A Real Find – Cafe Ish in Sydney
Posted By Ric Vatner on February 7, 2010
I had my first full day off for 2010 yesterday. It was great! It was totally unplanned but aren’t they the best days?
Best Deals Australia Promo Video
I was still exhausted after having had such a busy return to work last month (January) and I while I had planned to prepare for the debate I was in last Wednesday during the previous weekend we ended up spending all day Saturday editing the new promo video for Best Deals Australia which you can see on www.estv.com.au. So I spent all Sunday till 2 am and Monday and Tuesday night working on it instead.
I allowed a couple of hours on Saturday for editing the video but of course it took much longer and Asish, who was doing the editing, was leaving to go overseas for his holiday the next day so we had to get it finished. Asish was one of the first cameramen / editors to join ESTV when we started and is always a pleasure to work with.
We had intended to make two videos out of the shoot but that would have taken a lot longer and we were both tired after hours of editing and creating material to be inserted into the video. When we realized the whole video was just under the allowable 10 minute limit we were ecstatic and decided to call it a day. So the video is a little long but I think it really gets to the nub of why businesses should participate in Best Deals Australia.
The Restaurant Find of the Year – You Have to Try This Place
Around 4 O’clock on Friday afternoon Anthony and I were planning our strategy for February when a friend rang to see if I was free for a coffee. That was when I realized how tired I was and I thought an early mark would be just the pick-me-up I needed so I said “definitely”. But as it turned out she didn’t arrive until 6pm so we decided to have an early dinner instead.
We went to a little café in Campbell St Surry Hills that I have often seen when I park my car but never had a chance to visit. I didn’t realize that it had recently changed hands but we both agreed it was the find of the year. For my part, and speaking purely about the food, I doubt I will find any place better this year. I hope you have a chance to try it.
It’s called Café Ish and the food is incredible and very reasonably priced (It cost just $80 for the two of us). The menu is Australian / Japanese but most of the dishes are original creations of the chef who is Australian.
We had a beautiful cheese and garlic damper as an entree which is a type of bread that Aussie Swagmen cook in a Billy tin over a camp fire. It was crispy on the outside and hot and soft on the inside just as it should be but the cheese and garlic made it into a really tasty gourmet bread.
Next we had crumbed crocodile tail and pork ribs in a soy sauce marinate. Crocodile is a white meat and looks just like chicken. I expected it to be the colour of duck meat or darker. It was delicious but while I enjoyed the batter which was lightly cooked and crispy, it made it hard to fully appreciate the crocodile meat.
The ribs were cooked to perfection and the sauce clung to them like honey. The ribs came in a big bowl and we had to order another (plain) damper to dip into the sauce that was left because we just couldn’t waste it.
We also had a separate bowl of fries (I love chips and they were a luxury because I’m on a diet and haven’t had any since before Christmas). As chips go these ones were perfect. They were crispy, tasty and make you wonder how something so perfect got on the list of things to avoid.
For desert we had crispy red bean spring rolls and home made vanilla ice cream. The sweet crispy spring rolls were nice but the ice cream was divine. (That sounds so wanky but it was so what can I say). We also had a green tea Panna cotta with a home made butterscotch sauce. It was smooth and full of flavour yet very light and the green tea gave it a very pleasant aftertaste. But the ice cream was the clear winner.
So, what an end to the week. I went home happy and relaxed and I know where I will take my next date. When I woke up on Saturday I was still feeling wonderful so I decided to take advantage of it by taking Saturday off as well. Does a good meal affect you the same way?
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