Ramen Zundo, Sydney

I have a read a couple of food review regarding this ramen restaurant in world square.. Apparently I've never notice about the existence of this restaurant, maybe because they are located in a small lane between Gusman Y Gomez and the Sushi roll.

I asked my boyfriend if he would like to accompany me trying out this new ramen in the block.. He told me that he ate there once before with his friend.. I was furioussss as I always keen to try new restaurant and how dare he went there without me hehe..

It was shopping night and we invite some of our friends too to join our dinner.. 

Some basic information about ramen zundo:
               Ramen Zundo offers three kinds of broth. The first one is pork broth where the pork bones were boiled for over 12 hours to gives out that rich and thick soup while keeping it still light when consumed. Then, for those not-so-pork-fan, they also offer a chicken broth. In addition, for those who are a bit more adventurous and curious, they offer 'Double Soup' which is the combination of the pork and chicken broth.

So here's what we got. . .

Indonesian Habit - We can never eat if there's no chilli, so I tried the chilli powder on the tip of my tongue and GOD it BURNS! Looking forward to receive the ramen NOW :)

                                                            Mount Chasu - Black Ramen ($14.80)

 As Big as As my Bf's appetite, he got the Mount Chasu Ramen with Black base soup which is a tonkotsu broth with Baked Garlic Oil added and literally a mountain of Chasu pork!

                                                          Original Black Zundo ($11.80)

The same soup base as the Mount Chasu just with less Chasu in it ;P
                                         

                                                                Tsukemen ($12.80)

Thick Chewy Noodle (Cold) and u dip it to the Original Pork broth with mince pork and shredded cabbage, I personally loveeeee this Tsukemen Noodle more than the ramen :)

                                                             Red Zundo ($11.80)

Red Zundo has spicy chilli oil incorporated in the pork broth. Again to me Zundo Red is mild spicy, I still need to add quite a bit of the chilli powder to make it even hotter ^^

We also tried the Melted Cheese and Pork Spring Rolls but I couldn't manage to find the pictures :(
This Restaurant is highly recommended.. Happy Eating All!

 

Chao Praya, Randwick

It was my friend birthday on the 26th and she invited me and my bf to have dinner in Chao Praya. I used to like in Randwick 4 years ago and every time I watched movies in Ritz Cinema, there will always be a commercial regardingt his restaurant and how it won an award in 2008. I've always wanted to try but haven't got the chance.. Well, the chance is here now ^^ So I'm really looking forward to it..

We got there, sat down and look at the menu.. And the fist thing that caught my eye is definitely the Moo Krob (Pork Belly), as I always order char kuey teow in malay Resto, I have to always order prid Khing Moo kob in Thai :) 

First of all, for starter, we ordered Som Tum with soft shell crab. Som Tum is a green papaya salad with carrots, coriander, spring onion, shallots and cashew nut with thai salad sauce usually consisted of fish sauce, garlic and palm sugar :) It was a refreshign salad with its tanginess ^^

Tom Sum Soft shell crab ($17.90)

Then the second dish came which is the pork bellyy ~~!!  The prk hing sauce is not really pofound, I hardly taste the curry paste flavour. The pork was cooked okay and the skin is not that crispy and it's my first time having this dish with baby corn in it.. Of course canned baby corn which tasted like plastic to me :( I really hope restaurants will stop using canned ones somehow.. T.T
So overall this dish has fail to impress me hehe!

Prik Khing Moo Krob (15.90)

Third dish is Pla salad, It is a deep fried whole fish with thai salad on top. What we didn't realized then we ordered this dish is that the salad on top of the fish is the exact same salad as the starter.. so again, we didn't end up trying alot of dish variety from Chao praya. Nevertheless, the fish is the winner for me.. the crispy outside and the soft meat inside! But -- like manu said "not enough sauce" :P

Pla salad ($28.90)

Dear Reader, Have u been to Chao Praya? If yes, please let me know what other dishes worth trying and maybe I'll be back :)

Devon Cafe, Surryhills

My friends from Melbourne visited Sydney last weekend and she was into brunch, she told me she heard that Surry Hills has been noted as one of the area in Sydney where all of the brunch places are so I asked my sister - The BRunch Queen where is the currently hyped place to visit. Then she recommend Devon Cafe. 

She showed me some pictures from Instagram from other reviewer and I must say, just looking at the pictures makes me salivatingggg...

