lindt chocolate cafe, martin place, city

How good does this look?

This is apparently a new dessert at Lindt (according to their website) - the Mousse Trio. I experienced a serious case of food envy on this dish's arrival. Jealousy never lasts long though between true friends, and a get-together with high school buddies was the reason why we were at the Lindt Cafe late on a Saturday afternoon.

Not as photogenic, but just as delicious - the chocolate eclair

Which also features in the background of this shot of the hot fudge sundae. Amongst our other orders - hot chocolates (both milk and dark), a Rosella declice (mmm, ginger cream) and some sort of cake that I've now forgotten the name of... sorry!

So now that we've got the niceties out of the way, I have to have a word about the service. I never remembered it being quite so bad (having been a regular there when I was studying down the road). The waitress, faced with the prospect of having to seat 6 of us, snapped, "6 people? That's a large table", as though we were really putting her out in some way. Then she recommended a cake to my friend which turned out to be sold out. Lastly, she brought 4 cups of water when there were clearly 6 of us at the table, and it wasn't even as though 2 of us had ordered drinks and the others had not, so that only 4 of us didn't have anything to drink. Yes, it was a busy Saturday afternoon and maybe (a) we were taking the waitress' comment way too personally; (b) the last serving of the cake that she recommended to my friend got snapped up just as my friend ordered it and (c) we could have easily asked for more glasses of water, but I was quite disappointed considering that the place holds itself out as such as classy institution. The icing on the cake was when she plonked down the bill without any form of ceremony (and without us asking for it, and without there being any form of queue at the door waiting for a table)... to her credit, she did say "whenever you're ready" (probably because she saw me make a face. Yes, I don't hold back if I see something I don't like).

I'm open to being convinced otherwise, but I don't think we'll be heading back in a hurry.



Lindt Chocolate Cafe
53 Martin Place
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 8257 1600


Also at George Street, Darling Harbour and Miranda Westfield

Open 7 days - Mondays to Fridays 7:30am to 6pm, weekends 10am to 6pm

sushi samurai, pyrmont

After being thwarted by massive lines in our initial plans to go to Sizzler at Kogarah (I thought I was the only one obsessed with this place! I haven't been there since my childhood and have always planned to return... mmm... cheesy bread) and by the closure of Sushi on Steroids aka Sushi Tengoku (because of the public holiday? Or does it always close on Mondays?), we headed to Sushi Samauri at Pyrmont for a late dinner.

Agedashi tofu. We love this stuff.

So much so that we also got the agedashi eggplant (from the specials menu). I've never had anything but tofu in agedashi style before. This was nice.

Sushi and sashimi platter ($39.80). Pretty good value considering the massiveness of the serve. I would've liked more ginger though (I'm sure we could've asked for some more, we just didn't get around to it).

Hello, nostalgia! We actually noticed trays of these in the kitchen and wondered that maybe the staff had them as snacks. In fact, they hand them out as complimentary desserts. Sweet! I used to have the strawberry flavoured ones all the time as a child. Now it seems they've turned educational, with "fun words" printed on the biscuits!

Sushi Samurai

Shop 1/16-30 Bunn Street

Pyrmont NSW 2009

(02) 9518 8852

Open 7 days for lunch and dinner - last order for lunch is 3pm, last order for dinner 10pm

More information available here

chat thai, haymarket

Fish and chips? A chiko roll? Or an even more cliche take-away?

My friend Z and I met up today for lunch at one of my old haunts, the food court below Woolworths at Park Street. I used to work in a building nearby, and the beef noodles are just as I remember. As is the minimalist setting of what my old workmates used to call the place - "Salmonella City". In all the times I've eaten there, I have to say I've never got sick. Touch wood that that isn't about to change now!

After finishing lunch, my friend said, "let's get dessert!" I responded with predictable enthusiasm, and we started heading towards Mizuya where they have 50c green tea ice cream cones at lunchtimes (at least they did about a month ago, can someone confirm if they still do?) Then, suddenly, my friend said, "what about Chat Thai?"

That girl is a genius.

I've been to Chat Thai once before (after making a booking) and it was very good. So packed though. We tried to go once more (without a booking) and decided not even to try waiting it out. I still remember my soup-based dessert from the first (and until today, only) visit though - utterly delicious. I know one of my regular commenters here (in fact the only commenter!) loves soup-based desserts, but unfortunately for her I can't remember exactly what was in it. Tee hee.

