Vasse Felix, Margaret River

Margaret River region is home to some of Australia‘s most remarkable wines and spectacular vineyards. Where there is good wine, there is always good food as well. As we planned to go cellar-hopping, we arranged our lunches at a few of the hatted restaurants (a rating system akin to Michelin star) and Vasse Felix was our first stop on Day 4 of the trip.

The restaurant on the 2nd storey of the building offered expansive view of the vineyard. There are also people who opted to do picnics in the ground area. In humid Singapore, I can’t fathom why would people choose to sit outdoor under the sweltering heat. However in Perth, on sunny days with a pleasant chill in the air, there is nothing quite like the joy of sitting in the alfresco area, relishing the gentle breeze while sipping some wine.

Snack Donut with smoked eel emulsion paired with Blanc de blancs

Scallop, apple, poppy seed, orange scallop marinated with miso and sake lees, ginger paired with a 2020 Sauvignon Blanc. The naturally sweet scallop was elevated by the savoury marinade, finishing with a hint of zesty notes from the ginger. The sprinkle of poppy seed was a clever touch to add a pleasant crunch to make this a well-rounded dish.

Beef, lettuce, oyster, caviar Beef short rib paired with 2018 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon (this bottle was sold out at the cellar door). Love the aroma once the dish was placed on our table. The rich, savoury glace filled with umami of the succulent beef, was a pleasing contrast with the crisp, crunchy texture of the lettuce underneath.

After the rich dish, we were offered a palate cleanser of Yuzu, lemon, bay leaf. The bright and tangy flavours of yuzu and lemon in the meringue provided a burst of freshness. It revitalized our taste buds in preparation for the next protein dish.

Toothfish, seaweed, spring onion, bearnaise 2021 Chardonnay While the toothfish had a white, firm and buttery texture, the combination of toothfish and béarnaise sauce was slightly overcloying for me. The richness of the béarnaise sauce, which is known for its buttery and egg-based richness, made the dish felt slightly heavy. I probably prefer a lighter or more complementary sauce but we still managed to finish the dish.

To a certain extent, I was initially perturbed as to why the beef was served before the fish but it turned out to be a blessing as I enjoyed the beef more than the fish. If I was indeed too full to finish everything it would be a waste to forego the beef if it had been served later.

No matter how full one is, there is always room for dessert. The Chocolate, burnt butter, whey was a great way to end our relaxing lunch. The dessert was thoughtfully plated to create a visual contrast, with the white airy whey sandwiched between two layers of rich dark brown chocolate and covered with cocoa power while balanced with nutty, toasty notes of burnt butter.

After our meal we headed down to the cellar door on the ground level but they were pretty busy and we were advised to return in about 30 mins’ time. As we were really full from the meal, we took the opportunity to go for a stroll around the compound, which also has small art gallery exhibition area.

Vasse Felix was established in 1967 by regional pioneer Dr Tom Cullity. They are Margaret River‘s founding wine estate. Complimentary wine tasting was available to us as we dined at the restaurant, otherwise there would be a tasting fee – redeemable upon wine purchase. There was a tasting menu listing the wine available for tasting, however as we already had some of the wines during our meal, we skipped to those that we had not tried before. Picked the Vasse Felix 2020 Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy on the trip and a Vasse Felix 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon to bring back home.

While waiting for an available wine tasting counter, I saw Bahen & Co. chocolate bars and picked the Almond & Sea Salt (70% cacao). They are a chocolate factory that operates from the family farm in the region but the factory itself is not open for visits so you could only purchase their chocolates at stockists or via their online website. Recently I saw the chocolates available at Providore and Surrey Hills Grocer in Singapore.

Other Photos Taken:

Managed to capture the Rainbow Sea Container Art before sunset in Fremantle. This sculpture made by upcycling shipping containers is placed near the mouth of Swan river and overlooking the port.

Woke up by stinging sensation on the back of my hands in the middle of the night. Realised that it was signs of sunburn…I wore a long sleeve UV protection jacket and had put sunscreen on my face, back of the neck and arms while cycling at Rottnest Island, but I forgot about the back of my hands! Power of the strong Aussie sun in Spring (not even Summer yet).

After a nice breakfast at the hotel in Perth and we headed out to grab a soothing aloe vera gel to nurse my burning hands. Day 3 of our trip mainly involved us doing marketing to stock up ingredients for our self-catered dinners for the next few days, collecting our car from the rental place and making a 3-hr drive towards Margaret River region.

