WAQU, Crows Nest

Me and TWB share the same interest when it comes to Japan. The culture, language, places, and food. We just think Japan is cool. So, for my birthday night this year.. I would really love to have some Japanese food. But since it's my birthday I don't want it to be just a normal bento box, sushi train or ramen slurping night. So I tried to find something else. Well, on the top of my list would be Tetsuya of course, but reality check hit me so I'd come back to Tetsuya later. Haha.. Then I remember this restaurant near where I lived 3 years ago that I've put in the back of my mind that I'd have to visit. So then we made a booking in WAQU, a table for two at 7pm.

We spent almost 20 minutes to find a parking spot in Crows Nest. Friday night during this time is when everyone is going out to dine, something that I didn't think at all when I spent too long gluing the fake eyelashes on, urgh! Anyway luckily I saw a car was leaving and I just commanding, while pointing at the spot, TWB, "There!". 

When we entered the door of WAQU, the hustle bustle from outside has just transformed to this intimate and elegant atmosphere restaurant. We directly greeted and walked to our table and being given the menu and drink list. Yay Day! $6 cocktail and mocktail! Anyway, Waqu only offers courses menu, no a la carte in this restaurant. Tonight we chose the $68 6 course over $48 3 course. 

Umeshi Mojito Cocktail

Peach Calpis Mocktail

Who would have guessed it right, was the calpis belonged to me and mojito belonged to TWB or the other way around? Nope, it's the other way around. hihi.. That cute TWB is so weak with something peachy and mangoey. Both are very nice, by the way. Peach calpis got the peach puree, gave it nice texture when you sipped. The mojito is nice with the kick of umeshi sake. 

amouse bouche

We got this as a complimentary, yay day! I actually forgot what amouse bouche is this. We put it in our mouth and it was yum. The bottom part is a bed of pastry and at the top is some seafood blend mousse. A great dish to start the night. 

japanese pumpkin soup with kaffir lime

The first course came in a tall martini glass. We didn't use the small spoon given, we drank it straight away instead cause that's what would you do when you handle something in a martini glass, don't you? *haha nah, we actually was a bit confuse to spoon or to drink, we looked around and no one were still on their first course* TWB loved his soup, I didn't. It's actually a very nice texture, very smooth and creamy, you absolutely can taste the kaffir lime. I don't know, it's just didn't do it for me, so I gave my half to TWB, that he happily drank up. 

scallop, tofu ganmo, school prawn with scallop confit, cauliflower puree, braised daikon, karasumi, and truffle powder.

Such a lovely looking dish except for one thing, if you know which one I'm talking about. Scallop was melt in the mouth, school prawn was fried nicely. Give me a bowl of that school prawn, I'd be one happy gal. TWB isn't a shell-seafood eater. He ate half of his scallop and gave me the rest. Yay day for me! Haha..

chicken galantine stuffed with mochi rice okowa, miso essence, shimeji, soba seeds, rice and peanut tuilles

This was delicioso! bellisima! and all good word! I love chicken so much and this chicken is perfectly cooked. The mochi rice is divine, the waiter who put this on our table told us that the rice tastes the same as his grandmother would cook for the family on new year. 

TWB's pan fried barramundi with caramelized onion puree, pinot noir syrup, roasted leek, grated macadamia

This one was TWB's. The roasted leek was a bit on the downside, it was tough. But lucky the hero of the dish is lovely. 

pan fried snapper with cumin spiced carrot puree, prosciutto broth with parsley oil, piment d'espelette

This was mine and I loved it. The broth was a little salty on its own but when you combined all together, it was a bomb.

TWB's roasted cabernet marinated lamb backstrap with fig balsamic vinegar puree, fig fritter, spiced bread crumbles 

I was sure TWB was so happy finally the red meat came out, despite we did wait for a while for them to come. TWB loved it he especially loved the fig fritter but he did find the fig balsamic vinegar puree was too sweet and strong and the spiced bread crumbles was tasteless. I tried and agreed the fig fritter was two thumbs up, it made you wish there was some left over in the kitchen and given away to you. Crunchy, light and sweet. I'm drooling right now. 

tajima wagyu sirloin steak BMS 6+ grain fed with beef jus, grilled eggplant paste, seasonal vegetables ($8 surcharge)

As a birthday girl I wanted something more special of course, when I saw the fifth course was $8 surcharge, straight away I thought this must be gooodd. I have to have this one. Even though I usually choose duck over beef if I saw duck in the menu (the option were this, TWB's lamb and a roasted duck), especially the duck seemed a lot of fun (it was a roasted duck with dark cherry sauce, beetroot puree, coffee chocolate crumbles, creme fraiche), however the beef still won. So after a while, it finally came. yaaayyy!