Now, my friend had her heart initially set on some sort of fried dough to be dipped into kaya (coconut jam), which she said she'd thought about getting once before when she was by herself, but had decided it was too big for one person and got an egg tart from Ho's Kitchen Dim Sum instead. This is where I beg to differ from my friend - how can one dessert ever be too big for one person?? :)). But it turned out they only sell those between 10am to 12 noon. We got there at around 1:30pm so had a choice of about 5 different desserts (which change again at 4pm! So make sure you turn up at the right time to get your choice!). It appears that the website menu doesn't include desserts, so I can only give you the number of what we eventually chose - this is the number 2 dessert on the 12 noon to 4pm  dessert menu, which was described as some sort of coconut dessert crisped up on a griddle. It cost us $6 for a box of 8 and came packed in the cute little box as above.

"Can you smell it?" my friend asked as we squeezed our way out of the restaurant onto the street. "Mmm, coconut..." I responded. We opened the box up and it struck me that they looked a lot like 雞蛋仔 but slightly larger and in separate pieces. Then we each took one and bit into little pieces of heaven. Imagine smooth, silky coconut cream encased in crispy, crunchy shells of slightly charred goodness.

Only problem?

"Hot! So hot!" We made our way back towards my friend's workplace waving our hands in front of our mouths as the coconut cream scalded our tounges. But it was so worth it. It's good I don't work any closer, otherwise I can imagine ducking out at 10am every morning to get a dessert from the 10am to 12 noon selection, then dropping in again at 12 noon to try something from the 12 noon to 4pm selection, then just after 4pm for something for afternoon tea. Despite the distance, Chat Thai, and your slightly distracted waitstaff (we asked the waitress at the counter about 3 times to place our order... but to their credit as soon as they actually acknowledged it, our order came very quickly), I'll sacrifice my work hour (and my waistline!) for you.

Chat Thai

20 Campbell Street

Haymarket NSW 2000

Also at Galeries Victoria (where chapflap said he once got dessert from, but it wasn't as good as the Haymarket one), Randwick and Manly

You can find more information here, but there don't seem to be dessert menus unfortunately

We saw a sign there that said it was going to be 20% off on Monday 26 April I think because it's their 20 year anniversary. So get prepared for it to be even more packed (if that's even possible?!)

bar 333, city

Had a triple-decker toasted sandwich tonight (Thursday) with my friend who induces me into eating hot dogs.

I think it was missing that essential club sandwich ingredient which makes them taste so great (and which brings me back to childhood days in HK) - mayonnaise.

I could've stolen some off my friend, who had chips with mayonnaise (which is basically aioli minus the garlic).

Worth popping in though considering its convenient location and $10 cocktails (tonight they had lychee martinis, something with apple, the "Ni How Ma" featuring watermelon and ginger and a passionfruit caprioska, which was very nice) on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Bar 333
333 George Street (near cnr Martin Place)
Sydney NSW 2000

a tale of two touch screen restaurants

Poor Mr Dickens must be turning in his grave right now.

One Saturday, I managed to make it to two touch screen restaurants - Takeru, Chatswood and I-Taiwan, Chinatown.

No photos from Takeru but I would highly recommend the bento boxes at the bargain basement price of $12.50. Other popular choices were the curries and pastas (I love Asian-style pasta). The other good thing is it's tucked away in the back corner of Victoria Plaza (next to Chatswood Chase), so it's not as packed as other more prominent eateries around the Chatswood shopping area. By the time we left though, people were writing their names on the queueing sheet commonly featured at popular Japanese eateries (Makoto and Ichi-ban Boshi spring to mind)

That night, we went to the new Taiwanese restaurant in the Chinatown pedestrian mall. I didn't even know what it was called, so told my friend that "it's the restaurant that's painted black outside, next to the CD shop, near the Goulburn Street end of Chinatown". These poor directions inevitably led to my friend calling me and us having one of those hilarious conversations where you're standing in close proximity, talking to each other on the phone -

F: "I'm in front of the Dixon Centre"
V: "Me too! But where? I can't see you?"
F: "ummm, just in the front?"

V and F turn around and it turns out they're within 5 metres of each other, just facing in opposite directions. Cue rolled eyes from chapflap and V's boyfriend.

We only discovered that the restaurant has touch screens upon entering, and that it has an upstairs seating section. The seating was very comfortable, with booths designed for chatting over pearl milk teas and shaved ice desserts. But main meals first, of which I only took one photo:

Mince pork noodles ($8). There are also sliced pork noodles. And lots of other types of soup noodles, in true Taiwanese style. They went down well with a serve of Taiwanese pickles ($4).

When you order the shaved ice dessert, they bring you a little order form to select your toppings. $5.30 for 3 toppings and only 50c more for another one, but I was afraid that my excess dessert consumption would disturb my enjoyment of the Joey Yung concert we were going to that night.

The result of my order - lychee, paw-paw and fig jelly. They put coloured sprinkles on the ice :) It was delish.

V forced (tee hee, ok, "encouraged") her boyfriend to order a hot drink just so we could look at the cute cup that they came in. This was the hot milk tea, which V's boyfriend said was very sweet. Before the meal, we also had various cold drinks which I can't remember now. All I know is that I had the cold milk tea with herbal jelly, having deprived myself of Chatime at Chatswood earlier that day on account of the queue.

I-Taiwan is a good option for catching up with friends and playing with touch screens, particularly if Wagaya is booked out (as it was that night, most likely with fellow Joey fans! Anyone else out there also in attendance? How cool was the Kowloon bus out the front of the Entertainment Centre?)

Takeru
Shop 10, 369 Victoria Avenue (enter through the ground level and walk straight through to the back corner)
Chatswood NSW 2065

(02) 9412 1203

Open 7 days from noon to 7pm

Also in the city, but that didn't feature touch-screens the time we went (about 6 months ago)

I-Taiwan
52 Dixon Street (which is, as I described, next to the CD shop near the Goulburn Street end of the pedestrian mall. Good luck finding it with such directions!)
Haymarket NSW 2000

(02) 9212 2220


Not sure of opening hours

taste baguette on market, city

I made it to this place after having my weekly massage and I am very glad I did.

The crispy tofu baguette ($6.20 take-away, all baguettes are $1 more for eat-in) was so delicious I devoured it on the way back to my office. Might also have had something to do with my long black consumption this morning. It also explains the lack of photo.

Baguettes are available in white, rye or wholemeal. You can get a plain baguette (as in a proper long one designed for carrying under your arm, not one of the pre-cut ones made for filling) for $4, which I might do next time (I have been known to eat 5 of those airy, fluffy rolls that you can get for $1 from Vietnamese hot bread shops in a single sitting).

They were very quick with my baguette too, which made me very happy indeed. In the words of the (now) Governator, "I'll be back".

Taste Baguette on Market
Corner of George and Market Streets (just in front of the entrance to Myer)
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 9233 7778

Open 7am-5pm Mondays to Fridays, 8:30am-4pm Saturdays

Cash only

They also serve Campos coffee, and I would've had one had I not been so wound up from my long black this morning...

nsw school of massage student massages, city

My work friend (the same one who inspired an insatiable Harry's Hot Dog craving the other day) put me onto this beauty service a couple of weeks ago and I've become hooked. For $30 ($25 for your first time), you can have an hour's massage from a student who is supervised. Sure, it's in a room with about 10 other people, but I actually find I personally prefer that to the whole one-on-one massage experience (in which I inevitably start thinking, "should I start talking? Will he/ she initiates a conversation?") And they're very good with the towel maneuvering to ensure no awkward flashing occurs (although the room is nicely darkened, and soft soothing music plays in the background).

Student massages are currently available on Thursday mornings from 10am to 1:30pm and on Saturdays. It's in a good location too for popping out to during work hours if your boss happens to be working from home, plus you feel as though you're helping the students out tin a way. The quality of the massage has varied a little bit (as in they've all been good, just some better than others), but for $30, I'm not complaining!

