Categories
Café

Superfreak – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

We had quite a yummy and leafy brunch at relatively new spot Superfreak in Marrickville.

Taking a break from tradition, here’s a photo of an ultra-cozy shaggy booth bench to start.

The lunch plate ($32) allegedly with seasonal vegetables (in today’s case – carrot, cucumber, and strawberries), comte, LP’s saucisson sec, ham, sauerkraut, fig (where was this), whiped ricotta, butter, house pickles and bread was a medley of freshness and deliciousness on one plate. Each portion of the meal, apart from the comte, had its own fresh and non-overpowering flavour, layering upon each other to create a variety of mixed mouthfuls. The whipped ricotta was mild and delicious, the ham was similarly not too salty with a good mouthfeel (from Emilio’s butcher), and the bread was crunchy and excellent with a bit of butter and layered with everything else. The dutch carrots were served somewhat annoyingly with long stalks for no reason but display, but were fresh and cruchy, and the strawberries were very sweet. I didn’t have a strong adoration for the comte, especially in such a large quantity, but the sauerkraut was nice. Ever my partner, someone not generally in to cured salumis, enjoyed the saucisson sec from LP’s. This plate was overall a fun mixture of flavours.

Even better than the lunch plate was this trio of salads ($24), to which we added a side of gremolata encrusted Ora king salmon ($10). The pumpkin wedge salad was probably the best of the three, with a delicious sweet and moist wedge of roasted pumpkin in a green coriander and cashew cream dressing. The fioretto and lentil salad would be my second pick, not for the pulses, but for the mustardy leek, roasted fioretto (which soaked up so much dressing flavour) and dill, while the crunchy green salad made predominately of lettuce was quite missable, in my opinion.

The gremolata encrusted Ora king salmon ($10) was absolutely delicious, slightly seared on the outside and perfectly fatty and soft on the inside, served wiht a tangy leafy topping. It was absolutely a key component of the salad dish, if optional, and deserves to star in its own adventure on the menu on its next iteration.

Decor

The rare subsequent decor photo, they painted the air conditioner 1980s tobacco yellow to match the wall, as well as a ceiling fan and opposing wall air conditioner green. Kind of cute.

Overall thoughts
Yummy. Can recommend the salmon. Parking is OK around the corner.

Superfreak
Shop 2/333a Enmore Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Japanese

Koku Culture – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

Koku Culture is home to one of the best brunches I’ve had all year. I’ve never been shy about my love of Japanese-fusion breakfast and brunch foods, and Koku Culture’s tiny Ashfield store fits the bill completely.

The Torched Confit Ora King Salmon Fillet with 63 degree egg ($24+$2) was sublime. Ora King Salmon is always a treat, featuring a rich oiliness and delicate mouthfeel far beyond your average grocery store Tasmanian Atlantic salmon. I try to order some Ora King salmon every now and then from the popular online fish delivery services, and even when cooked inexpertly by me at home the difference is noticeable. Koku Culture’s torched confit king salmon fillet definitely lived up to expectations – tender inside with a slight char on the outside reminiscent of aburi sushi. The miso dressing was tasty but not overpowering, and the green tea soba salad surprisingly refreshing, especially with the egg (a $2 supplement but important) and miso mixed in. This has to be a must-order dish from Koku Culture.

This Crispy Rice Cheeseburger ($15) with Chips and their secret sauce was also fantastic, but in a completely different way to the salmon. Where the salmon felt clean and healthful, this was perfect in terms of sheer debauchery. The rice “buns” were perfectly cirspy and fried out the outside, with a light but slightly sticky texture on the inside – a bit “QQ” as we would call it in terms of Chinese food. The seafood was similarly crispy, enjoyable and not merely for decoration. I opted for an extra patty ($5)(probably wasn’t necessary in this case, and I’d just stick with a single patty in the future) , and both beef patties were cooked to a delicious level of juiciness, mixed in with their special sauce and fresh lettuce. Even the chips were good.

The matcha affogato, which I can’t see on their menu any more, was pretty OK. The ice cream was good, the coffee was black. Mixed together it remained a bit black for my taste.

That’s a good Matcha Brownie right there.

COMMENTS
I enjoyed Koku Culture. Definitely worth a visit, but make sure you budget in some time for the queue outside.

UPDATE
These guys are now closed forever, before the publication of this review. This is part of why I’ve pushed this review far into the future in terms of scheduling – they’re not going to get more dead. Hopefully Kenji Okuda and Donna Chau can bless us once again something good.

