Miss Chu, Sydney

 Vietnamese restaurant with different approach. Here in Miss Chu, the feeling of Vietnamese cafe has been brought to Sydney. From the simple-unique decoration to the authentic foods, all was just different. On that day, me and my friends went there. Because I am a pork lover, I ordered Hanoi Pork Belly with rice. My friends order chicken satay, lemongrass beef, salmon. For appetizer, we all ordered peking duck roll.
The foods came, I was salivating, seeing the pork belly. They look so fluffy and not that oily... And indeed, it tasted so. Then, with the brown rice and the quinoa, it was just perfect. The salmon was pretty good too. I thought the beef and the chicken satay were quite average. Don't forget the peking duck pancake. I think they are fantastic. Well, it was not complete at all without dessert!! I ordered the Mango and sticky rice. It was quite disappointing I have to admit. It looks like it was pre-packaged. Anyway, the other dessert, the lychee and cucumber crush, it was quite unique, and I think it is worthwhile to try.

The thing is, the sitting place is quite small, so this place is suitable for small group. Will be absolutely back for the pork belly..!!

Max Brener, Westfield Building, Sydney

Pink Granita

Hey guys,

Italian Tiramisu

Max Brener has been so famous for the chocolate. Now, what about the other products? Last week, I went to this 'bald man' place. Me and my brother, I ordered Italian Tiramisu and he ordered Pink Granita. Pink Granita is basically a crush with strawberry and passionfruit. The Italian Tiramisu looks so good with the chocolate decoration on the plate. However, when I ate it, I was so upset. Tiramisu should have a cheesy-taste as its base as it should be cheese cream.. I could not taste any cheese. All I tasted was cream. So, do not order this!
The other one, the Pink Granita, on the other hand was very refreshing. So, it is very good on a very hot day. However, compared to other shops that sell crushes, it was a bit so-so.
Maybe, pancake is always the best choice eating in Max Brener.

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.

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!