Bistro Papillon – Sydney CBD

Posted on February 22, 2012 | 2 Comments

Back in December, like every year, my girlfriends and I had a meal at a nice Franchouillard restaurant for our pre-Christmas-madness catch-up. This year we decided to try Bistro Papillon, in the heart of Sydney CBD, near Wynyard Station.

Like last year at the same period, the weather was miserable, so it was comforting to step into a warmer and friendlier environment!

Bistro Papillon is a relatively recent addition in the CBD, run by two Frenchmen: Xavier, the front of house and Ludovic in the kitchen.

The décor and ambiance are traditionally French, as is the menu, which comprises many classics like Duck Confit, Snails, Coq au Vin, as well as their signature “Tartines“, a kind of open sandwiches, which must be perfect for a quick lunch.

Escargots de Bourgogne served in a “caquelon”

We had all our time to enjoy our dinner, but I love my Snails so much that I could hardly wait to tuck in once they were brought to me… big mistake: those things were scalding hot and burnt my palate alright (ouch!)

Apart from that they were nice, garlicky and buttery, I could easily have eaten a dozen more. More slowly though :-)

Pâté de Foie de Volaille

My friend chose some smooth and tasty Chicken liver pâté, served with plenty of fresh baguette slices, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Tartine Norvégienne

My other friend chose the Tartine Norvégienne as an entrée: a generous slice of organic sourdough bread garnished with smoked salmon, crème fleurette and avocado: she loved it.

I saw that they also offered “Tarte Flambée” or “Flammekueche” (= tart baked in the flames), a specialty from Alsace and Germany, which consists in a very thin crusted tart, very flat and cooked in a wood-fire oven like a pizza, with cream, lardons (speck) and onions… and let me tell you, that’s what I will get next time I visit, because from what I remember from the one I had in Colmar years ago, they are simply delicious!


Moules façon Poulette: Black Mussels, Steamed with White Wine, Thyme, Garlic, Parsley and Cream

For my main, I chose Moules Poulette and ordered a side of Frites. With mayonnaise of course. They came in a lovely pot, with plenty of white wine and cream sauce to be soaked with bread.

I looove mussels. When I lived in Lyon we used to go regularly to “Bleu de Toi“, a tiny restaurant set up like a fisherman’s boat cabin, serving exclusively Mussels, with all kinds of sauces and combinations imaginable. The restaurant was so cramped, that the waitresses had to show real ingenuousness and stacking skills to fit all the dishes on the table, which I found very impressive (I worked at a restaurant once and was probably the clumsiest waitress you’ve ever seen!). I’ve found it hard since to resist ordering mussels whenever I see them on a menu!

Fresh Egg Linguine, Green Prawns, Tomatoes, Baby Spinach,
Garlic, Chilli and Olive Oil

My friend thought her main of Prawn Linguine was delicious.

Oven Roasted Confit of Duck Leg with a Green Lentils & Vegetable Ragout

My other friend declared the Duck Confit lovely, with a very tender meat, crispy skin and nice accompanying sauce and lentils.

Crème Brûlée

For dessert, I couldn’t go past the Crème Brûlée, which was very nice and ticked all the boxes: nice caramelised crust on top, creamy vanilla goodness under… Miam!

Caramelized Apple Tarte Tatin with Walnut Ice Cream

My friend enjoyed the generous portion of Tarte Tatin, if only would have preferred it more moist, but it went well with the cream and walnut ice-cream.

Cheese - Le Dauphin

The menu explains that the Dauphin cheese is “made from local cow’s milk in the scenic hills of the Rhone Valley” and that “the silky texture  soft and deliciously creamy”: my friend couldn’t agree more.

On the whole a pleasant experience, despite a pretty loud room, with good food, a friendly and efficient service, which makes Bistro Papillon a good option at reasonable prices in the CBD.

Bistro Papillon
98 Clarence Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9262 2402
E-mail: bonjour@bistropapillon.com.au

Bistro Papillon on Urbanspoon

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Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh – January 2011

Posted on January 10, 2012 | 4 Comments

Here we are, almost landing in Ho Chi Minh City (still widely called Saigon by most of the population). We have to go through a thick cloud of pollution to start seeing the city from above, it’s quite impressive!

