His Boy Elroy, Wollongong

Another trip to the Gong but this time is an overnight stay for Bebski's Ielts attempt :) Went last Friday morning and arrive around noon, starving! But worry not, I am prepared when Bebski asked where should we eat?!

I dig up a couple of restaurants and cafes, and 'His Boy Elroy' came up in Urbanspoon. I looked through their website and the menu drools me away so I decided to have our lunch there. The place was packed with people, even some tables were already being reserved!

His Boy Elroy is located in a small lane and their dining concept is a mixture of cafe / restaurant / pub /bar. The foods that they serve here ranging from South American cuisine, Asian inspired dishes and other American favourites.

Next to the ordering counter is the self-serve lemon infused water.

I got myself a bottle of Apple cider and Bebski got his Chocolate milkshake :p

The lightning of the place itself is pretty bad so pardon my pictures ;p First to come is the Sweet Potato Fries with special sauce. The sauce is definitely SPecial! It was creamy and almost tasted like a fusion of garlic aioli and tartar sauce :) Chips was crisp and the portion was generous too.

Sweet Potato Fried $10

Then the Hot wings arrived! It was smothered in Frank sauce and served with Ranch sauce. The special sauce from the sweet potato fries was too flavourful that the ranch sauce tasted really bland ;p The wings were deep fried perfectly and the sauce was hot! There wasn't any need to dip it in the ranch sauce any more... ;p As usual, my favourite dish definitely is not bebski's, so I ended up finishing the whole plate by myself, no complain :)

Hot wings $6

 For the main we ordered the Mr.Saigon - Fried chicken, Slaw, Nasi pear and Nuoc Cham mayo. The fried chicken was unquestionably delish! With the crunch from the slaw and a hint of sweetness from the Nashi pear. But the unfortunate thing is that there wasn't enough sauce :( I can't really taste the nuoc cham mayoo T.T

With any burger here, you can upgrade it to a combo of chips and wings for an additional $6! Bargain :)

Mr.Saigon $13

The second main is the Peanut and Kaffir Chicken satay which was served with both rice and roti. Bebski loved it and this time I agreed! It was soooooo yummy! The sauce was not too rich but has enough nutty punch with the fragrant coriander and and crushed nuts on top, it's a perfect dish to be eaten with rice and the chewy roti! The sauce to me is like a fusion of chinese satay sauce and thai curry sauce :) Highly Recommended!

We had a big feast and no more rooms for dessert, I know right, me, rejecting anymore dessert.. That's how full we were.... But overall the place was very nice to hang out with friends have some nibbles and beers. Will definitely be back here when I visited the Gong next time ^^

Jeans Chilli Chicken, Eastwood

Jeans Chilli Chicken, a Korean restaurant located inside Eastwood hotel. Make sure to bring your ID on the weekends ;p My friends and I travelled to Eastwood last week to dine here. It's been a long time since I visited the place. It is a really popular eating spot for Indonesians. Even the owner can speak some Indo words! Their popularity brought their franchise all the way to Jakarta!

To start with, we were given a complementary appetizer which was the creamy pasta salad with cucumber and carrot pieces.

The speciality/uniqueness of this place is the rice bowl to ball! With every Chilli chicken u got 1 rice bowl if I'm not mistaken. So what u do is u put some chicken in the bowl, cut up the chicken to really small pieces and using the glove provided, mashed everything up and shape the rice into a ball!

Th rice bowl

 Whoops, forgot to take pictures of the rice ball ;p

Rice bowl mixed up with chicken pieces

This is the famous Jeans Chilli Chicken! It was not really spicy for me but for some people it can be quite sweating! The only thing that I don't like from the chicken is that they still have the skin on! Im not a gooey chicken skin person, I'm more of a crispy-skin person haha!

Jeans Chilli Chicken $32

 We also got the chicken and cheese, a less spicy version of the Chilli chicken with melted cheese on top!

Chicken & Cheese $35

My new favourite dish in here is the Chilli Pork! The pork belly was sliced thinly and fried and smothered in the chilli sauce, It was literally the highlight of the night for me ~~

Chilli Pork $35

The last dish to arrive is the Grilled Eel. I'm not a fan of eel , even the eel here didn't change my liking.. Bebski on the other lovvvvveees it! HE said it's probably one of the best eel dishes he had ever eaten in Sydney ;p

Grilled Eel $35

That's probably summed up our delicious meal in Jeans Chilli Chicken. Always lovee coming here to eat despite the time travel! The owner is really friendly and funny at the same time. he is really generous as well with free rice bowl and girls, if you ask, you could probably score some free melona ice cream :p

Tips: It can be quite pricey unless you dine in group!

