Qantas Business Class, QF17, SYD to LAX

After our amazing time in the Qantas First Class Lounge in Sydney, it was sadly time to return to San Francisco, aboard QF17, business class.  Just like our flight to Sydney, it was a 747, except this time, we were seated on the upper deck, so the experience was slightly different.

14K, Upper Deck, 747.

It was my first time on the upper deck, but my frequent flyer friends all swear by the upper deck.  They like having the storage bin beside the seat, which I must admit, was quite the perk and very convenient, since I like to have many things by my side throughout a flight.

I was also advised to go for the exit row, so that we’d have way more space in front of the seat, and so the person in the window seat (me) would not need to climb over the sleeping person on the aisle (Ojan).  

Indeed we had tons of space, but, it meant we didn’t have a seat in front of us to stow anything, including even just a cubby for shoes, which I missed.  Our side also had the flight attendant's jump seats during takeoff and landing, so I'd probably choose the other side next time.

The cabin had a single bathroom in the front, which wasn’t quite sufficient, even given our less than full cabin with only 12 occupants.  For the morning rush, several of us went downstairs where they had 3 bathrooms.

The pilots also sit up on this level, so it was interesting to see how often they came and went from the cockpit, getting snacks, drinks, using the bathroom, and taking breaks.  They have their own reserved little lounge space behind a curtain in the cabin too.

Everything else about the seat was the same as my previous flight, so, I’ll skip that, and you can read all about it there.

The service was much better on this flight than the previous one, with drink refills constantly being offered, and the staff just generally seeming to care more.  It was amongst the best business class service I've experienced.

I did like the feel of the upper deck cabin, and I adored the storage space, but ... the whole cabin shook whenever someone walked by.  During meal service and whatnot this was just annoying, but once I was trying to sleep, it became more of an issue.  Ojan said he never wanted to fly up there again, but I'm still on the fence.

Menu.

And now, for the reason you are reading this, given that this is Julie’s Dining Club after all: the food!  Our flight to Sydney was a late departure, near midnight, so we had the abbreviated “Supper” service, but this flight had a full dinner, since take off was at 5:30pm.

The menu is divided into small plates and main plates, but you don't need to necessarily follow that format.  I generally like to make a meal out of several small plates, rather than a small and a main.

The small plate selection was: 

• Smoked tomato soup with thyme ricotta.
• Blue cheese, walnuts, baby beans and tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette.
• Steamed duck buns with hoisin and pickled cucumbers.
• Slow roasted Blackmore's Wagyu salad with oyster mushrooms, zucchini, and nuoc cham dressing. 

For mains, we could select from: 

• Short soup with chicken and chive wontons, ginger, shallots and sesame oil.
• Roasted eggplant and silverbeet lasagne with cucumber, tomato and feta salad.
• Prawn and lemon mayonnaise roll.
• Pan fried black cobia with roasted red capsicum, artichokes, kipfler potatoes and olive tapenade.
• Murraylands lamb rack with roast tomato, white beans, sugar snaps, anchovy and rosemary vinaigrette.
• Spice Temple inspired salad of tingling prawns, tofu and Sichuan pepper. (this was an online exclusive)

And finally, desserts:

• Coconut and lime curd Madeline cake with fresh pineapple salad.
• Maggie Beer ice cream.
• Selection of cheese served with accompaniments.
• Seasonal Fruit.

Shortly after takeoff, our orders were taken, but Ojan and I had already pre-ordered online through QEats.  My order went through, but there was confusion with his, as they didn’t know that he wanted a small plate as a starter, or which main he had actually ordered.  Since we had feasted in the lounge, we mostly opted for small plates, and planned to just share everything.

Drinks and Snacks

Meal service began with the drink cart coming down the aisle, offering up wines (a selection of two each of white and red), soft drinks, and juices.

It was notable how different the meal service was on this flight, as downstairs at supper time, we didn’t have a beverage cart.  I’m not sure if this is an upstairs vs downstairs thing, or a supper vs dinner.

Shriaz, Snacks.

For wine, I went for one of the reds, an Australian Shiraz (the other red was a Cabernet).  It had a bit of bite to it, was highly acidic, and I didn’t really like it much.  The pour was generous.

We were also given bags of walnuts and pretzels.  This was a bit shocking.  Even US domestic flights give you warm, mixed nuts in little bowls in business.  Packaged snacks?  Unexpected.  I hoped it wasn’t going to set the tone for what was to come, and, luckily, it didn't.

Dinner 

Starter: Salad.

Dinner began with an offering of basic salad greens with either balsamic vinegar or palm sugar dressing, along with a choice of sliced bread, sourdough or wholemeal.  I skipped the salad, since we were getting two others salads as small plates, but Ojan had the salad.  It was just greens.  We both skipped the bread, because, when have you ever had a good piece of bread on a plane?

I also moved on to the other red wine, a Cabernet, since I really didn’t like the Shiraz, and it was better, but still not remarkable.

Small Plate: Blue cheese, walnuts, baby beans and tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette. 

“A flavoursome salad of green beans, tomato, walnuts, pickled onion and blue cheese. This blue cheese is made from sheep's milk and has a creamy texture. This salad is combined with crisp salad leaves and dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.”

The first small place we selected sounded quite good, even though it was just a salad, with tasty additions like blue cheese, walnuts, and pickled onions.

There wasn’t much in the way of greens, so Ojan was glad he opted to get the starter salad as well.  The ingredients were all quite basic: green beans, cherry tomatoes, and the greens were all fresh enough, but not particularly great.  The walnuts were just walnuts.  The blue cheese wasn’t very good.  I did love the pickled pearl onions though, and Ojan didn’t get a chance to eat those, because I stole both.

