Happy 2nd Birthday CODA!!!

Celebrating CODA's 2nd birthday, Renee (pastry chef) had made us some cupcakes!! (Sorry no pictures, because we ate them all before we could take the pictures) haha.

I hope you're having a fabulous long weekend!! Yes, it's coming to an end, however mine was a blast..and I hope yours was too! Apart from my first tequila shot, here is a first for me too..

"Choc Pops"

Just like the movies, except for the wafer bottom and on a stick like a lollipop. The ice cream is half caramel and half chocolate coated in Callebaut dark chocolate served with Macadamia praline.

I have been craving for a warm old favourite..

Spiced apple souffle with oat crumble and cinnamon ice cream

So simple, yet I am always so happy after eating such a delious delight. 

Missing my pastry chef Rebecca Creighton and with CODA recently turning 2, I brought back one dessert and changed it a little to think of her..

Coconut tapioca pudding with fresh ruby grapefruit, black sesame ice cream and crispy rice

I remembered the first time Rebecca and I worked together to make this recipe right at Pearl. It is one of my fondest memories working and learning alongside my mentor. The dish she created was coconut and pandan tapioca pudding with fresh fruits and grapefruit and ginger sorbet. It was the most refreshing taste after a meal of sugar cane prawns and duck curry. 

Rebecca Creighton is currently head pastry chef at Spice Temple/ Rockpool/ and the Waiting Room at Crown. She is my Mentor and am much respected with her gift at pastry.

After 2 whole years of CODA opening, it just seems like yesterday that we had our grand opening. People have come and gone or have stayed the full 2 years which have made what CODA is today. I hope CODA will continue to be successful and wish you all to keep supporting!!

Xx

PM24 with Philippe Mouchel!

Dining at PM24 with Mr Food Buddy!!

Coming to PM24, the atmosphere was cosy. The open kitchen was entertaining to watch and the service was fantastic!!

 Warm bread came in a little sack...served with butter and a cheese spread mixed with olives, anchovies and other stuff!

It's funny that I was starving and can take a photo of the bread, but miss out on the photos of the next course because I just dug in!

So, without photos, we started off with half a dozen oysters served with lemon and shallot dressing. YUM!! The oysters were freshly shucked and went beautifully with the tangy shallot dressing.

And then, we ate the Burgundy Style Snails - Tomato fondue, garlic and parsley butter, toasted bread. YUM! The snails were soft and not rubbery. It went very well with the tomato fondue and butter. I absolutely love this dish.

After forgetting to take photos of the first dishes, I made sure I took photos of the next ones! (not very good photos I'm afraid, the place was too dark)

Seared Scallops - Frisee aux lardons, blue cheese and port marinated figs

The scallops were cooked perfectly! The figs were the sweet to the blue cheese's saltiness. It was a very flavoursome dish!

French Onion Soup - croutons and gruyere cheese

This was a special and I can never go past an onion soup!!! Melted gruyere cheese is the best! I loved it..I'm drooling right now thinking about it! The stock was flavoursome! and it was a seller! Every table in sight had one on their table!

We ordered two mains to share next, which are..

Rib eye 400g - dry aged, shallot beef jus, bone marrow, potato pave

Again, I apologise for the bad photos due to limited lighting. The beef was cooked very well! It melted in my mouth and I Love it!

The sauce and potato goes so well with it, Mr Food buddy and I had to fight for the last piece!

Hapuka - bouillabaisse fumet, fennel, olives, panisse

After finishing (almost licking the plate of the beef clean), the hapuka was no competition against the beef. It was tasty, but I enjoyed the beef a lot more!

After hearing so many great and AWESOME reviews about the desserts at PM24, I had to give the taste plate a try.

Degustation of Bistro Classics

I'm very sorry for the poor picture quality, but we had a creme caramel, one ice cream and sorbet, ginger shortcake, and a chocolate and raspberry delice. 

The caramel to me was burnt, the creme eggy and the butterscotch sauce needed a little heating up to prevent butter forming grains on the pallet which wasn't smooth. The ginger shortcake was pleasant, but not my cup of tea. The chocolate and raspberry delice was good although I felt the chocolate mousse just wasn't as smooth as I'd prefer. Maybe I had high expectations over the dessert as many of my colleagues had told me it was the best dessert they ever had. The dish does chop and change, so maybe I just came on an off night.


The savouries were very yummy!! I would go again in a heartbeat. Philippe Mouchel does wonders with french cuisine and on the plus side, it is just around the corner from CODA for my french fix! haha


For the whole menu, go to www.pm24.com.au 


Xx

Winter is here!!!

Warm comfort food here we experiment!!!

This is going to be short and simple...but yummy and delicious!

Warm pear and frangepane tart with drunken date ice cream 

Oh so GOOD for the colder months!!! Have a good night!!

Xx