Thursday, March 26, 2015

Grandma's Little Bakery, Alexandria


I always passed this place every time I drove by O'riordan st but never got the chance to try the place out. So my mission of 3weeks in Sydney is to visit all the places that I don't get to  try last year..

The place was packed with people on Saturday when Mr.P and I went but as usual we did manage to get ourselves a table :)


They provide outdoor and indoor dining area and they also have all sorts of stuffs to buy from cookies, jams, oil, condiments, takeaway foods etc.



 Mr.P and I decided to order the Freshly squeezed Lemonade. It took me by surprised that the "Freshly" description does lift up to its name! I was expecting at least a bit of sweetness from the lemonade. But its totally sour and refreshing ;p

Freshly squeeze lemonade $5.50
 Apart from our own dish, we decided to try out the Chicken Quinoa Salad with spinach and quinoa and the grilled chicken. I don't particularly a fan of the dish just because I don't really like spinach.. But the grilled chicken was tasty and the homemade tahini sauce was perfect for the dish!

Chicken Quinoa Salad $12.50
Mr.P ordered the Beef Bolognese Shakshuka - Gooey eggs in the middle of the rich minced beef in Moroccan sauce is the best remedy for a warm breakfast, served with Grandma's bread which looks like a pita pocket

Beef Bolognese Shakshuka $15.50
 Apart from eggs and chorizo for brunch, my weak on the knee thing is Mushrooms! So The tempting description of the Beef & Mushroom Vol-au-vents bought me straight away. The portion was really generous! The pastry to me can be more fluffy, but the mushrooms and the beef were scrumptious, especially with the drizzled of the Tahini sauce.

Beef and Mushroom Vol-au-vent $11.50
I definitely recommend this place to chill on a Sunday morning or a quick brunch. Food prices are reasonable, service is great and taste wise, you gotta try it yourself :)

Happy trying~

Grandma's Little Bakery on Urbanspoon

Monday, March 23, 2015

Cuckoo Callay, Newtown


I have been eye-ing this place since I was still back in Jakarta and made a pact with myself that I have to be there and experienced the Bacon Festival myself! Envy looking at my friends posting all those yummy pictures while I can only sit back and drools ;p So another tick in my never-ending restaurant list! Went last Sunday with my foodie troops; Mr.Wjt, Mr.Us and Mr.P! I know I should bring all those guys for the Bacon week menus.

The location of the place itself is very convenient, it is exactly right outside Newtown station. At first, I didn't realized that was it, but looking at the queue and the catchy pink sign pointed that it is Cuckoo Callay :p


The place isn't very big, they have both outdoor and indoor seating. We were lucky to be seated outside cause the lighting was very good and the weather was perfect as well!

They do table service as well as takeaway orders. Look out for the board near the entrance door, that's where you write your name for the queue. Luckily, we don't have to wait that long before we were seated.


 I ordered the Orange, Carrot and Ginger freshly squeezed juice. So good... even though I was expecting more ginger note in it ;P I'm such an oldies!

Orange, Carrot and Ginger Juice $7
As I'm ordering quite a bit of food, I decided to pick this seemingly light 'What a Croque of Bacon' which consist of Bacon, Basil and Vintage cheddar croquettes served with bourbon bacon, pea puree and two poached eggs. The portion looks tiny but it does fill me up good. I also ordered smoked salmon as a side for an extra $6. The eggs were poached perfectly and I can really taste that bourbon note in the bacon, was so damn good!

What a Croque of Bacon $19

Boys.. being boys, ordered the dish that has everything in it! 'Bacon All the Rules' - Black Forest Smokehouse Maple bacon, bourbon bacon, bacon steak, bacon sausage and bacon-crumbed poached eggs served on sourdough! It's like all bacon goodness in one plate! I did try a bit of everything and my favourite would be the bacon steak! thick cut of bacon and it was perfectly smoked and just so scrumptious!

Bacon All the Rules $24
And to end the meal, instead of the bacon waffle, I ordered the Drizzle Sticks - Crunchy Black Forest Smokehouse streaky bourbon bacon drizzled in chocolate and Hazelnut. Its so wrong its good! The bacon was served quite cold and yet crunchy. The combination of the saltiness and the sweetness just blends in really well and the hazelnut adds a texture to the bacon streak. It's just too good to share ;p
Drizzle sticks $10
Overall experienced was awesome. We were all full and happy! The Bacon festival does lift up to their hype... I would love to come back to try their other menus, maybe next time in June when I'm back in Sydney ;p It's one of those days when my friend complimented me of recommending satisfying food to try.. :)


Cuckoo Callay on Urbanspoon

Friday, March 20, 2015

Pu'er, Waterloo


Pu'er, asian eatery located in Danks St waterloo has been opened since two years ago but I haven't heard about it until I got invited to dine in by Quinton Van Schalkwyk (Just because I hardly explore waterloo area ;p).

My first impression about the place is great lightning and the dining table and chairs looks like what we usually see in ancient chinese movies ;p We were greeted warmly by Quinton and the menu was given to us almost immediately when we sat down.