Barely made it in time to Margaret River‘s Gralyn Estate just before they close for the day~ They are known for their range of sweet and fortified wines. Not exactly my type of wine but still good to drop by for a tasting. Picked up a bottle of wine so that we could enjoy it at our accommodation in the evening.

Arrived at Eight Willows Resort where we would stay for the next 2 nights.

Chilling with strawberries and wine~

Simple dinner cooked at the apartment. There were several Asian supermarkets in Perth and I was surprised to even see Yong Tau Foo available~ So I made a soup with pork and beef slices. The Yong Tau Foo turned out to be pretty tasty. I should have added more soup to the bowl for the photo.

Breakfast was Almond Croissant which we bought from Miller + Baker in Perth the day before.

The next morning, we took a short drive to enjoy a walk at Busselton Jetty before we head over to Vasse Felix for our lunch. It’s one of the icons in Western Australia, being the longest wooden piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other Related Posts:

• Little Creatures Brewery, Perth
• Hong Kong BBQ House, Perth

Little Creatures Brewery, Perth

Beers in the evening to reward ourselves for a grueling day. Woke up early in the morning for our trip to Rottnest Island. Back to Freemantle in the evening and immediately made our way to Little Creatures Brewery. Being regular drinkers of Little Creatures bottled beer in Singapore, it was nice to be able to visit their birthplace. Their signature Pale Ale is flowery, fruity and easy drinking – a favourite of mine. We also tried a Freo Lager which is a Freemantle venue exclusive.

Wanted to wash it down with the local akoya oysters ‘kilpatrick’ but it was sadly not available. So we settled for half dozen of freshly shucked oysters.

Ideally we would love to chill and hang out here much longer but we were in a slight rush to go see another Freemantle sight before the sunset so we only had another light dish of Fremantle octopus, white bean, nduja, lemon to fill our stomachs.

Wonderfully grilled with slight smoky char on the exterior, the tentacles had slight chewiness and a delightful texture. The bold and rich nduja – a spreadable spicy pork sausage from Calabria in the south of Italy added depth and a touch of meatiness to the dish.

In the morning, before departing to Rottnest Island, we took time to visit the iconic landmark in the area – Fremantle Market.

After a 30-mins ferry ride departing from Rottnest Express B Shed Terminal, we were ready to explore Rottnest Island on bicycles.

If your key aim is just to spot quokkas, you can easily find them hanging around at the shops, cafes and restaurants located in the Main Settlement near the jetty. Pictured below was one of the very first quokka we saw in that area~

If you want to venture beyond the Main Settlement area, the best mode of transport is to cycle. There is also shuttle bus services but you would be limited by its frequency, where it stops and expect lots of walking.

For us on bicycles, what started as a leisure ride turned onerous when we hit the hilly trails… While there are properly laid roads (shared with buses/service vehicles/buggies), it was a totally different experience from riding at East Coast Park or park connectors in Singapore. Admittedly I ended up pushing the bike uphill shamelessly most of the time… Afterall we were not conditioned to do such intense exercise neither do I want to overstrain myself on Day 2 of my holiday. Weather was cooling but the UV ray was at an intense level – blue sky with no cloud.

We managed to visit quite a few spots such as the Salmon Point (above) and Geordie Bay (below) – one of the largest beach on the island.

One of the most enjoyable spot was the Pink Lake. It is not vibrant pink but you could see a little pinkish tone.

Here’s the superstar on Rottnest Island. Almost everyone makes a trip to the island for a selfie with the quokkas. We spotted this cutie while cycling. I loved the composition and colour contrast of this shaded forest area. You are allowed to take selfies with these cuties but do note that there is a policy of no feeding and no touching of these wildlife animals.

Other Related Posts:

• Hong Kong BBQ House, Perth
• Peter’s @ Sydney Fish Market, Sydney
• New Year’s Eve 2018 @ The Point, Sydney
• Koi Dessert Bar, Sydney

Hong Kong BBQ House, Perth

Our first meal in Perth was to have a Chinese meal before we move out of the city – where we probably have no access to such restaurants. The Northbridge area is known as the Chinatown of the city where one can find many Asian grocery stores and F&B eateries. We went to Hong Kong BBQ House, drawn by their roast meat offering. Ordered the Roast duck and BBQ Pork platter but I must say (unapologetically) that its really dry and tough…. That was not what we were expecting…having tried other roast ducks in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne), we were disappointed with the offering here. In fact we struggled to finish the roast platter… Thankfully the next dish more than made up for our poor choice of roast platter.

