Kutchi Deli Parwana

A friend of mine introduced me to Parwana many years ago and I fell in love with their home-style Afghani food, so when I heard that they’d opened a deli outpost in the city I had to try it! I love that it has remained a family-run business with the expansion, and they’ve upped their decor anti with incredibly vibrant blues and teals at the Ebenezer Place location. There are no reservations, so we planned to arrive as they opened for lunch on a Sunday. The strategy worked – we were the first to arrive behind a couple of locals who clearly know the staff (always a good sign). I’d already decided to order the mantu, Afghani dumplings served with lamb mince and yoghurt, and we added a lamb mince bolani to our order to be adventurous. Both dishes were mind-blowingly good. And I mean, lick-the-bowl, write-home-about good. The mantu were soft and beautifully balanced – stuffed full of onion and carrot, coated in a tomato-based sauce with mince and lentils. The bolani, an Afghani flat-bread, was filled with mince and veggies, and came with a divine mint dipping sauce that brought the whole thing to life. Let me repeat: incredibly, incredibly good. Please eat there.

Kutchi Deli Parwana, No. 7 Ebenezer Place, Adelaide SA http://www.parwana.com.au/html/kutchi_deli.html

Lotus Dumpling Bar

I really like Sydney’s Walsh Bay precinct – there are some lovely little places near the Sydney Theatre Company theatre, and Lotus Dumpling Bar is probably one of the loveliest. A hole in the wall place with limited seating, Lotus is beautifully decked out with calligraphy on the walls and elegant crockery, plus a couple of hanging plants for good measure. I’d heard that the Xiao Long Bao are excellent here, so that was my first pick. They came out steaming hot, bulging with soup and bursting with flavour – definitely a winner. Next up were the prawn dumplings, which had a generous amount of prawn inside and a crisp, clean taste. Finally, we had pork and prawn wontons in spicy sauce, which were again super flavoursome; the soup was well balanced and not overly salty. One of the highlights of the dumplings here is the skin – springy, soft and chewy, the texture is the best I’ve encountered in Australia. I’d recommend booking to secure a spot at this lovely little dumpling bar, it’s well worth a visit.

Lotus Dumpling Bar, 3/16 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, Sydney NSW   http://www.lotusrestaurant.com.au/

Movida @ Sydney Airport

I have been very lucky to travel a bit for work this year, and quite a few of these trips have been to Sydney. Returning from one solo trip, I decided to head to the airport early and have lunch at Movida, in the Virgin Domestic terminal at Sydney airport. On arrival, staff offer bread with olive oil, which I accepted and thoroughly enjoyed – the oil had a strong flavour that suited the soft bread perfectly. I treated myself to a few different tapas dishes, including the Paletilla Iberica, 24 month old jamon, which came out sliced paper thin and accompanied by sweet peppers. The jamon was incredibly flavoursome and something I would happily order again. I also had spiced octopus served with a mash potato puree (so creamy!), but the highlight of the meal was the Pinchitos Morunos, or chargrilled lamb skewer, which turned out to be large cubes of soft, smoky and beautifully tender lamb. I would double my order of this next time without a doubt. Three dishes was just the right amount for lunch and I felt quite spoilt after working so hard. Definitely good for a treat when travelling.

Movida @ the Airport, Sydney Airport T2                                   http://movida.com.au/airport/sydney-airport-menu/

Re:hab

When one of my friends suggested going to a burger place for lunch in Cairns, I was a bit hesitant – why eat a burger when there’s such good Japanese and Korean food in town? But he insisted this was no ordinary burger place, and so I found myself at re:hab. The first thing that strikes you is that re:hab could fit in quite easily on Lonsdale St – it’s got chalkboard walls with art on them, wooden floor boards with shipping brands imprinted on them, and an ecclectic mix of chairs and tables. We went for the leather armchairs, and I decided to order the tropical burger (being in Queensland and all). The burger was massive, a thick, well-cooked patty topped with tomato, lettuce, aioli and pineapple on a soft and slightly floured bun. Yum-o. It came with re:hab potatos on the side, a bit heavy in the warmth but very tasty. Finally, as if re:hab hadn’t ticked enough boxes, there was a plate of cronuts sitting on the counter, calling out my name (ok, not really calling, more like whispering). Such a great find, a definitely not your average burger place.

Re:hab, 46 Lake Street, Cairns QLD, no website

The Merchant

Sometimes picking just one thing from the menu is really tricky, and this was definitely the case at The Merchant, which has recently opened on the Kingston foreshore. I was sorely tempted by the chicken liver parfait, the braised lamb papardelle and the lamb skewer, but after much procrastinating  – mostly spent admiring the pretty tiles on the back wall – I went for the skewer, because there’s nothing like big chunks of lamb at lunchtime! I was struck by the huge portion size when the plate came out and delighted to see a wedge of lemon to drizzle over the lamb; surely ‘lamb & lemon’ are the ‘apple & cinnamon’ of the savoury world. The salad was tasty and substantial, with large pieces of fetta and pitted olives (hooray!). The lamb was a bit variable – perfectly cooked and soft on the outside, but a bit undercooked and chewy inside each piece. There also could have been a bit more yoghurt for dipping. I was, however, very impressed with the iced tea, which was lovely and sweet, and had fresh orange and lemon juice in it. Mmm. Yes they’re still finding their feet, but The Merchant has a lot of promise.

The Merchant, 3/2 Trevillian Quay, Kingston ACT         http://www.themerchant.com.au (under development)

Ochacha

When you Google ‘best Japanese in Cairns’, Ochacha is the first place to come up on the listing, and for good reason. I went on a Monday, which is lucky because they are closed on Tuesdays, for both lunch and dinner. I dined alone at lunch, and had a lovely chat in Japanese with the waitress who was visiting on a working holiday. It was a particularly hot day, so I opted for the zaru udon, cold udon noodles in a dipping sauce. The meal was so refreshing – the noodles were beautifully chewy and the flavour of the sauce took me right back to Japan. Having had such a nice lunch, I took my friend back there for dinner, and we feasted on sushi and sashimi. The aburi salmon nigiri sushi was the highlight, although I was impressed by the relatively large pieces of salmon and tuna sashimi on the two plates I ordered. The miso soup was hot, flavoursome and not too salty. My friend also ordered the chicken katsudon and we were both stuffed full of delicious Japanese food by the end. A must-visit for Japanese food fans.

Ochaha Modern Japanese Dining, 34 Lake Street, Cairns QLD, no website

The Potting Shed

I promised part two, here it is! Before the delicious pistachio cake, Dad and I had lunch at The Potting Shed – part of The Grounds of Alexandria.  The greenery here is spectacular, and there were delightful decor elements everywhere – little ceramic gumboots on the counter, trowels attached to the menu, beautiful glazed plates and even a live macaw! On to the food. We ordered the buttermilk popcorn chicken, pork belly sliders and pork & fennel mini hot dogs. And that was the order we ranked them in, from best to last. The chicken was without a doubt the most delicious deep-fried thing I’ve ever eaten, tasty mouthfuls dunked in mustard-spiked mayonnaise = bliss. I would have devoured this three times over if I could have! Next were the sliders, which came out in black buns (squid ink?) – the pork belly was tasty and the coleslaw worked well, but they were very small. Finally the hot dogs, which sadly had far too much bread relative to filling so were a bit disappointing. We were lucky to be here on a weekday to get a table – go and eat some chicken for me if you can!

The Potting Shed, 4143 Bourke Road, Alexandria       http://groundsroasters.com/