You know those raffles at charity events and schools where you feel obliged to buy a coupla tickets knowing that you have a snowballs chance in hell in winning? My dad has this ability to win the 3rd prize which is usually dinner at a posh restaurant. And since most restaurants which give out these free meals aren’t Chinese, him and my mum drag me and noods along to ensure we eat their share of the food/moneys worth. Which is a sweet deal for us becos it means free food and free transport haha

So our free dinner was at Nick’s Seafood Restaurant (the Promenade- Cockle Bay Wharf) and we were greeted with a very ditzy lady who couldn’t read her own writing in the reservations book and then said I”m sorry let me TRY and find a table’ only for us to walk thru the restaurant and see that half the room was empty! We ordered drinks and waited. And waited. By the time the waiter came back our stomachs were growling!

For entree me and noods split the Seafood Chowder ($14.50) and they were nice enough to put it into 2 bowls for us.

CHOWDER! Say it frenchie! (haha gotta love the Simpsons). The seafood chowder was very yummy with chunks of fish floating around however I thought it could’ve used a bit more of the seafood and less of the miscellaneous vegetables

After me and noods had devoured the soup it took heaps long for the food to come and when the parentals don’t get food they don’t talk. It’s as if they have to concentrate to not let their stomachs eat themselves haha

Anyways my parentals got the Seafood Platter for two ($120)

How good does it look?! In the platter there was freshly cooked lobster, steamed mussels, fried calamari, fried fish, fresh cooked and tempura king prawns, blue swimmer crab, oysters, chips and for some reason avocado and rockmelon. The crab meat was so sweet! And the lobster was so fresh! And of course my dad kept offering noods prawns even though he’s allergic lol

I decided on the Vongole and Crab Meat Pasta with Parmesan, Tomato and Pesto Sauce ($27.50)

It took me so long to decide on what to eat, usually when me and noods go out to eat somewhere expensive we try not to order the same thing and I was really undecided between this and what noods got but I’m glad I chose this because it was COVERED in parmesan goodness! And i didn’t know what vongoles were but apparently it was like a little clam? I like them much better than pipies which are a tad too chewy for me. And I have no idea where the pesto was but there was a whole mound of shredded crab meat throughout the pasta and I barely made it halfway!

Noods ordered the Blue Eye Cod Fillet with Smoked Salmon and Shallot Crushed Potato Cake ($29.50)

The fish was nice and soft but it just tasted like normal fish and chips but the potato cake was good with a nice crispy skin and warm potatoy innards.

I’m afraid we didn’t leave any room for dessert but we will be back! Maybe just for dessert! haha warm double chocolate pudding and sticky date pudding you have escaped my grasp but not for long!

Edit: Closed

So it was me and Noods’ 4 and a half years anniversary and I was a little late in booking the restaurant which led to many ‘I’m sorry we’re booked out until 10pm’ until I finally decided on the degustation menu at Alio (5 Baptist St, East Redfern). Noods got us lost (heh as usual) but we found parking at the Surry Hills shopping centre and were shown to our pretty but hard wooden chairs.

First up came a platter of parmesian bread sticks and a nice thick wodge of sourdough and for some reason the olive oil came in a realllli long plate and 10 seconds later came the teensiest littlest mug ever filled with pea and mint soup which was creamy and the perfect comfort food for such a cold night (dude it was raining and the air con was in the minuses!)

Entree was baked Italian buffalo mozzarella on roasted eggplant dressed with 25 year old balsamic vinegar

I’m not a real big fan of eggplant unless its fried with belacan (heh yep Malaysian girl) but the eggplant was nice and soft and oooh I looove buffalo mozzarella and it was REAL and FRESH (and yes the waiter realllly emphasised the 25 year old part)

Our pasta dish was ravioli with pumpkin, pine nuts and ricotta with sage butter

This was my most favourite dish of the night! A coupla days ago went to a get-together shindig and someone ordered the pumpkin ravioli and it came out bright orange with a really artificial taste but this was oh so yummy and delicate and mmm fresh parmesan shavings!

The fish course was salmon dotted with anchovy paste and topped with a zucchini flower

Mmm the salmon was cooked perfectly with the middle a perfect sashimi softness. The anchovy paste was a little too fishy… pairing anchovy with another fish? And argh enough with the zucchini flowers sydney!!! Yeah the zucchini flower was stuffed with more salmon

The meat course was slices of lamb on a bed of eggplant with pesto sauce

The website had said wagyu so me and noods were getting all kinds of excited lol but instead we got lamb but oooh baby it was so tender! And it had bits of crackley goodness! Mmm medium rare is the best!

Next came a giant spoonful of pineapple sorbet

Not very pretty to look at but it was really refreshing and it was a bit strange eating pineapple sorbet when I’d keep remembering eating those pineapple zooperdooper iceblocks in primary school

And finally dessert! Dessert was choux pastry puff with hazelnut cream and chocolate sauce

I’m not much of choux pastry girl because I think all dessert except for tarts should be uber soft. The chocolate sauce was soooo sweet it felt like my teeth were rotting in my mouth haha but mmm honeycomb bits!

All in all it was a pretty good experience and between meals service was very efficient and the waiters would zoom off with our plates the moment we put our knives and forks down! The degustation menu was $55 per person and I reckon it was a great deal!

Happy anniversary love!

Edit: Closed

Whenever we go for dinner at Arthurs restaurant (The Village Centre 29-31 Windsor Rd Kellyville) it is mainly because of their amazing creme brulee but since I don’t think i can order just dessert we started off with the cheese and chilli bread.

For mains I decided on the Barramundi fillets with Honey, Lime & Chilli Prawns with Mango salsa and Steamed Greens ($29.90)

And mmm fresh mango! Haha this is my attempt at an artsy shot of my food. I couldn’t really taste the honey or the lime but I could taste the honey on the potatoes; a coupla bones here and there in the fish but it was a pretty giant slab of fish

Noods got the Seafood Pasta with Spinach, Garlic White Wine Cream Sauce ($26.90) and mmm it was nice and cheeesy and look at that giant calamari geez louise it was so huge!

And then dessert! Passionfruit creme brulee ($12.90) mmm the perfect amount of caramelised sugarrrrr

Easter began really early this year. Christmas was barely over when I started seeing little bunnies covered in foil and fluffy chickens displaying their colourful wares on us unsuspecting customers. Ginormous milk chocolate eggs filled with multicoloured smarties and packets of mini solid eggs calling to me to taste test each and every one. And so I cracked. Cracked from all the PRESSURE. I bought a packet of cadbury crunchie eggs because in high school I would carefully peel off the gold wrapper, flatten it and smoothen it and glue it into my notebook where I had page after page of easter egg wrappers