CUCINA ESPRESSO - CONCORD, SYDNEY

Cucina Espresso
89 Majors Bay Rd,
Concord, Sydney

What an absolute pleasure it was to review this warm and friendly café restaurant in Concord. The area boasts a lot of eateries, so there is plenty of competition. We thought this one was a standout.

There is indoor and outdoor dining and on this beautiful day we chose to sit  outside.  Our waiter Joe presented the lunch menu and explained the choices. He’s full of knowledge and enthusiasm for the dishes on offer. Joe claims that he has complete confidence in the plates he puts on the table because they are all good. That’s a big call, so we were keen to start the taste test!

Co-owner Rocco tells us that they are now open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights and suggests we also try some items from the dinner menu. It was a short menu but it looked delicious so we gladly agreed. A taster of compressed watermelon with Persian feta, micro basil and mint dressing was presented. A very good start!

We started with a mixed crostini platter from the lunch menu and the zucchini flowers from the dinner menu. There was a wonderful assortment of toppings on the crostini and it looked so appealing that a passer-by asked us if she could take a photo! We loved the smoked salmon with goat cheese, rocket, pistachio, caper berries, Spanish onion, mashed avo and lime.  The pan-fried wild marinated mushrooms with goat cheese and thyme was great too.  In fact, they were all great. Now about the zucchini flowers…. we both rolled our eyes with delight when we tasted these. Filled with prawns, spinach and ricotta, they were juicy and tasty. The seasoning was spot-on and the light crispy tempura batter added crunch to the munch! We could have eaten a whole bunch of those flowers!

We followed with a salad called Insalata Prosciutto e Pera. which we grazed on with our mains. It was a pile of fresh baby rocket with prosciutto, tomatoes, Spanish onion, buffalo mozzarella, walnuts, pear and caramelised balsamic dressing. It was a winning combination and the prosciutto was top quality.

From the lunch menu, we eagerly chose Spaghetti al Gamberetti e Pinoli.

We were told this was a popular dish here and we can see why.

The al dente pasta was tossed in lovely garlic and olive oil with roasted pine nuts, chilli, parsley and big prawns. 

Yum!

From the dinner menu we chose the beef eye fillet. Grass fed Black Angus beef served with truffle infused wild mushrooms, potato gratin on top, and red wine reduction. It was a very thick cut, cooked perfectly medium-rare to order. So tender, so delicious. Rocco says the ingredients are all fresh and each meal is freshly-cooked. We didn’t need to wait long for our orders. The quality was obvious and people keep coming back here for that reason.

We thought we couldn’t possibly fit in dessert  but the Vanilla Bean Tarte Tatin from the dinner menu sounded too tempting. A warm pastry with pear, pecan, double cream and gorgeous decorative flowers arrived at the table. Almost too beautiful to touch but we managed to demolish the dish quickly. It was another eye-roller – the pastry was soaked in amazing crispy toffee.

Dame M loved this dish! She would count it as one of the best desserts she has ever experienced.  Dame K (an outstanding dessert cook herself) was also in love with it. Not outsourced, it was made on the premises and must be tasted to be believed!

Rocco and chef Carlo (who is the other co-owner) are brothers who have an Italian background and a talent for putting out great tasting food. They engage with their customers and even have regulars who come every week and ask simply to be fed whatever the chef wants to create. That must tell you something. The atmosphere here is casual and friendly. The dinner menu may be short, but it’s carefully selected because Carlo puts out his best (and seasonally fresh) choices which were good. We finished with a coffee from the selection. A Little Maronette blend (yes, they know their coffees)!

We have done a lot of reviews and we were both extremely impressed with Cucina Espresso. 

Would we go back? Yes, in a flash. In fact, the breakfast menu looks very tempting too. ….

Those Dames, who do reviews for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of Cucina Espresso. Big thanks to owners Rocco and Carlo for their hospitality, charm and great food.

