Last night was interesting. The 2013 Age Good Food Guide Winners were announced. The winners and hatted restaurants are listed here. Not many surprises however I was intrigued to see that Cutler & Co has only two hats yet Australian Gourmet Traveller ranks it as #4 in Australia, and #1 in Victoria.
Congratulations to Vue de monde for winning Restaurant of the Year.
Whilst the restaurant awards were being announced, Germaine Greer was bagging out Julia Gillard's appearance again on Q&A. Love her or hate her, she is still the Prime Minister of Australia and deserves to have the debate not include her jackets and arse. Too bad the Grocon protests on Lonsdale Street were not taking place yesterday morning as it would have been given cause for some more intelligent discussion however with Bill Shorten on the program next week, perhaps it is indeed timely.
I visited my "local" The Waiting Room last week. This is Neil Perry's lounge bar that is located in the lobby of the Crown Hotel at the Queensbridge Street entrance. I go in there rather often and I was a bit shocked to see all but one of the staff have turned over. I have always been under the assumption that The Waiting Room should be called "The Training Room" as the staff seem to make an exodus to the other Neil Perry restaurants (Spice Temple, Rockpool Bar & Grill and soon to be Rosetta) next door after putting in their time at this place.
The service is still very flash and professional. I crave the chicken adobo taco and pulled beef shoulder taco that is on the menu and frequently turn up to have them, along with conversation and either one of the unique imported beers in a bottle or the Lord Nelson Three Sheets (a tradition and my personal favourite from my days living in Sydney) on tap.
The new barman informed me that I should get my fill of the favourites that I dream about because the menu is changing soon. I was horrified. Although he could not tell me anything more as I do not think he had any more information to share, I believe it will be modified to begin to showcase some of the offerings at Rosetta, which is the Italian restaurant that is currently under construction next door. I suppose I should not fret since they are not taking the Lord Nelson off tap and I can always make my own chicken adobo tacos or go to Senoritas but it is still disappointing to hear.
Service will catch your wandering eye quickly and attend to your professional requests promptly and thoughtfully. I always do keep an eye out for the mysterious 10% surcharge that is supposedly added to the bill when you pay, which I am told is optional, which other people have complained about but to this day and probably fifteen visits later, I have never had this surcharge applied. Perhaps it is a "tourist" or "drunken idiot" surcharge since the bar is attached to the Crown after all and does attract a transient mob of guests at times. Just be wary.
My original review of The Waiting Room and the chicken adobo taco recipe can be found here.
The Waiting Room
Link to review
Crown Entertainment Complex
(03) 8379 1800
www.crownmelbourne.com.au/The-Waiting-Room
My Rating: 14.5/20
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Quality: 4/5
Value For Money: 3/5
Comment: Lord Nelson Three Sheets on tap
Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com
At the time of post, 88% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon also like The Waiting Room.
After I signed the lease for my unit in Southbank, I wanted a refreshing beer to take the edge off. I had just removed around $8k from my savings account and signed my life away to live in a city where I knew only a few people both professionally and personally. Given the majority of my friends are in Sydney, I knew it would be an interesting year to say the least and now that I am coming up on the three month anniversary to the day since I relocated from Sydney, I have not regretted it once. I still reflect back fondly on the day of the lease signing and then almost by fate stumbling across The Waiting Room located inside the Crown Casino complex on the Queensbridge Street side.
Over the year I received the monthly newsletter from the Rockpool Group and I read about The Waiting Room however I was never too inspired since I just thought of it as a bar at the casino. In fact when I stumbled into it on the first fateful day, I didn't even know I was in The Waiting Room and just another sideshow unnamed casino bar off the entrance to the area where you check-in to the hotel in the foyer.
I was quickly greeted by the enthusiastic and friendly staff and opted to take up residence at a barstool since I was drinking on my own sadly this day. I immediately noticed that they have my favourite beer on tap, Lord Nelson Three Sheets, which is a Sydney iconic micro-beer and flogged mainly at the Lord Nelson Hotel Brewery in The Rocks. The Lord Nelson was my "local" whilst living in Sydney and I was very excited to say the least to see it on tap in this bar. I spent four hours in this bar drinking and telling tale tales. I felt like the the staff at this place were the first to welcome me to the neighbourhood.