Small Plate: Slow roasted Blackmore's Wagyu salad with oyster mushrooms, zucchini, and nuoc cham dressing. 

“Tender slices of cold roast Wagyu beef are served with oyster mushrooms, roast zucchini and finished with a flavourful nuoc cham dressing of lemongrass, coriander, tamarind, fish sauce and lime juice. The Wagyu beef used for this dish is produced by David Blackmore, an Australian farmer renowned for supplying highest grade of Wagyu to top restaurants around the country. This salad is accompanied by crispy rice cakes”

We also picked the other salad, featuring Wagyu (really, Wagyu on a plane?!) and oyster mushrooms, since I adore oyster mushrooms.  I also was very curious about the “crispy rice cakes”.

This sounded great, but I liked it less than the previous.  The “crispy rice cakes” that I was so looking forward to were crazy soggy.  I like oyster mushrooms quite a bit, but cold, and without any seasoning or dressing, they just weren’t very good.  The Wagyu was thin sliced and just tasted a bit strange, I think it was a cut that I just don’t enjoy.

I think if this actually had some dressing, it would have been better.  It was supposed to have nuoc cham dressing, but I didn’t taste any, anywhere, and I looked.  Maybe it was forgotten?  Meh, meh, meh.

Small Plate: Steamed Duck Buns with Hoisin and Pickled Cucumbers.

“These Chinese style buns are steamed to give the bread a soft, fluffy texture. Our buns have a duck filling flavoured with ginger, garlic, soy and a chilli bean paste. Duck buns are accompanied by hoisin sauce and pickled cucumber”

For my main, I opted for another small plate, since I knew I didn’t want a really heavy meal given our lounge feast, and, I was sharing everything with Ojan.

These were a strange order for me, since I don’t like duck.  But, the Sheraton Executive Lounge  served some tasty pork steamed buns, and I’d been craving more steamed buns ever since.

The steamed buns were far more successful than I expected on an airplane.  The dough was light and fluffy, a bit moist, warm.  The filling was ducky and sweet, which I wish I realized BEFORE I slathered it in the accompyming hoisin sauce.  The result was that it was way, way too sweet, particularly as the hoisin was thick and strong, but I guess this was my own fault.

While I still didn’t care for duck, and the hoisin was totally unnecessary (which is sad, because I love hoisin!), the buns themselves were nice, and the pickled cucumbers were an interesting touch on the side, served warm, but tasty enough.  I probably would’t get this again though.

Main: Prawn and Lemon Mayonnaise Roll.

“A soft brioche roll is filled with a mixture of prawn bound in a lemon mayonnaise.  This dish is complimented with a crisp salad of mixed leaves and a white balsamic vinaigrette.”

We also went for one main dish, the prawn and lemon mayonnaise roll.  This was the clear winner.

The brioche was warm and buttery.  Not super fresh, but not as bad as most bread on planes.  It was very decadent however, and didn’t really need all the additional butter.  The filling was decently cooked prawn, not flavorful on its own, but the texture was good, not too chewy, rubbery, or strange.  The lemon mayo was awesome, which you might expect to hear from me, since, well, I love mayo.

The theme of my meals this day seemed to be seafood and mayo.  We had the crispy fried calamari with aioli and the crumbed fish burger with horseradish mayo in the lounge, and now this.  Mmm, seafood and mayo.  A combination I always like.  I’d even get this again, not that it was awesome, but better than anything else we ordered.

Dessert

Unlike my previous supper flight, dinner included full dessert service, with a dessert cart that came down the aisle after everyone had finished their mains, offering up a selection of desserts, coffee, and after-dinner drinks.

Now, I was pretty sad when I saw the dessert menu.  Cheese, fruit, ice cream, or coconut and lime curd Madeline cake with fresh pineapple salad.  Nothing I really wanted, so, we had to just get them all, because, when do I ever skip dessert?

Coconut and lime curd Madeline cake with fresh pineapple salad.

I don’t care for lemon nor lime desserts in general.  I actually dislike madelines.  Sigh.  But, I wanted dessert, so, I gave it a go.

It was about as expected.  The cake was dry and flavorless, two layers.  In the middle was the lime curd, which was tangy and limey, and as I anticipated, I didn’t really like.  The top was a bit hard, which I don’t think was intended, it was likely stale, or perhaps just cold still, and that is where the coconut was. It was the best part, and I ate the whole top, mostly because I desperately wanted dessert.  The bottom layer was soggy from juice from the pineapple, which, actually did make it a bit better.

The “pineapple salad” was thinly shaved pineapple, not particularly interesting.  It was topped with a little cream, which of course I liked.

I didn’t like this much, but I ate most of it, because, dessert.  But quite honestly, this was one of the weakest desserts I’ve had on a plane.

Cheese Platter, Fruit Platter.

Ojan knew he wouldn’t like the cake, so he just went for the other options.  Sadly neither of us could order the ice cream, because it was chocolate, and we didn’t want to affect our sleep.

I didn’t try the fruit plate since it contained melon, but it also had pineapple, grapes, and jackfruit.  Credit for including at least one interesting fruit.

The cheese platter I shared, and it was decent.  Several types of crackers, all thin style, and filled with different things.  The blue cheese was better than the blue from the salad, and the triple cream was a basic version, but good enough.  Because, cream.

On the side was the most interesting components.  One was a slice of a date and walnut loaf, sweet, crunchy, but I don’t like dates, so, meh.  I have no idea what the other was, but I loved it.  It was almost like a brittle, loaded with different types of nuts, and some spicing that seemed pumpkin-spice-esque.  I quite liked it, and still have no idea what it was.

