The Falconer

The Falconer

31 Oxford St

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Ph: (02) 9267 8434

You know how it is when you suddenly get a craving for the comfort food that is a steak sandwich?

Yes, that.

Unfortunately, wanting a steak sandwich and being able to find a steak sandwich at that exact time…a quick online search lead to the tantalising possibility that one might possibly be available at the old Oxford St stalwart which has been revitalised in the last few years through new ownership, The Falconer.

As a young kid, for a number years there was an almost weekly treat of a fabulous steak sandwich from a particular café in Canberra. It was a cut above the average 'old school' steak sandwich, as not only was the takeaway container a polystyrene box, but the steak was always good quality and cooked to medium, never well done, as tends to be the default position with steak sandwiches.

Fortunately, there was a steak sandwich on the lunchtime menu at The Falconer.

Described as a “steak sandwich with smoked mozzarella, crispy onion, slow roasted tomato and fries”, at $16 I wondered - would it be worth it?

The steak knife boded well.

It turned out to be not only an open sandwich, but only on a single slice of (toasted) bread, so if you want a sandwich that you can get your hands around and bite into, this is not for you. I admit that I’d have liked that second slice of bread.

The amount of bread notwithstanding, this is a pretty good steak sandwich, the beef generous in portion, tender and juicy. The melted smoked mozzarella, was something that I wasn’t so sure about, but once I ate it, I was pretty convinced. The crispy onions, fried to a point similar to that of fried shallots, were tasty, but occasionally a bit of a bugger to eat, as they kept on falling off.  The shoestring fries were generous in quantity, crisp and decently salted, the mixed greens not really dressed, and not really all that exciting, but providing some food greenery I guess.

As well as the steak sandwich, I ordered a blood orange juice ($5). This was surprisingly rather bland, I shall not order it again.

Was the sandwich worth the $16, and would I order again? I enjoyed it and would eat it again happily, but if I were to have another steak sandwich craving, I am not sure that I would necessarily wish to spend $16 each time.

However, the Falconer is a very welcoming comfortable place, and this was not my first visit there, nor will it be my last.

[AP]

Hanging out for Cassoulet

Tastevin
1/292-294 Victoria St
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Ph : (02) 9356 3429

Although I am not driven, in terms of what food I want to eat, by the change of the seasons, I am nonetheless obviously bound by the seasonality of produce and restaurant menus, so even if I'd had an overwhelming urge to eat Cassoulet in the middle of Summer, I'd have had to make it myself.  To say that this was highly unlikely would be an understatement of G.W. Griffiths type proportions.

Fortunately, the seemingly endless Summer has come to an end, and with it, the appearance of Cassoulet at one of my favourite eating places, Tastevin. 

Unfortunately, it is not a core part of their lunch menu, which makes its appearance, on the randomly chosen day of this lunch, pure dumb luck.  Did it match my expectations? Ah well...

Rock oysters with Champagne vinegar & cracked pepper ($3 each)

Friend the First, with whom I was having lunch (wearing, as sharp eyes might note, a vintage IWC) ordered the rock oysters.  Plump and juicy, the oysters were downed in quick succession, the Champagne vinegar (more a vinaigrette or mignonette?) a timeless combination of sharpness and acidity.

Tastevin Bistro & wine bar

Tastevin bistro & wine bar
1/292-294 Victoria St
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Australia
Ph : (02) 9356 3429


DY, newly working in Darlinghurst, was in search of a lunch companion for Tastevin.

It was, as they say, a no brainer of a decision for me to join him.

On that last occasion, between the two of us we had only ordered one amazing soup and a so-so Croque Monsieur. This time, I again wanted to only have something light, but as they say, the best intentions.....

Saucisson artisinal de Jean Marc ($5)

The ever charming and friendly Alex was there, and told us that the saucisson was made in house, which sold us both.  Not as fatty as other cured meats, such as salamis, it was firm, pleasantly chewy, and a flavoursome way to whet our appetites for what followed.

One of the things that sets Tastevin apart is their use of beautiful Laguiole knives, as characterised by the distinctive Laguiole bee.

