Albion Street Kitchen: The new casual

I was surprised to see a deal voucher on offer so soon for Albion Street Kitchen – Warren Turnbull's and head chef Grant Astle's very recent rebirth of Assiette. I snapped it up quick-smart and booked in, admittedly a little wary of the changes.

Complimentary milk bread at Albion Street Kitchen, Albion Street, Surry Hills

Albion Street Kitchen is a more casual restaurant than its formerly-toqued predecessor. As soon as I walked through the doors on Albion Street, however, I missed Assiette.

The music playing in the intimate dining room certainly was more casual (Mrs. Robinson?) but the space still feels like Assiette, except for the new bright blue wall. The white tablecloths are gone but in their place are completely lust-worthy, heavy, marble-topped tables.

Complimentary milk bread with rosemary olive oil

The new, more casual menu features five entrées and five mains that all sound pretty exciting, with a touch of international flavours which I remember from Assiette days. Wines by the glass are very well priced, with the fruity yet buttery Chenin Blanc possibly my new favourite white wine.

Adorable, shiny milk bread arrived at the table on a board with a tiny carafe of olive oil and a sprig of rosemary that seemed more decorative than a flavour infuser. The pull-apart style of the fluffy and softly dense bread was perfect for a hungry stomach.

Cheese on toast, truffle, asparagus, Pedro Ximenez, raisins

This may well be an early contender for signature dish at Albion Street Kitchen – and I know I want it again on my next visit. Cheese on toast is easily one of my favourite lazy, comforting meals, but I can’t say I often have Pyengana cheddar delicately melted over toasty brioche with truffle shavings.

I also don’t tend to cook raisins in Pedro Ximenez sherry to add on top with delightfully buttery mushrooms and grilled asparagus spears. For this luxe version of cheese on toast, I’ll be seeking out Albion Street Kitchen.

Seared veal tongue, sweetbreads, pickled turnip, salsa verde, almonds

The veal tongue entrée was a little surprising in its form; basically a steak slice of the tongue, surrounded by golden pan fried sweetbreads, small but vivid pink pickled turnip and a bright green sauce of salsa verde.

Both the pickle and salsa verde were perfect flavour matches for the offal but it was the veal tongue that really surprised me. It was as far from chewy as you could get (in contrast to some experiences with ox tongue) and bordered on spongy, which isn’t a particularly appetising descriptor but worked excellently with its sear treatment and dish accompaniments.

Ranger's Valley bavette, miso glaze, eggplant, sesame seeds, spinach

There was serious to-ing and fro-ing when it came to the mains options, with all the protein options sounding delectably worthy.

My second pick was the Ranger’s Valley bavette or flank steak, which was served with wilted spinach and a halved, miso-topped grilled eggplant. While I adore the Japanese nasu dengaku miso glazed eggplant dish, I found the miso glaze a little too strong on the soft eggplant here.

A muscular cut of beef, the pink-centred bavette was wonderfully tender with an appropriate bit of chew to go along with loads of beefy flavour, somewhat offsetting the sweet miso glaze.

Chatham Island cod, cauliflower, vadouvan, tamarind gel

My top pick was the Chatham Island cod; a slim fillet that flaked to perfection and had plenty of flavour on its own.

The vadouvan spice dusted cauliflower gave the dish an affable Indian touch while the cauliflower puree, dotted with the sweet brown tamarind gel, added richness and depth. This also came with wilted spinach, making the main meals quite complete and reducing the need for side dishes.

Panfried zucchini, garlic butter (front) and chips, chilli salt (back)

In any case, I’d recommend one side shared between two diners, especially given the generous sizes – the thick cut chips were served in a bowl in a pub-size serving.

Crunchily golden with a seasoning of salt and chilli powder, there was a definite umami component, almost like powdered katsuobushi dried bonito flakes or similar. They were a little on the dry side, so the tamarind gel from my main meal made for a fitting dipping sauce.

Meanwhile, the zucchini were at just the right firmness with a surprisingly subtle garlic butter and crisp pangratatto style breadcrumbs sprinkled atop. We were defeated by half bowls of each side remaining and finishing my wine, I couldn't even look at the dessert menu.

In all, I wouldn't call Albion Street Kitchen a casual restaurant but it is certainly a step down from hatted fine dining. At its heart I think it’s just the new, casual Assiette, but with quality and flavours like this on the plates, I'm really going to like the new casual.

The Alibi: Another place, another discount offering

In a sign of the times, it's getting difficult to keep track of restaurant discounts and specials in Sydney. Like who's doing cheap slider/taco/fried chicken specials night or who's got Friday lunch specials. Meanwhile, deal vouchers seem to be waning while the latest is restaurant booking websites offering discounts for specific restaurants at specific times during the week.