We get a taxi to our hotel, the An An I Hotel, ideally located at the heart of the backpacking district on Bui Vien, and which was perfectly pleasant, with a huge air-conditioned room and an unbeatable view on the all the action down below. The staff were also very friendly and helpful.

We took a first walk in the crazy traffic to get ourselves a nice Banh Mi, a great sandwich roll made using a pretty soft and airy, but still a bit crunchy baguette, pork sausage, pork liver pâté, or cheese (the “Laughing Cow” type), lots of fresh herbs like coriander, and julienned cucumber, carrots… it really hit the spot!

Banh Mi vendor

Another one of our great pleasures was to drink Vietnamese iced coffee whenever we could, it was so refreshing, strong and sweet, yum! I loved the ritual of having to wait for the thick coffee liquid to slowly go through the filter placed on top of a cup. Once that was done, we poured the coffee into a glass filled with ice cubes and condensed milk, stirred it and enjoyed. We bought two of these coffee filtering devices to make our own at home, but alas, didn’t taste anything like the real thing!

Vietnamese coffee ritual

I also was on my great Pho mission, and one morning I thought I had found it in an dark and run down alley near our hotel, where a lonely stall was minded by a gruff man. I couldn’t see any tourists… nor could I see many locals for that matter, which should have given me a hint. But noooo! Despite his misgivings, I dragged the boyfriend in the alley for him to sit and wait while I was finally having my real Pho experience.

It didn’t look bad, but now I understand why the man added so much pepper on the soup. The broth was really tasteless, and the beef strips were not too inspiring either. It actually put me off and I couldn’t eat half of it! Maybe I wasn’t quite ready for some Pho first thing in the morning either…

That meant the quest for Pho was still on!

We continued our walk on Pham Ngu Lao towards the Thai Binh markets, a labyrinth of stalls packed together with all kinds of fruits, vegetables, animals dead or alive… it was pretty hectic!

Frogs available…

… in all kinds of state

Huge slabs of tofu

After all that market fun, we decided to have a more relaxing activity and made our way to the Vietnamese Institute for Traditional Massage, run by HCMC Blind Association. I’ve often heard of how blind people give better massages as they are more attuned to their sense of touch and could find more easily the sore spots of the patient.

Once our very cheap tickets were paid at the school reception, the boyfriend got invited by a man to follow him into a room, while I was led to another room by a young woman, who instructed me to lie on the massage table. She then proceeded to pummel me with a rhythmic precision! To this day I still have the “massage” pattern in my head: seven pummels, three times in a row, punctuated by three harder hits “Bam Bam Bam!”. It went on like this for the whole hour, with a particular insistence on my cranium (that girl clearly didn’t like me!), all the while she was talking and laughing with her friend on the other side of the partition. It hurt… not relaxing at all! M. was luckier and was pretty happy with his masseur.

Ho Chi Minh Blind Association
185 Cong Quynh St. D. 1

We then walked around in the Cathedral area and had lunch at a quite well-known place, the Ngon Restaurant, which was recreating a street food vending market, with lots of stalls selling different kinds of dishes inside the restaurant.

Bánh Xèo

M. chose a yummy vegetarian Banh Xeo, the renowned savoury crêpe filled with fresh herbs, tofu, carrots, bean sprouts (and usually pork and prawns).

Sugar cane prawns sticks to roll 

I chose the Sugarcane prawns sticks, which you then roll in wetted rice paper with herbs and rice noodles. They were pretty nice, but I was deceived as I thought I ordered whole prawns! I make the same mistake all the time! I always forget that sugarcane prawns are a kind of prawn paste, tss tss…

Ngon Restaurant
138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street
District 1

We spent the rest of the day walking around the Cathedral, the Post Office and drinking more iced-coffee…

The Post Office

The following day we found it!!! That’s right, we found the Perfect Pho!
We were walking around Pasteur Street and decided to try a Pho shop recommended by our guide book: Pho Hoa Pasteur.

We were comforted to see many locals eating there and the house was full! We were led to a room at the back and the efficient waiter handed us a menu with all the Pho combinations. M. was prepared for the possibility that once again he would have to wait and watch me eat, but they did have a vegetarian soup, which was a relief for both of us!

