Mejico, Sydney CBD

Mejico's received a lot of hype since it first opened its doors a little over a year ago. I'd been avoiding the place because I didn't want to hyper-inflate my expectations - I've long realised that Sydney-based Mexican food has a long way to go to compete with the stuff I tasted in London (and despite sounding like the gourmet travellers on My Kitchen Rules, London has quite a few saliva-inducing Mexican-inspired restaurants).

The Boy and I had a chia concoction each (chia-based mocktails). Mine was the white nectar, which reminded me of those Asian aloe vera drinks that you buy to trick yourself into thinking you're opting for the healthy alternative to soft drink. I was similarly hooked. The menu said it also contained coconut, a subtle hint of which permeated the drink.

White nectar ($6.50)

Food came pretty slowly... It took 10 to 15 mins for the waitress to come over to make our guacamole, another 10 to 15 mins in-between the guacamole and tacos, and the ribs arrived 15 to 20 mins later.

The signature guacamole was served with plantain chips (a fruit/ herb similar to banana). Mashed with a mortar and pestle at our table, we witnessed bits of pistachio, chilli and lime juice being ground into dollops of avocado. Normally I'm crazy over guacamole, but this tasted a little bland? I think it needed something like salsa to add moisture to an otherwise creamy paste. And more chilli. Saved a bit to eat with the tacos, but as the dishes come in bits and pieces (and we were famished), we'd gobbled most of it up.

Signature Guacamole ($12.00)

When my boss heard that I was going to Mejico, he really talked up the trout tacos. Can't say he was wrong, because the trout was light and seared beautifully. The chipotle mayonnaise and jalapenos added a bout of much needed flavour. Highlight of the meal.

Trout tacos ($16.00)

The chicken tacos were alright. Came with chorizo, cumin and cucumber salsa. Not dry or tasteless, just overshadowed by its fishy sibling.

Chicken tacos ($16.00)

It took a while for the glazed pork ribs to arrive. There were maybe.. 6 ribs? It was quite a heavy dish, particularly paired with the polenta. The glaze wasn't spectacular, but tasty enough. Meat was tender and fell off the bone.

Glazed pork ribs ($38.00)

Of the 4 food items I ordered off the menu, I would probably re-order the trout tacos (delicious!) and the ribs (as a stomach filler). It's not to say the other 2 were bad, but they weren't that memorable/ can't quite justify the prices.

Le Pub, Sydney CBD

When I visited Le Pub as part of a group of 5, I was expecting a set-up with more similarities to a Parisian bistro (the menu certainly consists of bistro food), but the DJ with doof-doof music operating under dim lighting reminded me of the Square Bar instead. I guess it's more lucrative to appeal to the drinkers on Friday nights, as evident from the empty tables in the half of Le Pub reserved for diners.

Our energetic waitress highly recommended the special of the day - the organic free range country chicken, leek, mushroom and tarragon pie served with truffled mashed potato. She also good-naturedly handled the barrage of questions asking whether she would pick the lamb or the pie, the chicken or the lamb, and so forth. Most of us chose the chicken pie - we were told that pie is one of Le Pub's specialties, along with the lamb. Someone cynically remarked that perhaps they'd made too many pies that day and were trying to push them off onto us. I'd had the same suspicions, but didn't want to voice them for fear of the truth...

One of my childhood friends exclaimed, "Who would pay $24 for a pie?!" He'd imagined those little frozen pies with the nervy beef filling that school children love buying at sports carnivals. Disgusting stuff. But no, these are pot pies served in ramekin dishes, with golden puff pastry wrapped over the top and a stew of meat and vegetables inside. Ours weren't the prettiest to look at, but the pastry tasted handmade and they were generous with the chicken inside. The truffled mashed potato was smooth, silky and buttery. If it contained a few potato clumps, it'd be just the way I like it. Sadly, most people have a phobia of lumps in their mash :(

Chicken pie ($24.00)

 

The childhood friend ordered the chicken - chicken breast on corn puree, with semolina frites and crispy jamon. I tried a chunk of it - tasty, crunchy, but a bit dry. 

