Rey's Place, Darlinghurst - Sydney

I can’t help but feel proud when a Filipino restaurant opens in Sydney. I love the comfort that I get from Filipino food with every bite. I was so excited when I found out Rey’s Place opened in Darlo.

  

The place is owned by Jon Bayad and named after his dad, Reynaldo. Some of you may remember Jon from Osaka Trading Co. The man behind the delicious food is Chef Shaun Oligo. Rey’s Place takes a modern approach to beloved Filipino classics. It was all familiar flavours but done in a very innovative way. The restaurant has a ground and basement floor. The space has a moody “en casa” style interior that’s also reminiscent of classic Spanish tapas wine bar with some touches of Filipiniana.

The inihaw na pusit ($18) is a chargrilled smoky squid stuffed with delicious chorizo paella. It also comes with a refreshing sweet mango salad. This was amazing! It’s pretty much a tapas style Filipino dish that you can easily pair with a fruity rosé or Sauvignon blanc style wine.

Another tapas style dish is their sisig bao sliders($14)! Braised and chopped crispy pork belly with ginger, garlic, and onion dressed in smoky adobar sauce in a soft housemade bao bun.

The lechon ($22) is their take on slow roast suckling pig. It comes with sweet liver-based housemade sarsa (sauce) and soy calamansi dipping sauce (toyo mansi). This is probably one of the best lechon-style dishes I’ve had in Sydney with it’s crispy crackling and tasty tender meat.

The kare kare ($25) is not presented in a traditional way but the main components and flavours are very present. It had chunks of braised buttery and tender oxtail with thick flavoursome peanut annatto sauce, umami packed shrimp sauce, braised eggplants and greens.

For dessert, we tried their modern take on turon ($10). It is a sugar glazed fried banana in filo pastry with ube parfait, shards of toffee and jackfruit. The turon was crisped on the outside with sweet soft banana on the inside . The housemade ube parfait was smooth and tasty. It was a great way to end our dinner.

It’s about time that refined-style Filipino food is introduced in Sydney. There are no gimmicks here. Just quality dishes, excellent service and a good range of booze.

Rey’s Place
163 Crown Street
Darlinghurst NSW
Ph: 02 9631 5938

Hours:
Tues to Sat 12:00 to 11:00pm

Mercado Restaurant, Sydney

I'm no expert on Spanish cuisine, but I grew up in Manila eating a lot of it. Whether it was during family gatherings or eating out for dinner, Paellas, lengua estofado, cochinillo asado (suckling pig) and jamon played a big part in my childhood. Enough about my childhood and let me introduce you to a new kid in town. 

Mercado (spanish for Market) is the latest tasty addition to the Ash St/Martin Place dining scene. It's a bar and restaurant located on a sub lane/street level is a restaurant with chic interior and elegant mood lighting. Nathan Sasi (ex-Nomad and ex-Rockpool), the dude behind those amazing goats cheese churros and other dishes when Nomad first opened is the owner and head chef of Mercado. Expect exceptional Mediterranean flavours with mostly Spanish and Moorish influenced dishes. Traces of his work at Nomad can be seen on the menu. The cheese, charcuterie, pickles, bread, sauces etc are all made in-house. Most of the snacks comes with a side of their amazing sourdough made from spelt, whole wheat, corn & rye. This is what Chocolatesuze and I had on the night:

Before our orders came out, Nathan brought out some snacks for us to try on the house such as; buffalo ricotta with truffle honey, oregano and a side of toasted sourdough ($16) and also fish and chips ($12). 

Buffalo ricotta with truffle honey and oregano

Toasted sourdough

The buffalo ricotta was so light and fluffy. Along with truffle and oregano, it reminded us of Nathan's goats cheese churros back in Nomad.

Fish and chips

Mercado's fish and chips is not the traditional snack that consists of a battered fish and hot chips. Instead, it's a smart interpretation of it, which consists of housemade potato crisps and addictive smoky fish dip. 

We ordered some of their charcuterie offerings, which in my opinion is some of the best I've had in Sydney! 

