Zilver, Hayment

Chinese banquets are probably the cheaper option for wedding receptions (compared to Western 3-course dinners) and highly regular, especially when you have so many Asian friends tying the knot.

This is (as least) the second time I've been to Zilver for a wedding reception so I had high expectations on receiving a good meal and I wasn't disappointed:

Above: Menu for Dinner Banquet Top Right: Barbecued Suckling Pig with Jellyfish Middle Right: King Prawns with Macadamia Nuts and Broccoli Bottom Right: Deep Fried Scallop Stuffed in Taro Ball

Above: Menu for Dinner Banquet





Top Right: Barbecued Suckling Pig with Jellyfish

Middle Right: King Prawns with Macadamia Nuts and Broccoli

Bottom Right: Deep Fried Scallop Stuffed in Taro Ball

The serving for suckling pig was relatively small but still satisfying with its crispy skin. The king prawns were served with golden macadamias and slightly crunchy (but cooked) brocolli, which is just the way I like it. The taro balls were awesome - deep fried taro goodness with a soft scallop in the centre (I wish there were more...). Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the shark fin soup but then again not that memorable - it's a thick clear soup with pieces of chicken, dried fungus and (fake) "shark fin" floating around.

And onto the "mains":

From Top Left, Clockwise: Baked Lobster; Braised (Sliced) Abalone with Chinese (Dried) Mushroom and Bok Choy;
Crispy Chicken; Steamed Coral Trout with Ginger and Shallots

The lobster was very good although I think I got the better end of the bargain in receiving big chunks of lobster meat whilst my neighbour got stuck with the lobster legs. Everyone received a thick slice of abalone (much bigger portion than the sliver I received at Sky Phoenix) along with the customary Chinese dried mushroom and bok choy. The coral trout was cooked just right - soft and silky flesh - whilst the chicken was a bit overcooked but I was still happy with the crunchy crispy chicken skin (got lucky with getting pieces of chicken meat whilst neighbour once again lucked out with bony pieces... hehehe...).

Above: Wedding Cake; Sponge Cake and Chinese Sesame Cookie Balls （笑口棗) Top Left: Fried Rice and XO Noodles Bottom Left: Fruit Platter

Above: Wedding Cake; Sponge Cake and Chinese Sesame Cookie Balls （笑口棗)
Top Left: Fried Rice and XO Noodles
Bottom Left: Fruit Platter

The fried rice, XO noodles and desserts are your average Chinese banquet fanfare to fill the stomachs of those that still have room after so many courses (generally strictly limited to only the "growing" guys). I've learnt from experience to eat up to half of my serving from each course and offer it to the guys on my table because there is no other way in which I can successfully make it to the last course.

Based on past experience, Zilver is one of the better Chinese restaurants in Sydney that offer Chinese banquets with decent quality food across all courses. Just be wary that there may be random strangers walking by the reception area (as they split the restaurant space into two or more sections to accommodate multiple events) and if you're stuck in an event with a loud, rowdy group on the other side of the wall, then you're in for a long night attempting to listen to the speeches.. and even other people at the same table.

Taipei - A Foodie's Guide (Day 2 - Main Station area, National Palace Museum & Shilin Night Market)

Here's a first world problem: my memory is fading faster than I can blog. Oh the tragic signs of age.
Thank god photos, dates on photos and the iPhone which bring it all back.

Clockwise from top left: 228 Peace memorial; cute flock of sparrows near the park lawn;
jumping shot by sculptured trees; finding talent in Taipei

 We started the day with a stroll to 2-28 Peace Memorial Park. This park commemorates the massacre on 28th Feb 1947 where in excess of 10000 civilians lost their lives. It's a worthwhile place to visit if your living in the area, for its beautiful Chinese gardens, pagodas and natural scenery admist the concrete jungle.

Taiwanese bento buffet

From there, we continued the walk to Central station, passing by many feasting opportunities: including the Taiwanese bento buffet (omg look at all the choices!!!) and these giant shao bing for only 50NT$ (2$AUD)

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All that walking made us tired. Then suddenly around the corner we saw a huge queue of people for Tim Ho Wan. Yes, the Taipei branch of the michelin starred yum cha place! The queue was far too long so we had to settle for take away. The 'Char-siu Polo Bao' was amazing! Everything you imagine it to be, with the sweet crunchy crust covering a thin fluffy asian bun, packed with delicious saucy Cha Siu. Rumor goes that one of these franchises will open in Sydney soon. I am there! 