Koku Culture
1/355 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131
0402 697 475

Categories
Café

Lil Miss Collins – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

Lil Miss Collins, with its inventive, road-less-trodden menu and all day alcohol options ticks plenty of boxes for intrepid brunchers looking for a high quality alternative to nearby Circa Espresso. We’ve been twice now – once on New Years Eve 2019 (I will leave you photos but not really any comments from this visit), and once more recently after a run of night shifts with our nights crew.

These Sweet Potato Fries ($9.80) were quite good, with a soft texture on the inside but a crispiness on the outside. They retained heat well, remaining warm for the duration of consumption. A good choice by my junior colleague DTC.

The Beef Brisket Sandwich ($17.50) was good, but only good. The toasted sourdough was crisp and adequate. The beef brisket filings were good, though taken as a whole, the sandwich, with its beef, American cheese, cabbage slaw and spicy mayo was just a bit too tasty for me. Each bite was a bit of an onslaught of saltiness, not adequately tempered by the bread. This is one situation in which the bread to filling ratio probably leant too much to the filling side of the equation – that is, this sandwich was a bit overfilled. It was by no means a bad toastie, but probably not one I’d get again.

I really enjoyed the Salmon with Miso Black Rice & Citrus ($25.90), though neither my girlfriend, nor my junior colleague MC did. The salmon was pan seared to medium perfection, neither overdone nor underdone. The miso and jalapeno rice soup had a nice umami flavour. The radish, golden beets, and pomelo citrus salad was just fine. I had never had a beetroot that was not red before, but I didn’t really think they tasted as special as they looked. I don’t know that the salad and salmon were really synergistic in taste or texture, but at the same time having a bit of freshness did not hurt. Overall good.

The Phoenician Kafta Bowl ($22.80) is a reasonably low carb option for those on a shred, if you ignore the very ignorable pita. The main component of this meal is essentially a gardenlike salad, spiced up with some pomegranate, flat bread crisps (a la fattuosh) and yoghurt. The two grilled lamb kaftas are the dish’s star ingredients, bearing a juicy, warm meatiness that don’t quite match with the coldness of the rest of the dish. While the kafta are very good, the fact that you can actually order them individually for a mere $3.75 each would lead me to suggest giving this bowl a miss and adding a couple of kafta to a different main .

The following items were consumed sixteen months prior to the writing of this post. Recollection is hazy at best.

I remember nothing about these Ricotta and Sweetcorn Fritters ($18.50), though my partner says that she remembered liking them. She’s generally much more of a fritter fan than I am, and she even enjoys many of the fritters that I straight out dislike.

I think I remember enjoying this Crispy Skin Barramundi with Braised Fennel ($23), or at least the barramundi component. I was and still am confused by the inclusion of a giant piece of white wine braised fennel, which I had never had before and wasn’t a fan of.

This is obviously some kind of elaborate French Toast, no longer served, and not identifiable through any secondary sources at this time.

AUGUST 2022

Back from our look into the past, we shall discuss this Squid Thai Pasta ($24.90). It straddled the line between “not bad” and “not good”, a pad thai-like creation with an unusual focus on tomato sauce and unclear identity as to if it wanted to be a stir fried Thai noodle dish or a pasta. It was not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten, but at the same time not something that I’d like to ever eat again. Most unusual was the addition of Turkish bread on top of what was clearly already a carb-loaded noodle based meal. The squid was at least succulent.

VERDICT
Lil Miss Collins, overall good. You should go, and let me know if I’m wrong.

Lil Miss Collins
13 Wentworth St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 9635 3273

Categories
Asian Fusion Café French

Auvers Cafe – Rhodes NSW Restaurant Review

Our recent return to living and working in Western Sydney has given us ample opportunity to revisit some of our favourite cafes from before our 12 month Eastern Suburbs sojourn. Auvers Cafe is the Rhodes counterpart to Auvers Dining in Darling Square, and keeps the tradition of Asian-French fusion alive in a more casual daytime venue.

For drinks we had fun milk in two varieties – black sesame and hojicha. Both were quite good, though I wish their fun milk was offered with some caffeine included.

The first food I want to talk about is this bargain basement scrambled egg ($4). It’s not the best scrambled egg I’ve ever hard (Dopa’s furikake scrambled egg don takes the cake by far), but at $4 is an absolute steal.

The Beef Curry Pasta ($23) was seriously good. It’s been one of our favourites over the last three years, frequently brought home by my partner in a takeaway box after a night shift. While it was good back then, having it fresh in person brought a whole level of previously unknown joy. Eat-in plating of this pasta was quite beautiful, similar to the Ox Tongue Soba Cabonara at their Darling Square store. The curry sauce, though not written down explicitly any more, was a tasty and flavourful rendang style base that coated each strand of pasta perfectly. The serving of beef was generous and tender, and the parmesan crisp added a nice and upmarket feeling variation in texture to the dish. I particularly liked the addition of tomato salsa on top, which added a delicious freshness and contrasting flavours. A can’t miss.

