Review: Chilli Jam, Concord

So following on from the Risotto we had on Sunday, DW, WW and I decided to take a break from our study session and head to dinner at Chilli Jam in Concord. It was a well deserved break as we had been madly slaving away at our assignment all afternoon and had pretty much fried our brains by the time dinner ticked around.

The place was picked by yours truly, purely and simply because I was the host and knew my area. (Makes sense right?) I'd been eyeing Chilli Jam for some time now as a target for my foodieventures, and on Sunday, the timing just felt right.

Money Bags - $7.90

The place was pretty quiet in terms of number of customers for a Sunday night. There were plenty of empty seats and we were quickly seated despite not having booked earlier. The design of the place is visually pleasing with dim lights and dark wooden furniture, spiced up with different seating arrangements around the large venue. It was also spacious, helped along by its high ceilings. On the downside were the concrete walls, which meant that noise reverberated straight off the walls, making it considerably loud given the number of people inside.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab - $12.90

We began our night with a serve of Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab and Money Bags. I personally love Money Bags (haha, get it?), but these ones were rather disappointing as they tasted like they had either been double-fried or just overdone. The filling itself left much to be desired as it just looked like a brown paste with an occasional pea somewhere inside.

The Soft Shell Crabs were also disappointing. DW loves her Soft Shell Crab and claims that these ones came nowhere close to the level of quality you get at Thai Pothong. There was a strong taste of fishiness, which suggests that the crabs were not very fresh at all.

Pad Thai (Beef) - $12.90

Luckily there was a change in our luck once DW's Pad Thai appeared before our eyes. The noodles were soft and delicately flavoured. I found the dish to be a tad on the sweet side, which made the additional mound of sugar provided on the side between the chilli flakes and bean sprouts (not visible in the picture) rather bizarre. I generally enjoy a squeeze of lemon/lime on my Pad Thai, but DW happily went without.

Oh, and as you may have noticed, the pricing is a little weird in this place.

Stir-fry Prawns in Garlic and Pepper Sauce - $16.90

The above picture is WW's Prawn in Garlic and Pepper Sauce. I will tell you now that when this dish came out, I had an inkling of regret in me for not having picked it. If heaven had a smell, this would be it.

And as such, it is reasonably foreseeable that DW and I both started picking away at the plate, possibly to WW's dismay. The prawns were bursty and full of flavour, and the vegetables still retained their crunch with vibrancy in colour. And the sauce? Well, we all agreed that we couldn't really tell where the garlic or the pepper came into play, but it was still incredibly delicious nevertheless.

Massamun Curry - $12.90

Roti - $3

Next up was my Massamun Curry, served with Roti. I'm a huge fan of massamun curry - the tenderness of the beef and potatoes, all served with a generous serving of jasmine rice, is simply to die for.

This time, however, I decided to give Roti a try. I had never tried one before, but in my mind I had always pictured it to be somewhat like a cross between an Indian Naan and a Shanghainese Shallot Pancake. I guess I was somewhat right when I finally bit into it. It was just so flaky and full of flavour, yet soft and complimented the curry very well.

The beef chunks in the curry at Chilli Jam were a bit disappointing. Due to the INCREDIBLY large pieces of meat they have, they were pretty tough and incredibly hard to eat. I didn't end up finishing my bowl, but the serving sizes at Chilli Jam are quite large, and each serve could have easily fed two people.

Overall I believe the 6.5 average score for Chilli Jam on Eatability was pretty much spot on. Some things about the place were great, while others were huge let downs. I would probably come back for the Prawn stirfry.


Chilli Jam
104 Majors Bay Road
Concord, NSW 2137
Tel: (02) 9743 3400

Creamy Chicken and Sundried Tomato Risotto to Die For

Oh my goodness. Finally! I can breathe again.

For those who are in the process of designing their timetables for next semester, I must stress NOT to commit the dumb mistake of placing all your tutorials on the same day the way I did this semester. While it may seem awfully tempting to place everything on the same day to get it over and done with, on the off occasion where you have an assessment due in every subject in a week, well...you know that feeling you get when you get punched in the face? Yeah, well it feels something like that.

Anyway, DW and WW came over on Sunday for a bit of lunch and a groupwork session to knock over an assessment. For me, it was simply another excuse to whip up something good to share.

It's been so long since I've made risotto, so I decided early in the morning to go out and gather some great ingredients for my dish.


