Sunday, November 29, 2009

Quick Review: Ryo’s Noodles

by TP Little bro

It gives me great pleasure to reveal my ramen restaurant of choice. Having previously lived around the corner, I frequented this place often, falling in love with its authentic, fast and cheap ramen.

With a mere 5 tables (plus the bar) and a seating capacity of around 25 people, communal dining is the way to deal with the soaring demand for Ryo’s noodles. Especially on cold, wet nights, this adds a homely feel to the meal as you can be seated at a table of four with two other strangers.

Situated in the quieter end of Crows Nest, you can’t miss this place for two main reasons. There are always people lined up outside and its exterior is painted a fluro orange, leaving you wondering if the place is sponsored by ING.



This place exudes its eccentricities, an attribute of Japanese culture that is unashamedly put on show. An old TV playing in the background, a self service water flask, beautiful matching wooden table and bench sets contrasting ordinary tables and chairs. Nothing matches but everything works.



One side of the restaurant has menus plastered in Japanese contrasting the other side which has a large blackboard highlighting the five most popular dishes in English. Having being here multiple times, I can’t go past the number one choice, the Soy Sauce Tonkotsu ramen.



Good ramen will look like two minute Maggi noodles that have been straightened and reinforced with three times the density. This ramen has a strong consistency, perfectly and authentically modelling how ramen should look and taste. The thin strips of pork are well seasoned and cooked til tender.

The main element of the dish, the Tonkotsu (pork) stock is well executed and eventhough slightly on the salty side, gives me “mmmm” syndrome, forcing me to cry out “mmmm” with every delicious mouthful.

Our second choice is a spicier variation of the Soy Sauce Tonkotsu ramen called the Spicy hot Tonkotsu ramen.

I’m the type of person who enjoys trying different dishes, and eventhough I have been here more than you can count on two hands, I just can’t push myself past ordering ramen. It’s too darn good and the reason why I am forced to call this a quick review by only reviewing ramen.

So it came as a surprise to me when I recently read Not Quite Nigellas blog who courageously explored the menu past the ramen. They have miso bolognaise? Spicy chicken wings are on the menu? I love spicy deep fried chicken wings! I was completely unaware they served non ramen dishes. I am like a patriot never wanting to leave my ramen island. Maybe I should try to widen my choices next visit. But dreaming of the yellow strands of ramen swimming in the tasty pork soup, I know it’s going to be a struggle.

Ryo's Noodles. 125 Falcon St, Crows Nest. Ph: (02) 9955 0225
Open 12pm-2pm, 5pm-9pm. Closed Wednesdays.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Cookbook Challenge is on! Week 1 wrap up

A clever little concept has formed from some fellow food bloggers to make the most of all the cookbooks in your house. Cook 1 new recipe each week from your library, to a new weekly theme pre-set over the course of the year.


With the great vic bike ride coming up, a couple of weeks overseas, and Christmas coming up, it looks like I won't be able to always do the weekly new recipe cookup. I am however, aiming to complete all 52 themes - I just have to knock a few off over the course of each week.

The themes until the end of the year are as follows:
Week 1 Monday 16/11/2009 Citrus
Week 2 Monday 23/11/2009 Indian
Week 3 Monday 30/11/2009 Hor d'oeuvres
Week 4 Monday 7/12/2009 Beans
Week 5 Monday 14/12/2009 Greek
Week 6 Monday 21/12/2009 Christmas
Week 7 Monday 28/12/2009 Soft

Week 1 wrap up - Citrus

Cookbook : French, by Damien Pignolet
Recipe : Serious orange cake
Serves : 8-10 (about 13 people managed to eat my cake)

1 orange (about 150g), washed well and diced, with pips removed
200g sugar
3 x 60g eggs
150g self raising flour, sifted
180g butter, melted and cooled a little
small pinch of salt

Orange syrup
60ml orange juice
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs caster sugar
1-2 tbs Cointreau

1. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees C. Grease and line a 24cm diametre springform cake tin with baking paper


2. I peeled the orange and added the zest into a food processor with the sugar, then whizzed it until it was smooth (I've seen recipes where you don't need to peel). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions

3. Add the flour and the salt and combine for 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the butter all at once. At this point I considered adding poppy seeds, but added a handful of sultanas to half the mix instead (so half the cake wouldn't have sultanas. A bit weird, but I'm all about catering for the wider palate base)


4. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a bamboo skewer emerges clean and dry

5. In a small saucepan, start the orange syrup by combining the OJ, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the Cointreau to taste and simmer for an additional minute.



6. When ready, leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes. Pierce the cake all over and slowly spoon the syrup over the cake. Leave until completely cool before turning out.


The verdict
Beautifully moist and well received by the work colleagues. Will definately make again - will try next time without peeling the oranges. Cointreau orange sauce was the star of the recipe.




Friday, November 13, 2009

Chasing El Bulli - Part I

By TP Big Brother

El Bulli needs little introduction. Out of all the great places to eat in this huge planet, it has not only gained the title of world's best restaurant, but it has held it for four years running.

Just like the two million other people who this year joustled for the eight thousand lottery tickets to experience foodie elysium, I want a piece of Ferran's 3 Michelin starred pie.

I write this post to unveil an opportunity to eat at El Bulli, and to capture my own story thus far.

So first things first - the opportunity. I have been pondering whether or not I should share this, to increase my chances (yes, I have applied), but then I thought - may the best person deserve it.

The short story is this - life has opened and closed a couple of doors for Jules, a fellow food blogger at The Stone Soup. As a result, she has a spare seat at (.....wait for it.....) El Bulli.
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2009/10/help-jules-find-a-date-for-el-bulli/
Hopefully my entry is better than yours. Only joking. Sort of.

To give you some background information, I recently went overseas, with a glimmer of hope to eat at the promised land of El Bulli. Even on my luckiest day, I knew I had the odds against me. I tried to study Ferran's A Day at El Bulli for clues. I hounded the El Bulli cancellation list. I tried for a good 5 weeks in Europe to make my culinary eating dreams come true.

The verdict?

I returned weary and empty handed from my quest for the holy grail.

But being the optimist, I had to settle for any consolation prizes I could gather. While I was unable to beat the odds this time round, my chase for El Bulli gave me some minor flashes of inspiration to whet my appetite. Part I explains:

If I can't get the rockstar, I will settle with the drummer. The drummer in this instance was part of the Adria bloodline - Ferran's very own brother, Albert.

Albert Adria is the pastry chef for El Bulli, and along side his other interests, is his very own restaurant in Barcelona - Inopia.


Inopia
C/ Tamarit 104
08015 Barcelona, Spain
Tel: +34 934 245 231
Menu: http://www.barinopia.com/Carta_Inopia.pdf

The rumours were true. It is packed. I arrive around 9:30pm, and put my name on the door. Finally a seat at 10pm. It's beautiful. Cosy buzzing setting, full of life and colour. In a sentence - very cool with a touch of style. The waiters are decked out in Boss for crying out loud! (pat on the back to whoever sealed that sponsorship deal)

I read the menu with joy like I'd found a secret manual of food. In Spanish. Research tells me to choose certain dishes, which I order along with a list of my tapas favourites and some surrounding diner's recommendations

The Highlights
1 - Patatas bravas con salsa mixta (€3,50)
Whenever I eat Spanish food, I loosely use the patatas bravas dish as my litmus test to judge how good the food will be. I was particularly excited as this dish was listed as one of the restaurant's specialities (especialidad). The dish arrived to my huge anticipation. The presentation didn't stand out, but call me crazy, the dish almost glowed with aura. I dug in. The potatoes left off a beautiful crunch noise to reveal a soft fluffy interior. The tomato sauce made the dish with its kick and full depth of flavour, and all together with the mayonaisse harmonised into one of the top 3 patatas bravas I've ever tasted. Order this if you ever come to Barcelona.

