Glass Brasserie, Hilton Hotel - Sydney

My Perfect Weekend Celebration at Glass Brasserie

Last weekend, my husband and I celebrated my birthday at Glass Brasserie in Hilton Hotel. Upon arriving the restaurant, we were greeted by a beautiful attendant who then walked us to our table. Once I sat down, I was enamored by the stunning interior of the restaurant, I actually took a good 10-15 minutes to appreciate the elegant dining room. The service was absolutely excellent here. There was one particular staff that look after us, who was really attentive and constantly checking us out making sure we had everything we needed. For me, this place is truly a five star dining experience.

For starter, we were served with some complementary breads. The bread was really nice, the crust was amazingly crispy! There were four breads in one serving. After we finished, the staff actually offered us another serving. We made an intentional mistake of having two servings of the breads. Not to mention the full of flavour Luke Mangan olive oil to dip in.

First entree we had was the Organic Egg Omelette ($30) filled with blue swimmer crab meat, enoki mushroom and herb salad with miso mustard broth. The taste of the mustard was quite subtle which really enliven my appetite. 

The second entree we had was the Seared Sea Scallops ($28.00). The were 5 scallops in one serving, served with cauliflower cream, black bean and tabouli dressings. The scallop was undeniable fresh. This dish has a clean taste that is great to get the taste bud ready for main course.

For main, I had the Port Lincoln Jewfish & Prawns ($42), cooked in XO sauce and served with spicy sausage snake beans and king brown mushroom. I was a bit surprised when I had my first mouth, it's obviously an asian influenced dish, the spicy sauce  taste very similar to those you find in Asian restaurants. If you eat alot of asian food, I would not recommend this dish, but if Asian food is not on your daily menu, this dish is worth a try.

My husband originally wanted to have the rib eye, but on that day the rib eye has been replaced with 500g T-Bone steak, of course he wouldn't mind the T-Bone ($59). The T-Bone was fantastic! It was definitely the winner of the meal! The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare as requested. Even without the BBQ sauce, the meat was flavoursome by itself.  My husband absolutely mad about the brown mushrooms, bone marrow and parsley on the side. 

I have to say it was indeed very tasty! My husband even confessed that he has not enjoy a steak so much lately.

When I was browsing through the menu, my eyes were set on the Parmesan & Truffled French ($12). It was the best decision I've made that evening, the truffle infused french fries was to die for. The perfectly thin and crispy french fries with the earthy truffle flavour was divine!

It's pretty unusual for us to finish our meal without dessert, but we were too full that we couldn't stomach anymore dessert (Must be the two servings of bread). What a shame, cos I heard/read good reviews on their desserts. I guess, now I have another reason to come back.

Overall, me and my husband truly enjoyed our meal here! Not only the food was good, we were really pleased with the service too. We promised we will come back again. But like all restaurants, there are always mix opinions with different people, as food can be pretty subjective. Personally, I would recommend this place to everyone, especially if you have an entertainment card, buy one get one free is a steal for such delightful meal!

Glass Brasserie

Level 2, 488 George St (Hilton Hotel)

Sydney - 2000

Ph: (02) 9265 6068

MakMak Macaron

Macaron ~ The Delicate French Invention

Another reason I went to Baffi and Mo for brunch was because I found out that they sell the Mak Mak Macarons. MakMak Macaron is also available for order online through their Facebook. Baffi and Mo is selling them a bit more expensive ($3 each) and they didn't have the complete flavours for me to buy . So, me and my friend decided to make an order online. You get 12 Macarons for $25 and we had them delivered to us for an extra $5. So, me and my friend had six macarons per person.

I'm not usually a big fan of macaron, but when someone says it's better than the one from Adriano Zumbo, I knew I have to give it a try. What I like about their macaron is, it's not overly sweet and the shell is pretty crisp and delicate. I haven't try Adriano Zumbo's macaron should who am I to judge, but MakMak Macaron definitely change my perception towards macaron, I'm starting to like it. Not just because they taste good but I was having so much fun photographing them as well =)

Salted Caramel: It's salty! and I think it tasted abit weird. Apart from beings salty I cant really taste anything else. Don't think I like this one.

Raspberry and cardamom-scented white chocolate 'rice pudding': What a long name for such tiny dessert. But I quite like this one, there's a raspberry jam covering a chewy white chocolate rice pudding in the middle.

Mocha:  This is probably one of  the less sweet one from the bunch with a bittersweet coffee flavour.

Raisin Toast: Love the flavour, I can taste the cinnamon  in it too.

Black Sesame: A perfect black sesame flavoured macaron!

Peppermint & Chocolate: The shell has a noticeable peppermint flavour and it can never go wrong when it's paired with chocolate filling.

