Bowery Lane, Sydney CBD

Apologies again for being absent on the blog lately. Aside from work, lots of personal commitments including farewells, birthdays, housewarmings and an anniversary has happened over the last few weeks. Even long weekend was busy! Of course, that hasn't stopped me from exploring loads of foodie places that I will hopefully update on the blog when I get the chance. One of the places I've been over the last 2 weeks was the ever-popular Bowery Lane. Not only is this restaurant about 5 minutes from my workplace, it's one of those restaurants that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Recently we were there for CC's birthday where we got to sample a wide range of dishes on the $55 set menu due to our large group. Sadly there was no epic soft shell crab action since it wasn't included on the set menu. The price didn't include drinks but that didn't stop us from ordering lots of beverages. I couldn't remember the actual name of the first drink but it reminded me of an 'old fashioned' whisky beverage that KT always ordered whenever we're out for drinks. Strong stuff but does the stuff when life gets you down.

Another cocktail I liked was the Charlie Chaplin, which had a sweeter taste that was less stronger than the first drink.

Artisan sourdough with butter

Because a couple of friends were running late, we had to wait for the bread to show up at our able even though CC said that we're all happy to be served. So by the time the bread and butter arrived, we were grabbing it to satisfy our hunger cravings. My fave was definitely the soy and lineseed bread which was most likely sourced from Sonoma Bakery.

Marinated Sicilian olives, orange, rosemary, chilli, garlic lemon ($7.00)

I'm quite pleased with the olives here. Some were quite firm, some were on the softer side. Very tasty if you like your olives though it was a tad salty. A couple of friends weren't big fan so I was happy to make the most of my addiction.

Black pepper and lime salt calamari with coriander aioli ($16.00)

I'm guessing it's because there was a large group of us, and because it was a Friday night, the food took a long time to show up. Because of this, everyone got very impatient when I wanted to take photos of food so sorry in advance for the quality of some of the photos. Nevertheless the quality of the dishes made up for all that waiting. Such as the black pepper and lime salt calamari. The calamari was nicely crumbled, which went well with the smooth aioli sauce.

San danielle prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, fresh fig, witlof, quinoa, rocket, walnut and vincotto ($19.00)

For the health conscious, there was the slightly healthier prosciutto salad. There's even quinoa! Definitely a refreshing combination even with the creamy buffalo mozzarella.

La stella burrata, confit heirloom tomato, radish, lemon, basil, candied olive ($17.00/$26.00)

While burrata isn't one of my fave cheeses (way too creamy for my liking), it looked very pleasing to the eye. The others really enjoyed sharing this dish while I made the most of the veggies on the side.

Braised wagyu short rib, charred onion, roasted garlic, dijon ($62.00 to share)

Since the party consists of two full tables, the main dishes were served alternatively so I missed out on a couple of dishes including the king prawn pappardelle and the whole roasted field mushrooms. We did, however, ended up with a lot of meat. Such as this epic wagyu short rob. Luckily it was made to share and none of us were vegetarian. The short rib was tender and succulent while the sides were well matched in terms of the balance of flavours. Especially once we get too overwhelmed by the meat.

Slow cooked lamb shoulder, smoked eggplant, lemon garlic dressing, watercress ($57.00 to share)

By this point everyone was so hungry from all the waiting that they didn't bother eating for the camera to eat first heh. Despite the less than appealing shot below, the lamb was incredibly delicious. The game taste was not too strong so this will please those who were more wary of this fatty meat, although the side ingredients also helped a bit. 

Burnt carrot, smoked yoghurt, toasted sesame seed

Shoestring fries, chilli salt

Baby cos, green peas, beans, mint, aioli

We also got a decent range of sides to share whether you are keen for greens or up for crunch fries. The burnt carrot with yoghurt and sesame seeds seemed like an unusual combination which surprisingly went well with the table. French fries were a reminder of Maccas fries but with a bit of spice (and was rather addictive). But damn those greens. Girl's gotta have some greens and CC LOVES her greens heh.

Jar of cookies and cream - honeycomb, vanilla, dark chocolate

Now this was the dessert I've been looking forward to all night after spotting it in countless reviews in the past. While we all sadly had to share this dessert (seriously...), CC got her very own cookies and cream jar along with a candle. It looked so adorable and it was full of lots of sweet goodies. The ingredients tasted so good together that I seriously didn't want to share it with anyone. I'm sure the others will agree with me on that.

