Elsja Down Under

101 Countdown December 25, 2010

Only a few more days until my 101 in 1001 comes to a close. I can’t believe it’s been nearly 1001 days since I first created the list. While I may not have achieved them all, there are definitely many that I am really proud of. To wrap up a few of the remaining items, I’m posting my 101 Christmas edition. To be fair, these hardly have much to do with Christmas but since I’m posting on Christmas eve, I have decided it will be a Christmas edition.

#86 - Try 20 new restaurants and blog about them. Well, technically I tried many more than 20 since 2008, but this blog will include my 20th actual review so I can finally cross this item off the list!!

North Bondi Italian (RSL)

We went to this little gem for our work Christmas lunch the other day and I was really pleased. Rather than posting my normal type of review, I’m just going to post the things I liked about this place.

Its got a great indoor/outdoor/bar/restaurant vibe so you can really go there for any occasion. We got there early but since they don’t take bookings, we had to wait about an hour for a table but we just hung out on the patio with some champagne, peanuts and appetizers overlooking the ocean. We ordered refreshing vodka lemon lime and bitters and they went down WAY too easily. We had these amazing deep fried risotto balls and a ricotta basket to start and they were so tasty; TOTALLY overpriced but the risotto balls were to die for. For mains I ordered a ricotta, basil and tomato pasta. It was definitely good but a few of my coworkers had the lasagna and I was having a bit of order envy. Great food, great wine, great views and great company made for a fun afternoon by the beach. It was a perfect way to start the holiday break.

#81 -Learn to make Swedish pancakes from my mom. My mom has been making Swedish pancakes my entire life and never have I taken the opportunity to learn how to make them myself. Well today is the day. I just flew in on Christmas eve and it’s tradition for my mom to make the pancakes today so we can wake up and eat them for breakfast on Chrsistmas morning. She’s just out buying flour but when she returns, Pancakes 101 shall begin.

#28- Donate blood- two weeks ago on the way to work I stopped off at a blood bank to donate. I was a bit scared because the first and only time I ever donated blood was back in college and I had a horrible experience. My blood pressure dropped and I almost passed out and threw up. Luckily, this time I was ok even though they could only get 1/2 of a donation. So I suppose I might save 1.5 lives instead of 3. Still better than nothing!

#29 – Donate to 3 charities per yer. Here are some of the charities I’ve donated to since 2008

• Pancan (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Movember (2008, 2010)
• American Cancer Society (2008, 2009)
• Humane Society (2009)
• Caringbridge (2010)
• Susan Komen (2010)
• Jimmy Walk Fund (2010)

My mom is back with the flour so I’m off to learn techniques in making Swedish pancakes. I wish you all a Merry Merry Christmas!!

Cafe Pacifico November 22, 2010

Since before I even moved to Australia, I’ve been hearing about Cafe Pacifico. For some reason I had never been there the entire 3 years I’ve lived in Sydney. That all changed on Wednesday when I headed there after work with all of my colleagues. I was very excited to discover that this place is only a 5 minute walk from my office, sweet! I was very curious- would it live up to the hype AND would it taste better than Baja Cantina? Let’s find out, shall we?

Decor/Setting: 8: It definitely fits the Mexican theme, that’s for sure. The place is decorated with old boxes of beer and tequila and I was just waiting for some short Mexican guys to come out of the woodwork with whistles and tequila shots and start flipping people upside down. It’s pretty loud as well so it’s definitely not the place for a romantic night out.

Value: 5: The value at any Mexican restaurant in Sydney is pretty crap, but this place seemed even more over priced than the others. A jug of Sangria was almost $30 bucks and didn’t seem that strong. I got a jug at Bungalow 8 last week for $15. Maybe it was bigger than it appeared but $30 just seemed like a lot. The quacamole that was ordered seemed tiny for the price as well. I know avocados are expensive, but seriously- I could make 6 times the amount at home for the same price they paid the other night. I shared fajitas with my boss because I wasn’t starving. They were expensive, as fajitas always are,  but they actually came with enough for us to each have two decent sized fajitas each. I was glad I didn’t get my own.

Service: 7 – It wasn’t anything stellar but it wasn’t horrible either. I’m rating it a bit lower because we struggled to get the server’s attention whenever we wanted more drinks.

