MissChu, Manly

Miss Piggy and The Boy were invited to MissChu's new Manly Tuckshop to try some items from the menu. Some of our lunch was a freebie and some we paid for ourselves -- I'll point out what was a freebie below FYI.

MissChu, the Queen of Rice Paper Rolls, has crossed the Harbour Bridge and opened her first tuck-shop north of the harbour. Welcome to Manly MissChu (hopefully you're next stop will be Parramatta - hint hint).

You'll find MissChu's latest venture just across the road from the bustling Manly Wharf...so like us, you can visit Manly for lunch without actually even looking at the beach. I was so excited about the promise of rice paper rolls that I totally forgot to go wiggle my toes in the sand.

There is ample seating inside the tuckshop but  The Boy and I decide to perch on the teeny tiny chairs out on the footpath - mainly as I wanted to see if a) they could hold my ample weight and b) if I could get up once I got down (they did, and I could).  I like a good challenge.

It's a lovely sunny day when we visit Manly and I'm happy to try the deliciously fresh and refreshing Frozen Young Coconut Crushies (normally $8.50 each but these were complimentary on the day). I opted for Lychee and The Boy chooses the Pineapple. There's also a banana version on offer and you can get your slushies with vodka if you so desire (we didn't desire).

The first dish we're given to try is the very very moreish Salt and Pepper Squid (normally $14.00 each but these were complimentary on the day).  This is a special dish only available at the Bondi and Manly stores and it is so tasty that I'd definitely travel to have it again...and again. The squid was very tender and covered in a shatteringly crisp batter that was not at all greasy, as some dishes of this ilk can be.

At first we were just scoffing the squid "as is" but as we got towards the end of the plate I had a light bulb moment. Perhaps we were supposed to wrap a piece of squid in the accompanying perilla leaves, top with some pickled veggies and sweet Thai basil and then eat it? Judging by how much this elevated the flavours of the squid I'm suggesting this a good squid strategy.  I love the fragrant, almost minty taste that the perilla leaves have and Thai basil is much less overpowering than the kind I've been growing on my balcony. Oh Boy! So good!

The next dish brought out for us to try is a serve of the delicious banh cuon to share (normally $12.00 but these were complimentary on the day). The menu refers to these as a "steamed long dumpling" and I'd say that's a pretty apt description.  The savoury filling of  traditional minced pork was wonderfully flavoursome. This is a light, but filling dish that I would happily eat again.

Now, most normally people would be full by now, and I guess I sort of was, but it would be silly to drive all the way from Parramatta and not indulge in a few more of our MissChu favourites.

We start with a petite serve of Peking Duck Pancake (2 for $7.00) and also try a serve of the delicately crunchy Prawn and Crab Net Spring Rolls (4 for $6.00).   It would be remiss to visit the "Queen of Rice Paper Rolls" and go home without trying at least one rice paper roll wouldn't it?  The Satay Chicken and Young Coconut Rolls (2 for $7.50) were light + fresh and I really noticed the different in a Laos style satay sauce over the Thai satay we're more used to in Australia - it's much less thick and creamy and has a good tomatoey under note that I enjoyed.

The always say leave room for dessert and it's a good thing the desserts that we were given we just bite-sized as I was starting to fill a bit...full!

Look, if I'm being honest my stomach could be exploding out of my pants and I'd still find room for anything that involves pandan and coconut. Wouldn't you? I loved this sweet, bite-sized pandan jelly topped with luscious coconut cream (normally $4.50 but these were complimentary on the day).

Our last dessert was a sticky rice topped with a soft type of sweet flan-ish type thing (normally $4.50 but these were complimentary on the day). How's that for a description? I'm sure it has an actual name but I don't know what it is. It was good, I can tell you that much.

MissChu's is at 5/54 West Esplanade, Manly. Phone them on 9976 3682.

Lime + Tonic Progressive Dinner, Surry Hills

Miss Piggy experienced this progressive dinner as a guest of Lime + Tonic, Sydney,

When I was invited by Lime + Tonic to try their new progressive dinner around Surry Hills I jumped at the chance! I love the idea of getting to experience a number of different restaurant all in one night (ticks a few off the ever growing list that way). The  idea of strolling up the little backstreets of Surry Hills between courses is also quite appealing and mysterious - all through the evening I felt like I was on a secret adventure!

I first thought Lime + Tonic were another voucher company, but they actually specialise in unique experiences and "things to do" in various cites around the world. Think of them as your personal concierge if you like. As well as these great progressive dinners, they offer regular style dinners, tours and fun activities. You join the site (free of charge) and the experiences are yours for the picking. I've got my eye on their $50pp dinner at Table for 20 (somewhere I've ALWAYS wanted to go to) as well as a tour of London in a mini (car that is, not skirt)!

Normally you'd go on an experience like this with friends or family but tonight's dinner has been arranged by Lime + Tonic for a small group of media + bloggers.

Entree - Sugarcane Restaurant

Our group meets up at modern Vietnamese restaurant, Sugarcane - a lovely little eatery that is tucked away on Reservoir Street. Again it's somewhere that I've always wanted to try (I promise I really don't say that about everywhere I go, honest)!