Strawberry shortcake - vanilla bean ice cream, macerated berries 

I didn't think this would top the last dessert but it also exceeded my expectation despite its simpler presentation. Was sweeter and fruitier in comparison to the cookies and cream jar, which is equally pleasing.

Despite the lengthy wait to get our food (most likely because of our large group), it was a delicious experience. It is located in the heart of the CBD so it is a convenient spot if you want to have a work outing with your colleagues or a catch up with friends at night. Will definitely return again to get the desserts and their famous burgers and even try their breakfast dishes if I wake up early enough.

Bowery Lane
1 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9252 8017

http://www.bowerylane.com.au/
Mon-Wed: 7:00am - 10:00pm
Thurs-Fri: 7:00am - Late
Sat:5:00pm - Late

Tapavino, Sydney CBD

Ever been to a restaurant where you had to pay a service fee because you made a large group booking? I know surcharges still exist in some restaurants, bars and cafes for group bookings and Sunday trading. But is it really worth it?

CC and I were looking forward to trying out Tapavino simply because we loved tapas and sangria and the prices didn't look too bad. It was also CC's birthday so tapas, sangria and it's close to the Ivy = winning combination! 

Since it was a Friday night, it was no surprise that the bar was incredibly packed and noisy. Because we already did a booking, we didn't have to wait long to be seated upstairs. The top floor is reserved for those who made a booking while the walk ins are seated at the ground floor. There was a cool and noisy vibe with dark lighting (sorry for the terrible photos), which is great for after work drinks and dinner for those working around the CBD. Initially it was very quiet upstairs but as the night goes on, the floor was busy, packed and cramped for us when we need to go to the restroom. Because there was about 14 of us, we had to go with the set menu of $58 per person (excluding drinks) for groups of 9 people or more. This is a good deal considering the generous selection of 10 Spanish dishes to share on the set menu. 

There was a very extensive selection of wines to choose from. When we looked at the wine menu, there was literally pages and pages (about 30 pages?) of various wines listed including the delightful sherry. As usual, we all decided on a glass of sangria. Unfortunately we could only buy sangria per glass instead of a jug but that didn't bother us at the time. Was fruity but not as strong compared to other sangria drinks in the past.

Sangria ($11 per glass)

We started off with a bowl of warm mixed Spanish olives dosed with olive oil matched with a pickled chilli. While we thought that the olives were a bit salty, they were still addictive for us (me especially) to gobble them up before they disappear. Very pleased with the olives here actually.

Warm Spanish Olives and Padron Pepper ($6.00)

The follow up dish had a rustic texture with the pile of chopped eggplants with a dollop of goat's curd on top. The goat's curd had a strong milky and creamy taste that matched well with the saucy and tangy eggplant and the crispy tostada (which was actually a slice of crusty toasted bread).

Galician-style Eggplant, Goats Curd, Tostado ($14)

I really enjoyed the cow's milk cheese and toasted walnuts in vine leaves with toasted sourdough dish as it was a bundle of surprises. When it came to our table, I thought it was going to be stuffed with rice or assorted veggies. After cutting through, a smother of melted stringy cheese poured out from the vine leaves. I wish I could upload my before shot but it was too blurry. Lovely to have to warm yourself on a cool and windy day.

Goat's cheese and toasted walnuts in vine leaves a la plancha with toasted sourdough ($14)

And if you cannot get enough goat cheese, there is yet another dish coming up. But oh my god that jamon serrano! I could eat jamon all day and still won't get sick of it. The beetroot complemented well with the cheesy and creamy goats curd with the extra laer of flavour and texture. I could see this dish being perfect with a few slices of Will certainly come back to try the many other jamon dishes on Bar Jamon section of the A La Carte menu especially the one with the mushroom and black truffled tart with shaved manchego and the 'Pata Negra' jamon iberico.

Jamon Serrano, baby Beetroot and Goat's Curd ($18)

We were getting a meaty and goat cheese overload so we were relieved to see fresh seafood dish like the one below. It was actually the highlight dish for most of us thanks to the light, soft and refreshing tuna seasoned with the zesty, crushed almond and the sherry dressing. I think a few of us felt a tad tipsy because of the sherry dressing at this point (or the sangria was catching up to us). Definitely a dish I would recommend at this wine bar. 

