Rocksalt Modern Dining Restaurant Review

To be perfectly honest at first i wasn't thrilled about the idea of going out for lunch last Saturday, for the 3 following reasons 1. I had hangover  2. I had a dinner party to prepare and 3. I still had a bad taste in my mouth from our last dining disaster.

But poor Horn had been working so hard all week and really wanted to spend some time quality time with me before Monday rolled around again. It just so happened that it was Gold Coast Restaurant Week (restaurants in Broabeach put together set menus to get new people into their shops). 

We were tossing up between Moo Moo's and Rocksalt Modern Dining, we decided on Rocksalt as we have been to Moo Moo's quite a few times and its nice but in the last week 3 people had recommended Rocksalt to us. 

So with a brave face and a smile i got ready for lunch, i knew Horn would feel like a drink as he had just finished a huge week at work. 

The Menu

We made a reservation earlier as we weren't sure with GCRW if it would be packed, when we arrived we were welcomed by a lovely guy named Lee/Leigh. He was chirpy and bubbly- just what we like in a waiter.

I noticed straight away that there were reserved signs on most tables so i was glad that we booked, then I noticed that they had those bloody wall length couches too (you know the ones where you have to sit close to people), i crossed my fingers and prayed that we wouldn't be seated there. It must of been our lucky day because we were the only table for two inside not on the couches.

Looking around the restaurant the decor was nice and clean with modern features, Lee/Leigh was our waiter for the afternoon and he was informative, friendly and fun. There were 3 menus to choose from: Al carte (anything you wish), GCRW (choices of entree, main and dessert) or the weekly lunch special (2 entree sized dishes with a glass of house wine or local beer), we looked through all of the menus and to help me decide i asked Lee/Leigh what the house wine was with the lunch menu and to my delight it was from Marlborough NZ so i decided to go with the LUNCH SPECIAL.

Now Horn pretends he doesn't have a sweet tooth but he does, he in fact loves his sweets! So i wasn't shocked when he suggested that if he got the GCRW menu that we could "share" the dessert....

So we placed our orders and our drinks soon arrived, my wine (the hair of the dog) was lovely and Horn ordered an Asahi (beer), chatting away we were hoping our meals would be nice and that's when our entree's arrived.....

Salt & Pepper King Prawns with
Asian Spanner Crab Salad,
Sweet Corn Custard, Soy Dressing

I ordered the S&P Prawns, it may look small on the large round plate but it was enough and boy was it DELICIOUS.... The light crispy coating on the prawns, the fresh spanner crab and the sweet corn custard was silky and perfect... The only thing left on my plate were the prawn tails.

Pan Roasted Quail with
Pine Nuts, Raisins, Soft Polenta,
Parmesan, Thyme Jus

I wish i was as adventurous as Horn, there are still a few things that i cant get my head around and quail is one of them. I have tried it before and liked it but as Forrest Gump mumma says sometimes you never know what you gonna get, so i stick to what i know. Horn said it was beautiful, the raisins were his favourite part he loved the little pops of sticky sweetness and said it went perfectly with the tender quail.

Rare Peppered Beef Carpaccio with
Celeriac, Horseradish, Garlic Croutons,
Truffle Oil, Parmesan

My second entree was the Carpaccio, it was slightly different to what i am used to but i really enjoyed it. I am trying to find the right words to explain the texture of the meat and i am not sure if this is correct but i am going to say it was "aged" or dehydrated it was NOT DRY at all just not as raw as i expected but it was awesome.  All of the components went extremely well together and i loved the Garlic Croutons and Horseradish.

Loin, Cutlet & Shoulder of Lamb with
Fondant Potato, Dutch Carrot, Glazed Shallot,
Peas & Mint and Lamb Sauce

Now everybody knows that Horn loves Lamb, so its no surprise he ordered it again. I would like to let everyone know that i DO cook Lamb at home, he just cant get enough of it. He also has a secret fetish for baby carrots so his face lit up when he saw it on the plate.  The three different cuts of Lamb were all cooked they way they were supposed too: loin was juicy, the shoulder braised and tender and the "frenching" on the cutlet was precise and the meat perfectly pink. You cant see it in the picture but the "peas and mint" component was a puree and the colour was the most vibrant green i have ever seen.

Dark Chocolate Marquise with
Peanut Butter Mousse, Frozen Banana Zabaglione
and Caramel Popcorn

Dessert time, we decided to go CHOCOLATE of course... The other option was Lavender Panna Cotta, (i hate to sound like a drama queen but i hate Lavender, the colour, the smell, the over use as a fragrant and the fact that its used on toilet paper says it all) there was no way we were getting that. 

