Milton Park Summer Getaway

In January we headed back to Milton Park for Vikki's birthday weekend. Leaving a hot sticky Sydney morning behind we were surprised at how much cooler it was in Bowral. After a good drive from Sydney, we checked in to our room, this time a garden view room complete with fireplace (which came in handy later in the day).

 After settling in and freshening up, we headed down to The Orangery for lunch.

The Orangery was quite busy on this occasion with several groups indulging in champagne afternoon teas. We ordered the Testut Petit Chablis that we had on our last visit and settled down to peruse the menu. 

We decided to just have mains so we could save some room of ra three course dinner. I had the Cape Grim Angus eye fillet of beef, spinach, fondant potato, café de Paris butter and jus.

Vikki chose the the chicken stuffed with couscous, wrapped in jamon and served with one of her favourite salads, roquette, pear and parmesan. Very delicious all round!

After lunch we took a stroll through the beautiful gardens. There are many species of trees bought in from Europe and some are not even found in local botanical gardens. It was a nice change to see the garden with its full summer greenery. Made a nice change from the bareness of winter on our last visit.

After our stroll we returned to our room for a quick nap before we headed back down to Hordern’s for dinner. We pre ordered our wine earlier and were able to have our bottle of Petaluma 1998 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, decanted and ready for us at the table when we arrived. We did however start with a glass of champagne. An amuse bouche of brandade was bought out to us while we decided on what we would like for dinner.

For entree I had seared scallops, pea puree black pudding and red wine reduction I enjoyed very much.

Vikki is a sucker for any kind of twice cooked soufflé that involves cheese. The soufflé on this visit was made with goat cheese and gruyere two of her favourite cheeses.

For my main course, I chose the Victorian venison, parsnip puree and cassis jus. While I prefer my meats medium, in this instance I enjoyed it being slightly rarer. And of course a bowl of chunky pommes frites went well with it too.

Confit duck is something Vikki will choose 90% of the time she sees it on a menu,especially when truffles and puy lentils are involved. Her main was confit duck, Puy lentils with some spinach and truffle oil tossed through and a jus made from reduced duck stock.

For dessert I chose the cheese platter which had 3 cheeses, local honey, dried and fresh fruits and house made lavosh.

Vikki said she has gone off chocolate a little, but the four textures of chocolate sounded interesting to her so she decided to have it as her birthday cake.

After another delicious meal we headed back to our room for a nightcap of Saltram No. 1, 2005 vintage which we enjoyed by the fire.

A Touch of Luxury

Recently Vikki had a Saturday night off work so we decided to have a night in the city. After checking in to our room at the Hilton, we wandered around town looking at some stores we haven’t been in to together for a while.

Soon enough it was time for lunch and as we were in Martin Place, Intermezzo caught our eye. I have been several times for business lunches but this was Vikki’s first time.

After perusing the menu and wine list we ordered 2 glasses of Prosecco and shared beef carpaccio for entrée.

We both had pasta for our mains, I chose linguine with Western Australian Scampi, fresh vine ripened cherry tomatoes and chilli. 

Vikki opted for an entree sized pasta of house made pappardelle with trio of mushrooms, fresh ricotta and black truffle. Vikki said it was truly delicious, she likes a bit of truffle (ok, I admit she likes more than a bit of truffle). The fresh ricotta was amazing ( I snuck a bit when she wasn’t looking).

We then decided that as it was a special day that we would have some cannoli filled with sweet ricotta.

After lunch it was off to the shops again and then a quick rest at the hotel.  After easing our feet a little, we headed down to the executive lounge for a pre dinner cocktail and nibbles. Lovely fresh prawns and a few hot snacks got us fired back up again and ready to go out again.

Surprisingly the temperature had cooled a little so we headed for a whisky at The Baxter Inn. Located in a dark seedy laneway off Clarence Street and down a set of stairs, the Baxter Inn is like stepping back in time to the 1920’s. The Baxter Inn features a list of around 360 whiskies from all around the world. We decided on Bowmore Legend, as I had tried it on previous visit and enjoyed it. Armed with a bowl of pretzels we sat down to enjoy our whisky and people watch.

After our drink we headed out in to the night again and with no destination in mind we ambled down George Street and found ourselves in the Rocks. Walking past the former premises of Rockpool, I lamented the fact that we never went there while it was open. Imagine my surprise when Vikki told me they were open but had moved to the Burns Philp Building in Bridge Street. That made us head back south for a walk past.

After looking at the menu and noticing they had a bar menu we headed in.  

After sitting down and perusing the wine list we ordered two glasses of champagne. We only felt like a little bite to eat so decided on some caviar and blinis. After a bit of upselling from the very helpful waiter, we decided to try the Yasa caviar. Vikki is not really in to caviar normally, but she found this was sensational. 

Our waiter had given us the story of the brand and then told us how the brand representative showed them how to eat the caviar by placing a little on your hand to warm it up and then straight in to your mouth. We tried it and were pleasantly surprised at the difference in flavour as compared to having it cold. 