I ordered a simple Pho Tai (same as Pho Bo?), with raw beef slices (no tendons or tripes for me… I’m not that adventurous), and soon after, the soups arrived with a basket of Chinese fried bread sticks (“Youtiao”), which, after watching how the other customers used it, we broke into pieces in the soup.

Youtiao – Chinese fried bread sticks

It was simply the best Pho I’ve had in my short Pho experience. The broth was delicious, flavoursome and light, the beef strips tender, the rice noodles not too cooked, the herbs garnish fresh, and that bread! Looooooved the fried bread!!

M. loved his soup too, so much so that he managed to squeeze another one just before his flight… without me!!! Very jealous….

We were in a state of Pho bliss after that, and so full… we just dragged ourselves to walk a bit more in the area, managed to fit in another iced-coffee and made it back to the hotel to have a bit of a rest before dinner.

Pho Hoa Pasteur
260C Pasteur Street
Ho Chi Minh City

In hindsight, we should have just gone back there for our last dinner. But instead, still basking in the memory of my superb dinner at Hanoi’s Green Tangerine, I decided to try a French bistro located in the Institute for French Cultural Studies, “Le Jardin”, hidden in the side of the building, not visible from the street and not easy to find.

We had Goats cheese salad, Pasta with a creamy cheesy sauce, Veal schnitzel with mushrooms and potatoes, and of course for dessert, Chocolate Profiterolles! It wasn’t the final cherry on my holiday cake I was hoping for: the food was alright, but nothing to write home about… We left not that impressed and took a taxi back to our hotel… or so we thought!

Our taxi driver had decided to take us for a ride, figuratively, choosing on purpose longer routes and making big loops… we aren’t the confronting type, so we didn’t say anything until the driver clearly turned right instead of left to our hotel, and then we protested! The driver, caught in act, stopped the car and just giggled at us. We didn’t give him any tip… so there!

This average evening didn’t end there for me: I woke up in the middle of the night completely sick from both ends, and it didn’t seem to want to stop! I had to go to the airport a couple of hours after and I’m still not sure how I made it, maybe the sheer willpower not to inflict anything bad on this poor taxi driver, who hadn’t done anything to me, him!

And on this charming note my Vietnam holiday came to an end… I certainly do want to go back there and visit all the beautiful areas I missed out on: more of Hanoi and HCM, the old royal citadel in Hue, the eery and beautiful Halong Bay, visit the Mekong Delta… So this is only an “Au revoir Vietnam!”

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Vietnam Part 2 – Phu Quoc Island – Jan 2011

Posted on December 30, 2011 | 6 Comments

Phu Quoc Island – Long Beach

After our very brief stay in Hanoi, we flew to Ho Chi Minh, then took another small plane to Phu Quoc Island for our much anticipated beach holiday…

It was funny to see the island from the sky and try to picture our plane landing on that tiny landing strip, but we did it! We were then driven to our resort which was on the West Coast (Long Beach / Duong Dong Town). The resort was pretty nice, the Vietnamese/French food was ok, but we tried to go to different places every day.

The day would invariably start with a breakfast of pineapple pancakes and fruit platter.

After lazying on the beach and reading, we would take walks along the coast and swim some more, then think about food… We got used to doing nothing much very quickly!

I tried to make the most of the fish and seafood available and often had grilled fish for dinner, simply barcecued on the beach, yum!

Grilled Pork skewers

I also gave in to my obsession with vietnamese rolls: those grilled pork skewers I had at the markets went down very nicely!

Coconut juice was a great way to stay hydrated, nothing like it to quench a not well-earned thirst!

Profiterolles with Vanilla ice-cream and chocolate were a pretty common sight on French/Vietnamese restaurant menus and we also made the most of it, ordering them every night!

They also served humongous doses of Cognac, which was quite exciting. One night people from a neighbouring table noticed our generous glasses and enthusiastically decided to order some Cognac too. They ended up not being able to finish it, and more often than not, neither could we! We found out there’s a reason why bartenders usually serve Cognac using tiny little measuring glasses.

We also visited the Night Markets, where we could admire all the fish, seafood and other unusual molluscs.

Fish aplenty

Calamari

Cat Food at the markets!

If anyone knows what it really means, please do tell!

