Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Cafe Ish
I can never go past a chance to try out a highly recommended café, so despite my bad health I joined a few of my friends to have brunch at Café Ish at Surry Hills. Café Ish is a fusion Japanese café and their unique dishes incorporate elements of Japanese cuisines into Australian style dishes. I had previously heard a lot about this café and had high expectations, but I was still pleasantly surprised with their unique flavours.
Croc in the Rock - crocodile sausage, egg, shallot and organic fetta in toast with tomato relish. An exciting Aussie combo that's hearty as well as healthy.
Cafe Ish is a great little cafe I highly recommend you try.
Cafe Ish
82 Campbell Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
| MH |
Winter Vegetarian
On a cold night there is nothing better than warm comfort food, but for those who don't eat meat it can be a bit tricky. My old favourite, Vegetarian Risotto, fills the gap with its overload of vegetableas and beautiful creamy texture to create a delicious meal to drive out the Autumn chills. It's so easy to make so long as you make sure you use fresh veggies, hot stock and keep stirring regularly.
A glass of wine, some freshly shaved parmesan and perfection!
A glass of wine, some freshly shaved parmesan and perfection!
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Saké Restaurant & Bar
Once in a while my friends and I love to try out new fine dining restaurants. Since we are all still poor uni students, it’s usually on special occasions. The first time we went to Saké was for my birthday a couple of years ago and wow, what an experience that was! The food, the drinks, the ambience, the service, everything was fantastic! And every time I go, I look forward to coming back again.
Saké Restaurant & Bar is a contemporary Japanese restaurant created by the sushi master Shaun Presland, located at the historic Argyle Precinct at The Rocks, and it is truly one the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. I can go on and on about how great it is, but I’m sure what your dying to see is the pictures, so enough of me rambling.
I love absolutely every dish there but here are some of the best of the best:
Tonkatsu cups- pieces of panko-fried pork belly & spring-onion bites, served in lettuce cups with mustard miso and Japanese barbecue sauce.
The cocktails and sake here are one of a kind and you must try some of them!
And of course, the best way to finish a meal:
Hope you try it out!
Saké Restaurant & Bar
Tel +61 (2) 9259 5656
12 Argyle Street
The Rocks Sydney NSW 2000
The Rocks Sydney NSW 2000
MH
Food on the Run.
A bit of food on the run, takes all shapes and forms but you really can't go past a meat pie and when you are confined to the food on offer at special events, such as the recent Caravan and Camping show. The expense at these types of events can really make you think twice about whether one should take a packed lunch.
We had a very pleasant surprise at the quality of the pies on offer and went for the basic meat pie, the sauce was actually free! and at $3.50 it was better value than expected. The filling was the perfect temperature and it actually contained pieces of beef instead of mince, the flavour was spot on. So it is sometimes worth taking a chance on the humble meat pie and bypassing the "healthy" options.
Alternatively, for a quick Friday night filler, hot dogs with caramelised onion, sauce and cheese on top, melted under the grill until bubbling. Truly not for those watching their waistline but it fills the gap nicely, I will now need to take up running! LG
We had a very pleasant surprise at the quality of the pies on offer and went for the basic meat pie, the sauce was actually free! and at $3.50 it was better value than expected. The filling was the perfect temperature and it actually contained pieces of beef instead of mince, the flavour was spot on. So it is sometimes worth taking a chance on the humble meat pie and bypassing the "healthy" options.
Alternatively, for a quick Friday night filler, hot dogs with caramelised onion, sauce and cheese on top, melted under the grill until bubbling. Truly not for those watching their waistline but it fills the gap nicely, I will now need to take up running! LG
Noggi~~
Another obsession of mine is ice-cream. Yes, I have a very sweet tooth and my body is probably suffering from it. But! I can’t stop my cravings and I certainly cannot resist the temptation and end up giving in. So I was very excited when I heard about these frozen yogurt places. At the moment they are everywhere across Sydney but my favourite is Noggi in Macquarie Shopping Centre or at Strathfield.
Noggi offers four different flavours of frozen yogurt; original, green tea, biscotti and my favourite, pomegranate. They all have enough flavour for you to recognise the differences but it’s not too overpowering so you don’t have to be scared to move away from the original. They also have a lot of choices in toppings, from all different kinds of fruit to timtams, mini oreos and mochi.
My favourite combination, and my “usual” is pomegranate yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, and mochi. For those of you who don’t know what mochi is, it’s like small chewy rice cake.
Since their opening, Noggi has become one of my guilt-free pleasures, and whenever I’m in the area, which is pretty much all the time since its 2mins from our uni, I can’t go past it without having one.
Thank goodness its 98% fat free right?
