A Night of Fun at Duke Bistro

What's your secret in getting through a long tiring week? For me, the best way to fast track the week is with the anticipation of a pleasant mid-week dinner with friends. I have been looking forward to tonight as Duke Bistro has been on my radar for a while now. This hatted young bistro have continuously showcased novel dishes using seasonal produce.

From the outside, the Flinders Hotel appeared old, and honestly speaking, a little bit dodgy. As we climb up the stairs and enter into the bistro, our perception changed instantly. Beer bottle lampshades, teacup candle holders, bird cages and traditional conical Vietnamese hats have been used to craft an eccentric yet comfortable atmosphere.

The kitchen is led by two young chefs – Thomas Lim (ex-Tetsuya's) and Mitch Orr (Young Chef of the Year 2010 and ex-Sepia). They work hand in hand to send out surprising dishes with interesting flavour and texture combinations. You can almost imagine them having so much fun in the kitchen experimenting with new food combinations and techniques with the aim of daring and astounding their customers. To support the creativity in the kitchen, the waiting staff at Duke Bistro are also menu-savvy, approachable and enthusiastic.

We are recommended to order two to three dishes per person. We ended up ordering a bit more than that because we wanted to try almost all of their dishes and because some dishes are too good/small to be shared. Now let the fun begin!

The fried chicken wings is a popular group dish. The chili sauce came in a bottle so you could add as much or as little as you want.

Fried Chicken Wings, Charred Scallion, Hot Sauce 

I must say Duke Bistro is impressively considerate about vegetarian options. The mushroom and silken tofu is a great dish. The different types of delicious mushrooms lie on top of the incredibly silky smooth tofu. It is beyond satisfying and we ordered a second serve. However it seemed like they used up most of their tofu so our second serve had mostly mushrooms and lots of white foam pretending to be tofu?! Anyhow, the mushrooms are still yum :P 

L Loves...  Mushroom, Silken Tofu 

The parsnip had interesting texture but the flavour seems to be lacking a bit of something. Maybe the chefs can come up with that magical something to add to this dish to enhance the flavours.   

Salt Baked Parsnip, Buttermilk, Jalapeno 

The radish is soaked in tasty dashi butter. I think you could almost throw in any root vegetable in this butter and it would taste great. They serve a rack of bread rolls with this dish and we all knew what had to be done… Dip away! 

Radish, dashi butter, bread rolls 

Fregola is a type of puffy pasta that is similar to Israeli couscous. The corn is supremely creamy and irresistible. This is the ultimate comfort dish! 

L Loves...  Fregola, Corn, Cornbread 

As I am yet to befriend a fish, I can only say this dish smells… (good is the word most people would add at the end of this sentence). 

Chargrilled Kingfish Wing 

Another dish I can’t comment on, sorry! 

Rainbow Trout, Green Grapes 

We can see here Lim’s Asian background having its influence on the menu. The potato and snowpea sprouts do a great job neutralising the spiciness of the XO sauce. 

XO Pork Shoulder, Snowpea Sprouts, Potato 

Another Chinese inspired dish. These hunks of sweet and juicy pork neck are served with garlic shoot puree and crunchy gai lan leafs. The sprinkle of balck sesame salt elevates the dish just that extra mile. 

Char siu pork neck, gai lan, garlic shoot, black sesame 

The smoked beef has an intense smoky flavour and the cauliflower cream and bread crumbs are perfect accompanies. Those who like pickles will also love the gherkins, which can be rolled into the smoke beef making a perfect beef roll. We had to order two serves of this as one is simply not enough!

Smoked Beef, Gherkin, Cauliflower 

The pork jowl is extremely succulent (aka dribbly and fatty). Serving it in the form of a Peking duck pancake, with grilled pineapples to cut back the fatty aftertaste is a superb idea. 

Pork Jowl Pancakes 

Time flew as we chatted, laughed, drank and nibbled. Finally it is time for desserts. There are three options on the desserts menu, so naturally we got all of them. Theses warm, puffy donuts are the ultimate comfort food best shared amongst a group. The waitress told us there are more than 20 spices used in this simple looking dish. 

Donuts, Ras El Hanout, Nuts  

Next up is a dessert of various milk components. There is the rich caramel sauce underneath the brown, crunchy milk meringues which go perfectly with the sugar-free, silky milk panna cotta. There are also chocolate crumbs on top of the panna cotta that added extra colour and textural contrast. You really need to have a bit of everything in a spoonful to get the most out of this glorious dessert. 

