Jasmyne Tea

Angelo's On The Bay, Cabarita - Take 2

There is NOTHING I hate more than a stranger who spoils my time out.

There we were, celebrating our friend Joon's acceptance into Bond University on the Gold Coast at Angelo's on the Bay, minding our own business (and we're not a particularly rowdy bunch, so it's not like we were screaming or anything); the table next to us was conducting a wedding reception, and they decided to have a speech. Glassed were tapped with silverware, and the mother of the bride stood up - and, doing the respectful thing, we quietened down a little.

BUT, apparently that wasn't enough for some shrew sitting at that table - she actually turned around and shushed us repeatedly as if we were small children, instead of doing the adult thing and politely asking us to be quiet for a moment. Stephen and Joon, being the classic passive aggressives, started talking louder. Said shrew literally turned around in her chair, gave us the evil eye for 30 seconds, then shushed us again with her finger literally in front of her mouth.

I may or may not have sworn at her.

Irritating episode aside, we chose Angelo's at the Bay because we've always had good experiences there. The food's wonderful, the service is top notch, and the atmosphere is normally pleasantly ambient.

Bread Rolls

We started with some rolls as we were waiting for everyone to find parking, then ordered drinks for the table.

Banana Colada - $18.50

This was mine: Malibu, fresh banana, banana liqueur, coconut cream and pineapple juice were all combined to creat the Banana Colada. It was a little strong with the banana liqueur, which masked a lot of the other flavours, but still enjoyable.

Roasted Sea Scallops on the Shell - $22.00

6 perfectly roasted scallops graced the plate, cooked so that the flesh was still delicate and basted in a hazelnut and chervil butter.

Caramelised Eschallot & Brie Tarte Tatin - $21.00

The tarte tatin was a beautiful starter, the eschallot caramelised until soft and tender, with the brie underneath supporting it's sweetened yet tangy flavour. It was served with a velvety cauliflower veloute, and asparagus and micro herbs tossed in a fresh salsa verde.

'On The Bay' Seafood Platter for Two - $140.00

We tried this platter last time, and the quality seems to be pretty consistent. The top plate was where the cold seafood resided, consisting of oysters, king prawns, lobsters, raw salmon, and a seafood salad served inside avacado halves.

The lower plate included battered and fried calamari and fish, roasted scallops and chips, which came with tartar and cocktail sauce.

Pappadelle - $23.00

A large serving of al dente, house-made pappadelle was served with a fall-apart beef cheek ragu, with porcini mushrooms lending their nutty flavour and parsely giving some freshness. The whole delicious concoction was topped with truffle-infused pecorino, a decadent finish.

Grilled Atlantic Salmon Medallions - $33.00

The salmon was flakey and moist, the skin grilled until crispy. The medallions were served on white bean puree and a zucchini and dill salad, and drizzled with an aromatic basil emulsion. Roasted kipfler potatoes and cherry tomatoes also dotted the plate.

House-Made Pumpkin & Chestnut Ravioli - $28.00

The pasta for the ravioli was a little thick for my taste, but the mixture of pumpkin and chestnut was surprisingly well-matched, and the burnt sage butter accentuated the flavour. Topped with creamy marinated goats feta, it was a great dish.

White Chocolate & Amarena Cherry Creme Brulee - $15.00

It wasn't my dessert, but I still stole a spoon so I could crack the sugar top. It shattered perfectly! The custard was flavoured with super-sweet white chocolate, but balanced with sour amarena cherry and served with crunchy biscotti.

White Peach Pannacotta - $15.00

The pannacotta was thick and creamy, and delicately flavoured with peach and topped with rosewater pashmak. A tart strawberry consomme also graced the plate, and three small pieces of amaretto jelly finished it off. The plating was a little clumsy, but each seperate element was beautifully made.

