The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
3 Ronin is a new Asian-fusion cafe in Spice Alley (Central Park Sydney) with a limited but exciting menu.
The Quinoa & Rice Congee with Poached Salmon, Slow Egg, Shallots & Radish was the highlight of the meal. It was a successful exploration of umami, combining both Winter and Spring themes. We really felt like the congee warmed us up from the inside out, while the coriander and cripsy sour radish provided a fresh Spring feel to it. The salmon reminded us of thick cut, raw smoked salmon that was lightly poached in the warm congee soup, and provided a well balanced protein load for the rest of the dish. The “slow egg” was a highlight of the dish, and something I had never experienced before. The egg yolk was not cooked, but firm and didn’t spill. Absolutely perfect.
I’ve been off baos ever since I had my first baos from a food truck in New Zealand last year, a very bad collection of oversauced disasters. The Waygu Bao ($17.50) was however very good. The brisket was nicely cooked too hard and not to raw. The meaty flavours mixed well with the pickled cabbage and aioli. An overall hit.
This cheesecake style thing was just fine.
Overall i can recommend 3 ronin. I’m a sucker for Asian fusion brunch and the congee is definitely worth a try.
My partner has been trying to get me to go to Kurtosh for a good six months. I was never keen as I’ve had a lot of baked goods in my day, but one day we found ourselves at Kurtosh after we travelled to Albee’s Kitchen only to find it closed.
Kurtosh’s slab cakes are cut from the slab and sold by weight, which is handy because it means you can get a few small pieces of different cakes to try at any time. These were reasonably good but not memorable enough for me to even remember what they were. I think the white one was tiramisu.
The smashed potato roll ($3.80) was good.
One thing that was memorable about Kurtosh was the extra-slow extra-poor service. There were two people working in the store that day, and I think we definitely got the less capable one (although it may have just been an off day for her). It felt pretty unusual being asked to repeat our order 3 times while we were the only people being served.
I think that if you work in Randwick you will eventually find your way to Kurtosh at some point. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’ve just done a 12.5 hour night and the person who’s serving you has too it has the potential to get pretty dicey.
Kürtősh Randwick 20B/20C St Pauls St, Randwick NSW 2031 (02) 9314 5353
Ramen Kaio is a new ramen restaurant that has opened up this month in Crow’s Nest. I was put onto Ramen Kaio by a guy who was previously big in the NSW HSC online forum space in 2010-11. He now works at PwC and I don’t know if he’d appreciate me putting his name on here.
The long and short of it is that Ramen Kaio has some of the best chashu I’ve ever had, and definitely the best that I’ve had in Australia. The chashu absolutely melts in your mouth, and according to their Facebook page they flame sear their meat just before serving.
I had the spicy ramen with level 3 spiciness and extra chashu. The level 3 was not as spicy as I would have liked, but I had to accommodate my partner who is less spice tolerant. The soup flavours were good, and I also enjoyed the included bamboo and bean sprouts which I thought I would have to pay extra for. I can definitely recommend getting extra chashu. It’s not that there’s not enough in the standard dish (indeed there is, they purposely cover half the bowl with it), it’s just that it’s so good.
Ramen Kiao Black Garlic Ramen
The black garlic ramen was my partner’s pick, and one that we were less enthused by. The flavour was good, with a rich cooked garlic taste, but unfortunately we found the ramen as a whole to be too oily. I suspect that’s part and parcel of getting a black garlic ramen, and if it had been less oily it wouldn’t have been so garlicky. I would not get this particular dish again, but understand that others may like it.
I found the gyoza at Ramen Kaio to be underwhelming. There were only 4 for $7 or $8, and the flavour was quite mild and unexciting.
We also had the karaage chicken at Ramen Kiao. I liked that it wasn’t as battered as most, and the large chunks of chicken, but otherwise it was not special. My partner liked it less than me.
Overall I think Ramen Kaio does one thing well, and that’s their great cha-shu. None of the other stuff we tried really stood out. I’d recommend giving the place a visit, just for their cha-shu ramen alone. Save your money and skip the sides and the $9 beer.
Nam2 (Nam Squared) is a pan-south-east-Asian restaurant located in Green Square. A quick Google tells me that it is related in terms of ownership and management to Mr Nam, one of my favourite Vietnamese restaurants in the South Sydney area. Nam2 also happens to be co-owned by the husband of one of the people I work with, but rest assured this will be a fully objective review.
Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this is a takeaway review.
The Rare Beef Saigon Pho ($14) is very good. The flavours are on point and the beef the perfect done-ness, which is rare for delivery pho. There is an ample provision of bean sprouts and leaves, which is again often lacking for delivered pho. According to my colleague this is a borrowed specialty from Mr Nam. I can recommend this dish.
The Lot Noodle Salad
I enjoyed most elements of The Lot Noodle Salad ($17). It features crispy pork belly (TBH only ok), BBQ chicken (also ok), lemongrass beef (good!) and a spring roll, and while some of these elements are not so strong by themselves, the combination of all four elements is synergistic and ensures one never gets bored. The vermicelli is soft and fresh, and the remaining salad elements – herbs, carrot, and daikon, really bring the dish together. Would recommend.
Nam’s fried rice
Nam’s fried rice ($19) was probably the most disappointing part of the meal. It is advertised to feature spanner crab, brown butter, egg roe, and salted egg shaving, however most of these elements (apart from the tobiko) seemed missing in action. It was difficult to identify any crab or salted egg shavings. The flavour overall was OK, and I did appreciate that it was not too salty, but as the most expensive dish that we tried it was really quite underwhelming.