Find Noggi at:
K411 Macquarie Shopping centre,
Macquarie Park, NSW 2111
2/2 Albert Rd,
Strathfield, NSW 2135
MH
Restaurant Break Food 2
Break time again, and eager for what was going to come out, and surprisingly it was one of china's most eaten, maybe most healthy, and most simple food, congee.
Like western porridge, chinese use congee for sick people since its mainly water and rice with toppings, and is very tasteless by itself, although adding in meat, fried bread sticks, ginger, and many other ingredients to boil along with it, the congee brings out a very fragrant and healthy dish which everyone is able to enjoy sick or healthy. And i was especially enjoying it!
ST
Like western porridge, chinese use congee for sick people since its mainly water and rice with toppings, and is very tasteless by itself, although adding in meat, fried bread sticks, ginger, and many other ingredients to boil along with it, the congee brings out a very fragrant and healthy dish which everyone is able to enjoy sick or healthy. And i was especially enjoying it!
ST
Friday, 4 May 2012
K & J Chinese Takeaway
It is a Chinese noodle bar around the corner. in the center of the Eastwood.
As the convenient location beside many parking spaces, it becomes one of the most popular takeaway restaurant in Eastwood, and it also provides limited seats beside the store. People like going there for food, because it cooks fast, tasted well, and open a long trading hours. It is the one of the few store open till 11pm, and which gives the convenience to someone who have to have a late dinner or a meal after dinner.
I usually order rice noodle with fried beef.
The rice noodle and beef was cooked in the soy sauce and taste tender. however, too much oil being put in the dish can be a big problem, I never finish the whole dish once, there always be a little bit left as they contain too much cooking oil. After all if you lives around Eastwood, it is a good choice if you do not want to travel far away for lunch, or late dinner,. And I actually save money time on meal because of K & J when I was working on some assignment. It might not be great, but it does gives the neighborhood convenience.
EC
As the convenient location beside many parking spaces, it becomes one of the most popular takeaway restaurant in Eastwood, and it also provides limited seats beside the store. People like going there for food, because it cooks fast, tasted well, and open a long trading hours. It is the one of the few store open till 11pm, and which gives the convenience to someone who have to have a late dinner or a meal after dinner.
I usually order rice noodle with fried beef.
The rice noodle and beef was cooked in the soy sauce and taste tender. however, too much oil being put in the dish can be a big problem, I never finish the whole dish once, there always be a little bit left as they contain too much cooking oil. After all if you lives around Eastwood, it is a good choice if you do not want to travel far away for lunch, or late dinner,. And I actually save money time on meal because of K & J when I was working on some assignment. It might not be great, but it does gives the neighborhood convenience.
EC
Phoenix @ Rhodes
Yum Cha can be the most famous type of Chinese food. Almost made up of Dim-sim (Cantonese).It means Drinking tea. It is one kind of meal contain breakfast and lunch.
The phoenix at rhodes is a new open resturant for yum cha. Before, all the memory for yum cha resturant I can recall, is a old place, old waitress, old style dishes and bowls, and mostly old people.
The phoenix looks very morden, red and black colour, big screen TVs, wide place. There is usually no menu, you can order stuffs when the waitresses pushed the trolleys which carried dim-sim near you.
We took steamed prawn dumplings, chicken feet, steamed bbq pork buns, spring rolls, mango pudding and mango pancake.
The prawn dumpling is most awarded, the skin of the dumpling is soft and filled with sweet prawn meat.
It taste not so salty and oil. Mostly, you will say great, and want more of it!
Chicken feet is cooked well, the skin is almost fell down when you took it, and it tastes moist and tender.The taste is just alirght, not so special from other resturant, but it is the only one yum cha resturant in the area and many people working at around offices come here for lunch. So it is very croweded when the lunch time. Booking may be necessary if you do not want to wait.
Top level, Rhodes shopping center.
Yum Cha
Mondays – Saturdays and Public Holidays :
11am – 3pm
Sundays: 10am – 3pm
EC
The phoenix at rhodes is a new open resturant for yum cha. Before, all the memory for yum cha resturant I can recall, is a old place, old waitress, old style dishes and bowls, and mostly old people.
The phoenix looks very morden, red and black colour, big screen TVs, wide place. There is usually no menu, you can order stuffs when the waitresses pushed the trolleys which carried dim-sim near you.
We took steamed prawn dumplings, chicken feet, steamed bbq pork buns, spring rolls, mango pudding and mango pancake.
It taste not so salty and oil. Mostly, you will say great, and want more of it!
Chicken feet is cooked well, the skin is almost fell down when you took it, and it tastes moist and tender.The taste is just alirght, not so special from other resturant, but it is the only one yum cha resturant in the area and many people working at around offices come here for lunch. So it is very croweded when the lunch time. Booking may be necessary if you do not want to wait.