Mini Dessert Plate - $20.00

The mini dessert plate was a tasting plate of three different desserts on the menu. The first was the very same peach pannacotta we'd just tried, but set within a chocolate cup. The middle dessert was an almond and Iranian dried-fig and cognac frangipani tart, with honey and nougat gelato, strawberry salad and vanilla-bean anglaise. I wasn't a particular fan of the dried fig, but I really liked all the other elements. The last dessert was the white chocolate and cherry brulee.

Honey Poached Figs with Mixed Berry Sorbet - Special

We were told that this dish came with honey poached fresh figs, but the honey syrup was only drizzled over the top, so the figs were inconsistently cooked. However, the flavours were good, and the berry sorbet was very well executed.

The food here is excellent, with a focus on quality and decent portions, and the service is always impeccable. We did exchange death-glares as we left, but it's not the restaurant's fault if some of their customers turn out to be unpleasant, and I'd totally come back if the opportunity presented itself.

Angelo's On The Bay

Prince Edward Park, Phillips St
Cabarita
NSW 2137

Tel: (02) 9743-2225
Fax: (02) 9736-2391

Email: [email protected]

http://www.angelosonthebay.com.au/

Baked Snapper with Garlic Rub

Stephen here.

It has been a goal for a long time since Jasmyne and I started living together to introduce her to some of the delights that our seas and waterways have to offer.  Over the past few months I have been exposing her to some of the many dishes available to us including our seafood tasting plate, and my favourite seafood shop.

So to add to her ever growing list of favourite seafood dishes here is a baked snapper with a garlic rub. The flesh of the fish is infused with the heady aroma and flavour of garlic, making it more palatable for people who aren't necessarily fans of the taste of fish. I had also used local whole snappers, however this recipe is suited for other fish such as barramundi.

Baked Snapper with Garlic Rub

Ingredients:

- Whole Fish, i.e. Local Snapper or Barramundi (about 700-800g each), scaled and washed

- Garlic rub: 50mL olive oil, 1 crushed garlic clove, ground black pepper and sea salt

Procedure:

1 - Score both sides of the fish every 2.5cm.

2 - Combine the ingredients of the garlic rub into a bowl.

3 - Place fish onto a tray lined with baking paper. Rub half of the garlic rub onto each side of the fish, then cover with cling wrap and marinate for 45 minutes in the fridge.

4 - Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Take the fish out of the fridge and leave for 10 minutes, then bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until cooked through.

5 - Serve the fish with baked new potatoes and steamed vegetables such as carrots or beans.

Cheat's Tartare Sauce

We were preparing for the renovation of our bathroom by taking out the ceiling tiles, when we discovered a crop of black mould growing in the insulation because of a leak from upstairs. Suddenly we realised why I kept getting recurring respiratory infections, and the disgust I felt could not be rivaled.

When I was a kid I felt that way about tartare sauce - you know, the sauce that comes in those little sachets when you order fish and chips? To me it was disgusting - I had been raised on tomato sauce, it was practically in my veins, and what the hell sort of sauce was white with funny green bits in it?

It's funny how your tastes and perceptions change when you grow up; now I could eat gallons of the stuff, bathe in it even, so I thought I'd share our version of it, which is a sort of cheat's way because we don't make our own mayo. Pay attention to the brand of mayo we use - trust me, you won't regret it.

Cheat's Tartare Sauce
 
INGREDIENTS

5 tablespoons Thomy mayonnaise
2 dill gherkins (approx 3 inches in length), finely diced
2 teaspoons baby capers, rinsed and finely chopped
2 teaspoons flat leaf parsely, chopped
2 teaspoons chives, chopped
Fresh lemon juice, to taste

Just mix 'em all together, and serve with oven-baked chips and beer-battered fish :)

Seafood Tasting Plate

Once upon a time, on a distant summer evening, Stephen made pork and prawn wonton soup, and they were the best wontons in all the land. Unfortunately, he left the bowl that had the prawn mince in it on the counter without me noticing until the next afternoon. I have never smelled anything like it. My lunch tried to make a reappearance, and that experience cemented my already relatively strong dislike for seafood.