L Loves...  Milk, milk, milk 

These cute mini macarons are ordered from MakMak and the flavours change daily. Tonight we had peanut butter, salted caramel, strawberry shortcake, raspberry yogurt and orange crème. The shells are crisp and the fillings are luscious. The salted caramel one is slightly saltier than I would expect from a macaron, but strawberry shortcake and raspberry yogurt are divine. What a delightful finish to this late night dining experience. 

L Loves... MakMak macarons 

Peanut butter macaron

English breakfast tea served with warm milk

L's Verdict:

·     Taste: 7.5/10

·     Ambience: 4/5

·     Value: 3.5/5

·     Service: 4/5

·     Creativity and other WOW factors: 4/5 

Overall rating: 23/30

Duke Bistro

65 Flinders St

Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW 2010

Ph: (02) 9332 3180

Tues to Sat: 6pm – late

Visited March 2012

Friendly advice: Duke Bistro is a fantastic place to visit in groups as you’ll get to try the variety of dishes they have on offer. If you don’t have a big group but you’re feeling adventurous, go on Tuesday nights when they serve a tasting menu of their new, innovative dishes.

WAQU - when East meet West

Continuing on the birthday theme from the previous few posts, two years ago, for the second year in a row, I went to one of my all time favourites to celebrate my birthday with my family. It was the first time in at least a decade that I got to celebrate my birthday with my entire family - Mum and Dad flew into Sydney from Auckland, and my sister K and brother in law J flew in from Taiwan. Also with us was my sister M and Mr M's family (who always warmly looked after me during Mr M's time in Japan). I was so touched!! 

WAQU is the perfect restaurant if you’re looking for somewhere semi-casual, with a “value for money” price tag, serving exquisite and delicious food. Waqu serves modern Japanese cuisine which fuses the best of “East and West” in a stylish intimate setting. Their tasting menu changes seasonally every three months, with a choice for entrée and mains. 

L Loves… Course 1. amuse

(clockwise from the left) Spicy soft shell crab taco,‘renkon’ chips, crystal bay prawn, peach, chorizo, cauliflower puree and tomato essence, creamy corn soup,  fresh tofu, sweet miso and soy flavoured ground beef 

This platter of bite size amuse was incredibly flavoursome and marked a wonderful start to the meal.

Course 2. sashimi

Ocean trout tartare, wasabi cream sauce

L Loves… Entree option #1: CALAMARI + ABALONE + RISOTTO
Lightly fried ground calamari cake, abalone and squid ink risotto. 

This was such a heavenly dish – it was sooooo creamy and the calamari was lightly battered and fried - the Japanese are real masters when it comes to deep frying!!

L Loves… Course 3. entree option #2: RACK OF LAMB

‘Panko’ and herb crusted rack of lamb, dry miso, ‘tamari’ garlic sauce
The lamb was so tasty, perfectly cooked and crispy on the outside.

Course 4. Main option #1: QUAIL

Roasted quail, ‘yuzu’ butter sauce, hoba leaf, ‘satsuma’ potato

A closer look at the quail

Main option #2: BEEF TENDERLOIN STEAK

Red wine sauce, ‘satoimo’ potato, baby carrot, ‘eringi’ mushroom

Course 5. dessert

Vanilla ice cream, glass tiramisu, green tea crème caramel 

Worthy to note the vanilla ice cream was hand-made with real vanilla bean pod. The Green tea crème caramel was my favourite dessert of the night – it was mellow, creamy and had a great green tea taste. Yummm!


Overall, this was one of the most memorable dinners I've had. Not only was the food fantastic, but having my whole family there meant the world to me!   

L's Verdict:

• Taste: 9.5/10 (everything I had was fabulously delicious!)
•  Ambience: 4/5
•  Value: 4/5
•  Service: 3.5/5 (not professional, but at least friendly)
• Creativity and other WOW factors: 3/5  

Overall rating: 24/30

WAQU

308 Pacific Highway

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Ph: (02) 9906 7736

Dinner only: Tuesday-Sunday from 6pm

Visited May 2009

Friendly advice: I had some difficulty in getting the waitress to understand I wanted my dressing on the side. So best to bring a Japanese speaking friend along, or speak s-l-o-w-l-y, or perhaps employ some Japanese accent Engrish if you have any special dietary requirements.

Sepia Restaurant - 2011 birthday dinner (part I)

Birthdays are always the perfect reason to gather and share good food with loved ones. Last year I was lucky enough to meet Restaurant Arras, this year I was spoiled by my bf Mr M and his family who treated me to one of the restaurants that had been on my “To Visit” list for a very long time... the double-hatted Sepia!

