Biota Dining, Bowral

2:13 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,


This whole Noma movement has taken the world by storm. Who would have ever imagined to go along the road, dig out the first green thing you see and eat it. Sounds like what a two year old would do. Like a recipe to get a drug induced high more so than gastronomic enlightenment. And yet we have restaurants all over the world basing their entire concept on the art of foraging.


Biota Dining is one of these restaurants but its success is a testament that this concept works. Having won Regional Restaurant of the Year, Biota is treasured as a jewel of Bowral and is a destination in its own right. 



People can stay over night at their motels and wake up and kick back in one of their multiple beautifully ornate lounges. Located in the countryside of Bowral, botanical produce is the focus here. Ducks and geese frolic happily amongst their little garden patch but I doubt they know most of the wonder lies indoors.  


Spring Punch 9
Driving. Sober. Fun. Nah it's fine, it just means mocktails all the way. The waiter fixes me up with a cooling and invigorating combo of sweet apple, mint and elderflower which hits the spot on a warm day.


Trout Jerky
The orangey opaque trout jerky was a great way to start. Smoky. Chewy. Salty. Fishy. Fun. 


Wholemeal Sourdough and Smoked Butter
Bread arrives in a cool little pouch to keep it warm. It's not your typical sourdough as it's more of a whole meal in texture but we ending up going through multiple serves of gently smoked butter (typical) cause it was just plain delicious.


cucumber - native lime - oysters - bronze fennel
A beautifully presented cold dish starts off the degustation. You get the sweet saltiness of the raw oyster and the foamy oyster cream and marry it with the gentle coolness of various cucumber forms... then bam you're hit with the beach mustard. In a dish all about subtlety and quiet genius, it just feels like the clashing bitterness of beach mustard entirely throws the balance out.


Chickpea Shoots
We can't help but be a little intrigued when a pot of chickpea shoots lands on our table with not a word. Soon after, our dish arrives and we're told to garnish it with a few sprigs. Our eyes begin gleam with wonder over something so simple. 


egg yolk - cooked curds - rye - chickpea
A twirling layer of pasta sheet completely envelopes barely cooked curds which provides a nice creaminess but the real wizardry happens when you cut through the gooey egg yolk which then makes its way around the crooks and crannys of the bottarga and crunchy rye. One bite is enough to send one into utter foodie bliss.


smoked kingfish - veal tendons - kelp juices - radish
Yum. Probably my favourite dish of the day, you get slices of thin neutral radish which blanket raw snapper cubes and gelatinous sheets of veal tendon. I'm fixated on those green slivers of seaweed (next to the nasturtiums) on top which have this utterly fascinating saltiness with a grape like texture. It gives the dish seasoning as well as an sophisticated out-of-the-sea oomph.


hen wings - spruce - raw mushrooms - creamed corn
Next up is a similarly tantalizing trio of a sheet of raw mushroom, lucidly yellow sweet corn puree and a soft and buttery boned hens wing. Whilst the charred barley gave it a nice flavour, the needle-like stems were a little too prickly for my liking. 


beef - molasses - native berries - beach mustard
Urgh beach mustard again. You'd think the bolder meat pairing along with the toasty notes of leek might be able to stand up against it but we just ended up putting the leaves to the side. But then the dish is instantly brilliant. The beef is tender and flavoursome, the leek is smoky and charred but it's the addition of 'native berries' that's a revelation with its punctuations of sweet acidity that liven up the dish.


'refresher'
Pre-dessert does exactly what it says. It's ultra refreshing soft apple jellies, bolstered by the cool touch of yoghurt sorbet and earthy complex crunchiness of various seeds. 


blueberries - verbana sorbet - vanilla creme - iced chlorophyll
I'm loving this dessert with the whole approach to textures. Barely ripe and crisp blueberries and chantilly cream make magic on the plate, along with the perfumed floral sorbet and shards of meringue. Icy cool chlorophyll kisses this dish with a mellow herbatious note, lifting an already great dish. Still, I'm hit with a little envy as a giant pot of liquid nitrogen lands on the table next to us for their Mum's Roses dessert.


