freckle face cafe, kirribilli

Today marked the inaugural meeting of what I've termed the "First Sunday Breakfast Club" - an opportunity for us yuppies to gather over what we've come to agree is the best meal of the day. Fortified with caffeine, maple syrup and bacon, we can then head off to tend to what my friend has termed "life admin" - grocery shopping, cleaning and all those pesky things we don't have time to do on weekdays because we're working til 9pm (strictly speaking, that's me in 5 months' time - I'm currently making the most of my time at the government, which is clearly evident from the times of these posts. This one is a rare weekend effort).

My French toast ($9.50). The best thing about this place is that you can customise your breakfasts (by adding bacon onto your French toast, for example) and they will get it right. Coffees come with a complimentary chocolate freckle. They will also split bills, which is very convenient, although that led to a bit of embarrassment at the conclusion of our breakfast meeting when there was a misunderstanding over whether or not one of our members had paid. It was all cleared up in the end though.

While you're in the area, check out Wild Lotus (jewellery and handbags and Edward Monkton cards), Coco Chocolate and the multitude of adorable dogs that roam the streets (firmly attached to a rhinestone collar and leash, mind you).
 
Freckle Face Cafe
32A Burton Street
Kirribilli NSW 2061

(02) 9957 2116 

the empire of cotton on?

After spotting Typo at Greenwood Plaza on my recent wanderings around North Sydney, I headed back there today with bag space and carrying capacity. Not too much though, mind you, as that would just be dangerous - in fact I was laden down with 2 packs of snap-closure food storage containers (currently 50% off at Woolworths! Get them along with your 99c cup-a-soups). Couldn't resist this gorgeous pack of labels though for $29.95 (that's only 3c a label! Fantastic value for money. Anything to convince myself that yes, I was completely justified in making that purchase). I wish my workplace would be an appropriate place for using the bulldog clips with swear words on them.


The homewares I saw in Typo remind me a bit of the things I lust over at modcloth, so at least I'm saving on shipping, right? In the meantime, this, this and this will remain firmly entrenched in my wishlist. Not to mention this and this too! (For those out there who actually know me personally and who would be tempted to rush out and buy these things for me, please don't! Knowing my lack of willpower, I will have already purchased all these things by the time you go onto the site. Although having 2 sets of each thing wouldn't be bad... tee hee. I joke. Please don't.)

As I was departing Greenwood, I saw a shoe store called Rubi which had a slogan on the wall that matched a cup that I'd eyed off in Typo - "Shoes make me happy. I'm superficial. Whatever" (not for myself mind you, but one of my workmates actually! Not that she's superficial in a bad way at all! Am I just digging myself into a hole here?) Now that I've got home, it appears that Rubi is yet another offshoot of the juggernaut that is Cotton On.

Also in North Sydney, I spotted a sandwich place called Big Bite on Walker (can't find the exact address, it's near Cibo Espresso which is at 71 Walker Street and on that same side of the road) - is it any relation to Big Bite on Pitt? If so, all you North Sydney office workers, go there now! :) My friend of the Chat Thai deliciousness also tells me that her two favourite places for Hainanese chicken rice are in North Sydney -To's Malaysian Gourmet (3/169 Miller Street) and one in a shop at the food court below 100 Walker Street.

And on that note, here's my first use of my lovely new labels:

All together now - naaaawwwwww!

If you like the labels, you can find a full range of Sukie products here. Sydney readers, I have spotted this before at everyone's favourite mega-bookshop, Kinokuniya (not mega in terms of the number of stores of it around, but in terms of its actual size - I have to say though that I don't like buying books from there because I find it a bit disorganised). Luckily for my wallet, it appears that Chronicle Books doesn't currently ship to Australia (but you can contact their Australia distributor, Hardie Grant Books, to discuss options). I've also just noticed a disclaimer on the little slip of paper that came with the box of labels - "no part of this box may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher." Sukie Ltd, would you really come and pick on little ole me? If so, I will take the photos down. But it'll be your loss really!)

