Shancheng Restaurant, Sydney CBD

The spicy soup

Are you up for the chili challenge?

It was like a year ago, when these photos were taken. That was my friend's birthday and we went for a dinner at city (Sydney). So we go to the Shancheng restaurant. I do not really know what does 'Shancheng' mean in Chinese. Anyway, it is a Chinese hot-pot restaurant. The main point is there are two soups (spicy and non-spicy) and we put the ingredients in. There are lambs, beef, chicken, dumplings, tofu, vegetables and FISH EGGS. The most special is the fish eggs. Fish eggs are like fish-balls with fish roes inside. I think this is really delicious and worth trying for. Not only that, the deep-fried pork is really nice too. You can also order extra sauce for dipping. I normally order sesame sauce and the special shancheng sauce. The soup also is very good with rice. The most important thing is, all the ingredients are fresh and that is why the foods here are delicious.
Also, do not forget the soup! This is their specialty. They put some sort of sizhuan pepper inside that makes the flavours so unique. However, the restaurants are so crowded, you can be stuck in the long queue on weekends night. Also, because of the sizhuan pepper they use, for the sensitive noses, you can sneeze all the time (that was what happened to me).

Anyway, overall, I will certainly go back to this restaurant!

Tetsuya, Sydney CBD, NSW

Tetsuya is a Japanese- French- Australian inspired restaurant located on Kent street in Sydney's CBD.

When initially walking in to the restaurant the was a very professional atmosphere and ambiance to the room which whilst was quite plain, certainly felt like a small haven separate from the city surrounding it.

The dishes tasted exquisite with very neat presentations however the portions were small (especially for the price of each dish).


Service was excellent, all dishes came out promptly and waiters refilled our glasses and brought out bread/ truffle butter with out us having to ask.


One stand out dish was the "Confit of Ocean Trout"

 Cape grim beef with wasabi and braised mustard seeds







 

Dining at Tetsuya's was a highly pleasurable experience however would only recommend Tetsuya's for special occasions as it is far up on the expensive side of the price scale.

Sushi Tengoku Kensington, NSW

Hi everyone!

Aburi Scallops

So... yesterday I went to Sushi Tengoku in Kensington. That was my second time going to that restaurant. The restaurant is not that big and classy. It was such a casual dinner. However, the foods are not much like the place. They sell sushi, sashimi, roll and things that are normally sold in the sushi restaurants. But, what so different about this place is about their generousness in the portion. For example, look at the aburi salmon and the aburi scallop, you can hardly see the rice. Because the rice is kind of like hidden in the BIG BIG BIG Salmon and Scallops. Well, people might think.. hmm.. Big does not mean delicious..? Well, fortunately, this is not the case here. The scallops and fishes are so fresh. And because they are big, you can really taste the stuff (sometimes in some sushi restaurants what you can taste is just rice and soy sauce). Also, not only the seafood, the sauces are very good too. On the top of the aburi salmon and scallop, they put this delicious Japanese mayonnaise then blow-torch it.

Aburi Salmon

Volcano Roll

Not only the aburi sushies that are good, the VOLCANO roll is worth trying. Well, the first time I looked at it, it does not look very appealing (The thing is, not any single thing in this restaurant looks pretty to be honest), but geeeeeeee, it was good. I did not really know what they put on the roll. I think it should be a kind of fish roe or something. But the flavour is quite creamy and sweet. I think that was an excellent combination of flavour.


Then, I also ordered the sashimi moriawase. It is a mixture of the sashimis. There are tuna, salmon, king fish, octopus, and squid. Of course, they are raw. Anyway, I think the sashimi is quite average, comparing to some other sushi places, but still delicious.

Sushi Moriawase

So, overall, it is a worth-trying restaurants. And like me, once you try it, I think you want to come back. Because this restaurant offers some sort of uniqueness in the sushi that you will not get in any other sushi restaurants (especially the BIG scallops)!

Sakae Restaurant, Eastwood, NSW

Hi Everyone! Hope you have a wonderful day today! 

Beef Tataki

I had a lunch with my brother this Monday at Eastwood. We went to this Sakae Japanese Restaurant, not far from the Eastwood train station. When we got in, we were amazed with the choices of menus there.. So many of them!!!! It took us about 20 minutes just to choose what we wanted (there are a lot of bentos, lunch promos and etc.) So we ended up ordering Beef Tataki, Curry rice with Ebi Furai and Beef Teriyaki Bento.

