Rockpool on George @ The Rocks, Sydney

My 21st Birthday Celebrations continued, even after a month. As a part of one of my birthday presents, some of my girl friends invited me to a 3 course lunch at Rockpool on George. Due to exams, it was post-poned to July.I have tried Rockpool Bar & Grill, and now lucky enough to have tried Rockpool on George.

Rockpool on George, is now a 3 chef hat restaurant (2013), after being a 2 chef hat restaurant for the past 3 years (2010-2012). They have also won awards in all different areas over several years. The wall of awards shows a commitment to good food, and wine. We were seated at the table that was at the front of the restaurant and front of the kitchen, allowing lovely natural light and a view of the kitchen staff doing what they do best. 

We we able to choose from the lunch menu, or have the set 3 course lunch ($65 on Friday). We all chose from the lunch menu, where some people had one course, others 2, and myself 3.

Awesome crunchy bread, and a petal iced tea

Sushi: Chirashi zushi of kingfish, trevally, tuna, octopus, prawn and squid

I thought I would take advantage of the seafood available on the menu, so I chose the entree of sushi.  The element of sesame in the rice added a lovely taste and smell. The accompanying sauce was not your usual wasabi-soysauce mix, it was spicy and tangy. It was a fresh and tasty dish.

Goat's cheese lasagne, apples, lavender scented kiplers, 

pangrattato and broccoli sauce

2 of my friends ordered the lasagne, and with a little sample, it would have been a tasty dish to consume all to myself. The goats cheese was soft and creamy. The hint of lavender added an extra taste and aroma.

Pigeon with corn, scallops, eggplant, black mushrooms and coriander

This was my dish, pigeon. It was infused with Asian flavours with a lovely aroma and great taste. The pigeon had a slight caramelisation, which accompanied the eggplant well. I was able to get all the meat off the bone, as Rockpool provided a warm hand towel to clean my hands =).

Beef sirloin with celeriac, onions, grated daikon and sauce vierge

Another 2 of my friends ordered the beef sirloin. The presentation was clean. In terms of taste, there was nothing extremely exceptional about the dish.

Lamb from South Australia, rolled saddle, bo ssam shoulder, celery, wheat infused soybeans

and tea smoked muscles

I tried some of my friends lamb dish and it was delicious. The beans and muscles with the lamb was a combination I would have never thought would work. The sauce accompanied with the beans added a great taste. A lovely warm hearty dish for a winters lunch.

Complementary salad

Now for dessert, 4 of us opted for desserts, as they just sounded too enticing. 

Passionfruit Souffle

The passionfruit souffle was perfect. It was perfectly risen, with an intense yet balanced passionfruit flavour. The extra scoop of passionfruit ice cream, when dolloped on top of the souffle melted, and added to all the passionfruit goodness.

Toffee Apple: Roast apple and hazelnut parfait, puff pastry, cognac and

rosemary sabayon

This is not what you expect your normal toffee apple to be, especially in terms of presentation. The bits of apple were encased in the centre, underneath the caramel shell. The best part was the rosemary sabayon which they provided plenty of.

Vacherin: Pandan custard, coconut parfait, jasmine sorbet, lime granita and meringue

My choice was the Asian inspired dessert. I was completely wowed by the presentation. All the flavoured were encases in the smooth meringue ring. When digging into it, I was overwhelmed with the wonderful flavours. The sweetness of the coconut parfait, and pieces of young coconut. Then there was the fresh lime granita with jasmine sorbet. However, when all combined in one spoon, it was definitely a spoonful of goodness.

On top of the normal dessert, I was also provided with a special dessert because it was my birthday. It was a chocolate mousse cake, encased in sugar cage. They also provided a lovely candle, it was a great gesture.

We were also provided with petit fours, my favourite of them was the nougat and chocolate ganache with  popping candy!

Petit fours: Nougat, pineapple jelly, chocolate ganache with popping candy

and madeleines

If anyone has seen the movie No Reservations, and know the truffle scene, the same thing happened at Rockpool. The chef was smelling and testing the truffles to purchase. One of the wait staff whispered to us that the truffle delivery has come, and it is an exciting time of the year.

