Centennial Vineyards Restaurant – Bowral – Southern Highlands – New South Wales – Australia – June 2020

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Bowral, NSW, Southern Highlands

My last overnight trip out of Canberra was in June this year and during my stay in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, my friends Sharon, David and I went to lunch at a local winery.

Centennial Vineyards was a very short drive from our hotel and Sharon had made a reservation so we left with enough time to enjoy the lovely grounds leading up to the winery. The restaurant serves local produce which is great for the community.

When we arrived we saw a helicopter on the grounds with the pilot standing outside so all throughout lunch we played a game of ‘who in the restaurant owns the helicopter’. We all guessed different people for different reasons…but in the end we were all wrong, it didn’t belong to any of the diners but the owner of the winery. So much for our detective skills!

The restaurant’s atmosphere was pretty average I must say; a bit vacant and with very little character, but the food was very good so that made up for the absence of ambience.

The menu was brought after a short wait and there was a good selection of meals each of us could order.

Unfortunately none of the wine was vegan so Sharon and David enjoyed a couple of glasses but I stuck to sparkling mineral water.

David ordered a soup for entree which arrived in a glass all frothy with a feta and caramelised onion bruschetta. Such nice presentation!

For our meals, Sharon and I ordered the pear and candied walnut salad with a pomegranate dressing to share and for our main courses David ordered the dukkah crusted barramundi with vegetable pearl cous cous and harissa whilst Sharon ordered a parmesan and sage crumbed pork cutlet with apple and fennel slaw accompanied by a bacon and pumpkin relish. I ordered the lentil and vegetable shepherds pot pie with greens and thick cut chips. All meals were very good and enjoyed by the three of us.

After I finished my lunch I took a stroll out the back of the restaurant to take a few photos. I could imagine sitting out in the courtyard in nicer weather enjoying time with friends.

After this we decided to visit the little shop selling wine and a range of chocolates and condiments but none of us bought anything on this occasion.

It was then time to visit David’s home so we departed after a lovely afternoon.

St. Isidore restaurant – Milton – New South Wales – Australia – November 2018

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Lunch with friends, Milton, NSW, St George's basin, St. Isadore restaurant, weekend in the country

Dinner in the country 

A couple of weekends ago, I travelled about two hours from Canberra to the south coast of New South Wales to stay with friends Sharon and Brenden.  I hadn’t seen these friends for some time so with my little dog Axel we set off around lunch time on a Friday and stayed until mid morning Sunday.  Driving along their street is wonderful as there are many kangaroos that come to the front lawns of homes to eat every afternoon and early morning.

(photo courtesy of Brenden)

Around 7pm our other friends arrived from Canberra and Brenden started up the BBQ.  Sharon made a delicious cauliflower curry for me and afterwards we sat on the back verandah on comfy outdoor chairs overlooking the bushland and the shores of St George’s Basin.

On our second evening, Sharon arranged dinner at a small town called Milton.  None of us had been to this restaurant so we were keen to try it.

Milton was founded in 1860 and has a population of around 1600 people.  It’s a beautiful little town with quaint cafes, bed and breakfasts and lovely clothing shops.

The south coast has such beautiful countryside and as it was an early dinner I got to see great views along the way.We arrived at St. Isidore and wow what a place.  A casual feel inside, tables presented nicely and lovely views of the gardens from all windows.The grounds really are gorgeous, service is great and food very good.  We were seated at our table by a very friendly waiter and I took a walk around the grounds to take some photos.We ordered our drinks and took a look at the menu.  I had already checked out the dishes on-line as wanted to make sure there were vegan options; there were!I ate very healthily.  I ordered a pasta dish with broad beans and an olive oil dressing for entree and a tofu and vegetable dish for my main course.  My main had grilled eggplant and I love eggplant but definitely not grilled so that was left in the bowl.My friends ordered an array of dishes which they said were all delicious.

