Sorenzo Restaurant

I LOVE Japanese food, it's on top of my list of restaurants to eat at. Whether its cheap sushi train, or an expensive degustation, i am usually left very satisfied and happy :) I love that you can have healthy options to choose from, i love that it can be simple yet elegant, and i love that it is based around seafood (something i enjoy eating!)

I first came across this blogpost from Lorraine, and noted it in my diary, as its rare to find any really nice and outstanding japanese restaurants out west (most are all in the city from what i know). The only japanese place i dine at out west is Fat Panda in Canley Heights.

Apparently this place is a hidden gem! But during our meal, i was texting everyone haha :) I really enjoyed my lunch here at Sorenzo, the service is top notch, the food is amazing, and value wise - i found it quite cheap considering how much food we got, and the quality as well.

We had the Aki Kaiseke for $79 per person.

The restaurant was about one fifth occupied while we were eating, i'd like to see how busy it gets at dinner time?

creme brulee tea

This tea was so nice! Very vanillery, i had to ask for milk and sugar to enhance the flavours abit (i also don't like to drink tea straight unless its green tea, it's so much nicer with milk & sweetened!)

fresh oyster & sashimi

When this piece of art came out, me & Bigbear were very impressed! There was smoke coming out of the thing! Everything was just so freshand delicious i remember there was the usual sashimi pieces (salmon, kingfish & tuna) as well as oysters, cuttle fish and scallops.

i am texting pictures to my friends of each course :)

salmon tataki with wafu dressing

tuna tataki with wafu dressing

i had the salmon and Ian had the tuna, both presented beautifully, and wafu dressing was delicious! a quick google search tells me that it is a vinaigrette dressing based on soy sauce, it was really refreshing and tasty.

sweet & sour seafood soup

This soup tasted like a tom yum soup, but more flavorful the lemongrass was the star of the dish, along with the seafood (fish, mussel & prawn).

prawn with wasabi aoli

The prawn was cleverly presented, and i really liked the small piece of deep fried enoki(enogi?) mushroom.

mero miso yaki

(Grilled Mero (Tooth Fish) marinated in Japanese miso. Served with miso vinaigrette)

We were getting almost full when our mains arrived! I had the fish (also called 'tooth' fish i think), which was served on a bed of mixed vegetables which were well cooked and seasoned really well, the natural flavors of the vegetables still shined through when eating - i like that it wasnt heavily seasoned or covered in some kind of sauce.

This was the first time i had eaten this type of fish, i found it very sweet tasting, and the texture was unlikeany other fish i've had before too, the waitress told us that this was the most popular item on the menu!

wagyu steak

Ian said the steak was cooked really well, one of the best steaks he's had apparently :D

assorted sushi

We were completely stuffed at this point, but managed to finish off the plate of sushi they placed in front of us. Later on i realized that we didn't get our 'miso soup' but, it was fine because we were so so full, probably wouldn't of been able to finish the soup anyway!

omakase

chefs fine selection of desserts

The waitress told us that normally dessert is just icecream, but the chef had made us a plate with assorted desserts for us, this was really generous of them and the plate was too long to even take a photo of!

pannacotta with berries and cake crumble

lime sorbet w/ nut praline

green tea mousse, mixed fruits

chocolate brownie squares

chocolate cake pieces, creme brulee

The dessert platter was really outstanding, and made our whole meal really memorable! Ian really enjoyed the lunch, and since then I've told all my friends about this place, in hope to spread the word for the restaurant, because it truly is a well hidden gem!

I'll leave you with some photo's of a mushroom patch we saw outside the restaurant, how psychedelic!!

Sorenzo Restaurant

1A Bay drive, Meadow Bank

lunch: 11am-3.30pm

dinner: 5.30pm-9.30pm

closed mondays

ph: 9807 8303

info@sorenzo.com.au

Fat Panda

So i haven't been eating out much lately because a) i'm trying to lose weight & b) i'm trying to save some money. Eating out is so stressful on the wallet sometimes, and bad for the waistline I've put on 5kg since the beginning of the year and 2 mths ago I've seriously started dieting & exercising to lose it.

So staying local means sticking to what i know, and like, which is Japanese at Fat Panda.

In the last couple of mths i've come back a handful of times and never fail to order these three items from the menu.

salmon sashimi

Takoyaki

Eel & cream cheese handrolls

From the menu i have also tried, vegetarian gyoza, agedashi tofu, deep fried soft shell crab, and various plates off the sushi train.

