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

Ribs & Rumps - North Ryde

Hubby and I chose to catch the new Batman movie on the night it was released in Australia. We had also decided to give me a night off from cooking and to grab a bite from somewhere before the movie started. A quick flick through our Entertainment book for places near Top Ryde led us to Ribs & Rumps at North Ryde. I hadn't expected it to be packed out... but it was completely PACKED OUT.

The asthetics of the restaurant, with it's glass, wooden floors, hard walls etc meant that noise just reverberated everywhere. Yes it gives off that 'lively' vibe but it also means that you have to yell at the person next to you. The noise, along with our almost friendly waiter's heavily accented English meant that we generally asked him to repeat anything he said twice or three times - and STILL not understand what he had said.

Hubby and I were starving and greedy to try all the ribs at this place. So, he went for a combo of pork ribs, lamb ribs and a 220g rump steak ($46.95), and I opted for a full rack of beef ribs ($38.95). It was indeed a meaty meal with zilch greens. (we were in a hurry to catch the movie and hence, didn't trust the busy kitchen enough to order more than just mains). The pork ribs were really quite tasty. The coating was smoky and barbequey and the meat was tender enough. Hubby liked his lamb ribs (maybe cos he hadn't had them for ages), and the rump steak was a decent medium rare. Nothing too crazily awesome, but none too bad either.

Lamb ribs, pork ribs and 220g rump combo - $46.95

The beef ribs were meaty and very beefy in flavour. It was again, succulent and tender enough and the sauce coating on top was sticky and barbequey and tasty. I ordered mine with chisp and the chips were actually cooked quite well - crispy golden outside, fluffy innards.

Beef Ribs (full rack) - 38.95

So I guess that the food here is decent. I do recommend that a salad or some greens be ordered if you do come, as after a while, all the meat starts tasting the same and gets a tad boring. It is a crazily "lively" atmosphere so probably not the place for an intimate D&M evening.

Ratings:

Food - 7.5/10

Service - 6/10

Ambiance - 6/10

Value for money - 6.5/10

Overall - 26/40

Ribs & Rumps (North Ryde)

11 Talavera Road

North Ryde

NSW 2113

Tel: (02) 9805 1199

Hurricane's Bar & Grill - Darling Harbour

Who can say no to meat? And loads of it!

We had a few friends come up from Melbourne and they wished to eat ribs at Hurricane's and as guests - it's their choice. Hurricanes at Darling Harbour was buzzingly busy on a Sunday night. Yet - the waiter was attentive enough to lull around repeatedly until we laid our order.

My hubby and one of our friends decided to opt for a meat platter and a salad to share amongst the three of us. Another meat platter, rack of ribs and salad was ordered for the other end of the table.

The Caesar Salad ($20) came out as large crisp cos lettuce pieces with strips of bacon, anchovies, thingly shaved parmigiano and caesar dressing. The salad was fresh and was quite a good compliment to the mount of meat we devoured.

Caesar Salad - $20

The Hurricane's bbq meat platter ($94.90) came as a massive plate of BBQ basted chicken wings, juicy lamb cutlets, short cut sirloin, boerewors (sausages) and their famous ribs (pork). Under the ribs was a nice pile of chips. The ribs were nice and succulent and bathed in bbq sauce.The boerewors were average, but the chicken wings were YUM. The sirloin was also likeable.

Meat Platter - $94.90

All up, food wasn't bad and service was attentive at times.

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

Hurricane's Grill & Bar
Level 2, Shop 433-436
Darling Harbour
Sydney NSW, 2000
Tel: (02) 9211 2210

Tosung Firewood BBQ - Homebush

Upon high recommendation by our Korean friend (repeatedly), my partner and I decided to check out Tosung Firewood BBQ which was around the area where we lived. Our friend said that the smoked duck was to die for - and hence, we were all up for a duck night! To our disappointment, duck was sold out for the evening >.< Hence, we had to settle for our usual favourites at Korean BBQs.

