London – ZUMA, SALE E PEPE, NEGOZIA CLASSICA, ARTIGIANO; Cape Town – PANAMA JACKS, LIVE BAIT, VINEYARDS, DEN ANKER, JARDINE; Johannesburg – VILAMOURA, PRAWN PLACE; Madikwe – IMPODIMO GAME LODGE; Hong Kong – CHINA CLUB, AQUA; Sydney – BATHERS PAVILLION, THE WINERY, THE CENTENNIAL, PETER DOYLE @ THE QUAY, OTTO, PIZZA E BIRRA, CATALINA. 0

February 18, 2010

Ok – so I’ve been in hiding – let’s move on from that. There’s been lots on the go and there’ll be lots more to come sooooooo let’s get down to business!!

No time to do in-depth reviews of all the places I’ve eaten at since I last blogged but DEFINITELY want to note them and do quick / bullet / bang bang summaries just to keep it all on record.

I will do my best from now on to keep up to speed but can’t promise anything!

LONDON

ZUMA (www.zumarestaurant.com)

Best Japanese restaurant in the world in my op.
Met absolutely all of my expectations. From atmosphere to service to food.
Yep, darn pricey but absa worth it – but obv for special occasions only! It was our farewell London meal with close friends and fam.
DEFINITELY best Miso Cod I have ever had – can still taste it months later and still crave it every day! Phenomenal lobster, deep fried lemon sole, tempura prawns, and amazing eggplant, pork, chicken and beef dishes. Dynamite spider roll was to die for!
Don’t waste tummy space on dessert – it was fine but definitely not memorable like the savoury dishes!! Saying that – definitely still order at least one or two dessies to share!

SALE E PEPE (www.saleepepe.co.uk)

My dear friend ‘U’ is so so stylish. Anything she wears, does, says, eats is always so elegant – if that makes sense?! Her recommendations are always spot on so when she suggested we meet here for lunch I just knew it would be amazing!!!
Sale e Pepe has been around forever – about 30 years – and is tucked neatly into the back streets of Knightsbridge – so only those in the know, go – ha!
U knew exactly what to order so we just followed her lead – the Sea Bass fillets w buttery spinach and green beans that we ate were phenom!! Just soooo delicious – cooked PERFFFFECTLY and so tasty and fresh. I can honestly say that I have possibly never enjoyed eating spinach as much as I did at this place! The potatoes served with the meal were also scrumptious – crispy and perfectly round – as close to a home cooked meal from Nonna as one could ever get – but better!
Dessert was profiteroles – completely decadent with a smooth dark chocolate sauce – the 4 of us shared – which, in terms of quantity was perfect but in terms of deliciousness meant a battle of the forks on the plate!
Not cheap but well worth it. Next time we’re back in Londres we will most certainly be popping in for a bite!
Great service – and according to U, consistent in every way :)

NEGOZIA CLASSICA (www.negozioclassica.co.uk)

Our friend ‘J’ suggested we meet up here – for wine and food ….but let’s face it – this place is totaaaaaaallly just a wine bar!
The antipasti of cheese and cold meats faded completely into the background of what I believe to have been some very very good wine – being a non-drinker, I wouldn’t know but I believe my companions!
In summary – don’t go here for ”dinner” like I did – whilst we had a lovelyyyyy evening – the food is merely the stomach liner. Don’t get me wrong, the mozza, the avo, the olive oil were all yummy – but if you aint a wine drinker – this aint the place for you.

ARTIGIANO (http://www.tipped.co.uk/listings/5976/artigiano)

Family style, Italiano, ok service, not Haym, very decent food but not Haym – Mozza tom salad, good minestrone, pasta Bolognese, pasta with lobster and chilli blah di blah – all the norm and done decently. If I lived around the corner I’d go, maybe once a month or whatever, but as a visitor to London or even a non Belsize Park local – wouldn’t realllllly rush back.
If you do go and you are a coconut fan – try the chocolate souffle with coco ice cream – that I’d say was haym – but I’m not sure if its just that classic choc/co combo or if it was done in a way better than normal. I think choc and coco always taste good together – so in that case – grab a jar of nutella and eat it with some desiccated supermarket stuff! It’ll be cheaper!