So I went picked up my friends from Sheraton On the Park Hotel and we went to Devon Cafe. It was drizzling that day and the cafe was pretty full, we have to wait for quiet a bit.

Finally after 15 minutes waiting, we were seated at the back of the cafe which looked kinda like a garage, with the cemented floor and the graffiti-ed wall *Pardon my english* hehe..

Looking at the menu even from waiting time, it was kinda hard cause there are alot of things that I would really like to try. . .

                              

Breakfast with the Sakuma ($24.5)

                 

Citrus Cured Salmon ($17.50) - Split Dill cream, apple, celery, cucumber, fennel, soft boiled eggs and brioche

It was my friend's dish and she told me that she can't even taste the eel in the eel croquet,, She said it's just full of deep fried rice croquet. But the Salmon and the eggs cooked to perfections ^^

My Dish - Green Envy ($23)

Green with envy - Nettle semolina gnoccchi, pumpin puree, zucchini, yellow squash and peas. Interesting plate for me as I've never tasted either semolina or yellow squash or zucchini flower :) Which surprised me that crispy zucchini flower is so delish! I liked this dish overall, its just that all of the component is too mushy that I need something a bit more crunchy to complement it :)

 Surry Hill's Sourdough Ploughman ($21)

This was my bf's dish which consisted of cured meats, house pickles, cheese, crudités, tomato chutney and sourdough.. This portion is not enough to fill him up apparently hehe..

Here is a pic of me & my Melb friends :)

Will definitely come back to Devon to try the Ultimate toastie and the Crab pasta ^^

Hakata-maru Ramen, Chinatown

Heard about a new ramen in Chinatown brought me to Hakata-maru ramen which is located in Market city Food Court on the top floor. Went with Bebski cause as always he loves Japanese foods especially ramen! 

I got the Red Tonkotsu which was rich with pork broth and spiced up with chille paste and some more chilli powders :) For the side, they provide a free tahkana which is a Japanese pickles. Both Bebski and I lvoes the tahkana and so we added it to our ramen, like heaps of them!

The noodle was thin and silky. The pork was flavoursome and I thought that the price is very reasonable but unfortunately the portion too small for Beb's big tummy ;p

Red Tonkotsu $9.80

As usual, Bebski loves his punchy garlicky ramen and so he ordered the Black Tonkotsu. The garlic was not too overpowering and added a nice aroma to the broth.

Black Tonkotsu $9.80

It was a good bowl of Ramen and as it is located in a food court, there won't be any problems with queueing and waiting for tables :) Would love to try their gyoza next time! ^^

Dae Jang Kum Korean BBQ, Haymarket

I passed this restaurant many times but never have the urge to try it out until this one night when my plan is to have dinner in Seoul-Ria then catch a movie in event cinemas. It was so crowded in seoul-ria that we literally have to wait for 30minutes said one of the waiter. We can't wait that long as out eating time is pretty limited but at the same time we crave Korean food as always :P

So back up plan, the nearest korean restaurant from there is Dae Jang Kum. So we came in, and we seated right away. Look at the menu and we decide what we want in minutes as we are starving!

 As usual Banchan number one that came out :) Love the fishcake and the potato for an empty stomach!

We order the Haemul Pajeon (Seafood Pancake), Im not a fan of the shallot in it though so while eating I have to take them out of the pancake.. The IRony of my life. I love Korean food but Korean food loves to have spring onion or shallot in it T.T But it taste great though..^^

Haemul Pajeon $15

 One of my friend doesn't really eat spicy foods but we still ended up ordering the yukgaejang (Spicy beef stew) as me and my brother loves this soup, so majority rules! hehe.. But its not that spicy anyway, its pretty mild ^^

YukGaeJang $14

 The Hero of the night is this dish - O sam bok kum - which is a stir fried spicy squid and pork belly with vegetables (cabbage and capsicum). This dish to me is mild spicy too. Its pretty much stir fried with gochujang. My friend thought its quite hot for his liking hehe..

Osam Bok kum $30

We don't have that much time to try the BBQ here.. But its good enough for a quick meal. Will definitely comeback to try other varieties ^^ 



http://www.daejangkum.com.au/

Weekend Getaway - Canberra

Our mission to Canberra this month is to see the flower festival (Floriade) which is a big thing during this season in Australia. Where all of the flower blooms to its maximum beauty :)
So I planned a weekend in Canberra, to experience their food and also their historical monuments.

