dining out

hello! today’s post is on one of my favourite types of meal – buffets! when i was a student a buffet is a good way to eat a lot of food for a preset amount of money. these days i eat a lot less as i am getting on with the years so buffets are more about the variety than the amount. that being said i still eat quite a bit at a buffet!

c and i went to the star buffet which is located within burns club in kambah, canberra. it is a bit out of the cbd area however canberra is one of those cities where you can get from one place to another relatively quickly. we went there during the easter break so the buffet was an easter special, however most dishes should be available all year round.

let’s start off with the xiao long bao. easily one of my favourite dishes of all time, the xiao long bao here is rated as ok. it does leak slightly, however this is what i would expect at an all you can eat buffet. i really enjoyed the shao mai as well.

moving on to fresh seafood! oysters are fresh, however raw oysters are not my favourite. i had a mussel as well as a few prawns, all of which were really fresh and good. there is also smoked salmon which is always a crowd pleaser.

deep fried food is one of my favourite parts of a buffet. star buffet delivered this at multiple fronts. the salt and pepper prawns which were delicious. deep fried prawns with cornflake coating is crunchy and good. other things on offer include nuggets and chips, which i didn’t have as i concentrated on the prawns in the area.

hot food section has cheese scallops with western foods such as pizza and garlic bread. cheese scallops were delicious, c thought the pizza was okay but i would probably not fill myself up with pizza at a buffet.

great selection in the stir fry section. fried rice is amazing. i also had the sweet and sour pork which was really good. there was also stir fried prawns which were juicy and tasty. other stir fries which were available but which i didn’t try include mongolian beef and satay chicken.

in terms of sushi, the taste of the sushi is ok. the seared salmon could be more seared to bring the taste out more. c had edamame which she likes but as with the pizza i think you should not be filling up on this!

after this point i was really full so i went on to dessert. macaroons were great, however the highlight has got to be the the matcha pudding which didn’t lack the matcha flavour. panna cotta was quite good as well. ice cream was not the best and creamiest however there was an option to pair it with crunchy elements. chocolate fondue marshmallow is a fun way to eat marshmallow. other dessert items we didnt try include apple crumble and chocolate pudding.

with so many things to offer it was almost impossible to try everything. the carvery sections at buffets are not my favourite so i didn’t have any this time around. the selection looks alright with chinese roast pork, duck and roast potatoes.

this is probably the longest post i’ve made on wagyupie.com but there is a good reason for it – amazing array of food, great quality and value for the price paid and all in all a great experience. would love to return.

hello! t here. this time we’re talking about a place called not just curries which is located in balmain. i’ve heard really good things from my indian friends about this place which used to only have one branch in harris park; so glad that they opened one in balmain! note that finding free parking in balmain near the restaurant strip can be challenging – plan ahead if you want to secure one!

for drinks i got the house red wine and c got herself a diet coke. classic t and c combination and we both enjoyed our drinks! we also got a starter of papadums with a mango chutney, tamarind and mint chutney. the papadums were deliciously light; i enjoyed it with mango chutney and c loved the other two dips.

entree wise, we got the onion bhajjia and malai kebab. the onion bhajjia (which really is onion bhaji) was deep fried to perfection. dip it in the tamarind for maximum goodness. on the other hand, the malai kebab, which are chicken pieces that are marinated in cheese and spices are best enjoyed with the mint. both entrees were delicious.

we got the malai kofta, metti murgh and daal makhni for mains. malai kofta has been present in almost every indian meal we’ve had, and that’s because it’s so damn good. the cheese and potato dumplings were so tender and flavoursome and the sauce keeps you wanting more – definitely dip your naan in it! the metti murgh we got in medium spicy and we found it to have quite the spicy kick, but also delicious. my least favourite dish of the night is the daal makhni, however it was still good with the naan.

for dessert we got the pistachio kulfi. i have to say i am not normally a fan of indian desserts and have often found the gulab jamun to be overly sweet, but the pistachio kulfi is really good. smooth ice cream with strong pistachio (one of my favourite nuts!) flavour which rounded off the meal really well.

hi everyone! c here 🙂 t and i recently got a groupon for dinner at ichiro’s sushi bar. we’re on a bit of a japan craze at the moment in preparation for our upcoming trip there later this year.

ichiro’s sushi bar is located within the meriton retail precinct, which is an excellent location as it’s right across from mascot train station and a nice little area with lots of greenery. we started off our dinner with a large serving with edamame which was steaming hot. t is not a fan of this so i pretty much single-handedly finished this massive plate! i appreciated how hot this dish was, considering we were outside for about 10 minutes in the cold. my only complaint was some of the edamame was a bit too salty.

next, we got our pork and vegetable gyozas with a tangy dipping sauce. these were great with a bit of crisp on the outside and a moreish filling which pairs nicely with the dipping sauce. we also got our sushi; i got the seared smoked salmon with cream cheese sushi while t got the seared kingfish and scallop with wasabi mayo. as a huge fan of seared salmon, i enjoyed my sushi thoroughly and loved the creaminess of the avocado, cream cheese and mayo. i poked the cucumbers out for t 😛 t thought the sushi was absolutely delicious. he gave me a piece of the kingfish to try but i must say i’m still not a fan of seared kingfish. t got a serving of the salmon carpaccio which he thought was very fresh. he liked the mayo and lemon dressing with cucumbers.

for my main, i got the terriyaki… *drum roll* wagyu (of course)! the teriyaki sauce was very strong and went with the rice very well. it was definitely too strong to eat the beef on its own. the rice was cooked perfectly. overall, i did enjoy the dish and especially how well the sauce went with the rice. i tried some of t’s chicken katsu and was impressed by how crispy it was. the sauce that came with the katsu is a tonkatsu sauce with a drizzle of mayo. i’ve never been too much of a fan of tonkatsu sauce but didn’t mind a bit of it on the katsu. the miso soup was average, a bit bland.

