Jangdory Gomtang Restaurant - North Strathfield

My friends and us wanted to chomp down a steak at the Outback Steakhouse in North Strathfield only to find that we were faced with a crazily packed restaurant. Dejected, we went for the next best thing - Korean beef broth noodles at Jangdory Gomtang Restaurant. My hubby and I had been here before, when it first opened, and the only thing on the menu was just their Gomtang noodles. Their menu has exponentially expanded since. One more thing - if you happen to have a same day boarding pass from Korean Air or Aeseana - you get 20% off! LOL :P

Side dishes were not crazily varied, but each was very yummy and well pickled. The four of us decided to share a plate of Bossam ($45). Massive amounts of steamed pork came out - each piece with a good meat to fat ratio. The pork was really tender and silky smooth due to the fat. When eaten with kimchi, a mix of oysters and pickled chili radishes, garlic, chili, tiny pickled fermented shrimp (saeujeot) and a thick saucy paste - all wrapped up in either sesame or lettuce leaf, it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUSNESS!!! :P Mmm YUM

Side dishes

Bossam - $45

My hubby and a friend both opted for a combination Gomtang noodle ($18). There was sliced beef, ox knee and ox tail, all in a milky white beef based soup. It was yumminess.

Combination Gomtang Noodle Soup - $18

Likewise, my dumplings (which came in the same yummy white beef soup) were super super massive ($15). The dumplings were meaty and hearty and came with bits of seaweed and rice cake. There was also a small plate of beef mince (or maybe it was pork mince) which is meant to be eaten with the dumplings.

Dumpling soup - $15

Last but not least, a cold soybean noodle soup ($14) was ordered by my friend. According to my friend, it was thick yet kind of tasteless. Our Korean friend said that it's meant to be eaten with a soy-sauce or chilli type sauce - neither of which appeared present on the table. I guess it was an interesting choice but not too much to our liking.

Cold Soybean Noodle - $14

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Jangdory Gomtang Restaurant
Shop 2/ 1 George Street
North Strathfield
NSW 2137
Tel: (02) 9746 8746

Garnish Fine Foods - Haberfield

For a lazy weekend breakfast, my hubby and I cruised up and down streets of Haberfield only to find super awesomely delicious coffee at Espresso Galleria and then a hearty brekky down the road tucked in the corner at Garnish Fine Foods.

We chose to sit inside their little cozy courtyard where the aromas for the kitchen wafted out to greet us. My hubby decided to try their big breaky roll ($9.50). This was wonderfully pan fried bacon, egg and sausages with sauce of your choice (bbq, tomato or aioli) on an awesomely soft and crunchy ciabatta roll. He washed it down with a good old chocolate milkshake. I think after eating one half of this, he was full - so next time we know we can share :P

big breaky roll - $9.50

chocolate milkshake

I was so close to ordering my usual of eggs benedict but my spur of the moment choice of their 'mushroom special' ($14) prevailed. This was a wonderful plethora of panfried mushrooms, bacon bits, charred sweet capsicum bits, caramelised onion and rocket, topped with a heap of avocado and scattered with corn kernels all on ciabatta toast. Again, the bread was AMAZING. The flavours of this dish were absolutely wonderful. And like my dear hubby, I was full when I was just half way through this mountain.

mushroom special - $14

I have to say, Haberfield is a place for the tastebuds - with chocolate and pasteries and coffee galore. And I quite like this cafe - it has a friendly 'homely' feel to it with good food served at decent prices.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 31/40

Garnish Fine Foods
58 Dalhousie Street
Haberfield
NSW 2045
Tel: (02) 9799 9882

Hong Kong Noodle Restaurant - Burwood

To grab a quick dinner, hubby and I decided to pop by Burwood for some noodles. Having the choice of many a noodle joints on Burwood Road, we decided to test out Hong Kong Noodle Restaurant as it was still buzzing with people at the time we were there.

