Sepia, Sydney CBD - Take #2

Two years on from my last dining experience and Sepia is finally closing down, following long-standing rumours - the finale to the era in which they reigned supreme in the Sydney fine dining arena with three-hatted ratings across 10 (!) consecutive years.

Outside of Restaurant

Situated in the newly renovated Darling Park building, their exterior and interior decor haven't changed since although, maybe due to different seating location, it was much brighter at the table this time round - all the more for better photos, aided by their handy table lamp. The other diners probably thought that we were a little bonkers playing around with the lamp in order to attain optimum lighting. 😂

Doltone House Hyde Park, Sydney CBD

Even though Doltone House is conveniently located next to Hyde Park in the middle of the Sydney CBD, it was no easy feat (for me at least) to get there. Gaining entry into Doltone House was somewhat like finding Wonderland:

• First I was stymied yet again by GoogleMaps, which for some unknown reason had directed me the other side of the block on Castlereagh Street,
• Whilst walking around the block to the correct side (on Elizabeth Street), I walked past the bride & groom escaping for pre-wedding photos in Hyde Park,
• Eventually faced an inconspicuous black door that was locked from the outside, only to be let in by one of the photographers who was coincidentally just coming out of the building,
• Met the father of the bride in the lift on the way up to the ballrooms where the wedding ceremony and reception would be held,
• Only to be gobsmacked impressed by the opulent, dark decor of the venue with a massive crystal chandelier hanging off the ceiling and down the grand stairwell

Main Ballroom

ChinChin, Surry Hills

Getting to ChinChin requires a bit of a trek from Central Station and given that it is hidden from the main roads of Surry Hills, it took us a while to find the right place. The entrance is rather dim and decorated with a fluoro pink bunny (why oh why), which gave it a bit of a nightclub vibe.

Outside of Restaurant

Inside of Restaurant

The Langham, Millers Point

I came to The Langham for a wedding ceremony, followed by reception in their prestigious halls. The hotel has been refurbished in recent years - all black and white interior filled with bright lights in every corner, comfortable lounge chairs and fresh floral centrepieces.

Entrance of The Langham

In addition, they have a sweets/lolly pop bar for guests (or perhaps all for show since I didn't see anyone touching the display) near their concierge desk:

Sweets Bar

Quay, Sydney CBD

In conjunction with the gradual revamp of The Rocks, Quay will be closing for renovations from 1st Apr 2018 for three months and we see the departure of their signature snow egg (whyyy! 😭). Fortunately, there was a last-minute table availability two days prior and I quickly snapped up the booking in spite of a late dinner time.

The day arrived and the constant rain couldn't drown out my excitement for (finally!) visiting Quay.

Entrance of Restaurant

Despite being booked out for the late sitting, quite a few of the tables were unoccupied on arrival but were later (briefly) filled over the course of the night.

Capriccio Osteria, Leichhardt

I was invited to celebrate a friend's birthday at Capriccio Osteria and on the day, I ended up carpooling with friends to get here. This was probably the first time I've stepped foot in Leichhardt so was interesting to discover a long food strip filled with cafes and restaurants (mental note to visit again during the daytime). As there is limited street parking, it took a while before we found a spot a few blocks away and walked back to the restaurant.

Outside of Restaurant

Capriccio Osteria is just one of many popular restaurants on the main food strip that serves up some interesting Italian fusion cuisine.

Moby Dicks Whale Beach, Whale Beach

After attending the very picturesque wedding ceremony at Snapperman Reserve under the glaring, hot Australian sun (at a scorching 35°c!), the wedding party eventually moved to Moby Dicks Whale Beach on the other side of Palm Beach peninsula.

Outside Restaurant

Upon arrival, I was welcomed by multiple wait staff offering champagne and beer before even stepping a single foot into the reception venue. A steep set of stairs lead off the main road, past a small outdoor courtyard, and down into their function room/hall, which has floor-to-ceiling windows facing Whale Beach (would be awesome for sunrise).