Although the smell of raw seafood still makes me feel a bit sick, I've been undergoing a seafood recovery program, where we try to have fish at least once a month in order to get me used to it (because Stephen LOVES fish, and wants to eat it more often). I definitely think it's working, because we made this Seafood Tasting Plate for Stephen's family, and I sampled everything and found it to be delicious.

The tasting plate consists of very basic and classic morsels; salt and pepper squid, prawn cutlets and crispy skinned barramundi. We used panko bread crumbs for the prawns, and they held their crunch for much longer than regular breadcrumbs. The barramundi was fresh and clean, and the squid was beautifully moist; some of the pieces were a tad tough, but that was from over-cooking. We made a tartare sauce adapted from Bill's Sydney, and some oven baked wedges as well. I'd definitely make this again.

Seafood Tasting Plate

Crispy-Skinned Barramundi

Firstly, we seasoned these beautifully fresh pieces of barramundi with salt and pepper, and then cooked them skin-side down in an oiled frying pan over a high heat for approximately 3-5 minutes until cooked two-thirds of way through.

We then turned them over to cook on the other side, for no more than 2 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fillet). When finished, we placed the pieces of fish on a tray and grilled them for a minute until the skin was crispy (but the grill we used was quite fast, so keep an eye on it!).

 
Salt and Pepper Squid

We mixed together 1 cup of cornflour and 2/3 cup of soda water in a bowl. Then we seasoned another half cup of cornflour with a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, dusted the squid with it, then dipped it in the batter. We fried them until the batter was golden and crisp, then drained the pieces.

 

 
Prawn Cutlets

We butterflied the prawns, before we dipped them into a bowl of whisked egg (2 - 3) (except the tail!), rolled them in panko bread crumbs, then deep fried them until golden, approximately two minutes. They were drained on paper towel, then served with the calamari and barramundi.

And here we have the finished product.

Angelo's On The Bay, Cabarita

 

Stephen here.

Being one that's so critical with food, a dangerous question which is often asked is "what is your favourite restaurant?".  I like the way Not Quite Nigella worded her response for a magazine: "that's like a parent choosing a favourite child".  I somewhat agree, however, I have learnt that parents always have a favourite (sorry middle-child-syndrome coming through here).  So when someone asks me this question, my response is Angelo's On The Bay, which is why I asked Jasmyne for this to be my first restaurant post.

I was first introduced to this restaurant by my sister's partner, who is related to the executive chef. At the time, Jasmyne was out of town for the weekend so I went with just my family and it was great.  I raved on about this place to Jasmyne for sometime, until I took her there for our anniversary last year in October and luckily she agreed that this is an excellent restaurant.

Yesterday, Jasmyne and I invited two of our closest friends, James and Hitesha, for dinner at Angelo's as a celebration, since they had just recently married overseas.  A Saturday night and it was packed, they had two pretty large functions going on that night and the verandah was booked out.  We were given a table on the edge of the verandah with a beautiful view of the Parramatta river and a distant view of the city.

 

We started our night about half an hour late due to the delayed arrival of James and Hitesha thanks to a traffic jam.  Meanwhile, as Jasmyne and I waited, the waiting staff provided drinks almost as soon as we sat down, followed by some menus soon after. Once our friends had arrived, we started our night with some entrees and starters.

Jasmyne had the caramelised pumpkin and brie cheese tart.  It was an absolutely great start to the meal.  The pastry was light and thin, with a sweet pumpkin and rich, creamy cheese filling. It was served with what I believe was a watercress, hazelnut and red onion salad.  And needless to say, Jasmyne really enjoyed it.

Caramelised Pumpkin and Brie Tart - $18.00

As for the rest of us, we choose to start with assorted rolls served with 'Little General' olive oil and dukkah.  I had this the first time round and it was just as great.  Five fresh assorted rolls, including sundried tomato, black olive and plain rolls, gently heated, served with balsamic and olive oil to dip, pistachio dukkah and some soft butter - James just could not get enough of that dukkah.