Over the next few days and weeks I would return to The Waiting Room with other purveyors of the fine food and drink. Neil Perry has put together a very interesting bar meal that is mexican-influenced. Most notable is the chicken adobo taco which compliments the Lord Nelson Three Sheets very well. The spicy chicken wings and calamari are also winners. They even manage to put together a chicken mole taco that is actually pretty special. The reviewers on Urbanspoon seem to agree with my positive feelings for this place too.
After visiting the Essential Ingredient in Prahran earlier in the week, I picked up some cans of chipotle chillies in adobo sauce. They also flog proper corn tortillas so my intention was to re-create the chicken adobo tacos that were being sold at The Waiting Room. I came across the recipe on the Sydney Morning Herald website strangely and was saddened to learn you need a pressure cooker to make this concoction. As I do not own one, I went back to basics. I poached 500g of chicken breast in a wok for a little over an hour. I then added the chicken breast and the can of adobo and chipotle chillies in a bowl and cut and mixed everything together. I then crushed up two two avocados and lightly grilled the tortillas. I spread the avocado on the grilled tortilla and then added the shredded chicken with adobo and chipotle chillies. It turned out to be one of the easiest taco dishes that I have ever made and one of the most tasty by far. Who needed Neil's recipe and the pressure cooker. Ingenuity and common sense wins again in the end.
I was also surprised to learn that Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant was destroyed because of an arson attack some time ago. I always wondered why this place was no longer trading and how Tobie Puttock ended up on My Kitchen Rules. It follows in the dark shadow cast by the owners of the Swagman Restaurant burning it down in 1991. Such colourful trivia to know in Melbourne does make my day a bit more interesting.
Part of being a well rounded epicurean, or to use a cricket term, an "all rounder" (which Shane Watson is not) means that you need to be able to cook food and prepare beverages at the same standard that you come to expect in decent restaurants. In the case of Beppi's in Sydney you really only need to learn to eat with rodents off the floor and hold your stomach in pain all night but for us civilised epicureans we demand quality, cleanliness and of course taste.
On occasion, I decide to cook. Yesterday was a good day as I was awaiting feedback from a client who is travelling. Also it is raining raining in Melbourne, what better way to spend the afternoon than cooking, drinking and telling tall tales.
After experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to Peking Duck and proper pancakes in and around Sydney and Melbourne, around a month ago I undertook a task to make the dish myself. My first attempt was spot on, so yesterday I attempted my second one and in conjunction with the epicurean emo, a suitable amount of food was prepared and beverages consumed. My offering will be inspired by the Flower Drum in Melbourne and also what surprisingly is served at Mr Chow's Chinese Restaurant in Millers Point Sydney.
Anticipating the "day of the duck" I ventured to the Costco in Docklands to purchase a bird. I was very disappointed to discover that they sold out. I wandered around New Quay and Docklands only to be told by many shop keepers that they do not sell duck. One had no idea what a butcher was and one thought I was crazy.
Sadly for my savings account, this meant that I need to make a journey to the Prahran Markets. I really fancy these markets especially since there is an Essential Ingredient in the complex. I tend to go a bit mad around all of the fresh produce however I I vowed to keep focused and get what is required for the relaxing lunch and dinner and home and even went so far as to leave the credit cards at home so that Gail Kelly did not end up winning in the end.
I found a 2.5kg duck from the poultry butcher. The wrapper vaguely reminded me of the one that is sold at Costco however for $22, it was good value. The last duck that I purchased was a mere 2.2kg runt but I believe i paid around $16.
Some yellow fin tuna was purchased from the fishmonger. Lunch will be a yellow fin tuna tartare that is inspired by one of my many visits to FINS Restaurant in Kingscliff on the Tweed Coast of NSW. I always joked when I would frequent this restaurant that it was my favourite restaurant in Queensland. The servers would would bemused and advise me that I was in NSW, just south of the Queensland border. I would respond and say "exactly" and give a wry smile. For those that live in Queensland, including my learned friend that attended Movida with me, we know that the fine food and beverage scene has indeed evolved in Queensland (Brisbane) over the last few years but it still has a fair way to go. I would always look forward to by periodic jaunts across the border into NSW to attend FINS and enjoy everything on offer, multiple times, whilst living in Brisbane. Lunch is inspired by their tuna tartare entry which I would eat not only as an entry but also as a dessert. It is just so good! Now I am motivated to book a flight to Byron and get my arse back there to celebrate the new season. It is hard to leave Melbourne though unless I really have to.
