Berry Sourdough Cafe - Berry - South Coast, Australia

The weather today was perfect for a day trip to the small town of Berry, located in the South Coast of NSW, an hour and a half drive from Sutherland. My best friends and I have wanted to go for some time now but have had to cancel due to the wet weather previously. I went on a family trip many years ago and really enjoyed the time there. It's nice going out of Sydney once in a while to just relax and unwind.

There a number of cafes and restaurants in Berry with good reviews to choose from. Our cafe of choice was the Berry Sourdough Cafe. We actually planned to have brunch there after perusing their menu online, only to have missed it by 20 minutes, leaving us a bit disappointed. Shy 10 minutes of 12pm, we waited for lunch service to start.

A lovely and cosy standalone cafe with a bakery in house, they pride themselves on using local produce and that's definitely something I highly regard. Support local business!

The pastries and breads on display looked delicious. If only we had more stomach space we would have had desserts too. We were saving ourselves for the cinnamon doughnuts from the famous Berry Doughnut van for later.

I guess it was a calling. Initially, I was going to order the chicken dish below, but changed my mind last minute. The 'Rigatoni ($20.00)' with Spanish pork sausage, roast fennel and sofrito was all sorts of amazing. On initial bite of the al dente pasta, the tomato based sauce was exploding with flavour from the aromatic ingredients used. I ate every last bit on the plate. Superb! It comes with dollops of mascarpone but I asked for it to be excluded.

From their specials board, The 'Roasted Chicken Maryland ($24.00)' is a simple and hearty home-style dish. The chicken was well seasoned and the chicken meat was moist. The side of kipfler potatoes, and the apple and cabbage is a refreshing accompaniment.

'Matcha Latte ($4.00)' is a surprising item on the menu. We didn't expect to see it in Berry. It had a decent amount of matcha powder in it and I really enjoyed the frothiness. Unfortunately the cinnamon powder on the top gave it a strange taste, more like a chai latte.

The 'Cappucino ($4.00)' here is a good cup of coffee. The beans are strong and punchy without giving the bitter aftertaste.

Service was great, the staff were really friendly and attentive. Most importantly, the food was excellent and the freshness of the ingredients used showed in their dishes . What more could one ask for?

*Credits to my best friend Anny for her sign photo. Do visit her blog at http://anythingandsomethings.blogspot.com.au/. It's an interesting read on her life and previous work secondments to Amsterdam and San Francisco.

Where?
23 Prince Alfred St
Berry NSW 2535
Australia

Phone no: 02 4464 1617

Opening Hours
Breakfast
Wednesday to Sunday: 8:00am - 11:30am
Lunch
Wednesday to Sunday: 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Website
www.berrysourdoughcafe.com.au

The Italian Kitchen - Miranda - Sydney, Australia

The Italian Kitchen is open as part of Westfield Miranda's multi-million dollar redevelopment. Popular restaurants such Mejico, Braza, Kazbah, Grill’d and Din Tai Fung have also established their presence in this precinct. 

Restaurateur Con Dedes, the owner of famous restaurants such as the Flying Fish and Watergrill, has teamed up with renowned chef Danny Russo, opening The Italian Kitchen in the Shire. A modern Italian restaurant in the south boasting a casual and sophisticated dining space. 

The open courtyard is filled with plenty of natural light and fresh air.

The concise menu showcases traditional Italian food, providing an assortment of options including antipastis, entrees, salads, mains and desserts. Pizza is cooked in a woodfired oven and pasta is made fresh on premises.

What grabbed our attention was the ‘Shoestring Chips ($8.50)’ with a truffle mayo. Who could say no to that? The fries were deep fried to a nice golden yellow and balanced with the right amount of salt. The accompanying truffle mayo was brilliant. 

The ‘Pollo Pizza ($23.00)’ is topped with chicken, mushrooms, roast peppers, ricotta cheese and a heap of rocket. A fluffy and light base with the right thickness and loaded with an abundance of fresh ingredients. This was delicious and a good portion size. 

To balance out our meal, we decided to order a lighter dish. The ‘Margherita Pizza ($20.00)’, while simple, was packed with a lot of flavor from the delectable tomato sauce, basil and buffalo mozzarella cheese. 

