December was honestly such a whirlwind of a month that I really can't believe we are three days into January already. The things I got up to include:

As September is just a few days away, I'm suddenly in a rush to the many things that I've put off over the course of winter and just this entire year in general. I've had so much free time as I recently said goodbye to my full-time job, and gone through all the busy events I had lined up. Since then I've been in a horrible slump and its taken me getting so sick that I'm stuck at home to finally rolling out all these food reviews that I've been wanting to share. I'm hoping the next step is that I'll start taking my goals to the next level but we'll see!

Anyway, September is important to me because I love fresh starts - such as the change in season from winter to spring (winter makes me depressy and stressy). And also, it's my boyfriend Patrick's birthday month and if there's anything I enjoy more than my own birthday, it's spoiling the person I love for their birthday!!


Last year I went a bit crazy because I have no idea how I will even begin to top it this year. But if there's one thing we can talk about, it's where we ate.



I've seen via social media friends and family visit this place on special occasions and leaving with nothing but compliments on how amazing and tender the steak is. And Patrick's favourite food? Steak.

Situated down the quiet Bligh Street in Sydney's CBD, Chophouse looks completely quiet and unassuming from the outside. If not for the small lit up sign I probably wouldn't have guessed the Uber even took us to the right place. We head inside where we hear the instant wave of loud chatter and can see so many people having a good time.






We order some drinks to start off with as per recommendation.

Hey there, long time no see! June which has just passed is always my favourite month despite the cold winter weather because it's my birthday month. On my birthday I had the amazing opportunity to celebrate that with my boyfriend over dinner at Restaurant Hubert. I've been dying to try out this restaurant since it first popped up on my radar but could never find the right occasion. But now that I've been, I can say this is the perfect backdrop for a special occasion such as a birthday, celebration, fancy catch up or a very intimate date night. Actually you don't even have to have an occasion - just go.

Everywhere I've looked, Hubert has such wonderful and consistent reviews. I love that the restaurant is described as "romantic, ravishing and dishing up food that dazzles" by Good Food. Because that's exactly the kind of restaurant I want to go to.

We arrive outside Hubert on Bligh Street. Well and truly in the heart of Sydney. Also NOT to be confused with the bar/restaurant on the ground level. In fact it is the huge wooden doors discretely located on the right side. I'm surprised by the plain signage outside but with one push open we are instantly taken back in time and pleasantly surprised with what we find.



The entryway is illuminated by soft light from a few wall lamps that reveal a long and windy flight of stairs down. One side of the wall is filled with miniature liquor bottles and the other, vintage posters. We can hear excited chatter floating up from downstairs and soft jazz music playing along the way. I decide in that moment that I love this place already.



Further down we find a mini bar and surprise, more miniature liquor bottles. There must be hundreds and thousands of these and they look so impressive. There is also the Bridge Bon Appetite room where a private function is being held.

From here, another small flight of stairs spiralling down and you will reach the restaurant.




When you come down you'll be greeted with the reception desk. To the right there is a casual bar while to the left there is the stage, Beatrix Dining Room and Bar Normandy. We're lucky enough to be here on a night where we have a live band playing jazz music. The atmosphere is so warm with murmurs of chatter, candlelight and the tinkling of wine glasses. It really feels as if we have been transported back in time to an elegant and exquisite French post-war dining experience. I am falling even more and more in love with this place.


We arrived a little before 7 PM yet the restaurant was packed. Hubert doesn't take bookings for groups smaller than six so we had to put our name down on the waiting list. The wait was up to an hour which is crazy but anything for my birthday am I right? In that time you are invited to have a few drinks at the bar or go out and come back when they have messaged you that a table is ready.




We're seated at the bar alongside a few other couples but the two seater booths right behind us in the pictures above? Those are the seats to covet for an even more intimate and romantic night. I tried asking if we could move to the booth once I noticed a couple had finished up their dinner and left but it seems someone had already requested these seats in their reservation. So that's definitely my tip for next time! Ask for the booths if it's just two of you!!

Nonetheless the perks of sitting at the bar are your better access to the efficient and knowledgeable wait staff. Friendly? Not really, but they are happy to answer any questions in great detail and are quite witty!