My hubby ordered what he had been craving for weeks - a combination fried noodle ($12.80), whereas I, being a stir noodle fan, opted for a wonton stir noodle ($9.80). I think my hubby made the wiser decision on this occasion. His fried noodles came out looking absolutely gorgeous! Crispy crunchy noodles covered with a mountain of seafood, chicken, bbq pork, beef and veges, and just oh-so-barely touched by the sauce, making it a crunchy yet tasty experience. On the other hand, my wontons were less appetising-looking, being just a mount of noodles, soup-sauce on the side and large round wontons (which tasted just average). Nonetheless, both meals were filling and we both left feeling full and satisfied :)

combination fried noodles - $12.80

wonton stir noodles - $9.80

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 26.5/40

Hong Kong Noodle Restaurant
152 Burwood Road
Burwood
NSW 2134
Tel: (02) 9701 0668

Shanghai Memory - Ashfield

My hubby and I decided to eat out one night and headed for Ashfield. There, we seemed to have spotted the new kid on the block - a Shanghainese restaurant that we had not eaten at or even seen previously. We entered Shanghai Memory cautiously as though there were patrons in there, there were relatively more customers in its neighbouring restaurants. Nevertheless, we were quickly greeted by friendly staff.

We ordered a classic shanghainese appetiser - toasted flour tendons "with full flavour sauce". What this is is really just bean curd type things drenched in sauce and oil and served with other fungi and beans. It's a really tasty dish being kind of sweet and all, but it might be an acquired taste. Me, being half-shang, really love this dish... yet, due to it's oiliness, it's not something that can be eaten often.

toasted flour tendons with full flavour sauce

My hubby requested pork and vege wonton soup. This was really packed full of MSG. Or maybe it's because I have made this dish since I was a young kid and every time, the home-made version never included MSG, that when I took my first mouthful, I was knocked off my feet. BUT - my hubby seemed to love it. So *shrugz* - to each their own.

pork and vege wonton soup

We also ordered pan fried pork dumplings. These were OK. The flour coating was a little thicker than I would have liked, but it was nicely crunchy on the bottom and flavoursomely porky inside.

pan fried pork dumplings

Last but not least, the waitress' recommendation - spare ribs wrapped in this rice thing which was then steamed. I can't describe it properly, but taste reminds me of the rice dumplings we make for Dragon Boat Festival except that the rice is not the sticky glutinous rice you normally have. The spare ribs were soooo tender they basically shredded and melted in your mouth. It was an interesting recommendation and I could see that other tables had likewise been sucked into ordering this dish.

steamed pork spare ribs

All up, it was a cheap and relatively decent meal. My hubby had a relatively unpleasant experience following the meal - not sure if it was due to the food or the oil, the beers, or just sheer exhaustion... But don't let that stop you from trying to foods - it was kinda tasty afterall.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money -7/10
Overall - 28/40

Shanghai Memory
267B Liverpool Rd,
Ashfield, Sydney
NSW 2131
Tel:(02) 9716 6085

The Cove - Drummoyne

On the recent aussie day public holiday, my hubby and I decided to drive around. We drove to many places randomly - Breakfast Point, Abbotsford, Chiswick... until eventually we ended up at Drummoyne. We stopped just short of the factory outlet (at Birkenhead Point) and landed at the Cove, a nice little cafe overlooking the pool and the ocean.

Coffees were ordered first. My hubby's extra extra strong cappuccino was good, as was my mocha. Lots of people were ordering coffees just takeaway so that must mean that the coffee here is normally of decent quality.

coffees

Food-wise, my hubby's choice was the parmesan chicken open sandwich ($18.50). It came as an appeasing plate of parmesan and herb crusted chicken tenderloins on toasted turkish schiacciata bread. Accompanying this was tomato, avocado, sundried tomato pest, house aioli, mixed greens and micro herbs. It was pretty delish :)

parmesan and herb crusted chicken sandwich

After eyeing the smoked salmon open sandwich on the next table, I decided that I wanted one ($17.50). This was a generous portion of smoked salmon with avocado, spanish onion, capers, wild rocket and salmon roe on toasted schiacciata bread. Funnily enough, whilst my hubby's bread tasted nice and toasty, my bread was stale and chewy and spread with slightly over-powering herbed goats cheese. But bread aside, everything else was good :)

smoked salmon toast

Ambiance here is great, service is friendly, coffee is good, food is decent... so why not? :)

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance- 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 30/40

The Cove
Henley Marine Dr
Drummoyne
NSW 2047
Tel: (02) 9719 3022