LeVendi's - Wollongong Harbour, NSW

It is only a pavilion with an outdoor seating area. The queues are there, especially in the warmer months, whether by choice or just coming out from the woodwork at Belmore Basin at Wollongong Harbour. On first impressions, this could be the scene at any major surf beach in Australia, the need to have chips and seafood on paper. The customers at LeVendi's can be beach goers, tourists, families and locals. The harbour is not big but just right. You can see the lighthouses.  You can see Port Kembla with its steel works in the distance to the right.  Oh yes, and then there are the hills, or rather escarpment, looking down on the coastal plains where Wollongong has anchored in. And not to forget, those ever present container ships that park themselves on the ocean's horizon , apparently forever, but actually queuing to enter the Harbour at nearby Port Kembla. The sandy beaches of North Gong, Towradgi and Corrimal beckon as your eyes look towards Sydney side, but Sydney is far away, at least 90 minutes by car away to the north.  The Tasman Sea is blue, but so is the sky.

The seafood deep fried in batter is the main draw here, but served and eaten fresh, it becomes the experience. Squid, fish fillets, prawn, calamari, crab meat, you name it.   Beer batter. Barramundi pack. The wedges or chips. It is the quality of the takeaway, bristling warm as you hold your delivery in your hands.  Burgers if you prefer chicken.  If you have no time for anything else, just try the calamari, and you can have it with your own beer. Sauces are generously provided in little plastic containers.  Value food when you relate it to the prices asked.  I have not tried the gelatos or coffee at this stage.

The wind blows into my face and the sweat glistens on that of a mate. Sunshades are recommended.  We can smell the salty air. There are few tables, all outdoor, and these are quickly snapped up. Many customers just grab and run.  LeVendi is located at the ocean side end of Cliff Road, perhaps the street that has the most expensive properties in the CBD.  The clients at this lifestyle takeaway are down to earth, relishing some moments away from regime and responsibility, savouring in what matters after all in life - being with Nature, chatting with friends and family, having a hiatus and enjoying what they will remember best of all that day.  Mums with kiddos, teenager groups, Grand Dads with the grandkids, blue collar workers, students and singles.   The crunchiness of the crust makes me salivate. Then it is the bite into the tender fillings inside.  Then I acknowledge the freshness of the ingredients.

When the queues are long, the staff focus on their work. Some say to allow for some time after ordering to expect your food. I reckon that can be unavoidable, as the food is made to your order. Staff can still smile when they know more than just several people are waiting.  The domesticated sea gulls add to the colour and ambiance, but they could be after your open food. Chugging fishermen boats come into the relative safety of Wollongong Harbour  a stone's throw away.  There are cycling, walking and running trails.  I can see Bombara, another good grilled seafood place, not far away.  The Brit "chipper" has come far in time and geographical distance from Tommyfield in the UK. It is not so cold, the air is balmy and the waves much bigger.  Wollongong is  a working class city, and no fitter a tribute can LeVendi's pay to its residents than to do the right thing with fish and chips.

Nasi Lemak - Home Gathering

 

 

When I hear of  "nasi lemak", the suggestion of whiffs of aroma from pandanus leaves, fresh coconut milk, banana leaf wraps and steaming rice comes to mind.  To the neighbouring countries of  both Indonesia and Malaysia, this is a national icon, comfort food and a community treasure.  This dish was born around the equator, where coconut palms, useful and sweet smelling herbs and padi fields gave rise to a concoction that has been exported world wide by emigrants.  There are various versions of this dish, those made in Malay kampungs, Straits Chinese kitchens, Chinese commercial outlets and by transplanted families in Canada, the USA and Australia.  And not to forget by adventurous Caucasians who recall this particular snack or breakfast item with fondness on their back packing trips in South-east Asia.

 

What are the essentials of this dish?  Deep fried crunchy anchovies. Fresh slices of Lebanese cucumbers. The condiment that accompanies many dishes in a hot climate, the sambal.  Curry chicken in some instances, roast soya sauced flavoured chicken in others.   Eating with your hands, where the second and third digits become fascinating and natural excavators of food.  Having rose syrup drinks or the cinnamon laced latte, teh tarik.  Cuttlefish, spinach and pickled vegetables. Hard boiled eggs coated with an interesting chili based gravy (picture below) are appreciated - the telur sambal. Most Caucasians love the beef rendang to accompany the nasi lemak.  On occasion, you may get deep fried groundnuts or even an omelette.  Seafood is popular in Straits Chinese renditions of this dish, including my favourite tamarind flavoured prawns on the shell and fish fillets. (photo above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cousins of this dish include the nasi dagang from the north-eastern states of Peninsular Malaysia (Kelantan and Trengganu); the nasi uduk from the Indonesian islands; and the nasi lemak kukus, a steamed variant.  The quality of the coconut milk used is most critical and how the rice is steamed to produce a fluffy result, not hard in texture nor overwhelming in coconut cream flavours.