Yellow Fin Tuna 'Cruda', crushed spiced almonds and sherry dressing ($22.00)

By this point we were already getting full and we are still only halfway through the menu! Thank goodness for shared plates! The first look of this dish took me back to my trip to Barcelona where I saw so many similar looking dishes with familiar flavours and ingredients. The braised chicken was so soft that in falls apart as you bite into the meat. Due to the tomato salsa and the pimenton mayo, the flavour for the dish was tangy but not too overwhelming for the taste buds. Can definitely imagine having this dish somewhere in Spain right now.

I love anything with salsa verde so having this and a squeeze of lemon with a rather substantial-sized beef short-rib made it easier for us to chow down our servings. Very tender and flavoursome. 

Braised Beef Ribs with Salsa Verde ($28.00)

I do love a good fennel salad especially after all the meat and cheese. There were bits of manchego scattered on this plate but the fennel was that light touch that we really needed. 

Shaved Fennel, Mint and Manchego Ensalada (about $10.00)

I was initially excited about this rich and dense dessert because I love chocolate but the salty and olive oil taste were too weird and strange for us to enjoy. And I liked savoury chocolate such as mole poblano. Probably good to try if you want to have something more unusual for your dessert.

Chocolate Terrine, Olive Oil and Salt Flakes ($12.00)

Thankfully, our other dessert was a crowd pleaser. Loved the light and sweet taste delivered from the strawberries. It also had a creamy texture which was matched with the crunchy macademia nut. Some of us were not too keen to share this dessert at all. 

Macademia Nut, Crema de Flan, Strawberries ($10.00)

Now everything went reasonably smoothly until it came to the bill. For group bookings at Tapavino, you need to pay an 8% service charge on top of the total bill which is mentioned on the Bookings page on the website. Personally, I don't mind paying the service fee however the issues that got up our sleeve was that apart from the friendly front of house wait staff looking after the bookings and tables, the rest of the service experience was average and not too friendly to us on the night. Plus we weren't even allowed to have the birthday cake inside the restaurant due to restaurant policy. So to pay $58 per person for the set menu because of our large group plus an 8% service fee is a lot of money to spend especially since drinks are not included. 

Despite the service and the shock from the service fee, we all still enjoyed the food here. Tapavino was actually mentioned as one of the more affordable places to eat around the CBD (with a mention in the 2014 Good Food Under $30 guide) but I would say that it actually is cheaper if it was a small group sharing a good number of plates since there would be no surcharge. We all had a really good time because of the incredibly tasty Spanish food. In fact, I thought it was one of the better Spanish restaurants that I have experienced. I wouldn't make a group booking here but I will still come back to try the food on the main menu and a few glasses of wine with a smaller group for a catch up or after work drinks.

So tell me readers: have you ever paid a service fee/surcharge when you dined at a restaurant, cafe or bar? How was the overall experience if you had to pay for that?

Tapavino
6-8 Bulletin Place, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9247 3221
http://www.tapavino.com.au/
Mon-Fri: 12:00pm - 11:30pm

The Village, Potts Point

A few weeks ago, I was kindly invited to try the new Ladies Lunch package at The Village. The weather was nice and breezy at the time which is perfect for a chilled out midday lunch or a simple catch up session with you girl pals. It has got me curious since most of my friends are actually guys so I do wonder if they would like the food regardless of the namesake.

On most days, The Village seems to operate as a bar at night with various shared plates including pizzas and chips to nibble. On Saturdays, the bar opens early for a bistro-style lunch if you prefer a relaxing day to chill rather than party all night. The venue is actually spaced out to include a ground floor with a bar, an outside courtyard and a dining area plus an upstairs bar area. The flowers and plants decor around the venue gave it an overall cute and chilled atmosphere...though I can't comment on what this venue would be like later in the evening or very late at night.

We started off with a glass of sparkling and a starter plate of olives and nuts to nibble. Because of the amount of food coming up, we barely touched the nuts but the olives (dosed with olive oil) were too addictive to ignore for the both of us. They also weren't too salty so it was easier to polish up.