In stark contrast, the Squid and Snow Pea in XO Sauce was superb! The snow peas were really sweet and crunchy. They tasted so fresh that I even went to buy snow peas from Aussie supermarket to cook on days where we did self-catering. Other than the snow peas, the thinly sliced tender squid were also a star on its own. Lightly coated in the fragrant XO sauce with a tint of “wok hei” from the stir frying, this dish had hallmarks of quality Cantonese cooking that we expected.

Guess we should have ordered the seafood and stir-fried dishes instead of the roast meat… The business was good at the restaurant with many large Asian families seen entering the place from 7pm onwards. We were lucky to arrive for a slightly early dinner where we did not have to wait long for our food.

Earlier Photos Taken:

Newly revamped SQ lounge in T3 is refreshing and quite spacious. It was not crowded as we were taking a day flight. From past experience, the lounge was really crowded near mid-night where most Europe-bound flights are scheduled for departure.

Excited to see the door closed and the familiar “Cabin crew arm doors and cross check“. Off we go~

Can never miss having the Lobster Thermidor while on SQ flights. The Tom Cruise’s movie Top Gun: Maverick that was I watching on the entertainment system hung mid-way. Despite requesting for assistance to get the system re-started, I could not continue watching that particular movie… Oddly the crew told me another person seated a few rows in front of me had the same problem and we were both watching the same movie.

With the plane descending gradually as we were reaching the destination, I saw this view from the window. Unexpected pink coloured pools. I think this is Yarra Yarra Lakes region(?), just before arriving in Perth, Australia. Also passed by a wine region too~

This was the first Jacaranda tree we saw in Perth. The branches of this one seemed to form a heart shape from this angle. I’ve seen tons of IG photos of a famous street nicknamed jacaranda street in Sydney as it formed a tunnel of purple flowering tress in Spring, but did not cross my mind that I could see the trees in Perth. What a pleasant surprise!

Other Related Posts:

• Peter’s @ Sydney Fish Market, Sydney
• New Year’s Eve 2018 @ The Point, Sydney
• Koi Dessert Bar, Sydney
• Black Star Pastry, Sydney
• Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney
• The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney

Peter’s @ Sydney Fish Market, Sydney

Since almost everywhere is closed for business on public holiday, we decided to make a trip to the Sydney Fish Market for lunch. Although it is located pretty near to the city, it’s not as accessible as the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo if you don’t drive. Be it by train or bus, both involves significant walking. The best public transport option is probably via the light rail.

After a rainy night at the countdown, the sky cleared up today with a scorching sun. When we first entered the compound, it seemed pretty quiet with not much activity (at noon). However when we reached the retail arcade, the place was bustling with people! I was slightly confused as the retail arcade had shops selling both fresh market seafood along with cooked items…

Initially we tried to look for available seats along the boardwalk which was a common outdoor seating area. You could then purchase food from any of the shops for your meal but they were all taken up except for the ones exposed to the mid-day sun… It’s probably fine during Spring/Autumn, but with the summer heat it was pretty intolerable…

We returned back inside the arcade area to escape from the heat and was resigned to just grabbing some fresh Sydney Rock Oysters from Peter’s to gobble down on the go. We were wandering around with the tray of oysters in hand when we spotted a couple who had finished their meal and vacated their seats inside the shop! With access to proper table indoor we were happy to stay and order more food!

While we were still trying to orientate ourselves to figure out what to order, the large group seated next to us were already tucking into their purchases. I sneakily snapped their spread of food, including a huge box of fried squid/octopus skewers, Japanese Sushi, fried rice etc.

Enticed by the aroma of the fried items, our first stop was to the BBQ Grill counter.

Here’s our purchase of:

• Grilled Octopus A$9
• Prawn Skewer A$9
• Abalone A$16
• Baked Scallop A$3.50 each
• Lobster Tail Grilled A$14.50
• Lobster Tail Salt & Pepper A$16.50

The Sushi/Sashimi counter had a longer queue, so we didn’t get any sushi nor sashimi. But do note that some of the sashimi-grade fishes were imported as per clearly labelled.

