Sonamuya - Eastwood

I was intrigued by this Korean restaurant in Eastwood as their banner says 'Joyful eating for Healthy Living'. They serve a bibimbap buffet and unlimited pork cutlet rice for lunch, both for $11. We had that one time - good value, good tasting food. However, for this day, we came with a few friends for dinner.

The banchan (side dishes) here were pretty deliciousness. I guess they would be making heaps of this stuff as some of these ingredients go on the bibimbap buffet spread also.

We ordered a hotpot, fried chicken, and beef ribs to share. The hotpot was a good size and filled with delicious ingredients - beef, octopus, mushies and veges. The soup was sweet ish and really tasty. Seems tasty and healthy enough :)

The marinated beef rib mini pot was absolutely deliciousness! Slightly too sweet but the beef was soooo melt-in-your-mouth. Zomg, I could eat this and nothing else. It was so good!

And just to round up the night with something slightly less healthy - korean fried chicken. Half spicy, half original. Lots of crunch. Tender, juicy chicken. Pretty awesome~

I was pretty happy with this meal. I would definitely come back for more. Be aware, however, that this restaurant is tiny... so getting a table here may be a bit hit and miss.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Sonamuya
Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122

Tan Viet Noodle House - Eastwood

By pure coincidence,I was walked past the new Tan Viet store in Eastwood a few weeks ago. They weren't open yet, but hubby and I were super eager to go for some awesome crispy chicken noodles when they did finally open.

On a late-ish Sunday, hubby and I went to pay it a visit. There was a small line but we decided to wait anyway. Luckily for us, we didn't need to wait long at all.

We knew exactly what we wanted to order. Crispy chicken noodle soup x 2!!! Drink-wise was a bit tricker as hubby wanted the 3 bean drink - but they were sold out. Then he asked for the young coconut drink - again sold out. He finally settled for the lemon soda, which was actually really refreshingly yum. I went for my normal - the iced milk coffee. Delicious as usual!

And the main meal? The same awesome quality as that which is found in Cabramatta! This means we no longer have to drive 45 mins when we crave crispy chicken noodles!!! The chicken skin was super thin and crisp. The chicken itself was tender and flavoursome. And the noodles? Also spectacularly cooked (the egg noodles that is). The broth was clear and didn't taste too colluded by msg. Loved it!

The price of this meal is substantially more than your average price of a meal in Eastwood. However, I guess when we cancel out the price of extra petrol that would be needed if we drove down to Cabra, it's still worth it :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Tan Viet Noodle House
209 Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9858 5167

Landmark Hotel - Eastwood

The Landmark Hotel is a relatively new hangout in Eastwood. It's in a brave location - smack bang in the middle of asia-town. The reason why we even decided to eat here is because I read somewhere that the burgers here were pretty good. Seems like us and most of the other patrons here were at the bistro for the same thing.

We ordered a Teriyaki Chicken Burger ($17) and a 100% Beef Burger ($17). The teriyaki chicken seemed to have been geared "orientally". Though the chicken was anything but teriyaki tasting, the burger was very asianated due to the crunchy noodles and kewpie mayo. They probably shouldn't have tried so hard so I think that the burger minus the crunchy noodles would have been really quite amazing - yummy chicken, avocado, fresh slaw and kewpie mayo - YUM. Why ruin it with the crunchy noodles?

teriyaki chicken burger - $17

The Beef Burger was more up my alley. Super juicy, tender and tasty thick beef patty with some crispy bacon, melted delicious cheddar cheese, and a blend of fried onions, bbq sauce and mustard mayo. Deliciousness!!! The burgers came with a bucket of chips. The chips were crinkle cut to maximise the flavouring it captures... but I have to say, this is one of the craziestly seasoned chip EVER! I usually love the seasoning on chips but this was over my tolerance level.

100% beef burger - $17

All up, this is a pretty good burger place. In a pretty odd location - but I do hope that they stick around for whenever I have a burger craving.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Landmark Hotel
20 West Parade
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9858 4497

Gia Hoi - Eastwood

Hubby and I were looking for a place to eat around Eastwood and decided on a relatively new Viet joint - Gia Hoi. There were quite a lot of people in the place and they also have a few other franchises around so we thought it would be alright. Being seated, the first thing we noted was that everything was so orange. I don't know if it's just the lighting or what, but sitting in there gave everything an orange tinge.

