Hartsyard - Newtown

Hartsyard is a place I've wanted to visit for AGES but for fear of long lines and waits, I had held off. I had seen lots of yummy photos from this place so anticipation was high. Their menu consists of "seed" (entree sized) and "feed" (main sized) all meant for sharing. For the four of us, the waitress recommended 2 seeds and 3 feeds.

The Oyster Po' Boy was recommended to us by our waitress. Crunchy deep fried oysters with mayo and coleslaw enveloped between two English muffin buns. Sliders in size, it was tasty but definitely not worth it's price tag ($24 for two). For $12 a pop, I can think of many many tasty burgers from elsewheres.

We also got their smoked trout from their 'seed' (entree size) menu. The trout was perfectly cooked with a subtle hint of smokiness. Loved the mix of cauliflower, carrot, pickled mix. Also really enjoyed the crispy fish skin. The 'everything bagel' was my favourite type of bagel in NYC and these everything bagel crisps were likewise quite tasty. I thought that the dish worked and was pretty awesome.

Hubby and I like the 'smokiness' of food. One of our friends did not and so I think his enjoyment of the meal went downhill from here. The sweet potato came as pretty as a picture. Really soft and sweetly glazed with smoked honey, and topped with hazelnuts, goats curd and bbq mushrooms, it was a delight to see. I'm not a huge fan of sweet potato, but hubby and our other friend seemed to approve.

The smokiness continued on into our pulled pork. I quite liked it. It was soft and tender. Some people would say mush? The really thick slice of maple bacon was also pretty good. And who can say no to crackling? It was served with some fresh green apple and yoghurt.

Hartsyard is also famous for their fried chicken - so we knew we had to order it. It was a good 4 pieces of chicken. Crunchy outside and juicy meat. Served with a buttermilk biscuit (damper like thing) that none of us really appreciated, and gravy. What can I say? It was good but not $33 worth of good? We can get pretty damn amazing Korean fried chicken for that price!

Last but not least - dessert. We knew that we had to get their famous soft serve however reluctant we were to pay $12 for a soft serve. It better be bloody amazing! As I don't actually even remember the flavour of the soft serve... cinnamon? with a choc doughnut on the side? ... I don't know... you can probably ascertain how much we enjoyed and savoured it....

All up, the food was OK but I was quite disappointed with the experience. This is American bar food cooked reasonably but with a close to fine dining type price tag. Not cool.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 5/10
Overall - 25.5/40

Hartsyard 
33 Enmore Road
Newtown, NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 8068 1473

Chur Burger - Surry Hills

I had put off going to Chur Burger, not because I don't love burgers, but because whenever people tell me it's the 'best' one around - I'm usually disappointed. But when our friends told us to go and check out Sydney's supposed 'best burger', we thought we'd go with an open mind.

I read a lot of blogs on the place prior to our visit so I knew to steer away from the pulled pork burger. I'd also read that the salted caramel milkshake was a bit on the thin side. But you know me - salted caramel anything, I will order it. So, against my better judgement, a salted caramel shake landed in front of me. It wasn't as thick as I usually like it, and it was really really sweet. Redeeming factor though - it was very much salted caramelly.

The four of us also shared a plate of corn fritters. These were AMAZING. Beautifully crumbed and golden brown, and oozing in corn pasty sweetness. The dipping sauce was also really good - creamy with a hint of chilli. Really really yum!

If only the burgers were on the same caliber... Three of us ordered the beef burger whereas hubby ordered the lamb burger. The beef burger came with a thick patty cooked medium, tomato jam, melted cheese, mustard mayo and thin slices of pickle. All this was sandwiched between slightly overly browned, bit powdery, overly dense and waaay too buttery brioche buns. I have to say that it was an average-tasting burger, at best. The only redeeming factor was that the cheese was nicely melted.

Hubby's lamb burger had mint sauce, red onion, aioli, and a cute little slab of feta cheese. He said that it tasted alright. He wasn't super impressed, but he didn't complain too much about it - apart from the fail bun.

