Sultan's Table

From the outside, it looks like a run of the mill Kebab shop. Walking in, you will find a large courtyard filled with tables for those who want to dine outdoors, away from the heat of the rotating kebab spit. We grabbed a lovely table by the corner and proceeded to order up a feast.

Mixed dips

From memory, the plate came with hummus, babaganoush, beetroot, cacik, carrot, spinach, chilli and something else.

Fresh turkish bread

My plate/palatte

Mixed grill

Smokey tender meat grilled over hot coals. What else do I need to say?

Chicken pide

Close up!

Juicy, meaty and packed full of flavour. A simple squeeze of lemon and I was in heaven!

Mushroom pide

Thumbs up from our resident vegetarian. The pide was so huge he could only get through half of it. Meaning more for us meat eaters!

Felafel

A bit dry on its own, but load it up with the dip that it came it, and it was perfect wrapped in pita bread.

We had actually ordered a Guvec as well, which is a Turkish stew. But the dish never came and we were already full by that stage so cancelled the order. We were more than satisfied with the fresh, vibrant and tasty food on offer and will definitely be back for more! I want that Guvec damnit!

Sultan's Table
179 Enmore Rd
Enmore
Ph: (02) 9557 0229‎


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Metro 1 - Ashfield

I remember first visiting Metro 1 about 10 years ago. Back then, I used to pronounce pide as "PIED". Kinda like Tied. That is until my Turkish evil twin corrected me and ever since then I've correctly called it "Pid-eh".

I distinctly remember bringing my friends here the very first time. One of my friends was having car trouble, and decided to pull over the side of the road to check it out. For some reason, he decided to check his radiator by removing the cap. Because he had been driving for 45mins already, the heat built up in the engine cause the cap to explode upwards, ricochet off the hood of the car and fall into the engine. It was 8pm by the time we arrived to help. The only street light was behind the hood of the car, meaning we couldn't see jack. We stood in the freezing cold for over an hour, waiting for NRMA to show up with a torch to help us locate the cap.

By the time we put the car back together, it was past 9pm. All our dinner plans went out the door. I mentioned that there was a pizza type shop near my place that should still be open. We arrive and most of my friends just let their jaws hang. They were expecting a cosy little italian restaurant. But what they saw was a cold, tiled Kebab shop with minimal seats and decorations. They were all too hungry to yell/argue with me, so we moved the tables around until it can fit our group.

With the help of the owner, we ordered a selection of Pides, all made to order. Ever since that night, I've been absolutely hooked to their pide. Maybe its the first real Pide I've ever tried, but I reckon its one of the best in Sydney.

Fast forward to today, I am still going to Metro 1 so I can get a pide fix. I've also discovered that they do a pretty mean pizza! Its not the thin Italian wood fired variety, but it doesn't mean its any less satisfying.

Chicken and Mushroom Pide

My usual order is a Chicken Pide with mushroom. Its not on the menu, but the owners are more than happy to accommodate my request. The thin, crispy yet chewy pide crust is stuffed with thick chunky chicken kebab meat. It is also scattered with diced onions, tomatos and mushrooms. A light squeeze of lemon is all it needs to put a huge grin on my face.




I've tried most of the pide on their menu. Most of the time I keep going back to my Chicken and Mushroom Pide. But every now and then, I'll venture for something a bit different.

Sucuk Pide

Sucuk or sujuck is a spicy cured turkish sausage. When I was in Turkey, they would serve sucuk sliced up for breakfast or even just between bread for a quick snack. I haven't really had to cooked in a pide before, and I must admit, I love it hot and crispy. Its not something I'll order all the time, not because its not good, but more because I love the chicken and mushroom version too much! haha

Metro 1 also does an awesome pizza. They use the same dough for their pizza and their pide, which amazes me every time because the texture comes out so differently!

Supreme pizza

Their pizzas are thicker and chewier than the Italian wood fired version, but when you're getting a supreme pizza, you need a thicker base to support all the toppings! And Metro 1 are quite generous with their toppings!

Garlic pizza/bread

I've also recently discovered their mini garlic pizza bread thing and its AWESOME. Crispy yet chewy base, topped with mass amounts of garlic, cheese and parsley. Definitely not something to eat on a date, but you wouldn't really go to Metro 1 for a date anyway! So its not really a problem! hehe I wouldn't eat more than 1/2 of a garlic pizza in one go, as it does get very rich after 2 slices. A must order for any garlic lover! Oh, they also do delivery! Booyah!

Metro 1
309 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield NSW 2131
Ph: 02 9797 1034


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Efendy - We Love Sydney

With life being so hectic, I haven't had a chance to catch up with Moishii for awhile. When I spotted that Efendy was part of the We Love Sydney promotion, I just had to book us in for dinner and a catch up! The first time we went to Efendy, we absolutely loved the food, but way over ordered! I was full to the stage that I was almost sick! hehe This time, we were smarter with our ordering!