The menus consist of four sections; Dumplings, Street foods, Share plates and Desserts. Quinton lets us choose 2 dishes from each sections and he said he will discuss what we choose with what is usually popular . Looking at the menu, Ms.S and I were excited of whats to come as we were quite hungry that night..


Quinton recommended Organic Misty Cloud cause I asked for Green tea. He said the third brew yields the best taste as the leaves has opened and the the flavour release will be the optimum. He generously offered other teas as well during the meal but we were too busy gulping the foods along with the cocktail and so we refused tee hee.

The Organic misty in my opinion has a profound nutty note with fruity and freshness into it. It is said that it can be serve as cold infusion as well but we prefer warm on that rainy day last Friday :)

Organic Misty Cloud $9
Sapphire So Good - Gin based cocktail with Coconut Rum and Blue Curacao, best to end the working week with this! Not too sweet and just so refreshing ~~ It is literally so goooddd!!

Sapphire So Good $17
The condiments to accompany our meals, the essential in Chinese Eatery; Soy sauce, Black Vinegar and Chilli sauce.


So from the Dumpling menu, we chose Shanghai (Xiao long bao) bao and also the Pork and Peanut which Quinton agrees with me, it is worth to try..

The dumplings came in three pieces. The pork was juicy and definitely what it should taste like, probably the missing bit is the wrapper, if it could be thinner, it would be perfect..

Shanghai $7

The next one, the Pork and Peanut  - Teo Chew style spiced pork, roasted crunchy nut and shiitake mushroom definitely stole my heart! The combinations of the three was just perfect, best eaten with the chilli sauce.



From the Street foods sections, we chose the Hongkong Mini Burger and Wagyu tacos which Quinton again agreed on.

The Hong Kong Mini Burger consist of panko crumbed pork served with house smoked chilli, hoisin, baby cress and golden mantau. The pork does work really well with the sweet mantau and this dish is definitely a crowd pleaser.... While eating this, I remembered bebski cause I know he would've loveee the crispy sweet mantau :)

Hong Kong Mini Burger 4pcs $15
Wagy Tacos - 9+ Oakley Ranch Wagyu beef, chinese taco buns and four leaf greens. Simple description but definitely the star of the night for both Ms.S and I. The soft homemade buns were amazing and the flavour of the beef is definitely nothing like I have eaten in Sydney. It brings me back to the chinese foods I have in Indo. The flavour penetrates through the juicy tender and beef and the greens just adds a nice texture to the dish. Highly recommended! I even had takeaway today just for the tacos ;p

Wagyu Tacos 4pcs $16
Caramelised Berkshire Pork Belly. When we were discussing which dish to order from the share plates, Ms.S was positive that she wouldn't like it since the pork is not crispy. But once it got into our table and we took our first bite, we were mesmerized by how tender the pork was and the flavour again brings us back home.. The spiced infused tea eggs just and the pork crackles complemented the dish really well. Ms.S couldn't help it but gulping it till the last piece on the plate. I again highly recommend this dish!

Caramelised Bershire pork belly $24
The second share plate dish that we ordered was the Three Cup Drunken Duck - slow cooked with shao xing, soy, sugar, shiitake and fresh basil. Fall off the bone duck meat with a simple flavour. Tips: Do eat this dish first before the pork dish, cause the pork has stronger flavour that it covers the simple seasonings of the duck. I think the duck dish is best eaten along with the soy sauce :)

Three Cup Drunken Duck $26
Here comes the desserts! At this point Ms.S and myself were quite full from all those many dishes we had but as usual, desserts are something that we just can't miss... hehe..

So we picked the Red Bean Donuts with coconut syrup and Quinton recommended Coconut and Kaffir lime leaves sorbet with young coconut, coconut water and black sticky rice.

The donuts has nice fillings but may be because we were too full that donuts wouldn't be the wisest choice for us ;p

The Sorbet on the other hand was amazing, eating all the components together is the best. For me the let down probably the black sticky rice, in Indo we usually had the black sticky rice quite soft and porridge-y but they serve it quite hard. It's just a matter of preferences I guess. But I definitely recommend this dessert!!



Service was great, Foods were great as well (Not because I was invited), but truly definitely worth a visit, price wise I think is pretty reasonable and affordable considering the portion.. Quinton is an amazing warm friendly guy and our overall experience here has been awesomee.. Will definitely come back to try other dishes and not to forget the Wagyu Tacoss!!



Pu'er on Urbanspoon

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Minh Vietnamese, Dulwich Hill


It's no surprise that there are a lot of Vietnamese Restaurant in Marrickville - Dulwich Hill area.. But this place is especially recommended by a friend of my mom. She said the Noodle in tomato sauce is the must try here and so I went last week to try it out!

As usual, I ordered the spring roll to start with. It was good but not great. the fillings were generous and what I like is that it's not greasy. The nuoc cham was a bit salty in my opinion..

