Hulu at King St Wharf

 

A feast at Hulu

 

My first impression on arrival is a well set restaurant overlooking Darling Harbour and lovely King St Wharf views.  Situated along Lime Street and King St Wharf Hulu sits in the shadow of Barangaroo.  It is in a perfect location for the business lunch, the after work crowd and the social weekend crowd.  It would work for a date night too!

 

My second impression is a modern menu with a classic cocktail list.  We are a party of six food bloggers tonight. We are excited to taste the menu.  I start with a classic caprioska with kiwi fruit.  It's is a refreshing way to start the evening.  The kiwi fruit adds a different dimension to the drink.

 

 

Caprioska with kiwi fruit

 

As a group we go with a varied selection of the menu and end up with a feast to write about!  The menu offers a great selection of dumplings to begin the meal.   

 

Mixed appetiser

 

We begin with an appetiser that includes a prawn and honeydew melon salad, chili chicken, pickled carrot and daikon and spinach in sesame sauce.

 

Next up we start with dumplings.  Actually where do I start.  There are many to taste!

The pan fried mushroom dumplings are earthy and delicate in the thick chewy dumpling wrapper. 

Pan fried mushroom dumplings

 

The deep fried lamb dumplings looked delicious. The dumpling casing is thicker and doughier than I expected but the filling is meaty and delicate.   Next up was the Hulu signature cheese and prawn dumplings. I was intrigued by this combination of filling and was pleasantly surprised.

 

 

                         Deep fried lamb dumplings                               signature Crispy Cheese and Prawn Dumplings

 

The uniquely hand made Nemo dumplings have fast become a menu favourite (and most photographed menu item) and are not only fun to eat but are delicious too!  The prawn and pork dumplings were lovely and light.

 

 

Nemo dumplings                                                     Prawn and pork dumplings

 

Homemade tofu is a menu item you don't see very often in a restaurant.  This was fabulous and one of my favourite dishes.  The slab of tofu is silken and creamy and delicate but holds the sauce of the enoki mushroom really well.  Definitely a winner for me.   

 

 

Homemade tofu and mushrooms in egg white sauce

The lobster congee was like any good congee but superior with chunks of lobster meat.    A delicious comforting dish.

Lobster congee

 

A twist on an old classic looks enticing.  Sweet and Sour Pork on ICE. Yes on ice.  It is said that the ice cubes keep the crispy coating even crispier.   The pork was tender and the coating was crisp and being cold was an interesting spin on the dish.

 

Sweet and Sour Pork on Ice

A half smoked duck in jasmine tea is fragrant and crispy.  It is portioned and served on an unusual serving dish which adds to the excitement of it.  Crispy skin and great flavoured duck with a hint of smoky tea, thankfully it is not overpowering the richness of the duck. Yum.

Smoked duck in Jasmine tea

 

The next dish didn't appear on the menu. It's prawns in a citrus sauce and was light and refreshing.

Prawns in citrus

Yangzhou fried rice accompanies the feast. 

Yangzhou fried rice

We are in awe when the final savoury dish of the night arrives at the table.  The signature slow cooked pork belly is wrapped in leaves and slowed cooked.  Once unwrapped (at the table) it is sauced and served.

 

This was incredible.  The pork belly is melt in your mouth, sticky, chewy and all the great things that go with this cut of pork.

Signature slow cooked pork belly

 

To finish off this fine feast I try a piece of the osmanthus cake (which is anything but 'cake')  more like a jelly this is flavoured with chrysanthemum and is light and delicate.

 

Osmanthus cake

To finish of the meal I was excited to eat the deep fried ice cream (which is my weakness). Served at table side, the deep fried ball of ice cream is encase in a dome of white chocolate. A warm chocolate sauce is then poured over the top to melt the dome and mix into a warm chocolate sauce. The bread coating is the perfect coating to vanilla ice cream.

 

Deep Fried Ice Cream

*Roofood dined as a guest of Hulu at King St Wharf and Red Productions.  All opinions are expressly Roo's. Thanks for the invitation.

Yebisu Izakaya @ Regent Place

 



 

Yebisu is a charming Japanese Izakaya snuggled inside Regent Place on George Street. It’s very popular amongst the Japanese community, along with everyone else in the know! I have eaten here previously, pop over here to read about that night here. 

Regent Place appears to be the 'new' dining scene with loads of restaurants and Assembly Bar downstairs.

We arrived on a Friday night a little before 6pm and the line was already stretching. As we had been invited by Yebisu to dine with them we were whisked in quickly and sat at a table along the back wall offering a great view of the restaurant.

