The Tall Lemongrass, Crows Nest

If there is one thing I must insist you do at Crows Nest, itwould be to visit the modern Thai kitchen, The Tall Lemongrass. With itselegant décor, this place is perfect for a romantic dinner with its lusciousorange and reds, but is simultaneously suited for a casual dinner with friends.As we first lay eyes to the entrance of the restaurant, we were in awe at whatlay behind the glass window. The lighting was dim, but we just made out themodern, organza shades that dotted the ceiling and abstract paintings of fiery,sun orange. 

Entrance to the restaurant

Entering the restaurant, we were pleasantly greeted by anextremely friendly waiter, who immediately directed us to a table we reservedjust hours before. Just a note: there are no additional costs to reservations! Plus,on a Wednesday night 6:30-7:45, the restaurant was not incredibly busy as thereplenty of seats available varying from all table sizes. After leaving a bowl ofspicy pork crackers and filling up our glasses with cool water, she left us toperuse the menus.

 Spicy Pork Crackers Free

As we were looking through the menu, we could not help but taste the complimentary pork crackers and boy were they spectacularly tasty.With a hint of chilli spice, we found ourselves quickly growing addicted. They made you sweat (just a little), but was extremely satisfying nonetheless. I guess spicy dishes just do that to you! After asking the friendly waiter, it turns out the first bowl is free of charge but any other additional bowls would have been an extra $3.00. We were a tad upset that those bowls of pork crackers couldn’t just keep coming, but I guess the Thai restaurant needed to make a profit somehow! (haha)

As to the menu, we were simply in shock at the prices ofmost of these items considering the artful sophistication of the restaurant. A meal including entrees, starters, soup and a main would have been 26 dollars (setmenus are made available for four or more people). If those of you are unsure about some of the items that are available, a menu is made available on their website which I have linked below. My friend and I decided to opt for the sampler starter dish, which gave us a taste of all the available starters.  I would highly recommend this dish if you are interested in the Thai cuisine in general. As a Thai food newbie, I found myself really grappling with the versatile range of the Thai cuisine and the almond crusted prawn was definitely the stand out amongst the different samples.

Sampling plate of starters; a showcase of curry puff, fish cake,spring roll
 money bag and almond prawn $12.00

The almond was extremely crunchy and as you bit into the prawn, it was both fresh and tender. With the combination of both soft and crunchy, I was definitely inclined to purchase awhole bowl to eat all on my own. As for the other dishes, they were alsoincredibly delicious but the Thai fish cakes were definitely something on themenu I would consider twice before ordering. But then again, I am not a huge fan of the spices derived from bay leaves, kaffir leaves and the like.

Almond Crusted Prawn - stand out of the samplers
Available for purchase from $8.00 with sweet chilli dip

After the starters, we waited anadditional ten minutes before the main dish began to arrive. I decided to order from the noodle section, which had a wide selection of noodle styles from pad thai to hokkein noodles with a modern twist. After deciding this, you may select from either chicken, beef, lamb, pork, prawn, seafood, squid or vegetables to complement those noodles. This gives you the freedom of choosing what you prefer without being restricted to set dishes. I was pleased by the two dishes that my friend and I ordered. They had extremely tasty and authentic Thai flavours, according to my extremely knowledgeable friend. Thesatay sauce had a strong peanut flavor and the coconut milk had a strong aroma that greatly enhanced the overall flavor.

Padt cashew nut broad rice pappardelle noodles, roasted cashews,
light seasoning and summer veg $14.00

Padt hokkien of satay with summer veg $14.00

Overall, I would say that the restaurant puts a huge emphasis on value. With main courses starting from only $14, thisrestaurant is definitely a place worth considering for the students! With our meal, totalling only $20 each, my friend and I were extremely satisfied by the end of our dinner. So getready to salivate, Sydney.