Beautiful sea snails and other yummy sea creatures…

Striking Melo Melo sea snails (or Zebra or Bailer snails)

As we walked past a fancy resort one day (La Veranda from the Mercure Group), we saw that they had organized for the same evening a torch-lit BBQ  / buffet on the beach. It wasn’t cheap, compared to the meals we’ve had so far on the island, but what the hell, we were on holiday, and it was my birthday just a few days before… good enough an excuse!

We first took an aperitif on the hotel veranda, then were invited to make our way to the beach, where immaculate white-clothed tables were awaiting us.

Everything was lit with candles and torches, which conferred to the night a very romantic atmosphere… that is to say, until a diner at the table next to ours started farting loudly, without even an ounce of embarrassment ever showing on his face. He actually looked pretty content, and kept at it all evening… That sure gave us a good chuckle!

It didn’t put me off my mission though and I soon headed to the buffet, which displayed such a vast array of fish and seafood, that I didn’t know where to start! I had my eyes on the scallops with butter and herbs, the prawns, the crabs…. argh! Too much to bear.

Seafood smorgasbord

It was a very selfless act from my vegetarian boyfriend to take me there for dinner, when I think of it!

An example of how not to use your flash

Luckily for him there were a few salads, as well as a huge dessert buffet, with a lot of little verrines containing crème brûlées, chocolate mousses, crèmes caramel… Too bad I was so full already, I only got to have two serves!

And so a week passed like this, of good food, swims, reading, sunsets, and it was already time to pack up and take the little plane back to Ho Chi Minh City, where we were to spend the last two days of our Vietnam holiday…

I was sad, but at the same time pretty excited, as I felt I didn’t experience nearly enough of Hanoi and I was dead set on making the most of Ho Chi Minh City and at last, looking for some really good Pho!

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Vietnam Part 1 – Hanoi – Jan 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 | 3 Comments

St. Joseph’s Cathedral

I know I know, it’s been almost a year since my trip to France and Vietnam, but I only just got around to start looking through and sorting out all my Vietnam pictures!

Every time I plan for a holiday, I am torn between visiting my family and friends in the homeland, and travelling to new exotic places, where I can just sit on my “derrière” and drink cocktails on the beach.

That is why last year I decided to do both! Two weeks in France and two weeks in Vietnam: perfect! Yeees, not that perfect in the end, both were too short! Tough life…

So the plan was to spend a few days in Hanoi, then fly to Phu Quoc Island, stay there for a week and fly back to Ho Chi Minh City to visit for a couple more days.

My boyfriend, who had been travelling in the country for a few weeks already, picked me up at the airport from my Paris flight and showed me around the main sights, like the French Quarter and the Saint Joseph Cathedral, reminiscent of the city’s now distant French colonial past.

I was a bit annoyed I had to carry around all my winter clothes I had packed for France, but in the end I was very grateful for my coat, it was pretty cold in Hanoi!


Ly Thai To (founder of Hanoi) monument, near Hồ Hoàn Kiếm Lake

I had read about how crossing the streets could be a real mission in Vietnam, as there are basically no rules, no lights, no pedestrian crossings… it’s every man for himself! You just have to go for it like a blind person and pray for the thousands of scooters coming right at you to know what they’re doing! (There are even a few videos on YouTube that will give you an idea)

I was a bit nervous about it at first, but later on in Ho Chi Minh I even crossed the street by myself without getting killed: for a distracted and clumsy person like myself, it’s quite a feat!

We then walked around the Hồ Hoàn Kiếm Lake, in the cultural and historical area, which has a very romantic atmosphere, with its littles bridges, flowers and old trees.


For our only evening in Hanoi, M. decided to take me to a nice restaurant he had spotted earlier in the Old Quarter, Green Tangerine, which had also been strongly recommended by a fellow blogger Noodlies. The restaurant was set in a most charming old building, and offered a French cuisine with a Vietnamese twist, which makes sense as French Chef Stéphane Yvin runs the kitchen together with his Vietnamese wife Tin.

Green Tangerine courtyard (Photo Credit: Green Tangerine’s website)

As soon as we stepped in the cute courtyard and entrance, we were transported into another era. I almost felt like Catherine Deneuve in “Indochine“, a movie set in French colonial Indochina in the 1930′s.

Inside, the decorations, lamps, pictures on the walls reinforced the colonial feel, and the peaceful atmosphere offered a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the Hanoi streets.

