San Telmo

Of all days when I needed my brain to work, it didn't work today.  I left my camera at home and after leaving work today, I realised I left my mobile in my work drawer.  Anyway, tonight's dinner was a catch up with Dr. R and given that they live around the corner, Tina, Shazza, Glenda and Hoon joined in on the fun.  

San Telmo is a new Argentinian restaurant in town.  That means - meat!  The early reviews were a little shaky, so while Tina was super excited at tonight's carnivorous feast, I set my expectations low.  Let's just say this, I didn't need to set them low - San Telmo was great!  I have no idea why people are complaining of the service.  I thought it was fine - helpful and unobtrusive.  Some complained that the servings were small, well *guffaw* we had the $60 set menu and this has got to be the BEST value set meal I've had in a while.  It makes The Aylesbury look like a rip off.  We had all read the menu expecting degustation-sized serves for each dish but what we got was full sized.  On top of that, we ask for the morcilla to be included and they did so for free!  I wish I had my camera to show just how much food we had.  I'm a pig and I ate with other pigs but we struggled to finish our food.  

Here's the lowdown: 

First course:

• Chapa – Pita bread with olive oil and pickled eggplant. Bread is bread.  I make note that it was warm and soft. 
• Empanada - filled with beef, currant and almond.  Plump, juicy with a crispy shell and not overcooked.
• Ceviche – Whitefish with chilli, sweet potato and ginger.  I thought I would like this the most but in fact it was least.  It was too tangy.  Is there such a thing?  Well there is now.
• Ensalada – Palmheart, preserved pear, jamon and buffalo mozzarella.  Jamon is always a winner in my book and the buffalo mozzarella just made it that extra special. 

Second course:

• Humita – Fried corn and polenta chunky chip, served with chipotle mayonnaise.  I love polenta chips!  Chilli mayo is an added bonus.
• Chorizo  – Pork sausage.  Nice, nothing bad to say, it's a chorizo but i guess more pointedly, it wasn't massacred.
• Morcilla - Bloood sausage.  Yum!!  Something that I prevously thought was too gross to eat is now fast becoming one of my staples.  
• Tiradeasado  – Beef short ribs.  Tender, thinly sliced and much like Korean BBQ ribs.  Nice.
• Calamares  - Strips of calamari.  Tasty, it is what it is and there were certainly no surprises here. 

Fark we were getting full and because there was a delay between our next course, we thought that dessert was on it's way.  But instead we got a third course!

• Zanahorias  – Burnt carrots with thyme and goats cheese.  Rustic looking, plucked from the garden type of carrots.  Goats cheese went well.  Carroats have never tasted so good!
• Vacio  – Flank steak, pre sliced for our dining pleasure.  Tender and juicy.  We actually had to force it down. 
• Pimiento  – Grilled capsicum with egg, beans and olives.  Beans and egg!  Who knew!  Lovely.
• Papas - Crispy potato galette.  Wtf... how can potato be so tasty?  It was just seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled I think.  Much like scalloped potatoes but no/little cheese.  

Very satisfied, there was still dessert to come:

• Alfajores – Argentine cookies filled with dulce de leche.  NAICE!!!  If I wasn't so full I would have appreciated it more.  Soft crumbs, not too hard biscuit.  The dulce de leche just the right amount of sweetness.
• Peraborracha - Malbec poacked pear with custard cream.  I love custard but after eating San Telmo's custard cream, I think I love custard cream more.  So light!  It almost felt healthy.

So yep, we all thoroughly enjoyed our meal and have put it on our return list.  San Telmo is best appreciated if you're not vegetarian but the non-meat-eating folk can still get away with the well executed veggie options.  Yah-huh, get down to San Telmo but hurry before they realise that they're undercharging for their $60 set menu!

Kt and Mr. M's Wedding

Yesterday Kt and Mr. M tied the knot and well, I was in no position to take any decent shots.  I await in anticipation of the professional photos!  

Mr. M and his crew... waiting... waiting..

Mr. M later informed us in his speech he couldn't really see Kt walking down the aisle (glare from the windows me thinks), but it's a good thing that there wasn't any glare at the altar.... 

... otherwise he wouldn't have been able to plant her one on the face! 

Signing the official docs.  (Ok I pinched this photo from FB). 

Working the crowd.  

Nj_la and I had the task of guarding and accepting gifts for the wishing well.  The little door on the cage opened and we would pop in all the guests' card.  It was a bit difficult with the larger cards.  Sometimes we had to mangle them through the door.  We only realised when nearly all the guests had arrived that top half of the cage was removable!  *face palm*

Is Lymbo preggo?  You can't tell from this shot.  Hottie mumma.

Our table setting with it's red hues. 

There ends my photos of the night.  I had actually decided earlier to not strain myself because I was nursing a sore throat but well, that didn't happen.  I drank (only a little but it shouldn't have at all) and I screamed on the dance floor.  I partied far too hard for my relatively unwell state.  

Also the food was noice and being the pig I am, I ate some extra servings of food. *sheepish grin*  Good food shouldn't go to waste!  We made our mark our on the dance floor and I left hobbling to the carpark. 

Happy Wedding Kt and Mr. M!  Enjoy your honeymoon!

The Aylesbury

After being mega impressed by the team and food at Añada, I had put their new sister restaurant The Aylesbury on the hitlist.  Spu and I were a little early for our reservation so while waiting for our table to be cleared, the staff suggested we go up to the rooftop bar.  Twas a nice bit of space and worthwhile for a return drink me thinks.  

Once seated, there wasn't much point in giving me, Spu, Tina and Shazza the menu - we had already decided that the $65 Feasting Menu was going to fill our stomachs tonight.  This unfortunately didn't include dessert but we were open to ordering them if need be.  That was a little annoying given that Añada did include 3 full sized desserts on their $70 menu! 

