Ko & Co Soju Bar, Surryhills

When Korean and Mexican decided to collaborate their food, this place happened! Ko & Co is a newly opened fusion restaurant in Surry Hills area towards the city area where the place is quite hidden and a small shop which is perfect for private function in my opinion!

I went on a Saturday with Bebski and Mr.P. There were only 2 tables occupied that time probably because it was still early for dinner. We were greeted by 2 men behind the bar which is a Korean and a Mexican :)

I really wanted to try their cocktails and Fruit Soju but unfortunately I need to drive home so maybe next time.

The place itself consist of a few bar tables and 3-4 short tables, a pretty simple decor and an appealing paintings that caught my attention.

I've checked the menu a couple of times and so I am pretty much set on what to order. This mixed corn chips is served as complimentary snack from the restaurant :) It's a nice thing to nibble while waiting for the foods to arrive

In Ko & Co, the Mexican foods comes in the Burritos, Tacos and Quesadilla, while the Korean side comes in their fillings. They have 3 types of filling; Korean marinated beef (Bulgogi), Spicy Pork belly and Korean Fried Chicken.

The foods are very well priced with ~$10 on average each meal. So we decided to taste a bit of everything they got :)
First is the burrito which comes in a wrap. For the burritos, we chose bulgogi filling. It was alright but wasn't great. I wish the rice has more flavour and the filling to be more generous..

Beef Burritos $10

The Sliders, however, was really delicious! I particularly love the spicy pork belly filling. It's juicy and marinated really well. The buns is soft and shiny, looks so appetizing! The crunchy cabbage salad complements everything perfectly.

Sliders (Comes in 2 pieces) $10

The dish of the night is the Korean Fried Chicken! It does not taste like the usual KFC that you got from Korean restaurant. It is more to Chicken karage side of the taste. The chicken is deep fried to crispy golden perfection with the meat still juicy and tender. Yes, if u guess, they used thigh meat instead of breast the provides extra juiciness to the chicken :) It is served with house kimchi mayo that is sooo creamy!  
I highly recommend this and very good value for money.          

KFC $14

The tacos, we ordered beef ad spicy pork belly same as the sliders. I'm not a fan of their tacos. It is quite dark in their so I can't really distinct what is the filling in it but I can taste brown rice in their and definitely the crunchy texture from the cabbage salad underneath :)

Spicy Pork Belly taco $6

Beef taco $6

Kimchi and cheese Quesadilla. Sounds weird to me as well at first but surprisingly, they go really well with each other. One advise from me, Eat it while its still hot before the wrap goes hard and the cheese goes chewy :)

Kimchi & Cheese Quesadilla $10

That is the end of our feast in Ko & Co. I could recommend this place to everyone for their good food and atmosphere. My other advise is to go with more people so you can taste a bit of everything.

My next visit, I will definitely try their cocktails and fruit soju!!

Galbijjim ( Korean Braised Short Ribs)

Galbi Jjim is a korean dish using beef short ribs. Galbi means Short ribs. I thought it would be a good dish for this wintery day. The dish took about 1 hour to a day to prepare depending the way you cook it. But I promised you it worth all the time when you put those juicy and tender meat in your mouth! hehe.


Ingredients:

• 500g Beef Short Ribs
• 500g Gravy beef / Chuck (Any Meat good for stew)
• 2 Carrot Sticks
• 2 Medium sized Potato
• 4-5 Pieces of dried Shitake mushroom
• 1/2 piece of Onion
• 6 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
• 3 Cups of Water
• 6 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2.5 Tbsp Corn Syrup
• 1.5 Tbsp Cooking wine
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1.5 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Methods:

1. Soak the short ribs and Meat in cold water for 30mins

2. Prepare the rest of the ingredients while waiting. I mashed my garlic in Mortar & pestle, Chopped up the carrots and potatoes to chunky pieces

3. In a bowl, mix in the water, soy sauce, sugar, onion and mince garlic.

4. Don't forget to soak the Shitake mushroom in boiling water

5. After 30 mins under cold water, rinse the beef.

6. In boiling water, boil the beef for 10-15mins

7. Rinse again the beef in cold water to remove excess fat

8. Put the beef in a pan and pour in the water - soy sauce mixture along with the veggies.

9. Boil it for about 10mins then transfer it to slow cooker 

10. Lastly, Pour in Corn syrup and sesame oil mixture + Salt and pepper

11. Cook for 5-7hours until half of the water evaporates and the meat is tender.

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can simmer it for an hour to 1.5 hours with lid closed and under low heat.