Hubby ordered their three colour sweet ($4) aka three bean drink. He liked it just as much as any other three bean drink.

three colour sweet

In terms of food, hubby ordered a special beef rice noodle soup ($13). The bowl was massive, there were ample toppings - beef balls, beef tripe, raw noodles, beef tendon the whole lot. Unfortunately, this pho lacked taste. The soup was rather tasteless - no herbal flavour, no sweet flavour, no salt, no anything! Disappointed much...

special beef rice noodle soup

I went adventurous and didn't order my normal - beef ball beef tripe noodle soup. Instead, I ordered a combination egg noodle soup ($11). My soup (chicken based) was heaps heaps tastier than hubby's beef broth. In the combination the toppings were a bit meagre... one prawn, one slice of fish, some pork slices and then some random stuff like pork liver. The noodles were quite yum and the soup was good - not too bad :)

combination clear noodle soup

Compared to other (better) Viet restaurants, this place is a little pricier and the food a little less good. Probably better places to eat at in Eastwood than this...

Ratings::
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 5/10
Overall - 23.5/40

Gia Hoi
219 Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 8084 2588

Hukuya - Eastwood

My mum's been going on about this Jap restaurant for years and years and years and though I had never been, the intention to give the place a visit had been on my mind for quite some time. Expectations were low - given that it was a Korean owned Jap restaurant,  but we gave it a go anyway. The place was surprisingly packed out! We sat down at the sushi bar and ordered our sushi.

We had the regular sushi - 10 pieces ($16) and the inside-out california roll - 9 pieces ($13). To my amazement, it tasted pretty damn good! The fish was fresh and cut well (though somewhat inconsistently good across the different tables). It was a good fish to rice ratio. The rolls which came with the regular sushi was a bit odd and mainly consisted of cabbage, but my california rolls were deliciousness~

regular sushi (10 pieces) - $16

inside out california roll - $13

I have to say, it's not a bad Korean-owned sushi joint. No wonder it's so busy all the time~ Definitely will be back for a quick bite :)

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 28.5/40

Hukuya Sushi Bar
Shop 1, 25 Railway Pde
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9804 8200

Jonga Jip (2) - Eastwood

Just to take a breather from blogging about European food... one of the first meals we had upon our return to down under was Korean in Eastwood at Jonga Jip. The reason why we picked this restaurant out of the plethora of Korean restaurants available to us was due to the amazing amounts of side dishes this place offers - Yes! All 10 side dishes!!! Ok, so the price of each meal here is a tiny bit more expensive compared to other Korean restaurants on the street... but 10 (10!!!) delicious side dishes more than make up for that price difference methinks.

a gazillion of delicious side dishes

Hubby orders the beef rib soup. It comes out sizzling hot with an egg cracked on top. It is absolutely mindblowingly stomach soothing and delicious. It's flavoursome yet doesn't leave behind that gross MSG feel in your mouth.

beef rib soup

On this particular day, my mind was singing that 'mandu, mandu mandu, mandu' jingle and so - expectedly, mandu (dumplings) were ordered. I had them steamed instead of fried. Whilst in my mind, I was expecting like 10 dumplings to come out - I was greeted with huge happy family of lotsa lotsa little dumplings. It was exactly what I needed that day :)

dumplings

 Jonga Jip is the place to go when you want a crazy variety of side-dishes. Sure there may be a bit of a premium for it, but you'll find me here again and again and again for a reason :)

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

Jonga Jip
87 Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9858 5160

Fusion Cafe (2) - Eastwood

As we're about to embark on a Eurotrip in the coming few weeks, cheap and cheerful food were on our agenda. Having recalled a near miss of the breakfast menu last time we were at Fusion Cafe in Eastwood, we decided to try our luck again. Breakfast runs until 12 noon and lucky for us, we made it with ample time - even after factoring the many many minutes it took for me to decide what I wanted.

We both ordered breakfast sets. My set was a congee (my pick was the preserved duck egg with pork), a choice of noodles (my pick was the soy-sauce fried noodles) with a drink (where I opted for a honky style milk tea with coffee). All that was for a generous price of $6.80! Bargain I dare say! Especially when a decent sized bowl of congee (albiet slightly more watery than some other places) and a good plate of noodles arrived in front of my. Sure it's not spectacular food, but I'm paying less than 7 bucks for it!

congee with preserved duck egg and pork



soy sauce fried noodles

Hubby chose the hot pot with beef brisket and steamed rice noodle rolls, and a honky style milk tea ($7.80). This was tasty and the sauce was pretty good.

beef brisket with rice noodles

We chose to have our drinks served after we finished our food. I found my milk tea with coffee to be gorgeously smooth, rich and delicious! Likewise, hubby was impressed with the honky style milk tea.

Honky style milk tea & Honky style milk tea with coffee

So all up, Fusion Cafe seems to be a decent place to pick up cheap honky-style cafe food. Don't expect to be too wowed by the food, but at the same time, you know you're not paying a lot to be fed here :)

Ratings:

Food - 7.5/10

Service - 6.510

Ambiance - 7/10

Value for money - 8/10

Overall - 29/40

Fusion Contemporary Cuisine
127 Rowe Street
Eastwood NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9874 2226

Jonga Jip BBQ - Eastwood

Wanting Korean food one day, my hubby and I walked the streets of Eastwood to find a restaurant we had not eaten at in a while. We settled for Jonga Jip BBQ but decided against barbequed meat and instead, ordered a soup each.