Dessert Wines.

I also opted for liquid dessert!  Along with cognac and Bailey’s, two dessert wines were offered.  When I enquired about them, my friendly flight attended just poured one of each.  Perfect.

I’m still not sure what they each were, although one was a tokaji.  They were both sweet and delicious.  The darker one was more caramely and syrupy, the lighter one more sweet.  But I enjoyed them both, more than the dessert even.  I should have just pulled an Emil and stuck with liquid dessert.

Breakfast

Just as my previous flight, breakfast cards were provided when we boarded, and collected before takeoff, so we could maximize our sleep and have our breakfast magically appear about 2 hours outside of LAX.

Pre-order Breakfast Menu.

We had the same choices for the continental cold dishes as before:

• Fruit salad with yogurt
• Brookfarm toasted muesli with milk
• Toast or croissant with berry jam, marmalade, honey, or vegemite.
• Rhubarb and brown sugar danish

Identical to our previous flight, except the pear danish was replaced by a rhubarb and brown sugar danish, which sounded slightly better.

And as before, there was a selection of 3 different hot dishes:

• Free range scrambled eggs on toasted brioche with Merguez sausage, sautéed mushrooms, capsicum and onion relish
• Gruyere and pasrami “monsieur”
• Buttermilk pancakes with spelt and almond granola, grilled peaches and honey yogurt.

The options were slightly different here, with the side for the eggs swapped out, a different savory bready option, and different toppings on the pancakes, but Qantas obviously follows the same formula for all flights.

There was also juice, coffee, and tea available.

Breakfast Platter.

Just like my previous flight, breakfast was served all in one go, my tray brought out with everything, drinks included, already laid out.  However this time, the FA came by a few minutes before to ask if I was ready for breakfast, so I could set up my area, and, gasp, he included water with the meal.  Like I said, much, much better service.

I went for the muesli and pancakes again on this flight, plus the danish, because, well, I love baked goods, and I was a bit worried I might not like the other food.  My friendly flight attendant also made me a custom fruit salad of pineapple and grapes, since he knew I was allergic to melon, which is normally included in the fruit platter.  Such a thoughtful touch, and really indicative of the service we had throughout the flight, it really was top notch.

Brookfarm Toasted Muesli with Milk.

I took my own protip from my previous flight, and ordered the muesli with the milk on the side.  Even though I didn’t love the muesli last time, that was mostly because it was a soggy mess, so I hoped putting it on the side would prevent that.

It was better this way, but still not my favorite muesli.  Loaded up with all sorts of seeds, hard dried cranberries and little tiny berries.  Hearty, satisfying enough, but not the style I normally go for.

Rhubarb and Brown Sugar Danish.

I also went for the danish, sort of as a backup option if everything else failed to please, since I don’t love rhubarb, but I do love my baked goods.  I had zero expectations for this, since baked goods on planes are normally awful.

It far exceeded expectations, and was the best part of my breakfast.  To start, it was served warm, a welcome surprise.  Warming it somehow didn’t make it soggy, the bottom and top remained crisp.  The pastry was decent, far better than any of the danishes from either the Westin or the Sheraton executive lounges.  Second, it was filled with sweetened cream cheese!  Not mentioned on the menu, but another welcome surprise.  The rhubarb was just a small amount on top, soft and tart.

Overall, this was quite enjoyable.  Had I ordered it from a local bakery or cafe I wouldn’t be raving about it, but for a plane, it was awesome.  The best bite was a bit of crunchy top, doughy center, plenty of sweetened cream cheese, and … a bite of grilled peaches from the pancakes …

Buttermilk Pancakes with Spelt and Almond Granola, Grilled Peaches and Honey Yogurt.

And finally, the pancakes.  I had fairly low expectations, except that I’ve actually had some really good breakfast bread dishes on flights.  I still can’t get over how tasty the waffles were on my BA flight, and the pancakes with mascarpone on my previous Qantas flight would have been good if served warm.

But these … these were nothing like the previous pancakes.  On the upside, they were warm.  But that is the only positive thing I have to say about them.  They were … crispy.  Rock solid.  I realized this the moment I tried to cut into them.  Not that I expected light, fluffy pancakes, but they had clearly been cooked for way, way too long.  The base flavor was plain and boring.

On top was a scattering of granola, which might have been nice to add some crunch, but given the rock-pancakes, more crunch was not needed.  There was a bit of yogurt on the side, tart and warm from being with the pancakes.  Warm yogurt?  Not at all what I wanted, although yes, granola and yogurt is far more healthy than most things I top my pancakes with, but the mascarpone from the previous flight was far more successful.  I want decadence in my pancakes!

There was also no syrup.  No syrup on my pancakes!  Butter was provided on the side, but, rock-pancakes with tart toppings and no syrup were just totally not what I was after.  If properly reheated however, I’m sure they would have been fine if you wanted a healthier option.

And finally, the grilled peaches.  These were the best part.  Not “grilled” exactly, but served warm, and caramelized on the outside.  Crazy sweet and flavorful.  While I had no syrup, I had these for sweetness.  As I mentioned, I loved taking a bite of the peach and adding it to my danish.

I also opted for a coffee, caffeinated.  I knew I’d need the caffeine.  It was fine.

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Workshop Espresso, Sydney

I realize that I don't often review coffee.  But I sometimes make exceptions, particularly when I can do double duty, reviewing both coffee AND the baked goods a cafe offers.  And in this case, Workshop Espresso just holds a special place in my heart.

As you've likely gleaned, I've spent a fair amount of time in Sydney, including a 3 month stint a few years ago.  My recent visit was only 3 weeks, and I was determined to hit up as many of my favorites from previous trips as possible.  While this mostly focused on dining, I also needed to re-visit my favorite coffee shops!

