Riverbend Restaurant, Wisemans Ferry

The Boy and I took an extra-long weekend over Australia Day this year and headed up to Wisemans Ferry for some R and R. You won’t be surprised to hear that I’d nabbed a very good Scoopon voucher for two nights at the Australis Retreat, one of a handful of motels in the area.

Wisemans Ferry is an extraordinarily beautiful area located just an hour from our home. The little village sits on the banks of the wide, muddy looking Hawkesbury River and is surrounded by high rocky cliffs. It’s a busy weekend destination for water-skiers, boating enthusiasts and motorcycle riders looking for a winding road to unleash on as well as day-trippers from Sydney looking for a meal at the local pub and a ride across the river on the Ferry.

There are a few eating options at Wiseman’s Ferry – a lovely old sandstone pub, a bowling club with a bistro, a cafe, a little takeaway as well as the restaurant at our motel. But this isn’t just any old motel restaurant – it’s a little gem that sources and cooks beautiful food from locally sourced produce. The menu changes seasonally as the local produce available comes and goes. The food is lovely and the service very friendly.

We start the meal with a small bowl of freshly marinated local grown olives ($9.00) which were lovely - firm and tasty.

For my main I ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto ($16.00 for an entree size - I needed to save room for dessert). The risotto was cooked with oregano and thyme and then finished with parmesan and truffle oil.  The vegies pictured below are part of The Boys main...the main that I wanted to order! Hurmph.  

The Boy tricked me out of ordering the Chef's Seafood Tasting Plate ($28.50) and ordered it himself...sneaky sneaky Boy.  He made it sound like it would be too teeny for a main. Hmmm. To say I had food envy would be the understatment of the century, but as we're married sharing is mandatory (when it suits me that is).

The platter is mouthwatering to look at - a selection of hot and cold seafood that taste like heaven on earth. Really!  The majority of the seafood is from local waters; oysters from Mooney Mooney, Hawkesbury River squid and local prawns, as well as Tasmanian Atlantic and smoked salmon, Coffin Bay scallops and Sydney caught flathead.  It's worth the drive to Wisemans Ferry just for this - what amazing value for such fresh seafood!

After being forced to share his main The Boy thought he'd get to fly solo by ordering the Individual Pavlova ($11.00) for dessert. Nice try buddy. It was beautiful, and I can tell you that from a first hand taste-test. The Pavlova is topped with fresh berries and Chantilly cream.  Being a sorbet fan I choose the Lemon Sorbet ($11.00) served in brandy snap basket with fresh berries.

After dinner we wandered over to say hello (or goodnight) to Reg and Rita, two lovely cats that we had met earlier in the day. Reg and Rita were dumped at the local shopping centre a while back and promptly produced two litters of kittens.

Karlene from the antique store in the arcade began raising money to have ALL of the cats desexed (which involved trapping a few who were too scared of people to be captured any another way) so no more kittens would be born.  She then found homes for all but five of them (so far).  The store-owners chip in money to keep the remaining cats fed which is noble as many strays are left to fend for themselves. But it also means that Reg and Rita (and the others) depend on the kindness of the store owners for their daily bread. We made a hefty donation to the "Reg and Rita Dinner Fund" in Karlene's store and collected a lot of pats in return.  I would love to have taken our two new kitty friends home but I think they would go bonkers in our little flat.

Reg and Rita have their own Facebook page, check them out here. 

The handsome Reg and lovely, shy Rita.

The Riverbend Resturant is located at Australis Retreat at Wisemans Ferry, 5564 Old Northern Road Wisemans Ferry. Bookings at the restaurant are essential. Phone them on (02) 4566 4422.

You'll find Reg and Rita chilling out at Wiseman's Ferry Vintage & Collectables in the shopping arcade.

est., Sydney

est. is one of four three-hated restaurants in Sydney – the top notch of Sydney eateries.  The “hats” are awarded annually by The Sydney Morning Herald and those restaurants serve up some of the finest food in our fair city.

