That beautiful selection of food you see here was a sight to behold. Unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy it in its intended environment!!! Let me explain. Our hard working Biteclub secretary Jason, had organised a boat cruise on Sydney's magnificent harbour to celebrate the end of summer. A group of friends, enjoying the last rays of sunshine, eating and drinking together whilst taking in the beautiful sights of Sydney harbour. Unfortunately for him and us, Mother Nature unleashed her anger in the form of a tropical storm one hour before we were due to depart!!! Of all days. Anyway, with a mountain of food we made our way to his cool inner city premises to enjoy our "Clayton's" cruise.

There was food everywhere!!! Pea and Pancetta Tart, herbed ricoota fritters, roast chicken with stuffing, home made vegetarian lasagna, Maltese pastizzi, Jason's home made sausage rolls...the list was endless. Party food at its best!!! It was good to see everyone had made an effort. We feasted and drank and danced to some old LP's Jason had from his teen years. Who needs the SS Minnow now?


A variety of cous cous salads and Michael's home made veggie lasagna. It was all perfect and we need that recipe Michael.

Myself and Maria on the left. Nessy and Ryan on the right.

Jason, our Biteclub Secretary and boat cruise organiser, is in the orange, on the left with Lisa and Hilbert. Sal, on the right with Katie and Juliet.



And finally the desserts came out. A beautiful selection of Italian and Greek cakes. Arthur and Ryan had also made their famous Peach and Raspberry Tart. A fun night indeed and we were quite full by the end of it. All that food and dancing. I also wanted to say thank you to Jason again for going to all the effort of organising this event. It might not have gone the way we intended it to but we certainly made it up for it other ways. Thanks again Jason.
Pete

Tags:food friends fun

Continuing with restauarant reviews, my mate Steven and I ventured out to Darlinghurst the other night to try some Japanese food. Him being the good friend, took me out for my birthday. We tried Zushi located in Victoria St, opposite that other Sydney institution Unas.

The vibe here is cool and I'm not talking about the weather. This strip of Victoria St is filled with eateries from every corner of the globe. With the humidity hitting somewhere near the uncomfortable 98% mark, it seemed that every Sydneysider wanted to escape their miniature apartments and get gastronomical.

The staff here are extremely friendly and very welcoming. The menu reads of a who's who of Sushi and Sashimi. All the Japanese favourites are there including tempura and teriyaki. However, the menu is a little more creative than that reflecting a creative culinary team. You will find things like Zushi Spider Roll - an inside-out roll of soft-shell crab tempura with cucumber, topped with avocado slices and wasabi mayonnaise and Bonito Sashimi - seared slices of fresh bonito served on sliced onions with a ponzu dressing and John Dory Sashimi -  thinly sliced John Dory with a chilli ponzu dipping sauce!!! See what I mean...very creative indeed and it gets away with it quite nicely!



We started with endamame and gyoza. The endamame were steamed to perfection and seasoned just right. The gyoza were quite crunchy and came with a chilli hit. This was washed down with a grapefruit and sake cocktail. Delicious and delightful indeed.


Instead of gorging our selves to the size of sumo wrestlers we opted for a "little bit of this and that" with drinks. We chose the Kingfish nigiri, the california rolls with Spicy Tuna and some good ol' chicken teriyaki. Again I could not fault any of it. Delicious and made to perfection. I mean who needs to go to Tokyo when you have this at your doorstep.

This place fills fast and the atmosphere is quite eclectic. Lots of people walking up and down this part of the Sydney metropolis dropping in for a bite or two. Zushi even has a happy hour everyday between 6-7 and all sushi and sashimi is half price for the duration of happy hour. Hmmm...I need a new local to visit...

ZUSHI - Sushi + Sashimi Bar 239 Victoria Street Darlinghurst NSWMonday - Friday Lunch + Dinner Saturday - Sunday Dinner onlyLicensed (BYO wine only) Dine-in or Takeaway

Tags:restaurants Japanese

Yours truly turned 37 yesterday. It was a great day overall. I spent the best part of it doing what comes naturally to me. Eating!!! And what a place to indulge in. The north stretch of the iconic Bondi coast, right here in Sydney. A beautiful Italian restaurant opened there last year, serving everyday Italian food, without the pretence associated with modern eateries. The name of the place says it all...North Bondi Italian Food

Italian Food served in Bondi Beach. The views in this place have to be seen to be believed. With a beautiful outdoor decking facing Australia's most famous beach the scene was set to EAT. My dear readers, bear with me. Its my first restaurant review and I'm a little nervous. So here goes...