The concept is to pay one of these booking sites a nominal fee (up to $10) to make a real time booking at a participating restaurant. You then receive a discount (ranging from 15-30%) on the entire bill without the need to proffer crumpled vouchers or secret code words.

Bill with Full Society discount from The Alibi, Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

I was credited by Full Society (thanks Joe) to road-test a reservation from the site's range of restaurants spanning Sydney CBD, Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and more. Availabilities tend not to be on Friday or Saturday nights, say, but it depends on the individual restaurant and their chosen allocations.

We booked in to new-ish The Alibi in Darlinghurst for a light modern Japanese meal, with a kitchen featuring Tetsuya's and Sake experience, and a fitout evoking an old jazz club. Overcoats and magnifying glasses of the private eye detective variety would not be out of place at all at The Alibi.

Mr Hito cocktail

The moodily dark venue features table settings over a staggered dining room, with what looked like a proper bar out the back. There's a sense of theatricality and I'm pretty sure a Cluedo party would go down well; perhaps even more easily than the unique Mr Hito cocktail.

It's a rum-based mojito with the usual mint and lime - and miso paste. The miso doesn't push the cocktail into savoury territory, nor is it particularly discernible, but it's certainly no longer a lightly flavoured, fruity mojito.

Crab leaves - blue swimmer crab on betel leaf with young ginger, chiili and amazu ponzu

The seafood-heavy starters menu is incredibly tempting, and the very friendly and helpful Kiwi waiter steered us towards the crowd favourites.

The crab betel leaves, drippingly juicy with the ponzu dressing, have a nice amount of blue swimmer flesh but are somewhat overwhelmed with the sweetness of the sauce. Nonetheless, it's a fresh couple of mouthfuls to start the meal.

Seared scallop and ocean trout tartare with amazu ponzu  and white truffle oil

I was completely thrown by the scallop and ocean trout tartare which is served in a martini glass with what looked like a gigantic seared scallop sitting in dressing. The salmon roe topped 'scallop' is in fact diced scallop reformed into a large puck, then torched.

The scallop sits on the ocean trout tartare which is submerged in the martini glass. With teaspoons and a bit of everything in each mouthful, this unexpected presentation of seafood tartare was actually deliciously textural with bang-on flavours.

Crispy tofu, pan tossed Asian mushroom and iceberg lettuce

As we were only eating very lightly, we opted for one main and one side. There's a full range of proteins on The Alibi's mains menu, toeing more of a fusion line than strictly Japanese.

The vegetarian option of crisp tofu with a range of mushrooms looked great: three bricks of lightly battered and fried tofu which could have used more seasoning, and the heavily miso-sauced mushrooms including king browns and deep fried enoki mushrooms.

Judging by the heavy seasoning of the mushrooms, I imagine eating them all together with the tofu and lettuce was the proper procedure.

Warm potato salad - crushed kipfler potato, fennel, Sicilian olive and truffle oil

The warm potato salad didn't really seem to be a Japanese style one as I'd expected. While the fennel and watercress were refreshing touches, there was a lot of Spanish onion and a richness contributed by the truffle oil.

On request for the bill, it arrived with a Full Society discount line item and the 20% discount without question. We paid for our discounted meal and then tipped most of the savings, but still left with the feeling of  having had value through the Full Society booking.

There's certainly a value proposition in these discounted website bookings, and I imagine especially so in a group dining situation. It's then just a matter of having enough restaurants and variety to keep subscribers interested. For me, Full Society brought me to The Alibi where I'm pretty sure it was Mr Hito, in the dining room, with a discount booking.

What's on Crown? Watts on Crown!

Voucher deals seem to have lost their sheen within a relatively short period of time. While I've had a few regretful purchases, on the whole they've been good for this consumer.

A little while back a voucher brought me to Watts on Crown in Surry Hills; a newcomer to the busy, ever-changing strip, boasting an ex Rockpool chef in a cosy neighbourhood bistro setting.

Sparkling wine at Watts on Crown, Crown Street, Surry Hills

Seated at a slightly awkward table in the front window, it was sparkling to start the three course meal as part of the deal.

In addition to some voucher guests, it was encouraging to see constant bunches of locals walk by, peer at the menu on the door and walk in, with more room and tables upstairs in the restaurant of refreshingly low-key fitout.

Grilled quail with chorizo, braised peppers and crisp basil

With plenty to tempt on the succinct menu, the quail entree took my fancy. Colourful with braised capsicums and crisp fried basil leaves, the small bird was well cooked though as always, required a bit of finger work to eat.