Char-sui Po lo Bao @ Tim Ho Wan

Dazzling Cafe

I read a lot of reviews about this place before my trip to Taipei, and was ever so keen to try it! We actually stumbled upon this branch as we were browsing endless shops at Taipei Main Station. While looking for Q Square Mall, I saw the little lady logo and let out a squeal of excitement! Then we all knew what was for lunch!

Hazelnut chocolate honey toast: NT$ 290

Strawberry and Ice Cream waffle NT$ 230 (plus additional mochi)

I can actually not believe we monstered both of these. But its so good!! I was a huge skeptic, thinking "how good can fried bread be?". Well it can be very very good. My favourite would be the mochi addition to the waffles. It added a lovely Q^_- bite to the crunchy exterior.

Some other food adventures alone the way:

It's custard in an egg! 

People were buying dozens of these - all I could think was the cholesterol....

Some random wedding in the middle of main station. Weird eh?

After almost a whole day of exploring, we finally made our way to the National Palace Museum. The sun had set by then but it was nevertheless beautiful! And you know what the National Palace Museum is near....

Shilin Night Market

The term night market is almost synonymous with Shilin. We did our research and knew this could be a tourist trap but we had to come! The world capital of night market street food!

Stop 1. This is basically a GIANT croquette (the size of a big spud), cut open, dumped with toppings and laddled with cheese sauce. It's a play on the jacket pocket concept but leveled up because its mashed potato coated in bread crumbs and deep fried. It looked super exciting but it wasn't our thing. Ms Strawberry and I swear there was a... stinkiness to the cheese sauce.

Fried milk

Stop 2. Fried milk. What is fried milk? Its like a really fluffy, milky donut. Pretty good :). We got some Frog egg drink to wash it down (no, it actually has nothing to do with frogs all eggs, its just a lemon drink with jelly).

Oyster omlette 蚵仔煎 $NT 50 & Meat ball soup 貢丸湯 @ 大头龙

Stop 3. We heard this place had the best O Wa Jian thus we HAD to give it another shot. There was even a cute poster of "zhuan jiao yu dao ai" to remind its customers to eat here! hehe. It was actually quite enjoyable, we finished the whole thing this time. The waiter insisted we order more than jst 1 o wa jian though, so we also got some beef/pork ball soup. It was pretty average.

Meat ball soup $NT 30

Guan Cai Ban (Coffin shaped bread ) 棺材板  ~`$NT 100

Stop 4. I'm a little pathetic, because by this stage I was already full. But I really wanted to eat this!! Basically its a thick slice of toast, deep fried, then half cut open, filled with whatever filling you want, then sealed back up. The filling is made of a mix of mince, seafood and vegetables cooked in gravy. OMG yumminesss!!!!!

Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang (Little sausage wrapped in big sausage) 大腸包小腸

Stop 5. Wahhh this was so delicious too!! Taiwanese sausages are so awesome. We had to have this one for breakfast as we were stuffed. I'm definitely having this again on a return trip.

Delicious, juicy wax apples

Last but not least, it was time for fruit. The fruit stands in Taiwan came as a surprise to us. Forget apples and bananas. No, here your average fruit stands sells star fruit, durian, guava, custard apples and this curious red fruit (which we fell in love with). We spent half our trip trying to work out what it was called and finally discovered its called "wax apples".

Catalina, Rose Bay

 A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to attend a gorgeous wedding at the Catalina, Rose Bay.
The venue was stunning! A terrific function setting especially in summer, to take full advantage of the long daylight hours and the bay views before the sun sets.

The stylish room itself fits around 140, without view obstructing pillars (which wins a point in my books) so all the guests feel part of the action. You can find more details about this venue on the Catalina website.

Upon trying the canapes, it is apparent why this restaurant has won numerous awards. Waiters greeted guests with fresh plump seared scallops and smoked salmon bites. I couldn't help but get an extra scallop! They were divine.