Workshop Espresso, on my previous trip to Sydney, was the first place I ever found good coffee.  I was coming from San Francisco, and was a complete coffee snob at the time.  I drank only Blue Bottle.  I had a specific single origin blend that I liked from a region in Ethiopia.  I had exactly 3 baristas I trusted to make my coffee.  Um, yes.  I was a serious snob.  When I arrived in Sydney, I really struggled with the coffee.  Until I found Workshop Espresso!  I was eager to return.

Of course, many things have changed since then, mostly because I mostly stopped drinking caffeinated coffee for health reasons.  But ... I had to give Workshop Espresso a chance at decaf!

Workshop Espresso is located right in the CBD, and is easy to find: just look for a long line stretching out onto the street outside the Galleries on George St.  Chances are, that is Workshop Espresso.  The queue always looks intimidating, but moves quickly.

The Seating Area.

There isn't much seating, just several stools along a counter that are not really used.  Most people just grab their coffee and treats for takeaway.

Busy Baristas.

The menu is written on a chalkboard.  Along with a listing of drink options and a few sandwiches, they highlight the single origins being offered that day.

The line of beverages queued up ahead of me was daunting, but these guys are pros.  I was seriously impressed with the speed at which they churned out drinks.  Another staff member handled the register, efficiently moving the line along.

Decaf Long Black. $4.50.

So, I tried a decaf long black.  Not a single origin.  Not a piccolo like I did on all my previous trips.  It was ... fine.  A bit sweet tasting, but not decaf "funky" at least.  It was not particularly notable though.

$4.50 seemed high for a simple long black.  A regular long black at Workshop Espresso is $4, the extra $0.50 was for decaf.  Most other places I visited were a full $1 cheaper.

Update 2016: I got another, forgetting to read my post first.  It was ... again, just kinda meh.  Not awful, but certainly not worth $4.50.

Baked Goods!

Sitting next to the register is a display case of pastries.  You know me and baked goods.  I managed to resist the donuts on my first visit, but the next time around ... I just couldn't do it.  They had massive, and I mean massive, sugar coated donuts right there in my face.  And slightly smaller jelly filled ones.  Baked fresh on site.  How could I resist?

I was powerless.

Regular Long Black. $4. Sugar Donut. $4.

It was also earlier in the day, so I went for a regular long black, rather than decaf.  I wanted to really give them a chance to show their stuff.  It was better than the decaf for sure, no strange sweetness, and it was quite strong.  But again, it really wasn't that special, and $4 was higher than most of their competition for a simple long black.

The donut was a serious donut.  Fried, very fried.  Greasy, oily, in all the best ways.  And totally coated in sugar.  It reminded me of the old school donuts that I grew up with.

Oh So Greasy.

Did I mention it was greasy?  Within moments the bag was soaked through in oil.

The donut was good, but given its massive girth, and high level of oil, it really should not have been consumed by one person.  I had about 70% of mine, and pretty soon regretted it.  It was good, and the sugary goodness went perfectly with my black coffee, but man, I felt this in my gut.  A bomb for sure.

I probably would have enjoyed it more as a small donut hole, or if I had someone with me to take the other half and make sure I didn't have more.  I'm glad I tried it, as I would have been tempted on every subsequent visit, but, ugh, oily bomb!

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Sailor's Thai Canteen, Sydney

On my very first trip to Sydney, years ago, someone recommended Sailor's Thai.  It was the first actual good thai food I had ever had in my life.  I fell in love with the place, and have made a point of eating there at least once every time I visit Sydney.

Sailor's Thai is located in the Rocks, not quite as deep into touristville as Circular Quay, but certainly not in the "real" thai areas of Sydney.  On this visit, we did also spend a lot more time in the Haymarket area, and checked out the more authentic Sydney institutions of Home Thai and Chat Thai too.  I still prefer Sailor's Thai.

Long Communal Table.

Sailor's Thai is actually two different facilities.  The main Sailor's Thai restaurant is a formal, fairly pricy, affair, located downstairs, where we went a few night's later.  There, booking are essential.  But we usually opt for the Canteen, the casual part, located at street level, walk-ins only.  The entire restaurant consists of one long communal metal table.  There is also a tiny, and I mean tiny, balcony that has exactly two tables, each for two people only.  Once, we got one of those tables, and it was quite a treat.

On this visit, we were a large group of 7, and were worried about being able to get space for all of us together, so we arrived on the earlier side.  We were in luck, as we were the first to be seated for the night.  Private dining!

The table was already set with plates and napkins.  Everything is served as it is ready, family-style.  I appreciate this, thai food is the best fresh out of the wok.  Forks and spoons are located in metal boxes on the table that you help yourself to.  This is indicative of the level of service to expect, fairly nonexistent, but, this is the casual restaurant.

Kitchen.

The kitchen runs along the entire length of the room, open, but with a high divider so it is hard to see into.  You can see the chefs, but don't really get a sense of what they are doing.

Service was what I'd call typical Australian ... fairly lacking.  It took FOREVER to get someone's attention enough to bring us the bill.  And even longer to pay once we had it.  The service wasn't very friendly either, nor efficient, as I watched dishes dying in the pass without being brought to tables, even though the server wasn't doing anything.  A stark contrast to Home Thai , where the servers literally never stopped moving!

That said, I still like Sailor's Thai more than anywhere else in Sydney.  Home Thai and Chat Thai are probably more authentic, and are certainly located in the real thai area rather than the Rocks but ... I just liked the food far more at Sailor's Thai.  Of course, Sailor's Thai, even the Canteen, is far more expensive, with main dishes running $25-30 (and downstairs starters are $25-30, with mains going up to $48!  This is pricy for thai for sure).