Risotto is actually a lot easier to make than most people think. All it requires is a bit of patience and constant stirring. Fresh ingredients also make a huge difference to the taste as you shouldn't really need to add other seasoning if you can get it right.

You can see the ingredients in the above picture. I wouldn't be myself if I had remembered to set up everything at the time of taking the picture, so I'm going to tell you now that the onion, tomato paste, canned tomato and garlic are all M.I.A.

First chop the chicken up. For the purposes of this recipe, use chicken breast as it has a firmer texture and less oil to contrast the creamy risotto. If you're worried about the toughness of the breast fillet - don't be. The gentle cooking process in liquid will help prevent the breast from drying out too much.

I also like to lightly coat the chicken in a bit of flour and brown the pieces before I throw them into the risotto. I like my meat slightly brown. Don't question it.

Oh, and feel free to use butter instead of olive oil. I was simply following orders from the Angel.

Next, just saute your onion and garlic as you would any other dish. When the onion is transparent, throw the arborio rice into the pan. Coat the rice in the oil and this will start the cooking process on the rice. The rice will begin to turn transparent (though the centre of each grain will still have a very obvious white spot). This is when you start adding stock.

As Huey says, add the stock in gradually. This means you pour a small amount in, stir the rice around and let it soak up the liquid, then add a bit more. You'll notice when to stop as the rice will eventually reach its saturation point and will stop soaking up all the liquid. This is your cue to pour the rest of the stock in.

And yes, I did burn my onion a little. I was preoccupied with getting the camera settings right. Just pretend you don't see the little black specks floating around.

Then add the canned tomato, chicken, sundried tomato, a portion of chopped basil and tomato paste. Your pot should look like red rice soup at this point, but smell like absolute heaven. I know this because WW was hovering over my stove trying to obtain a whiff of the smell.

Cover and bring to a simmer.


Depending on your rice, your stove and the pan/pot you're using, you may need to add more stock. Also, because of the starch content of the rice, it will stick to the bottom of the pan (especially if you're using stainless steel). I stirred everything roughly once every 2~5 minutes as it was simmering away. Once the mixture becomes thicker, and the rice looks plump with liquid, give it a test to see if the rice is done. If it is still hard, then add more stock and continue cooking.

Rinse and repeat this process. I don't think I've ever done a good pot of risotto without it.

Once the rice is cooked, turn the heat off and stir in the remaining basil, cream and grated parmesan. I STRESS the stirring part or your cream will curdle. Alternatively, you could let it cool slightly, but given that it's Winter here, I decided to just do a vigorous stir as I poured the cream in.

Garnish with a basil if you can be bothered. But generally speaking, it'll be too hard holding your guests/family off because all they'll be wanting to do is smacking their entire face into the risotto and nom it up good.

I needed my photo, so I resorted to feeding the hungry souls first so they can leave me to take my shots in peace.


Creamy Chicken and Sundried Tomato Risotto to Die For
Serves: 4

Buy:
1 Large Chicken Breast, roughly sliced
350g Arborio rice
80g Sundried Tomato, sliced
1 Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
3 cups Chicken Stock (+1 cup extra)
300g Canned Tomatoes
2 tblsp Tomato Paste
1/4 cup Basil, roughly chopped
1 cup Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
1/4 cup Pouring Cream
Flour, for coating chicken
Olive Oil for cooking

Cook:

1. In a frying pan, brown the chicken breast lightly in batches. Don't overcrowd the pan.
2. Remove and drain on paper towel
3. In a separate saute pan, saute the onion with some garlic and olive oil
4. Add rice and saute until rice turns a little transparent
5. Pour in stock gradually (not including the extra allowance), allowing rice to completely absorb liquid before adding more in
6. Add the chicken, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, sundried tomato and 1 tblsp of chopped basil in the pan. Bring to simmer and cover
7. Stir the risotto every 2~5minutes ensuring the mix does not catch on the bottom of the pot
8. Cook for 30minutes or until rice is tender, adding extra stock if needed
9. Turn off heat and add cream, parmesan and remaining basil
10. Serve with extra parmesan, cracked pepper and garnish with fresh basil

Definitely nom while hot.

Korean Glass Noodles (Jap Chae)

I love Korean food. I think I would marry Kimchi and Korean Rice Cakes if I could (and if it wasn't such a weird idea).

Korean Glass Noodles, are also on that list of to-marry's. What I'm going to produce here is possibly not the most authentic recipe for Japchae, but it's simply my attempt at reproducing the stuff in the comfort of my home.

