Efendy Modern Turkish Restaurant, Balmain

At an award winning restaurant you would think that it is bound to be good, I can tell you right now it sure was - It was the BOMB! The restaurant wasn't as packed out as it was when we arrived (which was around 7:30) but by around 8 ish it was so packed!

There were only a few selections to choose from; either from a $42 course which included 4 small entrees and a main or just a main for $30. We of course went first option and shortly after we had ordered, the entrees came flooding right out.

Turkish Bread

Sun dried tomatoes, eggplant, potato mash covered with a Turkish Yogurt. (I have no idea what the exact name was but I guess they were the main ingredients)

To me, this dish was fairly average as it wasn't anything out of the ordinary however it did go really well w/ the complementary Turkish. Surprisingly, the yogurt was quite subtle and helped balanced out the flavours of all the other ingredients, especially the tomato and eggplant.

Ricotta and Feta cheese balls accompanied with sun dried tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.

THE ONLY reason why I ordered this dish was because I thought it was like the cheese bread balls from Braza. Clearly not. It was really just a ball stuffed with cheese . . as some of my reasons may know I HATE cheese with a passion. Nevertheless though, I did have a try and the cheesy taste wasn't that strong however my hatred for cheese took over. If though, you are a cheese lover like my parnter, you will certainly enjoy this dish.

Shredded pastry rolled King prawns on walnut and capsicum dip.

This was like food in heaven . . . it was so amazing. The king was large and juicy and the shredded pastry added an extra level of crunchiness to the prawns. I could have like 10 of those, it was that good. The walnut and capsicum dip in terms of taste was qwuite subtle which was good because it did not dominate the sweetness of those prawns.

Panfried black sea sardines on tomato Ezme

This sardine dish was the most interesting of all, the sardines were of course boneless and the tomato ezme (which is really more like smashed up tomatoes with asparagus and olive oil) went really well together. The sardines was also still a tad crunchy whic went well with the softness of the tomatoes.

Chargrilled lamb with rice and pickled salad

The lamb was a tad salty however this was balanced with the rice. The rice wasn't your normal asian rice, rather they had added in some other flavours followed with some beans and nuts (I think they were beans or nuts lol). It looked quite small at first however when when you share this and another main - it was definately quite fillling. The pickled salad however was wayyyy too sour and salty for my own liking though.

Lamb meat balls with melted cheese and fried potatoes.

This broth was just truely amazing - As you know I hate cheese but this melted cheese in the broth was just amazing as it went so well with the meat balls and all the other vegetables. The meat balls were a bit fatty but then again anything with lamb will always be fatty. The potato fries were not at all oily gave the broth a bit crunch.

Marash Ice cream served with turkish fairy floss and pistachio - $12.00

As full as I was, I could not resist dessert and I am so grateful that we did go ahead with their dessert. All I can say is that it was SOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!! It was definately the highlight of the night!! For those who are not sure what Marash ice cream is, it is a creamy, smooth Turkish Ice cream with an elastic texture. Their fairy floss was also a bit chewy but the sweetness of the fair floss went so well with the ice cream. It was just amazing!! I would definately come back here just for their dessert - that is how awesome it was!!

Service was also quite good because the waitor explained to you what each of the dishes were and was also quite attentive. I would say that the place isn't cheap but you are definately paying for the quality of their food. For those whom have an entertainment card, it is definately just an extra bonus!! I would definately come here again and recommend that to those who haven't tried it, please do yourself a favour to try it out; the food is quite amazing and interesting.

Efendy Modern Turkish Restaurant
- 79 Elliott Street (Corner of Darling Street), Balmain NSW 2041

Gotta go eat!!

Oceans Food, Drummoyne

'The best fish and chips in the universe' is what they claim themselves to be and to many customers out there, that is what it is! Having won many awards in Excellence for Seafood for 15 years in a row, is bound to be a place worth trying.

Fish and chips - $10.50

In the end we decided to for the basic fish and chips since it was our first time there. The fish wasn't covered in too much batter and there was definitely more fish than batter, or at least a good balance of both. It was like some crap places that served a tiny sized fish covered in mountains loads of batter. The chips were a slight disappointment; quite average really and they drowned in way to much salt which caused a bit of damage to my taste buds.

Grilled fish of the day - $9.95 (approximated price)

We had also ordered a grilled fish of the day; all I can is that you could definitely taste the freshness within that fish however again, it was a tad too salty for my liking. In my opinion, the over powering flavours spoiled the fish because it the saltiness that dominated the whole fish which was again slightly disappointing.

Seafood Salad - $5.95 (Approximated costs)

When I first saw the seafood salad I wasn't too sure of what to expect; It wasn't very different to any other seafood salad but at the time certain ingredients such as the celery and shallots made it slightly unique. The flavours of the dressing and seafood wasn't too strong which was good nor was it salty for a change.

Cold seafood platter - $30.00 (i think)

This was slightly average, mainly because the Hero of the platter being the lobster, wasn't that sweet and hence being a disappointment. The oysters though were just perfect where the meat was silky smooth!

Marinated seafood sticks - $5 -$8 each, approx.

To be honest, I thought that these were a bit expensive but I guess that is seafood for you. Their marinated grill prawns were just de-lish! The sweetness came pouring out as you bit your way through the meat.

Service was good because despite the long queues, the food still came out relatively fast. The only downside however was that they loved to rip their customers off with little things such as their sauces. One small cup of tartare sauce costed almost $5.00 which I personally thought was an insane rip however I guess their awesome seafood makes up for it.

Oceans Food, Drummoyne
- 154 Lyons Rd, Drummoyne, NSW 2047

Gotta go eat!!