dining out

hi, c and i visited exotic indian curries a few weeks ago and had a great experience and we really wanted to share this experience with you.

we visited on a saturday and were promptly showed to a table. service was attentive and before long we had placed our orders. our waitress brought us our soft drinks while we eagerly awaited our meals.

entree was a mixed vegetable platter which was a delicious medley of vegetarian entrees. cauliflower was nicely fried and slightly spicy, samosa has a delicious pastry and filling and the pakora was really good as well.

one of our mains was the pistachio chicken; extremely creamy, slightly sweet and the chicken was beautifully cooked with a lot of juiciness left in the meat. the pistachio taste was mild and does not overpower the dish.

we also got the malai kofta which is one of our classic indian favourites. it was soft and creamy and paired really well with the naan and rice

we also got a serving of naan! the naan was actually the crispiest naan i’ve ever had. rice was nice and fluffy as well, mops up the curries really well.

for dessert we got gulab jamun. the gulab jamun is usually not my favourite dessert as it can be quite sweet, but the one at exotic indian curries tasted really good although i had to squeeze out majority of the syrup.

we loved the food that night and had a great time and will definitely be returning.

we’ve been to eastwood really often recently, and 2 of them is due to a place called red lantern hot pot and bbq restaurant. the restaurant is located an easy walk away from the train station. it serves up the type of buffet i like best – self-serve!

once you enter the restaurant, you will be asked to select from a number of broths. i picked the hot and spicy broth whereas c picked the bone broth. in my opinion, definitely go for the hot and spicy if you can handle a bit of spice, it’s just that much more flavoursome! the broth is not delicious to drink at the start but once you start cooking meats in it, the meat will flavour the broth.

there is a massive selection of sauces available and you can concoct your favourite hot pot sauce by combining the sauces together. i cannot remember the exact combination i used (as it changes all the time) but definitely some soy, sesame oil, sa cha sauce and garlic. you can definitely google some great combinations and take the recipe with you when you visit.

the individual broth works a treat – you no longer have to wait for someone else to finish cooking before doing your own! i stuffed myself that day, and had everything ranging from beef, prawn, fish ball, tofu, gluten ball and vegetables. there was also some side dishes available such as dumplings and pancakes which i do recommend trying some. at the end of the hot pot session, be sure to pick up some ramen and cook them in the broth and make delicious soup ramen with the wonderfully flavoured broth!

service was good, food was good and the range of sauces was just amazing. best of all, it’s self serve so no more trying to get someone’s attention just to get some food.

hello 2018! here’s hoping that this will be an amazing year.. certainly we will be starting this year strong with multiple food adventures! this post was about a place we visited late 2017, a place called decolata cafe based in summer hill, a sydney suburb with a cute retail and cafe strip.

the cafe itself is really cosy with small tables – perfect for that date. we were quickly invited to take a seat and to order our drinks. c got a diet coke ($3) and i got an iced mocha ($6). i was going to get a milk shake for the first time in my life (and i have friends who swear by the humble milk shake) but changed my mind at the last minute as i wasn’t terribly excited about the idea of drinking soft serve ice cream. as it turned out, the iced mocha came with ice cream so i’m guessing it is close to how a milk shake would have tasted? it was quite good (a bit too sweet for my liking), and if you are planning to order it, make sure you stir the glass well prior to drinking as it does not come mixed!

for mains, i got the prawn and avocado joy ($19). i recently developed a liking for avocado and i can see why there is a hype around it as it is simply delicious! the prawns were deliciously cooked to perfection, even though i hate getting my hands dirty in public i would gladly do it all over again for the prawns. avocado was creamy and an amazing addition to the salad. pesto was meant to be in the salad, however, the taste could’ve been stronger. overall an great dish.

c got the chicken satay exotica ($19). sauce was creamy and peanuty and is all you want in a satay sauce. chicken was really tender and delicious paired with the sauce. as with mine, the salad was ok.

as for desserts, i got the banana split ($14). ice cream was nice and creamy – my pick out of the 3 flavours is vanilla. the ice cream tasted really good with chocolate sauce and i’m a huge fan of waffle pieces. i would pass on the whipped cream, warm whipped cream and ice cream makes a rather strange combination in my opinion but i guess others may like it!

c got the rocky mountain with chocolate and vanilla ($12). marshmallow was slightly hard, and c reckoned that the waffle pieces and caramel sauce was standard. however as a package it was a great way to end the meal.

hi there! our latest adventure was at the melting pot bar and bistro which is located within mantra hotel in chatswood. the place is really easy to locate and convenient to walk from the train station so leave your car at home! we were there on a friday evening and interestingly there wasn’t too many patrons, probably due to the large number of choices available in chatswood. the interior was nice and new and we were seated promptly, however orders did take quite a while to arrive.

let’s get right into the food! for entrees we ordered the pork belly bao which was made up of twice cooked pork belly in a steamed bun. the pork was really tender with a good ratio of fat to lean meat and the fat part was beautifully rendered. definitely recommended!

the other entree we ordered was the satay chicken with homemade satay sauce. chicken thigh was used in the dish and was tender and juicy; however the sauce was a bit more runny than i would have liked.