  
Assorted Rolls with 'Little General' Olive Oil and Dukkah - $8.00


As for the mains, James and I had planned some time prior to half the 'On the Bay' seafood platter for two, a dish which I have been told Angelo's is quite famous for, and you can definitely see why.  A top layer of cold seafood, including king prawns, salmon, a whole lobster, atlantic salmon tartare in an avocado (plus tartar and cocktail sauces), and a bottom layer of all the cooked produce, including fish cooked two ways: a pan fried barramundi with herbs and a beer battered fillet (I believe was snapper), squid and octopus in a tempura batter, scallops (I tasted tarragon and lime butter with these), and garlic prawns. And in the middle of the bottom layer, potato chips.  Also the choice of oysters, either or both natural and/or kilpatrick.

'On The Bay' Seafood Platter For Two - $130

In short, James and I demolished the dish.  Everything was just so fresh.  The lobster was described by Hitesha as "being as juicy as fresh vegetables" when she had a try of James' half.  Unfortunately, the king prawns were left behind, simply because we were just too full.  As for the bottom layer, the pan fried barramundi was excellent, perfectly cooked and literally melted in my mouth (my only wish is that there was more of it).  The cooked prawns were great also, I've only just started eating prawns so I don't have too much to compare it too.  The scallops were my favourite, the most simplest on the plate but I loved them.  Sweet, soft and cooked to perfection, the flavour of the butter and tarragon go so well (my first visit here was in fact my first experience with properly cooked scallops, since then I scour menus looking for them, just to compare to my experiences here).  The beer battered fish was great too, crisp and crunchy exterior with the flesh of the fish still soft and succulent.  But the most surprising to me was the octopus and calamari, not only was the meat soft and thankfully nothing like chewing on an elastic band, but Jasmyne really liked it, and for her to actually enjoy seafood it really makes my day.  We ordered the oysters Kilpatrick, and I'll be honest I can not handle oysters regardless of how they are cooked. There were six of them and James devoured them all, indicating to me that he did really enjoy them.  Finally the chips, perched royally in the middle of the cooked produce (and wow, best chips I have had at a restaurant) -  I believe they are prepared with a three staged cooking process, resulting in the most crisp and crunchy exterior and fluffy and soft potato filling.  I seriously think Jasmyne and Hitesha had eaten more of them than James and I!  I think the end result was indicative of how James and I felt about this dish:

 
 (I had to include this, that is James in the background trying to open a hand refresher towel with his teeth, when clearly it could be teared open by hand: resulting in a mouthful of plastic)

James had also washed down the platter with his favourite beer, James Squire Amber Ale ($7.00). Apparently this is pretty difficult to come by, and James described it as having the perfect balance between sweet and hoppy, with a nutty finish.

 

Both Jasmyne and Hitesha had ordered the same dish: oven roasted three bone lamb rack, with confit potatoes, eggplant caviar, truss cherry tomatoes and rosemary jus.

Oven Roasted Three Bone Lamb Rack - $33.00

I had limited exposure to this dish (too busy with my own).  Based on our discussions however, it was cooked medium-well, which to Jasmyne's preference was a tad ovecooked, however had suited Hitesha and James' liking well.  I did get a mouthful and the taste was there, the lamb was still juicy and the flavours worked well together.  All-in-all a great dish, I would just ask for the lamb to be cooked to my own preference if I was to order it in the future.

And now, my favourite course of any dinner: Dessert.  Do you ever find yourself looking at a dessert menu and not knowing what to get?  Angelo's like many places have solved that problem. The dessert platter, in which you get the choice of three desserts from the menu and the house decides on the fourth.

