Ninou Boulangerie Pâtisserie Viennoiserie, Rosebery

Ninou first came to my attention when their fascinating desserts kept popping up on social media and therefore I was excited when the opportunity came by for a visit to their cafe in Rosebery, courtesy of FCBA. The concept of a French-inspired bakery in Sydney is intriguing - having authentic French bread loaves, baguettes and desserts all accessible at our fingertips without need to fly the required twenty odd hours to the "city of love".

Inside Cafe

But does it live up to the hype?

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.