The interior of the restaurant is very sleek, modern and comfortable..totally the opposite of what I was expecting (which was possibly something more dark, rustic and "street foodish" where we'd perch on stools and get numb bums and sore backs within 30 minutes)!

We are greeted at Sugarcane by our friendly waiter, George, for the first part of the evening.  A menu, plus a glass of wine plus a map of our travels for the night awaits us - a helpful detail if you're navigating this experience by yourself as most people would be.

Our entrees at Sugarcane are really wonderful. Fresh + zingy flavours, generous servings and a good variety of dishes which gives me a great idea of what this restaurant has on offer.  The food is very clearly Vietnamese with a modern presentation. It's delicious.

The crisp pork hock + green mango salad comes with a prawn cracker that's nearly as big as my face. The salad is tart and flavoursome and the pork is indeed crispy (and delicious).   The prawns on rice cakes with caramelised sugarcane are a lovely, delicately flavoured bite-sized morsel and the salt + pepper squid is meaty, tender and the batter is crisp with just the right amount of saltiness.

We take a detour from the menu for our next three courses...and I have to say I'm happy that we do as the crisp skin chicken with shallots and blood plum sauce is the dish of the night for me! The chicken is so tender and is blanked in a thin, savoury crust that is just a little bit salty and has an earthy flavour of shallots.  The lamb ribs are so tender that the meat just melts of the bone and the rendang curry of Wagyu beef is a wonderful, warming dish for a cold winter's night. What a GREAT restaurant. I cannot wait to come back and explore the menu some more. 

Sugarcane is at 40A Reservoir Street, Surry Hills.  Phone them on 9281 1788.



Main Course - Bar H

Our hour at Sugarcane is over all too soon (too much chatting + photographing on my part I think) and we head out onto the streets of Surry Hills and wander to our next restaurant for the evening.

Bar H is a very popular neighbourhood restaurant and is where we enjoyed our main courses. The restaurant is really busy and + buzzing it's an exciting space to be dining in. I really enjoyed my first meal here so I'm happy that it's one of the stops on the progressive dinner.

The chef + owner of Bar H has worked with Kylie Kwong and it's evident that her style of modern Asian cuisine (without the bugs, grubs and native vegetation) shines through in this menu. Big bold, modern flavours are married with traditional Chinese ingredients. It's a winning match.

 

Our mains kick off with our choice of drink (red or white wine, or a beer) as our waiter runs through our dishes for this part of the meal.

The steamed fish is a light and delicate dish that is vibrant with the zing of fresh ginger and shallots.  I really enjoyed this and it's the sort of dish I wish I knew how to cook at home. I'm sure it's simple, but there's also a lot of flavours happening in this little bowl.  Next up is a steaming-hot clay dish of dong-po pork - fatty pieces of pork that are pan-fried then cooked in their clay pot. The pork is so tender, fatty but not oily and the pot has little sheets of tofu, pieces of ginger and pumpkin lurking with in. It's a good winter dish.

We're offered an extra dish by the head-chef + owner of Bar H, Hamish Ingham who's sitting at the bar enjoying dinner himself with his wife on the night we visit.  I quite like that the chef of a restaurant would have dinner at his/her restaurant on a night off...I think it really shows how much they like what they've created. Our special dish is special indeed - sheets of rice noodles topped with a sticky sauce, bonito flakes and TRUFFLES! Fancy!

Our mains come with a generous serve of fluffy white rice and (strangely) a side salad of mixed leaves that doesn't quite match the rest of the food served here.  We didn't really make friends with salad on this night - poor salad.  Bar H is SO dark so we had to come up with some inventive ways to take photos in our to write out blog posts. Props to Simon who has brought his nifty little video light along (I think he got a sore arm by the end of the night)!

Bar H is at 80 Campbell Street, Surry Hills.  Phone them on 9280 1980.



Dessert + Cocktails - Longrain

Last stop for the night is Longrain where we get to linger over dessert and cocktails.

Longrain is a cavernous space, with a large downstairs bar area. Totally not what I was expecting. It's big, modern, industrial, yet the space still feels intimate and cosy thanks to the dark lightening and wooden furniture.  Chairs are placed in sets of two along the long share-style tables, so couples can cozy up next to each other for an intimate dinner for two.

 

Our dessert had so many great things going on in such a little bowl. Every mouthful of the young coconut jelly with mango, black sticky rice, coconut tapioca and passionfruit sorbet was bursting with exotic flavours and textures.  If I closed my eyes I could be on holidays in Thailand (if only).

The chili infused tequila in the Acapulco Gold cocktail was delightfully warming -- the heat from the chilli radiating down into my belly. The chilli was warming + nice, rather than blow your head off spicy. A really clever drink.

Longrain is at 85 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills.  Phone them on 9280 2888.



I really enjoyed the progressive dinner offered by Lime + Tonic, especially as it was totally new way of dining for me. The experience felt quite exclusive + adventurous, like some sort secret supper club.  It was also really nice to have a little stroll between courses and let some of the food digest.

I think a progressive dinner like this would be a fun thing to do for a birthday party with a small group of friends or family (or perhaps even a hen's night for foodies).  And, it's certainly something different to do on date night.

