of toast? Not that much sauce, but oh well, my friends seemed to not care much!

Now what I SHOULD have ordered and lingered over for a bite was the French toast.  Yuuummm…. it was sooo soft and delicious – soaked brioche, fried until brown, not too eggy, and this gorgeous berry compote on it.  It was delicious and I could have eaten alot more – but definitely not the whole plate as I definitely need some savoury for my breaky.

They also make a baklava French toast which I am curious to try for next time!

They set the bar high – this is yum cha fine dining style!  The usual pram jam and rampant children running dangerously around steaming hot trolleys might not be featured here – instead it’s likely to form a suit crowd. Verified by the waiter who said that it was packed out during the week. Well the proof is is in the dumpling – the prawn dumpling in fact. The yardstick by which all yum chas are measured!  The pricing here seems to be at a small premium for the upmarket experience, most are extra large at $9.50 a pop. but you do get 4 of each, unlike some cheeky yum chas who now give 3!    I loved the prawn dumpling.  The skin was correctly translucently but al dente. Not soggy at all, and the prawn filling had the appropriate texture and also this delicious seasoning that is usually simply pepper in other restaurants. Thumbs up!

The fancy sister of har gau is the scallop dumpling.  They look like little “cheeks” if you know what I mean! hehehe.  They were plump and nice.  But my only gripe is that a bit of cheap seafood extender is also in the filling.

Next, the other staple for comparison – the siu mai – or pork dim sum. Dotted with some roe on top.  The meat had some texture but my one didn’t have much prawn.

The lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice was good too. Also at the extra large price though.  The rice was gooey and perfect, but personally a bit more sauce would be excellent!

The scallop wontons were hot and crispy – served with mayo. I was a bit miffed that it too was $9.50 and also, had a bit of seafood extender in there.

This was my fave though – the vegetable dumpling. Vegos around the world cheer – because usually they have hardly any offerings at yum cha.  Chinese stick prawns inside vego things as that is perceived as being generous and more hearty.  But this triangular dumpling needed nothing of the sort. Finely chopped mushrooms, bamboo, water chestnut and carrot were taken to a new level with coriander and sesame oil.

And for dessert – some baked taro buns. Usually these sticky brown buns are filled with char siu.

So we ordered a steamed char siu bun to make up for it

And finally, some deep fried sesame balls filled with lotus seed paste.  I have to commend the really friendly staff. They were not pushy at all like some other yum chas. The lady really acted like a friend, saying “Try this, it’s only priced as a small, it’s really nice!”.  It was indeed a serious change from the frantic (but fun!) pace of other yum chas where they try to churn you out.  It’s absolutely worth paying a small premium for this service!  What else would you expect from this regal dim sum house in such a beautiful building as QVB!

Looks like the CBD yum cha scene is hotting up more – with Sky Phoenix having opened a few months ago in the Westfield Sydney, and the closure of beloved Regal Restaurant.  

http://shizuokagourmet.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/ramen-tonkotsu-ramen-professional-recipe/

And here is my result – pretty yum, but not like the photos, oh well.

What went well?  Well, the site was right, you do need to purge the blood and veins out – oh GOSH it was DISGUSTING!!!!  The water was pink and then I had to get scissors and cut off the yuck blood clots too eww eww eww.  So anyway, then you get a new pot of water and then boil the bones. Boil them into absolute smitherines!  Like this is what I ended up with after 4 hours (sorry I wasn’t committed enough for the full 15 hours specified on the site hahaha).

And the strained soup.  Amazing, it did turn whiteish!! All this just from bones and water!

To come up with the final dish, I added miso paste to flavour, soy, white pepper, sesame oil and salt to taste.  I served the soup with some blanched fresh ramen noodles, and topped with a soft boiled egg, seaweed and corn.   I guarantee a warm and snuggly feeling after having a huge bowl of this… although I must also say… a bit of a belly from all that delicious soup!

Foodiechat note:  I haven’t been to many of these, but can definitely highly recommend Hugos Manly – and not just for the gorgeous long eyelashed Pete Evans

Here are the deals:
4 Pines Brewing – take a complimentary trip out of this world with 4 Pines. Simply purchase a main meal between 11am-5pm, and receive a free handcrafted, naturally brewed, multiple award-winning beer.
www.4pinesbeer.com.au

Once you’ve come back down to earth, Manly is the place to see and be seen. Hang with the hip at Hugos, flirt amongst the flamingos at Manly Wine, and chill out at China Beach. Maybe you’ll even spot a few famous faces.

