Bites: Harvest Espresso @ Victoria Park (revisited)

Some habits never die they say.  I have long been a fan of Harvest and this season’s menu did not disappoint. Harvest Espresso has now set gone into its winter phase which captures the best produce in season and I am once again sold.  It looks good, taste good and eats right.  Their tarts are still top notch and its ever growing inventory shouts creativity.

 

In my last visit, I ordered the Cauliflower and Corn fritter, fresh zucchini & herb salad & sumac labneh.

The cauliflower is a winter gem.  Put it in the hands of Harvest Espresso’s chef and you have the perfect match.  These more-ish fritters were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  Just my sort of thing.  The acidity of the zucchini and herb salad was appetizingly good.  With the sumac labneh which is a yoghurt based concoction, it was just yum!  For me, I loved all the flavors on the plate.  If I had to retract an ingredient, it would definitely be the source of protein which were the eggs.  Gooey yolks is a beautiful thing but in this dish it toned down the strong bold flavors (acidity) of the labneh which is not quite my preference.   Also, with that extra drizzle of oil around the place the dish felt a little oily towards the end! Nonetheless, it was still very delectable!

 

The little darling ordered a dish that typically represented her.  The French toast, poached pear, mascarpone and almond flakes with maple syrup.   Best part of the dish was that it taste as good as it looked!

For starters, they used a brioche which was just perfect to soak all the syrup!  It came out warm and felt like a good hearty replacement for a winter soup.  The pear was poached just right although it could go 1 notch softer which still did not present a problem.  Also, do not look down on this dish as it is actually pretty big!  She could not finish and so I took over. With such delicious offerings, I could not bear to see it go to waste.

 

Another great seasonal menu by Harvest Espresso.  I cannot wait to see what magic they conjure the next season.  Nothing less than splendid I would expect :)!

 

WenY

Bites: A Spicy Affair @ Victoria Park

While I am probably one of the more introvert foodies around, my occasional foodie meets through tasting invitations or media launches has its perks.  And no, its not the free food.  Rather, the company such as my frequent stalks at ChompChomp or The Queen of Bad Timing which has always given me heads up of what to expect at some of the hottest eateries in town.  Other than that, Shaun who writes on Perth Food Review his adventures around town with his mate Sean, are not short on suggestion for eateries.  For example, these boys with a keen tongue for heat and spice recently introduced to me a great Indian restaurant in Victoria Park called A Spicy Affair.

 

Feeling like having good old spicy Indian food on a freaking cold winter, A Spicy Affair immediately came to mind having remembered Shaun’s recommendation.  It was a Wednesday night and it was beautifully quiet.  The interior is nothing flash but it was homely.  Add that personal touch from the service and I have to say, it was a very cozy affair.  Big belly Buddha with an accompanying smile!  That was how I felt!

 

To start we called a Chicken Tikka AppetizerOh my god.  The chicken was perfectly flavored with spices and more importantly, it was super juicy on the inside.  I loved every bit of this although I was hoping the spices were a little more potent.  The flavors here were subtle but still pleasant.  Accompanying minty dip was no less satisfying and this dish as a whole was a pleaser!  Thumbs up!

 

Our next dish was the Beef Vindaloo.  Ask for a spicy curry and this would be it.  Not as if it was a tongue burning bad ass, but it had a good enough kick to make you sweat.  The beef in this was tender and the acidity from the vinegar gave this dish that added flavor which kept us going back for its sauce.   Beef Vindaloo has got to be my favourite beef curry of all time!

 

Our next dish was the Palak Aloo.  This dish consisted of spinach cooked with potato and spices.  What spices exactly I do not know.  But this was so yummy!  It differed from my usual Aloo Gobi but in terms of satisfaction, this dish ticked all the boxes for flavor and yumminess!  

 

To go with all our curries, we ordered a few NaanUnfortunately, the Naan here was OK only.  It was not the best, but it was not bad either.  It was as I said OK.  The little fluffy bread was crisp but the garlic one came out a little oily but lacked the flavor of garlic which I wanted.  Butter Naan too came out oily which was expected due to the butter.  But it did not have that lingering aroma of melted butter.  For those reasons, I would have gone for the plain Naan and next time, I will definitely order some of their rice like the Briyani!