Taste: 8- The guacamole was good… maybe not as good as mine, but good. Sangria was pretty good but again, not as good as mine. The Fajitas were great! I actually liked them better than Baja Cantina’s! They only downfall is that they didn’t come with cheese (BC’s do) and they only had pinto beans, not black beans. A co-worker got chicken quesadillas and they looked very appetizing so maybe I’d try those next time.

Overall I thought the food was really good. I can’t knock the cost because Mexican is just expensive here, period.  It’s a great atmosphere for parties or special occasions so I’m definitely looking forward to going back at some point and getting tipsy on some overpriced sangria!

Mad Pizza November 20, 2010

Since I started working in Darlinghurst I’ve had the chance to try a few new restaurants; therefore, I shall blog.

Mad Pizza

I went here with some girl friends last week after work. I can happily say “I’d go back” because I actually already did. A few days ago some colleagues were heading there for lunch and I tagged along. So my review is based on both of my visits.

Decor/Setting: 7: I think the place is definitely cute. Not ultra comfortable because they use little benches instead of chairs, but not bad either. I like that you can order at the bar and pay separately before your food comes so that you can just get up and go whenever you’re finished. I also like the paper tablecloths and crayons on each table. Drawing while you chat definitely kills the time while waiting for your food.

Value: 8: The first night I got a pasta which was comparably priced to most Italian places I go to, but the serving size seemed a little bigger than normal. We also ordered REALLY good parmesan bread and we got 4 huge pieces for 8 bucks. I definitely thought it was well worth it. You can order jugs of wine instead of whole bottles which is pretty cool. You don’t really get any sort of discount by doing so but for some reason I felt better ordering one jug rather than 3 glasses.   The second time I went I got an individual pizza and salad for 10 bucks. That was definitely good value considering I paid $9.90 for a crappy pre-made sandwich two days later.

Service: 7 – The first night service was pretty quick, but for lunch I feel like we had to wait forever for our food and then we had to rush to eat it. Both times everyone was pretty nice.

Taste: 8- My pasta was really good and my pizza was decent. I ordered a pasta with cream sauce but I asked for red sauce instead. Rather than replacing the cream sauce, they just added the red to make a pink sauce. Although I was bummed about the fat content, it very really delicious! The pizza was good- SUPER thin crust and not soggy at all, but the chicken on the pizza was VERY bland. The sauce and toppings were good but the bland chicken actually made the deliciousness factor go down. I’d probably get a vegetarian one next time.

So there’s one review for you. I’m sure I’ll have many more in the upcoming months. I feel like I’ve discovered a whole new world of food and bars by making the trek over the harbour for work each day. It’s pretty exciting!

Two New Sydney Restaurant Reviews October 3, 2010

For your reading (and perhaps dining) pleasure, I present you with two new restaurant reviews.

1. Ripples, Chowder Bay

We headed to Ripples a few weeks back to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Ben. I had a great night and really enjoyed the food. Here are my thoughts on the place.

Decor/Setting: 8: I just love the area! It’s not an easy restaurant to find, but that’s what makes it unique. We sat in the outdoor section but it was enclosed in clear plastic and there were heaters to keep us warm which was definitely a nice touch. The seats were comfortable, the lighting set the mood. I think it would be a nice little romantic date place.

Value: 7:  While the food is overpriced, you sort of understand why when you have a look at the view and your surroundings. The food is also really good… well, mine was. Andrew thought his lamb was just ok. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that Ripples is BYO! Who would have guessed that a higher class restaurant would allow you to bring your own wine?? Just that alone made the meal much more affordable. All in all, we got some bread and dips for the table to share, we each got a main AND a dessert and it was $50 bucks each. We actually expected it to be a lot more than that so I suppose it wasn’t bad for a special night out. Don’t get Andrew started on the parking situation though… paying heaps to park for dinner is no bueno.

Service: ?? – I was drinking wine, so I was in no great rush. I don’t really remember the service been bad at all so it must have been decent enough.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I’ve always heard about pumpkin ravioli with burnt butter and sage. I had NO idea if I’d like it but I do like pumpkin and butter… so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was really good and I’m now sold on this well-known flavor combination. We ALL got a dessert and my heavenly coconut macaron tower was rated by some of our friends as the best dessert of the night (I have to agree).