First off, a plethora of side dishes came and scattered across our table. There were heaps of side dishes! Interestingly, there was this lettuce salad with a black sesame watery mayo sauce. Not sure if I liked it or not. My favourites would have been the seaweed salad and the tofu/fishcake strips :)

Loads of side dishes

I had ordered the Beef tripe soup ($12). I can't eat stuff that's too chilli and I asked the waiter whether or not it was a spicy soup. I don't know if he didn't understand me or if he didn't care - he said it was normal and seemed to indicate that the soup wasn't very chilli but when it came out, chilli and pepper filled the soup. There was tripe and some intestine looking things which I couldn't have contested to, but it was the chilliness that threw me off. Hubby was nice enough the swap his soup with me :)

Beef Tripe Soup - $12

The soup I stole off hubby was the beef rib soup ($12). This was a clear soup but packed full of flavour. The beef ribs were really soft and tender and succulent. An egg white was also cracked into it making even more appetising.

Beef Rib Soup - $12

The food here was pretty good. and side dishes are a plenty. From memory, the barbeque here isn't bad either. Might come back when my stomach is craving side dishes :)

Ratings:

Food - 8/10

Service - 6.5/10

Ambiance - 7.5/10

Value for money - 7.5/10

Overall - 29.5/40

Jonga Jip BBQ

87 Rowe Street

Eastwood

NSW 2122

Tel: (02) 98585160

Myung-Ga BBQ Restaurant - Eastwood

The cool change in weather makes soupy type dishes very appealing. And where else to get cheap yummy soupy dishes with awesome free appetisers? Korean of course!

At Myung-Ga in Eastwood, a good range of side dishes are offered. Of particular yumminess is the seaweed one and the spinach one. I could eat dishes and dishes of these :)

side dishes

Soup-wise, my pick of the day was the bone soup ($10). This was a thick milky soup made of ox bone with thin slices of beef and potato starch noodles. Twas awesomely satisfying whilst light ish at the same time.

bone soup - $10

Hubby's chilli soup pick was the sparerib and potato soup ($12). He loved it~ The pork ribs were really tender with fall off the bone meat. Potatoes were soaked in the chilli peppery soup along with the other condiments and potato noodles.

sparerib and potato soup - $12

All up, this was a good feed. The service, though not great, was attentive enough.

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

Myung Ga BBQ Restaurant
120 Rowe Street
Eastwood, NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9874 3383

Fusion - Eastwood

Not having eaten at Eastwood in a while, my hubby and I decided to swing by for a bite to eat. Our pick for the day was at 'Fusion' - a relatively new kid on the block. Funnily enough, we were first given the breakfast menu when we sat... but by the time we were ready to order, we were told that we were no longer allowed to order breakfast and was instead, given the lunch menu :P
Nonetheless, after more deliberation, we opted for a set lunch each ($10.80).

Hubby's set was the chicken wings with spaghetti. The wings were nicely "swiss" flavoured, meaning that it was sweet soy sauce tasting. The chicken wings were tasty indeed :)

'Swiss' chicken wings with spaghetti - $10.80

I decided on the baked fish with cream and cheese and spaghetti. Sure, the fish wasn't the most super awesome fish... but it was still nice and was quite yum when mixed with the cream and the cheese.

cheesy fish spaghetti bake - $10.80

The meals came with a drink. When walking into the shop, we could already smell the strong aroma of brewing tea. Hence, we both couldn't pass up the chance of this awesome honky style ceylon milk tea. It was strong and smooth and delicious :)

Honky Style Milk Tea

So I guess that this cafe is a pretty good addition to the Eastwood scene. What I was most surprised by was the quality of the bathrooms. Either it's still new and we went in the morning and hence it was clean... or - maybe (just maybe) they actually keep it clean?

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27.5/40

Fusion Contemporary Cuisine
127 Rowe Street
Eastwood NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9874 2226

Tobawo - Eastwood

You know when you enter a restaurant and it makes you happy? Well, Tobawo is probably one of those restaurants. I haven't been to the Korean side of Eastwood for a while so it was the first time I've seen this restaurant (I'm assuming that it's relatively new), but it was the happy almost-childlike attraction that drew me in - the happy looking piggies on the wall!!! :)

At Tobawo, there's individual meals you can order, as well as bigger meals to share. My hubby and I decided to order an individual meal each. Hubby chose the Bossam ($12) and I chose the Jokbal ($12).

cute little piggies on the wall

Tobawo

Our meals come with a pumpkin soup, a spring onion pancake and 5 side dishes. The pumpkin soup was cold and mixed with a ricey gluggy thing that did not appeal to me much, but the rest of the freebies were AWESOME! I loved the spring onion pancake! It was thin but packed full of shallots. Not too floury or dense and full of flavour. The other side dishes were also good - especially the little anchovie type fishy thing. That was salty (but not overly so) and tasty. I could eat platefuls of those I think!

side dishes

On top of all those sides, we also get a spicy tofu soup and rice. The soup came out bubbling hot and was a touch on the spicy side. But again, full of flavour. Not a bad soup (especially if you like chili stuff).