overall, ichiro’s sushi bar provided quick and good service. we finished this 6 course meal in half an hour. we were stuffed after this meal and had to walk it off around the nice shopping strip afterwards. what a great start to winter!

c here! it’s been a while. so t and i were craving for a nice hot breakfast buffet since we recently came back from a trip to canberra without that and just had maccas. i was particularly after all you can eat bacon and hash brown which is what i got! the hash browns were what i wanted and expected; crispy and greasy. i think i might have had over ten, but look how tiny they are:

other than that, they had quite a good selection of pastries and some interesting fusion style noodles which is surprisingly good. t liked the sausages and the mushrooms. i tried the chocolate croissant and the custard pastry and they were fine. i didn’t enjoy the chocolate muffin as it was quite dry after finishing the muffin top.

there was also a coffee machine, a juicer, a selection of juices and yoghurts. the coffee machine made decent coffee which could be stronger and t made juice using watermelon, carrot and apple.

i enjoyed sitting beside the water feature, it is very relaxing and a good way to start the morning.

hello! today’s post is on ze pickle, which is a popular burger chain in sydney! c and i have recently started eating burgers seriously and it is a delicious journey indeed. you can definitely look forward to more burger posts!

back to the food; we ordered 2 sides. the first of which is the kumara fries which were really crispy and delicious. the chipotle mayo on the side was delicious and creamy as well and is an excellent accompaniment to the fries.

we also got the kanye’s cheese sticks. unfortunately for us, 2 out of 3 lack cheese filling and was mainly the batter on the outside which was really crunchy. the one that had good cheese filling was delicious.

for burgers we ordered the chew by chew. it wasn’t the greatest burger i’ve ever had, the meat patty a bit dry and the bacon was a bit too hard. it was an okay burger.

the brisket burger on the other hand was delicious. the brisket was melt in the mouth and the truffle butter added another dimension to the burger however i can definitely see the mac and cheese being replaced with just cheese. it was very messy to eat but a good burger is always messy to eat.

hi all, today’s post is on a malaysian restaurant called mamak’s village at darling harbour. the restaurant is located within harbourside shopping centre which also houses other very good restaurants such as hurricane’s.

for entree we got a satay chicken. the chicken was beautifully cooked and juicy. the sauce should’ve been thicker so it clings on the meat better but all things considered we liked it.

we also got some roti, the first of which is the roti cheese. both of us didn’t enjoy this dish that much, we found the salty cheese combination with the sweet condensed milk a little strange but i am sure that some may like that!

the other roti we got murtabak, which was meat cooked in the roti. it was a passable dish for us, the highlight was the curry that accompanied the roti.

moving on to mains, we got the nasi lemak with rendang. this is probably the best dish of the night, the rice was flavoursome the way nasi lemak rice should be and the rending paired with it very well.

the other main we ordered was the prawn crispy noodle. it was a generous portion with a delicious seafood broth. be warned though that the noodle is placed in the broth (as you would expect) so you would have to eat it quickly before if softens too much. my only complaint is that the shell was left on the prawns and it was a bit messy to peel the prawns but with how good the dish is it was well worth it.

for dessert c and i opted for the roti tisu which came with ice cream. this was easily our favourite roti for the night, the ice cream was very good as well and mixed well with the condensed milk on the roti.

as for drinks i went down the memory lane and got an cold original milo. probably as good as any you will get in malaysia and makes the night feel like an authentic malaysian mamak.

it has been a while since c and i last went for indian and recently we had the chance to try out rasika at homebush. judging by the reviews on google we were in for a treat – over 4 stars!

we had the fish tikka for entree. the dish had really tasty, flaky fish with tikka flavours. pro tip: make sure you use the lime on the side to give it extra zing!

for mains we had malai kofta, which is almost always  on our to-eat list at any indian restaurant. the potato cheeese balls were deliciously creamy and paired with a great curry sauce.

our next main was the fish methi, which was fish with fenugreek leaves. we got it at a medium spice level and surprisingly it had a bit of a kick to it which i really liked. the curry is less creamy than the malai kofta (as expected!) so it has a much different flavour profile. it was delicious as well, however we probably had too many fish dishes for night and probably should have gotten chicken.

the rice was fluffy and the naan was really good as well. both mopped up the curries very well.

dessert was pistachio kulfi. i am generally not a fan of indian desserts as i find them to be really sweet but this wasn’t. it had a nice creamy texture and was a really good way to end the meal.

c and i are big fans of rasika at homebush. parking can be challenging around homebush station, so take public transport if possible. but if you do go, be prepared for a good time!

merry christmas!

today lets talk about bondi pizza, which is a pizza chain based in sydney. if i remember correctly the original store is at bondi beach (which we visited a long time ago), and they were so successful that they now have seven stores in sydney!

c and i got the following pizzas; the meat supreme, peking deluxe and sweet potato fries.

lets start with the sweet potato fries. the fries were very good, however could be a bit crispier. the accompaniment, the garlic aioli was delicious and was the perfect pair with the sweet potato fries. highly recommended!

the peking deluxe came with hoisin sauce, duck and chicken. we found the hoisin sauce to be slightly too sweet, however, the duck and chicken were tender and juicy. in my opinion, peking duck is still best served in  traditional traditional peking duck pastry.

the last dish of the night was the meat supreme, and it was a godly pizza. the meatballs were tender, bbq mayo was delicious and the crust was crispy. The rocket in the middle and the other meats added more depth and flavour to the pizza. definitely a pizza to try if you visit!

c and i had the two pizzas and sweet potato fries and we left very full. the atmosphere was great and waitresses were attentive and polite.