A snapshot of my beloved friends and bebski <3

The boathouse (Balmoral Beach), Mosman

Bebski and I went to Balmoral beach last Saturday for a brunch date with my old friends from Subway Mr.C and Ms. C :) I just found out that Balmoral beach is located in Mosman area, an area that I always passed through when I was still working in balgowlah.. I was amazed by the scenery and my brunch target for that day is The Boathouse :) There is one in Palm beach but it is too far, luckily I found out the one in Balmoral. 

Parking is not a problem in this area, it's really easy to find free parking near the residential area. We arrived around 11:30AM and the place was crowded with people queuing and others were waiting for table to sit.  The place was pretty and very alive! Unfortunately there were not enough table for everyone to sit, some even stand while eating on their bar table.

The ordering system here is to choose the menu from the displayed board and then order the food to the ordering counter, take your order number and pray that you got a table straight away ;p We waited not long until this small group of people gave us their table, how nice :)

Now to start with.. I got the Mini Banana Smoothie for $6, the smoothie is rich with honey and has that hint of cinnamon, I'm lovin it! Bebski got Strawberry milkshake $8 and Mr.C got the Chocolate Milkshake!

The plan was to order the fish and chip and the burger, but it turned out that the other couple is ordering the same thing so for the sake of my blog, again, I picked other dishes. I ordered the Corn Biscuit, which comes with chickpea balls, aubergine and harrisa. It has that middle eastern taste that bebski didn't like and I'm not a fan of the aubergine, so it was an okay dish for me :)

Corn Biscuit $18

Next come the Lettuce cups - Tender and juicy pork with the really yummy crispy skin, and also mint and couscous salad with some kind of Nuoc cham dressing, tangy and sweet at the same time. This dish impressed me! It sounds so simple and yet everything works perfectly well with each other! My favourite dish in The Boathouse! No complain about it especially the scrumptious pork!!

Lettuce cups - pork, couscous and mint $19

Then came Bebski's Beer Battered Flathead, the must order dish from the menu. It's even listed on the 50 tops must eat in Urbanlist ;p The portion was really generous, the handcut chips was delish especially when it's dipped in their special tartar sauce! And you can refill the sauce all you like :) Bebski didn't really like it, he thought its just like any other fish and chips anywhere ;p

Beer Battered Flathead $29

Mr.C ordered the Beef Burger which comes with bacon, baby cos lettuce, pickles and onion. he thought that the beef was pretty dry and lack flavour. I did tried a bit of the beef patty, he's right, it needed more salt to bring out the savoury note :)

Beef Burger $24

Overall, we had a great time and experience visiting the Boathouse even though waiting for the table can be an annoyance and the waiting time for the food exceeds 30mins T.T Would love to come back just for the view and the yummy pork! Maybe worth trying their breakfast menu next time ^^

Indo Rasa, Kingsford

Another Indonesian food post in Kingsford :) This is probably the last two that I haven't blog about besides Sedap rasa.. What I love from Indo Rasa's food is their flavour authenticity. I must admit that Indo Rasa got the highest authenticity rank amongst the rest (in Kingsford area). The place is always crowded but the waiting time won't be too long.. Haven't been here for a long time now but last Monday Bebski suggested to eat here with Mr.A and Mr.US and so we went.

I was starving that day, skipping lunch and so I did ate quite a lot at night ;p

We decided to order a main for each one of us and shared another dishes in the middle. I ordered the Nasi Kuning Komplit (Tumeric Rice) which comes with Fried chicken, Empal (Fried Beef tenderloin seasoned with sweet soy sauce), boiled egg, diced potatoes and beans. The tumeric rice was so fragrant that I can even eat the rice alone! I was so happy with my meal and not to mention the spiciness from the sambal on top of the cucumber slices :)

Nasi Kuning Komplit $12

Bebski ordered Nasi Komplit Indo Rasa which comes with Fried Chicken, Fried tofu, Fried tempeh, Crispy fish slices and a bowl of Sayur Asem (Indonesian sour soup). This is also a dish I regularly order but for the sake of photos for my post, I ordered the tumeric rice for a variation ;p

Nasi Komplit Indo Rasa $12.50

Bebski and Mr.A decided to share this dish called Buntut Bakar or Grill Ox tail. I didn't try the dish but Bebski told me the flavour is just so so. It's not as tasty as the one in Indo ;p

Buntut Bakar $9

Another shared dish but this time is between me and Mr.A, Tahu telor - Fried egg and tofu topped with peanut sauce, shallot and cucumber pieces. The english description to this dish doesn't sounds tempting but the I highly recommend this dish!