 

WOK CHOW - CONCORD, SYDNEY

Wok Chow
92 Majors Bay Rd
Concord, Sydney

The area has predominantly Italian and Greek eating houses, so this modern Asian jewel in the crown of Concord is one you must treat yourself to. On approach, you are immediately drawn in by the upbeat feel of the place with its heated outdoor area and stylish decor. We were greeted at the door and shown through the open dining room to a cosy booth table. The place has a great vibe, decorated in warm Asian murals and black contrasts with a vibrantly lit and funky cocktail bar.

The menu looks great and there is a tempting specials board. Owner Phil explained the dishes we were interested in, the specials and their ingredients in some detail.

Johnny at the bar suggested we try the cocktail of the day, which was a raspberry martini.  That sounded too good to pass up and it was truly delectable.

Although the choice was tough, we decided on the Pork and Prawn Dumplings and Chow Fan Noodles to start with.

The dumplings were very tasty and came served in a light soy sauce.

The delicious Chow Fan Noodles were rolled rice noodle topped with a slightly sweet sesame sauce.

We loved them both.

Then our mains arrived.

Our first main was the lovely Salt and Pepper king prawns. We were advised that these are a very popular dish at Wok Chow and we could easily see why.

They were so crispy on the outside and yet stayed succulent and tender inside.

They were quite a treat.

The Peking Duck Breast Pancakes did not disappoint either. This was a great share dish which you assemble yourself from the generous serving of crispy-skinned duck, shallots, cucumber and hoisin sauce. So delicious.

We witnessed the golden house-cooked duck coming out of the oven and being sliced for this dish so we know it isn’t outsourced!












The Black Pepper and Garlic Beef in a hot pot was simply melt-in-the-mouth and full of flavor. We loved this dish! Now although we don’t get too excited about fried rice, Phil persuaded us to give it a try. It was wonderful stuff and it tasted very different. We realised it had less oil and plenty of fresh herbs, making it an exceptional fried rice. In fact, the freshness of the ingredients really shone through in all the food.

As we just couldn’t manage dessert,  we ordered a lovely cappuccino.  The staff are very accommodating here and go out of their way to give the diners what they want. Specialty teas on offer can be blended to your individual taste, a sort of mix and match option.

With a little notice, Phil and his team can even put on a special banquet for your group if you crave a certain something and it’s not on the menu. (Think mud crab or salt and pepper lobster!)

At the end of the evening we were very happy and both agreed we would be back for more. It’s a top quality stylish eatery with a lot to offer.

Even the staff come back and dine here when they are not working, which says a lot. Fully licensed but also BYO wine if you prefer, Wok Chow seats around 40 inside and the same outside. It's open from 5pm until late every day and also do a popular take away trade too.

Newsflash: Wok Chow hosts a Mingles Night (singles and friends) every Tuesday evening with $10 cocktails and $5 wines to help break the ice! Other theme nights are also regularly featured.

BBQ and Hot Pot tables are also available for groups of 6 or more when booked in advance.


Those Dames, who are now doing reviews for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of Wok Chow. Thanks to owner Phil together with Maggie and Johnny for their warm and welcoming service and thanks also to head chef Jian Li and his team who make the kitchen sparkle. Special thanks also to Jo Lincoln from  redesignIT for arranging this visit.

 

THE SCHNITZEL KITCHEN - CONCORD, SYDNEY

The Schnitzel Kitchen
82 Majors Bay Rd
Concord, Sydney

The schnitzel - in Europe its a staple, in Australia schnitty is typical at the pub.Not at The Schnitzel Kitchen (TSK) where schnitzel is the specialty.

Inspired by the owner Frank Ribosa, TSK breathes schnitzel and offers traditional schnitzel, and on-trend with Sydneysiders desire to try something new and unique, offers specialty schnitzel such as kangaroo, wagyu beef, Greek lamb and more.