It's pumping on a Friday night. Don't be deterred by the long lines and waiting times, it dishes up some decent and fair eats and both the menu and beverage list is fairly extensive.

First up we grabbed a couple of Asahi’s including a Super Dry Black and a cold Ippin sake.

 

Asahi and Sake make for a great start to a meal

Using the menu and the touch pad to select from the menu we worked our way through picking and choosing our dishes. Dishes do come out fast once ordered so if you want to have a more leisurely dinner make selections throughout the meal to pace it (and yourself (hahah) !!!).

We start with a bowl of the lotus chips.  Paired with beer and/or sake these are just the devils food.  AMAZING.  Whatever the seasoning is that is sprinkled on these chips is very addictive!

lotus chips

 

In hindsight we should have had a bowl each. These were so utterly glorious and we neither of us could stop eating them (to the point that we were arguing who was eating more!!!)

 

As mentioned the dishes come out fast and soon we had a table laden with dishes!

 

just to start!

 

 

We begin with a serve sashimi entrée of the day. A selection of tuna, salmon and kingfish. A good palate cleanser.

 

Today's sashimi entrée

 

The chilli pork dumplings are served in a decorative bowl. They are steaming and plump with pork mince with a small kick of warming chilli. 

 

chilli pork dumplings

 

You can not eat at an Izakaya and not order yakitori or skewers!   We are swayed by the pork belly, pork and kimch (salt) and the salmon belly (in all it’s fatty gloriousness). These were all very tasty and the salmon belly was a favourite.

pork belly

 

pork and kimch (salt) and salmon belly

To finish our meal we ordered the chicken meatball hotpot.  A big wok of soup and ingredients are placed on the table to simmer.

 

chicken hotpot

 

The hotpot bubbled away with the occasional stir until we were ready to dig in.

 

 

Spooning out tidbits and morsels of fresh chicken, mushrooms, noodles, cabbage and fragrant broth was comforting and nourishing.

 

slurp away

 

Yebisu is a fun night out and you won't leave hungry!  It's a fun atmosphere and good food.

*Roofood was invited by Yebisu and Washuko Lovers. 

 

Sushi Rio @ Westfield Sydney

I love Sushi Rio so much that I am on average once a week.  I have started having cravings if I don't get a such fix!

 

Sushi Rio is in Westfields Sydney on Level 4.  Most dishes are $3.50 making this sushi train a fantastic cheap lunch in the city.  You can choose off the train or you can order from a list of dishes. 

 

 

 

I would have to say my favourite sushi dishes here are the soft shell crab handroll, the crispy skin salmon (because it still meaty) and the grilled salmon nigiri.

Make sure you ask for fresh wasabi, which comes cold out of the fridge and top with copious amount of pickled ginger (it's the best).

Sometimes they have special dishes on, like the crispy prawns pictured below.

 

Sushi Rio is definitely a go too place for lunch!  Best to go early during lunch time, although turn around time is frequent.

 

 

 

Sydney Cellar Door 2016 - a weekend of wine tastings

2016's Sydney Cellar Door in Hyde Park South on the weekend of 26-28 February was lots of fun!  After last year, I arranged to visit on the Friday night again as it is always a great night out after work.

Collecting our stemless plastic festival glass and drink tokens (get there right on 5pm for a short wait in the line up otherwise the line is horrendous later on!) we started in Mudgee and worked our way through NSW.

 

A sheet of 8 tokens will set you back $20. One token gives you a 30ml sample of wine from your winery choice.

 

 

Regions represented this year are Mudgee, Orange, Hunter Valley, Bathurst, Canberra, Gundagai, Hilltops, New England and Northern Slopes Riverina and Southern Highlands. I didn’t realise that NSW had such an wide range of wine regions but I am very interested in learning more (and enjoying) the cool climate wines from NSW.

 

Of course I’m straight over to visit Ross Hill Wines from Orange for their delectable Shiraz. This has to be my favourite shiraz, each year slightly different but always robust and spicy. It never disappoints!

 

 

 

Over the course of the evening we managed to sample quite a few wines. Unfortunately due to a miscommunication with event staff and the wineries service was cut at 8.30pm (which nobody was aware of) and many of us were left with an abundance of leftover tokens. We were lucky to be in a position to return on Saturday, but I know many who weren’t. This slight overview was quickly rectified by Saturday morning and everyone was made aware of the laws and the times.  Cheers!
 

