Firefly: Jump On It Deluxe Banquet Deal, Walsh Bay (4 April 2011)

On the promenade, Pier 7, 17 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay NSW 2000
http://www.fireflybar.com.au

A banquet without dessert

Restaurant group buying daily deals seem to be all the rage these days from websites like Jump On It, Spreets, Cudo and Ouffer to name just a few, if you can sift through the abundance of skin beauty deals. I’ve recently discovered All The Deals which consolidates many of the offers to just one email subscription a day which might help simplify your inbox. The Firefly deal for 2 was worth $137 including a bottle of wine for just $59 and ended up having an impressive 2601 customers jumping on it which I’m sure kept the kitchen busy over the offer time. I thought it was a good chance to try a number of the restaurants more popular dishes.

Due to popularity of the venue there were two sitting times which thankfully seemed to give ample time to enjoy the banquet without feeling too rushed since service was quite efficient. The 2009 Invivo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NSW ($49) was one I’d probably pick anyway from the menu list which was nicely quaffable. The Deluxe Banquet Menu ($44) included 8 preselected savoury dishes but unfortunately no sign of a dessert dish. Due to the lack of availability of the Spanish Anchovy Bruschetta it was substituted for a Goats cheese tarts with fig, honey and hazelnuts although I think I would have preferred the former. The Salad of shaved beetroot, goats curd, pine nuts & caramelised garlic crouton had some nice flavours but wasn’t a particularly easy dish to share, especially when trying to work out what to do with the lettuce. Perhaps presenting it as a bruschetta canape would have been more to my liking. Sharing the Yoghurt flatbreads, mushroom & barley ragout was equally a little haphazard but flavours were nice.

The Calamari fritti with fresh lemon and herbs was cooked with a nice crisp and perhaps could have benefitted from some aioli on the side. I liked the interesting combination of the Haloumi with watermelon, mint & almond which I'd probably have again. Bite sized Lamb and pork meatballs came in a flavoursome sauce that I wished I could have soaked up with some bread. A simply presented Pino's organic sweet pork chorizo came with a Romesco sauce that I was expecting to be a bit more robust in flavour and the chorizo to be grilled with more of a smokey char. Baked prawns with smoked tomato & chilli relish were served in their shells so a few messy fingers were to be had. Nice sauce but I generally prefer prawns to be peeled unless their crispy school prawns like from District Dining. Since no dessert was included I was tempted by the nicely presented Raspberry & choc mille fieulle ($15). Good combination of flavours although not the easiest dish to eat with any elegance due to the resistance of perfectly crisp pastry.

Other visits to Firefly:
• 6 April 2011 - Jump On It Deluxe Banquet menu
• 31 July 2010 - Panna Cotta

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Intimate and romantic, Nice ambience and music setting, Water views, Friendly service

CONS: Limited seating, Wine could be considered expensive, No free street parking, A little bit off the beaten track to get to, Toilets are located about 50 metres away

MUST TRY: Raspberry & choc mille fieulle

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Salad of shaved beetroot, goats curd, pine nuts & caramelised garlic crouton

Yoghurt flatbreads, mushroom & barley ragout

Calamari fritti with fresh lemon and herbs

Haloumi with watermelon, mint & almond

Goats cheese tarts with fig, honey and hazelnuts

Lamb and pork meatballs

Pino's organic sweet pork chorizo with Romesco sauce

Baked prawns with smoked tomato & chilli relish

Raspberry & choc mille fieulle ($15)

WORTH TRYING :-)

2009 Invivo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NSW ($49)

Deluxe Banquet Menu ($44/person)

Next to the water

Water view and boats

Seating above and below

Table support is in the way of a comfortable feet position for me

Toilet key holder

The toilet is located about 50 metres away

Outside

On the waters edge


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Rowda Ya Habibi: Lebanese Banquet, Newtown (9 Sept 2010)

101 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042

Cheap lebanese banquet

When a family run business has been going for 33 years they must be doing something right. The service counter looks very much like a take away shop but there's lots of seating out the back for large groups as well as upstairs where you can sit on a cushion in your own private room — although I find it quite uncomfortable to sit for any length of time. The reasonably priced Deluxe Mazza Banquet ($25 per person) comes with your typical banquet dishes you'd expect which won't leave you hungry. The Baba Ganooj and Hommos are decent but perhaps not the best I've had. The Tabouleh is maybe a little of the dry side tonight but still fine when mixed with the dips. You'll also receive the more substantial dishes of Ladies Fingers, Shis Kebab and Garlic chicken. I judge a Lebanese restaurant by their Falafel and these had a nice outer crunch but they're not as flavoursome as say Jasmins or even Lebanon & Beyond for that matter. If you've got a sweet tooth then containers of Turkish delight ($5) are available from the downstairs counter to take home. I've heard if you find the elusive yellow turkish delight their really good — unfortunately none were available. The no-nonsense service was a little hard to get used but the dishes were efficiently prepared and served quickly.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Plenty of seating, Take away available, Decent amount of take away choices, Vegetarian friendly dishes, Reasonably priced

CONS: No-nonsense service, Uncomfortable seating upstairs when sitting on a cushion with no back support and leg room, Toilet only had cake of soap

MUST TRY: Apparently the lemon turkish delight

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Deluxe Mazza Banquet $25 per person

Baba Ganooj, Hommos, Bread

Tabouleh

Ladies Fingers

Shis Kebab

Falafel

Green beans

Garlic chicken and rice

Downstairs dining room at the back

Seating in front of the service counter

Counter display

Sweets display — Turkish delight ($5)

Toilet only has cake of soap available

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Emads Lebanese Restaurant: $35 Super Banquet, Surry Hills (17 April 2010)

298 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Belly dance the night away

The long standing emads is perhaps not the best lebanese food around but they provide an intimate and cosy setting for groups to have a fun night out — especially when there's a belly dancer involved on Friday and Saturday nights. The Super Banquet will set you back $35 each and includes your classic menu items of bread, humous, babaganouge, tabouli, spinach pie, kebbe, falafel, lady fingers, lamb, chicken and kafta skewers, cabbage rolls, vine leaves, coffee and sweets. For the big eaters they'll love it but if you're not that hungry it will be a challenge to eat it all so perhaps order individual dishes to share — I certainly struggled finishing my fair share. The highlight of the night was actually the professional belly dancer whose energy brought a lot of life and laughter to the restaurant.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Belly dancing some nights, Reasonably priced, Cosy atmosphere and seating, Quick service

CONS: Food comes out quickly so hard to keep up before it goes cold, Coffee a bit grainier than what I've had in other places, Didn't see the babaganouge

MUST TRY: Ordering more interesting dishes from the menu

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Super Banquet bread

Super Banquet humous

Super Banquet tabouli

Super Banquet spinach pie, kebbe, falafel, lady fingers

Super Banquet lamb, chicken and kafta skewers

Super Banquet cabbage rolls


Super Banquet vine leaves

Super Banquet coffee and sweets

Belly dancing performer

Banquet menu

Bill: $280 for 8, $35 each. The most basic bill I've possibly ever seen.

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