Fig tempura stuffed with goat cheese, bacon, nuts and grape presented on Vietnamese spices bread.

Some of the dishes I don’t remember quite well, such as this Fig Tempura stuffed with Goat’s cheese…

Profiterolles stuffed with iced parmesan yoghurt on a layer of onion mixed with galangal root cooked in red wine

…. as well as those savoury Profiterolles….

Duck breast crusted with Vietnamese herbs, slices of fried lotus roots stuffed with mashed water spinach and bruschetta, “Ca Bung” sauce (aubergine in saffron and 5 Vietnamese spices)

However I do remember the Duck dish very well: it was delicious!!! It was superbly cooked and had such interesting and new flavour combinations, with the Vietnamese herbs and the “Ca Bung” sauce… pretty unusual and very pleasant!

Nem vegetarian raviolis served with a pistou and parmesan mousse

M. was equally impressed with his vegetarian ravioli and the whole meal in general. All the dishes were very nicely plated and decorated, and the food was fantastic, probably very expensive by Vietnamese standards, but quite cheap compared to Sydney’s French restaurants in Sydney.

Unfortunately, that’s all we had time to do in Hanoi, we had to get up the next day at stupid o’clock to go to the airport and take a plane to Phu Quoc, an postcard-like island located in the far South-Western side of the country (off the Cambodian coast), where hopefully warmer temperatures would welcome us!

Green Tangerine
Address: 48 Hang Be Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tel: (04) 3825 1286 – Fax: (04) 38289167.

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100 Mile Challenge – Crave SIFF – Carriage Works

Posted on December 7, 2011 | 2 Comments

October was a busy month for food lovers, as Crave, Sydney International Food Festival, unfolded with hundreds of events all over town.

However the festival was not just about Sydney, and rural areas were not forgotten: on Sunday, October 30, five NSW regions competed against each other to showcase their produce in the 100 Mile Challenge Lunch. This was a free event but only Fairfax subscribers and ABC listeners could get in the draw to win tickets.

I was lucky enough that my friend won tickets and took me along! A free lunch at Eveleigh Markets on a beautiful Sunday, what more could you ask for?

The five teams were comprised of apprentices, professional chefs, TAFE students, and headed by renowned team captains from Sydney restaurants:

- Riverina: Nino Zocali (Pendolino)

- Mid North Coast: Serge Dansereau (The Bathers’ Pavilion)

- Central West and Ranges (our table!): Jared Ingersoll (Danks Street Depot)

- Southern Highlands: Alex Herbert (Bird Cow Fish)

- South Coast: Lucio Galletto (Lucio’s)

They had to create a menu with ingredients only sourced with 160km radius, matched by regional wines, as well as decorate and dress their assigned communal table in the spirit of their region.

The judging panel was composed of renowned food media personalities and critics:

- Joanna Savill
- Huon Hooke
- Lindey Milan
- Barbara Sweeney
- Tim Browne
- Ignatius Jones

Simon Marnie from ABC was MC-ing and brought a lot of humour and “ambiance” to the event by stirring up the teams against each other!

Each table was hosted by a ABC personality as well: ours was James Valentine, and at the other tables were Adam Spencer, Robbie Buck, Rhianna Patrick and Mark Colvin.

Daily Telegraph’s food critic Simon Thomsen was there too, as well as the much-loved SBS presenter/gardener Costa Georgiadis.

Our table was the Central Ranges, decorated with metal sculptures from TAFE Orange Hospitality teacher Michel Laroche. There were really cute pots of various herbs all along the table with little scissors, so that guests could chop their own, which was a lovely touch.

We were brought some fresh bread with different types of olive oils to nibble on, and a lovely glass of 2011 Robert Stein Riesling Mudgee.

Waru Sorrel and Hazelnut Salad

We were then served a simple but beautiful Sorrel Salad with grilled hazelnuts, with a lovely dressing.