 Chicken Spring Roll $6
Clear transparent chewy Vietnamese vermicelli noodle, topped with a variety of meats from BBQ pork, Prawn, fish cakes, sliced chicken and quail eggs :) The tomato based sauce tasted similar to the nuoc cham but thicker and the amount is just nice to cover up the noodle, It was my first time trying this dish and I loveee it! Tips for this dish, ask for separate sauce if u can't really handle Vietnamese sauce :)


Mr.W ordered a similar dish but instead of the tomato sauce, he ordered the Chicken noodle soup. The broth was full of flavour which is the most important element in a noodle soup!

$13.90
The place was busy but the service is still very good. Highly recommended for a quick dinner or just to warm up during a cold windy day :)




Minh Vietnamese on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Mister Gee Burger Truck, Burwood


Burger Truck in front of a car wash in Burwood? Heard about that long time ago even before I head back to Jakarta couple months ago but didn't get the chance to check the place out.. And my 3 weeks mission in Sydney this time is to try everything I missed in those 2 months being in Jakarta ;p

So I head to Burwood and along with my foodie troops; Mr.Us, Mr.P and Mr.Wjt, we hunt this place down.. Arrived there exactly 6PM when the truck is open and the line was already so long but the we don't have to queue for so long cause they only have one type of burger, with the chips and the drinks of the day which I think is smart because they can just focus in one yummy foods rather than serving 3 different average foods. And everyone won't take that much time deciding what they wanted to have..


As there were only 3 things up on the menus, we decided to try everything out :)

Cheese Boogie $10
The Famous Mister gee Burger does live up to its hype! The patty was sooo juicy and thick.. The bun is soft and not greasy.. And I love a simple pickle in the middle of my burger and along with pickled shallot at the bottom of the bun. Well, I took some out but don't really mind small bits which I usually mind ;p Ooh, and not to forget the cheeeeseee, some people call it the Orange Cheese, but for me working in Subway, looks like Old English cheese to me hehe..

I personally highly recommend everyone to check this burger place out!!
If I don't consider my weight, I would've finished everything and maybe order seconds ;(


The other two things on the menu are the Dirty Fries - Shoe string fries topped with salsa,  grated cheese and smothered with creamy sauce! Forget the fork and just dig in with your hands :)

The Baklava Shake tasted like Vanilla milkshake in my opinion, It's thick, smooth and for me a bit too sweet. But I guess people with sweet tooth might love it :)

Dirty Fried $5, Baklava Shake $6
Overall experience ... Would definitely be back if they have new burger up on the menu. There are plenty of sitting area around the truck,  but make sure to come in super early to secure a table. I also heard that they recently moved to Haberfield area.. Keep an eye on the new location and Visit :)


Mister Gee Burger Truck on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Devon on Danks, Waterloo


Too bored in Jakarta, I decided to come back to the lovely Sydney for 3 weeks before my visa expires T.T So my first destination with my lovely sis is to visit Devon on Danks! Been to Devon cafe yearrrssss ago and from memory the foods didn't really impressed me. So I thought, might gve it another go..



We came Monday straight after we landed in Sydney. The good thing there was no queue, but unfortunately they don't have any soft serve that day cause they were experimenting on new flavours. So sad cause we really wanted to try the Pandan ice cream with chips!


The first thing that caught up our attention once entering the place are these little good looking babies :) There wasn't much left cause apparently 1pm is considered "late" to see the complete yummo cronuts in Devon on Danks. People swarmed this place early in the morning for pastries and their coffee :)


Ms.S was drained from the journey on the plane and she really needs her coffee hit, so she got a cup of capuccino :) Lovely coffee aroma is just perfect to start our day in Sydney :)


I got the Beetroot Cold pressed Juice , quite yummy with a stronger hint of the beetroot. I must admit this is that kind of drink that you will really like it or it may offend you with the earthy beetroot note ;p

Ms.S and I decided to order the 2 most ordered dishes here. One of them is the Spanner Crab pasta - Housemade egg yolk pasta with spanner crab, cherry tomatoes, garlic and parsley. The generous amount of crab is already a good indication that this is a good dish! I just wish the pasta could be more al dente to get that chewiness, but flavourwise, it was delish!

Spanner Crab Pasta $27
 Yes, this dish Breakfast with the Sakuma's is the 'must get' dish in Devon. Everyone was talking about it. The dish comprised of Miso grilled King Salmon, smoked eel croquette, 63egg, radish salad and kewpie mayo. I must admit, it was really a great combination of everything, the perfectly seasoned and grilled salmon, with the crispy on the outside croquette and well smoked eel inside, complemented by the oozing egg and creamy mayo! Really couldn't ask for a better meal :)
Breakfast with the Sakuma's $24.50
 My sister and I were talking whether we should get the donuts, by the time we decided to try all 3 flavours, it was too late. This guy just bought the black sesame flavour and we were left with the Salted Caramel and Raspberry sugar and cream Donuts. So we hurriedly got what's left. I love the raspberry ones! It wasn't as sweet as I thought even with the injection, but rather it completes the overall flavour. Not really a fan of the salted caramel ones. We thought that the fillings were too much ;p
3 donuts for $7
 Our humble first day meal back in Sydney :)



Devon on Danks on Urbanspoon