July 12, 2015

Japanese Like No Other - Niji Double Bay

Seafood would have to be my favourite food in the world, any style, and in particular, Japanese; because I love how they can keep it fresh and simple. Yet, there is so much flavour that keeps me excited. 

One of my beautiful girlfriend's and I went to try out Niji Restaurant and Bar at Double Bay on Saturday night and "wow" seriously doesn't give the place the justice that it deserves. We were greeted with a smile and taken to our table to have a look over the cocktail menu where I ordered "The 21" - this delightful drink consisted of sloe gin, choya umeshu, luxardo maraschino and bitters. 
Can never say no to oysters

The manager then came over to see how we were going with the menu and asked if there was anything in particular that we wanted OR would we prefer to have an experience…. That was it for me; a Japanese food experience is music to my ears, well, to my stomach. So, an experience we decided on and left it to Niji to show us their fabulous world.

Words cannot describe the amazing journey that we went on; we started off with some amazing oysters, swam with melt-in-your mouth sashimi, diced tuna, sushi (sorry, can't remember which one but was still amazing), my all time favourite scallops, agedashi tofu and then waygu beef.





All this food was superbly finished off with the chef's dessert choice and what a fabulous choice he made; there was green tea moochi, chocolate lava cake and a berry sobert. I'm not normally a sobert kinda girl, but this one was so good that I couldn't stop eating it; practically licked the plate!



Niji isn't totally new, they have been around making a name for themselves in Kingsford with their original sushi bar. However, Niji at Double Bay is different and the decor is warm and inviting; the staff are friendly and ever so helpful, offering great recommendations and knowledge to the menu. 

We finished the night full but light at the same time; that is what is so fabulous about Japanese food. You can eat quite a bit but because the food is light you don't feel heavy afterwards. 


Thank you Niji for a fabulous night and thank you for giving us a great experience; we will definitely be back for sure!

Jo x

Niji Restaurant and Bar
21 Bay Street,
Double Bay NSW 2028
Tel: 02) 8095 9508

July 05, 2015

Kepos & Co.

Last Sunday my cousin and I went to check out the Senasian event at Mojo by Luke Mangan. But before going to indulge in some sweet sweet desserts by Black Star Pastry, Katherine Sabbath and N2, we decided to have brunch at the new Kepos & Co. It's the new restaurant opened by Michael Rantissi who also owns Kepos St Kitchen located in Redfern. 

Kepos & Co. is located in Waterloo inside a little hideaway. The styling keeps to its traditional middle eastern theme with the inside beautifully decorated with stunning tiles and exposed bricks and amazing lighting. The menu is completely different to what is offered at Kepos St Kitchen which makes it hard to decide which of the restaurants you will want to go to as both are amazing and unique in its own way. 

Exploring the menu with our coffee
The stunning lighting
You can see the chefs cooking through the exposed brick wall
Sunday serves brunch between the hours of 9am - 3pm. We started of with a coffee whilst we explored the brunch menu trying to decide what we wanted; it was hard as everything sounded so tasty. Looking around at dishes coming out to other tables also gave us food envy which also made it hard for us to choose. 

We settled on ordering a couple of dishes and sharing. We had ordered the Pide stuffed with sujuk, picked chilies, kashkaval cheese and kalamata olives ($19) and the Potato tortellini with goat's curd, za'atar and asparagus ($24). Both dishes were amazing and so tasty with the potato tortellini being my favourite of the two dishes.

Our dishes for brunch; looks so good
The sizing of the dishes were just right, not too much to be in a food coma and not too little to still be hungry. Then as a little surprise, we were treated to a slice of their own chocolate and hazelnut brownie; wow, so moist and tasty!

The delicious brownie surprise
Kepos St Kitchen was and still is a favourite of mine and now their new Kepos & Co. has become another favourite. If you haven't gone to try either restaurants, I totally recommend that you do and let me know what you think. 

Jo x

Kepos & Co.
Shop 5, Casba
18 Danks St,
Waterloo NSW 2017
Tel. 02) 9690 0931