Restaurant Review - Pancakes on the Rocks (Beverly Hills, NSW)

We headed out without a booking for the two of us to celebrate Pinkie's Birthday. Obviously in the name of the restaurant is a clue as to what you should order. The restaurant is part of a chain of eateries with six locations including this one. Five are in Sydney and one is located on the Gold Coast at Surfers Paradise. The chain was founded as the name implies at the Rocks in Sydney, in 1975. Whilst they do some great dessert pancakes their mains are along what I think of as American Style eatery food. Some of the classics include Pork Ribs, beef short ribs, chicken schnitzel, and in keeping with the restaurant's theme a selection of savoury crepes and two savoury pancake options as well. They also sell a selection of plate sized pizzas. All portions are very filling and only a person with a big appetite would risk an entrée for fear of missing out on the pancakes for dessert.

We ordered a rack of the pork ribs with sweet potato chips instead of the wedges and a serving of the American style beef brisket. I had eaten the brisket previously and loved how tender and juicy it was on that previous occasion. This time around it was again tender but maybe anticipation got the better of me and I expected a little too much from it on this occasion. Was still a good meal but part of me wishes I went with the famous beef short ribs. The brisket is served with what are called sidewinder wedges and they are excellent.

The pork ribs however were exactly as expected, juicy and fall off the bone tender with the flavoursome barbecue sauce that is definitely in the yum category. The sweet potato chips were a good side option and a couple of bits of green (salad) to help prevent scurvy. As the restaurant is licenced it would be rude not to wash it down with a nice Crown Lager for old times sake.

And on to dessert. As I mentioned earlier the portion sizes are large and there is little chance of heading home hungry, but you can't really eat at Pancakes without having a pancake for dessert. In the past I have eaten what is titled The Ultimate. The Ultimate is a couple of large crepes filled with cream cheese and and topped with Raspberry coulis  but this time I was looking for a little less indulgence and maybe a touch less sweetness and went with the Apple Crumble buttermilk pancakes. By the way there are 18 pancake options on the dessert menu, so you would have to be a pretty consistent regular to have tried them all.

The Apple Crumble consists of two thick pancakes served over the top of some braised apple and topped with cream and ice cream and crumble topping. I commented during the meal that I think Pancakes is the only place I have been where the meals are larger when they arrive than they appear on the menu. It goes without saying that the pancakes were delicious and extremely filling.

Having perused the menu during the meal I am keen to get back and sample the breakfast menu one day soon. Possibly this will occur after I have found enough time to exercise and burn off the calories from this first meal.

I know I was a little critical of the brisket but all in all I would it was an enjoyable meal with friendly service and we will be back for more in the not too distant future. Definitely to try out the breakfast one weekend. I think I would give it a 7 out of 10.

Restaurant Review - Sanpomen Ramen

Looking for a budget meal out in Hurstville we decided to head to Sanpomen Ramen shop in the Hurstville Central shopping centre. I like the idea of eating ramen noodle soup but am a long way from expert in the field. My wife and I enjoyed our meals and it only cost $56 for 2. Can't do much better than that.

The restaurant is set up with bench setting, to my knowledge very Japanese in style of seating arrangement. There are only 18 seats and the 2 chefs and 1 waitress do a good job of sending out the meals in an efficient manner. There is a digital ordering system. Each setting has a pull out digital menu tucked neatly under the counter which slides out and you simply select your meals on the screen which automatically sends you selections to the kitchen for processing.

I decided on a couple of entrees to share and a main noodle dish each. We had the Gyoza which is for those uninitiated in the ways of Gyoza is a pan fried dumpling which is steamed as well as having a crispy base. The dumpling were I think made with pork and a pleasant way to start the meal. The other entree ordered was 2 pieces of crispy fried chicken. Very crisp and very hot, once allowed to cool they were delicious, though definitely don't be too aggressive with that first bite or you may end up with a blistered tongue.

