Hong Ha Vietnamese Bread, Mascott

 Hi everyone!
So, last Tuesday I went to Hong Ha Vietnamese Bread at Mascott. It is quite interesting because I never really had Vietnamese Bread before. There are ranges of menu that can be chosen from. The popular menus are pork roll and chicken roll. I went for pork. Basically it has carrot, pork, cucumber, coriander, shallots and onion (which I asked not to put in because it is smelly..) and the sauces which are some sort of custard and red sauce which I do not know what it is. They also ask you whether you want to put chili or not. For me, of course yes!

The first bite, I think the taste was a bit weird. However, eating it more and more, it tasted good! It was very refreshing with all the vegetables inside. The custard and the red sauce also give a very nice flavour to it. I honestly think that the pork was actually a bit smelly. However, for you the pork lovers, it does not really matter!!
Overall, it was very very good. I really want to come back to try the chicken roll!

Peking Duck, Eastwood

 Hi Everyone!!
Last Sunday I was at Peking Restaurant in Eastwood. Not hard to guess what they sell, the Peking duck. Peking duck is popular with its crispy duck skin and succulent duck meat. It is normally eaten with the rice pancake, shallot, cucumber and the hoisin sauce. So on that night, we ordered peking duck, shredded beef, fried fish with sweet corn soup, beancurd and peking chicken.

The duck was served in two ways. The first one is the duck with the rice pancake, the second one was we can chose from san choy bow or the duck noodle. We chose the duck noodle because the san choy bow will only serve for 4. Then, the duck was cut in front of us. The skin and the meat was taken for the pancake and the rest will be made for the noodle. Surprisingly, out of a big duck, not much that we can eat. We only got about 12 set of duck pancake and the noodles with not-so-much meat.... However, it tasted  really good. I think the skin should be crispier, but the taste was delicious.

The shredded beef was very crispy. The sauce and the carrots complement it very well. I think the beancurd was a bit average. The fried fish I think is a bit too salty that I could not really taste the sweetness of the soup. However, the Peking chicken was really good. The sauce suited the dish very well.

Overall, it was quite a good experience. However, I think the Peking Duck itself was too expensive ($43.6) for what we got. The other dishes were alright though. I will come back there for the shredded beef!

Search for the Perfect Meal

Beschico, Epping

Hi Everyone!

I just went to Beschico Restaurant at Epping. The speciality of this restaurant is CHICKEN, cooked in Korean style. When you got inside the restaurant, you would notice a big TV, showing Korean show. Like what I watched today was PSY concert in Korea.

Well, this restaurant was not so crowded, but that's what I like from this restaurant, you can feel the family feeling inside it. Then, we ordered crispy chicken with chili sauce, boneless deep fried chicken and the 'Topoki', the rice cake.

 The most popular chicken is the deep fried chicken with the chili sauce. Even though it says chili sauce, I can guarantee you that is not spicy at all. And also, it is still very crispy despite of the sauce. The sauce is quite thick and has like a sweet and sour taste to it. But anyway, it tastes really good.

The topoki is very good as well. It is very chewy and added with delicious sauce. However, the sauce is quite spicy. It has 2 options, whether using the chicken or the seafood. But I think seafood topoki is the best.

The next one is the boneless crispy chicken. It is basically a seasoned deep fried chicken. Even though it sounds so simple, but it is very crispy. Along with the sweet chili sauce and the lemon sauce served, I think it was pretty good.Still, I think the winner is the chicken with the chili sauce. If you go there, please do not miss this. It is also very close to the station.

William Blue Brasserie, North Sydney

 Hi Everyone!
So, yesterday I went to William Blue Brasserie at North Sydney. It is actually a restaurant made for the college, William Blue College. Their area of expertise is their hospitality, including cooking.  This restaurant is a fine dining restaurant, where the students cook so they can have like a training in a restaurant industry. Because it is the students who cook, the price of eating here is very cheap, I spent $28 for a fine dining experience, which is great.
 When we came, it was not actually a big restaurant, but you got a feeling of fine dining restaurant, the tables, candles, wine glasses and so on. You can also see the kitchen which was quite interesting. Then, there are some menus that we can choose from the 3 meals menu, on tray, main and dessert. So, I chose King salmon pastrami, celeriac, apple and crab remoulade as the on tray, Roast pork, colcannon croquette, apple sauce and crackling as main and Sauterness custard, bitter caramel, poached pear and honey Madeleine as desserts, and as the sides I ordered Rocket, cherry tomato, bocconcini and pesto salad.

