Otis Dining Hall Kingston - 11 March 2020

Only four of us this time, John, Jim, Ron, Megan.

A special meal so not much of a write up.

Positives: the food was really good. Some of us were allowed to have the 5 courses, other allowed to have the 3 courses: Jim had the accompanying wines, the rest of us didn't. The desserts were fabulous, the creme caramel very rich.  The sommelier knew his wines and gave Jim the full explanation: Ron raved about the kimchee: the sauce with the steak was fabulous: the potatoes were wonderfully crisp: the gnocchi out of this world.

The negatives:  I was not allowed to have two entrees instead of an entree and a main (go figure...): Jim's glasses of wine kept getting smaller as the meal progressed: the "greens" were just a minuscule plate of mixed lettuce ("what's wrong with that" said Ron).   Ron's quail was a bit tasteless but the kimchee with it was perfect:  Jim doesn't like pinot grigio.  There's no real a la carte, you have to choose from the banquet/degustation menu.

Otherwise the ambience was good, music appropriate and quiet and not too crowded.  We were not rushed, it was a relaxed and pleasant evening.

Propaganda at Erindale 26 February 2020

Present: Karen Kim, Andrew, Ron, John

This is a Vietnamese restaurant in the process of developing its menu and atmosphere.  We think it is trying to be a restaurant come wine bar. As soon as I walked in they turned on the loud music (not appreciated) which I then asked them to turn down, which they kind of did, but then turned up by degrees as the night progressed, despite others in the group asking them to turn it down.

We decided on their banquet menu which looked the best of their otherwise limited menu, which to be fair they said they are developing after a recent trip to Vietnam so I'd assume that it will expand in the next few months.  The banquet menu however was perfectly interesting and different for us.

We started with two types of fried spring rolls which were brilliant and authentic, particularly the lace ones.  The rice paper rolls with pork were particularly yummy.

The mains, we had mixed sprouts with beef, very fresh and healthy, the meat was a bit chewy but very nice with the lemongrass and the touch of chilli.

The egg pancake was the favourite, served with fresh salad and 2 types of vietnamese mint, difficult to eat but very healthy and tasty.

The chicken was like a casseole, not really like a standard curry, almost like a Japanese curry, very light.  It went really well with the bread roll..

The dessert was the perfect finish, it didn't seem like  icecream, frozen banana with frozen coconut icecream with peanuts and toasted coconut on top.

We liked the food and the friendly staff, but the loud music put us off  (there was only one other table there, why bother?).  I know these places that are trying to set themselves up as "bars"  seem to think they need the loud music as part of the "vibe" but when you have only two tables of basically older people wouldn't you tone it down a bit?  We won't go back there for that reason.

China Plate Kingston 12 February 2020

In attendance were Andrew, Jim, John, Kim, Megan and Ron.

Entrée was duck pancakes as usual. They included a huge piece of beautifully tender duck. Fabulous.

Mains were:

Red curry with duck
Honey pepper lamb hotpot
Wasabi fillet steak
Egg plant with spicy salt
Hot crispy fish fillet

The red curry duck was very different from what we have had elsewhere. Very savoury, no tomatoes or lychees. Nothing special.
The honey pepper lamb hotpot was brilliant. Lovely and sweet with the honey, in contrast with the heat from the pepper.
The wasabi fillet steak was great as always. The smooth heat of the wasabi and beautifully tender beef.
The egg plant with spicy salt is one of our perennial favourites. Just like chips, but so much better.
The hot crispy fish was very good.

Dessert was from a choice of one - banana fritter and ice cream. Really lovely banana in the crisp batter, chocolate topping on the ice cream. Yum. Someone forgot to take a picture first, so all we have is the empty plate.

Barbeque Nation at Wanniassa - 29 January 2020

Attended by Jim, John, Kim, Karen, Megan and Ron.

Entrees

Patak Papdi Chaat

Vegie Cutlets

Mains

Classic Railway Lamb Curry

Butter Chicken

Malai Kofta

Egg Plant Marsala

Barbeque Nation Dahl

Pumpkin Goathi

Rice

Naan

Pappadams

The Patak Papdi Chaat was definitely one of the favourites - wonderfully crisp spinach clumps that looked like broccoli at first, with potatoes and chick peas, accompanied by a creamy sweet yoghurt sauce, beautifully enlivened by the sweet mint and tamarind chutney.

The vegie cutlets were nice, looking like heart shaped chicken nuggets, but really needed the mint sauce to make them much better.

All the main courses were well received. Comments were particularly made about how good the butter chicken, the kofta and the dahl were.

The accompanying rice and pappadams were good. The naan was quite ordinary - a bit dry and flavourless.

There was more than enough food - none of us could face any dessert.

China Plate Kingston 15-1-20

Andrew, Jim, John and Ron attended.

Everyone enjoyed the meal overall.

The duck pancakes were far and away the best we've ever had. The duck was in big pieces, beautifully moist and so delicious.

The char kway teow was very good. Just the right amount of chilli.

The duck in the pool was really lovely and tender, beautiful flavour. The sauce was very nice - basically just a sweet and sour, but very sweet.

The China Plate steak was really good. Lovely and tender inside, crisp outside. Beautiful flavour, with a bit of chilli to liven it up.

We all had banana fritters and ice cream, with a range of toppings chosen. Each fritter was a section of banana fried in a really light better. A fitting end to the meal.