Saigon Spring Rolls
The Saigon Spring Rolls (4 for $8) were good and I thought much more fairly priced than at Mr Nam. No complaints here.
Nam’s Dry Suki Seafood
The Nam’s Dry Suki Seafood ($19) with glass noodle, egg, mushroom, and “Chinese kale” was good. The flavours were quite nice, and I enjoyed the noodle and mix of seafoods. I didn’t enjoy the mussel but I don’t enjoy mussel in general.
Chicken Nyonya Laksa
The Chicken Nyonya Laksa ($14) is very good. Very similar to Mr Nam’s, if not identical. I liked this so much that I actually bought this for a mate and brought it to work for him for overnight dinner.
Overall I think Nam2 is worth a try. Their food is quite good, and they do have some $10 meal deal specials on weeknights for those who want to pick up the food themselves. I am also glad that there is no markup for DoorDash, which is a rare treat. I will order from here again.
UPDATE, DECEMBER 2020
We had the pleasure of having our work Christmas dinner at Nam2. I won’t go through all of the things we ate but it was a very extensive banquet menu with two courses of dessert that are not pictured here.
The highlights of the meal were the shrimp in betel leaf, scallop on XO sauce and vermicelli, deep fried barramundi, beef skewers, vegetarian stir fry (believe it or not), deep fried shrimp in dipping sauce, the spring rolls, and the egg atop the stir fried beef dish. If you have a chance to order any of these dishes a la carte I highly recommend it. I also take back my previous comment about Nam’s fried rice – I could definitely identify the spanner crab pieces this time.
Cafe Mckenzie is one of the new cafes that has opened up across the road from Prince of Wales Hospital. I first ate at Cafe Mckenzie while picking my partner up after a night shift, and then again after an interview (results pending).
Beef Brisket Hash
My partner really likes the Beef Brisket Hash ($19). She eats at Cafe Mckenzie with her colleagues sometimes and she tells me she’s had the dish five or so times in total. She’s a big fan of potato, which this dish has plenty of, so I think her feelings may be a bit skewed. I enjoyed the fresh radish, which is not something I normally go for. The beef brisket was yummy, and the poached eggs and beetroot relish provided a good balance for the more oily, heavier components. I can recommend this dish.
Lemon Ricotta Hotcake
Mandarin is one of the fruits that I never think to eat, but often enjoy when I try. The menu sells the Lemon Ricotta Hotcake ($18) with raspberry and lemon butter short. It’s topped with fresh raspberries and mandarin, which help to freshen up the pancake. The hotcake itself was soft and fluffy, and the flavours all blended together successfully. Maybe only a little bit too sweet.
Chicken Baguette
The Chicken Baguette ($12) with lemon poached chicken, mayo, avocado, shallots was quite good. Upon general inspection I was worried that the bread would be too hard, but the first bite allayed my fears completely. The bread was fresh , warm and crisp. The chicken filling was mild but good, and the surprise rocket was a nice addition. This baguette reminded me of the first time I had had rocket, which was back in 2011 during an open day at UNSW. I had purchased a chicken rocket sandwich from Biblio outside the Matthews Food Court for the exorbitant (for a high schooler) price of $7, which I enjoyed so much that I started buying rocket all the time for the rest of the year.
The Triple Cheese and Mushroom Toastie
I can’t believe how happy I am to spend $14 on a toastie. The Triple Cheese and Mushroom Toastie ($14) with mixed mushroom, gruyere, parmigiano reggiano, ricotta, dijon and thyme is one of the highlights of Cafe Mckenzie. The flavours are complex and delicious, and the quality is very consistent. The pickles on the side were a delightful surprise, and I wonder if it would help for these guys to actually start advertising all of the components of their food. Great for a quick breakfast. Can recommend.
The Lamb Meatball Soup ($17) with freekeh, tomato, lemon, toast is strong, but perhaps the weakest of a very strong bunch. I thought the soup was a bit sour, and we could’ve used a bit more bread keeping in mind just how much soup there was. The meatballs were delicious and I think this would be a good dish on a cold day. The soup and bread actually comes with Pepe Saya butter, which again I feel is worth mentioning on the menu, as it is a premium component.
THOUGHTS (2020)
I am a Cafe Mckenzie Stan. If POW gives me a job for next year I suspect I’ll find myself here very very often. I think they would be perhaps even more successful if they added all of the secret elements of their food onto the menu. There’s no reason not to advertise that they serve Pepe Saya butter, or keep the rocket a surprise. 10/10.
UPDATE (2022)
I never did get that job, and ended up spending the next two years working in Western Sydney. My partner however was lucky and skilled enough to be chosen for a Eastern Suburbs training program, and I found myself back here with her and her colleagues after their run of nights. I think it is important to mention that they were happy to serve their lunch (11AM and onwards) menu to us at 9:30AM.
Along with a redo of the triple cheese and mushroom toastie (still fantastic, by the way), we also had the fattoush salad ($16) with optional grilled chickenbreast ($9, hence $25 all up). This fattoush was perhaps the best I’ve ever had, and that’s spoken having lived as a working adult with access to food delivery apps in Western Sydney and now Sydney’s South West for four years now. I loved the freshness of all of the components, especially the variety of herbs (some combination of mint, parsley, and/or coriander) within. The chicken breast was an expensive addition, but reasonably well done with a tender, juicy, and tasty result. The total cost ($25) was reasonable despite the large cost of the chicken due to the quite good pricing of the non-proteinaceous base salad. Quite good!
I don’t know if this is made in-house or from an external vendor, but this passionfruit and raspberry cake ($6) was really quite nice. A bit on the sweeter side, but great moistness and combination of fruity flavours.
