The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 41

D. EATS OUT The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday, July 20, 1993 41 From AG Just like grandma's TTV AVLOVAS, passionfruit prin-I cess cakes and laminetons m. all as Aussie as Waltzing jl Matuaa. Here are live places you can indulge in delicacies just like Sydney has been awarded a rare honour -V the only Unkai restaurant outside Japan. And it's an exquisite experience to eat there, writes LESLUXFORD.

tne ones grandma used to make: WHITES CAKES For more than 75 years, Whites has been churning out the same recipes (owner Paul Heimlich still talks in pounds and inches YouTl find scones (plain 35c, sultana 43c), lamine tons (80c), chelsea buns (with sponge cake and jam in the middle, princess cakes (a six-inch sponge with passionfruit icing and fresh cream), jam tarts, rock cakes and vanilla slices HEN it comes to fine dining in Sydney, most of us have fairly set ideas. The restaurants that usually come to deep-fried eggplant nasu-agedashi, is one of the world's great eggplant dishes. Cooked in a remarkable light batter, with the eggplant peeled and served with a sake and fish stock sauce, the strong flavours combined perfectly. The final main course, cha-soba. was cold green tea noodles cooked to al dente perfection and imbued with the subtle flavour of Japanese tea.

While the desserts are limited, they include the chefs green tea ice-cream, a sweeter version of the subtle green tea flavour. The wine list features a good selection of Australia's best, most Japanese beers and a long list of high-quality sakes that highlights their regional variations much as we do with single malt Scotch. The Unkai is not cheap, but fine food never is. Go to the Unkai as an alternative to the Rockpool or the Trianon, but dont expect the arguing and burping diners to be found in Chinatown's Asian restaurants. At Unkai, everything exudes refined, restrained class.

UNKAI ANA Hotel 176 Cumberland Street The Rocks. 250 6000. Classic Japanese dining, genuine Japanese tastes, fantastic views of Sydney, in a beautify room. The perfect restaurant to entertan Japanese guests and for lovers of Japanese cuisine. Food 710.

Service 710. Atmosphere 810. Value 510. Hours: lunch daily noon to 130 pm; dinner nightly 6 pm to 10 pm. Prices: Set menus (lunch from $23); entrees mans desserts $8.

Complimentary valet parking. Cards: all cards. Wheelchair access: possible (by lift). Non-smoking areas: yes. HOW WE SCORE 910 world class.

810 superb. 710 exceptional. 610 well above average. 5 10 good. 410 average.

3IO mediocre. 2 10 very poor. I 1 0 don't bother. stir- 2 (all 80c each) and date rolls (S2.50). Whites also make its own shortbread ($3.50 a pound).

Open seven days 8.30 am-5 30 pm. 24 Arden Street, Waverley. Phone 665 2501. CHERYL'S PATISSERIE AND BAKERY Custard tarts (poured and baked in the shell, $1.40) have quickly become the specialty of Cheryl's since it opened in February. Apple pies and turnovers are $1.40 each, cheesecakes $1.40 a slice, pecan pies and fruit flans $10-515.

The bakery also makes its own lamingtons, (70c each), using a 30-year-old lamington dip recipe. Open Mon-Fri 6 am-6 pm (Thurs 7 pm); Sat 6 am-3 pm and Sun 6 am-2 pm. Shop 7a, Illawong Village, Fowler Road, Illawong. Phone 541 0458. MOZART PATISSERIE Owner Roy Taylor knows how to make the definitive pavlova he once whipped up a massive one for a party of 200! He's also a dab hand at apple pies, devil's food cake ($4 each), lamingtons 1), egg custard tarts 1.80 each) and vanilla slices ($1.40 a slice).

Coconut ice and choc fudges are all-time favourites (80c a piece). Open Mon-Sat 6 am-6 pm. 235 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction. Phone 369 2268. mind have French or Italian-based menus, with the innovation of the chef becoming increasingly important And, although the modern Australian cuisine, Sydney-style, often features Asian ingredients, very few people would think of nominating an Asian restaurant for a short-list of -Sydney's finest Sydney has been selected as the only location outside Japan for an Unkai restaurant there are only six and the ANA Hotel has imported not just one of its leading chefs, but a whole kitchen brigade to maintain absolute authenticity.

I wanted to find out if the Unkai could be regarded as one of our very finest, but I also needed to know exactly what the Japanese expect in a top restaurant Do they want faultless service, elegant surroundings or, like many of us, just great food? To get the Japanese perspective, I dined at the Unkai with a Japanese foodie, the urbane Ms Yumi SakaL Unkai translates as a view of the clouds from a high place and it certainly deserves the name. The view from the top floor of the hotel must be among Sydney's best looking down onto the bridge and Sydney Cove. High ceilings, discreet displays of. Japanese objets d'art and simple, an entire kitchen brigade brought out to Pfctunbr PETRI KURKM Unkai's manager, Hiroshi Miura Chew, and assistant manager, Akemi Kurokawa maintain authenticity. graceful settings add to the effect of exclusivity.

