Not your average gorilla!

I want to share something that is supposedly abnormal. Apparently my eating habits are quite weird and not very common.

No, I am not talking about my bottomless pit of a stomach. After all I am often called upon to finish other people's food at restaurants. However it is only amongst family and close friends of course.

What I am talking about is me habit of eating foods separately. Now this is not always pertinent when eating western foods but happens quite frequently with Asian foods. For example, when sharing foods where you have your own serve of rice and shared dishes are in the middle.

I make it a priority that I finish one dish at a time, meaning that I will only indulge a dish after another is completed with the right proportion of rice. Now this doesn't mean that I will not return to a dish that I have had earlier in the meal. It just means that I like to enjoy each dish without mixing the flavours.

A curry dish shouldn't be mixed with say a stir fried dish. The flavours of each dish should be enjoyed separately as I am sure that is how the chef wanted his or her foods to be enjoyed.

It is the same story when it comes to desert. When ordering gelati, I only have one flavour because I want to taste it in its uninterrupted state. By the way, hazelnut is the favourite!! Sometimes pistachio but never a fruity flavour. I mean that's why the French created petite fours so that the flavours never have to mix. Take note food fans.

What to eat at your local?

Pub grub, they reckon that it is better than ever. Unlike the times that I spent in London, where pubs are essentially the centre of all social events or just somewhere you go straight after work. So there isn't a need for great food and nice decor in London although it doesn't hurt of course.

In Adelaide where the population is much smaller, pubs are fighting for their share of the market. There is always somewhere new with the latest big screen tvs, nice outdoor furniture in the beer gardens and gourmet menus. All manner of new renovations paid for by gambling machines within the facilities or more accurately, lonely and addicted pensioners.

I don't have as much time for pubs as I would like these days but when I do visit one, my choice of pubs is purely based on the beers they stock. Food definitely plays second fiddle. The pubs that I have had repeatedly meals at include The Edinburgh Hotel, Crown and Sceptre, Queen's Head, The Lion, The Oriental and of course the Handolf Inn. These are some of the pubs that I believe have decent foods, however that judgement is based purely on the fact that I only order traditional pub fares. That is either a steak or fish and chips. Nothing wrong with that at all. After all one cannot survive on jamon and foie gras alone.

I recently visited the Hyde Inn on King Willam Road for the second time. I enjoyed both meals that I had there. There isn't too much you can get wrong with a sirloin steak or a whiting with chips. Unfortunately my companion for the evening chose to have a duck dish with orange sauce of some sort.

It is fair to say that the Hyde has bitten off far more than it can chew. I sampled some of that dish. The duck was overcooked by about 3 minutes and the sauce had been diluted by the liquids from the overcooked duck. It was also served with huge chunks of potatoes which was undercooked. At that stage of the evening, I was still in a positive mood because my meal wasn't a complete disaster. So we made the mistake of ordering deserts.

Creme brulee is a dish that most people would have had and enjoyed some stage in their dining experience. It was the only time in my living memory that I did not finish my desert. The less said the better about that episode the better. So shame on you The Hyde Inn.

The service was great, we also learnt not to go anywhere near that hole again. So the moral of the story is, stick to something simple when eating at a pub. There aren't many chefs willing to work at a pub and the word head chef is thrown around way too loosely. Obviously some people still don't taste their own food first before sending it out.

Duck is something difficult to get right in my experience so Chloe, great job. Ming's Palace can also do it well on a good night. As for great deserts and sweets, hats off to Auge, Assaggio Restaurante, Stamps and Au Matin Calme. Always look forward to what they have to offer there and I guess that is the best compliment I can offer.

Discussion on disgustation of degustation.

I am a big fan of degustation menus and restaurants that want to show off the range of foods that they excel at. It may also be a lazy way out of deciding what to have on any particular night out in a restaurant.

Now the way I have previously enjoyed this concept were either to enjoy the entire menu in small portions or given a couple of choices of what to have at each course. So well done to the Manse in North Adelaide for the eight courses with matching wine and the Chantecler in Nice, which is still in most ways the measuring stick that I go by.

