John Smith Cafe, Waterloo

Another very late post of mine, just before Mr.V and Ms.S went back for good to indo, we decided to visit John Smith for our last brunch together in Sydney .. Arrived there are 12 noon on Sunday and we were told to wait for table. The place wasn't very big but they surely know how to entertain the customer while waiting for table :) They distribute their amazing choice fudge brownies for us..

At the end of the restaurant is where they made their coffee .. They also have a bar table viewing outside

And a display of their pastries, ranging from cronuts to croissant and their yummy brownies :) Such a tempting look even before we order the mains.. Drools!

At the back of the area, there is Coffee Wheel diagram with descriptors for coffee, reminiscing me with my previous job as flavour technologist T.T

Ok, lets move on to the edible parts :) I ordered the Watermelon, apple and mint juice. It was so refreshing and perfect for a hot day. I highly recommend this juice, great combo and even bebski loved it.

Watermelon, apple and mint juice $7

 Mr.V ordered the Vegetarian option with smoked salmon as the sides. Poached eggs, Zuchchini, sweet potato roti with peperonata salsa verde and roasted corn. It got like a middle eastern spices in the rosti which was not to Mr.V's liking.. Another unfortunate thing is that his egg was overcooked. So not eggporn pic from the dish ;p

Vego Brekkie $16 + $4 Salmon side

And the dish that all of us have been waiting for.. The Eggs Benedict with braised pulled pork!! Undoubtedly hands down the best breakfast combo you can imagined! Tender and juicy pork with oozing egg, covered with generous serving of creamy and smooth hollandaise sauce serve on a toasted sourdough bread. Highlight recommended!!

And for me, always every time I read chorizo in the menu, I will always fall for it.. I got myself the Portuguese chorizo, pork, beans, poached eggs with bread. The beans, pork and chorizo were cooked in tomato based sauce, almost like a mexican-mediterranean dish, with the perfectly poached egg, it was a great dish for me. It just need a bit more salt ;p

Portugese Chorizo $16

Egg pornnn ~~ !!

And a meal wouldn't be perfect without dessert, especially if the dessert is cornets! We got all of the cronuts variants they have, from the glazy, the jam filled cronut and also the chocnut cronuts. My favourite should be the chocnut ones.

Chocnut $5.50, the rest is $4.50

Not to forget the brownies too. Thanks for their sample brownies, Mr.V and Bebski would love to have more of it, so we ordered another big slice to be shared.

Brownies $4

That concludes our brunch madness in John Smith Cafe, we went out with happy faces and full tummy. The service was great, all the staffs are very friendly and would love to come back for the pulled pork and watermelon juice!

Ramen Kan, Chinatown

I've been living in Sydney for almost 6 years now and never have I step foot into Ramen Kan in Chinatown until Ms.S suggested a dinner there. I've been to the one in Bondi many times but she said that the menu was slightly different and here, they serve the best Curry Ramen. The restaurant is located on the second floor, you can access it through stairs of lift, but beware, the lift is pretty dodgy ;p

So I went out with bebski, Mr.M and Ms.OS to Ramen Kan on a friday night. Thankfully the place wasn't as crowded as I went last time with Ms.S, may be partly because there was the Night Market in Chinatown which attracted more attention to people.

I got myself a simple yet refreshing drink called Lychee Coco in the menu. Basically it's just Calpis with Lychee and Nata de Coco. Never thought that Nata de coco and calpis can be a good combo! Great idea for house party next time ;p

Lychee Coco $4.30

The thing that I like in Ramen kan is they have 'all $3 dishes' in their menu, a good portion for snacking or as a sides to your ramen or rice set!
As usual, I can never pass the temptation of Chicken Karage! The portion was generous, 3 big chicken pieces, deep fried perfectly and served with Kewpie <3

I also got the Soft Shell Crab Salad which comes with Cabbage, cherry tomatoes and fresh corn drizzled with the house dressing. The serving of the crab was pretty decent in my opinion and what I love most is the corn pieces! It was fresh, thank goodness, cause I hate the taste of canned corn.

Bebski got the Salmon salad from the $3 menu, the salmon was fresh and again generous for the value!

Mr.M got The Hamburg Curry Rice, beef patty topped with mozarella cheese on an ocean of curry sauce and a mountain of rice :) I didn't get to try it but he said it's delish :)

Curry Hamburg Rice $10.50

Ms.S got the Mini Udon (Kaisen) set which consists of a bowl of plain udon, a small bowl of rice topped with fresh raw salmon and tuna and also a small salad bowl.

Mini Udon Set (kaisen) $13.50

The dish of the night, The Karage Cheese Curry Ramen, from the name itself I thought it would be too much for the taste, but it turned out that the curry wasn't as heavy/strong as I thought it would be, it's pretty light and the cheese gives a nice creaminess to the soup. The karage was unquestionable delish and the noodle was the wavy type of noodle which I love. There's no doubt that this dish is the popular one in Ramen Kan!