Accompanying Wines:
- 2010 Philip Shaw The Architect Chardonnay Orange
- 2011 Word of Mouth Very cool Red Orange

Regional Meat Platter (Lamb, Venison, Pork)

The main dish was a Regional Meat Platter, comprising 3 types of cold meats:

- Sanchoe spiced seared Mandagery Creek Venison, served on Cowra Asparagus and finished with a blood plum vinaigrette: I was initially a bit put off by its raw, dark aspect, but it turned out to be my favourite of the day! I HAD to have another serve :-)

- Crépinette of Central Tablelands Lamb. Braised forequarter scented with truffle & topped with deep-fried baby garlic shoots: couldn’t quite taste the truffle, but the lamb was delicious, loved those crispy garlic bits!

- Assiette of Trunkey Creek Pork products: Rillette of hock & seared loin roulade  in speck with cream, Braised Waru baby leeks and apple jam

Wines:
- 2009 Swinging Bridge Shiraz Canowindra
- 2009 Ross Hill Isabelle & Jack Cabernet Franc Merlot Orange
- 2010 Rosnay Vintage Chardonnay Canowindra

Caramelised pear and apple in stone pine distillery schnapps on apple jelly with Small Acres Cyder zabaglione & Fourjay hazelnut & poached date profiteroles

Dessert
Caramelised pear and apple in stone pine distillery schnapps on apple jelly with Small Acres Cyder zabaglione & Fourjay hazelnut & poached date profiterolles: I wasn’t too convinced by the profiterole, but enjoyed the apple and pear  with cider zabaglione, it was refreshing.

Wine: Small Acres Cyder Appscato Orange

Blue cheese, Goats curd rolls and Haloumi skewers 

Cheeses:
- Grilled Watershed Haloumi Robert Stein Verjuice vinaigrette & dried salted baby vine leaves

-  A duo of Leaning Oak goats curd & High Valley fetta B’stilla rolls with a hazelnut and pistachio praline
- Watershed blue with Mudgee Brewing Co.  mash oatcakes & Di Lusso figpaste

Wine: 2010 Louee Nullo Mountain Late picked Riesling Mudgee

The cheeses were lovely and didn’t last long at all on the table!

Meanwhile the other tables seem to thoroughly enjoy their lunch as well! I have to admit I was a bit envious when we could overhear magic words such as “pork crackling”, “oysters”, “lobster”… I mean: “LOBSTERRR!!!”, as someone from the South Coast table (I suspect Adam Spencer) kept exclaiming, to rub it in!

I personally could easily have had another savoury dish following the cold meats (I initially thought this was the entrée!), but that’s just me, I’m greedy! One of the chefs came to our table later and explained they really wanted to show what they would have for a Sunday lunch or picnic and keep it simple. There was plenty of wine though… plenty!!

The chefs and apprentices later came to say Hi and talked about the story behind all the ingredients.

After long deliberations, the jury awarded the winning place to… South Coast!

However it was a great effort from all the teams, who had worked like crazy for days to prepare all that beautiful food, cramped into little containers/kitchens in the heat!

It was also good fun to sit at a communal table and share a meal with new people. We were spoiled with great food, great wine and contagious enthusiasm: crossed fingers I can go again next year!

Winner: South Coast, named the top NSW region.

Other awards:
Best Apprentice/Student – Luke Piccolo, Riverina
Best Entrée – Mid North Coast
Best Main – South Coast
Best Dessert – South Coast
Best Food and Beverage Combination – Riverina
Extra Mile Winner – Steve Rosa, Southern Highlands

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My Sydney Top 10 Favourites – French Entree

Posted on November 15, 2011 | 8 Comments

I was asked last week by Eleanor from French Entrée, a website aimed at lovers of all things French, to compile my Top 10 favourites French foods in Sydney.

It was a difficult to narrow it down to 10, but I’m pretty happy with my list. See below and let me know if you agree!

“Finding French food in Sydney

Sandra Beeston is a French-Australian expat who has been living in Sydney for six years. In that time, she has researched all the best places to find her French home comforts. From baguettes and croissants to cheese and steak frites, Sandra shares her top 10 French foods and where to find them in Sydney.


Baguettes 
It is easier and easier to get decent, even excellent bread in Sydney. Brasserie Bread has been at the forefront of the new breed of artisan bakers and are renowned for their high standards and the passion they put into all their breads and pastries. Their baguette à l’ancienne is no exception. Put it in the oven for a few minutes for even more crunch and enjoy!