Would I go back? Yes, but only for a special occasion.

2. Lee’s Fortuna Court

A few nights ago, we headed to this little Chinese place in Crows Nest to celebrate Stu’s birthday. How happy am I that all these birthdays give me a perfect reason to try new restaurants?? Here’s what I thought of it.

Decor/Setting: 4 It wasn’t hideous, but it wasn’t nice. The tables are pretty decent with the convenient lazy susan in the middle but the decor mainly consisted of signed photos of sports stars, not really my thing.

Value: 5 – to be honest, this was some pricey Chinese. Granted it wasn’t BYO, but we ended up spending more per person here than we did at Ripples and the two restaurants are worlds apart in terms of class and setting so I definitely wouldn’t have expected this to be more expensive.

Service: 9 – Here’s where they win out!! This is some of the best service I’ve seen in this country. I ordered a bottle of wine and the server poured a tiny bit and asked if I would like to taste it. I was a bit shocked since that’s not the type of service you see often at Chinese. The servers were very attentive with water and drinks and they brought out a free ice cream cake for Stu’s birthday. This was not just a little individual cake for him- no, this was a cake for the whole table! The only reason I didn’t give it a 10 is because they seemed to get confused when taking our order and brought out an extra dish that we did not want (but that was probably our fault anyways).

Taste: 7- The food was good. It is nothing I’d crave (like my Pei Wei cravings from back in CA), but it was good. The best thing was that they actually had a chicken breast dish! I went in there thinking I’d have to order vegetarian because I assumed they would not serve white meat chicken. I was very happy to find out they did and my white meat cashew nut chicken was pretty good!

All in all it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had but it’s definitely good. The prices seem really high but the service was quality enough to match the prices so I guess it all evened out in the end. I probably wouldn’t go back unless it was for an event but that has nothing to do with the restaurant, it’s simply because I like Thai food way better than Chinese.

Masterchef July 25, 2010

Masterchef… oh how I will miss thee.

You brought joy and happiness to my life 6 nights a week. SIX nights! You inspired me to perfect my pizza dough and add a pizza peel to our wedding registry. You’ve given me an immense desire to make something…ANYTHING out of spun sugar. You inspired our friend Yorky to go out and buy a food processor for the sole purpose of making this Frangipane tart.  Your macaron tower challenge inspired Sara and I to take a trip to the Lindt cafe so Sara could try (and LOVE) her first ever macaron. I’ve started using fresh garlic rather than the jarred or powdered stuff and I’m very tempted to buy a mortal and pestle so I can grind my own spices.

Some people don’t get the Masterchef craze, but I totally do.  I think you have to like cooking and enjoy food to really appreciate how awesome this show since I love cooking, this show is perfect for me! I actually feel like I learned a lot about cooking and general food knowledge that I can use in my day to day life. That’s not to say I’d actually eat half the stuff they made but at least I feel more educated about it all!

For the most part, I loved all of the contestants. I would have been happy with several different people as winners, but I think the right person won in the end… even if I once thought it should be Marion.

I am so happy that I was able to watch the whole season. Last season I was out of the country for most of it (and I didn’t have tivo so I missed most of the episodes anyways). It really couldn’t have ended at a more perfect time… right before I take off to the States. Speaking of the States, I hear Masterchef is coming to America. Woohoo! Something else to download from itunes, although 6 days a week might get a bit pricey. My only concern is that Gordon Ramsay is evidently hosting and I have a feeling he won’t be quite as nice as the Australian judges. Regardless, check it out. If it’s anything like the Aussie version, it will be an enjoyable show to watch and learn from.

Airplane Food June 16, 2010

Did anyone see last night’s episode of Masterchef? The one where they cooked for Qantas?

I just have to say… are those judges kidding with their criticism? Alan Joyce actually said something to the effect of “the prawns are not bad but they definitely are not Qantas.” Really? Have you tasted your food? While business class meals definitely are much tastier than economy, I still wouldn’t say they are anything phenomenal. I can probably count about 2-3 meals that I’ve really enjoyed enough to remember them but for the most part, airplane food is airplane food.  No one expects it to be gourmet; I think even business class passengers don’t expect anything overly exquisite.