CAPE TOWN

PANAMA JACKS (www.panamajacks.net)

Husbies had youthful memories of this place – we drove around in the dark til we found it.
Overall I thought it was pretty good. Great service, cosy environment, yummy food, high-ish but kinda reasonable prices. Husbies was slightly disappointed as he remembered it being “heapsssssss cheaper and better quality”.
For entrée we ate Italian style mussels and Black bean scallops – both kinda disappointing but definitely not bad.
For mains we had the Seafood Misto (mixed grill) – Lobster, prawns, langoustine, line fish, calamari, mussels, rice – not as amazing as it sounds but good. Definitely good. Yummy dipping butters and crunchy chips as well.
Way too full for dessert.
I wouldn’t say it’s a CT “must go to” but it was fine and yeah, if you’re there for 10 nights, do it.

LIVE BAIT (http://kalkbay.org/content/view/27/31/)

Really cute location, right on the fishing bay. Massive windows on one side with ocean waves smashing and I mean smassssshing up against them. Very atmospheric!
Very good service.
yummy grilled calamari and grilled prawns – nothing out of the ordinary but fresh and very well cooked nonetheless. Kalk bay cob was also delicious.
Again, not a MUST GO TO in CT but definitely a nice place for dinner if you’re there for a week.

VINEYARDS

This is a tough category to summarise but I will not send myself into labour doing it – deep breaths……we ate SOOOOO much delicious food at sooooooo many different wineries in the whole region.
All I can say is that we were not disappointed once. We smiled as we left each place. From savoury to sweet it was all a pleasure.
We got to taste lots of different game (like gemsbok and eland – I think that’s what it’s called???)- which was great – it’s worth experimenting!
If you’ve never been before I say allow 3 days to drive around and eat at the different places. There are billions so you won’t even make a dent in 3 days, but after that you’ll have no money left in your pocket and it will feel slightly repetitive!

DEN ANKER (www.denanker.co.za)

Gorgeous atmosphere right down on the V and A waterfront. Really puts you in a CT kinda mood.
Service is very friendly and competent.
Food is very very fresh and yummy but not totally filling and kinda over priced.
This joint is famous for the mussels but if you compare it to somewhere like the Belgian Beer Cafe in Sydney, I don’t reckon these mussels were anything to write home about……Too many of them wouldn’t open and the traditional Moules Marinieres were kinda far away from the best I’ve had. I don’t mean to be harsh…..and we actually went here 2 times in our 1 week stay – but that was more for convenience than anything else……but it just didn’t quite cut the mustard……
Very very delicious chips w aioli – but really – you can get that at loads of places.
Desserts were niiiiiiiice but, yep, nmp, whatever……family seafood restaurant style….

JARDINE (www.jardineonbree.co.za)

For sure our CT culinary highlight! We were lucky enough to be taken here by a very good friend and we were even luckier to be able to indulge in the amazing degustation!
This place has got awards galore and deserves every single one of them. Not only was the service fantastic and the building it’s located in realllly cool but the food was just so unique and superbly prepared annnnnnnd I loved the fact that we had a good view of what was goin’ down in le kitchen!! So fun.
What exacccccctly did we eat??? OOOhhhh it was soooo long ago and I did take a trillion pictures …….can’t remember every course – I think there were 8…..highlights were definitely mussels in a coconut broth and pork belly with amazing fennel salad….. Menu is totally seasonally derived so it changes all the time. The flaming vanilla souffle made me cry.
This time I can confidently say a CT must go!!!

JOHANNESBURG

VILAMOURA (www.vilamoura.co.za)

Absa Haym i.e. Absolutely Amazing!
Located at the Sandton Sun and Towers hotel – this place has a romantic, hotel-y (but in a good way) warm feeling about it from the moment you enter.
Basically famous for it’s seafood (although there are expansive meat, poultry and vego menus too!!) and more specifically it’s prawns – we were not disappointed! If you do order the prawns you choose the size you want, queen, king etc and how many you want and then you choose your sides too – so everybody is very happy!! My prawns were the size of my head (to be technical, Tiger Giants) and so I just had 3 – and my sides were rice and spinach – simple yet soooooo delicious!!!! Husbies had the chips – which of course I sampled and I can say the chips alone are reason enough to go!
The desserts also leapt above and beyond expectations – mine was the PUDIM VILAMOURA – layers of peppermint crisp, biscuit, caramel and whipped cream – again – sounds sooooo simple but brought me to the floor. I think this peppermint crispy, biscuity, caramelly thingy is a South African thang – I’d never heard of it before but, just as I grabbed my husbies from SA, I wanna grab this combo and make it mine too! Sooooo scrumptious!
I won’t lie – it wasn’t a cheap place to eat!! Again, we were very generously taken by a good friend, but even being aware of the prices, I’d say if you’re in JHB and you don’t go – shame on you!