Cheese Board 32
Because we haven't had cheese in a long long a while and I sure aint never driving down to and from an hour and a half for a long long while, we finish our meal off with cheese. Favourite of the day has to be the manchego with the candied carrot marmalade. Honestly however, probably not the most exciting cheese plate I've had.



Service went by with smart elegance. The food isn't perfect with glaring texture and flavour balance issues. However, Biota cooking at its best represents a fusion of precision cooking, contemporary techniques and a respect for ingredients to meet intriguing results. You can easily conclude that being located away from the confines of the urban city liberates minds. 



Head chef James Viles clearly is a man who takes great pride in the countryside and it shows on the plate where he instinctively uses ingredients based on seasons and plates up with the best of them. Biota Dining is the sort of place that fascinates and delights travellers, one that brings the Southern Highlands to greater heights.


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Da Mario, Roseberry

1:14 AM | Labels: , , , , , ,


The offspring of the hugely popular Pizza Mario, Da Mario has high expectations to live up to. They've recently opened up a store in Roseberry off the beaten path in the industrial area so it's a bit hard to get to but definitely something to check out.


Soak in the sun with their alfresco patio or seek refuge indoors, it's one of the many choices here. Its sprawling interior boasts a spacious exposed concrete setting, hanging plants and waiters thick with Italian accents. Visible roof beams and a splash of light colours complete the modern industrial look. 


crocchette di patate 9 for 3
We start off with a few potato croquettes, sort of like big crispy tatter totts filled with a pool of delicious creamy mozarella. Forget your health, good luck trying to stop at one with these little beauties being so good. 


partenopea 20
The pizzas here are effortlessly delicious. Take their partenopea for instance with their one-two salty hit of pitted olives and anchovies getting the mouth watering for the cream and crunch combo of mozarella and scrumptiously risen dough. 


spaghetti mare 24
It's easy to forget that there's more to this place than pizza here, but then you'd leave regretting. Their pasta selection is simple enough but boasts in-house pasta. We get some seafood action going on with their spaghetti which was a joy. Strings of al-dente pasta slurp up a concoction of balmain bugs, shavings of yellow squash and green zucchini and tomato sauce. It's simple but intensely robust flavours will have you licking up the plate in a giffy.


fagioli con tonno 14
We didn't forget our health entirely with their salad of flaky mackerel, sweet onions and little morsels of cherry tomatoes and creamy beans. It's the quality of the oil that brings it all together into a satisfying contrast to our meal. 



Da Mario is a welcome sight in comparison to the usually overly oily and seasoned notable pizzerias. The flavours are classical, techniques are traditional which sits in contrast to the contemporary interior. I love Italian food. This place epitomises what good Italian food is, simple, robust and flavoursome. There's no messing about here, this is the real deal. 


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Crane Bar and Restaurant, Darlinghurst

3:19 PM | Labels: , , , ,


There's the new kid on the block who's just turned ONE. She can get quite loud, is well dressed and well groomed, charming and already the center of attention. Oddly enough even at the tender age of one, her taste buds are more mature than most with her lunch box being filled with all sorts of exotic Japanese goodies that have all the other kids envious. Boy her parents must be proud indeed. 


Crane Bar and Restaurant is that child's name and her parents decided to celebrate her 1st birthday in style. The motif of the night being the Golden Ages really typifies the sort of extravagance the place exudes. Everything is taken a notch up with this after hours bar and restaurant. The space is amazing, with the spot boasting several different rooms. With each step forward you're going from one world into the next. 



Start off the beginning of the night at the chill synthetic grassed front court for those keen to observe the outside world of Darlinghurst street... 



... gradually make your way back to the sprawling bar and granite sushi slicing bench tops complete with an extravagant floral arrangement... 



...and end your night dancing into the wee hours at their lush sprawling garden chamber.