NSW School of Massage
Level 1, 225 Clarence Street (closest cross-road is Market Street)
Sydney NSW 2000

Bookings essential (they only bring in as many students as bookings) on (02) 9262 2654

You can get more information here

david jones nail bar, city

I'm a relatively late newcomer to the whole beauty services scene. While some girls seem to have grown up with regular salon treatments, nail appointments and be on first name bases with their masseurs, I've only recently discovered the delights of primping and pampering. I've only ever had one professional manicure prior to this experience, and that was with friends during a holiday at a salon that I'd probably never get the chance to go back to. I've decided that it's time to start become a little more polished in my image - as much as I'd like to, I probably can't keep rocking up in thongs to work (for any American readers, that's thongs as in the footwear), having only barely managed to brush my hair and teeth.

I scoured my favourite source of info in relation to all things girly and didn't find a whole lot of recommendations for manicurists in the city. I was particularly looking for somewhere clean, having heard horror stories about re-used tools and infections (argh!) David Jones at Elizabeth Street seemed to fit the bill, being a 10 minute walk from my office and open until 6pm on weeknights (9pm Thursdays and Fridays). I called in the morning and booked for 5:30pm for the same day (being a Monday though, so maybe less busy than other days). So far, so good.

When I arrived the manicurist told me to pick a colour from the vast array of polishes lined up on the wall. I had no idea whatsoever - just wanted something relatively light so it wouldn't be so obvious when it inevitably chipped! So she chose for me and it was fine - the whole thing took about 20 minutes; she chatted to the other manicurists for most of the time which was great by me because I just wanted to zone out after a hard day's work (cough). The result? Shiny shiny nails that apparently will last at least a week. Hopefully a $30 well spent.

David Jones Nail Bar
Basement, corner Elizabeth and Market Streets
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 9266 5424

Appointments recommended

Price list:

next lunch destination, city

After reading onebitemore's entry comparing the Olive and the Big Bite on Pitt, I ventured over to the very non-descript arcade on Pitt Street (easily identified though by the line threatening to snake out onto Pitt St) to attempt to conquer an entire sandwich for lunch. My smoked salmon (hold the tomato please, it'll just make my sandwich soggy for the next day's lunch) sandwich was delish but gigantic. Will need to return to the Olive once I make it back to being an inner city worker for comparison purposes.

Also spotted a new outlet of Taste Baguette on my wanderings - it's just been reviewed by he needs food and will save me from trekking over to Sussex Lane for my lemongrass beef baguette fix. Greatly distressed by the news that Taste is opening up at new usyd law school though - just a another kick in the guts after us 2008 grads had to put up with giant cockroaches, Cityrail-inspired air-conditioning (hot in summer, cold in winter) and that ever-present strange smell on level 5...

Big Bite on Pitt
250 Pitt Street (between Park and Market Streets)
Sydney NSW 2000

Open 7 days

Best way to jump the queue (without risking being stabbed by hungry officeworkers) - call ahead on (02) 9283 4700

Taste Baguette on Market Street
Corner of George and Market Streets (just abovethe escalators leading down to QVB from Myer)
Sydney NSW 2000

Open 7 days

Also at World Square and Foveaux Street in Surry Hills

karaoke, city

Karaoke. Love it or hate it, there's something quite cathartic about wailing Avril Lavigne into a microphone in a darkened room after too much whisky and green tea.

I've discovered during my relatively recent introduction to the sport (chess is a sport too, right?) that there's not a lot of information on the interwebs about Sydney karaoke establishments. Here's what I've experienced to date:

Karaoke World - 185 Elizabeth Street (near Sheraton on the Park) - (02) 9267 5011

My first karaoke experience took place in these hallowed halls. They actually do have a fairly comprehensive website, which is partly why I used them to book a room for my 21st (all the way back in 2007!) They don't seem to have upped their prices since then, at least on the website. This place provides books with codes for songs in them, if you prefer picking your songs that way, which I can't remember having seen anywhere else.

Big Echo - 104 Bathurst Street (next to Oporto, near corner with Pitt Street) - (02) 9283 2666

A favourite at my last workplace due to the $10 6-9pm happy hour (hours?) promotion, including free Asian drink (lychee water, anyone?). Oporto being next door is handy for those late-night munchies.

Viva - 210 Clarence Street (near QVB) - (02) 9283 7733

Another favourite at my last workplace as it ran the same $10 for 3 hours with drink promotion. Also was relatively lax with BYO until recently. Probably has the best selection of English songs along with Karaoke World of the Sydney karaoke places that I've been to. There's a Japanese grocery store (along with the excellent 100 yen shop!) across the road for snacks. Has also been recently refurbished and ran a Ladies' Night promotion where girls got in free on certain nights, but that's unfortunately ended now. Still wondering where you've heard of it before? A man died after a brawl there in December 2009.

