Address:  17-19 Hunter Street, Hobart Town, Tasmania, Australia

Telephone number: (03) 6234 1903

Website: www.drunkenadmiral.com.au

Date of visit: 20 January 2011

Price guide: Main courses from around A$30 onwards to over A$110 for the seafood platter for 2

Comments on wine and beer: extensive list of wine and beer at normal mark up

Cuisine: Seafood.

Exchange rate: A$1 = £0.65

Special note: Dinner only.

Summary:

The Drunken Admiral is positioned at the beginning of Hunter Street near the harbour.

There is a huge cast iron pot outside; big enough to cook seafood stew for a hundred. Inside, the place is decorated with all sorts of bric-a-brac from a human skeleton to the underside of a carriage. There are wooden mannequins around, all dressed up as seafarers. In fact, the place is so full of bits and pieces; you would think that you are in a maritime museum.

There are two dining rooms linked by a short corridor and all sorts of things were pinned up on a notice board – encased behind glass – near to the toilets, including a bill from Paul Boucuse’s Restaurant in Leon.

The best way to describe food here is that it is nearly all seafood –pan fried, grilled or deep fried served with French fries. The portions are huge and you get a free visit to the salad bar – beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, pepper etc with every meal.

I had the fisherman’s platter at $29.90. This turned out to be scallops, squid, mussels – in its shell – fish goujons, all bread crumbed and deep fried served in an abalone shell with enough chips for 2. The mayo that came with it was homemade. I also had a bottle of 42 degrees south – a local sparkling wine – at $38.5

Every table in the restaurant was taken and most had 2 sittings whilst I was there. There were plenty of  “English Cricket Supporters”. You can tell because they all wore the supporter’s shirt, had a bit of a gut, Rolex watches, and half of them had shaven heads and talked loudly throughout their meal on their mobile. I was one of them minus the shirt, gut and the hair cut.

Two people near me had the grilled octopuses which were marinated chunks of octopus done kebab style. Others had the seafood platter for 2 which had everything on the menu and chip for $113. By the way, they don’t do lobsters here but they have “bugs” which are similar in taste and texture.

If you like chips, deep fried food and large portions, this is definitely the place!

E

E

Address:  24 Mary Street, Cygnet, Tasmania, Australia

Telephone number: (03) 6295 0466

website: www.theredvelvetlounge.com.au

Date of visit: 22 January 2011

Price guide: Main courses from around A$12 – A$25.9 for a main course during lunch time

Comments on wine and beer: extensive list of wine and beer – all Tasmanian. Wines from $37 -$90. Bottled beers from $6-8

Cuisine: Cafe meals, cakes and posh sandwiches etc

Special note: all ingredients natural and sourced locally (Huon Valley) where possible

Exchange rate: A$1 = £0.65

Summary:

The Red Velvet Lounge is in every guide book on Tasmania. Some even hail it as the best “restaurant” in Tasmania.

Cygnet is a small town – one high street on the main B68 road – about 30km from Hobart Town. There is a car park about 20 meters from The Red Velvet Lounge.

The best way to describe this place is that it is a cafe housed in a large brick building with the kitchen and toilets at the back. The walls are bare bricks painted in various colours. On one side is a cake display cabinet, coffee counter and several crated of bread (sourdoughs only). There are red curtains (not velvet) near the back of the cafe with a couple of book shelves with all sorts of old kitchen equipment. At the front are several arm chairs covered in red velvet – it is almost like a “hippy” cafe in Amsterdam.

The menu was a one pager which had things like smoke salmon salad, pickled tongue, salmon fish finger, homemade chorizo sausage etc. I had the pulled pork  ($17) in a sour dough bun with white cabbage slaw. My plate came with a bun with plenty of slow cooked pork and a big portion of cabbage in mayo. The bun was small and did not have the heavy texture of normal sourdough – it was soft although it did taste of sourdough. There was no plate decoration or fancy display. Looking around, everyone else was having cakes.

All I can say is that the place was weird (decor) and the food was OK but nothing special. The chef owner (Steve Cumper) was there in the kitchen so this is what they would normally produce under his supervision. All I can conclude is that the evening menu must be something special?

E

PS I read in the Qantas in-flight magazine that The Red Velvet Lounge only puts on a special meal for Friday and Saturday evenings! Rest of the time, it is ordinary. (3 Feb 11)

Address: C/ Apuntadores 10, 07012 Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain

Telephone number: Spain  971 713 168

Website: N/A

Cost per head: From around €20

Wine list: Very good and well-priced selection of Mallorcan and other Spanish wines.