To be honest est. has never been somewhere that has been on my radar – too fancy and way out my budget. But when I found out they were having a dinner special for the month of January it quicly became dead centre in my food radar - $50 for two courses PLUS a cockital! Hello est.

You've gotta love complimentary bread - carbs are MY friend I tell you...lovely lovely carbs. In fact I asked for an extra roll half way through the dinner just to make sure I'm well and truly full by the end of the meal.

Our meal begins with a refreshing Sunset cocktail - a mix of Vodka, cranberry, elderflower liqueur and apple with a Kaffir lime leaf getting drunk in the concoction and adding a nice flavour to the drink.

As part of the deal we get to choose from two entrees and two mains. For photographic purposes we order everything on the menu...and because we want to try everything. The BFF choose the Italian Buffalo Mozzarella with fresh peach, Serrano jamon and Belgian endive and I opted for the Oysters with Ponzu Dressing. Both were lovely, light dishes - perfect for a summer night.

For mains I choose the Pan roasted Palmers Island Mulloway fillet, tahini yoghurt, broccolini, green peas, dukkah.  Back in "the day" my parents used to own a small house on Palmers Island and I would spend some of my school holidays there - so I guess there was a little bit of nostalgia involved in this dish for me. It didn't hurt that the fish was marvelous, with a lovely crunchy skin.  The BFF ordered the Pan roasted black angus beef fillet (grain-fed so I decided not to try any) with wasabi miso and shallot butter, pak choy which he said was FANTASTIC!

The BFFs sweet-tooth couldn't be quelled so dessert was ordered - Morello cherry souffle with pinot noir rosé sorbet ($29.00).  I helped myself to a spoonful of three and can tell you this was BEYOND delicious. The souffle was sweet and sugary and there was no taste of egg what-so-ever.  Very very VERY nice.

Postscript: Holy mother of food blogging batman, I published this post without mentioning the Petit Fours tray. Too much sugar has obviously addled my feeble little mind.  I promise it won't happen again (and good news was I was allowed to eat ALL the petit fours at The BFF was too full from his HUGE souffle).

est. is at Level 1 Establishment, 252 George Street, Sydney. Phone them on 9240 3010.

Bavarian Bier Cafe, Parramatta

Bavarian Bier Cafe in Parramatta has been on The Boy's wish list ever since we moved here back in 2010.  My thoughts on this ranged from "meh" to..."meh" as I just wasn't convinced it would be anywhere near as delicious as the Schnitzel mecca Una's in Darlinghurst. I'm pleased to say I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Bavarian Beir Cafe is located in the old St Andrews Church building in Parramatta - a very impressive and beautiful setting indeed.  The main dining room is enormous and retains just enough of a touch of its former church-i-ness that it doesn't feel too sacrilegious downing the great vats of beer/bier on offer.

The "small" 350ml Bier glasses here hold about 10 times what I would normally drink...but when in a faux German Bier Hall I like to go with the flow. The Boy choose a Stiegl Goldbräu ($11 for 500ml) and I went for the Franziskaner Lemon Weissbier ($7.50 for 350ml), a type of wheat beer with a splash of Limonata. YUM, German shandy!

Because I was still getting over the epic degustation from Restaurant Arras the previous night I convinced The Boy to share the Münchner Brauhaus Platter ($37.70) with me - though there has got to be no way one person could eat all of this meat...or is there? 

The platter contains generous serves of Crackling Roast Pork Belly (best crackling - so salty and crunchy), Char-Grilled Kassler (aka Ham Steak), Sausages, Chicken Schnitzel, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage and Sebago Mash. Up until this point I have despised Sauerkraut and Red Cabbage Sauerkraut beyond all reason - but I have to say these guys have changed my mind. YUM!

For the price I think this is an excellent option when sharing with someone else.  And good news is that most of the meat here is Organic and Free Range which I think is impressive for chain of restaurants used to churning out big numbers of meals.

I order a token Side Salad ($6.00) just so my arteries know I care about them...sort of.