Between the four of us, we ordered both types of chips. The normal potato ones with chilli salt, and the sweet potato ones with garlic and lime. The sweet potato chips were a bit mangy looking - 'cooked to death' was the phrase my friends used. The thicker ones were still ok though - kind of like baked sweet potato. Unfortunately, they were far outnumbered by the crazy browned cooked to death ones... The normal potato ones, on the other hand, were actually pretty tasty. Cooked well with crunch and fluffiness.

With loud pop music playing and shared tables that are slightly too high to be comfy, the atmosphere was not the most conducive to chatting. The supplemental food was yum but 'voted the best burgers in Sydney'? I think not. I probably wouldn't come back.

Ratings:
Food - 5.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 5.5/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 23/40

Chur Burger
48 Albion Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9212 3602

Smoky BBQ foods

My hubby loves BBQed stuff. He loves all different types of barbeques - korean, jap, charcoal, steak on the barbie, Bunnings sausage sizzles... everything! Recently on our trip to the US, the smoky BBQ was a 'must visit' (many many times) type of venue.

In Chicago, there was Blackwood. It was smoky and simply delicious! You could smell this place from a mile away! On our visit, hubby had the pulled pork in a bun. My choice? The beef brisket - on the platter. It comes with a variety of side dishes to chose from - the pickles and radishes were complimentary. The other stuff - baked beans, coleslaw, baked mac and cheese, were all worth it's price. What I also couldn't draw myself away from was their housemade lemonade - love that stuff! Super refreshing and not too sweet :)

The pulled pork was tasty and tender. You just bite into it and loads of smoky, porky flavour just fills your mouth. The bun was good - but clearly, the meat was the hero of the dish. Hubby also loved their baked beans.

pulled pork in a bun with baked beans

As good as the pork was, I think that the beef brisket was our preferred meat. It was juicy and tender, slow-cooked for like 16 hrs or something like that! I got this awesomely smoky, hint of chilli, and tomatoey sauce on top. Deliciousness! It was 'melt in your mouth' goodness. And the mac and cheese? More please!

slow cooked beef brisket with mac&cheese

There are other BBQ joints around the USA. One other was Mighty Quinn's. Here, I couldn't resist but order their pork ribs. This was AMAZING. Pork ribs v Beef brisket? I'm a fan of the super smokey super tender pork ribs! :) Hubby also really liked this. As we were eating sooo much that day, we only ordered the one meal.

ribs

But would hubby let us leave the states without trying the beef brisket from here? Of course not! So one night - pretty late... like 11pm... we ran from our previous commitment back here, just to line up and order their brisket. I know that my photos are pretty poor (given that it's just from my phone and with really little lighting), but honestly, it was delicious! It's hard to say which briskets were better - the one from Blackwood or the Might Quinn's. All I know is that hubby would die to have places like this back in Sydney :P

slow cooked beef brisket

Blackwood BBQ
305 W Lake Street
Chicago, IL, 60606
Tel: +1 312 621 9663

Mighty Quinns
103 2nd Ave
NY 10003
Tel: +1 212 677 3773

Ruby Tuesdays - Hong Kong

We were having dinner with a friend in HK. Initially, I had said that I wanted to go to a Jap restaurant. However, having just thrown up all over the place due to food poisoning the day before, raw fish and sushi was the last thing on my mind. Instead, we decided to go to our friend's favourite restaurant.

Ruby Tuesdays is our friends favourite restaurant because he has an amazing VIP card here which gives him 50% off the WHOLE bill - food AND drinks (alcoholic beverages included). Pretty awesome :P

I had a craving for wings, and so, we ordered wings as an entree to share. The small (9 wings) was only HK$60 more than the large (18 wings) - which, after discount, means that it's less than $5 AUD more for 9 more wings. So despite knowing that it's almost impossible for the three of us to polish off 18 wings and our mains between the three of us, we ordered it anyway - 9 teriyaki flavoured, 9 buffalo. They were pretty finger-lickingly good!

Large wings - buffalo and teriyaki

Our friend got the Colossal burger. This was a full POUND of meat patty with melted cheddar cheese and a tiny bit of salad encased between three soft buns. It wasn't super duper tasty but it was super duper massive! Our friend did a pretty decent job at almost polishing it off! Not the chips though - they were a bit sad looking.

