Firefly: Jump On It Deluxe Banquet Deal, Walsh Bay (4 April 2011)

On the promenade, Pier 7, 17 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay NSW 2000
http://www.fireflybar.com.au

A banquet without dessert

Restaurant group buying daily deals seem to be all the rage these days from websites like Jump On It, Spreets, Cudo and Ouffer to name just a few, if you can sift through the abundance of skin beauty deals. I’ve recently discovered All The Deals which consolidates many of the offers to just one email subscription a day which might help simplify your inbox. The Firefly deal for 2 was worth $137 including a bottle of wine for just $59 and ended up having an impressive 2601 customers jumping on it which I’m sure kept the kitchen busy over the offer time. I thought it was a good chance to try a number of the restaurants more popular dishes.

Due to popularity of the venue there were two sitting times which thankfully seemed to give ample time to enjoy the banquet without feeling too rushed since service was quite efficient. The 2009 Invivo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NSW ($49) was one I’d probably pick anyway from the menu list which was nicely quaffable. The Deluxe Banquet Menu ($44) included 8 preselected savoury dishes but unfortunately no sign of a dessert dish. Due to the lack of availability of the Spanish Anchovy Bruschetta it was substituted for a Goats cheese tarts with fig, honey and hazelnuts although I think I would have preferred the former. The Salad of shaved beetroot, goats curd, pine nuts & caramelised garlic crouton had some nice flavours but wasn’t a particularly easy dish to share, especially when trying to work out what to do with the lettuce. Perhaps presenting it as a bruschetta canape would have been more to my liking. Sharing the Yoghurt flatbreads, mushroom & barley ragout was equally a little haphazard but flavours were nice.

The Calamari fritti with fresh lemon and herbs was cooked with a nice crisp and perhaps could have benefitted from some aioli on the side. I liked the interesting combination of the Haloumi with watermelon, mint & almond which I'd probably have again. Bite sized Lamb and pork meatballs came in a flavoursome sauce that I wished I could have soaked up with some bread. A simply presented Pino's organic sweet pork chorizo came with a Romesco sauce that I was expecting to be a bit more robust in flavour and the chorizo to be grilled with more of a smokey char. Baked prawns with smoked tomato & chilli relish were served in their shells so a few messy fingers were to be had. Nice sauce but I generally prefer prawns to be peeled unless their crispy school prawns like from District Dining. Since no dessert was included I was tempted by the nicely presented Raspberry & choc mille fieulle ($15). Good combination of flavours although not the easiest dish to eat with any elegance due to the resistance of perfectly crisp pastry.

Other visits to Firefly:
• 6 April 2011 - Jump On It Deluxe Banquet menu
• 31 July 2010 - Panna Cotta

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Intimate and romantic, Nice ambience and music setting, Water views, Friendly service

CONS: Limited seating, Wine could be considered expensive, No free street parking, A little bit off the beaten track to get to, Toilets are located about 50 metres away

MUST TRY: Raspberry & choc mille fieulle

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Salad of shaved beetroot, goats curd, pine nuts & caramelised garlic crouton

Yoghurt flatbreads, mushroom & barley ragout

Calamari fritti with fresh lemon and herbs

Haloumi with watermelon, mint & almond

Goats cheese tarts with fig, honey and hazelnuts

Lamb and pork meatballs

Pino's organic sweet pork chorizo with Romesco sauce

Baked prawns with smoked tomato & chilli relish

Raspberry & choc mille fieulle ($15)

WORTH TRYING :-)

2009 Invivo Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NSW ($49)

Deluxe Banquet Menu ($44/person)

Next to the water

Water view and boats

Seating above and below

Table support is in the way of a comfortable feet position for me

Toilet key holder

The toilet is located about 50 metres away

Outside

On the waters edge


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Omah’s: Chilli Mud Crab, Malaysian, Port Melbourne (6 May 2011)

136-138 Rouse Street, Port Melbourne VIC 3207
http://www.omahs.com

In search of a good chilli crab

Thanks to Omah’s for inviting me as a guest to try some of their restaurant dishes while I was visiting Melbourne for the AgIdeas conference. It’s a fairly large restaurant with nice décor and seemed to be well suited to cater for larger groups if required. The menu dishes sound traditional but like many places the kitchen seems to provide their own take on them to try and cater for both Asian and Western customers to try and find a happy ground. To start I tried the Chicken satay ($6, 2 pieces). It was served with small pieces of pineapple and cucumber but unfortunately no sign of compressed cubes of rice or onion as sometimes seen. The flavours were quite good although it would have been great with a more smoky flavour.

It’s hard to find chilli crab in Sydney and even rarer to find a good one. I was pretty happy with the version at Kingsleys Steak and Crabhouse but like always the mess and frustration of getting to the crab meat is usually the biggest deterrent. I learnt a great tip from Kenneth. When you pick up a piece of crab you need to lick off the sauce so when you start cracking and opening the shell it will keep the messy fingers to a minimum — the technique actually works. Omah’s Chilli Mud Crab ($39.90) is decently sized and quite reasonably priced. For some the homemade sauce could probably be more chilli hot but I was pretty happy with it which had a good depth of flavour I was hoping for. If you like it really hot just let the kitchen know beforehand. To help mop up the sauce the sliced flat roti ($4.50) is the way to go but it tends to dry out quickly so it would be better if it could be covered somehow to keep it fresh and warm for longer perhaps. It was good to check and see the crabs were actually live ones in the kitchen.

The Oyster omelette ($18.90) is a dish I haven’t really found in Sydney but I’m hoping it exists somewhere. It comes with nice plump oysters although I’m not a huge fan of the gelatinous textured parts inside and would have loved the base to be a bit more crispy but it was a flavoursome rendition. The Buttered Prawns ($24.90) is a first for me and its fragrant dry egg fluff gives it an intriguing level of texture making it a winning dish. The prawns are properly deveined and decently sized. To finish a refreshing Ice kacang ($7.50) was in order. Decently priced and sized it includes a few of the classic ingredients except for maybe red bean. The inclusion of the ice cream gives it a creamy rather than icy consistency which isn’t what I’m used to and I would have preferred more of a rose water taste throughout, although maybe the ice cream dulled its flavour.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice décor, Interesting and tempting dishes on menu, Decent chilli mud crab at a reasonable price, Prices seem fairly reasonable for the quality and atmosphere

CONS: Trying to cater for both a traditional and western market — some dishes might not live up to expectations, Intro slideshow on website can’t be skipped — annoys me, I think my parents would like Omah’s so I wish it was in Sydney

MUST TRY: Buttered Prawns, Chilli Mud Crab to compare to all others you’ve had, I've heard the Salted Egg Mud Crab is pretty good

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Chicken satay ($6, 2 pieces)

Chilli Mud Crab - Queensland mud carb cooked in chef's mild sweet chilli sauce ($39.90)

WORTH TRYING :-)

A prized piece of claw

Essential finger bowl

Instruments of engagement

Roti for soaking up the sauce ($4.50)

Oyster omelette: Fresh oysters with chopped chives and coriander served with garlic chilli sauce ($18.90)

Decent sized oysters

Gelatin gooey consistency inside

Buttered Prawns - Fresh Australian wild prawns coated in fragrant dry egg fluff enhanced with curry leaves and spring onions ($24.90)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Ice kacang ($7.50)

Ice kacang ($7.50) — what lies beneath

Live mud crab kept in kitchen sink

Ice shaving machine

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