Vue (Auckland)

I dined at the Vue Restaurant for pretty much the entire week during my stay at the Mercure Hotel in Auckland. Situated at the top floor of the hotel building, the restaurant has a fantastic view of the harbor so make sure you get yourself a table next to the window.

The lamb rack was generous in portion and well cooked, but make sure you ask for the fish of the day before making a decision. The vegetarian pasta was a bit strange with fried asparagus on top of the cream sauce. The sundae dessert was satisfying.

Details:
Vue Restaurant
8 Customs Street East 
(Top Floor, Mercure Auckland) 
Auckland Central
http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1721-mercure-auckland/restaurant.shtml

Quay (Sydney)

To celebrate my partner’s birthday, we treated ourselves for dinner at the Quay Restaurant. The view from the restaurant was fantastic, as was the attentive service.

We went for the tasting menu and the night went through some highs and lows. The slow cooked pork belly in broth and the Angus beef were excellent, while the XO (sauce) sea dish was a bit too strong. The reputed snow egg dessert would have been an excellent note to finish the meal, but the jersey cream that followed was just too rich.

Details:
Quay Restaurant
Upper Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal
The Rocks, Sydney 2000
http://www.quay.com.au/

Café Madang at Maison Hermès Dosan Park (Seoul Korea)

As a fan of Hermes silk, I always like to pay a visit to the boutiques when travelling. Hermes opened its first Asian flagship store with a café in Seoul. So we paid a visit during our stay.

Café Madang is situated at the lower ground of the Hermes boutique, adjacent to a museum with some historic Hermes product (highly recommended for a half hour browse if you are into luxury goods). We ordered a couple of desserts for morning tea. The dishes were beautifully presented, and dining in Hermes cutleries was rather a unique experience.

Details:
Café Madang
Maison Hermès Dosan Park
Dosan Park 630-26
Shinsa-dong Gangnam-gu
135-895 Seoul
http://stores.hermes.com/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/Hermes-Dosan-Park

Silk & Spice (Abu Dhabi)

Other than dining at the buffet while staying at the Sofitel Abu Dhabi, my other ‘go-to’ restaurant was the Silk & Spice Thai restaurant.

I found the dishes serviced at Silk & Spice to be very authentic. The prawn pad thai and salmon red curry were my favorites. From my conversation with the chef, the ice-cream served in the desserts were all homemade – something worth trying if you are still peckish at the end of the meal.

Details:
Silk & Spice
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Corniche Road East Capital Plaza, Abu Dhabi
http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-7507-sofitel-abu-dhabi-corniche/index.shtml#./restaurant.shtml

Corniche All Day Dining (Abu Dhabi)

I stayed at the Sofitel in my 2 weeks in Abu Dhabi and many of my meals were eaten inside the hotel. To avoid waiting after a long day in the office, I usually headed straight to the Corniche buffet on the ground floor.

3 things I want from a buffet – roast tray that is not dried, 2 kinds of hot food that is well done, and high quality desserts. The Corniche has all of that. The roast chicken is succulent. And the array of curry dishes was authentic and flavourful. And there was the French patisserie like dessert cart…

Details:
Corniche All Day Dining
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Corniche Road East Capital Plaza, Abu Dhabi
http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-7507-sofitel-abu-dhabi-corniche/index.shtml#./restaurant.shtml

The Foodstore (Auckland New Zealand)

After spending 12 days in Auckland on business I still haven not had a chance to taste the famous New Zealand lamb. I headed to The Foodstore with lamb in mind.

The restaurant was great for the lone business traveller with TVs showing food programs. Both my lamb cutlet and venison dishes were excellent. New Zealand lamb is really different than others with added tenderness and flavour.

The trifle wrapped up a wonderful day with the many layers of texture.

Details:
The Foodstore
Market Square, Viaduct Harbour
Auckland, New Zealand
http://thefoodstore.tv/

Kermadec Bar & Bistro (Auckland New Zealand)

I looked up the list of restaurants that offered direct billing to my hotel room while in Auckland. I chose Kermadec Bar & Bistro for its focus of seafood. The menu offered a large array of seafood as well as meat dishes. My macadamia crusted hapuku was well cooked and I really enjoyed the clear cockle sauce. The size of the fillets was rather small and I would have liked another piece.

The apple pie dessert was excellent. It was perfect when mixed with cardamom ice cream.

Details:
Kermadec Bar & Bistro
Level 1, Viaduct Quay
Corner Quay & Hobson Streets
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.kermadec.co.nz/barandbistro.htm

Jean Georges (New York)

We arranged our dinner at 3 Michelin star Jean-Georges as a way to wrap up our visit (in my case, reward for a few days of business meetings).

