Showing posts with label buffalo wings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buffalo wings. Show all posts

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Tacos tacos tacos, Mañana, Kutchan

Another K-towner Mañana, is a new kid on the block built this year by pro snowboarder Hiromasa Ihara looking for something else to do.

Manana

With a good range of Mexican beers and killer soft beef tacos - seriously I could eat a million of these things! warm soft taco, seared fingers of succulent beef, lettuce, cheese and a little bowl of salsa on the side, they just melt in your mouth, and vanish far too fast.

Manana


Manana Manana


P.S don't forget to get some death wings while you're at it, the skull and cross bones level is nice and warming.

Manana Manana


Mañana
Eki Mae Dori (just up from the train station on the right)

Saturday, May 23, 2009

A night out in Sydney, sleeping all day and breakfast in bed ...

Our one night out on the town while in Sydney started with dinner at fine diner, est. This is where I spent some time working before we left Sydney nearly 4 years ago. It's a 3 hat restaurant on the first floor of the Establishment hotel on George St. The dining room is something else, and stepping back into it after nearly 2 years it still almost takes your breath away. We made a late booking for this Saturday night and start with a glass of champagne at the bar whilst waiting for our table. It was a great dinner, Peter Doyle's food the epitome of Modern Australian cuisine, with beautiful, clean flavors. (Sorry no photo's, we knew we were going out afterwards and didn't want to lug around the camera). It's Jen we're meeting up with tonight, she actually finishes work before we're even onto desserts, so we invite her to join us for cheese and dessert. We chew a bit of fat, eat some tasty sweets and then off we go.

To keep in with the theme, it's another Merivale establishment, Chinese Laundry, which is the next stop. We wait in line, pass through the clipboard natzi's, pay our $ and we're in. It's pretty busy, the 2 separate rooms competing with each other as we walk in, but we're drawn to the main room. We spend the night swaying between the 2, but settle in the main room just before 2am for Mark Dynamix closing set. All is good until the dance floor breaks out into 3 simutanious fights. Egh, this I have not missed about Sydney. There was blood, broken glass and plenty of ruptured egos, but there worst thing was the music just stopped, the lights came on, and the place was cleared. Gosh! Now it's 2:30am, we're ready to party and we need to try and find a cab, and somewhere to go. Of course we end up at Kings X. After trying a few places, most of which closed at 3 anyway, we end up at Candys apartment. We then arrive back at the Hilton around 5:30am and can almost see the sun bursting out. Ouch! Thanks to the Hilton's black out screens we manage to get a great sleep. We woke up about 2pm and didn't feel like going far, definately no further than phone by the side of the bed to dial room service.

Ding* that'll be the door. And there the trolley get's wheeled in. The table is set with our antipasto and dip plates with condiments and water. Then we're shown the little hot box under the table with our hot meals. Tres cool.

Hilton, Room Service

The dip plates holds 4 little ramekins of dips, a taziki yoghurt and cucumber dip, a roasted pepper dip, hummus and guacamole. There's some marinated olives in the centre and ample toasted pita chips.

Hilton, Room Service

Assortment of antipasto items is certainly an assortment. There's everything from prosciutto to gruyere, cippolini to artichoke and some grisini and toasted Turkish bread to mop it all up.

Hilton, Room Service

Patiently waiting in the hot box this whole time Buffalo wings with potato wedges and some mini burgers. The wings were nice and juicy, but none of the Buffalo kick we were after.

Hilton, Room Service

3 mini burgers are served on a delicious, super dark, crusty roll. The bread was really nice, and the 3 meats, grilled chicken breast, lamb patty and grilled beef all tasty, just thought it was a bit boring that each one has the same lettuce, tomato slice and mayonnaise accompaniments.

Hilton, Room Service

It was so nice to have food delivered right to our bed, almost as nice as those block out blinds allowing us to sleep the whole day away ...

Friday, April 17, 2009

Wild Bills, Niseko Hirafu

Wild Bills is the best bar in Niseko.  It's where you'll find the most generously poured drinks in the whole village, there's always some familiar local faces and of course there's the ever gracious Brett and Takayo.  Oh, and we can't forget the mean tex-mex they dish up earlier in the evening, before the music is cranked and the drinks start flowing.

Upon looking through the menu we both notice 'Wild Bills Pils'.  We need 2 of them.  They arrive in an Otaru bottle but have a Wild Bills label.  Tres cool.  This is bottled especially for them by the local Otaru brewery.  It's a very nice pilsner, and it just gets our taste buds anticipating the food to come.

Hokkaido

The first to arrive, onion rings.  Yes, these truly are the best onion rings in the world.  Hokkaido onions are just so sweet and juicy, these ones hand cut into giant rings.  They are then beer battered and fried to a delectable crisp.  There's some ketchup and sweet chilli to the side, my dip of choice, definitely sweet chilli.

Hokkaido

Chips & con Queso dip arrive.  A bowl a golden corn chips with a little pool of cheesy dip for dipping.  Mm.

Hokkaido

Buffalo wings.  Now, I don't know whether it's the wings or the blue cheese sauce I like more ...  Although if you gave me a big bowl of blue cheese sauce and those crisp celery sticks to dip into it, I think I'd be just as happy.

Hokkaido

The taco salad arrives like a little up-side down hat filled with jewels.  The crispy 'hat' holding jewels of baby lettuce, onion, chicken, spring onion and roasted peppers all adorned with a generous sour cream dressing.

Hokkaido

Indeed the mega-nacho's are mega!  We have chosen the pork variety this evening.  They are sizzling away on a cast iron plate.  The chunks of pork have been cooked with onions, peppers and plenty of spice and are resting on top of the corn chips.  There's loads of grilled cheese that's then topped with plenty of shredded ice-berg lettuce, salsa and sour cream.  

Hokkaido

Brett tells us the prawn quesadillas are his must-do hangover brunch.  We're not yet hungover, but they still hit the spot!  The gooey filling has big chunks of shrimp and a nice little spice.  They're grilled to perfection, the tortilla even holding it's own against the weight of all that cheese when picked up.  There's some seasoned rice, salsa, sour cream and a few jalapeno's of to the side which are savoured with each mouthful.  

Hokkaido

We even manage to fit in dessert tonight.  The Sopapilla.  It's like a fried apple burrito, a sweet crunchy pastry casing holding some delicious apple-pie-like filling. There's even some grilled banana, and it's all generously drizzled with honey and 2 balls of vanilla ice-cream.  (and Takayo has plated it just so, it does look a little rude ;))

Hokkaido

Wild Bills is definitely the best place to finish ones night in Niseko, but it's also a damn fine place to begin one as well.

Wild Bills
189-8 Aza Yamada,
Abuta-gun,
Kutchan-cho,
Hokkaido, Japan
T: +81 (0)136-22-5652
Winter season open daily from 5:30pm until 1am
Food last order, 9:30pm