Em Recommends: a list of memorable dishes and favourite places to dine

I am an unashamed foodie (which probably explains my increasing girth along with the fact that I do hardly - actually, who am I kidding - NO exercise.) But I have a weird food dichotomy...although I love fine dining and sophisticated food combinations, I also have a perchant for very unsophisticated comfort food and an on-going fascination with instant/frozen meals. So with that explanation in mind, I bring you the inaugural Em Recommends (lists in no particular order):

Memorable dishes: merely thinking about them causes me to salivate...
1. Roast barramundi with prawn ravioli and pea puree from Aria: This was their 2004 Let's Do Lunch special...yummmm.

2. Duck and lobster entree from Rockpool: Had this a few (5? 6?) years ago. The fact that I still remember it is a testament to how good it was!

3. Cured salmon with fennel salad from Billingsgate Fish Bistro: from a few weeks ago...yum! Dunno what the salmon was cured in though...mmmmm.

4. From even longer ago than number 2...scallop sashimi with foie gras from Tetsuya's. I haven't been to a place where they've done scallop sashimi since. Boo.

5. How could I forget!? The marinara pasta from our hotel in Bolsena (arguably the best pasta I've had in my life!), the beautiful porcini mushroom and truffle risotto from Siena (al dente risotto...the secret behind making risotto NOT TASTE LIKE CRAP!) and those awsome mussels with herbs and garlic from Cinqueterra (sweet, fresh and beautiful!).

Favourite dishes: dishes to go eat NOW
1. Dumplings from Din Tai Fung (is that how it's spelled??) in Singapore: ok, I know the heading says "dishes to go eat NOW"...but if you're ever in Singapore (or Taiwan or China or Japan or (bizzarely) California), go try the siu long pau. OMG, sooooo gooood......these are dumplings filled with soup! Each dumpling is perfectly made (apparently they must have FOURTEEN folds). The skin is really fine- not too doughy or thick, but not too soggy either, and when you bite into them there's this delicious combination of soup (that is, if you haven't accidentally burst it already), filling and skin. Yum.

2. Dumplings from Yangzhou Restaurant in Hurstville: these are the pan-fried Shanghainese dumplings ("wor tiep" in Chinese). For $6.50 you get 8 beautifully juicy dumplings with perfectly textured skins (again, not too doughy, not too thin, not to soggy) pan-fried to form a great contrast in texture with the moist meat filling. AND they're also perfectly crafted. There's a reason why the SMH reviewer said that these were possibly the best dumplings in Sydney.

3. Bean thread noodles with braised pork (also from the above place): Yum! These are Shanghainese clear noodles made out of bean flour (I think)...kind of like sheets of chewy cellophane (?) cut up into ribbons. They're with this tangy sauce of braised pork, shredded cucumber, coriander and a little dab of mustard- sort of like a salad (incidentally, they serve it on a plate which makes it really hard to mix...). I don't think I'm making a very good fist of describing it, but believe me when I say the whole dish works SO WELL together...the slight sourness from the sauce...the savouriness of the pork...the clean sweetness of the cucumber and the hit of mustard. Hats off!

4. MAT platter at Credo in Cammeray: I like how there are various odds and ends on the plate to nibble at...I've had it twice now and both times it's been different (I think it changes pretty regularly). But the aforementioned "odds and ends" are always yummy. Previously there was stuff like a shot glass filled with the very retro prawn cocktail or tuna tartare...fried zuchini flowers...a mini-bowl of olives...grilled chorizo. In fact, at $14 per head (minimum 2 people) it's ridiculously good value because you can get seriously FULL on it (comes with bread! Go the filling carbs!).

5. Ribs from Hurricanes, Bondi: Best ribs I've tasted. Tasty full sized ribs with the smokey barbequed flavour, and meat so tender it falls off the bone. Good value too, if you share a full rack between two! Really do need to go back there...but it's always so busy. Hmmm.

