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!

Lestari, Haymarket

I found another place besides Fajar that serves an amazing Nasi Goreng! The taste is so similar to those Hawkers selling the Nasi Goreng late at night around people's housing complex back in Indo.
This place has been Bebski's favourite eating spot when he was still in Uni (UTS). We forgot about how good their nasi goreng was because we have been busy exploring restaurant around the City.

Last Sunday after our short brunch in Autolyse, Bebski suggested to have a proper lunch in Lestari along with Mr.A. We arrived at 12:30 PM and the place was still empty. Their dining area is upstairs so you have to order first, pay, take your order number and go upstairs. Unless you can withstand the wind and sit outdoor downstairs hehe.

The Aunty greeted us with smile and treated us so friendly made us feel as if we're back in Jkt :) The price of the foods are quite cheap and the portion are generous too!

So to start with, we ordered Bakso Goreng or Fried giant pork balls. Eaten with a thin sweet and sour sauce. The Fried ball is not as good as the one in Pinangsia Noodle (Kingsford) but good enough as a starter :)

Bakso goreng 3 for $5

I got Bakmie Lestari or the signature Lestari noodle which is thicker than usual noodle with pork mince in top. The noodle was cooked perfectly, still has its chewiness and was seasoned really well with soy sauce and garlic base seasoning. The taste is so authentic!

Bakmi Lestari $8.80

For Bebski, he ordered Lestari Fried Rice with Roast pork - medium spicy. The aunty warned us that their chilli is really hot and for us to get the medium level first and added more chilli if needed to. They placed a cup of shrimp paste chilli on every table for extra hit! Another authentic dish from Lestari!  Don't know how they cooked it but one bite and it literally took me back to my Indo home :)

Nasi Goreng Lestari $9 plus roast pork $1

Mr.A ordered same as me but his topping was the Barbecue pork which tasted like Indonesian Pork Satay. Highly recommended if you would like to try what authentic pork satay taste like in Indonesia hehe ^^

Bbq pork noodle $10

Around 1PM, the place started to be swarmed by Indonesian patrons having their lunch. It really questioned me how can I forget such a great eating spot ;p The place may be hidden but it is worth it to find ^^

Chat Thai, Haymarket

Chat Thai located in the heart of Thai town, Haymarket is the first Thai restaurant that I stepped my foot into the first time I arrived in Sydney. The foods that they serve never disappoint me. I especially love their dessert varieties. The things to know though, they serve different dessert for lunch and dinner. My favourite dessert here is the Sticky Rice Durian (Dinner Dessert) and unfortunately this post was from my lunch visit.

Been here a lot of times since I arrived in 2008 but after coming across other Thai restaurants around the city, I hardly go to Chai Thai anymore solely because of the queuing time! I went here once at 2AM and the place was still buzzing with people!

Fun fact about Chat Thai: It was established in 1989, pretty much it is the same age as me :P
Similar to Home Thai, They have a glass window at the front of the place show casing their dessert/entree kitchen with a guy here making the Khanom Buaing..

My friends and I were seated on the top floor of the restaurant which I think even though is less spacious but it's a nice place to chill and have a proper lunch without having to rush as we can't see how many people are queuing in front hehehe...
The drinking glass is quite unique,  made up from some kind of thick aluminium that can be bend easily :)

To start with I ordered Tod Mun Pla or Thai Fish cake. Unlike other Thai restaurants that serve the fishcake in flattened circular shape, Chat Thai serves it in small ball pieces with lettuce, chopped cucumber, coriander, onion and sweet chilli sauce at the bottom of the bowl, topped with crispy basil leaves. The combinations of flavour and texture are great and I literally can't get enough of it!

Bebski ordered the Kana Moo krob on rice which is crispy pork belly stir fried with Chinese brocolli or Chinese kale they called it in Chat Thai with oyster and soy sauce.