Tahu Telor $10

 Mr.US on the other hand came with a tummy half full from all those fried foods he had at work ;p So he ordered Fried Vermicelli only :)

Fried Vermicelli $9

 Last dish is Cumi Bakar - Grilled squid. For me it was just an average dish, the squid was a bit chewy, the marinate lack that flavour punch but the chilli on the other hand never fails to impress me ! :)

Cumi Bakar $14/16

Another thing that I usually order is the Satay chicken which unfortunately I don't have any pic of it but it definitely worth a try!
So when you're in kingsford area and got confused which Indo restaurant to visit first, I'd say Indo Rasa! :)

Chef Gallery, Sydney

Wow.. its been awhile now since my last post! Last Saturday night Bebski went out with his colleagues so I decided to go out with my fellow friends as well. We dined in at Chef Gallery. To my amazement, the waiting time was still quite long. Mr.W and I arrived at 6:30pm and we had to wait for 30mins before we were seated. Luckily Mr.V and his gf arrived at 7pm so we can sit and start ordering :) 

As hungry as we all are, we ordered 6 dishes and also the Cute piggy buns for dessert :) To start with we had the Classic San Choy Bao with mince Peking Duck and Hoisin sauce served with lettuce parcel, sliced cucumber and alfalfa sprouts. The mince was tasty and I love how all of the elements complement each other really well. San Choy Bao is always a perfect entrée to start a Chinese meal ^^

San Choy Bao $18.90 (serves 4)

Next to come is the famous Handmade Spinach and Egg tofu which is lightly fried and topped with preserved vegetables. I've been to this place twice now and I'd always ordered the tofu. It was very smooth and silky yet it has a nice outer layer crunch and the sauce at the bottom is a perfect companion to the tofu.

Spinach and Egg Tofu $15.90

Drumm roll pleaseeee as here is my new favourites in Chef Gallery, the Chinese Roti! Freshly prepared fluffy Roti filled with Shredded Peking duck, cucumber, hoisin sauce and Spring Onion T.T I had to pick the onions out ;p My friend at work was shock that I don't eat spring onion or any other onions, he said as a food blogger I had to eat everything -.-

Chinese Roti $16.90

Why fried rice? Cause we can't live without rice, especially dinner time! We ordered the Three Egg Fried Rice with Chicken egg, salted duck egg and Century egg. The Fried rice was very fragrant and tasty, it's just that I can't seem to find the salted duck egg or the century egg ;p And again, I couldn't really enjoy the dish cause there's a lot pf spring onions in it .... But it was tastyyy!!

Three eggs Fried Rice $15.90

Some of you may have wondered what is the dish below because it is not on the menu? Well, actually there is. It is the Crispy Pork Belly and Barramundi kind of salad but we made a special enquiry to replace the barramundi with just Pork Belly and fortunately we can! The Pork Belly was caramelised and was so tender and fatty, it is served with a bed of lettuce, basil and shredded carrot and drizzled with Gula Melaka flavoured with Cinnamon and mandarin peel.

Crispy Pork Belly Salad $29.90

Last dish before the dessert is Handmade thick noodle wok fried in premium soy sauce with shredded roast duck, shitake mushrooms, finely diced chiense brocolli topped with omelette. Another yummy dish from chef gallery! The noodle was perfectly cook with the right chewiness of it, The duck was generous in portion and the shitake mushrooms really add a punch of flavour to the whole dish. Unfortunately I just found out recently that Mr.W didn't really like mushroom so he can't fully enjoy the dish ;p

Shredded duck handmade thick noodle $17.90

Now that I think about it,  we ordered a lot of duck based dishes ;p hehehe..
Finally,, the moment I've been waiting for.... Mr & Mrs Piggy Buns!! They are not just cute but they taste awesomee! The buns were soft and fluffy, it is filled with black sesame runny paste and has a strong sesame flavour in it - which I love! The other good thing about the buns is that it's not overly sweet :)

Piggy Buns 2pcs for $8.90

The buns concludes our amazing dinner in Chef Gallery. The foods are on the pricey side and wouldn't be a place that I would visit regularly but they definitely know how to serve delicious foods and there are still a lot of things that I want to try!!

Good food and good company.. Really couldn't ask for a better Saturday night out :)

PREVIOUS VISIT

Noodle soup with Wagyu beef steak

The dessert below may look cute but that's it ;p I thought it's just a plain marshmallow coated with coconut, nothing really special about it, I'd say go with the Piggy Buns!!

Marshmallow "totoro" coated with dessciated coconut 3pcs $6.90