Top level, Rhodes shopping center.
Yum Cha
Mondays – Saturdays and Public Holidays :
11am – 3pm
Sundays: 10am – 3pm
EC
Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse is am American restaurant which sound like Australian. As the meat lovers want to taste the Aussie cuisine, my aunty told us, that could be a great place.
So we 3 drove to the one located in north strathfield, hard to ignore the big board "OUTBACK" with red lights. Really, when we stepped in, the feeling was great, friendly waitress, nice music and aboriginal decoration.
We ordered a blooming onion as entry, which is like a whole onion slice in slices and deep fried but still kept their together at the root side, looking like a flower. It also comes with a dipping sauce, taste differently and cannot stop.
I chose the victoria fillet(10 oz) with potato mash and mushroom sauce, including a ceaser salad. Medium cooked was the suggestion of waiter. Since I tried the raw beef with raw egg in Japanese restaurant, a steak with blood cannot be a problem to me.
Before the dishes come, there will be a free bread with butter. I forget to ask what kind of bread it is because we are so hungry, but it seems like a homemade rye bread.
The steak tastes just well, but it is too many to me!!! Forget to mention, it costs 5 dollars to me for a soft drink, but it is free to refill. Free refill drink and a big steak, I felt I can hardly stand up and walk to the car park.
$90 dollars for 3 man can be a little expensive. The huge quantity of each dish might be some kind of waste in my situation. But overall, it is a great taste restaurant!
OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
Level 1, 3 George Street
North Strathfield
NSW 2137
Australia
Phone: 61-2-8756-5741
Fax: 612 8756-5742
Email: manny@outbacksteakhouse.com.au
EC
So we 3 drove to the one located in north strathfield, hard to ignore the big board "OUTBACK" with red lights. Really, when we stepped in, the feeling was great, friendly waitress, nice music and aboriginal decoration.
We ordered a blooming onion as entry, which is like a whole onion slice in slices and deep fried but still kept their together at the root side, looking like a flower. It also comes with a dipping sauce, taste differently and cannot stop.
The steak tastes just well, but it is too many to me!!! Forget to mention, it costs 5 dollars to me for a soft drink, but it is free to refill. Free refill drink and a big steak, I felt I can hardly stand up and walk to the car park.
$90 dollars for 3 man can be a little expensive. The huge quantity of each dish might be some kind of waste in my situation. But overall, it is a great taste restaurant!
OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
Level 1, 3 George Street
North Strathfield
NSW 2137
Australia
Phone: 61-2-8756-5741
Fax: 612 8756-5742
Email: manny@outbacksteakhouse.com.au
EC
Taste of Shanghai
As a oversea student, there is nothing more delicious than the taste of hometown. So the taste of Shanghai becomes one of my favorite restaurants in Sydney. It is a Chinese restaurant which does not contain many Australian styles, giving the original taste of shanghai dishes.
My friends and I went there almost every 2 weeks. This time we ordered braised pork with soy sauce, live barramundi in sweet and sour sauce, and meet ball with egg yolk. Yeah~ We are meat lovers!!!!!
These three are the most typical shanghai dishes. Especially the braised pork with soy sauce, though it is made with soy sauce, but the sweet taste contained, makes the dish prefect, a bite with the pork which consists of fat and lean, you will know why everyone loves it!
Meet ball with egg yolk is the taste of mum's cook. Egg was all around the meat ball. Crush the meat ball, it becomes the best mate with rice.
Live barramundi in sweet and sour sauce fits Aussie a lot, become of the colour and taste. But, do not think that is not a Chinese dish, it is the original shanghai taste, smell like a honey chicken but you are tasting a "honey fish!"
Price can be higher than normal Chinese restaurant, it costs us, 70 dollars in total, about 24 dollars per person. However it worth it when you are missing home which is far away, isn't it?
Taste of Shanghai
200 Rowe St, Eastwood.
(02)9804 0388
http://www.tasteofshanghai.com.au/
EC
My friends and I went there almost every 2 weeks. This time we ordered braised pork with soy sauce, live barramundi in sweet and sour sauce, and meet ball with egg yolk. Yeah~ We are meat lovers!!!!!
These three are the most typical shanghai dishes. Especially the braised pork with soy sauce, though it is made with soy sauce, but the sweet taste contained, makes the dish prefect, a bite with the pork which consists of fat and lean, you will know why everyone loves it!
Taste of Shanghai
200 Rowe St, Eastwood.
(02)9804 0388
http://www.tasteofshanghai.com.au/
EC
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Restaurant Break Food
I had recently picked up a new job and they had supplied lunch and dinner for you, and for dinner, i noticed how they made something special for us, which is what Vietnamese food but Chinese style with a roasted chicken on top, this dish is called "Pho" in Vietnamese.