Oooh, stop press! Have just found Australian online source of Sukie goodness :) Plus they offer free shipping for orders of $50! Now I don't have to do battle with the city shopping crowds

northside produce markets (again), north sydney

My loot, featuring:

1. Marshmallows from Sweetness the Patisserie ($15). Gena, the owner, was there and lovely and friendly as usual. We actually first discovered Sweetness during a trip to the Rouse Hill Markets (which Gena said no longer run, which is a shame - just like the Cook and Phillip Park markets no longer run! And that was part of the reason I chose to go to where I work at the moment, haha!), then we saw her again at our first trip to the Northside Produce Markets, and then we made a pilgrimage to Epping. So soft, so fruity, so yum! On another note, why not combine a trip to Epping for marshmallows with a visit to Sam's Cafe? We've been there once after chapflap went to the Croydon one ages ago, and it was good fun. Obscure location though!!

2. 2 packs of macadamia nuts from Jelbonleigh Estate ($15 each or $28 for 2). Unfortunately the honey roasted ones turned out to be "best before March 2010" but they still taste alright

3. 2 smoked rainbow trout from Snowy Mountains Trout ($20 altogether). I asked the guy whether they have anything to do with Eucumbene Trout Farm as it's on my list of places to visit (we went trout fishing in Adelaide and had a great time) and he said that they get their trout from there.

4. 1 tub of Over the Moon creme fraiche for making rillettes with ($6)

5. 1 pack of Italian flatbread from Casa Mia Biscotti for eating the rillettes with

6. A pumpkin loaf ($6.50) from La Tartine - one of those delicious breads that you can eat on its own

7. A tayberry pie ($10) from Rowan Farm ((02) 4887 7307) - a tayberry was described to me as "a cross between a raspberry and a boysenberry"

8. 2 punnet of grape tomatoes ($5 altogether or $3 a punnet) from J & S Zammit. I've been known to eat entire punnets of grape tomatoes in one sitting. Yum.

9. 1 small tub of passionfruit and mango yoghurt from Gourmet Goodies (20 Patterson St, Ermington - phone (02 9638 0014) for $4.

The total damage? All the cash I had left in my wallet after a big night featuring Star Bar (where I got ID'd for the first time in ages! Score!), Harts Pub and Greenbox...

On the way home through Greenwood Plaza I spotted a new stationery shop called Typo. It's like kikki.k/smiggle on crack! Bulldog clips featuring swear words (perfect for the office!), acerbic greeting cards and retro clocks. So tempted, but was already struggling to get home with the above loot (plus an additional bottle of wine and 6 pack of beer for a dinner we're going to tomorrow night!) My research now shows that Typo is an offshoot of the Cotton On clothing chain. You can find one (Typo that is, not Cotton on) near you here.

Northside Produce Markets
Held 3rd Sunday of each month
8am to 12 noon
Miller Street (between Ridge and McLaren Streets, near Stanton Library and the Council)
North Sydney NSW 2060

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

rahmen genki, artarmon

My type of magazine shoot!! :)

Rahmen Genki is right next to Sushi-Ya in the alley on the quiet side of Artarmon station. Mum and Dad vetoed my vote to go to Rahmen Genki for lunch, so in revenge, I dragged chapflap there the next day. There's water and Japanese magazines while you wait (which wasn't for very long in our case, because we went at a relatively non-busy time of 2pm on a Sunday, but there were still other tables of people).

It was an unseasonably hot autmum day (leading one of my colleagues to post a rant on facebook about climate change sceptics!) so I went for the cold ramen ($13). Refreshing and lots of vegies, I particularly liked the strongly mirin stock/ sauce.

Chapflap's tonkotsu ramen ($11). Comes with little portions of pickled ginger (check out the super-cute tiny tongs on top of the ginger container!) and cabbage. Look how well-behaved chapflap is in not attacking his ramen as soon as he arrives, rather, waiting until I've snapped away with my camera. I didn't even have to ask him! In my words: well-trained. In his (and possibly many other male's): WHIPPED!