Karage Cheese Curry Ramen $11.50

For me, I got half portion of the Hot & Spicy (Geikara) ramen. It is a chicken based soup which consists of wavy noodles, chicken pieces, heaps of thinly slices spriong onion and a dollop of chilli paste. As usual, it wasn't spicy enough for me and the spring onion >.< I need to pick it outttt ..

Geikara Ramen (S) $7.90

 The soup was light and that would be my last time ordering chicken broth based ramen ;p Pork broth has more flavours! It was still good but wasn't as great as pork broth based ramen :) I just love porkkk ;p

I'm glad I listened to Ms.S in the first place and try this place out. I do think that Ramen Kan serves cheap, tasty and well-portioned food. Service is always no doubt top notch for Japanese eat spots.

Do try the Karage Cheese ramen!

Fuku, Sydney (World Square)

Lately I've been procrastinating from blogging becasue of work and my family visiting Sydney, so this post is a late one from a month ago when Mr.P celebrated his 23rd Bday :) There were 6 of us dining in Fuku. Fuku is located just across Din Tai Fung in World Square. Make sure to book a table because when we arrived, the place was swarming with diners.

There were a lot of dishes that I would love to order but because Mr.P was treating that night so I just suggested a couple of dishes to him ;p All of the foods in the menu were tempting and even the prices were really reasonable in my opinion. So we let Mr.P ordered the foods while we chat and laugh :)

The first thing to arrive is Pink Dragon Roll - Crispy tempura inside the roll and topped with seared salmon on top and garnished with Tobiko. The sushi was mindblowingly delish! I'm not joking one of the best dragon roll I've had so far :) I highly recommended the dish ^^ Even though the components might sounds simple but the combos work really well.

Pink Dragon Roll $17

Another sushi dish that we ordered was the Volcano Roll - another tempura roll with mushrooms and scallop topped with spicy cream sauce. The creamy sauce provides a perfect addition to the roll.
Another delish sushi from Fuku but I still prefer the Dragon roll maybe because there was raw scallop in the volcano roll ..

Volcano Roll $22

Then come the Popcorn Prawns -  Tempura bite size prawn with Wasabi Mayo. The prawns were deep fried till crispy and smothered in somewhat sweet and tangy wasabi sauce. I don't really fancy the dish that much but most of my friends kinda like it :) The portion was quite big as well considering the price.

Popcorn Prawns $12

Next dish is Fuku BBQ Pork Spare Ribs which comes in small and large portion. We picked the small one and it came with wedges and salads. It was kinda unusual to see pork spare ribs cooked in Japanese sauce and served western style ;p

It was yummy though! The pork ribs was tender and the sauce is indeed special as they mentioned in the description of the dish ;p

Pork Ribs Small $13.50

And here comes the dish that I've been waiting for. The only thing that I insisted Mr.P to order! Cripy pork belly served on top of japanese coleslaw and with a side of mustard. We ordered the small size (Unfortunately! T.T). The skin of the pork belly was undoubtedly crispy and the coleslaw at the bottom complement the pork really well, with a hint of mustard, a mouthful is just .,,, Heavennn ;p

Crispy pork belly $14

That night was all about Beef, Pork and Prawns! The next dish is Angus Beef Steak - 48 hours slow braised short ribs served with Polenta and asian greens at the bottom. The beef was tender and well marinated but I don't really find anything spectacular with the taste :)

Black Angus Steak $24

Now this one is another story! It was so delicious that we ordered for seconds! Wagyu beef yakiniku - Tender and Juicy Wagyu with japanese yakiniku sauce. The sauce was amazing, full of flavours and the stir fry veggies at the bottom was great as well. The beef was really juicy and I literally can finish everything by myself! Another recommended dish in Fuku. Even though it doesn't have a 'Chef recommended' star, but I still do think that it's worth a try :)

Wagyu Beef yakiniku $24

Lastly, the mains that we ordered was the Corn-fed Teriyaki Chicken Breast - twice cooked chicken breast with teriyaki sauce. Nothing really special about the dish, the chicken was pretty dry in my opinion hehe.. Not a great dish to close this post ;p

Corn-fed Chicken Teriyaki $23

So the verdict for Fuku is it's definitely worth a visit and do order dishes that has the chef recommended star on it! :) Service may not be the best, it was hard for us to get the staff's attention considering how top notch the Japanese are with service ;p  I would definitely be back for their sushi, yakitori, okonomiyaki and the most important thing in a meal, their dessert!!

3Q Chicken, Sydney

Another Taiwanese fried chicken snacks made its way to Sydney crowd. Last week I got this deal from Scoopon for a Fried chicken with chips and a can of soft drink for only $7.50. Didn't know this place exist if its not from Scoopon ;p Went to the city at about noon and the place was swarming with people who bought the same voucher as me..

16 years secret recipe and finger licking awesome description made me drool even more waiting for my chicken to be cooked!