A’DEGA DO MONGE

So, knowing my obsession with prawns, my parents-in-law knew from the very second we’d booked our trip to JHB that I just had to come here.
And they were very very right! Let me assure you I have eaten my fair share of prawns in my life and these were DEFINITELY the best ones that I have ever tasted. The portuguese style of cooking them works an absolute treat – butterflied, marinated simply in oil and garlic, cooked on the grill and slathered in lemon butter and piri piri sauce……death at the dinner table from deliciousness.
We ordered plate after plate and just ate and ate – I was soooooo so full but just couldn’t answer “no” to the question from pops in law that came every 5 or so minutes of ”Another plate?” – it was “yes!!!!!!” the whole way until I was rolled off the premises.
Again – chips were a highlight – and although I have said that a few times – it’s still a good thing to note as you CANNNNN get chips wrong – too soggy, too oily, not crunchy, too fat, too thin, cold, the list goes on……but not here – perfect perfect perfect!
The actual restaurant is also very very charming – cute blue and white tiled walls with a very cosy and warm buzz about the space – just adored it in every way!
Absolutely NO room for dessert but the after dinner coffee caramels that arrived with the bill worked a treat!

MADIKWE

IMPODIMO GAME LODGE (impodimo.com)

I could write 6000 pages on my first trip to “the bush” in South Africa – and that’s from a food perspective alone! But as time is of the essence and I need to do the washing, I’ll keep it brief.
In every single way, my first trip to a game park was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and each aspect was way beyond my wildest dreams. To anyone who has not been before and is going to go – go where I went, stay where I stayed, eat what I ate and go crazy with joy from how great it all is!
Ok – onto the food – our meals and snacks every day were prepared by the Chefs from our lodge – we had brunch at around 9am after our morning drive – it consisted of the freshest fruit and veges, eggs and all the sides cooked to your request AND to perfection, cheeses and cold meats, quiches, frittatas, danishes and everything else you could hope for. TOO TOO MUCH FOOD! Morning and Afternoon tea were also great – home made biscuits and cakes, little sambos, dips etc – all good! BUT – the definite highlight of the day was dinner – always a 3 course meal – always delicioussssssss – entrees were normally quite light – e.g exotic green salad with wild fig dressing, carpaccio of every african ani under the sun etc, mains were much heavier but haymmmmm, lamb shanks, pork belly, local fish with creamy mash – hearty, wholesome, home cooked, scrumdidiliumptious feasts to warm the soul and dessert each night TDF – to die for – intricate and hand crafted, beautiful to look at and even better to devour – chocolate everythings, berry everything elses – I think I gained 20 kilos alone from my few days here!

HONG KONG

CHINA CLUB

(http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294217-d786802-Reviews-China_Club-Hong_Kong_Hong_Kong_Region.html)

How darn lucky were we to be able to go here?! Basically – that is my review!
Located in The old Bank of China Building in Central, Hong Kong, this members only club is soooooooo worth going to if you can manage to!
As soon as you exit the lift on the 12th floor (I think it was 12??) you totally step back in time to a Shanghai gone by, the art adorning every wall throughout the whole place is tottttallllly beyond your wildest imagination – you need an hour before your dinner reservation to roam the staircases and hidden rooms filled with the treasures.
Not to mention ANOTHER hour to sit on the roof top terrace to have a drink and enjoy the phenomenal view that lies directly in front of you.
The food is very traditional, uncomplicated Chinese – I definitely wouldn’t say THE BEST CHINESE FOOD I HAVE EVER HAD – but definitely good, solid food – BBQ Pork, Peking Duck pancakes, Prawns 3 different ways, scallops, lotsa vege dishes – all very tasty and yummy but I’d have to say the food is SO NOT THE POINT of going here – and still – being the crazed foodie that I am – I would insist on making it one’s life mission to have a night here.