First to come was a range of sauces and condiments. We each got a salad and a cold soup. The cold soup was vinegary and filled with veges - I think it's meant to be a healthy thing to drink following unhealthy bbq stuff, or maybe it's to cool our burning mouths down (as we tend to eat the meat straight off the hot plate without waiting for it to cool down properly). There were only three other varieties of side dishes - a sweet potato mash puree type thing (which I didn't really like), pickled onions, and pickled chinese cabbage.

condiments

We opted for one side dish to complement all the meat - Jap Chae ($12). This was a good array of veges with beef all tossed in super yummy potato starch noodles. This was quite delicious - the flavours were all there, it was hot and steamy, the noodles were nice and soft, there was just enough sauce.... Mmm.....

Jap Chae - $12

In terms of meat, we had the ox tongue ($18) and the pork belly ($17). My partner claimed that this was probably the best pork belly he has had in Sydney - and given the number of Korean bbq places he's been to and his love of pork belly - it was a pretty big claim. It was soft, tender, juicy and you could tell that the meat was "fresh", like it wasn't the type that has been sitting around for days before they served it out. There was a good meat to fat ratio - just enough so that the meat kind of just melts in your mouth. The ox tongue was also good. Thinly slices, tasty and chewy but not too chewy - just the way it's meant to be.

Pork Belly - $17
Ox Tongue - $18

As we were in a firewood bbq place, it made no sense to not order any smoked stuff. Hence, out last choice was the firewood pork rib ($25). Coming out pre-smoked and firewooded, you're meant to heat it back up on your stove... and... this was heavenly. Smoky flavour infused throughout the meat, super super tender - the meat just falls off the bone... and it was just amazing! Really yummy ribs - I ate so much of these :) If the firewood ribs are this good - would the duck be even better?

Firewood Pork Rib - $25

All up, it was a good recommendation by our Korean friend. The restaurant seems to be a bit in the middle of nowhere - but there's a big carpark and a lot of Koreans who dine here (which is always a good sign). Definately worth a re-visit :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 30.5/40

Tosung Firewood BBQ
17-35 Parramatta Road
Homebush
NSW 2140
Tel: (02) 8756 5252

Chili's - Waikiki

There used to be a Chili's on Great Western Highway ... back in the day. And my hubby used to LOVE the place and so, was immensely sad when it closed down. Hence, when we were in Hawaii and the big Chili's sign was in front of us when it was pouring cats and dogs, it was like a subtle hint that we really just ought to dine there.

Chili's

The place was quite populated and our waiter was slightly overly happy and enthusiastic. We took our time with the menu and at the end, decided on just ordering 2 things - the Fajita trio and a custom combo. The Fajita Trio came with plentiful steak, chicken and spicy garlic and lime shrimp with grilled veges, all sitting on top of a sizzling hot plate. Condiments were smaller than I expected with just timy scoops of guacamole, salsa, cheese and lettuce. The wraps were nicely kept warm and were tough enough to wrap the biggest piles of fillings :) I found that this was really tasty. The prawn seasoning quite decent - not too spicy, and garlicy in flavour. The beef was tender enough, and chicken strips are always good in fajitas (I think).

Fajita Trio

In our custom combo, we decided on half baby back ribs and half fried shrimp. It came with plentiful loaded mash (mahs with ham and cheese). The ribs were slightly too dry and not succulent enough for my liking, but they suited my hubby's taste-buds perfectly. The fried shrimp ('shrimp' in American English = 'prawns' in Aussie English) was tastiness but to me, nothing on this plate beat the deliciousness of the loaded mash. YUM. Super smooth and creamy WITH loads of melted cheese and bits of hammy savouriness throughout. Deliciousness!

Custom Combo

All up, it was a decent meal. It's not as oversized as other meals in the US, but filling nonetheless.

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

Chili's (Waikiki branch)
2350 Kuhio Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
Tel: (808) 922 9697

Crinitis - Parramatta

Decisions decisions decisions.
Life is full of decisions.
I hate making decisions.
So when faced with a menu which opens up to be as big as your table and full of words, I was a little taken back. What to eat?!?!? What a hard decision.

My friend and I decided to dine at Crinitis. As it was a Thursday night, the place was quite busy and service was... well... yeh.

Decisions on what to order was definately difficult. But after much deliberation, we decided to order 2 mains to share - the Spiedini di pollo ($36.90) and the 500g pork ribs ($28.90). My friend also decided on a cocktail - the buckle me ($22.90) whereas I, having to work at 8am the next day, decided it's best to be able to drive home and wake up the next day.