Okonomiyaki Dohtonburi, Quarry Bay

Okonomiyaki - a grilled Japanese savoury pancake topped with sweet okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, bonito flakes and seaweed flakes - can be easily found freshly made by the occasional food stall at events/markets, along with the token takoyaki and deep fried chicken stalls. If you're lucky, you can find speciality restaurants within the Kansai region of Japan that allow you to cook your own okonomiyaki. I tried this on a previous trip to Osaka but SissyG and I were way too noob to figure out how to do things on our own so the waiters took pity and ended up cooking everything for us 😆.

However, to see such a restaurant in Hong Kong is a peculiarity, given the Hong-Kongese penchant (especially for younger generations) for not cooking at home and opting to eating out.

Outside of Restaurant

North Ryde Golf Club, North Ryde

Finally - finally! - I was invited to a wedding reception that was relatively close to home and civilisation. Whilst I have driven past the North Ryde Golf Club on many occasions in the past (en route to my childhood piano lessons *shudders*), I have actually never ventured beyond the main road and visited the site.

Main Entrance of Golf Club

Unsurprisingly, there is ample on-site parking that allows for quick access to the golf course but in order to access their restaurant (La Fontana Ristorante), you need to walk around the building (from the golf course entrance) to the main entrance. The restaurant itself is rather large and provides an awesome view from the outdoor balcony overlooking the golf course and nearby water feature.

Taisho Japanese Restaurant, Zetlands

In celebration of FCBA's second anniversary, a special lunch event was held at Taisho's new store in Zetlands. For those that have never ventured to Mascot, you wouldn't have heard of Taisho's flagship store (join the boat, guys), which specialises in BBQ wagyu beef.

Outside Restaurant

The restaurant is located on street level of the East Village shopping centre, close to the car park entrance so you can't really miss it. Lined with double-storey windows, the restaurant provides ample natural light inside and the interior decor naturally draws the eye from the ground floor to ceiling.

Mekong, Chippendale

In a last bid to utilise my entertainment book vouchers before the end of the May, I organised a dinner with DrL and AW at Mekong. Not to be confused with Lower Mekong located on street level, which serves up Vietnamese food, Mekong is its more mature, upper-class sister restaurant that offers South-East Asian cuisine in a fine dining setting.

Outside of Restaurant

Having only walked by in the past, it was an interesting experience walking up the stairway, past bamboo walls to the 2nd floor. Dim mood lighting, dark wood and shiny metallic surfaces reigned supreme in this restaurant, which overlooks the humble Spice Alley and Kensington Street below.

Two Sticks Barangaroo, Sydney CBD

Recently, I was invited by FCBA to the relatively new sister-branch of the Two Stick (located on George Street in the Sydney CBD/Haymarket area) in Barangaroo. Since I have only ever ventured out to Barangaroo on only a few occasions and therefore was unfamiliar with its changing face, I decided to head out to the city early in order to scout out the surrounding area and find my way to the restaurant. I had to rely on trusty old GoogleMaps to identify the correct building, in which the restaurant was located (too many high skyscrapers in the area!).

Outside of Restaurant

Upon arrival, I got to meet other foodies and sample a variety of the Two Sticks menu, most of which the manager had personally selected for us to try. We were also given the choice to order anything from the menu - I should have stuck to an appetizer because there was so much food left! I am guilty of leaving with a takeaway container as I didn't like to see good food go to waste 😥.