AQUA (www.aqua.com.hk)

You prob haven’t been clicking on the website links next to the names of these places that I have been describing – but PLEASE click on this one for Aqua – the pics are so so good!
Again – views and atmosphere galore – gosh we were lucky – only two nights to spend in HK and two amazing experiences (China Club and here)! And all thanks to suggestions from others – which is whyyyyyyyy you should listen to advice when it’s given!
We went for the mixed Japanese / Italian combo i.e. we ordered off both the Japanese and the Italian menus – you can stick to one type of cuisine if you like or you can mix – if you decide to mix – the very friendly and knowledgable staff assist you in choosing dishes that make for a seamless culinary adventure!
For entree we went Italiano – we had gorgeous roasted scallops and prawn risotto – cooked to perfection – really good sharing sizes – and accompanied with about 6 different types of home made bread that disappeared up my nostrils in one millisecond.
For mains we went Japanese – we had deliciously sweet Miso Cod – NOWHERE near as good as Zuma but yummy nonetheless, tender and delicately flavoured wagyu beef – probably my favourite thing of the night, and soft shell crab fried rice – enough to feed an army – really yum yum yummy – but more impressive to look at than to eat.
Look the food was very good – not very very good but very good – but the ambience, service, location EVERYTHING else was so fantastic – I’d stick to recommending both this and China Club as THE 2 places to go if you too had 2 nights in this magical place!
Were totally stuffed and didn’t have dessert! I know – weird!

SYDNEY

BATHERS PAVILLION (www.batherspavilion.com.au)

I have eaten here a trillion times – but not in the fancy restaurant just in the casual one…..so I was really excited when we were invited by husbies’ parents to join them for their 41st wedding anniversary!!
The view here is absolutely spectacular – and the website says the food and service match it – and the website don’t lie! Truly! Overall – we just had SUCH A fabulous night – I CANNOT BELIEVE I hadn’t been before and will most certainly be going back!!
It is most definitely a special occasion restaurant and I think if you do go it is worth doing the degustation. The produce used was so so so so so fresh and of the absolute best quality that although I believe cooking technique is a good part of what makes a meal taste yummo – I think that even if my 18 month old nephew had been in charge of the kitchen our dinner would have tasted great! Am I explaining this properly?! What I am saying is, no doubt, top chefs have skill, lotsa skill, but if you start a meal with a dodgy piece of beef or an old asparagus spear, no chef gonna make it taste good!!! On the other hand – if you give the most amazing piece of meat in the world to a complete novice, you are at least starting out with something that simply needs to be done basically well and it will taste spectacular!! SOOOOO when you come here and you have the best produce and great chefs – then you are most certainly in for a treat – and we were treated.
Our menu consisted of the following;

Pacific oysters with Bloody Mary caviar, pear and celery – wowzas
Kingfish sashimi with tempura soft-shell crab wasabi flying fish roe – best kingfish sashimi I have ever had
Sweet corn and ricotta tortellini with black olive roast red pepper – delish
Chilled asparagus soup with yabbies basil oil – I don’t like asparagus so much and I could eat this every night for the rest of my life
Steamed jewfish wrapped in cos lettuce shimeji, pearl onion and mushroom consommé – sweet, light, perfecto
Roast spring Gippsland lamb with aubergine zucchini-goat cheese, anchovy butter sauce – best piece of lamb ever tasted
Fromager des Clarines, quince, roast hazelnuts, micro leaves on toast – lovin’ the miro leaves!
Poached peaches salted caramel chantilly, hazelnut crunch – what beats salted caramel – come onnnnnnn!!

Bravo! Standing ovation! See you next time! Nothing else to say!

THE WINERY (http://thegazebos.com.au/winery/index.html)

Despite contrary belief, I don’t actually enjoy writing bad reviews AND especially right now, where time is of the essence, I truly dont have time.
Really didn’t enjoy it here – service was bad, beyond bad, not just slow but actually rude. We had guests here from Paris and they were actually angry when they left – how embarrassment. Had to beg for some bread, salmon was COMPLETELY flavourless, waiter tried to be cool by not writing down our order but then LITERALLY had to come back 4 times to cross check it. Choc brownie with fairy floss – suchhhh a great concept and suchhhhhh a disappointment.
Thumbs well and truly down.

THE CENTENNIAL (http://www.centennialhotel.com.au/)

An oldy but a goody! Decent prices, consistently delicious delicious food, always good service – I really could quite easily eat here once a week – in fact there was a period in 2005 when I did!
Always something new and fun on the menu – but the classics still remain – figs wrapped in prosciutto served with Gorgonzola sauce ACTUALLY TRULY BRING ME TO MY KNEES, the lamb pizza has about 300 actually lamb fillets sitting on top of it and the crispy eggplant is like no other ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD THE WAFFLES!!!!!! Bye bye – quick – gotta go – quickkkkkkkkkk – gotta go get ’em – large enough for 4 people but I always get my own!