Now, given the sad state of my fridge and pantry yet again, I ask you kindly to imagine that you see carrots somewhere in that picture of ingredients, and that I DID NOT buy ready-sliced shiitake mushrooms.

I emphasis that latter part. My food-conscience is eating me up alive.

The recipe itself is pretty straight forward. First, boil your potato noodles until they are tender. Strain and toss with a few drops of sesame oil to prevent sticking.

Just remember to use sesame oil sparingly. One or two drops will go a long way.

Next, stir fry your vegetable juliennes. This is where you imagine strips of orange bits in my wok.Slowly get everything else in the pan. Season with soy sauce and SUGAR. Don't forget the sugar. It helps balance the saltiness of the soy sauce on your tastebuds.

When everything is cooked, toss the glass noodles back into the wok and briefly reheat the noodles and mixing all the vegies through. Drop 2 more drops of sesame oil and serve on a platter.

And hopefully, if you followed those steps, you'll end up with this:


Korean Glass Noodles (Jap Chae)
Serves: 4 (entree portions)

Buy:
1/4 bunch of choy (or roughly two sticks), chopped into 5cm lengths
1/2 carrot, julienned
1 handful of rehydrated black fungus
1 handful of rehydrated shittake mushrooms, sliced
1 coil of sweet potato noodles
2 small blocks of five spice firm bean curd, julienned
1/2 onion, sliced
1 stick celery, julienned
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 spring onions, chopped into 5cm lengths (or sliced)

2 tblsp soy sauce
1 tblsp Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce for Steaming
1 tsp sugar
1 tblsp cooking oil
Sesame Oil
Toasted Sesame, to garnish

Cook:

1. Boil sweet potato noodles until just tender.
2. Drain and toss with 2 or 3 drops of sesame oil, set aside.
3. In a wok, heat cooking oil and fry onion, bean curd and celery
4. After onions are transparent, add black fungus, garlic, mushrooms and choy and stir fry until almost tender.
5. Season with soy sauce and sugar
6. Add noodles into wok and toss around
7. Remove from heat and drizzle 2 or 3 drops more of sesame oil. Toss gently
8. Serve on a large dish, garnish with toasted sesame

Nom it hot or cold. It's great either way.

Request Line - GW

Move over Max Brenner. You've just met your match!

A while ago GW sent me over a recipe for Molten Chocolate Baby Cakes. I had a quick squiz at it, and while I thought it sounded great, I wasn't too sure if the recipe was going to work.

Part of the problem was that some parts of the recipe didn't make sense, and moreover, there was an ingredient missing. Namely, sugar.

So today, when I finally had some time to do a bit of recipe testing (and fill in the blanks work), I decided to give this a go.

Little did I know, that after tweaking bits and pieces here and there, the end result turned out to be almost identical to my beloved Max Brenner Chocolate Souffle! It brought tears of delight to my eyes (being Asian and all, my first thought was Hey! Now I don't have to pay 10 bucks for this stuff!)

The journey throughout this recipe though, was a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs.


This is my silicon muffin tray. I got it as a part of my 18th birthday present years ago, and till today, I've never really had a chance to use it. (Not much of a muffin person)

However, given that the recipe originally asked for 6 pudding moulds, I thought I could put this to good use. Since I'm just testing and all, if it doesn't work, well...then it doesn't work.

Note about silicon trays: I placed mine in another metal tray because the bendiness of silicon makes it very hard to move the tray without the messing up the mixture and the melts.


I also had some dark chocolate melts left in my pantry and I decided to put it to good use as well. As you can probably tell from the picture, I'm really not very neat when it comes to pouring things out.

And it's not like it really matter anyway.

Now from here until the final product, I didn't take any photos. Here's why.

1. The recipe asked for the batch to be cooked for 10 minutes. I can guarantee that it was NOT done in 10 minutes.
   
2. After an extra 10 minutes, I pulled it out, and the melts were starting to get a little burnt. I stuck a skewer in to see if it was cooked. The skewer came out gooey, but tasted good nevertheless. So I turned the oven off and pulled the tray out.
3. The mixture was way too soft for it to be removed from the tray, so I left it to cool in the tray for about 5minutes.
4. Thinking that it was the moment of truth, I gathered around a lot of of teatowels just in case everything fell apart when I flipped them onto the cooling rack.
5. I took a deep breath, and flipped it around. And to my absolute surprise, everything not only stayed in shape, but didn't even crumble! They were perfect!

I was really over the moon.

So now that the recipe is complete, it is here to be shared.



