Eat, Pray, Love: 2014

September has been good to me, mainly because I am a September baby and it is the first month of my favourite spring season. Since today is the last day of my birthday month, I thought I can share with you my birthday dining experience at Georges on Waymouth. I have always wanted to dine at Georges due to rave reviews from other food bloggers. In addition, Georges has won the Best European Restaurant in Restaurant and Catering SA Awards for Excellence for 4 years in a row since 2010. All the more this restaurant is chosen to host my birthday dinner.

The name of the restaurant derives from its owner, George and Voula Kasimatis. Even though it looks small from the outside, Georges consists of 2 floors, whereby the upper section is opened for function and bigger group of people. The restaurant has a classic European ambience, with minimalist design, wooden floorboards, high ceilings and warm lighting.

Their professional service is truly commendable. Right from the booking until table service, Georges has shown dedication and great hospitality to our group. The staffs adopt the diner-centered approach, attending to our needs and preferences.

It took us a while to order our food because every single item on the menu was so appealing. Our waiting staff came to our help and recommended their popular offerings. Every single element in the menu was explained in details. The dishes on special were written on brown paper hung near to the entrance of the restaurant.

After putting our order, complimentary bread was served. The bread was soft and we dipped with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. I would be even happier if there was dukkah offered. Nevertheless, the bread was a great start to our meal.

Besides that, we were offered sesame bread sticks with green and black olives. The bread sticks were seasoned well with black and white sesame. Georges was considerate enough to offer us an empty plate to discard the pits from the olives.

Bread sticks and olives

The signature dish of Georges is the lamb press. The lamb shank was cooked more than 12 hours till tender. After that, the lamb was shredded and wrapped with pancetta. The lamb press was then pan fried, resulting in a golden and crispy covering of pancetta. The accompaniments were baba ganoush, tahini yoghurt and pomegranate.

The lamb press was the best lamb that I have ever had. The lamb was juicy, tender and literally melted in my mouth. The saltiness from pancetta, smokiness from baba ganoush, slight sourness from pomegranate and palate cleansing tahini yogurt just complemented the lamb so well. It was a marriage between Mediterranean and European food.

Lamb press

My friend also ordered the tortellini of local mushrooms with chestnut puree and native greens. Georges was generous in the contents of tortellini. Even though there was only 3-4 tortellini on the plate, my friend was pretty full at the end of the meal. The mushrooms were fresh and cooked well. The sauces and puree were rich in flavour, yet not subduing the star of the dish, the mushrooms.

Mushroom tortellini

The other offering that caught my eyes was the 24 hour cooked pork neck, served with granny smith apples, mustard, pork lard, morcilla (blood sausage) and potatoes. The pork neck was not fatty and again, it was cooked to perfection. The meat was tender due to the long hours of cooking.

Pork neck

The fish of the day was the grilled snapper with citrus salad. It was a refreshing dish as citrus never go wrong with fish.

Grilled snapper

The pasta chosen by our table was the pappardelle with rabbit ragout, pancetta and shaved pecorino, Compared to other dishes, this did not shine well.

Pappardelle with rabbit ragout

Besides the fish of the day, another seafood dish we ordered was the potato gnocchi with mussels, vongole, capsicum, fennel and saffron. The gnocchi was different from the ones from Italian restaurants as it was served in a long cone instead of cubes. I still prefer my gnocchi to be cut though.

Seafood gnocchi

There is always dessert time and hence one of my friends ordered the affogato as an extra boost of caffeine for him to prepare for his paper tomorrow. It consisted of house made ice cream, espresso and biscotti. The affogato was strong whereas the ice cream was smooth and creamy.

Affogato

I ordered the apple pie panna cotta with salted caramel crumble, pear cubes and vanilla pashmak. Guess what? Georges gave me a little surprise with the written birthday message on my dessert plate. Awwww! The panna cotta was absolutely delicious. Instead of the wobbly panna cotta, this panna cotta had a smooth and milky texture that melted in my mouth. The salted caramel crumble hit the spot with its balanced saltiness and sweetness. It was a dessert that I would go back for.

Apple pie panna cotta

For souvenirs, I baked matcha cupcakes with red bean frosting and Royce green tea chocolate as appreciation gifts for my friends who came for the dinner. The chocolate was amazing with melted green tea jelly in the middle. They can be bought from Royce store at Westfield Marion.

Matcha cupcake with red bean frosting and Royce chocolate

It was a great birthday dinner with nice company and amazing food. Thank you guys for coming and I hope you enjoyed the night just as I did. Thanks again for Ketan who served us well and made sure we had a fabulous dining experience. I definitely recommend Georges on Waymouth if you are thinking for a celebratory and intimate night out.