PETER DOYLE @ THE QUAY (http://www.doyleatthequay.com.au/)

Hmmmmm, why do I feel angry? Ok, breathe………nup, sorry, still feel very angry.
Too expensive, not yummy enough and not great service. Sorry, happy to pay when I’m happy to receive but I wasn’t happy to receive what I received…..ok yes, I am sitting under the bridge, ok yes, the harbour is stunnnnnningly beautiful, ok Doyles, yes we get it – BUT nup sorry – don’t make the grade.
Food was fresh and fine but definitely no better than the local fish and chippy and wayyyyyyyy more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ANDDDDDD bad bad service!
Don’t do it – there areeee enough places in the ‘same’ location that serve very very good food and have service levels to match. There’s just no need to go – except the jumbo stuffed prawns – they’re pretty tasty – but no – I take it back – they still don’t give one a need to go. Sorry.

OTTO (http://www.otto.net.au/)

Hate to do this again but …..nup…..won’t even run through the food as my summary is as simple as this – too expensive, too toody (attitude-y), too not impressive enough…..
I gave it a second chance and was disappointed again. There are so many other places along the same very strip, all with pleasant outlooks, that have great food, great service and are reasonably priced.
Go to the wharf but don’t go here – I won’t be going back.

PIZZA E BIRRA (http://yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/?action=venue&venue_url=pizza_e_birra)

Located in bustling Surry Hills, can’t book, so prepare to wait, and yeah in a way it’s worth it – not that I will be rushing back but I am glad that I went.
The service is very very good and very pleasant, the atmosphere inside is fun and alive and the food was…. nice……Yes, nice is not a, well, nice word to use, but it seems appropriate. The salads were ok – the pizzas were ok – and that’s about it – they were not amazzzzzzing and delicioussssss and tear worthy and all the rest but they were definitely ok and if friends suggested we return I would go…..but I wouldn’t suggest it for our next meal out.

CATALINA (http://catalinarosebay.com.au/)

Can I simply start by saying this is my favourite restaurant in the whole of Sydney?! It makes me happy that randomly this is the most recent restaurant we have dined out at, hence this review being the last in this post, but I do enjoy the fact that this blog entry will end on a very very happy note.
(To be read in slow exaggerated voice) EVVVVVVVVVVERY SINGGGGGGGGLE TTTTTTTIIIIIIIMMMMEEEEEEEEE I go here I leave happy – happy with what I ate, happy with the service, happy with the environment, happy with the day, happy with the world, happy happy happy!!!
CONSISTENCY is the key and everythingggggggg here is always always top notch.
Staff know EVERYTHING on the menu back to front – who, how what when and why – they will tell you whatever you need to know about any of it and their delivery is always friendly and not arrogant and helpful and ohh…..ohhhhh my dear dear Catalina.
Ok – yes – there will always be a special place in mine and husbies’ hearts for this joint because it’s where we were married – but what came first – the chicken or the egg – we got married here because we love it and it is our favourite Sydney restaurant – we love it because we got married here – but we got married here because we love it and it is our favourite Sydney restaurant and it goes on!
Our most recent trip here was a few weeks ago for my sister’s birthday lunch – table for 8 – everyone obviously ordered their own entrees and mains but in summary – we ate for entree; Hand-picked blue swimmer crab linguine with sofrito, garlic and chilli – crying crying – can’t write cause I’m crying; Warm salad of duck confit with baby asparagus, kipfler potatoes and toasted walnuts – tears tears – someone stop me; Roasted baby beetroot with goats curd, black fig and onion relish, on parmesan short crust – HOW DO THEY DO IT?????????
Mains were; Pan fried snapper fillet with potato and garlic mash; lemon caper butter – please Catalina NEVER EVER TAKE THIS CLASSIC OFF YOUR MENU – PLEASE PLEASSSSSSE; Whole South Australian King George whiting, baby beans, garlic butter and toasted almonds – gotta go – gotta go eat it again RIGHT NOT – not sure if I can finish the post; Whole roasted baby chicken with carrot purée; truffle, pancetta and garlic stuffing – I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE THIS STUFFING!
Desserts were again phenom to the max; Honeycomb parfait with dark chocolate caramel – so yummy that everyone who wasn’t having dessert shoved a fork into this and made me mad by demolishing myyyyyyyyyyyy last course and, Classic lemon tart with mascarpone – complete with HAPPY BIRTHDAY N message written across the plate in choccy sauce – see???? even places as stylish as this aren’t too cool to get into tha’ bday spirit!
NEEDLESS TO SAY I WILL BE BACK…….AND BACK……….AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK AND BACK!!!!!!!!!!!