The Squid Roulade ($22) was a bit of a confusing and overall non-satisfying dish. The main attraction was essentially a squid tube filled with dry and almost gamey tasting “wagyu” beef mince. This tube was situated on a bed of black rice with edamame and pomegranate seeds mixed in, topped with crunchy fried kale. The rest of the squid was battered and deep fried, served aside the roulade and next to a swirl of black cauliflower puree.

I thought that this dish ultimately failed in both taste and composition. The taste of the squid roulade was too mild and unexciting, and the mince inside so dry that I doubt it being wagyu made any difference at all. The rice mixed with edamame and pomegranate was fine but difficult to pick up and eat with the fork provided. The fried kale was my partner’s favourite part of the dish – she does like fried foods in general – but I felt didn’t fit with the theme of the rest of the dish. I would avoid this one.

The chocolate croissant looked very plain but was actually surprisingly full of chocolate cream. Quite good.

SUBSEQUENT VISIT

The Soy Cured Salmon ($26) was an interesting, beautifully presented near miss for me. The fatty cured sashimi salmon was soft and delicate, but let down by the blobs of radish and yuzu gel, which I felt were too salty, even though I enjoyed the citrus notes. The accompanying salad was probably better than the main attraction. I really enjoyed the fresh little pickled radishes, which just tasted so bright and crisp. The avruga caviar, which I am told is not actually caviar, was also great mixed into the quinoa to give it a bit of umami and salty flavour and set it apart from all the dull quinoa out there.

I quite enjoyed the Grilled Wagyu Soft Tacos ($28), even though in my weakened state I was not allowed to enjoy all of it. The wagyu beef cubes were juicy and tender, worked well with the yakiniku sauce mayonnaise, which is something I’ve never seen anywhere else. The perfectly light and moist scrambled eggs also benefited from the yakinku sauce, while the salsa with coriander added an element of freshness. The hot chips, of which I only had a single chip, were sadly extremely good and fresh. I can’t comment on the naan bread (a weirdly thick choice for a “taco”) as neither my partner nor I had any of it.

Overall I can recommend Auvers Cafe in Rhodes as one of the best places for an all-day Asian fusion brunch menu out West. Service is speedy, and the food is great.

5 French gauge stars

Auvers Cafe
 2/42 Walker St, Rhodes NSW 2138
(02) 8040 2403

Categories
Asian Fusion

Wild Catch on Danks – Waterloo NSW Restaurant Review

Tucked away in the entrance to Coles Waterloo is Wild Catch on Danks, perhaps Waterloo’s best and most difficult to find fish-based restaurant. I say fish-based restaurant because not only does Wild Catch do fish and chips, but they also offer a wide menu of Asian inspired curries, salads, burgers, and laksas.

We had the Miso salmon, stir fried ginger and Asian greens and jasmine rice ($22) from Wild Catch’s dinner specials board. Provided were two pieces of perfectly cooked grilled salmon – medium rare on the inside – as well as some bok choy, choy sum, and peas. We really loved the quality of the fish both in its freshness and preparation style. It was delicious even without the miso sauce, which my partner didn’t realise was part of the meal until she was well into it. The miso sauce, when poured over the salmon, was light tasting and just enough to deliver a bit of sweet and salty umami. Overall a very good dish.

Wild Catch’s Dry red curry of barramundi ($23) with beans, corn, eggplant, chilli & rice was very nice. There was a generous serving of fish, cut into chunks that I think must have been braised before cooking in the curry. The curry was less dry than anticipated, and I would in fact describe this as a thick wet curry instead. The flavours were strong, and the serving of rice (not pictured) was definitely crucial to the meal. In fact we had some rice left over from the miso salmon, and that left over rice was also very helpful in tempering the strong (but delicious) flavours. I love coriander.

The BBQ octopus with Asian slaw salad & black vinegar dressing ($13) was probably an unneeded addition to what was already a very filling and reasonably priced meal. The slaw was actually surprisingly very good and refreshing. The BBQ octopus were a bit overcooked for my liking but apart from that no complaints. I think that this dish was the weakest of the three we ordered, though still a very suitable meal for a potentially healthy low-carb lunch.

VERDICT
While I haven’t had any of Wild Catch on Danks’ traditional deep fried fish and chips, their Asian fusion menu of curries and miso salmon is certified good.

Can recommend.

Wild Catch On Danks
12/1 Crystal St, Waterloo NSW 2017
(02) 9698 2131