Me hitting the wine ASAP!!!!

We ordered the Meze for 2 and a main each. We opted to not have any salad, bread or dessert! The entree and main alone will fill you to the brim! The Meze menu is updated daily which is great to know, cos I really wanted to try something different from last time!

Duck Gozleme

This kinda reminds me of Peking Duck rolls. An ode to the Asian side of Turkey? I had no complaints about this, except I wanted more! lol

King Prawns wrapped with noodles and deep fried on a capsicum/tomato sauce

I think this was my favourite meze. The prawn absolutely burst open when you bite into it! And the lovely crunchy noodles, smothered in the sauce just made it heavenly!

Champagne marinated fetta with peppercorn and dill

The cheese was lovely and creamy, not salty at all! If only I can find something as good at our local shops...

Fried mussels with walnut sauce

In Turkey, all along the water side are little stands of people selling these mussels. They basically look like mussels in the half shell with a crumb like topping, eaten with a squeeze of lemon juice. People will walk up, buy 1 or 2 mussels, eat it on the spot and then leave. Now I've never tried this in the 3 times I've been to Turkey. Mainly because the stands are out in the open, under the blazing sun! I wasn't exactly keen on making friends with salmonella...maybe when I go in winter.....

These mussels does not look anything like that they sell in Turkey. However, if what they sell in Turkey tasted as good, I'm sure I'll be making a beeline to those stands the next time I'm there!

Eggplant, potato and tomatoes topped with yoghurt

Lovely cold side dish. I really wanted to order some bread to mop up the sauce at this point!

Slow braised shoulder of lamb with burnt yoghurt

This almost tastes like a moussaka with the lovely tender lamb and the thick burnt yoghurt. The sauce was really lovely in this dish, I just wished they had served it differently so I could add the orzo pasta to it to soak everything up.

Orzo and a spicy tomato salad

We ended the meal with a few pots of mint tea to help with our digestion.There was no way we could fit any dessert in. We couldn't even finish the main as much as we both loved it! All of this cost us around $90 after the We Love Sydney discount! An absolute bargain when you consider the lovely food, the generous serves of wine and a great friend to chat to! (It also gave us a chance to start planning our next trip!)

Efendy
http://www.efendy.com.au
79 Elliott Street (Corner of Darling Street)
Balmain NSW 2041
Ph: 02 9810 5466

Bento madness!

With all the family here during December and all the xmas preparations I had to do, there was basically no time to do any fancy bentos. Most of these are from late November to early December.


Left: Nam Yu (Fermented red beancurd) stewed potatoes, boiled rice topped with nuts and lentils marinated in chilli oil
Top right: King Prawn and scrambled egg stir fry
Bottom right: Carrot and cucumber salad


Impromptu Bibimbap - bugulgi beef, sauteed carrot, beansprouts, shitake mushrooms and lettuce (I didn't have any spinach)
Fresh mango

Left: Cold Somen (To be served with zaru soba sauce), bunny egg and ham rolls
Top right: Greek Salad
Bottom right: Beans, asaparagus, carrots, semi sundried tomato and ham rolls

Left: Leftover Valencia Paella from Encasa
Top right: Oranges and cherries
Bottom right: Cherry tomatoes, cucumber and sliced goats cheese. I dressed this with a little raspberry balsamic vinegar


Top left: Lamb Kofte
Bottom left: Raw baby corn, cucumber and cherry tomato salad
Right: Cha Soba, mandu, snowpeas and boiled cocktail potatoes

Top left: Cucumber, snow peas and cherry tomato salad
Bottom left: Pan fried chicken and wedges with bbq seasoning
Right: Chilli fried rice with baby corn, beans, peas and tofu fish


Top: Fake crab and omlette roll, home grown beans and cucumbers, snowpeas, cherry tomatoes and boiled cocktail potato
Bottom: Tomato fried rice with diced vegetables and grilled Toulouse sausages

Top left: Teriyaki chicken and mandu
Bottom left: Blanched home grown Choy Sum
Right: Sliced cheong fun (Rice noodle roll). I bought along a container of udon soup to eat this in. I love sliced cheong fun in soup to replace normal noodles


Left: Cut veggie box of home grown beans and cucumbers, carrots, beetroots and cherry tomato and bocconcini skewers
Right: Turkish style bulghur and paprika chicken

Left: Salami and lettuce roll (I figured it was the easiest way to pack lots of lettuce into my meal without making a salad). Cherry tomatoes and cucumber
Right: Turkish Bulghur and beef rissoles

Left: Not the most pretty looking, but definitely tasted fantastic. Lamb kofte on rice with pan fried garlic mushrooms and eggplants
Right: Garlic eggplants, cherry tomatoes, home grown cucumbers on a bed of home grown lettuce. (Definiately making the most of our garden!)