The followings are the dishes we were served.

Salad of poached tiger prawns, avocado, fennel and harissa dressing; lime aioli

Vitello tonnato – poached veal fillet, potato gratin, tuna mayonnaise and rocket

I was anticipating alternate service but was most impressed when we were told all guests could choose which entree and main they were served. I went with the prawn and Uncle G chose the veal . We were divided on which we thought was our favourite because they were both SOOO good!

Crispy skin salmon with a salad of blood orange, shaved fennel, toasted walnuts;
 orange reduction sauce

Caramelised pork belly with endives and apple sauce

Cheesy porcini and king mushroom risotto with parmesan crisps

 This was during my odd "unwell" phase, so instead of the salmon and pork belly, I opted for the vegetarian option. I have to say, it was giant serving of risotto, but it was cooked to perfection.

The desserts were served alternately. I was glad I got the raspberry semifreddo! It had just the sour zing I enjoy ending a meal with. Then just as I was halfway through dessert, we saw fireworks! Woohooo!

Catalina Rose Bay definitely impressed me as a wedding venue. Great views, food, service and the added bonus of easy parking for the guests. I'm keen to visit again for a nice late lunch one day.

Pizza Pasta Bene, North Sydney

Pizza Pasta Bene, North Sydney

 For Chinese New Year, my father in law took us to dinner at Cala Luna in North Sydney. Here's a few snapshots of some of the highlights of that meal:

Pizza appetizer

Mixed seafood appetizer: spring rolls, fried calamari, prawn skewers, salmon steaks

Some kinda gorgeous, decadant dessert. 

Uncle G and I were so impressed by the pizza, we vowed to return in the near future. And that we did.

Pizza Pasta Bene and Cala Luna are owned by the same people, in fact the restaurants are linked and share a few menu items. We arrived and were seated in the blazing afternoon sun; thus it was not long before we had to request to change tables. 

I am uncertain whether they had a staff member in training (perfect on a lazy Thursday night) or the 'waiter' really the boss' son and not a waiter at all. But we were seated on the smallest table by the kitchen. It was another 10 mins before the manager himself came to bring us the menus, as we were more or less ignored by the young male waiter. 

As Uncle G examined the menu, I overheard a conversation between the manager and the waiter about us: "What did these people sit themselves? ... Thursday night that's the only customers we've got.. etc". I couldn't make out the complete conversation, but I can't say it made me very comfortable.

Agnolotti: hand made pasta, slow braised oxtail, eggplant, capsicum, garlic, herbs - $22

 Anyway, onto the food. The first dish we ordered was the Agnolotti. I LOVE carbs, and nothing hits the spot more than homemade noodles/ pasta. The pasta was al dente and wonderfully flavoursome in the ragu.

Cross section of the agnolotti

 Filled with the goodness of eggplant! I really enjoyed this but the carnivore Uncle G wasn't much of a fan.

Vitello Pizzaola: milk fed veal, capers, garlic, chilli, olives, oregano - $29

 We both felt the veal missed the spot (especially for $29). It wasn't terrible. It was just rather ordinary, 2 medallions of veal which were somewhat dry. It does feel like a dish you could whip up at home. The broccoli was also over cooked. But the little potatoes and corn was great!

Gamberi: prawns, mozzarella, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, chilli, basil $23

The crowning moment was when the pizza arrived. This was the entire reason we came here and it did not disappoint. There was a generous spray of fresh prawns, juicy mushrooms, poppin' cherry tomato goodness with a hit of chilli. But the thing that keeps me coming back is the base. It's that lovely rustic bubbly pizza base, super thin but still crispy at the bottom if you eat it quick enough. I'm glad the quality of this pizza has been consistent over our 2 visits.

I have noticed there are a number of negative reviews about this place, which I somewhat understand. The service is average, food is pricey for the quality (except the pizza, that's worth it) but they do have promotion nights e.g. 2 for 1 pizza Tuesdays etc. I haven't tried the other pizzas and pastas at this place but certainly, if you get the Gamberi Pizza and the Agnolotti, I feel you will not be disappointed.