The group photo :)

Candles, candles and more candles

Address: 20, Waymouth Street, Adelaide

Website: http://www.georgesonwaymouth.com.au/

Trading hours: 7.30am-5pm (Mon), 7.30am-Late (Tues-Fri), 6pm-Late (Sat)

Love, Victoria

'Sawadeekap! Sabai dee mai?'
'Sabai sabai.'

This Thai greeting can be the most heartwarming words that you can get. 'Sabai' in Thai refers to being happy and comfortable, feeling fine and take it easy. It transmits the sense of comfort and laid-backness, which is the philosophy behind Sabai cafe.

Sabai cafe is a cosy cafe situated near to popular Glenelg which serves Thai fusion food. In addition, this cafe is also vegetarian friendly due to the variety of vegan offerings. Classics with a twist always catch the attention of my taste buds and this cafe is not an exception. Celebrating the start of our winter break, me and my friends made a visit to the cafe.

The Thai lunch menu is only available from Wednesday to Sunday and fortunate for us, we went on one of those days. My friend ordered the Khow phad pik gaang which was the spicy Thai style fried rice with onion, capsicum, spring onion, carrot and soft fried egg on top.

What I would like to commend was the soft fried egg was served up to the expectation. The soft egg yolk was runny and the egg had a crisp border. The rice was not gluggy and had a subtle hint of spiciness in it. I would actually prefer it to be spicier. The lemon which came with the dish gave freshness and sourness to the fried rice.

Spicy Thai fried rice

Pad Thai is an essential order in every Thai restaurant and so there wasn't an exclusion from our table. The vegetarian Pad Thai had stir fried rice noodle with egg, spring onion, bean sprouts, crushed nuts and coriander. It was not oily and had a considerably big portion. Not the best Pad thai that we have ever tasted but it was sufficient for a satisfying meal.

Pad Thai

Another vegetarian dish on the table was the Thai bean curd salad. The fresh marinated bean curd was accompanied by mixed crispy salad and herbs, doused with refreshing Thai style dressing. I did not manage to taste the dish but it did look amazing. My friend was satisfied with his order.

Thai bean curd salad

Lastly, I ordered the curried lamb shank, mint, chickpea, pumpkin pie with sweet potato chips and coriander, cashew nut salad. The lamb shank pie was amazing! The addition of coriander seed on top added another dimension in terms of aroma to the pie. The lamb shank was cooked perfectly and shredded to be added together with chickpea and mashed pumpkin as the pie filling. The pastry was made so good and flaky that I cannot resist to pick up the residual fallen pieces of pastry on the plate. In conclusion, it was a good pie.

The sweet potato chips did not come out as what I had expected. The sweet potatoes were shaved into thin long pieces and deep fried. Some bits were crunchy but some were not. I would prefer the chips to be hand cut. The salad came with sweet chilli dressing and was executed well.

Lamb shank pie

It was a pleasant meal for me and I loved my lamb shank pie (especially the pastry). If you are thinking to have a modern Thai fusion food, this cafe is probably a good place to go. ทานให้อร่อยนะครับ (Bon appetit)!

Address: 105 Patridge Street, Glenelg

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabai-Cafe/157729377590534?fref=ts

Trading hours: 9am-4pm (Sun), 8am-4pm (Mon-Tues), 8am-8.30pm (Wed-Sat)

Love, Victoria

Australia is blessed with the sexy coastal line, stunning blue-green seas and relaxing beaches. The view of the sea never fails to mesmerise me, especially after I visited the famous Whitehaven Beach at the Great Barrier Reef region.

Whitehaven beach

South Australia beaches have their own wonders too. They are great places to relax with family and friends, take a dip in the sea during summer and watch sunset, not to mention the exciting add on of having a brunch by the beaches.

Glenelg beach

The two popular brunch places found by this beach are the Zest Cafe Gallery and Grind It.

Zest Cafe Gallery is situated 5 minutes walk from the beach. Greeted by the vine tree at the cafe, it grabbed my heart to be fond of this place.

Cafe exterior - view from my seat

I ordered the Zesty Eggs, poached eggs and salmon on toast with homemade Hollandaise sauce. The smoked salmon was arranged nicely in an elliptical shape. Eggs were poached perfectly with the egg yolks oozing out when I broke open the eggs. The Hollandaise sauce was good with a tinge of zesty flavour.

Zesty Eggs

Oooohhh! I have a thing for runny egg yolk and a preference to spread these gooey goodness onto a toasted sourdough! They work just so perfectly.