From the fresh seafood counter, we selected a bundle of fresh Razor clams (ard A$19, by weight) before deciding on how we wanted it to be cooked according to our choice (cooking fee of A$15). There were a variety of styles such as Stir Fried, Grilled or Steamed depending on the seafood you chose along with options of gravy including Singapore Chilli, XO Sauce, HK style Dry Chilli, Garlic Butter etc. We opted for Steamed Ginger & Shallot for our razor clams. We usually order steamed razor clams at seafood restaurants in Singapore for about S$10-12 per piece, albeit bigger size than the ones here. Therefore this dish seemed pretty value-for-money when compared to what we pay for back home.

However I’m not sure whether the price of the seafood here are reasonable by local standards, the market as a whole felt pretty touristy. Nonetheless it made a great first meal of 2019 for me~

After this meal, we headed back to the hotel to pack our bags for our flight…

Other Food Items:

Some interesting items tried on this trip included the Kombucha drink which is very popular here. Huge variety of brands and flavours available at every convenience store we visited in Sydney. The healthy sparkling drink makes a refreshing cooler for hot summer days.

Tim Tams are a must-eat in Australia and this Honeycomb flavour tasted pretty nice when chilled.

The cons of the regular Tim Tam pack is that I usually couldn’t finish it at one go. Hence I prefer these mini bites that I picked up at the airport.

Last but not least, I brought back the half-eaten bottle of Thai Suki Sauce since we loved it so much. From the same Asian supermarket in Sydney where we purchased the sauce, we also discovered this tasty Thai Fish Cake! While we can’t possibly bring back the frozen package, I would look for similar products when back in Singapore.

Experienced the horrific holiday travel chaos at the airport…slow moving queue at immigration checkpoint (despite using electronic gates)…slow moving queue at security clearance checkpoint (due to limited manpower) and messy long queue for tax refund… Only get to relax when we saw this pretty sunset near the gates.

Relieving the countdown moment from a copy of Straits Times. And enjoyed the Singapore Chicken Rice onboard Singapore Airlines before taking a quick nap.

Made another great discovery during breakfast! Loving this Watermelon & Strawberry Twist rich yogurt from Australia. Managed to find this brand at some premium supermarkets in Singapore but not this particular flavour.

Other Related Posts:

• New Year’s Eve 2018 @ The Point, Sydney
• Koi Dessert Bar, Sydney
• Black Star Pastry, Sydney
• Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney
• The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney
• Mr Wong, Sydney
• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney

New Year’s Eve 2018 @ The Point, Sydney

With another 10 hours to the countdown and people had filled up the spaces in front of Sydney Opera House.

Everyone was gearing up for the party as we got a knock on the door and received a complimentary bottle of champagne from the hotel. =)

The gates for our ticketed area opens at 5pm. Typically people would queue up earlier to get the best seats as the category we purchased is free seating.  The guests who purchased assigned table seating has the luxury of arriving later – although the downside is you cannot choose your seat.

For us, we went for the bench tables lining the coast for the best view and gave up on comfort…

Received our arrival entree once we passed through the gate. Spinach and ricotta calzone, Quinoa, brown rice and fresh herb salad, Marinated capsicum and olives, Linseed and thyme crackers with a bottle of water. Other drinks are available for purchase.

Dining stations would commence at 6pm serving Indian Curry, Slides, Pot Pies and Steamed Dumplings. We skipped the curry and pot pies and grabbed the Thai chicken slider with kaffir lime, chilli and lemongrass mayo which turned out to be unremarkable.

Thankfully we managed to stuff ourselves with the Steam Dumplings: Forest shitake mushroom and water chestnut dumpling and Prawn, chive and garlic dumpling served with a choice of red vinegar/black pepper dressing, black vinegar and mustard soy. While we didn’t bear high expectations of carnival food, these were still acceptable as the skin were not too thick and were served warm. The queue also moved faster than other stations. Needless to say, we went back for more rounds of these.

With the dark clouds looming over the city skyline, we anticipated the downpour to come… Ironically it was the first time we encountered rain during the 1 week stay in Sydney… =(

As the rain didn’t seemed to ease, the 8pm aerial flyover display was cancelled.  We started to ponder whether the 9pm fireworks would be cancelled too…All we could do was to curl up under the poncho and the umbrella; waited for the sky to clear up…

Up till 15 mins before 9pm, the sky was still cloudy…thankfully the show went on and we got a mini fireworks show – for us to find the right angles and setting of our cameras in anticipation of the actual countdown.

