To celebrate life before kids (LBK), my husband, who going forth I am going to refer to as schmoopie, treated me to a long lunch at Flying Fish. Having heard a few good reviews of this place and seeing Peter Kuruvita on Masterchef recently, we woke up on Sunday morning and decided we should try it out.

On Saturday afternoon I met heaps of other food obsessed crazy people, aka food bloggers, so I was inspired to take some photos and blog about the experience.

We decided on the tasting menu ($110) plus matching wines ($50) so by the end of the afternoon I was pretty whammed but in the best way. Luckily they let me keep the menu, otherwise I doubt I would have remembered every course and matching wine. Since a wine tasting thing I went to at the Taste of Sydney festival a few months ago I have developed a new interest in trying different wines so this made the afternoon even more fun.

The canapé was a pacific oyster with vinaigrette that I’ve forgotten the name of. I’m not too keen on oysters but schmoopie said they were nice. We didn’t take a photo of the oysters. I was served an amuse bouche that was very nice. This course wasn’t meant to a have a matching wine but we graciously accepted the glass of bubbly that was offered. What a great way to kick start our appetite.

The next course was seared yellow fin tuna with ruby red grapefruit and sweet pork crackling. This was so fresh and tasted amazing. I think it is their signature dish. It was served with a palm sugar and pepper caramel sauce and underneath the tuna was a thin slice of pork. I don’t normally eat pork but I was feeling adventurous and it reminded me of eating Chinese on Mother’s Day when I was a kid. The combination of flavours was delicate and nice. The tuna was matched with a 2008 Eastern Peake Pinot Tache from Ballarat which was a Rose.

This was followed by Smoked rainbow trout served on Himalayan salt, fennel cream, celery heart salad. The presentation of this course was unlike anything I have seen before. Apparently they got these blocks of salt from the Himalaya’s and bacteria can’t grow on them so they are reused. The trout was not seasoned so we rolled each piece out onto the salt block to absorb salt. This was fun and interesting. It didn’t make it overly salty which is good coz I don’t normally add much salt when I’m cooking. The fennel cream was light and airy and not overly licoricy. Is that a word? Well it didn’t taste like licorice which was also good. I’m not sure what a celery heart is but I think it was the baby celery leaves.

The trout was matched with a glass of 2008 Salomon Undhof “Wein & Berg” Gruner Veltliner from Kremstal, Austria which was served in the MASSIVEST glass I’ve ever drunk out of. 3 Cheers for LBK!

The white scallops with boudin noir, carrot puree, grape and pine nut dressing was next. I soon discovered that boudin noir is black pudding. The scallops are sitting on a tiny piece of it. Now I’ve heard of this before and I know it’s from Scotland and is something like sheep’s stomach or something equally as gross but I tried not to think about it and focused on just being on a little adventure. Sometime’s ignorance is bliss. These scallops were amazing. Perfectly cooked and each element of this dish was a taste sensation. It was matched with another glass of red. This time in a slightly smaller glass. It as a 2008 Tarras Vineyards Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand.

Pan roasted blue eye with scallop mousse, white beans, pumpkin puree and braised chicken.

Mushroom-infused White Pyrenees lamb loin with fondant potato, braised shoulder and black garlic

We were offered a choice of either Blue Eye or Lamb for our main. I chose the Blue Eye and schmoopie had the lamb. They were served with hand cut chips which were nice and fat and a simple salad. My matching wine was the 2007 Pratello Marzemino from Lombardy, Italy. Schmoopie’s lamb was matched with the 2001 Tour du Haut Moullin Cru Bourgeois Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot from Haut-Medoc, France. Boy that was a mouthful!

And the best part of any meal….dessert. I was sooooo excited that it wasn’t just one dessert but a dessert platter. AWESOME!!! From left to right was a Chestnut soufflé with orange, honeycomb and gingerbread ice cream (in the spoon at the back), Lemon curd with vanilla mousse, blackberry, almond and elderflower sorbet and Italian Amedei chocolate delice with pecans, champagne and raspberry sorbet. This was all matched with a 2007 Stellenrust ‘Chenin d’Musact’ Chenin Blanc, Muscat from Stellenbosch, South Africa. OMG This was the best way to finish the meal. I savoured every single bite which meant the sorbet’s all melted. I don’t think my descriptions of the food is anything like how the Masterchef contestants describe food but this was all bloody fantastic. The soufflé was fluffy, the lemon curd was just like an amazing lemon meringue pie and the chocolate delice satisfied my chocolate needs totally.