Greenbox Plus - 591 George Street (near World Square) - (02) 9283 8806

The original Greenbox on Pitt Street is now a Japanese bbq restaurant called Shinara. Greenbox Mark II, named Greenbox Plus (edited 17/04/2010 - this place seems to now be just called Greenbox), is tucked away up one flight of stairs what appears to be a residential building. Probably the cleanest place I've been to, but has a reputation for being exxy - a group of 4 of us went for 2 hours on a Thursday night for $12 per person (Asian drink included). Not sure how much it is for Fridays/ Saturdays, which is when prices tend to go up for prime warbling space. (edited 17/04/2010 - a group of 8 of us went on a Friday night from 11am to 1am for $60 an hour, so $15 a person for the 2 hours. Not bad, but no Asian drink included).

Phoenix - 90 Hay Street (in the Chinatown pedestrian mall) - (02) 9211 1776

The only place I can remember that involves going up more than one flight of stairs for a k session. While that was fairly novel, we won't be returning here anytime soon. I've been told they've already cleaned it up a bit from the good old "hire a room complete with companions that will cater to your every need" days, but it was still pretty seedy last time we went. Plus, of course, someone got stabbed there in 2008.

CEO Karaoke - Basement (where else?), 1 Dixon Street - (02) 9283 7883

It has a website! A bit more upmarket than the others, being modelled on the chain of CEO karaokes in HK. Cleanliness on par with Greenbox Plus or thereabouts.

Mizuya - 614 George Street (near the Metro Theatre) - (02) 9266 0866

A relatively recent addition to the Sydney karaoke scene. A package for 10 people set us back $488, including all food and beverages up to that amount and 3 hours' room hire, which is alright value taking into account the range of food and drinks (if you eat/ drink more than the basic $488 amount, you just pay for the extra). The first place I've seen in Sydney with touch-screen song picking systems. Rooms were rectangular though which makes it harder to mingle.

All of the places seem to have cracked down on BYO, which definitely wasn't the case back when I first started going. But of course, going to karaoke isn't just incidental to the primary purpose of drinking, right..

Other places to try which I haven't been to myself: Redbox, Cashbox (? chapflap's not sure if this is still around),  K Square... actually I lie as I have been to K Square (Capitol Square building), just that I don't remember so much about it. Same with Echo Point that I've been to once only (apparently it's haunted).

Outside of the CBD there's Ding Dong Dang (Surry Hills), Swing Box (Neutral Bay - we only found out about this place on a late night visit to Maisy's... there was just a door which looked kind of freaky), Juju's (Kings Cross - a Japanese restaurant which has karaoke late at night... I've been for the food which was good)... let me know if you konw of any others!

on ramen, city

A lot of chapflap's and my meals seem to consist of noodles in soup.

Slight variation on a theme here then because this one features noodles in soup and duck, another one of my faves

I got the "On Ramen Bento" set for $18.80, so I got side dishes comprising of japanese cheese sausage (with mustard, yay!), 2 takoyaki with waving bonito flakes (hello to you too!), salmon sashimi on a bed of carrots (nice and fresh) and a salad with yummy dressing. I felt a bit like I was in a korean restaurant.

I added an egg for $2 too, but was saddened that it wasn't the runny yolk type that I like, which I always eat first when we go to Gumshara. The duck was lovely and moist though, and the soup not too salty

Chapflap had the seafood ramen

He also opted for the On Ramen bento set ($18.80), which include side dishes of 2 takoyaki balls, sashimi, salad and deliciously crunchy (but highly unphotogenic) soft shell crab

All that didn't leave him any room for dessert, I couldn't resist the fluorescence of this pandan ice cream from Passionflower (the bottom ice cream is sticky rice - 2 scoops in a cup for $6 take-away)

The service was pretty good too at On Ramen, so it's a more dignified setting for satisfying your ramen craving than Gumshara. Not as much collagen goodness though

On Ramen

Shop 4, 181-187 Hay Street
Haymarket 2000

Open 7 days, 11am to 10pm

(02) 9211 6663

Cash only, minimum order of $8 pp

the chocolate room, city

Do we really need another chocolate cafe in the city? I would have to answer that with a resounding "yes" - we can never have too much chocolate, right? Spotted this place on the corner of Sussex and Bathurst Streets on our way to a movie. Apparently it's only been open for a week, and is the second Chocolate Room in Sydney (the other one's in Parramatta).