Runny yolk

The Cappuccino was a good coffee to start off my day at the beach. The mini pastry accompanied with the coffee was a wonderful creation too.

Cappuccino with pastry

Do order the Hells Eggs if you have a chance to do so. It looks amazing too!

Website: http://zestcafe.eatout-adelaide.com.au/
Address: 2a Sussex Street, Glenelg
Trading hours: 7.30am-6pm (Mon-Sat), 8.30am-5pm (Sun)

Grind It is another popular brunch place at Glenelg. The seatings can be quite limited because this cafe is constantly being swarmed with patrons looking for a heartful meal.

Paintings on the wall

I ordered the French Toast for that morning. Guess what? Two plump and golden looking french toast landed on my plate. Besides that, there were mascarpone and toasted almonds being scattered around the toasts. Shredded pear was also seen to top the toast.

Okay! The hero of the day was the french toasts. They were dipped with eggs and pan fried in butter, resulting in a crispy outer layer and soft bread inside. I would actually prefer the bread to be thinner though so that I could have a mouthful of crispiness. The sweetness of this whole dish came from the marriage of mascarpone, maple syrup and shredded pear. I particularly loved the shredded pear because it introduced texture to the dish. The nuts and mascarpone also accompanied well with the french toast.

French toast

If you are looking to get a sweet brunch, french toast from Grind It can be in your bucket list.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grind-It-Espresso/96359740730
Address: 4 Moseley Street, Glenelg
Trading hours: 7am-5pm (Mon-Sat), 9am-3pm (Sun)

Semaphore beach

Whipped bake bar is situated along Semaphore Road leading to Semaphore beach. It is a great place for coffee meet up. On the display cabinet, there are plenty of cakes and pastries to choose from to go with the coffee. Besides that, wraps and rolls are also available for lunch.

Whipped Bake Bar

I ordered the sweet potato rosti with smoked salmon, baby cos salad and goat curd. I wasn't very impressed by the presentation when it arrived. It was served on a pretty old wooden board, whereby the traces of knives can be seen. I expected the rosti to be crispy on the outside but it wasn't cooked to my preference disappointingly. I felt like as if I was eating a compacted mashed sweet potato. However, the flavour was there and the salad was fresh. With just a dollop of goat curd to heighten the flavour of salad, it might be a bit lacking in some ways.

Sweet potato rosti

Website: http://www.whipped.com.au/
Address: 35, Semaphore Road, Semaphore
Trading hours: 7am-2.30pm (Meal), 7am-5pm (Coffee) Mon-Sun

Love, Victoria

In Therbaton, lies a Middle Eastern restaurant, Lawash Bakery which has received a lot of good reviews from its diners. On a fine Friday afternoon, I decided to fulfill one of the items on my eating wish list by visiting this popular bakery.

Upon reaching the restaurant, I can see the long queue of customers waiting for their takeaways. I took a glance over the exiting customers, most of them had rolls on their hands.

The restaurant sells different types of kebabs which come with oven baked bread and salad. In addition, they do offer meat mince rolls. The rolls are the popular options for takeaways whereas the kebabs are popular among the in-house diners.

I opted for Chicken Al Fahm, an Arabian chicken dish which is coated with spices, then charcoal-grilled. The serving was generous for the price I paid. For $8, I got half a chicken, big piece of bread and some salad. In addition, 2 dipping sauces were included as well.

Chicken Al Fahm

The chicken had a lovely charcoal crust on it. Believe it or not, as I was lost searching for the shop, it was actually the smell of charcoal that drew me over to the restaurant. I thought that the chicken would be even nicer with more seasoning onto it. The meat still had some moisture in it and was not overly dry.

There were two types of dipping sauces, yogurt based and chilli based. The yogurt based sauce was a bit runny to my preference. The chilli based sauce took me a while to get used to it due to its unique smell. But, on overall, the dipping sauces gave kicks to the taste of the dish.

The oven baked bread had some essential charcoal/burnt crust on it. I torn the bread into few pieces, wrapped the chicken and salad with it, and dipped the combination into one of the sauces, it was a great mouthful of Middle Eastern flavour.

Chicken Al Fahm and bread

It was a satisfying and stomach filling meal. I shall go back to try its kebab again. Till then, cheers!

Website: -
Address: 115 South Road, Adelaide
Trading hours: 9.30am - 9.30pm (Mon-Sun)

Love, Victoria

Pies and sausage rolls are typical Australian cuisines whereby you can have them for breakfast, brunch, lunch or high tea. To get one of the best sausage rolls in the town, you gotta have to visit the Red Door Bakery. There are two shops each in the suburbs of Goodwood and Croydon. Nevertheless, I love to go to the latter which is the pioneer.

