Zucchini Bros.

Pasta with prawns, asparagus & peas in lemon butter

I first visited Zucchini Bros. with CP, in December last year. I had always heard good things about it but my not having a car means that the promptness of my trying a new restaurant and the frequency to which I return to a restaurant is somewhat restricted if it is not located in the city centre. I rely heavily on the goodwill of my 'vehicular-ly' blessed, fellow nosh-hound friends, such as S and CP, when it comes to sniffing out exciting new prospects outside the city.

Ravioli in tomato sauce - I didn't taste this so I can't comment

You will notice the stark difference in the photos from the first visit with CP in December, and the second visit with S, which was only a few weeks ago. This is the thing that I find most annoying about trying to review a place during the winter - if we dine at night, most restaurants are usually too dark for me  to get any decent photos. So, my apologies as usual.

Garlic bread

I may be jumping the gun a little here but I have a feeling that this is going to be my favourite place here for Italian food, even though I haven't tried any of their pizzas yet. The pasta with prawns, asparagus and peas in lemon butter that I had in December was absolutely delicious - bright, subtle and delightfully light and refreshing, which isn't how you would normally describe pasta dishes. CP had the ravioli with tomato sauce, which she said was tasty and just the right portion. We also had the lemony meringue and hot apple cake for dessert - CP wasn't impressed with the former, but I really liked my hot apple cake.

Mussels with tomato, mushrooms, garlic and white wine on conchiglie

It took a few months, but I finally managed to revisit Zucchini Bros. with S a few weeks ago. It was a rainy Wednesday night but by the time we left, the place was completely full (usually a good indicator). We started with the nicest, tastiest, fluffiest garlic bread that I've had in a long while. It had just the right texture - slightly crispy crust, but otherwise soft and fluffy - and had a generous spreading of lovely melted garlicky butter. MMMMMMM!

Chilli, tomato and mint pesto with red pepper and pine nuts on capelli

Our pastas weren't quite as exciting as the garlic bread or the pasta with prawns, asparagus and peas in lemon butter that I had in December, but they were decent. S had the mussels with tomato, mushroom, garlic and white wine on conchiglie, which was tasty, but according to S, wasn't quite developed/complex enough, flavour-wise. I had the chilli, tomato and mint pesto with red pepper and pine nuts on capelli (with chicken) and thought that it was interesting, but the combination of ingredients resulted in a sort of a (for lack of a better word), 'smooshy' pasta dish, which wasn't texturally ideal. The flavour was pretty good, but I have to concur with S's verdict on her dish, in that it too wasn't quite complex enough to sustain one's initial enthusiasm throughout the meal.

Hot apple cake with caramel sauce and hokey pokey ice cream

Nevertheless, we enjoyed our meal enough that we stayed for dessert and S, influenced by my positive comments about the hot apple cake, decided that we should stick with the tried and true. And it was better than I remembered. The cake was warm and moist, the caramel sauce was seductively rich (not a fan of caramel usually) and the hokey pokey ice cream (which neither of us normally like) was like soft, cool, mild, pleasant interludes between bites of rich, sweet, comforting caramel slathered hot apple cake. Bellisima!

Will be trying their pizzas next. Stay tuned.

Zucchini Bros.

292 Highgate
Roslyn
Dunedin

Mystery Box Challenge - M vs S

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that I like watching reality cooking shows like Top Chef, Hells Kitchen and Master Chef. Not only do these shows allow people to ogle at the food, but they educate us on a vast variety of techniques and terms, introduce culinary celebrities to the masses and most importantly (for me), help build our 'must-dine-at' restaurants list. Of course, the challenges that the creators have devised to test the contestants are also very clever and incredibly entertaining. Of these, the one that I thought would be the most executable for the average Joe/Jane, was the Mystery Box.

