Dos Senoritas, Crows Nest

While new Mexican restaurants are opening left, right and centre, Dos Senoritas has been around for years serving up authentic Mexican food to Gladesville locals. I'd heard great things about it and had been planning on going, but then I saw that they had recently opened up a restaurant in Crows Nest and I really had no excuse not to go.

Complimentary corn chips and salsa

A bunch of us descended on the restaurant a few weeks after they first opened to try the food. We were greeted with a complimentary basket of corn chips and spicy tomato salsa which they liberally replenished as the night went on. They are seriously addictive, but try not to eat too many because you'll regret it once the rest of the food comes out...

Choice of three tacos with rice and beans - $25

@! Restaurant, Crows Nest

There are a lot of great Japanese restaurants in Crows Nest, so a newcomer to the hood definitely has to bring the very best. @! Restaurant ("At Restaurant") is the latest Japanese restaurant with Atsushi Saito at the helm. Formerly of sushi e and Sushi Choo, sushi chef Atsushi Saito has broken away from the Merivale group and is part of the team at @! Restaurant which opened in early May this year. It looks like Astro Boy has followed him from Sushi Choo as well, who sits and watches over us from a shelf.

Astro boy is watching over us

The restaurant is packed on a Sunday night and we manage to snag the last remaining table. The menu is a double sided A4 sheet split into entrees, salads, soups, mains as well as various sushi and sashimi options. The dishes are a mix of traditional and modern Japanese, with a focus on various types of sushi. The blackboard on the wall also has some specials for the night.

Cheese gyoza - $8

My eyes are immediately drawn to the cheese gyoza which are a great start to the meal. The dumpling skin is blistered and crispy and holds delicious melty cheese innards with garlic chives.

Kingfish jalapeno - $10

Bay Tinh, Crows Nest

I've been spoilt when it comes to Vietnamese food, since I'm lucky enough to have Vietnamese friends who have taken me to restaurants around Cabramatta and Canley Vale, brought me along to all you can eat picnics run by the Vietnamese community, and invited me to their houses where I've had the pleasure of eating food made by their parents.

Ca phe sua da - $4.50 and Lemon soda - $4.50

So I rarely go out and seek Vietnamese food around my area (with the exception of a steaming hot bowl of Pho every once in a while) and I was surprised to find Bay Tinh - a restaurant which I must have walked past a thousand times on my way to a ramen fix at Ryo's. We start with some drinks - a ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced white coffee) for me and a lemon soda with sugar for Sir D.

Heo nuong (Grilled pork skewer) - $12.80 for 4 pcs

The menu is extensive, with several pages of entrees and mains alone. We want to try lots of different dishes but since there are only two of us, we stick to the well-known favourites as well as some of Bay Tinh's signature dishes. The grilled pork skewer doesn't arrive as a skewer as I would have thought, but is already pre-cut into pieces and arranged onto lettuce cups with rice noodles, pickles and fresh mint. The pork is fragrant with lemongrass and is wrapped up in the lettuce leaf, dipped into a nuoc cham dipping sauce and eaten along with the other accompaniments.

Goi cuon (Fresh prawn rolls) - $6.90 for two

Himalayan Char Grill, Crows Nest

Pappadums - $3

I've never tried Himalayan food before. In fact, I didn't even know which countries the Himalayas lay across until I checked it out on everyone's favourite encyclopaedia - Wikipedia - and found out that the Himalayas actually goes through Bhutan, China, Nepal, India, Burma, Pakistan and Afghanistan. While Himalayan Char Grill serves Nepalese cuisine, I notice some influences from all over these Asian regions, particularly in these pappadums which I normally associate with Indian cuisine. These masala pappadums, received with compliments of the chef, are slightly spicy but not oily at all, and are served with a spiced yoghurt.

Interior

It takes us a little while to find the restaurant which is tucked away in a building that houses quite a few little restaurants. Even though Sir D and I venture out to Crows Nest quite frequently and have walked past the building several times, we've never actually been inside. Himalayan Char Grill is a small restaurant with vivid green walls decorated with Nepalese artefacts and pictures of the Himalayas. It's a quite Wednesday night but the place is quite popular, especially with the locals who are frequently popping in for some takeaway or chatting to the staff like old friends.

Momo - $11.90

Ju-Rin, Crows Nest

Spinach with sweet sesame sauce - $6.80

For me, Japanese food is all about finding deliciousness in simplicity. It never fails to impress me when a dish like this simple spinach and sesame sauce is packed with flavours and textures which turn it into something spectacular. It doesn't look like much but the nutty flavour of the sesame permeates through the dish making it moreish and the perfect appetiser.

Sashimi (entree size) - $18.50

Ju-Rin is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Crows Nest and while the prices aren't particularly cheap, it's always a treat to go there for a meal. The sashimi is super fresh as always and beautifully presented with thin slices of cucumber and shredded daikon. I especially love the scallop sashimi which is plump and sweet.

Scampi sushi and scampi miso soup - $6.90

Scampi sushi with scampi miso soup is a personal favourite of mine. I can't get enough of the sweet scampi flesh with the slightest dab of wasabi underneath. And even the head is used to infuse flavour into a bowl of miso soup and is served alongside the scampi sushi.

Ju-Rin special lunch box (tempura, sashimi, and teriyaki chicken - $19.80

Hana Ju-Rin, Crows Nest

Keeping with the theme of exploring our new 'hood, we decided to check out Hana-JuRin, the sister restaurant of Ju-Rin just down the road. The first thing we notice as we walk in is the chef standing behind a teppan on the side of the restaurant, preparing some okonomiyaki. While it's a small restaurant, there is still room for a small sushi bar at the back and diners can choose to sit in front of the teppan, at the sushi bar or on regular tables around the restaurant.

Chef doing his thing at the teppan

The menu is split up into sections like sushi and sashimi, salad, grill, steamed dishes, tempura and rice and noodles as well as having some set menus. We decide to go a la carte tonight, with some items from the teppan grill section which we can see being cooked right in front of us.

Assorted grilled mushrooms - $14.50

The Burlington Bar and Dining, Crows Nest

Oh internet how I have missed you! It's been a bit quiet over here since I just moved and didn't have internet access for two weeks. But everything is up and running again so it's back to blogging and twitter and facebook and all my other dear procrastination tools.

Since I've moved to a new 'hood I thought I would post about one of the local restaurants which I visited with the family. From the outside, the Burlington looks like a small, cosy restaurant but we're led past the front room, through a narrow corridor past the kitchen to a spacious dining area at the back. While we check out the menu we're presented with olives and fresh bread baked in a terracotta flowerpot. They're warm, tasty and oh-so-cute and we can't help but demolish all the bread at the risk of ruining our appetites.

Chorizo and Manchego croquettes, smoked paprika aioli - $3.50 each

We order some croquettes to start and these are filled with fluffy mashed potato, bits of chorizo and melty Manchego cheese. They're very moreish and a great way to whet the appetite for the dishes to come.

Seafood 'Paella', Crystal Bay prawns, squid, mussel and sofrito - $17

Montagu, Crows Nest

There's a few rules of thumb I use when venturing into unknown restaurant territory. One of these rules is: if there are lots of people dining there, it must be good. I have no idea whether there is any truth to this at all but this rule brought me to Montagu in Crows Nest.

Sir D and I have been apartment hunting around the area for ages now and while we have had absolutely no luck in finding a place to rent and are getting well and truly sick of going to inspections, I do like that there's always lunch to look forward to afterwards :) One afternoon we stumbled across Montagu (right next to Mumu Grill) and saw lots of people sitting on little table and chairs outside eating delicious looking sandwiches so using my rule of thumb, we decided to try this place out.