We left Sydney early in the morning and it was lunch time when we arrived. We checked in at the hotel and straight away went to Dickson Asian Noodle house. Both me and bf are starvinggg... I've come to know this restaurant from the review I've read about the cheap eat and really tasty foods. They offer not only Chinese Malay food but also Thai food too.

So for starter, we ordered the Spring Roll. Its a good value considering how big it is. It is not as oily as you get from a regular spring roll. A variety of vegetables inside and mince meat too :) Quite tasty..

Spring roll (4 for $6)

 My bf ordered Chicken Padthai, he suddenly crave the padthai. When we looked at the menu at first, we were quite surprised to see a padthai for $12.50, as usually in Sydney during lunch hour, you could get a decent one for $8.50 or $10 max. But when the dish came out, it was double the portion that we usually get in Sydney.. No wonder the price ;P - So, no complain..

Taste wise, it was pretty good, the sweet and tangy padthai sauce is very balance, the chicken is well marinated and cooked too ^^

Chicken PadThai ($12.50)

 Me on the other hand, was craving the combination laksa. As i read from a couple of review to try it out. I must say, it was a greattt dish. The coconut soup is not as thick and coconuty as other laksa. It is very light and also the amount of meats (pork, chicken, duck) in there is more than the vermicilli itself. From the bowl, my favourite bit is the tofu!! The tofu absorbed some of the soup and when u bite into them, the soup just flow to your mouth.. *droolingggg*

Combination Laksa ($12)

We came out a happy people as our stomach is now full and we are ready to start the journey...

Our First visit is to the New Parliament House :)

Our plan was to have dinner in El Toro Steakhouse but when we were walking through Canberra Chinatown and found a place called " Family Food Court" on the second floor of a building, we were curious as to what is inside. When we came in, it was a buffet for $22 per adults. Looking at the food offered, we were drooling and the idea of a steakhouse where u could spend double the amount just vanished from our mind. We paid, sat and eat :P We were too hungry that I forgot to take pics :P

The next day we went yumcha in Chinatown called "The Scholar", from the review that I read, one person mentioned that once he brought his sister from Sydney to have yumcha here and the sister said it was the best yumcha she's ever tasted, so I was curious and came here on the Sunday. It was not busy when we came. Here's a bit of snapshot of what we got.. 

It was disappointing I should say... and pretty expensive too! Apparently the sister's reviewer above hasn't explore Sydney much ;P The BBQ pork bun is not as soft, the bean curd roll is quite dry on the outside and the pork ribs is just an acummulation of fats T.T


Next destination is Cockington Green Garden ^^ - Its a garden full of miniatures houses and other sculptures :) Entrance fee is $18.50 for an Adult.

In that area also, we found out this small homemade ice cream place called Stripey Sunday. The decoration is very homey and it looked like baby's room with soft blue colour :) We got the Sundae there :)

From my well-planned trip, we had this humongous kebab in Yarralumla called 'Halal Pide House', we got the kebab and also their famous zucchini balls. When we got there, there were a lot of students eating and lot of people queuing for takeaways. Apparently they also have like a set menu for dining so the table they provide in there is for dine-in set menu customer. So both of us bought the kebab and went back to the hotel to eat

The kebab was so big that both of us were so tired from chewing. The meat is so flvoursome and A LOT.. That I literally leave out the bread and just picking out the meats ;P

$9.50 for mix kebab and $1.50 each for the zucchini balls

We also went to Old Bus Depot Market in Kingston. They offered everything from fresh produce, hot foods, artisan bread, Snacks, Sweets,  Homewares, Fashion, EVERYTHING!
It was very crowded when we came and I bought this yummy turkish herbs bread for $4 :)

Here are some pics of other places that we visited - Floriade and Australian War Memorial Museum :)

That concludes our trip to Canberra :) Looking forward to come here again ^^

Kellys Bar & Grill

I always go to Hurricane almost every time we are craving for a sumptuous meal of pork ribs. Mr.EN told me that he prefer Kellys over Hurricane... I never believed him and so I went wid Bebski for our Monthniversary..

We arrived that it was still quite empty.. and we looked at the menu and decided that we have to try both the ribs and the steak..