for mains, c ordered the 300 gm sirloin with chips and bay leaf jus. the sirloin was cooked perfectly medium and the jus was delicious to the point that c was literally drinking it down! chips on the other hand were just ok for chips – delicious, but could be crunchier!

i got the pan seared salmon with bok choy and salsa verde. the salmon had deliciously crispy skin and was cooked perfectly. bok choy was soft and tender and salsa verde was punchy.

for dessert, we shared the trio of gelato with pistachio biscotti – strawberry, coconut/vanilla and caramel sauce on meringue base. this was amazing, the strawberry gelato was delicious (c is not a fan of strawberry but she loved everything else). biscotti was crunchy and added great texture. c preferred this to the other dessert which we ordered which was the…

chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream! the brownie was warm and delicious and it was a good pair with the cold, sweet and smooth ice cream. overall experience? food was really good, from entree to main to dessert.

hey all! this is a post from our very last meal in europe (we will still be posting more europe meals). we were hunting for a restaurant called baozi inn which was recommended on time out as a delicious cheap feed. also we wanted something fancier than tesco’s lunch special we were having quite often!

we walked around chinatown for about 10 to 15 minutes before giving up on finding baozi inn. we then decided on having dumplings and tried to look for a restaurant that fitted our criteria: looks good, well priced, and takes credit card payments because we were totally out of cash.

we ordered 2x xiao long baos and 2x noodles. the first dish came and we started eating it right away! it was the best xiao long bao of the meal, generous soup and delicious filling. it turned out that it was the pork xiao long bao which we didn’t order, but was given to us by accident. the waiter only found out when he tried to deliver the next 2 xiao long baos which we actually did order. he then decided that we should have it for free so it was really nice!

our next xiao long bao was the chicken xiao long bao. this was definitely not as good as the pork. it has less soup and the filling was less fatty so resulted in a drier xiao long bao, but still was good.

our last set of xiao long bao was the crab roe and pork. again this was quite good, but not quite as good as the pork ones. my advice is definitely to go with pork.

for noodles, we got the zha jiang mien. this noodle is almost always a crowd pleaser and beijing dumpling did it really well. hand made, beautifully chewy with delicious and generous sauce. wonderful.

our last dish was the dan dan noodles. this was served with the same chewy noodles with delicous broth which was not too spicy. yum.

after this meal, we packed went back to our hotel to pick up our stuff before catching the train to heathrow airport. as a last europe meal, it was a great meal – missing it already!

the second place we ate out at in our jervis bay outing is 5 little pigs, located in a town called huskisson. we went there for lunch after spending much of the morning walking around the botanic gardens at the booderee national park.

huskisson is a very touristy town, with a bustling town centre. we tried looking for a park close by but ended up parking in one of the streets about 5 minutes walk to the 5 little pigs restaurant. the reason for picking the place? it’s the top rated jervis bay restaurant on tripadvisor, and this being our last eat out we really wanted to be wowed.

we ordered a dish each. i got the cuban burger which has pulled pork, ham and swiss cheese on a charcoal bun ($16.50). the bun was toasted well (it didn’t taste like charcoal, and i’m not sure if it’s meant to!) and had a delicious texture. pulled pork tasted really good as well but is less tender than expected. ham and swiss cheese went really well with the pulled pork and the bun. chips were okay, but not as good as the salty crab’s.

c got the ricotta gnocchi with duck ragout and king brown mushroom ($21.50). the ricotta gnocchi could be more pillow-y and the duck ragout was okay. the sauce reminded me strongly of bolognese which i do like but c doesn’t. the dish came with a generous amount of cheese which is always good with gnocchi!

as a whole, we definitely preferred our meal at the salty crab’s, but if you are in the area it’s worth giving this place a go! one of the things i really wanted to try was the crispy korean fried chicken burger; it does sound amazing!

we recently went on a holiday in jervis bay and really had a great time! i would highly recommend the trip especially if you live close by in sydney, it’s only a 2.5 hour drive south with mostly motorway driving. jervis bay’s beaches is claimed to have the whitest sand in the world, and it certainly does deliver!

we went to 2 different restaurants here in the bay area and would be writing up our experiences at both! the first one is called the salty crab which is located in vincentia. this was our first ever meal in the bay and it was a good experience!

c ordered the grilled salmon cakes with chips and salad ($11.90). the chips were amazing, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. salad had a good variety of leaves and capsicum. the salmon cakes, however, had a bit too much potato compared to salmon.

i ordered a soft shell crab burger ($12.50) with a side of chips and drink ($4.70). the soft shell crab was battered and fried wonderfully and was delicious served with the mayo and the salad in a perfectly toasted bun. the chips were as described, amazing. the only downside i guess was the cost of the sides, the can of coke was $2.50.

overall? great tasting food at a good price. will visit again.

recently we went to mojo by luke mangan! if you’re wondering why this name is so familiar, we first went to a luke mangan restaurant on board the pacific jewel; it was an amazing experience! relive the moment here.