Manly Golf Club, Balgowlah

In celebration of the wedding between Mr&Mrs U, guests were treated to mountains of steamed dim sims, mini fruit tarts and KFC wicked wings (YAY!) for refreshments after the wedding ceremony, followed by a reception dinner held at the fancy Manly Golf Club, which is deceptively named since it is actually located in Balgowlah. Not only that, I was foiled by GoogleMaps - we drove along the road where GoogleMaps indicated as the location of the golf club and passed a series of soccer fields, tennis courts, croquet club with no golf course in sight... however, if you search by the actual street address, GoogleMaps leads you to the correct location 1-2km down the road! (Note: the location indicator for the golf club has since been updated on GoogleMaps by yours truly)

As I had arrived at the reception just after sunset, I missed the daytime view from the balcony of their golf course:

Sunset
(missed it by that much)

However, my eye was quickly drawn to the variety of pre-dinner canapes being served, which included Peking duck pancakes, pumpkin & herb "risotto" (but realistically arancini balls - the absolute best!), grilled chicken skewers, natural rock oysters, and Thai vege & glass noodle spring rolls.

I have to give them points for the table decor because the floral arrangements were amazing:

Bridal Table

Guest Table

And who doesn't love free-flowing alcohol options at a wedding:

Katherine Hills Shiraz

Except I'm still quite unsure how I feel about sitting in a room filled with trophies and engraved plagues for a reception dinner (the environment brings back memories of high school).

Entrée

Garlic Roasted King Prawn, Avocado Mousse,
Herb Salad and Fried Capers

Porcini Mushroom Dumplings, Seared Quail Breast,
Pea Puree and a Marsala Jus

My favourite of the two entrees was the porcini mushroom dumplings, topped with some succulent quail breasts, as the king prawns had a mushy texture (i.e. not fresh).

Main

Pan-Fried Barramundi, Dumplings, Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes

Chargrilled Grain Fed Eye Fillet, Potato Puree,
Baby Carrot and Beans with a Red Wine Jus

Although the barramundi was of a decent portion size and well-cooked, unfortunately the fish skin was soft and not crispy. However the eye fillet was cooked to perfection: melt-in-your-mouth beef that was cooked perfectly to medium-rare around the table. It was probably the best steak I've ever eaten at a reception dinner.

Dessert

As for dessert, the chocolate & hazelnut tart was the better of the two options:

Chocolate & Hazelnut Tartlet with Fig & Walnut Gelato,
Espresso Praline and Raspberry Puree

Blueberry Bombe Alaska with Espresso Sand and Raspberry Puree

The presentation of the (dark) chocolate ganache in the chocolate & hazelnut tartlet left a lot to be desired but the shortcrust pastry base was buttery short, and the ganache was rich and decadent. The ganache could have been thinner but I'm not complaining because it's chocolate. On the other hand, the Bombe Alaska had a crunchy espresso exterior, biscuit base and topped with a well-torched meringue but the killer for the dish was the raspberry parfait encased by the espresso sand, which was rather hard and ice cold.

The Manly Golf Club comes highly rated, given that it's been supposedly voted the "Wedding Venue of the Year" (although I'm not quite exactly sure by who), so I came to this reception with high expectations. However, I felt that the food was a bit of a let-down - the canapes were great but the reception dinner was a hit-and-miss around the table - and they sort of went rogue from the wedding menu (for some reason this wasn't available on my table so I had to take a sneak peek at the sheet on a neighbouring table before the reception dinner) so I'm not 100% sure of what was actually being served.

As for the venue, I thought the layout for the reception tables was a little off-putting - when you enter from main entrance towards the large main hall, there is a small sub-hall to your left (so like an "L" shape) and to your right, there is a large dance floor, which leads to their function room/bar/balcony. As someone sitting in the sub-hall, it felt like I was cut off from the main event as I couldn't really see the bridal table nor any of the speakers for the entire reception due to walls and doors obstructing the view. Oh well, at least I could still hear everything that was going on (especially the best man's speech, which was epicly hilarious).

Food: ✩✩✩
Service: ✩✩✩✩
Atmosphere: ✩✩✩
Overall: ✩✩✩
One-line Summary: Hit-and-miss reception dinner

Arisun, Sydney CBD

For our first MSG outing since Christmas, we decided to meet up at Arisun in Haymarket, which brought back happy memories from our last dinner at the same restaurant.