The slices of quality grilled chorizo added saltiness and substance to the small plate.

Chicken liver parfait with red onion marmalade and toast

The generous serve of chicken liver parfait, topped with a deep red jelly, arrived on a wooden board with cornichons, bread and marmalade, completely dwarfing the quail.

The gorgeous Sonoma white sourdough, toasted, made the perfect raft for the thick, pink and creamy parfait, of which there was plenty for extra bread even.

I didn't love the marmalade, which was fine as cornichons are my accompaniment of choice with livery parfaits.

Pan fried gurnard with bouillabaisse sauce

For mains I chose a seafood extravaganza in the pan fried gurnard fillet with bouillabaisse. The fish was perfection in its crisp skin, propped up by cubes of potatoes.

The mussels and small, head-on prawns were also well cooked in the tasty bouillabaisse sauce, with more bread on hand to mop up the juices.

Grilled rump steak with Cafe de Paris butter and watercress

The rump steak was an easy pick for the protein-hungry, and it was classic bistro fare served with the complex Cafe de Paris butter melting all over, a watercress salad and fat chips on the side.

Perfectly medium-rare, the thick piece of meat was mostly tender and completely indulgent with the buttery sauce.

Chips and caramelised Brussels sprouts

The fat chips were great - utterly fluffy within but crunchy on the outside - but I was smitten with the whole Brussels sprouts, flecked with almonds flakes sticking to their sweet, caramelised and grilled surfaces.

Mandarin creme brulee

There almost wasn't room for dessert, but as part of the deal, I persevered. The creme brûlée was a complete delight, served with a piece of shortbread.

Cracking through the toffee roof, the just-sweet-enough custard featured whole, fresh segments of mandarin - the citrus zing refreshing and unusual all at once.

Chocolate fondant with vanilia bean ice cream

The chocolate option was hard to beat though, with a well formed fondant outer revealing a gooey, hot river of chocolate lava which was completely decadent with the vanilla ice cream and nut brittle.

Completely stuffed, the rest of the room and upstairs were still going strong, with the open kitchen looking quite peacefully organised. Who would have thought Crown Street needed a classic bistro, but judging by the weeknight crowd and easy, pleasant menu, Watts on Crown seems to be just what the strip needed.

Foveaux: Understated in Surry Hills

There are plenty of brash, brazen personalities out there and there are also the shrinking violets. While I wouldn’t necessarily place myself in either camp, something has to be said for the understated – the ones that surprise and impress without hype or fanfare. Like Foveaux in Surry Hills.

With a chef’s hat attained in last year's awards, Foveaux is that quiet achiever down the back of the class. My second visit to Foveaux was via voucher deal, with two courses each and to which we added wines by the glass like the bold, berry-bursting Tellurian Shiraz, sides and dessert.

Chestnut soup with ciabatta breadcrumbs and sage oil from Foveaux,
Foveaux Street, Surry Hills

We started with bread accompanied by plenty of butter and a complimentary amuse bouche featuring one of my favourite nuts – the chestnut. Amid the warming soup were extraordinarily crunchy ciabatta breadcrumbs and a barely noticeable sage oil.

Caramelised venison tongue, nham pla prawns, crispy pork skin, cauliflower cream, cashew, shiso and mint

With an ingredient as uncommon as venison tongue, it was a must-order of the entrées. The flavours of the nham pla prawns outshone the venison tongue however, but the latter had a sweetened and meaty chew that was surprising and impressive with the fresh torn herb leaves.

Seared bonito, black sesame, mushroom milk, puffed rice with pickled vegetables and elk

The barely seared bonito entrée was served cold; pink in sashimi-style in the centre with a black sesame crust on its skin side.

There was a lot going on around it but all of it harmonious: the thin rounds of pickled carrot and radish cutting through the aerated, meringue-like mushroom cream, which rounded off the soft, yielding fish.

Roasted veal sirloin, caper and veal chip, white anchovy puree and Brussels sprouts

With the onset of chilly winter weather, it was impossible to ignore the heavier proteins of the mains menu. Not the hugest fan of anchovy but club leader for Brussels sprouts and veal, it had to be the roasted veal sirloin for me.

Done medium-rare, the slices of veal were tenderly juicy though needed the generous splodges of anchovy puree which were distinctive but not overly salty.

The ‘chip’ was a crunchily crumbed specimen of pulled veal and capers; a bit like a Chicken Chippee but infinitely better – an ingenious and utterly divine emphasis of veal in the dish.