2 - Ravas de pollo con patatas (€5,50)
The waiter recommended this dish. There are times when I regret listening to the waiters, but this was definately not one of the those times. These chicken ravas were essentially deep fried battered chicken strips. What made me smile was the concept. Shards of thinly sliced crispy potato coated the outside, and was served with a flavoured mustard. While it wasn't a spectacular dish, it was enjoyable, creative and had the clever texture of soft tender chicken contrasted with a crispy random exterior.
Beautiful texture!
Supporting cast
1 - Ensalada de tomate con cebolla tierna y ventresca de bonito (€9,50)
This dish was beautifully presented - a tomato salad with sweet onion and tuna belly. I never heard of samphire until I used it in a restaurant in London, and I saw some lined across the top of this dish. It provided a nice burst of light saltiness, but even so, I found this dish a tad bland and unexciting. Overall though, it was enjoyable.


2 - Ensaladilla rusa (€3,85)

I ensured I tried as many of the restaurant's signature dishes I could stomach. This was another especialidad. Wonderful play on textures with soft mash, cabbage, capsicum, and crunchy grissini bound together in mayonaisse. The salade russe was propped up with an interesting array of tastes - salty, slightly sweet, some sour and a hint of bitterness. This dish intrigued me but also at times when my palate was used to the taste, made me feel like it was simply just a lazy mash up. Would order again but to share.


3 - Desserts

Flan de huevo de la casa (€2,65) and Tarta de Santiago (elaborada en Inopia) (€3)
I have to admit I was quite full by this stage, and I had already eaten dinner about an hour beforehand. But it was going to take a lot more to stop me from ordering dessert at arguably one of the world's best tapas bars.
The Spanish flan was another especialidad, using house made egg custard. While it wasn't mindblowing, it was a fantasticly light and creamy.
The Santiago tart came with a shot of some sort of almond tasting liquer (which seemed to be common in the tapas bars I went to). It was a good finish to the meal because it wasn't too sweet, and the beautiful crunch then melting texture combined with the bite of the shot left me a very generous man when it came to the tip.
The down side of the experience was missing out on several highly regarded recommendations on the menu. This included the fish sandwich (flauta de sardinillas, “el mejor”) and the pineapple and lime peel dessert (Piña con piel de lima y melaza de caña).

The verdict
For each and every time I am in Barcelona, this has made it as a permanent fixture. I felt a great Spanish spirit and ambience in the bar, and in a sentance, it's just a funky little place with great food. A must visit if you haven't already!

Part I end.

Part II will take a peek at some minor encounters with El Bulli Alumni and El Bulli products. To be continued....

Mentioned in this post
El Bulli Restaurant
Cala Montjoi - 17480 Roses
Tel: +34 972 15 04 57
E-mail: bulli@elbulli.com
Web: http://http://www.elbulli.com/
2009 Season - Open from June 16th to December 20th

Hot tip: I discovered that all reservations are confirmed 10 days in advance. If the moons align with someone cancelling, and you manage to call them after 3pm that day, your chances of success are high. That being said, the days I tried, not surprisingly, there were no cancellations.


Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Winner of the 2009 Melb Cup... Laksa

By TP Little Brother

Unlike the working minority which included TP Big Brother in Victoria, I was in the majority working on Melbourne Cup Day in my state. Sadly, Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Victoria only, and for those of us unfortunate enough to work in NSW, today was business as usual.

So what a better way to find my silver lining than in a nice tasty bowl of Laska.... not even a 32 degree day could stop me!

Situated on Hunter St and a stone throw away from my office, Malay Chinese has become a popular lunch destination for many of my colleagues. The difficulty of finding a seat during lunch time is a shining testimony of the quality of the food. Throughout my Laska hunting around the CBD, this place is a gem.

Dining at the tail end of lunch, the service is lightning quick. By the time we ordered and sat down, our Laksa’s were ready 2 minutes later.