We walked in to TSK and instantly felt welcome. It's a family owned restaurant with a great vibe - everyone was chilled and happy. The industrial feel of the decor made TSK ooze modernity. At TSK the entrees were Spanish tapas inspired, all the schnitzel main meals are customisable - choose your schnitzel: traditional or TSK specialty, add either a topping or a sauce, and a side. The Schnitzel Kitchen is licensed so they also had wine, cocktails, spirits and sangria jugs on the menu.

The Schnitzel Kitchen has a real Spanish influence, with one of the head chefs (girlfriend of owner Frank) of Spanish background. Frank explained that the combination of Spanish entrees, delicious schnitzel and a family feel restaurant meant that he had many local regulars, but his specialty schnitzel was bringing in visitors from all over Sydney, just to try.

While we perused the menu Duke ordered a Barwand Shiraz from NSW and Duchess ordered what Frank described as a "mean" Long Island Iced Tea. Both came quickly and the Long Island Iced Tea was spot on - perfectly balanced and definitely "mean". We were eager to try a Spanish inspired tapas entree and ordered the chicken croquettes Spanish style - chicken, egg, onion in a bechamel sauce rolled in panko breadcrumbs.

The croquettes arrived and they were delicious - the crispy outside was perfection, Duke was a big fan. Cutting into the croquettes we knew they were cooked well - we’ve had croquettes in Spain before, and these were strong rivals! The centre was a beautiful texture, soft and piping hot. They really were an authentic Spanish recipe.


While we perused the menu Duke ordered a Barwand Shiraz from NSW and Duchess ordered what Frank described as a "mean" Long Island Iced Tea. Both came quickly and the Long Island Iced Tea was spot on - perfectly balanced and definitely "mean". We were eager to try a Spanish inspired tapas entree and ordered the chicken croquettes Spanish style - chicken, egg, onion in a bechamekl sauce rolled in panko breadcrumbs.

The croquettes arrived and they were delicious - the crispy outside was perfection, Duke was a big fan. Cutting into the croquettes we knew they were cooked well - we’ve had croquettes in Spain before, and these were strong rivals! The centre was a beautiful texture, soft and piping hot. They really were an authentic Spanish recipe.

Duke loved the golden colour of his schnitzel, and that his sauce was on the side. He said the chicken was tender, and the crumbs were really the perfect complement.

The jager sauce had a distinctly strong taste but was not overpowering, and the mash was creamy and smooth.

Duke was very satisfied and really enjoyed his hearty feed.

Duchess’ Greek Lamb specialty schnitzel was the highlight of the night. The crust had oregano, and there was a layer of fetta cheese between the crust and the lamb, which was cooked to perfection. The huge schnitzel came with lemon, which drizzled over the crust added that bit more flavour and moisture. The Greek salad side was delicious, too. It was the perfect complement to add freshness to the dish, with huge chunks of fetta, ripe tomatoes and a zesty dressing. It was a satisfying and fresh dish and best without sauce.

Even though we were so full, we couldn't look past the Spanish churros for dessert.

We couldn't decide between chocolate or caramel sauce, so we had both!

We got three large churros, and they arrived at the table piping hot, very fresh, and had a perfect crunchy outside and soft inside.

They were coated in cinnamon and icing sugar, they smelled fantastic.

The churros felt and tasted very authentic. After tasting both sauces, we preferred the caramel - it was creamy and full of flavour.























The Schnitzel Kitchen was a great experience - delicious schnitzel teamed with Spanish inspired dishes. The servings are huge so make sure you’re coming here with a big appetite! And for those that are gluten free, you can order a naked schnitzel with no crumbs.

Duke and Duchess, who are now doing reviews for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of The Schnitzel Kitchen. A big thanks to Frank for looking after us, and the chefs who did a wonderful job.