I did like that the judges were served their meals on black plastic trays by the blue team and had to use those horrible wide handled Qantas spoons to eat their food. Classy.

All in all, I’m pretty sure that the episode was a fancy way for Qantas to promote the A380. Well, I say do whatever you need to do to increase sales Qantas because Andrew would like to be flying one of those giant airplanes soon!

And Masterchef… keep the wonderful episodes coming. I love you and I love that you are on 6 nights each week.

Eno Pizzeria June 11, 2010

If you weren’t already aware, Neutral Bay has been opening up lots of new snazzy, delicious restaurants lately. First it was Firefly awhile back and lately on Grosvenor Street, more and more cool new spots have been appearing. Last night we tried one of these new places. It’s called Eno Pizzeria. It’s only been open five or six weeks and it was PACKED. We couldn’t even get a reservation until 9pm. Obviously word spreads quickly when a great new restaurant comes to town.

Decor: 7.5- 8:  The atmosphere is great. Blackboards with white chalk, wine bottles on display, marble top tables, romantic mood lighting. It definitely is appealing to the eye. The only reason I gave it a bit lower score is because we had so sit on stools with tiny little seats (ok, fine) but there was no foot rest on the stool or under the high marble bar style table that we sat at. I’m not that tall, so I had to sit on the very edge of the stool to allow my feet to sit flat on the floor. It just made it a tad uncomfortable. If I were any shorter, I would have been suffering. They do have regular tables, so I’d like to get one of those next time.

Value: 6-7:  It was pretty pricy but not too bad when we added it all up. Pizzas range from about 22-28 bucks from memory. Pasta and main dishes were $20+. I think the prices were quite comparable to the Fourth Village place I tried a few months ago. Pizzas were a good size for the price (since they are gourmet), but my pasta was pretty small. Honestly, if I was just eating the pasta (which was about $24 bucks) I would not have been full at all. Luckily I shared some pizza as well. With our meals (including pizza and pasta) and including beers and a bottle of wine, we ended up spending about $35 each.

Service: 8.5-9– The girl who took our order didn’t write the orders down which seemed classy; however, she messed up one of the dishes. She immediately came out and apologized and admitted fault right away. She then asked if we wanted to eat the incorrect pizza that she brought out becuase otherwise it would just go to waste. So we got another pizza for free! Luckily for me, it was the exact pizza I wanted to order if I didn’t get my pasta. Sweet!! The correct order was brought out fairly quickly so we didn’t have to sit waiting for too long.  Things we asked for were brought out promptly and our water was refilled (although probably not as often as I needed with all the chili oil I was eating). Definitely up there holding a spot as a place with some of the best service I’ve seen in Sydney.

Taste: 9- My pasta was great!!! I got gnocchi with a basil and tomato sauce with smoked mozzarella. Smoked mozarella has quickly become a favorite ingredient and I find myself wanting to order a dish simply because of that!  The only problem with the pasta is that there wasn’t nearly enough of it!! I wanted more. The pizza I tried was also really good, it was gourmet but not too funky.

I recommend this as a nice date place or for a great night out with friends. It’s probably not somewhere I’d go for a simple Tuesday night dinner. It’s just a little too nice for that. Oh and just FYI- it’s not BYO but it looks like they have a great selection of wines to choose from.

On our way out we spotted another new place called Blue Plate Bar & Grill. I checked out the menu and became very excited when I realized that this was clearly an American style restaurant. I just did a little search and it turns out that the owners of South have opened a new restaurant in Neutral Bay. We definitely want to check that out next!

Okay Neutral Bay… keep the great new restaurants coming!!!

Peachy Sangria May 29, 2010

Last night I attempted a new recipe for Sangria.  Even though I have an actual recipe book completely devoted to Sangria, I did not use that book. Nofor this recipe I simply used my gool ol’ brain and made it up on my own. Naturally I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since I wasn’t following any instructions but I am happy to report that it was delicious!! A lot of people don’t like white wine Sangria so this may not be for everyone- but it is definitely for me!! Natasha and Hayley didn’t seem to mind it either!!

