Vicini

Since R and I were planning to watch a play in Glebe, we thought we might just take this oppotunity to dine out somewhere near by before the play start.

Walking straight into the restaurant is the pizza bar area with a big open kitchen. The place was just jam pack of people and immediately it feels like a local dining area. Only later I realised the name of the restaurant means neighbour which fits perfectly to the description.

Vicini - Top level restaurant

Instead of having dinner at the pizza bar area, we made reservation for the restaurant upstairs. While we were guided by the friendly staff from the entrance of the restaurant to the top level restaurant, the whole atmosphere change dramaticly from a loud and family orientated dinning room to a more classy settings. And to my liking, we were seated at a table next to the window overlooking a glimse of the city skyline.

home made bread with olives

Iberian ham with Melon

Dinner was ordered from a blackboard, however it does not cheapen the experience at all.

First we had some complementary home made bread with olives and olive oil. For entree, we shared the Iberian ham with melon. There seems to be a trend in restaurants having fruit dish as part of an entree or perhaps I am just ignorant about Italian food. While the melon and the spanish ham with cheese does make a great combination, I absolutely adore the ham and would love to have more of it.

Dinner special - Jewfish

Home made gnocchi dish

For main I had their home made gnocchi with italian pork & fennel sausage, broccolini, chili & pecorino. The chili gives the dish a bit of a kick, while the pork and fennel sausage have a great flavor , however I was a bit disappointed with the gnocchi itself. It was a bit lumpy which is a downfall for this dish.

Dessert special - Lemon zest Ricotta

We shared or I should say I consumed most of the doughnut like lightly fried lemon zest ricotta with passionate fruit dressing dessert. It was very light and fluffy.

By the time we finished our dinner, it started to rain heavily and didn't end up watching the play in Glebe. At least we had a wonderful dinner and I wouldn't mind trying their wood fire pizza next time.

Vicini

37 Booth St,

Annandale NSW2038

Phone (02)96606600

www.vicini.com.au

Azuma Kushiyaki -Sugar hit in November

Yes, I bet lots of food bloggers have mentioned about sugar hit during October already. But the difference this time is I'm having sugar hit in November ! Yes November! Probable you would wonder doesn't sugar hit only occur during October Sydney International food festival ? To our surprise, Azuma Kushivaki have extended their sugar hit period due to high demand and popularity .

Where's the novelty of having sugar hit which suppose to only occur during October? Is this part of the strategy during this credit crunch period to obtain as much customer as possible, or taking the opportunity to promote their restaurant? Doesn't matter what's the reasons behind, I still take this opportunity and am not complaining at all ;) Thanks Rita and Ada for organizing it !

East meet West - Dessert Tasting Plate

I love the presentation of the dessert, came in two bento like boxes. Somehow separated food into different compartments seems to intrigue me more than just presenting on one plate.

Mochi (Glutinous rice cakes) with Kinaki ( healthy topping made of soybean powder), served with Vanilla ice cream and Japanese brown sugar syrup

We all seems to hesitate a bit when it comes to which one should we try first. First response was to try the not so sweet to the sweetest , but I have no clue how to figure that out. End up I decided to go with the ice cream first base on the description, as it sounds more interesting and I could get involve by deciding the amount of syrup to pour into it. (However, I got so excited having Rita to take photos of me pouring the syrup, I ended up pouring the whole glass of syrup into it. Clumsy me !)

Followed by Vanilla cheesecake and Belgian chocolate mousse. They seems a bit average to me , while the last two , the green tea rolled cake with chestnuts was delicious while the Nori seaweed cookies remind us of a particular type of biscuits we used to have as a child. Suddenly, we all have an urge to get some of those biscuits from an asian grocery stores. I might just do that this weekend.

Azuma Kushiyaki

Regent Place

501 George Street

Sydney NSW2000

(02) 9267 7775

www.azuma.com.au

Hai Au Restaurant

When I think of Vietnamese food, my first thought will be Pho - a Vietnamese flat rice noodles in a bowl of soup with your preference of meat and a side dish of bean sprout, basil/mint , lemon and chili as an option to served together with the soup. But thanks to my brother in law, he introduces and expand my knowledge of Vietnamese food more than just Pho.

The latest encounter of Vietnamese food is at Hai Au Restaurant at Canley Vale.

D.I.Y rice paper rolls with variety of filings

To make your own rice paper roll may seems a bit messy, having to first dip the rice paper in the bowl of hot water until soft , then lay it on a plate and have your pick of fillings such as mint, rice vermicelli, cucumber with cooked meat. It's all worth it as you get to choose the fillings and sort of play with different food flavors and texture at the same time. Saying that, I remember my mum used to say "don't play with your food" (with a angry tone). Guess she will say this must be the only exception.

Spring rolls

Deep fried quill

Minced Prawn on Sugar cane

Like many food bloggers, trying to take photos of the food before start eating, this must be one of a kind ... evidence of my fail attempt ... wasn't able to take a proper photo as all dig straight into it once arrived ! While at least it shows partial form of the dish ?! It just shows how popular this one simple dish. Strong lovely prawn flavor with the sweetness of the sugarcane.

Self grilled marinated Deer and Beef

Yes to my surprise as well, they do sell deer meat and I'm keen to try. Deer is more gamy, but it doesn't really taste much different to beef at all.

Stewed fish in bowl with rice

Sour soup with Fish

While my most favorite must be the Canh Chua, a sour soup made up of more than a dozen types of vegetable and herbs. Such as pineapple, lemongrass, tamarind, tomatoes, coriander, bac ha (taro stem/elephant ear) and okra pods. All these flavor combination makes up one very unique soup that I could not stop refilling my bowl.

Maybe I should plan a trip to Vietnam, while for the time being, to satisfy my desire, I just have to watch Luke Nguyen's Vietnam on SBS.

Hai Au Restaurant

48a Canley Vale Road

Canley Vale, NSW 2166

Phone: (02)97249156