For starter, they gave us warm homebake bread which was really soft and fluffy complemented by the creamy butter.. can't get enough of this bread but remembering that we still have a feast coming so we held ourselves :p

Complimentary Bread

Then our main came...

Bebski got the 500g rump steak and it comes with chips (by his choice) and deep fried onion rings :) The steak was cooked to what we asked for and it has that grilled flavour notes that ure looking for in a good steak! I must admit it was better than hurricane :)

My main came.. I ordered the combo steak and Ribs.. Pardon me, I dont eat everything.. we share the ribs as we just want to judge if it is really better than hurricane :) 

The Verdict? Mehh... Hurricane is still the one serving the best pork ribs for me! The steak though is better in Kellys! :) Overall dining experience... It was a lovely dinner, great service and good food.. Just order the steak as my recommendation :)

http://www.kellys.net.au/

Doy Tung Thai, Maroubra

A quick lunch in Doy Tung Thai with Bebski and Mr.P. A friend of mine recommended this place for a quick lunch fix as they cook so fast and the portion are humongous! Fit for hungry girls or normal guys ;p

The place is located along Maroubra road just across commonwealth bank. Their lunch special menu varies from padthai to fried rice and stir fries for only $8.50 or $9.50, can't remember exactly...

For me, I ordered the beef padthai. Oh my God they cooked so quick and the portion are really really huggee! It can literally feed 2 or 3 people!! The noodle was cooked well with some chewy in it and the padthai sauce was exactly to my liking ^^

Bebski order the chicken stir fry in peanut sauce. Sometimes I wonder who would've like to eat a stir fry with peanut sauce? It is weird in my mind because we Indonesian eat peanut sauce as a side sauce for satay/skewer not as a stir fry sauce. I tried a bit from bebski's plate and it actually didn't taste as bad. It's quite okay :)

Mr.P ordered the Thai fried Rice. The fried rice was so fragrance and tasty! But I can't eat that much as this dish contained lots of onions :( Which was also one of the reason why Mr.P loves this fried rice!! And he finished the big portion by himself and he can still manage to eat 1/3 of my padthai~~

Overall, the foods here are good and the service was alright too. Definitely a place to go for quick cheap lunch in the area ! ^^

Everest Kitchen, Marrickville

The first time I tried Nepalese food is when my Manager in Subway brought homemade momo or Nepalese dumplings for me to try. It was quite an experienced. The filling of the dumpling got masala spices in it wrap in a wonton sheet and u dip it in some kind of a peanut sauce.. But despite that sounds-odd combinations, I loveeee it!! Ive been wanting to try other Nepalese but has never got the chance... My bf is not keen on indian/nepalese food so it's hard for me to persuade him. UNTIL..... I found a all-u-can-eat deal from Ouffer.

Entrées

Traditional Non-Vegetarian Nepalese Set
buffalo dumplings, char-grilled goat, grilled chicken salad, soy bean salad, beaten rice and potato salad

Main Courses

Potato & Bamboo Shoot Curry
potato and bamboo shoots tempered in light curry sauce, flavoured with Nepalese herbs and spices

Mixed Grill
a tantalising selection of succulent chicken, pork, duck, goat and lamb

Desserts

Gulab Jamun
milk dumplings soaked in rosewater-infused syrup

Apparently what we got is quite different from what offered on the main courses. We only have a choice of a curry (lamb/pork/chicken/beef) but we never got the mixed grill :(

THe mixed entree was probably our favourite dish of the night ^^ The potato curry, chicken salad, momo, everything is yummy! And the plate looks so colorful tooo :)

Mixed entree

 Can;t get enough of this momo so we ordered 2 more round of this hehehee!

Momo

 Chicken curry - The Curry tste is similar to Indian curry but milder to my pallet. It is nice to eat with warm steam rice :) We decided not to go for seconds as we were getting full hehe..

Add caption

Papadums and chilli

 Milk dumpling infused with rose water. Reading the name I thought it would have some kind of chewiness as a dumpling but to my disappointment, the texture is like biting to a rice ball ;P I quite like the rice pudding at the bottom though :)

Gulab Jamun

OVerall dining, good to know what Nepalese food taste like.. Will I be back? hmmm.. Maybe I would like to taste momo in other Nepalese restaurant.. But I need to wait for the next voucher deal or persuade my sister to come with me ;P

http://www.theeverestkitchen.com.au/