But wait there’s more…..

A hot chocolate and petit fours, which I’d already taken a bite of the 3 from the right, were nice too. I can’t remember exactly what each one was but I think the white dessert, 2nd from the left was a marshmallow and the red dessert 2nd from the right was a jelly and the one on the far right was a cake.

Wow! Thanks schmoopie for a wonderful afternoon. I am loving LBK!

The tasting menu was absolutely fantastic and such a great way to try so many different dishes. I definitely want to go back to Flying Fish again. Next time I will pre-order the mud crab and try some prawns and soft shell crab and the kingfish curry. Oh boy so many choices. I think I will have to go back a few times.

Flying Fish

Jones Bay Wharf,Lower Deck,

19-21 Pirrama Road

Pyrmont NSW 2009

(02) 9518 6677

I have been living in London for over two years now and my older sister has been talking about Petersham Nurseries as a foodies delight for most of that time. Now while my sis doesn’t share the same cooking passion as Anita and myself, she does appreciate a tasty meal. And believe me, this cute little cafe at the back of a garden centre was gold!

The nursery is in Richmond and encourages visitors to travel by bike, public transport, or foot in an effort to reduce the impact to the grounds caused by cars. So this requires a bit more effort than just jumping in a car. Not that we have one anyway, but I think it complements the whole ‘one with the earth’ vibe out there!

The cafe itself is out the back of the nursery so requires a leisurely stroll through the plants, garden furniture and pretty candles. My mind was purely on the food though. No surprises there.

Aussie Skye Gyngell heads up the kitchen. She is so talented and has such good taste as evidenced by her menus and cookbooks.

We settled into antique furniture and didn’t think twice about ordering the Rose Prosecco. The menu changes every week at the cafe based on what’s in season so even though you can check the website that week, you could still be in store for a menu surprise…something that usually makes me nervous, but in this case I was happy all round!

My tomato, cucumber and bread soup was amazing. So fresh and light it had me dreaming of the Med. Even though it was a ‘soup’, it was mostly veggies and a small amount of broth, which made this even better. I may even attempt to re-create this some time.

My grilled seam bream with artichokes, white beans and romesco was a delight. It seems like such simple cooking, yet so flavoursome and special. I just love it when you make a good menu choice!

The other ‘no red meat’ option was a chicken breast with saffron and tomato. I think I am missing some key ingredients but I did have a taste of this and it was delish.

Of course we made sure we had room for dessert and again, my choice was right on the money. A gooey chocolate tart that was pure decadence. It was served with jersey cream but didn’t need it.

My dining companions has the Italian apricots (which have a special name which I have forgotten) with a thick lemon clotted cream.

There is also a tea house behind the cafe that sells an assortment of cakes which of course I had to check out, and while I claimed I would be able to do cake as well, I had clearly over-estimated! We caught a cab home and enjoyed a nap. Ahhhh the life!

The cafe at Petersham nurseries serves lunch Wednesday - Sunday from 12.00 pm to 2.30 pm. Reservations are essential and taken one month before (020 8605 3627 or  020 8605 3627).

Find them at on Church Lane, off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 7AG.

Every time we go down Edgware Road, I gaze out the window at all the Middle Eastern eateries that line the street. Soon after, I find myself licking my lips. There is Lebanese, Moroccan, Israeli and many more, but one that has always jumped out has been the Maroush Deli. This is probably because I can always see pyramids of all the baklava through the window!

We finally decided to dine at one of these places and so we ended up at Maroush Gardens – complete with a fish pond! Now I don't usually like to do 'quasi restaurant reviews', but I do want to recommend this place as we had a massive plate of top quality, delicious food.