 

After finishing all our food, we had a dessert to share.  It was none other than the Gulab JamunIf you dislike the strong milky flavor sometimes present in milk or an intense amount of sweetness, this might not be for you.  I fall in a category which dislikes intense sweetness.  However, I have a biasness towards the Gulab Jamun attributed towards my childhood where I developed a fondness for good Indian food and have always loved ending my Indian affairs with the Gulab Jamun.  Its dense yet spongy texture absorbs the lovely syrup infused with cardamom  so very well.  It is just simply lovely.  Yet I find most people not accustomed to the Gulab Jamun to not like it.  I however, differ.  It was fantastic.  This definitely won me over the goat milk ice cream back when I was a kid.

 

A Spicy Affair was a really good eating place.  The owners were so friendly with customers coming into this humble eatery and starting the night with “where is your beautiful wife” and things which to me felt like service on a personal level.  Fishman, little darling and I felt very happy to have eaten here tonight.  We ordered very little today because I felt full!  But next time, I will order more! HEAPS MORE!!!!  Last but not least, thanks Shaun of Perth Food Review for introducing this place to us! See his review here.  Also, this place is GLUTEN friendly which caters for a common allergy!  Kudos to the owners!

 

WenY

Sydney 2013: The Sydney Fish Market @ Pyrmont

After 24 hours of eating frenzy, we were finally on our way to Sydney’s iconic Sydney Fish Market.   Famed for being one of the freshest seafood destinations in Australia, the market sells many thousands of kilograms of fish that feed the ever growing city of Sydney.  But for tourists like me, this is a seafood Mecca. To prevent clashing with other tourist, we decided to be early and reached the market around 10am.  Fortunately, it was early enough although I do not know when is late :P! 

 

After a short ride on the tram, our eyes feasted on the layer of freshness on offer.  Almost everything native to the ocean surrounding Australia is on display and it was just such an amazing seafood galore. For us, we were so tempted by its pricing which was really affordable.   While I cannot remember every detail, I can tell that we were in for a treat!Most people who know me will know that I do not just eat ANY fish. It has to be odorless and be of the best quality.  Freshness is key along with its origins which should be, preferably from the ocean.

 

Walking around, I was actually quite disappointed to find out that there were not many stalls in the market but instead it had a few really large ones.   Nonetheless, after making our rounds we decided to eat at Nicholas Seafood.

Fresh Oysters!  I think they were slightly over a dollar each!  Bel, Jordan and Andrew tucked happily into these Sydney Rock oysters which are loved for their stronger flavor albeit being less meaty.  For me, I shall not… too scared haha.

 

For our breakfast, there was not holding back.  We had a sashimi galore which consisted of tuna, kingfish, salmon and sea urchin.With over 600 grams of fresh seafood, it cost the four of us less than $40 bucks.  It was simply fantastic.  The salmon was top notch.  Fresh.  Very fresh.   The cutting of it all was a little tacky but hey, it was the taste that matters!  The kingfish was also of a restaurant standard!  But ultimately, it was the sea urchin and tuna that was less than desirable.  A bad lingering fishy aftertaste make it feel as if it was not as fresh as the salmon and kingfish! Even the most hardened fish veteran on the table struggled to gain momentum for the tuna and urchin flesh.  Naturally, tuna and sea urchin has to be top notch for it to be used as sashimi!  Unfortunately, this was not quite there.

 

But our meal did not end there, we finished of our brunch with a lobster noodle!I guess this was really fancy for brekkie but for $100, we got a lobster that was at least 3 pounds!  So how is this cheap?  Well in Perth the typical price per pound of lobster is around $60 bucks.  So for the one we had, it would have cost $180 at the very least!

 

Cooked in a traditional ginger and shallot flavor, these noodles were pretty good.  But IMHO definitely not great.  Oozy gravy coating the noodles but there was a little disappointment in the lack of finesse in the cooking style.  I guess we were not in a proper restaurant anyways @@!Lobster noodles!

 

The famed Sydney Opera House.

So for this meal, the bill came up to slightly over $150 for brunch which was by Perth standards not expensive at all.  A normal brunch of bacon, eggs and its accompaniments with a coffee/juice typically sets one back by around $30 dollars easily.   The Sydney Fish Market for me was a nice place to visit.  Especially since it was my first time.  However, will I come back and spend the same amount of money here again?  I really wonder.  While I enjoyed the food here, I cannot say with enough certainty that it was really all that great.  The sashimi was  a bit of a hit and miss.   Meanwhile the lobster noodle was OK, but did not live up to our expectations.  In the end, what I will do though is buy the seafood fresh and bring it to my aunty to cook hehe! Apparently she lives just minutes away from the market!  That is if she would cook it for me haha.  This is the last entry for my Sydney trip :)!  A good holiday with massive eating all in 36 hours. 

 

WenY

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