Hot chocolate - $3.80

Being a cafe that primarily serves sandwiches, I think that the name Montagu comes from John Montagu, who is credited with inventing the concept of a sandwich. Inside the cafe are black walls with chalk drawings and a display behind the counter of all the different breads from Brasserie Bread used in their sandwiches. They also have a nice selection of breakfast items, drinks and salads.

Meatballs with spicy tomato sauce and cheddar on toasted schiacciata - $12

ATFT Photography Workshop @ MUMU Grill, Crows Nest

It's been almost a year now since I've started using a DSLR for my photography and although it's been a steep learning curve, I still have a long long way to go to get my photos looking as good as I'd like. I can only dream that one day my photography will be as awesome as Billy's from A Table for Two but in the mean time there is much to learn. And who better to learn from than Billy himself at his ATFT food photography workshops held at MUMU Grill.

Olive selection and Cherry tomato and feta salad

18 month Jamon Serrano and Catalan bread

Ryo's Noodles, Crows Nest

It's barely 6pm on a weeknight and already there is a substantial line snaking around the side of Ryo's Noodles in Crows Nest. Passers-by on the footpath and on the road slow down to see what all the fuss is about. And what is the big fuss about Ryo's? Only what is rumoured to be the best ramen in Sydney.

Menu

We join the queue which is already longer than the shopfront itself but within 15-20 minutes we are seated. I've brought Sir D here to try and convert him to ramen (if Ryo's can't do it, then who can?) so we both order two bowls of ramen with the tonkotsu soup base.

Soy sauce tonkotsu ramen with roast pork, nori, egg and shallots - $11.50

Sakana-Ya, Crows Nest

Feeling like going out for dinner somewhere close by, Sir D and I headed out to Crows Nest to eat at Sakana-Ya on a Thursday night. The restaurant was surprisingly quiet which also meant that the waitstaff were particularly attentive. We sat down and were given a regular menu as well as a sheet of chef's recommendations and the types of fish available for the day.

The menu was so extensive that we took forever to decide what to eat and spent a great deal of time staring at all the types of fish. There were so many things I wanted to try but there were only two of us so we settled on a few dishes that caught our eyes.

Tuna tartare with raw egg - $14.00

Bravo Trattoria and Gelato Bar, Crows Nest

I'm no expert on gelato but I have yet to find better gelato on the North Shore than the gelato at Bravo Trattoria. This, I think, can be confirmed by the queues at the gelato bar on Friday and Saturday nights, even in the midst of winter!


There's quite a large range of flavours available, with the friendly favourites such as hazelnut, chocolate, and mango being consistently good whilst some of the more unusual flavours like yoghurt and taro changing quite frequently.

MUMU Grill, Crows Nest

I am one of those unlucky people who have never won a competition based purely on chance. You know the ones that I'm talking about: raffles, lucky draws, and those ubiquitous "Describe in 25 words or less..." competitions. So boy was I glad to read on Not Quite Nigella that I could get a free lunch at MUMU Grill (up to $35) simply by signing up to their newsletter.



Sir D and I are (very) late risers, and consequently we usually don't end up eating lunch until about 2pm. Today we arrive at MUMU Grill at about 2.45pm, and although it says that their kitchen closes between 3pm and 5pm, the staff are welcoming and they let us know that we don't need to hurry. Excellent.

Fresh baked wood fired bread with dips - $6.50

Being food-obsessed, I have of course looked at the menu beforehand and chosen the MUMU Chicken Club from the Express Lunch menu, and Sir D decides on some tapas. We also get some wood fired bread to start (since we are quite hungry) which comes with dips. The fresh-out-of-the-oven bread is soft and dense and is accompanied today by a tomato relish and a white bean and parmesan dip - both of which are delicious. I particularly like the white bean and parmesan which is incredibly smooth and creamy.

Organic chicken liver and mushroom pate with mini toasts - $11.00