The sushi train is nothing special, only picked off the train from hunger while waiting for our food to come. The gyoza's are yummy crispy morsels, which at the visit i had my camera with me, they had sadly run out :(

I like coming here to get my japanese fix, when i'm too lazy to trek out to the city for dinner :D

Fat Panda

233c Canley Valey Rd

Canley Heights, 2166

(02) 9755 4888

Note: - no Efptos - only cash payments.

Sunrise, cakes, breakfast & a garden photo-shoot

Something i love to do but a) dont do it often enough & b) it's a little too early for a weekend to wake up - is to catch the sunrise at the beach - particularly Bondi Beach :O)

& After lazing in the morning sunshine, grabbing a coffee and walking along the wet sand with the water crashing over our feet - we headed to Cafe ish for breakfast ^_^ But it wasnt open until 9am (i swear i saw somewhere it had mentioned opening at 8am) so we went for a drive around & stopped by Bourke Street Bakery.

Praline Scroll

nicely presented it wasn't a favorite of mine but James said it was soft, not to sweet, and didn't stick to your teeth like other scrolls do.

Pear & almond tart

i chose this as i didnt want anything overly sweet (like the creme brulee tart that i also saw on display) & im glad i did - this tart wasn't too much sweet at all- i really liked it :)

Lemon curd tart

this we were told to eat very soon as the curd would melt? after James took a bite he said it had a first hit of fishyness taste - i found it too sour and tangy for me - so i only picked at the tart instead =P

Nonos

a big adorable cuddly dog we met while sitting outside on the tables!

It was already past 9 when we were done with our bakery treats so we headed over to Cafe Ish, where there were already a few customers seated already. It's not a huge place, but the space didn't seem too cramped either. I already knew what i wanted to try - which was the Soft shell crab omelette. & i was keen to try the okinomiyaki, so James ordered that and we shared both.

Linger Iced Tea $5.50

this homemade drink was light & refreshing with flavors of lemon peel lemon myrtle and melon balm, and apparently ginger but it wasn't too noticeable for me?

Okinomiyaki $18

w jap pumpkin, organic fetta, spinach, davidson plum sauce, wasabi mayo & sea weed flakes

this was the first restaurant cooked okinomiyaki I've ever had. I've had a friend make it once, and also tried one from Mosman markets. I found this one a bit too plain for my liking, but i do like the plum sauce mixed with mayo that was a nice combination.

Crab omelette $23

Crispy crab, avocado, shallot, garlic, chilli, soy, ginger dressing & lime

this was my favorite out of the two, so many flavors, the crab was nice and crisp, except for the pieces in the omelette, but i think i prefer my soft shell crab fried alone and eaten with dipping sauce like at some jap/thai restaurants.

I would like to come back and try the Croque Nippon toasted sandwich w red bean jam, mochi, banana and molten lindt chocolate on the side $10.50 and the Emperor Don toasted brioche, lemon myrtle ricotta, sake scented rosella and raspberries with passionfruit $14.50, the latter was recommended by our waitress but i was really craving something savory.

After breakfast we moved onto Eden gardens for some photo-shooting! (i had gone two weeks ago on a rainy day you can find those photo's here)

ENJOY !

Thanks to James my eating and shooting buddy i had a great day out :O)

Bourke Street Bakery

633 Bourke St

Surry Hills NSW 2010

(02) 9699 1011

Cafe Ish

82 Campbell St

Surry Hills New South Wales 2010

(02)9281 1688

Eden Gardens

301/307 Lane Cove Road

North Ryde 2113

(02) 9491 9900

Mochi

My aunt had come back from Japan with some goodies, one of them being Mochi. Now i haven't had mochi before.. maybe the vietnamese kind but nothing REAL from jap.

The wrapping & cover box were pretty, the box cover had a cartoon illustration, looks like an eatery house of some sort?

There were two flavours, red bean & green tea (both my fav icecream flavours as well woohoo!)

These were really fresh (they must've been, my aunt told me not to leave them for too long because they were still fresh). Really soft and a nice chewable texture, unfortunately i didn't LOVE them, not something i'd go out & purchase myself anytime soon.

Here are a few Mochi recipes i've found on the interwebs, but i don't think i have the patience to handle something so sticky!

http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2009/05/red-bean-mochi-recipe.html

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/09/02/coconut-jam-mochi-cakes/

http://citrusandcandy.com/2009/09/malaysian-favourites-loh-mai-chi-take-1.html