I actually prefer to keep them in the fridge before eating it, I like it when the filling becomes a bit more chewy.

Overall, I think it was a great buy!

Central Baking Depot, Sydney

Tart O Tart, How I Love Thee!

Central Baking Depot located just few steps away from my office (at Erskien St), run by the same company that runs Bourke Street Bakery, I always know there's lots of great stuff to be found inside, from hearty meat pies to freshly baked bread and mouth watering cakes/pastries. I didn't know why I never make a stop there until last week.

Last week, me and my friend (LW) made a trip there because I needed to get some breads. I was blown away by the smell of the freshly baked breads/pastries the moment I stepped into this French style bakery shop. I bought myself  an almond croissant and my friend bought a fig and burberry tart. 

When LW offered me half of her tart, I told her I'll have a quarter and gave another quarter to my other friend. The three of us were WOW-ing  over it. It was so delicious! quarter is not enough. So we made it a point to go back for more this week.

FIG AND BURBERRY TART    $4.40

So this week, I bought one fig and burberry tart for myself. Encased in a delicious buttery pastry is the perfect caramalised fig and some very small blueberry alike fruit (Not sure if it's really called burberry, as I always thought burberry is just a brand). This tart is such a down to earth treat with no complicated flavour. We fell in love!

Then, I got another Plum and pear tart to try. This is definitely another brilliant treat to indulge in. The puff pastry case was pretty flaky, with ripe plum and pear in the middle. There was also a thin layer of custard cream that adds an additional texture to the tart. This is a great dessert without being overpowering.

PLUM AND PEAR TART   $4.40

Central Baking Depot is a must try for bakery lover. 

Such an affordable and simple pleasure that could live up your day.
Other equally delicious treats are the Almond Croissant and the Chocolate & Pear Tart.

Cakes By Helen, Chinatown

  
My Perfect Treat on Saturday Morning


While walking along the Chinatown Night Market on Friday, I couldn't help but noticed this new bakery shop,'Cakes by Helen'. Not sure what really caught my attention, maybe it was the blue signage or the brightness from the shop or maybe because of the cakes on display near the entrance, anyway I was just drawn by it. So I decided to go in and check out if there's anything worth trying.

First impression was everything looks delicious, there were many different kind of breads and cakes to choose from. I was tossing between this and that until I laid my eyes on the colourful mini Swiss Rolls with 8 different flavours. In my mind, I thought,"This would be the perfect treat when I wake up tomorrow morning". 
With a grin on my face I went to the counter and pay, thinking how would these mini rolls taste like.

Just by looking at the colours, it wasn't hard to guess the flavours. There were butter, mango, chocolate, strawberry, taro, coffee, green tea and black sesame. Even though they were not as good as the one I like from Grand Taipei Bakery (Melbourne), they were not bad either. I like it because it was light and soft, but I would prefer if it is just a litte less sweet and has less cream. However, in terms of  flavours they were pretty distinct and tasty.

In conclusion, despite the attractive colours, are these mini rolls any good? Will I buy them again?

Yes, I will definitely buy them again if I'm in Chinatown.

Cakes by Helen

45 DixonSt

Haymarket,Sydney

NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9212 3818

Mizuya + Chinatown Night Market, Sydney

Could E-ordering Be The Next Big Thing In Restaurants?

Most Sydneysiders should have heard of Mizuya Japanese Restaurant and Karaoke by now, a place where you can have a unique dining experience and karaoke at the same time. With this new era of Technology and Eshopping, Mizuya has also adopted the concept of E-ordering with their touch screen menu. I personally think it's a very smart way of improving speed and efficiency of the restaurant but also allows customers to take their time deciding on what to order without having the pressure of someone standing waiting for us while we make up our mind.

Some of the reasons why I like Mizuya are the fact that they have small little cubicles that separate each table, also the fact that service is really fast and they serve delicious Japanese food.

Yesterday after work, me and my husband had around 3 hours to kill before heading to Entertainment Centre for a concert. So our first stop was Mizuya.

 

 

(Left) Pork Belly Kushiyaki $5.80

(Centre) Garlic Shoot with Beef Kushiyaki $5.80

(Right) 2 portions of Chicken Fillet Kushiyaki $4.80

Chicken Karaage $6.80

Spicy Soft Shell Crab $7.80

I think their Marbled Beef is my favourite in Mizuya. Served on hot plate, the meat was really tender, sweet and buttery in flavour.

BBQ Marbled Beef Steak $14.80

We also had the simple Takana Pickles Fried Rice that was a good accompaniment to the dishes.

Takana Pickles Fried Rice $10.90

Dinner was finished and we still had almost 2 hours to kill, so we decided to slowly make our way down to the Chinatown night market with a mission of getting their Japanese pancake that I've been craving for.