Miss Chu

Miss Chu
Cnr Bourke St & William St
Darlinghurst
Sydney NSW
Ph: (02) 8356 9988

Open 11am - 9pm Mon to Fri

The search was on for a lunch destination. It was later than my usual hour for luncheon and I wanted someplace new.
Thus I found myself at Miss Chu's.

Don't ask me what plastic vs silicon rice paper rolls are. I don't have the faintest notion. I can assure you that the storage cabinet was stationary indeed.

Whilst waiting for my overly large order of food, I sat at a rather slapdashly painted (in black) old style sloped school desk. Fine if you're dining solo but a bit more challenging if you have more than one (or three, as I saw another table attempting) diner. Partly because of the small amount of table space, but also because of the slope.

Prawn & Crab Net Spring Rolls ($4.50)

I like my spring rolls in this "net" form. I only ever seem to find them in the occasional Vietnamese place. These were undeniably top notch spring rolls. Golden, crunchy, and the filling chunky so that you could actually see the pieces of prawn. The only negative was the price - $4.50 is a leetle much for a couple of spring rolls.

Lemongrass Beef (Eye Fillet) Vermicelli Salad ($9.50)

This was jammed very tightly into a takeaway container that was a bit too small to fit it all in. A generous serving (though again perhaps a little on the higher side of the price equation). They did not skint on the amount of beef but it was a bit oversalted for my personal tastes. The rest of it, including the dressing, was not bad at all but if I come back I'll probably try something else.

Whilst eating, I noticed just to my right a nice big bag of Ho's dumplings waiting to be cooked. Now I know that Ho's do a roaring trade to restaurants and the like but I don't know.....I guess that I want to maintain the illusion a bit that most places make their own dumplings (or at least their own filling with purchased skin) and that if they don't, there isn't a great big bag of the things staring at me and making me think the inevitable about how much it costs to buy a similarly sized bag from Ho's vs how much they are probably charging just to steam/ boil them.

A final shot of Miss Chu's. On the right, out of the photo, are some tables with little bag receptacles underneath them. A handy thing for handbags. This isn't somewhere that you go for a nice lunch out, as comfort isn't a major consideration, but for a quick takeaway lunch it is a good option, though not necessarily the cheapest one.

[AP]

Rise
23 Craigend St
Darlinghurst
NSW 2010

02 9357 1755




Rise came highly recommended from a close friend, and as they were having a sale in celebration of their 4th birthday, I thought it was a good opportunity to try out their Omakase Degustation menu. This would be the first time for both A and myself having degustation, and as such, we didn't really have any sort of expectations. We arrived around about 10 minutes after the booking time of 6pm. No thanks to my complete and utter lack of navigation skills. Even though I had with me the iphone, and the GPS was running. I shall speak no more of this embarassment. We almost walked past it...

But I digress... it's about the food isn't it?

Rise is a smallish restaurant, and as such, the seating were a bit cramped. It had a traditional wooden floor board meaning we'd experience a minor earthquake everytime someone heavier than 30kg walks by. This also caused many a blurred photos. The young couple in the seating next to us were also taking photos of the food as they arrive, so we felt a little better about snapping photos. Of course, to make things more challenging, Rise offered up mood lighting (read: candle light) just so that my photos will either be blurred, or very noisy. (Next time I go to a restaurant with mood lighting I'm taking my mini tripod...)

The first course was the ocean trout marinated with gochujang miso and porched quail egg. I think they mean poached. Mine had fallen apart while A's remained in the cylindrical shape. This was a disappointment as a first dish. I mean, the food still tasted fine, but the presentation is just as important, as we have all learnt from watching Masterchef. It's not a great way to make a first impression. My quail egg was a little more well done than 'poached' but nevertheless, the trout was fresh, chewy, and the miso was excellent.

The potato cream soup with prawn tempura and tofu was a great fusion of Western and Japanese dishes. The tofu is in the style of agedashi tofu, but it's placed in the middle of a creamy and sweet potato soup. Juxtaposed with the crunchy prawn tempura it was an excellent blend of contrasting texture and culture. They were smart enough not to dip the prawn in the soup, so it didn't become soggy. Just brilliant!


