Category: Cuisines

Categories
Asian Fusion Café

Henry Lee’s – Redfern NSW Cafe Review

My partner will freely volunteer that I don’t usually pay much attention to my surroundings, both whilst eating, and also in general. Henry Lee’s was a bit of an exception – I thought it was a cool use of an old factory space – very Melbourne-esque – , with a nice sunny internal courtyard that we ate in.

Purple Fields + Soft Shell Crab

My partner picked The Purple Fields ($18) (braised broccoli, sweet corn, garlic & parsley puree, scrambled eggs, prosciutto dust, crispy fried kale, marinated feta served on sourdough) with an additional soft shelled crab ($5). I was nervous about the choice as it was one of the least appealing items on the menu for me, but I did not speak out. I did not enjoy this dish outside of the scrambled eggs and soft shelled crab. I did not enjoy the taste of the braised broccoli, and I could not identify the prosciutto dust (from a marketing perspective, why not just omit this unidentifiable meat component and just mark it as vegetarian?). The sourdough also got quite soggy with the scrambled eggs sitting on it. The only saving grace was that we spent an additional $5 on a soft shelled crab, which was fried nicely but I felt had a bit of a bitter taste (my partner did not share this concern.) Overall a $23 that I would rather not have spent.

The Benny Munro

The Benny Munro ($21) (Five spice braised pork belly, purple slaw,
turmeric pickled zucchini and crispy prosciutto with poached eggs & chipotle hollandaise, served on sweet corn & cauliflower croquettes) I enjoyed significantly more. The chipotle hollandaise, poached eggs, and slaw were a good combination. I did enjoy the single pickled zucchini that was allocated to me. One of the things I will mention is that when you order a dish with pork belly as the first ingredient listed you would assume that it would be a main component of the show. Instead what we got was two very small, somewhat dry pieces of pork belly, one under each egg. Having had a really good pork belly at The Cupping Room in Canberra in 2017, a dish that uses pork belly to its full potential, I expected much different and much better.

Hot beverages are one of the places where Henry Lee’s shines. I had the Tea Latte (left -$5), which was a lavender infused earl grey latte. It was my first tea latte (excluding the million chais), and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed both the taste as well as the flower petal presentation. My partner had the Aztec Chili Hot Chocolate (right – $7) and it even came with a real chili! I was not sold on it but she enjoyed it a lot.

I went to Henry Lee’s today in search of Asian fusion brunch food, but ended up leaving disappointed. In retrospect I should’ve delved further rather than take the name at face value – it’s a reference to a Nick Cave song – and realised that while the menu had some Asian fusion elements these were more of an afterthought.

3/5

Henry Lee’s
16 Eveleigh St, Redfern NSW 2016

Henry Lee's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Bakery Café Dessert Korean

La Vigne – Eastwood NSW Cafe Review

La Vigne, with a name you probably shouldn’t say in front of your mother, is one of Eastwood’s many places to get a bingsu on a hot Summer’s day. The surprisingly large cafe features two internal dining areas separated by a sun-drenched courtyard (very warm).

I enjoyed the mango bingsu with flavoured ice, mango, mango sauce and cake blocks. My partner, the driving force behind our recent bingsu binges, was less pleased with the artificial taste of the mango sauce, though this didn’t stop us from finishing the whole thing.

The citron pastry was not very good.

The chocolate cream puff was quite good, though I didn’t expect it to have chocolate filling.

During a subsequenttrip to La Vigne with colleagues KSEL, ACHT, KS, MJC we had the mixed fruit and red bean bingsu ($25). I think it was better than just plain mango, and despite it having red bean my partner might have liked it more.

Overall I can recommend a quick visit to La Vigne to a friend or colleague.

La Vigne
82 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122
(02) 9858 3005

Categories
European

Cafe Paci – Newtown NSW Restaurant Review

My partner and I have been having a lot of Japanese food recently, so the decision was made to change it up a bit. We took inspiration from some instagram foodies and decided to hit up Cafe Paci in Newtown for a rainy day lunch.

rye taco with ox tongue and sauerkraut ($10 ea)

First of all, we were totally upsold on this rye taco with ox tongue and sauerkraut ($10 ea). We had originally decided on sharing the one taco between the two of us, however with some nudging from our waitress I caved and we ended up spending $20 for 2. I really loved the warmth and soft texture of the sourdough tortilla, which was completely unexpected. The thinly sliced ox tongue mixed well with the sauerkraut flavour and cream, and overall the taco made a nice and warm and wholesome morsel. My partner however didn’t agree, didn’t like it very much, and thought that we could’ve done with only half each. She therefore lied when the waitress came back and was like, “see! I told you one wouldn’t have been enough!”