 
(Firstly we were served with after dinner chocolates while the dessert was being prepared)

 
Dessert Platter - $50

Working my way from left to right, we had a vanilla bean pannacotta with a raspberry jelly and campari dust (fairy floss).  This aspect of the platter was rated by everyone as the best of it.  The pannacotta had a strong but pleasant presence of the vanilla bean and had the right consistency.  Thankfully the jelly was not like rubber bullets, so the gelatin concentration was perfect and went well with the pannacotta.  The addition of fairly floss was weird but excellent, it really sparked the child inside and brought the dish alive.  Next was the orange blossom creme brulee with a lemon curd and biscotti, I'll admit foolishly I had a spoonful of the curd before the rest and it was a punch to the taste buds.  However, paired with the creme brulee it went well. As for the brulee, it had an interesting taste. I had never had orange blossom before, but it was delicious, very floral with a hint of citrus, rating number two on the platter. Second from the left was the house addition to the platter, a cherry ice-cream with poached cherries around it and chocolate quills.  Unfortunately, this was the least liked dish of the platter, the taste of cherry was nice and strong, but there was just something about the texture.  It did not come off as ice-cream - it appeared to have formed ice crystals throughout, giving it a strange texture for ice-cream, but the taste of it was nice.  Lastly (most left portion) was a honey-spiced semi freddo with poached rhubarb and cinnamon and pear syrup.  I would really like to know how they made this dish, to me this ranked an equal second.  The flavour of it was just superb, the honey combined with cinnamon it was just great.



 

We finalised our meals with some coffee by 'Momenti', and we were so full by the end of it all.

Latte - $4.50

The menu has been recently changed, so I intend on coming back to Angelo's relatively soon to give the rest of the menu a go.  What can be said though, is that the service had not changed at all over the past three times I had been here.  The similar faces indicate to me that the staff are happy, passionate and content with their positions, providing an extraordinarily quick service considering that they were housing two large functions at the time.  The ambiance has always been great and welcoming, also the area does not get too loud like a lot of restaurants I have been to, which causes difficulty in conversing with each other.  The only major downside to our visit this time was the bugs outside, we were positioned below some exterior lights which drew in the bugs and insects from the river, looking around no one else was effected though, and luckily we didn't crunch down on anything unpleasantly crisp in our meats (they had actually seemed to go away when we had food around, strange).  I would highly recommend Angelo's on the Bay to anyone, the meals also fall within a reasonable price range and are of a decent size.

The building is absolutely beautiful, as we walked away Jasmyne took a last photo (though it doesn't do it any favours being night so have a look at their website).

 

Headlands Hotel, Austinmer

 Austinmer has sort of become our family beach. Up at Wollongong, about an hour away from Liverpool, it's a beautiful place full of golden sand, clear blue (well, green) water, interesting rock pools, and is not overcrowded like Bondi or Cronulla.

 

 

 

Over the years we've tried the places to eat nearby, and the few restaurants there are pretty good, if a bit pricey. When we visited last week, we decided to have some good old-fashioned fish and chips at the Headlands Hotel.

 

As we entered the hotel, we had to walk through a crowd of bikers to get to the restaurant , and when we emerged we saw... nothing. The decor was more than spartan: old, white-washed walls, and dark-stained floorboards as far as the eye can see. On one side are the menus, messily written in chalk and placed in an unfortunate spot behind a door. On the other, a hole in the wall that leads to the kitchen, where you order. The decor was so dismal that we decided to eat on the beach.

 

 

After ordering for everyone (four meals plus two kids' meals) we're told that we'll have to wait for about 10 minutes (reasonable), and we'll be charged $3.00 extra for take-away (not so reasonable) - this is the first place I've been to where I've been charged more to take away.

After waiting for about half an hour, we finally get our containers of food, along with a perfunctory apology for the wait, and we head back to the beach to eat.

 
Kids' Chicken Nuggets and Chips - approx. $8.00

 
Kids' Fish Cocktails and Chips - approx. $8.00

 The kids' meals were good sized portions of chips and fish/nuggets. The fish cocktails were bite-sized, succulent on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The nuggets were firm and moist and generously crumbed. The kidlets loved them!