After ordering, we were served with a piece of bread with butter which was quite good to fill the empty stomach. Then, the first dish came out, the on tray, salmon pastrami. I tried it and it was quite plain, then I drizzled the lemon around it, then it came out very good! So, don't ever forget the lemon! The texture of the celeriac, remoulade and the salmon itself mixed really well. I just can't get enough of it.
Then, the next dish, as main came out. I was so excited with the crackling because it looked so crispy and at the end, it does taste very good. When you cut it with the knife it just cracked (I so wanted to just eat it by hand, but well, fine dining you know..). The apple sauce was such a compliment to the dish with the sauce as well. The cabbage also went well with the overall dish. But, I think the croquette is too heavy, I don't know. Then, the rocket salad came out. I thought it was not very good. It was so blend, lacking some sort of vinegar or something. The bocconcini did not have a strong flavour too. So it was a bit blend. And interestingly, in the menu it says pesto, but I could not see or taste any pesto in it.

Then, the heavenly dessert came out. When it came to the table, I was so excited. I wanted to just tuck in. The poached pear is very good, cooked very well. But I think the star is the sauterness custard. Unlike any other custard that I have tried, this was not sweet, but quite bitter, maybe they put some liquor inside but it was so goooodddd... Especially when the all three elements are combined, it went very well. The texture of the custard is also very smooth. It was just heaven.
So, overall, it was not bad at all for $28! The menu is changing every semester so it will be exciting to have a second visit next time.
Also remember that booking is necessary. Booking can be done through their website William Blue Dining.

Night Noodle Market, Sydney - Hyde Park

 Night Noodle Market is an annually event held in Sydney, usually held in the Hyde Park. It was really like a festival! There were lights and musics everywhere. A lot of people were there, looking for something to eat. Even though the name is night NOODLE Market, there was not only noodles there. There were a lot of stalls, selling foods from a lot of restaurants, even from community e.g. Japanese community.

 Me and my brother were there, going around the venue and we were confused of what to choose because there were just so many of them! So we looked around and found this unique Spanthai restaurant. Guess what Spanthai is... It is a Spanish-Thai restaurant. It was very unique. The pad-thai and paela were cooked in a very big pan, just like ala-Spanish cooking. So, we got that for $12 (it was quite expensive) and enjoyed it. We ordered the half plate pad thai and half plate paela. The pad thai was pretty average but I think the Paela was beautiful.

 Then, we looked around again and we found a Japanese Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese omelette with fillings inside (normally it has cabbage and shallots for sure). There were 3 choices of fillings, but we chose spicy beef and cheese. The girl in the stall was wearing Kimono, really felt like I was in Japan for a second. Then, waiting abut 5 minutes, the okonomiyaki came out. It smelled so good. With the seaweed and dried octopus at the top, it looked even more yummy.
Then, we tucked in and it was very good! The cheese was melted in my mouth; however it was not spicy enough for me. It was quite expensive though, $12 for a small plate of okonomiyaki which you can normally buy for $6.

Well, overall, if you go in a big group, it would be even better because you can share and TASTE all the foods! The prices are quite expensive though. It costs you $5 for only a bottle of water. So probably it is better to bring your own bottle. The entrance is free and the festival will be still on from 15-19 October 2012, from 5 - 10 PM. To look more, visit the website at http://www.cravesydney.com/content/night-noodle-markets/gjoc54.

Wagaya Restaurant, Sydney

 Hi Everyone!! More about Japanese restaurant here.
So, last Friday I went to Wagaya Restaurant at Sydney, in Chinatown. It was not the first time I went to this restaurant. However, the feeling of Japanese in this resto is so "Japanese".. With the Japanese people serving, the feeling cannot be even more Japanese. With ordering the menu, it uses an electronic touch-screen where the visitors can just order foods and drink by touching it.

Eel tempura

So, that night, because there were 24 people in the dinner, we can tried a lot of menus. We ordered eel tempura, soft-shell crab salad, dragon roll, aburi salmon cream cheese roll, aburi salmon and scallop roll, beef tataki, sashimi and some ice creams. The eel tempura was very nice. It was so crispy outside and so tender inside. The sauce used also contributed a lot to the dish.

 The soft-shell crab salad was pretty good too. The dressing for the salad was very good. It has lettuce, tomato, corn, cucumber and the soft-shell crab of course. However, the soft-shell crab was not as crispy as I thought it would be. It still tasted good though. Then the beef tataki came out, I thought it was so average. I thought they overcooked the beef. It was pretty strange as well as there was no sauce on the beef tataki. We had to dip it into the sauce instead. Probably just a different way doing it.

Aburi salmon cream cheese roll

Soft shell crab salad

 Then, the rolls came out. There were three rolls that we ordered. The first one was the dragon roll. It had eel at the top with the fried lotus seeds at the very top. It was very very delicious. The next roll was very good too, the aburi salmon cream cheese roll.. It was heaven. The cheese was just melt in my mouth. With the combination flavour it got, it was a gold. Also, the scallop and the salmon roll were very good as well. Who does not like grilled scallop and salmon on their roll? With a little bit of fish roe, it was a perfect simple roll.

Dragon Roll

The sashimi was alright, I did not think it was very good. However, when I visited the restaurant the first time, I thought the sashimi was much better. I had the scallop on Friday and it was not as good as a year ago when I went to this restaurant. The other components were quite average, except the tamago (eggs). I thought the tamago was quite exceptional.

Black sesame roll

Then, who does not like Japanese ice cream with its unique flavours?? There are green tea, black sesame and vanilla that the guests can choose. However, do not choose vanilla!! You can get vanilla ice cream everywhere.... So, I tried the black sesame.. I was VERY VERY GOOD! I liked it so much, rather than the matcha/ green tea (especially if you have trouble sleeping at night after having green tea).

Overall, the experience I had here was very nice. The service was very good and quick as well, with the touch-screen technology helping the serving process. However, booking is necessary as this restaurant is very crowded.

Zenya Restaurant, Eastwood

Sho-yu Ramen

Gyoza

 Hi Everyone!!!

Ever tried Japanese Ramen before? Of course probably most of you have. What I like about Japanese Ramen is about the deepness of the flavour of the soup which is so different with any other soup.
In Zenya Restaurant at Eastwood, the soup of the ramen is very very deep. It tasted really nice. I just had it tonight, the sho-yu ramen with gyoza as its side dish. I think the ramen was clever. I think the gyoza quite average though.

Crispy Skin Salmon

The crispy skin salmon looks very nice too. I did not taste it though. But my friend said that it was very very crispy and really nice.
However, the service was quite average.
Overall however, looking at the prices, it is quite worth it. So I will be back next time..

Oiden,Townhall Sydney

 Whats so different about this restaurant that it is worth to mention in the blog you may ask. But it is definitely worth a suggestion as it is the only Japanese restaurant i had been so far with the most interesting way of purchasing food from it. At first you line up in front of the place where they make different kinds of food, then you take a tray and order the main food that you want and they will give it to you straight away. After that you keep moving forward and along the way there are snacks/ side dish of any kind that allows you to choose and the price of those items are not expensive either. So this is worth a mention in this blog.

Little Asia, Macquarie University

Fantastic little shop located with in Macquarie's own food court.

Ordered the Curry chicken and black pepper chicken with fried rice for $9.50.

A reasonable meal for a reasonable price, and didn't have to wait for longer then 1 min for the food to be ready.

MING-HAI, Sydney

 Have you ever tried Asian food? Or havc you tried some Vietnamese cusine? In this restarant they offer both and comes with a relative cheap price! Even though the decoration of this restarant is not as appealing as other high class restaurant but the food supply is still decent for those who is not willing to spend big money on expensive food, therefore this place is worth a mention!

Löwenbräu Restaurant, The Rocks, Sydney

Attraction

Beer

Guten Morgen!
This restaurant is called Löwenbräu a German restaurant located at The Rocks, Circular Quay, Sydney. When I got in, the atmosphere really reminds me of being inside the dining room of a castle where the armies are drinking beers, chanting and eating; it maybe because of the walls are made out of big bricks..We all went in and ordering the foods. All the waitresses were dressed in a German's traditional clothes. So you really get it, ok, German..

Schlachtplatte 

Then, we order the German Pretzel, Schlachtplatte which is the platter which consists of Löwenbräu’s Selection of Bavarian Specialties - Sausages, Chicken Schnitzel, Meat Loaf and Roast Pork Belly, Served with Mashed Potatoes, Sauerkraut, Braised Red Cabbage, Bread Dumpling and Bier Gravy Double the Size and get a Roasted Pork Knuckle on Top. It says that this will serve two. The pretzel came out for the appetizer. When I tried it, I thought it was a bit tough and flavour was not so amazing as well. I reckon I will not order that again next time, or it can just be my taste, maybe it actually tasted good as a German Pretzel but I just do not like it. Then, the platter came out, it was quite big, I think for my tummy, it can be for 3-4 people. I think the pork knuckle is the best! It is their speciality. The second best is the chicken Schnitzel! Other components were very nice too. So, this platter is highly recommended.

What I like about this restaurant is not just about the foods, but also the attractions. There are some entertainers at the little stage they have. They played trumpets, danced, and sang. They also invited the guests to step to the front and danced with them! When I went there, they had this beer drinking competition. So who could finish first and he/she won. It was quite funny to watch.

Thus, it was a very nice experience going to this restaurant. Also, I think the price and experience we got were worth it. However, booking is necessary as this restaurant is quite crowded, especially during the weekends and if you go with a big group. Please also note that because there is alcohol in this restaurant, for under 18, they cannot get in, for over 18, please bring your ID card/passport.

sushirio,Sydney

 

Do you want to have a taste of many different kinds of sushi but you care about the different in price and quality? Try this Japanese restaurant located in the city, as most of its sushi are at $3 per dish and even the infamous urchin sushi! As for quality wise the sushi quality is guaranteed to be worthy of their price. My first visit to this restaurant is last week when I went to city with my friends and we decided we should search for another sushi restaurant (we know a few) and we found this one. Despite it says sushi are $3 but based on our experience some sushi are more expensive than the others. But what surprised us is that when we looked in the menu all sushi price are the same and when we ordered some the quality is so good that we became regular customers there.

Quay Restaurant, Circular Quay

Snow Egg

King Fish Sashimi

Have you heard about Snow Egg?

Snow Egg is the signature dessert Quay Restaurant, located at Circular Quay, Sydney, owned by Peter Gilmore. If you do not know him, he was normally at Masterchef Australia, for those who are the viewers of this program, you would know him. This Snow Egg is the final challenge for MasterChef Australia season 2 and it did look hard to be made.

Last year, I went to this restaurant and tried the 8 tasting menu of these restaurants. Unfortunately, I did not really write the names of the menus. Even though the portion of each dish was very small, because there were 8 dishes, it was quite filling. Anyway, the first menu came out was the king fish sashimi. It was very very good. Probably the best sashimi variation that I ever had. The horseradish sauce suited really well with the fish. Then, the next one was the beetroots dish, then the scallops, then I forgot.. Basically, the foods between the sashimi and the Snow Egg are quite average. The thing that I dislike the most was that all the basic sauce was the horseradish sauce. Even though it tasted great, but it tasted too monotone.

Beetroot Dish

Scallop

However, I admit that the Snow Egg is very unique, I never tasted a thing like that. It was really like an egg, where you crack the outside which in this case made by some sort of biscuits, then inside, there are whites which are sweet and soft, like marshmellow. Then, the centre was the yolk, it sort of melted in my mouth with its jack fruit flavour. It was delicious. If I can only have the dessert, I will certainly come back to that restaurant. The thing is, it is very expensive to eat in this restaurant. If I were asked, is it worth the money? Overall, no. The dessert, yes! The service was very good, and the view from the restaurants were very good, where you can see The Sydney Opera House. Please also note that the menus are changing from time to time. It was a year ago when I came to this restaurant, so now the menus will be different, except the Snow Egg because it is the signature dish of the restaurant.