Roasted venison leg, mushroom puree, juniper oil, spaetzle, pickled red cabbage
with apple and Spanish onion

The venison leg didn’t look too different to the veal, and had no gamey flavour whatsoever in its medium-cooked state.

The earthy-hued mushroom puree added interest but couldn’t compete with the German influenced pickled red cabbage with spaetzle: sweet with apple and so fragrant with juniper oil that my one taste had me in a gin and tonic mindframe.

Green beans with confit garlic, oregano and lemon

We also indulged in sides of a luxe, thick and creamy potato puree and shiny green beans, tossed with confit garlic slices and lifted with lemon and oregano.

Thyme parfait, lemon curd, blueberry sorbet, pistachio and dried lemon sponge

With the decision made for a dessert to share, I was immediately intrigued by the thyme parfait although the resulting dessert was less herbaceous than I expected.

Nonetheless, the varied combination of the creamy blocks of parfait, tart lemon curd, and dramatic blueberry sorbet accompanied by fresh berries and crumbled nuts worked a treat. Especially with the phenomenal dried lemon sponge which had taken on biscuit-like characteristics with a subtle citrus note.

It was warming to see the cosily full dining room and indeed, the joy on the faces of diners when interestingly-presented dishes arrived to the table. Foveaux doesn’t subscribe to hype or fall head over heels into new trends, but its understated class and reliability make it a shining star of its food-centric postcode.

Etch: A portrayal of tough times

It’s sad to see yet another restaurateur impacted by what seems like tough times in the hospitality industry. With small and large falling amid continuing new openings, it feels like the changing undercurrent towards casual eating is finding its unfortunate victims.

One of these victims is Justin North’s Etch, which was nestled into the Bridge Street side of the Intercontinental Hotel. A recent voucher meal I had there was superb but was perhaps a bad omen of the times. Here are the memories.

Etch dining room, Bridge Street, Sydney

The Etch dining room had always perplexed me a little: its atypically narrow restaurant space, plush with carpets and banquettes, almost feels like an extension of the Intercontinental Hotel, but the food definitely stands/stood on its own.

The voucher entitled us to a six-course tasting menu, and an option for discounted matching wines, although being a bit early in the week we instead elected from a brief selection of wines by the glass.

Amuse bouche: Sweet corn veloute

Without delay, and even before I’d decided on a glass of pinot noir, the waitress brought over a complimentary amuse bouche – as they do for all diners. The piping hot and creamy sweet corn veloute was just the thing to warm us from the cold evening outside.

Local figs, Woodside goat curd

The first picturesque course featured airy blobs of goat’s curd, paired with adorable fresh figs and drops of lightly scented lavender honey.

The sesame crackers were a dream to munch through with a smidgen of everything in the mouthful. It wasn’t a big-impact dish to start, easing in rather, I thought, and could just have easily have served as dessert.

Crispy Spencer Gulf prawns, avocado, wasabi

A single crumbed and deep fried prawn, split into three sections, comprised the next dish; its presentation somewhat highlighting the lone crustacean.

The mild wasabi dots and avocado could easily be confused on appearance but not in taste in this delicately and slowly eaten dish.

Field mushroom risotto

The cooler seasons were well represented by the field mushroom risotto where chestnut and enoki mushrooms met amid a supremely buttery risotto with rice just on the under-side of done.

The deep fried lotus slice was a beautifying touch to the utterly satisfying risotto, of which I could have easily had another two serves.

Caramelised pork belly, beetroot, pear puree

The more substantial protein dishes started with everybody’s favourite cut – pork belly – in a unique fashion.

The well-coloured and stickily caramelised slice of pork was thin but hit the palate with sweetness and seasoning that was enhanced with the pear puree and a white wine gel of some sort.

The lack of crackling was consoled with the cracker garnish and a well matched beetroot puree.

Aromatic slow braised lamb shoulder, pumpkin, garlic spinach, mint, balsamic

The round of soft lamb could barely hold itself up it was so thoroughly cooked with a cavalcade of spices.

The rather classic accompaniments of mint, pumpkin (in puree form) and spinach were appropriate given the big flavours of the lamb, with the balsamic vinegar sauce penetrating the richness of the fatty meat.

Pre dessert: Chantilly cream, pear jelly with sherbet and poached pears

An unexpected pre dessert tasting plate arrived looking almost too pretty to destroy. It would appear that it was the season for pears – not one of my favourite fruits due to the sometimes grainy textures – but the poached specimen was nothing short of spectacular in texture and flavour.

The triangular jellies of pear covered in sherbet brought momentary childlike fizzy joy, followed by the sophisticated taste of real pear. But despite all the seasonality, my favourite component was the cloud-like Chantilly cream: just sweet and light enough to be a primer to dessert proper.