We had waffles for 2 ($14) and a iced hazlenut chocolate ($6) - 3 cakes of waffley goodness smothered in chocolate sauce and strawberries washed down with a frothy ferrero rocher-like drink. The iced chocolates come in 20 flavours, and I'm intrigued to find out what the difference is between iced chocolates and chocshakes (apart from the price - chocshakes are $7). Next time, I suppose...

Also picked up 3 individual "Spark" chocolates for $2 each. The shapes of the individual chocolates remind me of Boon, but the patterns aren't as fine.

Update 2 December 2009: the Spark chocolate lived up to its description of "an explosive finish"! It had pop rocks/ wizz fizz or something in it. Nice. The chocolate was a bit gooey though despite the weather cooling down recently - low melting point perhaps?

The Chocolate Room
298 Sussex St (corner with Bathurst St)
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 9269 0004

Find out more here

Open 8:30am - 11pm every day

Also at Shop 11/15 Phillip St, Parramatta NSW 2150 (and in India!)

boon chocolates, darlinghurst

Boon Chocolates was recently featured in SMH and I've also seen it mentioned elsewhere on the web (for example on herecomesthefood). We went early on a Friday night before a late dinner and enjoyed the cosy atmosphere. There are only a few tables upstairs for eating in - it almost felt like sitting in someone's lounge room.

Hot chocolate is served with a deliciously light chocolate mousse and a praline. It was fairly dark upstairs so I didn't bother trying to photograph the drinks, but here's some shots of what we brought home:

Gift box of 5 pralines. I remember the pralines individually were $1.75, but I don't remember how much they were with the gift box and everything. Gift boxes of 8 and more also available.


One of these two chocolates is the Schubert, which features Earl Grey Tea. The other is the Jasmine, which has jasmine tea in it. Alex, who runs the place with his sister, told us that there's also a Mahler chocolate for the other classical music lovers out there. He named the Schubert because of how the flavour stays with you after you've finished it, just like Schubert's music.

Arabica, with coffee.

The gorgeous Janne, with rose.

Kurobiko, with rice crispies!!

The passion that Fanny has for the chocolates is really evident, especially in the elaborate perfume bottles made with chocolate that sit in the display drawers. It's worth dropping by just to see them.

Boon Chocolates
251 Victoria Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010

(02) 9356 8876

You can find more information here

Open Tuesdays and Wednesdays 12 midday to 8:30pm
Thursdays to Satudays 12 midday to 10:30pm
Sundays 12 midday to 7pm
Closed Mondays

Street parking available close by; note that the section of Victoria Street that Boon is on is a one way street

gia hoi vietnamese restaurant, city

This new Vietnamese place is where Saigon Village used to be, next to Pasteur on the southern end of George Street. It's actually a new outlet of a chain that's already in Canley Heights and South Bankstown, but I'm not sure if it's the same menu at all 3 stores.

We had a large special beef noodle soup ($10) and special vermicelli ($11), washed down with a longan drink ($3.50) and coconut juice ($3.50). All worth a try if you're in the area. The soup of the beef noodle was a bit oilier than our benchmark (Toan Thong in Flemington), but nice nevertheless.

I didn't take any photos of the food because at the time we were too hungry (argh, city traffic!) But here's the menu for reference... a lovely grandfatherly type man was standing at the front of the restaurant beckoning people in and told me to take one :) Click on each image for magnification to a readable size...

Gia Hoi Vietnamese Restaurant
711 George Street
Haymarket NSW 2000

(02) 9211 0221

Open 7 days 10am to 10pm

Also at 230 Canley Vale Road, Canley Heights NSW 2166
(02) 9723 7324

And 299 Chapel Road, South Bankstown NSW 2200
(02) 9796 3388

I think I read on the drinks menu that the Canley Heights outlet is open until 2am on Friday and Saturday nights. Adds another alternative to the kebab/pizza/pie late night snack...

the changing face of regent place, city

Went in search of mochi today after recalling this particularly memorable post from eatshow&tell. Unfortunately Shu Shin Bou's already closed down, as has a frozen yoghurt place called White Apple that my friend was going to take me to on another friend's recommendation.