After being told he was allowed to eat (I kid...) chapflap discovered a definite lack of pork in his rahmen. The waitress was very apologetic and brought the above dish out, saying she'd forgot to bring it out in the first instance. I have to say though, it's a little bit on the stingy side for a serving of pork, epsecially compared to Gumshara/ On Ramen etc!

Rahmen Genki

10 Wilkes Avenue

Artarmon NSW 2064

Open 6 days a week for lunch and dinner - closed Tuesdays

(02) 9410 3777

Cash only (leading my Mum to say "it must be run by Cantonese people!". Us being Cantonese, we might be able to say such things... but Ryo's is cash only, and definitely run by Japanese people. The people we dealt with at Rahmen Genki all appeared to be Japanese)

sushi-ya, artarmon

A confronting photo, no?

I have to say I love eating the head of fishes. Sorry to any vegetarians/ squeamish people out there. This was part of the grilled salmon head set (with rice and miso soup - all together about $18) that I had for lunch on Saturday at Sushi-Ya with my parents. Delicious!

Sushi-Ya Artarmon

10 Wilkes Avenue (in the alley on the quiet side of Artarmon station)

Artarmon NSW 2064

Also at Chatswood - we prefer the Artarmon one because it's less busy but no less yum. Unfortunately a lot of flies though if you sit outside like we did (but you can always choose to sit inside, so we were asking for it!)

(02) 9411 1377

Open 7 days for lunch and dinner except Monday lunchtimes

Plenty of parking on streets nearby, or catch the train

sweetness the patisserie, epping

Look where we went this weekend :)

Sweetness the Patisserie was recently featured in the Good Living section of the Sydney Morning Herald (you can see a reproduction of the article in Beansprout's Cafe), but we discovered its sugary goodness earlier at the Rouse Hill markets. I was so excited to find out at the North Sydney markets that Gena planned to open a retail store in Epping. It's now open for business, and was quite a hubbub of activity on the Saturday afternoon that we dropped in...

Hazlenut and cranberry nougat (150 grams) - $7.50. Also available in 300 grams ($13.50). Gena cut a new batch of this while we watched. So fresh, so delicious...

The ever-popular mallows. In 385 gram bags ($15)...


And 150 gram bags ($7.50). Flavours vary from season to season - chapflap was disappointed to find they weren't making mango at the moment, but we did enjoy the strawberry, raspberry, passionfruit, lime and vanilla mallows currently available.

I would've loved there to be a cafe on site to try the biscuits and cakes straight away, but at the moment the premises is mainly an open kitchen with a small retail section at the front. You'll just have to tear open your packages in the car, like we did!

Sweetness the Patisserie
38 Oxford Street
Epping NSW 2121

(02) 9869 3801

Open Mondays-Wednesdays and Fridays 8:30am to 5:30pm
Thursdays 8:30am to 8:00pm
Saturdays 8:30am to 5:00pm
Closed Sundays

You can see more information here

Street parking available in front of the store. Epping station is about a 5 minute walk away.

sushi-ya, chatswood

This was a rather special looking dessert that I had with my parents - red bean dumpling with vanilla ice-cream mochi ($7.80). Capped off a grand feast at this popular Japanese restaurant which is just a couple of blocks down from Chatswood Chase (helping to explain its popularity). If you go as a couple try at all costs to avoid sitting in the little corridor that provides access to the toilets - not the most romantic setting!

Sushi-Ya
174 Victoria Avenue
Chatswood NSW 2067

(02) 9413 3300

dan-dan japanese dining & noodle bar, neutral bay

Read about this new noodle place in a Chinese newspaper and wanted to try it because it's run by the same group that run Sushi Samurai (Neutral Bay and Pyrmont, both of which are very good). Headed there for a late lunch on a Saturday and I must admit I was a bit worried that'd be shutting up shop by the time we arrived at 2pm, but funnily enough it actually got busier (and they kept serving) as we had our meal.