Dessert was ordered by two of my friends but the rest of us were too full.  There was an option of sorbet for me but I really didn’t feel like eating anything else.All in all it was a very lovely evening…

 

 

Madame Shanghai Restaurant – Sydney – New South Wales – Australia – June 2017

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Australia, Chinese fine dining, Madame Shanghai Restaurant, NSW, Sydney

A work function followed by dinner with friends

A new Chinese restaurant has opened near Hyde Park in Sydney and as I had to travel to Sydney (with my friend/colleague Jane) for a work function, I decided to catch up with two other friends for a late dinner at Madame Shanghai restaurant.  Well what a fabulous find!!

We walked in and had a drink at the cocktail area overlooking Hyde Park which is said to be reminiscent of a Shanghai garden with lush greenery.  It is also decorated with beautiful lamps and really lovely ceiling fans.

The whole area is stylishly decorated in blues and pinks emulating 1930’s Shanghai.  It’s actually pretty spectacular.

We then moved to the dining area.  The whole restaurant is dimly lit in a sophisticated way and initially we were seated at a round table near the door and with the door open it was too noisy, so we asked to be moved and were accommodated straight away.  Our table had a little lamp to allow us to read the menu and the table setting was lovely.

 

My friends Paul and Kay started off with a cocktail each and Jane and I ordered our usual white wine and a bottle of sparkling mineral water.  Paul ordered the Spontaneous Combustion which is made with rum, Gunpowder gin, fassionola, guava, citrus and  beachcomber bitters – along with lots of ice – so delicious, he had another, but I forget what Kay ordered.

The menu is extensive and meant to be shared and has several vegetarian options.

My friends decided to share their meals and I ordered my own vegetarian dishes.  The dishes I ordered were the open top dumplings (four to a serve) and the pumpkin and brocolini dish with hazelnuts and tamari as well as some cauliflower with chilli and balsamic sauce – absolutely delicious!!

My friends started off with the scallop and snow pea dumplings and the duck pancakes with hoisin sauce.

They then ordered the beef short ribs with fish sauce, chilli and fresh herbs which comes with a large bone on the plate which is more decorative rather than edible.

The next dish they tried was the soft shell crab with tomato chilli sauce and grilled milk bread.  I used one finger of the milk bread to mop up some of my chilli and balsamic sauce.  The colours in this dish were so vibrant.

The restaurant also has an outdoors area for dining but too cold on this particular night.  It’s covered with bamboo trees and soft lighting throughout and on the way to the bathrooms you can see fabulous prints of Shanghai women adorning the walls.  I have some of these at my home in Canberra as when I departed Beijing, my lovely language teacher gave me six as a gift which I then had framed.

The chef is Shanghai born and emigrated to Australia in 1996 and it is said his passion for food is inspired by his grandmother’s home cooking and uses the  ‘less is more’ approach.  I like this style.

Final dish ordered by my friends was the octopus with chilli and heirloom sauce and at that time Kay was ready to have one more cocktail – same as before with the dried apple on the top.

Then it was time for dessert; those who know me know I very rarely eat dessert during the week and this time was no different even though they looked and sounded incredible.  Jane is not a big dessert eater but indulged a little this evening.

There are three desserts on the menu and all three were ordered. The first was the white miso cheesecake with passionfruit and cassis – beautifully displayed.

Second was a mango pudding with mango (of course), milk foam and finger lime decorated beautifully with little edible flowers.

And finally Madame’s Gold – a gold glazed chocolate mousse with peanut ganache and rum caramel which is designed to look like a gold bullion.

Pastry chef, Tiffany Jones describes the dessert:

 “Madame’s Gold is symbolic of Madame’s love of the high life and indulgence of the finer things in life…she’s an independent woman who uses her gold bullion to sustain her lavish lifestyle”.

 

 

Poachers Pantry – Murrembateman – NSW – Australia – October 2016

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Australia, Murrembateman, NSW, Poachers Pantry, restaurant

A birthday lunch

 

One of my friends was having a birthday so organised a lunch at a family owned and operated restaurant just outside of Canberra.  This restaurant was previously a grazing property and in 1991 was converted to a country smokehouse.

