marvin lowe photography

       These are shots taken over my 4 years in Perth: “Winter”- taken in UWA, “Spring”- Ee-lin at Cottesloe Beach, “Summer” in Subiaco, and “Autumn”- one of the nature reserves down South.

Well, for my birthday this year, my family decided to head down to Sage last sunday. It comes with strong recommendations from fellow local food bloggers. The menu we had for the night was almost identical to the Singapore Food Blogger’s gathering. Sage is located at Roberson Quay which is really devoloping into a fine dining hub. The restaurant itself is small and cosy. The service was warm and prompt.

Orange Jelly with Salmon Tartare

This was the amuse Bouche that came complimentary from the kitchen. The orange jelly was tangy and it went well with the Salmon Tartare. The Salmon Tartare was fresh and had some sort of a cream dressing to go along with it. It kind of reminded me of the spicy salmon sushi at sakae though.lol. But nonetheless, it was a good start to the evening.

Fricassee of Burgundy Escargot with lentil du puy and field mushrooms, poached egg and Italian parsley foam

The Fricassee of Burgundy Escargot came with lentil du puy and field mushrooms, poached egg and Italian parsley foam. This dish came as a pleasant surprise. The yolk of the egg was rich and accented the flavours of the mushroom and Escargot. I loved the way the egg was done. It wasn’t over cooked and was nice and fluffy. The parsely foam was gently fragant and the lentil was subtle in taste.

Chestnut mousseline with Oxtail consomme and Truffe oil

The oxtail consomme was easily the best dish of the night. It was simply amazing. I had my doubts about having an oxtail consomme, but this one really surprised me. You can clearly see 3 distinct layer, first layer being the broth, second layer is the chestnut mousseline while the base consist of chunky ox tail meat. The oxtail broth itself is rich in flavours while the chestnut mousseline was smooth, creamy and sweet. It gave the soup a whole new dimension. By the time you reach the oxtail meat, your mouth is already bursting with flavours. The oxtail meat, evidently cooked for a long period of time, is soft and tender. This dish really outdid all expectations.

Baked fillet of Sea Bass, topped with Tiger prawn mousse, braised fennel and a lemon basil emulsion

The Sea bass was baked, topped with Tiger prawn mousse, braised fennel and a lemon basil emulsion. The sea bass was decently fresh but I felt the the Tiger prawn Mousse, together with the lemon basil emulsion, overpowered the Sea Bass. They didn’t exactly compliment the fish as well, it was quite a conflict of flavours here. This dish was perhaps a little forgettable.

US corn fed beef Short ribs braised in red wine topped with slices of foie gras and bone marrow, glazed root vegetables and a mousseline of butternut pumpkin.

Ahh…the short ribs.=) Apparently, this is a house specialty and rightly it should be. The ribs were very nicely done, they were soft and tender. You don’t really need a knife to cut the meat, it will gently fall off for you.hahaha. The Foie gras was tooooo small!! I wished it was bigger…But, still it did serve its purpose in complementing the dish. It was like a dry sauce that’s on the meat.

Fromage Blanc Panna Cotta topped with candied strawberries, Champagne jelly and a strawberry Sorbet

The Fromage Blanc panna cotta topped with candied strawberries, Champagne jelly and a strawberry Sorbet was alright. I am more of a chocolate fan but this wasn’t too bad. The sorbet was refreshing and not too sour with the candied strawberries equalizing the taste here. The panna cotta itself was really thick and rich with taste of the fromage blanc. It was a nice way to end the evening though. Special Thanks to my parents, esp my dad, for making this meal possible.=)

Sage is indeed a really interesting place, I believe it has potential to really grow. This was a good first experience but it leaves me wondering whether will my second visit will be still as good. There is a lot of novelty and hype now in my first visit. I hope they will continue to surprise me with their innovative and creative dishes still. We will get mich’s input the next time round. Thumbs up for Sage.

Jazzfoodie: Sigh.. I wish I was there!!!