So now I am happy to share my Peachy Sangria recipe with you all.

• 2 bottles of chilled light white wine (trust me, you’ll need at least 2 bottles – I used a Semillon/Sav. Blanc blend)
• 1/4 cup peach vodka
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup tinned/canned peaches (in juice, not syrup)
• 1/2 cup of the peach juice from the can
• 1 pear, peeled and sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1 kiwi sliced
• Sprite or other lemon lime soda to top up

1. Add the fruit, sugar, juice and vodka to a pitcher, stir well
2. Add the wine and stir
3. Let the Sangria chill for awhile. I let mine sit in the fridge for an hour
4. Pour into glasses over ice, top up with sprite
5. Drink way too quickly and wish you had made more

YUM!

Obviously you can mix up the fruit… but don’t forget the peaches- otherwise it wouldn’t be very peachy would it?  I was really surprised that it turned out so well using vodka. The only reason I used vodka was because I ran out of brandy so I was a bit worried that it might be weird- but the peach vodka definitely added to the flavor!

Burnt Orange May 14, 2010

Andrew and I ventured out on Monday morning to enjoy “morning tea.” There is a newish restaurant down at Middle Head called Burnt Orange. Evidently it’s been open since September but we only just discovered it. Middle Head is one of Andrew’s favorite places to hang out when he goes for bike rides and it just so happens it is also where he proposed. So when he suggested that we should walk down there to get some tea, it sounded like a great idea. When we walked up, I immediately fell in love with the place. It was so cute! It’s like an old country home straight out of the Hamptons. The huge wrap around deck is adorned with cute little painted table and chairs. Inside, there is this awesome shop full of SO much adorable stuff. From homemade jams and wines to cook books to sweet homemade sock toys for kids; it is the perfect place to find any gift whether it be for a new baby, a bridal shower or a housewarming . With that said, most of the gifts are ridiculously overpriced, but it’s all very fun to look at. I could spend hours in there browsing around. Luckily for Andrew I only spent about 15 minutes.

So here it is… my first “non-dinner” review:

Decor: 10- With all of the cute little details I already mentioned, paired with a beautiful view of the harbour- how could it get any nicer? It’s one of the cutest cafes I’ve seen in Sydney. It was a nice change from the typical modern metal and plastic furniture you see in most casual cafes around here. The ambiance of the location, decor and overall atmosphere was very pleasant.

Value: 8- While I will always preface this with “compared to other places in Sydney” – I have to say, this was quite reasonable. I don’t go out for breakfast much since it’s not one of my favorite meals but when we do go for breakfast, we usually head down to Bottom of the Harbour at Balmoral. While Bottom of the Harbour has great views of the ocean, it also has a lot of traffic and pedestrians passing by constantly; plus, the service there isn’t that great. Anyway… my point is that B.O.T.H. charges more for many of the same items we saw at Burnt Orange and Burnt Orange has a great view as well and it’s more quiet and peaceful. With all that said, I didn’t order much at B.O. and the lunch did look at bit more pricey. I’d have to try more food there to see if it’s really as good of a value as I think it is based on my first experience.

Taste: 7- I only ordered a scone, but it was a delicious sun dried tomato and cheese scone with cream cheese on top. Yum. I ordered that with an Earl Grey tea and Andrew got a fruit salad with yogurt and a flat white coffee. For what we ordered, I don’t have too many complaints. I think my scone had great flavor, but could have been a little moister- it was a tad bit hard and dry on the bottom. Andrew liked his fruit but not his coffee. He has since been back and reported that his eggs and toast were good… so we’re pretty much 2 for 2.

Service: 7- They were really nice and didn’t charge Andrew for adding honey to his fruit salad. When I asked for my scone to be heated, they happily obliged.  I wouldn’t say it was the most fantastic service but I personally think it is WAY better than at Bottom of the Harbour.

I definitely look forward to going back. This place actually makes me want to go out for breakfast and I never want to do that! It also makes me want to shop and buy tons of cute things to decorate my house and give as gifts. Oh how I wish I had millions of dollars just lying around to waste.