For mains I had the Special Tonkotsu Soup Ramen and Pinkie had the Special rich fish based Tsukemen. These with require explanation. The Ramen comes in quite a large bowl filled mostly with noodles and soup broth topped with wafer thin sliced roast pork loin, a halved firm, soft boiled egg and  little of what I think was some kind of bamboo shoot. There are then toppings to add at the table to add extra flavour to your liking. There are pickled mustard greens of a type, some Japanese rice seasoning, vinegar and soy sauce. I like my Asian soups with a bit of acidity which is fortunate because when pouring the vinegar I got the age old tip gently, gently and then just at the wrong time it comes out in a gush of vinegar. A good mixing of the noodles and no harm done.

Pinkie had the more interesting dish I would say and it came with a small card giving instructions in both Japanese and English on how best to eat the noodles. I think this is great as often when trying to eat new cuisines there is a lot of benefit in having at least a little knowledge as to how the meal should be consumed. A great example of this is when a non Australian tries to eat Vegemite for the first time. As any Aussie knows you get your toast spread with a generous amount of butter or margarine and the then scrape on a thin quantity of the black goodness that is Vegemite. Now, when a person from other lands comes to try Vegemite they may look at it in the same way as Jam or Peanut butter and in so doing end up covering the bread with a thick coating of Vegemite which 99 out of a 100 beginners are not going to enjoy.

So back to the noodles. You receive a large bowl of hot noodles topped with pork eggs and bamboo shoots and alongside you receive a bowl of something between a soup and a sauce. You are instructed to dip you noodles into the sauce/soup and enjoy. The temptation is to pour the sauce over the noodles and dig in. This is an error. By dipping your noodles, when you have completed eating you then add soup broth which is provided in a Thermos jug to your sauce bowl and drink up the remains to finish you meal.

To wash all this down I got a Japanese soft drink which was okay but not anything to far out of the ordinary.

All in all I would say Sanpomen Ramen is worth checking out and for a good quick meal which fills the belly and leaves you satisfied.

Book review - Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat

I listened to this book using my Audible account and really enjoyed it. The book is by Samin Nosrat who cooked in California at Chez Panisse with Alice Waters. There is TV series to go with the book available on Netflix going by the same name.

Prior to listening to the book I hadn't heard of Samin but right from the first chapter I loved it and found it to be a fantastically informative book with many great take outs. 

The information on the use of Salt, in particular the early seasoning of meats prior to cooking is changing my approach to food preparation. Without giving away all the take outs in the book Samin talks about how when cooking at Chez Panisse the day prior to cooking or even longer with larger cuts, the meat was generously salted to give a more tender and flavourful end product.

Samin's parents emigrated to the United States from Iran in the 1970's and the influence of her heritage is seen in her explanations on the uses of acid in cooking and in particular lightening foods. She talks about the use of acidic yoghurt from her Iranian background but also how when she visited chef friends for Thanksgiving dinner they improved the meal with more subtle uses of acidic ingredients to lighten the usually heavy European influenced heavy foods. Examples of this were the use of red wine vinegar in the gravy and the use of sour cream in mashed potato.

The book when listening came in at under 6 hours and had me eager to continue listening throughout for the next culinary pearl. I really enjoy this kind of cookery book as they are a great source of learning. Whilst there is still great value in cookbooks especially covering specific regional cuisines I love a book that gives the reader knowledge that they can implement each time they head into the kitchen.

In 2017 the book was awarded food book of the year by The Times of London. Clearly I am not the only one who thinks it wasn't a bad book. This style of book has so much value for the cook aspiring to learn to cook in a way that takes them to the next level.

All in all a great read I would give it 8 out of 10. I guess I could have gone higher but as this is my first review I would then have nowhere to go.

A day in the life of a chef - Part 1

4.25 am - Awaken to the sound of my alarm beeping. hit snooze and then head straight to the bathroom. Check my weight on the scales, then brush teeth, shave and shower. Get dressed, Black trousers, t-shirt, and pack my bag for work. Chef's jacket, apron and chef's cap into the bag. Always get them ready to go the night before as I don't trust sleepy me to get it right first thing.

Then to my kitchen for breakfast. Fill my water bottle with cold filtered tap water from the fridge. Boil kettle to make an instant Nescafe blend 43 with a dash of milk. Cereal is next, this week 2 weetbix, 15 grams of all bran for the fibre and 100 grams of fruit. This time of year peaches are good, sometimes blueberries and strawberries. Add to this 1 slice of wholemeal toast with either Jam, Vegemite, salami, ham, tomato, or cheese (sometimes grilled to melt). 