First came out was the Beef Tataki, yes, it supposed to be because it is an entree. I was surprised with the amount of onion they put in.. So much of them.. However, when I tucked in and ate the onion, it did not smelly at all. It just added a crunch to it. The beef was delicious and the sauce was wonderful.

Ebi Furai Curry Rice

Beef Teriyaki Bento

Then, the curry was served, with the ebi furai on top. It did not look very nice. But it tasted good!!! I think the curry is delicious. However, I got some prawn skins from the ebi furai which I think it was not a pleasant. But overall, it is worth it to order this dish.

Then, the last one was my brother's dish, the beef teriyaki bento. I tried the salmon sashimi and I think it was alright. So I asked my brother how was it and he said the beef teriyaki
was a bit dry but tasted good.
                                        Also, the mash potato is very good and tasty.

So, overall, it was just an ordinary lunch, nothing really special, except the BEEF TATAKI! (We ordered the beef tataki twice!)
The service was alright and fast.

In the building right next to the QVB (Queen Victora Building) there is a Japanese raman shop called Ichi-ban Boshi whose speciality is on providing raman with recommancable quality and other Japanese meals.

The average price of each raman is around $12 and other meals including rice with different toppings are around $17-$18 so it's not really expensive to order 2 of them if you are really hungry.

The exact location of this raman restaurant is right next to the kinokuniya book shop on the top floor. Maybe some of you had visited the book shop but not the raman restaurant next door, sure give it a try and i am sure you will not regret it.

Criniti's Restaurant, Sydney


 

  Hi There!



Trying to find a place for the next dinner party?? Criniti's restaurant is the right place to go! Yesterday, I went to this restaurant for my (best best best) friend's birthday dinner. Luckily she is very organised, so she made a booking in advance and we did not have to queue for looooooonnnnngggggggg time..... So, we went inside and ordered some foods. We order bruschetta Capree , rocket salad, and the 1-METRE LONG PIZZA. Yes buddy, 1-METRE LONG PIZZA! We ordered the pizza with ham and mushroom; chicken and avocado; and the salami and mushrooms.



The first food out was the entree, the bruschetta. It was so delicious!!!! The tomato, sweet onion, ricotta and the basil went well together. I think they also put some sort of vinaigrette that tasted so good. However, it was quite messy to eat it. As when you hold it on your hands and bite it, it started to fell off. But who cares??



Rocket Salad



The next to come out was the rocket salad. It was so delicious as well. To be honest, I am not a rocket-lover. The first time I tasted it, it was like....bleehhhh.. well.. but as I grew up, it is alright for me. But this one is exceptional! They put sweet potato, beetrots and ricotta in the salad. The sweetness of the sweet potato and the beetroots balance the bitterness of the rocket very well. And of course, the ricotta just melted in my mouth.. YUM!!!!

 



1-metre long pizza



Ham and mushrooms

Then, the 1-metre long pizza came out. It was H-U-G-E. It was served on a H-U-G-E plank with three flavours pizza on top. So, we just tucked in and ate it. The first pizza I took, was the chicken and avocado pizza. It was very delicious. They put sun-dried tomato and tomato sauce (otherwise chicken and avocado will taste quite blend). The next one I take was the salami and the mushrooms. I honestly think that was quite average. It had peppery flavour to it (of course, from the salami). The next one, was the ham and mushrooms. Other than that, they put olives as well. I pretty liked this one. The olives gave a bit of bite to it. And not forgetting the delicious stuff, was the MELTING CHEESE!!! No delicious pizza comes without MELTING CHEESE!

Overall, it was very enjoyable. The feeling when you eat with hands (instead of spoon, fork or knife) cannnot be beat. The environment is very good too, it was crowded, full of laughter and joy....I will definitely come back next time!

However, please note that this restaurant is quite expensive. It is located in Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour and I do think that booking is essential other the queue will be forever.



Sydney Madang Restaurant

   

Hi Everyone!



Side Dishes



This Thursday, I went to Sydney Madang Restaurant, a Korean restaurant in the city. It was not the first time I went to this restaurant and I knew it already that this restaurant is always, always crowded. And yup, I had to queue for 1 and half hour to get in!!!! Waiting from 6.30 to 8.00, I started to get cranky and of course with a hungry stomach. Probably next time I have to book first!

Well, luckily the food was nice. When I got in, such as the other Korean restaurants, they put out these side dishes. With my (and my friends') hungry (-starving) tummy, we finished the side dishes in less than 5 minutes. I think they were so good, comparing to many other Korean restaurants.