Situated conveniently near to the train line as well as 5-10 minutes drive from the city, this bakery is the all time favourite for Adelaideans. Coincidentally or not, the entrance door is painted red, signifying the name of the bakery.

There are various options offered by the bakery, including pastries, desserts, sourdoughs, toasts, pies and sausage rolls. The popular items here are the pork and sage sausage roll, creme brulee tart, salted caramel chocolate cake as well as the chilli jam!

During my visit there, I ordered the Hay Valley lamb and Morrocan eggplant sausage roll. I opted for additional chilli jam ($1). The chilli jam came in a spoon and there was nothing that I can fault it. The Moroccan spices was strong and complemented the lamb well. The flakiness of the pastry was demonstrated as I cut through the sausage roll with my knife. It was beautiful and fell apart into pieces.

Hayvalley lamb and Moroccan eggplant sausage roll

My friends ordered the Berkshire free range pork and sage sausage roll. It was the dish of the day. Among other sausage rolls, the chilli jam accompanied the pork sausage roll especially well. The pork sausage was flavoursome and well seasoned. The flavour was further enhanced by the presence of sage.

We ordered the traditional chicken pie with the tomato chutney as accompaniment. Tomato chutney was not as amazing as the chilli jam. The chicken pie, again, had the beautiful pastry covering the chicken. As compared to the lamb and pork in the sausage rolls. the chicken was more moist. I still love the pork and sage sausage roll though.

Traditional chicken pie; Pork and sage sausage roll; Lamb and Moroccan eggplant sausage roll

We ordered the creme brulee and salted caramel chocolate cake for dessert. The creme brulee had a lovely top crisp. Using the back of the spoon to knock at the top, the crispy caramel layer cracked into pieces, indicating a good creme brulee. The custard was light and the tart casing was great too.

Creme brulee tart

The salted caramel chocolate cake had a layer of set chocolate on top and few sprinkles of sea salt. It was a dense and moist chocolate cake with gooey salted caramel in the middle. The caramel had the right consistency and went well with the chocolate cake. I really love the addition of the salt on the cake itself as it provides another dimension of taste as you eat the cake in a whole.

Salted caramel chocolate cake

Red Door Bakery is definitely the best bakery in Adelaide/SA. The hot cross bun made by the bakery during Easter period was crowned as people's favourite for the year 2014. I can't wait for the next Easter to try it out!

Red Door Bakery

Website: http://www.reddoorbakery.com.au/
Address: 22, Elizabeth Street, Croydon.
Trading hours: 8am-4pm (Wed-Sun)

Love, Victoria

I have always wanted to make a visit to PUBLIC since its first debut 1.5 years ago, especially even after the chef was awarded the best chef in 2013 SA Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence. However, the chef has set off to open his new restaurant and PUBLIC is headed by Luke Southwood at the moment. Luke Southwood won the eighth place in MasterChef Professionals and has worked with SA food icon, Maggie Beer before.

With the change of head chef, there is a change in menu. Current menu has emphasis on simplicity, elegance, delicacy and love. The inclusion of tapas plate in the menu also reflects the Spanish background of the head chef.

Without further ado, let me share with you my dining experience at PUBLIC. It is situated at the corner lot on Franklin Street, not far away from King William Street.

During my visit at PUBLIC, I ordered the homemade gnocchi with braised chicken, hamlets speck, capsicum, cherry tomato, basil and confit garlic. What more I could say about this dish? I can't help but to exclaim its goodness! The softness of gnocchi, with well marinated braised chicken, and a naughty addition of hamlet specks, just renders the exquisite taste. The cherry tomato and capsicum fit in the picture perfectly. Parmesan cheese adds in more savouriness into the whole dish. What could be better than adding parmesan in a pasta dish? This dish is filling and satisfying. Unlike other gnocchi dish, I did not feel sick after eating halfways. I actually finished the whole dish on my own! Light, fresh but full of flavour.

Handmade gnocchi

My friend ordered the wagyu burger with caramelised onion, tomato, lettuce, swiss cheese, lime aioli and crispy baby potatoes. The brioche bun is soft, glazed and crispy at the top. Wagyu pattie is fresh, moist and well seasoned. In contrast with burger and chips from other burger joints, the crispy baby potatoes are a smart sides to come with the burger. It is of bite sized, golden yellow and crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. It was a delectable meal!

Wagyu burger

The interior design is inspired by the theme of public spaces, incorporating the eclectic mix of 'old and new'. The seatings were pretty sufficient for the white collars to have a quick lunch.