Poulet ($25.00)

The other non-pie-eating friend received her lamb neck (with eggplant fritters, tomato dust, herb pistou and shaved cauliflower salad). She cut off a piece for me. The lamb could have been served alone and it would have been delicious. As a result of the long cooking (simmering?) process, it was cooked through entirely, yet tender and juicy. Lamb Eater must have sensed my food envy, as from time to time she muttered triumphantly that she'd made the right choice.

Collet d'Agneau ($26.00)

Rengaya, North Sydney

*UPDATE: We did the 2 hour buffet the other day - $69 for unlimited orders off of their buffet menu. The menu items look (mainly) the same as the a la carte dishes, but it's noticeably not as tasty as the equivalents on the a la carte menu. In short - not as well-marinated, lower quality cuts.*

Rengaya is a new favourite of ours, especially when we're craving a post-movie Japanese BBQ feast. You can't be last minute when visiting on a Saturday night, though, as walk-ins are often turned away. The Boy's a fan of Yakiniku's range of restaurants, but the comfortable decor, large tables and good service have set this particular North Sydney branch apart. Little courtesies to make us feel more at home such as bringing us steaming hot towels instead of pre-packed wet wipes (though I love receiving those as well!) helped to stamp in a really good impression, and we weren't let down by the food either.

On our first visit, I thought the two of us would manage about 5 plates of meat, and I think if it were two girls and a serving of rice dishes, there might be a chance that that amount would suffice. The Boy doesn't like rice with his Japanese BBQ though, and we've gone through a minimum of 10 plates of meat each visit.

Exterior, guarded by a suit of samurai armour

Cosy interior

I know many people are put off by the concept of Japanese/ Korean BBQs because you pay a lot to cook the meat yourselves, and obviously you're not going to return if it's tough and bland when you can make it better at home. So far, we've found the meat to be marinated really well, with a wide range of average to premium cuts of wagyu. Many of the BBQ dishes also enable you to choose between two flavours, such as BBQ sauce and salt and pepper.

 

BBQ pit

Rengaya explains that regulations compel the use of disposable mesh grills, so after an hour or so of use we've found that the grill turns black and loses shape - but usually one of the waiters or waitresses walking by will notice it needs to be changed before we have to ask.

The Food

The oysters are fresh, tasty and quite large.

1/2 dozen oysters ($19.90)

Be warned, the chirashi-sushi is a full meal in its own right. We ordered a "small" portion (a large portion feeding 4) during our most recent trip because I thought it would be nice to eat the BBQ meat with some rice, and because the Boy pretty much left it to me to eat up, it took away my appetite. As a chirashi-sushi typically is, it's very colourful from the topping of sashimi and salmon roe. Quite tasty.

Small chirashi-sushi ($19.90)

It's fast becoming a tradition of ours to order 5 plates of BBQ scallops. It can be hard to grill them right, and it's important you dial down the heat of your BBQ because it's easy to overcook them and have them stick to their shells. Rengaya alternates between capsicums and corn when garnishing them - order enough scallops/ prawns and you won't have to order vegetable sides.

BBQ scallops ($13.90)

 

Not a fan of the BBQ prawns - I'm lazy and don't like de-shelling them :P

BBQ king prawn ($15.90)

 Were I to choose between the Premium Pork Loin and the Premium Pork Ginger Loin, I'd go with the original non-gingery one. Although I usually love ginger in my food, there's something about that ginger sauce that puts me off.

Premium pork shabu-shabu (loin) w/ salt and pepper ($15.90)

Ginger pork loin ($16.90)

 "Foil-yaki" mushroom is another favourite of ours. It's basically mushrooms in garlic butter sauce. You place the entire lump of foil on the BBQ and let it sizzle. Expensive for such a small amount of mushrooms, but it's so tasty...