Fratelli Fresh extra virgin olive oil, accompanied with chargrilled sourdough chilli bread...scrumptious!!!


Crumbed lamb Brains served with lemon and aioli. Interesting but to be honest offal isn't my thing so I avoided this. A 2 year old Parmesan cheese and an Asiago Presato cheese served with fennel biscotti...delish. Warm Mortadella. This was my favourite. It was reminiscent of my childhood school sandwiches but taken up to the next level. An adult level. A sexy adult level!!! We also indulged in a dish of "4 salamis"...they included Calabrese, Soppresso, Salamini and Casalinga. All beautiful cured Italian meats. Served with simpicity. Nothing else. Nada. It was one of the best starters to a meal in a long time.

After a quick break on the beautiful verandah. It was time for these four little piggies to get down to the mains. I had the chargrilled Marlin fish coated in herb crumbs and served with a witlof, green olive, radicchio and orange salad. I'd never tried marlin before. It was similar to tuna and it was served rare. It was a perfect marriage of ingredients and flavours. Bravo!! Mark indulged in the "80's calssic" (shoulder pads not included) of baked veal scallopine served with duxelle mushrooms, smoked ham and Fontina cheese. Aaaahhhh!!!! the classics never die, they just keep on getting better.

Tony enjoyed the Angus Rib eye served with Rocket, green peppercorns, chilli and spring onions. Salvatore wolfed down the Pappardelle with slowb raised wild boar and Parmesan. Both these Italian boys enjoyed a little taste of their homeland on their plates. Salvatore especially who found nothing on his plate a bore!!! We also shared a borlotti bean salad and a basic Italian salad of butter lettuce, tomatoes and red onion. (sorry no photos!!!)

We ended our fantastic food fantasy with espresso. It truly was an amazing feast. Simple, beautiful food in a beautiful environment. At $75 a head, including tip, we had eaten a fair bit of food. Great service with knowledgeable staff, it was worth it. Happy Birthday to me....Happy birthday to me...

NORTH BONDI ITALIAN FOOD
118-120 RAMSGATE AVENUE
NORTH BONDI
(Right below the North Bondi RSL)
Tel: (02) 9300-4400

Tags:restaurants Italian

When I last hosted Biteclub, I ended the evening with this wonderful dessert. I was too fussed to go about making sexy desserts for 13 people, so I settled on this little beauty. Its a perfect ending to a sweltering, sultry, Sydney evening. Lemonade and passionfruit icy poles. Or ice blocks to our American counterparts. The recipe for this comes form Gourmet Traveller. For all those who don't know, Gourmet Traveller is an Australian food magazine which comes out monthly. It is stylish, glossy and it really knows its food. They even have a masterclass section for all budding chef wannabe's.

This recipe requires to be completed in two stages. Firstly purchase about ten passionfruit. Halve them and scoop out their seedy innards. Place this pulp into a food processor. Pour the processed mixture through a fine sieve leaving behind the seeds. To this add sugar syrup to taste. (Sugar syrup is made by heating one part water to three parts caster sugar in a pot. Just let it heat. Do not boil! Remove, stir, check to see that it is all dissolved and let it cool.) Be wary of adding too much sugar syrup. We don't want to be on our dentists hit list!! Anyway...squeeze a half cut lime and add a splash of vanilla extract. Stir and taste. It is very tempting to continue tasting here. This mixture is divine. Leave some for the icy pole moulds!!!

I picked up some icy pole moulds form K Mart for a few dollars. Now, for the lemonade portion of this recipe I used a "homestyle" lemonade. Not that clear sugary water they try to pass off as lemonade. You may wish to use Bitter Lemon here instead. Pour the lemonade filling about one third of the mould. Let it rest for half an hour. Place in the freezer. About 2-3 hours later, the lemonade should be nearly set but not hard. Now add the passionfruit mixture on top of the semi frozen lemonade. Seal it with the end of ice block mould. This has the stick which will allow you to hold and eat the icy pole. Leave it overnight in the freezer and enjoy slurping this beauty.
Pete

Tags:recipes desserts

After another short break and a busy few weeks I'm ready to begin some new entries. I haven't abandoned this blog!!! Just been a little distracted. So let's get into writing about my recent Biteclub experience.