Showing posts with label Restaurant. Show all posts

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The Bondi Cafes: Billy's Wet Bar Cafe

Posted on Sunday, April 7, 2013

7 April 2013

I honestly did not expect university to be so crazy. I do apologise for the lack of posts but hopefully I can slowly make it up to you.

The focus this time is on a little dark horse, slowly making its way through the pack in Bondi. Billy's Wet Bar Cafe. My friends and I discovered them once when Speedos was too packed one summers day at Bondi Beach, and we wanted hot chips.

Then, we went up to this small cafe right next to Speedos and near the surf school and had the most AMAZING chips - cooked to perfection. In fact, they were so good, we had three servings shared between the ten of us, we just kept going back.

After talking with the owner, I decided to go have lunch with some friends.


I had a $9.90 mushroom risotto and my friend had a burger.

Consequently, I took my family to dinner a few days after. The menu is limited but there is something for everyone.




salt & pepper squid with pesto oil


haloumi and rocket salad




four mushroom risotto


honestly, I cannot remember what this was but I think it was fish



my lamb chops were amazingggggggg. Accompanied with a ratatouille like sauce.


Don't forget the guys up the road, Billy's was a pleasant surprise.

Ella xx

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Amazing Restaurants: El Topo

Posted on Monday, December 3, 2012

2 December

 Recently, I went to El Topo. A new mexican restaurant located in Bondi Junction's 'The Eastern'. There is a very breezy, outdoor feel to this place and the food is, dare I say it, Mexican through and through.








The whole concept behind this place was sharing. And share we did. I would highly recommend it. The actual theme of the restaurant is great too. Skulls, a lot of colour, the tables are mosaic and there are small figurines depicting many funny scenes.

 Ella xx

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Manly Jazz Festival and excuses.

Posted on Saturday, October 20, 2012

20 October

 Sorry for the lack of posts! I've been in exam mode (they start on the 5th of November). Here are a few photos of some culinary adventures in the past few weeks. This set was taken at the Manly Jazz Festival where I went and saw some jazz and had a crazy dinner with some family friends.






This is pretty much meat on a stick, dripping with chilli red wine sauce onto a bed of mash and rocket. I didn't finish it all but I definitely tried.

 Please don't forget to subscribe by email at the bottom!

 Ella xx

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Mi Piace

Posted on Friday, June 29, 2012

29 June

 Once again, the Shtein Family is out on the town to score some dinner (well, that's just me). We went to go see Rock of Ages (I recommend it - Tom Cruise was amazing) but not before having dinner at a relatively new restaurant to the Entertainment Quarter called Mi Piace. It's an Italian restaurant with everything from antipasto to pizza to steak to seafood. The menu is quite extensive.

Antipasto Platter for two
parma prosciutto, sopressa salami , artichokes hearts, mixed italian olives, chargrilled eggplant, rosted red peppers pecorino and toasted in house made ciabatta 

My iPhone really wrecked the presentation and colour but this was delicious. We fought over this one.


Filletto Piemontese

medium rare cooked beef eye fillet with grilled and arborio rice filled tomato, asparagus, served with red wine glaze

This was great. The fillet was cooked really well, it just melted in my mouth and the tomato had arborio rice in it which i thought was a nice touch. Asparagus was also nicely cooked - all in all a great dish.

Wood-fired Scampi

garlic, lemon, parsley marinated scampi served on a bed of wild rocket leave

Mum got this one. The scampi was cooked really well and the presentation was great. Also, what a generous serving. 
We also had pizza. The thing for me, which makes a pizza delicious is the base and the crust. Mi Piace really do have this DOWN. It was so doughy in the crust and the base was quite thin. I wish the tomatoes had been more spread out (I love my tomatoes) and the fish was a bit salty but seriously, this crust was great. I should have just got a plain pizza and just enjoyed the dough because it was great.

I really recommend this place - go for the Pizza.

Ella xx

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D'Vine: Wine Bar

Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

15 May
On Mother's Day, my family and I went up the road to D'vine which is a grill, wine and tapas bar. Bondi is such a great location to live. If you go just a few hundred metres up the road you have some extraordinary bars and restaurants which never fail to deliver. D'vine is just another solid example.



Vegetable Dips Platter beetroot, carrot, hummus, tzatsiki dips with Turkish bread $13


Garlic Prawns sauteed in chilli, tomato & basil $14

Raspberry Caproiska
Vodka, lime cordial, sugar, fresh lime, raspberry juice and raspberries $12




BBQ Mixed Meat Platter w lamb koftas, wagyu skewer, chicken thigh fillet skewer & chorizo sausage $29

 My photos really do not do this justice I have to say!



Cheeseboard w Maffra cheddar, Jindi triple cream, Gippsland blue, dried & fresh fruits & fig jam $22


Trio of Sorbets green apple, raspberry, lemon & lime $11
D'vine has dark lighting clearly and on the night there was live brazillian music. Make sure you get in early for happy hour.

 You can find D'vine on 206 Bondi Road
Ella xx

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Elysium

Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2012

"Elysium Restaurant offers a modern Australian menu with French and Italian influences. This is a casual dining restaurant, located right next door to the Randwick Ritz Cinema on St Pauls St at the ‘Spot’ and is a great place to enjoy fresh, quality produce at very reasonable prices." 
- Elysium Website

 I recently visited Elysium with my family and wow. The quality of the food, the presentation, the taste was incredible - there could have been some improvements but overall it was great. What they excelled at, personally for me, was dessert. I think it would be well  worthwhile to take a visit.



roasted double lamb cutlet with shank meat croquettes, smoked eggplant puree, black pepper and potato gratin, balsamic braised onion and a madeira sauce  30

The Verdict: The shank meat croquettes were dry and there was some weird nut thing in the middle but the lamb was perfectly cooked. The mini gratin was a bit stiff and felt undercooked but the onions really popped. I love balsamic vinegar so onions and balsamic was great. The madeira sauce was lacking in taste but went well, not overpowering the delicious lamb. 


milk chocolate and honeycomb bombe alaska with caramel sauce and toffee ice cream 15

The Verdict: Faultless. A must. I had never actually had a bombe alaska before and my dad and I got into an argument to whether it was French or from Alaska. I won; it's French. Inside was milk chocolate and honeycomb ice-cream as promised and then on the side was another scoops of toffee ice-cream which was delicious. Needless to say, we fought over that bombe.


vanilla panacotta with plum jelly, plum and champagne granita, crushed amaretti biscuit and spiced grilled plums 15

The Verdict: I liked the bombe better but that's because I love anything chocolate honeycomb & chocolate & meringue. But this was still excellent - especially the granita. It just melted into your mouth. Panacotta is my brother's favorite dessert so I tried not to have too much - I was too busy defending my own dessert.

 I would really recommend going to Elysium, I know I'll definitely be back, this time with a bombe alaska for myself and no sharing!

 Ella xx