Emmilou Spanish Tapas, Surry Hills

I loveee getting a bargain when it comes to dining out, especially if its extra discounted! (I  mean, who doesn’t?!)

I religiously check www.spreets.com.au and www.scoopon.com.au for the best deals on dining out and activities! So just about a month ago this deal came up! $20 for $40 worth of Spanish tapas at Emmilou, Surry Hills. Is that a steal or what? literally 50% off!

So we made reservation for Saturday lunch on that same week. Dad was in town so it was a good chance to get together with the rest of the family. I love tapas, small share dishes and yes, you get to try lots of different things!

We arrived at Surry Hills, at 12PM it was pretty quite and we were the only ones there. Its a really nice location, we had the terrace to ourselves, overlooking the hustle bustle of Bourke st. Love it!

I had thought this place serves the usual tapas, you know; garlic prawns, chorizos etc. but I was wrong. They didn’t have the ‘usual’ tapas in the menu, instead the dishes had its own modern flare! Read on -

bytheway; there were 5 of us, and we ordered 7 dishes (with 2 of them repeated, so 9 plates all up), They recommended 1.5-2dishes per person.

Dad starting lunch of with a bottle of James Boag

JAMON; Sliced Serano Ham, Sourdough and Extra Virgin Oil

OSTRAS; 6 Freshly Shucked Sydney Rock Oysters with Gazpacho Dressing

BACALAO; Crisp and Shaved Salt Cod with Squid Ink Ailioli

This is one of my faves! We actually ordered it again, i love the squid ink with the cod, yum!

GAMBAS; Seared Prawns with Onion Jam Salsa and Grated Almonds

We also ordered this dish again; at first I was disappointed that they didn’t have the usual garlic prawns, but when I tasted this, I totally didn’t mind it! The salsa is absolutely yum!

MEJILLONES; Boston Bay Mussels with Calamari and a Rich Tomato Saffron Broth

Loved the dressing with the mussels.

CERDO; Twice Cooked Pork Belly, Chickpea, Potato and Chorizo ‘Cocido’

Also really nice, the sweetness of the beetroot sauce goes nicely with the Pork belly

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers; Goats Cheese, Pumpkin Seeds and Truffle Honey

This dish was alright, interesting actually. I guess if you’re not a fan of goats cheese, you’ll find the taste a bit strong, but accompanied with the truffle honey tones down the goats cheese.

Overall, it was enjoyable, the location, the atmosphere, and yes the dishes were indeed interesting We had about $200 value to spend and at the end only had to pay an extra $19 on top, so i ended up costing around $24/pp instead of $43, so, not bad! It was a pity though that around 3-4 dishes they didn’t have that day, which I really wanted to try! I’ve got 1 $20 (for $40 value) voucher worth left still, so I guess it calls for a 2nd time!

————–

413 Bourke St, Surry Hills

Tel: +61 (02) 9360 6991

Lunch: Fridays & Saturdays from 12PM
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 5PM-1AM

http://www.emmilou.com.au/

Marque Restaurant, Surry Hills

When my friend, L, told me about Marque‘s Friday lunch special; $45 for 3 course, it sounded like a great deal. We made our reservation for 4 one Friday noon. Excited as I was, I hopped onto their website to see what the menu was like and was disappointed to find that it was under construction. Then, my friend tells me that the Friday lunch menu special changes every week, so it was hard to predict what we’d get. Adds on to the excitement doesn’t it?

The $45 lunch special is a fixed 3 course menu; I had to resist not reading the rest of the menu so I won’t feel like I’m missing out!

Chaud-froid free range egg with salted grissini

After a serving of breads to settle our tummies, the first course was up;

Or rather, the first appetizer.

The appetizer was beautifully presented, and it reminded me of a classic ‘Eggs & Soldiers’. I’m really curious how they manage to cut the egg so perfectly! The salted grissini alone were so yummy; dipping it into the egg was even better. I slowly scooped my way through the egg and was amused. I thought the whole thing would be the same flavour throughout, but was surprised. One layer was cold, one layer was hot. We tasted salty and sour at the same time; can you imagine how exciting it was for my tastebuds?? I honestly wanted a second serving of this, please!

Salt cod soup with mullet roe

Now, for the first course.