Date of visit: 27 December 2010

Summary

We first went to the “Popeye” restaurant 12 years ago when we spent Christmas and New Year in Palma.  I cannot remember the exact date after so many years but the first time was a couple of days before New Year’s Eve; we so enjoyed our meal and since there were still tables available for the very reasonably-priced special dinner on New Year’s Eve we reserved for it and because we were amongst the first to book we also chose our table by the window overlooking the street! That dinner was also a great success so we decided to look for the restaurant again this time.  Some family-run restaurants seem to disappear after a few years but not Popeye and we were pleased to see that it was still run by the same family although the father had passed away some time ago.  The restaurant is in a narrow street in the old part of Palma just behind La Lonja, a part of town with plenty of bars and restaurants.  The restaurant is fairly large with two floors and has a reasonably-sized bar area which is very popular for a drink and some tapas.

This time we went after we had tapas at the nearby Tasu Tapas Bar (see earlier review) just to have a main dish and possibly desserts.  We had a good chat with the man currently running the restaurant and we took the table that we had all those years ago by a window which allowed us to observe the festivities in the street on the arrival of 1999 all those years ago!  We ordered the roast leg of suckling lamb (cordero asado) and the filet steak in a mustard sauce (solomillo mostarda).  We also ordered a litre of mineral water and a bottle of Contino Reserva 2005.

The water, bread and a large dish of excellent green olives arrived and although the wine took some searching it was worth the wait! Contino is a single vineyard wine produced by Bodega Vinedos del Contino which is part of the CVNE in the Rioja region of Spain; we have fond memories of visiting both the CVNE winery in Haro on several occasions and also the beautiful Contino winery (the first “chateau” in Rioja) near Laguardia in the Rioja Alavesa area.  We are very fond of the wine and we have a number of vintages going back to 1982 in our cellar at home; we always try it when we see it on a wine list at a “reasonable” price! The wine costs upwards of £20 to purchase in a UK shop and at 26 Euros at Popeye’s we could not refuse it!  The wine had a deep garnet colour, was very aromatic with a huge amount of black fruit; it was full bodied and had a very long fruity and spicy finish; I am glad I bought a few bottles of this when M&S had it at a 25% discount! The restaurant owner told us that it costs him about 16 Euros which also tells you what a small mark-up they put on wine compared to UK restaurants. When the food arrived, each plate was enormous and of excellent quality and, taking things slowly, we just managed to finish it!  This also gave time for the wine to “breathe” and start showing its true “colours” and vast potential.  When the dishes were cleared away, we were offered the menus for desserts and coffee but we had to apologise and refuse these!

The cost for the two of us came to just under 63 Euros which was extremely good value for an excellent meal; OK, it could have been cheaper if we opted for one of the many bottles of wine at 10-15 Euros but we enjoyed the Contino which complemented the food perfectly. The service was excellent and we will eat at Popeye’s again when we happen to be in Palma; the tapas looked very good and those having them seemed very happy so we may give these a try next time!

Demetris Savva

Address:  500 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Australia

Website: www.movida.com.au

Telephone number: (03) 9663 3038

Date of visit: 18 January 2011

Price guide: From about A$20 per head

Comments on wine and beer: extensive list of wine and beer.

Cuisine: Spanish with a twist

Exchange rate: A$1 = £0.65

Summary:

There are 3 branches of Movida. 2 situated in Hosier Lane – a back street full of graffiti – and the original – Movida Aqui – on Bourke Street (entry via little Bourke Street).

From Little Bourke Street you have to climb outside steps to get to the first floor where the restaurant is housed. There is a huge outdoor dining area and a strange indoor area.

The indoor area is divided into two parts – one side is with normal tables and chairs, the other side has high tables and stools. The bar which is “traditional” looking is sited between the two areas. Two sides of the restaurant is surrounded by glass windows – end to end.

I first came across Movida some three years ago when I bought their cook book in the UK. I have since found that this place is listed in all food guides.

Lets start with the wine list, there is a mix of Spanish, Australian and various international wines. The best value ones are the sparkling wines – cava and Aussie sparkling. In the Spanish section, they have Pingus and Le Fleur Pingus but no Vega Sicilia or Valbouna. The 2 Pingus wines are both 2007 and priced at $1200 plus for the main wine and just under $300 for the Le Fleur. Not only are these crazy prices but the wines probably needed to be cellared for another 5 years before it matures.

The food here is described as Spanish but  other than the jamon, everything else has an Aussie twist applied to it.

Three Jamones (50g portions) are on offer: Serrano  $15, Paletilla Iberico $28.50 and Iberico $50. Three Arroces are also on offer: Paella de Marisco $50, Arroz Negro $58, and Arroz Caldoso $40. The portions are described as Grande – enough for 2-4 people.

