Thursday, December 31, 2009

Sydney Chrissy :)

Christmas without the family this year but I still had a lovely one with the company of friends and their extended families in Sydney :) For fans of the SBS cooking/travel show "Luke Nguyen's Vietnam", I made a "pilgrimage" to his Red Lantern restaurant (545 Crown St, Surry Hills, Sydney)! True to its upmarket address, the resto serves contemporary Vietnamese cuisine and its vintage decor is reminiscent of the '50s/'60s era.

We started with a beautiful duck and enoki mushroom rice paper roll; "Bo la lot" - Grilled beef in betel nut leaves.

"Bo luc lac" - Black Angus beef sirloin cubes with vietnamese salad. Yes, this was featured in his last episode! The beef was simply perfect, tender and juicy :D

A spicy wok tossed seasonal vegetables with Red Lantern's signature curry paste. Somehow this felt more Thai than Vietnamese to me!

Best way to wrap up a meal - with a rich Vietnamese coffee!

The foodie trail continued and we headed towards Adriano Zumbo's French patisserie (296 Darling Street, Balmain). Yes, Adriano of the croquembouche dessert in Masterchef ;) I especially like the local touches he gave to his yummy creations!

stormiii at 12:31 pm

1cups of tea