I had another meal at Auge on Grote Street in Adelaide recently which is one of my favourite restaurants in town. However, I was far from impressed with the changes they have made. You used to be able to choose either a three or four course selection with a fixed price from their extensive menu. Not any more! Now you have either a four or six course chef selection which is fixed.

What really gets under my nose is the fact that if one person had the chef selection then the whole table had to do the same. There were five of us dining that night and we all had the same meals, we had to plead the staff to let us choose our own deserts!

What I am complaining about is that the waiter's argument for this stupidity was how the kitchen staff didn't want to have people eating different courses or have some people watching others eat when they didn't order adjoining courses. A more expensive option was to each order 4 totally different courses with twenty different things they had to cook and what would they say then.

I am guessing that it is a big fat excuse to make life easier to the kitchen. Why else would they make the changes from what they had before. The other sad fact was the six course option which had the same desert and added the cheese platter as another course so it was essentially the same menu with cheese which they don't have to prepare, plus another entree for $30 more.

Despite all of this, the same three courses we had were of excellent standards as expected. The gnocchi with squid ink and cuttle fish was lovingly made, the risotto was alright, the beef fillets were cooked the way I expected.

What stood out however were the little things that I always look out for, and I go away from a restaurant feeling empty if they are not there. Like if they took out an entire scene if I was watching a play. Well I am the fussy one and at Auge they had one of the things that I like which was only available for those who ordered the chef selection menu, a pre-desert desert. I am not aware of the correct them so we will leave it at that for now but it is something that I judge a good restaurant or fine dining by. There are many more but we will get to that another time.

So overall a positive experience, I mean I will return but not necessarily have the chef selection again. Bon appetite!

Disgustation?

Lost in translation??

It seems that the latest craze to hit Adelaide restaurants is to have Wagyu on the menu. Now this is a cut of steak that sells for around $80 per kg at the market depending on the grading and which part of the cattle you are purchasing.

However I am not sure that it is a case of better produce equals better product. There is definitely a case for concern when even Subway has wagyu on the menu. Now it is unfair for me to judge the quality of the sandwich at Subway when I have not yet sampled the item in question. What I have sampled from the Belgium Beer Cafe and the Lion Hotel have not been overly exciting.

When I did sample wagyu or kobe beef in Kobe, it was magic! Like I didn't know that steak could taste that good. It was full of flavour, cooked to perfection, very sweet and juicy. All the things that make a great steak, great and then some. Now I wasn't paying 100% attention to the preparation methods but it did involve as I remembered, very high heat on a hot plate much like tempanyaki. The accompanying onions and potatoes worked a treat and the steak was so delicious that I didn't want the meal to end.

What I think is happening in Adelaide at the above establishments is that these steaks are prepared and cooked in a manner not unlike the way they prepare an Angus steak. The results are disappointing because they are serving steaks well below the standards of what I remember. Maybe the steaks we can get here is never going to be of the same quality as what they get in Japan and that's why the end product on the plate is different. I think it pays to do some research if you are going to have it on your menu and not just cook it like any other steaks.

Steaks are important. Most people would pay a little more for quality. I have had great steaks at the Botanic restaurant on East Tce, Red Ochre Restaurant along Memorial Dr and of course Kobe. The two places just mentioned didn't serve waygu when I visited last but the steaks were of far higher quality because they knew how to cook them.

One last note on steaks in Adelaide. I went to The Stag Hotel on East Tce recently because it it a place that serves quite a lot of different steaks. It is also a self proclaimed "worst vegetarian restaurant" because of the large range of steaks on offer. Unfortunately I had one the worst steaks I have ever had at The Stag Hotel. The sirloin steak was meant to be such a good quality cut of meat that you couldn't stuff it up. I guess I was wrong! It was dry and tough which is when I realised why they serve their steaks with so much sauce. It was truly memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day for Gorilla?