The ‘Seafood Linguine Pasta ($29.00)’ is made using freshly made linguine with prawns, calamari and mussels in a garlic and butter sauce. We enjoyed the overall creaminess and textures of the dish but the seafood must have shrunk during the cooking process and the portion was smaller than expected.

Photo courtesy of K

A must visit for those who are looking for authentic Italian food in a wonderful locale with a lively atmosphere. The perfect restaurant for a special occasion or gathering as it won’t break your budget. I definitely recommend this restaurant and will be visiting it very soon.

Where?

Level 2, Shop 2203/2204,

Westfield Miranda

Miranda NSW 2228

Phone no: 02 9188 2981

Opening Hours

Monday - Sunday: 11:30am - 9:00pm

Website

www.theitaliankitchenmiranda.com.au

Tipo 00 - Melbourne CBD - Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is a beautiful city and I love the multiculturalism, culture and lifestyle there. It reminds me very much of Sydney but it's more relaxed and slower paced than here. Look at that amazing view from the hotel we stayed at!

As many have said, Melbourne can have four seasons in one day and we sure did experience that. It was scorching hot when we arrived on the Saturday but the weather went downhill from there. Cold and windy days that belonged more to winter than summer. Thankfully, it didn't rain.

We had a great time exploring the sights, shopping, watching the tennis and eating. We also managed to make our way to Phillip Island to see the cute little penguins but I'll save that post for another day perhaps.

After reading numerous guides, we settled on a number of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Though, we never ended up sticking to it due to time constraints. We were super pressed for time and even ended up eating Macca's at the airport on our way back in place of Huxtaburger. We missed out on their famous burgers which was disappointing. That will definitely be on the agenda next time around.

Arriving on a late Saturday afternoon, we made our way to our first restaurant for dinner, Tipo 00. A pasta bar serving authentic Italian cuisine located on Little Bourke Street. If the name sounds familiar, then you are correct in that it's a reference to the finely ground flour used in pasta making. The pasta here is made on premises so freshness is guaranteed. A reservation was made one week prior to departure from Sydney as we read that it does get busy and is extremely popular with locals and tourists.

 It was buzzing with couples and groups when we arrived just before 6:30pm.

Tipo 00 is a fine dining restaurant offering a casual and relaxed atmosphere. The interior is modern and sleek, yet rustic at the same time. 

The open kitchen makes it very interesting to watch as the chefs cook up a storm.

The menu is short but concise. This makes ordering much easier as there aren't pages and pages to look through. However, there were a number of words we couldn't understand or never heard of, and that's the great thing about dining at Italian restaurants, you get to try things you may have never eaten. There are starters, mains, salads and desserts. The waitress also mentions a number of specials for the day in which we order a few.

Complimentary focaccia bread is served with a side of ricotta cheese and drizzled with rosemary salt and olive oil. This is a welcoming start to the dinner.

The 'Porcini Croquettes ($7.50)' was an item from the specials menu. These morsels were delicious and the armoa that filled our space when it was brought out was so good. A porcini mixture rolled in a bread crumb and fried to a golden colour. It tasted equally delicious as how it looked.

The 'Polenta Fritta ($9.00)' is made from polenta and deep fried. It was steaming hot when it arrived at the table and if eaten immediately, it retains the crunch on the outside whilst being soft on the inside.

'Calamari ($13.00)' turned out to be different to what we imagined, as we're so use to the salt and pepper squid. Grilled calamari is combined with cucumber, pickled fennel and black capsicum. The calamari was cooked well and it had a nice bite. Together with the three other elements, this was amazingly fresh, light and refreshing. Have you ever seen black capsicum? We sure haven't! It actually tasted normal but we couldn't help but laugh at what it looked like. So immature we are.

We were quite adventurous with this choice. The 'Pappardelle ($26.00)' is cooked with braised rabbit, marjoram and hazelnut.  You may be thinking, what is majoram? We didn't know either. After a quick Google search, Majoram is basically a herb. The pasta was cooked al dente and the creamy sauce wasn't overpowering but nicely seasoned. The rabbit meat was tender but I found it to be quite gamey.

'Tagliolini Al Nero ($24.00)' was another exceptional dish. Squid ink pasta shaped in the form of tagliolini and then made with squid and bottarga, which is a fish roe. There was a definite seafood flavour in the rich butter sauce which wasn't overwhelming, but just right on the palate.