$10.90

For me, Chat Thai = Chicken Padthai~! Ive always loved how they marinate their chicken! So I ordered chicken pad thai with extra Crispy pork belly. But unfortunately the waitress thought that I want to replace the chicken with crispy pork belly :( Apart from that, The pork belly is juicy and fatty. The padthai has a good balance of sweetness and sourness but I need to add more fish sauce and chilli powder to it as usual ^^

Crispy Pork Belly PadThai $9.90 + $2

It's been a long time since I met Mr.M.. And yes, his appetite hasn't change! He ordered 2 dishes for himself. First is the Raadt naa which is flat rice noodle with chicken and chinese kale in soy sauce and yellow bean gravy. The gravy is depth in flavour and the rice noodle still has that chewiness to it. I will order this next time! It's really good for cold wintery day.

Raadt Naa $10.90

The second dish that he ordered was the claypot honey roasted pork ribs and egg fried rice. Unfortunately I didn't get to try this dish.. But according to him, its good :) Enough said ;p

$12.90

For dessert, we ordered the Tup Tim grob - tapioca coated water chestnuts in an aromatic syrup with coconut milk and young coconut flesh. I love this dessert! its cold and sweet and has young coconut flesh in it. It's a really good one to clean your palate ending the meals. The water chestnuts taste like candles though .. But u'll grow into it after 2-3 spoons..

Tup Tim Grob $5.50

We also tried this thin crispy wafers filled with meringue, candied dried shrimp and herbs. The creamy meringue works really well with the crisp from the wafers. It almost looks like open sesame Thai Fortune cookies ;p

Khanom Buaing $1ea

Overall, great service here, great food and Yeah, not sure what to recommend regarding time of visit cause they're always busy. Maybe try 3-4PM? ^^
Chat Thai has other branches in Randwick (Small takeaway shop), Manly, The galleries food court and a recent one in Westfield Myer foodcourt.


http://www.chatthai.com.au/

@ Bangkok, Haymarket

I'm so happy that my mom is here for almost a week now. That means home cooked meals and a clean house! But the unfortunate thing is that I can't have Korean food cause she only wants to eat Western and Thai foods. I brought her to Kao Pla last Sunday but apparently she was not impressed by the soft shell crab or the pork ribs but rather the Panang Curry. She went to @Bangkok before and she loves the foods there. And so as requested by her, we dined at Bangkok in haymarket AGAIN :)

Chicken Padthai is the first thing to come. My mom's friend particularly ordered this dish as he loves noodle! So he's keen to try the padthai here. Which in my opinion, is good but not great. The noodle is well cooked, still has that chewy texture and the dish is well seasoned too. It's just that the noodle is a bit dry and the chicken is not marinated as much :)

Chicken Padthai $13.90

I remembered the Pad Kra Pow in Bangkok used to be darker in colour but who cares as long as the flavour still delivers! I personally asked the dish to be spicy and the spiciness is up to my standard! I loved itt.... It has a balance flavour of the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. The basil is there but not too much. Just enough to give that herby note to it.

Pad Kra Pow Chicken $13.90

My mom's favourite, Panang curry. The sauce is creamy, smooth, full of flavour and mild. The curry flavour is not too overpowering and is really a perfect match to a warm Thai Jasmine Steam Rice..!!

Chicken Paenang Curry $13.90

They don't have my usual pork belly dish (Prik Khing Moo krob) but instead they have Pad Ped Moo krob. Maybe they are of the same dish? Basically it is crispy pork belly stir fried with red curry paste and veggies. The pork belly is more to the fatty side than dry and crispy which is not my sister favourite ;p I personally don't mind it. I think that the dish would be better if they can give more sauce in it.

Pad Ped Moo Krob $15.90

Another crispy pork based dish is this papaya salad called som tum moo krob. The salad is fresh, tangy and gives a good texture to our fatty and savoury meal. The pork belly is crispy and well seasoned.

Som Tum Moo Krob $16.90

Yum Pla Foo is a favourite dish of ours. Crispy mince fish topped with spicy and sour salad which consists of green apple, chilli, lemon juice, cashew nut, mint leaves, coriander and fish sauce. Another refreshing and tangy salad. As I wrote this review, I can't help it but realize that the salad dishes are more expensive than the meat dishes ;P Don't know why.. Maybe veggies and fruits are more expensive? ....

