April 13, 2018

Blue Mountains, NSW

We visited the Blue Mountains to celebrate our one year anniversary. We had planned to keep this small because we had sort of celebrated early while we were away in Fiji last month. We celebrated in advance because we knew it would’ve been hard for us to take time off around this period. But it is always nice to do something on the actual day, so we decided to go somewhere for a weekend getaway.

I had heard a lot great things about staying in the Blue Mountains. Both of us hadn’t been there for almost a decade so thought it would be nice and close. We stayed at Hotel Mountain Heritage in Blue Mountains. We chose to stay here because of the view and spa. Unfortunately, the traffic on our way was horrendous. We had to stop at The Bunker Cafe Bar Restraurant in Springwood because we were getting too hungry. The wait was pretty long but the food here made up for it.

We went for our anniversary dinner to Pins on Lurline. Their presentation was very beautiful, and it was so great to be able to see it properly (their restaurant was well lit compared to other fine dining places I have been to). It may sound silly, but I want to be able to see my food clearly; because to me, we eat with our eyes. There’s no point in giving someone a beautifully presented dish if you can’t see what’s on your plate properly!

The next day, we checked out of our hotel and headed to Red Door Café. Someone recommended this to me a while ago, and it has been on my list for about a year (I rarely go out that west). After breakfast, we headed out to see The Three Sisters and Blue Mountains. I hadn’t been here for over a decade, so it felt like I was almost seeing it for the first time again. We went for a long walk, found it to be pretty crowded (I had no idea so many tourists came out so far to see the mountains).

We went to Zen-Sai Japanese Restaurant for lunch. We didn’t have anything in mind and randomly came across it on TripAdvisor as it was rated as #2 for Japanese in the area. In general, I am very biased towards Japanese food but this was delicious.

Overall, it was a wonderful getaway. It obviously felt too short but it was still nice to be able to celebrate :)

Breakfast bowl with kale, asparagus, quinoa, poached eggs, spinach, avocado and za-atar

We finally made it to Hotel Mountain Heritage.

Scallops with a Lemon gel, Radish, Spiced Mayo and an Orange & Ginger sauce

Textures of Salmon: seared Salmon, Gravlax, Mousse & Salmon Caviar, served on a bed of Fennel & Orange salad, with a Lemon cream sauce

Corn fed chicken breast with a Roast capsicum & Goats cheese filling, served with a warm Sicilian Salsa, Mushroom duxelle, Taro Rosti,& a Sundried Tomato & Avocado cream sauce

Rocky Road Mudcake drizzled with hot fudge sauce and a deconstructed pie. Desserts are a must when celebrating special occasions! #everythinginmoderation