Different taste from Vietnamese pho, this one i ate was really sweet, soup was nicely boiled with the stock, and the noodles were slightly thicker, and there was roast chicken. of course i had loved it since its something different to eat and the drink was made by myself, but in my opinion, this dinner was still a great dish which was full of flavor.
ST
Different taste from Vietnamese pho, this one i ate was really sweet, soup was nicely boiled with the stock, and the noodles were slightly thicker, and there was roast chicken. of course i had loved it since its something different to eat and the drink was made by myself, but in my opinion, this dinner was still a great dish which was full of flavor.
ST
Everything Chocolate @ Oliver Brown
If you asked me what my biggest weakness was, it would most definitely be... chocolate!
Yes, by now I have come to acknowledge that I am a chocoholic, and a crazy one at that. Good days, bad days, it doesn’t matter. Whatever the day, and whatever time in the day I want chocolate, I MUST have some, like my life depends on it!
So you can imagine my delight when a Belgian chocolate café that opens till 12am opened up 10mins from my place. I had to try it out as soon as it opened, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Oliver Brown is a great little café where you can just relax and hang out with friends while indulging in some mouth watering desserts. I must admit, like a proud chocoholic, I have probably tried almost everything with chocolate on their menu. And since it’s a chocolate café that means pretty much everything!
Oliver Brown is very similar to the insanely popular Max Brenner. Although, if I had to choose which was better it would be Max Brenner without a doubt, Oliver Brown opens till that time in the night when you want to indulge in some good desserts. And it’s only at Oliver Brown where you can get my favourite dessert of all times – ice cream fondue!
(I couldn’t find my Oliver Brown photos so I am borrowing from Nuts About My Nuts)
The ice cream fondue is the perfect marriage of two of my most favourite things – ice cream and, you guessed it, chocolate:) The cold ice cream slightly hardens the chocolate as you dip it in the fondue, creating a chewy chocolate layer that is just to die for.
Some of my other favourites are the chocolate fondant
Chocolate covered Belgian waffles (and yes, it is COVERED in chocolate! None of this drizzling business!)
And who can forget the good old fashioned hot chocolate to warm up a cold evening.
If your ever in the mood for some chocolate dessert at those times when everywhere is closed, Oliver Brown is the place to go~
TOP RYDE CITY
Ground Floor Shop C3000
Top Ryde City Shopping Centre
Ph: (02) 9809 7007
Top Ryde City Shopping Centre
Ph: (02) 9809 7007
CHATSWOOD WESTFIELD
Shop 212 Westfield Shopping Centre,
1A Anderson Street, Chatswood 2067
Ph: (02) 9410 3774
1A Anderson Street, Chatswood 2067
Ph: (02) 9410 3774
MH
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Pizza @ Terrazza
I had always wanted to try out one of the new restaurants on the Chatswood Concourse ever since it was built, so for a quiet dinner with my family, I decided to check out the Terrazza Cafe Restaurant & Pizzeria.
Bustling with people even on a weeknight, this relatively small restaurant in the far back corner of The Concourse, gave off a friendly casual atmosphere, especially as we were seated for alfresco dining on the terrace.
With a wide range of pastas, risottos, pizzas and other Italian dishes, it was very difficult to choose just one, so we decided to order a few to share.
We started off with wood-fire pizzas; the Diavola with salami, roasted capsicum, fresh chilli, mozzarella cheese & Napoletana sauce; and the Pollo with chicken fillet, caramelised onion, mushrooms & mozzarella cheese on BBQ sauce.
Then we made our way to pastas; the Penne Bella with mozzarella cheese, mushroom, semi sundried tomato & olives cooked in a creamy Napoletana sauce; and the Fettuccine Carbonara with Pancetta, onions & chives in a creamy egg sauce, and finally a risotto; the risotto ai funghi with arborio rice cooked with an assortment of seasonal mushrooms in a cream sauce finished with chives.
Overall the food was fantastic. Everything was cooked to perfection, and had a decent amount of serving. The pizzas were crispy around the edges and had a generous amount of topping that weren’t too salty which I appreciated. The pastas and the risotto were creamy and full of flavour. The only down side was that there was a 30min wait on the pastas.
Most of the main dishes were around $20~25, with a few that were $30+.
Although all of us were very happy with the meal, the service could have been a lot better. The waiters and waitresses were not very attentive at all, and calling for them took forever. We had to ask three times to two different waiters just for some water, then had to wait at least 20mins just to sought out our bill.
If you’re in the mood for some Italian food, I highly recommend Terrazza. However, if you’re the type of person who cares for great service at restaurants, this might not be the place for you.
Phone: (02) 9419 5304
Website: terrazzachatswood.com.au
MH
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