Wagyu cecina with wood fire beets and quest garrotte

The smoky and buttery wagyu cecina ($22) was nicely complimented by the sweetness of the wood fire beets and light queso garrotxa. 

Truffle mortadella

The truffle mortadella ($19) had a nice fatty soft texture with next level hints of earthy notes from the truffle. The guindillas peppers that came with the mortadella was sweet and sour with heat that slowly creeps up at the back of the palate.

Ortiz anchovies tart with roasted bull horn

The Ortiz anchovies tart with roasted bull horn ($14) was superb.  It's a delicate snack that balances intense and subtle flavours. 

Smoked wagyu tongue and pickled green tomato

One of the most instagrammed snack here at the moment is their smoked wagyu tongue and pickled green tomato in a super buttery toasted brioche ($14). It was the best toastie I've had to date. The wagyu tongue was tender, buttery and smoky. The pickled green tomato gave balance to this rich snack.

Foie gras parfait with pickles and toast

Their foie gras parfait with pickles and toast ($29) was mind blowing! The foie gras parfait was like an exquisite sweet and creamy liver pâté but with a smooth whipped-liked consistency.

Spit roasted David Blackmore wagyu blade

The spit roasted David Blackmore wagyu blade ($52) is a massive steak that was cooked perfectly medium rare. It was fatty, juicy and flavoursome with a nice caramelised charred surface. It came with a meaty tasting gravy that almost had a jus-like consistency. 

Dripping potatoes with roasted garlic and creme fraiche

We picked the dripping potatoes with roasted garlic and crème fraîche ($16) as an accompaniment to our wagyu blade main. The chunks of potato were so crisped on the outside and fluffy inside. It was nicely seasoned and flavoured with salt and rosemary. 

Fat from heaven

Last but not least, we had the "fat from heaven" ($16) for dessert. It's a milk flan with vanilla bean and caramel with sticks of short bread. Though the texture was a little bit light than I what I would prefer, it was still nice and smooth. The vanilla in the actual flan and orange in the caramel was a nice touch along with the beautiful short breads.

The service is outstanding, the venue is fab and the food is excellent. I'll be back soon Mercado!

Mercado Restaurant

4 Ash Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: (02) 9221 6444

Opening hours:

Lunch 

Mon to Fri 12pm-2:30pm

Dinner

Mon to Thurs 5:30pm-10pm

Fri and Sat 5:30pm-10:30pm

The Carrington Hotel/Beba Y Cene - Wednesday night $10 burgers

Hump day is another name we use for Wednesday. For most of us, this is when we start counting down towards the weekend. Some visit a fancy restaurant and others crawl to a pub at night to relax and catch up with friends.

At the Carrington Hotel and Beba Y Cene, Wednesday night is $10 burger night. The fried chicken and slaw burger, lamb and chilli yoghurt burger, mushroom burger, shark and romesco burger and the occasional special burger of the night, each for an amazing $10 including a side of chips.  The burgers do not fall short of quality taste too.

 The Carrington Hotel and Beba Y Cene restaurant is located on Bourke Street, Surry Hills. The setting is rustic and lively. The superb menu is designed by head chef, Jamie Thomas. The cuisine is like a crossover of Spanish and Australian pub food with a gourmet touch. Both the Carrington Hotel pub and Beba Y Cene restaurant serves the $10 burgers.

I couldn't go pass the pinxtos (pronounced "pinchos" - mini Spanish bites/snacks on a skewer)  in the menu :

Paella onigiri with fried calamari (left) and kingfish pastrami on rye (right)

The paella onigiri with fried calamari ($4.50) is Chef Jamie's Spanish take on the classic Japanese dish/rice ball snack. While onigiri is traditionally made with white rice formed into a triangular or oval shape, here black paella is used. The idea and execution is genius. It tastes so good, I could eat it all day long. The squid is also cooked perfectly.

The kingfish pastrami on rye ($4) is an open sandwich pintxo. It was all kinds of awesome going on in my mouth - creamy, fresh, and very exquisite.

