Noobie Foodie│Tapas Joint

Dinner with the family is one of my all time favourite activities! Because it’s a chance to catch up with some of my favourite people over delicious food! This time some members of my fambam went to try Tapas Joint at Chinatown because it just opened and there was a GROUPON (I OVE GROUPONS). We were allowed to choose 12 different tapas and 4 desserts – among the 4 of us. It was A LOT of food!! 

Here is my review of this new restaurant – warning there is going to be A LOT of pictures!

ALL THE FOODDD 

Read more for the details!

First we were served our salads – which were the Crispy and Tender Beef Salad plus the Squid Salad with balsamic vinegar.

Beef Salad

Squid Salad! 

I love the beef salad!! It was really really good beef – very well marinated and soft which is how I like my beef! The squid was pretty ordinary nothing special about it, not a very memorable dish to be honest.

Pan Fry Honey Glazed Chicken Steak and Pan Fry Baby Lamb Rump with Mash were served after the salads! Then it was the Chicken Beetroot Chilli Garlic Risotto plus a Fresh Salmon Fried Rice.  (Man the title of the dishes are pretty long..)

the LAMB!! 

The chicken steak was a little disappointing mainly because the menu picture made it look so sweet and succulent but it was just very well marinated chicken, it was very hard to taste the honey for me. The lamb was better because it was very different to how lamb is cooked normally – I don’t personally like lamb all that much but it was actually enjoyable here!

FRIED RICE! 

The Risotto was pretty normal – nothing out of the ordinary but definitely not the best risotto I’ve ever had. I couldn’t really taste the beetroot, chilli or garlic which was a little disappointing as well. No one can do fried rice wrong! So it was pretty ordinary but up to standard fried rice.

Cognac Chicken

Next was the Cognac chicken with pickle! I was very excited about this dish because it featured alcohol and chicken together – TWO OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS!!!

It wasn’t bad chicken since it was also tender but it was cold and of course I couldn’t taste the Cognac. But it wasn’t something I would rave about.

Fresh salmon/beef Carpaccio was next and it was one of the highlights of the meal for me! Both the salmon and beef were dressed in oil and raw! It was actually my first time eating raw meat in this way – and I really loved it!

Garlic Prawns! 

Of course what is a meal without some seafood! The Garlic and Coriander Prawns were pretty standard prawns but there weren’t enough of them. There’s nothing too special about this dish.

I WANT MOARRR!! 

THIS IS MY FAVOURITE DISH! But I have absolutely no recollection of what it’s called! It was really delicious though!! Someone please tell me the name if you know it! There was rice bubble deep fried outside fresh pieces of chicken (from my recollection). And it just added this really interesting texture to the chicken – a mixture of sweetness and savory! LOVE IT!

Next we tried another chicken dish which was the Passion Fruit Chicken and that was umm interesting.. Not really suited for my taste because I’m not the biggest fan of passion fruit to start with! But one of my friends really like it so maybe it’s suited for other people?

The last dish was the Coke Curry Beef with rice and it was also definitely interesting! The coke again added a taste of sweetness to the curry so it wasn’t the typical spicy curry I was used to from Thai food. It’s not something I’d ever order again though!

THEN on to the DESSERT! This was actually the best of this meal!!

Let’s start with the Coconut Brulee! I’m a coconut-holic which means I love almost everything that’s coconut flavoured so this was definitely a wonderful dessert for me! Plus the sugar was torched to perfection. We also got two of these brulees because they made a mistake with our order! YAYYY!!!

The Red Wine Mix Berry Ice Cream was pretty normal! Just frozen mix berries with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Nothing too epic – clearly they needed to add more wine!

The Panna Cotta had this excellent texture and it was so very smooth but it wasn’t really sweet enough for me especially since I started with the ice cream! Yet it was a really fresh and light dessert I would try it again!

this picture doesn't do it any justice!!! 

I DIDN’T TAKE A GOOD PHOTO OF THIS! This makes me really sad because this was also one of my favourites! It was Coffee Mousse with fresh cream and it was DELICIOUS! I’ve always adored the fluffy texture of mousse combined with the slightly bitter coffee taste it’s definitely one of my highlights!!

♣

Location: ★★★★★

Tapas Joint is located in the heart of the city! Right at the end of Chinatown it’s very convenient and easy to get to!  

Add:shop2 6-12 Dixon St. haymarket
T: (02) 9267 7877

Menu: ★★★☆☆

The menu is quite extensive! And featured a lot of very interesting dishes! Many of which we tried and tested so if you’re feeling adventurous try the unusual dishes otherwise they do offer a range of very safe dishes as well. The menu features some mouth watering food photography which can be a little misleading sometimes!  

Taste: ★★★☆☆

Overall the dishes weren’t bad! There were some highlights to the meal that created a bit of interest but otherwise it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I feel like I can cook some of these dishes myself!

Price: ★★☆☆☆

Luckily we got a groupon otherwise the price of the meal would be quite pricey! Each dish ranges from $6.5 - $10 and considering the small portion sizes it would take a few dishes to fill up lots of people and the price will definitely add up! But if you’re with a group of Asian girls with very small appetites I would definitely recommend it! Because then there will be less wastage of food.

Overall: ★★★☆☆

Even though the food was too spectacular I really enjoyed my meal at Tapas Joint mainly because of the really friendly and helpful staff member! Especially the manager Tony who actually came and talked to us! It was a personalised service experience which was a refreshing change. The food was a very interesting blend of western and eastern but unfortunately either flavours stood out although sometimes it did blend well together!

Happiness Level = 65%

♥ Lingfish

P.S. I’ve decided to blog every Wednesday night/Thursday morning for this semester but damn this post took so long! HAHA