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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Bites: Cantina 663 @ Mount Lawley

I know, I know.  I have used this statement a lot but I have seriously had Cantina 663 on my to go list for way too long now!  However, shallow pockets requires good financial planning haha.  After thinking of where to go for my friend’s birthday, we finally headed over to Cantina 663.  With countless mentions and a whopping 49 reviews, I have finally landed on Cantina 663.. and I have to say, it was a place worthy of the hype.

 

Sitting down at quarter pass 6, the waitress came up and offered to take our orders.  However, as I knew we would adjourn for drinks later, my friends and I politely declined!  Another 10 minutes, and the waitress returned to ensure that we were OK.  I said we were good, but could do with a little guide around the menu.  After explaining how we wanted to share the food among the 8 of us, she put forth some recommendations which were really helpful.  So, we started with:

2 serves of duck liver parfait, onion jam and bread @ $15 ea.  For starters, the bread heated on a grill came out warm.  This made the creamiest parfait spread like melting butter before I put some onion jam.  The first bite landed me on heaven.  It was extremely delicious.  Its creamy texture was to die for and the seasoning of the meaty parfait was faultless.  There was a sense of enjoyment which Fishman very coyly described as a feeling he gets from a McDonalds cheese burger.  Where that came from I have no idea, but to me, this was simply sublime.  No wonder the waitress said it was one of their most popular starters!  Even my dining companions and the little darling who shy from innards dive in for seconds.  That to me, says a lot!

 

Next were the arancini like balls served on shaved fennel, $17 ea!  I can very hazily recall its name but this was another recommended starter.  It was another vow.  I did complained about my arancini back at Jamie’s Italian here as it claimed to have smoky bacon but tasted nowhere near.  The one at Cantina 663 did not  say smoky but the flavors in there did wonders.  It had good amounts of cheese and the flavorsome fillings meant that one ball is never too much! Some arancini would make me feel sick but not this one.  It had the savory sensation that kept me going! Kudos!  Problem?  The waitress said it had 4 per serve but only 3 came out on each plate.  So 2 serves was not enough.  But, it was something we easily solved by sharing halves :)!

 

When we finished out starters, it only took 15 minutes for our mains come out. I have seen most if not all the reviews.  No one dish has gotten more praised than the gnocchi.  At Cantina 663, the seasonal menu means there is not one but many sauces to compliment the fluffy potato pillows.  The choice tonight was a little earthy with strong bold flavors.  We had 2 serves of the gnocchi with beetroot puree, gorgonzola and walnuts, $26 ea.The flavors were not exactly my thing as beetroot for me is a red meat’s best friend.  Saying that though, the puree tended to over power basic flavors I yearned for.  This in particular was the blue cheese.  It was there but not quite as bold as I had expected.  Nonetheless, the quality of the gnocchi was faultless. Around the table, we all said that this was not bad but the gnocchi deserved better.  The melt in your mouth gnocchi had a mild caramelisation which was simply delicious.  No wonder it has such a large fan base!  One day, I MUST try the gnocchi with pumpkin puree.  I was already imagining that on my way to Cantina.  Sadly, it I did not come at the right season!

 

The risotto called another name which I cannot remember was oh my god so yummy.  As we shared one, we each had a few table spoons only.  Yet, this did not hinder our enjoyment of a great dish.  The rice was yum, the spices made it delicious and it was not your typical cloying creamy risotto!  Furthermore, it was baked in the oven giving it a crunchiness which was great texture.  Hidden in the middle was a small serve of chicken still tender from the moisture of the rice.  It tasted like peri peri but not quite.  Something along the line I guess haha.  Biggest downfall of this dish?  Those mussels were so dry it shriveled to the size of a 5 cent coin.  That was almost tragic =.=!

 

We also called a few meat dishes which were complimented by a side of coleslaw, $9 and buttermilk potatoes, $10.  Coleslaw was really yum considering how our dishes were either very meaty or rich in cheese.  Hence this light, refreshing and at the same time fruity coleslaw encouraged us to eat more.  Our only dislike was a hint of lingering bitterness which could be due to the cabbage.  The buttermilk potatoes (shown in pic) was not so popular as it was not tasty and felt a little too plain for our liking.  For the girls, they could not justify piling on the carbs haha.

 

Our meat courses consisted of 2 serves of beef short ribs and a pork knuckle for 2.  Around the table, everyone commended the delicious ribs.  They were cook so tender and soft that the meat fell apart with little effort.  It was also very moist with several fatty bits to making it a delicious course.  The sauce was sweet and the little artichokes and mash soaked up all the beautiful sauce the rib had!  Definitely the best main for the night!  I could not help myself but tuck in for more after everyone had finished and eat the little bits of meat and artichokes that were left! SO moreish! Beef Rib, $44.

 

The pork hock on the other hand was not so popular.  The meat was cooked well but we found little joy as it was not tasty.  It came with a trio of sauces which had a salsa verde, maybe a vinegar and some sauce but that still did not make the pork hock as enjoyable as we expected it to be.  More over, the crackling was very chewy and not crunchy!  Fishman was sad :(! We were wondering why it was not left to crackle a little bit more!  It is was crunchy, that would have presented the dish better! No one hates a crispy crackling!Pork Hock for 2, $55

 

With the bill coming to slightly over $300 for 4 appetizers, and 7 mains, I cannot help but feel that I have walked away with a bargain.  In Perth, such fulfilling meal for 8 people rarely stays below $50 and very often hovers around the $70 mark.  The quality we received today was exceptional.  Out of the lot, the only dish which performed below our expectations were the pork hock and the side of cumin buttermilk potatoes.  Other than that, no one could fault with the beautiful liver parfait or the tender beef ribs.  These were dishes alongside the Arancini and Gnocchi really made Cantina 663 a great dining experience.  More often than not, I eat out at such hyped diners feeling satisfied but not extremely contented because the hype felt greater than what I have experienced.  And I will be honest, hype kills.  Even places like Jamie’s Italian, and Gordon St. Garage fell short on my books because with the queue and all the mentions, one would really expect more. Like A LOT more.  However, Cantina 663 is an exception from what I experienced that night.  And with this place so well established in the area, their reputation is, hopefully, here to stay.

 

WenY

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