Beef Curry Laksa

The taste is a combination of sweet and salty and very authentic. The beef is tender and combined with the noodles, bean shoots, tofu and the key ingredient, the broth, it is a very enjoyable meal.
The spiciness of the curry is mild and bearable. Some of my asian colleagues prefer to add few extra teaspoons of chilli paste but I am satisfied with the level of spice.

Skinless Chicken Curry Laksa

A healthier alternative of the Chicken Curry Laksa, the simplicity of the dish is inter-changeable between meats. Chicken, Skinless Chicken and Prawn are pretty good but Beef would have to be my personal favourite. I have been here many times and this place consistently delivers good Laskas.

Of all of the places I’ve had Laksa in Sydney, this would have to be the winner. And with its large servings starting at $8.20, Malay Chinese delivers quality Laksas at a quality price.

On a side note, as good as the Laksas are, another good reason to drop by is to get a glimpse of the centre piece of the restaurant - the resident fish tank housing a very big goldfish with a very big brain. Must be the mastermind behind the secret Laksa recipes.

Malay Chinese, 1/50-58 Hunter St, Sydney, Ph: (02) 9231 6788

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Working on cup day

by TP Big Brother

I write this on cup day, a Melbourne public holiday I didn't get this year.

Searching for a silver lining, I have found some good out of today. Today I inaugurate another member to my very critical list of favourite caffeine suppliers.

A quick drive from my office is Dukes Coffee Roasters, apparently a new kid in town since July. While I'm not a coffee expert, my job drives me to drink it in excess.

My simple verdict, as an introduction to the newest member of the club:
- a bitey, strong and slightly acidic coffee. To sample more often.

Still unticked on my list is to scope out St Ali Outpost in South Yarra. A couple of weeks ago, went to a seminar by St Ali owner Sal Malatesta, and what a clever to-the-point business man.

My current favourite coffee spots around the office (St Kilda), in no particular order, are:
- Dukes Coffee Roasters - 169 Chapel St, Windsor 3181
- Grocery Bar - 135 Fitzroy St, St Kilda (organic coffee)
- Jasper's coffee in Prahran Market (also in Smith St, Fitzroy)
- Italcaffe coffee - Barista off chapel st (Carlton St)

2nd-tier favourites
- Grinders Coffee - myGoodness cafe on St Kilda road (comes with a free muffin)
- Capri Cafe on Wellington St, St Kilda (GianCarlo coffee)

Additionally, in (around) the city, my favourite places are:
- Cloud 19 (using Grinders coffee), 361 Little Lonsdale Street
- Expresso Bagels, QV building (using Mokador coffee - currently only 1 in Melbourne. TP Little Brother is spoilt with many suppliers up in Sydney)
- Seven Seeds - 114 Berkeley St, Carlton. (below - pic from Sunday)


On a side note, the Mushroom meringue lives on. I decided it was too inspirational and too much of a piece of art for me to eat. It now has a permanent place on my desk until it's hard meringue exterior decides that it can no longer face the harsh recycled building air. Replicating this clever sculpture is on the cards for me. In between trying to figure out these darn macarons! Stay tuned.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Foodie picture of the day

by TP Big Brother

I wish I had the tenacity to carry my camera everywhere, and the tolerance to put up with the brick in my pocket. Unfortunately I don't have either. But if you can put up with my incredibly horrendous picture quality and photo taking, you might appreciate the following.

So picture this. Morning tea at work. A mushroom on a plate. It looked EXACTLY like a button mushroom - white flesh with a dusted dirt cap and black underside.

When I looked closer, it looked like fake foam mushroom. I picked it up.

The dusted cap was cocoa powder, the black underside was chocolate, and the white button mushroom flesh was a cleverly sculpted meringue.

Strangely, this clever little work of art has made my work-day-on-a-long-weekend a little less painful. Enjoy!


(Again sorry for the picture quality - phone cam was best I could do)