Italian Kick May 4, 2010

I feel like I’ve been eating so much Italian lately. All my new restaurant reviews in recent weeks have been at Italian places. Last night I made homemade pizzas and this week I will be making homemade stuffed cannelloni. Yes, I’m on an Italian kick.   So here are two more restaurant reviews, Italian style.

Caesar’s Pizza Palace- Lane Cove

Andrew and I ventured out of our comfort zone the other night and ate dinner in Lane Cove. We stopped there on the way home from his dad’s house. We walked up and down the street looking for somewhere to eat. There was a Persian place that looked great but it was a $45 set menu so we quickly passed on that one. We ended up at a little Italian place called Caesar’s. Here’s what I thought about it:

Decor: 3- It was more like a takeaway place, so it wasn’t meant to be fancy- but they could have done a bit more with the place.  I’m not a fan of paper posters put into frames. Just buy some art or paint something.

Value: 7.5- We got a haloumi salad which was a little expensive at $12 but the pasta and pizza we got were a little cheaper than most places we’ve been lately.

Service: 8- I can’t really say anything bad about the service, but it wasn’t phenomenal either.

Taste: 5- My pizza was average. Not good, not horrible, just very average. The base was a bit dry and there was hardly enough sauce or toppings. I definitely make better pizza. The haloumi salad we got was so so. There was some weird lemony gunk on the cheese- it tasted good but we couldn’t figure out what it was. Andrew said his spaghetti and meatballs got better as he ate it.

Da Valentino – Crows Nest

Sunday night we met up with John and Kalee for a nice little dinner catch up. We met in Crows Nest and were debating on a few Italian places until we finally decided to try something new. We ended up at Da Valentino.

Decor: 6- We were outdoors, and the little area we were in was decent, but not the type of place I’d walk by and think “Aww that place is cute, let’s go there.” John so kindly pointed out the fumes from the buses that passed us by and that definitely took away from the ambiance. I didn’t see the inside so I can’t really speak for that decor.

Value: 8.5- Compared to other restaurants we’ve been to lately, I thought the portion sizes were really big for the price we paid.

Service: 6 – I asked if I could add chicken to my pasta and without even hesitating, the waiter said “No!” That’s all, not “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that,” which P.S.- why CAN’T they anyways? So yeah… that was annoying. Also I asked for chili flakes and he brought chili oil and just put it down in front of me with no explanation. I didn’t want oil, but whatever. Then later he came and stated that they don’t have flakes, but that the oil is much better. He then overcharged us for a salad that Andrew ordered, but was quick to fix it when that was pointed out. The waiter wasn’t very good. He was just sort of abrupt and not really friendly- but our food came quickly so it wasn’t too horrible.

Taste: 6 - The garlic bread was crap. Most normal people could make much better garlic bread at home. The 99 cent woolies garlic bread we buy is ten times better than the hard, dry rolls they gave us. My penne arrabiata was really good, the sauce had lots of texture and was very flavorful.  Andrew was impressed with how many prawns came in his chicken and prawn dish. John said his food was good, but he wouldn’t order it again. Honestly, this would have received a higher rating if they had better bread. I think an Italian place should offer decent garlic bread.

Overall… we probably won’t be back to either of these places. They were fine, but there are too many other Italian places around that are much better.

Peter Pan’s Italian April 27, 2010

I’ll get straight to the point… here’s my review of Peter Pan’s in Crows Nest. Just another new (to me) restaurant that we tried last night with our good friends Helen and Hamish.

Decor: 2- The tables were fine, but the decor was pretty plain. White walls, sports posters mixed with small art prints. Pretty hideous actually. It was clean though, I’ll give them that much.

Value: 8- Definitely much better value than the last Italian place I reviewed. I think my pasta was about 18 bucks but it was really big- I couldn’t eat it all, which says a lot. The garlic pizza bread was $11 for a large basket but there was plenty for us to each have several pieces. It was a refreshing surprise after usually feeling gypped by most restaurants in the area.

Service: 7.5- While they did forget a few things, they were right on top of it when we asked them again. They checked on us frequently and were very friendly.

Taste: 7- I really liked the food. I got a ricotta ravioli in a pink sauce. The sauce was a LITTLE too creamy for me (I would have liked a little more red and a little less white in the blend) but it was still nice. Andrew got a rocket salad which I had a bite of and it was quite enjoyable as well.