This dessert has still got me drooling......... I have really been enjoying peanut butter lately so when i saw it on the dessert menu i got super excited.. I wasn't sure what Marquise was but gathered it would either be a cake or a dense mousse and it turned out that it was a combination of the two and semi frozen, it was nice but really rich. 

The stand out for me was the Frozen Banana Zabaglione i am not sure if any one remembers Barney Banana by Billabong (not to be confused with a Banana Paddlepop they are very different)- it tasted exactly like it, it was creamy and tasted like real Banana not a flavouring and the caramel popcorn, well all i can say is who doesn't like pop corn?

The Bill

So once we polished off our desserts, we asked for the bill after all i had a dinner party to prepare for! The grand total was $113, which we think is very reasonable for 2 Imported Beers, NZ Sav Blanc, 3 Entrees, 1 Main and a dessert. 

We had such a lovely afternoon, it put us in a great mood and got us ready for the night ahead. We were very happy with the service, presentation and taste of the meals- we will definitely be back and by the look of the restaurant (which was packed when we were leaving) Rocksalt Modern Dining is a favourite for locals and tourists...

Score: 8/10

donna hay "a cooks guide" vanilla cupcakes

Ok, I decided before i make the donna hay's home bake vanilla cupcakes that i would try to make her a cook's guide to vanilla cupcakes which are from scratch. I think this is the only way to to work out if the $7.99 is worth it. I have absolutely no idea what is going on but i cannot make these cupcakes from scratch. Unless they are supposed to be buttery and dense not airy and light? They still tasted nice (well so my friends said) but the cupcake was nearly impossible to remove from the liner and was quite heavy.

Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients
1 1/4 Cups (185g) Flour, Sifted
3/4 Tsp Baking Powder, Sifted
1 Cup (220g) Caster Sugar
125g Butter, softened
2 Eggs
3/4 Cups (180ml) Milk
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

the "donna hay" way:

Step 1: Preheat Oven to 160 degrees. Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, eggs, milk and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix to combine.

Step 2: Spoon into 12 x 1/2 cup capacity (125ml) muffin tins lined with paper cases and bake for 20-25mins or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks. Ice as desired. Makes 12.

Mixture ready to go into the oven.

Baked, now cooling on the racks.

Lady Dash's Pink Cream Cheese Frosting:

Whip Cream Cheese & Butter in and electric mixture until there are no butter lumps. Add Icing Sugar one cup and a time until combined, then add Pink Food Colouring mix until colour is even.

Vanilla Cupcakes with
Pink Cream Cheese Frosting

Lady Dash's Pink Cream Cheese Frosting
1 Tub Lite Philadelphia Cream Cheese
125g Butter, Chopped & Softened
3 Cups Pure Icing Sugar
1 Lid of Red Food Colouring

Lady Dash says:
The 12 cupcakes had been eaten in an hour, so i am guesssing that they were still good even thou they are not what i was used too. I even had to make another batch for Horn to take to work as he was sad that the girls ate them. Funnily enough he just Hey Tell'd me  as i was writing this saying "P.S I love these cupcakes, they are like tradie cupcakes" hahaha, i have no idea what that means but it made me laugh.

I guess i will be able to tell once i give the donna hay's home bake vanilla cupcake a go next week. Can wait to see the result.....
Score 6/10.

Absynthe Restaurant Review

Finally it was the 16th of July on the calendar, which meant it was our long awaited date night. We had made the reservation for Absynthe over 2 months ago and we were very excited to be having a culinary night to remember.

Apart from the fact that weather was crappy and we were still recovering from our trip physically and finically, we pepped each other up by getting all dolled up, having a sneak peek at the menu online (so we could chat about the menu options on the way) and then we hopped in the car to go to our long awaited reservation.

We arrived at Q1, our original plan was to use our annual passes and go up to the Sky Deck and have a drink and watch the sunset however we decided against that as the sun had been setting at like 5pm. Luckily we didn't go as when we were waiting for the lift in the basement there was a sign saying it was closed for a private function, so my advise if you are planning on a trip up to the Sky Deck ring in advance.

Walking through the doors we waited to be seated, scoping the joint out i noticed it was fairly modern and sterile with some artwork on the walls, no candles  or white table cloths. Once we were seated i knew we had a problem already, we were seated in between to other tables maybe 45cm each side of us which is MY PET HATE. Why your thinking??? Well i am the biggest eaves dropper in the world, i cannot concentrate on my own conversation and i feel the need to whisper.

