Adventure #245: Bread in Common (Perth)

We were in Perth over Easter last year to visit some relatives and were taken to a number of eateries to sample the latest Australia has to offer.  Two of them stuck with me and one is Bread In Common.

Tucked away in the residential area in Fremantle, it does not take reservation. But we were told it would be worth the wait.............. 

There were 8 of us and so we were able to sample quite a number of items on the menu.  I don't quite remember what I ate but the feeling I took away on that night was "Wow! This was certainly worth the wait!".

Oyster, lemon, house made tabasco

Cheese (Old Telegraph Road from Victoria)  with honey comb - what a combination!

Cuttlefish, black bean, peas, pepper, cajun spice

Tuna, watermelon, green beans, olive, parsley

Cured salmon, pickled tomato, chilli, shallot, basil, fennel seeds

Duck fat roasted potatoes, rosemary, garlic, ketchup

Chargrilled chicken, eggplant, capers, smoked yoghurt

Miso & beef brined beef ribeye, sake mushrooms, ginger

Lamb ribs, chilli, lime, mint, black garlic, sherry

Zucchini, capsicum, walnuts, dates, cumin

Plum, Vanilla mousse, white chocolate, basil and yoghurt sorbet

Peach, myrtle meringue, passionfruit, nectarine jelly - my favourite dish!

Adventure #244: Private Dining

Just before Christmas we were invited to a private dinner at a friend's who "won" Chef Yaw through a charity auction! Chef Yaw is a Malaysia who has worked in many well known restaurants in Thailand and has just arrived in HK for a new chapter in his life.

The food was amazing and it was so good to be able to dine in the comfort of home that we had him again on New Year's Eve.  We repeated the starter and dessert from the first dinner.  Totally satisfied with the food on both occasion. Will definitely have him again.

For the first dinner, we had:

An intro (of course)!

Crab with micro salad, squid ink and curry aioli.  Really loved this. Had this again on the 2nd dinner.

Beetroot with strawberry, avocado, goat cheese and arugula.  A very interesting salad. Good combination of sweet and savoury. Yum

Warm bread and cherry tomatoes pickled in own juice. Served before the mains. The tomatoes were amazing!

Razor Clams with radish, chicken jus and watercress. Never had clams like this but delicious.

Cod fish with bacon, mushroom, ragout and parmesan. Cod is sweet and tender. A very good dish.

Pigeon breast with a variety of onion and garlic with poultry jus. Finally, the main course. By now, I am so full, I don't really know what I am eating! But I do know that everyone loved it. The meat was tender and juicy and the skin crispy.

Apple tarte tatin. Really loved this dish but because I was so full, I couldn't finished it. As such, I requested it again for the 2nd dinner!

For New Year's Eve dinner, we repeated the 1st starter and dessert from the last time and asked for beef as the mains. This is what we had:

Same as before and still good.

Prawn with pickle veg, tapioca and herbs. Was sure initially what tapioca means. As it turned out he was referring to the tapioca balls.  Very interesting dish. The pickled veg actually went very nicely with the prawns.

Abalone with angel hair, konbu and truffle oil. This was my favourite dish. The angel hair has absorbed the jus of the abalone, so tasty with a hint of truffle.

Consumme with ravioli of duck leg and peas. A good dish before the main.

Beef tenderloin served with parsnip, baby veg, pumkin and mushroom. Very rich dish but perfect for the occasion.

Apple tarte tatin. I paced myself and was finally able to enjoy this dish. Wonderful!

Chef Yaw
Tel: +852 9185 7525

Adventure #242: Mandarin Grill

My birthday was on a weekday and I was working on a deal, so I thought let's be safe and eat in Central. So G picked the Mandarin Grill. We haven't been for a long long time and remembered the food to be excellent.

After seated we were served amuse bouche of ham, cheese and olive.

This is most interesting as the object on the spoon is not an olive but contained something made with olive and hence served next to the little pot of olive plant. 

A selection of olive oil to accompany the freshly baked breads

This is simply called Bacon and Egg - made up of 18 weeks old suckling pig with duck egg and truffle honey sauce. Presentation is excellent (i.e. assembled right in front of me). Tasted very good but no element of surprise.

This I find more interesting.  This is called Forest Floor and it certainly looked like it. Made up of mushroom, foie gras, chicken liver and brioche.  All are not what they appear to be!

I ordered Turbot.  The dish (once again assembled in front of me) resembled the ocean floor.  Everything is edible, even the stones! Unfortunately, the turbot is a rather tough fish and I didn't enjoy this dish as much as I hoped.

G ordered the Calotte. It's beef. Served inside a "book".

Beef is good. Geoff didn't quite like the chocolaty sauce.

Soufflé - best dish of the evening

Loved the "Petite Four"!

Loved the service and the amuse bouche.  The presentation of all the dishes were excellent.  The taste however is slightly below expectation.  Food is similar to The Krug Room but for the price, I prefer the Krug Room.

Mandarin Grill
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
5 Connaught Road Central
Hong Kong
Tel: 2825 4004

Adventure #241: Gaucho Steak Restaurant

Went with a couple of friends to try out this new joint from the UK. Gaucho serves mainly Argentinian steaks.

The décor is dark with leather - cow skin but I didn't really captured in in these photos.  Loved the lights though.

Waitress came over with the raw meat selection.......looks all the same to me!

Loved the bread. The round ones are cheese bread, so rich but so good.

A selection of starters to share. Not a salad fan, I much preferred the melted cheese thingy (forgot the name of this dish). Not thinking about the waistline tonight......

The ladies (2 of us) shared the Gaucho Tasting Plate, so we could have a taste of the 3 most popular cuts chorizo, ancho and caudril.  They are all good but I think I like ancho better........

The guys were more adventurous (also a much bigger stomach) had the Tira de Ancho - spiral cut, slow grilled with chimichurri. 500g of pure beef!!! This is really good but I think a bit too much for 1 person.

Hand cut chips with truffle oil and chives. They initially gave us the wrong one which we complained of not smelling of truffle at all. Then they replaced it.  Strong truffle aroma, delicious.

A early birthday surprise!

Good food, good service.  Heard the set lunch portions are smaller.  Will return to try that.

Gaucho Steak Restaurant
5/F, LHT Tower
31 Queens Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel: 2386 8090