And so, after about a month of trash-talking, weight-training and anxiety, one sunny afternoon in May, S and M 'cooked-off' in their first Mystery Box challenge. D and I bought about 20 ingredients (brussel sprouts, bok choi, chicken, squid, prawns, risotto rice, egg noodles, peppers, lemons, cheese, bacon, etc...) that were revealed to both contestants at the same time. In the initial plan, they only had about two hours to cook an entree and a main dish each, but they both spent about half an hour just staring at the ingredients trying to figure out what to cook, that in the end, we just let them cook at their own pace. M, being a typical guy, was supremely confident that it would only take him 15 minutes to cook each dish and vetoed my initial proposal of allowing them three hours to cook. In the end, their prep, cooking and plating took about four hours - excluding pondering and tasting! Luckily that gave M's family plenty of time to go to town, come back and participate in the judging.

Being the total nerd that I am, I had created score sheets (on Excel!) so S and M's dishes were judged on presentation, flavour, balance, originality, execution, on a scale of 1 - 10. I also had some goofy descriptions for the scores on either end of the scale (i.e. '10 = Please marry me!', '0 = Stick your head in the oven and turn on the gas', or something like that) but I deleted them and I don't remember exactly what they were now.

Entrees

M's Ravioli with Tomato Sauce: Excellent, very tasty, astonishingly-simple-to-make, sauce. Filling (chicken, bacon and bok choi) was also nice, but pasta was a little undercooked and a little dry.

S's Prawn Stuffed Squid with Egg Noodle Salad: The stuffed squid was quite tasty and interesting, but unfortunately the noodles turned to mush after cooking and was not good. I think it was the type and brand of noodles that we bought rather than anything S did, because we tried another type from the same brand once before and it too turned out a bit too mushy. Can't be certain until we try cooking these noodles in another way (maybe stir-fy?), but probably won't be so inclined. M also used the the noodles the following day and had the same results.

Mains

M's Shrimp ('cos he's American!) Etouffee and Risotto: M wants you to know that his Cajun Etoufee and Italian Risotto was a true international cross-over dish (and in his words), "unlike S's unilateral-cultural crap". This is an example of the trash-talking that went on before the challenge. I thought that the etoufee was a little sweeter than I would have preferred, but having never had etoufee, the level of sweetness could have been exactly right. Unfortunately, M finished cooking the risotto a little earlier than anticipated, so by the time it was served, it was a little stiff, but the flavour was decent. Also the pairing of two texturally similar items wasn't ideal, but not disastrous.

S's Baked Chicken with Brussel Sprouts and Kumara and Bacon: Really enjoyed the kumara and the brussel sprouts which were very tasty. The chicken had a good flavour, but was overcooked and so a little dry.


Irrespective of the outcome, we the diners, whose only job was to watch, eat and criticise, appreciate the effort and thought that S and M put into this challenge. It was very, very close, but S emerged the victor and M (who was sabotaged by his own flesh and blood), through the screams and tears, immediately demanded a recount. In the end, after a lot of plate-throwing, he was pacified with the promise of a new Lotus. Other than that, I am pretty sure everyone, including the contestants, had a really good time, enjoyed the cooking, the eating and the company. M is desperate for a re-match but S won't dignify him with one just yet. Stayed tuned....

PS: Special thanks go to P for photographing the event and allowing me to use his gorgeous photos - the ugly ones are mine.

PPS: I may have taken some liberties in my dramatisation of M's character. Maybe.

Tetsuya's

Pacific Oysters with Rice Vinegar and Ginger

S and I dined at Tetsuya's almost three months ago. My procrastination may by attributed to a number of things: I have been busy at work, the photos did not turn out well because of the low-lighting in the restaurant, but most of all, when I thought about writing a review of a thirteen course degustation meal, I just didn't know where to begin. 

Of course, it was fantastic. Even though we had very high expectations (that were met), there were still certain elements of the experience that were delightfully surprising. The problem with a thirteen course meal, however, is that no matter how amazing it is, you just can't remember and/or gush about every single element on all the various dishes. It's just too much. You remember you had a wonderfully decadent meal and enjoyed it immensely. But like being at a good rock concert, you are exhilarated throughout the event, and you recall particular favourite moments, but at the end of it, you can't really begin to describe every little detail about the experience. It's a sensory overload that leaves you happy and on a high, but foggy on the details (no, we were not drinking).