Molten Chocolate Baby Cakes/Max Brenners Chocolate Souffle
Serves: 6

Buy:
50g salted butter
350g dark cooking chocolate
4 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar (roughly. As mentioned before, this was left out of the original recipe, so it's guesswork on my part.)
6 chocolate melts
6 pudding moulds, buttered (or 1 deep, silicon muffin tray, as pictured)
Baking paper

Bake:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2. Grease the trays (not necessary if you're using silicon) and cut out small circles of baking paper to line the bottom of each mould
3. Melt chocolate (microwave/double boiler both okay), and rest aside to cool slightly
4. Cream butter and sugar until light in colour
5. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract
6. Add sifted flour and gently fold into mixture
   
7. Add melted chocolate and fold until smooth and evenly mixed
   
8. Divide into moulds and top with a chocolate melt in the centre of each one
9. Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes (keep an eye on it after 15)
10. Remove and let it rest in tray for 5minutes
11. Tip onto cooling rack, but serve warm with cream/strawberries/drizzled chocolate sauce/ice cream -- whatever rocks your boat.

Nom it while it's hot.

Review: Wagaya, Haymarket

When anyone mentions the word "Wagaya", one of two things is definitely bound to pop up into conversation.

1. Touch screen menu
2. Sushi Roulette

Sitting right opposite Market City and Sydney Entertainment Centre, this dashing little place is rather like a little gem waiting to be discovered.

The food is above-average, with little standouts here and there (personally I would crown whoever came up the idea of Eel Tempura should be crowned GENIUS). But I really do think one of the major selling points of Wagaya is the atmosphere it provides, along with the touch-screen menu which allows you and your friends to "ooooh" and "ahhhh" at each dish before you order.

Each item on the menu also has its own little picture, as well as the ingredients which goes in, making it considerably more convenient for those with food allergies. As for my friends, the touch-screen turned out to be a good little gadget to keep me distracted while they nommed up all the food before I got a chance to see it.

Mixed Sashimi Platter

Luckily I managed to peel myself away from the screen before the Mixed Sashimi Platter disappeared. Having frequented many Japanese restaurants recently, I've officially been converted to a lover of scallop sashimi. Upon the sight of this platter, I knew I was in for a treat.

Wafu Pizza

I think it was PW who was craving for the Wafu Pizza. I glanced over and it looked to me like shredded chicken topped with cheese. I had no idea what it was and decided to steal a few bits off JL's plate while he wasn't looking.

And the verdict?

Well I'm having an entire one of these to myself next time! (Or perhaps come up with a DIY version sometime soon)

Sapphire (Non-alcoholic)

Seeing everyone ordered throughout the night, I wasn't entirely sure what half the things on the table were. We were here for a 21st and had booked one of their beautifully decorated function rooms with traditional seating arrangments (i.e. taking you shoes off and sitting on the wooden floor). It was hard to move around and mingle with everyone given the size of the room, but looking across the table, we could see mountains of empty plates and bowls piling up and everyone just having a great time.

Sushi Roulette

But then...

Well, to give you a bit of a background, we started off the night with 2 plates of sushi roulettes up my end of the table. MH hit the jackpot and went all red and teary from the wasabi, and everyone had a great laugh.

Most of us thought that would be the end of it...

After everyone had a bit to eat, JL and JS decided that we should play another round of sushi roulette. So we ordered and 6 people were picked to play.

SH went up first...and BAM! Hit the jackpot. Poor thing went all teary and red and chugged water down like he had just walked across the dessert.

So sitting on the plate were the other 5 pieces of salmon nigiri. Seeing that the wasabi bomb had already been picked, the other 5 people eagerly grabbed their piece and popped it in their mouth (except PW and JL). Little did they know that JS and JL had requested a special order with the waitstaff while nobody was looking, and ALL of them were filled with wasabi!

Oh dear, I think I saw blood in people's eyes when they found out.

So we laughed, while some cried.

I'm pretty sure that plate won't be forgotten for a while.


Wagaya
Level 1, 78-86 Harbour Street
Haymarket, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9212 6068

Royal Egg Flan

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe. Now that food is officially murdering my bank account, it's nice to settle to some home cooking and just have a quiet night in.

Egg flans have always been a sort of comfort food for me. It was always the thing that mum fed me when I was sick, or upset...or recovering from surgery (it's one of the few things you can slurp with a straw when you're recovering from having your wisdoms taken out).