Ok, I was so grateful, you know, I've been able to eat everyday.. moreover in this special moment I was able to eat in such a good place like this.. moreover eating that wagyu beef! Boy, do I had that gracing moment when I had the first bite! All I did was eating it in silent and trying to seal the taste of that wagyu.

chocolate terrine, hazelnut praline ice cream, banana crumble, sake-kasu sauce, mint olive oil

Mine came with a firework candle sticked on a piece of banana and a beautifully pipped happy birthday chocolate along with patrons' and waitresses' eyes and smiles. When I called to make a booking, me and the guy on the phone chatted a bit and I did mention that I'm celebrating my birthday that night. It wasn't TWB who requested it, means the restaurant noted it, which was very sweet of them. The terrine was perfect, so chocolatey and not too sweet as I sometimes found Terrine could be. And the hazelnut praline ice cream, is the best I've had so far. 

All in all, I enjoyed my night at WAQU so much. It was actually mine and TWB's first night of having more than 3 course meal (6!) that I asked TWB to sneaked the menu into his suit. So yeah, it was memorable.. 

WAQU modern japanese dining

308 pacific highway, Crows Nest, NSW 2065

02 9906 7736

info@waqu.com.au

Opening hours:

Lunch: Thu-Sun from 12 pm

Dinner: Tue-Sun from 6pm

Close: Monday

http://www.waqu.com.au/index.html

Museum of Contemporary Art Cafe, The Rocks

Hello,

Last week me and TWB celebrated our 3rd anniversary and had lunch in MCA Cafe, The Rocks. It's located on the top floor of its new building and has this spectacular view of Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. As far as my research goes this Cafe provides the most affordable foods with a million dollar views.


THAT Corner!

As we entered the elevator up to the 4th floor, I wished that we have that seat in the corner where we could really enjoy the views and lift up the *ehm* romance atmosphere. When we arrived, we were given the menus and the waitress told us to pick any seat we wanted and come back to the front to order the food. I hurried to that corner and saw it were occupied. Even other seats along the glass panels were taken! That's okay, I told to myself and to TWB, we sat on the seats closest to those seats and set a strategy that if the lady there seemed clearing up her stuffs then we'd march there and wait for her before it's taken by anybody else. I'm a little aggressive, I hope you don't mind.

After a few minutes we sat there and watching the lady on the best seats, we realised she wouldn't be moving any sooner. She was working on her sketches, she really was in the zone that she laid all her sketches on the table and sticking them on with sticky tape, I wasn't sure what she was doing but I was a bit cranky. Because I only saw a bottle of water on her table, no food, probably she finished it already. Means she would be there mainly to sketch, she picked the best seats with the best views without even looked at the views! She could have given it to someone else that wanted to enjoy it, don't you think?

Lucky the food came out not long.. The TWB's enormous Chicken Schnitzel Baguette came with a bowl of chips. It was a huge servings and looked crunchy, juicy and delicious.


Chicken Schnitzel Baguette with Dijon Mayo with Shoestring fries $18

It was yummy as it looked. Baguette crunchy outside soft inside, have a good amount of the crunchy schnitzel and dijon mayo seasoned the baguette well. It was so big it made TWB so full.


Pea and Fontina Arancini, Lemon and Pecorino $14

The arancinis served in an egg carton with garlic aioli and a lemon. The aioli is really good it seemed they used roasted garlic, it was so fragrance.


Pulled Pork, Candied Coconut, Pickled Cucumber, Lemon, Rice Noodle $16

I mixed everything together and tried it, it was quite good, the pork were so tender. And you got the softness and crunchiness of a salad. But I just found it needed more dressings and the pulled pork a little too sweet. I squeezed lemon from the arancini to this salad and it tasted better.

Too bad we got no room for dessert. All in all the food was good even though we didn't sit on the best seats, because until we left the place the lady were still sketching. If anyone reads this, tell me, have you get annoyed because of a seat? :)


*You can find the info about MCA Cafe here:
http://www.mca.com.au/visit/mca-cafe-sculpture-terrace/