Interior of PUBLIC

PUBLIC does have some appealing pastries and desserts available for purchase near the counter. Besides that, PUBLIC is also opened for bookings for engagement parties, birthdays or special events. Do try their tapas if you happen to visit PUBLIC on Friday night.

Eclectic mix of old and new

Website: http://publiccbd.com.au/
Address: 12 Franklin Street, Adelaide
Trading hours: 7am-5pm (Mon-Thurs), 7am-late (Fri)

Love, Victoria

Melbourne high-end chocolatier has extended its flagship to Adelaide, opening its first salon in South Australia at the legendary Adelaide Arcade. The craze has begun ever since it is opened, coupled with the approaching Easter event, Koko Black has seen a steady flow of customers visiting the store.

Koko Black is proud of its hand crafted chocolate, desserts as well as the chocolate beverages. On one catch up session, my friends and I ordered the dessert degustation to share. The degustation includes chocolate alchemy cake, opera gateau, raspberry chocolate mousse, Belgian mousse and chocolate ice cream.

Dessert degustation

The Belgian mousse is light, velvety and rich in chocolate. The mousse recipe is direct from Belgium, so you can expect that the quality of the mousse is up to the par of authentic Belgian dessert.

The chocolate alchemy cake is the salon's signature dessert. It is a chocolate cake, layered with Madagascan chocolate creme and topped with chocolate bar. According to experts' opinion, Madagascar cocoa is the finest of all due to its genetic variety and the island's rich soil. The chocolate cake has a light texture, coupled with the soft creme, it makes a delightful dessert.

Cutting across the raspbery chocolate mousse, the Madagascan vanilla custard flows out from the centre of the cake. In contrast with other chocolate desserts on the plate, this gives an appetizing touch to the plate due to the sourness of raspberry. The sourness of raspberry and sweetness of chocolate are balanced well.

My favourite dessert on this plate is the opera gateau. Different from its other counterparts around the world, it has a twist with the addition of chewy salted caramel as part of its layer. Aside from that, the layers are composed of roasted coffee infused dark chocolate mousse and hazelnut dacquiose. It is unstoppable once you dug into this dessert, especially if you are one of those salted caramel fans.

The last dessert on the tasting plate is the chocolate ice cream with praline. Again, the chocolate is evident in the ice cream. The crunchiness of praline contrasts with the smoothness of ice cream, making it a good combination.

From the left: Belgian mousse, Chocolate alchemy cake, Raspbery chocolate mousse, Opera gateau, Chocolate ice cream

In addition to the dessert degustation, we ordered the baked chocolate tart with creme anglaise to share as well. I expected a dense and hard chocolate tart, but I got a soft and moist cake made up of 64% Madagascan chocolate in the tartlet casing instead. The texture of the chocolate cake is near molten and its warm temperature is just nice to be savoured. The vanilla anglaise is just a beautiful complement to the tart.

Chocolate tart with creme anglaise

There is a balcony seating for Koko Black's patrons. I really love the design of the store. The lighting is comfortable and you are able to see the truffle display from top too. The service is amazing and professional as well. I had pleasant dining experience for the two visits I was there. The waitress was quick to service, polite and helpful.

Chocolate display viewed from the balcony

On another occasion, we ordered some truffles to go with our hot chocolate drinks. My friend ordered the Yuzu truffle. It is made up of Japanese citrus fruit infused in dark chocolate ganache. I ordered the orange and cointreau truffle which is the milk ganache with cointreau-marinated candied orange. Both truffles were rich and yet not sickly sweet due to the citrus fruit content inside.

From the back: Yuzu truffle, Orange and cointreau truffle

The hot chocolate drinks available are the Classic Belgian, Chilli, Mocha, Cinnamon and Hazelnut. I ordered the Classic Belgian whereas my friend ordered the Hazelnut ones. Both hot chocolate come with a nice pattern froth. Both the Classic Belgian and Hazelnut hot chocolate are my favourites. The Hazelnut hot chocolate has a fragrant hazelnut scent in it while the Classic Belgian has the rich chocolate feel. By far the best hot chocolate in Adelaide (along side with Steven ter Horst hot chocolate).

Classic Belgian hot chocolate

Do visit Koko Black on Adelaide Arcade if you happen to be on Rundle Mall or have break in between classes. The truffles would also be a great idea if you are looking for gifts.

Website: http://www.kokoblack.com/

Address: 50-52, Adelaide Arcade, Rundle Mall

Trading hours: 9am-5.30pm (Mon-Thurs), 9am-9pm (Fri), 9am-5pm (Sat), 10.30am-5pm (Sun)

Love, Victoria

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