 

Traditionally, nasi lemak is served in banana leaf packages, the bungkus. In the Sydney area, for commercial outlets, try this dish at Temasek Singapore Restaurant in Parramatta; the Kaki Lima Cafe in Kingsford (kaki lima literally meaning a "five foot way"; and Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine in Concord.  In Melbourne, Nasi Lemak House is a well known chain bearing the name of this dish.

 

Recently I had the pleasure of enjoying the nasi lemak made at home by Susan and Boo Ann Yap in Carlingford, NSW, where the accompanying pictures were captured.  Their version is more from my home island of Penang in Malaysia and I thoroughly enjoyed the seafood, roast pork and telur sambal that they came up with.

 

I reproduce, with copyright acknowledgement, the Rasa Malaysia Recipe of Nasi Lemak

Ingredients:
Coconut Milk Steamed Rice
2 cups of rice
3 screw pine leaves (tie them into a knot as shown above)
Salt to taste
1 small can of coconut milk (5.6 oz size)
Some water
Tamarind Juice
1 cup of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball)
Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies sambal)
1/2 red onion
1 cup ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
1 clove garlic
4 shallots
10 dried chillies
1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
Other ingredients
2 hard boiled eggs (cut into half)
3 small fish (sardines or smelt fish)
1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered)

Method:

1. Just like making steamed rice, rinse your rice and drain. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water. Add the pandanus leaves into the rice and cook your rice.
2. Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.
3. Pound the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, and de-seeded dried chilies with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a food processor.
4. Slice the red onion into rings.
5. Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.
6. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste until fragrant.
7. Add in the onion rings.
8. Add in the ikan bilis and stir well.
9. Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar.
10. Simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside.
11. Clean the small fish, cut them into half and season with salt. Deep fry.
12. Cut the cucumber into slices and then quartered into four small pieces.
13. Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice and pour some sambal ikan bilis on top of the rice.
14. Serve with fried fish, cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs.'s recipe for their nasi lemak.

 

 

 

 

Mike's Grill, Sylvania, NSW - Greek Night

What can I expect on a themed evening, and one that is attractively Greek? I have watched enough Hollywood made movies with the hype of breaking plates and all that at such functions.  Realistically, I knew it was going to be a meat night.  The air was still nippy and my group could not literally find parking  along the busy stretch of Princes Highway leading north and just before Tom Ugly's Bridge, a key landmark that separates Sutherland Shire ( 'the Shire") from the rest of greater Sydney.  And then we found a better spot for the car towards the water, that of the King Georges River, the main arterial waterway in Sydney's south.  We followed the rules and had to cross the overhead pedestrian bridge over the Highway.

Once we survived all that, plus the increasingly nippy air for the first week of September in the southern hemisphere, we were welcomed with already grilled bite sized lamb pieces from an experienced barbecue looking guy manning the front grill. Oh yes, the expected lamb on a spit.  It was already getting relaxed noisy inside Mike's Grill & Bar, with easy to read menus on the large wall and with more women diners than guys. We figured out there could be more than just one birthday party. There were easily a hundred diners in the restaurant.  The last time we were there we did not feel the sense of being in Mykonos or Santorini - tonight we were transported there, although I also thought we must have been in Slyvania.  The staff were quick to organise things, get us seated, commence the train of snacks and kindly allowed us the reds that we thought was okay to bring in. There was a mobile DJ, a small dance floor and tightly packed tables so close beside each other that you could easily start a conversation with strangers.

I enjoyed the fresh salads most of all.  The breads, whether in Turkish, olive-flavoured or unleavened pita traditions, got us going - but hey, we were already having our lamb first!  I did find the calamari fritti rather on the damp side, but they were more than made up by the slow roasted chicken pieces in a gravy of spices, red wine and tomato.  Tasted more Italian, I reckoned. Of course, black and green olives were everywhere.  The spanakopita, a baked pastry with spinach fillings and fetta cheese inside, were easy to cuddle up to.  I did not warm up to the baked pastitsio, a baked pasta dish utilising ground beef and bechamel sauce.    Grilled hulloumi cheese with a slice of lemon was the iconic Greek that evening in the sumptous course.  Hulloumi has origins in Cyprus and is unripened but brined cheese similar to the mozarella, utilising both the milk of goats and sheep.

This was the kind of meal  that one sits with family, mates and the special one, but mind you, they are all there at the same table.   And the souvlaki with tzatziki (cucumber and  yogurt dips) had to make an appearance, at the end, when I was getting full and Franco had to get some clear hard liquor. 
Souvlaki hails from the days of the philosopher Aristotle, offering bite-sized cuts instead of steak portions.

Next it got more merry and groggy. The Greek necked bowl lute, the bouzouki, made an appearance and  started some very cultural tunes and it finally led to a parade of fifty or more ladies dancing happily not just in the restaurant, but out along the streets of Slyvania. What a sight, passing motorists should be lucky to see all this and not endure the eleven hour air flight to Athens. I then further realised dining in a Greek setting was more than eating, it was a communal get together, letting go of one's hair and re-affirming the bonds of friendships and relationships.  The diners at Mike's Grill that evening clapped easily, spontaneously and with a musical flair.