The Feasting Menu was pretty much a chef's selection of dishes but we were allowed to request the inclusion of specific dishes if we wanted.  Nice and flexible!

And so the feasting begins: 

We started with oysters with strawberry mignonette ($3.80 each) but I forgot to photograph them. 

Torched mackerel with green gazpacho and caviar ($10).  Errr I forgot what this was .. I think they're banana peppers.  Much like capsicum and not hot.  

Beef tartare with a smoked quail yolk. ($8)

'Pig, Fig' ($13) Jamon with figs!  Yum!  Zucchini flowers, goats cheese and honey ($8).  Lamb ribs, pea and lemon ($14).  My pick of the night.  Melt in your mouth lamby goodness. 

Aylesbury duck with beetroot ($39).  Duck fat potatoes ($8). 

Mushrooms.  I can't remember how they were prepared but I think they were a special.  Fish of the day which I again I can't recall the details.  

We were all relatively full but of course there is always room for dessert.  So we settled on:

Petit Four ($7?). Beignets with chocolate sauce ($10?).  Chocolate bar with some sort of ice cream, cherry coconut? ($13?).  I can't find an online dessert menu so I've guessed the prices.  

All the desserts were yummo!!!!!!  Of course the beignets were ordered.  I never say no to fried dough! I think that can be my new catchphrase.  

The Feasting Menu including our desserts and an alcoholic drink each cost us $90 a head which by Melbourne standards is pretty decent for the amount food we were served.  Compare this to Añada where we paid $80 all up including wine.  Well, Añada pips The Aylesbury for value.  Food-wise, we got more at Añada and I distinctly recall being absolutely stuffed but not so much so at The Aylesbury.  

Overall, there's nothing bad to be said about The Aylesbury but their prices are more or less a reflection of it's CBD location in comparison to the grungy inner 'burbs of Añada.  No dishes were that spectacular or memorable but they were definitely all very good and it's still decent value nonetheless.  It's biggest advantage is the central location and bonus rooftop bar.  Definitely worth a return journey.  

Wayfarers (Please don't call me a hipster)

When Wayfarers made their way back through the revolving doors of fashion, they were embraced by hipsters wanting that edgy, nerd look.  Let's face it, it can be fairly tryhard.  Some people get away with it, others are buying a 'look'.  I veered away from wayfarers mainly for that reason.

Well erm, they've become more mainstream now and I errr am a mainstream girl.  So I've now got a pair... I promise you I'm not being a tryhard!  The main reason for my purchase is this snazzy little feature:

Ta-daaaaaaah!!!!!  

Obviously I bought a non-standard pair of Wayfarers.  Gone are days of me having carry to bulky glasses case in my handbag.  The case is a bit fatter than a pack of ciggies but it compensates for it by being shorter.   I did try on a folding pair of Prada sunglasses but they didn't fit my face.  Boo.  

Harry Potter Exhibition

When I told some friends I would be flying into Sydney for the Harry Potter Exhibition, I was met with 'nerd' taunts, ridicule and laughter.  I pity these people because they clearly do not know what they're missing out on.  *shakes head*  I could have been a much crazier fan - once, I contemplated taking a day off work to line up at Leicester Square for a premiere - but I have my limits.

When I found out that the exhibition featuring the props used in the movie series was leaving USA shores and landing in Sydney, I put it high on my to-do list.  I was hoping that it would travel around Australia but the website made it clear this was a Sydney only venture.  Boo.  But you know what?  That isn't really a problem because I "need" to collect frequent flyer points and what better way to do it than by flying in for the weekend and seeing some friends while I'm at it?  It's not preposterous at all!!

Despite the ridicule, I did manage to find some fellow appreciators of the wizarding world.  We found solace in each other.  JD's husband had refused to go with her when she wanted to attend a few months ago!

Look, I know deep down all you HP-haters are jealous of this souvenir photo ($20 wtf!!).  It's taken at the start of the tour and is waiting for you at the end.  All for your tourist rort pleasure.  

It was a good thing that we pre-booked tickets because today's session was sold out.  As we joined the line for our allocated timeslot, us girlies quickly noticed that we were pretty much the only adults in the queue without children hanging off our legs.  Pffft... Harry Potter is not for children!!

Anyway, no photography is allowed inside the exhibit (poo) but to give you a run down, we were first ushered into a room where the Sorting Hat welcomed us.  A few kids got sorted (as if they had time to sort all of us) and then the side doors were magically opened... by people.  We were then free to wander around and look at Harry's bed, Hermione's purple Yule Ball dress (she's my size I think!), Ron's shoes (big), Hagrid's hut (big chair inside) and of course Voldemort related stuff.  It was really well set up.  So much effort went into the costumes!  We spent about 90 minutes inside all up.

I "think" the exhibit prevented us from making our own souvenirs (photos) because they generously wanted to give us the opportunity to BUY our own souvenirs.  Oh yes please!  Rip me off, please!  Take my money, please!!  There was heaps of stuff to buy (gold plated Time Turner necklace for $100 anyone?) and after scouring the shelves, I limited my purchase to just two things.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans ($5 for a total of 34 grams.  Wtf!!!).  

I have not opened these yet to try but this will be an interesting exercise.  Vomit and booger flavoured jellybeans!

Yep my other souvenir. 

A muggle mug!!  ($20.  Wtf!!!)  Admittedly, I did want to buy much more but just could not bring myself to do it. 

On our exit, we were allowed to take pics next to the Hogwarts Express.  I wasn't too excited about that - I've already ridden it!  

For anyone interested in going (I know you all are), adult tickets are $32 a pop but hurry because it closes on 9 April!