Enjoy with hot sticky steam rice! :)

Ribs & Burger, Eastgarden

Bebski was craving lamb ribs at 8PM last Friday. So we decided to visit Ribs & Burger near our house in Eastgarden. When we arrived, the place was full of people which is surprising cause to me 8PM is a very late time for dinner. I agreed to Bebski's proposal for it just because it's the weekend and I'd stay up till late anyway so I'll have enough time to digest all the meats that we're gonna have!

The Interior of the place is neat and clean with brick walls and wooden chairs and tables concept.

There is a big menu board besides the counter and so you can have a good idea what they serve in store.
When you're ready to order, approach the counter and pay on the spot. Then they'll give you this tin bucket filled with tissues, cutlery and sauces.

And Oh yea, before I forget, 10% discount for Students! :)

So here comes the food.
First, we have the Lamb Ribs where the portion is humongous! The meat is juicy and melt in the mouth but also quite fatty which is not my favourite. But bebski loved it! It is served on a bed of chips which some are crispy and some are not anymore because of the sauce ;p

Lamb Ribs with chips $24

 As hungry as I am not, I ordered the 'Best of Both' where you can choose meat ribs of your choice with 2 mini burgers (Chicken and Lamb). The pork ribs are well marinated with the sauce but I think some of the racks are quite dry while some are juicy because of the fat in it.

The burgers are alright. The buns are soft and fluffy, the grilled chicken patty is dry but they do have a good herby flavour, Im guessing oregano here :) The beef patty, again dry and lacks flavour ;(

Best of Both $25

As usual, I can't resist chilli chicken wings! There are 4 big wings in a portion. It has a good chilli sauce flavour without the heat! I'd like it to be more charred though.

Chilli Chicken wings $10

 In the end, we couldn't finish everything as it was too much! We took it home and ate it for lunch the next day. I put the chicken in the oven to reheat it and give more colour, and it tasted better than the day before ;p

well, will I be back? hmmph . Maybe. But it was a good experience and one more restaurant to tick off my never-ending wishlist ^^

http://ribsandburgers.com.au/

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/

Deep Fried Sweet Potato Balls

 I bought a box full of sweet potato during my trip to Flemington's Sydney Market and this recipe is a great way to use most of them especially in this cold weather! Another easy recipe to please your colleagues or family ;p It worked for me pretty well. Everyone in the office loved it !

So all you need are:

• 500g Baked Sweet Potato flesh
• 1 cup Tapioca Starch
• 2 Tbsp Plain Flour
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Now let's start the magic....

1. Wash the sweet potato and make sure to dry the water off before putting in the oven. Yes it effects the wetness of the dough later. For 500g sweet potato, I heat it up in 200^oC oven fan forced for 40-45mins

2. While the SPotato is baking, mix in the dry ingredient in a bowl. 
3. After 45mins, Peel of the Spotato and mash the flesh.
4. Let it cool down before you mix it with the flour
5. After a proper mixing, form a small ball from the dough. If the dough is too wet, do add some more tapioca/plain flour just enough so that it's not very sticky.

Lastly, to fry them, Do not let the oil gets too hot. I know it is deep fried but to make this small fluffy crispy balls, you need patience. I'd say around 100^oC oil should be perfect and it took about 3-4mins before it's floating to the top :)

Served while hot with condensed milk!

Happy Trying!

Wooden Spoon Bar & Restaurant, Cremorne

My first restaurant invite, excited! A week ago, I got an email from the owner of Wooden Spoon and Bar to do a review for their newly established restaurant. I never heard of the place before and so I looked up online and visited their website. It is located in the heart of Cremorne which is easy to find and I know the area pretty well cause my workplace is around there. On top of that, the menu looks appealing and I always loved Asian Fusion dining. 

