Singapore Swings At Simply Spice
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday March 5, 2003
STROLL down The Piazza off Beaumont Street in Hamilton and you may find something new.
Simply Spice is the latest addition to the dining strip's little side alley and serves up authentic dishes from Singapore and Malaysia.
So authentic, in fact, that the owners returned just last week from Singapore with a collection of spices they discovered they could not buy in Australia.
The new business is family owned and manager Renee Ideris says the eatery is the only authentic Singaporean restaurant in Newcastle.
The family has a long history in hospitality and see the restaurant as a chance to give a little of their culture back to the Newcastle community.
The restaurant serves up dishes such as ayam bakar (barbecued chicken in special coconut sauce), dhal char (lamb dhal), bagedil (potato cutlets), simply tim lo (deep-fried pockets of chicken, mushroom, vermicelli and egg) and ikan sambal (fried fish cutlets in special spices).
Entrees start at $6.50 and head up to $8.90; mains go from $8.90 to $17.90 and desserts are all $5.
Desserts include ice kacang (red beans, creamed corn and jelly beneath shaved ice and drizzled generously with syrup) and gelato with lychee.
The restaurant can be contacted on 4965-4688.
LITERALLY located right on the water, The Boathouse Waterfront Restaurant is situated on the shores of Brisbane Water, near Gosford.
The restaurant has been open since 1999 and caters for everything from intimate dinners and family occasions to special wedding packages, available for 40-130 guests.
The eatery features modern Australian cuisine, with a strong emphasis on gourmet seafood dishes.
Entrees start at $7.90 and rise to $23.90 and include chicken and prawn dumpling soup in a clear tomato and lemon grass broth and Brisbane Water rock oysters.
Mains range from $22.90 to $31.90 and include marinated chicken breast on a sweet potato mash with char-grilled vegetables, roasted garlic, semi-dried tomato and crispy prosciutto, as well as pan-seared medallions of veal with peppered seafood, scallops, prawns and scampi on a potato and leek mash.
Desserts include tiramisu with espresso anglaise and chocolate coated coffee beans, as well as passion fruit brulee with macadamia nut toast, both for $9.90.
The restaurant is open Wednesday to Saturday for lunch from midday, with dinner from 6pm, as well as Sunday for breakfast from 9am and lunch from 11am.
The Boathouse Waterfront Restaurant is located on Brisbane Water Drive, Koolewong, and can be contacted on 02 4342-9994.For both the professional and the home connoisseur, coffee can be exceptionally important.
The Hunter Institute of TAFE NSW realises this and will run a Do's and Don'ts of professional Coffee Preparation course on Thursday March 20.
The course will run from 5.30pm to 8.30pm at the Hamilton campus in Parry Street.
The cost of the course will be $55 a person and will cover the repertoire of coffee systems, preparation and presentation as well as care and maintenance of an espresso machine.
Those interested are advised to book ASAP on 4969-9526.
© 2003 Newcastle Herald