So my friend's buckle me cocktail. The name says it all. Tasted peachy yet strong - very quite strong. It comprised of peach snapps, vodka, barcardi, tequila, cointreau, peach ice tea, apricot nectar and lemonade. One sip - it was nice. More than one? Buckle me.

buckle me - $22.90

The food took a little while to come out. The place was a little bit noisy. Hence, it was a little bit hard to talk. Yet, when the food did come out, it was pretty amazingly huge~ The 500g pork ribs were gigantic! Covered in homemade BBQ sauce and grilled to perfection. What more, it came with yummy chips :) Awesome~ (I did have a ribs craving though).

500g pork ribs - $28.90

The ribs came with a choice of salad, chips, potato or veges. As evident, we had opted for chips and veges. The chargrilled veges were actually pretty good. The zucchini was really sweet as was the capsicum.The potatoes were soft and fluffy too.

chargrilled veges

The Spiedini di pollo was 2 super long skewers of chargrilled chicken. The chicken was yummily garlicy, herby and lemony. The meat was a little bit dry and heavy, but tasted much nicer when heaped with garlic aoili :) The chips were good. Salad was normal.

Spiedini di pollo - $36.90

The servings were undeniably gigantic. By the end, we were both clutching our stomachs in fullness. Dessert menu? Unfortunately not this time.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28.5/40

Crinitis
291 Church Street
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Tel: 1300 274 648

Tony Romas - Sydney

Tony Romas

Ribs!!! Love ribs - and crave ribs much much much. Hence, to quench our cravings, we landed at Tony Roma's. Unfortunately - landing at Tony Roma's on a Sunday means that we have to pay 10% more :(

Complementary bread came first. This bread roll was super soft and warm on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Because the insides were nice and warm, it melted the herby butter (or plain margarine) pretty much straight away - leading to bready buttery heavenliness. YUM.

Complementary bread

We ordered an appetiser to share. The Appetiser Sampler ($20.90 normally, $23 on Sundays) came with fire wings, potato skins and mozzarella sticks. Three dipping sauces accompanied this appetiser - salsa, tartare and sour cream. The fire wings were very much saucy - and slightly too firey for my liking. If you asked my partner, however, he would probably tell you that they're not spicey "at all!". Mozzarella sticks were seriously just big chunks of crumbed deep fried cheese. I would prefer the cheese to be a bit more meltiness - but this was really slightly heavy. The potato skins, on the other hand - was pretty awesome and perfect. Thinly skinned then crisped and topped with melted cheese and lots of bits of bacon and sprinkled with shallots. This was deliciousness!

Appetiser Sampler

I ordered the St Louis Style Carolina Honey ribs. My partner tried to convince me to order the full rack and promised me that he would help me finish it off. I resisted and insisted on the regular ($28.50 normally, $31.35 on Sundays). Every rib comes with 2 sides. My choice was coleslaw and mashed potato. I remember that the mash used to be creamier - this was chunkier than previously. And the coleslaw was pretty average. On the other hand, the ribs were gorgeous! The meat fell off the bone, was tender and extremely tasty. Slightly honeyed and nicely grilled, it was really really delicious. Satisfied my cravings instantly. However, because it was quite meaty - I was super full before I even got half way.

St Louis Style Carolina Honey

My partner opted for the Southern Smokey Beef Ribs - 6 of them ($34.90 normally, $38.40 on Sundays). This was really HUGE chunks of tasty BBQed beef on a bone - each rib was pretty much like a steak - and to eat 6 of them??? pretty impossibleness I think. The ribs were smoked and chargrilled to perfection and also had a good sauce to meat ratio. My partner opted for coleslaw and chips. And - not only did my partner NOT help me finish my ribs, he didn't finish his!!! Lucky for us, the waiters at Tony Romas are probably used to having people doggy bag their food :)

Southern Smokey Beef Ribs

Oddly enough, we got an extra baked potato - by mistake. Oh wells~ It was soooo yummy. The potato was really soft and buttery. Topped with melted cheese, bacon, shallots andsour cream, I managed to eat bits of this even in my super fullness state.

baked potato

Overall, the ribs here were great. The baked potato and the potato skins were awesome. Everything else is so so.... but when you have awesome ribs and awesome potatoes, what else would you need? :P

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

Tony Romas
121 - 123 Sussex Street
NSW 2000
tel: (02) 9299 8500

Palm Breeze Cafe (2) - Burwood

Don't come here if you want to be noticed and treated like a human!