Sashimi of the day followed, and I believe we had kingfish, ocean trout and oyster. The kingfish was definitely the one. They came in little shot glasses with the corresponding sauce. All I had to do was dip and eat. Mmmmm....


Next up was the seasonal plate, which was a bit of a mix bag and offered up some fairly pedestrian South East Asian dishes. The rice paper rolls and fish cake were nothing to write home about. Or blog about, for that matter, but the egg flan, mushroom and miso red curry sauce was very surprising! I was literally in three countries at the same time. The flavours mixed well with each other, none overpowering each other and had just the right balance. This completely puts to shame everything else on the plate.


The steamed scallop and green tea noodle with ginger shallot sauce was apparently one of their signature dish. Now, if it's so signature, wouldn't you want the customer to taste more? right? I know I would... but I guess this is the whole point of the degustation menu. It's really just a taster, and if you like it, you can come back for more and pay more. This dish was done in one mouthful. And yes, I can 'taste' why it's their signature dish. It's that good. But... what's with the one mouthful???


Ahhh... the main course, the chicken confit, shiitake mushroom, potatoes and bamboo shoot with hoisin sause. This is another dish that is mainly Western, with some Asian leanings. The chicken was nicely cooked, soft and juicy. It was served with one bowl of rice. That's right. One bowl between 2 people. I mean, I know it's a tasting menu and everything, but we did get 2 servings of everything else. Having said that, I don't think I've tasted rice that's cooked better. This was rice perfection. For someone who really really doesn’t like eating rice as is... I'd be happy eating bowl after bowl of this. Yes I know, it's a lot of carb...


Dessert was pretty darn good too. Again, it's another Western/Asian fusion, but mind you, all of their fusion dishes have been very harmonious. More than I can say about the people...


Overall impression? I think it's very good value at the sale rate. The Tue, Wed and Sun $45 "special" price is probably as much as I would pay for it though. Would I come back? A slight hesitant yes. Either their pricing or their serving will need to be improved.

And since this is as much a watch blog as it is a food blog, my companion watch for the night is the Omega DeVille Co-Axial Chronograph. This is the first Co-axial chronograph that Omega made, and the advantage of having a co-axial escapement is that there is much less wear and tear and as the contact points are greatly reduced, there is less oiling required and it would keep better time over a longer period. The Co-axial escapement was designed by the watchmaker George Daniel and he had tried to sell this escapement to the likes of Rolex and Patek Phillippe, before Omega took the gamble and funded it for mass production. It is exclusive to Omega.

Tastevin Bistro & Wine Bar
Level 1
292 - 294 Victoria St
Darlinghurst
NSW 2010
Ph : (02) 9356 3429

So I got a call from RE asking me if as a thank you for helping when I actually didn’t realise that I had, she could take me out to lunch.  But you really don’t need to, I naturally replied. Nonono, she insisted, lunch for you!

Mmm.....okay....!

I had been actually craving some Soupe a l'oignon and Croque Monsieur (in the one meal) for some time, and my attempt at Weight Loss Through Healthier Eating was, after it’s initial buzz, getting a bit old. I wanted some cheese in some manner or form, and I wanted it NOW!

I had browsed Tastevin’s website numerous times but like so many places, just hadn’t made it there. There was also the minor Issue of Bunnies. They didn’t have bunnies on the menu on all the occasions I looked, but I had a fear that at some point they would. Sure, it’s all just in my head, but I have never been able to think about the poor wee things as food, especially after one of my sisters had a pet dwarf grey called Niki who had way too much personality for one small rabbit (including peeing on the laps of people she didn’t like).

I did a quick check of the website and it seemed to be bunny free. At least temporarily, so I went to meet up with RE.

It was during that unexpectedly hot period at the beginning of June, when it felt more like Spring than Winter. The crowds were outside in force dining on Victoria St, but when we headed up the stairs, there was no-one there, so we wondered whether in fact they were open, though they were clearly meant to be.

Happily, they were, and even more happily, I recognised the person coming over to greet us. I don’t get out and about dining as much as I would like to, but despite not having seen me for really quite a while, I was astonished that owner Natasha, who used to be at Bambini Trust, actually remembered me! I definitely remembered her from my various visits to Bambini over the years, and was even more pleased to find out that Tastevin was her and her husband Alex’s.

