Rump Steak at Cafe New York, 426 Victoria Ave, Chatswood

Yesterday’s lunch took us to Cafe New York located at 426 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood (near to the Chatswood train station). Please note that there are two Cafe New York Grill in Chatswood. The other one is at 316 Victoria Avenue, same street as No. 426 but at the other end of Chatswood (opposite of Chatswood Chase shopping centre). We have passed by Cafe New York at 426 Victoria Avenue many times but never had the opportunity to try the place until now.

The $12.00 Lunch Special

This restaurant has 2 tiers. The ground floor has a few dining tables with a coffee bar but upstairs, the place is huge. Their dishes are written almost every part of their wall on the first floor. The good thing about this Cafe New York is that they have the AUD12.00 
“lunch special”. The “lunch special” changes every 2 weeks. For this week, they have Smoked Salmon Salad, Cajun Chicken Salad, Pulled Pork Burger and the 200g Rump Steak. On this particular day, both of us were yearning for some steak, so we ordered the 200g Rump Steak (which was quite unlike us). However, just to differentiate both steaks, one was with mushroom sauce and to be cooked “well done” while the order would be with pepper sauce and to be cooked “medium well”. As for drinks, we ordered Lemon Lime Bitter.

Nice and spacious

Balcony overlooking the Chatswood Mall walkway

Chatswood Mall walkway

While waiting for the food, we can’t help but admire the layout of the restaurant which is really spacious. The tables are nicely spaced out and there is a balcony overlooking the Chatswood Mall walkway where you can sip your coffee and do some people watching. For ambient, we would rate this place 8/10.

The "transparent" Lemon Lime Bitter

Rump Steak ("medium well") with pepper sauce

Rump steak ("well done") with mushroom sauce

Our orders came rather quickly, less than 10 minutes. First came the drink which was Lemon Lime Bitter. At first glance, the Lemon Lime Bitter wasn’t very appealing as the colour was rather light and not that darker pinkish colour that we are familiar with. As a matter of fact, it was translucent and we could see through the glass! However, when we took a sip, we were pleasantly surprise to find that the Lemon Lime Bitter did taste like it and very refreshing nothwithstanding the colour of the drink. Well, looks can certainly be deceiving. Next, came the two orders of 200gm Rump Steak. The Rump Steak was served with mixed salad and chips (french fries). The “medium-well” Rump Steak was dry and not tender. We would prefer the meat to be slightly moist, so that it would not be too tough to cut with the steak knife. We felt that the chef must have cooked it a bit too long. The pepper sauce was average and we could find a few pepper corns swimming in the sauce. For this dish, we will rate it 5/10. As for the 200g Rump Steak “well done” with mushroom sauce, we find that the “well done” steak is no different from the “medium well”. The mushroom sauce was equally average. We would rate this dish a 5/10 as well.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we would rate the service which is prompt and courteous a 7/10 and we hope to visit this place again as we saw the next table which ordered the Cajun Chicken Burger, it looked quite good. Can’t wait to try that.

Food review at La Botte (Italian Restaurant), Willoughby

There are many restaurants in Sydney that serve good authentic Italian cuisine. One of the restaurants is called La Botte which is located at 608 Willoughby Road, NSW 2068. Here you will find the waiters, waitresses and cooks conversing in Italian. If we didn’t know better, we probably thought we were in Italy!

The  good thing about La Botte is that it has an underground parking lot which you can park for 2 hours for free. Like most streets in Sydney, if you are lucky and can find a spot, then by all means, park on the street. The size of the restaurant is rather small. La Botte has a large mirror located at the end of the restaurant which gives an illusion that it is a big restaurant. A neat trick for those without trained eyes!

As for the food, we ordered “Fettuccine Carbonara”, “Lasagna”, Garlic Prawns and Pizza Meat Lover. We have a choice of either ordering the dish as an entree or as a main course. We chose the latter for all the dishes. As for drinks, we had the “lemon lime bitters”. We must say that this place serves one of the best “lemon lime bitters”. We would give it a 10/10 for the "lemon lime bitters".

Fettuccine Carbonara

The “Fettuccine Carbonara” consisted of fettuccine (similar to rice noodle or “kway teow”), bacon, parsley, cheese, cream sauce and eggs which have been beaten and mixed with the fettuccine. The “Fettuccine Carbonara” was too rich and creamy for us. We could not finish the dish entirely on our own. Luckily the “Fettuccine Carbonara” was shared by 4 people. Nevertheless, the dish deserves our rating of 7/10 for its texture and a good combination of flavour.

Lasagna

As for “Lasagna”, it consisted of layers of pasta sheets in mince meat, tomato and white sauce. The “Lasagna” was well cooked with its mince meat melting in your mouth. However, the “lasagna” at La Botte is not something which we would consider as  extraordinary. Therefore, we would give the  “lasagna” a rating of 7/10.

Garlic Prawns

As for the Garlic Prawns - this is one of the dishes that we truly enjoyed. The prawns sauteed with mushrooms, garlic and chilli were fresh and succulent. The combination was a true champion that gave it a delightful taste. If not for the “Fettuccine Carbonara”, we would probably order another helping of the Garlic Prawns. For this dish, we give it a strong 9/10.

Meat Lovers Pizza

The Meat Lovers pizza at La Botte consisted of pepperoni, cabonossi, ham bacon with a lot of cheese. The pizza literally melts in our mouth and with the combination of the various meats, it gave us a  fulfilling meal. Therefore, our rating for the Meat Lovers pizza is 8/10.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience in La Botte, we would rate the service 8/10 as the waiters and waitresses were attentive and the meals were prepared and brought to our table relatively quick. As for the ambient, we would give it 6/10 as the place is relatively small in size and may get pretty tight when it is crowded. Speaking about the crowd, you will need to call La Botte and book your table at least a couple of days in advance as it is usually very crowded and it is almost impossible to find an empty table if you do not have a reservation. La Botte’s telephone number is 02 99 58 67 85.