Sign of the times, ey?

On a brighter note, I did notice that Bonta Vita had printed out a copy of here comes the food's review and stuck it on its window. Good work guys :)

Regent Place
501 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Update 2 June 2009: appears that a selection of mochi from Shu Shin Bou is available in front of Miracle Supermarket, World Square, corner of George and Liverpool Streets. So all's not lost!!

hiatus

As you can readily see, this blog hasn't been updated since January - basically when I started full time work. Apologies.

Here are some highlights from the past couple of months:

Green tea marshmallow, Tetsuya's, Sydney - chapflap and I went for Valentine's Day; it was a lovely night capped off by 4 courses of dessert. My kind of restaurant...!

Macarons, Sweet Infinity, "East Sydney" - continuing the dessert theme, these gorgeous pink temptations lure me into this patisserie on a regular basis. Sometimes they're fluoro pink, sometimes they're a baby girl pink - I've been told that it just depends on the mood of the baker on the day. Delicious with a coffee and a sure-fire way to make the afternoon just a bit more bearable. East Sydney is in quotations because according to Australia Post it's not a real suburb; despite that we use it for all our work correspondence with no problems.

Eggplant with honey, Soni's, Newtown - an unusual combination which worked. The other big hit of the night was glasses of rosé; I went with the Madame Special cocktail instead. Yum.

Hummus, Sultan's Table, Enmore - "Sultan's Table?" my cousin asked when I told her where we were going for dinner that night, "isn't that where all the foodbloggers go?" Nooo, I exercised a completely free choice in selecting where to head before seeing Shane Warne: The Musical (see it before the season finishes, it's great!) The mixed plate of dips was colourful and flavoursome - will have to head back soon for more hummus (my favourite dip of the night) and to try some baklava (was too full that night). Definitely book ahead - we saw so many people get turned away (it was a Saturday night) - but if you can't get a seat, you could always get take-away...

Mother's Day lunch, Athol Hall, Bradleys Head - this function centre located just beyond Taronga Zoo has wonderful views and delicious food. We attemped to walk off our 3-course feast afterwards by wandering around the boardwalk just below the restaurant. Even though it's mainly a function centre, the place does serve lunch/afternoon tea Tuesday to Friday and Sunday. Highly recommended, but call ahead to double check that they're not closing for a function or fully booked (as the balcony where they serve lunch/afternoon tea is fairly compact).

Graduation dinner, Zilver, Sydney - after 5 long years, I was very grateful to be joined by family (including relatives from overseas) and friends in celebrating my graduation. There's a minimum charge of $650 if you want a private room, which we easily met because we had a table of 14, as well as a karaoke room if you're into that kind of thing and mahjong tables available for an additional $50 (the restaurant opens at 5pm for dinner, so you can get in a couple of rounds before you eat). Above average Cantonese fare matched by good service, this is also nice for yum cha because it serves more interesting dim sum than your typical prawn dumplings and siu mai. You can see a rather trippy photo from the dinner here at my cousin's blog :)

Now, here's hoping I won't make you wait another 4 months before another post...

zia pina, the rocks

After a play at the Sydney Theatre Company, we needed food to feed our growling tummies. Our first choice, Hickson Road Bistro (which we've been to before and is very reasonably priced for the area and rather delicious) closed too early for us, so we headed to Zia Pina at the Rocks.

The place was actually full at 8:30pm for a Tuesday night - not surprising considering its location, I suppose. After a short wait outside (during which a man suggested we go to the Orient Hotel instead, where he'd just had a $10 lasagna) we were seated in a very small and tightly packed dining area. The food arrived quickly:

Medium (11") meatlovers pizza - plenty of ham, salami, cabanossi and pepperoni on a thin, soft base ($14).

Medium smoked salmon pizza - smoked salmon, capers and onion - a good combination ($14).

Medium Zia Pina special pizza - salami, ham, mushrooms and capsicum. I liked this one best - a good variety and generous serving of toppings ($14).


Caprese salad - described on the menu as "tomato, boccocinni and basil", I still was expecting some lettuce in there... turns out the menu's description is precisely accurate! Quite plain, but a good foil against the pizzas ($12).