Went there on a Wednesday night with Bebski. The booking was at 7PM and our meal was a 5 Degustation menu. The restaurant menu is the first thing at the front of the entrance and also showed their current Degustation event called "Be My Guest". Diners can enjoy the 5 course menu for just $55! (Check their other upcoming events on their website at the bottom of the page)

I was taking pictures outside of the place and the owner Livia saw me from inside and noticed that I must be the one she's expecting ;) So I went in with Bebski and was greeted with smile. She explained about the foods tonight and I am asked to rate the 5 dishes. 

The decoration of the place is modern and classy. It also gives you a comfy homey vibe when you're in there. I know sometimes Fine Dining place can be quite intimidating but this place somehow has that relaxing atmosphere, perfect place for chillin' out after work :)

I was seated at the end of the restaurant where there is plenty of light. Livia said that she knew I needed a spot with good lightning for my pictures , How thoughtful...  :)

The place was still pretty empty when we arrived but the crowd start later at around 8PM.

Not long after we were seated, a glass of water is served for each of us. We were offered wine but Bebski can't drink cause he needs to drive and I'm not a fan of wine. So water will suits us well.

To start with, we were given a board of freshly baked warm sourdough bread. The sourdough is soft and crusty complemented well by the creamy butter and flakes of salt.

Not long after that, they serve us a shot of shitake and wakame miso soup. It has a strong seaweed flavour and again some people might like it but to others such as Bebski, it can be quite a challenge to drink. At the bottom of the cup is a sheet of seaweed to provide some texture to the soup shot.

First course arrived. It is a sweet potato dosa puree with BBQ okra, Red grape tomatoes, Puffed cassava and served with Coconut & Lime dressing. I never tried Okra before and I must say, I like it! The puree is smooth and I think that having the crispy element such as the cassava is great as it gives a different texture to the whole dish.

Bebski & I were counting on the time for our next dish and we found out that it took 15-20 mins for the next dish to be served which I think is a reasonable amount of time. Some fine dining took longer than that.

The second course arrived and it is pan seared scallop with BBQ pork neck, beetroot puree, thin sliced cucumber, black sesame crumble and ponzu. I love ponzu! It is depth in flavour and the BBQ pork neck is juicy and melt in the mouth.. The scallop is fresh and cooked to perfection and the puree is creamy. Never thought that beetroot works well with ponzu and black sesame ^^

The third dish is my favorite! Barramundi on creamed kale, curry oil and cumin roast pumpkin, cauliflower puree,topped with crispy vermicelli noodle and roast vegetable jus. The skin of the fish is crispy, the pumpkin has a lovely flavour and aroma and all the element on the plate match perfectly well.

The fourth dish is Bebski's favourite...BBQ Mutton & Lamb, Pea Fricasse, Roast baby Capsicum, Mirin glazed Shallot, baby turnips and Taiwanese BBQ Sauce. The mutton and lamb are tender and the sauce complements the meats really well. Especially the pickled turnips, for me is a great addition to the plate for tanginess and freshness.

Lastly,,,, The Dessert! Chocolate Mousse cake with Coconut Custard, Toasted Rice, Cherry Sorbet and Hazelnut crumble. Chocolate and ice cream is the best dessert to finish up my meal, almost every time! The cherry sorbet is luscious and goes really well with the moist cake. The unfortunate thing is that I can't really find the toasted rice ;P

Pretty looking dessert,, Worth another shot ;P Black & red on a plate is classy *wink

That's the end of our meal. A pleasurable time and food, very good service and I think their aim to create a memorable dining experience is a success! I highly recommend this place for a romantic dinner celebration whatever the occasion is or private function and gathering ^^

Took a shot with the Owner, Livia Wang. A very nice and cheerful lady :)

The rating paper for the foods. I gave 7-8-9-9-8 for the 5 course in order :)

http://www.woodenspoonbar.com.au/