when we saw that luke has another restaurant in sydney, plans were made to try it out. and try it we did, on a cold winter night. the restaurant was set in a refurbished warehouse which was tastefully renovated. you would not know that the restaurant is there if not for the bright lights outside advertising the restaurant.

we went in and were seated promptly at the table. we then ordered our meal and waited impatiently for our food to arrive.

first to arrive was the pork pancakes, hoisin sauce, cucumber, shallot and coriander ($22). the dish was served with diy assembly in mind. in terms of taste, it tasted very similar to a peking duck dish, with the exception of the pork. it was an okay-ish dish.

next was the shoestring fries with truffle and parmesan ($10). this was quite good, with strong truffle and parmesan taste and the chips were crispy.

for one of the mains, we had the 200g oakey reserve sirloin, charred onion, truffle mash and confit tomatoes ($34). the truffle mash was almost exactly the same as the one we had on the cruise and was really really delicious; the sirloin was okay and the confit tomato sweet.

the other main we had was the pan-fried potato gnocchi with mushroom, kale, basil and parmesan ($28). this was the better main of the two, and the gnocchi was deliciously crispy and pillowy. other parts of the dish worked really well with the gnocchi as well.

the dish of the day, however, was the dessert. the chocolate tart with caramelised banana, honeycomb and salted caramel ice-cream ($16) was simply amazing. the tart was crumbly, the chocolate gooey, the honeycomb giving crunchy texture to the dish and salted caramel ice cream.. was just utterly delicious. we said we might come back again just for this dish!

we also ordered another scoop of ice cream to try out. being adventurous we picked up the basil ice cream ($5). the taste reminded us of frozen pesto, which was a bit strange (though some might like it!) and it was slightly icy. nonetheless, it was a good way to end the meal especially when paired with the chocolate tart!

service was really good, staff were really attentive and filled our water glasses repeatedly throughout the night. we had a good time at luke’s again!

hello all, recently we went to cavalier special coffee at st leonards! it’s an easy walk from st leonards station. we went there on a sunday afternoon for lunch and was greeted by a huge queue, and literally waited over an hour to get a seat at the table! i am normally pretty impatient when it comes to waiting to eat but we did for this one. did it deliver? in general, the truffle is better than balla at the star, being more flavoursome and intense. the place is nice and cosy and you can see the chefs and barista in action.

have a look at the menu here. in general, you can add truffle to almost anything for an extra $12, and that’s what we did, with the exception of our coffee and french toast order.

c’s dad ordered a cappucino ($3.50) which was served promptly. all other dishes required a further wait of about 15 minutes in addition to our wait time to get in; this place is really popular!

we got the beef brisket ($20 + $12 for truffle). c thought the celeriac cream was good. i thought that the brisket could be a lot more melt-in-your-mouth given the 15 hour slow cook in the description, however it was not bad. the poached egg was perfect and gave the required egg-porn view. this dish was also served with croissants to mop up the sauce. yum.

the mac and cheese ($18 + $12 for truffle) was my favourite dish of the day. it had amazing textures, from crispy and crunchy puffs to al dente pasta to creamy egg yolk. it was also wonderfully cheesy and i felt that the truffle really added to the dish.

truffle benny ($22 + $12 for truffle) was my least favourite of the day; to me it tasted like a ham on bread with some egg and truffle (which it essentially is, however, i was looking for more due to the price factor).

we shared a tiramisu french toast ($18) for dessert. this was a very popular dish with many patrons ordering it so we wanted part of the action. the coffee cream was absolutely spot on, chocolate soil was crunchy and the bread amazing. i had a sour hit in one of my bites that i can’t put my finger on. c’s mum proposed that this was caused by the rum in the french toast, however, it doesn’t take away from the dish at all. one of the best on the day as well!

it was a fairly expensive meal, and we did wait more than an hour to get in and eat. my suggestion is to try some of the dishes out, especially the mac and cheese (and truffle), and do it on a weekday which should be less busy.

hi, few more posts before we get back to the euro trip restaurants, we recently went to yumei at haymarket!

yumei is located in capitol square near the trams and central station. reading reviews show that it is a popular spot for those who are going to the plays in the square. c and i love japanese food and couldn’t pass up an opportunity to visit the restaurant we last visited many years ago.

we ordered a few dishes to share. the first one that came out was the karaage chicken ($16.30). the chicken was reasonably crunchy and was really moist; it was delicious but not as good as sorenzo’s.

the next dish we got was the grilled sushi party ($14.50). this contained grilled salmon, scallop, and eel. c only eats salmon so she took both of them and was happy with them. i enjoyed the rest of them, and thought the scallop was the best of the lot. this was a much better value than ordering the grilled sushi separately!

our last and main dish was the wagyu beef nabe ($36) which we ordered with a side bowl of rice ($2). the broth was slightly sweet, and the beef was not as marbled as we would have liked. that being said, i enjoyed the hotpot, including the different types of mushroom, tofu and vegetables.

we left feeling satisfied and went upstairs to have a look at the claw machines (someone actually won one when we were there!). the food at yumei was really good, but i would definitely be ordering more sushi as opposed to the hotpot.