Colossal burger

I got a steak. A wagyu sirloin (from Australia... yes - there's better aussie steaks overseas than in Sydney). It was cooked perfectly medium rare, really juicy and tasty, and topped with an asiago cheese and peppercorn sauce. Served with a side of baked potato and overcooked broccoli, it was actually quite yummy!

wagyu sirloin steak with asiago sauce

Hubby got a full rack of pork ribs. Sure it wasn't as saucy as Hurricanes, nor was it as big, but the meat was still fall off the bone. This was served with veges which were virtually left untouched by hubby.

pork ribs

veges

All up, it was an alright meal. The food wasn't super flash but it was definitely bargain with the 50% discount. They also have a salad bar where people can fill up their plate with as much salad as possible - we had a good laugh looking at how people stack up their salads both at the restaurant and the creative ways people could do it online :P Maybe we could try it someday~

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Ruby Tuesdays (Tsim Sha Tsui branch)
Shop 304, 3/F, Silvercord
Tel: +852 892 0883
Web: http://www.rubytuesday.com.hk

Mozza Osteria - Singapore

We were looking for a place for a late night dinner in Singapore and though hawker centers seem like the likely option, hubby wanted something more special. We were way too late to book anything awesome in but being 11pm, we decided to rock up to Mozza Osteria at Marina Bay Sands without a reservation anyway. And as predicted, we were seated promptly.

Mozza Osteria is a restaurants by the the famous Mario Batali and is ranked No. 35 on the S.Pellagrino Asia list. Like all the other awesome ambiance restaurants, it means that photos turn out dodgy (due to my somewhat poor photography skills and hungry stomach).

The waiter had recommended the degustation menu but at 11pm, I preferred a-la-carte. We were served housemade warm bread - sour dough and wheat. Both were absolutely delicious! Crunchy crust, soft innards, and actually really tasty. The waiter did forget our olive oil and balsamic though but was apologetic the moment we asked for it.

The amuse bouche was a fresh ricotta lump on crackers, straight from their mozzarella bar. The ricotta was fluffy and light and just subtle in taste. Really creamy and perfect match for the crispy cracker.

For starters, we ordered the pane pomodoro ($28). This was fresh burrata cheese with thinly sliced cured ham/prosciutto and pickled ramps all served on just the right amount of bread. Loved it!

pane pomodoro - $28

The other starter we opted for was the grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon ($25). The octopus was super tender and quite charred. The charred taste was very prominent but when combined with the other flavours, it was very yum.

grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon - $25

Hubby and I both wanted pasta. He took the cappelletti di vitello ($62). This was chicken liver filled pasta blackened with black truffle sauce. ZOMG - it was heart-stoppingly good. The liver was really aromatic and smooth and creamy, and was encased with really really thin pasta. And the sauce? Unforgettable! Really really rich and strong in truffle flavour.

cappelletti di vitello - $62

My pasta was just as (if not more) deliciousness. The Celery Root cappellacci ($62) was small creamy tasty pockets of gooey goodness encased in the super thin pasta. YUM YUM YUM!!! And the creamy blue food mushroom sauce? ZOMG YUMness!!! Absolutely amazing. But like with all deliciously creamy and tasty things, both pasta were super filling and seemed to simply expand in our stomachs.

Celery Root cappellacci - $62

Though we were both really really full, we couldn't resist the dessert - the Piccolo Budino Caldo di Cioccolato ($22). The warm self-saucing pudding was really light and super chocolatey - gooey on the inside and crunchy crusty on the outside. It normally comes with a bourbon gelato but I don't like the taste of bourbon so we changed it to vanilla - with this really crazy salted caramel topping. I think that this is the best chocolate fondant we have ever had.

Piccolo Budino Caldo di Cioccolato - $22

We found the meal really delicious. Service somewhat lacking at times but it was late - the waiters were possibly all tired. It wasn't a cheap meal though, especially when you add in the ++ (service charge and tax). Definitely a good place for a splurge though.

