Oyster Bar & Bistro

Albert Park Hotel
Cnr Montague St and Dundas Pl
Albert Park
Melbourne
VIC 3206
Ph: (03) 9690 5459

After seeing so many tweets about the Albert Park Hotel in the past year or so, a short trip to Melbourne saw me there for my first meal, lunch. As became a common theme during this trip, I chose to go with a selection of small items to share from their “Asian street food” and “Latin street food” sections.

First to arrive was the Balmain bug laksa with lime leaves ($16).

This took the three of us by surprise because of its size, and because this interpretation did not contain any noodles. I took a sip of this, just to taste. It was rich, the flavours dense and aromatic, the lime packing a wonderfully pronounced (but not overly strong) punch. It was a great soup, the bug was fresh, juicy and sweet. The problem being, is a laksa still a laksa without noodles? We had expected there to be some, and wish that there had been.

Next up were the Korean fried soft shell crabs with seaweed and sesame mayonnaise ($15). Presented like a salad, nicely crunchy crabs were mixed with a variety of vegetables, the mayonnaise quite subtle. The unexpected accompanying salad cut through some of the richness of the fried components.

Flying Fish and Chips

Flying Fish and Chips
Level G Café Court
The Star
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont
NSW 2009
Ph : (02) 9518 6166

The Star, previously known as Star City, has been rebadged, renovated etc etc and so forth. We all know what happened, we all know the new eateries, so let’s move onto one of them. An offshoot of Flying Fish, it is situated in a food court that feels quite separate from the gambling and entertainment part of the complex, making it easy to forget that you're at a casino.

An expansive space split into food and bar sections, the menu, which is not available online at Flying Fish, is divided into “classic”, “oven roasted”, “salads”, “burgers & rolls”, “ocean bar”, “stone bar” and “sushi + sashimi bar”, with 3-8 items in each section. The bar list features four champagne/ sparkling (glass or bottle), nine whites from around Australia, with a Farnese Pino Grigio from Italy, a rosé (Serafino Goose Island), four Australian reds and half a dozen beers.

At a fish and chippery, what else to order but a “classic fish and chips”? Priced at $14.90, it is described as being cooked in beer batter and served with tartare sauce and lemon.

Nosh

Nosh Restaurant
111 Coliemore Rd
Dalkey
Co Dublin
Ireland
+353 (0)1 284-0666

Another notable restaurant in Dalkey is 'Nosh', though its bright, sun-filled informal interior means that it could easily be taken for a cafe. They have a children's menu as well, adding to the relaxed feel of the place.

The treacle bread (a traditional Irish bread) and the fish and with chunky homemade chips were outright winners.

Beer battered cod, pea puree + tartare sauce (13.50)

Ouzo's Bar & Grill

Ouzo's Bar and Grill
22 Castle St.
Dalkey
Co. Dublin
Ph : +353 1 285 1890

This was one of those happy accidents - I'd stumbled into town and was, at the last minute, looking for somewhere to get in, let alone eat. It was late, and these guys were able to accommodate me with a table.

Being rather hungry I opted for the crab claws followed by a standard sirloin steak - all I can say is this restaurant is about as good as one could hope for - the food was top notch and the value for money outstanding.

Cavistons Seafood Restaurant

Cavistons Emporium
58 Glasthule Rd
Sandycove
Co. Dublin
Ireland
Ph : +3531 2809120

A seafood restaurant run by the same family that operates the food emporium next door, Cavistons has its origins over fifty years ago as a modest fish-shop. Nowadays it is a renowned delicatessen, and sells products spanning the seafood and delicatessen spectrum. This emporium has received great reviews over the years, and came recommended to me by the folks here I was working with.

Michelin recommended and locally acclaimed, there was almost no more room left on the wall and windows for their awards.

Booking a seat was a week advance for the Saturday night, and even then that was a booking for the early evening sitting only.

My starter was 'Local crab claws' - absolutely delicious, the crab fresh, fragrant and tender.

