Raining Chaos

Category: Food

  • Japan, September 2014

    Ah, Japan. The place I’ve wanted to go to ever since discovering the world of anime. What an amazing place, and I’d actually say I enjoyed it the most on  my trip, probably because I had the least expectations for it. I should figure out how to eliminate expectations for everything that I want to do, because it works wonders.

    I was pretty delirious from having been awake since morning in London, then getting only a few hours sleep on the plane because I was enjoying the in-flight entertainment too much and its manga feature plus some space pirate movie which was pretty awful, and then spending nearly a full day exploring Tokyo again. (Did I mention there was reindeer meat in the form of a sandwich on the Finnish leg of our flight? There wasn’t much actual meat I think, so I couldn’t taste it at all)

    Japan 01

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  • City Social

    It was a Benedict Cumberbatch tumblr that prompted me to consider booking a place here. Plus, it was new, and also, it boasted a great view. One thing lead to another, and I’ve decided that I will now attempt to visit at least one Jason Atherton restaurant when I visit a city where one exists. Whether or not this will actually work, who knows!
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  • Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

    Lo and behold, San Pellegrino Top 50’s Number 5 in 2014 – Dinner.

    I was recommended Dinner over Fat Duck, and I have plans to try and attend Fat Duck when it opens in Melbourne – so to Knightsbridge I went! This actually will be a text heavy post, as opposed to most of my restaurant posts that are spammed with food.

    They had beautiful menus set up, with bits of trivia to read while perusing the menus. We were also lucky enough to be seated right in front of the kitchen, so we had a great view of flames and ovens and a total head count of about 15 chefs in that small space. It’s a fairly large restaurant from what I could see, and it blended into a bar in the Mandarin Oriental.
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  • Commune Social

    The story of how I came across Commune Social isn’t super long, but is a story nonetheless – once upon a time, I was stalking a tumblr about Benedict Cumberbatch, when I saw a post that he was at the opening of a fancy new restaurant in London called City Social. I decided to book it as it boasted a view, and I figured my brother might like it since it overlooked the Shard, Gherkin, Walkie Talkie and Cheese Grater. Then, upon further inspection of their website, it turns out their chef, Jason Atherton, had restaurants in China, Hong Kong and Singapore too. And thus, I got the opportunity to visit Commune Social.

    The setup of the restaurant was quite Western, all courtyardy and open, and in a quick visit before actually going, we were advised that the food portions were very small – but luckily I had known that already, it being fancy and tapas style, so I was prepared. The downside was, I had never ordered tapas style food for more than four people, so it became awkward when we were dividing tiny portions into six! I should have doubled all the orders, and that would have been enough.

    Not only is this kind of food grossly more expensive in China, but I felt that there was a far lower level of service than in a Western country – perhaps it was just this visit though. I also admit to having no experience or knowledge about how to adequately staff a restaurant, but I’ve been to a fair few and every now again observe the waitstaff observing customers because it’s interesting to watch. I use the “magical refilling water test” as a benchmark of restaurant service, but here it felt like there just wasn’t enough attentiveness overall – plus the waiters looked a little stressed out, and I had no way of knowing if they had staff call in sick. That being said, I was excited that I frequently saw the dessert chef popping out to present her dishes.

    Beetroot, burrata, gingerbread

    I was pleased with the prettiness of the plating, but having had only burrata once before where it came whole, this one was already broken up for sharing and just as tasty. I really liked the gingerbread component here as well.

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  • Rockpool 1989

    Rockpool, a place I’ve wanted to visit since before Rockpool Bar and Grill, but never found the opportunity to until I decided to squeeze it into a two day Sydney visit.  Their new place on Bridge St is super pretty and I love waiters that are suited up and are wearing lapel pins too!

    It’s essentially a degustation plus up to three extra courses (2 savoury and 1 sweet) to finish up. Since everything on the menu looked tasty, I went for three courses. Having had no time (or computer) to blog for a good five or so weeks, there’s not too much commentary except that there was a lot of deliciousness!

    Prawn tempura with daikon, soy, shiso, prawn cream and dashi jelly

     Who doesn’t love fried stuff with a creamy sauce! This tasty morsel was a great way to start the night.
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  • Jam Packed July

    Is what I wanted to call the post, because it has a better ring to it than “Jam Packed June”.

    HOWEVER since I have posted this before July, I should make it clear that I am not a time traveller… yet. So all this did not happen in July!!!

    As always, food is first. But this wasn’t an exercise in cooking or eating, it’s part of what I like to call “intense palate training” as for the coffee I drink, I cannot identify flavours within them. So, after having collected a variety of sour citrus, I ended up doing a lemon and lime taste test – to see what I could figure out.

    Say hello to meyer lemon, lisbon lemon, tahitian lime, keffir lime, blood lime! I stopped buying normal lemons after tasting a meyer lemon, because I perceived the meyer lemons to be sweeter. And then I saw tasting notes for a coffee that said meyer lemon… so then I wondered if you really could taste the difference between different kinds of lemons.

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  • Rosewater panna cotta

    So it turns out rice pudding isn’t super photogenic, and I can’t even get some gorgeous purplish poached pears to make it look good!

    Either that, or I also fail at plating and presentation. So instead, I get to show off my first attempt at panna cotta!

    I decided to go with rosewater because it was a flavour that I had in mind. My main concern was getting the wobbliness just right and of course, making sure it set properly. In addition, I had to figure out what the best mould would be for it – so I went with a whisky glass that came with a bottle of Scotch that my flatmates had.

    Luckily enough, I had some dried flower petals already, but I was unprepared for a sauce. I had an idea to plate with a red sauce, and I’ve previously done this with rosewater pomegranate in my Virtual Valentine, which I’d then garnish with mint as a hint of green. However, there being no pomegranates available, I do admit to cheating and buying some pomegranate molasses, and quince and rose jelly, melting those together and making a pseudo sauce – which managed to mimic the shiny bejewelled effect of pomegranate arils anyway!

    Plus I think it worked out better that way as it made it soooo pretty. And it was the right amount of wobbly, but I’d definitely add a little less gelatin just to ensure the texture is smooth and creamy.

    I’d almost make this a book cover called “Reine’s Kitchen” if it was that tiny bit even more perfect – there are little bits of slightly broken panna cotta side which I tried to hide, having never demoulded a panna cotta before (especially as I haven’t made one previously?). I am one dish closer to claiming I know how to cook!

    I should attempt some even more challenging dishes, but I do have to look after my budget a bit so there may be a hiatus on my creative cooking. And yes, I know, I don’t need to break the bank to do epic dishes like these. This one was cheap as! (except for the bit where I cheated haha)

  • Greenhouse

    Finally. After three years, I found an opportunity to visit. I’m combining this post with my experience from the pop-up restaurant in Sydney as both are amazing. The temporary restaurant was an eye opener and a brand new experience, and seeing the real thing was well worth it.

    Greenhouse by Joost, Sydney

    Greenhouse, Perth

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  • Journey… to the not so West

    Hello Perth!

    So nice to finally meet you, having first wanted to see you in all your glory many many years ago after your most amazing restaurant featured on Masterchef – Greenhouse.

    I had only known a week earlier that I’d get the opportunity to say hi, and had scrambled to shortlist a cafe and restaurant selection for only two days. The internet recommended Standing Room Only, plus some others, but I knew the key to the crawl lay in the charming baristas.

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