Tag Archives: chocolate

Greatly Terrific Food Outing: The Royal Hotel Paddington

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While I usually avoid the cold and winter like a snowman would avoid the summer, one good thing about the changing seasons are….AUTUMN MENUS!!   And as good menu’s go, today I’d like to share with you The Royal Hotel Paddington’s brand new Autumn Menu.

Setting and Atmosphere

★★★★

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Loud and bustling, there’s nothing short of elegance at The Royal Hotel Paddington.  Sit yourself down at one of their white marble tables and enjoy the provincial French decor and luscious floral displays that adorn each and every table.

Dim lighting accompanies your dining experience, which is great for an intimate night, but the worst when it comes to a blogger event – we need the light for our photos!! All in all though, dining at The Royal Hotel Paddington is a pleasure and the attention to detail helps the night feel just that little bit more special.

Food

★★★★

The Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Elderflower Rosé Punch – Le Chat Rosé, St. Germain, vanilla syrup, lemonade, blueberries, strawberries and lime,
The Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Beef Carpaccio w/ olives, green tomato, rocket and sourdough toast | $19
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Beef Carpaccio w/ olives, green tomato, rocket and sourdough toast | $19
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Parmesan and Truffle Fries w/ Aioli | $15
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Tuna Tartare w/ avocado, miso and sesame | $19
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Vine Ripened Tomatoes w/ burrata, basil, grapes and kalamata olives

Starting with entrees, the highlights on the palate were the Parmesan and Truffle Fries and the Tuna Tartare.  While the other two dishes were also nice – the Vine Ripened Tomatoes were deliciously sweet -they just lacked a little flavour and seasoning.

Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
From left to right: Smokey Joe – Bowmore Scotch, canton ginger, cloudy apple, orgeat and fresh dill | 5 Ways G+T: Hendricks, St. Germain, lime, basil, mint, cucumber and lemongrass
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Beetroot Ravioli w/ walnut cream, pickled beetroot and caramelised walnuts | $22
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Spanner Crab Linguini w/ peas, garlic, lemon and chilli | $27
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Lamb Shoulder w/ smoked eggplant, herb coulis and macadamia crumble | $37

For Main, we were served the Beetroot Ravioli, the Spanner Crab Linguine and the Lamb Shoulder. Starting with the Beetroot Linguine one thing I can say is that if you’re a nut fan like me, this dish will be a highlight for you too.  The best thing about this dish was it’s uniqueness and with all elements combined – blue cheese, beetroot and walnut cream – it tasted delicious.

Moving on to the Crab Linguine, I was slightly disappointed.  It’s a nice pasta dish, but considering the price sets you back almost $30, I was hoping for more crab (there were only tiny little strings of it), and I really wanted to be able to taste the bold garlic flavours as described on the menu.  As a result, the dish fell a little flat.

Visually, the Lamb Shoulder was gorgeous and for most guests, this dish was the favourite of the night.  For me personally, I didn’t quite enjoy the flavours, however the lamb was cooked really well.

Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Rhubarb Bombe Alaska | $13
Royal Hotel Paddington - Autumn Menu
Chocolate Lava Cake | $13

Finally, to sweeten our tastebuds we were served the Rhubarb Bombe Alaska and the Chocolate Lava Cake for desert.  With it’s strong rhubarb and tart flavours, rest assured rhubarb loves, this Bombe Alaska will satisfy all your rhubarb needs.

I’ve never been a huge fan of chocolate, and usually when I see chocolate desserts on the menu I can’t help but think “boring.”  I was surprised to find, however, that I quite enjoyed The Royal Hotel’s Chocolate Lava Cake which was the perfect balance of chocolate flavours and decadence without being too rich.

Service

★★★★

Service was good and attentive, but lacked a personal touch – which is not something that bothers me personally.

Pricing and Value for Money

★★★

Over all, the prices for the dishes are average.  I felt that a few of the dishes were overpriced though.

The Details

Where: 237 Glenmore Road Paddington
NSW 2021, Australia

Contact: (02) 9331 2604

Opening Hours:

Mon–Fri: 11am–12am
Sat: 10am–12am
Sun: 11am–12pm

Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram

Please note that this was an invited event courtesy of Ningjaeats

A Day Out With Spotted Cow Cookies

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Once upon a time in the industrial wonderland known as Alexandria, lived a bunch of crazy cookie eaters, tucked away in a quaint little cookie making warehouse know as “Spotted Cow Cookies”.  They spent their days endlessly creating and tasting cookies, and so it went on until they discovered the secret formula to the perfect cookie – nothing too fancy but always delicious and filled to the brim with love.

One day, Tahnee, the leader of the crazy cookie eaters came up with a wondrous new invention – the brookie, bringing together the two most decadent treats known to mankind – the cookie and the brownie.  To celebrate, she decided to open her cookie warehouse to a select group of very lucky cookie enthusiasts, one of those cookie enthusiasts being me, courtesy of ningjaeats!

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Brookies – Brownie X Cookie filled with peanut butter cream or vanilla cream.

The day was a mixture of cookie making classes (yes I have the secret recipes, and maybe I’ll share them), a tour of the factory and a feast that would make the cookie monster jealous – you’ll see what I mean later on.

Upon arrival, we were greeted to Spotted Cow’s new invention – the brookie.  A combination of a brownie and a cookie, the brookie is soft, chewy and filled witha peanut butter or vanilla cream centre.  And yes,  it’s everything you’re imagining – rich, decadent and yum.

We were soon herded (heh heh get it since we’re at spotted COW cookies) into the room we would be cooking in, and it was set up like a Alice in Wonderland tea party!  Sweets and treats dressed the table top and had everyone’s mouth watering!

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First, we made our own stuffed cookies – don’t worry I’ve spared you the photos of my creations.  We were able to stuff the cookies with anything available on the table.  There was chocolate, salted caramel, smarties, peanut butter, Nutella, coconut and more!

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The cute, bubbly and ever-so talented, Tahnee, owner of Spotted Cow Cookies

After we made our cookies they were put in the oven and in the mean time we took a tour of the factory.  It was really fascinating learning everything involved with making a cookie.  Spotted Cow Cookies really care about the ingredients they use and even take the time to assemble some of the cookies by hand too!

After the factory tour, we were taken to a room to unveil  Spotted Cow’s newest range of cookies:

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COOKIE. MONSTER. WORTHINESS

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Please don’t get jealous over what I tell you next.  Not only did we get to help ourselves to the delicious spread, we also got to take anything we wanted home, plus 5 bags of cookies!!!!!!!  You can see everything I got to take home below!

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So where can you get your hands on these cookies?  You can order them online here or find them randomly stocked in places – I recently saw some at Event Cinemas!