Hugos Manly – Enjoy a complimentary, and now famous, chocolate dessert pizza with any main course purchased.
www.hugos.com.au

After the land of the living, why not step back in time and dine with our ancestors? Surround yourself with the spooky and supernatural at Q Station. Enjoy a unique experience of world class cuisine, beautiful harbourside dining, in haunted surrounds steeped in history. After dinner, take a ghost tour – if you dare…

Q Station – Receive a $50 credit towards food and beverage or tours during your stay. Quote promotion code ‘Winter11’ when booking to receive.
www.mirvachotels.com/qstation

Manly Wine – Warm up inside and out, with a complimentary warm mulled wine with every main meal ordered.
www.manlywine.com.au

China Beach – purchase a main meal and receive a complimentary entree of either – steamed prawn sui mai with water chestnut, sweet corn and plum with red vinegar. Or a vegetarian curry puff with chilli sauce and cucumber yoghurt. China Beach are a licenced on premise restaurant.
www.chinabeach.com.au

Garfish Manly – This multi-award winning restaurant is offering diners a complimentary small plate from the delicious new bar menu, when two or more people order a drink at the bar.

Sample the beautiful new dishes, including parmesan arancini with smoked tomato dipping sauce, crisp fried cuttlefish and tuna tartare.
www.garfish.com.au

Organicus Kitchen and Pantry – Gastronomy, integrity and showcasing the best local organic food is the focus of the kitchen at Organicus. The food tastes great and is good for you too. Or why not try an amazing organic coffee, made with organic milk? Organicus are offering not one, but two, fabulous offers this winter. From Monday to Friday, receive your second main meal at half price (breakfast and lunch). On the weekend, with every cake order, you’ll get a free coffee.
www.organicus.com.au

Barefoot Coffee Traders – Enjoy a premium roasted Tobys Estate coffee of your choice, as well as a home-made fresh waffle, for only $6.
www.barefootcoffee.com.au

For more information see www.immerseyourselfinmanly.com.au

When you are seated, you are presented with some fresh made foccacia and chilli oil for dipping. Nice. The bread is so soft and fluffy with a just lightly crispy crust with a slight oily texture to the touch.  The chilli oil could have done with a bit more of a kick for my liking, but that’s just me, and would most probably have masked the bread!

So for entrees, I had the salami entree.  It was $14, and I was a bit disappointed with its simplicity.  Three slices of salami lightly fried served on a bed of polenta.  A bit more polenta would have been great – or at least another carb provided or even a veg, as the salami is very full bodied and salty to have on its own.

What I should have gotten was the scallops from the specials menu, served with roasted baby beets including my new favourite thing – heirloom varieties, so pretty!  The dish was scattered with pomegranite seeds and served with rocket.  Good to have the balance of veges, and you have to agree – such a pretty plating up, which contrasts to the rustic simplicity of the normal menu. Are you getting the contrast?  The scallops would not look out of place at a three hat restaurant!

For mains – we only had two courses each because we were in a hurry for the theatre – again , a tale of two menus!  I chose the ragu which I was informed was veal, pork and chicken. Yum.  I was confused as this arrived in front of me – the meat was minced instead of slow cooked chunks   It was a HUGE serving! Yum though! But as I continued to eat it, it sat in a pool of red oil – it certainly wasn’t low fat… probably a bit too much oil that perhap could have been better off integrated into the sauce so that it doesn’t split out.  Having said that, the pasta was cooked perfectly.

And once again, food envy – as my friend’s lamb ragu was exactly what I expected mine to be like!!  Melt in your mouth lamb chunks stirred through delicate thin ribbons of hand made parpadelle!!

I guess what you get for an extra $10 is hand made pasta and also real tender meat.  :(  I was really really surprised though, I would have expected the regular menu to be better!  I hesitate to want to pay $34 for a pasta dish though.   In short, if you do go, do yourself a favour and go for the specials menu which is ironically better than the regular menu.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2010687/Monaco-royal-wedding-Is-worlds-biggest-wedding-cake-Princess-Charlene-changes-Armani-gown-joins-Prince-Albert-reception.html

Certainly this small kingdom had a cake as disproportionately large as its share of the world’s net worth calling it home! Wonder whether it was choccy or fruitcake