Chicken liver Paris-Brest, almond, w’ onion jam ($18)

This Chicken liver Paris-Brest, almond, w’ onion jam ($18) is probably the most photographed sandwich I’ve seen over the past weekend. It is basically a sandwich made of a huge volume of pate, and an overwhelming quantity of onion jam. The bread I enjoyed, and I also enjoyed the thick cut almonds atop it. The pate had a smooth mouthfeel and a strong flavour, however I felt the overall balance of the dish was upset as the quantity of the rich pate was far too great for the quantity of the bread. The Paris-Brest seems to be quite well received, so perhaps this is an issue of personal taste rather than of objective fact. I would’ve liked more bread.

Potato dumpling with XO trout ($26)

Next was the Potato dumpling with XO trout ($26). I am actually offended by this dish. In my language when someone says dumpling this generally involves a bit of pastry wrapped around a filling. Knowing this, I fully expected some kind of potato-based dumpling wrapper with an XO trout filling. What I got instead were GNOCCHI. Why not use the word gnocchi? How is the term “potato dumpling” more descriptive than “gnocchi”? What’s worse, the XO trout was actually just XO sauce MADE FROM trout. Again I fully expected a substantial quantity of fish.

To be honest though, getting past the initially disappointment of not really getting what was described and what I expected, the dish was not bad. My partner certainly enjoyed it a lot – she is a big fan of potato after all. The gnocchi was soft, sweet, sticky, and had a delicate and mild flavour. The XO sauce, seemingly made of trout but not containing much trout was quite good, tangy, and not as spicy as most XO sauces are. If I were to name this dish with a bit more integrity I would have called it “Gnocchi in XO sauce made with trout.”

Mortadella ravioli with fermented chili butter ($26)

This Mortadella ravioli with fermented chili butter ($26) was so delicious that it deserved two photos. The ravioli pasta itself was very al dente, something odd for me to enjoy as I usually prefer my pasta softer. The physical strength of the pasta was of course to protect the stronghold of flavour within. The ravioli, once bitten, releases a burst of chilli cheesiness that overwhelms the palate with umami. This was a truly delicious dish, and I wanted to mop up every last drop of the chili sauce. I did manage to stop myself from licking the plate.

Pain Perdue with cardamom caramel & vanilla ($15)

The Pain Perdue with cardamom caramel & vanilla ($15) is a piece of bread coated in a crispy caramelised outer surface, served with vanilla ice cream. It was quite sweet, but we enjoyed the contrast in flavour, warmth, and texture betwen the ice cream and the bread. It had a nice cardamom taste to it, however I probably wouldn’t get it again for $15.

Overall I had a pretty good time at Cafe Paci. The ravioli with fermented chilli butter and the ox tongue tortillas were definitely the standouts, the others were forgettable, and I would even go so far as to recommend avoiding the chicken liver Paris-Brest. They also had a $60 roasted whole duck which looked amazing on the table next to us. Perhaps we’d come back just for that.

3.5/5 (too many misses).

Cafe Paci
131 King St, Newtown NSW 2042
(02) 9550 6196

Categories
Chinese 四川 (Sìchuān/Sichuan) 重庆 (Chóngqìng/Chongqing)

ChongQing Street Noodle (猫婆小面) – Emerald Square, Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

I really wanted to like Chongqing Street Noodle in Emerald Square Burwood, but I just didn’t.

The main spicy noodles were good but we didn’t really enjoy any of the sides.

Beef was super dry, salty but otherwise tasteless.

The sides were basically disappointment after disappointment, with no hits.

The crumbed and fried sweet potato was particularly disappointing. 

Ultimately no dice. I wouldn’t recommend 猫婆小面 Chongqing Street Noodle. Go somewhere else.

2.5/5

ChongQing Street Noodle (猫婆小面) Burwood
31 Belmore St, Burwood NSW 2134
0414 698 838

Categories
Chinese

Shanghai Dumpling Bar – Spice Alley, Chippendale NSW Restaurant Review

Shanghai Dumpling Bar is one of many small street-food vendors tucked away in Spice Alley in Chippendale. We visited after Monkey’s Corner so that I could bring some food home for my partner who made the wise decision not to come out.

Green pork and chive boiled dumplings – 6 for $8.80

I ordered only one serving of green pork and chive boiled dumplings (6 for $8.80), although they snuck in an extra one for free. Service was quick, with a sub 5 minute wait for freshly cooked dumplings.

I thought that the filling was very tasty and genuine. I loved that they had the option of boiled or pan-fried dumplings, as most place will only offer the option of steamed or pan-fried. I’ve always felt that boiled dumplings are the most wholesome, and they’re also the kind that I grew up with. While the filling was good I did feel like the green coloured dough was a bit gimmicky, however respect that perhaps that’s what it takes to draw in a largely Caucasian customer base in the Sydney CBD. I also thought that the dough was a bit thick, however the delicious juicy filling made up for it. Of the eight dumplings I had, around half were broken, however despite this their flavour was not watered down too much.

I can recommend the green dumplings at Shanghai Dumpling Bar to a friend or colleague, however cannot speak for the other foods on offer.

Shanghai Dumpling Bar
18-20 Kensington St, Sydney NSW