We were handed the Menu and Wine List. Reading Meyjittes Boughenout story we were very excited to being eating at the restaurant of a two Michelin star chef. First our beverages for the evening Sparkling Water $8.00 and Maven Sauvignon Blanc $70.00 (it was the only Sav Blanc from NZ we could find).  Returning with our vino they waiter asked for our order, now we love a little bit of a chit chat with the waiter so we asked him for any recommendations- very surprisingly he didn't have any. Our puzzled faces must have prompted him to continue talking and he then elaborated by asking us what we like to eat. We said we are happy to try anything once and he then replied with the Lamb Cutlets are good, Horn was very pleased to hear that as he loves Lamb, however there were no Lamb Cutlets on the menu only Lamb Shanks. After some thought we decided on the below.

Now at one of the most expensive fine dining restaurants on the Gold Coast would you expect the full silver service? When our meals where placed in front of us that was it, no "tonight you have ordered the blah blah with blah blah, try eating it in this order blah blah, enjoy your meal." Is it to much to ask for the waiter who's job it is to explain these foriegn dishes to us?

Dinner Roll Complimentary 

The roll was warm, yummy and probably the highlight of my meal- WHOOPIE!!!

Cauliflower Veloute, Vanilla Croutons, Olive Bubbles &
Pan Fried Scallops $32.00

I ordered the Scallops, as i have explained in past posts i love Scallops and normally always order them however after this experince i may rethink that. The Scallops were as small as a ten cent piece and there was only 4. The roe had been removed but the connector duct was still on- so as small as the Scallop was i had to cut a 1/4 off so i didn't eat the chewy bit. There were two Olive bubbles and they were amazing and exciting, i could have eaten a whole plate of just them (they were very similar to the Corn Puree Bubbles at Room81) Vanilla Croutons were OK nothing special and the Cauliflower Veloute was mediocre a little oily and way to much poured into the bowl it ruined the presentation of the dish, if the Scallops had of been big and juicy it probably would have been fine.

Lightly Cured Ocean Trout, White Chocolate
Cannelloni, Shellfish Broth to Drink,
Pomegranate Reduction & Wasabi Ice-Cream  $28.50

Horn had the Trout, he said it was fine nothing to write home about. The presentation was lovely with great colours however all the ingredients that were on the menu did not come out on the plate.

Crispy Skin Pan Fried Barramundi, Lobster Bisque,
Sliced Potatoes & Baby Carrot $45.00

Now i don't normally order Fish when i am out but since i have never tried Lobster Bisque before and we were at a french restaurant i thought what better place to try it. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! This was by far they worst meal i have ever eaten in my life. The Barramundi skin was so thick and chewy it was making me sick and i am not sure because i have never eaten scales before but that i swear it still had scales on it, it was so bad that i actually had to remove the skin from my mouth. The Lobster Bisque was oily, transparent and tasteless and to top it off Baby Carrot was stone cold.

Twice Cooked Maryland Duck Breast, Orange &
Spice Glaze with Artichoke and Sweet Potato $43.00

Horn liked his Duck, he said it was juicy, cooked well but very small, the glaze didn't have any punch and looked bland the plate. Now I don't believe in sending food back to the kitchen because i am too scared of what they may do to it but I will (if asked) explain what was wrong (which is hardly ever). I didn't even eat a 1/4 of my mini meal and the waiter simply asked if i was done and took the plate away.

After that we were asked if we would like dessert (we had previously decided not to stay) we politely declined. Once we declined we were basically invisible, we had to ask for our glasses to be filled (we pretty much sculled so we could get the hell out of there.) I was dying to have a dessert from this place, i had been drooling over the photos for days but because of the horrible experience we wanted to leave A-SAP and refused to give them an extra $25 for a dessert that would be small and possibly not worth it.

The Bill

Not only was this the biggest disappointment ever, it also cost and arm and maybe half a leg to experience it. It only adds to my theory that food needs to look as good as it tastes and taste even better than it looks! We ended up having dessert somewhere else and it saved our night.

Every ones experiences are different maybe they were having an off night? Who knows....

