Anniversary dinner @ Aria

It's been a while since we've celebrated our anniversary somewhere really nice. Astral was lovely but thanks to Sophia's Christmas gift we had a reason to finally try the 7 course tasting menu at Aria in Circular Quay.

At $150 per person we had high expectations and we were not disappointed. We were greeted warmly at the door and lead to our table, the room was dimly lit enhancing the view of the Opera house and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Once seated the staff wished us a 'Happy Anniversary!' which was a really nice touch. We giggled at all the cutlery in front of us - it sure beats the usual pair of chopsticks!

For starters we were given a complimentary celery soup and a fresh soy and linseed sourdough bread roll (if only all bread tasted this way!). The butter that accompanied the roll was absolutely delicious (light but so full of flavour) I think I finally understand what it means to pay more for a really nice butter (I feel a visit to the growers market coming up). We did have to politely decline when offered another roll so that we didn't spoil our appetite.

Pacific oyster with mignonette dressing

If you look closely you can see that the lemon has been carefully wrapped up so that the seeds don't fall into the oyster when you squeeze it - all the small details....

Confit of Petuna Ocean Trout with beetroot mousse & horseradish creme fraiche

Peking duck Consomme with dumplings, shaved abalone and mushrooms

I was so proud of Jacky when this dish came out. He isn't normally a beetroot fan but he still gave the dish a go, when we first started dating he wouldn't touch anything that was 'different'. Now he's very open to trying things to explore what he likes and dislikes with an open mind.

At this stage we had used all our cutlery and were given a new set for the next set of dishes.

Western Australian Scampi wrapped in Tunisian brick pastry and served with gremolata

Twice cooked kurobuta sweet pork belly with pear salad and a cider dressing

The scampi looked amazing and tasted like a mini lobster. The pork was succulent and the flavour lingered in your mouth after every bite.


Poached beef fillet with braised silverside, bone marrow, condiments and beef consomme

Awesome...the photo says it all.


While we waited for dessert Jacky told me how the toilets had small hand towels just like home. I had to go check it out, after all... nice toilets are a must!

Complimentary strawberry dessert topped with a sweet lemon granita

Caramelised apple with caramel millefeuille and pain d'epice ice cream


Chocolate Valrhona tart, caramelised salted peanuts, vanilla ice cream

I knew Jacky wouldn't really enjoy the apple dessert so I emailed the restaurant asking them if they could change it to a chocolate one adding a special message in chocolate. When the desserts arrived the grin on Jacky's face when he saw the chocolate tart was just priceless.

Coffee & Tea and petite fours

lemon tart, earl grey chocolate truffle, coconut macaroon with a chocolate filled centre.

This dinner was just a fabulous experience, the food was exceptional, the service was flawless and they just made us feel really special and looked after. At $150pp this 7 course tasting menu was worth every dollar!

Aria Restaurant
1 Macquarie Street
East Circular Quay
Sydney
PH: 02 9252 2555

June already...

Around now is suppose to be the calm before the storm (i.e. clerkships), after last year I was so exhausted that I said to Jacky ‘I don’t know how long I can keep doing this’. But I recovered and took into account that the second time is always easier and I wouldn’t be painting, renovating and moving into a new house this time round.

Unfortunately work hasn’t been calm and our team is going through a massive period of change. My direct manager is moving to London for an unbelievable opportunity (I’m so excited for her but quietly devastated at the same time). A promotion has been presented to me but the weird thing is I’m still deciding if I want it. I have a few tough career decisions ahead which so far has left me tossing and turning and unable to sleep at night.

Jacky’s also been working really hard with late nights and bringing work home, we often look at each other in disbelief that it’s already the end of June. We’ve both been fortunate that we have been rewarded by work which has really eased the financial pressures that come with having a mortgage.

Enough of th serious stuff, here is a few photos from the last few days (I keep leaving my camera at home!).

The Argyle
Five bars and a cobblestoned courtyard, I'm loving the Argyle at the moment. Not so much for drinks on a Friday or Saturday night (who has time to wait in line that long?!!) but during lunch when there isn't many people around this place is fabulous.

The large wooden beams and old brick walls look amazing against the modern and colourful furniture, this is enhanced by special spot lights placed around the room.

You're probably looking to pay around $20 for a lunch meal here, above is a picture of their meat platter ($40) and dips platter ($30), these are great for sharing.

The Argyle
12-18 Argyle St.
The Rocks, Sydney
PH: (02) 9247 5500

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Caught up with the ex-Hudson girls at Reena's place (Mandy bought Jordi along).