Outside of Restaurant

Arisun hasn't changed a single bit since we last came to sample their infamous Korean fried chicken several years ago. Complete with indoor and outdoor seating, the restaurant provides a dim drinking/eating environment suitable for talking the night away whilst drinking beer and snacking on Korean fare, although cut short by their 2 hour limit for all tables.

Originals Burger Co., Brookvale

A few weeks ago, Jason King from Spooning Australia, on behalf of Ompty contacted MSG Cafeteria with an invite to check out the new(ish) Originals Burger Co., located in Brookvale. For those that don't know where that is, Brookvale is located in the Northern Beaches.

Since this restaurant is located well within unexplored territory (for me at least), I decided to drive up several hours early since I was free the whole day and visit the notable Westfield Warringah Mall, which is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre - this turned out to be not such a good idea since I had to brave torrential rain, flash flooding, and slippery road surfaces (my car slid for a few seconds as I was driving down the long, windy downhill road just above the Lane Cove National Park). Eventually, I did get to Warringah Mall safely and encountered Flower Child Cafe 2.0 whilst wandering around the mall.

Within an hour, I got bored and hence started my road journey towards Brookvale (i.e. 5 min away) in search of the elusive Original's Burger Co.. The restaurant is located in the industrial area of Brookvale, surrounded by hardware stores and Subway, which appeared to be the only other food store along the road. On my first pass down the road, I actually missed it and had to u-turn back.

Outside Restaurant

Hong Kong: The Lounge @ JW Marriott 香港JW萬豪酒店, Admiralty

In order to thank me for my hospitality during my aunt's stint in Sydney and knowing that I was a foodie, she decided to treat me for a meal at The Lounge inside the JW Marriott Hotel, Hong Kong, which is renowned for their afternoon tea buffets.

Let's say the experience was... seriously epic!

Entrance of Lounge

Afternoon tea at The Lounge runs from 3:30pm to 6pm so I had a light lunch beforehand to prepare myself for an afternoon feast and had every intention to skip dinner that night. 😂

Hong Kong: Teawood 茶木, Quarry Bay

Teawood is one of my sister's favourite restaurants, which offers Taiwanese cuisine and is famous for their honey toast stacks. So upon setting foot on Hong Kong, my sister decided to take me to the Teawood in Tai Koo Shing, which was one of her few usual food haunts when eating out.

Sign Outside Restaurant

After a long wait in the queue, we finally were seated at a booth table and got to skim through their extensive menu. Given the limited eating time, we quickly made our orders and the food was quickly churned out.

Salmon & Bear, Newtown

Five min walk from Newtown Station lies the second home base for Salmon & Bear in Sydney. I've seen pictures of their poke bowls so I was eager to see what the hype was all about. Their original store is located in Zetlands, which requires too many public transport transfers to reach for my liking, so I decided to visit their store in Newtown instead.

Outside of Restaurant

Their name is a play on the instinctive nature of bears catching wild salmon and is emphasised by their vast displays on the wall, rustic wooden interiors with a cabin feel, and very dark lighting:

Wall Art

The Pontoon, Sydney CBD

In previous years, the location and food of my work Christmas parties have been a hit & miss but this year, my company put in some big money and hired The Pontoon for 6hrs to go around Sydney Harbour.

For those of you that have never had the privilege of being on The Pontoon, you can get a glimpse of it when it's docked at King Street Wharf or perhaps when it's filled with revellers whilst travelling through Darling Harbour. The ship is distinctive with its enormous glass exteriors and rooftop balcony, and is not to be confused with its smaller sister ship - The Starship.

The Pontoon

Din Tai Fung, Chatswood

Intrigued by the concept of rainbow dumplings, I decided to take the plunge and visit Din Tai Fung for the first time. Located in a relatively isolated corner of Chatswood Westfield, the restaurant draws the eye with their ~kawaii~ dumpling mascot.

Entrance of Restaurant

Upon entering the restaurant, customers are greeted by a large view into the kitchen where chefs are carefully crafting endless amounts of dumplings:

Kitchen