Glass of Sparkling

Selection of Marinated Olives and Nuts 

We were excited to see the neatly-presented shared plate on various entree dishes when it arrived to our table. The shared platter consists of (Clockwise L-R on below photo):Salt and Pepper Calamari with Parmesan Aioli and Fresh Lemon, Sweetcorn and Basil Cappucino with Tempura Cauliflower, Butternut Pumpkin Arancini with Buffalo Mozzarella and Fresh Basil, and Rocket Pear and Parmesan Salad with Lemon Oregano Vinaigrette.

The seemingly small range of shared plates definitely appeared to be light but the stomach says otherwise. We actually really enjoyed the rocket, pear and parmesan salad the most because of its light and fresh texture and it was fun biting into the cheese. The calamari seemed harder and even slightly grainy in terms of texture then we would have liked but the flavours were there. We both had a surprise reaction with the pumpkin arancini which tasted mild at first but the spicy flavours creep onto your taste buds very quickly. The sweetcorn and basil cappucino was another fave of ours with its warm, soup-like, creamy texture which would be perfect during the winter.

Entree Shared Platter

For our main dish, we were given a choice of seared fillet of huon salmon or the crispy skinned confit chicken. As that Ol El Paso ad goes, why don't we have both? These main dishes were served with a bowl of crispy chips on the side.

Hand Cut Chips

The huon salmon was CC's choice of main, which, in my opinion was the highlight dish. The salmon skin was so crispy while the salmon fillet was soft and well cooked with a slight pinkish colour. This is serious melt in your mouth stuff. It came with a marinated feta, rocket and parmesan salad that I didn't try but CC said it was nice but of course the salmon was the winner.

Seared Fillet of Huon Salmon with Marinated Feta, Rocket and Parmesan salad

On the menu it said that the confit chicken would be served with a white potato and shallot salad with red wine jus however it ended up having the same creamy and cheesy base with marinated feta cheese as the salmon dish. It was a slight bummer because I was keen on trying the salad and dipping the chicken with the jus. Thankfully, the chicken was reasonably tender and juicy and the skin was even better with its golden crispy and succulent texture. Compared to the salmon, I thought that the serving size of the chicken was decent enough to fill you up if you order this as a stand-alone dish. Also it was nice dipping the chicken and chips into one of the puddles of the spicy sauce that was used with the arancini in the shared platter.

Crispy skinned Confit Chicken

It was good that the service staff took its time between meals for our stomachs to settle rather than putting everything on the table at once because we were struggling at this point. But yeah gotta save some room for dessert right? We awed when the platter full of colourful sweet delicacies arrived to our table. The dessert platter consists of macarons (lemon, orange and lime), white chocolate panna cotta, nutella tarts, mini-lemon meringue pie and a couple of orange slices. 

We started off with the macarons, which we thought were very sweet. The small lemon meringue pie had a soft texture while the nutella tart was not overly sweet and slightly bitter. We both shared the white chocolate, which we found to be sticky, firm and not as wobbly as we expected. However, the flavour was nice and the decoration of black sea salt on top was very cute. After the amount of savoury and sweet food, we both grabbed the orange wedges. It was certainly zesty, juicy and perfect as a palate cleanser at the end of the set meal.

The Village Dessert Tasting Plate - selection of The Village signature desserts

Since it was just me and CC tackling this package, it was no wonder we were so full by the end. Nevertheless we had an enjoyable afternoon eating and relaxing on a quiet weekend. The service was polite and not overbearing, which is a plus. If you are keen for a girls day out or planning a special occasion that isn't too wild, or heck even a special double date(!) then this should be the package for you. I'm sure the guys will like the food too if they are keen. Wouldn't mind coming back again to try the other food on the A La Carte menu including the pizzas.

The Ladies Lunch package (including the glass of champagne and nibbles) is available on Saturdays from Midday and made to share for a minimum of 3 people for $59 per person. You can also order it on other days during the week for groups of 15 people or more. Reservations are essential.

Disclaimer: The Random Foodie dined as a guest of The Village, courtesy of Lily at Cav Con. Opinions are, however, my own. 

The Village
1 Kellett Way, Potts Point NSW 2011
(02) 8084 6057
http://www.the-village.com.au/
Tue-Thurs: 5:00pm-Late
Fri: 5:00pm-3:00am
Sat: 12:00pm-3:00am