The Tall Lemongrass

4/136 Willoughby Road, 

Crows Nest NSW

Tel: (02) 99660350

For more information,

www.thetalllemongrass.com.au 

Dae Jang Kum Korean BBQ Restaurant, Chinatown

Well, the night before I visited my beloved Urbanspoon app and was intrigued by a restaurant, Dae Jang Jum Korean BBQ Restaurant with an 86% rating and over 117 people having voted for it. Immediately, I noted the address down and my friends and I trekked the streets of Chinatown to hunt down this popular restaurant. Finally, we found the restaurant near a busy intersection with bright neon blue and red signs that provided interesting welcome.

As we entered the restaurant itself, a waiter immediately welcomed us and pointed us to a comfy, deserted corner of the restaurant. The restaurant appeared to have a rusty, wooden feel to it, and the Korean music in the background was both soothing and relaxing. It wasn't overly busy, but perhaps it was because we came at around 3:00pm for a late lunch.

Lined with leather, he produced the menus and the menu was full of traditional meals like Bibimbap, Kimchi soup and then further down the menu was a list of different meats you could order for the Korean BBQ portion. I liked the layout of their menu, because the restaurant did provide set menus for the Korean BBQ newbies while there was another section with separate meats you could order giving you control of what items suited your palette.

For those of you unfamiliar with how Korean BBQ works, it is basically a system where the restaurant will provide you with raw meat and it would be your responsibility to cook the meat over a fire. Be careful, you have to cook the meat until there are no red patches remaining to avoid eating raw, uncooked meat! Note: always invite a friend with a good eye for when the meat has been cooked thoroughly enough.

The service was quite efficient and speedy, and a tray of over 15 side dishes arrived at our table. Oh, it is important to note that you have to order at least 2 meats in order to have this full set of side dishes being provided. Therefore, you have to spend a minimum of $32 (Meats = $16 each) to enjoy this broad selection of side dishes ranging from kimchi, pickled onion, flavoured bean sprouts and many many more. The waiter then produced the utensils (tongs, scissors) needed for the BBQ and a plate of wagyu beef, bulgogi beef and pork belly. The meats were already marinated and oiled so it was only a matter of putting the meat over the hot plate. It sizzled furiously and the raw meat immediately turned a delicious, savoury brown. I highly recommend visiting this restaurant for the Korean BBQ as their sauce was truly stellar. Their meats were fresh and not too tough or chewy and the two sauces they provided complemented the meats nicely. The first sauce was a tomato-chilli paste while the other was an interesting sugar, salt and sesame seed combination. I apologise for not noting the specific names for these sauces. As for the side dishes, there was such a huge selection that it would nearly be impossible to be disappointed! They have dishes for all palettes, some extremely chilli while others more mild.

All the side dishes and beef brisket

Cooking wagyu and bulgogi beef - $16 for each plate of raw meat

Lettuce and Garlic (recommended to wrap the cooked meat and 
garlic with the lettuce - makes for a tasty  meal) 

Apart from the Korean BBQ portion of the meal,  my friend also recommended the Dukboki (Spicy rice cakes) and Bibimpap with Kimchi and cheese (Korean Fried Rice). Both these dishes were quite spicy so it is generally recommended to have a glass of water handy when wolfing down these two dishes. But then again, my tastebuds are quite sensitive so the slightest chilli may set me off (big time). Nonetheless, I powered through and found myself enjoying these dishes more and more with each bite I had. Well, you might be puzzled why we would have enjoyed kimchi with cheese(?!) but it was actually a very interesting and tasty combination. If you ever decide to try this restaurant, I would highly recommend trying this meal b/c I can guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised. The cheese is so hot that it turns stringy and literally melts in your mouth.

Very spicy Dukboki $9.00

Overall, our meal was around $25 each and I was so full by the end of it. If you are looking for a good quality restaurant with an awesome atmosphere, this is definitely the place for you. So get ready to salivate, Sydney!

Dae Jang Kum Korean BBQ Restaurant
35 Goulburn Street
Sydney, 2000

Tel: (02) 92110890

Visit below for more information
www.daejangkum.com.au