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Embracing one’s culture and traditions is the corner stone to a successful authentic restaurant. The modern fusing of cuisines and cultures can leave true culinary disciples feeling a tad perplexed at the changes to dining experiences in Sydney in these times. Modern will always have its place in the swank sophistication of Sydney, but when a restaurant like Moroccan Feast comes along, it is almost refreshing to get back to that traditional family feeling.

Moroccan Feast has left no stone unturned to create a restaurant that captures the very essence of Morocco. The environment within the dining room is one of a warmth and good old family TLC. Luckily for us, the food is just as authentic as the ambience.

The dish that had my taste buds dancing like Fred Astaire the most...it had to be the Spicy Merguez sausages, served with couscous and Tahini sauce ($22). The Barramundi fillet with chick peas in a moreish reduction of chilli, coriander, turmeric, garlic and paprika oil ($26) also gave my fellow diners a taste bud tap dance. The Lamb Tajine with caramelized onions, slow cooked prunes, sultanas, almonds and cinnamon ($25) was also given the thumbs up by all.

For Moroccan food novices like myself, I found the food to be delightfully enjoyable. Similar to Tapas, sharing these dishes was ideal and a great way to spend a cosy evening with good friends. The dishes we tried were filled with love and heart...the way all authentic food should be

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Posted By: Damien Cooper - Category: No Category

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Cine (LINK)

July 28th 2008 09:04

The tv character Frasier Crane once quipped

If less is more, then just think how much more, more will be

. Unfortunately for Italian restaurant Cine, less is just...less.

Simplicity is the new catch-cry from restauranters. Whether it is relating to food, ambience or the overall environment, it is heard more and more, as other trendy establishments push the envelope to stand out from the crowd.

Cine is definately all about simpicity. No harm in that. But in their efforts to keep things simple, they have created a restaurant that is about as entertaining as watching Treasurer Wayne Swan deliver the federal budget.

Situated in the heart of the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, Cine is in an envious position. With extremely poor restaurants surrounding it, and an array of traffic passing through, it is in a prime location to capatalise on it's good fortune. Instead, Cine have taken a different route. Knowing full well diners have nothing of quality to choose from close by before they go to their movie or show, Cine shows it's contempt, by dishing up a great big serving of mediocrity.

The menu is bordering on pub food, which is a blight on pubs considering the standards of which are at an all time high.

Pizza, pasta and salad. The usual drill. Nothing you cannot get at your local Westfield food court. Chicken Scnitzel with chips, tempura fish with chips and salad..blah, blah blah.

The bad news is the service is just as mundane. My last visit even had my partner's credit card lost and took another 25 minutes to be retrieved, hence missing our scheduled movie. In part this sloppy-ness can be put down to a high turnover rate of diners, but in reality it's much more than that.

It looks as though until a restaurant with some oomph enters the fray in the Entertainment Quarter, mediocrity will remain.

Cine makes the "less is more" argument a little wobbly.

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Posted By: Damien Cooper - Category: No Category

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Longrain (LINK)

July 28th 2008 06:08

If Longrain were a lady, you would be caught salivating at the sight of her as she walks by...but get to know her and you will be blown away with her inner beauty.

Longrain has been a 'must' experience for trendy sydney-siders for numerous years. Nestled away in the culinary hub of the inner city in Surry Hills, Longrain has been the 'go-to' destination for many of Sydney's fashionista's and trend-setters alike.

The restaurant has a small but funky cocktail bar, where diners can relax and chill to the resident DJ, whilst waiting to be ushered through to the dining area. With a no-booking policy and large turnouts daily, getting to one of the 3 communal tables in a timely manner may test impatient types, but for those who are happy to chill out with a cocktail or 3 before meal-time, the wait is well and truly worth it.

The communal tables promote a feel good vibe, one that entices sharing of these mouth watering thai dishes. 3 of the 4 dishes tried on this particular night had both myself and my posse' well and truly in raptures.

The stir-fried ocean trout with green peppercorns, chilli jam and thai basil($36) had my troops on the realms of delerium, and the grilled veal ribs with spiced coconut sauce with hot sour salad($35) takes thai cuisine to another stratosphere. The mussaman curry of braised lamb with potatoes and baby onions($39.50) was also a highlight, but unfortunately the crisp fried barossa chicken with blood plum sauce and szechuan pepper($40.50) was a fraction on the sweet side.

Shared desserts included the coconut caramel custard with grilled banana($14.50) and the black sticky rice, custard apple with sweet coconut cream($15).

Longrain endevours to take your taste buds on an adventure and it without question succeeds. The creativity of the dishes will make traditional thai food seem about as tired and outdated as Reebok Pumps.

For anyone who has yet to try Longrain i urge you to do so. It is definately perfect for a small group of your friends,