Bar H Surry Hills @ Surry Hills

As a late birthday present one of my uni friends took me out to dinner. I had no clue on where we were going, but upon arrival I was super excited. The reason being, Bar H with chef Hamish appeared on MasterChef Australia, and I had only recently caught up on the episode. 

Duck Broth

This broth was extremely smooth and clean, and a great starter. The shitake mushrooms with the fresh coriander made the dish amazing. There were more asian styled mushrooms at the bottom of the soup which continued to add flavour and bite to the broth.

Pickled Cucumber Salad

A fresh change to the palette. The sauce provided with the cucumber was similar to nuoc mam which is an Asian dipping sauce. I wasn't a fan of the purple mint like herb.

Steamed pork wonton with shellfish oil

You can't go wrong with wonton. These were wonderfully made, and with comparing them to the ones my mum makes at home the key flavours were the same. The shellfish oil tasted like the dumpling sauce you get at Chinese restaurants.

Steamed Pork Buns

The waitress told us to eat this by breaking the pork bun in half, and putting some of the herbs in it, and then bite. I have never eaten pork buns like that, so I gave it a go and the herbs provided a boost in freshness, but I still prefer the traditional method of eating it without the herbs.

Cuttlefish salad

This was a salad served warm. The cuttlefish was lightly fried, and contained a light sauce that added a punch of flavour. It was one of my favourite dishes, with all the mushrooms within the salad that provided taste and texture.

Chicken with ginger & shallot, steamed rice and herb salad

The chicken was lightly fried and then topped with ginger, shallots and fresh herbs. The sauce resulted in the chicken losing its crispiness which didn't both me, since I wasn't in the mood for crispy chicken. This dish strongly reminded me of a lovely dinner at home, definitely brought the Asian flavours to the table.

Braised beef with Sichuan eggplant

The beef was perfectly braised where it was easy to eat and little chewing required. I think the eggplant made the dish with is delicately soft texture. The eggplant soaked up all the flavours of the sauce, which contained a hint of spice.

Left: Jasmine tea custard with sliced pear, fresh tea leaves and caramel
Right: Persimmon Parfait with rhubarb and passion fruit foam with fresh and crispy persimmon

The desserts were the best part of the night. I will start with the parfait, which was wonderful. I saw Hamish make it right in front of me for another table, and from then I knew we had to order it. The dish looked impeccable with such finesse. I normally don't like persimmon, but it worked really well with the parfait. The 2 fruit foams at the bottom provided balance to the dish.

Now to the Jasmine tea custard. This was added to the menu after Hamish had appeared in MasterChef Australia, upon Gary's advice. It was amazing. There was a prominent jasmine tea flavour, the caramel and fresh tea leaves caused a party in your mouth. The pear was underneath the caramel, that resulted in a slight difficulty in spooning the custard. In the end, it was still amazing where I would actual crave this.

The overall dining experience was exceptional. The atmosphere and ambience of the restaurant is comfortable, where it combines fine dining, with a bar like environment, fused with Asian flavours. A great place to eat and enjoy a few drinks with friends.

Good food, good times!

Ra Bar @ Enmore/Newtown

Before my sister and I headed to the Aqua Concert we decided to eat, and after some researching and feeling like tapas, we found Ra Bar. Ra Bar is small restaurant/tapas bar, dining about 25 -30 people including seats at the bar. It provides a cosy eating environment and very nice staff. Ra Bar seems to get a lot of business, because upon arrival a lot of the tables were reserved so we were seated at the bar. 

The menu showed that the restaurant isn't traditional Spanish tapas', but an assortment of all different tapas' from different cuisines such as Chinese and Lebanese. With that, we decided to get an 11 (technically single dishes) course banquet which was $25 per person, at a minimum of 2 people. Reason we chose the banquet was so that we could try a range of things, and if we liked something more then we could order more.

Crispy bread with labna, babaganoush and marinated olives

This was extremely addicting! Labna is a yoghurt based cheese and babaganoush is an eggplant based dip (both mainly of Lebanese origin). The labna had a smooth texture, and a unique taste. Strangely, I am not a fan of cheese or yoghurt, yet labna was really good. The babaganoush had a lovely taste of mashed roasted eggplant.  The crisp bread with the smooth cheese and the eggplant dip was a great start to the banquet.

Chilli chorizo with chimmi churri

Mmm chorizo and chimmi churri (mainly South American origin)  is one of the best combinations I have ever tried. First, time I tried it was at a family dinner, and trying it again, didn't disappoint. The main ingredients of chimmi churri is oregano, parsley, garlic and olive oil. It adds a freshness to grilled meat, with a slight lemony kick. 

Meatballs and shitake risotto balls

The meatballs had a basic tomato sauce so nothing special. The risotto balls on the other hand were different. Fried goodness with a soft risotto centre with a side of herb garlic sauce, yum! They had the perfect crunch, just don't eat them to fast because they were hot and almost burnt my tongue.

Cheese rolls and stuffed mushrooms

I wasn't the biggest fan of this dish, but my sister enjoyed it. The stuffed mushroom was similar to a warm quiche, except without pastry and a mushroom instead. The cheese rolls, was what you would expect in a cheese roll/mini pastizzi.

Prawn Dumplings

Another ordinary dish (maybe because I am Asian?), this style of prawn dumplings are commonly known as Ha Kau amongst Chinese and Vietnamese people. It is prawn mince inside a flour/water based noodle like outside, which is generally steamed and dipped in chilli sauce or soy sauce. However, I did like how it came in the bamboo steamer, provided a little touch on the origin of the dish.

Lamb kofta w/ hommus and peri-peri chicken skewers with garlic aioli

Last few pieces of the banquet, lamb kofta (mainly of a Lebanese origin) and peri- peri chicken (Portuguese origin) with there associated sauces. The lamb kofta was nice, but I have eaten better, especially at my favourite Lebanese resturant Al Aseel. The peri-peri chicken was ordinary as well, it tasted as if it could have been store bought mini kebab sticks, but I am not sure on that. The garlic aoili was tasty though, and with the hommus I am not a fan of it under any real circumstances, so to me it tasted like all other hommus'. 

The bar

I loved the way that Ra Bar displays there bar, you can see all the alcohol labels and it is neat and tidy. It captivates your attention as soon as you walk into the restaurant/tapas bar. Overall I found the first half of the meal a lot more enjoyable than the second half. I would definitely go back for the crispy bread with labna & babaganoush, chimmi churri with chorizo and the risotto balls. 

Good food, good times!