ANTOINES GRILL - CONCORD, SYDNEY

Antoine's Grill
112 Majors Bay Rd
Concord, Sydney

Antoine's Grill is a lovely French restaurant situated in the rapidly growing food district of Concord. Owned by chef Antoine Moscovitz and his partner Sam, it provides a modern take on traditional French cuisine. Antoine has an impressive list of achievements -  he cooked under world renowned chef Alain Ducasse at La Cour Jardin in Paris and was appointed private chef to the House of Roederer Cristal Champagne. In Sydney he was at Salt restaurant with Luke Mangan and Bather’s Pavilion at Balmoral Beach with Serge Dansereau.

Antoine's Grill is a long narrow room that has the charm of a Parisienne restaurant with authentic decorations from Antoine's grandmothers collection adorning the walls. It has charm and warmth and makes you feel like you've been transported to France.

We started with a "le fournil" baguette that arrived at our table still hot and crisp on the outside but soft on the inside.

The lovely butter that sat in a small pot on the board went perfectly.

Throw in a nice drop of Morgon Beaujolais from Domaine Lathuiliere-Gravallon - a winery founded in 1822 and you have a wonderful start to a French cuisine journey.

We were about to embark on the degustation and we were greeted with our first dish.

This was grilled Yamba tiger prawns with green papaya and creamy feta served with gazpacho.

The thick juicy prawn pieces arrived in a bowl which then had the cold gazpacho poured on it.

The whole combination was lovely.

The next delicacy to arrive were scallops with baby carrot, carrot puree and foie gras.

The plump juicy scallops were beautifully cooked with a light touch that preserved the flavour and texture.

The sweet carrot puree went nicely and the lovely baby carrot garnish added a playful touch - and we'd never seen one this small before!

Then we had one of the signature dishes from Antoine's Grill - deboned quail on a bed of spinach all nestled on top of a puree of almond cauliflower.

The delicate quail was again lightly cooked which kept it moist and juicy and the blend of flavours all combined beautifully.

Nothing overpowered anything in this dish - it was perfectly balanced!

A lovely plate of wild mushroom and black truffle risotto with mint mousse arrived next.

The earthiness of the wild mushrooms and black truffle went so well with the risotto.

The light taste of the mint mousse added another playful touch to the appearance and taste of the whole dish.

We then had a lovely serving of crispy skinned barramundi with potato fondant and preserved lemon.

The pureed preserved lemon was a delicious partner to the salmon.

Fortunately, the skin lived up to it's billing of being crispy as well - as not every place does end up achieving this! The fish was also cooked perfectly.

We then had some lovely beef fillet that was so tender and so nicely cooked.

I was lucky enough to also have this topped with a pork rib - to sample this as well. The pork simply melted - it was so tender and fell off the bone!

The quality of the plating of the dishes we had was exceptional - and matched with the tastes and textures of the food! And we were filling up!

A good meal needs a good dessert to finish it off - and the Café gourmand on the menu is this and more! What a selection! It comes with a miniature lemon tart, chocolate vanilla profiterole, Baileys scented crème brûlée, chocolate velvet fondant and a deconstructed cheese cake. It was all delicious and quite a big finale to the meal in taste and quantity.

We also managed to sample their miniature "magnums" which were simply fantastic.

We'd spied some lovely "egg carton like" dishes going past at different times during the night and it turned out to be a great selection of creme brulees.

Even though we were almost bursting by now we decided that we just had to try them.

The "six pack" - or creme brulee six ways - has six varieties of creme brulee - caramel, chocolate, lemon marshmallows, orange, bourbon vanilla and quince. If you love brulee - like we do - you'll be in brulee heaven with this dish!

A garnish of a hollowed out egg shell on a nest turned out to be more than a decoration. The nest the egg was perched on was in fact a light delicate fairy floss. What a great finish to an amazing meal!

Sam and Antoine Moscovitz

If you love your food then Antoine's Grill is going to surprise and delight you. The quality shines through. It has become so popular they have now expanded - catering for intimate meals right through to larger groups (in their private dining room).

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Antoine's Grill. Special thanks to Sam and Antoine. Thanks also to Thomas, Zahra and David for looking after us on our visit.