Since the grazing property became a smokehouse, it has grown and now has its own wine range and cellar door and a function area for larger groups and weddings. There is also an outdoor and indoor restaurant and after you eat and drink there are smoked meats,  jams and olive oils to be bought from the small shop.

The restaurant has received good reviews and is one I have been to a couple of times and enjoyed the food and also the atmosphere.  However…things were different on this occasion.

A friend of mine picked me up along the way to the restaurant and we drove the twenty or so minutes together.  It was very busy and all tables both inside and outside the restaurant were full when we arrived.  As there was quite a large group of us, we were advised by the restaurant that we had to order from the Tasting Menu rather than the usual menu.  That is usually ok for me but the menu on this occasion was rather basic for the cost ($55 per person for a main meal and shared antipasto platter).

I saw there was only one vegetarian option but as I like gnocchi I was happy to order it.  We were seated inside, and after some considerable time our waitress took our food and drink orders.

Again after some time, our table of about twenty, was served a couple of platters of antipasto comprising three different dips/meats and pickled vegetables.

Our host had to ask twice for the vegetarian platter which arrived some fifteen minutes after the meat platters had been served.

There were two vegetarians on the table so one platter of dips and picked vegetables was served.  I was a little disappointed as the waitress knew we were seated at the opposite ends of the table, [and I think two smaller platters could have been prepared] as unfortunately we had to keep passing the platter around the table disturbing others who were chatting.  Now you know I just love eggplant (especially cooked Chinese style) but I did not enjoy this eggplant dish at all. Cold eggplant = yuck [but this is not the restaurants fault of course]!!

There was also bread and biscuits served with the meat platters and by the time the vegetarian platter was served, there was hardly any bread left and none was forthcoming from the restaurant.

Our main meals arrived and as I had asked for the feta cheese to be removed, my gnocchi was served with the spinach and basil oil.  I must say it was very bland and even my friend who ordered the same dish with the feta said it needed something more like a burnt butter sauce or just any type of sauce really and it definitely required some seasoning.

I didn’t know the people sitting down our side of the table but enjoyed chatting with them throughout the afternoon.  The lady sitting next to me ordered the barramundi fillet with the carrot panna cotta. She said the fish was tasty which she finished, but only had the smallest mouthful of the panna cotta as it was cold and dry [and bland] which gave it an awful consistency.  A dish that didn’t taste as good as it looked!

The birthday girl, and many others, ordered the braised lamb shoulder with polenta and horseradish cream. There were varied reviews around the table; with most saying the lamb was very fatty with little meat and that the polenta was sloppy and looked unappetising on the plate.

On a positive note, the grounds of Poachers Pantry are stunning and you enter through two old gates under a yet to blossom wisteria.  Once through the gates you walk along a paved pathway to the restaurant where there are several tables outside along with a little fish pond. Then you enter the restaurant and smokehouse which on a weekend is always busy.  Sitting outside is extremely pleasant in the lovely summer days as you are able to enjoy looking at the surrounding gardens.

(sources: winegenius.com/estella-photography.com/tripadvisor.com)

My friend wrote to the restaurant complaining of the service and the food and received an apology stating that some wait staff had gone off sick and therefore they were understaffed.  Doesn’t account for the food though – so, unfortunately, I don’t think I will be returning any time soon!!

A weekend in Sydney – NSW – Australia – June 2016

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Australia, NSW, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, weekend away

Leasing an apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour

A few weekends ago, for the Queen’s birthday long weekend, I drove up to Sydney; met two of my friends and stayed in a fabulous apartment in Elizabeth Bay which is a harbour side suburb about three kilometres from the centre of Sydney.  This apartment overlooks the beautiful Sydney Harbour and we enjoyed spectacular views from the two lounge room windows and from the balcony and every morning I woke up to a stunning sunrise over the Harbour.

Our first evening we decided to stay in to catch up so first we went out and bought some lovely food from a local organic store.  We bought prawns/fresh bread stick/cheeses and biscuits and dips.  These we arranged on the table and sat down over a couple of hours, ate lots and chatted.  One of my friends had flown down from Queensland for the weekend and I hadn’t seen her for some time so it was good to catch up.  My other friend lives in Sydney and she arranged the apartment for us but as it only had two bedrooms she graciously gave us the apartment and caught a taxi home each evening to sleep, then returned the next morning.

The next day we took a walk up to some local markets to an area called Kings Cross colloquially known as ‘The Cross’ and is Sydney’s red-light district.  It used to be home to organised crime groups but now it’s really just a street with mixed services (railway, gyms, supermarket, bakeries) for nearby residents and entertainment venues including bars, restaurants, nightclubs, brothels and strip clubs for visitors.

(source: two photos from Google images)

My Sydney friend and I ate corn cakes with avocado (she also had bacon); delicious (forgot to take my phone so no photos), then we went for a walk around the harbour and stopped off for a glass of wine at the Yacht Club – as it was such a lovely day we were able to sit outside looking at the water and the extremely expensive boats.  I don’t think I will be buying one with a price tag of hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars!!!!

One of the special things we did whilst in Sydney was to go out to a ‘posh’ lunch  at Otto Ristorante along the Wharf at Woolloomooloo Bay which  serves modern Italian.  This post is a little bit longer than usual as there are more photos of our food.

Woolloomooloo Bay Wharf is the longest timbered-piled wharf in the world,and was completed in 1915. During its working life it mainly handled the export of wool, but also acted as a staging point for soldiers deploying to the World Wars as well as a disembarking point for new migrants arriving in Australia.  Now it’s been redeveloped as a a very expensive area comprising residential apartments [with fabulous water views], a hotel and restaurants; one being Otto which is favoured by many including movie stars..’Cam’ [Eric Stonestreet] from Modern Family lunched here when he was in Australia.!

I also invited another friend and three of us started off with champagne and my friend Tracey ordered a cocktail.  The usual bottles of sparkling and still mineral water were also ordered.

The service at this restaurant is excellent and I had read recently that there was an extensive vegetarian and vegan menu.  My friends all decided to  order the degustation and I was ready just to order from the vegetarian/vegan menu when our waiter advised me that there was a vegan degustation menu – excellent as this allowed me to eat the same amount of dishes as my friends and at the same time.

Firstly we were served some delicious rye bread with butter and my friends enjoyed an amuse bouche of goats cheese and jam sandwiched between a papadum type crisp bread.  I had something similar i.e. vegan cheese, but I can’t remember what it was as I didn’t take a photograph of it.  A bowl of salad leaves were also provided for the table.

 

We drank our drinks and enjoyed the sun as we were seated outside and also enjoyed ‘people watching’ including a couple who clearly had discussed wearing the same outfit out to lunch that day.

This is the menu for the vegan degustation which I loved the look of and every one of my  dishes were beautifully presented and I have photographed each in order of arrival.

 

 

Sensational menu – I enjoyed each dish and if I had to choose one I didn’t really ‘love’ it would have to be the cannelloni beans – the dish was nice but I enjoyed others more.

After our first dish arrived, we had finished our champagne and cocktail so another round was ordered but this time, with different drinks.

Now for my friends non-vegan menu:

The afternoon was long and wonderful and by the time we finished our last drink and dessert, it was dusk…

We left the restaurant and walked back along the wharf to my friends car to get a lift home…such an enjoyable afternoon and a restaurant I will definitely return to when I go back to Sydney.

The next day I departed the apartment to visit my family then drive back to Canberra.  All in all a great four-day weekend in Sydney with special friends and the opportunity to visit my family.

 

 

Lake George Winery – New South Wales – Australia – February – 2016

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Australia, Lake George, NSW, winery

Wine tasting and lunch at a local winery 

My friends and I who live in Canberra had not seen a dear Sydney friend for about ten years so I arranged a luncheon date for us all one Sunday. I wanted to book a restaurant that was easy for my Sydney friend, Paul and his partner Fay, who I had not yet met, to come to without having to drive all the way into the centre of Canberra from Sydney.

So, years ago, I had been to this lovely restaurant which is just under a thirty-minute drive from Canberra centre on-route to Sydney.  It’s a small boutique winery on Lake George and not surprisingly called ‘Lake George Winery’.  It’s one of the oldest vineyards in the region and has a cellar door to taste and buy wines and a lovely restaurant which is open for breakfast and lunch with wine tasting which we enjoyed before we ordered and ate.

The restaurant has an open fire in the middle of the restaurant and a large balcony that overlooks the vineyards.  We sat on a lovely table with the doors open with a light breeze flowing through.

Before I tell you what we all ate, I thought I would tell you a little bit about Lake George – it’s an interesting lake because it completely dries out on occasions!!  It does not have any outflow of water to a river or ocean and is believed to be more than a million years old.

Between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, the lake lapped the highway but was completely dried out in 2002 and remained so until 2010 when it started filling. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers to graze sheep and cattle.  At the moment it’s empty.

(full lake – sources: http://www.smh.com.au/www.the-riotact.com.au)

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(empty lake – source: http://www.wierdaustralia.com)

It was a lovely day with us Canberra friends meeting our Sydney friend and his lovely partner – it’s lovely to know if you are good friends that even though you don’t see each other for years you still can take up from where you left…this is how our day went.

Now onto what we ate…my friends had three courses and I just had the one as whilst there were two lovely vegetarian dishes on the menu; both had cheese containing animal rennet which I don’t eat.  But as soon as I explained my dietary requirements to the waitress she said the chef would be more than happy to make me a potato gnocchi dish – which I ordered and loved.  My friends started off with local oysters with lemon granita and the smoked duck breast salad with watercress and vissino cherries.

As I mentioned my gnocchi was delicious; fresh gnocchi with vegetables and tomatoes in a light cream sauce and of course a bowl of chips with garlic aioli to share.

For main course my friends had the eye fillet of beef wrapped in prosciutto served on a garlic gallette with steamed greens and Lake George winery Shiraz jus.  They told me this was really good.

Dessert that my friends ordered was the smashed meringue with fresh berries and passionfruit double cream and also the vanilla bean brûlée with chocolate ganache with lavender tuilles.  I think the brûlée looked better than the meringue but my friends enjoyed both.

A lovely few hours out of Canberra enjoying time with a friend of over thirty-three years.

Dinner at Cafe Sydney Restaurant – Sydney – NSW – Australia – September 2015

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Cafe Sydney, NSW, Opera House, Restarurant, Sydney Harbour Bridge

Wonderful views of Sydney Harbour from Restaurant ‘Cafe Sydney’

When I used to live in Sydney, friends and I would go to Cafe Sydney on top of the old Customs House at Circular Quay for special events.  One of my best friends and I even took my family there for christmas day one year. The food has always been fabulous and the views spectacular.  I just love it there.  One year I organised for a few friends to take a very sick friend there, picking her up in a limousine and having a wonderful meal on the evening of ‘Earth Hour’ when (the majority of) lights are turned off to conserve energy.

This month, I had a visiting delegation from China and my bosses wanted to take them to a fabulous restaurant in Sydney and Cafe Sydney was chosen.  We arranged for a private room which had exceptional views of the Harbour Bridge.

We had pre-arranged the menu as our group comprised seven Chinese and six Aussie..so we thought it might be too long for us all to select off the larger menu.  Our chosen menu had a couple of options for entree/main and dessert.  I had the vegan option (as I don’t eat cheese) so had my own separate menu (thank you Cafe Sydney for having a vegan menu). But for my meat and fish eating colleagues, the menu looked wonderful.

We all started off with naan bread which was delicious and then went onto our separate entrees etc apart from we all shared fries (staple diet of mine no matter where I go – which I know is very bad but I just love them) and a lovely fresh salad.  My entree was a pea risotto which was delicious and I forgot to take a photo until I had mixed it around a little, then I had a dosa wrap with vegetables inside – I had tasted dosa before but I did not know it was made of lentils.  The chef did a great job of the dosa and whilst it was delicious, I was rather full from two pieces of naan bread and the risotto but ate about half (with fries of course)

There is an excellent selection of wines at this restaurant and we chose a sauvignon glance and merlot to cater for both red and white wine drinkers.  We also had sparkling mineral water which is from NZ (Antipodes) and not only is is refreshing but I just love the bottle.  Then it was time for dessert and I really believe I chose the best…’salted caramel, chocolate peanut tart, banana fritter with chocolate ice cream’….it’s funny I was too full to eat the dosa but when my dessert arrived I seemed to find room to fit it in…

My Chinese colleagues took lots of photos outside of the Bridge and Opera House and my only complaint of the evening was, that because we were in a private room, it seems the waitresses forgot us during the evening and I had to chase them several times to serve more drinks (but must say that is definitely my only ‘minor’ complaint), apart from that, the service was great and meals fabulous.  Definitely a place to visit for lunch or dinner.  If you can dine on the balcony it’s even more special.

A night at the Sydney Opera House – Sydney – NSW – Australia – September 2015

Tags

Concert, NSW, Opera House, Schumann, Sydney, Sydney Symphony Orchestra

A Robert Schumann concert at the Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

A week ago I was looking after a delegation who were on official business here in Australia and was invited, with them, to the Opera House to see a concert.  But prior to the concert I took the delegation, of which most had not been to Australia, down to the Opera House and Mrs Macquarie’s chair to take some photos of the amazing Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Sydney skyline and some lovely flowers along the pathway.

My guests absolutely loved the views and because it was a beautiful sunny day we took some great photos in the sun and also just when the sun was going down.  It was lovely to see so many people drinking and enjoying the afternoon in the open bars around the Opera House.

Then, as we were running late, we raced to the Opera House and went into the Concert Hall for our concert.  I had not heard of Robert Schumann before this concert and I must admit I am a huge fan of opera and had not really been to too many concerts especial one with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, before, so I was looking forward to the evening.

Robert Schumann was born in 1801 and died in 1856.  He was regarded as a child of Romanticism; was a critic as well as a musician but first aspired to be a writer and then pursued music studying the piano.

The concert was Schumann’s ‘cello concerto in A minor’ with Daniel Muller-Schott playing the cello along with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.  Daniel won the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 1992 and has appeared in many of the world’s great concert halls.  This was Daniel’s first appearance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and was playing the ‘Ex-Shapiro’ Matteo Goffriller (cello) made in Venice in 1727.  Schumann’s cello concerto was exceptional.  And I must say Daniel was very handsome.  I was very lucky as we were seated in very good seats in the Concert Hall so had a very good view of the orchestra.

(photo from http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Muller-Schott-Daniel-2.htm)

Charles Dutoit conducted the evening and is one of today’s most sought after conductors, having performed with all the major orchestras of the five continents. At the end of the concert, Mr Dutoit went around and shook the hands of the majority of the orchestra, something my friend told me is unusual.  Clearly a very nice man!!

When he was in his early 20’s Dutoit was invited to conduct the Vienna State Opera and has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera and the Rome Opera.

(photos from https://royalphilharmonicorchestra.wordpress.com)

The concert lasted just over two hours and comprised many different musical instruments including drums/violins/violas/flutes/trombones/double basses/horns/harp/clarinet/trumpets/organ/mandolin and piano – a truly incredible sound from all these incredibly talented musicians…so glad I had the opportunity to attend.

(photo from http://www.operahouse.com.au)