Despite my bento efforts dwindling to nothing, but I can tell you, its about to make a MAJOR comeback! A few months ago, I sent my sister in Singapore a VERY long email asking her to go to Daiso and help me stock up on everything that can possibly be used for bentos. And this is what she brought over:


MUhaUAhaUAha Bento heaven! The only thing was that she didn't buy me a bento box! Well, she bought me a tinyyyyyy little bento box which is barely enough for a snack (Considering I'm not good at packing the box tightly). But besies that, I've got every kind of sauce containers and bottles, countless types of rice moulds (star, heart, triangle, round etc), dividers and even a new thermal hankerchief like thing for the bento box.

I also cleared out all my food supplies in December to make room for my sister's cravings, so I'll be building all of that up again over the next few weeks. So hopefully there will be a few new variations to my bento repertoire.

A new bento box!

So when S asked me what I wanted from Japan, I immediately yelled "BENTO BOX!!!". I gave the rough specs of what I wanted. "Decent" lunchbox size, microwaveable, 2 layers / compartments if possible and must be "Japanesey" in looks.I think this was perfect! I love sakuras and bunnies!

My new bento box from Japan

I knew to christen the bento box, I needed something special, this was the best I could do the day I got back from our country trip:

Top: Leftover chicken and mushroom pide, sujuk pide (Turkish sausage), grape tomatoes and a "car" boiled egg.
Bottom: Cucumber, asaparagus and ham rolls, carrots, beans, semi sundried tomatoes and olives.

The only thing with this box is that its not that water tight. The top layer comes with a pretty water tight fitting lid, but if I put that lid on, I can't fit in alot of my salads. I've basically been wrapping both layers with glad wrap and I'm limiting this box to mainly liquid free stuff.

My parents were also away on holidays a while back, so I decided to pack a little breakfast to eat on the train to work. (I am so glad they're back now!) I bought this little box about 3 months ago, but never had a chance to use it as it was too small for lunch. However, its a great size for a light snack.



Left: Strawberries and grape tomatoes
Right: Leftover chicken and mushroom pide and sujuck pide



Left: Lady bug tomato fried rice on a bed of home grown organic lettuce. I also pan fried the left over bits of lamb in lots of cumin.
Right: Salad with tolouse sausage, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, beans, asaparagus, semi sundried tomatos and olives.

I like to use really strong flavoured stuff like the olives and semi sundried tomatoes to avoid using a dressing for my salad.

Breakfast box - Same as above, just smaller

Turkish box

Left: Bulgur cooked with tomatoes and lamb kofte
Right: Fresh sliced beetroot, cucumber, carrots and beans. I bought along a small container of hummus. The beetroot was really nice raw, however, one of the bigger beetroots was really bitter. Next time I'm going to use the baby beets only.

Breakfast box

I did a quick stir fry of egg noodles with ham, wongabok, bok choy, carrots and bean sprouts with a dash of oyster sauce. So very very nice. Almost as good as my mums!

Uighur Cuisine

Despite eating our way through the Good Food and Wine show, we didn't actually have a proper meal. I had congee for breakfast whilst my friend had nadda. After the show, we decided to find somewhere close to eat and rest. Remember that Uighur Cuisine was literally around the corner, we quickly ducked in and found one of the last free tables (and it was only 5:30pm!).

Uighur people are mainly a tribe of Turkic people living in Central Asia. They speak their own language with their own flag that is almost identical to the Turkish flag, except it is blue.


The menu was quite confusing since I've never had Uighur cuisine before, but looking at the pictures and what was ordered on other tables helped us decide on what to order.

Pork and vegetable dumplings

These dumplings were lightly pan fried so they were crispy on the bottom but still soft and chewy on the top. The filling was quite light and tasted of coriander and celery. Doused with black vinegar, these went down a treat.

Uighur handmade noodles with lamb and vegetables

The noodles were lovely and chewy, although my friend reckoned they were TOO chewy. My main gripe with this dish is that when I order a LAMB and vegetable noodle, I expect to see LAMB, VEGETABLES and NOODLES. In this entire dish, we found ONE piece of lamb, and about 3 bits of what we think was lamb that fell off the main piece. I also didn't really fancy the vegetables as I found them to be a bit too overcooked/over pickled. Probably not a dish I would order again.

Spicy lamb skewers

These would be the highlight of the meal. 5 skewers of chunky lamb, spiced with chilli and cumin. Fresh from the grill, they were deliciously tender. However, once they cooled down, they became a bit tough and chewy. I would recommend that you eat these ASAP once they arrive.