One criticism however is the lack of desserts.  You know me and desserts, they are an essential component to a good meal for me.  The only item on the dessert menu at the Canteen is coconut ice cream.  In fact, the entire menu is fairly limited: only 3 appetizers, 9 mains, and a single side.

I looked forward to trying the full restaurant, as the cuisine is far more varied, and, they actually have a dessert menu.

Crown 490. $20.

"Aperol, manzanilla, pink grapefruit and lime."

Like the rest of the menu, the cocktail list didn't have much selection, only 4 drinks, and I went for the one that seemed most likely to be refreshing with some spicier food.

The Crown 490 was a decent drink, well balanced, not too sweet as I was hoping, with a nice bitterness from the grapefruit.  Fairly refreshing.  Not remarkable, but it went well with my meal.

Unfortunately, the person making the drinks was much, much slower than the kitchen.  We received all our food before the drinks came, and, since the food was hot, we didn't wait to eat for the drinks.  A bit unfortunate, as I would have appreciated the pairing, and, actually, would have appreciated settling in a bit with drinks before the onslaught of food.  But I can't be upset at the kitchen for being fast!

$20 for a cocktail at a casual canteen seems high to me, but I haven't really found cocktails under $20 anywhere in Sydney.

Poh Pia Sod. $12.

"Fresh spring rolls of pork sausage and cucumber with a tamarind and peanut sauce."

We began with one of the three choices for a starter, the spring rolls.

They arrived within what seemed like only two minutes of ordering.  I guess, we were the only table there, but it was still ridiculously fast.

The spring rolls were topped with crab, which strangely wasn't listed in the menu description.  I saw this as a bonus, since I love crab, but if I didn't eat crab, or was allergic, it was certainly an odd, major component to omit.  The crab came in large chunks, and looked great, except it turned out to be really fishy and I didn't like it at all, and pushed it aside.  Is that just how Australian crab is?  Or was it not fresh?  I'm not sure.

The spring roll wrapper was the same style that we've seen elsewhere, but this time, it was much better than other places, and I liked it the best of all the spring rolls we had on this trip.

Inside was chunks of pork sausage, tofu, cucumber, bean sprouts, and large pieces of sharp green onion.  I appreciated how fresh and crisp the vegetables were.  I thought the filling gave the rolls a pleasant crunch as I bit in, and appreciated the slight chew from the sausage and the sharpness of the green onion, as it contrasted nicely with the slightly sweet sauce.

The peanut and tamarind sauce was also better than the other tamarind sauces we had on this visit, like the tamarind sauce I really didn't like at Chat Thai.  This was a bit sweet, but balanced, and it went well with the roll.

So, besides the fishy crab, this was nicely done, and I'd get it again, and it blew away the version from Chat Thai, that had all the same ingredients, but just really paled in comparison.  My third favorite dish of the night, but Ojan's least favorite.

Som Dtam. $24.

"Green papaya salad with peanuts, dried shrimp, spicy & sour dressing, sweet pork."

Moments later, the papaya salad appeared.  The papaya salad is considered a main dish, not a starter, for good reason.  It is massive, and comes with a large serving of pork and a scoop of rice!

It is also the reason we always go to Sailor's Thai.  Papaya salad is just papaya salad but ... this comes with candied pork!  So really, we come to Sailor's Thai for the candied pork.

The papaya salad contained the standard shredded green mango, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and tiny shrimp.  It was fresh, light, and nicely dressed.  The dressing was spicy and sour, with a bit of fishiness to it, but in a good way that added depth.

The salad was a tiny bit spicy, but not much, I would have probably liked even more spice.  Again, much better than the papaya salad we had at Chat Thai .  The salad is served on top of a huge wedge of cabbage, which Ojan always eats after the salad is gone, and of course, he did the same this time too.  I followed suit, and I must say, it is really satisfying munching on the crispy cabbage, the perfect palette cleanser.

On the side was also a scoop of rice, I'm not really sure why.  They always serve it this way, and it always seems strange to me.  But I also just don't like rice, even where appropriate.

And ... the crispy sweet pork, the reason we got the dish.  It was good, crispy and chewy, like beef jerky, and nicely sweet, but it didn't quite live up to my memory, or, as you'll soon read about, another candied pork dish we got this night.

Overall, it was the best papaya salad I had in Sydney, but only my 4th pick of the night.

$24 is a high price for a papaya salad though, even one with all these goodies.

Pad Thai. $17.

"Stir fried rice noodles, peanuts, egg, bean curd, bean sprouts and dried baby shrimp".

There is only one noodle dish on the Canteen menu: Pad Thai, available with dried baby shrimp, or vegetarian.  We got one of each.

The pad thai was ... well, pad thai.  It wasn't much different from pad thai you'd get anywhere else, noodles, crisp bean sprouts on top, lime wedge to squeeze over.  I thought it was overall too sweet.

It was my 6th pick of the night, and one other diner's least favorite.

Moo Grab Wan. $26.

"Crispy pork belly in a sticky sweet and sour sauce."

Next, pork belly.  I didn't really expect to care for this.  Now, I have had some great pork belly at Alexander's before, but in general, pork belly tends to be slimy, fatty, and underwhelming.

It turns out, Sailor's Thai just does really good candied pork dishes!

It was crunchy and crispy, yet moist, far more moist than the more jerky-like candied pork in the papaya salad.  It was chewy, but in a good way.  And the sauce ... mmm, sticky sweet candy sauce!  There wasn't much else to this dish, but, I'm not sure what I would have wanted in addition.  Just delicious pork belly is really all you need.  Veggies would have just seemed strange here.