Yumi says that the Japanese believe food tastes better in elegant surroundings. I had a suspicion that all this refinement wouldn't come cheap and that Unkai might be too expensive for the average Sydney diner. Visiting Japanese regard it as good value, but have you purchased a beer on the Ginza lately? It was a pleasant surprise to find the Unkai has six set menus, ranging from $40 to $120 a head (and starting at $23 for lunch). It's my bet that many locals will choose this option not only for value, but to avoid confusion. Yumi, however, forever the foodie, would not contemplate a set menu, even though she conceded they were well structured.

For entrees, Yumi went straight for the konowata. I have been called the man who will eat anything, but this dish had me worried. The explicit translation says it all: "Salted entrails of sea These little creatures are also known as beche-de-mer or, more commonly, sea slugs. The konowata have a surprisingly enjoyable taste similar to sea urchins and a crunchy but slippery texture. The unagi-zaku is a vinegared and deboned eel and cucumber salad, moist and full of flavour; the wakame is salted herring roe on kelp, presented somewhat like a decrusted sandwich with a surprising complex flavour and crunchy texture.

By comparison to these delicate entrees, the main courses are more hearty. Kaki-isoyaki are broiled Sydney rock oysters cooked in the shelL The cooking process was halted at the perfect point so that the natural raw flavours were enhanced. Tuluri-moriawase is assorted sashimi, perfectly fresh and perfectly cut, with all the sinews surgically removed from the tuna, the centrepiece of the platter. It may sound simple enough, but few restaurants serve sashimi with the clean and pure taste that only very fresh fish has. Vminosachi-ishiyaki is equally fresh seafood cooked on a hot rock in the traditional Japanese style.

And the with trouble The and the joys garlic Raw Materials MERYL CONSTANCE AEROPLANE DELI 1 Yes, this is a meat outlet, but its home-made cakes are well-known, especially its flour-free chocolate cake (with roasted hazlenut meal). Try the old-fashioned quince and almond tarts, rhubarb pies or orange and lemon cheesecakes. On the heavier side, there are steamed puddings with butterscotch sauce, bread and butter puddings and upside-down apple puddings. most of us are prepared to eat them and to hell with friends and colleagues next day. Perhaps the vast quantity of coriander root in this Thai version has magical properties because the aftermath doesn't seem to be severe.

Prepare a marinade by mixing together 8 crushed cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons washed and minced coriander root, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, tablespoons brown sugar and Vi teaspoon pepper. Add 500 of shelled and cleaned prawns and leave to marinate for 15-30 minutes. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan, add the prawns and their marinade and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or just until the prawns are pink Stir in the juice of a lemon and serve immediately with rice and sliced tomatoes and cucumber. CATALAN LAMB (Serves 4) This recipe from northern Spain takes only minutes of the cook's time but produces melting lamb in a lush sauce, thick with sweet (and innocuous) cloves of garlic In a wide casserole which can be used on top of the stove, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and brown a shoulder of lamb on both sides. Remove the meat and add to the saucepan 20 peeled whole cloves of garlic.

Cookgently for a few minutes then sprinkle in a tablespoon of flour, stir well, then, continuing to stir, add 300 ml stock mixed with a tablespoon of tomato puree. Return the meat to the casserole, turn it over in the stock mixture, cover tightly and simmer very gently until the meat is cooked Turn the meat over halfway through cooking and check at intervals, adding more stock if the sauce is getting dry. bowls. When the soup is cooked, season it to taste, then break four eggs into the simmering liquid and poach until barely set. Using a slotted spoon, lift the eggs out onto the bread slices, then ladle the soup over the top.

Serve very hot SAUCE A LA CREME D'AIL Garlic cream sauce (Serves 4) There are countless versions of garlic sauce around the world. The French ones mostly involve emulsions of eggs and oil with raw garlic, such as awli, a garlic mayonnaise, and rouille, which includes roasted red capsicum. South-East Asian garlic sauces are more waistline-friendly, usually variations on a combination of raw garlic, vinegar and sugar. But there is one enjoyable French sauce which is low in kilojoules and wont leave you reeking either. It's from the era of cuisine minceur (remember Cover 12 peeled cloves of garlic with water and bring to the boil Simmer for 10 minutes, then drain and discard the water.

