Enzo’s Cucina Restaurant – Campbelltown – New South Wales – Australia – April 2017

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Australia, Campbelltown, dinner with family and friends, Enzo's Cucina Restaurant, Italian food, New South Wales

Dinner with family over Easter

Over the Easter period I went up to Sydney to visit my family and chose a local restaurant for dinner and invited my best friend from school who I hadn’t seen for some time.  We have been friends for over forty-three years and really enjoy catching up whenever possible – she is an amazing girl (or woman now I guess).  This was the same restaurant I had booked for a surprise birthday party for my dad four years ago but now it’s been fully refurbished and is really lovely inside.  We had a very early dinner so were lucky there was only about three or four full tables when we arrived..completely full when we left.

The walls have been re-plastered with some of the bricks visible and there are framed prints around the walls with movie stars such as Sophia Loren eating pasta.

The menu is extensive with lots of vegetarian choices. I chose the Gnocchi al Pomodoro; potato dumplings pan tossed with basil, oregano and tomatoes –  such a tasty dish and really filling; so unfortunately I could only eat half.

My dad ordered a Barramundi fillet which was served with fried olives, tomato and basil oil on potato mash.  A huge dish but he managed to eat it all and loved it.

My brother ordered the Vitello all a Griglia; grilled veal with fresh herbs and a lemon dressing with roasted garlic potato mash while my nephew Braydon had the Calamari Fritti; lightly crumbed squid rings served with mayonnaise and lemon.  Great meals I was told and everything eaten.

My school friend Deb ordered a grilled chicken salad. I didn’t bother taking a photograph of this dish as it was just a huge bowl with salad and the chicken was at the bottom.  I did however take some photos of our desserts.  Wow!!  I had the tiny doughnuts with ice-cream and Braydon ordered the Nutella covered crepes.  Again too many doughnuts for me to finish but I definitely tried my best to eat them all.  I just love doughnuts and these were great.

My brother finished off with a hot chocolate in a fancy jar with a little sponge biscuit.

We had such a good night and it was great to see the restaurant refurbished and of course that extensive menu is just excellent.

A little getaway – Gold Coast – Queensland – Australia – February 2017

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Australia, Beijing Palace Restaurant, Brunch, Casino, Chinese restaruant, Coco Cabano restaurant, Cuban Street Food, Gold Coast, Queensland

Visiting friends with my brother and nephew

My lovely Taiwanese/Aussie friend and her son, my godson, now live at the Gold Coast.  My brother and nephew had met them whilst I lived in Beijing so I thought since it was about four years since they had seen each other we should visit.

I used my frequent flyer points to book us all flights and one Wednesday in February we departed.  We arrived late in the afternoon and my Godson took an instant like to my nephew and for the next three days didn’t let him out of his sight.

On our first night my friend Evonne took us out to a local Chinese restaurant where I was able to practice my Chinese and also enjoy some good food and meet another of Evonne’s friends who also lived on the Gold Coast.

We ordered a range of dishes including the obligatory eggplant for me and my brother ordered a couple of typical Aussie/Chinese dishes which he and his son enjoyed.

Over the next couple of days we enjoyed some shopping and one afternoon went to a friend’s of Evonne’s who lived in a beautiful home overlooking the river.  I enjoyed some great tasting Chinese tea and afternoon tea snacks whilst my brother and nephew enjoyed time in the lap pool.

That evening we had another great meal at the Garden Restaurant within the Casino.

This restaurant has an indoor and outdoor area with a grass area for the kids, an outdoor bar and decking to sit on a Sunday listening to a local band but this evening we sat inside.

I ordered the risotto and Evonne, my brother and the kids had meat dishes.

Us adults ordered a share dessert called the Garden Chocolate Patch which came out on a huge plate with chocolate soil, chocolate mushrooms, iced milk chocolate truffles, flour less chocolate cake with salted caramel white chocolate ganache.  Unbelievably good!!  And the kids had a selection of house made ice-cream.

Such a lot of food so the next morning I took myself out for a long walk.  Whilst the weather was not great; a little overcast, it was still a lovely time out in the fresh air.

Then as if we hadn’t had enough to eat the previous evening, we went for brunch at this lovely little cafe within a rather large shopping centre.  The meals matched the size of the shopping centre; huge!!

And as for the juices, well they were truly amazing. My brother and I ordered the Passionfruit Granita which was a mixture of passionfruit and lime blended with ice with mixed berries and mint leaves – it looked amazing and was absolutely delicious and so refreshing!!  My nephew who had a caramel milkshake – told me it was also great.

Then after a relax back at Evonne’s, we departed for the airport to take our plane home.  Great few days!!

 

Pomegranate Restaurant – Kingston – Australian Capital Territory – Australia – February 2017

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Pomegranate Restaurant

Dinner in Canberra

A colleague I know from Queensland was recently successful with a senior job in my organisation, so I thought we should go out to dinner to a really nice restaurant to show her a little bit of the Canberra restaurant scene.  One Wednesday night in February my friend Natalie arranged the dinner and off we went to a restaurant called Pomegranate which serves modern Australian Food with a Mediterranean twist!

It’s a really lovely restaurant and has a fabulous menu; so much to choose from.