Of all our dishes, this was hands down my favorite, and the favorite of one other diner, but interestingly, it was the least favorite of two others (including Emil, who obviously hated the sweet sauce).

Geng Keaw Warn Nue. $29.

"Green curry of slow cooked wagyu beef, served with roti."

Now, moving on to curry.  I'm never a big fan of green curry, and this was no exception.  The sauce also seemed really oily.

The beef however was really nicely cooked, tender, and pulled apart easily with a fork.  I don't generally go for stew meat, but for this style of meat, it was really quite good and the quality was evident.  The flavor of the beef itself was good.

Amusingly, this was the only dish Emil liked all evening.  The curry itself was my 5th favorite of the night, a very distant 5th to the papaya salad, spring rolls, and pork belly, and the least favorite of one other diner.

But, it came with roti.

OMG, the roti.  It looked so unassuming on the side.  It looked flat and oily.  I don't even like bread.  Yes, it was all of these things.  But it was also hot and fresh, and I loved the flavor, even though it was oily.  It was delicious on its own, but even more delicious when used to soak up all the remaining sweet sticky sauce from the pork belly dish.  OMG.

I devoured my share of the roti, and the roti no one else claimed (the fools!  They didn't even try it!).  After it was all gone, one other diner who loved it decided to attempt to order just a side of roti, because he liked it that much too.  It wasn't listed on the menu as a standalone item, but the staff hesitantly obliged this request, and soon, much more roti was had.

So while the curry was one of my least favorites, that roti totally made up for it.  It was my favorite aspect of the entire meal.  I'd go back for roti (and pork belly sauce) alone!

$29 was pricy for the portion of curry, but I guess it was quality wagyu.

Gang Panang Moo. $24.

"Panang curry of pork tenderloin with lime leaves and peanuts."

And finally, after we had received, and finished, almost all our food, the group decided to add one more item to our order.  Since no dish took more than about 6 minutes to arrive, it wasn't really a problem to order more.  Plus, my fellow roti loving friend was now able to order his side of roti too.

I was stuffed and didn't try this, choosing to finish with something I knew I liked, but everyone raved about how great it was.  In particular, the pork was thin slices of pork, not what they were expecting at all.  Ok, I did try the sauce, but it was really too rich and oily for me, particularly at this point in the meal.

My least favorite dish, but the top pick for 3 diners.

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Be Natural Bars, Australia

Last week, I wrote about my discovery of tasty breakfast bars, er, "muesli slices", from SuniBrite.  SuniBrite's parent company is Mother's Nature Ltd, the same as Be Natural Bars, so I was excited to try the Be Natural line up.  Spoiler: it turns out, these folk make really good bars, just when I was starting to think no such things existed! 

Be Natural makes two lines of product, basic Nut Bars, or Premium Macadamia Nut Bars.  The macadamia bars, particularly the honey and carob coated ones, sound interesting, but I didn't run into them anywhere in Sydney.  Instead, I only found the standard nut bars, described as "a delicious combination of Top Quality Nuts (including Almonds, Brazils, and Walnuts), they have the finest of fruits and a hint of honey - an irresistible snack with a delectable flavour."

The nut bars are available in a slew of flavors, such as "Nut Delight", with peanuts, almonds, brazil nuts, and walnuts, "Fruit & Nut", with peanuts, almonds, walnuts and a bunch of dried fruit (sultanas, apricots, dates, and apples), "Almond Apricot", with, you guessed it, almonds and dried apricots (plus coconut!), "Sunflower & Pepita", which also has sesame seeds, and "Sesame Nut Split", with peanuts, sesame seeds, and ... chocolate.  But I went for the yogurt coated bars, available only in almond apricot or fruit & nut.

I only got to try one variety, but I can't wait to try more on my next visit to Australia.

Almond Apricot Yoghurt Coated.

"Be Natural Almond Apricot Yoghurt Coated bar combines together almonds, apricots and coconut, covered in a smooth yoghurt flavoured coating."

This was shockingly good.  Not a granola bar, as it has no oats in it, rather, the base is mainly almonds and dried apricots, joined by peanuts, coconut, and puffed rice.  It was slightly soft, and absolutely loaded up with coconut, nuts, and apricot bits.  No other fillers.

It was pleasantly sweet from both the natural sweetness in the apricot and the coating.  The nuts added a great crunch.  The coating, nutritionally questionable "yoghurt flavoured coating" made primarily from sugar and palm kernal oil, was actually pretty pleasant, and the bar was well coated.

I enjoyed this more than any other bar in recent memory.  I'd love to try more of their products.

Update: A few months later, I visited Australia again, I had another bar.  This time ... I didn't like it at all.  I thought the bits of apricot had a nice chew, but tasted like raisins, and the entire thing seemed like a boring granola bar to me.  I'm so fickle ...

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Home Thai, Sydney

When I was recently in Sydney, I ate a lot of thai food.  I love thai cuisine, but, San Francisco has never really impressed me in this area.  But Sydney?  Now, that is another story.  While Sydney surely isn't the place to go fine dining, proximity to Thailand serves it well, and there are many choices of thai restaurants.  We were determined to try as many as possible.

When you ask Sydneysiders to recommend thai restaurants, two names come up over and over: Home Thai, and Chat Thai, which I reviewed a few days ago.  The two restaurants are shockingly similar, although completely unrelated.  They are located only a few blocks apart.  They are both crazy popular, and always have lines out front.  The servers at both take orders on ipods/ipads.  The menus are fairly similar, although Home Thai has a more extensive savory menu, Chat Thai a more extensive sweet menu.