Score 4/10

donna hay "a cooks guide" caramel slice

This dish was not EASY first time round because i am dyslexic and cannot read instructions. I wanted to make long slices not squares so i changed tins but i didn't not change the baking times. So instead of my deep dish square tin i used a long rectangle thin flan tin... I baked it for the same amount of time and came out with this chewy caramel biscuit, it surprisingly tasted nice but was no caramel slice (haha that rhymed). So instead of wasting it i cut it up and gave it to Horn to take to work and give to his apprentices. As i had promised my friend Broni i was bringing Caramel Slice over the next day i had to have another go, so i got up bright and early and went to the shops and had a re take on an old classic and they were perfect. What a great combination chocolate and caramel is, plus i love licking the sweetened condensed milk can even if it is dangerous!

1 Cup Plain Flour, Sifted
1/2 Desiccated Coconut
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
125g Butter, Melted

Caramel Filling
1/3 Cup Golden Syrup
125g Butter, Chopped
2 x 395g Sweetened Condensed Milk

Chocolate Topping
200g Dark Chocolate, Chopped
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil

"the donna hay way":
Step 1:
Preheat oven to 180degrees. Place the flour, coconut, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix well to combine. Using the back of a spoon, press into the base of a lightly greased 0cmx30cm tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 20-25mins or until golden.
Step 2:
While the base is cooking, make the caramel filling. Place the golden syrup, butter and condensed milk in a saucepan over low heat and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring continuously, or until butter has melted and caramel has thickened slightly. Pour over the cooked base and bake for 20minutes or until golden. Refrigerate until cold.
Step 3:
To make the chocolate topping, place the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Pour over the caramel mixture and refrigerate for 30minutes or until firm. Makes 15
Cooks Tips:
When cutting slices with a chocolate topping or soft and sticky fillings , dip your knife into hot water and dry with a tea towel before slicing. The warm knife will then make a clean cut and ensure neat slices.

Caramel Slice, the finished product- Yum

Lady Dash says:

Making this yummy morning or afternoon tea treat brought back so many memories of the school tuck-shop and made me think about how lucky my future children will be when mummy is making these and they don't have to wait in massive lines at the school tuck-shop! I also chucked it in the freezer a few times to hurry up the process because i was running late, it didn't seem to affect it in any way. Remember- WATCH WATCH WATCH your caramel, it can go from good to bad in less than a minute, and i also made 16 slices and trimmed the edges before slicing to make them even, i also ate all those little chewy bits on the end (shhhh). The final verdict So apart from Horn, My Brother, The Business Partner and the Apprentices, Broni and her staff- I also popped over to our neighbours and gave them and their children some. Everyone agreed- YUM!

Lady Dash Score 8/10

cashew & chilli beef stir fry" the donna hay way"

I actually made this dish before we left for our trip and told myself when i was having a down day i would blog about it, who was i kidding- i was in the USA and every 5 days i change locations as if i was going to have a down day!!!!

2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
3 Long Red Chillies, Sliced
4 Garlic Cloves, Sliced
300g Beef Eye Fillet, Sliced
Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
150g Green Beans, Trimmed
1/2 Cup Roasted Unsalted Cashew Nuts
1/2 Cup Basil Leaves
Steamed Jasmine Rice, To Serve

"the donna hay way":
Heat a frying pan or wok over high heat. Add the oil, chilli, and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until chilli is crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper and add to the hot pan. Cook for 1 minute or until sealed. Add the chilli mixture and beans and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Roughly chop half the cashews, add whole and chopped nuts to the pan and toss to combine. Place on serving plates and top with basil. Serve with steamed jasmine rice. Serves 2.

Cashew & Chilli Beef Stir Fry

Lady Dash says:

I liked this dish but the boys didn't care for it much. Horn had about 2 litres of OJ with it as it was far to hot for him, (if you cannot handle the heat i would recommend deseeding and deveining the chillies).  My brother put heaps of soy sauce on it because he said it needed some more liquid/flavour. I also changed from rice to udon noodles but only because we had rice the night before and i was trying to mix it up. Not sure if i would make this dish again as it wasn't a hit with everyone.

Lady Dash Score 6/10 

Boys 4/10

lady dash is back

What an AMAZING experience the last 5 weeks have been, we ventured to the USA bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for a fun filled and food filled adventure. We visited so many different places, made so many memories and ATE ATE ATE so much (i put on 2 kilos and my darling husband 7kgs, I think his love for burgers got the better of him).

Over the next few months i will be blogging about the different states, restaurants, hotels, people, shows and whatever else i can think of to share with you. I will also be getting back into the kitchen to continue the "donna hay way" challenge with an extra bonus- my special gift pack from donna hay which includes all of the complete home-bake mixes plus my own creations.

I want to see what you have been up too, so share your latest creations or your holiday stories. xxx