There are also several a la plancha dishes all at just over $21.

I went for the Tapas Clasicas. I had Achoa ($4.5), Bomba ($6.5), Bocadillo De Calamares ($6.5) and Sardina ($4.5). The Achoa was a slice of marinated anchovy on crouton with a smoked tomato sorbet on top. This was quite nice. The salty anchovy and the tomato worked well together. The downside was that the sorbet was ice cold. The Bomba was a slice of chorizo sausage, surrounded by mash potato, bread crumbed and deep fried – they claim that it is a Catalan dish but I have never come across anything like it in Barcelona. In Italy it tends to be mozzarella cheese surrounded by risotto rice. The Bomba was ok but the chorizo was a small piece so you only get a smear of sausage when you open up the Bomba. The Bocadillo was a round crusted bun stuffed with deep fried calamari, mayonnaise   and a thin slice of pepper. The sardine was served as a piece of warm fillet over a slice of tomato and a piece of toast.  All this was washed down with a bottle of  Australian Sparkling wine ($48).

The overall experience was “interesting” but not a great meal. However, it is good value for money. The service was good and bad. The wines were “centralised” off the table – probably because the tables are small. The waitress I had was excellent but she was managing 6 tables and I had to ask for my glass to be refilled. Another point, they are very heavy on the salt here – from the bread to the food.

E

Address:  205 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia

Website: http://www.westin.com.au/melbourne/

Telephone number: (03) 9635 2222

Date of visit: 13-19 January 2010

Price guide: Bar meals (Lobby) from A$12 onwards, Allegro (first floor) @ A$30 for a main course, set meal (pre-theatre) A$ 50 for 2 courses

Comments on wine and beer: Beer from A$7.50. Wines from A$40 per bottle and wine by the glass from A$9.

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Exchange rate: A$1 = £0.65

Summary:

I am staying at the Westin for the one day international (cricket) and the Australian Open (tennis).

The Westin is situated near City Sq on Collins. There are plenty of cafes and wine bars near the hotel but overall, the hotel offers better service at nearly the same price.

Allegro

This is the main and only restaurant in the Melbourne Westin. It is on the first floor. Very modern, spacious with black wood  tables spaced apart.

For breakfast, the buffet cost $38 which includes, cereals, breads and pastries, fruits, cold meats and an array of hot dishes from bacon to bake beans. Eggs are cooked to order. On the other hand, a cooked breakfast from cafes around here costs from  $12.50 to $17.50 and coffee is around $3. If you want fruit and cereal, you can easily add another $10. The downside of all cafe breakfast is that they offer Australian beef sausages which are pretty awful. The upside is that the coffee – long black (a diluted espresso and flat white [long black with milk] is far superior to the awful stuff that The Westin dishes out.

For dinner one night, I had the pizza bread – one half with tomato puree and the other half with garlic butter ($7) as a starter. It was ok. The pizza base was very thin but it was not crisp. For main, I had the wild mushroom risotto ($28) which was sensational. The rice was moist and not soupy. I noticed they also offer risotto with duck’s breast for $38.

The Bar

They serves food and drink from around 10am till late.

The bar menu offers beer, wines by the glass, cocktails etc

The bar meals here are sensational. Everything I had was good. I had the club sandwich  ($19.5), the courgette chips ($12) and smoke salmon pizza ($21) – on different days.

The club sandwich has the usual chicken, ham, lettuce, tomato and a fried egg. The courgette chips were chunky chips size, battered and served with a light mayonnaise. The smoke salmon pizza, was served with a rocket salad and the smoked salmon still slightly raw – must have been placed on the pizza after it was cooked.

The lobby is a great atrium with a balcony overlooking City Square with the Cathedral on one side and the City Hall on the other. Oh, by the way the Wi-Fi in the lobby is free.

In my view this place offers great food at a reasonable price.

E

Address: San Joan 8, 07012 Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain

Telephone number: Spain  971 717 524

Website: www.chilimontes.com/tasu

Cost per head: From around €10

Wine list: Good selection of Mallorcan and other Spanish wines; reasonable mark-up.

Cuisine: Spanish, Tapas

Date of visit: 27 December 2010

Summary

We noticed this tapas bar after we had dinner at its sister restaurant (Tucana) the previous night (see earlier review) and since the tapas menu looked good and the decor was typical old-style Mallorcan we thought we will give it a go one late afternoon.  We did in fact try it the next day when we thought that we would have a drink and some tapas before going for dinner and having just a main course and possibly dessert also.