The food was fine, but I definitely do not recommend the dumplings (which, makes sense, as this is a Thai restaurant).  Prices are good, service is fast, but I don't really see a reason to return here, when there are so many other great thai choices in Sydney (stay tuned!).

Queues outside.

Just like Chat Thai, Home Thai is known for the lines.  Even arriving on the earlier side at 6pm we had to wait.  The system is very efficient, identical to Chat Thai - you put your name on the list, take a number, and wait on the sidewalk.  Good thing the weather is nice in Sydney!

Open Kitchen.

I didn't mind the wait, since I loved watching the chefs.  Chat Thai has just the dessert kitchen in front, and the main kitchen is in the back, but at Home Thai, the whole kitchen is in front, and is open, so you can watch all the fun.

It was crazy busy.  Watching the staff here was incredibly impressive.  They were constantly moving.  When they had a moment of downtime, they started drying dishware.  Seriously, no one ever stopped moving.

Service was fine, efficient beyond belief, but no extra attention was given.  Order taken, food delivered, and that was that.

Inside.

Inside is rather small, with basic wooden tables and chairs.  Crammed in as close together as possible, since they clearly always have a wait.

On the table was a bottle of tap water, so we could help ourselves to water throughout, and staff weren't ever needed to serve us.

Our order was taken quickly, on an ipad.

Longan Juice. $4.

Ojan decided to be adventurous and order a longan juice.  We weren't really sure what longan was.  When he received it, we thought "wait, is longan just another word for lychee?"  Floating in the drink were certainly things that looked like lychee.

But, the taste wasn't sweet like lychee.  It was slightly smoky even.  It turns out, lychee and longan are in the same family of fruits, but no, longan is not lychee.

Ojan enjoyed the drink, and found it to be quite refreshing, particularly alongside spicy Thai food.

Kui Chay (Garlic Chive Dumplings). $6.90.

"Steamed dumpling stuffed with garlic chive."

Our first dish arrived within what seemed like at most 3 minutes of placing our order.  Like I said, these folks were busy and efficient!  It also seems like having the ordering system on ipads allows orders to go to the kitchen immediately, so there is no delay in having a server bring the order to the kitchen before it starts getting prepared.

Dumplings seemed a bit strange for us to order at a Thai restaurant, but the menu had many different types of dumplings, so I figured they might be good.  Plus, I was just really craving dumplings for some reason.

The wrappers of these dumplings were not very good.  They were pasty, and somewhat disintegrated.  There were four dumplings, two slightly darker than the other two, but the taste wasn't distinct.

The filling was generous, garlic chives, which were crazy garlicky.  The sauce was a sweet sauce.

I wanted to love these, but between the pasty wrapper and the too strong garlic flavor, I just didn't.  Price of $6.90 was fine for 4 dumplings.

Kao Kreab Pak Mhor, Vegetarian. $6.90.

"Steamed rice flour with sweet peanuts, palm sugar and pork minced."

Our second type of dumpling arrived about 30 seconds later.

Since we had a vegetarian dining with us, we ordered these vegetarian, so in place of the minced pork was tofu.

The wrappers were really slimy, but not chalky and pasty like the previous ones.  The flavor of the filling was really quite strange.  I can't describe it.  I really disliked it.  There were a few crushed nuts on top, and a very sweet sauce underneath.

The textures were bad, the flavors were bad, and I pretty much hated this dish.

The only thing I liked was the fact that there were two different colored wrappers, the purple ones were quite pretty.

No one really liked these, but the others found them better once wrapped with some lettuce.  Again, price was good, this time for 6 dumplings.

Pad Thai Woon Sen (Glass Noodle Pad Thai), Vegetarian.  $11.50.

"Wok tossed glass noodles with tofu, egg, pickled radish, garlic chives, bean sprouts, chilli powder,

tamarind sauce, palm sugar and fish sauce."

Next up, more of a classic Thai noodle dish: pad thai.

Our vegetarian diner selected this.  I'm quite familiar with pad thai, but had never actually had glass noodle pad thai before (Home That has regular pad thai, and a wonton noodle pad thai, on the menu as well).  The flavors were all similar to what I'm used to with pad thai, but it used smaller, thinner glass noodles instead.  Not what I'd pick, but, it was interesting to try something new.  Loaded up with lots of assorted veggies, including mushrooms, snow peas, and baby corn, garnished with all the traditional accompaniments of fresh bean sprouts, chives, and chopped peanuts.

Overall, this was fine, and the $11.50 was good for the large portion.

Gang Dang Ped (Red Curry With Duck), Medium.  $14.90.

"Roast duck in red curry paste with coconut milk, cherry eggplant, apple eggplant, basil, lime

leaves, long red chilli, pineapple and lychee."

Ojan and another diner selected the red curry with duck.  I tried a few bites, stealing their token lychee and a crunchy cherry eggplant.  While I don't like duck, I loved the sauce.  It was definitely a bit spicy, just the right amount to really feel it and feel alive, but not kill you or make the experience unpleasant.  It was balanced by coconut milk and a sweetness from the fruit in the mix.  I gladly finished off all of their sauce, eating it by the spoonful like a soup.

The priciest dish we got, but still reasonable.

Mango and Sticky Rice.

Well, you know me and dessert.  We obviously needed desserts.  Home Thai only had 6 desserts on the menu, a stark contrast to the extensive selection of 32 at Chat Thai, but totally normal for a regular restaurant.

We started with the classic thai dessert: mango and sticky rice.  While perhaps a bit boring, mango in Australia is just so much better than in the US.  We really wanted to get as much mango in while we were in Sydney as possible, and ate it at least once a day (including as part of the stunning breakfast buffet at the Sheraton on the Park).