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40

Mozza Osteria
B1, 42-46 Galleria Level
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Tel: +65 6688 8522

Burger House - San Francisco

We arrived in San Francisco from Hawaii slightly late and didn't get to go out and explore and find dinner until around 10pm. From being in Hawaii where shopping was open til 11pm, we were slightly shocked to find most food places already closed by the time we ventured out to the middle of the city. What was left open was this burger place and a pizza place.

We opted for burger. So Burgerhouse it was.

Burger House

It reminded me of those late night kebab shops you get in Sydney when everything else is closed. Just as greasy probably. My partner ordered the black jack burger and I opted for the '49er all beef hot dog.

The burger was quite yum. The black angus beef patty was succulent and juicy. The monterey cheese complimented well. Then there was your usual lettuce, tomato and tomato sauce. What really was yummy was the chips. Golden crispness on the outside. Delicious hot fluffiness on the inside. Pleasant surprise for a late night dodgy looking burger joint :)

black jack burger

My hot dog was likewise very quite yummy. The sausage was super tasty and massive. In with the dog was lettuce, cucumber and tomato - probably in effort to try and make it seem a bit more healthy. The mustard drizzled on top was also not bad.

49'er All Beef Hot Dog

All up, not a bad burger/hot dog joint. Lots of people frequented the place during the time we were eating (possibly because it was one of the few places that still appeared open).

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27/40

Burger House
237 Powell St
San Francisco
Tel: (415) 956 2311

BLT - Oahu

For our first dinner in Hawaii (this is after 36hours of being awake or so), we decided to dine locally and just hop down at the restaurant in our hotel. The restaurant was called BLT which luckily, didn't just serve bacon, lettuce and tomato. BLT actually stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel and it's an AMAZING steak house.

By the time we got to the restaurant, it was 9pm. And there were still no seats. So we sat in the bar area (where you can order the full menu anyway). We got a couple of complementary starters. One was their famous 'popovers'.

The popovers were HUGE bready things. These were quite light and airy fairy inside whilst been super crunchy on the outside. The texture is more chewiness and glutenousy. The big 'fist' looking side where it "pops-over" is lightly covered in melted Gruyere cheese (which unfortunately, we could hardly taste).

popovers

We also got toasted Ciabatta with chicken liver pate. The ciabatta was normal ish... but the chicken liver pate was very quite yum. It was savory and salty and smooth and super rich. Luckily, it wasn't over powering but rather, complimented the bread (be it the Ciabatta or the Pop-over) quite well.

toasted ciabatta with chicken liver pate

We decided to order one entree, two mains and a side dish between the 2 of us. Sounds normal eh? we couldn't be more wrong.

We told the waiter that the food can come out whenever and alas, the steaks came out first. We ordered the rib eye (14 oz) and the American wagyu skirt (10 oz). The wagyu was recommended by the waiter and it was OMG melt-in-your-mouth goodness. It was nicely charred on the outside, awesomely pink and tender on the inside. The fat encapsulated in the meat created this succulent beef aroma which just lingers in your mouth. We were also advised to dip the meat in the chimichurri sauce which is a garlic and parsley sauce. Extremely deliciousness!

wagyu skirt 10 oz

The other steak we ordered was the rib eye (14 oz). If I ate this steak, I'd think that this was awesome. It was tender, very beefy tasting and really really humongous. However, when compared with the wagyu, it was a little less succulent. It had more beefy taste though!

rib eye 14oz

chimichurri and bearnaise sauce

By the time we got through half our steaks, we were both fully stuffed. The ahi tuna tartare came our not long after that. Big block of chopped up raw tuna sitting on a bed of avocado and lightly doused in a soy-lime dressing. This was accompanied by a potato crisp lattice. The tuna and the dressing was delicious when eaten with the potato crisp. It would have been even more appetising if the avocado was ripe but unfortunately, it was hard and raw.

ahi tuna tartare, avocado, soy-lime dressing

After this came out, we simple had to call the waiter over and tell him to cancel the side of potato gratin (even though it sounded amazing). We simply couldn't fit it. I didn't even have enough room for dessert!