To me, the waiting time between 9pm to 11.55pm was the hardest cos our energy level started to dip… The desserts which was supposedly available from 9.30pm onwards were all snapped up quickly…The organiser said they finished giving out 2 out of the 3 desserts and we count ourselves lucky to be able to grab the last few of the Classic choc top ice cream when we went to collect dessert at around 9.45pm…

Things got excited only when we entered the last minute of 2018…and started counting down from 10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1!!!

Dazzling fireworks brightened up the sky as we were treated to a spectacular show.

Managed to get a better angle after adjusting our tripod based on 9pm show. Even with the wide angle lens I can’t capture the full fireworks on our right.

Although we were lucky to get the bench tables right at the shoreline, the yachts parked at the bay were still a factor we can’t control. It really depends on the current flow as to whether the yachts would block the view partially or not… The yacht closest to us in the picture happened to be one decorated with bright fairy lights. It was drifting from left to right during the 10 mins firework show. Hence some of my photos had the yacht in the foreground right in the centre of my pics…

Nonetheless it was a memorable once-in-a-lifetime experience to witness the countdown in Sydney.

Other Related Posts:

• Koi Dessert Bar, Sydney
• Black Star Pastry, Sydney
• Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney
• The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney
• Mr Wong, Sydney
• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney

Koi Dessert Bar, Sydney

Today is dessert day as we hopped from one shop that shot to fame on Instagram to a Chef that gained exposure through a popular TV contest. Reynold Poernomo was one of the top 4 contestants in MasterChef Australia (Series 7). He established himself as the ‘king of desserts’ on the show and opened his dessert bar (with his brothers) one year after making his mark on the show.

Lost for choice, we initially wanted to order the Set Dessert but it was not available during the time of our visit. Eventually we selected 4 mousse cakes from the display (clockwise from top left of the photo below):

• Zen Almond sable, Matcha mousse, Yuzu curd, joconde, on a Matcha, mandarin, and raspberry soil
• Cherry Morello cherry mousse, cherry and chocolate ganache, fruit mince soaked in brandy
• Berry Cheesecake Almond sable, vanilla cream, cheese mousse, raspberry coulis, baked lemon cheesecake
• Lavender Strawberry lavender mousse, berry compote, steamed berry sponge

While we did enjoy the four pieces, I must say none of them wow me. Guess I prefer the dainty and delicate ones from Hidemi Sugino more.

Surprisingly what impressed us was their Iced Lemon Tea – we crowned it as the Best Iced Lemon Tea ever~ It was a simple idea that worked its magic – Iced tea topped with a quenelle of lemon sorbet. Perfectly refreshing especially on a hot day like this. =)

Other Related Posts:

• Black Star Pastry, Sydney
• Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney
• The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney
• Mr Wong, Sydney
• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney

Black Star Pastry, Sydney

Australia‘s Black Star Pastry first caught my attention with their Glonuts aka Glow-in-the-dark doughnut.  While the idea of eating something covered in artificial ingredients didn’t sit well with me at first, I was glad to know that the doughnuts’ icing is a yuzu glaze that gets its glow from vitamin B, which is often used to create glow-in-the-dark food. Sadly it was a limited period product created for the Sydney‘s Vivid festival in 2017.

Little did I know that the pastry’s most famous creation is the Strawberry Watermelon Cake, dubbed the most Instagrammed cake in the World. We drove to the Newtown outlet to find a long snaking queue outside the shop along the otherwise quiet street.

As expected, almost everyone in the queue were there to grab THE cake. Good to see that there were enough of it left in the display cabinet for me!

Here’s a close-up shot of the diva – comprising two layers of almond dacquoise (a sort of meringue), rose-scented cream, watermelon and strawberries, garnished with pistachios and dried rose petals.

The Chef had found the magical combination that made this cake so amazingly addictive – from the refreshing taste to its charming looks, no wonder it made headlines on Instagram.  I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase the whole cake home if it’s sold in Singapore. I think it would be quite a challenge to buy and bring this delicate cake back on a 6 hours flight…unlike how we could bring back LeTao frozen cheesecakes from Japan conveniently.