For more information on the Lime + Tonic progressive dinner visit their website.

Red Lantern, Surry Hills

It wouldn't be too long ago that I would've thought meeting a group of strangers from the Internet for dinner to be a bit...weird. But that was before Twitter, and it's this Twitter meet-up (or tweet-up as the cool kids say) that I have to thank for the chance to experience the awesome food at Red Lantern in Surry Hills. 

Red Lantern has been on my radar for awhile as owners Luke Nguyen, Pauline Nguyen and Mark Jensen are big advocates for ethical and sustainable produce. Where possible all of the produce in the restaurant is free-range as well as being ethically and sustainably sourced. They even have a kitchen garden out the back of this converted terrace where some produce is grown. 

The reason for the tweet-up is to welcome Canberra food blogger Lizzy, and her partner Peter, to the big smoke.  Lizzy had been tweeting about a visit to Sydney to visit some of our wonderful food suppliers like the Orange Grove Markets, Fish Markets, Urban Food Market, Bourke Street Bakery...and the list goes on. Fellow twit, I mean tweeter, Karen offered to show Lizzy and Peter around and when Lizzy mentioned she wanted to go to Red Lantern a group of us quickly invited ourselves to dinner. As you do.

There we are...our big group of blurry Twits (Ester, Karen, Moi, Dave, Catherine, Lizzy, Peter and Joy)

As our group is quite large we have to go with the tasting menu ($65 per person plus $10 per person if you choose to have dessert - which we did). I actually think having a set menu with a large group is often the best option, as it leaves more time for chatting and less time trying to figure out what to order.

Dinner kicks off with Goi Cha Cuon Soft - rice paper rolled with pork and duck terrine, vermicelli, cabbage and pickled carrot.  A really nice, fresh flavoured beginning to the meal and a great indication of the quality of the food to come.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo folks, but as we know green or brown food along with dark lighting is my arch nemesis *shakes fist*.  That said there was nothing fuzzy about the flavours in this Bo La Lot - pasture fed Wagyu beef with lemongrass and shallot wrapped in betal leaf and chargrilled.  The betal leaves are slightly peppery and match really well with the fresh flavour of the lemongrass. Needless to say the Grass-Fed Wagyu is tender beyond belief and just goes to show that Wagyu can be top notch and NOT be grain-fed. Just saying.

I really love the slightly tart flavour of green papaya salad so was excited to try the Goi Du Du - twice cooked pork belly, tiger prawns, green papaya, perilla and mint.  The salad was studded with little pieces of pork belly which has got to make it a 10 out of 10 in anyone's books...very flavourful. 

It was the Muc Rang Muo - lightly battered chilli salted squid served with a fresh lemon and white pepper dipping sauce - that really had The Boy and I going back for more...and more...and more.  The squid was so tender and the dipping sauce was a great, zesty counterbalance to the deep-fried batter. Lucky for us that Lizzie and Catherine were engrossed in conversation as it meant The Boy and I got to polish most of this dish off.  I would definitely order this on my next visit to Red Lantern.

The first main served was Cha Ca - pan fried Mulloway fillets marinated in turmeric, dill and shrimp paste. Served with a green mango salad.  This dish was a real hit with both Lizze and Catherine who declared with every mouthful "oh my, this is delicious". That about says it all really.

The verdict on the Xuong Suon Voi - free range pork ribs braised with soy, chilli and garlic with broad beans and artichoke leaves - was unanimous, it was delicious. The charred pork was smoky and amazingly tender and definitely the star ingredient on the plate.
 

Another blurry photo folks, but again I blame the light...really not my fault! Really. Ga Chien Don -  crisp skin Burrawong pasture raised chicken poached in master stock with ginger and oyster sauce - is amazingly tender and succulent.  The masterstock is wonderfully flavoursome and salty. This dish is a must order (along with the pork, salt and pepper squid...well, everything really).

Karen tells us that the mushrooms in the Cai Xanh Xao - mixed organic Asian greens wok tossed in preserved bean curd sauce - are supplied by The Mushroom Depot stall she helps (wo)man at the weekly Orange Grove Markets and this makes the dish all the more special.  The mushrooms are GREAT by the way, meaty, firm and packed with flavour.

I really enjoyed the Bo Kho - pasture fed beef braised in tomato with cinnamon, cassia bark and star anise.  Once again the meat is incredibly tender and flavoursome, and I really think this says a lot about the quality of the produce, and the life that produce has led.

I really am failing at my New Years resolution not to eat desserts and the dessert platter really is my undoing. The tasting menu platter has a tasting of three of Red Lanterns desserts: Com Nep La Chuoi (red sticky rice in banana leaf and chargrilled with fresh mango, and coconut ice cream = YUMMO); Kem Flan (Coconut Crème Caramel); and, Banh Cam Mang Cau (sesame and rice flour dumplings filled with Sour Sop and served with black sesame ice cream).

I don't know why I waited so long to go to Red Lantern, but I know I won't leave it as long before my next visit.

545 Crown Street Surry Hills NSW 2010 Phone them on 02 9698 4355.