It would be impossible not to mention the very popular Bourke Street Bakery in Surry Hills, which offers a semi-sour baguette that is just perfect for me, soft and not too dense, neither too airy inside, with a lovely crunchy crust. Get there early and nab one of their ginger crème brûlée tarts – they are to die for!

Croissants Taste BakeryCroissants
Ex-IT worker Hieu, nostalgic for the fresh baguettes he used to find in his natal Vietnam, decided to open his own bakery, Taste Bakery, which has become so popular that it has since spawned many offshoots all over town.
Their viennoiserie is amongst the best in Sydney: try a simple croissant, flaky and buttery as it should be, or if you feel like something more substantial, one of their enormous raisin snails!

Croque-Madames
In sunny Cronulla, Alley Break Café, a relatively newcomer, has shaken things up, with owner Nick Tabet and Chef Darren de Boer working hard to offer locals tasty dishes with the best produce and quality ingredients available. Grab a table with an unbeatable view on the beach and savour their croque-madame, oozing with egg yolk and yummy raclette cheese, with ham on a generous slice of sourdough bread, made on the premises.

Oysters
Felix oystersFelix Bistro is a beautiful New-York style French brasserie (if that makes sense) and one of the few restaurants in Sydney shucking oysters to order. You can choose from a variety of Sydney Rock oysters and seasoning, lemon wedges, shallots and vinegar, but I say just enjoy them ‘au natural’!

Crêpes
Not something you would expect in a small inner-city bar… Pocket Bar is unique in that it offers delicious cocktails, as well as a great selection of sweet and savoury crêpes. A great little place in trendy Darlinghurst, run by a French team.

Growers markets
Celebrity chefs, farmers, families, doggies and babies all converge every Saturday at the Eveleigh Markets, hosted in this great picturesque space that is Carriage Works, an old railway workshop building. You can finish waking up with good coffee and a croque-madame made by Bird Cow Fish’s chef Alex Herbert herself, buy seasonal fruit and veggies, heritage tomatoes, beautiful exotic and locally grown mushrooms, goats cheese (bliss!), delicious walnut bread from Monsieur Tartine and go straight home to make yourself the best sandwich with your newly acquired produce.

Baroque macaronsMacarons
Baroque Bistro was a long-held dream of late Pastry Chef Pierre Charkos, from The Rocks institution La Renaissance. Thanks to his family, it has now come true. Baroque offers a modern twist on classic French fare, as well as a great view of the Harbour Bridge. Given their pastry credentials, expectations are high for their macarons, but they never disappoint. Don’t leave without trying the salted caramel flavour, you won’t regret it!

Eclairs
The team at Black Star Pastry work tirelessly to offer us clever and original creations, such as strawberry and watermelon with rose cream, ginger ninjas and classics such as their chocolate eclairs filled with intense dark chocolate crème pâtissière and covered with dark chocolate icing… sigh.

Steak-frites
Tastevin steakThe Tastevin bistro was recently voted second for People’s Choice in Time Out Sydney’s food awards. It is run by a friendly couple, Natasha and Alex. It is very popular with the night crowd as it is one of the rare restaurants staying open until very late in Sydney. They offer unpretentious, classic French fare, such as duck confit, roquefort soufflé and a very satisfying beef eye fillet withpommes frites and peppercorn sauce. One of their signature dishes is gnocchi à la Parisienne: poached choux pastry dumplings with mushrooms in a white truffle mornay sauce… need I say more?

Cheese
We should be very grateful to all the cheese importers, as it is not an easy task dealing with the Australian quarantine to be able to introduce beautiful European cheeses to consumers. Lucky they are here, so I can have my fix of Chabichou du Poitou and my favourite cheese in the world, Comté.

As for local cheese, the whole of the Old Telegraph Road range is simply the best thing to happen to Australia! I’m getting a bit too excited here, but the camemberts, bries and washed-rind cheeses created by French expat cheesemaker Franck Beaurain and made in Gippsland Victoria are worth writing home about. To me they are the best European-style cheese in Australia. Try their Vacherin-style cheese, Jackson’s Track.

That concludes my ‘Top 10′. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you don’t agree or want to tell me which are your favourites!” 

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Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness – Parramatta

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 5 Comments

A few weeks back I was invited to attend the Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness taking place in Parramatta, where a bunch of prestigious chefs were to do cooking presentations and introduce traditional Malaysian dishes to the audience, as part of the SIFF / Crave Festival.

