Category: Cuisines

Categories
Japanese

Gold Class Daruma – Sydney NSW Omakase Restaurant Review

After an aborted attempt at omakase at Gold Class Daruma during the COVID-19 delta outbreak in 2021, my partner and I were finally able to make our way there to experience Chef Yuta Nakamura’s lunch omakase in early 2022.

We started with some kind of beverage. I don’t really know what to tell you. I only had a small sip. I’ve kind of stopped drinking.

Our appetizer was a small, four shaped star plate with tiger prawn, octopus, and spicy cod roe. The cod roe sack was served slightly torched, and though found it to have too strong and salty a flavour for my liking, much preferring such sea eggs mixed with land eggs in a sort of mentai mayo execution. The octopus and prawn were much milder and more enjoyable, with a nice nuttiness exhibited by the prawn and a kind of olive-oil flavour from the tender octopus.

Our next dish was a sashimi dish featuring kingfish, salmon, mildly seared tuna, and seaweed, smoked in front of us on the bench. The smoked flavour was present though ultimately missable if the whole affair didn’t occur before our eyes. The seaweed had an unexpected but appealing apple-like flavour.

Next up was grilled alfonsino collar, though its identity remained a mystery to both us and the diners next to us for some time. It was only when we asked Chef Yuta to repeat himself that he brought out his labelled diagram of the fish and the guy next to me stopped pretending to know what it was. This part of the alfonsino, also known as imperador, was quite oily and mildly fishy. My partner and I were not the biggest fans of this for the fish itself, but we did appreciate the seasoning as well as the yummy pickles that accompanied it.

I’ve never been disappointed by chawanmushi, and this iteration with abalone was no exception, with its silky warming texture and strongly umami flavours.

This is a box of sea creatures about to be placed on rice, divided between four patrons. The fact that Chef Yuta, arguably the most popular chef at Gold Class Daruma, only had the four of us for his lunch seating is quite interesting, as it means that it is difficult for them to achieve the economies of scale that omakase chefs with booked out seatings of six or even eight diners can achieve.

On offer nigiri-wise was a selection of alfonsino, bonito, see eel, paradise prawn, oyster, scallop, kingfish, travelly, cuttlefish, and o-toro. All pieces of nigiri were of a top standard, with fresh fish and perfect warm rice. The cuttlefish did not tickle my partner’s fancy, and she had quite a visceral reaction to its slimy texture, though I personally enjoyed how creamy it was. The bonito was an extremely soft mouthful, and kingfish belly was aburied to further accentuate its oiliness more.

I’m long thought that I might be mildly allergic to raw crustaceans, but steeled myself for my encounter with this raw paradise prawn, which proved to be sweet and non-deadly. The aburi scallop was served with yuzu kosho on top.

The nigiri course was interrupted by a small ikura hand roll.

The nigiri course was capped off with o-otoro topped with caviar, and a great grilled sea eel nigiri that was surprisingly meaty with a non-oily, flaky texture.

The sea urchin and mashed tuna hand roll, with tuna mashed before our eyes was quite good and of an equal standard to other rolls served at other restaurants. I will note that unlike competitors Kuon and Hachijoi Chef Yuta chose to separate the ikura from the uni and toro, serving them as two rolls rather than combined into one.

The miso soup, nearing the end of our meal had a sweet, tare-like flavour.

I didn’t really go to Gold Class Daruma expecting an amazing dessert, and my expectations were therefore fulfilled when we received this mixed plate of yuzu sorbet (good but I feel like it was probably from a tub – happy to be corrected), red bean (which my partner, red-bean hater, liked), matcha cake (quite good actually), and yuzu jelly (which tasted like nothing).

THOUGHTS
For $110 pp I feel that Chef Yuta’s omakase at Gold Class Daruma is pretty reasonable. I must admit though that I didn’t love the smoked dish, the mentaiko, or the dessert, and it is highly possible that Gold Class Daruma’s reasonably priced a la carte offerings (ie. $50 for 10 piece nigiri from Chef Yuta) may be even better.

I’d still go again, either for a la carte or for omakase by one of the other chefs.

Gold Class Daruma
The Grace Sydney, Level 1/77 York St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9262 1190

Categories
Chinese

Master Hot Pot – Eastwood NSW Restaurant Review

Contrary to what would be suggested by its name, Master Hot Pot is actually not a hotpot restaurant – it’s as malatang restaurant, and one of the only restaurants vaguely in the local area that opens late enough to go to after finishing work at 9:30PM.

The selection of meats, vegetables, tofu, seafood, and seafood based products at Master Hot Pot is broad. Patrons have the option of boiled or stir fried, with different bases to choose from as well. Seasoning is left up to the individual, with a station of condiments and sprinkles to be hand applied. There is therefore no blaming the restaurant if your bowl doesn’t taste exactly as you like.

There is a reasonable array of both non-alcoholic (think ITOEN ice green tea) and alcoholic (soju and beer) drinks to suit the local Asian populace.

Perhaps the most special thing about Master Hot Pot is that they are open until 2AM in the morning. They’re one of the only stores in the area to do so, and so when we visited at 11PM they were jam packed with local Asians of all descriptions having their late night dinner. Despite this, the restaurateurs manage to keep the facility clean and well kempt, as well as keep up with the mass of orders at a reasonable pace.