The mango was ripe and clearly sliced to order.  A generous serving, a full half of a large mango.

Home Thai really seems to like serving multiple colors of things, just like the wrappers of the dumplings, this time the color came in the rice.  There were three types of rice: one was green and I think pandan infused, one was just regular white sticky rice, and the other was purple, I think taro?  The purple one was my favorite, but all were just basic sticky rice.

Everything was drizzled with coconut cream, sweet, good, and I thought at first that there was too much, but it somehow ran out.  We would have preferred to just have this on the side.

We all tasted a few crunchy bites.  I think the orange things on top might have been the crunch?  Or maybe some rice was just crispy?  Not sure.

Overall, this was fine, and we appreciated the fresh mango, but, it wasn't particularly interesting.

Par Tuhng Go (Fried Bread Sticks) with Pandan Coconut Sauce. $5.

Since we couldn't possibly be satisfied with just one dessert, we also got the fried dough.  Because, um, fried dough!  This is only available in the evening, although Home Thai is open for lunch as well.

The dough was clearly fried fresh to order, delivered piping hot.  There were 4 pieces, but each was made up of two sticks attached in the center.  The dough was basic fried dough, although Ojan thought it was more like a donut, since it wasn't as greasy as fried dough.  Others said it was like funnel cake.  I still thought it was like state fair fried dough.  Anyway, hot and fresh, with a crispy exterior, doughy interior.  I really wanted it to be sugar coated though!

The sauce on the side was a creamy pandan sauce, plus some coconut milk.  It was super sweet, it reminded me of icing actually.  I like icing, so this wasn't a bad thing exactly, but a bit strange to put on my fried dough.

Overall, nothing was wrong here, but the components didn't go together exactly as I was hoping.  Fried dough is good, but I wanted a different topping.  The pandan cream sauce was good, but I wanted it on something else.

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L.A. Burdick Chocolates, Part II

Last year for Halloween, you may remember that my mother upped the ante in the Halloween box she sent me.  No mediocre Hershey, Mars, or Nestlé from her, which, from all my previous reviews, you probably realize I don't even really consider these brands "chocolate.  No, she sent me a box with handmade chocolates from L.A. Burdick, an east coast chocolatier with 3 locations: Boston, New York City, and, randomly, Walpole, NH.  Walpole is actually their main production facility, and also houses a restaurant.  The other locations all are just chocolate shops with "tea rooms", that serve their incredible "drinking chocolate".

This year, for Easter, I was also in for a treat.  Cadbury creme eggs?  Nope!  Another arrival from L.A. Burdick.  Just like selections she sent for Halloween, I appreciated the worksmanship that went into them, but I found them to be too pricey for what they were.  I'm a frugal gal, and can't quite justify these prices ...

Impressive Packaging!

Just like last time, I was impressed with the packaging, "packed in our Signature Wooden Box with a gold wax seal and tied with a beautiful seasonal ribbon."

It is clearly overkill, but there is something quite fun about untying the ribbon.  The wax seal is for looks though, you don't actually get to break it!

Signature Bunny Box. $26.

Inside lay my treasures: 6 Marzipan Eggs, 4 Chocolate Truffles, and 5 White Chocolate Bunnies.
Burdick's signature product is their hand painted little figures.  You may recall that for Halloween, my mom sent me some of the mice.  They also make seasonal varieties, such as snowmen & penguins for Christmas, ghosts & coffins for Halloween, and turkeys for Thanksgiving.  I have to admit, they are all pretty cute.  So I had to start with the White Chocolate Bunnies.

Just like the mice, the bunnies had almond slivers for ears, and I really appreciated the crunch.  The white chocolate mice I didn't love last time, as I thought the white chocolate was waxy, but it didn't bother me this time around.  The filling was a orange and hazelnut chocolate ganache, unlike the cinnamon chocolate ganache from the white mice.  It was more like the filling from the dark chocolate mice, that sadly I didn't like since I don't actually like orange and chocolate together.  But it was smooth and fluffy, almost like a mousse.

Bunnies are $4 when not part of a collection, which, while I respect the hand piped nature of them, seems a bit high for a two-bite chocolate.

The truffles looked like they were just solid chocolate, so I bit one in half, expecting just chocolate.  Caramel immediately oozed out everywhere.  It wasn't thin liquid, but it certainly had motion.  The filling was crazy sweet, too sweet for me.  But I did really like the chocolate shell.

I hesitantly bit into the next one.  It was slightly rounder, so I thought it might be a different type of truffle.  Turns out, I was correct.  This one had the same awesome slightly crunchy outer shell, but inside was a deep chocolate ganache.  Bitter, intense, very satisfying.  Certainly the winner of the box, and I'd gladly consume more of these.

The Marzipan Eggs I'll get to in a moment.

Marzipan Eggs.

Before we opened the wooden box, we opened the unlabeled little bag of treats.  They looked like soft gummy candies, covered in sugar, which I assumed would be tart, like Sour Patch Kids.

I was met with surprise and confusion.  They were soft, but slightly crumbly, certainly not gummy candy.  The coating was just sugar.  But ... what were they?  As I rolled one around in my mouth for a minute, I decided it must be marzipan (almond meal and sugar paste).  Very, very unexpected.  I couldn't figure out if I liked them or not.

Once I opened the bunny box, it had a card identifying the contents, and, as you saw, that included more marzipan eggs.  I figured it out!

The eggs came in three colors, green (pistachio), purple (lavender), and pink (cherry).  I'm somewhat guessing on these flavors.  The lavender was a bit too floral for me.  I was fascinated by these, but never really liked any of them.  A strange treat, for sure, but not one I'd like more of.

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