The following is a timeline on how I went about preparing this duck.
11:15 AM - Undertake a journey to the Prahran Market. Enjoy a bottle of Asahi. Purchase a duck and other ingredients. I also ventured into the Essential Ingredient to pick up some corn tortillas and adobo for some tacos that I intend to make tomorrow.
12:30 PM - Open another Asahi and commence the preparation of the duck. The full recipe includes:
- A 2.2kg-2.5kg duck
- (4) tablespoons of honey
- (4) tablespoons of sherry
- (1) tablespoon of white vinegar
- Spring onions
- Sesame oil
- Hoisin sauce
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- (2) tablespoons of corn flour
- 1/4 cup milk
- (2) eggs
- (2) tablespoons of butter
- Remove the duck from the package and clean it with warm water,
- Fill a wok with six (6) cups of water and bring it to a boil,
- Add four (4) tablespoons of honey, four (4) tablespoons of sherry and one (1) tablespoon of white vinegar and allow the mixture to boil for a minute,
- cut the tips of the wings (at the elbow) off of the duck and dispose of the parts,
- Place the duck, breast side down in the wok. Spoon the liquid over the top of the duck and continue the task for about 10 minutes. This allows the duck to become moist and absorb the sherry, honey and a little of the white vinegar,
- Turn the duck over and let the back of the duck rest in the wok for a few minutes,
- Remove the duck and hang it up so it can dry. As I can not conveniently hang the duck up anywhere in my kitchen, I let it rest in a large bowl. If you are able to hang it up, do so. Make sure that all of the water is out of the cavity,
- Let the duck dry for around six (6) hours.
6:30 PM - Preheat the oven to 180c. Fill a drip tray or drip pan with about 5cm of water. Grease a baking rack with olive or canola oil. Place the drip pan or drip tray at the bottom of the oven. Place the duck breast-side up on the baking rack and place in the oven above the drip pan and begin baking the beast. The idea is that as the duck cooks, it will drip into the tray. The added water in the tray will keep the oven very humid and the duck thus moist. Bake the duck in this position for 40 minutes.
6:35 PM - Cut the tips off of the spring onions and then cut the stalks off of the actual onion. Cut the onions lengthwise twice so each onion will result into four thinner onions. Place some ice cubes and water into a bowl and place the cut spring onions in the ice water and place in the refrigerator.
6:45 PM - Time to make the pancakes.
- Combine the flour, corn flour, 1/4 cup water, milk, eggs and (1) tablespoon of butter in a food processor and process the mixture until it is smooth. Pour into a jug and let stand covered for 15 minutes.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brush in the remaining (1) tablespoon of butter. Pour a tablespoon of the batter into the frying pan and spread it to form a pancake. Cook for 2 minutes and flip and then cook for another 1 minute. Repeat this process until all of the batter has been used.
7:10 PM - Flip the duck on the tray. Be mindful that when you pull out the baking tray the duck will no doubt drip on the floor so pull the drip tray and the baking tray out at the same time to avoid a mess. Let the duck bake with its breast down for 30 minutes. Continue to make pancakes. Drink a beer.
7:40 PM - Flip the duck yet again. It should be breast-side up now. Drink a beer.
7:45 PM - In a bowl, add equal parts of hoisin sauce and sesame oil and mix. Depending on how you prefer the taste, you may want to add a bit of water to the sauce however experiment until you find a consistency that you fancy.
8:10 PM - Inspect the duck. It should be golden brown by now. It would be wise to keep an eye on the duck after you flip it the second time as all ovens act a bit differently. Once the duck turns golden brown, it is time to remove it from the oven. Open another beer and begin the process of carving the duck.
8:30 PM - You should now have a carved duck, pancakes, a hoisin/sesame sauce and after removing the spring onions from the refrigerator, you can combine all of the ingredients into the pancakes and have an awesome dinner.
I was distracted by the beverages and the awesomeness of the duck so I forgot to take photos this time. The photos below are from the same recipe and process from when I tried this originally last month:
