Jane's Kitchen, Carlingford - Sydney

It is a one shop lot, with entrance doors purposefully hidden from the main street with opaque cover ups on the doors. If not that I heard a bit good about this restaurant, I may have missed it for  the world.  Jane's Kitchen has been in business for so many years it has become a standard bearer of souhtern Chinese cuisine, specifically Guangzhou, in the north-western suburb of Carlingford, over 20 kilometres from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It also lies in the epicentre of what can be considered to be a middle class area with many Asian demographics but particularly from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. Not far from Macquarie Unibersity's main campus in North Ryde, Jane's only has several dining tables, so it can feel like home for a diner, but at the same time, it can also have a crowded feel, particualrly on weekend nights.

On the Friday evening that my gathering of ten went to Jane's, it was full house by 730pm.  We asked the friendly lady on duty for her ethnic recommendations, especially those not on the English language menu. We could have looked at what was ordered on other tables but wanted the know the signature dishes from the restaurant itself. I was very pleased with the lady's recommendations of the following:
1. vermicelli in a hot pot, infused with flavours from tasty and wholesome prawns.
2. tofu wrapped with seafood and gently simmering in a light sauce.
3. duck pieces braised with yam slices, with the latter stewed to a tender bite.
4. lamb done Cantonese style, to live up to the Guangzhou tradition about sheep.

There was the usual welcome soup and platter of orange slices for dessert.  The dishes requested came fast but steady.  Some of us had Tsingtao beer, which went down well with the scallops, I reckoned. Dish servings were not large but sufficient enough to allow having a variety on the table. I was impressed with the light tone of the gravies, which brought a satisfaction to the palate without making the diners feel a need to quench their thirst two hours later. The kailan vegetables were specifically fresh and crunchy. We did not choose any dessert as we adjourned to a Korean styled coffee joint in nearby Eastwood after the dinner.

Would I return to Jane's?  A definite yes. Maybe the reason for the covered up entrances is to shut out the heavy traffic that can pass by along this section of Pennant Hills Road near the Carlingford Asian Village shopping centre. Vehicle parking has to be on the side roads. One has to book a table early.  I am eyeing having a goat dish the next time around, but apparently that has to be pre-ordered a day or two before. The taste of the food is comparable to bigger sized and well known Chinese restaurants in the city centre but the setting is suburban and more casual. Neighbouring tables were observed dabbling in the higher end of well priced seafood - the lobsters, the crabs and the like - but I do recommend trying the range available at Jane's - and not just stick to celebratory seafood.

Spice I Am - Sydney CBD

Spice I Am had shaken the Thai restaurant and cafe scene in Sydney for several years by now.  With modest beginnings beside a back packer accommodation joint, the operators now have also opened upmarket outlets in Balmain and Darlinghurst, plus an alternative operation in House, sited not far away.  However I always look to its first venue, near the triangulation of Campbell, Wentworth and Elizabeth Streets near Central Railway Station, as its heart and soul.

There were only two of us who stumbled upon an available table on the pavement at the corner of this Thai food delight. I had to have the homok, steamed spiced up fish mousse wrapped in banana leaves, but I realised that the servings that Saturday night lacked fish and flavour. One of my fav dishes here is the pork belly cut up in bite sized pieces that provided the intensity of the garlic, basil and chili that they were stir fried with. We gave that a pass over on this occasion as there were only two of us.  I still felt trepidation at having the shredded papaya salad called the som tum on our request, as a few times over, I experienced over the top chili burn, sour amplification and burning sensations on past attempts with this well known salad.  To my amazement this evening, the som tum was perfect in my view, infused with crunchy flavours but not on the radical end of the chili burn spectrum. Have the cooks toned this down?

Guests do not expect to linger on sitting at Spice I Am. They have a few turnovers of the same table each evening or lunch arvo, as people still streamed in to wait on the roadside even if the compact sized site was abuzz with customers. It does make sense to come in groups of six for Thai food, as then there is an opportunity to sample more dishes.  This was like the group of twenty somethings at our next table, practically dressed in shorts, T shirts and an easy carefree attitude.  The evening's humidity was decreasing but the chili heat was going up. As demonstrated over many years, service was super efficient and may be too fast.However I knew we could not hold on to our table, no matter how small, for more than the average 45 minutes. Hence there was this penchant from neighbouring residents for take aways, which was delivered equally as fast as for the sit in diners.

The best dish that both of us had on this occasion on a Saturday night was the deep fried snapper, garnished with a mango salad that was generously heaped on top of the primary item. It was mouth-watering, both the fish and salad. I did miss the pad thai, another favourite of the Aussie customer in Sydney. Orders are taken by the earnest staff from people waiting outside the joint and that does help to escalate delivery of the dishes once seats are offered to them. The relative absence of use of coconut milk in many of the dishes at Spice I Am is a good point to note, for they move away from the creamy and sugary emphasis of most Thai outlets in most suburbs across the Australian continent.  Many Aussies have visited Thailand on one occasion or another and it can be useful if the Thai restaurant scene here can distinguish themselves more by their variations in regional cuisine.  Phuket food is so different from Korat or Chiangmai.

Bondi Beach Revisted

Miss Chu, Bondi Beach - Sydney

Traditional sausages from Laos, but which I found to be on the sweet side, though tasty and wholesome on the bite.

I must say it got pretty dark, eating inside the Miss Chu joint at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach one Sunday twilight.  Bob and I were pretty happy that we had a table, as it was obvious the place was filling up pretty fast, spilling from inside to the passage areas and more. The semi-darkness became more obvious only when I saw diners literally eating not being able to see their food on the outer tables.
There was however a buzz about the place - perhaps I attribute this most to the demographic patronising Miss Chu there at the corner of Campbell Parade and Curlewis Street, next to the Hotel Bondi. In fact we had crossed over from schooners of Coopers at this pub before we crawled over to what seemed to be Vietnamese street food, but which in reality also offered Laotian delights.

I felt though I was transported back to a street lane in Vietnam.  The table we had was designed to have a holder for napkins below the  flat surface. I found the napkins were of very poor paper quality. There was no receptacle to hold sauces like in Thailand and the stools were very low rise. The diner had to cope with and settle for compact dimensions. We could not resist having the drip filter coffee ala Vietnam, but no tea spoon was made available for us to stir the condensed milk at the bottom of the small glass.  In a ridiculous moment, we had to use flimsy wooden chop sticks to stir this gluey milk to blend with the thick coffee.

Wait staff were few and very busy.  I also empathised with the kitchen crew, having to work in rather confined environs where it was easy to rub shoulder with shoulder.  The young lady who attended to our table, Caucasian, still kept her bright spirits about her despite it all. She even made sure to ask us if everything was okay with the food just when we approached a small counter to pay for our meal.  As the evening drew on, more and more guests came in but the food was served rather efficiently fast.  The profile of the typical Miss Chu customer that night fitted the perception of Bondi to a capital B. The males had hunky shaved jaws, surfer tans and gym bodes.  The females looked like they grew up elsewhere but adapted to the place fast, worked in jobs of their passion and seemed to be world wise travellers.

I did feel heavy pangs of thirstiness when I reached home two hours later. This may mean additives added to the food or maybe not.  I did reflect, on eating the banh mi, or baguette with fillings, that I could get this snack at much less cost in some other suburb.  Servings were generally on the smaller scale and as in such Asian joints, guests helped themselves to drinking water from kettle like pots.  It had been a magical and enjoyable Bondi evening for us earlier, so all these little things did not bother us much.  Miss Chu is found as well at the Regent Place near the George Street Cinemas in down town Sydney, a hub more attuned and adjusted to rough and ready, come and go settings.   The Bondi outlet had a good turn over of diners that evening.  What made us stand up from our low stools was the fact that the ticket for parking was soon running out of its paid time.

I was told to try the rice paper wraps and we chose the tiger prawn variety. I found them to be pretty ordinary that evening - or was it because I had higher expectations?

The Harbourfront Restaurant, Wollongong Harbour, NSW

Authentic, with a savoury sauce that got the palate going as an entree. Prawns can be de-veined and are lightly touched with lemon juice and set aside. Scallions, garlic, celery and parsley are finely chopped to get the flavours started. The chopped herbs are sauteed in cooking oil. The brew is enriched with broth, dry white wine, salt and pepper.  The ready sauce is added with the prepared prawns and sprinkled  with chopped oregano and crumbled feta cheese. Then everything goes to be baked at 400 degrees Celsius for at most 15 minutes.  Garnish with cherry tomatoes and fresh scallions.

What differentiates the Harboufront Restaurant in Wollongong from its fellow practitioners?  I reckon it is the quality of the seafood and the service.  The ambiance may already be pre-determined by its harbour side setting, with guests being able to look out to the calm waters of a marina and further gaze into the escarpment holding tall above the Illawarra coast.  It is the careful and friendly way the staff attend to you , from when you step in, to when you ask for things away from the menu, that make a difference. It is the texture, flavour and integrity of the ingredients used, plus the accompanying sauces and garnishing, that complete the satisfying picture.

Although I have been at the Harbour Front before for pre Christmas meals, it was a pleasure to visit it  again to mark the Lunar New Year of the Snake, to relax with a good mate.  I thoroughly enjoyed a great conversation, spurred on by three other wonderful experiences -  the Long Board pale ale(local top the Illawarra and was served by the Harbourfront);  the Sartorini prawns (photo above); and the affagato coffee consumed after the mains.  My mate had the five point lamb rack, whilst I reaffirmed the Harbourfront's speciality in seafood by enjoying my choice of moist grilled salmon and a grilled scampi (picture below).

The chefs Joshua Marks and David Vidal have a gem going for them, the restaurant being winners of the category of Best Seafood, South Coast NSW as recently as last year.  The restaurant also overlooks the fishing boats coming in occasionally from the day and night's outing to the Tasman Sea.  Seasonal sensitivity in choice of ingredients may be a key factor.  Established in 1984, Harbourfront continues to enjoy a neighbourhood with a renovated Belmore Basin, a demographic who appreciates surfing and other ocean side delights the ocean and more properties rising in value along next door Cliff Road.

There is no traffic rush on evenings in Wollongong CBD, unless there is an NRL game live at the nearby WIN Stadium.  Summer lunchtime, or when the weather remains sunny and balmy during any season in the year, can pose vehicle parking issues but it is most often just a nice stroll away to the Harbourfront.  I have hardly tried their meat offerings like Angus Scotch and their rib eye.   There are Italian inspired creations with gnocchi, calamari and panna cotta, but I stand always with the John Dory, snapper, barramundi and Atlantic salmon served at the Harbourfront.  They also have wedding function and dinner packages.  I recall fondly their seafood platters, both with cold and warm items, as they handle crustaceans well. There is a reserve wine list, consisting of mainly Yalumbas, Penfolds and Henschke, plus a range of premium spirits like bourbons, Pimms, Cinzano, Bombay Sapphire and Captain Morgans rum.  A ground floor venue accessible from the main upper two floor dining site also provides a more casual beach cafe option.