Chophouse Parramatta

The ever-growing city of Parramatta continues to receive love from both food lovers and restaurateurs. Chophouse in Sydney is one of the most loved restaurants by many (including yours truly) for their steaks and grilled meats. I’m so glad to announce that my favourite place for steak has now opened its doors in Parramatta on Friday the 26th of October.

Chophouse Parramatta is located at the old Jamie’s Italian spot on Centenary Square. They pretty much kept most of the industrial fittings and added some chic and their own twist to the space. The bar has a decent range of booze and menu of cocktails to please everyone. The food menu has a great range of steaks from pasture fed to grain fed and a 5+ grade Wagyu. There’s starters like crab doughnuts, scallops on shell, beef carpacio and fried chicken available. There’s a nice selection of desserts available too.

If you like pâté in general then you need to order their chicken liver pâté ($19). It comes with toasted brioche and jam. The pâté itself was velvety with savoury and sweet notes. The pâté together with fluffy buttery toast was just stellar. I feel like the jam was not needed.

The fried chicken with blue cheese dip ($18) was also another hit. It’s served in smoked apple wood. The fried thigh chicken fillet itself almost has the texture of karaage chicken and the coating is full of umami with peppery notes.

Truffled fries

The main star of the show is their massive 400grams dry aged sirloin on a bone ($61 with chips and salad). This is one of the tastiest steaks I’ve ever had. It was nicely seasoned and cooked medium. The caramelised bits of the meat gave extra umami and extra developed flavours from the aging process. The texture was so tender and buttery. You also get a choice of sauces to go with your steak. We opted for the sweet and peppery diane sauce.

Every steak comes with twice-cooked chips. It was perfect! Crisped on the outside and fluffy buttery on the inside.

Their signature chocolate block with honeycomb and salt ($10) is just as good as I remember it. It tasted like a premium toblerone.

If you plan to MEAT up with family, friends and work colleagues in Parramatta, make sure to check out Chophouse.

Chophouse Parramatta
83 Macquarie St
Parramatta, NSW 2150
phone: (02) 8855 3400
Monday to Sunday: 11am till 10pm

Restaurant Hubert, Sydney

The most visited and recommended restaurant this year has got to be Hubert. Based on social media praises and great reviews, it seems like they are not far off from being crowned "best Sydney restaurant" in 2016.

I paid them a visit a couple of months ago.  From the stairs leading down to the restaurant and upon entering the restaurant and bar premises, two things came to mind: grand and magical. The space and fit out is like a bar/club/restaurant straight out of a 1920s Paris period piece film setting. Just like what my dining companion Suze said "The fitout of Hubert is like nothing I've seen in Sydney". Head chef Dan Pepperell (ex-10 William St) is behind the food that has received raving reviews from many punters. We went to try their bar menu (see Suze’s blog post of their restaurant menu offerings) because of our mission: to try the Normandy burger.

Malakoff

One of the most popular dishes here is their Malakoff ($14), which is a half sphere shaped fried gruyere with mustard and pickle. We decided to order two of these because it’s that damn good that we didn’t want to share! From the crisped tasty shell down to the melted stretchy innards it was nothing short of amazing. The sharpness of mustard complimented the cheese well.

The steak frites ($28) is a classic steak and fries dish that consists of a beautifully cooked medium rare 200grams grilled Rangers Valley flank with bordelaise butter and French fries. It was phenomenal! It has to be the best steak and fries I’ve had to date. The bordelaise butter with its red wine and bone marrow goodness was perfect for the steak. The generous amount of thin hand cut fries was crunch and perfectly seasoned.

Normandy Burger

There are many great burgers in Sydney at the moment and Hubert’s Normandy burger ($24 with fries) is one of them. It’s a gourmet cheeseburger with grilled dry aged beef patty, melted gruyere cheese, generous amount of tangy and creamy sauce Hubert in a light brioche bun. It also came with dill pickles on the side. The beef patty was juicy and smoky with a caramelised crust that added extra umami to the burger. The soft light brioche bun used for the burger was the perfect vessel. The whole burger handled well too.

