Simon Food Favourites: Olives

Showing posts with label Olives. Show all posts

22 October 2016

Barrafina: Seafood Paella, CBD Sydney (17 Oct 2016)

2 Bligh Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.barrafina.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/barrafinasydney/

Monday Seafood Paella Special

“The phrase 'Barrafina' is Spanish in origin and translates to ‘long bar’ in English. The name was derived from our concept of sitting at a long bar in Spain where customers can view their meals being made and to watch the ‘theatre’ of the kitchen at work, where shared dining and experiencing multiple flavours from shared plates occurs, common to the lively hubs of food creativity in Las Ramblas of Barcelona and in the North of Spain, most notably San Sebastian.”

I've always liked the food here that caters well for those loving to share dishes. The Monday special of Seafood Paella sounded pretty good for $20. First they serve up a charcuterie board of jamon serano, Spanish salami, olives and pan con tomato. Love the big olives they use. Cured meats were nice. Wash downed with an Estrella Spanish beer on tap that's included in the price, or a glass of wine if you prefer. Seafood paella comes with chorizo, saffron rice, black mussel, prawn, calamari. Nice deveined prawns and a tasty rice underneath which is more a dry style than wet. The seafood seems to be added to the rice base rather than being cooked with it. A squeeze of lemon goes a long way with bring the dish together on the palate. Service was friendly and efficient.

14 August 2012

The Nuns' Pool: Cafe and Restaurant, Cronulla (12 Aug 2012)

103 Ewos Parade, Cronulla NSW 2230

http://www.thenunspool.com

Nuns in the shire

“The Sisters of Mercy (Parramatta) came to Cronulla in 1924 and bought the first of two properties whereupon they built their residence and convent which they named ‘Stella Maris’. During the years they would bathe within a small rock formation in front of Stella Maris.”

There was no sign of nuns swimming in a pool at The Nuns' Pool but the cafe seemed to be a nice and friendly hangout for the 'real' shire people that you probably won't find on The Shire TV. Starting with the Chefs Tasting plate ($9 per person) seemed to be a good choice to try a few things. Everything provided was good, especially the zucchini & haloumi fritters which I'd happily have again as a share plate on its own. The menu listed the tasting plate as $12.50 per person but service informed us it would be $9 per person — perhaps there was less available on the day? The Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi, Burnt Butter, Almond ($23 main size) was well-liked with a nice combination of flavours. I would have loved a bit more burnt butter sauce around the dish for extra flavour. My House Smoked Ocean Trout, Potato & Celeriac Hash, Poached Egg, Parsley, Capers & Dill ($24 main size) had tasty flavours from the caper & dill combination working well on the dish. The smokiness of the ocean trout wasn't too heavy making it a pleasant dish to eat with the extra creaminess from the runny poached egg. With baby on board I was happy to see a well-equipped toilet with a baby change table available and a decent amount of room to work the magic. The young service staff were friendly and polite and the atmosphere was cosy.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly and polite service, Nice tasting dishes, Entree and main size available on menu, Baby friendly except for the stairs to enter with a pram, Plenty of street parking

CONS: $2.50 surcharge on Sundays, All the way in Cronulla so not a local spot for me, Can be a bit pricey depending on what you order

MUST TRY: Zucchini & Haloumi Fritters
BABY ON BOARD: Good toilet facilities for baby changing, High chair available, Casual enough to have a fairly well-behaved kid
VERDICT: Nice food and service that I'd gladly come back to try more dishes on the menu

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Chefs Tasting plate: Jamon Serrano, two dips, zucchini & haloumi fritters, marinated feta & mixed olives, with bread ($9 per person, $45)

Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi, Burnt Butter, Almond ($23 main size)

House Smoked Ocean Trout, Potato & Celeriac Hash, Poached Egg, Parsley, Capers & Dill ($24 main size)

Antipodes Sparkling ($7.50)

Bill $195 for 5.

The story of the nuns on the wall mirror

The unisex toilet has baby change table which is good, kept clean and plenty of room

Located opposite Shelly Park — looks like a nice area for a coastal walk

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28 May 2012

Li'l Darlin: Wine Bar & Tapas, Randwick (17 May 2012)

51 Perouse Road, Randwick NSW 2031
http://www.lildarlin.com.au

A li'l spot to wine and dine

Just when I thought Alice met Charlie Dessert Factory was on a good thing they mysteriously closed not long after opening and is now replaced by Li'l Darlin. The new tapas wine bar seems to be a welcomed addition for locals although nearby tapas bars The Spanish Fly and El Bulli now have some competition. The Icyee Lychee ($12) is a blend of lychee liqueur, Absolut vodka, lychee, grapefruit and lemon juice (pictured above) which is easy to drink although beware of the brain freeze. House white ($7.50) and red wine ($7.50) was decently quaffable for a casual drink and the Crispy chilli chicken drummers served with chipotle mayo ($9.90) was quite flavoursome although perhaps a couple more for the price would be nice. The Salt and Pepper Calamari served with nahm jim and aioli ($9.90) was tender and quite tasty but the lemon wedge is cut just a bit too thin to squeeze easily. Home-made quesadillas with chorizo and chilli served with guacamole and sour cream ($12.90) was good and easy to eat.

Marinated olives ($7.90) were flavoursome and served cold but these days my preference is when they're served warm. I think a few more could have been topped up in the small bowl and I would have thought this dish could have been quickly served first. The Caprese salad with mixed tomatos, buffalo mozzarella ($11.90) had nice flavours but with perhaps a bit more salt would be more to my liking. If you're ordering a few dishes keep in mind the tables are quite small so it can get a bit awkward fitting all the dishes. The service was quite friendly although seemed to be still finding their feet with our forgotten table water and extra glass of house white ordered. The full restaurant at the time probably put some strain on the kitchen service as we felt it necessary to ask after 20 minutes about how our food order was going — serving up the olives first would have probably distracted us a bit from our hunger. I think the place has a nice buzz which suits The Spot as a cheeky drinking hole and I'm definitely keen to revisit to try their advertised $4.50 pizzas between 5 and 6 pm — sounds like such a bargain too good to refuse.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Cosy and buzzing atmosphere, Reasonably priced menu, Staff were friendly although seemed a bit run off their feet, Located near the Ritz Cinema

CONS: Can get noisy, Small tables can be a challenge for space, I felt still finding their feet in terms of kitchen turnaround time, Finding parking in the area is generally a nightmare

MUST TRY: Revisiting for the $4.50 pizza special and trying other dishes on the menu

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