6. Baked pork chops with pasta from Sussex Seafood Grill Cafe (or something like that): I agree with Luke who put me onto this- ultimate comfort food. It's not classy in the slightest, but it really does hit the spot. Pork chops in a tomato sauce (and I mean literally a TOMATO SAUCE - i.e. one out of a bottle from Heinz or...umm...I don't know any other tomato sauce brands. But you get the idea. They probably put other stuff in it [possibilities include cornflour....water....cornflour....] as well, but tomato sauce is definitely in there) served over pasta with peas and champignons, and the whole thing gets whacked in a grill or oven to fulfil the "baked" criteria (because seriously...there is no reason it has to be baked that I can fathom!). This from one of those Honky Asian-does-Western places. Love it! hehehehe

7. Thai Papaya Salad/Catfish Salad/Thai Sausage from Suan-i-San, Newtown or the first two from Spice-i-Am, Surry Hills: (don't ask me what the deal is with the Xxx-i-Yyyy names. I don't know!) I LOVE the freshness and the tanginess and the chilli hit from the papaya salads (shredded green papaya, lime, nuts, chilli and in the Newtown version: traditional preserved tiny crabs). The catfish salad has much the same flavour, but instead of papaya...it's done with crisy flossed catfish. YUM! Too bad these aren't typical Sydney Thai restaurant dishes (like Tom Yum soup or Massaman curry or fish cakes) because I'd been eating them all the time! Healthy too! And the sausage...I think it's pork but it has this tangy fermented flavour to it. I promise, it's really yummy!

8. Grilled miso eggplant from Kagaya in Hurstville: You get 2 halves of an eggplant, deeply scored and grilled with sweetened miso paste. The texture of the eggplant is super-creamy and it just melts in your mouth! And the skin of the eggplant is really crispy...yummmm.....

9. Vietnamese Pancake from Miss Saigon in Hustville: This crunchy pancake made from rice flour and coconut milk, spiked with tumeric for a rich yellow colour is fried over a slow pan so it's really crispy, and filled with bean sprouts, spring onions, pork and prawn, then served with nuoc cham (is that the name for the Viet sweet fish sauce stuff?!) and lots of mint and lettuce. Tear off a piece of pancake and wrap it in a lettuce leaf with some mint leaves, dip it in sauce and enjoy! Fresh and crunchy!

Places I like to eat at (excluding the fine diners...that they are on my list goes without saying!)
1. Credo, Cammeray: Great Mod Oz food at reasonable prices...the lounge out the front is greaet too.

2. Billingsgate Fish Bistro, Randwick: From the team that was so highly rated at Restaurant Balzac. Excellent fresh food at very reasonable prices. Go for the pre/post-Ritz deal - $32.50 for 2 courses and coffee for early and late birds.

3. Roma Pizza, South Hurstville: Intimate space (think candles!), great pizza, less than 5 mins drive from my house!

4. Abhi's Indian, North Strathfield: Not-your-normal Indian food (though they do have the classics, and the butter chicken is sooooo good), great looking restaurant. AND in the Entertainment Book!

5. Thai-on-Sky, Mortdale: Not-your-normal Thai food (though, they too have the classics done well). Great tasting food, great value for money, and a great little space.

6. Al-Sofra Kebabs, Auburn: Chicken, Lamb or Marinated Lamb mince on a giant skewer and roasted over charcoal. The chicken is absolutely gorgeous - juicy from roasting over charcoal and well marinated, served with turkish bread and salad. Interestingly, there's probably about 5 shops on the street (which is Auburn's main drag) selling the same thing. Al-Sofra is the first one I tried though, and I'm sticking with the sure thing! (Oops, I should have put this on the list above this one. Oh well.)

7. Omero's On the Beach, Ramsgate: Not because the food is particularly great. It's ok. BUT I love the location and the intimacy of this little place!

8. The Meridian Brasserie, a.k.a. "The Pub", Hurstville: Ok, it's a pub complete with the TAB and one of those walls with 9 TV screens on it each showing a different channel. And some of the food is heavily spiked with MSG. But it's bloody good value for money (hello...$24 for a WHOLE LOBSTER MORNAY with chips and salad!?! Where else can you get that!?), and for the price, I don't think you can complain. Another one of those Asians-do-Western places. (Actually, I should have a separate list of places to eat just because they are sheer value for money. The Chinese takeaway that does curry king prawns and rice for $6 springs to mind....)

OMG that was a huuuuge post! Ick! Need to write my assignment now!
Bye!!