Japanese Hotpot at Dontack
When Weepix and I decided that we were going to move to Australia our first choice of new home was Melbourne……stay with me Sydneysiders, for my story gets better. Neither of us had ever been to Australia so we had no personal experience to draw upon. When we consulted friends and various internet forums both cities got a great write up. Both cities are often judged to be in the ‘Top Ten Cities’ in the world with regard quality of life. Sydney is more beautiful people said. Sydney has better weather said others. You’ll get paid more in Sydney some suggested. Melbourne has better food said most.
Melbourne it was then.
I’m not being flippant here. Ultimately the decision to go for Melbourne over Sydney was made purely on the basis that we’d heard better things about the food in Melbourne. Folk said that coffee was better, the café culture was more prominent and that Melburnians just simply cared more about their food. When you’re making a blind move to the other side of the world you need to get your priorities straight.
As it turns out I was offered a job in Sydney and not Melbourne. And you know, for a little while we were slightly disappointed by that. Seems crazy, but we’d formed a bond with Melbourne based on restaurant reviews, foodie websites and reports of the Queen Victoria Market. We hadn’t invested that time in Sydney.
Well we’re eighteen months in now and I’ve not been to Melbourne yet, but it would have to be truly sensational to trump the foodie experiences that Sydney has offered to date.
The food here is cheap and of an extremely high standard. The first time I bought a leg of lamb for $20 I nearly fainted. It cost that in pounds back home (and it wasn’t as good). We’ve gone from eating out maybe once a week at home to eating out two or three times a week here. And why not when a good Thai meal in Sydney is about a third of the price we used to pay at home? The range of cuisine is incredible; within five minutes walk of our apartment we’ve got Thai, Spanish, French, Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian, Greek, German, Japanese, Vietnamese, Modern Aussie, Mexican, Chinese, American…the list goes on. With several of these cuisines, Japanese for example, we have a choice of five or six places within walking distance. Good job too as we both love Japanese food and in Edinburgh it’s a) rare b) crap and c) expensive.
(I feel bad reading this first bit back as I’m painting a pretty bleak picture of back home. That’s not my intention as the standard of food in Edinburgh can be extremely high; it’s just that when it is the price tends to be too. We don’t seem to have the knack of providing high quality food for a reasonable price in Scotland. That’s sad as the produce available is fantastic.)
Anyway, I’m going to start writing a bit more about my food experiences in Sydney as there have been loads of recipes of late and not a lot else. To kick us off I’m going to wax lyrical about Japanese food and particularly nabemono, which is better known as Japanese Hot Pot and is one of my favourite discoveries since moving to Sydney. It comes in a few different varieties but the basic idea is a big pot of tasty stock to which you add veggies, tofu, noodles and meat.
The other night we went to Dontack, a little place just up the road. We ordered the sushi and sashimi platter ($19.50) and a Sukiyaki hot pot for two ($35).
The sushi and sashimi are great as always. The sashimi (salmon and kingfish) is fresh as can be and the sushi is delicate with a good proportion of fish to rice. A bit of wasabi and soy and it’s all good. This is the sort of sushi and sashimi that would have had me dancing with joy 18 months ago and now I just accept it as par for the course. How quickly we adapt.
The nabemono is why we’re here though. The sweet sukiyaki stock is a mix of soy sauce, sugar and mirin and comes with a huge platter of thinly sliced beef. The big cast iron stock pot arrives at the table already stuffed full of veggies, noodles, tofu and the stock and is sat on top of a little portable gas burner. Now we have to sit and wait as the stock starts to bubble and the veggies cook down a little. The smell is so incredible that the wait is a real challenge, but as the veggies are raw and the pot stuffed to bursting point waiting is the only option available.
After ten maddening minutes, when there is a little room, the first few slices of beef are tucked into the stock alongside the veg. It doesn’t take long to cook and is soon fished out and dipped into a little bowl of raw egg before being eagerly scoffed.
This moment right here is what makes the wait worth it.
The taste of the beef, sweet stock and raw egg is, and I pick my word carefully, sensational. The egg is rich and buttery in direct contrast to the savoury beef and the delicious sweetness of the stock. It’s a hell of a combination. Dig into some noodles and veg and then it’s time for more beef. At this point I realise we’re eating in almost total silence. Not in an uncomfortable way, we’re just both completely absorbed in the ritual in front of us. That’s a sure sign of good food.
It’s a wonderful way to eat and, when you’re not staring in silence into the depths of the stock pot, very social. Despite the large amount of food we left feeling sated as opposed to stuffed and that has to be the best way to end a nice meal.
