goCatch a progressive dinner at A Tavola

Posted by Jan 

Dinner at two fine Italian establishments in one night - this was the proposition for a progressive dinner at the new Bondi Beach outpost of A Tavola as well as the original Darlinghurst restaurant.

I've always regarded A Tavola as a great Italian experience and its new Bondi Beach restaurant is of a similar ilk, with more of a seafood focus as appropriate for its beachside location.

Dining room at A Tavola, Hall Street, Bondi Beach 

The Bondi Beach dining room is a large open space with a bar to one side and long communal tables. The room hints of the original feel of the Darlinghurst dining room incorporated with the chic casualness of a beachside neighbourhood restaurant.

The plan was to stay in Bondi Beach for drinks and nibbles, like the Italian tradition of aperitivo, before goCatch-ing to the Darlinghurst restaurant for mains and dessert.

Aperol Spritz

We started with the classic Aperol spritz, which reminded me of walking along the streets of Italy in the evening when the bars start prepping for the after work aperitivo crowds.

Probably Italy's favourite cocktail, the spritz is a refreshing citrusy, slightly bitter drink, with a relatively low alcohol content from a combination of Aperol, prosecco and soda water, plus a classic olive garnish.

Arancini

Aperitivo is usually accompanied by small snacks and I was delighted to see that some of the Italian classics were served. I love fried food especially when it is high in proteins like meat and cheese.

The golden-hued, crunchy-surfaced arancini balls were filled with a mix of olives, minced pork and veal, and pecorino cheese before being crumbed and fried to become some of the tastiest, meatiest arancini ever.

Calamari fritti

It is only fitting that a restaurant located near a world famous beach does seafood well. The fried calamari served at A Tavola was better than some I found at many of the snack bars in Italy; crunchy, salty and divine with just a squeeze of lemon.

Anchovies, Tomato

The final snack that we had before moving to Darlinghurst was the most interesting and could be called fish and chips - A Tavola style.

I really like anchovies and I think they are such an under-rated fish. The anchovies served that evening packed a lot of flavour and were complemented well by the fresh tomato and fried polenta base.

The goCatch app

The plan was to use taxi booking app goCatch to travel from A Tavola's Bondi Beach restaurant to the Darlinghurst one.

I have to confess to being a very regular user of the goCatch app. I love how you can just book a taxi from where you are and be able to track the taxi that accepted the booking. It was to my great delight that I could show some of my fellow diners how easy it is nowadays to find a taxi, literally, a few taps away.

Front dining room, A Tavola, Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

When we arrived at A Tavola Darlinghurst, I stopped to admire the huge marble table in the front dining room where the pasta is made fresh every day. The envious home cook in me even started plotting "The Great Marble Table Heist" for a couple of fanciful minutes.

Maltagliati con borlotti e seppie

On our second leg of dinner chef and owner Eugenio Maiale served up a dish of maltagliati diamond shaped pasta with borlotti beans, cuttlefish, white wine and cavolo nero.

A lighter pasta dish made with simple ingredients, it was a great alternative to some of the ever-popular, heavier meat and cheese based pasta dishes.

Triangoli con ripieno di zucca

I prefer pasta dishes that don't require a lot of sauce, so the house made triangoli triangle-shaped ravioli with pumpkin, mustard fruit, burnt butter sauce and sage was ideal; a great example of traditional flavours that always work well together.

The addition of amaretti crumbs brought a touch of sweetness and crunch to the dish along with the fragrantly crisp sage leaves.

Pappardelle con ragu di manzo

It was not my first time eating the pappardelle with ragu at A Tavola and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be my last. This perennial favourite is exactly why I am rather picky about ragu when I dine out.

A good ragu is slowly cooked with a flavoursome, dark sauce. The beef was rich, tender and falling apart with a hint of sweetness in the background. We liked it so much another serving was required.

Cremino al cioccolato

For dessert, we had A Tavola's signature cremino al cioccolato which might as well be called "heaven in a cup". I've had it twice now and invariably, the entire table swoons after a single taste.

Whoever came up with the idea of combining chocolate with hazelnut, salted caramel gelato, torched Italian meringue and amaretti biscuits deserves a medal.

Dinner at two fabulous Italian eateries and the easiest of taxi rides in between. From the beach to the inner city, A Tavola has got it covered with simple Italian cuisine of the highest quality and freshest pasta - and there's no catches to it.

Food, Booze & Shoes attended the A Tavola progressive dinner as a guest, with thanks to Wasamedia.