Whilst getting ready listen to Audio books with headphones on so I don't wake up my wife or the neighbours. At 5.15 am I go back to bed for 10 more minutes before putting on shoes (steel capped safety boots) and socks. Had previously just bought any black pair of socks but since late last year have tried to spend a little bit more on better quality, thicker socks in the hope of looking after my feet a bit more and soaking up more moisture. 

Into the car for the 35 to 40 minute drive to work. I continue to listen to audio books as I drive along and usually arrive at work pretty close to 6.15 am. I am 9 times out of 10, the first to arrive. The bread delivery from Bob and Petes is sitting on some empty milk crates outside the dumb waiter. The dumb waiter is not in the down position due to security concerns. On arrival I walk up the approximately 15 steps and use my security pass to enter the kitchen. I close the doors of the dumb waiter and send it down so that when the manager arrives she can put the bread boxes into the lift. 

I continue into the kitchen, unlock the coolroom, drystore and office with my keys. Then I turn on the oven which firstly refills the chamber which provides the water to the oven for steaming. There is a large bolt on the inside back wall of the oven which needs to be released at the end of each day to drain the water. Not sure how important it is to do this but it does say it on the bolt itself.

I then use the lighter to light the pilot lights on the stove top. Only 3 of the 6 stove spaces have working pilot lights, though the other 3 can be lit when needed. I then turn on the deep fryer which requires turning the gas handle on it's left hand side to the on position and then clicking it on in a not dissimilar way to how you turn on a gas barbecue. After this I keep moving and turn on the extractor fan and then the dishwasher and the lights to the entire kitchen. I usually turn the lights on after lighting the stove as I like the contrast of the blue flames in the darkened room. 

6.20 am I grab all the Hot baine trays that I need for the breakfast items, so that is 2 long trays and 2 halves. I put the fry pan on it's place on the stove top plus a 1/3 tray with 2 plastic spatulas and tongs with plastic ends so that I won't damage the non stick fry pan. If I haven't trayed up my mornings bacon the day before then I will get 4 trays ready for that as well. I move a fryer basket and a green chopping board to their appropriate places. The board on top of a rubber mat to prevent slipping when you are cutting. 

I will continue on next time, happy cooking  

food label warnings

Writing on a steamy Saturday in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Currently covered in sweat after only doing a little tidying up around the house. Something I come across occasionally in my day to day are the warning labels on foods. If you are looking for bit of a laugh there are some great ones out there.

Firstly, let me start by saying (ironically as something of a warning) that some labels are both useful and very important for user welfare and health. Those relating to allergens are obviously important and it's great that they are clearly marked on the packaging. However, I read on an instant soup packet, that I came across in the supermarket a warning label in Bold print,  that said "Warning after heating soup will become hot". I am fairly sure that even prior to attending Culinary School I was able to work out that food items or any items actually, that I heated, would become hot. I do wonder what happens in the interactions between the Marketing department and the legal department at these companies.

Marketing Department says "Hey Legal Department, we've got a new soup coming out, any of that fancy legal stuff we need to put on the label? "
Legal Department replies "Do we have any allergens in the soup?"
Marketing "no, all good there"
Legal " well we can't just leave it blank, how will our customers know we have a legal department?"
Marketing "It is soup, when you heat it up it gets, ummm,  hot, maybe the customer might get burnt."
Legal "You're a genius, write that down"

Another one I found at work on a tin of tomato paste read this way " product may vary from image shown " Sounds pretty standard, right?

The picture on the label is of a whole tomato. Please tell me that no one thought that tomato paste looked like that giant tomato on the side of the tin.

We do live in a wonderful world don't we? It has occurred to me that the kind of person who requires a label to let them know that the soup will become hot after heating may not be able to read the label. I wonder if they could create an audible label for them, just to be on the safe side.
Anyway, it is time to kick on with the first day of my weekend, please let me know if you come across any labels that have made you chuckle or any cooking questions you would like to have answered. Until next time, happy cooking