Anyway, over time, I've slowly upgraded this recipe to give it a little more pizazz.

It's a pretty basic recipe consisting of two parts. The egg flan, and the sauce to go on top of the flan.

The list of ingredients is pretty basic. Frozen peas & corn, a couple of eggs (around 4 or 5 large eggs will suffice), tofu, garlic, chicken stock and corn starch mixed with water. Depending on how heavily flavoured your chicken stock is, you may want to add more salt.

It's also a pretty healthy recipe provided that you don't consume the entire egg flan by yourself. Sharing is caring my friends.

First, you steam the mixture of chicken stock and egg flan. While it's steaming, feel free to work on the sauce. Multitasking is also your friend.

A note to remember, however, is that the heat must be turn on low. Slow steaming is the way to go or your flan will have trappled air bubbles and end up with an uneven top.

Then throw in your prawns and tofu in a wok and go for your life. Don't flavour too heavily here because you'll be adding in chicken stock in here as well to match the flavours of the egg flan.

The key to this part is to make sure you don't overstir the mixture. The last thing you want is to have little bits of broken up tofu floating around your sauce. Let the sauce simmer away and then turn the heat on low and pour in the corn starch mixture, let it thicken slightly and take it off the heat.

The colours should be vivid. Your family will hate you if you turn your vegies yellow.

Lastly, just simply pour the sauce on your cooked flan and garnish it with a few sprinkles of spring onion.

Go on. Give it a go.


Royal Egg Flan
Serves: the family

Buy
5 peeled prawns, diced
3 blocks of tofu, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tblsp peas and corn
5 large eggs
1 tblsp corn starch, mixed with 3 tblsp water
400mL chicken stock
salt (optional)
white pepper (optional)
1 sprig spring onion, chopped finely

Cook:

1. Beat the eggs in a large bowl
2. Pour in 1 cup of chicken stock and beat until evenly distributed
3. Transfer mixture into the bowl you want to serve in (you can't transfer the flan into a bowl after it is cooked)
4. Place the bowl into a steamer, and steam for about 15~20mins on low heat.
5. Set aside
   
6. In a wok, pour a teaspoon of oil and saute tofu and prawns with garlic.
7. After prawns turn pink, pour in the remaining chicken stock and bring to simmer.
8. Add peas and corn and sprinkle with white pepper and gently simmer the mixture for about 3 minutes.
9. Turn heat down to minimum and pour in corn starch mixture. You may not need all of it, depending on how much of the chicken stock evaporates off.
10. Once sauce thickens, pour onto the steamed egg flan
11. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

Nom it.

Review: Rise, Darlinghurst

JL and I had our very first anniversary yesterday. In the week leading up to the big day, JL had been dropping clues every once in a while, just to make me guess where we were heading.

Let me tell you this now. If there ever was a cat that got killed by curiosity, it was probably me, in my past life, no jokes.

I think in the end he regretted ever starting the game with me because I would annoy him every few minutes with a "GIMME ANOTHER CLUE! GIMME ANOTHER CLUE!"

So here were his clues, given at various times of the day, over a few days:
Clue #1: "The place we're going to has a four letter name"
Clue #2: "Ok it's not Waqu"
Clue #3: "I think it serves a degustation menu as well"
Clue #4: "I don't think you've mentioned it before"
Clue #5: This one is too long for the blog, but he basically copy and pasted an introduction of Hideki Okazaki from Menulog, and blotted out the restaurant name and made me promise not to google it.

I kept my promise, and controlled my urges by playing Restaurant City on Facebook all day instead.

We were about 15minutes late for a booking. It's incredible how many cars people manage to squeeze into the tiny avenues and lanes weaving between the buildings in Kings Cross. We eventually settled for a park a few blocks away, and just walked the rest.

Eventually we arrived and before long, we were served our very first course for the evening - Marinated Ocean Trout.

1st Course: Ocean Trout marinated with Gochujang Miso & Poached Quail Egg

To be honest I was wary at first. Apart from salmon and kingfish, I've never really taken a liking to any other types of raw fish - especially tuna. Nevertheless, I told myself that one cannot claim to be a foodie if they don't try everything and my goodness, I was delighted that I did! The ocean trout itself has a taste that resembles salmon, except the flesh is a bit firmer and the texture is less oily. The miso marinade really helped bring out the sweetness in the fish and complemented the bed of rocket that it was served on. Oh, and there was no fishiness!

