Author: Alex

Cafe Balthazar

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Balthazar

date of visit: Saturday 30 June 2012

So, I used to have a cat called Balthazar – I was naming cats after sizes of Champagne bottle (prententious? not at all – the current cats are named after physicists …). And when I spotted the newly opened Café Balthazar on Fiveash Drive I wanted to visit purely on that basis alone. Despite the massive renovations of the complex (now called Pasadena Green), Café Balthazar, which is very black, silver and sparkly, is easily visible from the road.

We used a trip to do a weekly shop as an excuse to check out the café. After a particularly unpleasant half hour or so in the supermarket, I was more than eager to have a sit down and a coffee and cake.

As I was dropping the shopping in the car, Andy was in charge of my coffee and cake ordering. This meant I had a coconut macaroon tart (yum!) and a cafe latte, which is my standard coffee ordering. However, Café Balthazar offers the discerning coffee drinker quite a choice, including filter coffee (yawn) and siphon coffee. I was pretty ticked off that I missed out on the siphon coffee because, as far as I know, I’ve never had it before. That – and the kit for producing it looks pretty cool.  I guess that’s an excuse for another visit …

The cafe latte was good – no reservations at all about it. I see that the coffee also gets the thumbs up over at Coffee Snobs. The coconut macaroon tart (which, judging by the broad selection of cakes, is probably bought in rather than made in house) was good too although I thought that the pastry was a little bit thick. Andy’s coffee éclair looked really tasty and must have been because I didn’t get to try any.

The baby’s high chair matched the décor (black and much more stylish than he’s used to!), and both the babycino and my tart got the seal of approval. The café seems very family friendly – there were plenty of other babies and children around (but, thankfully, NOT running amok).

In a wise move, the café also has an ice cream counter which opens directly into the supermarket entrance. I can imagine that in summer they’ll be doing a roaring business there!

Café Balthazar also does proper lunches and the food I spotted on other tables looked like good, solid servings.

The people of Pasadena should be thrilled to have this café on their doorstep. I always get the impression there’s not too much in Pasadena (I’m happy to be corrected) and the busy, happy vibe of Café Balthazar can only be a plus.

Balthazar Cafe on Urbanspoon

The Highway

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date of visit: Thursday 28 June 2012

We’re becoming very skilled in the art of eating our dinner early, to accommodate the baby, to the extent that, when booking, I now ask “when do you start dinner service?”.

Clearly The Highway isn’t used to such uncool customers because the lady who took my booking had to check! 5:30pm it was.

When we arrived our allocated table (even though at this stage we were the only people there!) wasn’t really going to work with a highchair – something that the waitress noticed before we were seated and sorted out immediately. We ended up with a perfect, cosy table in the corner.

With the baby in tow we cracked on with ordering our food, enjoying a couple of drinks while we looked over the menu. We were dining in the middle of Game Week – which had been one of the drawcards – so we could have chosen from dishes such as goat pie, a tasting plate of game sausages, kangaroo, emu and crocodile. In the end, none of us ended up trying out these dishes (the goat pie was almost picked) …

Andy went for the beef schnitzel with gravy (how predictable!) while I had the spaghettini with Spencer Gulf prawns, chilli and garlic. Other choices were the lamb rack and a main course serving of the crumbed lambs brains.

Main courses at The Highway aren’t particuarly cheap – they all hover around the $30. However, portion sizes are generous (to say the least) and I suspect that had we had entrées we wouldn’t have been able to finish our mains. My spaghettini and prawns was lovely – the pasta was al dente, the prawns were well cooked and it had just the right combination of chilli heat and garlickyness. I am a huge fan of spaghetti with chilli, oil and garlic which is really what this dish was, with prawns and cherry tomatoes added. I’d definitely order this again.

The lamb rack was very highly regarded and the lambs brains got the thumbs up, even though they were served on an excessively large pile of mash. Andy demolished his schnitzel with the help of the baby – who seemed to approve of the chips in particular! We also had a side of roast vegetables which was a really interesting mix: beetroot and fennel alongside the usual suspects.

Service wise, The Highway has got it spot on. The two waiters who dealt with us were both professional and efficient while being friendly and accommodating. Best of all, the baby was treated as though he was the most important guest in the restaurant (which, of course, he was!).

The Highway demonstrates that a pub can serve good, interesting food and be a better than average venue for a meal out. We’ll definitely return.

The Highway / HWY on Urbanspoon

Garlic, Lime & Chilli Marinated Steak

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Lime & Chilli Steak

Another recipe I’ve had hanging around for a couple of years and only just got around to trying. This is one of Wine Spectator’s Dining Tips: weekly recipes that are featured along with a wine.

Somewhat unimaginatively this dish is paired with Malbec (well, I guess the Argentinians do eat a lot of steak …) but I suggest you be careful what you choose – especially if you’re a fan of heavy handed chilli.

The marinade is a little bit of work but well worth it.

For the two of us, I took about ¼ cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Put it over a very low heat. Take some garlic (to taste – I used a couple of generously side cloves and a smattering of smaller ones – use more than you think!) and just crush it with the back of a knife. No need to chop or mince. Put the garlic in the oil and allow it to heat through very gently. Don’t allow the oil to heat up too much – you certainly don’t want any sizzle or any burnt garlic.

Cook over a very low heat for at least 5 minutes. Add chilli flakes (again, to taste) and cook for a further minute before removing from the heat. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes and then add the juice of two limes. Return to the heat, bring to a simmer and then remove from the heat.

You are now finished with the whole on/off the heat business!

When the lime and oil mix has cooled, stir in a scant tsp of ground cumin and 2 tsp of ground coriander.

Your marinade is now done! There’s no reason why this won’t keep (in the fridge) for a day or two.

Marinate your meat for at least half an hour before cooking. When you come to cook the meat (griddle pan, frying pan, BBQ – whatever suits you), make sure you leave the crushed garlic cloves in the bowl – if you try cooking them they’ll only burn and things will taste bitter. However, you can (and, indeed, should) use the leftover oil to baste the meat in the pan.

Serve with accompaniments of your choice. This tasted absolutely fantastic – a lovely balance of chilli heat and sourness from the limes. Definitely a marinade we’ll be revisiting often when BBQ weather comes around again.