Mike's runs three separate restaurants, at the Royal Hotel in Sutherland, NSW; this joint I went to; and across the Princes Highway, all with their own unique menus.  If it was not Greek night, the north bound outlet just before Tom Ugly's offers a variety of seafood, Italian pastas and wood fired pizzas.  Think of the pork set of ribs, five spiced king prawns and Portuguese styled chicken skewers as stand outs.  Greek Night is held on the first Friday evening of each month at the north bound restaurant.

Would I return?  A definite yes. Thanks , Andy, for driving us back that night, you were our Plan B, so in Australian Motor Registry speak.  We each felt like waking up on some beach the next day, like Wollongong, to recover from an eye opening experience.  Maybe it is more necessary to cycle or have a run, for the women have had their dance at Mike's Grill, whilst most of the men just sat around. Good to catch up with Tez, good to discover an innovative eating and social experience.  It was better than Greek yumcha!

Auburn, NSW - A Touch of Turkey and Lebanon

There is an Anatolian feel in the outer western suburb of Auburn in greater Sydney. There are both Muslim and Christian symbols and institutions in this area, which also intermingles East Asian demographics with families having roots in the Middle East. Then there is the food, best surveyed by walking the main street of Auburn Road. NRL football fans will know Auburn as the birth place of Brad Fittler.  Political enthusiasts associate the place with Warren Mundine, the first indigenous President of the Australian Labour Party.  The oldest Hindu temple in Australia, the Sri Mandir, provides religious focus , together with the Gallipoli Mosque, done in classical Ottoman style and design.  Oliver Goldsmith's poem "The Deserted Village"  provided the source for the name of Auburn.  Above picture, young Mamet helps out on a Saturday morning at his family bakery.

Makanek, or beef with chicken sausages made in the Lebanese tradition, and sujuk, Turkish styled treats, are sold fresh in an Auburn butchery, which cuts meats according to halal requirements.  They are fermented and cured semi-dry sausages.  Pine nuts, cumin, vinegar, coriander, pepper, nutmeg and cloves are used in the seasoning process.

 

 

 

 

 

Australians are familiar with the baklava, intense sweet desserts consisting of pistachio or other nutty delights smothered with honey syrup in baked filo pastry (image above)  and the ever popular so-called Turkish wheat flour breads of pide (last photograph in this article).  Baklava has  been known to Europeans for around four hundred years, with the contemporary version in Australia based on the recipe used by the imperial kitchens at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.  An interesting note is that Adam is the Patron Saint of Bakers and he got into breadmaking after he was expelled from the Garden Of  Eden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auburn is  a bustling place of commerce during the day, with many families going about their daily regime. Fresh produce are a necessity especially in the cooking requirements of ancient cultures, so many fruit, meat and vegetable outlets thrive in business as such.  The working class nature of Auburn continues, even if new immigarnt groups have settled in. Not far away along the main strip of Parramatta Road are the so-called modern  complexes as exemplified by Costco from the USA and locally bred Reading Cinemas.  Auburn Road provides variety in cafes, sweets, salads, breads and cultural icons. Parking can be challenging with very limited time parking for most of the day hours.

It can be worthwhile to park further away, take the walk and soak in the very different world that Auburn can offer, in sights, smells and attractions.

Homebush, Sydney - Street Food

 

 

The aroma coming from fresh ingredients cooking on a well seasoned wok is not comparable. It conjures the sensations of a welcome respite, when arriving at a street side hawker's stall in Manila. or in a traditional coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City or Georgetown on Penang Island.  Respite from coping with the tropical sun and figuring out the several temptations on the nostril.  Prawns and calamari, tender bits of cut meat, the green feel of chives and slices of well made omelette can make good company with cleverly stir fried rice noodles. This was what greeted us at a weekend lunch in  a small and modest cafe in Homebush, an outer west suburb of Sydney.  It was well patronised.  A lot of the Cantonese dialect was spoken, amongst the customers and staff.   This was the kind of outlet where common tea blends were slapped on the table, where we shared a dining area and where everyone seemed to relish the hot piping food.   Chili based condiments are provided at no extra charge (picture below).

 

 

 

 

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the hot plate of sizzling prawns, garnished with sweet onion slices, a good dash of chili and shallot rings and all in a generous portion. It was obviously this needed to be accompanied by steamed rice and they gave a rather larger portion of that than we expected.  I understood why several people waited patiently outside  for their turn to get a table.  This place was opposite an Asian grocery that already  stocked mooncake boxes early before the October 1 festival this year.  This cafe fronted a small pedestrian mall-like open air lane way.

 

 

 

 

The staff were quick in service  and friendly. We had Vietnamese styled iced coffee, which blended well with the spicy dish pictured above.  We would definitely return, for tasty dishes that were reasonably priced and freshly cooked.  There is a variety of both southern Chinese and Vietnamese dishes in the menu.