I'm not sure what the white thing on top was, but whatever it was, it gave a really nice crunch to provide a nice contrast with the quail egg and the trout. I loved this dish, and would definitely come back for more.

2nd Course: Potato Cream Soup with Tempura Prawn & Tofu

This Potato Cream soup was an immediate winner with JL and I, and remained our favourite course for the entire evening. The taste of the cream soup was delectably light and the richness well controlled and satisfying. It served a double purpose in this dish as we enjoy it not only as soup, but I happily dipped my freshly fried tempura prawn and tofu into the cream potato soup in an almost sauce-like manner. The flavours are subtle, and exceptionally delicate.

My taste palette will forever be jaded after this.

3rd Course: Assorted today's fresh market sashimi

JL nearly jizzled his pants when he saw this dish come out. In fact, I think he did. Or at least his face showed it.

Clockwise from the bottom left: Kingfish with mustard vinaigrette; Jewfish with balsamic dressing; Ocean Trout with traditional soy and wasabi; Tuna with I-forgot-what-sauce, and Oyster with light citrus Japanese soy(?)

The kingfish was our biggest surprise on the plate. More appropriately, the mustard vinaigrette used as a dressing for the fish was our biggest surprise winner. JL claimed to want to drink the dressing because it was that good, and I had to agree, because it really complemented nicely with the fish, and gave a complete spin on the traditional sashimi.

4th Course: Egg flan, mushroom & miso red curry sauce; Rice paper roll of miso chicken stick; Duck confit salad with 'Hoisin' in wonton cup

This plate was also an outstanding arrangment of assorted savoury delights. The spring rolls on the left really took a focus on the blend of natural flavours from the food - with the lightly marinated miso chicken stick subtly orchestrating the blend. Despite this, for me, it was the egg flan in the centre which really made the magic happen.

The egg flan, or chawanmushi in Japanese, was gently steamed to perfection and tasted soft and silky and delicate in flavour. It was topped with a red miso curry sauce, which, I must admit, sounds a little strange on paper, but in reality it tastes somewhat like that yellow stuff you get in crabs, except not as overpowering in flavour, and needless to say, not fishy at all.

The wonton wrap on the side, as pleasant and tasty it was, failed to shine through when contrasted with all the other dishes which had been served. To its merit, however, the cup was crispy and not too oily, and the bamboo shoots provided a nice crunch of a different style to accompany the sweetly flavoured duck

5th Course: Steamed Scallops, Green Tea Noodle & Ginger Shallot Sauce

I have to say this was a bit of a hit and miss for me. JL loved it, but I found the dressing to be salted a little too heavy-handedly, and competed with the incredibly sweet scallops in flavour. The green tea noodles were pleasant, and in one mouthful, the trio worked gave the tastebuds a good jolt of excitement.

6th Course: Soy Braised Chicken, daikon & green beans

Ok. Just for the record, I've just about run out of adjectives showing delight, deliciousness and general tastebud-happiness. Whatever I used for the other courses, I'm going to say that this dish takes them all. Except for the creamy part. But what I can add, uniquely to this dish, is that despite being well flavoured, the saucing is nevertheless gentle and thus the natural flavours of broccolini and bean sprouts retain their integrity admist everything.

Oh, and you may have noticed that it's not green beans, but bean sprouts served with the dish. Dayam good bean sprouts.

Rice, along with Miso Soup, was served alongside this dish. I gave my miso to JL as I'm not a fan of drinking soup during my meal.

7th Course: Today's Dessert

Lastly, we finished off our meal with Grapefruit Granita with mixed berries, and Coffee & Kahlua Granita with Panna Cotta.

Given how much of a coffee addict I am, I was quite a fan of the strong coffee flavour in the granita. What I wasn't too thrilled about was the sweetness of the kahlua beneath, blending in with the panna cotta. Given the subtlety in flavours in all the other courses, I found this one a bit outcasted and fell one short of the rest. On the other hand, the grapefruit granita was refreshing. I wasn't sure what the yellow custard-like stuff beneath was exactly, but whatever it was it was beautiful, and went nicely with the berries.

To top the evening off, the service at Rise was really exceptional. The waiter/waitress were well informed about each individual dish, and were professional in every aspect of their job. This is definitely a place I would return to - even if they don't change their menu anytime soon, I would happily have it a second time round.

And that, sadly, brings me to the end of this post. Heck of a long one if you ask me. But I had a great evening and couldn't help but share it in quite a bit of detail.

Hehe, we nommed it good.

Rise
23 Craigsend Street
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9357 1755