Foil-yaki mushroom ($8.90)

 The wagyu beef rib is pretty standard - I liked it, but it can be chewy.

Wagyu beef rib ($19.90)

 

Ox tongue: standard stuff - tender, good, we always order it.

Special ox tongue ($14.90)

Of their dessert menu, we've only had their ice creams. I think the safer options like black sesame are still tastiest - shiraz was a bit of a miss for me.
 

Strawberry ice cream ($5.60)

Shiraz ice cream ($5.60)

Sesame ice cream ($5.60)

Xin Jiang Handmade Noodle, Chatswood

Xin Jiang Hand Made Noodle is located above Hu's Inn and La Latina. This is also the shop lot that Hinode, the Japanese restaurant, used to occupy. The last time I was in the area, I spotted a steady stream of Chinese people heading up the stairs, so I figured it might be authentic.

It's not too different from the Chinese coffee shops around the area, such as Winsure BBQ Restaurant, except with even less emphasis on aesthetics...

I wanted to go for the noodles, but the Boy preferred the sound of fried rice, which he came to regret ordering. I quite enjoyed it, as bits of the rice were hard and chewy (see 2nd photo), like the crunchy bottom layer that's left over after you cook rice (in a rice cooker or a stone pot). However, it was these favoured bits that made the Boy wrinkle his nose in distaste - apparently he hates bibimbap too. No wonder he never orders any at Dukbaegi :/

Fried rice (chicken) ($10.80)

Crunchy bits

The deep fried pork had lots of batter. Overall liked this dish, but the pork had chunks of chewy sinew and nerve. I picked the batter off of these and left the inedible parts on my plate in the reject pile.

The Boy had requested that this come with chilli, and I guess they forgot, because it came with none. While some chilli might have been nice, I was relieved it was left out after tasting the skewers.

Deep fried pork with pepper ($13.80)

 The BBQ lamb skewers were a little tough and spicy as. The Boy was fine with them, but I could only have a couple of bites before my lips felt like they were on fire. Also, despite our best efforts, we couldn't dislodge the meat with our chopsticks. In any case, once I surrendered all the skewers to the Boy, he adopted the "manly" method and ate them right off the skewers.

BBQ lamb skewers ($11.80)

I'd come back to try the hand made noodles, and the menu is really extensive. The food is pretty cheap and the portions would be great for groups, but I haven't had the greatest luck with their meat.

Ocean Room, Circular Quay

The other day we celebrated the Boy's birthday at Ocean Room, which has excellent views of the Opera House. In our case, we were seated around the time a massive cruise ship was meant to be departing. Our waiter apologetically explained that there had been a bit of a delay because one of its passengers had gone walkabout and was being retrieved. In any case, we didn't mind since the view of the boat was just as entertaining as the Opera House.

yay filter!

The birthday boy decreed that we go for the $120 12 course tasting menu ("YOLO", as he phrased it) and, since he's partial to them, cocktails. I rebelliously went for an orange mocktail called "Tokyo Rose", decorated with a single rose bud. A combination of soda, rose water, cherry syrup, red grapefruit juice and fresh lime juice, it was light, fizzy and full of citrus. It oddly made me think of tutti frutti and bubblegum - common slushy flavours when I was a kid.

Blueberry fizz ($19.00)

Tokyo Rose ($10.00)

After the ship left, tourists began to flock over

Food

The 12 course degustation took us 3 hours to plough through, with the first third being churned out swiftly. As my stomach is wont to do, the drawn-out process caused it to feel full at around the 8th dish. I tenaciously battled on, but my tastebuds didn't appreciate the latter third of the menu due to the stomach's turgid state :(

1. Kaki (oyster): Two cold smoked oysters on top of flat metal spoons. The tomato water jelly (the white cloudy substance) indeed tasted of cold tomato juice, while the chilli pearl burst on my tongue. It was a refreshing change from the usual plain natural oysters we normally have, and got us talking about having another round of oysters some time in the next few weeks.