It has been a while since my initial entries into the world of blogging. I guess the gorilla has just had other things to occupy his tiempo libre. I thought that I would begin again about the subject of breakfast since I had an enjoyable one recently at Cafe Paparazzi.

I read not long ago that there was a change in ownership of this cafe and that breakfast was quite good so I went along to check it out for myself. Breakfast is not a huge priority to the gorilla since there isn't much time for it when the gorilla is at work. However on weekends when there is time for more than just oats or toast, the gorilla loves a big breakfast much like the English do.

On my recent trip to CP I had a smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and toasts with asparagus. It was simple, added some cracked pepper and the gorilla enjoyed himself. Sure it is not difficult to cook something like this and it is really just combining good quality produce but there have been some poorly made breakfasts that I had not enjoyed so much at other establishments.

The gorilla is also a fan of baked beans on fried eggs, hash browns or pancakes for breakfast. Other meals enjoyed by my peers that same morning may tempt me back there in the not too distant future.

Now other places of interests that have been pre-approved by the gorilla include the Brown Dog cafe on Goodwood Rd, German sausage breakfast at the pancake kitchen in the city and there is a cafe on Duthy St that I have yet had the opportunity to try which looks promising.

On other occasions, the gorilla doesn't have enough time on Sunday mornings and therefore have to go for brunch. Establishments that the gorilla favours include The Pot on King William Rd, Yum Cha at Ding Hao but don't expect any manners, Vietnamese noodles at Wong Kah near Arndale Shopping Centre and if you feel like having some blueberry waffles afterwards, then it is off to Luna Rosso also found on King William Rd.

Now there may be some haters out there who thinks that the blueberries are not fresh, there is too much breast meat on the roast chicken at the Pot which is true and therefore you don't go for the sunday roast when it is not beef or pork, gorilla's favourites. However fresh berries is hard to come by and you can always have the tasting menu at the pot which is excellent value or even go next door for some relaxed dining.

The hills are alive!

Around 25kms away from Adelaide lays the historic town of Handorf. It definitely gets quite busy down Main Street during the weekends as tourists and locals alike attend the semi-religious gathering spot known as the Handorf Inn. What they all come to worship is pork! Pork schnitzel, pork wursts, pork hocks, pork chops, bacon, pork ribs and steaks of all cuts also.

Basically it isn't a fun place for vegetarians. They have other daily specials like soups, pasta and burgers as well but they are just the sideshows for the main event. Pork and steaks aside, there are 5 different Hofbrau beers on tap with accompanying glasses ranging from 300ml to the 1L steins you can expect from Munich.

I love taking interstate visitors to this restaurant as it includes a pleasant drive up the Adelaide Hills. You feel like you have reached the country-side and there are plenty of shops to browse thru as well.

On my latest visit in just last Sunday , I enjoyed the fillet Mignon served with your choice of potatoes, a salad and a beautiful bearnaise sauce. The steak was done just right, medium rare with plenty of moisture. The sauce was separated so that it allows for individual preference in terms of how much sauce you like.

The trio of wurst you can see on top of the picture comes with 3 different mustards. All of which are locally produced. The pork hock is on the left of the picture, served with potatoes, it is the specialty of Handorf Inn. A must try for all food lovers. On the right is the pork ribs, that's the half serve at 500 grams. On that day it was a little dry but still delicious.

Quality control is strong at the Handorf Inn, the staff are friendly and you begin to recognise a few of them because it is a very family oriented place. There are plenty to keep the little ones entertained and the outdoor seats out the front of the bar are ideal on a nice warm afternoon.

I guess these are some of the reasons that separate the Handorf Inn from others like it in bigger cities around Australia that may be staffed by uni kids and with not as much focus on the food side of the menu. I mean these premises can't all be like the Hofbrauhaus in Munich but the Handorf Inn provides a good resemblance in the amount of enjoyment it brings to the gorilla.

I did mention the litre pints right?! So try to get someone else to drive when you bring a big appetite and if you get the German Platter, it provides a sample of all the highlights.