With names like Florence Tan (a celebrity chef from Kuala Lumpur, who I had seen in a Rick Stein‘s Far Eastern Odyssey series), Adam Liaw and Alvin Quah, both from Masterchef Season 2, it promised to be a great event!

Sara @Belly Rumbles, Wanitha & Lord Mayor of Parramatta Lorraine Wearne

The only chef I didn’t know was Wanitha Tanasingam, the Malaysia Kitchen Ambassador, and I was really glad I got to see her as she turned out to be a fantastic host, very funny and lively!

I made my way at the Church Street Mall in Parramatta a bit after 9am to find that the cooking presentation of Wanitha had already started. I was happy to see a few familiar faces in the presence of my fellow bloggers (Thang, Sara and Josh, Jacq and later Karen ..). Even Billy from A Table for Two & Masterchef 3 turned up later that day, causing quite a stir amongst the fans out there!

Wanitha was a larger than life personality and Thang helped me catch the numerous double-entendre she said during the presentation, involving words like “spreading”, “beating”, “hoots” and “roots”!

She first cooked Sotong Bakar (BBQ Calamari), then Ayam Panggan (Grilled Chicken).

Sara and Lorraine Wearne were on stage with her and they seemed to be having a lot of fun together! Sara was telling me she attended a class a few days earlier with Wanitha and she introduced herself as the goddess of love!

Lorraine Wearne and Wanitha

Then it was Florence Tan‘s turn to be on stage. She told us she felt nervous to cook after Wanitha, who she found such a good and entertaining speaker, but it turned out Florence was on fire too!

Giggling Florence Tan

Florence shows her sauce to the audience

Florence & the Giant Lemongrass


Otak Otak (Spicy Fish Mousse)

Florence Tan striking poses for the adoring crowd

Florence said she’d never been photographed as much as these last few days, and it looked like she wasn’t completely displeased with the attention!

Florence jokes with the audience

In the end, I found Florence so entertaining that I didn’t pay enough attention to the food! I still managed to grab myself a bit of Otak Otak, which was very yummy, but missed out on the following Grilled Tofu Salad… you had to be quick! I was starting to get hungry though… it was time for some serious lunch action and we started making our way to the canteen space in the Town Hall forecourt.

It was pretty busy and we were lucky to find a few free seats, had we waited any longer it would have proved a lot more difficult!

Chicken Satay from Albee’s Kitchen

I started with some lovely Chicken Satay skewers from Albee’s Kitchen.

The Malaysia Kitchen menu

For my second dish, I hesitated a long time between Roti Canai and Sambal prawns and sticky rice in banana leaves to try something I don’t eat often, but in the end I really felt like a Laksa and chose the chicken one, while Thang had the prawn Laksa.

Chicken Laksa from Oriental Tucker Box

The soup was really nice, just spicy enough and really fragrant and comforting, mmmh…

Prawn Laksa from Oriental Tucker Box

I wish I could have tasted more dishes, especially Jackie M.’s Char Kway Teow and the Roti Canai, but it was almost time to go back to the amphitheatre to see Adam Liaw and I couldn’t face another 5-10 minutes of queuing (I’m not a very patient person!)

Malaysian Dessert Ais Kacang

Josh got hold of a bowl of Ais Kacang, a Malaysian dessert composed of: red beans, glass jelly and peanuts covered in shaved ice and sweet rose syrup. I didn’t taste  but Josh seemed pretty happy with it!

Adam Liaw had started demonstrating how to make Satay sauce and avoid the traps causing the early departure of Marion from Masterchef 2 on that fateful elimination day.

He also prepared Char Kway Teow (Fried wide flat rice noodles with squid and prawns, bean sprouts, herbs…), which looked deliciously charred and caramelized.

Then Alvin Quah came into play and cooked Ikan Bakar (grilled BBQ fish in banana leaf) and Tamarind Fried Prawns, but unfortunately I couldn’t stay much longer and didn’t get to taste his dishes, but I had a great time and it made me want to discover more of what Malaysian food has to offer!

The French Wench attended Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness courtesy of Ogilvy360 Digital Influence Sydney and Malaysia Kitchen.

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