Under the Bridge Spicy Crab

Under the Bridge Spicy Crab
429 Lockhart Rd
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Four decades ago, there were almost 40,000 people living on boats in typhoon shelters in Hong Kong, mostly fishermen, who created a thriving, distinct subculture. Today there are only about 30, many of whom also have homes on land. Little remains of their traditional way of life, which is mostly remembered by diners who frequent restaurants serving 'typhoon shelter cuisine'. 

Typhoon shelter crab, which is served in a number of restaurants in Hong Kong, is one of these dishes believed to have originated from the shelters. It is commonly prepared with garlic, scallion, red chili and black beans. 

One of the most frequented exponents of this dish are the Under the Bridge Spicy Crab series of restaurants, which are all situated virtually next to each other in Causeway Bay/ Wanchai area.

String beans with pickled olives (HKD48)

A popular dish and one which can be one of my favourites, but enjoy this solid exemplar as I did, I didn't want to be facing just it, and nothing else, for about half an hour. The restaurant was not full, and yes I understand that "each crab is cooked separately", but perhaps this should have been cooked closer to the crab's cooking time so that they came out together? Just a suggestion, really.

Etch Dining

Etch
62 Bridge St
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9247 4777
Open: Monday to Friday 12pm - late, Saturday 5pm - late

This watch may look familiar, but it isn't. It is not, in fact, this watch, but the "no date" version. This version of the reissued Legend Diver (L3.674.4.56.2) was produced earlier than the reissued date version, and I believe in smaller quantities as well, which means that it is now difficult to track down new.

Contrary to what some believe, the original Legend Divers came in both "non date" and "date" versions. Originals are difficult to find, and come at a premium, but the elegant contemporary versions, both of them, are value for money, equally versatile as a dress or sports watch, and sit easily on the wrist for their 42mm size.  It is a watch that I find myself liking more each time I look at it.

Also familiar was the location of our lunch this day, as P had dined here many moons ago when it was another establishment.

Etch consists of one spacious modern dining room, and was surprisingly empty when we arrived. I think that other than us, there were three or so tables, and this only increased by one table for the duration of our lunch.

The current menu, which is not the one that appears on its website at present, contains dishes noticeably lighter than the dishes I'd read about in blog reviews. It being one of the extraordinarily hot days that we've had this Summer, we both opted for fish.

Local sea bream (described as), crumbed scampi, fennel puree,

citrus a la grecque ($31)

Bream was not available on the day, and Mulloway was its replacement.  This slightly affected the experience of this dish, as bream would have been a preferred option, but the Mulloway was nicely cooked, and in totality, the combination of tastes in this dish enjoyed.

Operation Longines Legend Diver

Sydney - Avoca

One steamy overcast Summer's morn a small posse accompanied JH to Avoca for Operation LLD, aka picking up his new watch, which was in the care of ChrisL.

It's great being part of a posse where we're all chauffeured in a Merc. Even if we're being lead by a Navman which seemed to first take us on the scenic route, and then was 20m off our destination.

The SatNav- stuck in taxi mode... i.e. take the long route...

Making sure the watches are synchronised...

The first rule of Duck Club.....

Well it all started with a blog entry on Peking Duck that lead to one of the member of  "The Sydney Tarts" (TM pending) suggesting that Peking Duck matches well with pinot noir. That lead to another member taking the initiative and organising the final Tarts GTG, called "Duck Club 2009".

By 730pm, most of DCers had arrived at the Golden Century in Chinatown. Our resident sommelier, Dr DY, picked out a selection of wines for the occasion (the Cyder taking the place of another bottle which had decided to sneak into a corner and hide).

(left to right) Agrapart et Fils Champagne,

2002 Duck Creek Estate Springflat Shiraz,

2008 Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay, 2004 Bindi Original Block Pinot Noir,

2009 Norfolk Still Cyder, 1999 Louis Latour 1st Cru Burgundy  

We started the celebration with an Agrapart et Fils Champagne.

While we waited and before we got too umm "happy", the obligatory wrist and table shots of the timepieces for the night were in order.

Table shot of the watches

312 on a Simona Gator

Just returned to Down Under after a trip to Waikiki.

I was lucky enough to pick up a beautiful Simona Brown Gator strap from one of the local Honolulu Paneristi ... Thought I would take it out for breakfast at the local beach (Avoca)....

[ChrisL]