When we arrived at about 6:30 there was another group there having drinks.  We ordered two San Miguel beers and 3 tapas – patatas ralladas, calamares fritos and satay pollo. All were prepared there and then but they all arrived at the same time which was not that good since they got cold fairly quickly; it would have been better to bring them one at a time as required.  Another complaint was that , although the portions were fairly large, just like at its sister restaurant the tapas came with too little sauce where one was provided.  We did not have wine but the wine list is the same as at the Tucana and priced identically.

As it happens, they operated a 3-for-the-price-of-2 offer on the tapas so the bill for the two of us came to just under 19 Euros which was not bad.  The service was good except the two points made earlier. Would we go back?  May be!

Demetris Savva

Address:  1 Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia

Telephone number:  (02) 9252 2555

website: www.ariarestaurant.com

Date of visit: 11 January 2011

Price guide:  Be prepared to pay A$80 plus for 2 courses from the a la carte. Set meals available.

Comments on wine and beer: Serious wine list with serious price list – starts at $60. Most wines significantly above $100.

Currency : £0.65 = A $1

Cuisine: Australian/ modern European haute cuisine

Summary:

Aria is one of the top restaurants in Sydney. It has 2 hats (Australian Rating similar to Michelin Stars. Top mark is 3 hats). It has a fabulous location – next to the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay. The views are spectacular on a good or bad day.

As it is located near to the opera house, it offers a pre theatre dinner – $42 for one course and $68 for 2 courses.

On the day I went, the choices for starters included vegetarian options, scallops, shashimi, soup etc. Mains include salmon, chicken slow cooked lamb and steak. I had the shashimi and steak.

The shashimi was a take on the Japanese version. It was tuna seared at high heat on the outside, served with ponzu dressing with a touch of soy.

The beef on offer was really a piece of sirloin with an au proive sauce. It came with sweet pickled cabbage, a rissole of mashed potato with cauliflower and a thick slice of porcini mushroom cut along the stem. The presentation was meticulous and the steak cooked medium. It was a great piece of steak on a par with the one in Pony.

I also had a bottle of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon at $80.

Everything here was old school and represented class – service to cooking

The only disappointment was the toilet. The tiles on the wall were cracked.

I saw Madam Butterfly at The Sydney Opera House after the meal. It was a sensational performance. A very good evening – overall.

By the way, Aria was still packed when I came out of the performance at 10p.15 pm.

E

Address:  17 Market Lane, Melbourne, Australia

Telephone number: (0p3) 9662 3655

Website: www.flower-drum.com

Date of visit: 14 January 2010

Price guide: Expect to pay above A$60 a head

Comments on wine and beer: Very extensive list with wines mainly from Australia, New Zealand, France and Italy. A few bottles are available under $100

Cuisine: Cantonese

Exchange rate: A$1 = £0.65

Summary:

I was reading the Quantus in-flight magazine and came across an article from Neil Perry (Rockpool) about the 10 best dishes – around the world – he ate in 2010. Neil recommended the drunken (and roast)  squab at the Flower Drum in Melbourne. So, when I got here, I booked a table.

The restaurant (started in 1975) used to be based in Little Bourke St and has now moved round the corner onto Market Lane. As I got to the restaurant, I noticed that the Chinese name for Flower Drum is Ten Thousand Birthdays Palace.

Entry is via a red door in Market Lane, you then take the lift to the first floor with a room decorated in red and black with tables well spaced apart – approx 2 meters plus between tables. I have never ever encountered such generous used of space in a restaurant.

Around the space where lift is housed, the wall is plastered with hundreds of awards and accolades.

The menu is in English and there are two set meals  – $175 for 6 courses and $99 for 4 courses. The a la carte dishes range from around $18 onwards.

The restaurant manager claimed that Peking Duck is their speciality ($18 for 2 portions). That is a bit strange as the restaurant also claimed  to specialise in Cantonese Cuisine. Any way, I went for it. It came as two very meaty pieces of roast duck breasts – each piece must be around ¼ of a breast. It was rolled up in a pancake with scallions and cucumber with a smear of hoisin sauce in front of you.  Now Peking duck (crispy duck is a british invention – based on aromatic fried duck. The real aromatic crispy duck  does not come with pancakes and hoisin sauce) is normally sliced thin and you eat it for its crispy skin rather than the flesh. In fact the skin of my piece of duck was not particularly crispy and I suspect that they are using de-boned Cantonese roast duck.

I then had the roast squab ($46)- served with a pepper and salt dip as well as a bowl of lemon juice. This was pretty good and it turned out to be a heavily marinated whole bird. It was meaty and moist and very tasty. I also had the chicken with ginger ($26). This was also ok from a taste point of view but I found the chicken pieces too large – I preferred it julienne size.