 

Saturday was hot, sunny and perfect for an afternoon of more wine. First up though, when there is wine there has to be good food and Porteno was calling my name. We hadn't eaten dinner last night (another reason perhaps why we enjoyed so many samples!).

 

Check out the slabs of pork belly on the BBQ.

 

 

 

 

The BBQ pork belly sandwich with jalapeno aioli and leeks certainly hit the spot!

 

The boy enjoyed his Ribs & Burgers ‘Butchers Cheese Burger’.

 

 

 

 

I was enjoying a variety of wines over the weekend.  Whites, reds and even a glorious Rose from Heifer Station Vineyard in Orange.

 

 

 

There is lots of produce tasting to.  Everything from vinegars and oils, jams, chutneys, sauces  and cheeses from around the regions.  Baxter & Bird bird had a great eggplant chutney.

 

 

 

A food highlight for me was Oysters Unplugged.  Sourced from Ralston Bros. Oysters on the Clyde River, the oysters are meaty, briny and succulent. 

 

 

 

So with a glass of bubbles in hand I indulged in two of these Jumbo and they were huge as big as your palm.

 

 

 

 Gotta have cheese with wine right?

 

 

A new feature this year is Castello’s cheese bar. Bring your wine along and they will match a cheese to your wine (or in our case whatever you wanted to try). We tasted test their Creamy White, Creamy Blue and their two new cheeses in the range, the White with Truffle and the Mellow Black. After tasting, choose your favourite and they cut you a decent wedge with some lavosh on a plate you can pull up a hale bale or stool under an umbrella and enjoy a mini cheese platter.

 

 

 

Along with sipping and samples there are plenty of competitions to enter and lists to join. Hungerford

Hill always have a great competition.

 

Once again, this was a lovely weekend to enjoy NSW Wineries.  A great way to sample the varieties without the travel! Saying that, my travel list has just gotten longer now that I want to do so wine travel...along with the food travel!!!

Oiden Bowl Bar

Looking for a quick service, cheap and cheerful restaurant in the CBD?  Look no further than Oiden Bowl Bar.

As the restaurant names suggests the base of the dishes are rice topped with choices like BBQ wagyu beef, stewed or hashed beef, chicken kara-age, curries and, salmon. You can mix it up and top your bowl with kimchi or my all time favourite, an ontama (a soft gooey boiled egg).

I love little places like this. The casual, laid back feel. The charm and atmosphere is abuzz with people dashing in and out and about.

We grab a tray and join the cafeteria style line. Placing our order, I poured a honey and lemon house made drink, a pick and mix selection of deep fried treats, grab a dora yaki (a pancake filled with sweet red bean) for something sweet to end the meal, a miso soup and pay at the end. 

 

 

This honey and lemon water is thirst quenching.

 

The bowls can also come as part of a value set which includes a miso soup and a drink. Grab one of these little laminated cards so that cashier knows the value set you have (they come in a few different options).

 

So this is what value set A would look like.  A rice bowl, a miso soup and a house made drink.  Value set A was $2.50 extra.  A great meal deal.

 

Head for the nearest communal table and dig in.

 

Tonight we chose the BBQ Wagyu beef with ontama rice bowl and the garlic butter chicken teriyaki rice bowl with a few choices of deep fried snacks and a serve of rare roast beef.  A feast for sure!

 

The BBQ Wagyu have large pieces of BBQ beef atop fluffy rice with shallots and pickled ginger.  As the egg spreads through the beef and rice it makes it creamy and gooey.
 

 

The garlic butter is a burst of flavour in your mouth paired with tender pieces of the teriyaki chicken. raised cabbage adds a slight crunchy texture. I enjoyed this very much.

 

 

A side of deep fried treats includes pork loin, crumbed yellow tail, chicken kar-age and takoyaki balls.  The chicken is super crispy, hot and juicy and the pork loin is a fantastic.
 

 

 

We also indulged in their new dish of rare roast beef, seeded mustard, yoghurt mayo and black pepper. The beef is served cold and is tender and juicy. The mayo and mustard seeds are creamy and subtle.  This was a highlight.
 

 

The dora yaki is a sweet pancake filled with a sweet red bean paste. Although ‘sweet’ it’s not overly sugary sweet.

 

 

You might notice similarities with the restaurant next door, which is Mappen.  Similar but offering udon and soba noodles and Dera Uma offering donburi style bowls across the way. They are all related but all slightly different in their own way.

 

The restaurants are also part of the Washoku Lovers programme. Sign up here and mention your membership for some great deals.

Skyview Shopping Plaza
545-551 George Street
SYDNEY