After our meal we waddled down to Prince Alfred Park to catch a show in the fabulous Spiegletent that is was visiting Parramatta as part of Sydney Festival.  I really hope that Parramatta has such a great line of events at next years' festival as it's been wonderful to have so many events right on our doorstep.

And our show - we saw the fabulous Ed Kuepper, an oldie but a goodie who I haven't seen in concert for about 15 years (yes I'm THAT old)!

Bavarian Bier Cafe is at 2-8 Phillip Street, Parramatta. Phone them on 8836 1400.

Restaurant Arras, Sydney

The upside of saving so much money via my meal-deal buying obsession (spending money to save money some might say, but I prefer to put a positive spin on things) is that I can splurge out on a truly fine-dining experience every now again.

Miss M, Miss Chicken and I decide it’s time to check out the newly relocated Restaurant Arras which shut up shop in Walsh Bay mid-2011 and reopened in Clarence Street at the end of last year. To say we’re excited is a bit of an understatement. I’m literally jumping up and down outside the restaurant as I see the others arrive.

Now some advice. If you are going to Restaurant Arras for dinner you need to plan ahead. A light breakfast and an even lighter lunch are in order if you’re to get through the 9 course degustation unharmed. Or you could be like me and eat a mega-sized muffin for breakfast, pasta for lunch, a few snacks along the way and leave the restaurant looking like you’re about to give birth to a food baby. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

The restaurant is lovely – an airy light space that feels “special” but not intimidating and the wait staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. A large bar/table situated in the middle of the dining room and a few larger than life lamps make me think of an Alice In Wonderland type landscape.

And we’re off. The meal begins with complimentary canapés; a quenelle of mackerel rillette and a cheese something or other that I can’t quite remember. I was beside myself with excitement at the onslaught of food about to hit us so I didn’t quite have my wits about me in regards to remembering what the waitress was telling us.

A little wooden tray approaches with a selection of house made breads. We’re advised to take as many of the petit loaves as we like – probably ill advice given we scoffed the lot quickly and sacrificed precious “degustation stomach room” (except for Miss Chicken ‘cos she did have her wits about her).

The degustation proper kicks of with a very generous sized Amuse Bouche – a pretty garden of dehydrated olives, shaved cucumber, potted prawns, soy and chorizo.  All of the courses at Arras are on the generous size, there is no need to worry that you'll leave the restaurant hungry.  In fact the serves could be quite a bit smaller and you certainly would feel well satisfied by the end of the night.

After three plates of food (bread included of course) the meal proper starts with a delightfully fresh entree - spiced and dressed crab in a lettuce with soy beans. This is such a simple looking dish - so fresh and vibrant - and is filled with clean, fresh flavours.

Next is another light and simply flavoured dish that the waitress refers to as "In the Garden" - pickled marinated vegetables, slow cooked onions and bitter leaves.  I really appreciated the slightly acidic flavour of the pickled vegetables, a great way to put our taste buds on full alert for what is to come.

The final entree is a pearler - cooked tuna, smoked eggs, green beans and potato. The crumbled smoked eggs looked like gravel dotted over the plate and was a delicious addition to the dish and a nice contrast to the fresh tuna.  I really enjoyed the different textures and flavours in this dish and would happily have eaten another serve if one was on offer.  I'd probably even seek out smoked egg in my future foodie endeavours.

The first main served was the milk-cooked Pork belly, whey puree and cracklings with crackling cooked THREE ways. Heaven. The pork was incredibly tender and the squiggle of crackling sitting atop the pork was crispy perfection.

Next is the black and white squid with sweetbreads, Jerusalem artichoke crisps and scallops that sat in a puddle of lovely rich chicken gravy. The presentation of the squid in this dish was very interesting - presented as a mousse and pipped onto the plate, yet it retained all of its squiddy flavour despite some molecular trickery from the kitchen.

A tip to the punters, it’s worth saving some of your bread (if you can) to sop up the moreish chicken gravy. Of course I didn’t do that having scoffed my bread 47 courses ago, but our waitress thinks it one of the best parts of the dish. 

