Dinner at St Ives, Sydney

A gathering, a birthday and a feast. It was the middle of winter in the Sydney region. The food served was eclectic, inspired by traditions from southern China to Penang to Australia. There was relaxed conversation, it was winding down after a working day. Singapore styled pepper chili crab was appetising, whilst the closer of flourless chocolate cake was topped up by brewed Campos coffee. In between, one went through laughter, thoughtful chatter, change of plates, munching of rather sweet mandarins from an Eastwood outlet, delightful smoked tea and the serving of traditional Straits Chinese braised birthday noodles (lam mee).

The mussels moray stood out as an appetiser (above image) followed by the carving of the Beijing roast duck (below), served on paper thin pancake slices, garnished with hoi sin sauce, shallot strips and cucumber bites.

Captivating red syrup flavoured jelly (below) provided a contrast to the heavier items on the menu. Uncle Jimmy also brought his home made kuay chap, a Chiuchow concoction not easily found in Australia but a hit with many southern Chinese immigrants around the world, especially in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. It essentially is a dark coloured broth that blends flavour with bite, as it contains cooked innards of pig or cattle, but treated as comfort food from the past.

An Arvo at Austi Beach, NSW

Waiting and sizing up. Feeling the vibes and the wind on the face.

Getting ready for just the right moment. Visualising the moment.

Anticipating. Not too early and not too late. Recalling lessons learnt

and relishing this next time. Keeping an eye for detail. Enjoying the

mateship and the conditions of the day. Acting out the right pose.

In a split second, it is time to decide - and go. Go ride the waves.

Ms G's - A World of Its Own

Victoria Street in Potts Point offer the surroundings leading to Ms G's (above)

Vongole with a twist, served with egg noodles and graced by Vietnamese inspired herbs.

(Image below). The bar counter is right upfront as you enter Ms G's (Image above).

Pandanus flavoured chiffon cake (above), topped by a coconut themed ice cream with nuts and raspberry - I prefer a less dense and more fluffy version of this traditional Straits Chinese cake. Below, the Stoner sandwich of various sugar fix flavours.

Mini-sized burgers that come with a choice of chicken katsu or crispy pork.

My personalised food platter - the highly recommended lamb shank (well marinated and with such a tasty texture from the first bite) at 10 o'clock; the sumptuous grilled prawn at 2 o'clock; and accompanying side serves.

A finger food idea - fine eggplant paste with sea urchin, served on a miniature base of pork crackling. (above). A light and refreshing salad for the palate with calamari and more (below).








Crackling roast pork served to be wrapped in pancake skins -not exactly in Beijing style!

Savoury ocean trout slices bathed in a Fijian styled ceviche.

This may be an optimal balance - a slice of belly pork garnished with aromatic condiments and shallots.





My cocktail of vodka and lime - I had expected this to be served in an elegant glass, but it was just a Yuzu slushee.

Retro Yum Cha - The Jin Yan, Castlehill RSL

Traditional siew mai or steamed pork and prawn dumplings.

Golden egg custard, sans caramel, is the key to a delicious tarn tart.

Char siew yoke, or red lined barbecued pork, is made with an attractive relish.

Deep fried and crunchy calamari strips, not just good with tea, but beer.



A bite of char siew bun.



Prawns galore - in Cantonese,  "ha" also indicates happiness.

The ubiquitous fried rice.

Smooth as silk - the steamed soya bean dessert.

The Zenya Noodle Bar, Eastwood NSW

The Zenya Noodle Bar may be more popular with the twenty somethings for hot piping ramen soups influenced  by Kyushu and Tokyo traditions, but I had the opportunity to try their bento or lunchbox combinations recently.  Zenya is located along Rowe Street in the north-western Sydney suburb of Eastwood -and attracts a fair share of Macquarie University students and families of Asian background who dominate the demographics in that corner of Australia.  The lighting is low and  the space can be limited. There is one Caucasian Australian guy working there as a staff member, to provide a contrast to the Asian-centric atmosphere.  Above image, the Toro-Toro bento set, with mains served as deep fried pork cutlets with batter.  Clockwise from 10am for the box - gyoza dumplings, marinated seaweed, tomato and onion salad, salmon shashimi and the pork cutlets.

Leafy vegetables,onion slices and tomato cuts predominate the lightly dressed salad piece in the bento box.(above). Below, we had green tea in a pot to accompany the miso soup.

Miso soup is mainstay of Japanese entrees, and this was also part of the Kabayaki Unagi bento that I ordered for lunch.  The mains were grilled eel fillets, whilst Kabayaki refers to the practice of having seafood, such as eel fillets, marinated in a sweet sauce - they originate from Japan's Edo period.

The set lunch also came with salmon shashimi.

I was impressed with their gyoza (above image) or pan fried dumplings.  Of Chinese origin, these dumplings utilise wonton wrappers and ground or minced pork.  The fillings are infused with a variety of garnishings before being used - a blend of Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, mustard,spring onions and chillies. The completed and cooked dumplings are often taken with a dipping mix - made with a combination of soya, plum, black bean and peanut sauces.

I could not resist finishing up the meal with two selections of Japanese-styled ice cream serves ,one flavoured by sesame seeds and the other by green tea.