I definitely recommend giving Peter Pan’s a try. It wasn’t my all time favorite Italian in the area (I still think Red Zucchini wins for that one) but it was definitely good value with friendly service.

Fourth Village Providore April 23, 2010

Last week I made it out to a new (to me) restaurant with my friend Katie.  FourthVillage Providoreis a restaurant/market in Mosman across from Fitness First. I used to love going to the market there to buy all my veggies for dinner after working out at the gym. They have loads of wonderful fresh produce and a wall full of homemade jams, jellies, oils and sauces. They even have a walk-in fromage room. A whole room full of cheese… it’s like my dream come true. On top of all of this, they have a restaurant in the back. They are only open for dinner from Thursday through Sunday and their menu changes on a regular basis. I had heard that it was really good from a few friends so when I was trying to think of somewhere new to go, it popped into my mind.

So here’s what I thought:

Decor: 7- Nothing stood out as exceptionally cute or tacky. I do like the quaint feel of the restaurant matched with the lively atmosphere that the guests bring. It feels like a restaurant in Italy, many of the servers are Italian and  I love that I’m just right out the back of the produce market. Definitely a cute little place.

Value: 7- For Italian, this was definitely more pricey than other places we’ve been; however, it was probably fresher and more authentic. Pizzas were $22-25 which isn’t CRAZY considering the takeaway pizza shop downstairs costs $22. Plus, the pizza was huge by Australian standards. My pasta was $25 though and while it was a decent sized portion, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten a bigger portion at Macaroni Grill for $8.99. Again, this was fresh and authentic and it totally has that homemade feel and quality. Definitely isn’t cheap- but for a special night out- it’s worth it.

Service: 7- For once in my life, I’m going to say the service was a little TOO over the top. I waited about 15 minutes for my friend to get there and while I was waiting they kept coming over to me to ask if I needed anything or wanted to order drinks. I just wanted to say “come back when you see another person sitting here.” Then when Katie was looking at the menu, they must have come over 4-5 times (every 1-2 minutes) to ask if we were ready (and we weren’t). In their defence, it was a different person each time, but it just was a little overbearing. Additionally, I asked for my salad to come out as an entree and then my pasta after that- but all of the food came together. Lastly, the bill came out VERY quickly. Normally I complain that it’s hard to get the staff to bring the bill, but this time we didn’t have to ask. We just felt a bit rushed. Everyone was REALLY nice and overall the service wasn’t bad, it just was a little overbearing. Even with my minor complaints, I’d still pick this service over most service in Australia.

Taste: 7-8- I got a spinach and ricotta ravioli with smoked ricotta on top and it was great! The smoked ricotta was really interesting but really tasty. It was fresh and light I really enjoyed it. I had a bite of Katie’s pizza and it was really good as well. Her pizza had a white base with mozzarella, rocket, fresh tomatoes, parmesan and balsamic. Wow it was yummy. The only reason I’m giving the food a slightly lower score is because of the salad. I got a green salad with a special homemade dressing. Honestly, it just tasted like a$7 bowl full of greens with balsamic vinegar. I didn’t see anything special in the dressing and there was not one vegetable other than the greens. I was not a fan.

I definitely recommend 4th village for a special night out.  It certainly was yummy enough for me to want to go back. I can’t see going there again on a random night though, simply because I typically don’t like spending $35 on dinners for no reason. I’d love to go back one night to see what other options come up on the menu. They do takeaway pizzas as well so maybe one day I’ll just HAVE to get one of those.

Africa Week- Sand Dunes, Part 1 April 13, 2010

Did I mention that I hate hills? Oh yes, I did in THESE POSTS last week. Well, as if I hadn’t had enough climbing for one trip, Namibia brought us a whole new level of hills…

Sand dunes.

Let me point out that sand dunes are NOT easy to walk up. For every step you take, you slide back half of a step in the loose sand. Some of these can be REALLY steep as well.  Our first experience with dunes was in Sossusvlei- home of the highest sand dunes in the world. These were amazing. We got up before sunrise (I’d like to point out that we did this 5 out of 7 days in our last week in Africa) and drove to the national park  in Sossusvlei. We had to get there at sunrise in order to experience the amazing shadows and colors that occur in the early morning hours. I’d definitely say this part of the trip (specifically this day) allows me to cross off number 42 on my 101 list… Watch the sunrise.