Now, down to the burgers (with generous amount of crunchy fries as side).

Lamb and chilli yoghurt burger

The lamb and chilli yoghurt burger is amazesome! The thick juicy lamb burger patty cooked medium well contained in a nice burger bun. The mild chilli yoghurt sauce adds a nice touch to this awesome burger.

Aussie beef burger

The burger special of the night was the Aussie beef burger. The burger was monster in size, flavourful and juicy! It had free range beef patty, egg (with oozing yolk..mmm), double cheese and beetroot.

 The service is great and ingredients are fresh. They also use free range products. One cannot go wrong with big servings and great tasting food that is nicely priced. Verdict? An addition to my list of favourite happy places! I will definitely be back to try the other burgers, pinxtos and tapas.

The Carrington Hotel /Beba Y Cene

563 Bourke Street

Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone 9360 4714

the-carrington.com.au/

Open for lunch and dinner

Joke time - Q: How do they prevent crime in hamburger city? A: With burger alarms!

Live it up, eat up and laugh!

Coco Cubano, Parramatta

What makes anyone or anything stand out the most in today's society? Hundreds of things are potential answers to this question. For me, it's making a positive difference/impact on peoples lives that makes someone distinct. That's something that I discovered about Coco Cubano one Sunday afternoon.

Coco Cubano is located on the food strip area of Church Street, Parramatta. It is a very sleek looking cafe with a laid back vibe. It is the perfect place to chillout and hangout.

A few fellow Western Sydney food bloggers and I had a meet-up lunch courtesy of Coco Cubano. As we were enjoying the awesome food and drinks, the El Presidente of Coco Cubano, Tony, took us through the history of their business. According to him, it was a trip to Cuba that inspired him to start Coco Cubano. The cuisine behind the food and drinks at this cafe/bar/restaurant is not exactly Cuban. But it's the revolution that Cuba's gone through that stands as the driving concept behind the food and service. The concept of revolutionising people's lives touched by Coco Cubano's food and hospitality with passion. It's through their wide range of scrumptious dishes that they are making a positive impact in the community.

The iced mocha was rich with a dominant chocolate taste. The espresso kicks in towards the end of the sip.

The white sangria was a group favourite. It is very refreshing and citrus with a subtle alcohol after taste.

My jaw dropped when I saw vegetarian nachos ($12.90). The nachos had generous amounts of salsa, guac, beans and cream. It's the kind of food that makes one happy even just looking at it. Munching on it was very comforting and satisfying to my tastebuds.

The calamari with garlic salt and roasted garlic sauce ($12.90) had a thick crunchy batter. It's succulent and I love it!

The patatas bravas ($9.90) looked more like chunky chips with a very nice tomato sauce with light garlic taste. The potato had a lightly crisp surface and is very soft inside.

They also have beef burger sliders ($9.90 for 2), which was my favourite! The thick mini pattie was very juicy, flavourful and perfectly cooked. The sweet onion jam made the slider extra special adding a little bit of sweet taste to the slider.

Haloumi Salad ($15.90)

Grilled chorizos with warmed olives ($9.90)

The bowl of fries with chili salt ($7.90) was very addictive. Fries were perfectly cooked just the way I want it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay long enough to try out the desserts. To see and read about the desserts the group had, check out Chocolatesuze's post here.

So what make's Coco Cubano stand out and distinct amongst other cafe/restaurants in Parramatta? It's the ethics of passion & revolution that is evident in their food and hospitality.

Thanks Chocolatesuze and Tony for organising this awesome meet up!


Here are other posts by my fellow westside food bloggers of our Coco Cubano meet-up:
http://everybodylovesramen.org/2012/03/07/coco-cubano-parramatta-2/

http://theadventuresofmisspiggy.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/coco-cubano-parramatta.html

Ramen Raff dined as a guest of Coco Cubano.

Coco Cubano

3/302 Church Street  

Parramatta NSW 2150

0450 956 382

www.cococubano.com

Hours:

Sunday - Tuesday 7am-11pm
Wednesday - Saturday  7am-12pm