Ho Jiak - Strathfield

There's a new Malaysian place in town and it's super close to home. Being inside Strathfield plaza, there was a bit of a hitch in finding the place - as "HoJiak" actually isn't the name plastered ... it has "Penang Express" on the shop front and has that "food-court"-y type feel. Nonetheless, enough people seem to have found the place to make it quite buzzing and happening.

Hubby ordered their Hainan Chicken Rice. It's pleasant. The chicken is average and the rice is also decent. Not dazzling though unfortunately. 

My Prawn Mee was more impressive. Fragrantly aromatic and loads of flavour. It was pretty delicious. The noodles were wonderful in soaking in the tasty soup. I think it could have been improved by having real prawns instead of prawn cocktails... but you know what? I'd take it. I'd order it again. I also wanted an ice coffee but as they'd "run out", I had to opt for the Teh Terik instead (milk tea) which disappointingly, was pre-made, pre-packaged and slightly over-sweet.

 So all up, this is not a bad place for some Malay food. Lots of flavours in the soup for my noodles. But you know what? Temasek (in Parra) isn't too far away and that's also pretty delish! :)

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 25.5

Ho Jiak 
Shop 33, 11 The Boulevard
Strathfield Plaza
Strathfield
Tel: (02) 9008 8020

Rosso Antico Pizza Bar - Newtown

A colleague of mine had been raving on about an amazingly tasty new pizza joint in Newtown so when we needed to get takeaway in the area, we made a beeline for pizza. We didn't know how long it would take for them to make our pizzas so we decided to call ahead. My darling hubby called without even consulting their menu and ordered based on faith "just give me 3 of the most popular pizzas". What really shocked me was when they said that the order would be ready in 5 mins. We were not 5 mins away - floored on the accelerator!

On our way there, we rationalised that there was no way our pizzas could be done in 5 mins... maybe we just misheard 50 mins? But nope - lo and behold, pizza was waiting patiently for us as we pulled into the store 15 mins later. The pizzas that our kind waitress ordered for us was the Tartufo, the Napoli and the Prosciutto.

You could smell the Tartufo pizza before even opening the box - rich truffle smells just wafted out. This was an amazing pizza with italian sausage, porcini, fior di latte (cheese) and truffle paste. These toppings were a heavenly match, all sitting atop an amazing thin yet chewy base. YUM! Definitely dreaming of this pizza!

The Napoli was slightly less interesting. Loads of san marzano tomato paste with olives, anchovy, garlic and oregano. Quite tasty still... but I would have loved double the cheese! I guess this pizza is showcasing the tomato.

The last is my usual favourite (only this time, it is outdone by the truffle). The Prosciutto pizza had rocket, Parmesan, cherry tomatoes and of course - prosciutto. Loads of topping. Definitely appreciated the abundance of rocket. Very tasty indeed.

So the pizza were delicious even though they were sitting for some time on the counter. Imagine how tasty they would be if we ate in store! Definitely need to go back for some more truffle pizza! :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - ...?
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 22.5 + ? / 40

Rosso Antico Pizza Bar
Shop 2, 52-60 Enmore Road
Newtown
Tel: (02) 8065 4224

Ribs & Burgers - Rhodes

I was starving. And I had a burger craving for some reason. Logical outcome? Finding the closest burger joint possible - which in this case, was at Ribs & Burgers at Rhodes. There was just a small crowd there but the service was relatively quick. Whilst in line, hubby eyed the signage for a Milo thickshake. Milo? who can resist? Not us!

The Milo thickshake did not disappoint. It was super thick and quite milo-y - meaning that it was absolutely delicious! However, due to the thickness of this, if I was to chug down the whole drink, I would not have enough stomach space to eat anything - even though I was starving! I would definitely order this again though - soooo tasty :)

Milo thickshake

Burger-wise, hubby got the original with beetroot whereas I got the cheeseburger (with swiss). The sesame seed bun was good but nothing really to write home about. The patty was juicy but not super tasty, and the rest of the ingredients were fresh. Overall - the burger hit the spot, satisfied my cravings, but it was probably not the best burger we've had. I would come back if I had another burger craving, but if the craving was not there, I might order the ribs here instead.

hamburger with beetroot

cheeseburger

Chips on the other hand, was amazing! Crispy, golden, deep-fried, fluffy perfectly cooked chips. YUM! Chips here are a must!

chips

I have a feeling I will be back - even if its just for the shake and chips :)

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

Ribs & Burgers
Shop 53-54 
1 Rider Boulevard
Rhodes NSW 2138
Tel: (02) 9743 0880

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

Thai Paragon (Menulog takeaway) - North Strathfield

What's better than being able to lounge at home after a hectic working day? It's being allowed to lounge at home, order your dinner from the comfort of your laptop and have your dinner dropped off at whatever time you please. AND no washing up! :)

After much browsing and indecision around on Menulog - No.1 for Online Takeway,  I decided on a Thai restaurant down the road from us at North Strathfield - Thai Paragon. Thai Paragon is one of those Thai places that I've been driving past day in and day out for the past three years, each time saying that we've got to try it. Browsing the menu on Menulog was very easy. After you choose your  dishes, a confirmation of the order and time is sent to my email (and mobile) promptly. Also - my meal was delivered pretty much on-the-dot of when I asked for it to arrive!