We went for the prix fixe menu of 4 courses. I really enjoyed my foie gras brulee with smooth foie working so well with the candied pistachios. My partner’s trout and oyster tartare was such a smart combination. Our meat courses of duck breast and lamb were beautifully presented and the meat perfectly cooked. Service was impeccable from start to finish and we thank them for a great experience.

Details:
Jean-Georges
1 Central Park West
New York
http://www.jean-georgesrestaurant.com/jean-georges/

Rockpool On George (Sydney)

The boys had a mini-reunion with all of us being in Sydney on the same night. With Rockpool On George regaining its three hats, we decided to dine there. Some of us have not visited for more than 5 years.

The Asian flavours were evident across all the dishes. For my second course the Nannygai was perfectly cooked. And my beef main course was extremely tender and well smoked.

We finished the meal with date tarts and passionfruit soufflé which are the classic dishes of Rockpool. Desserts always have the right level of sweetness and they never need to change.

Details:
Rockpool On George
107 George St
The Rocks NSW 2000
Australia
http://www.rockpool.com/sydney/

Ormeggio At The Spit (Mosman Sydney)

We took advantage of the ‘Stress Less Sunday’ menu offered by Ormeggio At The Spit for a, well, relaxed dinner on a warm Sunday night. We picked the 4 course menu at the time of the booking.

All 4 dishes were beautifully presented and delicious. Kangaroo tartare had the right level of texture and not too tough. The eggplant tortellini had a subtle smokiness which complement well with the cheese sauce. Wagyu steak was extremely tender and worked well with the sesame puree. And the cardamom ice-cream dessert was a revelation with coffee powder.

If only the portion was bigger…

Details:
Ormeggio At The Spit
D'Albora Marinas
The Spit
Mosman 2088
http://www.ormeggio.com.au/

Big Stone (North Sydney)

We went to Big Stone which is a fusion Japanese tapas restaurant. The restaurant was really convenient for me as it is a short stroll from North Sydney CBD.

The menu offers a good range of both Japanese and Spanish dishes. There were some innovative fusion ideas as well. The takoyaki ‘sandwich’ was delicious with the squid ball squashed between crunchy prawn crackers. Wagyu beef skewer was nice and tender. For desserts, the chocolate fondant was perfectly melting on the inside, and the matcha brulee nicely balanced with the lentil ice-cream.

Details:
Big Stone
194 Miller Street
North Sydney NSW 2060
http://www.bigstone.net.au

Vulcan's (Blackheath Blue Mountains)

We visited Vulcan’s at Blackheath for a Sunday lunch as we heard the legendary chef-owner will be retiring. The dining room was packed on what was the chef’s second last weekend of service.

The highlight for me was the crab soup entrée with red rice. The broth was clean yet packed with seafood flavour. The famous oyster blade was tender and similar in taste to a good beef brisket at Chinatown (maybe the hour long wait for main course dulled our taste buds). The yogurt brulee was our favourite dessert, and it was fun to taste the chequerboard ice-cream.

Details:
Vulcan's
33 Govetts Leap Road 
Blackheath NSW 2785

Crave Sydney Itali-Anna Dessert Degustation at Bather's Pavilion

We rushed to Bather’s Pavilion after work for the one-off Crave Sydney dessert degustation dinner. Bather’s is one of my favourite places to eat and this meal was a special treat. I enjoyed all the starters especially the vanilla panna cotta with little mango caviar giving the sudden burst of sweetness. The ‘main course’ with goat cheese with cannoli and beetroot gave us a break from the sweetness. My favourite was the very smooth chocolate crema cake with a hint of peach from the sorbet.

I will save the citrus crackling bar for later.

Details:
Bathers' Pavilion Restaurant
4 The Esplanade
Balmoral Beach
NSW 2088
http://www.batherspavilion.com.au/
Crave Sydney 2012
http://cravesydney.com/event.php?intid=3299

Crave Sydney Luke Mangan Pop Up Restaurant at Thomas Dux

We made it to Luke Mangan’s pop-up restaurant at Thomas Dux Crows Nest as part of the Crave Sydney festival. The deli section of the grocery was bracketed for 40 diners with Chef Mangan and his team working behind the counter.

The meal was served tapas style and all the dishes were accentuated by different spices “from Morocco to Mexico”. My favourites were the curry spiced tempura prawns in steamed buns (served like a taco), and the succulent BBQ rubbed baby chicken.

Confession: we took an extra chocolate doughnut dessert home for later (sorry!)

Details:
Luke Mangan Pop Up Restaurant
Crave Sydney 2012
Thomas Dux Grocer Crows Nest
http://cravesydney.com/event.php?intid=3581