The night starts off with some liquid courage. Pineapple cocktails get the heart pumping with the sweet and sour first followed by the delicious boozing kick afterwards. Party time. 


Tuna Karage
Tuna karage made its way into my stomach a lot more times than it should have (ehhh... what diet?). Little bite sized pieces of crisp tuna are simply deep fried with spices and come with a creamy lively wasabe mayo. Still, it was a little dry but their chicken karage was super tender and just plain utterly moreish. So good in-fact that there's a really good reason why it's dubbed Snoop's chicken but you're going to have to go in and find it out for yourself. Later on the night, we even manage to score ourselves a Western injection of some wickedly good arachini balls. 


Beef Tataki
You compare the beef skewers to the aforementioned fried goods on offer and they slightly pale in comparison. They've got a wonderfully sweet glaze going on but whilst it was wonderfully cooked the cut seems a tad dry and chewy.



There was a lot happening but we were quite content gouging ourselves on the impeccably fresh sashimi and nigiri on offer. We marvel about how eye-rollingly soft and remarkably clean the kingfish was, in contrast to the slightly chewier but still fresh salmon.


Expert Japanese chefs were slicing and dicing their way through a massive tuna at one stage, declared with a chorus of chants and ringing, delighting keen bystanders and observers of the fine arts. 



Their bald, wonderfully cheerful man Taichi carves up the beauty with expert precision, cutting closely to the bone and crowning the whole jewel with the larger tuna head. 


Howdy Tully from BB and dude from Bachelor
I'm still weirded out taking picture of food let alone people and the only celebrity that would reduce me to a snivelling ten year old fan girl is Jaime Oliver but nothing quite like a bout of celebrity spottin' to liven up my syntax filled writing.





Crane Bar really know how to host a cracking birthday party. Bringing in the cool crowd by the masses, they've got the whole theatre covered along with sweet vibes and some really top notch Japanese food. Bring on the good times and many more birthdays I say.

Petit4s attended Crane's 1st Birthday courtesy of Simon Hancock from Simon Says.


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Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown

2:13 PM | Labels: , , , ,


 42 percent. That's what the rating for Miss Peaches read a couple months ago. I'm going to be frank. Urbanspoon, whilst never deciding what my end opinion is, pretty much dictates where I go out to eat. Sure, if no one's heard of the place and I happen to come across it, even better. I know it's pretentious sounding but I hardly ever venture out to an unknown place knowing it there's a 'greater likelihood' of it being crap. I hardly am spontaneous. There's actually heaps of 'research' (other blogs heh heh) that goes into my places so needless to say I went into Miss Peaches with a lot of trepidation.



Really sorry for all the picture quality. Wasn't planning to get a post up on this one so I didn't bring my proper camera but then everyone else started taking pictures off food so I figured I'd join in the 'fun' with my phone. Yeah...

Tatter Totts 8
See tatter totts remind me of something I had as a four year old. They're really nothing special so why on earth did we all (me included) keep coming back to them. Was it the fact that they were generously seasoned, fluffy and light? Was it the slightly spicy, sweet maple ketchup? Mysteries of the world...

Fried Chicken 4 per piece
Chicken. Boy I love fried chicken like a dog loves his bone. Despite what consisted mostly of white meat, the chicken was pretty well cooked. It probably wasn't the juiciest one to date but the batter was so delectably spiced that it just kept everyone coming back for more. 

Short Rib Sliders 20 for 4
Short ribs, whilst they could have been more tender, were nice and sticky and cut right through with some really good colesaw. Hut damn they were terrible. I'm sorry I can't possibly make this sound better than it actually is. They were just really dry, crumbly instead of crunchy and flavourless. Pretty much by the end of it there was a pile of corn bread sitting on top untouched with all the filling having disappeared.


Food was here and there but the place certainly has the right vibes going on. Prices were quite affordable, cocktails were pretty funky and the place has some really up beat service going on despite the busy night. Be wary of what you pick and choose but expect to come out generally in good spirits (the booze ought to do it for yah). 

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