Special mention must go to the staff, who were all extremely professional, exceedingly charming, friendly (which is something that is sometimes traded-off in fancy restaurants), and very, very easy on the eyes. Absolutely unparalleled, superb service. I can't wait to return and would love to have the opportunity to host a dinner with a larger group of friends in of the private rooms one day. But there are so many other famous restaurants to visit too........and that's just Sydney!

S and I couldn't stop talking about moving to Sydney after the fantastic time that we had there - especially at Tetsuya's, Zilver and Jersey Boys. Of course that's barely scratching the surface and there's so much more of Sydney to experience, but I think we're already sold.

Now the food: I freely admit that I didn't know what quite a few of the ingredients were, and that was half the fun. Unless otherwise stated, everything was really good and almost everything was novel and interesting. Like I said, I remember how I felt about some dishes and the meal in its entirety, but not the specific details of each dish. I apologise for the poor quality of the photos. You'll notice that I have only uploaded photos of eleven of the thirteen dishes, because the photos of the first and last dishes were just not fit for publishing. My favourite dishes were the Chilled Cucumber Soup with Sheep Yogurt Ice Cream, which I failed to photograph properly unfortunately (the excitement of the first course might have had something to do with that), Tetsuya's signature ocean trout, the lamb and the sorbet of peone grapes. I didn't have the oysters, but S said that she had never had oysters like that - naturally sweet, meaty and very tasty. Her expression when she had the first bite was priceless.

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Sheep Yogurt Ice Cream: Deliciously cool and refreshing. I especially loved the faint sourish zest that the ice cream contributed to the sweetish soup.

Sashimi of Yellow Fin Tuna with Shishito and Garlic Chips

Marinated NZ Scampi with Curd and Jusai

The startling saltiness and the flavour of the scampi really excited my palate and paired nicely with the soft, bland curd. Very nice.

Tetsuya's Signature Confit Petuna Ocean Trout with Konbu, Apple and Celery

There's a reason why he's famous for this dish. Luscious trout topped with a lovely salty layer of seaweed, complemented with the arresting acidity and slight sweetness of green apples. Beautiful.

Steamed Mulloway with Black Bean and Ginger

I was least impressed with this dish. It was tasty and perfectly executed but was just very similar to the steamed fish that is served in normal Chinese restaurants back home. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but I was just expecting something a little more unusual.

Braised Ox Tail with Sea Cucumber and Lotus Root

Pancetta Wrapped Quail Breast with Pine Mushrooms and Chestnut

De-Boned Rack of Lamb with Eggplant and White Miso

Gorgeous. Wonderfully tender, juicy, delicious lamb, paired with the most scrumptious eggplant/white miso thingy that I have ever tasted. Incredible.

Sorbet of Pione Grapes and Tarte Tartin

Loved the sorbet and the soaked grapes. Don't know what they were soaked in (I suspect there was alcohol involved) but the explosion of juice and flavours was deliciously intoxicating. The flavour of the sorbet was also quite unusual and incredibly refreshing.

Genoa Figs with Leatherwood Honey and Fig Leaf Ice Cream

Chocolate Pave with Cream Cheese Ice Cream and Cinnamon Twigs

I thought that this would be a favourite. Unfortunately, I didn't particularly like the cream cheese ice cream and expected the pave to be chilled (not knowing what a pave is or how it is supposed to be served) - probably because it reminded of mousse. Having said that, it was nice and chocolatey. For me, this would have been the dish to end with. The Chai Mochi that followed was also chocolatey and that tipped me over my chocolate limit for the night - I went from 'decadently-full' to 'oh no.... too... much.....'

The menu - Thursday 14 April 2011

Tetsuya's Restaurant
529 Kent Street
Sydney 
NSW 2000
Australia