Simple looking yet an amazing combination. The 'Riso Carnaroli ($24.00)' is a Moreton Bay bug risotto. I don't recall ever trying risotto before and this risotto just blew my mind away. Till today, I still have the thoughts of how good it was lingering in my head. The risotto tasted very much like a Spanish paella but the rice is softer and more flavoursome. They were very generous with the chunks of bugs.

Tipo 00 is hands down my favourite Italian restaurant in Melbourne. I liked how they kept to the simple and home-style cooking. The ambiance was nice, the service was efficient and the food was great. Quality ingredients are used in their cooking and you can taste the difference. Would definitely head back in the near future but hopefully dessert will be on the cards next.

Where?
361 Little Bourke St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia

Phone no: 03 9942 3946

Opening Hours
Monday: 11:30am - 3:00pm
Tuesday to Saturday: 11:30am - 10:00pm

Website
www.tipo00.com.au

Agio Italian Restaurant- Insadong - Seoul, South Korea.

Agio Italian Restaurant

Agio Restaurant specialises in Italian cuisine, namely pizza and pasta dishes. It actually wasn't on our list of places to eat at and I didn't think we would end up eating Italian food in Korea. However, I had the sudden craving for pizza after over indulging in Korean food for many days and my palate was in need of something that didn't have too much rice, meat or vegetables. Though, my expectations of finding excellent Italian food in Seoul was quite low and that proved to be quite the contrary.

After some searches on trusty Google, I stumbled upon a restaurant called Agio and the reviews were pretty good. It's fairly easy to get to, smack bang in the middle of the busy Insadong district, a tourist friendly area. They even have a branch at Hongdae for those who are interested.

Located within the side street that leads off the main street, is this quaint restaurant that occupies two levels of a rustic looking building, and the mere architecture made me reminisce back to the time when I was in Italy.

The kitchen is downstairs and the majority of seating is located upstairs. I loved the nostalgic decor with the antique style furniture that felt homely, yet maintaining that quiet and elegant ambiance away from the crowded streets.

One thing that differentiates this restaurant from other Italian restaurants is how the pizza is cooked. It is cooked in what they call a brick oven or how we Australians like to call it, a wood-fired pizza oven. The pasta here is also made fresh and that is apparently a rarity in Korea.

It's a casual restaurant with prices being quite affordable but I wouldn't say it's a budget restaurant and more towards the mid-range level. We were there at lunch and the crowd was relatively mixed. There were the couples, groups of friends and lots of families. Surprisingly, I didn't see any foreigners on that day and most were local Koreans.

The motto of the restaurant is 'slow food' and that was rather intriguing. The menu was set on a number of pages inside a folder and the menu was very easy to read as items were in both English and Korean. The staff were friendly and they took our orders promptly and food was also served quickly.

The waitress brought out complimentary house bread and pickles. A plus plus from me. The bread was warm and there was a hint of garlic to it which I liked very much. The pickles were nicely pickled in that they were sour and crunchy, but I'm not really a pickle eater so I didn't have much of it.

The 'Arabiata Sauce Spaghetti with Fresh Seafood and Tomato (KRW 12,500)' was absolutely amazing. The fresh pasta was cooked perfectly al-dente and complemented the chunky tomato sauce and the  seafood was tasty. A hearty and mouth-watering meal.

'Chicken Barbecue Pizza with Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella Cheese (KRW $18,500)' is on a crisp thin base topped with loads of mozzarella cheese and shredded chicken. They don't put a lot of toppings on their pizza and this is kept to a minimal, just like how the pizzas are done in Italy. That stringy and melt in your mouth cheese was superb.

The base was crisp, chicken was well marinated and the homemade tomato sauce was pleasant. A wonderful combination of flavours that just hit the spot. My initial reaction while scoffing down the pizza was, this is so good and indeed it was.

Agio is worth a go if you are in the area or looking for authentic Italian cuisine. We really enjoyed the food here and it surpassed our expectations. The pizza and pasta was definitely better than some of the ones I had back in Sydney and even comparable to the ones in Italy. The produce is fresh and that shows in their food.

Where?
Jongno-gu Gyeonji-dong 
68-1, 
Seoul,
South Korea

Phone no: 02 334 7311

Opening Hours
NA

Website
NA