The final main served to us is the lamb rump ‘bruised shoulders’, pease pudding and curd.  The pease pudding is great - a little solid mountain of peas that tastes reminscnet of pea soup.  The lamb is tender and cooked to a perfect pink. There is another sphere of lamb wrapped in black pudding. Before starting my blog I NEVER EVER IN A PINK FIT would've tried black pudding EVER EVER EVER, despite my English father professing it's the best food on earth. I've tried it two or three times now and have to admit...it's not too bad.

Ah, time for dessert - Cinematic Soufflé “the sequel” (the name no doubt a nod to the restaurants new digs at Clarence Street). The feather-light popcorn flavoured Soufflé was a sight to behold with so many tempting elements on the one plate. The Soufflé, which came served in a little copper pot, is served with popcorn ice cream, popped corn and a jug of sticky sweet caramel sauce that we pour all over our plate. Definitely one for the sweet toothes although the Soufflé did have a very eggy flavour to it...my experience to Soufflé is now limited to twice and I'm not sure if that is how it is supposed to taste??

Just when we thought the meal was over a second dessert arrives at the table. Now we know what the colourful banquettes along the front wall of the restaurant are for – lay down and stretch out your poor full stomach. The Branylus vinegar ice-cream, black salt fougasse (the crisp bread under the ice-cream), vegetable and fruit crisps was fantastic. I LOVED this dessert. It was the perfect juxtaposition of savoury and sweet with both flavours playing off each other nicely.

It would be a great dis-service to the incredible meal we just had to say they saved the best til last. In fact I had been hoping Restaurant Arras’ famous petit fours tray would come out before the meal...as I knew I’d be too full by the end of the meal to fully enjoy it (I gave it a red-hot go though).  We tried a few things amongst us - mainly taking a bite and passing it along so that we could try everything that took our fancy. What a fun and whimsical way to end the night.

Our degustation cost $140 (Arras automatically add an 8% gratuity that you can asked to be removed if you like) and took a little over 4 hours.  This is one of the more pricey meals I've had (EVER) but I think it was all about the experience for me so totally worth it. And whilst I loved it I'm going to limit my future degustations as there is just way too much food and piggy is getting porky - it really is a true (over)indulgence.



204 Clarence Street, Sydney. Phone them on 9252 6285.

The Artisan’s Apprentice, Parramatta

One of Parramatta’s true food gems can be found hidden in one this suburbs many arcades.  Hiding in the middle of The Connection Arcade is Parramatta's very own sourdough bakery! It's not as big as Brasserie Bread or Bourke Street Bakery (the Marrickville branch that is) and doesn't have a cafe, but man it is GOOD!

Sourdough dominates in this artisan bakery with owner and baker Chris Chamberlain making bread in the ways of yesteryear with some recipes dating back to the 13th Century. Breads are dense, heavy and a meal in themselves (but goes with soup or salad if you're a piggy like moi).  Chris' wife Chris (wo)mans the shop most days and hands over the loaves to the waiting bread-o-philes like myself.

Offerings range from a ye olde worlde 13th Century Fruit Loaf packed with dried fruits and spice, to 100% rye bread, sweet potato and onion bread, and the more adventurous Roast Beetroot Bread.  And yes I've tried most of them.  The best-selling Olive and Rosemary is probably my favourite.

Rosemary and Olive Bread - giggyup good!

Roast Beetroot Bread

Sweet tooths are not forgotten, with a selection of delectable pastries and sweet pies also on offer.  You can also grab yourself a coffee or cold drink and make a day of it.  And, I like that Baker Chis has a sense of humour. For Easter last year he made Hot Cross Easter Circles as the trauma of making thousands upon thousands of Hot Cross Buns at a previous job still haunt him.

Hot Cross Easter...Circle?

Something for the sweet tooth.

The Artisan's Apprentice can be found in The Connection Arcade Shop 9, 162-172 Church Street, Parramatta.