For entree I chose the trio of dips (chilli, hommus and eggplant) with olives and pickled cabbage along with some lovely fresh bread.

For main course I ordered the baked eggplant boat filled with slow braised potato, zucchini, carrot, green beans and tomato.  This was absolutely delicious and so healthy.

 My friends ordered a range of dishes for their entrees, [several ordering the same] the first being the Atlantic salmon marinated in apple sider vinegar with onion, chilli and garlic and I think the other dish was either prawns or balmain bugs with a lemon yoghurt dressing.  I should have made a note of the dishes!!

The mains my friends chose [again several ordering the same dishes] were the duck ravioli which was served with a pomegranate sauce with carrot puree and zucchini and also the Hiroshima kingfish with braised leeks and carrot and Dijon mustard dressing.

My friends also ordered a couple of side dishes; broccolini with goats curd with caramelised onions and walnuts and the mixed leaf salad with goats fetta cheese, walnuts and tomatoes and dressed with a balsamic vinegar.

After a little break, our waitress asked if we wanted dessert, well I was a bit full but my friends ordered a couple of dishes that looked fantastic and I was told were delicious.

The mixed nut ice-cream with cinnamon crunch and caramel sauce looked fabulous!

And then there was the beautifully displayed passionfruit cheesecake tart served with pomegranate and saffron icecream, honey caviar and fresh berries and topped with a macaroon and flower bud.  My friends said this was amazing!

We enjoyed some lovely wines to go with our meals and I must say it’s a restaurant I need to come back to.

Two days in Adelaide – South Australia – Australia – March 2017

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Adelaide, Australia, Glenelg Beach, Pathway of Honour, trattoria

So much to do in one of Australia’s capital cities!

Last month I travelled to Adelaide for work.  Adelaide is just over two hours by plane from Canberra and is the capital city of the state of South Australia, and the fifth-most populous city of Australia.  It’s a beautiful city and regarded as the ‘city of churches’ due to the large amount of churches within the city confines.  It’s really well known for its fabulous wineries….which are out of the city but definitely worth a visit.  On this occasion I didn’t have the time but did find time to check out a lovely bar near my hotel and indulge in a glass of wine in the sun!

Then as I had a couple of hours to spare before my colleagues arrived, I walked around the city [bought some chocolates; read below] then head down towards the river where I came across The Pathway of Honour which commemorates those who have served in various conflicts in which Australia has been involved.

Along the pathway are monuments and plaques to various military units.

On our first evening we had dinner at a typical old Italian restaurant that I had walked past earlier in the day and decided to make a reservation as it looked so lovely when I walked inside and the elderly Italian gentleman at the door was so sweet.

Our food was really good; typical delicious home made Italian. And we each received marriage proposals from the [very old] Italian waiters – we decided to decline!!  ha ha, but it made for a wonderful evening with much laughter!!

Adelaide is also is the home to ‘Haigh’s’ – a south Australian family owned chocolatier.  All chocolates are hand made and I stock up every time I visit Adelaide, especially the chocolate frogs which are definitely one of their best sellers.

(source: http://www.haighschocolates.com.au)

After work on our second day we took a taxi down to a seaside suburb called Glenelg which is about twelve kilometres from the city.

 

Glenelg is a really popular tourist destination with lots of lovely cafes, restaurants and shops but this afternoon we walked along the beachfront for about an hour, after which we walked through the shops and cafe area and found what is fondly called an ‘icon’ in Glenelg; Lim’s Chinese Restaurant which has been open for forty-years.

Whilst the Chinese food at Lim’s is definitely not traditional [it’s more Aussie/Chinese], it was certainly edible and we had a very amusing hour or so with the owner, Mr Lim as he made jokes throughout our service and was extremely charming.

Then an early night in a taxi back to the hotel and up the next morning for more meetings before heading home!

Monsoon Poon Restaurant – Wellington – New Zealand – February 2017

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Monsoon Poon restaurant, New Zealand, Wellington

Dinner with friends in Wellington

Earlier this year when I was in Wellington for my friend’s 50th birthday, we went to a wonderful restaurant for drinks and dinner on the night I arrived…and what a treasure of a place!!  We arrived a little before the rest of the group so sat in the very dark bar area and enjoyed a glass of wine.

It was a pretty cool place with a great vibe.  It was quite dark all throughout the restaurant which I thought added to the ambience but it was a little difficult to take photos as I only had my mobile phone and there were such great paintings, posters, lamps and ornaments throughout the restaurant.

The restaurant offers cuisines from India, South China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.  So many choices!

There are booths and long tables within the restaurant so it can be either an intimate or sociable dining experience and the main idea is to share dishes so you can enjoy cuisines from all over South East Asia…and an open kitchen which allows you to see the chefs busy cooking throughout the evening.The menu was difficult to read in the dark so I used my mobile’s torch…and no surprises here that I chose the sweet chilli eggplant dish which was crispy and wok tossed with garlic and coriander.

Our group chose a diverse range of dishes to share, all non-vegetarian, and I guess they were good as all were devoured during the evening.

I also ordered another vegetarian dish which was a delicious potato, pea and pumpkin curry that had just enough spice and was great with the naan bread.  My photo is pretty bad [sorry] but it really was good.

A fun night in a great location!

(source: http://www.mark tantrum.com)