We headed directly to Dune 45 which is one of the easiest dunes to access from the road. There were tons of people there trying to get a glimpse of this amazing wonder. We all decided to walk up the dune. More hills… I wasn’t thrilled; HOWEVER, this wasn’t a mountain- it was a sand dune. It would be totally different and really amazing at the top. I just knew it. Well, I got about halfway up and thought I was going to die. I’m not afraid of heights by any means but I think the combination of my heart pounding, my breath racing and the 45 degree angle drop to my left sent me into a panic. I pretty much freaked out and couldn’t look anywhere but straight down at my feet. I had to walk back down. I sucked. I did have the chance to get pretty high up, but I didn’t really take the time to enjoy it because I was too busy having a mild panic attack. The rest of the group kept climbing to the very top and once they were up there, they were all brave enough to run down the side of the dune. In my anxious state, I was unable to even contemplate joining them on this adventure but now I am sad I didn’t. I was able to calm down on all other dunes and those were quite fun to run and sandboard down (which I’ll post about later).

Here are some amazing photos of our first day at the Sossusvlei dunes.

What we were about to climb:

See the little tiny person at the tippy top in the photo below? I made it to about there before I freaked out and had to walk down. You can’t really tell, but in the back it curves and gets even higher. That’s where the rest of the group made it to. If you look closely at the top left of the dune, you can see some people running down the side.

These photos give you some perspective of how high up we were (and the slope of the dune):

Here are a few of Andrew running down from the very top of Dune 45. It’s pretty much impossible to fall down the dune. You just sink into the sand so it’s completely safe to run down. I was still too wussy to do it on this big one though.

Up next… sandboarding (down MORE dunes)!

Africa Week- Life and Death of a Kudu April 11, 2010

Here is a sweet little kudu drinking from the watering hole by our lodge. She’s just living her life, going about her day. She’s probably cautious of her surroundings to ensure that a lion won’t jump out of the bushes and attack her. Sweet, innocent little kudu.

 Here is another kudu, more specifically-  his leg, dead and braised and slathered in sauce and sitting on Mitchell’s plate.

Here Mr. kudu is entering  Mitchell’s belly.

The kudu is famous! EVERYONE wants a neanderthal photo op with the poor butchered animal.

What did I think about the most ginormous leg of meat EVER? Well, take a guess.

 Seriously… GROSSEST THING EVER!

Fat Monk December 23, 2009

We tried a new restaurant this week. It was so good that we had it again, 2 days later.

Fat Monk is a Thai/Asian restaurant in Cremorne. We decided to try it out on Monday with our friends Mike and Hayley and tonight when our other friends felt like Asian food, we suggested that we go back there.

I’ll get straight to the point:

Decor: 10 – Super cool decor. A combination of cow hide ottoman cushions, raw wood walls, funky paintings of Buddha and an awesome wrought iron chandelier with red shades somehowall really goes together. It’s super funky and it has total character. You would think a place like this would be totally overpriced and trendy- but that’s not the case at all! Even the servers wear cute little Asian outfits. Super cool!

Value:  7-8-  It’s not the cheapest Thai we’ve had but it’s not the most expensive either. I’d say the rice is a little overpriced at $3 for a little bowl, but other than that, everything is pretty comparable to other Thai in the area.

Service: 10- I’m going to make a bold statement and say it’s the best service I’ve had in Australia. They don’t put jugs of water on the table, they actually come around and refill your glasses. You never have to ask for more water either! When the glass is getting empty, they magically appear to fill it for you. They even came around to refill our wine glasses and  the food comes out really quickly too.

Taste: 9- While I still think Thai Intra might be my all time favorite Thai food, I would go as far as saying that this is probably my second favorite so far. It’s not oily like some other places we’ve had. The dishes had tons of fresh veggies and the chicken is super delish. It’s great!! We’ve been twice now in one week, I think that says a lot right there.

As an added bonus, we can walk there from our house. It’s a bit of an uphill trek, but it’s close enough to walk so we can at least burn off 1/18th of what we are eating.

I definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.