People were still venturing in as we polished off the food, although eventually a waiter drew the curtains on the door. We left with tummies heavier and our wallets only $11 lighter each (the meal was a total of $66 including soft drinks). A good alternative to Pancakes on the Rocks for a late night feed in the city.

Zia Pina
93 George Street
The Rocks NSW 2000

(02) 9247 2255

Open 12 midday to 2pm 7 days
Open 6pm to 10pm Mondays to Thursdays
6pm to 11pm Fridays and Saturdays

guylian cafe, the rocks

Can a city have too many chocolate cafes? After reading posts by grabyourfork, herecomesthefood, the delectable delight and eat like a cow, we eventually made it to the Guylian Cafe at the Rocks. An iced mocha and chocolate set us back $7 each, although I was a little disappointed that you couldn't choose to have milk or dark chocolate. There are specialty drinks that feature milk or dark chocolate, so I suppose you have to go for them if you want the choice. I liked the coffee beans on my iced mocha, and the iced chocolate definitely tasted like Guylian seashells. Yum!

Guylian Chocolate Cafe
91 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 8274 7500

Also at Shop 10, Opera Quays
3 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 8274 7900

Open 7 days from 8am until late

ramen condor, city

Inspired by grabyourfork's quest for the perfect ramen, chapflap and I headed into the city with a mission.

We decided to go into Ramen Condor because it appeared fuller than the ramen place next door, Goshu Ramen Tei. NQN has tried both places recently, which is a recommendation in itself :)



Mixed tempura - $8. 2 prawns and an assortment of vegetables, this arrived quickly and was light and crunchy.



Karaage ramen - $11.50. I should've asked for the chicken on the side so it wouldn't go soggy, but it was nice nevertheless. Plenty of vegies, which I like in my ramen.



Gomoku ramen - $12.50. The prawns, pork and cabbage flavoured the soup nicely.

After trying to decipher what Hiroyuki Sakai's message was on the wall, we headed out to find that Goshu Ramen Tei was now the fuller of the two ramen joints. If only we worked closer to this end of the city... then we could get back quicker to fulfill the next stage of our mission!

Ramen Condor
5 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 9299 8686

Open Sunday to Friday 11:30am to 10pm

casa asturiana, city

How do you feed 34 hungry students who have just endured their last set of exams? Tapas, of course!

Casa Asturiana was willing to take a booking on a Friday night without a deposit which I was pretty impressed with. We had already tried to book Encasa (50% deposit required) and Miro (no bookings of more than 8 on a Friday)...

Unfortunately didn't manage to snap all the food, so this is more a representative sample. We had the $45 a head tapas and paella banquet, which comes with the choice of a jug of sangria for every 5 people or casadiellas (a cinnamon pastry dessert). The owner said most people opt for the sangria - we ordered half-half and then added extra sangria on top ($11 a jug) - I think the all sangria option is the better one (the dessert wasn't that good, but the sangria was great).



Appetiser of roast almonds



The first of the mixed salads - I'm not sure what the orange sauce was...



The second of the salads - nice and fresh



Marinated capsicums. Yum :)



Marinated artichokes. Not everyone's cup of tea apparently (but I liked it)



The start of the tapas dishes - there were prawns...



Calamari...



Meatballs... and I didn't manage to take photos of the chorizo, mushrooms and chicken.



Giant paella! There's a choice between seafood or chicken. We ordered some seafood and some chicken but unfortunately they came out all seafood. It was very nice though - lots of fish in the rice as well as all the goodies on top.



The dessert - casadiellas. They reminded me of sausage rolls (even the filling looked a bit like sausage roll filling!) Note the large amount of cash in the background (moneys!!)

I was a little worried after reading the reviews at eatability but I shouldn't have been - the food was great (and served in copious amounts!), the staff friendly and helpful and the restaurant itself bright and cheerful. We were seated upstairs in a little section of our own and were treated to a dance performance at around 8:30pm.

I read in the Good Food Guide 2009 that the best tapas in the Spanish Quarter is at Capitan Torres and Miro - but most of us agreed that Capitan Torres is a bit salty. Will have to try Miro with a smaller group next time!

Casa Asturiana
77 Liverpool Street
Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 9264 1010

Open for lunch and dinner, 7 days