To start the night off... even though we had already been drinking during our wait hehehe, we order some more drinks.




The menu is quite small and it's not always clear which dish is an entree or which is a main. But a quick look around the room at everyone else's dining tables reveal that despite the sizes, these dishes are all meant to be shared!




So we order a few things, some we have heard good reviews about and some we think just sound delicious and it's not long before our first dish comes out!





This doesn't look like much but I can assure you it is such a generous portion! The duck pate is delightfully smooth. It has the signature gamey and earthy flavour of duck along with a unique fruity sweetness to it which is enhanced even more by the maple jelly. I am so fond of this dish. The baguette is also extremely rave-worthy which a warm crispy crust and fluffy innards.

In hindsight we should've asked for more bread as there was definitely more pate than bread but on the other hand, this was also very filling and neither of us wanted to be full too soon.





Have you ever heard of gnocchi made using not potatoes, but choux pastry batter? Well never have I but this was such a rich and textural delight. We break through the crisp layer on top to reveal soft and pillowy gnocchi Parisienne tossed in a creamy mix of parmesan, French parsley and chives. I have such good things to say about chives in this dish. And the cheesy sauce. And the melt in your mouth gnocchi. Everything about it is so indulgent that I couldn't help but sigh and mmm with every bite.





If there's steak on the menu, Patrick will order it. And normally I'd laugh and roll my eyes at his predictability but let me say, this steak was actually and legitimately probably one of my favourite steaks ever. We would probably order another one if we weren't so full from the baguette in the first dish.

I'm surprised because flank is generally considered a cheap cut of meat and yet they grilled this so beautifully and it was tender and flavourful. It comes precut in thick slabs but when you try to cut it yourself the steak is a bit hard to cut even with a rigid steak knife. But in the mouth it honestly is easier to bite and almost just melts. Just like the beautiful Cafe de Paris butter melting over the top of each cut. It was definitely on the rare side compared to the medium rare steaks I have seen in other peoples reviews, but if you know me you know I love my rare steak. Just not many places can do it well and I think I've found a winner. Pat usually prefers medium rare/medium but he really enjoyed this so that's how good it was.




I love my potatoes and was excited to try this pommes anna! They are perfectly crisp and golden layered potato slices in a rich and luxurious beurre blanc sauce. A really great accompaniment to the steak. A few people online were saying this was the highlight of their whole meal, but to me.. nope, it was still the steak.


As we quickly devoured the last of our mains, we sat around contemplating for a few minutes if we should order more food - particularly the wagyu beef tartare with French fries. I also had a handful of other things I was keen to try such as the escargots in XO, the malakoff, or even the kimchi gratin. But better off save it for next time as we were feeling quite full and just eating with our eyes at that point.

So on to the dessert menu! I felt a bit cut that the servers offered the couples next to us a dessert menu as soon as they had finished their mains whilst we sat around for a while with an empty table and no one offered us the menu. I ended up asking for it myself and the waiter jokingly replied "no" so there's that??


A simple selection of some very delicious sounding desserts. And I went with this one...





I love this twist on what vacherin traditionally is. At first glance we thought the entire exterior was a piped shell of meringue. But once we cut through with our spoon, we find the exterior is actually piped cream covering a hard and round meringue shell. Out oozes the wonderfully creamy sauternes ice cream with raspberry sorbet and sweet cubes of rhubarb. It's very divine and texturally delicious.

One thing which I have to note is that towards the middle there was something unpleasantly sour and gel-like. I can't pinpoint what it is but it kind of threw off the dessert for a second there.




A little pick me up for my boy who was still studying for his final exams.


We sat around soaking up the music and atmosphere for a little while longer and got some photos. My polaroid camera also conveniently ran out of batteries but I bet you the photos would have been really cute.


Our candle on the table had shrunken immensely by this time compared to the new diners sitting next to us and Pat guessed that maybe each group of diner gets a fresh candle which represents the 2 hour time limit we all have here. Interesting right!


So that was our night and I was very sad to leave this place. I really hope I can come back again sometime in the future. But until then I will strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful night out with some good vibes and delicious food. Let me know if you've been and how it was! Or even if you'd like to come again with me hehe.