Earlier Photos Taken:

Headed to Bondi Beach to take in the views before the crowd comes in. Heard many people commented that the beach will be extremely packed later and they were there this early so as to “chope” a spot first. You can easily google “Crowded Bondi Beach” to see how every inch of the beach will be filled up and people looked in an army of ants swarming over sugar

An iconic spot at Bondi Beach area – Bondi Icebergs Club with a large ocean pool at the edge.

Next to Bondi Icebergs Club is a coastal walk trail that leads to Bronte Beach with fantastic views.

Further up North of Bondi Beach is an other stretch of coastal cliffs easily accessible by car and with no crowd.

Other Related Posts:

• Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney
• The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney
• Mr Wong, Sydney
• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney

Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney

My 2nd experience dining at a two-hatted restaurant on this trip would be to Bentley Restaurant & Bar. For many uninitiated, the first question that pops up was “Is this place related to the famed car manufacturer?” But its not. Their only similarities were probably the dark leather banquettes and the dark timber tables excluding class and elegance.

The dining hall was so engulfed in darkness that I felt the best way to portray the place was to use an invert image.

Kicked off our meal with a spread of tasting portioned starters Kohlrabi Leaves + Whipped Cod Roe, Rock Oyster + Finger Lime + Scampi Caviar,  ‘Beet-strami’ + Horseradish + Beef and Spencer Gulf Kingfish + Sea Urchin + Tomato + Marigold (seasoned with liquid Shiro Koji).

The platter presented a good mix of textures and techniques. The crispy kohlrabi leaves was something different from the more well-known relatives – kale chips, and was well-paired with the creamy dip. This was followed by the fresh and plump oysters lightly perfumed with a tinge of finger lime. It was so smooth that it glided effortlessly down my throat. The most unique item was the ‘Beet-strami‘ which was a slice of beetroot processed the same way as pastrami. It was partially dried, seasoned, then smoked and steamed. It was served with beef powder on the side for us to coat the beet-strami with. If I had eaten this with my eyes closed, I might be fooled to have eaten a beef jerky due to its texture. Last but not least was the fish item which was velvety and brimming with flavours representing the essence of the sea.

The second round of dishes presented were generally richer than the earlier ones. Starting with Crisp Potato + Creme Fraiche + Chives, Parmesan Tart + Tomatillo, Heard Island Toothfish + Wasabi Leaf, Slow Cooked Wagyu Beef Tongue + Saltbush + Muntrie Relish. The first snack I tried from this group was the one on the top left corner and it had me nodding my head while still munching the mouthful of potato. Taken in one bite, the warm potato with a thin crust blended with the rich creme fraiche peppered with hints of onion flavour from the chopped chives.  This was followed by the fish wrapped in the mildly spicy wasabi leaf before moving on to try the tart. Although equally rich and creamy, when compared to the potato snack, the parmesan tart had savoury base, with a lighter filling finished with a mild acidic flavour cutting through.

Finished this round with the beef tongue. After hours of slow cooking, the beef tongue had turned really tender yet retained some of its chewy character. It is paired with muntries and fermented saltbush. Both muntries and saltbush are ingredients foreign to me, as both of them are Australian native plants. The saltbush has a salty herbal flavour while the muntries offered some tartness to this wonderful protein dish.

The Homemade Rye Bread + Black Sesame Butter was served before we progress to the main dishes starting with Kinawooka Mussels + Baby Peas + Garlic Flower. For people who know my eating habits, they might be wondering if I indeed ate this dish? After tasting many other delicious fresh pea dishes, I must correct that I do eat peas – only if they are fresh peas. I absolutely hate eating the the frozen type.

Hidden under the pile of green peas were the small and sweet mussels. It never crossed my mind that mussels could be paired with green peas to form such an amazing dish.

Our seafood feast did not end with the mussels as up next was the Bass Grouper + Smoked Pil Pil + Almond + Sunflower. Not sure if this dish was inspired by Basque cuisine’s Bacalao al pil-pil? Instead of salted cod, we had Bass Grouper that has a gelatinous texture. The emulsified sauce with almond and sunflower (seeds?) provided a nutty undertone.

It was easy to guess what was the main ingredient for the final main dish as it has made several appearances before this finale. When the staff served us the Wagyu Chuck Tail Flap + Asparagus + Black Radish + Salted Egg Yolk with Heirloom Tomato + Camel’s Milk Curd + Shiso we were relieved to see that the portion was well-controlled. Other than the tender beef that lived up to our expectations, I was particularly drawn to the crunch of the thinly sliced black radish wrapped around the asparagus.