Alas my soup plans went to pieces, as it seems that it wasn’t ready yet, but Natasha offered us the option of a Cauliflower Soup w Boudin Noir instead. Well obviously that sounded like a good option so I ordered the soup plus the Croque Monsieur w Green Salad and Dijon Vinaigrette ($14) and the evidently not hungry RE just ordered the soup and some of the house bread with olive oil and French butter.

We enjoyed having the dining area to ourselves and being seated by the window. It is a welcoming room, full of natural light in the day time, and providing some peace from the bustling crowds below.

And so to the soup.

We were actually happy that serendipity lead us to this soup rather than what we had been hoping for. It was quite subtle in taste, no overwhelming cauliflower, and one of those dishes where the more you have of it, the more pleasure you seem to derive from it, and the more you want. The Boudin Noir and toasted almonds on the top provided some nice crunch and body to it.

RE, who basically ate her way through a rather large bread basket despite having stated that she was not hungry, became enraptured by the accompanying olive oil.

Now, what I had been hanging out for, my Croque Monsieur.

The Big Question –béchamel or no béchamel? I must confess that I prefer mine with, but obviously I’m not going to reject a CM on account of it not having any, if the rest of it is tasty. As you can tell, this one was sans béchamel.

The accompanying salad was generously sized and simple but satisfying but I don’t know...am I being too fussy? I kind of like my CMs to be slightly gooey from the cheese, so that I have to eat it with a knife and fork. It’s not that this was a bad sandwich, because it wasn’t, but it just didn’t quite hit the spot as I had hoped that it would.....

Would I go back? Yes, but not for the CM, but to try something else. The restaurant itself, the moreishness of the soup, and it being Natasha’s restaurant are enough for me to want to support it. I’ve subsequently read some reviews about it and will probably order quite differently on my next visit. [AP]

A Tavola

A Tavola

348 Victoria St
Darlinghurst

Sydney

NSW 2010
Phone: (02) 9331 7871

Meal : 22 May 2009

One of the advantages of working partly from home is the food flexibility. Obviously, this is also one of the disadvantages, as the temptations are greater as well...

This year the Sydney Tarts watchnuts are celebrating 5 years of their weekly coffee & lemon tart meetings. I’ve only been a part of this group for a couple of years, but along with some of the others, including onomatopia, we are planning a GTG celebration and perhaps a momento of some sort.

Ever open to the task of investigating dining options, I decided to do a solo recon mission to A Tavola to see whether it might be a suitable location. Two of the group had already been there for dinner and enjoyed it, but were unsure as to whether it would meet our particular needs (e.g. good lighting for watch photos LOL).

Despite being on a self imposed diet of sorts, I decided that I could justify a larger-than-usual lunch if I followed it up by not eating dinner ;) so abandoning my work for a little while, I headed up to Victoria St. Fortunately for me, it was a Friday, as they are only open for lunch on Fridays for some reason.

One thing that the others who had been there did not mention was that there is a courtyard there, but it seems that they didn’t know.

Unfortunately, I subsequently discovered that with our numbers, we’d not be able to book the entire courtyard unless we satisfied a “minimum spend” of an amount which would be impossible for us to meet. However, a large table there is still under consideration at the moment.....

One of the things that I’d read about was the quality of the house made foccacia with chilli oil that is served to diners as they are seated.

What can I say except to wish that I’d been given more? In going to the courtyard area, I had passed the happy sight of the Chef making A Tavola’s pasta on the big marble communal table inside, the quiet hum of the busy kitchen, and the freshly made foccacia just waiting to you.

The menu is rather minimalist; I’d say that the blackboard menu is more the “menu” than the dozen odd items listed on the actual physical one. I decided to go with a pasta dish of course, and to go with one of the non blackboard items, the Sigarette al Ragu ($22).

The photo doesn’t do justice to the size of the dish, which was bigger than I had expected. Large, honest-to-goodness and full of comforting goodness, this is the sort of ragu that I could happily eat regularly. In fact I enjoyed the ragu so much that when I next go there, I will be torn between ordering it again, and trying something new..... [AP]