Cheese Chili Chicken



Then, I ordered number 4, 74, 74 and 88. I think they are absolute menus to order if you go to Madang. They are Korean Seafood Pancake, Deep fried Spicy Chicken, Cheese Chili Chicken and Kimchi Soup with Pork and Tofu.



Korean Seafood Pancake





Kimchi Soup with Pork and Tofu



I think Madang has the most delicious Korean Seafood Pancake I ever had! It is very crispy, served with delicious yummy dipping sauce. However, with the other menus, I think they are quite average.



Deep Fried Spicy Chicken

Compared to Eastwood Chili Chicken, the Madang Cheese Chili Chicken, is not spicy at all.. However, this cheese chili chicken has more uniqueness to it as they add pineapples in the cheese chili chicken. Maybe I should have ordered the Topoki (the Korean rice cake) because I remembered last time I ate there, the topoki was quite nice. And the kimchi soup is quite nice too. It is not too spicy, it is just right.

Overall, the experience eating here was quite pleasurable. The service was very good (despite of the long queue) and the feeling of the restaurant was quite 'homy' too.

If I am asked whether I will go back there again or not, well, I will, with a booking in advance!





  

  

Mamak Chatswood, NSW

Mamak is an Malaysian cuisine restaurant located 2 mins away from Chatswood station.

Whilst the restaurant was crowded the service was still fairly quick with the staff being very friendly.

The prices of the dishes were reasonable coming up to around 30$ per person including tips.

The dishes served were delicious and of decent size, however those who do not have a pallet for spicy food may wish to avoid the curry.

I would recommend this restaurant to any fans of Malaysian food due to the wonderful tastes and ambiance of the restaurant.

Chili Chicken Eastwood, NSW

 I want to introduce you with this Chili Chicken Restaurant, it is located in Eastwood Hotel, Eastwood, NSW. It is a Korean restaurant, well, a lot of Korean come here, but also a lot of Indonesian, because I guess the spicy taste is really really suitable for Indonesian tongue.
So, this restaurant sells everything spicy. Despite of everything's spicy, the taste of it is GREAT! There are many popular menus such as cheese chili chicken, grilled eel, chili pork and the special and none else sells it, the rice bowl. With the rice bowl, you have to make it yourself (otherwise it is more expensive). So you will be given a bowl of mixed rice, you have to put some chickens/ pork, cut them to very little pieces, mix it and form it into like a round ball shape. And voilla, that's the rice bowl.

 The rice bowl is good by itself, but if you want to add something, such as eel, that is even better. The thing is, all of the foods are spicy. So if you cannot eat spicy, do not come here!!! You will cry I tell you...
If that is not spicy enough for you, well, you can order extra chili sauce for free!

However, in here, you cannot pay using eftpos, so prepare cash before you come. Also, because there is bar next to it, you have to bring ID whenever you come at night, there are securities checking your ID whether you are over 18 or not. And do not forget to book if you are coming at Saturday night because it is very very crowded.

Khob Khun Lindfield, NSW

This restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere and the dishes had fantastically fresh flavors at very reasonable prices. 


The menu had a varied range of items that would please the health conscious and  vegetarians including: Salt & Pepper Squid,  Prawns with Green Beans Stir-fried in Red Curry Paste, Chedi Style Ginger Beef, Crispy Pork with Chinese Broccoli. 
 
  
The seafood dishes in particular were outstanding with healthy portions of seafood in each dish.

Additionally the service was exceptional.Waiting time for dishes were on average 5 minutes. 


I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend dining at this restaurant and will certainly return.

Singapore's Newton's Food Court

Hey guys, as the first post, just wanna share my experience in Singapore from my last holiday. It was 10 PM at night and my family and I have not had our dinner yet. We were wondering what place still open this late.. We just caught a taxi and ask the driver where to go. And the driver suggested us to go this place, the Newton's Food court to eat sting rays... Wait, sting rays?? Well, let see what happened...

These are the pictures of my bros eating like nuts! So, in the Newton's food courts, there are a lot of delicious stuff, grilled prawns, sting rays, and clams. They are served with hot spicy sauce with some lime drizzle. I think the grilled sting rays are the best!


Be conscious though, because there are a lot of stalls, you gotta choose the best one! I think it depends on each person's taste.
Despite of its delicious foods, the area is very crowded! When I went there, there was 'barongsai' going around with drums and gongs... So annoying..

But still, the foods are delicious, so who cares?? We still ate like we hadn't eaten for a week! Lol!

It is not expensive too!