We were truly pampered by Bentley’s generous tasting menu spread as we were treated to 3 desserts!  Goats Milk Sorbet + Boysenberries + Geraldton Wax had me thinking that I’ll be having a honey dessert? Turns out Geraldton Wax is yet another Australian native shrub that produces mostly pink and white flowers. After so many visits to Australia, this meal was an eye-opener that introduced me to bush tucker ingredients!

As for the next dessert  Olive Oil Ice Cream + Caramelised Lactose + Pineapple Beer, while I wasn’t wowed by the appearance of Olive Oil Ice Cream (eaten somewhere before), I was excited to see Caramelised Lactose and Pineapple Beer listed as ingredients. Notably, the use of lactose was described in Mugaritz‘s recipe as being able to produce textures similar to sugar, but hardly sweetens them. I guess the caramelisation probably provided a toasty flavour.

The dessert that took centre stage was Peach + Preserved Lemon Sorbet + Stracciatella + Blood Orange that was plated with an eye-catching “structure” topping the sorbet. Overall this was a dessert with much tartness – something that I have a love-hate relationship with.

After spending so many days in Hunter Valley, we decided to skip wine pairing and opted for the non-alcoholic pairing for our meal. Pictures arranged in order from top left to right and bottom left to right: Yuzu Sparkling Water, Hibiscus flower seeped in tea, Cloudy apple with cinnamon, Nectar? – missed out on this one, lemon and sugar, Nut and fennel, Pineapple sour with Darjeeling tea. I really enjoyed the concoctions made with aromatic and citrusy fruits. The only one with a more different profile was the Nut and fennel that somewhat tasted like Chinese herbal drink, which was understandably designed to pair with the meaty Wagyu chuck tail flap.

This was undoubtedly the best meal I had on this trip and Bentley absolutely deserve the accolade of a 2-hatted restaurant. In my opinion, they could be a worthy contender to be considered for the highest 3-hatted category like Quay and Attica.

Other Related Posts:

• The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney
• Mr Wong, Sydney
• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney

The Potting Shed @ The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney

Having seen many beautiful instagram photos taken at The Grounds of Alexandria, we listed them in our itinerary with plans to stop by for a leisurely brunch at the photogenic cafe place.

Without any in-depth planning, we were overwhelmed when we reached the expansive compound. It was a maze filled with so many people wandering around that we felt really lost…

*PS don’t be fooled by the empty area under the flower arch…it’s a game of fastest fingers…

Initially we had doubts on whether we were at the right place. The alleys were filled with mixture of real and artificial flowers such as the bright pink Sakura blossoms. Endless stream of people were posing for photo opportunities along the narrow alleys…It seemed more like a marketplace selling flowers and garden plants as we walked by a florist shop (?!).

After trying to orientate ourselves, we found two main areas for dining: The Grounds Garden and The Potting Shed. The Grounds being a courtyard with free seating and self-serve concept, food served on takeaway plates. It was too crowded for my liking, so we tried our luck over at The Potting Shed that is a serviced eatery with a short queue.

I didn’t bear high hopes of getting a table since it was a busy weekend but decided to just queue and ask. Thankfully the staff informed that they have a table available for us, with a condition that we have to finish our meal within a 1.5 hours window – not a problem for us.

Once seated inside, it was a respite from the hustle and bustle of the crowd packing the walkway. True to the namesake, the area was filled with lush greenery with many draping potted plants hung from the ceiling. I’m loving the laid-back space filled with colonial style rattan furniture. There was also a feisty pet Macaw in the house.

It was only upon studying the menu that I realised that there was no Coffee nor Pastries served here when I was intending to have a Brunch… Apparently there was another area known as The Cafe serving a selection of breakfast dishes… So it is highly advisable to study the layout below before visiting, especially if you are going to brave the crowd on weekends. Somehow we didn’t manage to find this map on their official website when we were visiting…If we had known earlier we would have parked at The Grounds Carpark instead of the multi-storey one at 2 Huntley St…

Nonetheless since we hadn’t had any food since morning, we were desperate to fill our stomachs.

We ordered the Steamed South Australian Mussels with lemongrass, coconut, chilli and lime with grilled flatbread along with a Berry, Rose & Jasmine Iced Tea before rounding up with a Mango Parfait with macadamia crumble, vanilla, fresh mango & mango gel.