The food overall wasn't too bad. I've never had Uighur food before, so I can't really compare it with anything else. The dumplings and noodles closely resemble Chinese cuisine, whilst the lamb skewers remind me of the lovely shish kebabs you get in Turkey. A very interesting cuisine that I wouldn't mind trying again.

Uighur Cuisine
Shop 1, 8 Dixon St
(Corner of Liverpool & Dixon St)
Sydney, 2000

Ph: 9267 8555

Efendy in Balmain - Modern Turkish

When I first heard about Efendy and their Modern Turkish cuisine, I knew I just had to go try it. And who else but my partner in crime? It took me and Moishii ages to find a day that suits both of us since we're so busy all the time. But the day finally came around, and all he had to do was drive through a thunderstorm to pick me up! We arrive at Efendy's and find a car parking spot right outside the main entrance:


We're seated, literally in the corner of the restaurant. I'm actually tucked into a corner where I can barely get out without knocking the table over. The good thing though, was that it was quite warm in my corner.


We had a quick look at the menu before we went, but we still didn't know what to order. You see, we almost wanted to cancel dinner because we wanted to save money. We all know what happens when we save money right? So our plans of a main each kind of went out the window when we saw the mezze platter. So it became 2 mains and mezze. Then we got a bit carried away and ordered other stuff as well....

Fresh baked turkish bread rolls with pepper olive oil and olive and chilli dip

Mezze for 2

Cerkez Tavuk - Circassian chicken dip, garlic, walnut aioli and paprika oil

This was unbelievably good. I actually found a recipe for it a few months ago and emailed it to Moishii, who said he's never heard of it before. But what was served definitely didn't disappoint. The dip was creamy and aromatic and I treated it more like a salad than a dip by shoveling it down my throat.

Mercimek Kofte - Lentil, bulghur and spice kofte on cos lettuce

For some reason, we thought this would have raw meat in it. Just shows how much we actually bother reading. This was lovely with a squeeze of lemon served with the cold crunchy lettuce.

Patlican salata - Smoked baby eggplant, grilled capsicum and pomegranate salad

This was twist on the traditional babaganoush. The dip was much chunkier than you're used to, and the ruby red pomegranate seeds bursting in your mouth was the perfect contrast you needed.

Borek - Spicy lamb, feta and capsicum filled pastry

This is nothing like the borek we have in Turkey, but it was delicious! It was closer to a Lebanese ladies finger, but hey, I wasn't complaining.

Gozleme - Feta cheese with parsley rolled in thin yufka pastry

This was nice, but it can't compare to the ones you get at the Glebe markets.

Ahtaphot - Grilled baby octopus marinated with grape pekmez, chilli and oregano

Tender smokey grilled baby octopus. MMMmmm the left over sauce was perfect to mop up with the hot crusty Turkish bread.

Our intention of "saving" money on this dinner, somehow involved us ordering a salad to go with it?

Efendy salad - Rocket, brown Turkish fig, feta and walnuts

I really loved this salad. The pepperiness of the rocket, the creamy feta and the crunch of the Turkish fig and walnut made the perfect salad. This is something I'm going to make again in my own time.

By this stage, we were getting quite stuffed. But when I saw my main put down infront of me. Oh gosh...

Ordek - Confit of Duck leg, Anatolian cheese baklava, poached quince and zeytinyagli fasulye

The duck was alot firmer than I would've liked a confit to be, but the cheese baklava more than made up for that criticism. If only they served more of it!

Kuzu Incik - LAMB SHANK slow cooked in pomegranate and saffron, chickpea and barley pilaf

This was Moishii's, and although it was a bit spicy for him, I think he enjoyed it.

You think we'd be full by this stage, but the stupid switch got flicked on in our brain so we both ordered dessert. Not to share, but one each as we assumed it'll be the same size as the mezze.

Chocolate Baklava - Dark chocolate mousse, baklava wafers, Pedro Ximenez spiced sour cherry compote, salep ice cream

This was more like a chocolate brownie between baklava sheets. It was so rich and decadent, that you really needed the sour cheery to cut through it. The ice cream was also fantastic, it tasted like orange blossom ice cream which I devoured. We really should've shared this, as we barely got through half a plate each. Moishii was tempted to hide the food in my handbag, Mr Bean style.

Turkish tea and turkish delight to end it all

I was so full at this stage that I couldn't even sip water. I could be in the desert, dehydrated and ready to die, and I still wouldn't be able to sip water to save my life. Our "lets save some money and not go nuts with food" plan when down the drain with a $180 bill. But it was so SO worth it.

Efendy
http://www.efendy.com.au
79 Elliott Street (Corner of Darling Street)
Balmain NSW 2041
Ph: 02 9810 5466