The mixed fried rice ($18) was very good. They used Japanese sticky rice which makes it chewy. The prawns in the rice were again big pieces – size of a piece of chocolate. Do they have a thing about big pieces of meat in Melbourne?

I also managed to find a 2004 Knights Cabernet Sauvignon at $59 which turned out to be very drinkable.

My overall impression was good but this is not “kosher” Chinese Food. There is a wave of these restaurants around the world that has adjusted Chinese food to a more western approach (not quite fusion), improving the level of service  as well as hiking the price up to a Michelin Star standard. By the way, service was exceptional here!

E

Address: 35 South Steyne, Manly, Australia

Telephone number: (02) 9977 0322

Website: www.whitewaterrestaurant.com.au

Date of visit: 10 January 2010

Price guide: $20 plus for a main course

Comments on wine and beer: extensive list, wines from $30 to $ 100s

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Exchange rate: A$1 = £0.65

Summary:

I am not sure how to describe this place other than that it is in a convient location over looking Manly Beach. Although it is one big room, it is actually divided into 2 halves with white furniture on the outer half (no table clothes) and tables with table clothes on the inner half which is raised.

I had the light meal of “flathead in a tempura batter and chips”  ($24). Well the batter was no tempura batter – tempura batter will not completely cling to the fish where as normal batter will. I have noticed this in Australia where the menu borrows a lot of terms from Japanese cuisine but it’s not “kosher”. For example sashimi is usually seared on a hot plate and they always come come with a dressing of mirin, soy and sesame oil – perfected by Nobu. Well, the batter was more beer batter than tempura. The chips were again big. The portion enough for 2. In fact, I noticed that nearly everyone was either eating the burger of the fish and chips over lunch. The place was pretty busy and half full.

It was all right but nothing special and not cheap. In 2003 (Rugby World Cup), I came here and thought exactly the same – why the hell did I eat here again? With Bottles and Cooks, I should in future be able to remember to avoid these mediocre restaurants again. In fact, the restaurants in Manly and Bondi (along the beach) are nothing special.The better ones are near the ferry terminal.

E

Address: Eusebi Estada 33, 07004 Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain

Telephone number: Spain  871 949 447

Website: www.bolixe.com

Cost per head: From around €25

Wine list: Mallorcan, Spanish and some South American and European wines.

Date of visit: 29 December 2010

Cuisine: Spanish

Summary

This restaurant is not central and you will not come across it unless you wonder around the streets surrounding the small bus/train/metro station; we came across it in a book on Things to See which we picked up in another restaurant! The sample menus looked interesting so we made a point of going past it in the morning of Wednesday 29 December and we thought it looked good so we gave it a try in the evening.   The restaurant is small and minimally decorated in a modern style.

We were greeted with a vermouth de barrica “on the rocks” aperitif and some nibbles with home-made dips (Palitos de zanahoria y picos andaluces and Mayonesita de remolacha y picadillo agridulce mediterráneo) and then presented with the menus and wine list.  There is an a la carte menu as well as a Menu Especial and we opted for the special menu, a decision we did not regret!  We were the first ones at the restaurant and we were a bit concerned but talking to the very friendly young waitress (owner?) she explained to us that at lunchtime in common with all lunchtimes it is always full with business people and that the same went for most evenings but at this time of the year, with most people eating at home with friends and relatives, it tends to be quiet. A local couple with their two teen-aged sons soon occupied another table but unfortunately for the owners this was the business for the night!

We both chose the same things from the menu and the starter was the very well presented and large Ensalada Bolixe (special house salad consisting of prawns, anchovies, lettuce, orange, apple, cheese, balsamic vinegar and olive oil) and we followed this with the mixed meat grill which was enormous and contained lamb, pork and beef each prepared in two different ways and served with different home-made sauces; a bit too much meat really but we struggled through and finished it!  We did not really want any dessert after that but we were persuaded to have the Brownnie de chocolate negro y naranja amarga con helado de vainilla which turned out to be very good.  This was followed with Cafe solo and a good measure of Patxaran Navarro to help the digestion!

We had a litre of mineral water and a 50cl bottle of Raimat Abadia Crianza 2006 red wine from the Costers del Segre region of Spain; the wine was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tempranillo aged for 10 months in American oak and 6 months in French oak barrels and was fresh and lively with good deep flavours of black berries and plums, soft oak and vanilla and it complemented the food very well.

The cost for 2 was 60 Euros and we left very pleased but sorry for the owners that the place was not full! The quality of the food was good and worth another visit!

Demetris