The service at Rockpool on George was exceptional, and food exquisite. The wait staff catered for every need and were also conversational. Our main waiter, even decided to jump in the photo with us. Definitely somewhere I plan to dine there once again!

Good food, good times!

GIGINO @ Fairfield West

Italian food, we all love it, but a lot of the time it can be overpriced or just not what you want. I have a solution...GIGINO. GIGINO is located in Fairfield (considered as Sydney's west) along a main road known as Hamilton road. It has only been open for a year, and now going into their second year with great success (GIGINO facebook page). I went on a Sunday evening with my family, and by 8 o'clock it was a packed house. It is a small restaurant that holds roughly 30-40 people inside (including window seats), and 10 outside. Therefore, for large groups (5-10) I strongly advise to make a reservation to secure a table. Throughout the week they have their weekly specials, serve lunch and have BRUNCH SUNDAYS!

Arancini balls ($11) and lasagne special ($17)

The above dishes were the specials of the night. Arancini balls are one of the greatest things ever created. As my sister in law said 'cooked rice, cheese and deep fried' nothing can go wrong when you combine those 3 things in a ball of crunchy goodness. Some of them had a bit of a cold centre (as in a few grains of rice) but wasn't really noticed when you eat it with the hot outside. The lasagne was one of the best restaurant lasagnes we have tried. So many layers of pasta and meat. It was great, if it had a bit more cheese on the top it would be even more perfect!!!!

Mozzarella salad ($10) and mixed salad ($5)

To break through all the goodness we thought we would balance it all with some salads. Both salads were simple in nature where the mozzarella salad contained chunks of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, and the other with tomatoes, lettuce and onions. The salads come undressed, but balsamic vinegar and oil are provided on the table so the salads can be dressed to your liking.

The condiments

I loved how the table had a fresh basil, and that the chilli oil came in a tuna can! Simple touches that make the difference

Capricciosa ($18) and Salsiccia ($19)

A great thing about GIGINO's pizzas are the simple nature of them. It isn't all about how many things are on the pizza, but how they taste together. These are your traditional Italian pizzas, so you won't see your Hawaiin, or meat lovers pizza on the menu. Capricciosa was a tomato based pizza with mozzarella, artichokes, anchovies, olives, capers and oregano. There was a lot of strong natural flavours on the pizza from the anchovies, olives and capers. But the pizza was not over crowded with all the tasty ingredients which allowed all their individual characteristics to explode in your mouth.

Salsiccia was another tomato based pizza with mozzarella, pork sausage and mushrooms. This pizza is ideal for the mushrooms lovers out there. The pork sausage wasn't done in slices, it was more minced which allowed it to be easily consumed, however the true taste of the pork was hard to depict. It was still a great pizza with all the mushroomy goodness!

DESSERTS! The best way to end a meal.

Gelato (3 scoops $7.50) and pannacotta ($8.50)

The gelato flavours chosen were chocolate and snickers. The snickers ice cream was the BEST snickers ice cream I have ever tried. A combination of caramel, nut pieces and chocolate worked perfectly without loosing the nature of the ice cream. It tasted EXACTLY like a snickers bar, it was delectable! The pannacotta had a raspberry jelly base, and the pannacotta itself was quite gelatinous compared to what I am used to. A great tasting dessert.

Mango & passionfruit tiramisu ($9.00) and affogato ($6.50)

If you want a lighter dessert option I advise the tiramisu. The fruity nature of the dessert allows a light yet delicious end to a meal. The layers of sponge, cream, passionfruit and mango cannot go wrong. The affogato was as traditional as it gets with an expresso shot and vanilla ice-cream, nothing could and did go wrong! All the desserts were demolished, which means they were all enjoyed, which can often be rare at restaurants.

The overall experience at GIGINO was fantastic! The end bill between 4 people with all that food was roughly $28 each which I think is great for entrée  main and dessert. The staff are friendly and are always willing to provide feedback. They are very welcoming of new customers and ask how you found out about GIGINO to see if they are in the local eye or to see how far you travel. I have never had such great service at an Italian restaurant.

Good food, good times!