BAYWOK - CONCORD, SYDNEY

Baywok
61 Majors Bay Rd
Concord, Sydney

In a busy little eating district in Concord, Baywok has managed to transform itself from many years as a good solid local Thai restaurant into what is now a unique and very good modern Asian restaurant. Owners Rob and Dan Galati and chef Ubon Arnold have created something special here - it's a new modern Asian fusion sensation.

We started with one of the specials of the day from the Dinner Specials board just inside the front door. The crispy Barramundi with shredded apple, pomelo and pomegranate salad.

They came in a serving of three and after having one each we almost fought over who got the third one - they were that nice! They were lightly cooked so the moisture in the fish was retained. They were actually a decent size for an entrée item as well and only $18.00.

Our next entrée was the Thai fish cakes. Yes, we've all had Thai fish cakes and we kind of know what to expect every time as there isn't much variation or difference. Well these actually were fish cakes with a difference! They were made with swordfish purchased fresh from the markets by the owner (as they always are each and every week). The fish was then used in these tasty morsels in chunks rather than being completely puréed.

As a result you could still see the fish in the fish cakes and the use of fresh swordfish added even more to the dish. These were lovely with a great blend of flavours that combined perfectly and didn't overpower each other and they certainly weren't chewy or rubbery.

These chunky juicy plump fish cakes with lemongrass, coriander and crunchy onion come in a serving of four for only $11.90.

Once we saw the betel leaves on the menu were were always going to have at least one each. In this case they were our third entrée to arrive (yes we were indulging a bit) and even though we still had several main courses to come we were very tempted to have seconds each - they were that good.

The betel leaves were beautiful, heart shaped leaves that you could order with either seafood or vegetarian filling.

We had the seafood option which had lemongrass, prawn, peanut, dried coconut. Amazing and such good value at only $3.00 each.

They were so fresh and crisp with a great combination of both flavours and textures with the soft delicate leaf contrasting nicely with the crunch of the dried coconut and peanut. .



If you go to Baywok you may well bring some wine of your own - as it's BYO - but it's well worth trying the bamboo mixed berry green tea.

It's extremely refreshing and none of the flavours overpower the others and we found it quite addictive. It was also a nice accompaniment to the food as well. We're not sure about the price but it wouldn't be much as everything here is reasonably priced.

We then moved on to the main courses. The shredded snow pea salad isn't something I'd normally order but WOW - this was a killer dish and for me one of the best salad dishes I'd ever had! It had shredded snow peas, red onion, dried coconut, palm sugar, chilli jam and red curry dressing with seared scallops and wild caught Australian prawns. Every bit of this dish was sublime and every last bit of it was finished - including the remaining sauce in the bowl. What a winner at $22.00. 

We love massaman dishes - mostly beef to be honest for Mlady - while I'm comfortable with anything as there's a trend these days towards using lamb quite a bit, particularly shanks.

The massaman was described in the menu as slow cooked massaman beef cheeks with potato and sweet potato.

The meat fell apart when cut and melted in your mouth - as good massaman should - but this was extremely tender and had clearly been slow cooked for a long time. It came with a side of steamed jasmine rice - as all curry dishes here do.

The massaman flavours were really good too, solid but not overpowering, and the serving size was extremely generous for the $17.90 price.

The finale for our meal was the home made papaya cheesecake.

It was a lovely finish with nice sweetness and good texture. Mlady described it as thick and creamy and oh so yummy!

\The papaya went well too and provided some nice linkage to the modern Asian food for Baywok.

Dan Galati

Every meal was crunchy, crisp, fresh, incredibly flavoursome and extremely appetising. Definitely try the shredded snow pea salad - even if you aren't a salad person. Service was excellent and the food arrived at good intervals. There's a nice relaxed feel to the place with rustic wooden tables and comfy bench cushions. Baywok is well worth visiting.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Baywok and Rob and Dan Galati.