Cookbookmaniac
  • Efendy in Balmain – Lamb Testicles… to eat or not to eat?
    Efendy in Balmain – Lamb Testicles… to eat or not to eat?
    Asian Restaurant Reviews

    "Efendy means 'Gentleman' in old Turkish. It is commonly used to describe people with traditional upbringing adopting modern views" During the Easter break I was invited to attend a food bloggers dinner event at Efendy by Simon Leong of Simon Food Favourites. The purpose of the evening was to introduce and highlight the cuisine of one of the most ancient capitals: Istanbul. I do not know much about Turkish food. My knowledge of it doesn't extend further than Turkish Delight and what is offered at the kebab shop. So, I was quite excited to attend and sample some new things. The evening was hosted by Asli and Somer Sivrioglu. The elegant Asli dined with us, whilst the jovial Somer attended to the kitchen. We sampled many wonderful dishes and had quite a few eye-opening moments too. *wink wink* We were treated to: * Three cold mezes * Three hot mezes…

  • Plan B by Becasse – Wagyu Burgers
    Plan B by Becasse – Wagyu Burgers
    Australian Restaurant Reviews

    I have a growing desire to work closer to home. I currently live approximately an hour away from Sydney CBD and use to happily travel the distance everyday for many years. I no longer have the patience to be going back and forth for such long periods of time so frequently. Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of not working in the city is missing out on establishments like Plan B. Plan B is the off-shoot, miniature cafe of Becasse, the main posh restaurant is just next door. It's only open Monday to Friday, 9to5. Grrrr. This is an absolute bummer for a wagyu-obsessed foodie like myself. Plan B serve a much applauded 600-day grass-fed Wagyu Beef Burger. Ever since I read about it in the Sydney Morning Heralds Good Food Guide 2010, I have been daydreaming about when I make pilgrimage to the teeny-tiny cafe. I took a planned day-off…

  • Ichi Ban Boshi – Return of the old favourite
    Asian Restaurant Reviews

    It's a Friday night and two days before Pizzaboy's birthday. We always eat out on Friday evenings, it's our favourite method of winding down from our mundane 9to5 jobs. "It's my birthday weekend, does that mean I can choose where we eat tonight?" "Ok, but it has to be somewhere I haven't blogged." "That's not fair. I guess Menya is out of the question?" "We've been to Menya 5 times since I blogged about it, choose somewhere different." "Ichi Ban Boshi?" "Ok!" Two thumbs up. Ichi Ban Boshi was our favourite Friday night haunt before we discovered Menya. It's located next to our favourite book shop, Kinokuniya. Pizzaboy is a comic book geek. I'm a cookbook nerd. Kinokuniya is our home away from home. It's very easy for us to shop for our books and then cross the hall to have our much loved end-of-the-week meal. Ichi Ban Boshi has…