Yum Pla Foo $16.90

Overall, It was a great meal, the place is not too crowded which is perfect to chat more after dinner. The service is very good as all of the staffs were helpful and attentive. And importantly, My mom's Thai food's craving has been fulfilled. She's happy and so am I :)

Another VISIT to Bangkok with MOM ^^

Before my mom leaves Sydney, One request from her is to dine here again at Bangkok. This time besides the Paenang Curry and Pad Kra Pow, We ordered the Chicken Stir fry with Basil and Chilli jam. I always love Thai Stirfry with their choice vegetables. It's colourful, vibrant and fresh! I do think that a bit more sauce would make the dish even better ^^

I forgot how delicious and flavourful their Kana Moo Krob is. The pork is jucy and crispy while the veggie still has its crunch and the oyster/soy sauce is amazing! It has that smoky wok aroma in the sauce and I seriously can't describe how good it is. Please do try this dish when u visit this place :)

http://www.atbangkok.com.au/

Yummy Chinese BBQ, Haymarket

                                    

When the place is first open, I walked passed by it and tempted to try a skewer chinese buffet which I never been in one. But looking at the price and the risk of it being unsuitable to my pallet is something that always made me think twice before entering. Luckily, they once had a voucher in scoopon for their lunch buffet and came back with Bebski for their usual dinner buffet which was great. We love the food, the selections of skewers, hot and cold bar have a great variety of chinese / scezhuan style cooking.

Recently, they offer another lunch buffet voucher in Groupon and I decided to get it again! What a great value for $11 pp for lunch.... So we went on Saturday. The place was quite full of people and without any further waiting, we immediately took the foods and started to eat.

Let me go through each food stations. The first that you will see once you entered the place was the rice and soup station on the right. At the end of path, they have the drinks, cutlery and also noodle soup station.

They have a glass cupboard full of skewer selections when you dine at night. But for the lunch buffet, they only offer the lamb skewer in which they will cook it and bring it to your table instead of cooking on the automated rotating griller located on each table.

The food station is split into two part, first is the entree (Chinese banchan), fruit and dessert and the second one is the hot food bar.

This is what I got for my lunch hehe..
I like most of their side dishes such as the seasoned cucumber, scezhuan beef slices, radish salad and some boiled peanuts... And from the hot food bar, I pretty much get a bit of everything.. The stir fired clams in Ginger and Scallion sauce is sooooo good! The clams are fresh and well seasoned. I have to compete with other patrons to get the dish as it runs out pretty fast..

I also got salt and pepper calamari which I think is cooked perfectly. The calamari being not chewy :) Also loved the pan fried dumplings, poached fish fillet in scezhuan oil (yummeh!) and they also have assorted fish balls in scezhuan oil and the best part is they have the fish ball with fish roe in it!

I also tried their noodle soup which has an authentic szechuan flavour to it, topped with cilantro which I loved and a slice of beef that is well seasoned. The soup is not hot and yet not cold. So I'm a bit confused as to what the dish was supposed to be like? But whop cares, I like it, it tasted great hehe..

Here comes the lamb skewers! 5 skewer per person. What a generous amount! They have been heavily marinated with cumin powder that some people might not like but that's how they seasoned lamb I guess :) Bebski likes it but I think less fat will be better :)

For dessert, they have pineapple cake with caramelised pineapple at the bottom and a not-too moist sponge cake on top. I also got the mocha sponge cake which is mooooisstt and have a nice mocha flavour to it. Besides sweet baked stuff, I also got the fried sesame ball with red bean inside which is a classic chinese dessert you usually see in yumcha :)

Yummy Chinese only have strawberry ice cream for their lunch buffet which has a nice strawberry flavour and not too sweet (but really creamy) ice cream. You have to scoop the ice cream yourself so show your scooping skill people! hihihih,,

Overall dining was good. I particularly like their type of food and a good value with the selections of food that you get from fish, calamari and clams! Not to mention the pork, beef and lamb!
Check the place out :)


http://www.yummychinesebbq.com.au/