Return the garlic cloves to the saucepan and add 100 sliced mushrooms, a cup of skim or fat-modified milk a tablespoon of very strong stock, 1 teaspoon chopped parsley, a pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer gendy for 20 minutes then puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Good with grilled or roasted poultry. THAI GARLIC PRAWNS (Serves 4) Spanish garlic prawns are yesterday's fashion, but are still so enjoyable that All cakes, sit down and take away.

She was half right The single clove of crushed raw garlic in the salad will leave more of a legacy than 20 whole cloves added to the slow-cooked casserole. But inverse relationship to quantity is not the key. Garlic the most pungent member of the onion family, does not smell until it is cut or bruised. Try sniffing a whole head of garlic and even a peeled clove. Provided you can manage to peel away the papery skin without any damage to the clove below, youll smell hardly a thing.

However, bruising or breaking the flesh starts a chemical chain reaction which produces a sulphur-containing compound with the characteristic savoury, fresh garlic smell. We all know about sulphur and rotten egg gas. It is probably conversion to another sulphur compound in the body which causes the repugnant smell later. The more the flesh of a garlic clove is damaged, the more garlic odour and flavour is produced. It follows that the finer you chop garlic, the stronger the outcome will be.

Crushing does most damage and produces the greatest flavour. Take heart if crushed fresh, garlic dishes are your favourite thing that sulphur compound is believed to be the reason garlic reduces levels of cholesterol in the blood. Older garlic can have unpleasant flavour elements and cause a burning sensation on the tongue, so try to buy it as young as possible. Cooking garlic for a long time eliminates the culprit compound. cost and are served with King Island cream or a fresh compote of NOT long ago, a reader wrote to complain bitterly of the ubiquity of garlic, nowadays, in recipes in general and Good Living's recipes in particular.

He is a member of a garlic-hating minority which is fast shrinking to vanishing point Perhaps the biggest single change in Australians eating habits since World War II has been our embrace of a huge range of new flavouring agents. And garlic, once regarded by a chauvinistic Anglo-Celtic Australia as smelly, "woggy" stuff, is now omnipresent Mind you, smell is still an issue. We love to eat garlicky foods but dread announcing wordlessly to the world next day what we had for dinner the night before. We've all encountered someone whose very skin reeks. Ingest enough garlic, without forethought to the preparation method, and the dreadful smell is exuded through the sweat glands.

Most food references and cookery books are very unhelpful about means of avoiding the aftermath. Those who even address this question usually recommend remedies like munching parsley to freshen the breath, not much use if the entire body needs freshening. The great Elizabeth David surmised that timidity is worse than useless and that one can school one's system by ingesting very large quantities. fruit Open Mon-Fri 8.30 am-7 pm; Sat 930 pm and Sun 11 am-3 pm. Garlic its power depends on the process, pkun by Patrick cummins 143 St Johns Road, Glebe.

Phone 552 6234. MANNING HOUSE PATISSERIE Chris Walton (formerly of the Bays- water Brasserie and Kinselas) set up the new pastry kitchen at the Sydney University a year ago for staff and public. Offerings include cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, rhubarb crumbles, quince and orange tarts in puff pastry and currant and apple pudding. Ail cakes are a very reasonable SOPA DE AJO CON HUEVOS Garlic soup with eggs (Serves 4) From Colombia in South America, this robust soup is just about a meal in itself on a cold night and easily rivals its better known cousin, French onion soup. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan and gently fry 6 sliced onions.

Add 10 or more cloves of garlic, finely chopped, and continue cooking until the onion is transparent Pour in 2 water or chicken stock and simmer, covered, for half an hour. Put 4 thick slices of coarse bread in the bottom of four large soup Rapid cooking on high heat wont do the job and, because garlic burns very easily, can add a bitter edge. But long cooking yields sweet-flavoured cloves which are delicious and guilt-free. You can, for instance, bake a whole head of garlic with a roast and jacket potatoes. Either put the peeled cloves around the roast or bake them unpeeled.

At the end of cooking time, the soft cloves slip easily out of their skins and, mashed, make a delicious low-kilojoule garnish for the potatoes. Open Mon-Fri 9 am-4 pm, only during term time- Manning Road, Sydney University. Phone 660 1355. SHELLI-ANNE COUCH SAVE! SAW SAVE! LESLIE WALFORD INTERIORS LOTUS Celebratiowm LINGERIE partuMenu! Sydney's Best Weekend for Only $195 INCLUDING BREAKFAST AND PARKING. (77? THAT'S RIGHT, FOR AS little-as $195 you and your partner may stay in Sydney's most luxurious hotel enjoy a sumptuous breakfast and we provide free valet parking.

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