Reena whipped up the most amazing masamun curry (served on a banana leaf too!).

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Eat City
We celebrated Jacky's birthday with his work friends at Eat city located at the top of the City Hotel. They've done a great job with renovating the venue and have turned it into quite a fancy little place (they have wine tasting every Tuesday).

The mains are around $21 and the servings are very small but the quality is good. To be full you probably need to have at least 2 courses.

Lamb Rump with French Beans a la lyonnaise $21
Wild King Fish on a warm salad of ox heart tomato, caper, olive and lemon $21

Eat City Restaurant
Level 1, City Hotel
349 Kent Street (Cnr King)
Sydney
Ph: 02 9262 5900.
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Went to Aria for our anniversary dinner last night, what an experience! Hope to post up some photos this week.

Bay Vista Cafe

Jill's flying out on Wednesday and as excited as I am for her I feel so sad at the same time. We all caught up tonight and drowned our sorrows in chocolate....a lot of chocolate (so much for eating healthy!).

Mortel sin cake with chocolate & ice cream, banana crepe, chocolate fudge brownie, swiss hot chocolate
The aftermath...

One last group shot

Bye Jilly! (say chee-zu)

Bay Vista Cafe
83 The Grand Parade
Brighton-Le-Sands, NSW
Fri-Sat 11:30am- 3:00am
Sun-Mon 11:30am- 1:00am
Tel: (02) 9556-1727

One long Saturday

Saturday 26 May, 2007

8:00am - Saturday was just one of the craziest days ever. It started with me rushing out to the city to try on a gown. I first saw the dress in the sale section on Tuesday, but to try any dress you need to book an appointment with a consultant. The store was so busy they were booked out for two whole weeks! My only other option was to line up early on Saturday (the only day where no appointments are taken).

So there I was on a Saturday morning (with Mum) waiting in line 40 minutes before the shop was due to open. I was second in line and 5 minutes later another 20 or so women showed up. When the doors finally opened they took down names and said they would call us up when they were ready. In the mean time I went straight to the rack where the dress was and started looking for it; I couldn't see it anywhere (my heart absolutely sank!). Mum didn't realise the gowns were sorted into sizes and disappeared in the size 12 section, she pulled out a dress and said 'this looks nice', lo and behold it was the exact dress I was looking for in a 6, hidden in the wrong section.

I left the store half an hour later gown in hand and with a big grin on my face. I still need need some minor alterations done but at least one big task has been completed!

After buying the dress I stopped at a cafe to have brekkie with Mum before rushing home to get ready for Wendy's party.

After 10 courses I had to leave the party early because I was meeting Cynth, Viv, JY, Ali and Candice for dinner at the Sebel Pier One, followed by a performance at the ballet.

This Restaurant is really lovely, it's not as bright or as busy as the picture above but you can comfortably talk to each other which is what we really liked about this place. The outside tables have heaters hanging above so it's nice and warm to sit outside right near the water.

The service is a little slow but the food is worth waiting for, we only had time for mains but I think everyone gave their dish a big thumbs up! We had 2 entertainment cards so we got 2 main meals for free - bargain!

Complimentary starter - smoked trout with bearnaise sauce, dill & capers Moroccon spiced lamb loin, falafel, chickpea & orange salad $33


JY had the pork strips on the specials menu
Fillet of grain fed beef, potato rosti, bearnaise sauce $34


The Fish of the day with a salsa sauce
Veal escallop, morel mushroom macaroni, wild rocket $32

The Sebel Pier One Sydney Hotel

11 Hickson Road
Walsh Bay NSW
PH: 02 8298 9999

After dinner we went to watch Bodytorque Generations at the Sydney Theatre performed by the Australian ballet. I wasn't sure if I would like contemporary ballet but it was an interesting experience. The show was broken up into five 20 min acts - I definitely liked some acts much more than others. While I didn't always understand what was going on, I could really appreciate how fit and toned these performers were and the amount of training they would need to get to where they are.

After the ballet I said goodbye to the girls and caught a cab from The Rocks to Circular Quay, I had meant to catch it all the way to Newtown but the cab fare to CQ alone was $10! I would have walked if it wasn't so late at night. It took over 1 hour but at 11pm I finally made it for Bernie & Jill's farewell at the Bank Hotel Newtown.

Jilly I'm so sad to see you go but so excited for you at the same time!

By this time I was soo tired!

it was one longgggg day.