An extensive look over the menu left me with the decision of curry puffs, pad thai, and beef masaman curry. For some funny reason, when it came to the actual order - my pad thai became a soft-shell crab with papaya salad... No idea how it happened, but it gave me a bit of a shock when I opened my takeaway and found no pad thai! Nonetheless, it was quite an enjoyable meal :)

The curry puffs were quite delicious! The pastry was buttery and flaky. The curry bits inside - potatoes, carrots, peas - all mixed with a mild curry, was tasty and hit the spot for me.

curry puffs

My accidental soft-shell crab with green papaya salad was okay too. The crab was deep fried a bit too dark for my liking, but it was still tasty. As for the papaya salad? It was just like any other. My only complaint would be that the box looked a bit meager when we first looked at it...

soft shell crab with papaya salad

The beef masaman curry with the addition of a roti was my favourite for the night. The curry was creamy and flavoured just right. The beef was also super tender and fell apart easily under the fork. Would definitely want seconds of this one!

beef masaman curry

roti

I definitely appreciated having no cooking no washing and virtually no moving after a tough work day. For this purpose, Menulog well exceeded my expectations - easy to browse, easy to order, delivered super promptly. As for Thai Paragon, I wouldn't mind another meal from here:)

Thai Paragon 
Shop G2, 24 Bakehouse Quarter
George Street
North Strathfield, NSW 2137
Tel: (02) 9746 7005
http://www.menulog.com.au/takeaway/north-strathfield
http://www.menulog.com.au/thai-paragon-north-strathfield

Fish of Penneshaw - Kangaroo Island

We had a wonderful opportunity over the Xmas/New Year break to head to South Australia. As part of the trip, we had to visit the lovely Kangaroo Island - and island with very limited population but lots of nature stuff.

At Kangaroo Island, we were able to see many spectacular sights - sea lions just chilling on the beach, fur seals lying on rocks, koalas, and kangaroos.... But in terms of food - being an island, it's a bit limited.

Being the island of seafood, hubby and I decided to eat at "Fish of Penneshaw" - a gourmet fish and chips shop. At the shop, we ordered the king george whiting with salad and chips, as well as the marron with salad and chips. I have to say, it wasn't a cheap meal - but it was pretty tasty. It was the first time having the king george whiting and this was a white fish which was a bit more solid (compared to your barramundi and perch), but really quite flavoursome. The marron  - a fresh water crayfish - was really quite small but heaps tasty! I LOVE marron - wish I could eat it all the time :P
On top of that - we got a jumbo scallop each - perfectly cooked ...but not really that jumbo~

Fish of Penneshaw

marron with chips and salad

king george whiting with chips and salad

There was a sign outside this takeaway - claiming it to be worthy of a michelin star. I think that it was a pretty good meal... but.... michelin star worthy? hm...

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 5/10
Overall - 27/40

Fish of Penneshaw
North Terrace,
Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
South Australia

El Jannah - Blacktown

Our favourite charcoal chicken shop has opened out in Blacktown recently and this was fantastic news as a few of my friends live out that area and we could pop by for a feed. Just as popular as it's other joints in Granville and Punchbowl, its a good thing that this El Jannah spans across 3 shop fronts - meaning that there's a lot of seating (but probably not ample seating given it's crowd volume).

I've ordered my usual favourites here several time - quarter chicken with the pickle and bread condiments. I also ask for lettuce most times. And of course -the chips. The chicken here is as good as Granville. Tasty and charcoally... but as everyone knows - it's really actually the amazing garlic sauce that makes this AWEOME. The chips, unfortunately, are not as uniformly golden brown as the ones in Granville... guess quality control on the oil or the deep frying person isn't as strict out here.

my chicken meal

quarter chicken, pickles, garlic sauce

regular chips

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 29/40

El Jannah - Blacktown
44-48 Flushcombe Road
Blacktown
NSW 2148
Tel: (02) 8814 9485

Fish Place - Surry Hills

Our friends have recommended this place in Surry Hills and talked up how awesome it is. As such, we couldn't resist a visit to "Fish Place". I believe that the magic hand behind the supposedly awesome smokey fish was ex-Smoke House, so I guess that smokey meals are in good hands.
After ordering, we were able to chill in their cool looking courtyard at the back.

