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.
My partner’s recent obsession with bingsu took us to Strathfield’s LAB Bakery for our fourth snowy treat in as many weeks.
Unfortunately LAB Bakery’s freaky looking Oreo Bingsu was the worst that we’ve had in recent memory. Visually it was quite striking, but not in a good way. The dish essentially consists of a bowl of milky shaved ice with layers of oreo crumb and chocolate sauce, topped with an additional layer of the same. Above this there is a scoop of vanilla ice cream and the choice use of mini oreos and chocolate sauce to make a spooky looking face.
Despite its nightmarish appearance, this bingsu’s edibility is its biggest problem. Crumbs of oreo do not, in fact, mix well with milk snow, nor do they mix well with the back of the throat. Each mouthful was like choking on a glass of sandy unmixed Milo, and unlike Milo there was no flavour hit to numb the pain.
As hinted to in their name, LAB Bakery does not only do bingsu, but also does breads. We indulged in two of their cream puffs ($1) each, which were room temperature pastry balls filled with a vanilla custard cream. These are a bit larger than the puffs at Emperor’s Garden, and their filling is cold, not warm. They are tasty and priced at just the right price point for a small afternoon snack.
VERDICT Do not get LAB’s Oreo Bingsu. Just don’t do it. Get anything but it. Get some of their breads instead.
SUBSEQUENT THOUGHTS, 2023
Korean Garlic Bread is great.
Whatever this thing was, slightly chocolate, was not.
Casoni is one of the nicest meals I’ve had in some time. The menu was described to us as “Modern Italian”, with a selection of Italian staples fused with some Japanese inspiration.
We started with the Wattle Seed Flatbread ($6). Originally our choice of topping was going to be the salmon roe, however as they were out of stock we had to improvise. After the reassurance of our host that the serving of bread would be “quite generous” and suited to having two sides/toppings, I chose the ortiz anchovies ($6) and green garlic burrata ($10). While the bread was warm, soft, fragrant and delicious, it turns out that “quite generous” was a straight out lie. I would not characterise the bread as being suited to having two toppings. One was more than enough, so much so that we weighed up whether or not we should order a second serving of flatbread to mop up voluminous sides.
The ortiz anchovies ($6) were salty. I think they always are. I’m yet to develop a taste for them. My partner straight up refused to try it (she’s a bit of a fish-o-phobe).
The garlic green burrata ($10) was quite delicious. The inside of the burrata was very wet. It was a great dish to spread on the bread.
Black garlic bread
The Black Garlic Bread ($8) is a must try. It is more of a dessert than a garlic bread, with a sweet glaze and sauce. The topping of miso butter was divine. It is a house specialty for a reason and I would recommend no one leave this restaurant without trying it (cats and other people who can’t have garlic aside).
Tuna Carpaccio
The yellowfin tuna carpaccio with wasabi cream and burnt mandarin dressing ($18) was quite good but straddled the line towards being too tasty. I thought that the wasabi cream and burnt mandarin dressing overpowered the fish to the extent where I couldn’t really taste the star ingredient. While the flavours were good I wonder if a bit of tweaking is in order to highlight the tuna a bit better. Wasabi-phobes need not worry, the wasabi itself isn’t too strong.
Sausage and pecorino pappardelle
The sausage and pecorino pappardelle ($?26) was delicious. The serving size was large enough to share between two. The pappardelle was fresh and soft and tasty – not too al dente for me. The serving of sausage was extremely and unexpectedly generous, there was enough for each bite, and the pecorino added a great sharp flavour to the dish. While I’ve read from other reviews that pasta isn’t Casoni’s strong point, my experience with this pasta would lead me to disagree. It was just fantastic.
Comfortable seats
INTERIM OPINION (DECEMBER 2020)
As I’m sure you can tell by now we really enjoyed our meal at Casoni. We can’t wait to go back.
5 stars.
SUBSEQUENT VISIT (APRIL 2022)
It turns out we could wait to go back, in fact we waited around a year and a half, taking advantage of Casoni’s late opening hours after a night at the museum.
The black garlic sourdough ($12) has now replaced the previous black garlic bread. The differences? This sourdough bread is now a bit more dense, as one could quite reasonably expect. Where the previous black garlic bread was quite sweet with its creamy topping, this dish was much more of a savoury affair, with the miso butter imparting quite a salty taste.
The wagyu tartare ($19) with sundried tomato and coriander seed matched with sunchoke crispy was a pretty solid, inoffensive and even tasty tartare. Its flavouring was a bit of a departure from your usual tartare, its sourness a bit sweeter owing to the use of tomato rather than your classic capers. I found the meat a bit overrepresented in comparison to the creme fraiche and crisp however, and we quickly ran out of yummy crisp to put the tartare on.
The signature croquette ($25) was a great addition to the menu. It featured an unbelievably creamy potato inner, coated in a delicious katsu-style crumb and fried to a somewhat unbelievable level of crispy perfection. The marscapone topping and abundance of salty umami salmon roe made for the perfect foil for the mild potato within. This dish reminded me of the roe course at Quay, but for a far more accessible price (plus, you don’t have to eat all the other disappointments there either).
The spanner crab tagliatelle ($31) with nduja, fermented mustard greens and burnt kombu was a solid pasta, though not revolutionary. The serving of crab was generous for the price, and the overall quality of the sauce and pasta met the high expectations set by our previous experience at Casoni.
OPINION Sometimes when you revisit a beloved restaurant you are disappointed by the ideals formed during your first visit. This was not the case with Casoni. They remain reliably excellent.
We happened across Square Handmade Bread after eating at Luckfood Fish Dumplings in Waterloo. It is a small bakery with modern facilities offering high-priced luxury breads as well as some desserts on a pre-order basis. Most breads were $15.80 per loaf, coming to $16.04 after credit card fees. They also serve coffee made from Grounds of Alexandria beans.
We ordered a loaf of garlic bomb bread – garlic bread loaf with cream cheese filling.
The square garlic bomb bread was quite good. It was not like a normal garlic bread, more sweet than salty. There was a lot of cream cheese filling, which I thought was actually to its detriment. I more enjoyed the crusty, less flavoured anterior, than the greasy creamy interior.
While good, I didn’t feel like this small half-loaf sized bread was worth $16.04. I concur with Robert H’s review in Google Reviews in this regard. For this reason, I am giving a 3/5, which could easily be a 4 if half the price.
We had delivery from Beretta Cafe and Pizza Bar in Ramsgate for lunch one weekend.
The Calzone Pizza ($19.90) surprised me! This was my first ever Calzone, and I had chosen it as I thought it would be smaller and therefore less of a drama to eat at work. Normally I try to avoid pizza at work so that I don’t have to protect it from hungry eyes. I had no idea that the Calzone would be a full sized pizza, folded in half. The fillings were reasonably basic, with mushroom, ham, sopressa salami, but the taste was quite good. I think the entire thing was too much for one sitting, however, and packed it away to finish the next day.
The Beretta’s Bacon and Egg Roll ($10.90) was one of the better B&Es I’ve had recently, but at such a price you’d expect it to be. It is packed with bacon and eggs, and quite large. Definitely a full meal’s worth, or two half meals.
The Cheesy Garlic Bread ($8 for 2 pieces, note pictured is 2 servings), was ordered by my colleagues. I didn’t try it but the verbal handover was that it was quite good. They also enjoyed the Lasagne ($18.90) and the Ravioli Di Ricotta ($15.90) to a reasonable degree but again this is just heresay.
I can recommend Beretta Cafe and Pizza Bar. We’ll probably get food from them again this year. I’d like to try some of their other pizzas.