We each ordered the lunchbox which is a selection of the mezza (I would usually say mezze, but their menu ended with an ‘a’) as chosen by the chef (we had hummus, baba ganouj, dolmades, a little pastry filled with spinach, one with cheese, some pickles, tabouleh, a falafel and some fantastic garlic sauce and a salsa-type sauce), and some grilled chicken. Usually they serve a mixed grill but as I operate a "no red meat" policy, they were happy to only give me the chicken - which was delightfully moist by the way! This lunch plate will set you back £16 and sustain you for a long afternoon . They also provide some warm, brown pita bread if you want to make the most of all the dips and sauces.

If you can make it to Edgware Road, be sure to stop in and check it out. The range of cold and hot mezzas is massive and it all looked great. If you just want a quick piece of baklava from the deli, check out the Maroush Deli which is across the street.

Deets: Maroush Gardens – 1 Connaught St (corner of Edgware Road) Tel: 020 7262 0222

It feels like I haven’t done a blog post in a while…probably because I haven’t! I was back in Sydney recently for a few weeks and had a packed schedule visiting friends and family. Obviously there was loads of food involved which I would like to share.

My sis (the other half of noredmeat.com) had a long list of foodie adventures lined up and the first was an unassuming Vietnamese place in Cabramatta. While at first I was hesitant to make the journey out to Sydney’s west, Thanh Binh was quite a surprise.

We didn’t even read the menu, instead followed Anita’s lead and ordered the prawn rice paper rolls which you roll yourself.

We are soon presented with various plates and bowls containing the ingredients for this feast. The table is adorned with the prawns which are minced and wrapped around sugarcane, vermicelli , rice paper sheets, a bowl of steaming water, and the various veggies and herbs, and of course fresh chilli.

It takes us a few attempts, but we soon get the hang of how to roll your own. My preferred method is to submerge a sheet of rice paper in the water until it has softened, then place it on a clean plate and if possible to stretch it across the plate without any folds. I then layer a slice of the prawn mince, some vermicelli, then strips of lettuce, cucumber and bean shoots, and fresh mint, followed by some chopped up chilli. Then the folding. I found the best way was to fold them like a fajita, but each to their own. It’s always a challenge to fold them after you have stuffed so much of the prawn and veggies inside. The chilli sauce is great to dunk your finished roll.

This would be a pretty easy meal to prepare at home too – it’s definitely one for me to try soon!

If you are in Sydney and want to make the trip to Cabramatta, here are the details:

Thanh Binh Restaurant 52a John St, Cabramatta NSW 2166

Somehow after stuffing ourselves, we still wanted to try a Pandan waffle!

One of the best Indian restaurants in Sydney is Billu's. Every time we go I am sooooo full and wish I hadn't eaten so much but it's all just so good. It's one of my parents favourite restaurants and it is always packed with other Indian's which is a good sign of a good Indian restaurant. They play Bollywood movies on a flat screen TV which adds to the experience. Even though it is in Harris Park it is worth the trip. They have recently opened a new restauranton Church St, Parramatta and have another restaurant in Epping. We started today's late lunch with Papri Chaat ($6.50). It is covered in tamarind, yoghurt, onion, chickpeas, coriander, green chilli's and sev. It is a great way to start an Indian feast. Next is Dahi puri ($6). Which is similar to papri chaat except it is all in a tiny bite sized puri, which you pop in your mouth for a flavour explosion. I usually get a Paneer Dosa every time I come here but they are pretty big and I'm not that hungry so we decide to have a paneer sizzler ($14.50) instead. Boy oh boy this is my absolute favourite. It is cottage cheese marinated in yoghurt and spices finished with onion, capsicum and a special sauce served on a sizzling platter. Heaven! The tawa chicken ($18.90) that mum orders is a hit. Actually this was the reason for going to Billu's today. Brett and I went to the good food and wine afficionado which was really lame and stopped in at my parents. Normally mum has a stash of tandoori chicken in the freezer but since she didn't have any she suggested we go to Billu's. So anyway the tawa chicken, similar to chicken tikka masala but with a sweet and spicy marinade is now up there with my other favourites. Other dishes we ordered to complement our favourites were chicken biryani ($13.90) and garlic naans ($3 each). This cross section photo of the paneer makes me wish there was a Billu's in the city. Billu's Indian Eatery, 62-64 Wigram St, Harris Park, Sydney 9687 7785