Lemon parfait, pineapple, coconut salad, coriander

The pretty sight of yellows and whites signalled the lemon parfait, with what has to be the crunchiest-ever mini meringue topper as a garnish. The pastel yellow block of parfait itself was citrusy perfection while the tropical additions of pineapple and fresh coconut shreds erased all memories of the cool weather.

Not that we weren’t satisfied with the six course offering – indeed, with an amuse bouche and pre dessert, it was more like eight gorgeous and very well- choreographed courses – the delivery of a cheese plate to a nearby table was enough to put in an extra order.

The Old Telegraph Road Sapphire Blue cheese was served on slate with tea-smoked pears and more than enough lavosh crackers, which is a sad rarity. The intense smokiness of the pears played interestingly with the fruit’s sweetness, the latter of which is a personal should-have component with blue cheeses.

At the end of the meal I sat thinking that there was really nothing more that I could have wanted: the beautiful, seasonally-focused dishes were presented well and tasted even better than they looked and the service was efficient across the well-timed meal.

It's such a shame to see Etch go but I've got my fingers crossed that North can get through the current tough times.

Offers on the table: Table for 20

With about two years' offer and deal buying experience under my belt now (predominantly restaurant offers), I think I'm a confirmed fan even though I know some restaurateurs wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

I've mostly had good experiences, save for a few refund problems with certain sites I now no longer use, and found there to be generally more issues with deals outside of restaurant ones.

Flexibility appears to be the one pressure point for all involved, and it's this factor that generally decides whether the voucher experience is pleasant or otherwise.

Table setting at Table for 20, Campbell Street, Surry Hills

I was at Table for 20 courtesy of a Lime&Tonic voucher recently and really only there because the restaurant was, thankfully, flexible with certain booking details.

Not being my first time experiencing the unique, communal-style "neighbourhood dining", I knew the drill and was looking forward to some excellent Italian fare - food which is said to remind owner Michael Fantuz of his childhood dinners.

Tables set  for 20

The concept is the brainchild of Fantuz, who has recently also opened Buffalo Dining Club in Darlinghurst.

The idea behind Table for 20 is to bring people back to eating as a social and festive event; sharing space, platters, conversation and maybe even your BYO wine and a few laughs. Some of the proceeds from each night also go towards charitable organisation, Hope Street.

So while groups can book out a section, table or indeed, all 40 seats; most people turn up in couples or small groups and seated next to strangers, are encouraged to talk and serve each other food over three shared courses, which is really a most intimate action.

Orecchiette with lentils, pine nuts and mascapone

We started a bit after 8pm with some seriously good bread rolls with olive oil and salt, and moved on to a long share platter of orecchiette pasta as the first course.

In a word, the pasta was sublime. Everything was just right: the textures, flavours and seasoning. The orecchiette (Italian for little ears) had the most delectable chewiness, tossed through with firm lentils, toasted pine nuts, creamy mascarpone cheese and plenty of fresh parsley.

It was the second time I've had a pasta dish with legumes (both times at Table for 20) and I've been bowled over both times.

Roasted beef fillet with peperonata sauce

After a few helpings of the pasta entreé, the generosity of the main was a bit intimidating, even with an appropriate pause between courses.

Another long platter brought out thick hunks of mostly tender, roasted beef fillet that were still pink and juicy in the middle, topped with a chunky peperonata sauce featuring squares of capsicum.

Salad of butter beans, fennel, tomato, mixed leaves, sesame

The main course was served with roasted potatoes and a fresh salad featuring butter beans and raw fennel, which was all together unique, healthy and delicious. There was also something pretty special in the dressing they use on the salad which made eating vegetables and legumes particularly joyous.

Amaretto Disaronno cheesecake

While the two savoury courses are more than sufficient to satisfy a hearty appetite, my experience reminded me not to go overboard before dessert.

Some of the most amazing sweets come out of the Table for 20 kitchen in whole cake form, which makes dishing it out at the table as festive as a birthday celebration.

Amaretto Disaronno cheesecake slices

The amaretto cheesecake did not disappoint. Baked with a biscuit base, the lightly creamy cheesecake was completely swoon-worthy with vanilla tones, and deserving of second and third helpings - if only I didn't have second and third helpings of the pasta earlier.

At this point a doggie bag would have come in handy, but I resisted putting unwrapped cheesecake in my handbag. Table for 20 has definitely been one of the better deal offers I've experienced and I wouldn't hesitate to return for either the pasta or dessert alone - and it appears the offer still stands.

Food, booze and shoes received $50 credit from Lime&Tonic, and used it towards the Table for 20 offer.