Agedashi tofu - $5.80. The sauce was very thin, almost like a soup, which is different to the agedashi I've tried elsewhere. Nice though.

Rice balls (or should that be pyramids?) - ikura (salmon egg) $4.50 and takana (mustard leaf) $3.80. Both very good - I'm a big fan of pickles so the takana went down well, and the seaweed was very fresh and crisp.

Inside of the ikura rice ball. Delicious...


Ramen with extra pork in tokotsu miso soup - $10.80 + $2 for the pork. Which meant it was cheaper than the roast pork ramen which retails for $14.80. Stingy, much? :) Maybe they give you more pork with the roast pork ramen... chapflap found the soup a bit too salty, we saw on the menu that you can ask for less salt so maybe that's an option. It was also slightly chilli which I found unusual, but chapflap said that some types of miso are chilli.


Karaage chicken ramen in shio (salted) soup - $12.80. I should've asked for the chicken on the side because it got soggy, but apart from that it was good. I especially liked having a whole egg (because at Ryo's you only get half an egg; although the Ryo's egg had a lot more flavour than this egg) and the seaweed sheet (at Ryo's I always get myself into a dilemma trying to decide whether to have a ramen that I don't like as much, just to have the seaweed, or to have the ramen I'm really after, but to sacrifice the seaweed). The bamboo shoots were also very fresh and tasty.

I liked how there's an option of 6 soups for the ramen (sho-yu or soy based, miso, shio, tonkotsu sho-yu, tokotsu miso and tokotsu shio), so you can definitely choose the combination that's to your liking. Apart from ramen there's also udon and soba, as well as rice bowls with teriyaki, tempura and funnily enough "ma-bo tofu" (痲婆豆腐). I must say I've never seen it before in a Japanese restaurant.

Another highlight was the innovative interior design - they've used a mixture of English and Japanese newspapers to line one of the walls, which makes for interesting reading while waiting for your meal to arrive. Otherwise there's a open kitchen so you'll be sure not to be short of entertainment.

Dan-Dan Japanese Dining & Noodle Bar
Shop 3/197 Military Road (intersection with Rangers Road, on the southern side of Military Road)
Neutral Bay NSW 2089

(02) 9904 1888

Open 7 days from 12midday to 3pm (see, I had nothing to worry about arriving at 2pm) and 5:30pm to 10:00pm (last order 9:30pm)

You can get more information here

On the little take-away menu I got, it says "no booking available for dining". Parking is notoriously tight around Military Road, you can park at the nearby Woolworths carpark (entrance on Yeo Street) for free if you buy something from Woolies (which means yes, the parking's not really free, but if you buy something that you're going to need anyway, then it's ok)

kenta, neutral bay

Being big ramen fans, chapflap and I were super excited to see grabyourfork's entry about a local Japanese magazine's article on Sydney ramen places. We'd been to Kenta for a ramen-free visit sometime last year (the fish katsu was pretty nice), but returned in our (self-imposed!) mission to try all the places on the list.

Edamame - $3.90. A large serving compared to what you usually get. Served warm, which I prefer to the refrigerated cold version.

Takoyaki - $5.90. The movement of the bonito flakes never fails to fascinate me! Not as creamy/ heavy as the takoyaki at Makoto. I prefer this version, plus I liked the accompanying salad.

Shoyu ramen - $8.50, featuring pork, bamboo shoots and corn. I like having a seaweed sheet and boiled egg in my ramen, so I was happy that they came with the dish.

Chashu ramen - $11.50, featuring extra pork. Chapflap gave the soup a 7, the noodles themselves an 8 and the pork a 9. He gives near 10's for all these components at Ryo's...

So ultimately if you're in the Neutral Bay area and in the mood for ramen, your first stop should probably be Ryo's. But if you want a change, definitely give Kenta a try (it's also a good option for Wednesday nights, when Ryo's is closed). We'll come back to try the Dongoru Ramen which was specially created for the magazine - I only read grabyourfork's revised entry after we went.