Hubby ordered their fish of the day - which was perch, opted for grilled and served with a chinese cabbage and broccoli salad. The fish was cooked reasonably well, but sadly, there was nothing really WOW about the fish or the salad.

perch and salad

I couldn't resist their hot smoked salmon with potato bake. My crazy anticipation of this awesome perfectly cooked smokey fish was unfortunately not met. I think that it is largely because it was the tail piece  as it was quite overcooked and really dry,taking away all my enjoyment of the meal. The smokiness is pretty good though!

hot smoked salmon with potato bake

Both of us were a bit unimpressed. May have just been our bad luck, but I would be a little hesistant to revisit.

Ratings:
Food - 6/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 26.5/40

Fish Place
70 Foveaux St
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 8958 0159

Paul's Famous Burgers - Sylvania

So one day, we were in the Shire area with a few friends. One of our friends had heard of a place with fantastic pineapple crush. Naturally, we all wanted to try it. The pineapple crush was housed in a burger joint, which was also supposedly quite famously good (hence even the word "famous" in their name). However, as we were in a hurry that time, we couldn't stop for a burger - no matter how tempting the waft of wonderful aromas were. Naturally, that's where hubby wanted to go the following weekend. Hence, we trekked to the Shire again, for the sole allure of amazing burgers.

There is quite a line for this burger joint but it is quite efficient with many workers doing their specialised roles behind the counter. We ordered 1L of the pineapple crush, small chips, a cheeseburger for me and a "special" burger for hubby.

Pineapple Crush

I quite like the pineapple crush. It's meant to be real pineapple juice, so there's loads of little crushed pineapply pieces floating everywhere. It's not overly sweet but it's definitely refreshing.

small hot chips

You can't have burgers without chips - right? The chips were hot and looked a perfect golden colour. It was absolutely deliciousness, especially when dipped into their "special" sauce (which was aioli made of mayo, garlic and mustard).

the "special" - hamburger with egg and bacon - $7.50

I'm not sure why my hubby ordered the "special" which was a hamburger with egg and bacon. He, of course, couldn't resist the allure of adding beetroot to it, making it a whopping big burger! Funnily enough, it's actually not even the biggest burger in the joint - the 'Works' burger with absolutely everything you can think of (pineapple, cheese, tomato, lettuce, egg, bacon, etc etc etc) is the store highlight and people left right and center were ordering it. However, when hubby's 'special' burger came it, it was already too big (and slightly too soggy) for him to eat in one piece. I think he enjoyed it - but only to a certain extent. If we were ever back, I'm pretty sure he'll stick to ordering just a hamburger with beetroot.

cheeseburger - $6.70

My cheeseburger was pretty delicious! Just the right size. Juicy patty, melted cheese and a balance of lettuce and tomato to make it seem semi-healthy. I had mine with their 'special' sauce (ie. the garlic aioli) and absolutely loved it!

Paul's burger is a pretty popular burger place in the Shire. They have also won several awards, including best burger in Australia in 2012. It's a decent burger place ... but just really far if you live anywhere that's not the shire.

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

Paul's Famous Burgers
12 Princes Hwy
Sylvania NSW 2224
Tel: (02) 9522 5632
Web: http://www.paulsfamoushamburgers.com.au/menu.html

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice - Singapore

Singapore is pretty famous for Hainanese Chicken Rice but hubby didn't want just any old hainanese chicken rice, he wanted the absolute bestest in town. And so, we decided to go to the shop that Anthony Bourdain recommended - Tian Tian in the Maxwell Centre. There's normally a long line here (supposedly up to 30 mins), but I think we got pretty lucky, coming here at a random time, as we only had to wait around 15-20 mins.

Most people here order their hainanese chicken with rice sets ($4, or $4.20 for drumstick). However, hubby (having come here especially for this chicken) decided that he needed a half chicken ($12). We were initially thinking that half chicken would be like the breast and the thigh bits... but what came out was a MASSIVELY HUGE plate of chicken - the envy of all those in line behind us. Though I initially wanted to sample some more food at the Maxwell Centre, after looking at hubby's selection, all these thoughts instantly vanished.

I have to say, the chicken here is amazingly awesome! It's super super slippery tender with just the right amount of protein to fat to skin ratio. The sauce is also deliciousness. What I was a tiny bit disappointed with was the rice - I wanted it to have a bit more flavour, but hubby thought it was good enough.

Eyeing the other hainanese chicken rices offered at Maxwell Centre, the wait for this particular chicken is so so so worth it!