PaperPlanes' Ramen Nights fly in for winter

Posted by Hendy

Returning for its second year, the Ramen Nights menu from Bondi Beach contemporary Japanese restaurant and bar PaperPlanes is set to warm up the the oncoming winter chills. Landing from tonight and throughout the winter period, PaperPlanes has its ramen game on with a broad menu and $5 specials nights.

PaperPlanes Restaurant and Bar, Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach

Head chef Jin Kung and her team have crafted a unique menu for the beachside restaurant, morphing traditional Japanese dishes with the ideology of the often eccentric and vibrant Japanese pop culture.

Inside the restaurant, there is an extensive ceiling installation of 500 skateboard decks and hanging aluminium origami cranes, while the long bar lit with a purple-y neon light takes inspiration from vibrant Tokyo areas such as Shibuya and Akihabara.

The eccentric ceiling made of skateboard decks and hanging origami

Jin and her team have managed to simplify, albeit quite well, a ramen menu with a two-step ordering system: choose your topping first and base broth second. Three toppings are available: slow-cooked chashu roast pork, crispy karaage chicken and crunchy tempura prawn.

All three topping options are joined with a soft boiled egg, bamboo shoots, naruto cured fish cake, sweet corn kernels, shallots and nori seaweed. There's also a vegetarian ramen option without the soft boiled egg and naruto, and with tofu and cabbage instead.

There are four varieties of broth: PaperPlanes house broth, PaperPlanes spicy house broth, vegetable and konbu seaweed broth (vegetarian option), or the spicy vegetable and konbu broth.

Edamame with chilli salt

We had some starters ahead of our ramen feast, starting with edamame soy beans with chilli salt. The beans were firmer than I had expected, with the chilli salt spicing up the furry bean pods, giving them a salty hit with lingering heat.

PaperPlanes pork belly bun with jalapeno mayonnaise

Braving another spicy offering, we ordered the increasingly ubiquitous pork belly bun with jalapeño mayonnaise and pickled vegetable. Slightly bigger than the average bun, this combined two generous slices of pork belly chashu, turmeric pickled daikon and cucumber slices topped with jalapeño mayonnaise and shallots.

The steamed bun was soft and velvety, and wonderful to hold with the fillings surprisingly fresh on the palate, with just a touch of heat from the jalapeño mayonnaise.

Slow cooked pork chashu ramen with PaperPlanes house broth

To the main game, we had the slow-cooked pork chashu ramen with PaperPlanes house broth. The house broth is made from a combination of chicken and pork, and is simmered for over ten hours. The broth had quite a unique, clean flavour; not as salty as a tonkotsu broth and quite thin.

Immersed in the broth were thin, soft wheat noodles and toppings including half a soft-boiled egg still soft with a semi runny yolk, a slice of the pink-swirled naruto, bamboo shoots, a nori seaweed sheet and two slices of the slow cooked pork chashu.

It was quite a flavourful bowl of ramen; one that did not weigh on you and one that allowed each of the topping to shine through.

Crispy kara age chicken ramen with PaperPlanes spicy house broth

We had the PaperPlanes spicy house broth for the crispy karaage chicken ramen, which uses the same house broth with the addition of spice paste. We found the spicy broth to be light on heat; unlike the lingering heat from the chilli salt.

With similar toppings to the pork chashu ramen, plus corn kernels, the karaage ramen arrived with a separate plate of karaage fried chicken pieces.

Kara age chicken pieces

Definitely a highlight of the night, the light and fluffy batter of the chicken karaage had a subtle light crunch while remaining tender and moist on the inside.

Tokyo POP Plant

To finish on a slightly different, sweet note, we ordered the Tokyo POP Plant; a freshly potted mint sprig in an Oreo chocolate cookie and popping candy "potting mixture".

Digging deeper into the pot, we discovered a layer of lemon cheesecake and crumble. The dessert gave off the energy and vibrancy of the Tokyo pop culture with its bursting popping candies, slightly overpowering tangy lemon curd, and dark but sweet Oreo soil.

Sake, soy sauce on table

To kick off the PaperPlanes ramen adventure, PaperPlanes is offering $5 ramen (with a drink purchase) across the two opening nights of Monday 5 May and Tuesday 6 May, and also on the first Monday of every month.

The $5 ramen special nights include all ramen options as well as a host of other PaperPlanes temptations including lettuce cups, sushi rolls, sashimi, ceviche and PaperPlanes' signature salmon tartare nachos - more details here.

Food, booze and shoes dined as a guest of PaperPlanes.