Kenta
81 Military Road (near the intersection with Ben Boyd Road)
Neutral Bay NSW 2089

(02) 9953 5422

Open Wednesdays to Sundays 12pm-2pm and 6pm-10pm
Open on Tuesdays 6pm-10pm only

northside produce markets, north sydney

I've been dreaming of Sweetness the Patisserie marshmallows since we discovered them at Rouse Hill. Arwen from Hoglet K said that they're also at the Pyrmont markets, and I was hoping that they'd be at the Cook and Phillip Park Markets because I'm starting work near there soon (nooo, I don't choose my office location based on the facilities nearby...).

Happily, I stumbled across Sweetness the Patisserie again today at the Northside Produce Markets, which are held every 3rd Saturday of the month in North Sydney.

Mixed mallows - strawberry, vanilla and passionfruit ($8). We wanted the mango ones from last time, which were divine, but Gena said she changes flavours every month. She also said that she is planning to open a shopfront in Epping on 9 February! Looks like we'll be heading that way for a visit soon...

At the markets we also enjoyed an amazingly flaky sausage roll and pasty:


Sausage roll ($3) and Shepherd's Pasty ($4) from Shepherds Bakehouse.

And to polish off a delicious morning, two desserts from Consummate Caterers:


Apricot tart ($5.50) and apple and rhubarb cake ($4). There was an apple seed in my cake! Both were deliciously moist and packed with fruit. Unfortunately I couldn't find any information about Consummate Caterers through google, but look out for them at markets near you (or maybe I should say smell out for them - their egg and bacon rolls smelt delicious).

This was the first time I'd been to the Northside Produce Markets, and I was very impressed by the variety of stalls and the number of people (and dogs!) there. There's street parking nearby or a council carpark via Ridge Street (free on the weekend).

Northside Produce Markets
Civic Park (which is between Stanton Library and the North Sydney Council Chambers)
Miller Street (between Ridge and McLaren streets)
North Sydney NSW 2060

More information is available here

The next markets will be held on 21 Februrary from 8am to midday

Sweetness the Patisserie
Opening soon at 38 Oxford Street
Epping NSW 2121

Shepherds Bakehouse
At markets near you

Check their markets listing here

galston strawberries at 359, galston

There's nothing quite like farm fresh strawberries. Got this beautiful tray for $5 from an orchard in Galston, just west of Hornsby.



Also got a box of peaches for $8.



It's pretty close to to Berowra Waters, home to the 2009 SMH Good Food Guide's Best New Restaurant of the Year, Berowra Waters Inn. Why not make a day of it and grab some fresh produce on the way to a fabulous meal? (I haven't been so lucky as to have been to Berowra Waters Inn myself, I'm just going by the review at eatshowandtell)

Galston Strawberries at 359
359 Galston Road
Galston NSW 2159

Only on weekends only in September from 8am to 5pm
Open 7 days from October to April - 8am to 5pm

More information can be found here

watergrill, kirribilli club, lavender bay

Recently refurbished, this place was bustling with patrons of all ages at Sunday lunchtime. There's a view of the Harbour Bridge from the balcony and helpful waitstaff in hot pink shirts to bring you cutlery and menus for the Watergrill, the club's bistro/restaurant. We tried:



Grilled perch served with chips and salad - $22.50. Unfortunately a bit soggy by the time it got to the table, but the sauce was very nice.



Caesar salad - $15.



Veal medallions - $24.50. These were nice and tender, served with a nice Greek-inspired dressing and feta cheese.



A gigantic serving of seafood risotto - $21.50. Very generous!

A good place to try if you're in the area looking for a relaxed place with a view.



Watergrill at the Kirribilli Club
11 Harbourview Crescent
Lavender Bay NSW 2060

(02) 9955 2245

Open from midday to midnight, Sundays to Thursdays
From midday to 1am, Fridays and Saturdays

If you cross the road on exiting the club there's a little path that leads you through a park with all sorts of quirky things in it, including a bathtub with plants growing in it!