Yasa caviar is farmed in specially built aquaculture tanks and produced from Siberian sturgeon in the UAE, Yasa has the worlds largest and most technologically advanced aquaculture farms. Not only do they process the roe for caviar but the fish is also processed for the culinary market.

After our caviar and champagne it was time to head back to the Hilton and end our day with a night cap of a nice Bourdeaux from Cahteau Cantemerle.

.

Flying Fish, Pyrmont

A restaurant we have been wanting to go to for many years is Flying Fish in Pyrmont. We happened to be in need of dinner while we were in Pyrmont recently and decided to make our way over.

Flying Fish is located at the end of a heritage wharf, with views of the Harbour Bridge, Barangaroo, Balmain and the lower northshore. This makes for a dramatic backdrop to dinner as the sun sets and the city lights start turning on.

The heritage look is continued inside with the original dark beams incorporated in to the interior design. Dark woods are very much in evidence throughout the space and are softened by the crisp white tablecloths and the large modern painting along one wall. There is some seating outside as well, perfect for a sunny day.

After a look at the wine list we decided on a half bottle of Chablis from Domaine Louis Moreau. I am a bit picky with white wines and I really enjoyed this one.  

Choosing a main was easy for me, I had never tried Murray cod before, so that is what I decided to have. Great eating fish with a nice firm flesh. Vikki filled me in a bit about the Murray Cod. Mostly farmed now, it is a fresh water fish native to Australia and found in the Murray Darling River system. It can grow quiet large (largest ever caught was 1.8m and weighed  113kg). Considered an apex carnivore it will eat anything smaller than itself.  The population has been decimated due to the introduction of European species such as carp, over fishing and habitat degradation. 

Vikki had a lamb backstrap with whipped feta, lamb sausage and peas. Vikki loved the whipped feta and  is now wanting to try making it at home. We also ordered a leaf salad and hand cut chips. 

It was well worth the walk from the city to have dinner at Flying Fish and we look forward to dining there again in the future. 

Aanuka Beach Resort, Coffs Harbour

One of our favourite places to visit in N.S.W. is Coffs Harbour. We stay at the same place everytime because of its location and types of accomodation it has.

Aanuka Beach Resort is located about 3 minutes from the Big Banana, right on its own beach, Digger’s Beach. Designed with a Fijian/Island style, the resort features a mix of accommodation types, 1 and 2 bedroom spa bures and more family oriented apartment style accommodation. We always opt for a spa bure as it makes us feel as if we are on an island holiday.

The rooms feature a relaxed island resort style decor and are light and airy with lots of wood, white tones, island carvings, and pops of colour. All rooms contain a fold out sofa bed if there are more than 2 staying in a room. A basic kitchen (microwave, fridge, electric fry pan, kettle and toaster) is in each bure, some even have a 2 burner stove top. All feature a dining table next to the kitchenette and a lounge area with DVD and CD players. Each bure also has a washing machine and dryer.

The resort features two swimming pools, tennis courts, small gym and other leisure activities. Boogie boards are also available at reception for braving the waves. 

The resort also has a creek running through it that ends at the beach. This is a native habitat area and you will see bush turkeys wandering around the whole resort, kookaburras singing a song, the resident willy wag tail chasing anything bigger than its self, brazen sea gulls trying to steal your snacks and waterdragons sunning themselves where ever they find a nice spot.

The main building houses reception, a day spa, two restaurants and a bar. The resort also caters to functions with three dedicated function areas and a chapel for weddings. While we were there we saw two beach weddings take place. The Decks bar and restaurant faces directly on to the beach which is accessed across a lawn. Breakfast in Casay Restaurant is wonderful while watching the waves from your table and dinner as the sun sets is amazing.

Dinner at Casay is the equal of many Sydney restaurants. Seafood is locally sourced as Coffs Harbour has a good Fishermans Market. Much of the meat and poultry is also sourced from the north coast and inland.

Surf and turf with Ranger Valley beef fillet and Yamba king prawns.

Chargrilled pork cutlet with ratatouille ratatouille. Vikki said pork was fantastic, nicely charred but still moist and juicy.

For dinner on our second night, I had the locally caught snapper with Yamba prawns, rocket salad.

Char grilled pork cutlet, Thai stir fry vegetables and apple. Vikki had the pork again, she does love a bit of pork.

We skipped dessert as the mains were quite filling.

The rest of our trip we had room service, walked in to town for lunch, and went to the tasting of the restaurants new menu.

The rest of our time we relaxed, went for twice daily walks on the beach and to the top of the headland. From the head land you get a nice view in to the town centre, marina and out to the Solitary Islands.

Two shots looking back to the resort, one from on the beach and from the top of the headland.

Early morning fisherman on the beach.

Looking towards the marina and town centre to the right.

Most of our holidays we rush around but this time we relaxed, which made for a very enjoyable holiday. Just what we needed. Sometimes you just have to slow down and stick your toes in the sand.