Ah, Sydney. I was iffy about you at first but grew to appreciate you and your temperate San Francisco-eque weather, neverending shelves of Tim Tams, and overall walkability. Let’s say g’bye with a little Sydney potpourri.

Let’s start with a hit. Bondi Beach.

Really, truly one of – if not THE – nicest city beach I’ve ever seen.

Next for a miss – the pizza at Bondi Beach.

Looks delicious, tastes mediocre. Crust was not so good.

Hit – the bruschetta bread. A wee bit salty but look at all of that tomato goodness.

Hit – Blue Mountains. Sweeping forests, blue skies in all directions. This is where I bought wombat.

Miss – The tour company we were with. Snoozefest tour guide, YUCKY gross-tastic Chinese food for lunch (that the tour company made us go to), and overly rushed schedule.

Hit – The Featherdale Zoo where you can pet a koala and feed a kangaroo.

Miss – Wagyu burger with the overdone patty.

Hit – Hefty turkey and avocado wrap with cranberry sauce from the deli downstairs from our hotel. Yum.

Miss – Octopus balls from the I Heart Taiwan restaurant. In general was only so-so about the food here. Not the best I’ve ever had but definitely would not recommend to others.

Hit then a Miss – Kebabs on the street in Sydney. Man I love these. All warm and delicious and nicely wrapped and vaguely reminiscent of a burrito. Tzatziki dripping all over and everythang. Then it made my stomach gurgle in weird ways and I feared for my plane trip. Luckily, I was fine but got real worried for a minute.

Hit – International rendezvous with friends. Here’s us at the Olympic stadium.

Where to next?

Analog Käse . Eine Delikatesse in aller Munde?

Ein Kunstkäse macht Schlagzeilen. Analog – Nein, nicht ISDN – Käse. Pflanzenfett und Geschmacksverstärker gaukeln dem Konsumenten echten “Käsegeschmack” vor. Die Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg hat einen Check durchgeführt, um diesen Kunstkäse, Neppkäse – auch Käseimitat genannt – zu entlarven.

Analog-Käse – zählt dazu jetzt auch Schmelzkäse (hat Omma immer gern dick aufs Brot gestrichen und ist trotzdem 86 geworden) oder Scheiblette?

Also müsste es dann auch korrekt beim nächsten Drive-In heißen: Bitte einen “Double-Analog-Burger”?

Um dieser Diskussion aus dem Wege zu gehen, fahre ich demnächst nach England, genauer gesagt nach London, zum Burger King Gloucester Road.

Ich hoffe, es gibt dort immer noch den “teuersten Burger der Welt” – mit Wagyu Beef, weißen Trüffeln, Tempura Zwiebeln, Pata Negra Streifen, Feldsalat, Balsamico, Himalaya Salz, Bio Wein Mayo und einem Brötchen mit Iran-Safran und Trüffel-Staub…

Den lasse ich mir dann schmecken – zum Schnäppchenpreis von € 105 wohlgemerkt.

Neil Perry’s Rockpool (fish) restaurant in Sydney has been named in Restaurant Magazine’s highly anticipated 2008 list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for the seventh consecutive year. With Spain’s El Bulli being voted as the world’s best restaurant, Rockpool (fish) was ranked 49 on the list.  Tetsuya was the only other Australian restaurant to be included, highly ranked at number 9.

I was looking forward to trying out her sister restaurant, Rockpool Bar and Grill in Melbourne then which received two chefs hat from the Good Food Guide which is Australia’s gourmet bible.

 
(This picture came from the back side of the menu)

Rockpool Melbourne fuses the Rockpool philosophy of sourcing the finest quality in produce with a classic North American steakhouse.  It is different from Rockpool Sydney which focuses on presenting a total fine dining experience.

It’s dedication to steaks is exhibited with its ‘dry ageing’ room for its meat. Here various cuts of differing breeds of beef are kept close to 0 degrees centigrade with very low humidity for up to 40 days in order to tenderize the meat and fully develop its flavor.

The best food here is often the simplest, a ham platter, grilled king prawns or one of the signature dishes on the menu like dry aged Grass Fed Beef and 9+ marble score Wagyu.

