Amarin Thai 2

- Alex 6 Comments

The parent company of Amarin Thai 2, Jusuda Pty Ltd, has gone in to liquidation.  The restaurant is no longer open.

date of visit:  Wed 28 October 2009

Sometimes you can have a night out and, in many respects, everything is good but there is one small thing that mars the evening and it is that thing that springs to mind every time you recall the occasion.

That’s our mid-week dinner at Amarin Thai 2.  It was a lovely evening, the food was good verging on excellent and the price was more than right.  And the service was sloppy.  Guess which bit I find easiest to remember?

It was a warm Wednesday evening and, over an apéritif (that would be a Coopers or two) at the Exeter we discussed dinner.  There is something about balmy weather which makes me crave spicy, yet light, food so Thai is always high on the agenda.  Amarin Thai 2, on the south side of Rundle Street, offered reasonably sheltered outdoor seating, sensibly priced meals and it wasn’t too busy.

We chose our table so we were shielded from Rundle Street’s hustle and bustle by pot plants and started by ordering drinks.  This normally isn’t too tricky, but for some reason we struggled.  Andy ordered a Singha and the response was “I don’t think we have any”.  We’re talking about 7pm on a weekday, the restaurant had about 5 other patrons – surely you know if you have what is arguably the Thai beer.  I ordered a glass of Gewürztraminer.  It transpired there was a sole Singha left but no Gewürz.  I changed to a Riesling

The food caused no such issues.  We began by sharing a spicy squid salad which was delicious:  cool but not cold, full of flavour spicy but not searing and laced with all the flavours you’d expect from Thai food (onion, lemongrass, coriander).  For main course Andy chose what I would describe as a Thai version of popcorn chicken, which really does the dish a disservice!  At the end of the day, it was battered, fried chicken served in a spicy Thai style sauce with plenty of filler vegetables like capsicum and onion.  But it tasted good!

I ordered the chicken larb in an entrée size.  Although the flavours were good this is normally a dish which is scary in its spiciness.  Amarin Thai 2’s version was just a little tame …

The bill, for 2 entrées, a main, shared rice, a beer and a glass of Riesling came to $66. After our Entertainment Book discount, we paid $50. To be honest, I’m not sure I could complain about either price were it not for the indifferent service.

Things didn’t start well with the drinks issues, and I could have dealt with being asked if I were ready for my main course, but clearing my plate while Andy was still eating was just plain rude. The usual excuse (the restaurant was busy and staff are trying to turn tables, which, by the way, doesn’t cut it) certainly didn’t apply. It was just sheer thoughtlessness.

And, if you’re wondering, yes, I had to go to the till to ask for our bill and yes, I was given the bill for a different table.

Amarin Thai 2

Casual Thai on Rundle Street

Good, sensibly priced food doesn’t compensate for sloppy service.

Rating:2.5 stars
**1/2

Cupcakes for Cupcake Camp

- Alex Prichard 1 Comment

Cupcake Camp is coming to Adelaide on Sunday 22 November.  This means it’s time for me to start practising baking (and decorating) cupcakes.  What a trial!

Since I like messing around with recipes, I dug out my 1920s Handbook for Bakers by Albert F Gerhard.  All the recipes are given in commercial quantities, in imperial, using 1920s American ingredients … so there’s quite a lot of work that needs to be done before hitting the kitchen.  I decided to start with the first cup cake recipe and scale down from 12 dozen to just … one.

The result was a cupcake recipe that made good cupcakes with a fine, moist crumb.  That said – there’s nothing outrageous about the recipe!

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan).

Cream 100g of caster sugar with 75g of unsalted butter.  Add 2 eggs and combine well before adding 175g of self raising flour.  Flavour with 1 tsp of vanilla essence and finish by adding 1 tsp of baking powder dissolved in 1/2 cup of milk.

When everything is well combined, spoon the mixture into cupcake cases and bake … until done.  I had a massive fail with the oven so I can’t actually tell you how long the baking took!  The recipe suggests you’ll need to bake for about 10 minutes – but after 10 minutes the cakes weren’t cooked.  The oven then turned itself off.  About 10 minutes later, perplexed by the cakes still not being cooked, I realised this and turned the oven back on.

So … if you don’t know how to operate your oven, baking will take about half an hour.  Still, it gave me plenty of time to do the dishes!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing

Once cool, I iced the cakes with a simple chocolate icing and finished with chocolate sprinkles.

And there are now none left!

Chicken, leek and hazelnut pie

- Alex Prichard 1 Comment

 

 

This recipe comes from the April 1995 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.  As usual, there are some deviations from the original …

Chicken, leek and hazelnut pie

This is reasonably quick to put together and you can always make the filling in advance, ready to bake when required.  Because we’re fatties we opted for a shortcrust pastry base and a flaky pastry top, but really only the top is essential.  Use your favourite bought or home made pastry:  the recipe suggests shortcrust, cream cheese or flaky, which I think is rather hedging one’s bets!

The quantity we made fed four easily for dinner with left overs good enough for lunch or supper for 2 people (or just 1 if the 1 is very greedy or hungry).

The recipe is very rich in butter and creams so if you prefer substitute a light olive oil for the butter.

Begin by heating 50g of unsalted butter in a pan and brown 7 chicken thigh fillets, cut into generous chunks.  Brown the chicken in batches and drain on kitchen towel.

When the chicken is cooked, gently stew 2 finely slicked leeks until translucent.  Turn down the heat so they don’t take on any colour.  Set the leeks aside.

Melt another 50g of butter in the pan and add 1 tablespoon of plain flour, allowing it to cook out for at least 2 minutes.  Again – keep the heat low so your butter and flour mixture doesn’t take on any colour.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock.  Return the pan to the heat and bring the mix to the boil, stirring constantly.  Simmer for a couple of minutes before removing from the heat.

In a large bowl, mix the chicken, the leeks and 50g of toasted and coarsely chopped hazelnuts.  Mix through the sauce and follow with two tablespoons of sour cream.  When everything is combined, taste the mix and season as you see fit.  Allow to cool.

If using a pastry bottom, grease your pie dish and line with pastry.  Add the chicken mixture and top with a pastry lid.  Cut a hole for steam and brush with an egg wash.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 10 minutes before turning down to 180C.  If you have no pastry bottom you will probably only need to bake for another 15 minutes or so.  With the pastry base with opted for another half an hour.

The ideal wine match for a dish like this would be a Chardonnay, with a hint of oak.  If your wallet can afford it, a white Burgundy (such as a Chablis or, more affordably, a Mâcon) would be an excellent match. If you’re a bit of an ABC* try matching a Chenin Blanc or even a lighter red, such as a Pinot Noir.

* Anything But Chardonnay