It’s been a while since i have posted. School has almost eaten the life out of me. Looking back, I am glad i took a two month holiday. One of the main highlights of this trip has to be the Hillsongs Conference 2006. It was an amazing experience being at such a mega-scale conference. 20,000 fellow believers, from all over the world gathered at one place.

20,000 believers under one roof.

It was simply awesome. One of the key moments, would have to be the last night. They did a top 10 countdown of the most popular hillsong songs. It was fantastic, it brought back so much fond memories of church camps, local conferences and the many youth services I have served in. It made me feel like I am part of a really big family and that I have really grown up with them. That top ten chart really charted my christian growth. Without a doubt, Shout to the Lord was the most popular song on the charts. Shout to the Lord is really a song that has touched and blessed many people all over the world. That countdown was really awesome!!!

Well, here are some more photos from that amazing conference. Our God is indeed mighty to save.

Darlene Zschech

darlene@ worship elective

delirious

hillsongs on stage

joel houston

hillsongs with Alvin Slaughter

Marty Sampson

After our long walk from Oxford Street, we met my mum and sister for dinner at the Golden Century Restaurant at chinatown. We had a meal there the last time we came to Sydney, which was about 5 years ago. So this time round, I decided to bring Mich here to celeberate with my Family.

Peking Duck and San Choy Bao

We had a Peking duck to start of the meal. It was crispy, juicy and had a nice texture to it. It was a pretty decent Peking duck. As we had a second option for the duck meat, we chose the minced duck with lettuce wrap, otherwise known as San Choy Bao which was not too bad as well.

Lobster Sashimi and Porridge

The Lobster dish was the highlight of the dinner. We had it done in two ways which was Sashimi first, then into a congee. They served us the Sashimi fresh off the shell, the meat was really sweet and tender. Along with the Lobster Sashimi, we had fresh oysters and salmon sashimi as well.

After the sashimi, they took the shell and the remnants of the meat to cook the congee. This was a good way to the end the meal. The congee was able to absorb the essence of the lobster and that made the congee really delicious.

After dinner, we went home for a simple cake which my mom bought. It was a chocolate cake and I am glad we were able to celebrate Mich’s birthday together as a family.=)

393-399 Sussex Street,
Sydney NSW 2000,
Australia

Oxford Street

01/07/06
Today is Mich’s birthday.=) But we had celebrated it a few days earlier at Tetsuyas. (Jazzfoodie : Not really, he was feasting rather than ‘celebrating’ my birthday.. haha) We decided to go explore Oxford Street and to check out their famed Paddington Market, which I unfortunately forgot to take any photos of. Paddington Market is pretty much your typical flea market with lots of cheap buys available.

Oxford Street

On the other hand, Oxford Street is also filled with wonderful shops that spells high fashion. Most of these boutiques are by local aussie designers and some are really good, but expensive! We got off at the end of Oxford street and proceed to explore this long shopping strip. We finally stopped at the junction where Paddingtion Market is at and we took a break for lunch at the cafe adjacent to Paddington Market.

Salmon Fettucini

I had the above Smoked Salmon with Semi-Dried Tomatoes Fettucini. It tasted alright. The smoked salmon dictated most of the flavour of the pasta. I actually wanted to try the dish that Michelle had, which is just below. But I figured it was pointless to order two of the same dish.

Curry Chicken Risotto

The Curry Chicken Risotto appealed to the both of us initially, with it being a “fusion” kinda dish. I was really curious on how it would really taste like. Sadly, it was a dissapointment. Perhaps we expected to much and it wasn’t like our typical asian curry that we so used to. For a Risotto, it’s passable on its own, especially for people who have no idea how curry should taste like.

Rush at Oxford

After our lunch escapade, we continued with our journey into Paddington. I apologise for the lack of photos on it. We were in rush to finish exploring the whole market before it closed (4pm), which was pretty early according to our Singaporean Shopping Standards.

Feet at Oxford

Madly, after our hysteric exploration of the market, we decided to walk all the way back to the city. Walking from oxford street to the city and our dinner destination, was the equivilent of walking from City Hall to Orchard Road. It was a pleasant long walk for us. I will continue the dinner post later.