 
Calamari Rings, Chips and Salad - $18

The calamari rings were, I'm told, really well cooked (apparently not like chewing an erasor) and beautifully crumbed. I didn't have any, as I'm squicked by calamari, but I was told the contrast between the crisp, deep fried outer and soft, tasty inner was divine.

 
Battered Flathead Fillets - $18

The flathead was just a tad overcooked, making the flesh slightly dry, and the batter wasn't crispy at all (which is strange - if it had been cooked for too long, shouldn't the batter be extra crispy? :s) Still, the flavour of the fish was nice and fresh, and any shortcomings were covered with tartare sauce.

 
Crumbed Snapper - $18.00

Last but not least, the crumbed snapper was a delightful fillet of fragrant fish, heavily crumbed and deep-fried to crispy, crunchy perfection. I should note, that the chips were beautifully soft on the inside, though not quite as crisp as I like on the outside, and the salad was fresh and flavoursome, consisting of mixed lettuce leaves, thick wedges of tomato, red onion and cucumber.

The Headlands Hotel has some pretty decent food, but a rather limited range (almost every dish is deep fried seafood, and comes with chips and salad) and suffers from beach-side price inflation. However, if you happen to be in Austinmer, I would encourage you to give it a go - the fish is quite good.

Headlands Hotel

Headlands Ave

Austinmer, NSW

2515

Phone: 4267 1146

Penrith Seafood, Wetherill Park

Hi everyone! Sorry about the lack of activity, but I just got engaged over the weekend! :)

Stephen's been going on for a while now about a certain seafood shop and how it has some of the best fish he's ever eaten. I'm not one for seafood, but when we happened to be in Wetherill Park I figured we should try it out for lunch.

 

 

Normally I avoid seafood places like the plague, as the smell of raw fish makes me sick, but Stephen assures me that I will smell nary a prawn, and it's true - unlike other seafood shops where the smell is overpowering, the aromas coming from this place are light and fresh, kind of like the sea. There's fresh produce on one side of the store, and a stand selling cooked and prepared food, such as fish and chips, sushi, and seafood salad, on the other.

We order our meals, and wait for about 10 minutes while it's being cooked. When it's done, the lady who took our order calls out the number on our receipt - service is fast, efficient and businesslike. We sit outside, and tear into our cartons of food.

 Battered Fish and Chips - $9.50

 

Stephen ordered the battered fish and chips, and when we opened the carton the smell of fried, crispy goodness wafted out. The flathead was soft, flaky and perfectly cooked, the batter crisp, with a hint of the oil it was fried in and a light sprinkling of salt that complimented the fresh, juicy fish. The chips were soft, light and fluffy in the middle, and the outside was perfectly thin and crunchy.

 
Potato Scallops - $2.80 (70c each)

The potato scallops were crunchy and golden on the outside, but the inside, though fluffy and soft, was pretty oily. Also, too much salt was added, but I saw many of the diners around us seemed to like them that way.

 
Grilled Fish with Chips and Salad - $9.90

 The grilled fish was delicious and succulent, a thin fillet of perch cooked to perfection and subtly seasoned. The chips were just as excellent as the ones that came with the battered fish, and the garden salad was a cool and refreshing contrast. Also, the salad had a lot of variety, with mixed salad leaves, green, yellow and red capsicum, carrot, cucumber and cauliflower.

 Pineapple Fritters - $2.00 each

 

The fritters were probably the best I've had in a long time. The pineapple itself was sweet, juicy and fresh, and the crisp batter was seasoned with cinnamon sugar, perfectly complimenting the dish.

The food here at Penrith Seafood, fresh or cooked, is pretty spectacular (this is where Stephen got the ling fish for our Spicy Battered Fish). With fast and knowledgeable service, and a lovely casual vibe to the place, not to mention decent prices, it's a pretty fantastic find in Wetherill Park.

 

Penrith Seafood - Wetherill Park

1183 The Horsely Drive
Wetherill Park, NSW
2164