You can also order desserts at the bar area.

The crème caramel ($18) was good and flawless in technique but didn’t quite get there for me. I liked the bitter caramel and how smooth the egg custard was, but I would have preferred if the custard was a little bit sweeter. That way, you would get a nice contrast between the egg custard and caramel.

The melon en surprise ($22) was amazing and refreshing! I forgot take a photo of its innards but underneath the top layer of coconut sorbet you’ll find balls of Santa Claus melon, which has a similar taste to honeydew with pieces of sorrel jelly and finger lime. You need to order this when in Hubert.

Believe the hype! Restaurant Hubert is as great as everyone says it is. I will definitely be back for a sit down session at their restaurant area.

Restaurant Hubert

15 Bligh Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Operating hours:

Monday to Saturday 5pm-1am.

Hux Grill, Penrith

Since I was a kid I've had nothing but love for food. Yep, sounds cliché and all but I'm just keeping it real. I gotta admit, Masterchef Australia did boost my food obsession. There was so much brilliance that came out of that show including season three finalist Jay Huxley. 

Jay Huxley

Jay took matters into his own hands and made his dreams come true.  Born from his passion for cooking and hard work were Hux Bistro Canley Vale and Hux Grill Roseville. Then two months ago Hux Grill Penrith opened to join the Hux empire line-up. The place is casual and non-pretentious with a bistro feel. Hux Grill is situated on Henry Street and it serves up some of the tastiest BBQ meats that Sydney has to offer. That was more than enough reason for me to gather my BBQ-loving team and pay Hux a visit. Here's what we had:

Twice-cooked pork belly

We were given a complimentary entrée of twice-cooked pork belly and apple (normally $14). It consisted of cubes of glorious twice-cooked pork belly, and julienned apple drizzled with some sweet caramelised reduction sauce. The pork belly was crisped on the outside with meat that was extremely tender and flavoursome. The sweet and sour crisp flavour of the apple went perfectly with the pork like they were the best of friends. I highly recommend this!

Beef short ribs

Lamb ribs

Their ribs (with chips and salad or creamy mash and vegetables) were off the hook too! We tried the lamb ribs ($29 one and half rack) and beef short ribs ($33 approx. 1kg). Both ribs were glazed and smothered with their sweet and tangy housemade BBQ sauce. The meat was extremely tender for boths ribs that it fell off the bones easily. Loved the caramelised bits too. The mash in particular was creamy and fluffy.

1.3kg Cape Bryon Tomahawk

A first trip to a Hux joint ain't complete without their signature 1.3kg Cape Byron Tomahawk ($99). It was a delicious monster steak that's good for two to four people. Besides being massive, the actual meat was tender, flavoursome and juicy fatty! It definitely lives up to all the raving reviews. It also comes with 3 sides of your choice.

Hux cheeseburger

Last but not least is their super legit Hux cheeseburger ($18 with a choice of chips or onion rings). There are places that get the cheeseburger wrong but NOT at Hux Grill! Jay keeps it real and classic with beef patty, nicely melted American cheese, pickles, onion, ketchup, and mustard in a soft sweet milk bun. The highlight in this cheeseburger is the grilled Wagyu beef patty that's very juicy and awesomely tasty. This burger was full of umami, sweet, tangy and zingy flavours. It is one of the best cheeseburgers I've had! Extra points for using milk bun, which held the burger very well.

Hux Grill has all the criterias ticked for an amazing grill and steakhouse restaurant: Perfectly cooked meats, large servings, and excellent service. Plus their cheeseburger is outstanding! Props to Jay for an awesome job with Hux Grill Penrith. If you're in the area for a feed, it would be a MIS-STEAK not to visit Hux. 

Hux Grill Penrith

80 Henry Street

Penrith NSW

Phone: (02) 47225141

Website: jayhuxley.com

Hours:

Dinner: Monday to Sunday from 5:30pm until late.

Lunch: Tuesday to Sunday 12:00pm to 3:00pm