Kaki

2. Ochazuke: The waiter poured gyukuro (one of the highest grades of green tea) and dashi (stock) into the wasabi-rimmed glass. This room-temperature mixture  contrasted starkly with the icy umeboshi (plum) sorbet, giving me a brain freeze when I naively shovelled the entire mixture into my mouth. There was crisp rice crust, similar in texture to those Asian rice cracker snacks/ rice puffs.  The flame-seared latchet (fish) was a little jarring - not a contender for favourite entree.

Ochazuke

3. Maguro (yellow fin tuna): This was pretty fun to eat. We were advised to mix everything up on the plate and to have it with the tomato chips. I loved the green olive and buffalo mozzarella drops, which burst open with a light poke.

Maguro

4. Canned Ocean Room (no preservatives!): We were a little stunned when the can was set before us. I was afraid we'd open it to find supermarket tuna or something similarly banal, but I was proven wrong. There was a large variety of seafood inside that little can, including sea urchin, crab, scallop, cuttlefish and salmon pearls. I'd snapped a photo of what was in the can, but it's mysteriously gone missing :S

Canned Ocean Room

5. Onsen (natural hot springs?): When this arrived, my first thought was "Ewwwww vegetables".  They tasted great with that anchovy and garlic oil "bath" in the centre, though. The tea light candle below the oil ensured the dip remained warm, while the black shichimi (seven spice flakes) provided a gritty kick. Interestingly, there was also a small fried riceball (yaki-onigiri).

Onsen

  

Setting sun

 6. Kassen: Selection of fresh sashimi - Loved the variety and quality. The smoked-salmon-in-a-glass was a nice touch.
 

Kassen

 

 

 

 

 7. Foie gras: The thought of offal makes me gag, and thankfully there wasn't much of the foie gras. It was even almost tasty when pan seared (a little bit of char does wonders) and eaten with the soup stock and giant cylinder of stewed daikon.

8. Miso cod: Zucchini flower, miso cod, orange miso and a bit of ginger risotto. Nice, but not memorable (in all fairness, I was also entering a food coma).

9. Butabara (pork belly): This came in a hot plastic bag, which the waiter snipped open. The yuzu chilli ponzu came in a test tube, which was left to us to pour into the bag. The pork belly wasn't as melt-in-your-mouth tender as I expected. Regardless, the hot melting tofu and simmered pork belly made for decent comfort food.

 10. Deconstructed 'Burrito': This was definitely a bit of a filler, with the tornado potato on a stick, sizable slab of wagyu flat iron steak, bits of tortilla, and carby chilli con carne. The steak came medium-rare, which is bloodier than I like, but it meant the beef was very easy to bite into. The tornado potato tasted like soft wedges, so it was hard for me to refrain from eating too much of it.

11. Edo-mae sushi:  3 types of nigiri sushi (sashimi draped on top of rice) which was explained by the waitress to be served without soy sauce because it was already seasoned. The Boy reckoned that it could have done with sauce, in fact, and I would have to agree. It was pretty dry, even eaten with the young ginger. A pity, because it would otherwise have been quite enjoyable.

Bonus round- Birthday cake on the house: Thanks Ocean Room!

12. Hotondo ichigo (almost/ a little strawberry): This was a pot of strawberry mascarpone, with strawberry chips and sweetened beetroot, accompanied by candy and minty lemon air on top of a strawberry. It was all nice except the beetroot. I guess it was meant to act the same way as rhubarb in desserts, but half the glass pot was beetroot, overpowering everything else.

 

Service: Couldn't ask for more. Attentive, friendly, unobtrusive.

Overall impression: Good food, views and atmosphere. We want to return for the a la carte dishes - of particular interest, I saw people grilling meat on top of a cubic BBQ contraption.