A very happy Birthday Girl

It was my Birthday yesterday and I was treated like a Princess for the day. In the morning I was spoiled rotten with presents from home and from friends here in Sydney. At morning tea the guys in work organised a wicked chocolate cake, pictured above, from Michel's Patisserie. No sooner was I back at my desk then I got a call from my friend S saying she was in the Lindt Café and wanted me to join her for some of their sinful hot chocolate. She treated me to the hot chocolate and also gave me a bunch of my favourite flowers, Tulips, and a pressie. What a lovely friend.



Eventually I dragged myself out of this beautiful Café and back to my desk again. My bum had only hit the seat when the guys were over asking me to join them for a liquid lunch across the road at The Bligh, one of my current favourite bars in the city. A hip and trendy place with incredibly friendly staff who remember a face and go out of their way to accommodate you. The lunch food here is great and really good value. I knew I was going out for dinner with J so I only opted for a sandwich, accompanied by a few too many glasses of Merlot. I found it hard to concentrate on work when I got back, what with the blurry vision and the phone calls from friends bestowing birthday wishes.

When we eventually finished work it was time for J & I to go out for a romantic meal. The majority of our nights out are organised by me but Valentines night and my Birthday our J’s domain and there's nothing he likes more then teasing me about where we are going. I thought I had done some pretty good detective work to figure out where we were going. J doesn’t make it that difficult, especially when he asked “What’s the name of that restaurant you like in Balmoral?” But apparently this was just a red herring. We started the night by heading to industrie bar to have a few cocktails with the hip corporate crowd. After two very strong caipirinhas (cachaça, brown sugar, muddled limes and lots of ice) I was flying. We hopped into a taxi and I expected to head across the Harbour Bridge. Then I noticed we were heading east not north. What happened to my great detective work? We stopped outside Bistro Moncur and there was a grin on my face from ear to ear.



Back in 1999 when I was visiting a friend in Paddington I got a bit lost and came across Bistro Moncur by accident. It got my attention because of its great buzz. I had no idea what the food was like but everyone inside seemed to be enjoying themselves. Since that encounter this restaurant has been on my must-visit list but in seven years I never made it – until last night. We had a pre-dinner drink in the Woollahra Hotel and then it was time to taste Chef, Damien Pignolets’, food for myself. I have been hearing a lot of good things about his food recently because of his new cookbook French and he didn’t let us down on the night. Here’s a sample of what we enjoyed. The photos are slightly blurred but you have to remember how much alcohol had been consumed by the time the food arrived.



To start, I had Tartare of Hiramasa `Ichiban` Kingfish and J had Damien’s Salmon. After tasting both I think I would choose the salmon next time. For mains, I had the special of Roast Quail with pheasant sausage and J had the Fillet Steak (not pictured). The pheasant sausage was gorgeous and was probably my favourite part of the meal. The Steak was done to perfection with a creamy Béarnaise sauce. Dessert was a shared crème brulee (but I don’t remember getting any) and a cheese plate which I gladly indulged in while J devoured the crème brulee.

After dinner I got lots of lovely gifts from J including a fancy new 5-in-1 reflector for my photography. Once I get the knack of using it you will see much better lighting in my food photographs.