They also provide several self serve sauces on the counter from spicy mayo, thai sweet chilli, honey mustard, and regular mayo. Boy, the sauce sounds like subway sauces to my ear ;p

Anddd after 10mins of waiting, I got my Signature Fried Chicken which was perfectly crumbed and deep fried. I like how it got that spicy kick into it and you can really tell that the chicken was marinated and seasoned really well! Also love that they didn't use the usual bread crumb to coat the chicken. Bebski & I agreed this time that we love it more that Hot Star ;p

The Curly Fries that comes with the deal was crispy and topped with herbs that it doesn't need any more sauce on it. I did try the spicy mayo but I prefer it without.

I must say that if you walk past by event cinemas, do make a stop in the place and try out their Signature chicken or even better, the Cheesy fried chicken!

Chiswick, Woollahra

Have been meaning to check this place out since a couple months ago and I finally got a reason to drag bebski into Chiswick! Our double date partner Mr.V and Ms.S is going back for good soon and Chiswick is in their bucket list, so there, my reason ;p

Made a booking on Sunday, really want to go for lunch cause the restaurant itself is located in the middle of a beautiful green garden and the building itself is build with see through glass all over :)

Thankfully 6PM in October is still pretty bright so we got to taste a bit of the scenery before darkness took over..

The waitress approached us and letting us know about the special menu they got that day and also this special drink  - Japanese Pear - Bevedex Vodka, Sake, St. German Liquer & fresh Pear Juice. Love the cocktail mix, it was refreshing and yet have quite a strong sake note.

Japanese Pear $17

From the small plates menu, we ordered the Pressed duck, Prosciutto, pickled carrots and grilled Sourdough to start with. It tasted like spam to me somehow, Ms.S agreed. 

Pressed Duck with grilled sourdough $22

I've read a lot about this Crab Slider so this dish is in my top list to order! The slider consist of crab patty, lettuce, gherkins and kewpie. Hmmmm kewpie, a secret weapon that made everything so delish! I know now why this slider is so pupular! The bun was soft and the patty was scrumptious. I really recommend this one.

Crab sliders $10ea

Ms.S wanted to try the Chicken parfait, Crispy Chicken crackling, Daikon and Date Chutney. Everyone loved it except me! The parfait taste weird to my palate, it's like eating raw blended chicken? But seriously I think its just me. ;p The crisp crackling, though, was indescribably yummy!

Chicken parfait 2pcs $14

From the mains, we got the Paccheri pasta, spanner crab and snow peas. The tomato based sauce was rich but lacks a bit of salt in my opinion to bring out the flavour and unfortunately the paste was a bit undercooked, it's still quite hard...

Next come the Wood Roasted Moran family Lamb, artichoke and Hawkesbury Broccoli. I know it doesn't look that appealing but oh boy, that lamb was really tender and juicy! It was dish of the night for me, even though bebski and Ms.S wouldn't agree ;p Loved the smokey note in the dish and also that salsa verde on top is just like an icing on a cake! The portion was geenrous as well, I think it can safely feed 4people provided you order other dishes as well.

Matt Moran family lamb $75

I'm keeping the best for last. The uhmazing Roast Pork Belly with toasted Barley and Shallot Dressing. I know, I know, I hate shallot, but that dressing is a perfect complement to the pork! Shame that pork has to be shared between the 5 of us, cause I can just finished it all by myself haha ;p Perfect roasting and perfect crackling ~~

And,... we love our carbs! So we got these fluffy Hand cut Chips as a side with Black garlic aioli to dip in. Didn't really taste the garlic. To me, it just tasted like gravy ;p

Hand Cut Chips $9

All fixed up from savoury side and of course, a meal wouldn't be complete without dessert! So we ordered Chiswick Hazelnut Rocher with Vanilla ice cream. Chocolate and vanilla combination is always a good old classic. The chocolate was rich and smooth with the ferrero crunch at the bottom and nuts on top, the texture was just right and bebski is lovin it! On the contrary, I didn't really like it cause it was too rich. But then again I was never a chocolate lover to start with ;p

CHISWICK Hazelnut Rocher $17

The second dessert that we could fit into out belly after those foods is the Passionfruit Pavlova with Mandarin and Blood Orange Sorbet. I'm in love with this dessert! The pavlova is fluffy and yet still have a bite to it, the passionfruit provide that crunch and the tanginess from the sorbet kinda binds everything together. I literally can finish the whole plate by myself :)

Passionfruit Pavlova $17

Overall dining experience..... Foods were good.. The service was average, they were attentive before and half way through the meal but when the place started to be filled with people, they lost track of us T.T I also found a small piece of rubber band in the Lamb but didn't got the chance to let the waiter know about it.
Hoping to see Matt Moran himself there, but I'm not that lucky haha.

Do I recommend this place? I would say, it's worth a try.. ! Considering the amazing view, the Pork, the Lamb and the Pavlova and Ooh the slider!!