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Stall No. 11&12
Maxwell Food Centre 
Singapore, 069184
Tel: 96914852

Pie Tin - Newtown

I'd read about this amazing pie place in Newtown filled with a crazy range of sweet and savoury pies. Tucked away just off the main street, when we stepped into this humbly pie shop, the place was packed out! There was pretty much no way we could eat in. And so, we took the next best option - takeaway please!

The pies here can be served with two sides (salads, mushy peas) or fries for $11, or a pie by itself from $5.80-6.80. The sweet pies a little more dear ranging from $7.50-10.50. As we were just getting a snack for takeaway, we chose one sweet and one savoury.

The savoury pie we opted for was the slow roasted beef brisket, hickory smoke and mushrooms. This was crazily dense. A thick pie with TONS of super soft and tender beef brisket. It was zomg soooo filling! So much beef brisket was encased - really really tasty, just a bit smoky, and just bits of mushroom inside. The pastry was a bit thicker than I would have liked, but I guess that any less pasty and the pie would collapse due to having too much beef.

I went for the gooey caramel and choc ganache pie for the sweet finish. Zomg it was intense! The choc ganache was super smooth and really quite chocolatey. The gooey caramel was also deliciousness! Perfect marriage between the chocolate biscuity/brownie ish base, sweet sweet caramel, and smooth chocolate ganache. Amazing! but definitely way too rich to eat it by oneself.

I think we'll have to definitely return. There were tons more sweet and savoury options that I really really wanted to try!

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Pie Tin
1 Brown Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9519 788040

Deans Diner - Newtown

Hubby and I have been on a crusade to find our old school corner store memories. We both remember going to the corner shop after school and getting a big batch of hot yummy chips wrapped in butchers paper and yet, after going to corner shop after corner shop, the butchers paper-wrapped chips appear to no longer exist. That is, until we randomly mentioned our vendetta to a friend who instantly replied "oh - we just went somewhere that served this!". So on Saturday, we went to check it out - Deans Diner.

Deans Diner

Deans Diner is like an old-school tuck shop. The blackboard menu is filled with burgers on a variation. It was definitely rocking retro style.

blackboard menu

Ofcourse, we had to order the chips! Out of the many versions of the burger, I opted for the 'Fantasy' ($6.50), which really, is just a cheeseburger, whereas hubby opted for the 'Original Sin' ($6)(ie. hamburger) and added beetroot (50c). All these things came in neat little takeaway packages. Nice, hot, toasty and waiting to be opened!

So sure - the chips weren't the best chips in town. No where near the awesomeness taste that we remembered as kids... but - it came in Butchers paper!!!! The burger, on the other hand, was simply superb. Definitely old school Aussie-style burger. The patty was juicy and succulent and absolutely delicious. The lettuce was just the perfect amount and balanced the burger out really well - with the dallop of bbq sauce and my melting cheese. It was amazingly yum! Hubby agreed that this is the place to go the next time we want that true Aussie burger~

hot chips

Fantasy - $6.50

Original Sin (with beetroot) - $6 + 50c

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

Deans Diner
385 King Street
Newtown
NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9557 6085

N2 Extreme Gelato - Chinatown

Liquid Nitrogen!
Its the 7th element on the periodic table.
It's also the element that generates awe and amazement as it's used to instant freeze things, generating a smoky foggy haze as the dry ice is taken out of it's container. Recently featured multiple times on MasterChef to make icecream, the new shop N2 has capitalised on the fascination. 

There are beakers and conical flasks and multiple mix-masters used here to make your icecream on the spot. The different flavours (both inventive and traditional ones) are written on the blackboard and changes on a regular basis. The icecream creators are lab-coat wearing "nerds" all led by the super super super charismatic and OTT friendly dude who takes your order on his i-pad.

So pretty much happens is that the icecream creators pours a flavoured smoothy concoction out of a conical flask into the mix master, then pours in the magic ingredient - liquid nitrogen, whizzes it for a bit and whala! ICECREAM! (of course, there are the theatrics of cold icey smokey haze in the midst of it all). For my first go at N2, I opted for the 'buttered popcorn' flavour. (There were also other flavours available of this night including blackberry/red current cheesecake, cookies and cream, earl grey infused caramel, stock standard strawberry, mango, very boring vanilla, & plain old chocolate.) My buttered popcorn flavour was super popcorny in flavour, really quite rich and slightly buttery/salty too! It was AWESOME! And I'm not sure if it's due to the dry ice, or the super windy cold night, or just psychological - but the icecream seemed not to melt quickly :)

1 scoop buttered popcorn - $6

If I worked in the city, I'd be coming back to this place again and again and again. Lucky I work far far away from this temptation!

Ratings:

Food - 8.5/10

Service - 8/10

Ambiance - 7.5/10

Value for money - 7/10

Overall - 31/40

N2 Extreme Gelato

43/1 Dixon St

Chinatown