The dish is pretty much what the name suggests. The soup isn’t as smooth as you can see, the cod was one flavour and the mullet roe; the white foam at the top, was a different flavour with parsley subtly written on as the ‘M’.

Roast flank steak with toffeed tuscan reds & potato

I’m not usually a mains’ girl, usually am happy with entree & dessert, but this main looked interesting, beautifully plated, the potato was nice twirled above the steak. Most importantly, the steak was nice and tender. It was a small serving though, which I guess is a bit of a let down.

Sauterns custard

My favourite is, dessert time!

But wait! that isn’t apple crumble! but another complimentary dish, another pre-dessert appetizer. I wasn’t complaining.  I thought this might be like a creme caramel, but it had its little flare. The use of Sauterns, a french dessert wine is what sets this dish apart from the ordinary creme caramel. It was smooth and melted in my mouth. I loved it.

Apple crumble

Besides the appetizers in between, this is the highlight of the 3 courses. Does that look like an apple crumble to you? I really loved the presentation of this; the best bit is of course the round scoop of.. wait its not a scoop of ice cream or the alike. It was actually hard surfaced and had to slowly crack it open with the spoon. Cold inside and outside, it was refreshing. The outer layer was white chocolate and inside was apple ice cream, mm mm.

The head chef, and owner Mark Best came out to greet us and had a quick chat on how we enjoyed lunch. Amazing man.

Overall, the Marque experience was enjoyable. For $45 a 3 course and 2 complimentary dishes, is this not a great place for lunch or what! I advice you make reservations weeks in advance; I believe they get booked out rather quickly; afterall it is only open one day a week for lunch.

I’d love to try out dinner one night at Marque, when my wallet revives itself again

————–

Marque Restaurant

4/5 355 Crown street
Tel: +61 (02) 9332 2225
(Lunch) Fridays only from 12:30pm
(Dinner) Monday – Saturday from 6:30pm

http://www.marquerestaurant.com.au

The -Ultimate- Cupcake Post!

Good Morning!

this is THE -Ultimate- Cupcake Post!..Yes you have been warned, this blog is Cupcake heavy! I’m not sure if I’ll be mass-posting cupcakes again anytime soon….

Sunday noon, my friend, Martina called me up asking me if I was up for taking photos of her cupcakes, I obviously said, Yes please!

Martina never fails to pleasure my eyes with her beautiful cupcake decors!

She has recently started her own business, still small, but it’ll get there!

Cupcakes by M <– Check out her bakes at her Facebook Page!

Be sure to click ‘Like’ !

So I present to you… the Lavender cupcake collection! (my title says French, because the dolly & decor set up just feels French!)

They are, lavender flavoured icing cupcakes! It is also available in Peppermint (green), Lemon (Yellow), Rosewater (Pink)

There are 2 ‘kinds’

These flat ones are vanilla cupcakes, with a hint of strawberry jam.

Dome shaped; Vanilla cupcakes with lavender flavoured icing.

Here is an individual portrait of each cupcake! Each cupcake is specially named after each of Martina’s girlfriends, including me!

Because there are 2 Clarissa’s in our friendship group, I have saved her the confusion by suggesting ‘Clarzzique’, which I’m sure is uniquely me

This one is the ‘Clarzzique’ Cupcake!

Names of the other cupcakes can be found on her facbeook page! (sorry there are 15 other cupcakes here, and they are just too many to keep track/name!)

All together now…

This was what I saw when I walked into her place… I was full of glee! I didn’t expect such a collection of different designs! How can one not fall in love with the sight of this? Not only that, they do taste yummy Good Job Martina!

Cupcakes by M @ facebook

It was a little tiring whilst taking these photos, because it was rainy-gloomy and I had to get photos taken that day or else, they’ll age in the fridge . So trying to find the right light was difficult. I refuse to use studio lighting, I want natural light!

So I was moving between my dining room balcony to my sisters bedroom balcony, which literally is at opposite ends of my apartment! I’m glad it all turned out though, what do you think? my favourite food shots by far!

I’m so jealous of people who have awesome baking skills! I wish I could put a dish together artistically and tastefully Perhaps this could be a challenge one day each week huh? Just to feed my food pornography addiction