Sepia is led by two chefs that have worked at some of Sydney's most acclaimed restaurants - Martin Benn (ex Executive Chef at Tetsuya’s and The Boathouse) and Daniel Puskas (ex Head Chef of Oscillate Widly. Puskas also worked at Marque, Tetsuya’s and The Boathouse). To boost his profile even further, Benn won the Good Food Guide Chef of The Year Award for 2011. Now you see why I’ve been lured into choosing Sepia as the ideal venue to hold part I of my birthday dinner for 2011 (part I with my beloved family and part II with my dear friends @ Chophouse).

Similar to Testuya, Benn fuses modern French techniques with subtle Japanese flavour. Seasoning is kept to a minimum as the emphasis is placed on using quality, sustainable produce and enhancing their natural flavours.

Besides the highly prestigious team running the kitchen, the service at Sepia is also sleek and smart. Sepia has an elegant dining room which has an art deco feel with its dim lighting. Tonight we start off with a warm sourdough - warm (and complementary) bread always signals a good start to a meal.

Warm sourdough,
served with whipped truffle butter

Freshly shucked Oysters from
 NSW South Coast  with lime and 
rice vinegar dressing

Amuse Bouche – kingfish

Queensland spanner crab and buckwheat risotto, mustard butter, shellfish essence.

The idea is to fold in the foamy shellfish essence with the creamy, yet chewy buckwheat risotto. This is an interesting dish with a lot of textures and packed with flavours (somehow it reminded me of Taiwanese sticky rice - which is delicious in its own ways)!

Roasted pasture fed Angus beef tenderloin, braised short rib, buffalo milk “tofu” sansho roasted quinoa, garlic flowers.

The tenderloin was cooked beautifully and served on top of the tender short rib.The combination of the light, soft tofu and the extremely tasty beef created a great balance of flavours.

Roasted Aylesbury duck breast, smoked confit eggplant, yoghurt, native finger lime, licorice. On the plate are six artfully arranged slices of rare-cooked duck breast. However in terms of flavour, this was one of the least impressive dishes of the night.

Those who know me know that the desserts menu is the first thing I look at when I go to a restaurant. Sepia is recognised to have some of the best pastry chefs creating some of the prettiest desserts in Sydney. So you can imagine the excitement I felt as we progressed onto my favourite part of a meal. Moments after we ordered our desserts, the lovely waiters brought us each a lovely mandarin sorbet cheesecake, which was out-of-this world and by far exceeded our expectations of a pre-dessert!

L Loves... Mandarin sorbet cheesecake, arrived in a tiny glass, is absolutely delicious and a refreshing wakeup to the tastebuds preparing them for the sweetness to come :)

Vanilla ice cream and raspberry ripple “Weiss”, raspberry jelly,
dehydrated white chocolate mousse.

This is Sepia’s take on the famous Weiss bar, which is a more sophisticated and refined version of the original ice cream. There is a fine balance between the sourness of the fresh raspberries and the sweetness from the powdery, dehydrated white chocolate.

“Chocolate forest” 
Soft chocolate, chestnut, elderflower cream, mandarin and bergamot sorbet, blackberry candy, green tea, licorice, chocolate twigs, crystallised lemon thyme

This dessert was listed as one of Terry Durack's best dishes of 2010 and was agreed so by Mr & Miss J, who regarded this as one of their favourite desserts along with Quay’s eight layer chocolate cake.

Strawberry bavarois, blueberry sorbet, fresh berries, basil seeds and strawberry jelly

The strawberry bavarois is so delectable. The abundance of the berries not only accentuated the flavour, but also made the dessert seemingly healthier :P

Check out the yummy strawberry bavarois in the white chocolate log :P

Petits Four

Overall we had a really enjoyable night - with seamless service our exquisite dinner ended on a high note. 

However would I see myself going back there in the near future? 

Probably not. I had extremely high expectations of Sepia based on what I have read about the restaurant, its Chefs, and the awards they have won. Honestly speaking my expectations were not quite met until they brought out the desserts – then all is forgiven :)

L's Verdict:

• Taste: 7/10
• Ambience: 4/5
• Value: 3/5
• Service: 5/5
• Creativity and other WOW factors: 3/5 (we'd have to applaud Sepia's Pastry Chefs for the gorgeous desserts)

Overall rating: 22/30

Sepia Restaurant

Ground Floor, Darling Park

201 Sussex Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9283 1990

Open:Tuesday to Friday lunch from 12pm

Tuesday to Saturday dinner from 6pm

Visited May 2011

Friendly advice: As I discovered after my visit, it is probably wiser to go for seafood rather than meat dishes as they have seafood wholesaler George Costi of De Costi Seafoods as a backer.