Queueing in front of the stall and with a Takoyaki  & Okonomiyaki Stall just beside it,  I felt like I was suddenly transported to Japan. As much as I wanted to try the Takoyaki too, the queue was just impossible, there was minimum 25 people lining up all the time. Maybe next time...

 There were many flavours to choose from, such as green tea, taro, custard, cheese and red bean. The choice was obvious it gotta be...

green tea. 

Then, we continued exploring the night market before heading to the concert.

Mizuya Japanese Restaurant & Karaoke

614 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9266 0866

Chinatown Night Market

Open every Friday from 4pm to 11pm

Find out how to get there here

Ocean Room, The Rocks

"The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet." (Judith Martin)

The first time I came to Ocean Room was probably five or six years ago, as far as I remember I had a pretty good experience back then. I've recently found out that the restaurant has been newly renovated end of last year, this has inspired me to come back even more. 

The moment I set my foot in, I was charmed by the beauty of the curvy ceiling and wooden chandelier that made of over thousands of hanging wooden tubes. I absolutely loved the theme and the blending of colours, it was simply astonishing. In addition to the elegant dining room, we were lucky to be seated in front of the floor to ceiling window with a magnificent view of Sydney's iconic Opera House right in front of us. We couldn't ask for a better place to bring our parents for a dining indulgence.

Ocean Room is a Japanese restaurant with a twist. The chef cleverly designed the food with traditional Japanese approach that combines with a contemporary culture.

Natural Oyster

We picked the green shio basil sorbet and salted konbu sauce to go with the oyster. These icy cold oysters were really fresh and appetising. I could almost taste the purity of the oyster. It was so delicious that it left me wanting for more

Natural Oyster  $4.5 (each)

Japanese Tapas 1: Tuna Cornet

The marinated blue fin tuna tartare was wrapped in nori rice cracket cornet. The tuna tartare was really soft, it kind of melt in your mouth. The rice cracket cornet tasted like the Chinese egg roll. I thought it was a good match and it certainly made a good entree.

Tuna Cornet $5 (per piece)

Japanese Tapas 2: Soft Shell Crab Taco

The spiced soft shell crab was served with pickled vegetables and wrapped in a crispy taco shell. This was the favourite entree of the night. The crispiness of the taco and the crunch of the spicy soft shell crab, with a dab of mayonnaise and salmon roe is the perfect example of a modernised approach to the traditional deep fried soft shell crab.

Soft Shell Crab Taco  $6 (per piece)

Entree 1: Wasabi Prawn

The crispy king prawn was served with wasabi aioli and petit wasabi croquette. It was a decent entree with a very light wasabi flavour aioli to complement the crispy prawn.

 Wasabi Prawn $19.00

Entree 2: Tuna Creation

We were told that this is the Ocean Room's signature dish. It consists of five different types of tuna (cut into cubes) with five different condiments. The staff explained that each condiment is designed to complement each type of tuna. Because we ordered  this to share, I only get to try the 'Fresh raw akami with black salt, jalapeno and yusu zest'. It was certainly different to what I've tasted before and my dad absolutely loved the 'Marinated akami with truffle salt, fried garlic and fresh chilli' that he had.

Tuna Creation  $23.00

Sushi Roll: Tassie Roll

A crispy ocean trout sushi roll, topped with ocean trout sashimi and roe.

 Tassie Roll  $15.00

Main 1: Chilli Baby Snapper

The roast chilli spiced whole baby snapper was accompanied with micro herbs and dressed with shallot oil.  Even though the meat was cooked perfectly well, but I thought the flavour was pretty mediocre, it was nothing unexpected. I was expecting  more, I was expecting to be blasted away by the fish.

Steamed rice is available for $3.00 per bowl

 

Chilli Baby Snapper $39.00

Main 2: Aburiyaki Wagyu

Thank goodness! I thought I will be dissapointed again, but the wagyu had me blasted half way to the moon! The Wagyu Harami was divine and the meat itself was sweet. This was definitely the highlight of the night. A dish I would come back for. We were given a small charcoal grill to further cook the wagyu to our preference.

 Aburiyaki Wagyu  $45.00

Main 3: Shiogama Pork

This was the last dish we had. The pork belly was tender and tasteful, served with spicy Korean kochuajang sauce, pickled nashi pear and citrus. 

Shiogama Pork $37.00

There's certainly a plus and minus in terms of the food, but Ocean room is certainly a fabulous restaurant with a view to die for.

Ocean Room

Bay 4 - Ground Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal
Circular Quay West, The Rocks

Sydney NSW 2000

PH: (02)9252-9585