Our orders :

Four Raw Tastes of the Sea Aud 26 – (right to left ) Kingfish, Salmon, Tuna and Squid

Ham and Salami Tasting Plate Aud 35

Fratelli Beretta (Italy)

Joselido Iberica Jamon (Spain) – best ham in the world

Serano – 7 Brothers (Spain)

San Daniele Prosciutto (Italy) – better than the popular Parma ham

Chorizo Rodriguez (NSW)

David Blackmore’s Full Blood Wagyu Hamburger with Bacon, Gruyere Cheese and Zuni Pickle  $18.00 – Juicy juicy burger. In the running as best burger in Melbourne by other food bloggers. Need to try out more to compare. But it is a d@#n good burger!

Greenham’s Dry Aged 36 month old grass fed beef

Rib-Eye on the Bone 350g 36 days Aud49.00 – Perfectly charred medium well. Very tender and juicy. Comes with several condiments which aren’t really needed. Just the lemon wedge is perfect.

It is evident that Rockpool Melbourne is a steak restaurant from the dry-ageing room to the large picture of the cow on one side of the menu, but Rockpool Melbourne is not all about steak. Rockpool has put together a ‘comprehensive “ocean to plate” seafood program that enables them to deliver the best quality fish in the world.’  The fish are all dry-filleted to prevent leaching of the flavours. You can read all about Rockpool’s philosophy from their website.

Lobster Salad with Gazpacho Sauce Aud 38 

Grilled King Prawns split and marinated Aud 30 - simply prepared  again with just a lemon wedge on the side. 

Seared Crisp Barramundi with Baby Peas Braised with Tomatoes and Chilli Aud 39 - Best fish dish I had so far. Perfectly cooked, it was so moist inside with flakes falling off.

Strawberry Salad with Vanilla Panacotta and Rose Granita Aud 16

Summary : Rockpool’s cooking is based on the ethos that  ‘the cornerstone of good cooking is to source the finest produce’ . Uncomplicated, simple preparations rather than innovative cooking, the produce quality does shine through with every dish. .

What I also liked about Rockpool Melbourne is that they offer an a la carte menu that has a wide range of options that suit different palates and price range. From the 200g Blackmore Wagyu ribeye steak at $110 to the rest of the mains which are mostly $29 – $50. There’s also the more reasonably priced bar menu with mains at $16 – $25.

I went into Rockpool expecting an overhyped, overrated restaurant. I came out singing its praises.

Rating : Love it
Food   : Have your pick. I would go for the steak and barramundi again.

Rockpool Bar and Grill.  
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank VIC 3006
Tel :   +61 3 8648 1900      

Lunch out among three food bloggers can get pretty complicated. It needs to be a place no one has been to so that we could blog about it, somewhere in Makati for a quick lunch out and someplace all three of us agree on. A few names were tossed around, Coco Cafe, Sala Bistro, a few resto’s in Greenbelt 5. Shella, Hiro and I finally agreed to have a food trip at Gaster’s Deli. Lori’s writeup on Gaster’s Deli helped convince Shella and I to try out the place.

Gaster’s Deli had several impressive wine chiller’s to the left of the main door. There are several stands of deli merchandise such as italian pasta, anchovies, olive oil etc… We were here for the food though. As I sat down, I eagerly scanned through the menu. I already knew what I wanted having ‘researched’ before coming to the place. I scanned through again for the second time… and again… Where is the barramundi? Or the Tenderloin fillet with red wine jus, foie gras and truffle butter OR the osso bucco which Lori had declared as the best in Manila. They were not on the menu and the waiter confirmed that they had been taken out. Too expensive perhaps? Not saleable to the lunch crowd? I saw a lot of pastas, sandwiches and steaks. Not really my cup of tea and I guess Shella did not get too excited with the menu either so agreed to split a pumpkin soup and a wagyu foie gras burger.

Pumpkin Soup Php116 – Bland, no flavor, spices or saltiness. Grabbed for the salt and pepper shakers to fix it up but it was a lost cause.

Gaster Wagyu Burger Php600 – This is my half of the burger which I had split with Shella. This tasted like an ordinary burger to me. The foie gras tasted livery and had a tofu texture inside. The aioli was old and had a different color to it already.

Kurobota Pork Belly Php380 - Hiro was definitely luckier. He managed to order a better dish. The pork belly was tender and cooked ‘Chinese’ style braised in soy sauce and sugar. Quite good.

It was good that all three of us were busy chatting away so the food was not my main focus.

Summary : Gaster Deli’s menu has changed. Seems to me that they have gone down the road of compromising their food for commercialness sake.

Rating : One Nighter
Food   : Nothing in particular from what we ordered.

Gaster’s Deli
Ground Floor, 6750 Building
Makati
Tel : 632 8136750