After getting the bill, we were treated with complimentary mocha chocolate chip brownie bites. These were soooooo good! Crunchily baked on the outside, gooey bittersweet goodness on the inside. Even though I was so full, I swear I could eat like a dozen of these!

mocha chocolate chip brownies

In all honesty, BLT is simply AMAZING. Melt-in-your-mouth beef with flavours that just linger in your mouth for ages and ages. I'm salivating just thinking back to the meal!

Ratings:

Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 32/40

BLT Honalulu
223 Saratoga Road
Honalulu, HI 96815
Tel: (808) 683 7440

Yard House - Oahu

Lots had happened in the past month.
I managed to get off work for 3 weeks. Got hitched. Flew to the other side of the world for my honeymoon. Then unfortunately, got stuck in work again :(

Nonetheless, the trip was amazingly awesome - especially the food, atleast, once we figured out how to order (i.e. I'll have a 'tiny' or a 'mini' version please).

Our first destination was Oahu, Hawaii. We experienced a 40 hour Sunday (ie. we left at 7pm Sydney time and got to Hawaii at 9am the same day) and as a first meal, we decided to take my friend's recommendation of the 'Yard House'.

The Yard House

Particularly, she recommended the truffle fries. And so, we had to order truffle fries. It was amazingly thin and crispy, perfectly deep fried fries topped with parmesan and herbs. You could taste the truffle oil that the fries were in too. It was pretty deliciousness!

truffle fries

My now hubby said that he was absolutely starving. Yet, he ordered an appetiser only. Appetiser of huge chicken wings tossed in buffalo sauce with a nice ranch dipping on the side. It was slightly spicy, saucy yet not overly oily (like the ones at Hooters) and very much tasty. And there was such a HUGE plate!!! it was zomg!

buffalo wings

I opted for a lunch special. Whilst there was a variety of option to choose from, I decided I wanted a bbq chicken pizza with a french onion soup. The pizza was doughy and didn't have the most topping... but it was nice and soup and chewy. The french onion soup was extremely flavoursome with some soggy bread and melted cheese on top.

bbq chicken pizza with french onion soup

So it's like a sports bar so service is not hot flash (and yet, we still have to tip 15%). The food was pretty damn good for bar food and the servings (especially appetisers) was massive! It was just a taste into what food in America was going to be like :)

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

The Yard House
226 Lewers Street
Honolulu, HI 96815,
United States
Tel: (808) 923-9273

New Orleans Cafe - Crows Nest

New Orleans Cafe

I feel like I hadn't eaten at a cafe in AGES and so when the opportunity to eat a leisurely Sunday cafe lunch, I jumped to it. On this occasion, we landed at New Orleans Cafe in Crows Nest.

Given the name, I was expecting some huge servings of some food or the other - and I was not disappointed. The only slight disappointment was my iced mocha. I requested for no cream (I hate the taste of cream), only to see the drink-making dude squeeze a huge dallop of cream on it, then realise his mistake, then take it all off again. So yes - hence, the bad appearance of my drink. Luckily, it tasted alright.

Iced mocha

Foodwise, my partner decided on the Peri Peri Chicken Po'boy ($20) - which essentially means, a big garlic French baguette sub type thing. In this huge bread sub, there was grilled chicken marinated peri peri style, guacamole, cheese, tomato and lettuce with aioli. The chicken was tender and tasty but not overpowering. The bread was crispy and fresh. It seemed to me like the right combination of everything. Not bad at all.

Peri peri chicken Po'boy - $20

I decided on the Wagyu Beef burger ($16). This was a super super thick patty of organic soft wagyu beef with onions, yummy melted cheese, tomato, lettuce and aioli, again served with fries. The patty was a little burnt on either side but because it was soooo thick, it was really really juicy (and probably really really unhealthy). It was interesting because the burnt bits added extra texture to the soft juiciness of the whole burger. The frieds were also amazingly good. Crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. It was extremely extremely yum :)

Wagyu beef burger - $16

So all up, New Orleans Cafe gets my tick of approval. It looks like a dirty American diner (and probably is), but as long as you don't look into the kitchen, the food is rather decent. They also had quite a big Sunday crowd which just kept coming and coming.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28/40

New Orleans Cafe
6 Willoughby Rd
Crows Nest
NSW 2065
Tel: (02) 9436 2596