When Nuffnang met the Food Bloggers

The way to a food blogger’s heart is through the stomach…that’s obvious! So how do you make a bunch of food bloggers deliriously happy? Take them out to dinner of course!

Nuffnang is Asia Pacific’s first blog advertising community and is already huge in the Malaysian, Singaporean and Phillipino blogosphere (at last count around 80,000 blogs have signed up!). Having just launched Nuffnang Australia in November 2008, the inaugural Nuffnang Sydney Meet was held at The Loft last Friday, where Sydney bloggers had the opportunity to meet and chat with the co-founder of Nuffnang, Cheo Ming Shen and David Lee, who is at the helm of Nuffnang Australia.

Apparently it was one of the bigger turn outs of all the Australia cities (naturally!) and the foodies were well represented with a few of your favourite Sydney food bloggers, all lured by the prospect of free food and drinks!

After the Nuffnang meet, chocolatesuze, Helen from Grab Your Fork, Howard, Teresa and Linda from eat, show & tell and Mr S. and I were the last ones standing, which allowed us all to have a more intimate and in-depth chat with Ming and David. The night got even better when Ming generously offered to take us all out to dinner!

Of course, us food bloggers had to do our part and faced the difficulty of actually picking a great place to eat! Chocolatesuze suggested Ocean Room and having a weakness for anything Japanese and seafood, we didn’t object!

Located at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay West, the view was stunning and the weather was sublime as we strolled along the harbour. Once inside, my attention was drawn to the gorgeous lamps, which were specially designed for Ocean Room. The interior low lighting was very dim, which, while great for ambience, was a nightmare for an amateur photographer like myself who was sans DSLR! Therefore I must apologise in advance for the downright horrid photos (courtesy of the humble Canon Ixus 70).

It turned out that Helen was aquainted with Head Chef Raita Noda which resulted in a few extra dishes on the house! Can this night get any better? A big thanks to Ming for his photo contributions! Be sure to also check out grabyourfork and eatshow&tell in the future for their photos!

Wasabi Prawn - crispy fried prawn with wasabi aioli and fried wasabi mayonnaise $19
I don’t really eat wasabi per se but I love it when it’s mixed into a dressing or mayonnaise. No surprise then that I fell head over heels for the wasabi mayonnaise and aioli in this dish!

Anchovies x Tomato Sorbet - marinated anchovies with smoked vine ripened tomato sorbet and croutons $16
I have an inane weakness for anchovies and this canapé-styled entree is something I love to try at home.

Soft Shell Crab Tacos - spiced, crispy fried served with pickled vegetables and crispy wafers $18
I hope the rest of the table didn’t hear my groans! I have never tasted such a delicious soft shell crab. It was fried to a perfect crisp that for once the ‘soft-shell’ didn’t feel like I was eating raw prawn shells in my mouth! My favourite starter by far!

Salt and Pepper King Prawns – wok fried with sea salt and Ocean Room’s five peppercorns blend $39
This was quite a small serving for a main that I thought it was actually a starter! Other than that it was a beautifully subtle flavour – not too salty and not too peppery.

Roasted Tuna Wing - slow roasted served with ponzu dipping sauce and micro green salad $38
Cue the simutaneous wide-eyed gawks when this huge platter was brought to the table! The tuna was infused with a gorgeous smokey flavour while Teresa kindly advised us all not to forget the ponzu sauce (which was divine by the way).

Cured Ocean Trout - spice cured with Parmigiano ice cream and preserved lemon salsa $19

Flounder Baskets - crispy fried New Zealand yellow belly flounder fillets in herb mixed salad basket $36
I know I know – it’s a ghastly photo but by far, my favourite dish of the night. I’m sure everybody at the table secretly wished they had ordered Helen’s dish over theirs (or maybe it was just me?). The bone carcass of the flounder was deep fried to an edible crunch while the flounder itself was more than tasty!

Wagyu Meat Pie - wagyu cheek meat pie slow blazed in barossa shiraz with a baked tomato sauce $38
The wagyu beef chunks just melted in my mouth and the strong red wine flavour was perfect. Mr S. very happily finished this off for me when I was reaching my gastro limit.

Black Angus Beef Steak - grilled 20 days aged sirloin with truffle butter and creamy potato mash $39
I couldn’t enjoy this dish very much as Mr S. likes his meat well-done (which I’ll never understand). But thumbs up to the buttery mash (always a culinary winner).

Dry Aged Prime Rib (serves two) - maldon salt and pepper crusted 40 days dry aged beef with accompaniments $75
Beef or steak doesn’t really make me weak at the knees so my opinion is probably biased. However as beautifully cooked as it was, this dish didn’t make me sing from the rooftops. But I suspect Mr S. would if he had this all to himself!

Ocean’s Eleven - 11 sashimi shooters with different flavours and condiments $29