This was my second time at Palm Breeze. As my first experience had been rather good, my partner and I rocked in huge ribs for a late dinner. We ended up getting a huge rack of ribs and a mediterranean grilled platter.... and the food was great! The downfall came in the drink - the chocolate thickshake - that my partner ordered.

Not coming as thick as it ought to be, we were ready to be quite forgiving. However, on sipping the thickshake, my partner found black thick hard plastic bits in his drink. What is that??? What was even more astounding is the waitress' reactions. We told the first one - she was like... "err... what?" she then walked away, chatted up the asian dude making the drink... and never ever returned... Yes - she walked past our table repeatedly and pretended to be busy each time... lingered more at the bar to chat up the dude making the drinks... but ignored us. We gave up waiting for the first waitress chick to come back and instead, told yet another waitress. She was like "are you sure it's not the straw?". Yes - we are damn sure it's not the straw. And even if it was the straw, why on earth is the straw falling apart??? She was about to just dismiss us and walk away until my partner suggested "maybe we could get a new one?". She walked away with the contaminated drink looking pissed off and returned a while later with a new one. No eye contact. No apology. No nothing. Ahh... Loving the attentive service~

chocolate thickshake

mystery black plastic bits in the shake

I think that if we weren't so hungry and if we weren't craving for ribs and if we weren't as cbb as we were, we would have done something - stood up and left for one. But we didn't. We stayed. And ate.

Our full rack of ribs ($32) came with salad and a choice of mash or chips. I chose mash in this case. The ribs were GIGANTIC. It was lathered in barbeque sauce, succulent, tender and juicy. Very deliciousness. The orangey sauce... liquidy tomatoey sauce was a bit strange though. However, the mash was very smooth and creamy and unhealthy tasting. To balance the meat and the carbs, the veges was a slightly healthy pile to make me feel good.

full rack of ribs - $32

The Mediterranean grilled platter ($26.50) comprised of a lamb fillet skewer, a chicken skewer and a beef kafta, served with chips, a mediterranean salad, lebanese bread and a variety of dipping sauces (hommus, tzatziki and garlic sauce). The chicken skewer was tender and tasty, and no complaints from my partner about the lamb. The beef was not very appetising (or so thought I) and hence, it was left virtually untouched. The salad was liberally doused with dressing which was vinegary and yum. The chips did manage to get cold very quickly... but were okay nonetheless. In terms of the sauces, our favourite was the garlic by far! The hommus and the tzatziki was just average. All up, this grilled platter combo was average - not spectacular, but not bad either.

Mediterranean mixed grill - $26.50

Overall, the food was pretty good and the portions were huge - filled us til we could eat no more. The service was pretty much non-existant and the fact that they just wanted to ignore our complaint really pissed me off. There was no apology for the drink, no acknowledgement that they were wrong, no discount on our bill... *sigh* So... I guess this cafe should be purely visited for food and nothing more.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10

Service - 1/10

Ambiance - 6.5/10

Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 22/40

Palm Breeze Cafe

128 Burwood Road

Burwood

NSW 2134

Tel: (02) 9715 7222

Hurricanes Express - Bondi Beach

Hurricanes Express

We were at bondi when a sudden craving for ribs hit. Whilst Hurricanes was closed, Hurricanes Express was luckily still open for takeaway orders. Hence, a full rack of pork ribs ($27) served with chippies was ordered.

A huge rack of ribs was revealed - juicy, tender, tasty and yummy. Although given a knife and fork, ribs are always yummier when eaten with hands :) I purposely avoided eating too much carbon but it did give an awesome chargilled fill to it.

Full rack of Pork Ribs - $27

After polishing these ribs at 4pm in the afternoon - we weren't hungry for quite some time. Even after walking and looking at all the sculptures by the sea.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10

Hurricanes Express
Roscoe Street
Bondi Beach
NSW 2026
Tel: (02) 9365 3450