It’s a good place to be.

Master Hot Pot Eastwood
202 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122
(02) 9804 7900

Categories
Dessert

Pidapipó – Melbourne VIC Restaurant Review

We had some ice cream at Pidapipó’s Degraves St store after walking past a few times during our week in Melbourne.

My overall impression is that if this is peak Melbourne ice cream, then peak Melbourne ice cream is at least five years behind Sydney. The hot cross bun flavour was our favourite, and we appreciated that most of the flavours we had were not too sweet, but we felt that there was an overall lack of specialness. The waffle cones were mass market, from The Original Cone Company, and along with the ice cream itself didn’t quite reach the level of artisanship, even when compared to a Sydney chain like Gelato Messina, let alone a specialty store like Mapo.

I would invite any Melbourne-based ice cream enthusiasts to Mapo before leaving angry comments down below. If Pidapipó is in fact not top-tier Melbourne ice cream, please also feel free to correct me with your alternative suggestion.

Pidapipó CBD
8 Degraves St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Categories
Malaysian

Nanyang Malaya Cafe – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

Opening up a restaurant in close proximity to other restaurants of a similar theme can be a bit of a double-edge sword. While you may very well attract patrons of your neighbouring restaurants for their next meal in the area, you will also invariably invite comparisons between you and the three other modern-ish Asian diners with whom you are lined up with in a row. This is a comparison that Nanyang Malaya Cafe handles well.

We started with the chicken wings (6 for $10). I thought that I had gotten my photo in before my partner could steal one, but this photo is clearly evidence to the contrary. These were pretty good, marinated in a spicy curry-like marinade and coated in a crispy light starch batter (which contrasts with the breading used in most Western styles of fried chicken). The meat beneath the batter was suitably moist, though probably not at the 99th percentile of moistness as far as fried chickens go. The Terasi chilli sauce was a bit shrimpy but still enjoyed by my partner, which is a success in and of itself. The pickled vegetables were welcome but would not have been missed were they not present.

The Hainanese chicken ($21) was a pretty reasonable amount of food for the price, presented in a keto-friendly arrangement of just the good proteinaceous and vegetable bits without any chicken rice or soup (it is available also as a set for those who like the classics). The chicken had quite a mild flavour but was helped along by the solid ginger and chilli sauces, and I felt this was overall quite a good option.

The curry puffs (2 for $9) are a bit smaller than at Albee’s, less elaborate in their filling, but in no way worse overall. They came with a simple filling of potato, chicken, and curry, but with good flavour with an unexpected hint of star anise. The puff pastry was light and flaky, and this was ultimately quite a pleasurable puff.

The curry fish fillet ($26) came as a large pot of ling fillet cooked with vegetables (ocra – to my partner’s dismay, beans ,onions, and tomato) in a yellow curry. The use of ling as the protein was commendable as I’m sure they would’ve gotten away with a cheaper fish like basa, though the ling did exhibit a stronger (and welcome) texture which you wouldn’t otherwise get. The flavour of the curry was thoroughly enjoyable, if not really soaked up by the fish, and I think this dish would have been even better with some rice.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
I enjoyed everything I ate at Nanyang Malaya Cafe, and had a much better time overall than when I ate at its neighbouring modern-Asian restaurant. I can recommend a visit.

Nanyang Malaya Cafe
Marrickville Metro G001, 20 Smidmore St, Marrickville NSW 2204
0422 598 037

Categories
American

Harvey’s Hot Sandwiches – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

Part of the Parramatta Square redevelopment, Harvey’s Hot Sandwiches promises to bring American-style submarine sandwiches to the rapidly gentrifying slums of Western Sydney.

The Beef Dip Sub ($16) was one of the more unique subs on the menu, featuring a submarine sandwich of heavy onion, beef fillet, horseradish mayo, and lots of provolone cheese served with a small tub of dipping gravy. The sandwich itself was reminiscent of a backyard barbeque, with strong onion flavours and tender beef. The gravy was thin and salty, and though I was keen to try a sandwich dipped in gravy I must admit not many of my bites were dipped. It didn’t add much.

The Nashville Hot Chicken Sub ($16) was the better of the two subs that we had. The chicken was freshly fried and juicy, with good moistness maintained throughout the sub thanks to a healthy smattering of vinegar slaw, pickles, and sauce. We had the medium spicy option (damn hot), which we felt was not very spicy at all, though your tastebuds may vary. Though a good sandwich overall, I am still more partial to the hot chicken sandwiches at Belle’s Hot Chicken (though this is a good Western Sydney alternative).

My girlfriend has never walked past a potato and not eaten it, and so for us Harvey’s Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad ($4) was just destiny. Though we are usually fans of salt and vinegar on potatoes, we felt that this offering was really only okay. The flavouring was actually a bit mild for us, though we did appreciate the dill scattered on top which added an additional layer of flavour.

The Creaming Soda Float ($7) with house made vanilla ice cream was great. I always appreciate when a restaurant’s menu says house made rather than home made (unless the food is being made in a home).

OVERALL
Not bad, a bit more fancy than your local Subway, but it’s going to be a tough sell getting your general Western Sydney guys to spend $16 on a sandwich. That said, there are still a few that I want to eat.

Harvey’s Hot Sandwiches
Parramatta Square Shop 4, 05/12 Darcy St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 9169 0838