One can never go wrong with seafood in Australia as we thoroughly enjoyed every piece of the fresh mussels washed down with the refreshing iced tea.

Not wanting to forego my caffeine fix, we went over to The Garden to check whether it is served there.

Over at The Garden the key feature was the arbour which, unfortunately, was rather bare when we visited.  Since it was noon time the area was pretty warm and had to be cooled with mist sprinklers. I would imagine that it would look very pretty and more cooling if it was fully covered with climbing plants during the right season.  There was also a small area that house the resident pig, Harry Trotter, with a few of his feathery friends. Great corner to keep kids entertained.

I do want to warn others to manage their expectations. Before my visit, I had never read any reviews from the bloggers to prep me for the massive crowd (perhaps due to it being the holiday season and a weekend on the day of my visit?) nor the lack of layout map at the sprawling area.

While the concept and decor were all carefully curated and it worked its magic to draw in the visitors, it had grown a tad too touristy (the downside of a successful Instagram PR?). If you wanted to take those romantic and fairy-tale like portfolio shots, be sure to arrive early and avoid popular hours.

For me, I left the place happy after I finally managed to grab my cuppa. I would probably stick around much longer to explore all the spaces if it was not so jam-packed…

Other Related Posts:

• Mr Wong, Sydney
• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Aqua S, Sydney
• Four Frogs Crêperie, Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney

Mr Wong, Sydney

With no dinner plans for the night, we walked over to try our luck at Mr Wong for a late dinner. Since it was already 9.30pm, we thought there could be chance of getting a table during off-peak hour. Turned out there was a wait list so we left our name on it and were told to return in about 1 hour’s time.

By 10.30pm, we finally got our table. Ordered the Steamed dim sum platter (8 pieces) as starters. The siew mai was topped with scallops and prawn dumpling topped with some caviar – avruga(?). Decent Chinese food though not exactly wow-ing.

For main we wanted to order their signature Chinese Roast Duck…touted to be best in Sydney… but they ran out of it. So we went with Honey glazed Kurobuta “char-siu” pork instead. The pork seems to be prepared using sous-vide before lightly grilling the surface? No doubt it was juicy and tender, but the aromatic char flavour was missing. Perhaps they are more health conscious and avoided food preparation that may be carcinogenic…

Our favourite dish was the Wok Fried Pippies with XO Sauce. We were scratching our heads on what are Pippies and had to google about it. It doesn’t help that the Chinese character listed on the menu wrote 岘. The only 岘 I know of is 岘港 (Da Nang – a city in Vietnam). Turned out that Pippies are actually what we know as Lala (in Malaysia and Singapore) which is a type of clams.

Although the XO sauce was not what we were used to eating (not the Hong Kong style), the sweet and spicy gravy laden with loads of chopped spring onions and coriander was decently similar to Tze Char dishes found back in Singapore.

While the quality of food here is pretty good, ultimately I felt that this is a Chinese place more for the non-Chinese… If not for the late hour, I would probably go to the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, foregoing the sophisticated ambience for more pragmatic comfort food.

Earlier Photos Taken:

Although the drive from Hunter Valley to Sydney is only about 2.5 hours, we took the opportunity to detour and made some extra stops along the way. One of which is Palm Beach – a suburb in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney.  We took a short hike up towards the Barrenjoey Lighthouse. There are two routes to the top: the more gentle and well-paved Access Trail or the shorter, but steeper and more rocky, Smugglers Track. It takes about 1 hour for the total return walk.

Next we stopped by the Sydney Harbour National Park for the city skyline view. This viewing spot is extremely accessible as there are parking lots right at this area. You can just park your car to enjoy this spectacular view. It was nice that there was a cruise ship making a turn at the bay.

Edging into the city area, we made stops at Milson Point and Blues Point Reserve respectively. This was the first time I ever shot Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from across the shore.

My last stop before crossing into the CBD area was at Balls Head Reserve. This spot offers an unconventional view of Sydney with a great foreground.

With that many stops along the way, it took us about 10 hours after leaving Hunter Valley before checking in to our hotel in Sydney.  It was a great way to explore the various suburbs of Sydney.

Other Related Posts:

• Muse Restaurant (Hunter Valley), Sydney
• Aqua S, Sydney
• Four Frogs Crêperie, Sydney
• Quay Restaurant, Sydney