Tofu soup

Now onto what we actually ordered. Hubby's bossam was quite nice. The boiled pork had a good layering of meat and fat and skin. It was served with kimchi and devoured happily by hubby. The pork wasn't as tender as it was at Jangdory but it was tasty all the same. My Jokbal (caramelised pork hoof) was also delectable. Smooth and silky due to the fat and the caramelised skin, and full of porky flavour. Mmm...

Bossam meal - $12

Jokbal - $12

For $12, I think we both got more than we bargained for. Definately a place to return to for a cheap and happy meal :)

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

Tobawo
Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122

Eastwood BBQ Kitchen - Eastwood

In the past few months, a place we've always gone to for awesome red bean grass jelly icecream float drink had been replaced by a popular honky-style cafe branched off from Chatswood. This place, most probably due to it's newness in the suburb, was packed out both times we visited. The service was variable on the two occasions, likewise the food.

Eastwood BBQ Kitchen

They have special "lunch sets". We ordered their lunch set on both occasions. One time, it was a cream of pumpkin soup with a baked Portuguese chicken rice and drink. The soup was interesting - not your average pumpkin soup. This was pumpkin soup with an asian spin. It had a seafoody taste to it, kinda like your creamy seafood or chicken soup with a hint of pumpkin in it. The Portuguese chicken rice, however, was very yumminess indeed. Potato cubes, carrot, peas and chicken bits with wonderfully creamy tasty sauce which was all on top of some rice.

creamy pumpkin soup
baked Portuguese chicken rice

Another lunch set had been a Russian Borsch with a Baked pork chop rice. The russian borsch was super tasty and delicious and the baked pork chop rice was a wonderful surprise. The fried egg on top adds an additional wonderful texture and taste to the whole dish. The sauce is pretty much just tomatoey enough and the pork chop is wonderfully tender. YUM.

russian borsch

baked pork chop rice

The noodle here are slightly average and slightly expensive compared to what you can get elsewhere. There's their signature rice noodle soups. The one I opted for here was with a deep fried fish puff with rice noodles. This was... umm... average. Not too much taste. Not really my favourite type of noodle. But meh.

rice noodle with fish ball puff soup

The stir noodles with 2 kinds of bbq meat options fared a bit better. The bbq stuff is awesome! Really tasty tender soya sauce chicken with crispy skinned juicy fatty duck. Mmm... The stir noodles were ok... but I've had better.

Stir noodles with duck and soya sauce chicken

Likewise their drinks. This was a milk tea coffee blend and it came out really quite bland. Not enough tea flavour. Not enough coffee flavour... Hmmm..

coffee with milk tea

As I mentioned before, the service is variable. Depends on your luck! Try and come on a non weekend day for better service and food I guess :)

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 26/40

Eastwood BBQ Kitchen
1 Trelawney Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9858 1366

Ginger and Shallots - Eastwood

I was dying for congee one day and hence, to satisfy my cravings, we decided to go to Eastwood to hunt for some.

Stepping into 'Ginger and Shallots', it was pretty populated with the lunchtime crowd. I noticed that everyone else got "lunch specials" but unfortunately we were just dealt with the normal menus. Nonetheless, the thing I was looking for was there - lean pork and preserved egg congee in hot pot ($9.80). It was definitely a lot more expensive compared to normal congees... must be because it's served in a hot pot rather than the normal pot. The congee was tasty and smooth and really hot and boiling. There's a decent amount of preserved egg and meat in it. All up, it was like the normal congee but possibly kept warmer for longer. Is that worth the price premium?

lean pork and preserved egg congee in hot pot - $9.80

My hubby opted for beef brisket with rice in hot pot ($10.80). It was completely loaded with beef brisket. The rice was also cooked decently well. There was hardly any veges in this - which suited my hubby just fine. Not bad at all.

beef brisket with rice in hot pot - $10.80

Service and ambiance isn't hot flash - it's just an asian place. The food is also decent. A bit pricey for congee but the other options are reasonably priced. If you're an asian show fanatic, there's TVB playing on large screens throughout the place.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 26/40

Ginger & Shallots
Shop 25, 1 Lakeside Road
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9874 8066